Learn English through sports.

  My stand out player to date in my view has been James Rodriguez of Everton FC.  He has taken to the Premier League "like a duck to water". The 29-year-old Columbia attacking midfielder was signed in the offseason from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee believed to be around 20 million pounds.  He signed on a two-year contract for the Toffees. In the opening four games of the season James has scored three goals and assisted two and in general, has been at the hub of everything that Everton have done well in the attacking third of the pitch.  A huge factor getting James to the Premier League was the fact that his old manager who he played under at Real Madrid is the current Everton gaffer.  Italian Carlo Ancelotti is the man in question that attracted the flamboyant winger to the Premier League.  They had a very good relationship at Real Madrid and they wanted to rekindle that at Everton. James has formed a frightening partnership with Everton duo Rich...

  As we enter the international break for the first time this campaign and with the summer transfer window slammed shut , we are beginning to see a pattern form in the Premier League of what teams will be successful and what teams will not be. I will get the ball rolling by saying that the most disappointing team to date in the Premier League has been Sheffield United.  The Blades as they are known got promoted to the big time in the 2018/2019 season and endured a fantastic first season in the Premier League securing a ninth-place finish. They currently sit in 19th place in the league with zero points and with a -5 goal difference.  The only team below them are Fulham who also have zero points but have a -8 goal difference.  Last season they were a breath of fresh air to the Premier League with their steely organization and endeavor a shining light in the division.  They were gaining plaudits up and down the country.    However, this campaign has ...

  Villa Park witnessed one of the most dominant displays of football from an Aston Villa outfit that has started the season brilliantly.  The scoreline was one everyone could have never had predicted.  Aston Villa 7 (seven) Liverpool 2. Liverpool are the current Premier League champions and have started the season in fine fashion , winning their opening three fixtures against Leeds United, Chelsea, and Arsenal.  In fairness, the Reds were missing their talisman in Sadio Mane.  He, unfortunately, has the coronavirus, so he will be absent for two weeks from the squad.  They were then dealt a further blow with Brazilian goalkeeper Allison suffered a shoulder injury in training.  The game started at a blistering pace with the hosts on the front foot from the first whistle.   They started the rout after only four minutes through new summer recruit from Brentford, Ollie Watkins.  The striker then doubled the Villains lead on 22 minutes...

  This was a three in the morning kick-off for me as I am  residing in South Korea.  My alarm was set and I was fully expecting Wolves to play us off the park from the first whistle.  I wake up bleary eyed  and find a good stream on my laptop to watch the clash. What I witnessed was a real breath of fresh air from West Ham.  We looked superb,  pinging the ball around well and chasing down every loose ball all over the pitch.  In our previous league game against Arsenal, we had played brilliantly but didn't get our just rewards for our efforts in a 2-1 loss at the Emirates.  At the forefront of this was former Hull City winger Jarrod Bowen who was a menace all evening for the Wolves backline.  He opened the scoring after just 17 minutes with a brilliant solo goal.  He received a pass from a quick free-kick and dribbled towards the box beating three Wolves defenders.  He then curled an unstoppable effort passed Rui Patricio to...

  We are only two games into the 2020-2021 season and so far the attacking players have clearly been in the ascendancy.   Last weekend we saw a record number of goals scored in a game week.  A staggering 44 goals were scored over the ten games.  Gabriel Jesus' last-minute strike in Manchester City's 3-1 win against Wolves surpassed the previous record of 43 goals. It is the highest number of goals scored in a 20-team top-flight weekend. The result also means there has not been a single drawn match in the opening two rounds of Premier League fixtures.  Defenses are not being able to contain the attacking threat in the league to date which makes for some exciting viewing for a spectator. My stand out team thus far has to be Everton FC.  The blue side of Mersey side, have won their first two Premier League fixtures and a resounding win in the League Cup midweek, granted over lower opposition in Division One outfit Fleetwood Town FC.  Their opening day...

