Jordon Ibe: Yet To Make His Mind Up For Nigeria

When on his appointment as Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh declared that only players playing in the top divisions in Europe would henceforth be eligible to play for the senior national team, some of us knew it was a fallacy, considering that the number of Nigerian players plying their trade in top flight European leagues could be counted on our finger tips. Good a thing, the chief coach had since rescinded his decision.


One of the players on the mind of the man the Nigeria Football Federation boss, Amaju Pinnick, described as Nigeria’s version of ‘Pep Guardiola’, to prosecute his Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers campaign is Liverpool winger, Jordon Ibe and he had since gone to Anfield in an attempt to convince the Reds winger. However, the England U-21 star wants up till next year to make up his mind. Kunle Adewale in this report asks if Ibe would not be another John Fashanu, whom after an initial green light showed that he would don the green-white-green of Nigeria opted to play for the Three Lions at the end of the day. That England eventually dumped him and Fash regretted his move is another argument entirely

Rumble at the Etihad as City, Chelsea Go for Broke

The Barclays Premier League kicked off last weekend with lots of astonishing results, with the top two London clubs -Chelsea and Arsenal surprising drawing and losing respectively at home. The battle for supremacy continues this weekend with many juicy fixtures and undoubtedly, the most scintillating would be the clash between defending champions and last season’s runners-up, Manchester City at the Emirate Stadium on Sunday.

The Citizens kick-started the season on a very inspiring note, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns. With Yaya Toure now back to the form he left two seasons ago, the Blues are definitely in for a tough time in their visit to the Eithad. Another interesting angle to the encounter is the animosity between the two managers, Manuel Pellegini and Jose Mourinho. Whichever way the tide turns, it is an encounter for the neutrals to enjoy


Manchester City’s Super Sunday showdown with reigning champions Chelsea is an early opportunity for Manuel Pellegrini to strike the first blow in the title race. City lagged eight points behind Chelsea as Jose Mourinho’s side eased to the title last season, but Sunday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium gives them the opportunity to open up an early five-point advantage.


"We can't go into the game thinking it's about winning the league but it will matter. We need to put in a great performance. I don’t think we’ll be looking at points too much but we want to beat them. It will be a good game. it's a big game so early on,” said City captain Vincent Kompany.


If City are to close last season’s gap on Chelsea this year, taking points off them directly would be a good way to start. After all, the difference between the Premier League winners and runners-up has been four points or less in five of the last 10 years.


Taking points off Mourinho’s Chelsea, however, is easier said than done. The Portuguese is the master of grinding out results, and his record against Chelsea’s title rivals since returning to the club two years ago is formidable.


He was unbeaten in 12 Premier League meetings against the rest of the top four since 2013. Against City last season there were 1-1 draws at the Etihad and Stamford Bridge, and in 2013/14 the Blues won both of their meetings with Pellegrini’s men.
Chelsea’s superior head-to-head record helped them clinch the title last season, but how do City’s results against the rest of the top four under Pellegrini compare?


Last season, City’s big-game struggles cost them dearly. While Chelsea won two and drew four of their six games against City, Arsenal and Manchester United, City only won once, drawing three times and losing twice. That record left them bottom of the head-to-head rankings, and it is certainly an area of improvement for Pellegrini.


Indeed, even when City did win the title in 2013/14, they only took seven points against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, nine fewer than Mourinho’s men. It was only thanks to Chelsea’s repeated slip-ups against lesser teams that City were able to make up the difference.
City did fare better back in 2012/13, taking 11 points from a possible 18, and victory over Chelsea on Sunday would give them an important head start in this fledgling campaign.

Jordon trying to outwith two opponents 

Chelsea’s failure to win the title in 2013/14 shows that winning the big games is not always decisive, but the stats indicate the perils of a poor record against your title rivals. In each of the last five Premier League seasons, the title-winning side has ranked at least second in the top four head-to-head rankings.


The title will not be won or lost at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, but recent history shows the importance of a good head-to-head record against your title rivals. The possibility is there for City or Chelsea to gain what could eventually prove to be a significant advantage.


However, the Premier League season might be only a week old but Raheem Sterling already feels a win for Manchester City against Chelsea is 'vital' as he prepares to face the champions. The £49million signing and his new teammates look to build on an impressive start to the campaign after their 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.


