Tag Futebol

We have passed the half way point of the season, the title race is starting to heat up and the dog fight to avoid relegation is becoming more and more intense with every passing game. There are still four months left of the season to unfold in front of us but due to the PFA’s flawed player of the year award, it is already time to start considering the player of the season in late January.

Firstly it must be argued what a ridiculous decision it was to stage the awards in April, essentially turning the award into a “player of the first half of the season” accolade. Last year’s award, which went to Wayne Rooney, would have surely been handed to Didier Drogba, Premier League top goal scorer and League winner, had the voting taken place at the appropriate juncture.

The last few years has seen an obvious candidate (or two) stand above the sea of Premier League players. Last year, as mentioned before, was a toss up between Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney. Both played phenomenally and had the best goal scoring campaigns of their careers. The 2009/10 award was more of a lifetime achievement award to Ryan Giggs, but could have easily been given to Nemanja Vidic, Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres. While no one came close to Cristiano Ronaldo in the two years preceding Giggs’ success.

This season however has seen no front-runner for the award; several players have had good seasons. However no one has quite reached the levels of the previous winners and nominees for the award, while big name stars and obvious candidates for the award pre-season have had severely disappointing campaigns thus far. Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and Joe Cole are amongst the guilty parties. But who are the most likely nominees? Three nominees will be announced in April, with the winner being announced a few days later.

Nemanja Vidic – has been the most prominent reason Manchester United are still (somehow) unbeaten. He has been an absolute rock at the back, winning every personal duel that has been presented to him. His performances against Arsenal, Bolton and more recently Tottenham Hotspur have been the highlights of fantastic campaign. The big Serbian seems to have relished the honour of being made captain by Sir Alex and has even saved United at the other end, by netting the equalising goal against Aston Villa to salvage another unlikely away point.

Carlos Tevez – since Berbatov’s elevation to a degree of form, thus cushioning Wayne Rooney’s miserable season. No club has been so reliant on one player as Manchester City. Tevez continues to demonstrate, that Ferguson was devastatingly wrong to let him go. With fourteen goals in the league this season, at least twenty-five at the end of the season looks more than likely. Without Carlito City would be nowhere near where they lie currently. He has even managed to fit in a transfer request during an eventful six months at Eastlands, Mario Balotelli may have been correct in saying that Wayne Rooney isn’t the best striker in Manchester. Currently no one sits above Carlos Tevez for that honour.

Samir Nasri – wrongly or rightly accused of being the Enfant Terrible of French football, left out of the World Cup squad and accused of the traitorous deed of sitting in Thierry Henry’s seat on the French national side’s coach. This has been Nasri’s breakout season for both club and country, with fourteen goals in all competitions for Arsenal and being crowned French Footballer of the year by the influential French Football magazine. Nasri can already bank on the vote of Rio Ferdinand who tweeted his love of Nasri, whilst French legend Zinedine Zidane gushed that Nasri “represents our national side’s biggest hope.”

Charlie Adam – Blackpool have gone from being written off as no hopers to everybody’s second favourite Premier League side. They have refused to back down on their footballing ethos, playing some of the Leagues most attractive football and the Scot Charlie Adam has been the ideologue behind it all. He is fast becoming one of the league’s most in demand midfielders and no disrespect to Blackpool but it surely won’t be too long till he’s playing at an even higher level. It would be for the good of the game if he resisted any overtures in the January transfer window and stayed at Blackpool, especially for Clubs such as Aston Villa and Birmingham. Ian Holloway believes he’s good enough to play for Man United, he might be right.

Gareth Bale – for three weeks in late October and early November, Gareth Bale was the “unofficial best player in the world.” Or that’s how it seemed, everyone was lining up to wax lyrical about the mercurial Welshman and while the furore has slightly died down, (at least until he returns to Milan) Bale has continued to have a remarkable season at the lane. An old school mixture of raw pace and power has seen Bale progress into the upper stratospheres of the game. Whilst not quite as good as Messi or Ronaldo, (sorry Patrick Barclay) Bale is certainly on his way to that level.

