Angry Shakhter
On Sunday Arsenal will take on Shakhter.
Arsenal have made a couple of impressive performances lately with the win over a desperate Vorskla being followed by an away drubbing of high flying Metalist. So you might think that there would be reason for optimism, as second place Shakhter come to town this weekend.
However, that is the problem, Shakhter are in second. Their lead before the winter break seemed unasailable, as Dnipro were starting to buckle and Dynamo looked a shadow of their former selves. Dynamo are now top and in fine form, although Shakhter still have a game in hand. After losing to Tavriya last week they are going to be angry and God knows what form of punishment their lunatic, billionaire, political manipulator and club owner Renat Akhmetov has subjected them to.
In the past after humiliations in Europe he has allegedly had them doing push-ups on the plane home and ordered a steamroller to crush all the cars belonging to the players in the car park.
This season he has brought together one of the most expensive teams in the World, and most of the players who were tempted by the money are still there. One exception being Christian Lucarelli, who took the money, set up a newspaper in his home town of Livorno and then buggered off to Parma. Again European glory has eluded them, Akhmetov said qualification from the group stages was a bare minimum, however after a bright start they failed to even gain a UEFA cup space. I doubt that failure in the league will be tolerated.
To be fair to him, he has had to buy players who will play in the Ukrainian League and live in Donetsk, which is why the outlay for some of the players has been over the top to say the least. They also have one of the best training grounds in the World, which bizzarely includes an aviary for the players to chill out by looking at a cockatoo, or something like that.
Of the current crop of recruits hoping for a move to Western Europe, Brazilian Brandao looks the best, however despite being to be able to beat any player he sometimes comes unstuck on crappy pitches, and last time I saw him he beat 3 players only to lose the ball in the snow.
The pitch on Sunday should be in better condition, and although I hope for an Arsenal win I am not holding my breath.
Arsenal have made a couple of impressive performances lately with the win over a desperate Vorskla being followed by an away drubbing of high flying Metalist. So you might think that there would be reason for optimism, as second place Shakhter come to town this weekend.
However, that is the problem, Shakhter are in second. Their lead before the winter break seemed unasailable, as Dnipro were starting to buckle and Dynamo looked a shadow of their former selves. Dynamo are now top and in fine form, although Shakhter still have a game in hand. After losing to Tavriya last week they are going to be angry and God knows what form of punishment their lunatic, billionaire, political manipulator and club owner Renat Akhmetov has subjected them to.
In the past after humiliations in Europe he has allegedly had them doing push-ups on the plane home and ordered a steamroller to crush all the cars belonging to the players in the car park.
This season he has brought together one of the most expensive teams in the World, and most of the players who were tempted by the money are still there. One exception being Christian Lucarelli, who took the money, set up a newspaper in his home town of Livorno and then buggered off to Parma. Again European glory has eluded them, Akhmetov said qualification from the group stages was a bare minimum, however after a bright start they failed to even gain a UEFA cup space. I doubt that failure in the league will be tolerated.
To be fair to him, he has had to buy players who will play in the Ukrainian League and live in Donetsk, which is why the outlay for some of the players has been over the top to say the least. They also have one of the best training grounds in the World, which bizzarely includes an aviary for the players to chill out by looking at a cockatoo, or something like that.
Of the current crop of recruits hoping for a move to Western Europe, Brazilian Brandao looks the best, however despite being to be able to beat any player he sometimes comes unstuck on crappy pitches, and last time I saw him he beat 3 players only to lose the ball in the snow.
The pitch on Sunday should be in better condition, and although I hope for an Arsenal win I am not holding my breath.
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