Man United's depth: you get what you pay for

A team that only last season was a twinkling in Sir Alex Ferguson's eye dismantled former rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday. Both sides fielded below-strength sides as the Gunners reeled after losing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas to continental rivals while United suffered from injuries to world class defenders Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Rafael.
This brings us to ask - where would

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AFL Finals predictions

by Matthew Wood and Ben Roberts Collingwood - undoubted number 1 chance for the premiership. Thomas missing the first week will not hurt them that much.

Matt's take:  The most fancied side to repeat since the Lions' against the Pies in 2002.  There's not a single weakness in their squad and, crucially, they have depth in their lower list - a "foot soldier" can be adequately replaced, rather than

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Was Luka Modric right to ask not to play?

The Guardian reported after Sunday's match against Manchester City that Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric asked manager Harry Redknapp not to play. Allegedly, the Croatian said his "head was not right", echoing Redknapp's own words on the player from only a week before.

 That Spurs were defeated 5-1 at home (by a rampant City) is relevant, no matter how much players like Benoit Assou-Ekotto

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Cricket Australia: Sitting on the Fence

"The time is coming where you have to choose between what is easy, and what is right"Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
It didn't take a rocket scientist - or a banking executive - to figure out that Australian cricket has both structural and talent issues. A 4-1 thumping in our last Ashes series, mediocre World Cup campaign and a captain with a positively Reiffel-esque

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Pitching it up: Galle International Stadium

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben Roberts

The three Test series begins in the south west of the island nation on a strip of land heading south into the Indian Ocean. Such location is described as being immensely picturesque however it was also immensely vulnerable on Boxing Day 2004 when the Tsunami devastated the area. The ground undertook a large reconstruction thanks to the large

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My Favourite Cricketer: Angus Fraser by James Marsh

In our continuing series "My Favourite Cricketer", Pavilion Opinions' James Marsh selects the bedrock of English bowling in the 1990s, hearkens back to a man cut from the very Bedser cloth - Angus Fraser.
Number one Test side, World T20 champions and recent winners of, well, an ODI series, these are salad days indeed for the England cricket team. Yet for a fan who lived through the 1990s the

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Samuel Eto'o moves to Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala

Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o has moved from Serie A's Inter Milan to Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala, bringing to an end a two-year Italian sojourn which saw him win the Chammpions' League for the third time.
He joins a team which since an ownership change early this year has made a number of audacious bid for stars, most notably for Brazilian starlet Neymar.


courtesy:

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The next step for Financial Fair Play

It is fact that the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" in European football grows evermore larger. Last season in the English Premier League proved this adroitly when Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure reportedly earned more per week than the entire Blackpool squad.
The same situation manifests itself in every league. Success breeds success: as results improve, sponsor and prize

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Mourinho's greatest failing a lack of discipline - but not from him

Jose Mourinho has many gifts. For organisation, for having team buy into a philosophy, for quick quips and irritation. It's perhaps fitting that a master of hyperbole has been pilloried by the more rampant sensationalists in the British media concerning his antics during and after the Spanish Supercup.


courtesy: topnews.in
As the four Clasicos in seventeen days last season proved, these

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Reaction to the Argus Report: Keep Calm and Carry On

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben Roberts
Hold your horses, keep a lid on it, do not get ahead of yourself, there is still a long way to go.
Yes Andrew Hilditch is now relieved of his duties as the chairman of selectors, Tim Nielson stood down and at the very least Greg Chappell has been chastised for inappropriately seeking to meddle in team matters. All three have a lot to answer for

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Giving it a red hot go

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben Roberts
ESPN.com recently ran a story about Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youklis, who they described as the definition of the 'blue collar athlete'. Youklis is a hitter not taken to niceties, he has a job to do every game and will give his all every time he steps up to the plate.1 Working hard to make the pitcher work even harder and get himself on base,

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My Favourite Cricketer: Adam Gilchrist by Will Atkins

Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are proud to present the best cricket writers and bloggers today as part of a series remembering "My Favourite Cricketer".  Today's favourite is the greatest 'keeper-batsman of all time, Adam Gilchrist, by Will Atkins of The Short Midwicket.
Not many cricketers are remembered for completely redefining the sport in which they play. Tiger Woods. Michael

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McGinnity and Petterd ask how far is too far

After young Eagle Patrick McGinnity's suspension and fine for allegedly threatening to "rape" Ricky Petterd's mother, it's perhaps time to examine how much we value winning and the extent to which we're prepared to go for victory.
To threaten sexual relations - especially rape - to someone's relatives is off limits and the AFL has made a statement by penalising the player alleged to have made the

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EPL: Where the goals come from

"Attacking midfielders" - eg. Samir Nasri or Adel Taarabt - categorized as forwards.Click image to enlarge.
The table above describes where each team relied upon for scoring in last season's English Premier League.  For example, league Champions Manchester United scored 73.08% of their goals through their forwards - a corps including league-high scorer Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and

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Balanced Sports on ManUtd Talk: A United Season Preview

Balanced Sports' Matthew Wood has the cover story on manutdtalk, one of the largest and most-trafficked Manchester United fan sites in the world.

