Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal Highlights (Video)

Goals:

Robin Van Persie (3') – MUFC 1-0 Arsenal

Patrice Evra (67') – MUFC 2-1 Arsenal

Santi Cazorla (90' + 5') – MUFC 2-1 Arsenal

2012/13 UCL Group Stage: Week 2 (Scores & Review)

There were a lot of exciting Champions League matches this week, so without a long intro, I'm just going to jump into it.

North London Derby: Arsenal save top performance for Tottenham

Today, February 26, 2012, was a great day in football history as some of the most remarkable events happened. We will provide full coverage on everything but for now let’s start off with Arsenal’s 5-2 win over rivals and third place Tottenham. Arsenal’sperformance has been questionable this season and if it didn’t change, many believed it would lead to the
departure of the clubs top striker and captain, Robin Van Persie. The Gunners looked like a completely different squad today.

Manchester Vs Manchester: Top of the Table Derby

Manchester City started the season amazingly and everyone even United fans were forced to admit their amazing playing style, especially when they won the Manchester derby, 6-1. But a few slip ups from City led to United coming of within only a six goal difference between the two clubs.

Jan. 2012 Transfers

January transfer windows normally are pretty slow, but after last season when the mid season market produced £150+ million, we were all expecting this one to be big as well. Well that's no exactly what we got. Deadline day had some good transfers and definitely was better than we expected after a quiet month.

EPL Legends Return to former Squads in FA Cup 3rd Round

Tottenham land Adebayor on a loan deal, Man City sign Nasri, Eto'o becomes the world's highest paid player and Robbie Keane comes to LA

Hi guys, so we haven’t been posting for a while and we missed our last podcast but Twil has been on vacation so we decided to skip it. As for the lack of posts, we have been super busy so we are going to do what we can. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter (@flagisup) for daily tweets on current matches and other soccer news. You can find a link on the right sidebar. Also like us on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/pages/The-Flag-Is-Up-Soccer-Blog/171246266253046) for updates on posts. If you have any questions, ideas, or simply want to see some more of a certain topic on the blog, email us at theflagisup.blogspot@gmail.com

the flag is up podcast #2 August 15, 2011

Here it is folks, our second weekly podcast! This time around we discuss the games of the opening weekend in the EPL, as well as some late breaking transfer news. Enjoy and thanks for listening!

PFA Premier League Team of the Year

The PFA members have made their decisions and here are their choices for the 2011 Premier League XI:

FA Cup/EPL Title Race

Stoke City and Bolton met today for the second semi final of the FA Cup. Stoke scored three goals in the first 30 minutes. They were dominating the match and this only continued into the second half, where Jonathan Walters got a double. Stoke city completely shut out Bolton with the final result being 5-0. It will be interesting to see how Stoke does in the final against Manchester City. Manchester is eager to a new trophy and they are the big guns in this final, but they cannot under estimate Stoke, of it will be a replay of the Carling Cup final, Arsenal v Birmingham City. Arsenal was looking to update their trophy cabinet after six years, but fell 1-2. Manchester City and Stoke meet at Wembley on May 14th.

Etherington celebrates scoring Stoke's first goal. Photograph: Neil Tingle/Sportsphoto

Carling Cup: Arsenal’s trophy cabinet still dusty

Photo Courtesy: Football Rascal Blog

Arsenal haven’t won a major trophy in the past six years, and yesterday they had a chance, but nothing changed. After making it to the Carling Cup final, they fell to Brimingham City. They obviously went into the final as favorites and had their head held high after defeating Barcelona 2-1 after going down a goal.

5 Point Difference: United and Arsenal Each Take a Win

Wayne Rooney waited a month to do what he did on New Year’s Day. He scored against Aston Villa today in the first minute, when goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar booted the ball across the length of the field to Rooney. He took two touches and blasted it past Brad Friedel, Aston Villa’s oldest player ever. After such an early goal, United played very calmly without any hesitation. Aston Villa on the other hand couldn’t seem to hold on to the ball and even when they did, United just picked up the pace and took it back. Ryan Giggs and Nani were controlling the game, making the plays and holding the ball. With only one minute left in regulation time of the first half, Nani send in a prefect cross across the goal to give Rooney an easy tap in and give him his second goal of the game.

Photoshopped by: Kevin Tedesco

The January Transfer Window in a Nutshell

The Transfer window come to a close today, January 31, 2011 and some major transfers were made, while some ended up being rumors. Read about which transfers went through this month.

Beckham and Henry To London:

Beckham’s four-week training spell at Tottenham Hotspur began on Monday morning when he arrived at the club’s training ground.

Meanwhile NewYork Red Bulls striker Henry has begun a training stint with his former club Arsenal in order to keep fit during the Major League Soccer off-season.

The pair are two of the biggest names ever to have graced the Premier League having made a combined total of 519 appearences.

Spurs started negotiations with the MLS side [L.A. Galaxy] last week over a two-month deal but the north London club announced that Beckham would only come to train with the club, rather than play.

Galaxy said to be wary of their 35-year-old prize asset becoming injured any loan spell, as Beckham did during his spell at AC Milan last year when he tore his Achilles.

However Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is still keen to see Beckham play in a Spurs shirt and negotiations about a loan deal are ongoing.

While Spurs still hope to arrange a deal to enable Beckham to play for them, Henry’s return to Arsenal is purely a fitness exercise. (PremierLeague.com)

As you’ve read before, Beckham has been in contact with Tottenham for a loan spell. Everything seemed to be going great until L.A. Galaxy stated it would not happen because of insurance. Galaxy are conserved about Becks leaving because of what happened before the World Cup while he was on loan to AC Milan. Instead of completing the transfer right away, he was only set on training with the club for a month, but this didn’t stop Harry Redknapp from trying to work out a deal with L.A. But it now seems that Redknapp has given up hope on signing the former England captain during this transfer window.

David Beckham takes part in a Tottenham Hotspur training session at Tottenham Hotspur training ground on January 11, 2011 in Chigwell, England. (Getty Images)

"As far as playing goes, it's a no-goer. I'm 99.9 per cent sure it won't be happening.”

"It couldn't happen so, not a problem, we'll just get on with it." (The Sun)

There has been talk of Redknapp signing David in November, when his contract with L.A. Galaxy ends and will become free agent. I’m sure there are going to be a handful of clubs that try to sign him, with possibilities such as AC Milan, Arsenal, Leicester City, Galaxy, extending their contract, and of course Tottenham. All decent teams, but let’s be honest, Leicester City should have expected to be turned down by the superstar. When he said he wanted to return to Europe, I’m sure he meant a top league team. In my opinion, I don’t think he will extend his contract with the MLS team because this whole loan spell was to get back on the English National squad, and continuing what he has been doing might not be the best idea. I think signing a contract with Tottenham in November will be the best for Becks because Harry Redknapp is said to be England’s next manager, which would probably allow Becks a spot on the team. It is also said that after his time is served with playing on the team, he will become Redknapp’s assistant manager. Now when you look at past players who have become manager they haven’t had the best outcomes. Not mentioning any names, but Diego Maradona made a joke of himself during the world cup. He was jumping around, having the craziest reactions and made a joke of his legendary status. I this case, I don’t think

Beckham will do the same, mainly because, he was there during the world cup, and was very subtle. He also won’t be the manager, just an assistant manager, so he will still have a very experienced manager next to him. I think this partnership will work well together because there will be an experienced player and an experienced ENGLISH manager. Redknapp did play professionally so he does have player experience, but the game has changed since his day. All in all, I think Becks can fit in a few more years playing, and after his contract ends with whichever team he signs with in November, he can be a great impact as a manager with his national team.

On another note, Thierry Henry has followed Beckham’s footsteps once again. They both left to English Premier League to go to La Liga. Beckham left United for Real Madrid, Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona a few years later. Then they both left La Liga for the MLS, Becks arriving in 2007, and Henry just in 2010. Now Henry has followed Beckham back to London to keep in shape, but Henry is training with his former club, Arsenal. He wants to keep in shape for the MLS season which starts up in March. Henry never considered a loan spell to Arsenal; he strictly wanted to train with them.

What do you think about Beckham’s future with the English National Squad?

Do you think we will ever be able to buy the 77 Tottenham jersey with Beckham's name gracing the back?

-JoeyB

map of football supporters in London

I recently found a very cool map of what clubs different parts of the English capital support. Not exactly sure who made this or where to cite. But I originally found it on epltalk.com. Great look at why London is the greatest soccer town on earth.

THE London derby

Info courtesy: the guardian

Hello everyone and happy holidays. I've been away from the internet for awhile but am back just in time to break down one of my favorite games in the EPL, the London derby that pits the west londoners, Chelsea against the north Londoners, Arsenal. Now, I know there is a whole slew of London clubs. Who doesn't love a matchup between crystal palace and QPR? But this is really THE matchup to watch within the English capital. The Blues have beaten the gunners 5 times in a row, a trend they hope to be able keep up tonight in the north side of town. For Arsenal's part, Arsene Wenger has all but guaranteed that his side need this game if they want to overcome the mental hurdles that it takes to win an English football title. Wenger said,"We need a big win...and Chelsea could be that opportunity."

One important piece to this game will be the presence of the Spaniard, Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas has not started for Arsenal since a November 23 champions league game. On the opposite side, however will be the Blue phenom, the heart and soul of Stamford Bridge, Frank Lampard. From watching the various struggles of my team over the last couple of months, many excuses have presented themselves. "Well Essien's not in the lineup...drogba has Malaria..." But the one
excuse that may actually be viable is the absence of Lampard. At his best, he offers a midfield presence perhaps only bested by the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. He can find holes for passes that others are too distracted to see. Not to mention his ability to shoot on goal from long-range. I am biased toward Chelsea but one cannot deny that there should be a considerable difference in the Blues' play with Lampard out on the pitch for ninety minutes.No matter what, there will be no excuses. The winner will hold the pride of London, if only for one night.

David Beckham: Possible Arsenal Transfer

I recently had a post about a possible transfer for the L.A. galaxy Superstar to Tottenham Hotspurs. The transfer seems unlikely, but many transfers are doubted before anything happens, much like when Cristiano Ronaldo said he will stay with Manchester United, or when Beckham himself said he probably won’t go to Italy for a second time. Now there are rumors that Beckham has been in contact with Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, setting up a loan for the iconic player.

“It is a great league and one of the most competitive in the world. Maybe one day I will come back here but I have always said that it will only be for Manchester United. I am not holding my breath on that one, but we will have to wait and see.”

It is possible that he just said that so that Sir Alex really thinks about, but he has, and said he doesn’t think it would be the right move, but as I said, big transfers are normally doubted instantly.

Beckham visited England in 2008 during the mls’ off season and trained with Arsenal to stay fit, and Wenger did admit to enjoying his presence. Arsenal is a fairly young team and could possibly use the legend as a leader for the young gunners. There are a few other teams that have considered getting Beckham for the loan. Leicester tried to sign Becks, but failed, which was expected. Any team would love to have Beckham join, but the problem is he needs to find the right team, mainly because there is a lot of young talent in the game today and Beckham’s age doesn’t work to his advantage even though he is only 35.

Beckham mainly wants to return to a European team, preferably English, to get his spot back on the English National squad, after getting injured right before the World Cup and being rudely excused from the squad by Capello. Either way, I hope to see Becks join a major club in January, because if he doesn’t, his skill is only being wasted.

Leave a comment on which team you want to see Beckham join this coming January.
-JoeyB