Rafael Van Der Vaart – already the signing of the year, Tottenham’s bargain bin Dutchman has taken the Premier League by storm. With nine goals in the league and six assists to his name, Van Der Vaart has taken no time to settle. His introduction into the league has seen a reinvigoration of the playmaker role, Redknapp has given the Dutchman a free reign to go out and create as he sees fit. Bought for £8 million from Real Madrid after a torrid few years at the Bernabeu, Van Der Vaart has proven himself at the top level, not only performing in the Premier League but also being central to Spur’s Champion’s League Progress. Not bad for someone worth three times less than James Milner.

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All six deserve to be nominated and in their own way all deserve to win, unfortunately only three will fight it out for the prestigious award. My prediction? Samir Nasri to be the first Arsenal player in seven years to win the award, closely followed by Carlos Tevez and Nemanja Vidic respectively.

Read more from Lee Wilson at ‘This Is Futbol’

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As France haplessly limp out of this summer’s European Championships, scarcely putting up a fight against the Spanish, Les Blues are yet again deemed a failure by their compatriots. The man at the helm, Laurent Blanc had seemingly turned the fortunes of his nation before the ill-fated journey to Ukraine.  An unbeaten run stretching way back to last year; Blanc seemed to have catapulted the side he once played for, back to its world beating proficiencies.  However, after a performance against their neighbours from the south in the last 8, that seemed both lethargic and reluctant, Les Tricolores have reverted back to square un.

With Blanc now facing the unenviable wrath of the French media, Daniel Levy has his eyes set on the former Inter defender to take the hot seat at White Hart Lane, if reports are to be believed. A three horse race is ensuing between Andre Villas-Boas, Ralf Rangnick and the aforementioned Blanc. If ‘Larry White’ (as Blanc was affectionately known as by supporters of Man United) gallops over the finish line first questions will surely need to be answered by Levy and co. in regards to the appointment. To put a coach who has had only 3 years in domestic management, in charge of one of the most pre-eminent teams in Europe is certainly a risk. Spurs fans will remember the last time a Frenchman had the reigns in North London; Jacques Santini and his 13 games in charge of the club was an unmitigated disaster. Unfortunately for Tottenham fans, the notable comparisons between Santini and Blanc are verging on the uncanny; the two Frenchmen were former players who both spent time at Saint-Etienne and Montpellier. Both coached their respective French sides to Ligue 1 titles, both winning manager of the year for their achievements.  Santini and Blanc both managed the French national team and took them to quarter finals of European Championships. Spurs will certainly be hoping that the comparisons firmly halt there, as Santini’s reign at White Hart Lane was almost laughable. He could not speak a word of English, fell out with Sporting Director at the time Frank Arneson and quit after 13 games. The concerning similarities for Blanc is that he too will be working under a sporting director and his English is fairly basic. Surely Levy is not blind enough to overlook the obvious connections, between one of the worst managers the club have ever had and the man that is second favourite for the current vacancy.

Positives are untraceable when perhaps unjustly comparing Blanc to Santini. The former played in the English league for two years so is aware of the style and pace of the Premier League, despite his comedic lack of it when protecting the net at Old Trafford. Blanc is also renowned for his leadership qualities, having been nicknamed Le President by Marseille fans in 1999. His professional career has helped him gain plaudits in his homeland and fits of praise on the continent. However, the echoes of previous managerial disasters at Spurs are just too much to look past. After all, Santini was no also-ran in his days across the channel. He almost single-handedly elevated Lyon to the stature of greatest team in their country over a period of three years. Maybe Levy feels a risk is necessary to shake things up at Tottenham. Blanc may be the only current candidate prepared to work with a sporting director. However, whilst soliciting a move for the current French national coach on his form prior to the European Championships is certainly justified, a more experienced coach with anglicised tendencies may be more efficient long term.

Spurs fans what do you think? Would you be happy with Blanc at WHL? Go Tête à Tête with me on Twitter. @mattpegg1

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Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the USA following their Gold Cup final defeat to Mexico in June.The announcement came after a meeting at the Home DepotCentre in California, between USA Soccer Federation (USSF) president Sunil Gulati,CEO Dan Flynn and Bradley on Thursday.Bradley guided the US to the last 16 of the FIFA WorldCup in South Africa last year, but they suffered a 4-2 defeat to Mexico in theGold Cup final on June 25.The US also lost to Mexico in the 2009 Gold Cup finalwith Bradley at the helm.”We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service anddedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” Gulati said.”During his time as the head coach of our men’snational team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt nowwas the right time for us to make a change.””It is always hard to make these decisions,especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him thebest in his future endeavours.”The USSF will make a further announcement on Friday.Bradley, 53, took over as head coach of the USA inJanuary of 2007.He led the team to victory in the Gold Cup later thatyear and secured a passage to the 2010 World Cup, topping their CONCACAF qualifyinggroup in the process.They also finished first in Group C at the World Cupfinals, ahead of England and Slovenia, before losing to Ghana in the round of16 on June 26.Bradley had been contracted until the 2014 World Cup inBrazil.

