Manchester United limped through to the quarter finals of the Champions League at Old Trafford last night. Marseille made it tough; however a brace from Javier Hernandez sealed the tie. Wayne Rooney has claimed he would be delighted to face Barcelona in the next stage, although I am sure United fans will beg to differ.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Capello stalls on the England captaincy; mystery over agent in Liverpool deal, while Manchester City branded stupid by Feyenoord.
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Capello stalls on Terry captaincy call – Guardian
England need Barton and Nolan to build best team, urges Pardew – Independent
It’s Ash ’n grab time at Villa – Sun
Rooney: Bring on Barcelona! – Mirror
Mystery over role of Liverpool agent – Guardian
Feyenoord call City swoop for teenager ‘stupid’ – Daily Telegraph
Crocks have Spurs on rocks – Sun
Arsenal face fan fury over rise in ticket price – Mirror
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Privacy pays for Blatter and Fifa execs – Guardian
Feyenoord call City swoop for teenager ‘stupid’ – Daily Telegraph
Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is wanted by Sporting Lisbon, according to his agent.
The Russia striker bounced back from an indifferent first 18 months at White Hart Lane by scoring 10 goals in 12 starts last season.
Pavlyuchenko had been a peripheral figure in north London following his £10million arrival from Spartak Moscow in August 2008.
However, despite appearing to win over his doubters during the second half of the last campaign, the 28-year-old frontman could now be set for a move to Portugal.
"Negotiations exist with Tottenham for the loan of the player but I think that this is complicated by money," explained agent Thomas Zorn.
"Pavlyuchenko has a price and the money situation of Sporting makes it very difficult to reach an agreement.
"The contact continues but at this moment the forward is with Spurs.
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"If Tottenham reject the player, it is clear that Sporting would be a good destination."
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As Chelsea and Liverpool battle it out for fourteen-year-old MK Dons midfielder Seyi Ojo many are left bewildered at the price tag for such a young and unproven player. Yes, Ojo is playing years above his age group for both England and MK Dons but at what point did the desperation to uncover the next young starlet become so great that top clubs were willing to pay two million pounds for a boy with an unbroken voice?
Seyi Ojo may have potential to be a star but ultimately clubs aim to buy youngsters so they don’t have to pay big, risky transfer fees in the future; isn’t paying two million for a boy that young a risk? Only about half of all the supposed young stars fulfil their potential, and it is particularly hard to judge whether or not they will when they are quite as young as Ojo is. So why has this happened? When did we arrive at this point and is it worth it?
Precedent and market inflation
Obviously the two major factors are that market prices have been inflated as a result of City, Chelsea and others and also the precedent for large fees for young players set by teams like Arsenal. Obviously with so much foreign money in English football, prices across the board have been inflated meaning that not only the price of youngsters will rise accordingly but also that the demand for younger players will increase as top stars become unaffordable. Secondly as soon as clubs like Arsenal or Tottenham pay huge fees for players such as Bale, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain then every other small club will raise the prices for their academy graduates.
So the scene has been set for the rise in prices but that still doesn’t explain why Liverpool and Chelsea are willing to pay that much for such a young footballer? However Liverpool’s recent transfer tactics do suggest the route that they intend on taking in the market.
[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’right’]
Damien Comolli
Liverpool’s director of football has a brilliant record of identifying young talent for whatever club he has worked for, and in the past has unearthed talent such as Kolo Toure, Eboue, Clichy, Taarabt, Bale, Modric, Assou-Ekotto and others. Whilst at Liverpool there seems to have been a particular focus on not just young talent but young English talent such as Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing and he added these players to Liverpool’s then recent additions of Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton) and Raheem Sterling (QPR) who is supposed to be one of the brightest talents in English football. In fact they paid just under two million for Sterling when he was just fifteen. So, what all this tells us is that Liverpool are so desperate to build a base of young English talent that they are willing to pay large amounts of money for young players, even if they are a risk.
