Robben: Barcelona Wanted Me

Accodring to FourFourTwo reports, Arjen Robben claims that Barcelona wanted to sign him while Robben was at Real Madrid. Other clubs including Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Fenerbache were all interested at the time. Robben had this to say, " That's all history now. Im very that I'm a Bayern Munich player now. I'm looking forward to a successful season in Germany." In league play, Robben made 50 appearances for Madrid, and scored 11 goals.

Carroll Leaving Newcastle?

Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll has been linked to moves with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bolton in the past couple of days. Apparently, Carroll wants to play in the Premiership as soon as possible. If Carroll leaves, then this could really hurt Newcastle because Shola Ameobi, Newcastle's star striker broke his foot the other week in a league cup game. In my opinion, this move would hurt Carroll's career. I don't think that he is good enough to play in the Premiership yet. I realize that he scored a couple of goals for Newcastle last season when they were battling relegation, but the only reason that he played was that Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen wanted to leave the club.

Modric Out With Broken Leg

Luka Modric has broken his leg. This happened during Tottenham's game against Birmingham this past Saturday. X-rays show that Modric has fractured his fibula. Tottenham have not released a statement about how long Modric will be sidelined, but they assume it will probably be a couple of months without there star midfielder.

EPL Review

To start off, I would like to apologize for the recent lack of posts as I was on vacation in the south of France. Speaking of the French, Arsene Wenger was sent off today in the clash between Manchester United and the Gunners. Wenger was upset that Robin van Persie's stoppage time goal was dis-allowed. In my opinion, he made an absolute fool of himself by standing there watching the remainder of the game. Anyway, the results this season have shown that this season could be very unpredicting. Chelsea and Tottenham are tied atop the table, Chelsea leading by goal difference.

Didier Drogba... Is this His Season?

Didier Drogba has scored three goals in four games for the blues this season, who look very strong. A big question at Stamford Bridge this year is if Chelsea have the depth to win the title. Drogba and Anelka look strong at the front, combining for four goals in four games. The midfield is always strong with Lampard, Malouda, Ballack, Deco, Mikel, and others. But the big question this year is the defense. It has proved to be solid so far this year, only aloowig two goals in four games, but can they hold together?

Surprise Contender in Top 10

The surprise team who will finish in the top 10 this year is Sunderland. Even though thay lost 1-0 to Stoke today, they still look like a strong team. I'm not saying that Sunderland is going to make Europe, but they won't be struggling to survive in this league. With a strike force of Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones, and a midfield which includes Lee Cattermole, Steed Malbranque, and Kieran Richardson, Sunderland could be in business.

Surprise Relegation Contender

Fulham has a good chance of going down this year. Although they finished mid- table last year, I don't think they have a strong enough midfield. I like Fulham's team, but I just don;t think it will be a good year for them.

Week 1 Predictions

With the Barclays Premier League season only 11 days away, I decided to make my predictions for the first round of fixtures. Home teams listed first.

Chelsea 2-1 Hull

Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan

Blackburn 1-3 Manchester City

Bolton 2-2 Sunderland

Portsmouth 1-2 Fulham

Stoke City 1-2 Burnley

Wolves 1-2 West Ham

Everton 1-1 Arsenal

Manchester United 2-0 Birmingham

Tottenham 1-3 Liverpool

Fantasy Invite

Everybody who would like to play fantasy football is invited to join my league. First, go to Premier League and look in the upper right corner. Register your team,and then pick your players. After that, on the right side of the page you will see a section called Leagues. Click on that, and then enter the code 59755-33369 to join my league. I hope all you readers join. Let the race for 2nd place begin!!!!

Xabi Alonso Continues Madrid's Spending

Xabi Alonso is the newest player to arrive during Real Madrid's summer of spending an astonishing 220 million pounds. Madrid gave the Reds 27 million pounds, and will give a maximum of another 3 million pounds depending on the success of Alonso in his first two years at the club. Alonso signed a 4 year deal with the spanish giants, who have already bought Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, probably two of the top three players in the world the other being Lionel Messi, who plays for Barcelona. Liverpool manager Rafa Benitex plans to replace Alonso with Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani. Rafa would also like to buy Wigan's Lee Cattermole. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had this to say about Liverpool's upcoming season, "Liverpool have just had their best season for years, finished up with 86 points and still finished four adrift. It will be hard for them to match that,let alone improve. Other teams will read the better." During Alonso's five year spell at Liverpool, he scored 19 goals.