Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini blasted Premier League teams for ‘playing soft’ and handing over the title to United, according to The Guardian.
Mancini’s critique comes on the verge of the Manchester derby tonight at the Old Trafford, in which City will try to close the 15 point gap between them and the league-leading Red Devils.
“No one plays well with United because they only play with fear,” said Mancini. “Every team that plays against United plays very soft because they think the game is difficult, that they can’t beat them. It is not true.”
The 48-year-old manager blames the dominant perception that Sir Alex Ferguson has created at the Old Trafford, saying “United have been a strong team for a long time,” and that teams competing against them may give 100 per cent, but have a poor mentality.
The Italian also claimed that City hope build that same empire state of mind, even though currently, they “don’t have the same importance like United in this moment.”
“Maybe in 10 years it will be the same. The history is very important. We need to improve as a team, as a club. If we win every year, probably it will also be the same for us.”
Fergie, on the other hand, attributed United’s dominance this season with his players’ conviction and disappointment at losing the title to City by the difference of a goal last season, saying the team had “a definite purpose in terms of getting the title back”.
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“We have improved. That’s the difficulty for [City]. Even if their points tally was as good as it was this time last season, it wouldn’t have matched ours. So you have to give us credit for that.”
Trying to force parallels between the Premier League and Portuguese Liga is a difficult thing. From a footballing and competitive perspective, many would like to argue that Portugal doesn’t hold a flame to England. However, the manner in which FC Porto in particular are run is something many in England, including Arsenal, should look to replicate.
It may seem ironic to praise Porto and their transfer and building policy while so many in England have been quick to criticise Arsenal. Are both clubs so different? In terms of results and trophies, the answer is an undeniable yes. However, the premise remains a constant: buy low, sell high. It just so happens that the well is yet to run dry for the Portuguese club, while it has been argued for a number of seasons that Arsene Wenger has lost his touch in the market.
It’s a policy that saw Arsenal greatly benefit from the sale of Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid in 1999. The training ground at London Colney was built and Thierry Henry arrived as the replacement. Not too dissimilar to what we’ve seen with Porto in recent years, selling Lisandro Lopez to Lyon when the French club needed a replacement for Karim Benzema, and then dipping into the South American market to pick up Radamel Falcao. If there are any who are going to suggest the buck stopped with Falcao’s sale to Atletico Madrid, his replacement and countryman Jackson Martinez has bagged 25 league goals this season.
And then the problems arise. How do clubs like Arsenal go about cherry picking the players from South America in the way Porto do? The employment restrictions in place in England make it near impossible, yet that isn’t the basis of the argument. Porto have found a market that suits them, one which has continued to keep them competitive because of excellent scouting. Yes, arguably it is a comfort zone, but who could argue that players from South America’s top leagues aren’t better than what’s on offer in France?
Shakhtar Donetsk are the same, with their attack comprising almost exclusively of Brazilians while their defence takes on a look that is far more in keeping with their roots. As an addition to that, many clubs and fans in Western Europe are quick to heap praise and admiration on the Shakhtar players, with Tottenham and Chelsea attempting to bring Willian to England, Manchester City chasing Fernandinho and Manchester United missing out on Douglas Costa prior to his move to the Ukraine.
Like Porto, Shakhtar have continued in their very balanced and extremely successful model, pocketing €35 million for Willian and replacing him with Taison.
I’m all for the idea that Arsenal are armed with £70 million going into this summer’s market. What I am concerned about is the manner in which it will be spent.
Fans in England have been fed the idea that a figure like £70 million isn’t enough to build a title-winning side. It’s a lot of nonsense fed by a company who live on blockbuster transfer deals. England want £40 million strikers but are quick to criticise and mock Liverpool and Chelsea for their purchases in January 2011. The most recent observation to do the rounds was that the entire Dortmund starting XI which beat Real Madrid cost less than Andy Carroll.
It’s not really that surprising. Dortmund had their backs against the wall and had to be smart. They picked up Robert Lewandowski from Lech Poznan while others were focused elsewhere, and grabbed Mats Hummels from Bayern Munich for much, much less than his market value. Of course, Dortmund have been aided in a great way by the German production line, but credit is due for their approach to the transfer market.