FIFA’s financial fair play rules
Another deciding factor in clubs’ recent attraction to younger and younger players is a result of FIFA’s financial fair play regulations that will soon be coming in to effect and so the appeal of younger cheaper players is much greater even if the prices are inflated, for the clubs it is far less of a risk.
Is this the right way to go?
Well, how can we be sure? Is it any more risky for Liverpool or Chelsea to pay two million pounds for a fourteen year old than it was for Chelsea to pay fifty million for Torres or Liverpool to pay thirty five million for Carroll? Some may see people paying millions for boys who haven’t even take their GCSEs as ridiculous but frankly I would rather have Ojo for his price tag than Carroll for his.
Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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Mark Hughes will have a substitute’s bench with a point to prove on Saturday when his side take on Blackburn at Craven Cottage.Striker Bobby Zamora returned from his horrific broken leg in the FA Cup defeat to Bolton two weeks ago, only to suffer a minor setback in training afterwards that forced him out of the 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.Meanwhile, on-loan Gael Kakuta – the French prodigy that Chelsea worked so hard to sign – has featured for just 18 minutes since his arrival in the January window.Both will be on the bench for the game against Steve Kean’s side but Hughes believes they could hold the key to a victory and Fulham’s Premier League survival.”Bobby is training, it was only a setback, he went over on his ankle. He didn’t compromise the break that he had, it was just one of those things that happen time and time again on the training pitch,” Hughes said.”He is happy where he is now, after a long time out, there were obviously times in that period when it was difficult for him but he has come through them.””We’ve got Bobby back basically, we know that because he is loud and shouting so we know he is positive in his own mind.”Kakuta, on the other hand, has grown frustrated with the delayed start to his Fulham career after arriving from their local rivals with so much promise and expectation.”It’s no reflection on Gael, he is going to be involved from now until the end of the season because every day on the training ground we see quality from him that we will need to unlock defences,” Hughes said.”He is a little bit frustrated because he wasn’t able to play against Chelsea and he was cup-tied for the Bolton game, so he has kicked his heels for a number of weeks, but he is free and able to play and we hope to see a lot more of him.”Another player Hughes has already seen a lot of but will be hoping is anonymous at the weekend is Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz, now on-loan at Blackburn, whom the Welshman signed while manager of both Blackburn and Manchester City.”Roque is a good player,” Hughes added. “I think it is well documented how highly I think of him. I spent significant amounts of money on him. I spent probably all of Blackburn’s budget on him and a small part of Man City’s.””He is a good player and you just have to give him an opportunity and a run of games and then he will make an impact for you.”Midfielder Steve Sidwell is sidelined for up to three weeks with a knee injury and defender Philippe Senderos is not ready to return from Achilles tendon and hamstring injuries
All clubs make mistakes in the transfer market. For every Wayne Rooney, there is a Massimo Taibi. For every Fernando Torres, there is a Salif Diao. For every Jermaine Defoe, there is a Sergei Rebrov.
For some teams though, those calamities recur on an all too often basis. Manchester City’s almost suspicious bundle of has-beens, duds, and downright unfathomable purchases throughout their history flabbergast even the most committed and devout sections of their die-hard fans. Some of Manchester City’s imports have been so bad, in fact, that they are now the stuff of legend. So, what other reason do you need to peruse the oil-rich club’s dark, woeful and cringe worthy history?
Lucien Mettomo
Cameroonian defender Mettomo was signed in 2001 for £1.5m as Manchester City spent the season in the First Division. Once City had gained promotion to the Premier League, however, it was clear that Mettomo, despite having only played 27 games for the club, was surplus to requirements . He was quickly ousted by the much more formidable presence of Sylvain Dystain.
Daniel Allsopp
Following Manchester City’s relegation to the Second Division in 1998, it became quite clear how desperate City were becoming to turn their fortunes around. So, up steps the world renowned Danny Allsopp. With the Australian striker coming from such an impressive pedigree with spells at South Melbourne, Carlton and even the famous Port Melbourne Sharks on his CV, what could possibly go wrong? After four goals in 25 games, Allsopp swiftly departed for loan moves to Notts County and Wrexham before finally – some would say, belatedly – being shown the door.
