Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher has taken a swipe at Arsenal’s January transfer business, claiming that the Gunners failed to address ‘the same old problems’.
Arsenal broke their transfer record to bring Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the Emirates Stadium on deadline day.
Aubameyang followed former Dortmund teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the club, with the Armenian joining in the deal that saw Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester United.
Pundit Carragher, however, is astounded that head coach Arsene Wenger did not look to improve defensively during the winter window.
Indeed, the Gunners lost 3-1 at Swansea City in the Premier League on Tuesday night, with a couple of defensive errors costing the capital outfit once again.
Carragher has claimed that Arsenal ‘might actually get worse’ with their new January arrivals because more focus will be taken away from the defensive side of the match.
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Carragher told Sky Sports:
“My big problem with the transfers is the same old problems, we saw that midweek at Swansea. You just think, you are continually buying attacking players but seeing the old problems.
“The problems are not going away, and they’re not going away because of what’s happened January. They may actually get worse because there are more attacking players on the pitch.”
Arsenal will look to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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
It’s often said that one of they factors to making any relationship work, is the ability for both parties to adhere to compromise. And perhaps to some extent, the relationship with Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham Hotspur, could well be defined by how the Portuguese finds tactical common ground with his new football club.
Because although Villas-Boas is quite rightly looking to define his teams’ future by instilling his own ideologies and way of playing, you ultimately cannot erase the past. Not overnight, anyway.
As Spurs came out for the second half against Queens Park Ranger last Sunday a team transformed, you would have thought that come the end of the match, Villas-Boas would be jumping for joy at proceedings. You could perhaps argue that he was left scratching his head with more questions than answers, as Tottenham prospered under a traditional 4-4-2 set-up – quite some distance away from the tactical set-ups favoured by the ex-Porto man in his outings so far as Spurs boss.
Of course, there have been extenuating circumstances for Spurs so far this season. It’s been noted many times in these articles, but it’s an important observation that the 3-1 win away at Reading represented the first fixture in which Villas-Boas had the full set of players needed to make either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 adequately work.
The Queens Park Rangers game did of course represent only Spurs fifth league game this season. Some could argue to the contrary, but considering the transfer market fuelled travails that the side faced during their first three fixtures, sitting one point behind Manchester City in the Premier League with eight in total, isn’t quite so bad after all.
Although despite the performance against Reading at the Madjeski and to a slightly lesser extent, the draw with Lazio in the Europa League, it feels difficult to shake an underlying feeling of disjointedness within this current starting XI. Where as some aspects, such as the deep midfield pairing of Moussa Dembele and Sandro have looked promising in the new look AVB set-up, more concerningly, the attacking unit of Spurs team hasn’t looked wholly comfortable.
The biggest worry so far, is perhaps undeniably Gareth Bale’s level of performance in a Spurs shirt. When switched to a traditional wide-left role against QPR on Sunday, the Welshman looked right back at home, delivering direct bursts of speed and trademark delivery in his usual deadly fashion. Villas-Boas’ deployment of Bale at left-back was of course a poor decision- he is too much of a potent asset going forward and judging by the way he played in the first-half, his heart didn’t seem to be in it anymore, either.
But it hasn’t just been Gareth Bale who’s looked off colour, either. Gylfi Sigurdsson, bar his part in Jermain Defoe’s first goal at the Madjeski, has struggled to make any form of impact as White Hart Lane as of yet. Aaron Lennon has foraged and harried well, but hasn’t sustained much of a continuous impact. It seems remarkable that a striker such as Defoe, can score four league goals in five games and still face questions, but his overall contribution as a lone frontman continues to be examined. On paper, Villas-Boas has the players to make a 4-2-3-1 or to the like, stick. Putting that into practice hasn’t quite been so easy.
The crux is ultimately, that Villas-Boas and the Spurs team must still be given serious time to adapt to change. It’s a phrase that be beginning to ring hollow in the ears of some, but making wholesale tactical and personnel changes such as what Tottenham Hotspur have undertaken, is a long journey indeed. But sooner or later, a tipping point will be reached. Quite when that tipping point will be reached, is a lot harder to say.
But if Villas-Boas can’t get his attacking unit to play, there’s absolutely no harm in finding a short-term compromise, at least till the January transfer window anyway. A second swoop for one Joao Moutinho certainly shouldn’t be ruled out, but although he was the most integral target to AVB’s plans that the club failed to attain, you can now understand why there was also such a concerted effort to bring Shakhtar Donetsk forward Willian to N17.