Just a quick message to say thank you for all the readers that have taken the time to read and comment on my articles.   It was an idea I've had for a while but I've just never had the motivation or time to do it.   Then the terrible COVID 19 pandemic hit us all.  Which in turn freed up some time for me to write my articles.  If you have any suggestions for me or you hear a phrase used by commentators that you don't understand.  Please feel free to contact me and I will respond to your request in due course. Stay safe everyone. James Edrupt

As far as inept opening day performances go, this one by West Ham has to be the worst I have ever witnessed as a supporter.  Newcastle traveled south with a good squad, bolstered by recent signings Callum Wilson, Jamal Lewis, and Jeff Hendricks and they bossed proceedings from the first whistle.  It was goals from debutants Wilson and Hendricks that did the damage for the Toon, both scored after the interval.  West Ham did have their chances, striking the woodwork twice in the first half through an Angelo Ogbonna header and a Pablo Fornals' effort deflected onto the crossbar.  Callum Wilson simply put, loves playing against West Ham.  It was his eighth goal in nine appearances against the hammers.  It was a real poachers effort to open his account for his new club.  A simple cross, aided by a slight deflection was lofted into the box, Hendricks anticipated  to where the ball would drop the quickest.  He simply guided the ball ...

The 2019-2020 Premier League season kicks-off this Saturday and my beloved West Ham United start their campaign against Newcastle United at the London Stadium. It's no secret that West Ham has a very loyal fan base and that they are extremely vocal on match day supporting the team.  However as we approach the seasons start, no further additions to the playing squad have been made.  Considering we finished a disappointing 16th place just five points off the relegation zone, it is clear the squad needs to bring in some better players to avoid relegation fears creeping in again this year.   Fans of the club on social media are quite frankly "at war" with the current owners of the club, David Sullivan and David Gold for not investing any money into the squad to get some signings over the line .  Just last week they sold one of our most promising youngsters Grady Diangana who has been at the club since he was 10 to a relegation rival in West Bromwich A...

On the 16th of August my two sons Jacob and Jack and I  attended a home game between Gyeongnam FC and Chungnam Asan in the Korean Professional football league.  The number of COVID 19 cases was in double digits so the league was allowing 30 percent of the stadiums'  capacity to be allocated by supporters. Firstly, you couldn't buy tickets on the day, you had to purchase the tickets online through a specific website.  Once you had bought the tickets, the website will send you a link to be scanned by Gyeongnam ticket officers on the day of the game.  The tickets we selected had to be spread out evenly, with each person sitting three seats apart from one another, due to social distancing measures.  My sons and I decided on sitting in a triangle shape.  To the day itself of the game.  There were strict measures of just getting to the stadium in passing certain government protocols .  First of all, there was a temperature check (yo...

Gyeongnam FC was relegated into K League 2 after losing a relegation playoff doubleheader against bitter rivals Busan I Park back in 2019.   The clubs venture into a lower division hasn't been all that plain sailing at all, challenging is a better term to use.   Firstly our manager changed from Kim Jung-boo to former Korean international and Premier League star Seol Ki-hyeon.  It was Seol's first foray  into full professional management.  He had been managing Sungkyunkwan University for two years before joining Gyeongnam. When getting relegated usually the better players in the squad jump ship and look for pastures new.  Japanese star playmaker Kunimoto joined K League 1 powerhouses Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.  Goalkeeper Lee Bum-soo joined Gangwon FC and promising youngster Kim Joon-beom moved north to play for Incheon United FC.  So under the new management team, the whole club had a major re-shuffle of the squad. The l...

Fulham FC based in south-west London won promotion back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.  They were relegated last campaign but managed to bounce straight back up beating London rivals Brentford FC in the Championship play-off final, 2-1 after extra-time. Beaten play-off finalists Brentford would be kicking themselves that they hadn't won automatic promotion.  They narrowly missed out on finishing second by just two points behind West Bromwich Albion.  The Bees' as they are known, scored a staggering 80 goals during the season (the best) and only conceded 38 (second best).  So for them to not get promoted was a bit of a shock.  They boast some really good talented players, namely Algerian winger Said Benrahma who scored 17 goals and striker Ollie Watkins who was the joint top goal scorer in the league tallying 26 goals.  He shared the honors with Fulham's center forward Aleksander Mitrovic. To the game itself.  It w...