Gent missed a chance to close the gap on Belgian First Division leaders Genk and Anderlecht when they were held 1-1 at Mechelen on Saturday.The third-placed side could have drawn within five points of both teams, who are split by goal difference at the top of the league table, with victory.But they were forced to settle for a point when David de Storme nabbed an injury-time equaliser for the hosts.Senegalese striker Elimane Coulibaly had earlier put Gent into the lead with his eighth goal of the season, finding the net in the 77th minute.Elsewhere, Kortrijk ended a run of four straight league losses thanks to a visit from bottom-placed Charleroi, running out 3-0 winners to climb to ninth on the table.Davy De Beule scored a first-half brace for the hosts, interrupted by a rare goal from defender Sven Kums.Lokeren consolidated their place in the top six with a 2-1 win at home over 10-man Zulte-Waregem.Alfredh Finnbogason and Benjamin de Ceulaer scored within the first 10 minutes for the hosts, before Zulte-Waregem threatened a second-half comeback with Thomas Matton’s 49th-minute goal.But the danger quickly passed as defender Miguel Dachelet was sent off for a second caution in the 56th minute.Finally, Sint-Truiden defeated fellow relegation battlers Germinal Beerschot 1-0 on Gregory Dufer’s 61st-minute winner, and Westerlo triumphed 1-0 at Cercle Brugge courtesy of Dieter Dekelver.
Wenger clearly believes that if you can’t beat them, then join them, as he has openly declared his interest in Cole, Schwarzer and Pienaar this past fortnight. It does appear the best way to sign up players in the modern football, as the game’s morals and common decency continue to go out of the window.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of Arsenal blogs which has included…Wenger should move for £30m quartet; Van der Wiel welcomes Arsenal’s interest and Emmanuel Eboue’s unofficial World Cup Diary.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Arsenal stories on the Web this week.
The £30m question that Arsenal fans will be asking
Should Arsenal break the bank for Cole?
Emmanuel EBOUE’s unoffical World Cup Diary – PART II
£30 million quartet is just what Mr Wenger should order
Spain are the international equivalent of Arsenal
Van der Wiel welcomes Arsenal’s interest
How ‘Championship Manager’s’ finest failed to make the big time: Part Two
Why is 11-a-side football dying a slow death in this country?
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Best of Web
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2010/11 Fixtures And Arsene Goes Bah Humbug! – A Cultured Left Foot
Where are the signings? – Online Gooner
Why don’t Arsenal report Barcelona to FIFA? New winger on the horizon? – Le Grove
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Almunia’s Not Worried As Goalkeeping Targets Fail Their Auditions – A Cultured Left Foot
Who was the greatest home grown player we’ve ever had, and who is it now? Read on… – Le Grove
Click image below to see a gallery of the Argentinean babes at the World Cup:
Whilst many of us would dream of being paid to play football week-in week out for our clubs, for a number of the world’s top footballers this is not the only passion or, for some, the only career path that they have shown an interest in. We are not taling about things like playing golf, or partaking in other common sports, but genuine hobbies or interests outside of the world of sport that these footballers find the time to pursue seriously. I have compiled a selection of 10 footballers with ‘another life’, most of whom I am confident are relatively unknown to the general public, though one or two are certainly familiar.
Click on Daniel Agger to see the 10 players and their secret second lives
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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised surprise starter Javier Hernandez for his eye for goal in their 4-0 rout of Wigan on Saturday.
The Scot gave the Mexican striker a chance to impress at the DW Stadium, opting to bench Golden Boot leader Dimitar Berbatov, but Hernandez vindicated his manager’s decision by scoring United’s first two goals to increase their lead at the top of the table to four points.
The brace earned Hernandez his eighth and ninth goals of the league season, and Ferguson praised the efficiency of the 22-year-old.
“He is very, very good. You’re hoping he gets those chances and he does put them away, his percentage is very high and we’re very pleased with his performance today,” Ferguson said.
Wigan had several decent chances of their own early in the first half, and it was only in the final 10 minutes that United were able to establish a comfortable buffer.
“The first 20 minutes it was all Wigan, (they had) some great attempts. We’ll have to thank our goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar who was terrific, he stood up very well and made two or three very good saves,” Ferguson said.
