With it being international week, much of the football news has focused on England manager Fabio Capello taking the captain’s armband off of Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and handing it back to Chelsea stalwart John Terry. However, the picture here illustrates a much bigger piece of news – there’s been a German invasion at England’s training camp! Here is 41-year-old German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann shaking hands with his former Arsenal teammate Ashley Cole, but what is Jens doing at England’s training and what are the past and present Gunners saying to each other?
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This week you can win a pair of tickets to see Elbow at the O2
Following the immense success of the double platinum selling ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, Elbow are pleased to announce that the release of their fifth studio album will be on 7th March 2011 and massive UK Tour – the biggest in their history!
To celebrate the band’s UK Tour in March, we have teamed up with Shoot Promotions for an almighty competition! We have a pair of tickets to see the band live at the O2 Arena on Tuesday 29th March 2011.
For the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here
Check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.
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Last week’s winner: Philip Ashcroft – click here to see all entries
Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has played down claims from the club’s president that they will beat Real Madrid 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final.Barca president Sandro Rosell made the bold prediction in the lead-up to the April 20 final after the Catalan giants thumped their rivals 5-0 in a La Liga fixture back in November.
On that occasion, a David Villa double helped Barca to a famous victory but Guardiola says it won’t happen again and thinks that Rosell should have avoided making such a rash comment.
“I would have said 60-0,” said Guardiola with a wry smile.
“But he (Rosell) could have avoided making such a comment. I would not have said that. Everyone has their opinion. He said it in an act of solidarity, and this is how it should be seen, but it could have been avoided.”
“It is impossible to win 5-0 against Real Madrid in the final.”
Guardiola added that the comments were not in the tone of the club.
“The president has much more experience than me to give opinions,” he said.
“The tone of the club all along has been to not make a show when we win and congratulate our opponents when we lose. Players are exemplary in many ways inside and outside the stadium. This is Barca.”
Barcelona lead La Liga by five points and will be hoping to keep the distance between themselves and Real Madrid by winning away at Villarreal on Saturday.
Tottenham had a torrid time at the Bernabeu. In a night that Spurs needed luck, they got none. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. Adebayor’s brace continued his remarkably good form against the North London club. In his time at Arsenal he scored in every game that the two clubs met. He is certainly a thorn in Tottenham’s side.
But he is not alone. Tottenham have the uncanny knack of getting the best out of opposition players. Be it through a player scoring regularly against Spurs, or a player choosing the Spurs match to return to form after a goal drought. For example, players like Hamilton Ricard and the now retired Dani of West Ham both managed to score against Tottenham despite being average at best. But they didn’t make it on my list.
The following list is made up of players who have either consistently scored goals against Tottenham, or players who have pulled ‘one-off’ performances out of the bag.
Click on Henry and Lauren below to see the Top TEN Spurs ‘Bogey Men’
Strugglers Blackpool have been buoyed by reports that skipper Charlie Adam could play against Newcastle on Saturday.The Blackpool midfielder limped off in the first half of last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Wigan Athletic and had his foot in plaster this week.
Reports, however, have suggested Adam is likely to be fit for the match at Bloomfield Road.
The relegation-threatened club’s survival hopes are firmly pinned on the Scotland international, who has scored 10 goals this season but his contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Ian Holloway’s men will be eager to claim the three points against Newcastle given their remaining games include Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
Following the defeat to Wigan, Blackpool dropped to the relegation zone for the first time this season, although they remain only a point off 17th-placed Wigan Athletic and five points behind Fulham who are 12th.
They have lost their last three games and have only won once in their last 13.
Midfielder David Vaughan is expected to return for the Tangerines having missed the last two games with a hip injury.
Newcastle took a small step towards securing their Premier League status on Tuesday as they held champions-elect Manchester United to a goalless draw at St James’ Park.
The Geordies are ninth on the table, with 40 points, and have only won one in their last six but have shown positive signs of staying in the top flight throughout the campaign.
While they are relatively safe from the drop, Alan Pardew is, too, hopeful a victory can build some momentum heading into the final month of action which includes games at Liverpool and Chelsea.
Pardew has admitted he has a selection headache on his hands, with second-string goalkeeper Tim Krul having played a pivotal role in keeping United scoreless and the return of first choice Steve Harper.
Key midfielders Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan, who were both overlooked for the Professional Footballers Association team of the season, will be spurred on by their non-selection.
Striker Shola Ameobi should be fit after starting against the Red Devils, while the on-loan Stephen Ireland, who came on as a substitute on Tuesday, will look to cement his first-team spot.
Gambia-born defender Mamadou Dansa scored the only goal as Portland Timbers won at home against the Philadelphia Union on Friday.Dansa struck in the 72nd minute to break the deadlock and send the Timbers to third place in the MLS Western Conference in front of a sold-out crowd at Jeld-Wen Field in Oregon.
Danso’s goal, his first of the season, gave the Timbers their second successive league win and their fourth in the past five games. The Timbers remain undefeated in four MLS games at home this season.
It was the Timbers second successive league game in which they had not conceded a goal, turning the table on a Philadelphia team that leads the league with four cleansheets this season.
Danso missed with a header in the first half, but he was on target after a Jack Jewsbury free kick.
Danso’s header directed the ball inside the near post past Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon.
The visitors’ best chance came three minutes from time when Sebastian Le Toux shot at close range but Portland goalkeeper Troy Perkins was equal to the task.
