EPL: Five Youngsters To Watch This Season

1) Fran Merida (Arsenal)

Picking just one young Gunner to have a breakout season is hard, what with the incredible wealth of talent Arsene Wenger seems to have waiting in the wings.

Carlos Vela, the Mexican forward, looks likely to make an impressive impact at the Emirates Stadium after a successful loan period in Spain, but many fans are already aware of his ability.

The likes of Denilson and Armand Traore should also be well known to Gunners fans, and will look to build on promising starts to their careers. One man who might still be under the radar though, is Fran Merida.

A young Spanish midfielder with great technical ability—the similarities with a certain Cesc Fabregas are striking. There are further parallels too—Merida also left Barcelona at a young age to join the Arsenal revolution.

Capable of playing in the middle, but more comfortable roaming on the left, Merida should get chances to impress in the Arsenal first team this season, in place of the departing Alexander Hleb.

On the back of a successful loan period last season at Real Sociedad, where he weighed in with many impressive performances, the 18-year-old looks ready for more first team action than simply the Carling Cup.

Described as “an absolutely amazing talent” by Arsene Wenger, it looks like the Arsenal manager will not think twice about blooding his young prodigy.

Arsenal’s big summer signing so far, Samir Nasri, will no doubt have a great future in North London. However, as he settles into the club, expect Merida to initially share the playing time to take the weight of the Frenchman’s shoulders. No doubt the Spaniard will take full advantage.

2) Damien Plessis (Liverpool)

Let’s not beat around the bush here; Plessis has the potential to dominate the Liverpool midfield for years to come. Playing in the same position as Javier Mascherano, the chance to learn from arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world will only help the cultured 20-year-old.

After a surprise debut in the Premiership at the Emirates against Arsenal, Plessis alerted the world to his talent. A product of the Olympique Lyonnais youth academy, the Frenchman looked composed on the ball and competent in the tackle against some of the best midfielders in the world.

Plessis’ real advantage is his height, at 6-feet-4 he is far taller than many in his position—and this added aerial threat makes him valuable at set-pieces, both defending and attacking.

Currently behind Mascherano and Lucas Leiva in the Liverpool pecking order, expect Plessis to appear frequently at Anfield this season. With the ability to make himself time on the ball and a good passing range, he can be employed further forward than his positional rivals, perhaps helping him get the nod if some of the more attacking midfielders get injured.

Whatever the case, Rafa Benitez seems to have high hopes for the youngster. Perhaps this season Plessis will show us all why.

3) Maynor Figueroa (Wigan Athletic)

At 25-years-old, calling Maynor Figueroa ‘young’ may be pushing things slightly. But regardless, he deserves a place on this list as he looks certain to have a great season.

A tall, powerful left back, Figueroa is another great Honduran player Steve Bruce has seemingly managed to pluck from obscurity. Wilson Palacios, the first Honduran to arrive at the JJB, has proven himself to be high-class combative midfielder—Figueroa could go on to demonstrate he is of similar quality.

Figueroa is known in his homeland for his powerful left boot, and his attacking inclinations were demonstrated in his full debut—the final game of last season against Manchester United.

Despite the illustrious opponents, Figueroa roamed the left touchline and created many headaches for a title winning defence. While his defending still needs some work, he dealt with Cristiano Ronaldo far more effectively than many others did last season.

With 53 international caps for Honduras, Figueroa has international pedigree. With expert guidance from Steve Bruce (a none too shabby defender himself), this season he could prove he has Premiership pedigree too.

4) Curtis Davies (Aston Villa)

Most football fans are aware of Curtis Davies by now. The former pub player (in his mind at least) was often in the headlines last season for all the wrong reasons—with poor performance and injury curtailing his season.

Having finalised an £8 million move from West Brom in the summer, Davies is looking to kick-start his Villa career. Recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon is the first item on the agenda.

Once back to full fitness, Davies should form a productive partnership with Martin Laursen in the heart of the Villa defence. While Laursen’s advantage is his aerial ability, Davies is great on the deck—comfortable in the tackle and on the ball.

While positionally he still needs work, the 23-year-old’s athleticism helps get him out of tricky situations.

Davies has been regarded as an outstanding prospect ever since he first broke into the Luton Town team. Settled in and fully fit, Davies should finally deliver on his promise and even force his way into Fabio Capello’s England squad.

5) Daniel Sturridge (Manchester City)

Manchester City’s youth coaches must be working overtime. The likes of Kelvin Etuhu, Nedum Onuoha, Michael Johnson, and Micah Richards are testament to the fine work the academy at Eastlands is doing.

But it is another young product that fans should be looking out for this season. Daniel Sturridge, nephew of former Derby County striker Dean Sturridge, has long been talked about as the next great hope of the blue half of Manchester.

A clinical finisher who also has an eye for the spectacular, the 18-year-old is believed to be destined for great things.

A talisman for England at many youth levels, Sturridge broke into the first team at the City of Manchester Stadium last season. Having already scored in both the Premiership and FA Cup, he has already got a thirst for goals.

The real advantage for Sturridge this season looks to be the appointment of Mark Hughes. Whilst at Blackburn, Hughes never backed away from giving youngsters a chance—so the likes of Matt Derbyshire managed to make many first-team appearances, despite the likes of Santa Cruz and McCarthy in the squad.

While the arrival of Brazilian Jo (and possibly Ronaldinho?) has pushed Sturridge down the pecking order, don’t be surprised if the determined goal-getter gets more than a few Premiership appearances this term—and more than a few goals.

A Few More to Consider:

Danny Guthrie (Newcastle) — Expect the hard working midfielder to fit in perfectly to a side that desperately needs his grit.