“We got the goal from a little breakaway, it was a terrific finish from Chicharito (Hernandez), of course, that’s what he’s good at.”
“Second half I thought we played really well. Excellent performance in the second half – we could’ve scored a few more goals.”
Wigan coach Roberto Martinez said the scoreline, which included three goals in the final 20 minutes, flattered the league leaders.
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“If you watch the game I don’t think it (the scoreline) reflected the performance at all, but when you play against a Manchester United side and you want to win the game you need to take the chances and create,” he told Sky Sports.
“I felt the first-half performance was very, very good. You go into the half-time 1-0 down and sometimes it’s really hard to take, (but) Man United today were clinical in their counter-attacks and they took advantage of it.”
The World Cup is the opportunity for footballers around the world to shine and perform on the biggest stage. The best players from England, Brazil, Spain, Argentina and the rest of the 32 competing countries will all be hoping that they can score the goal that takes their team through to the next round or even the goal that wins the final! World class players such as Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney cannot say that they are truly great players until they lift the World Cup trophy, and with the 2010 tournament in South Africa upon us, they’ll be going all out to return victorious.
Not only are World Cups and other major international football tournaments graced by some of the best players in the world, but it’s also an opportunity for streakers to get some limelight. It’s always a laugh watching a streaker being chased by the stewards around the ground and it provides some light entertainment aside from the tension of the matches themselves. There’s a new kind of streaker looking to make his mark at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Tiny!
Tiny streaks for a living and is looking to get to the South Africa where he can show off his figure and his amazing beard! You might not have seen him before, but he’s set to become one of the most famous streakers in the world, albeit the smallest as well. Every World Cup has an outstanding individual, whether that be Pele for Brazil in 1970 or Maradona for Argentina in 1986, but the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be remembered by just one man and his beard, Tiny. Find out more about Tiny on his site.
Cesc Fabregas has hit back at reports that he left Arsenal due to believing they could not challenge for the Premier League, and has stated his love for the North London club.
The Spain international departed the Emirates in the summer to return to boyhood team Barcelona, and reports from Spanish daily ‘Sport‘ indicated that the midfielder had written off The Gunners’ title hopes.
Despite this, Fabregas has retorted by claiming that the published interview never happened.
“I’d never speak one bad word about AFC. That’s not why I left, it was never in my mind. AFC made me who I am today. I never gave any interview away since my press conference at my presentation,” he commented on his Twitter account.
“People can hate me for leaving or remember that I gave my all for the club. But me talking one bad word or saying something against AFC will not [be] seen,” the statement reads.
Arsenal have had a shaky start to the season, losing against Liverpool 2-0 at home and to Manchester United spectacularly 8-2 at Old Trafford, but seem to have regained confidence with a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
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Arsene Wenger’s men take on Blackburn at Ewood Park on Saturday, as the North London club look to close the gap on the Manchester clubs and Chelsea at the top of the standings.
After Spurs clinched the signing of promising full-back duo Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker from Sheffield United back in 2009, it seemed the only way was up for the pair, but in the intervening seasons, one has fared a damn sight better than the other in what really is a tale of the two Kyles.
Kyle Naughton looked all but set to clinch a move to Everton in the summer of 2009, before an £11m joint bid for both him and Walker galumphed the Toffees and they sealed their respective moves to Spurs – a switch Naughton may regret now.
Naughton forced his way into the Blades starting line-up in the 2008/9 season and displayed a maturity to his play that surprised many observers. His excellent form throughout the campaign meant he sealed a place in the Championship PFA Team of the Year at the end of the season. Capable of playing at right midfield as well as right back, Naughton was shifted to left back upon the younger Walker’s emergence to the Blades first-team squad in their eye-catching play-off run.
However, Naughton found his route into the starting eleven at White Hart Lane blocked after his move, with the likes of Alan Hutton and Vedran Corluka the preffered choices.
Sensibly, for a young player biding his time, he was farmed out on loan to Middlesbrough in the January transfer window last season, making 15 league appearances and so far this term, he’s been a regular at Leicester since his loan switch with 17 league appearances to his name. But, having just turned 22 years old, it’s fair to say that Naughton wouldn’t have envisaged himself plying his trade back in the Championship by this point in his career.
