宮市亮 足首捻挫

昨日（１１月７日　月曜）　宮市はアーセナル　トレーニングセンター　での対フルハムのリザーブ戦前半３４分で足首を捻挫。

これで２度目の左足首捻挫の宮市。前回は内側の捻挫で今回は外側。
今後２−３日の様子にもよるが、２−３週間で復帰と予想される。

マッチレポートはこちらで：Arsenal official website.

Miyaichi injured for Arsenal reserves

Arsenal reserves recorded a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Fulham but the victory came at some cost.  Ryo Miyaichi, their 18 year old Japanese winger, lasted 34 minutes before an ankle injury forced him off.  Goals from Oghuzan Ozyakup and Sanchez Watt were enough to defeat a spirited Fulham, but it is the injury to Miyaichi that will be of most concern to Arsene Wenger.

Miyaichi had to go off after Fulham’s Rafik Halliche stood on his left ankle.  He had hurt the same ankle earlier in the season, although this time the injury is to the outside of the joint.  He will have further tests later this week but is expected to be out for at least three weeks.

After being granted a work permit this summer Miyaichi had been beginning to make an impact at Arsenal.  A 20 minute substitute appearance in the Carling Cup against Bolton had the Emirates crowd singing his name.  Robin van Persie and Carl Jenkinson are just some of the players to have been impressed with his attitude and aptitude in training.  Arsene Wenger had told Miyaichi that he would be pushing for Premier League game time by Christmas.  This latest injury will hopefully not delay his debut too long.

These pictures are from Arsenal’s official website.  A report of the game and more pictures can be seen here.

アーセナルファンへ愛を込めて…

アーセナルがクリスマスギフト製産工場を設けた！？
クリスマスシーズンに向けて、アーセナルグッズのプロモーションCMだ。
選手がギフトを工場で”テストする”設定。
宮市亮、アンドレイ　アルシャヴィン, トーマス・フェルメーレン, トマーシュ・ロシツキーにキーラン　ギブスといった現在大活躍中の豪華メンバーがクリスマスを盛り上げるかのように揃って出演。
クラブ英雄のチャーリー　ジョージはクリスマスキャロルのScroogeに成り済まし、ベルトコンベアーにのった小人のギフトを盗んで行くといったオチまでついた贅沢なCM。

そんな中、宮市亮は２度も姿を現す…一度目はベルトコンベアーに乗って何故かシリアルを食べるお茶目な亮の姿が…。
二度目は腕時計の試着。その姿はまるで、プレミアリーグへのデビューを秒読みしているかのようにも見える。

Brek Shea: Artist – YouTube

Brek Shea: Artist – YouTube:

USA midfielder Brek Shea is to train with Arsenal in the coming weeks.  FC Dallas, Shea’s current club,  are keen to emphasise that the 21 year old is not on trial in England.  His time in London will be purely one of education and physical preparation.  Shea has made rapid progress this season and is seen by many as the brightest young talent in the MLS.  At 6’3″ Shea is a physically imposing midfield player.  Raised as a defender but now more notable for attacking play he is a post modern player, his stature belittling considerable technical subtlety. 

Shea also paints an interesting figure off the pitch.  Away from football his great love is art.  Shea’s paintings have sold successfully across the US – he is a young man of many talents.  He has almost outgrown the MLS, it will surely not be long before he is painting footballing pictures on foreign fields.

Brek Shea footballing artist

Brek Shea scores a rocket shot against FC Toronto

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My True Love – Arsenal Christmas

It is a story of true love for Arsenal this festive season as they launch their Christmas Gift Testing Facility. The club have enlisted the help of several current players including Ryo Miyaichi, Andrey Arshavin, Thomas Vermalen, Tomas Rosicky and Kieran Gibbs to spread festive cheer. The players perform the role of gift testers on all manner of Arsenal branded goods at the high tech facility. Club legend Charlie George, representing the ghost of Christmas past, makes a Scrooge like appearance, snaffling a garden gnome from a conveyor belt of branded gifts.

Ryo Miyaichi makes two appearances, first eating a bowl of cereal and secondly testing a watch. Presumably counting down the seconds until he makes his Premier League debut.

Would Rooney flourish in centre midfield? Wayne Rooney takes centre stage as Manchester United defeat Otelul Galati 2-0 in Champions League – Telegraph

Wayne Rooney takes centre stage as Manchester United defeat Otelul Galati 2-0 in Champions League – Telegraph:

There is one very obvious reason Wayne Rooney would make a successful centre midfielder and it goes by the name of Paul Scholes.

Scholes retired this season to cacophonous sounds of appreciation from football’s great and good.

Zidane, Xavi, Davids, Lippi, all were in agreement, Scholes was one of the best midfielders of this or any generation.

There are stylistic similarities in the way Scholes and Rooney play, a panoramic understanding of the dimensions and angles on the pitch, comfort in playing short and long, thunderous and accurate shooting, even the way they kick the ball can be said to be not dissimilar. They receive the ball better than any other English player, never static, always on the move.

Where they differ is the pace and speed that they bring to their teams. Scholes was all about quick release, making the ball do the work – simple space finding movement, and the correct pass. Rooney seeks, although he knows when he shouldn’t, to carry the ball himself before passing or shooting. 

Rooeny has shown himself adept at just about every modern forward positional permutation – wide left, wide right, the hole, the line leader, the poacher, the target man. His primary faculties though suggest he could flourish in centre midfield. A prophetic reading of the flow of a game, passing of range and accuracy, boundless stamina, and a physicality to withstand the rough and tumble that make the Premier League more tragicomedy than romance. He carries the ball like no Englishman has done since the days Paul Gascoigne was in his pre-knee knack pomp.

A lack of discipline and volcanic temper are often used to berate Rooney. He has made high profile on pitch mistakes resulting in expulsion and suspension, in this he is not alone. Scholes protested into retirement that he was a good, but occasionally retributive, tackler – 90 yellow cards made him the third most cautioned player behind Lee Bowyer and Kevin Davies. Gascoigne’s painful misdeeds are well documented. Would Rooney explode and then implode tasked with the role of midfield conductor?

The answer is one of psyche. Sir Alex Ferguson has successfully exploited Rooney’s flexibility, squashing him into some fairly odd shaped tactical holes, with generally brilliant results. The most legitimate murmurs of discontent have come after his less successful England outings. For England Rooney is more of a supernova whereas at United he is a bright star in a constellation.  This expectation seems to be a psychological burden.  Ferguson is adept at counseling his players, in a way that few recent England managers are.

Tactical innovation is another aspect that Ferguson is not credited with often enough. The courage to chance a new formation or a player’s position have long set him apart in the English game.  Although impressed with Rooney’s midfield performance against Galati, Ferguson has said that still sees Rooney’s long term position being upfront.  Paul Scholes began his United career as a striker – he was slowly called back from the front line until he ended his career as a deep lying playmaker siting infront of the United defence.  That was one realignment that worked spectacularly well for Manchester United, tragically England never got to reap similar reward.

It was Paul Scholes destiny to have been England’s artist in residence, their central conductor, the Anglo-Xavi.  Sadly he spent most of his international career garrisoned on the left wing, as the stronger personalities and tactical demands of first David Beckham and later Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard occupied the thinking of his longest serving international coach.  Scholes twinkled intermittently, but his star shone all too briefly for England. Glenn Hoddle and then Kevin Keegan recognised his quality and gave it license. The long and tedious reign of Sven Goran Eriksson, who implored the England press and public to save Rooney, killed Scholes the international.

After a pulsating teenaged start under Eriksson, Rooney’s national team performances reached a painful nadir in the South Africa World Cup. The stifling grip of Fabio Capello and caustic happenings in his private life saw Rooney, and the England team around him, plumb new depths of ineptitude. Could he find redemption leading England to victory from the centre of the Maracana in the 2014 World Cup Final? England need midfield players who can keep the ball.  And Rooney certainly.   It will take a brave manager to take such a gamble.  No one gambled on Scholes and everyone lost.

Possible England team for the 2014 World Cup:

Hart; Clyne, Jones, Smalling, A Cole; Wilshire, Cleverly, Rooney; Sturridge, Wellbeck, Caroll.