The team feels as if they need a forward thinking player with a little bit more tactical nous. Willian has the core technical skills and close control that Villas-Boas will crave, but perhaps more importantly, the tactical understanding to fit into his blueprint aswell. At times, Spurs’ forward unit has looked unsure of their responsibilities and roles within this team. The point remains that a large proportion of this team have yet to taste much past 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. Learning a new of playing will take time and while most will adapt, not all will perhaps prove as effective in a new style.
There is a feeling that the imminent return of Emmanuel Adebayor can breathe life and direction into this Spurs team. Some may find it absurd that Defoe, after his goalscoring run, could possibly be dropped. But the fortunes of the lone frontman are closely linked to that of the attacking three behind. It’s a sensitive subject at Spurs, but the team needs the whole side to profit and not just Defoe himself. The big Togolese can bring the best out of Sigurdsson, Bale, Lennon et al and he could catalyze the attacking side of AVB’s plans into life.
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But if Adebayor continues to struggle with fitness and Tottenham’s wingers keep misfiring, there’s no shame in finding an alternative way of playing. If 4-4-2 works a treat at home, why not deploy it from time to time? The chance to develop the long term tactical vision won’t disappear if he decides to revert back to a more traditional set-up every now and then. If the boss feels that he still doesn’t have the whole set of players to get the best out of his preferred set-up, then he can’t remain too stubborn in the face of adversity.
To quote Robert Burns, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. Villas-Boas can’t have foreseen how every player will perform in a new set-up. By all means give them time, but if he has to find an alternative until an opportunity comes to change it, then so be it.
Do you think compromise is key for Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham Hotspur? Let me know how you view the current Spurs set-up and how you’d line the side up for the United game on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and talk all things Tottenham.
According to France Football, Tottenham Hotspur want to sign Amiens midfielder Tanguy NDombele this summer as Mousa Dembele prepares to depart.
Dembele is widely expected to leave Spurs this summer despite a very impressive 2017-18 campaign with Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Indeed, the Belgium international does not want to sign a new contract with Tottenham, and as a result, the Premier League team will be in the market for at least one new central midfielder ahead of the 2018-19 season.
Spurs are currently being linked with Amiens star NDombele, and it would be fair to say that the Tottenham fans want the deal to take place.
The 21-year-old provided seven assists in 35 Ligue 1 appearances on loan at Lyon last season, and a number of clubs are believed to be considering a move.
However, Dembele’s imminent departure has reportedly accelerated Tottenham’s interest.
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That said, Lyon are believed to have the chance to sign NDombele permanently this summer, which could make it very tough for Tottenham.
A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Spurs fans can be seen below:
Throughout the transfer window, fans eagerly refresh their social media feeds to discover if their club have secured a new signing.
Aston Villa made an announcement on Tuesday, but it was centred around an outgoing rather than a new face to add to the squad.
Ritchie de Laet has left the Midlands outfit to join Belgian side Royal Antwerp on loan until the end of the season.
The 29-year-old has been part of the Villa fold since 2016 when he joined from Leicester City.
This season under manager Steve Bruce, the defender has struggled for game time, making just nine appearances in total for the Championship outfit.
Now, De Laet will hope to rack up more minutes back in his homeland at the club where he played during his youth career.
Villa fans have been tweeting their reactions to the transfer, with some hoping that he returns, while others are more focused on who could be coming through the welcome gates.
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.
Roy Hodgson has just three strikers in his England squad to face Moldova and Ukraine, after Andy Carroll was ruled out with a hamstring injury. The Independent reports.
Carroll produced an impressive debut performance for West Ham in their 3-0 win over Fulham, but had to limp off the pitch after 60 minutes.
It has been a frustrating time for English strikers, with none seeming to hit the heights which Hodgson would like going into another qualification campaign.
Wayne Rooney had been struggling for form for some time before being dropped from the Manchester United starting line-up and could now be laid off for 2 months.
Meanwhile, Danny Welbeck’s starting place is under threat by the arrival of Robin van Persie, while Daniel Sturridge cannot force his way into the thinking of Roberto Di Matteo and ahead of Fernando Torres.
Darren Bent and Peter Crouch were both hoping for recalls to the side, with both players having respectable international records, especially Crouch who has scored 22 goals in 42 caps.
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But Hodgson has decided to stick with a forward line of Sturridge, Welbeck and Defoe for the upcoming qualifiers and it seems that the absence of Rooney remains his biggest grievance.