Contrast Naughton’s story with that of fellow former Blade Kyle Walker, and the difference is startling. Walker was relatively unknown compared to Naughton when they completed their moves to Spurs, having only forced his way into the Blades starting line up due to injuries in their run to the Playoff Final in 2009.
A loan move back to Sheffield United immediately upon completing his permanent switch to Spurs was secured and with little competition for the right back berth now with Naughton out of the picture, he started 26 league games last season for Sheffield United.
Powerfully built and with a great turn of pace, Walker is a completely different player to Naughton, and some would say, more suited to the rigours of the Premier League. While he may not be as versatile as Naughton, that may have been to his benefit so far in his fledgling career.
A loan move to Championship pacesetters QPR was sealed this season after impressing at his hometown club Sheffield United last term and fans of English football’s second tier were regularly treated to his rampaging runs down the right hand flank as Walker began to catch the eye with a string of man-of-the-match performances.
When his spell at QPR expired, under-pressure Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier sprang a surprise by signing Walker on loan until the end of the season from Spurs. His top flight experience is so far minimal, but he’s already scored a goal on his debut against his former club Sheffield United in the FA Cup third round and a fantastic strike in the Premier League against Fulham.
He’s taken to the top flight like a duck to water so far and was named in Fabio Capello’s England squad for the recent friendly against Denmark. At just 20 years of age, Walker appears to be held in higher esteem at Spurs and in the wider footballing community than Naughton is at the moment.
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A lot of this comes down to the success of their respective loan moves. Naughton missed the first full six months of last season sat on the bench or featuring for the reserves at Spurs. It was only after clinching a move to Middlesbrough in January, a team that has rather surprisingly struggled to come to terms with life in the Championship over past 12 months or so after former manager Gordon Strachan‘s Old Firm experiment went terribly wrong, that Naughton was able to start playing week in week out once more.
Leicester have also undergone a rapid turnaround from last season, and although both of the sides that Naughton has joined are big sides expected to trouble the playoffs at the end of the season, both have collectively under performed ensuring that he’s been kept out of the limelight up until now.
Walker has been fortuitous enough to have enjoyed a fantastic loan spell at Championship leaders QPR, managed by former Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock. QPR have fostered a great team spirit so far this campaign, built around the exploits of mercurial midfielder Adel Taraabt and they look all but certain to achieve promotion to the top tier this season.
The success of his QPR spell has snowballed into recognition from the top flight, which in turn has brought recognition from England too. Of course, Naughton is still a regular with the Stuart Pearce’s under 21 side, but unfortunately they do not garner the same media attention.
The difference in age between the pair is around 18 months, and in the last 18 months both players’ careers have taken strikingly diverging paths. Walker’s career appears to be on the up and he could well be starting for Spurs at right back next term if he keeps up his form at Aston Villa, with many Spurs fans remaining unconvinced about Alan Hutton’s pedigree for the position in the long-term.
Naughton’s career has stalled somewhat over the past year or so, but the resurgence at his current club Leicester under former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson is worth looking at. Their steady climb up the table now sees them occupy 8th place in the league, just four points from sixth placed Leeds in the playoff positions, with Naughton’s form excellent along the way.
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Naughton’s deal has been extended until the end of the season by Sven and Naughton could yet be toasting a triumphant return to the top flight with promotion with loan club Leicester, but for now, Walker remains in pole position for a starting place at Spurs in the future. The irony that the senior Kyle’s route into the first-team at his parent club could be blocked by his Sheffield United understudy won’t be lost on Naughton and the tale of the two Kyles looks set to turn into the battle of the two Kyles at Spurs next season.
What does everyone else think – Will Walker and Naughton be given a far shot at Spurs next season? Who will win the battle for the right back slot at Spurs assuming Redknapp will seek to replace Alan Hutton?
Manchester United go into the new Premier League season bidding to topple bitter rivals Manchester City and wrestle back control of the title. To my knowledge at least, this current side assembled by manager Sir Alex Ferguson is far removed from the vintages of yesteryear, and you have to really question his transfer record over the last five years.
This isn’t going to be an in-depth analysis of the heavily-criticised and quite rightly vilified ownership of the club by the Glazer family – everyone knows the constraints and leveraged debt that the club have to work with these days, more of a closer look at Ferguson’s transfer choices given the resources at his disposal.
Since 2007-8, the club have spent in the region of £198m on 26 players, while Paul Scholes came out of retirement for a hugely successful second spell during the latter part of last season. The club recouped roughly £151m from the sale of 29 players not including those released by the club. That’s a net spend of £47m, but which was boosted significantly by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009-10, all of which was paid as one huge lump sum up front in what represents an excellent piece of negotiating on the club’s behalf.
They can hardly plead poverty, as the money has clearly been there to spend, perhaps not quite as freely as prior to the Glazer takeover, but their net spend is somewhat distorted by the Cristiano Ronaldo departure. But have the deals been the right ones that the club have needed to compete?
The 2007-8 side was the last genuinely world-class side that Manchester United had; balanced, destructive and tactically aware, they went on to clinch both the Champions League and the Premier League titles, pipping an expensively-assembled Chelsea side to both in the process. That side would walk the league this year.
This also marked the final season during which Owen Hargreaves was a regular and he’s never been properly replaced at the club, and the squad still require a recognised holding man of continental quality a full five years on. Hargreaves’ abilities reached almost mythical status in his long-term absence and there was certainly a point where he was being hugely overrated from an individual perspective by many observers, but that doesn’t take away how important he was to the collective.
Anderson also arrived the same summer as the England midfielder for £17m from Porto and five years on, he’s done little of note at Old Trafford, the odd six-game run of good form aside. Much in the same way as Liverpool fans are mocked for saying ‘next year will be our year’, so are Anderson fans for their continued support of an unfulfilled talent. Seemingly incapable of staying fit for longer than two minutes, he will undoubtedly go down as a flop and it’s somewhat bizarre that more attention isn’t paid to his subsequent lack of success.
Dimitar Berbatov is another that will ultimately go down as something of a failure, and another expensive one at that, moving to the club from Tottenham on transfer deadline day back in 2008-9 for £30.75m, becoming Ferguson’s most expensive purchase ever. In footballing terms, he’s flickered but never like was initially hoped and routinely failed in big games and in Europe as the club slowly but surely slipped from the pinnacle of the European game.
Ashley Young was signed last summer despite the club already having two more than capable wingers at the club in Antonio Valencia and Nani. It seemed like a purchase brought on by sheer indulgence rather than one motivated at addressing the team’s needs. I can’t think of a single United fan that was thrilled by his £17m switch from Aston Villa, and despite a bright start to last season, he faded terribly and he’s far from a fan favourite.
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were bought over the course of six months for a combined fee of £27m. Long gone has the era of the club producing their own talent, instead they source in expensively the best of what the top flight has to offer. Smalling is an exceptional player already and Jones could potentially one day match his already lofty reputation, but both were bought to stop their rivals having them as opposed to any overriding need for them in the squad at the time.
The departures of Wes Brown and John O’Shea and the injury struggles of Rafael, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have afforded them more first-team opportunities than they may otherwise have been given. When the squad is at full strength, both would struggle to get in the starting eleven.
Then there is of course Bebe, signed on the recommendation of former assistant Carlos Queiroz, the ludicrous fee of £7.4m paid just a few months after having touted around from a fraction of that means it has to be placed in the annuls of history alongside the sheer lunacy of the £35m forked out for Andy Carroll and £50 paid for Fernando Torres considering the context surroudning the deal. They’d be lucky to get even half that for him now. Gabriel Obertan, Mame Diouf and Manucho will all go down as missteps too.
In the interests of fairness, though, it’s worth pointing out that the club did decent business in securing the signatures of Javier Hernandez, Antonio Valencia, Nani and David De Gea during that period. So far this summer too, the signings of Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell both bode well for the future.
The problems and imbalances within the squad are bordering on the systemic now – the need for replacements for each of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves are still to be sufficiently addressed. The club have lacked a first-choice right back since Wes Brown in 2009 and Scholes coming out of retirement may have been a success in the short-term, but it only served to highlight the club’s continued reliance on a 37 year-old and it’s bordering on the embarrassing now.
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The trappings of success has seen them win three league titles, one Champions League and one League Cup in the period since 2007-8, but it’s also seen the squad become nowhere near as strong as in years gone by. Taped together by a mixture of experienced players and youngsters, it folded under the pressure last term without their hugely-missed skipper Vidic marshalling the side from the heart of defence.
Ferguson’s purchases in the last five years have by and large been expensive failures, needless indulgences or panic buys. This summer’s business is a step in the right direction, but the club still lack a driving presence from midfield massively. Winning trophies means you essentially ‘earn’ the benefit of the doubt and until now, they haven’t been closely scrutinised, but the best manager in the top flight’s history needs to stop ignoring the problems before his very eyes otherwise the club’s fans may have to get used to seeing their noisy neighbours pip them to the post.
Arsenal have made inquiries into the availability of Holland and Hamburg winger Eljero Elia as Arsene Wenger attempts to replenish his midfield with creative talent. The midfielder is under contract with the Bundesliga club until 2014 and will cost between £8 and £10m.
Hamburg turned down an offer earlier this summer from Juventus. The fee was reportedly in the region of £6m – £1m less than Hamburg paid FC Twente just a year before. At the time, Elia told the Hamburger Morgenpost: “Hamburg told me they won’t let me join Juventus, but that’s not a problem – Juventus are no better than Hamburg in my opinion”.
“I’ve agreed with the club that we’d open talks if a big club like Arsenal or Chelsea comes knocking”.
Surely this opens the door for Arsene Wenger to make a bid. Having just sold Samir Nasri to Manchester City, a highly-rated international left winger would be just the tonic for Arsenal fans. Despite being only 24 and competing in the national side with such supreme talents as Arjen Robben and Ibrahim Afellay, Elia has 22 caps to his name.
Even at £10m, Elia is a snip compared to some of the reports linking Arsenal to a £26m bid for Lille’s Eden Hazard and a £17m bid for Kaka. There is also the promising potential to link Elia up with Dutch international team mate and new Arsenal captain, Robin Van Persie.
Article courtesy of Chris Smith from the excellent Transfer Tavern
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As the transfer window slammed shut on what was a rather eventful deadline day, clubs are left to reflect on whether they have done enough to secure their club’s passage to success or ensure their safety. Supporters will be debating whether their respective clubs did enough in the January window, or if they have missed a golden opportunity.
I have to confess that I am not a great lover of the transfer window and will be championing the call of Richard Bevan and the LMA in having the process scrapped. The current transfer set-up, especially the January window, creates a state of panic among football clubs who on some occasions buy players simply for the sake of it, despite the added premium that is added to the price tag.
The problem is when there is a set time frame like the January window, it is the selling club that holds all the cards. That is why so many chairmen leave it so late to conduct all their business as the final few hours sees the guard generally slip and suddenly move into a buyer’s market. Unfortunately it doesn’t leave much time for deals to be completed and ultimately clubs are left disappointed. It is a vicious circle that chairmen find themselves in and in my view will always be the same while we continue with the current set-up. Scrapping the window will stop these acts of brinkmanship from club chairmen and bring a lot more common sense back to the game.
One of the key aspects to provide a sane transfer window is for every club to be sensible. Unfortunately that is never the case and Aston Villa ensured that there will be fun and games this January with a £24m deal for Darren Bent. While that fee could now be seen as a relative bargain in comparison to yesterday’s sales of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll, it initiated the proceedings as clubs reviewed their own pricing policy and used Bent’s fee as a reason to justify it. Would Newcastle ever have got any offers close to £35m for Andy Carroll at the start of January? I think you know that particular answer.
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There is no doubting that what the transfer window does bring is an element of excitement to the proceedings and I am sure that there were many who spent all day listening to the radio or watching Sky Sports News in the hope that your club was linked with a big move. Like all windows there were plenty of rumours and hot air about, but ultimately very few transfers actually took place as clubs ran out of time to secure deals, leaving managers frustrated and no doubt supporters alike. Unfortunately I fear it will always remain that way as the selling club holds all the cards and that is why the sooner football authorities look to scrap the window the better. Deadline day may provide a good day of entertainment, but ultimately it doesn’t do football clubs any favours.