There’s been a fair amount of rumours flying around this winter concerning Andrey Arshavin’s future at Arsenal. The little Russian has gradually become a target for the Emirates boo-boys, after a string of lacklustre performances this season. With this being said, one has to ask, has Arshavin’s time at the North London club finally run out?

The Gunners forward has been linked with a move away from the Emirates this January with Juventus, and newly, Zenit St. Petersburg said to be highly keen on the Russian’s services. Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Latcher, recently stated that a move to Turin is not out of the question this winter, but remains optimistic that his client will be an Arsenal player until at least the end of the season. Speaking to Russian online publication Lifesports.ru, Latcher said:

‘There’s a possibility of Andrey Arshavin’s move to Juventus, but there are two things that can prevent this deal. First, Arsenal can win the Premier League this year. The gold medal of the English league is a dream of any footballer. Second is the financial ability of Juve as Arsenal are demanding no less than $26 million (£17m) to release Arshavin. It’s difficult for me to comment on certain items because he is a player who still has two-and-half-years on his contract with Arsenal and there are no formal offers.’

Latcher finished off by saying:

‘In any case, I think it’s just speculation. Juventus could have taken Arshavin two-and-a-half years ago, but they didn’t want to. The player is happy in London. There could also be possibilities to move in January but, I repeat, we are talking about a player under contract and for which currently there is nothing concrete.’

Taking all this into account, it seems very unclear as to where Arshavin’s long-term future lies. However, the diminutive forward is highly likely to stay at Arsenal until the summer, after Wenger declared his admiration for the Russian playmaker. However, due to his inconsistency and growing unpopularity amongst the Arsenal fans this season, I decided to conduct a poll on Gunnersphere.com. I asked the simple question to my readers: Has Arshavin’s time at Arsenal run out? Yes or no.

The outcome of this poll was extremely close. Results showed that 57% of votes cast  believe that Arshavin’s time has indeed run out at the Emirates. However, 43% of voters still consider the Russian to have a future as an Arsenal player. As you can see the difference is marginal, and clearly shows that fans are split on the matter. In my opinion, I believe Arshavin still has something to offer to the North London club. Ok, he hasn’t been on form this season and at times appears lazy, but when he’s on his game, he is clearly one of Arsenal’s best players.

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Arshavin simply needs to show more desire and heart to get the Arsenal boo-boys off his back. If he can do this, then this will all be forgotten instantaneously. Nonetheless, the jury remains out on the matter.

Read more of Tony’s articles at the excellent ‘Gunnersphere’

Manchester City are thought to want to sign Bologna’s star playmaker Gaston Ramirez this summer, and the star’s agent has confirmed that the Premier League champions have been in touch.

The Uruguay international has impressed for the Serie A side over the last number of seasons, with a move to a bigger club seemingly on the cards for some time now.

However, City will not be the only club interested in purchasing Ramirez, as confirmed by the South American midfielder’s agent Pablo Betancourt.

“Juventus and Manchester City have contacted me but there is especially an interesting offer from Wolfsburg and also another one from an important Spanish club,” The Guardian report the representative as saying.

“I think considering all the offers, the possibility that he could leave this summer could happen.”

It is believed that a fee in the region of £15 million will be needed to pry the 21-year-old away from the Italian team, and Roberto Mancini has recently admitted that he admires Ramirez.

“He is a good, young player with great potential. In attack, though, we are OK,” he told reporters.

Ramirez looks certain for a move to a bigger club this summer, and his versatility could bolster City’s options in attacking midfield and on the flanks.

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By Gareth McKnight

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On July 16th 2011 Arsenal completed the signing of the Ivorian winger and forward Gervinho from French club Lille . Considered a positive attacking transfer for the club, the new attacking player has already made a great impression during some of Arsenal’s pre-season friendly matches.

