Diary Of A Sky Sports Soccer Saturday Reporter

I love my stats - all reporters love their stats. And Huddersfield vs Wycombe was packed full of fascinating ones.

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Return of the Kings?

Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start to the season by earning a deserved victory over Bolton, 3-1 at Anfield which sent them to the top of the Premier League for the first time in two years.

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North London in mourning

First was the absolute slaughter of Arsenal. To say I was shocked was an understatement and I’m no Gooner. The 8-2 thrashing of Arsenal was very telling. The 2-5 drubbing if Tottenham even more so. A quick glance of the Premier league table shows Manchester Utd occupying first spot, Manchester City in second and Liverpool and Chelsea occupying third and fourth respectively. The top two have a combined goal difference of 19.

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Pre Man Utd

I think it’s fair to say that being an Arsenal fan over the past week alone has seen every single emotion pour out of the Emirates Stadium; Anger at the poor start to the Premier League campaign, relief after making it into the group stages of the Champions League and the familiar feeling of pure frustration with Wenger not getting his wallet out once more.

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Whatever happened to…centre forwards playing at centre half

Tactical innovation happens all the time without one even noticing it as it is all about organic growth; refinement and tinkering to come up with the optimum set-up for a team.

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Thursday Round Up @ Nasri delighted with Arsenal result, Levy calls for Modric saga to end, Nani admits Utd is buzzing

The 20-year-old had a successful season for his hometown side Atletico Madrid but had only just cemented his place in their side. That is why it came as a surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson and his goalkeeping coach – Eric Steele – chose De Gea to replace the retired Edwin Van der Sar.

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Should De Go Or Should De Stay

On 29 June this summer a young Spanish goalkeeper by the name of David De Gea was signed by Manchester United for £18m.

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City start ominously but United also hit early rhythm

The latest twist to the early stages of what is shaping up to be the most exciting title race in recent memory is that Manchester City have ended their long running pursuit of Samir Nasri by finally managing to land the Frenchman for a fee of £22 million. The midfielder will add to the attacking guile and fluidity that has been on display in the opening two games of the season that has yielded two convincing wins, seven goals and an immediate return from the marquee signing of Sergio Aguero. The shackles finally appear to have been taken off by Roberto Mancini and the impending addition of the mercurial Nasri to such flair is ill-boding for the rest of the league.

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Diary Of A Sky Sports Soccer Saturday Reporter

Over the years I've learned not to turn Sky Sports down whenever they offer me work. But there are rare occasions when I've just had to say 'Sorry, No, I can't do it'.

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Can Wolves claw themselves away from mediocrity?

Two wins from two has seen Wolves make their best start ever to a premier league season, with striker’s Doyle and Fletcher catching the eye, the wolves faithful can surely expect a season which offers more than a bottom half slog. Over the years the words indifferent, inept have all marred the clubs performances, with the weakened side sent to Old Trafford being the perfect example. But signing’s like centre half Johnson and creative thinker O’Hara have proven to be shrew business, so can Mick McCarthy’s side take their giant killing mentality to clubs in and around themselves?

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Pub Quiz – English legend, 70’s Trivia and Rory Delap

What type of quizzer are you? Do you sit drunk and clueless in the corner? Or are you halfway to Nerdsville with a tank top on and a smart-arse smile? Can you admit to watching Eggheads - even if only in a moment of weakness? No matter which category you fall into – try our pub quiz and prove to yourself that the years of watching and talking about footy have not been a complete waste of time. But please try not to cheat, for as my headmaster used to say “You’re only cheating on yourself”, which ironically is not what his wife said to him, when she caught him in congress with his secretary.

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The Italian's Job

How do you define the strength of a league? Perhaps the success in European competition or the quality of player that can both be attracted and retained can give an indication? Or the amount of money that foreign countries are prepared to pay to watch it? On all counts, Italy is struggling, a marked change from 20 years ago.

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What do Andy Carroll and David De Gea have in common?

After yesterday’s performance, this is a question I have to ask. I’m sure, for all Liverpool fans, this is tantamount to sacrilege for me to question Kenny Dalglish’s judgement in the transfer market but nonetheless I have to do it. I know we’re only two games into the season but thus far, other than the last 20 minutes of yesterday’s game, I’ve not seen Liverpool play anywhere like they did in the latter half of last season. In both cases, Carroll was not playing for the most part. Carroll huffed and puffed and pushed and bundled his way through the game with precious little to show except another disallowed goal following another questionable attempt to win the ball.

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Saturday Gossip & News Round Up @ Mata on “verge” of Chelsea switch, Jagielka happy at Everton, Aguero can handle pressure

Blackburn boss Steve Kean has denied having a row with El-Hadji Diouf, but does admit the controversial Senegalese international is likely to leave before the close of the transfer window.

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14 minutes for Cesc to win his first trophy in six years

It may have been an overly feisty affair, as such has become the custom for El Clasico in recent seasons, but Barcelona’s 3-2 win last over Real Madrid, a 5-4 aggregate victory over their fiercest rivals in the Spanish Super Cup will be remembered by one man in particular; Cesc Fabregas. The former Barca trainee was forced to watch from the bench until the 76^th minute with a cameo appearance allowing the former Arsenal captain to make his long awaited debut for the Catalan giants.

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