Monday, April 24, 2006

Gerrard and Rooney claim PFA Awards

Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have both been rewarded for their impresive season's by both been rewarded the PFA Player of the year and PFA Young Player of the year award respectivly. Gerrard faced tough competition from trio of Chelsea stars - John Terry, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard - as well as Thierry Henry and Young Player of the year Wayne Rooney. Gerrard has had an impresive season so far by leading his Liverpool side to the FA Cup final and some extrodinarly great performances.

Gerrard expressed his shock at taking the prize, emphasising the depth of talent in the six-man shortlist. "I am still in shock to be honest," said Gerrard. "If you look at the shortlist, there are five other guys who have so much talent. They are all special players. "And then there are also the guys who have not made the shortlist - there are so many players who could have won this award. "I looked at the list of past winners and there are some fantastic names on there - some legends, so I am really proud to have joined them, it is really special."

Gerrard also expressed his delight at landing the award so soon after the FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea. "It has been one of the best weekends of my life," Gerrard added. "To go through to another FA Cup final and win this special award is fantastic for me."

Rooney has been given the award for his impresive displays for Manchester United and for netting sixteen goals already this season. Rooney has inspired Manchester United's late charge up the table, with the recent display against Arsenal one of his highlights, but has been the model of consistency throughout their campaign. He has also starred for England, and has been tipped to take this summer's World Cup by storm.

The other nominees were Rooney's Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, Charlton's Darren Bent, Aaron Lennon of Tottenham and Anton Ferdinand of West Ham, and the England star revealed his delight at retaining the prize. "To win it twice on the run is a great honour and I am delighted with the award," said Rooney. "As a team, we have done a bit better than last year, so it is an improvement. "Hopefully we can continue that and I will be sitting here again next season."

Rooney also revealed that he had plumped for Spanish midfielder Fabregas, as well as his Arsenal colleague Thierry Henry in the senior award. "I voted for Fabregas, but it was close between him and Darren Bent, who has been brilliant with all the goals he has scored for Charlton," Rooney added. "But Fabregas has done really well for Arsenal - especially in the Champions League". "I also voted for Thierry Henry, for the goals he has scored and the overall performance - the main thing is that he was doing it all in the Champions League as well."

I think that both rewards are just reward for two fine players who have performed to their very best this season. Both of these players have been role models for alot of young people through out the world and I think that they have acted as great role models all through out the season.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Pires To Spain?


Robert Pires has reportadly been offered a two year contract offer by Spanish Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal who incidently against Pires' current side Arsenal in the tie. The Frenchman is looking for a two-year deal from The Gunners to continue in North London but has so far been frustrated with boss Arsene Wenger sticking to his policy of offering his over-30s one-year extensions.

Reports in Spain have suggested for some time that Villarreal have all but secured Pires for next season and the 32-year-old has now admitted he has an offer on the table. However, the Frenchman insists he will not open talks with the Spanish outfit before their Champions League semi-final has been decided with the North Londoners assuming a 1-0 first-leg lead on Wednesday night.

"Villarreal want me for the next two seasons," Pires told AS. "The most important thing at the moment is for me to help Arsenal get into the final. After that if I have to talk to the people from Villarreal I will. "They are a great team and I like Spain and the Spanish league." Pires has been at Arsenal for six seasons having joined from Marseille in 2000.

I believe that this would be a good move for Pires because he has certainly not been playing as much games as he would like so far this season. I think he is under-performing when he has got the chance at Arsenal this season. I don't believe Arsenal really need him any more and he has been a good servant to the club that they should let him go to Spain.