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On an equally important level, clubs like Porto and Shakhtar are where they are now because their board take on an almost ruthless attitude when dealing in the market. This isn’t so much with regards to player purchases but rather player sales. Porto know how to make a tremendous profit and not allow themselves to be bullied by stronger forces across the continent. As an addition, Tottenham’s Daniel Levy is often credited as one of the toughest negotiators alongside Porto’s Pinto da Costa and Lyon’s Jean-Michel Aulas. With Arsenal consistently selling off key players to raise funds, they could certainly learn a couple of tricks from some of the best in the business.
It’s a drum worth beating all summer long because it is absolutely vital. Arsenal will only make that £70 million count if they are smart in their approach to building. The summer of 2011 saw Arsenal spend around £50 million, and yet only Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker are regulars in the current starting XI. With so much on offer in the way of world-class talent beyond the borders of Western Europe, it would be a welcome change if Arsenal adopted the transfer strategy of clubs they currently have plenty in common with.
Steve Clarke has admitted that WBA need to sort out Peter Odemwingie’s future as quickly as they can this summer.
The 31-year-old was on the bench for Albion’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Wigan this weekend and would have featured had it not been for the jeers of the fans as he warmed up along the touchline.
Baggies supporters still haven’t forgiven the Nigerian international for his transfer deadline day stunt that saw him attempt to push through a move to QPR and then attack Albion and it’s supporters over Twitter once it fell through.
However, Clarke has admitted that he may be forced to use him again this season because the West Brom squad is so small.
“His situation is something we will have to consider at the end of the season,” Clarke said.
“It’s a decision for us all to sit down at the end of the season and make. We need to decide what is the best way forward for the football club.”
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Tottenham are looking to make a move for Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, whose agent is said to be in London negotiating the potential move. Although the Corinthians midfielder isn’t the like-for-like replacement the club may have been looking for to fill the void left by Luka Modric, Paulinho will regardless be seen as an exceptional piece of business if Spurs get their man.
Paulinho is currently with Brazil at the Confederations Cup, where the host nation opened the competition with a 3-0 over Japan – of which Paulinho added the second goal – therefore any movement of note on this deal will likely only take place once the competition is over.
[cat_link cat=”tottenham” type=”list”]
A move for Paulinho has significant implications for Andre Villas-Boas and the style of play that won him such success with Porto. While the Portuguese was keen to bring in Joao Moutinho last summer, it’s often overlooked that the arrival of the now Monaco midfielder would have seen Tottenham convert to a flat midfield three, or at least with all three midfielders holding a deeper role away from the front three.
Paulinho, notably, isn’t the conductor of an orchestra Tottenham may look for in this role, but that position could be filled to an extent by Mousa Dembele. Instead, the Brazilian will provide muscle, power and a driving force from deep. He’s very good at both ends of the pitch, able to contest aerial duels and also chip in with goals. In fact, it wouldn’t be too wide of the mark to say Paulinho is a midfielder who has a plenty of goals in him over the course of a season in Europe.
Combined with his box-to-box style and alongside countryman Sandro, Tottenham could see the forging of an especially strong midfield duo. However, if Villas-Boas wants to persist with the current formation which sees an advanced midfielder behind the striker, Paulinho is also capable of playing further up the pitch. Again, he isn’t a player whose creative work can be compared to, say, Oscar, but he does play in a more attacking role for Corinthians than he does for Brazil. It gives Tottenham options and offers a big step up in quality from some of the likely departures this summer.
This also says a lot about the club’s ability in the market even without the draw of Champions League football. Paulinho has been touted for a move to Europe for the last 12 months at least, with Shakhtar, Inter Milan and Chelsea all holding an interest at various points. It’s a crucial statement of intent from the club.
In many of his appearances for the Brazil national team, Paulinho has often stood out as one of the better players on the pitch. As well as that, his successes with Corinthians are notable, having won the Brazilian Serie A title and Copa Libertadores, culminating in the win over Chelsea in the Club World Cup final.
There is, of course, that issue we’ve seen in the past with players coming into the Premier League from South America and failing to adapt. Paulinho, however, doesn’t seem to force any of that questioning. Even at a fee of around £17million, Paulinho should be seen as a bargain. He’s 24, possesses the tools needed to excel and even thrive in English football, and it’s a remarkably odd that many more clubs aren’t chasing his signature.
This is a deal that could be of great importance to Tottenham. It’s a statement to both the club’s rivals and its star players. It will show that with everything in place the club can replace outgoing names with quality of equal stature. And then there’s the on-pitch side of things. The signing of Paulinho means the team are a step further to creating the playing style Villas-Boas wants to carry out. That, in turn, and coupled with better luck on the injury front, could see Spurs make up the ground for a top four finish.