Georgios Samaras
Still appearing regularly in the Greek national side and for his current club, Celtic, Georgios Samaras could be forgiven for forgetting all about his torrid tenure in Manchester; but City fans certainly won’t. At Heereven before he joined City, Samaras had proven quite a prolific goal-scorer by notching up 30 goals in 88 appearances. As the Dutch club snatched at City’s proverbial hand for the £6m they were offering, however, that success in front of goal quickly disappeared. The Greek’s drought quickly turned into a desert. Samaras scored only 8 goals in two seasons at the club.
Barry Conlon
With 14 clubs to his name, Barry Conlon is a weary traveller. His appearances at Maine Road became indicative of his entire career. He made seven appearances after signing from Queens Park Rangers. City never renewed his year-long contract. He now plays for Chesterfield.
Christian Negouai
Astonishingly, this French midfielder was bought by city for £1.5m from Belgian side Charleroi in 2001. He was branded a cheat in his second game and was sent off in his third.A few weeks later he required two major operations on his knees. There’s still an ongoing enquiry into exactly how the Negouai managed to pass his medical with the club as those dicky knees continued to plague him for the majority of his City career. Upon his return he was sent off again in the reserves. Then he missed an FA drugs test, narrowly escaping a ban. In 2004, he made his final Premier League appearance, replacing Jon Macken against Everton. He was promptly sent off again for shinning Marcus Bent. He left the club the year after.
Matias Vuoso
If playing alongside Diego Forlan is an indication of anything, it is an indication that you may want to be a little more cautious in obtaining that players signature. But these were more innocent times. Forlan had yet to demonstrate his ineptitude in the English league when City swooped for his strike-partner Matias Vuoso for £3.5m. Undeterred by the fact that Independiente had finished bottom of the Argentinean Clausura league, Vuoso the Virtuoso was signed by Kevin Keegan in 2002. The Mexican international failed to play a single game and was subsequently sold on only a year later.
Lee Bradbury
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After three decent seasons at Portsmouth, Frank Clark brought Lee Bradbury to Manchester in 1997 for a club record fee of £3m. Bradbury went on to become a major factor in City’s struggle for relegation that year as the Englishman managed to convert only six opportunities throughout the entire season. City did manage to achieve relegation that year and, his job done, Bradbury moved on to Crystal Palace the following year. Before leaving, however, he was cemented in club folklore as fans dropped the ‘r’s from his name so he was forever known as Lee Bad Buy.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will be hoping his side bring a halt to an alarming run of six successive defeats against Fulham at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
Despite starting the season in good form the Latics have plummeted down the table scoring just three times in the current winless run. Goals have been hard to come by in recent weeks with Hugo Rodallega sidelined with injury whilst Victor Moses and Franco Di Santo have failed to hit it off up front. The Colombian returned last week at Newcastle but missed a couple of gilt edged chances before Yohan Cabaye scored a late winner when it looked like a point was secure. They should be buoyed by their display in the North East but ultimately came away empty handed and Martinez will need to get his strikers back on the goal hunt. They’ve scored only six times in the Premier League – the lowest in the top flight this season. Defending needs improve drastically as well with the back line all over the place ad individual errors costing the team dearly in recent weeks. Martinez will be hopeful of having James McCarthy back from injury to pull the strings from midfield after he missed the game last week. The history books do favour the Latics though with Fulham failing to win inthis fixture in 11 games dating back to third-tier encounter in 1992.
It’s been a month since Martin Jol’s side thrashed QPR 6-0 at Craven Cottage with many expecting them to build on that result and kick start their season. It’s been a polar opposite though with back-to-back defeats seeing them plummet to 17th just keeping their head above the relegation zone. A third successive defeat would represent their worst sequence of result in 19 months although it could have been different had Bobby Zamora not fluffed his lines against Everton last week. With the score poised at 1-1 the England striker had a glorious chance to claim victory in the 90th minute only to blast the ball over the bar after rounding keeper Tim Howard. To rub salt into the wounds the Toffee’s scored twice just minutes later to win the game. Dutchman Jol has struggled to get the Cottagers playing consistently and their record against teams in the bottom half has been poor – they’ve failed to win in five attempts. They are unbeaten in the last nine meetings with Wigan but have failed to win in 11 attempts at the DW Stadium.