Also, linked with the Gunners over the past couple of weeks has been the young Spanish winger Juan Mata . Arsene Wenger was reported to be willing to break the club’s transfer record with an £18 million bid for the Valencia midfielder.

Whether Arsenal are successful on this transfer or not (some outlets are now reporting that the transfer is on the verge of collapse) this move for Mata, plus the club’s signing of Gervinho, shows where Arsene Wenger’s priorities lie in terms of what types of players he is looking to sign before the start of the 2011-2012 Premier League season.

Although Arsenal have signed one defender during this transfer window and seem to be closing in on another, Wenger’s recent moves for Gervinho and Mata have shown that the Frenchman is only really interested in getting the cheque book out for attack minded players. For a moment it looked like Wenger may have learnt from the mistakes Arsenal made at the tail end of last season and was looking to strengthen his defence for the next one. His move for central defender Phil Jagielka was a positive one but although there have been rumours of links to other defenders such as Gary Cahill and Chris Samba, nothing has yet come to fruition.

Whilst I expect that Arsenal will probably ultimately secure the services of the current Everton defender Jagielka, the fact that Wenger’s only other defensive signing so far this summer is the 19 year old Carl Jenkinson from Charlton may alarm Gunners’ fans. You see, although it is admirable that Wenger is buying young players like Jenkinson for the future, it does not fix the biggest issue that Arsenal have at the moment. If Arsenal want to challenge for honours next season they need to sort out the issues of their back four and their goalkeeper, and sort them out fast.

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The fact is that Arsenal plays some of the most attractive attacking football in the world, perhaps second only to Barcelona as the best team to watch because of the beautiful way they move the ball around the field. Nevertheless, the reason that Barcelona are able to play football in this way and not concede many goals is because they have a solid back four and a safe pair of hands between the posts. Arsenal, I am sorry to say, do not have this and they need to rectify that sharpish.

This is not to say that Gervinho is not a fantastic signing, because he is. Mata too would fit into Arsenal’s style of play magnificently, as would other midfielders such as Phil Jarvis , who the Gunners have also been linked with. However, Cesc Fabregas , Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin are still at the club despite all of them looking unsettled. The best way to convince them to stick around at the Emirates Stadium is surely not to buy competition for their places but to purchase players who will stop the club haemorrhaging goals whenever these men are doing what they do best at the other end of the field?

For example, why Arsenal have not made a move for out of favour Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given is beyond me. Thomas Vermaelen meanwhile is a great centre back, but his absence for a good chunk of last season due to injury showed that Arsenal are incredibly vulnerable at the back without him.

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If the Gunners do sign Phil Jagielka over the next few days then that is a great start but there is so much more work to do. In my opinion, Wenger needs to forget about buying new attacking players. Strengthen the back four, buy an experienced goalkeeper and convince Fabregas, Nasri and Arshavin to stay at the club. If Arsene Wenger can do those three things then who’s to say that Arsenal won’t be ready to taste Premier League glory once again next season?

Read more of Alex Watt’s articles at This is Futbol

Chelsea are reported to be considering making a mega-money move for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero.

Chelsea had enquired about Aguero during previous transfer windows, but the massive €60 million buyout clause in his contract put the London club off making an offer.

However Aguero, who is married to the daughter of Diego Maradona, has recently signed a new contract with a reduced clause thought to be €45 million. Aguero’s new price tag is thought to have reignited Chelsea’s interest in the Argentinean striker who has been at Atletico Madrid since 2006.

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Chelsea have suffered an almighty drop in form since November and are a shadow of the side that brushed aside all-comers in the early stages of the season. Manager Carlo Ancelotti knows that something drastic needs to happen in order to get Chelsea’s title push back on track and a new striker to partner the misfiring Didier Drogba may put the spark back into Chelsea’s season.

It is not often I get riled, but if I hear the comment once more that Rio ‘was left out for footballing reasons’ I think I’m going to throw the laptop out of the window. I have never heard such drivel in my life and the recent call-ups has simply underlined what rubbish the reasons for Ferdinand’s omission actually were. Hodgson should man-up and tell us the truth, instead of continuing to insult our intelligence.

