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Manchester United – Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney Meant for Greatness
The defense? Could be better. The midfield? Nothing new about the problems there, each unit offering a different one. The attack? Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney started together for the first time, and made up for all those problems with some fantastic link up playing, including the second goal, bringing in much hope and promise for the rest of the season.
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Chelsea FC – Getting Frank Lampard Back in Business
It wasn’t really a question of who plays for Chelsea against Nordsjælland, a club that’s probably a bit out of its league in their first Champions League campaign, so putting Frank Lampard in the lineup, despite his poor form to start the season, made sense and paid off for Roberto Di Matteo in the harder-than-the-scoreline-suggests 4-0 win.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Can’t Play Central Defender
Sometimes, it seems that Barcelona build their team each summer thinking – We’ve got Lionel Messi, the best player in the world; we’ve got Xavi and Iniesta, the best midfielders in the world. The rest will work itself out. And then, you find yourself heading into the Clasico, to play against Real Madrid, without a natural centre back.
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Manchester United – Alex Ferguson Against Foreign Divers
What is bothering Alex Ferguson these days? Two things mostly – Manchester United being quite terrible on defense and clearing English football of diving, as long as they’re not on his team. Sergio Aguero for example, but not Nani, who has every right to dive to get a penalty for the red devils.
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Nigeria Cheating at the Women’s U-17 World Cup?
Thanks to redditor Naija_football, whose suspicions regarding a player on the Nigerian Women’s U-17 team at the world cup currently held in Azerbaijan, an age fraud case is in the process of being exposed, regarding Victoria Aidelomon, who according to the electronic paper trail uncovered by Naija, is actually much closer to 30 than being a teenager.
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Alan Shearer to Blackburn – Legends Should Stay Legends
How many all-time great footballers become successful managers, especially for team’s they’ve played for? Alan Shearer is the best player to ever wear the Blackburn jersey, delivering a historic title in 1995 and an incredible four year run. He shouldn’t tarnish that memory by taking over the manager position from Steve Kean.
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PAOK Fans – The Best Show in Football
Some would argue that the Toumba in Thessaloiniki, where PAOK FC play their home matches, provides the best atmosphere for a football match in Europe. The flared up display in the stands certainly fired up the home side, winning the most important match of the year for many – beating Aris 4-1 in the Derby of North Greece.
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Newcastle United – Demba Ba is the Only Thing Working
After nearly making it to the Champions League last season, Newcastle expected a better start than nine points from the first six matches. Most of those point have been achieved thanks to Demba Ba, scoring six goals in the first six matches of the season.