Key Players
Hugo Rodallega – The Colombians return from injury has boosted a frontline that is struggling to score goals of late. His pacey movement up front will give Wigan an extra edge in attack and with Victor Moses and Franco Di Santo supporting the net should be bulging in no time.
Clint Dempsey – It’s been a topsy turvy season for Fulham so far but Dempsey has continued to show why he is so highly rated in the Premier League. The American will equal fellow countryman’s goal record of 36 in the Premier League should he find the net on Saturday and it’s certain that he will cause Wigan no end of problems from the wing.
Prediction: 1-2
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Despite their poor run, Wigan have some high performing players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Defender Maynor Figueroa and midfielder Ben Watson are the top two tacklers, having won 39 and 29, 91% and 81% of all attempted respectively Victor Moses continues his unlucky streak in front of goal – no other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index has had so many shots on target (17) without scoring. Moses has now had 26 attempts at goal in total without a goal. Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey has troubled goalkeepers more than any other midfielder so far this season, getting 18 attempts on target from 29 efforts overall and scoring twice Damien Duff also continues to threaten the box and has put in 31 crosses so far, the fifth highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
When the time comes for Premier League clubs to break away from their main focus and allow the big guns to join up for international duty, we are all treated to a few age-old arguments about whether or not the games are actually worth anything, or how players are wrong (or right, depending on your opinion) to drop out of the squads due to ‘injuries’. But after last week’s delightful show of mid-week friendly internationals, something else dawned on me. The influence of an international manager seems to be eclipsing that of a club’s, with players doing all they can to stay alive in the international scene. But how disruptive is it to the domestic games and especially club managers?
Just ask Steve Bruce. Darren Bent left Sunderland in a spot of bother last month after his self-imposed transfer to Aston Villa, and for those of us cynical to believe it, we are told the reason he moved was because England manager Fabio Capello, told Bent, that should he want to progress with his country, then he is better off plying his trade away from the Stadium of Light.
Part of me wonders why Bent needed to jump ship, though. Sunderland were getting the best out of him, in a system that worked and showed just how clinical he could be. What are Villa going to do with him differently which will make Capello sit up and think, “yes, actually, Signor Bent must be good enough, he’s still scoring for Villa!” In all probability, what really happened is that Bent firstly had his head turned by money, and then twisted even further by Capello’s wise words. The end result? Bent played and scored for his country, yes. But wouldn’t he have done if he was still at Sunderland? My guess is yes. So really the end result is the Black Cats are a player short, half way into the season, through no fault of their own.
He’s not the only one, though. Darron Gibson had been put under some unnecessary pressure by the Republic of Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, after he played and scored for Ireland. But at this stage of the season, what has the Italian actually achieved by saying Gibson should move away from Old Trafford? The window’s closed, he can’t move until the summer. So every time Gibson isn’t included in a first team Manchester United squad, is his international place going to be under threat? In his own mind it will be, and I’m sure neither the player himself nor Alex Ferguson will want such an unnecessary weight on his shoulders. Realistically, whether he is playing first team football at Old Trafford or not, Gibson is going to be picked for his country because I can’t think of too many better options.
Players should want to play for their country. If the fact that they are not getting regular football at their clubs means that their starting berth internationally is under threat, then sure, they have every reason to think about moving clubs – but at the right time. Robbie Keane is an example of that, David Beckham is another. But in the case of Darren Bent, Capello has been nothing but a disruption. If he plays and scores in the Premier League, does it matter if it is at Aston Villa or Sunderland? Maybe if Man United or Chelsea came calling, he would have a point as Champions League football can only enhance a player’s ability, but I can’t see too much difference between the team from the North East to Bent’s latest employers.
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It’s a strange argument, I know. Players would have to be confident in their own ability to undermine the thoughts of an international manager, but there comes a time when Capello and co have to take a step back and leave players and clubs alone to their own devices. If players are good enough, they are good enough, it shouldn’t take ‘Capello the agent’ to prove that.
Liverpool have agreed terms with Heerenveen for winger Ousmane Assaidi, with the player set to move to Anfield if he passes a medical.
Brendan Rodgers is eager to strengthen his inherited Reds squad this summer, and has already brought Joe Allen and Fabio Borini to the Merseyside club.
A wide attacker has been on the wishlist for the Northern Irish manager all summer long, with moves for players such as Gaston Ramirez touted.
The Morocco international has been speculated with a move to a bigger club this off-season, with Fulham and Ajax reportedly keen to sign the African flyer.
However, the Reds have confirmed on their official website that they have agreed a fee with the Eredivisie side for the winger’s services.
Assaidi has 22 caps for his country and has scored 20 goals in 68 appearances for Heerenveen.
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Chelsea may have lost to Manchester United last weekend, but there’s only one way to see the Blues bounce back against Swansea on Saturday – from a Stamford Bridge Box.
If it’s something you’ve never done before, make sure you put that right straight away. Be treated like a VIP at Stamford Bridge courtesy of Football FanCast and 188BET. Not only that, but you can join the Chelsea FanCast boys in the box and meet your favourite podcast presenters!
You can win two places in the box for Chelsea v Swansea on Saturday 24th September, simply by signing up to 188BET and depositing £10 of cash. That’s what Rob and Paul did, and they won places in a Stamford Bridge box for Chelsea v Norwich. This is what they thought of the experience…
Rob (talking to Chidge at Chelsea FanCast): “Just got home, long way but so worth it, what a fantastic day, it was great to finally meet you and tell you in person what a great job you do on the FanCast.
What a great FanCast; always gives me a little buzz when I get a mention, so can you imagine my delight today, it was fantastic to meet you boys and you were right we were well up for it. I have been going to Chelsea for over twenty five years and had some great days but that one was up there with the best!!”
Paul had just as much fun: “Taken all day to recover. Great thing was to watch the game with fellow proper fans. The podcast will be interesting, as this time I was with you when the game was on. Great day, great pissup. Thanks mate.”
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Make sure you don’t miss out on the chance to experience for yourself and enter our competition now to win two places in a box at Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea v Swansea.
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Napoli’s Serie A title hopes took a blow after they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Chievo Verona on Wednesday.
Walter Mazzarri’s side had the chance to cut AC Milan’s lead atop the Serie A to just two points with a win, but goals to Davide Moscardelli and Gennaro Santo powered Chievo to an important three points at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.
The result lifted Chievo into 10th place in the league, while Napoli remain five points behind Milan in second spot.
Roma climbed into fourth despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Brescia.
Marco Borriello handed the hosts the lead just before the hour mark, but Brazilian striker Citadin Eder levelled proceedings after 69 minutes to ensure a share of the spoils.
Juventus slumped to eighth place with their second loss in a row, Luigi Delneri’s side going down 2-1 at Palermo.
Fabrizio Miccoli and Giulio Migliaccio gave the hosts a two-goal lead after just 20 minutes, and although Claudio Marchisio pulled one back for Juve nine minutes before the break, they could not find an equaliser. Palermo climb to sixth with the win.
Sampdoria fell to their third loss from four league matches after a 1-0 home defeat to Cagliari.
Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan scored the only goal of the game nine minutes before half-time meaning Cagliari have now won four of their last five.
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Fiorentina climbed to 11th place with a 1-0 win over Genoa at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with Argentine winger Mario Santana scoring the winner five minutes before half-time.
Lecce moved three points clear of the drop zone with a crucial 1-0 away win over Parma, while fellow relegation battlers Cesena and Catania played out a 1-1 draw.
Udinese and Bologna also drew 1-1, after Maurizio Domizzi cancelled out Marco Di Vaio’s opener for Bologna.