And while it's only early days yet, the visit of Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday will represent an opportunity for both sides to throw down a marker in the title race.


Chelsea and City held the top two spots in the table last season but Sterling predicts the fight for supremacy will be more unpredictable this time around.
'It's going to be a really tough season. Everyone has strengthened their squads and the Premier League is always hard to second guess,” Sterling said.


Sterling predicts the Portuguese coach's side will be hard to beat on a big-game occasion once again, although he is looking forward to the challenge having netted against Chelsea for Liverpool in their Capital One Cup semi-final clash last season.


“Chelsea are very strong in every department, from their defence and midfield to their attack. It should be a good game and I'm really looking forward to playing in this match. I've done alright against them in the past and, results-wise, I think it's been pretty even overall so far in the matches I've played in. But I'm hoping this one will go our way and it's vital that it does. We're on our own ground and with it being our first home game of the season; we want to get off on the right foot,” the 20-year-old said.


Despite missing an excellent chance to open his account for Pellegrini's side at the Hawthorns, Sterling impressed on his full debut in the face of loud boos from home supporters unimpressed with his efforts to engineer an exit from Anfield this summer.
In addition to the pressures of arriving at a new club for a huge fee, Sterling has imposed his own targets on himself for the season, and he intends to start moving towards them on Sunday.


“The only promise I will make is that I will try my best at all times. I will aim to create and score as many goals as I can for the team and work really hard every week. I've set myself targets for goals and assists and I know where I want to be but I don't really want to reveal what they are because I'll put myself under massive pressure - but I've got personal goals that I want to reach this season for City and hopefully I can meet them,” he added.


Meanwhile, opening day flops Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City go head –to-head at the White Hart Lane today. Spurs were the victim of an own goal loss to Manchester United, 0-1, during their opener last week as defender Kyle Walker accidentally bounced to ball to his own net after trying to guard Red Devils captain Wayne Rooney at the 22nd minute mark of their match in sunny Old Trafford.


Surprisingly, the Lilywhites were the more aggressive that day as Louis van Gaal's new acquisitions are still adapting to an league game. Still, the Manchester side escaped with a win as Tottenham failed to capitalize on their relentless attacks.


Interestingly, the Potters were also out of luck as they surrendered a 0-1 decision to Liverpool FC via a late winner by Brazilian winger Philippe Coutinho at the 86th minute. It was just an unfortunate break for Mark Hughes' men as they have kept their highly favoured opponents in check until the last four minutes of regulation time.


Both teams will be looking to come back from their opening day debacles, but Mauricio Pochettino's side is more determined and prepared besides being at home. The Spurs are also out to avenge their 1-2 loss the last time these two teams met on the same field in November of last year.


Meanwhile, former Liverpool and England defender, Jamie Carragher thinks that if Arsene Wenger's side is to be considered as serious title challengers this season, then they cannot afford to slip up again at Selhurst Park this weekend, saying however that the atmosphere at Palace over the last few seasons, ever since Tony Pulis did well with them, has made it a very difficult place for teams to go.


It is not the end of the world, Arsenal losing their first game, but they would not want to lose two out of two, and certainly not against teams we would not call giants of the Premier League in West Ham and Palace.


So it would be a really poor start for them if they did but they will be desperate to get three points on the board. But with players like Yohan Cabaye, Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie coming in, it is very difficult for teams to go there now.


Palace, over the last few years, have been built on energy within the team and from the crowd as well, which transmits itself to the players on the pitch in home games. And they have created that great atmosphere and made Selhurst Park a difficult place to go through high energy, enthusiasm, aggression, and making it difficult for teams.


But when you bring someone like Cabaye in, it just adds that extra bit of class that maybe was lacking at Palace. And I think that with the Premier League and the money involved, teams in the middle of the table can now go and buy players of this quality and add them to the team.


Credit to Alan Pardew, who had a relationship with him at Newcastle. There is no doubt he is a top-class player. And for Palace to get a player from PSG, just shows how far they have come and also the Premier League.


If Arsenal are entertaining any ideas of winning the league - which they should have, with the squad that they have got then you can probably only lose four or five games. Now if you lose two out of two, it puts you under massive pressure to go the next 36 games only losing two or three games, considering they still have all the big boys to play.
So it is a very important game for Arsenal, and it is vital they do not lose