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Anzhi Makhachkala striker Lacina Traore is set to leave the Russian giants once the transfer window re-opens in January, according to reports from Izvestia.
Liverpool have been linked with the giant forward over the past few months, with manager Brendan Rodgers thought to be keen to make additions to his squad this winter.
Traore was one of only a few big name players to stay at Anzhi over the summer, after billionaire owner, Suleyman Kerimov, elected to cut his investment in the club.
This led to the sales of top first-team stars such as Willian and Samuel Eto’o leaving, as the Dagestan outfit set about reducing their lavish expenditure.
Traore was linked with a similar fate, and now looks set to be sold in January.
The 23-year-old is wanted by a number of top European clubs following an impressive goal return of 13 in 27 for Anzhi.
Liverpool are one of the sides in the running, with Rodgers keen to bolster his options in a bid to maintain the Reds’ impressive start to the campaign.
The 6ft. 8” forward joined Anzhi from domestic rivals Kuban Krasnodar in 2012 and has six Ivory Coast international caps to his name.
Should Liverpool move for Lacina Traore?
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By its very nature knockout football can be harsh. If no winner is decided in 90 minutes then the energy-sapping prospect of extra time is utilised before the slightly cliché penalty shootout ‘lottery’ separates the ‘men from the boys’.
The Capital One Cup is one of only a few tournaments that uses such rules in the modern day, creating drama, excitement and tension, but also providing an unforgiving set of circumstances. It all comes down to the day, whereas a league campaign requires 38 matches where consistency garners success, the Capital One Cup offers teams the chance of huge success over just a handful of games. Poor starts can be clawed back in league campaigns, and to an extent in tournaments such as the Champions League, but the Capital One Cup immediately punishes a sluggish display with the indignity of elimination.
For example, Crystal Palace suffered defeat at the first time of asking this term to Bristol City. Nine times out of ten the Premier League side would have triumphed over their League One adversaries, but an off-day saw the Eagles dumped out of the competition.
It’s not just early bad form that is punished either, an impressive run can easily be ended by an off day at the office. For example, Tranmere, Swindon and Peterborough performed admirably to represent the third tier in Round 3, but unfortunate draws against Premier League opposition in the shape of Stoke, Chelsea and Sunderland respectively saw their dreams of a shock Wembley appearance dashed. Impressive displays were not enough, summing up the cut-throat nature of the competition. Even Liverpool suffered in Round 3. The competition’s most successful ever side travelled to Old Trafford and out-performed the English champions, but slipped to a 1-0 defeat thanks to one loss of concentration from Jose Enrique who left Javier Hernandez free to poke home from a corner.
Round 4 is once again poised to display the harsh nature of the Capital One Cup. The three lowest ranked sides left in the hat – Burnley, Leicester and Birmingham – all face tricky home ties against West Ham, Fulham and Stoke. The Championship representatives have all produced excellent displays to reach the final 16, but could see their hopes of a quarter-final showing ended in one cruel 90-minute event. The remaining ties are all all-Premier League affairs, which, given the disparity in quality across the division, have the potential for upsets and unforgiving results.
Football can be a dog-eat-dog world, where mistakes are quickly punished and players vilified. The Capital One Cup is a fine example of the ruthlessness of the modern game. No other tournament in the English game delivers the same all-or-nothing set of circumstances and potential for euphoric highs and catastrophic lows.
We’ll all be eagerly watching Round 4, where dreams and destinies rest on one game of football. Let the fun begin.
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Mike Ashley may not be a football man, but he is a business man. If he felt Alan Pardew’s actions, even without the incident of the weekend, were damaging his brand, he would have dismissed him by now. Or at least we’d get a sense that things were heading in that direction.
What Newcastle have done, to no one’s surprise, is dish out a hefty fine for a manager with previous. The FA will no doubt continue in the same line of thinking with something that will more than likely see Pardew suspended from the dugout for a prolonged spell; a number coming close to the remaining 10 games of the league season wouldn’t be unthinkable or objectionable.
Pardew’s headbutt to David Meyler was a serious incident. Even more so, it was an embarrassing incident, one that probably tops all the controversial actions carried out by the Newcastle manager in his time as a Premier League coach. But it’s not a sackable offence.
There may be an argument to be had that doing what Pardew did in another work environment may lead to an immediate dismissal, whether it be towards a colleague or client. But we’ve sort of accepted that football works to its own rules, whether we’re happy with it or not.