A preview of the reigning titleholders' 2011-12 season, you can also view the article here.

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Book review: Blood, Sweat and Treason by Henry Olonga

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben Roberts.  This is a re-post from our affiliate book review blog Books with Balls, where we review books that guys tend to read.  Yup, no Danielle Steel.

If you were looking to pick up a book that is not the 'bog' standard ghosted autobiography of a sports person, then this is the read for you. That former Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga has been allowed to

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Survival of the fittest (wealthiest?)

Poetic - sometimes, if we're feeling really good. Evocative? Occasionally. Artistic - hardly. But as we mentioned on Wednesday, the graphic below is about as artistic as Balanced Sports get.


click graphic to enlarge
It plots the survival rates of teams promoted to the Premiership across the past decade and tells a stark tale. While Blackburn, Bolton and Fulham have survived - some

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My Favourite Cricketer: Ed Giddins by Nick Harrison

In Balanced Sports & World Cricket Watch's series "My Favourite Cricketer", Nick Harrison of Harris Sportsthoughts puts pen to paper to tell us about an unlikely addition to our Hall of Fame: England seamer Ed Giddins.
Ed Giddins first traipsed into my consciousness as he ambled back his station at fine leg at the County Ground in Northampton. Giddins was visiting with his Sussex team for a

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Socceroos balanced in defeating Wales

The Socceroos' upcoming World Cup campaign looks on firm ground. This morning's friendly against Wales showed the evident class of both sides' top players, but a workmanlike Australia were the superior team against a side whose Premier League pedigree belies it's FIFA ranking of 119.


courtesy: soccerwallpaper.mackafe.com
Up front, Tim Cahill and Scott McDonald (remember him?) pulled the

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Promoted teams' survival rates

(click photo to enlarge)
Key: Blue = Uninterrupted Premier League tenure; Red = In lower division; Grey = season yet to be played; Green = team in Premier League after relegation (and probable lineup changes).

The above chart maps the fortunes of all the teams promoted tot he English Premier League since 2001.  It shows the startling decrease over the past four years of promoted teams

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English Premier League Season Preview, part 2

Click here for part one of our Premier League season preview.
Newcastle: New beginnings, or same old same old?
More than any other club, the fortunes of Newcastle United depend on their summer signings: Sylvain Marveaux, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and this season's "like a new signing", Hatem Ben Arfa. The dressing room culture remains awful - as evidenced by Jose Enrique and Joey Barton's

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English Premier League Season Preview

If you want in-depth analysis, visit The Guardian. If it's startling stat-facts you're after, then it's OptaJoe you're looking for. Amusement? Try the Football Ramble. But here, after a summer in which an awful lot was made of ridiculously little, is Balanced Sports' Q & A preview to the English Premier League 2011-12.



courtesy: bleacherreport.com
Arsenal: Where's the love for Arsene

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The Ballpark Guide to Promoted teams' spending

When writing a piece for the Montreal Gazette concerning how much each promoted side had paid to assemble their roster, it was interesting to note the circumstances of each team. Queens Park Rangers, though ostensibly backed by the capacious pockets of Bernie Ecclestone and perhaps Lakshmi Mittal, have spent a miserly ₤1.25 million on striker D.J. Campbell while both Swansea City and Norwich

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My Favourite Cricketer: Glenn McGrath by Gary Naylor

In our continuing series "My Favourite Cricketer", SPIN Cricket and 99.94's Gary Naylor examines Glenn McGrath.
The more one looks at cricket, the less one sees. This strange, cooperative competition (played on a big field, between stumps set 22 yards apart; by eleven men on each team, but just two at a time; using ancient materials like wood and leather, and 21st century technology like

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The Cost of Promotion to the Premiership

In the wake of some silly spending by Sven-Goran Eriksson and Leicester City as well as pre-season predictions of doom for the three English Premiership newcomers this season, it's worth taking the time to examine just how much it costs to contend in England's top division.
To do so, we can evaluate how much it costs to buy players needed to finish in the Championship's automatic promotion

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A short history of Australian cricket in Sri Lanka: a tale of two spinners

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben RobertsFor Part One, click here.
The Australian side did not return until 1992 for test match cricket. This time the series consisted of three matches between the sides. Much has been written about the first test, where Shane Warne began to break out and become a match winning player, however the series also featured Muttiah Muralidaran in two of his earlier tests

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A short history of Australian cricket in Sri Lanka, part 1

By Balanced Sports columnist, Ben Roberts.  The second part will be published later this week.
Sri Lanka, like most former and remaining British colonies, accepted cricket from the earliest time of colonisation as its national sport. Like most British colonies as well they have eventually turned over their former colonial masters at the game closest to their heart. Australia visits Sri Lanka this

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