Chelsea

Arsenal
The loss away to Fulham is a distant memory as Arsenal find themselves top of the Premier League after 5 weeks. The win at Bolton was impressive not only coming after a long mid-week trek to the Ukraine in the Champions League, but also considering that Arsenal had lost 13 of 27 matches in the north-west in the past four seasons.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United grabbing all the headlines, but Arsenal have quietly moved it up a gear since the Fulham loss scoring 10 goals in their last three league games. With no games against the big four until mid-November, Arsenal have an excellent opportunity to put together an impressive winning steak heading into a couple of blog November showdowns.

The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which is found in the knee, is very, very small.

Yet, it can be so big at times. Especially for sports clubs.

Like, say, for the New England Patriots or Chelsea.

Today, athletes seem to be tearing their ACLs at an alarming rate. In the last few days, two of sport’s most exciting athletes, Tom Brady of the Pats and Michael Essien of Chelski, have grimaced in pain as their seasons ended due to that little torn bastard.

How does an ACL injury occur you ask? Well, it is often torn during sudden dislocation, torsion, or hyperextension of the knee.  

A.C. Milan’s director Silvano Ramaccioni has stated that the much-maligned striker is on the brink of returning to his former club.  Since leaving A.C. Milan for Premiership side Chelsea in 2006, Andriy Shevchenko has been a major disappointment.  His £30million transfer fee could have been spent elsewhere to bolster The Special One’s squad.  Speaking of The Special One, it will be interesting to see Sheva and Jose on opposite sides of the Milan derby.

For several months, there has been speculation regarding the Ukrainian international’s return to the San Siro, but now Ramaccioni believes his return is imminent in the form of a season-long loan.  He recently stated,

A look at who were the winners and losers in the first week of the English Premier League.

Winners

Chelsea
Chelsea set down an early marker with a 4-0 demolition of Portsmouth. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Chelsea looked really good with Deco pulling the strings behind Anelka. The ease of the  victory will cause some sleepless nights at Anfield and Old Trafford.

Hull City
Hull have already tied Derby County for wins in the Premiership. The city of Hull is rocking and Hull fans should enjoy the feeing. It will be a long season for them!

A look at the first week of action in the English Premier League

Arsenal  v  West Brom: What a welcome to the Premier League for the Baggies. Arsenal at the Emirates in the sun on a prefect playing service. Scott Carson will be busy in this one as Arsenal romp to an easy win. - Buy Arsenal - West Bromwich Albion Tickets

Bolton  v  Stoke City. This will be an interesting meeting between two teams I expect to be around the relegation zone all season. Opening ties can throw up some upsets and I think that Stoke might be able to steal at point at the Reebok. - Buy Bolton Wanderers - Stoke City Tickets

Fourteen days to go until the opening of the English Premier Season. It promises to be an enthralling season Premiership going in 2008-2009. So far we have looked at the likely relegation battle candidates, at those teams who are destined to be middle of the table and the UEFA contenders.  Today we will look at the big four who will be competing for Premier and European glory this season.

With the transfer window still four week away the prospects for many teams will rise and fall on how is added or leaves between now and then. But with the current rosters, this is how I see the battle for the Premiership going in 2008-2009.

It has been another interesting pre-season at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea’s seemingly pursuit of almost every big name start in the world making daily headlines. Chelsea came so close to winning the treble last year that you would think that they only need to slightly tweak the existing team. But that is not the Abramovich way and Chelsea are once again tearing down and rebuilding for another campaign.

The BBC web site was reporting tonight that Chelsea have made a massive offer for Brazilian star Kaka. While the number was not disclosed, IO would assume it was a record big which would means more than 50 million pounds.

Chelsea have long been linked with a move for 26-year-old World Player of the Year and their boss is now ex-Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Galliani told Italian newspaper La Stampa: “We received an astronomical offer from Chelsea for Kaka.” AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani told Italian newspaper La Stampa: “We received an astronomical offer from Chelsea for Kaka.”

You would think that Michael Ballack has it all. He has fame and fortune, is captain of his country and was selected in FIFA’s 100 Greatest Living Players. But a closer look at his CV bears a very strong resemblance to that of the Buffalo Bills. Maybe Ballack’s nickname should be the nearly man.

2008 was a bad year for Ballack. His Chelsea team lost in the Carling Cup final to Tottenham Hotspur, was beaten by Manchester United to the Barclays Premier League title and in the Champions League final. And to top it all off, his Germany side was beaten by Spain in the European Championship final. What a year.