Newcastle aren’t in a terrible shape in the league, in fact they’re only two points off Manchester United in seventh place. So you do have to wonder what prompted Pardew to retaliate in such a fiery manner. It’s the way he is. As mentioned he does have previous and is arguably the league’s most fiery or controversial manager. Adding that to the enormously disrespectful shove by Meyler – which seems to have been overlooked simply because it wasn’t as bad as what Pardew did – and it’s the making of another chapter in the Newcastle manager’s coloured history in English football.
Can we take a moment to look at the implications from a football standpoint? It’s not to take away from the severity of what Pardew did, but for those who are saying he should be sacked, is that based on any relevant evidence that his position has now become untenable? Can we say without hesitation that he is no longer fit to manage a group of players if he’s unable to control himself, or are we simply arriving at that point because of the shocking nature of the headbutt and that we’ve not really seen anything like it before?
Newcastle’s players may well go on to use this incident as something positive from now until the end of the season. Would it be wrong if they used it as motivation? What is interesting is that they went on to score a fourth goal against Hull after Pardew has been sent to the stands. It may seem insignificant but it really isn’t. It’s a factor that should be taken into account by the club if they’re being encouraged to seek a replacement for their manager.
And then we have to talk about it from an entertainment perspective. There was a cup final this weekend; a couple of phenomenal goals; the title picture altered slightly, perhaps setting itself up for an unimaginable finish. And yet Pardew’s action in a comparatively throwaway Premier League game is what’s stolen the headlines.
It’s entertaining, because that’s what football is now. It may not be entertainment in its purest form, but sometimes the best has to be controversial. If we’re going to accept that football lives within its own rules, then we also have to accept that it’s no longer confined to the borders of sports.
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Pardew deserves to have the book thrown at him, but let’s not act like this is the worst thing we’ve seen in the Premier League.
Two Jack Wilshere-inspired goals in the space of a minute won Arsenal the game in their Premier League dust-up with Aston Villa.
The Gooner firstly tucked away Nacho Monreal’s pass with aplomb in the 35th minute, moments before turning provider for Oliver Giroud.
The away team took the foot of the gas in the second half, allowing Christian Benteke to score his first Premier League goal in 14 hours and 45 minutes with a spectacular diving header. However, the Villain’s couldn’t capitalise on their late surge, leaving Arsenal 2-1 victors.
The three points mean Arsene Wenger’s team sit proudly on top of the table.
Here’s what Twitter made of the game’s key moments…
5 MINUTES IN: GIROUD MISSES A HEADER FROM CLOSE RANGE
12 MINUTES IN: DELPH DRAGS A SHOT WIDE FROM THE EDGE OF THE AREA
34 MINUTES IN: JACK WILSHERE LATCHES ONTO NACHO MONREAL’S PASS TO SLOT HOME INSIDE THE FAR POST
35 MINUTES IN: GIROUD DOUBLES ARSENAL’S LEAD IN UNDER A MINUTE, PLUCKING THE BALL OUT OF THE YEAR AND DRILLING BEYOND BRAD GUZAN
JUST AFTER HALF-TIME: AFTER 17 YEARS AT THE CLUB, ARSENE WENGER STILL STRUGGLES TO DEAL WITH CLUB JACKET ZIPPER
https://vine.co/v/hL56BzJMx3g/embed/simple
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75 MINUTES IN – BENTEKE PULLS ONE BACK FOR THE HOSTS WITH A SPECTACULAR DIVING HEADER
85 MINUTES IN: ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN RETURNS FOR ARSENAL
Goals are the only absolute things in football. Goals win games. Trends come and go in football. There have been periods when teams favor a direct approach, such as during the 1990’s in the Premier League.
And others in which the merits of possession become relatively more important, such as the recent Barcelona-lead tiki-taka revolution. And yet the importance of goals never changes.
Traditionally, strikers have been the players most responsible for getting goals. Next to the goalkeeper, the position of centre-forward is arguably the one that comes with the most pressure. Mistakes by strikers means goals aren’t scored. And when goals aren’t scored, teams lose.
Today, we expect a lot more than goals from our strikers. As the game has decreased in physicality, positions are becoming less functional and players are expected to contribute more to general play, with centre-forwards being no exception to this.