“We can’t deny our major attacking focus and hope was Rooney, who could only play the last couple of games in the Euros and whom we were counting on to be a major factor in our qualifying campaign from the first moment”, he said.
In reality, England should be able to cope with Rooney’s absence against a team ranked 137th in the world, but Hodgson admits he is wary of complacency especially as Moldova impressively held World Cup finalists, Holland to a draw in the last qualifying campaign.
“We have to come to terms with what the stadium is going to be like, what’s the atmosphere going to be like, what’s the pitch going to be like – and how good are these players –and relate that to the players we choose and make sure they go into the game with the best possible preparation.
“If we are not aware of the fact that this is a major hurdle of the 10 hurdles we have to jump over then we would be very, very foolish.”
Liverpool fans are eager to sign Ryan Sessegnon after his performance in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday.
Sessegnon was again at the heart of a Fulham victory, assisting Tom Cairney’s goal with a sublime through ball that split the Aston Villa defence and sent the Cottagers up into the English Premier League.
Still just 18 years of age, the £22.5m-rated winger is undoubtedly one of the finest talents in the country and will no doubt be a wanted man when the transfer window opens.
His performance capped off what was been a wonderful season for the teenager, during which he has scored a fantastic 16 goals and assisted eight more. Three of those direct goal contributions came in the play-offs, demonstrating he has a big game mentality.
Reds fans believe he would be a great option for Liverpool next season and can progress massively under the guidance of manager Jurgen Klopp.
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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on a potential move…
Southampton lie above the relegation zone on goal difference following a disastrous season to date, and with only seven home matches – including games against Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur – and nine away games to come, it is clear that they need to strengthen their squad during the January transfer window in order to survive.
The £75m sale of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool will allow them to do that, but Saints fans may be surprised at some of the names they have been linked with bringing to St Mary’s before the window closes at the end of this month.
Those supporters have become used to the club adding names such as Sadio Mane, Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, Mario Lemina and Cedric Soares – younger players they may not have heard of but who have the potential to develop with the south coast outfit and increase their re-sale value – to their squad.
However, that doesn’t appear to be the case for Southampton in January if there is any truth to the latest transfer rumours, which is perhaps something to do with the predicament they find themselves in right now.
Maybe the time to take risks is over – for this window at least – and already in the last couple of weeks Saints have been heavily linked with moves to bring Arsenal’s Theo Walcott – who left the club to join the Gunners in 2006, Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and West Ham centre-forward Andy Carroll to St Mary’s.
Those are certainly not names that the south coast outfit would have targeted in years gone by, and it suggests either a change of tact or smacks of desperation as they look to try and get some experienced Premier League players into the club to try and steer them away from danger.
It would certainly be a step away from their usual transfer philosophy with Walcott, Sturridge and Carroll all 28 years of age and perhaps with little re-sale vale once their potential and respective contracts with Southampton came to an end.
That said, if they could get the former duo on loan deals until the end of the season that would be less of an issue, but they would also need to be careful in that instance that they had players that cared for and were committed to do everything they can to help the south coast outfit.
From a fans’ point of view, they will have looked at the transfer business of a team like West Ham in recent years and not been too envious as they bring in older players with little chance of making money when they move on.
Even in the last couple of years, the Irons have brought players like Alvaro Arbeloa, Jose Fonte, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez to the club, and while the former has already left, if the latter trio all see out their contracts the east London outfit will probably lose out financially at the end of the day.
It is a model that Southampton haven’t really followed since they returned to the Premier League in 2012, and they shouldn’t really start now.
Yes, the likes of Walcott, Sturridge and Carroll are experienced English top flight players who can score goals at this level, but all would come with their own injury problems that have plagued their careers.
The south coast outfit are in trouble now but they shouldn’t panic, because if they wanted to bring two of the three players to St Mary’s on a permanent deal it would likely cost them a significant amount, even if all of the aforementioned players’ contracts are due to run out in 2019.
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Those Premier League clubs know that Southampton have money in the bank after selling van Dijk, and as well as getting more value for their money abroad, the club would also encounter teams that are a little less aware of their financial clout and unwilling to demand ridiculously high fees.
While Saints need new blood and quickly, they shouldn’t abandon their principles when it comes to transfers and should continue to follow the model that has been so successful in the past to drag them out of trouble, rather than going down the West Ham route that has so often been criticised in the past.
They may find themselves in a real bad place right now, but throwing cash around on the wrong sort of players is not the right method to get themselves out of it.
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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