Jamie Moralee was roundly criticised by many within the game for his attack on the FA, Hodgson and alike; however his sentiments would have been felt by many. It is kind of baffling that an inexperienced Liverpool reserve would get the nod, and be deemed a better option than the most decorated defender currently in England. It is a joke in every sense of the word and only serves to prove why so many doubted his suitability for the job in the first place. Hodgson has decided to go with the putting of square pegs in round holes option with his squad and destroying England’s chances at the Euro’s with it.

The reasoning the likes of Sven have given in defence of Hodgson is that Rio has had injury problems this season and unlikely to play regularly, despite the fact he has played 38 games this year (a damn sight more than Kelly I might add). It is another pointless justification, given that Hodgson included Wayne Rooney who is ineligible for two games. The argument is that on a one-off game Rooney could make a huge difference is the right one; in much the same way that being able to call upon someone with the experience of Ferdinand would have been a useful weapon to have. Fabio Capello called up Ledley King for the last World Cup with such thinking in mind, but then again as managers go we are dealing with chalk and cheese here. Apparently Ferdinand has been told by Hodgson he still has an international future with the World Cup qualifiers in mind – an even more baffling comment, given how much this squad is battling with injuries at this moment in time.

Hodgson’s inconsistencies are frightening and judging by the performances of his team over the last two outings, a painful tournament awaits us.

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Partizan Belgrade and Wisla Krakow both eased into the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Tuesday.Vladimir Jovancic scored four minutes after coming off the bench as Partizan completed a comfortable 5-0 aggregate victory over Skendija 79, capped off with a 1-0 win in Macedonia.

Four goals up from the first leg in Serbia, Partizan looked off the pace at the start of the match in Skopje and were lucky not to fall behind when Jasir Selmani wasted an early chance.

But the Serbian champions were much improved after the interval and found a winner when Jovancic scored past Skendija goalkeeper Suat Zendeli in the 68th minute.

Partizan’s 5-0 aggregate victory means they will now face KRC Genk in the third round of qualifying.

Polish champions Wisla progressed to the third round following their 2-0 win over Lativan side Skonto Riga.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg in Latvia, Wisla went ahead thanks to a 51st minute goal from Patryk Malecki, before Ivica Iliev scored their second to wrap up the tie.

Wisla will now play Bulgarian champions Litex Lovech in the penultimate round of qualifying.

Litex beat Montenegrin side FK Mogren 3-0 on Wednesday for a 5-1 aggregate victory.

In other notable second-round results, HJK Helsinki crushed Welsh outfit Bangor City 10-0 in their second leg in Finland to secure a 13-0 aggregate victory.

The Finnish side scored eight goals in the second half, with Erfan Zeneli, Teemu Pukki and Kartriot Kastrati all netting twice for the hosts.

Belarusian outfit BATE Borisov also moved into the third round after a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland’s Linfield.

The tie was evenly poised at 1-1 after the first leg in Belfast, but goals from Pavel Nekhaichik and Aleksandr Pavlov in the space of three second-half minutes on Tuesday ensured victory for the hosts.

Other teams through to the second round include Shamrock Rovers, Ekranas, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Malmo and Viktoria Plzen.

The sacking of former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton shocked all of those in and around football. The empathy that all feel for Hughton is making the job of replacing him at the Premier League club all the more difficult. No-one knows this more so than the incumbent manager, Alan Pardew.

Arguably Pardew’s biggest job is trying to convince his players to stay at St James’ Park past January; furthermore he also has the massive task of encouraging them to fight for the club’s Premier League survival.

Even Alan Pardew has acknowledged he faces a difficult task winning over not only the Newcastle fans but the players too as he was unveiled as manager. Pardew says, “The problem I’m going to have initially is the players – I need to get my message across quickly and with clarity, so as not to get any resentment at a time when they are doing reasonably well.”

Several players voiced their disappointment at the departure of Hughton, and credit to Pardew, he has said that he is “privileged to be sitting here and looking forward to a tough job.” However, I do feel it is telling, especially in this day and age that the players’ disappointment might cause them to look elsewhere in the upcoming January transfer market.

Saturday’s win against Liverpool on Saturday did however soften the blow and if results follow suit then I am sure it is only a matter of time before the fans and the players come around to Pardew’s way of thinking.

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The saying one swallow doesn’t make a summer springs to mind and only the future will determine how the fans and more importantly the players take to Pardew. One thing that is sure though, is that he will need to prove to the players away from football that he is someone they can trust and someone who wants the best for them and the club, much like Hughton did previously.