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/5643395/”>Should Wayne Rooney play in centre midfield?</a>

The best restaurants in the world

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2012 SPORT LEGACY ACCESS FOR ALL – e-petitions

2012 SPORT LEGACY ACCESS FOR ALL – e-petitions:

Please sign this petition and help promote youth sport in the UK, leave a positive legacy from the Olympics and build a more accessible Britain.

“

2012 SPORT LEGACY ACCESS FOR ALL

Responsible department: Department for Culture, Media and Sport

This summer the Youth Charter launched its 2012 Games Legacy Manifesto. The Department of Culture, Media & Sport currently has a policy of free access to museums, but not sports, recreation and leisure facilities. One of the Youth Charter’s key recommendations is the free access to these facilities also for young people. The “2012 Sport Legacy Access for All” e-petition would seek to have the social and cultural benefits of this petition debated with the aim of seeing a real and sustainable legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to all young people in the UK. The e-petition aims to provide a response to the current debate on lessons that can be learned following the large number of ‘recreational rioters’ who participated in this summer’s disturbances. The “2012 Sport Legacy Access for All” is about giving young people somewhere to go, something to do and someone to show them.“

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Serge Gnabry – The story so far

Serge Gnabry – The story so far:
(Fascinating round up one of Arsenal’s bright young things).

Serge Gnabry is only 16 but already looks a player of the richest promise. He marked his Under 18 debut for Arsenal with a fantastic goal against Crystal Palace. If his development continues at the rate it has the next twelve months could see him pushing for a Carling Cup place next season – at the very least.

See his goal against and the rest of the action from Crystal Palace U18 2 Arsenal U18 2 here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xlbygq
arsecrysyouth22 by arsenalist

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Received Pronunciation: How To Pronounce Miyaichi

As the Premier League becomes increasingly globalised football commentators have had to expand their vocabulary.  Cliche and stereotype still remain but these sheep skinned dinosaurs have made an effort to move with the times.  Where once any team East of Vienna would have been described as a “crack outfit” there is now a greater cultural sensitivity.

Appreciation of tactics and formations has also increased.  John Motson might have difficulty telling black players apart but he can spot the difference between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-2-1-3 a mile off.

The biggest stumbling block facing a commentator though remains one of pronunciation.  An examination of Everton’s bench against Manchester City presents several potential tongue twisters:

Mucha, Heitinga, Bilyaletdinov, Drenthe, Saha, Stracqualursi, Vellios on paper look a formidable proposition for the even the most xenophobic paid annunciatior, but with a little research and a deep breath Czech, Dutch, Russian, Argentine and Greek names present little problem.

It is when the name in question comes from outside the bounds of European colonialism that even the most forward looking commentator falls down.

A case in point Arsenal’s Ryo Miyaichi.  He is a relatively new kid on the block having only made his competitive debut for the club on September 20th, but already his name is being mispronounced with frequency.

This video of this of his first appearance against Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup illustrates the mistake perfectly.

Miyaichi should be prounced:  Mi-ya-i-chi.

Mi – as in me.

Ya – as in a posh person saying yeah or year “Yah.”

I – as in “e” the fifth letter of the alphabet.

Chi – as in the life force of the universe.
 
Miyaichi should not be pronounced Mi-yat-chi, as seems to be the consensus at present.  It is the early stages of Miyaichi’s career in England but the butchered version of his name might already be here to stay.

This may well be a superflous problem though as Miyaichi, if the name on the back of his shirt is an accurate indicator, looks set to go by his first name Ryo.  Spoken in Japan though this sounds very different to its European intonation.   Fans of Feyenoord, where Miyaichi was on loan from Arsenal for the second hald of last season, were so impressed by his home debut against Heracles that they gave him a standing ovation.  As he came shyly to acknowledge them they began to chant; “Rio, Rio, Rio.”  In Japanese the name sounds more like Ryou*.  The name has stuck though and Ryo seems happy with it.  Win-win. 

Japanese is a very closed language.  It readily absorbs foreign words, even having a separate alphabet for them, but it does so on its own terms – pronouncing them within the terms of its own limited syllabary.  This is by no means unusual, commentators in England still find Asian names a great obstacle.

If Miyaichi can play his way into the Arsenal team he might do more than win matches.  He might also break down some of the linguistic barriers between his homeland and country of residence.  And continue the education of British football commentators.

* Ryou – like Lee-oar, but said quickly.