Olivier Giroud is one such striker who’s affect on a game stretches far beyond the scoreboard. In spite of this, the Arsenal man still finds himself coming into criticism for not scoring enough goals. But as the game has changed so much, should we not also change what we expect from a striker?
The traditional centre-forward fits into one of two categories: ‘big man’ or ‘little man’. The big man’s job was to hold up the ball, provide an ‘out ball’ for his team and power in an array of headers. The little man tended to be faster and more nimble, operating on the shoulder of the last defender and always on the poach.
Aside from the fact that one’s big and one’s small, the two leading scorers in European football over the past few years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, don’t fit into either of these molds.
Messi, perhaps the ultimate betrayer of the traditional centre-forward role, has been labeled a ‘false 9’ as he likes to start where strikers tend to, but invariably drops deep to pick up the ball. Ronaldo also shares this preference for having the space to run at the defence, but prefers to start off in a wider position.
With these non-strikers scoring so many goals, should we still be expecting our strikers to score as much?
The stats of Olivier Giroud would suggest not. Although he is Arsenal’s top scorer in the league with 12, this is not a very impressive tally considering Arsenal only play with one striker and are a team challenging for the league title.
But as well as scoring goals, Giroud is also provides them. The Frenchman also has the second most amount of assists at the club this season with seven, only one behind Mesut Ozil, the much lauded ‘king of assists’.
Giroud manages to provide so many assists because he does not simply loiter in the box as centre-forwards of old tended to do. His play is more nuanced than this, linking up the various lines of attack by receiving the ball from midfield and playing in teammates running beyond him. Judging the Frenchman on goals alone seems to crude a simplification to make.
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It’s surprising that in the shift to the ‘4-2-3-1’ formation that we’ve seen recently, the onus on the ‘one’ up front to score has reduced, rather than increased. But then this really shouldn’t be that shocking given that, in effect, there are now four forwards.
Chelsea perhaps provide the most clear example of this. When they have the ball, the four players up front essentially have a free role, with no one player remaining in front of goal and solely concentrating on finishing. While the toils of Torres et al. are well documented, a traditional centre-forward may not score as many goals as we’d expect in this system given it’s fluidity.
Goals may be the only absolute in football, but who scores and who provides them appears to be in flux. Assessing a striker on goals alone may no longer be a very good measure. If we accept that the game is changing, then we must also start changing how we judge our strikers.
Thomas Rooney of Bettingpro.com looks at reasons to be (slightly) cheerful despite England’s early World Cup exit. There’s also a look at the dark horses so far – the majestic Colombia.
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Now I know we’re supposed to be down in the dumps as England fans and Robbie Savage keeps telling us there’s absolutely no positives to take – but let’s look on the bright side.
Despite low expectations anyway, England’s campaign has definitely been a disaster. No getting away from that. One point and bottom of the group? Not good.
It could have been very different though and there are SOME reasons to be excited about the future. Here, we even stretch to three positives.
1. Raheem Sterling
We have a bright young player that can take the World by storm. Of that there is no doubt. His performance against Italy was fantastic and his fearless approach is refreshing.
He will be in the mix for England for many, many years to come and it all started with his lively showing against the Italians this summer.
Would I be happy if we built the team around him and his approach to the game? Definitely. Pace, pace and more pace.
2. Invaluable experience gained
Let’s get this right – England have a fantastic crop of youngsters and ones who can definitely benefit from hurting in this tournament. They now know what it takes to compete at this level.
Sterling, Ross Barkley, Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Luke Shaw could all be starting in two years time and they’ll draw on this summer.
3. At least it’s all over
Ok, we didn’t quite stretch it to three positives. Not really. But at least it’s all over now. There will be a fall-out and Danny Mills is bound to be on the case pointing out what went wrong.
We need to move on now though. England weren’t good enough. Neither were Spain and Italy by the way or the ‘golden generation’ at Ivory Coast. The Three Lions aren’t alone.
So let’s sit back and enjoy the rest of the tournament!
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Colombia the ones to watch?
On the subject of enjoying the rest of the World Cup… how about routing for Colombia from now on? They are fantastic to watch and comfortably won their group with a 4-1 win over Japan.
Let’s not forget they haven’t got Radamel Falcao and a couple of other key players. The football they play is superb, they enjoy themselves and as far as celebrating goes – they’re the best.
Don’t be surprised to see James Rodriquez linked to many top clubs this summer!
Be sure to check out Bettingpro.com for all the best tips, free bets and all the info you need for the top Sporting events – World Cup included.