Gary Cahill (Bolton) — Always alert, expect the former Villa man to show why Megson was willing to pay £5m for his services.

Adam Johnson (Middlesbrough) — Another on the endless production line of Teeside talent, Johnson has the potential to be a right-sided Stuart Downing.

Jack Rodwell (Everton) — If he can break into a talented Everton defence, Rodwell should deliver on the potential he has shown at youth level.

What Husbands Need To Know?

A women was walking down the street. Without warning, she was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked her for a couple of dollars for dinner.

The woman took out her bill fold, extracted ten dollars and asked, “If I give you this money, will you buy some wine with it instead of dinner?”

“No, I had to stop drinking years ago” the homeless woman replied.

“Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?” the woman asked.

“No, I don’t waste time shopping, the homeless woman said. “I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.”

“Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?” the woman asked.

“Are you NUTS!” replied the homeless woman. “I haven’t had my hair done In 20 years!”

“Well,” said the woman, “I’m not going to give you the money. Instead, I’m going to take you out for dinner with my hubby and myself tonight.”

The homeless woman was astounded. “Won’t your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I’m dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.”

The woman replied, “That’s okay. It’s important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.”

UEFA Euro 2008

Strength of potential winner

Portugal has a wealth of talented midfielders. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma possess world-class speed and scoring ability, (as do Nani and Simao Sabrosa), while Armando Petit and Joao Moutinho provide the grit, power and strength.been known to employ a 4-3-3, a 5-4-1 and a 3-4-3, depending on the situation and the players available. This level of tactical flexibility means Portugal is not tied to one system, giving the team a decided advantage over their opponents.

Spain has a pair of world-class strikers in Fernando Torres and David Villa. They are supported by a crop of attacking and creative midfielders: Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. All of them bring something different to the table, complementing each other beautifully and making Spain's attack more complete.

It used to be that the Netherlands was consumed with playing beautiful soccer (Total Football, as the Dutch called it) even at the expense of winning games. But in the past two years, coach Marco van Basten has instilled his players with a "win by any means" mentality. As a result, the Dutch are no longer slaves to playing beautiful soccer, and are focused on playing winning soccer

With the exception of the goalkeeping position, Italy has great depth. The Italians have plenty of quality players in its attack, as they can call upon forwards the calibre of Luca Toni, Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella, Marco Borriello and Alessandro Del Piero. The midfield is full of world-class talent, most notably Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso, Simone Perrotta and Mauro Camoranesi.

My Predictions: 1) Portugal, 2) Spain, 3) Holland, 4) Italy

List of Past Champions

Germany (1972, 1980, 1996)
France (1984, 2000)
Russia (1960)

Czech Republic (1976)
Italy (1968)
Spain (1964)
Holland (1988)
Denmark (1992)
Greece (2004)

Who Will Be The Next Champions of Europe!!!

*kindly vote for the team you think will be the next champions

Brain teasers

If you take a look at the following picture, let me tell you...it is not animated. Your eyes are making it move. To test this, stare at ne spot for a couple of seconds and everything will stop moving. Or look at the black center of each circle and it will stop moving. But move your eyes to the next black center the previous will move after you take your eyes away from it....Weird

Brain Teasers

Question

Three friends check into a motel for the night and the clerk tells them the bill is $30, payable in advance. So, they each pay the clerk $10 and go to their room. A few minutes later, the clerk realizes he has made an error and overcharged the trio by $5. He asks the bellhop to return $5 to the 3 friends who had just checked in. The bellhop sees this as an opportunity to make $2 as he reasons that the three friends would have a tough time dividing $5 evenly among them; so he decides to tell them that the clerk made a mistake of only $3, giving a dollar back to each of the friends. He pockets the leftover $2 and goes home for the day! Now, each of the three friends gets a dollar back, thus they each paid $9 for the room which is a total of $27 for the night. We know the bellhop pocketed $2 and adding that to the $27, you get $29, not $30 which was originally spent. Where did the other dollar go????

Answer

The facts in this riddle are clear: There is an initial $30 charge. It should have been $25, so $5 must be returned and accounted for. $3 is given to the 3 friends, $2 is kept by the bellhop - there you have the $5. The trick to this riddle is that the addition and subtraction are done at the wrong times to misdirect your thinking - and quite successfully for most. Each of the 3 friends did indeed pay $9, not $10, and as far as the friends are concerned, they paid $27 for the night. But we know that the clerk will tell us that they were charged only $25 and when you add the $3 returned with the $2 kept by the bellhop, you come up with $30.

Arsenal - Football's Beautiful Creation

Throughout the recent years, Arsenal FC has left soccer fans across the globe mesmerized. The free-flowing, almost choreographed precision the Gunners posses is something to be appreciated.

As a football fan, this team is certainly something special to watch.This year, they didn’t come home with any shiny silver dishes. They did, however, play with brilliance and beauty just as their predecessors did. I think that’s good enough. According to Arsene Wenger, the average age for his ‘usual’ starting 11 this year was 22.3. That’s an extremely young team. Jens Lehmann, who recently made his exit from Arsenal, reportedly thinks too young.

Rest assured, the likes of Rob Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, and Theo Walcott will have their names among the English record books soon enough.

That in no way means there isn’t anything to gain from this so called “disappointing season”.The dauntingly talented Gunners will have to concentrate on focusing the experience and football knowledge they gained from the season into a more consistent style of football. That’s all. I fully expect Arsenal to bounce back and prove to all of us that they really can mesh their talents into one unstoppable force.

Brain teasers

A few nice brain teasers.

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wo nderful dinner together. How can this be?

3. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

ANSWERS:

1. The third. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead.

2. The woman is a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.

3. Sure you can: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow!