Last weekend wasn’t a happy one for West Ham fans. The phrase ‘you’re too good to go down didn’t ring true’, as West Ham’s selection of stars just didn’t perform over the course of the season. Avram Grant lost his job as a result of the Hammers’ relegation from the Premier League, but there is only one real victim of this West Ham debacle; the fans. While TV coverage from last Sunday was filled with a clearly distraught Scott Parker, there were also countless images of devastated West Ham fans, and here are two of them. What are these West Ham thanks thinking? Perhaps they’re contemplating the trips they’ll have to make to Doncaster and Barnsley next season?
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New Fulham manager Martin Jol looks set to move for former player Robbie Keane, according to The Sun.
Despite netting his 51st goal for the Republic of Ireland at the weekend, Keane is out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur under manager Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp re-signed the Ireland forward from Liverpool for £12 million in the January 2009 Transfer Window but he has failed to cement a place in the Spurs team since. He has spent much of the past two seasons on loan at Celtic and more recently West Ham and, with wages estimated at £70,000 a week, Redknapp is keen to remove the striker’s salary from the wage bill.
The 30-year old has made 238 League appearances for Spurs and enjoyed a productive period under Jol. The Dutchman is keen to pair Keane with Bobby Zamora and the forward could cost as little as £4 million.
The former Spurs captain has also played for Wolves, Coventry, Inter, Leeds and Liverpool and has commanded over £75 million in career transfer fees. He will hope the move across London will reignite his career but will have to accept a pay cut if Fulham are to secure him on a permanent deal.
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West Ham are threatening legal action against the Sunday Times over claims that illegal payments were made to an official on the Olympic committee. The Hammers are adamant that their bid wasn’t underhand and are going to go through the courts to clear their name.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Arsenal set to make a shock bid for Downing; Liverpool losing patience over Adam, while Villas-Boas was shocked that any club would pay his release fee.
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See you in court! West Ham threaten legal action against Spurs over Olympic Stadium – Daily Mail
Wenger vision falling apart – Daily Telegraph
Joey Barton: I wouldn’t leave Newcastle for the Championship – People
Villas-Boas believed no club would pay his release fee – Mirror
Suarez: Torres told me to join Liverpool – Independent
Tevez staying at Manchester City, Mancini claims – Guardian
Liverpool losing patience as Blackpool play hard-ball – Daily Mail
Sunderland ready to move for Dann – Guardian
No League sanctions yet for Yeung or Blues – Guardian
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Arsenal plot shock Downing bid – Mirror
Manchester United snatch early lead over rivals City in race to spend – Independent
Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan may yet leave the Stadium of Light according to the player’s agent.
The Ghanian international forward signed for The Black Cats from Rennes for a fee of £13million, and following impressive displays and ten goals last term has been linked with a move away from the Wearside club.
Manager Steve Bruce and Chairman Niall Quinn have been quick to rubbish speculation, but ahead of the first day of pre-season training on Wednesday the 25-year-old’s representative Fabien Piveteau has stated the frontman may yet move.
“I can’t say if he is staying or not. As far as I know, one club has tabled an offer. He is returning to the club for pre-season and we will sit down with the coach to talk about it,” Piveteau is believed to have stated in The Guardian.
Zenit St Petersburg are believed to be the side to have bid for the Accra born player, with Harry Redknapp and Tottenham supposedly also interested.
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Meanwhile, Sunderland hope to tie up the signatures of Manchester United trio Darron Gibson, John O’Shea and Wes Brown for a collective £12million in the near future, with the Irish defender the closest of the three to moving thus far.
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo, whose hat-trick led the side to a 3-0 friendly win over Chivas of Guadalajara.After being frustrated by the Mexican side’s goalkeeper Luis Michel in the first half in San Diego, Ronaldo finally broke the shackles in the 73rd minute and the star struck twice more in the next nine minutes to wrap up the win for the tourists.
Mourinho was delighted with Ronaldo’s performance, and the coach is pleased with the progress his team is making on their now-routine pre-season tour of North America.
“Cristiano is Cristiano. He always has the joy, the motivation and the pride to play, be it in China, Japan or the USA,” Mourinho said.
“He himself is pleased to have played well and scored. We knew we wanted to play well and we managed that.”
“This was very good training for us. I have been coming to the USA for many years with Chelsea and now Madrid. We played against American and Mexican teams, though never Chivas from America. They are tough games against good sides, who play aggressively.”
“That is what we need. There is no need to win games 10-0. We need to play against good teams, who give us some problems.”
Mourinho was also impressed by the form of Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who he feels is ready to resume top form after a lean few years.
“I always knew that what Kaka needed was to have a proper pre-season. The World Cup, injuries, a last-minute transfer to Real Madrid have combined to ensure that he has not had a proper pre-season in five or six seasons,” he said.
Over the last few years it has become apparent, that the media and those within the game are comparing more young players to the great players of the past. It seems as if every other week, we hear about the ‘new’ Zidane, Pele or Maradona, yet many of these young players never live up to the name-tag, and is it any wonder when they have that huge added pressure placed upon their shoulders.
It’s not fair for a young player who is just starting out their career to have the sort of pressure associated with that sort of name-tag. For a youngster simply trying to improve, it could be very detrimental to their development, throwing them into a harsh spotlight at an early stage. Labelling young players creates high expectations in not just the players minds, but also those around him and the supporters, and thus the player is seen as a failure if they don’t ever live up to those unobtainable heights. It’s not good for a young players mentality, as they might buy into the hype themselves, creating wildly unrealistic expectations for themselves and those around them. It’s difficult to keep your feet on the ground when you’ve just been labelled the ‘new Pele’.
There was only one Zidane, one Pele, and to compare somebody at the beginning of their career to one of the greats, is simply ridiculous. Those players are one offs, players whose skills amazed us and who achieved greatness in the game. By pigeon holing players under these labels we are just setting them up for failure before they have even started their careers.
Houllier in his time at Liverpool named Bruno Cheyrou the ‘new Zidane’ but where is he now? Had Houllier not made such a ridiculous claim, perhaps Cheyrou would have had more time to develop and rise through the ranks at Liverpool, rather than being thrust into the spotlight, and almost immediately labelled a failure. There has been a list of Argentine players compared to Maradona-Ortega and Saviola to name a few-who have become successful players in their own right, but because they were labelled as the ‘new Maradona’, and never achieved his heights in the game, they are automatically labelled as failing or not achieving their potential.
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Samir Nasri was another labelled the ‘new Zidane’-he is probably closer to it than Cheyrou-just because they played in the same position and had similar family backgrounds. More ridiculous is Steve Kean who recently labelled Blackburn signing Myles Anderson as the new Chris Smalling. How can he be the new Chris Smalling, when Chris Smalling has barely got his own career off the ground?
Players need to be left to create their own identity, and leave their own mark on the game, otherwise they are more than likely to succumb to the ridiculous burdens placed upon them. Perhaps more young players would successfully fulfill their potential and talent, if they weren’t thrown into such a harsh spotlight. Having talent is no guarantee that you are going to be world class, but surely if players were left to develop on their own, there would be a greater success rate.
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It seems as if with the constant name-tagging of young players we are always setting them up for failure. I’m sure over the next few years, players will be hailed as the new Xavi’s and Messi’s of the world, but how many will succeed to live up to those name-tags? Probably very few, because the pressure and the expectations it creates are just too much for a young player to live up to.
Aston Villa’s strikers proved the difference at Villa Park on Saturday, with goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Darren Bent sealing a 3-1 win for Villa against a disappointing Blackburn Rovers.
Agbonlahor opened the scoring with a beautiful curling effort that deservedly nestled into the top corner. The lively attacker then played a part in Villa’s second, setting up the normally goal-shy Emile Heskey who beat Paul Robinson will a low strike.
But instead of Villa looking to finish off the game, it was Blackburn who started to make their mark on the match. They got a goal back early in the second period when Morten Gamst Pedersen found the net with a header to give Blackburn a chance. But Darren Bent ended Blackburn’s hopes with a typical poacher’s goal to seal the points in a convincing win for Villa.
The result leaves the two managers in very different positions. Alex McLeish made a good first impression during his first home game in charge. But the under-pressure Steve Kean watched his side fall to their second league defeat of the season, with Blackburn now bottom of the Premier League.
Click here to see all the stats from Villa Park
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Liverpool’s start to the new season has not been all smooth running, but there is an air of optimism around Anfield that has been swelling up ever since ‘King’ Kenny Dalglish returned again, to the delight of the Liverpool faithful, in January. Dalglish’s three-year deal, signed in May, underlines the support placed in him by Fenway Sports Group owner John W. Henry, who is himself approaching one year in control of the club.
In that time, there have been significant changes to Liverpool’s playing staff, as well. Andy Carroll, Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Sebastien Coates and Craig Bellamy (on loan) have come in; gone are a raft of Roy Hodgson signings, including Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen, as well as the relics of older regimes – Emiliano Insua, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Philipp Degen. Add to that the defection of both Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles to Chelsea, and you have a veritable whirlwind of income and expenditure. I pity Liverpool’s accountants this past summer.
These are all positive moves as far as Dalglish’s aim of more expansive, attacking football is concerned, and many of the new recruits have made strong starts to their Anfield careers. Henry, too, is surely popular right now as he provides funds for one big signing after another. Henry can be assured that he’ll never walk alone, though, for an unsavoury reason – he is followed everywhere by the spectres of owners past.
Amid all the positivity buzzing around Liverpool right now (especially those who write off the thrashing by Spurs as an aberration), and with one of the biggest fixtures of the year looming this weekend with the trip across Stanley Park to Everton, Liverpool are still pursued in the courts by the disgraced and ousted George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the ‘Little and Large’ pairing who couldn’t even sustain a personal relationship while they were co-owning the club.
I’m sure Liverpool fans remember the consequences: little money to spend, constant uncertainty over the club’s future, the two men trying to buy each other out, and finally, Hicks attempting to remove directors Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre when they voted in favour of the NESV (now FSG) takeover.
Back in the courts again this week, Hicks and Gillett have succeeded in securing the right to prosecute Liverpool Football Club for an amount Hicks estimates to be up to £1 billion for the “epic swindle” that drove them out of Anfield (not that they were ever there much). Somehow he believes that they were still the rightful owners of the club, even after Henry’s finances rescued Liverpool from £250 million of debt and his takeover bid was approved by the board, hence Hicks’ last-ditch attempt to remove two of the three directors and leave himself and Gillett with a majority.
The case was thrown out of American courts in February, but the pair have now secured the rights to prosecute here in the English courts. The case is expected to begin soon, but is highly unlikely to reach a conclusion any time soon.
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Debate on the form, and in several cases, ability, of Fernando Torres rumbles on for a 29th consecutive week following a goal-shy, yet assist-laden, performance by the Spanish striker in Chelsea’s 2-0 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions’ League last Tuesday. Albeit the £50million signing from Liverpool has failed to replicate his most impressive form of days gone by – 31 goals in 41 appearances for the Reds in his first season in English football – ‘el Nino’ has at least been demonstrating fleeting expressions of remuneration towards the club that invested so heavily in his talent.
That is, arguably, on the pitch. Away from Stamford Bridge, and away from the sunshine-deficient island he lives and works on, Torres is alleged to have made inflammatory assessments of his current team-mates/co-care-home residents in an interview that later appeared on La Liga’s official website and the forward’s own. Chelsea’s ‘internal investigation’ concluded that Torres’ thoughts on the club’s older playing staff “retaining lots of possession” were not as incendiary as initially suggested, perhaps because the ‘pensioners’ do boast an experienced squad who maintain greater possession than the opponents they encounter most weeks. But possibly the most alarming aspect of the brief affair, other than the club’s hierarchy reeling at the completely justified spoken and written judgement of their team’s tactical strategy, was that a reaction was provoked purely because such judgement was articulated by a player.
Marina Hyde (Guardian) underlined this point by reminding us that at present, “players are a corporate cog first, a player second, and a human being perhaps eighth or ninth.” Footballers who regularly verbalize their frustrations and elations have come under intensifying scrutiny of late, as Premier League clubs attempt to curb disruptive behavior within their ranks and preserve as healthy relationship with the public as possible. Darren Bent was fined around £80,000 for tweeting his irritation at having a proposed move from Tottenham stalled a couple of years back, Joey Barton was advertised as a free transfer earlier this summer as Newcastle attempted to cut their loses on a player they deemed too volatile in the public domain/social media circus and therefore harmful to the image of Mike Ashley’s relentlessly ‘pleasant’ Toon administration, and Liverpool youngster, Nathan Ecclestone, has this week encouraged his employers to initiate an investigation in to comments he made regarding 9/11. While Twitter continues to provide an outlet for professional sportspeople and celebrities to broadcast their honest opinions by evading ‘sinister’ and ‘devious’ journalists – as Cesc Fabregas has done so emphatically this week – the trend has provided more consequences for the characters involved than it has freedom of expression; going some way to explaining the theory of footballers as mere ‘corporate cogs.’
And while he remains a world away from the shiny, mid-week, evening floodlights and deafeningly epic anthem of the Champions’ League, no player has represented the ‘corporate cog’ contingent quite like David Beckham. Although the former England captain has successfully maintained control of his private life throughout an impressive career, he, currently, demonstrates the embodiment of a modern professional athlete, much in the same way Jay-Z personifies the essence of a modern professional musician. Both pursued their passions with fervent enthusiasm and managed to exhibit their talents on the greatest stages of their respective fields, and both have notably engaged in projects that transcend the parameters of sport and music, ventures that are charitable as well as lucrative and have laid the blueprint for their pretenders to follow.
Recent speculation has surfaced linking the LA Galaxy midfielder with a move to either Queens Park Rangers or Paris Saint-Germain when the current MLS season, along with Beckham’s contract, expires. Perhaps a few short months ago this story would have raised far fewer eyebrows bearing in mind that both clubs in question represented institutions of a stature that would match Beckham’s deteriorating influence on the field. Today, however, QPR and PSG enjoy significant financial support from Malaysia and Qatar respectively, and both sides wasted little time in supplementing their newly-acquired wealth with a host of squad additions. So what does a 36 year-old who has featured in the fledgling American league for the past four years have to offer an up-and-coming team playing in an elite European league with aspirations of Champions’ League fulfillment?
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Leonardo, a Brazilian World Cup winner and current sporting director at the Parisian outfit provides the answer: “He is more than a football player – he’s a brand, a pop star. I would always consider him.” Eschewing even a modicum of discretion, Leonardo candidly emphasizes the allure of David Beckham being more about financial incentive and brand cognizance than the ‘cog’s’ ability with a football. Sentiments echoed in W12 by Tony Fernandes, the new owner of QPR: “Beckham’s advisers want to talk because our vision is a long-term one, with commercial things David can do with me in Asia.” It wouldn’t be the first time that Beckham, the brand, has been exploited through football for extra-curricular endeavors. On 1st June 2008, the FA cynically appointed Beckham as stand-in England captain for one friendly encounter with Trinidad and Tobago, for the express purpose of courting the favour of then FIFA vice-president, Jack Warner, who held an important vote in the bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Although the bidding process, along with Warner, have since generated controversy on a far more encompassing scale, the move to appoint Beckham as captain was largely conspicuous seeing as he relinquished his duties as skipper two years previously and had barely featured on the international scene for Fabio Capello or predecessor, Steve McLaren, since the 2006 World Cup.
There’s no doubting Beckham’s pedigree, past or present, seeing as the six-time Premier League winner has featured in 622 professional club matches, scoring 114, assisting an absurd amount more and has gained ardor from Manchester to Madrid and Los Angeles to Milan. Much like at any time in his revered career, he must not be completely written-off, although potential suitors should remain cautious about his capacity to play at a top level again. The danger, however, isn’t whether a gamble on a veteran midfielder will yield a sudden rise up the table or progression to a tournament’s next round, but that we are witnessing the open acceptance of professional athletes as marketing tools, the USPs of developing clubs attempting to forge an identity amongst the big-spending and traditional milestones on the European footballing landscape.
The recent and sudden suppression of players’ public broadcasts by their employers isn’t, as they would have us believe, an effort to shield the fragile fans from internal disillusion nor try to maintain dressing-room decorum or ‘set the right example to kids,’ but because their statuses now represent values far removed from the pitch. As much as the current state of play signifies a natural and predictable juncture in football’s development as an overall entity since the influx of television money in the 1990s, the potential cost to players’ freedom remains unknown, yet appears worryingly unstable at present. No matter where Beckham lends his services to next, his arrival will be met with warranted fanfare. I hope for his sake that his intentions remain consistent, in so far as playing regular competitive football will significantly increase his chances of appearing for Great Britain at next summer’s London Olympics. But it seems more than likely that his next club will reap benefits that far outweigh his personal accomplishments.
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The 30-year-old winger signed for Arsenal in January 2009 after impressing for his country during Euro 2008 and then club Zenit.
However, after one bright season for Arsenal, Arshavin has failed to secure a first-team spot due to his lacklustre performances, leaving Graham to believe that the former Zenit playmakers heart is not at the Emirates and was a waste of money.
Graham told talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show this week:
‘Arshavin’s been a poor buy, his enthusiasm doesn’t seem to be there.’
‘Last night [against Marseille], and in the past, he’s looked like he doesn’t want to be there. When he pulls that shirt on he’s not been good enough for me.’
I believe a lot of fans will agree with Graham on this one, and whilst I am inclined to concur with him in a sense, I for one truly believe that the Russians performances have suffered due to Arsene Wenger ’s tactics.
Now before everyone starts cussing me and telling me that I’m talking out of my ass, hear me out.
Firstly, Arshavin is not a natural winger; he is an attacking midfielder, a player that roams behind the striker and creates through the middle. Any player playing out of position will look crap and will more than likely struggle to have an impact on a game.
In the past, Arshavin looked great for Zenit and his country. Why? Because he was deployed in his natural position. He managed to net 76 goals and make 109 assists in 309 games for the Russian club, which are impressive stats and indicate that he is a creative player.
In June of this year, his national manager, Dick Advocaat , had this to say on Arshavin and Wenger:
‘One of his problems is that he plays 20 minutes per game. Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger uses him as a player who can be fielded in the second half and who can refresh the game, Andrey is showing willingness to give the team the best of what he has. I worked with him for over two years at Zenit and I know who he is. A brilliant player of a single episode.’
‘At Arsenal it is not enough to be a player of an episode. Expecting from him a ninety-minute running means not knowing and not understanding Arshavin.’
Says it all really.
Finally, and I think this is the main reason why he looks disinterested as Graham mentioned, is because he’s usually the one to be substituted when he starts a game, even when he’s having a great one, which, deep down, must annoy and dishearten him – I for one would be pissed if I was having this done to me on a regular. Even when fit and at his best, I don’t’ think Arshavin has ever lasted 90-minutes has he?
Listen, I’m not saying that it’s all Wenger’s fault, but his displays have suffered due to Arsenal system and tactics. Arshavin needs to worker harder as well and prove to his critics that he’s still got it
So, has he been a poor buy for Arsenal? No, just been poorly used and treated by Wenger.
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Is his heart at Arsenal? Well extracts from his recent interview suggest that it still is:
‘To be honest, I am still expecting more from me as well. But, believe me, I do everything I can do. I just must give everything I can at the moment.’
To conclude, people need to layoff Arshavin and give him a bit more support. I know he hasn’t been great for us in recent times, but he can turn it around. So let’s all get behind him and give him the boost that he needs instead of laying into him every week.
Article courtesy of Tony Merakli from Gunnersphere