Well, that’s that, then. Thirty five years of no success over in the blink of an eye. Actually, it’s been twenty three for me, but then I suppose I’m just one of the lucky ones. As lucky as one can be, being a Manchester City fan, obviously… some would say that being a blue is rather a life sentence. I must have done something pretty awful in a past life to have to put up with everything I have done, so I dread to think what those who have suffered for longer did. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that the FA Cup win from Saturday still feels quite unreal, all told.
In truth, City were the better team throughout most of the final, aside from the fifteen minute spell where Stoke got themselves secured in the City half. And to be fair to Stoke, they hung in the game well with some good tackles on the edge of their box, some great saves from Sorensen and could (perhaps should) have taken the lead with their best chance of the game through Jones. But a great save from Hart denied that and then a great finish from Yaya Touré was the decider in the end.
And while Yaya Touré will get the plaudits for the two goals he scored at Wembley this season (rightly so, since they were two good finishes and he has picked his time to start putting the ball in the net on a more regular basis), there are some players who should get some credit for City’s first trophy win in over three decades who have, perhaps, been overlooked.
Joe Hart’s role in the cup run had been pretty minimal until we reached the semi-final stage. In fact, it was his error in the first FA Cup game at Leicester that resulted in an unwanted third round replay, though he held his hands up for the mistake and put it behind him almost immediately. After that, however, he didn’t really have much to do in rounds four through six but keep his concentration and collect some crosses, knock downs and simple saves.
And, as big as the decision to pick Hart over Given had been at the start of the season for Roberto Mancini, it turns out that the decision was vindicated. In three of City’s most important matches in the last few weeks – Manchester United (FA Cup semi-final), Tottenham (Premier League) and Stoke (FA Cup final) – he has made crucial saves at crucial points in the game. He was off his line quickly to deny Berbatov, he reacted instantly to flick away a Pienaar header, and he was big and spread himself to block from Jones. And had the opposition scored from any of those chances at those points in those games, I doubt City would have gone on to win those matches.
As City fans, we know how good Nigel de Jong has been for the season. In fact, when de Jong isn’t playing, City have looked vulnerable and, while he doesn’t do scoring (except for that freak goal against West Ham, naturally), he adds a lot more in an attacking sense than many people think. He moves the ball quickly and is always an option when there is nothing on further forward, meaning he can switch the play and catch the opposition defence out.
This was just half the job he did in the FA Cup final, along with his general break-up play and defensive solidity. In fact, while Stoke are known for having tough and strong players, you would have thought it the other way round with how it was the Dutchman who dominated the midfield, taking the pressure off the blues’ back four. With the injured Etherington unable to influence the game and de Jong always hassling the rest of the midfield, Stoke just couldn’t get enough possession of the ball.
Kompany and Lescott were both on top of their game and Stoke’s well renowned long-throw in and set piece strength was negated by the centre-half pairing’s winning of headers. Constantly. And we’ve seen in the past how badly City have coped with Stoke’s aerial threat, so their performance shouldn’t be understated. There should also be honourable mentions for Balotelli, who had perhaps his best game in a City shirt, David Silva, who created so much and should have scored, and Gareth Barry, who used the ball well when in possession.
Oh, and to Yaya Touré, who did something or other to win the game.
City’s first FA Cup victory since what feels like ever was very much a team achievement. Not just on the day (I think from what I’ve written about each of the players that started the final, it’s obvious that that one game was a team display), but throughout the tournament itself. Edin Dzeko scored his first City goal away at Notts County; in a game where City didn’t look like scoring and could have crashed out of the competition to the underdogs. James Milner put in a shift at Leicester, scoring one and making another. There was Mario Balotelli’s potential goal of the season against Aston Villa. Micah Richard’s winner against Reading didn’t look like coming either, this time because City looked like they were going to keep missing chances for fun that day.
It’s a whole world away from the cup exit in 2007, just four seasons ago, under Stuart Pearce. City had stumbled past Sheffield Wednesday (thanks to a Samaras penalty at Hillsbrough to earn a replay), then played pretty well to beat Southampton and Preston North End, and had been drawn against Blackburn at Ewood Park. City fans were confident that this could have been the year when the baron spell ended.
Goals from Aaron Mokoena and Matt Derbyshire ended City’s cup run and the spineless display from the visitors against ten men was hard to swallow for a lot of the visiting fans. The Sunday evening finished in chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” and fans fighting with fans. It seems such a long way away from the victory of Saturday afternoon. And this, according to those from the outside, was a team with spirit and with a soul… one that hadn’t been sold to billionaires.
The in-fighting in the dressing room and the general sense of disappointment hanging over the club was conveniently ignored, just as has happened with the team spirit and optimism of fans towards the current squad. The dressing room video on City’s website shows just how much the squad have gelled and what the spirit in the camp is like.
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With Champions League football and the FA Cup secured, you could be forgiven for thinking that the season was over. But, with Arsenal’s insistence on handing out points as the season comes to a close, there’s a real possibility of third place in the league and the avoidance of that tricky qualifier at the start of next season. It needs another victory over Stoke, this evening.
For the first time in a very long time, it’s good to be a City fan.
Liverpool fans must be wondering what if Kenny had been appointed manager sooner as the Reds close in on a top five finish. Dalglish has performed absolute wonders at Anfield and you sense it is only a matter of time before he is given the job on a permanent basis.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Liverpool blogs that includes a transfer masterstroke by Kenny; 5 to lead Anfield clearout, while don’t be fooled by Kuyt’s eager feet.
We also look at the best Liverpool articles around the web this week.
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FIVE Liverpool young guns hit a career crossroads
Liverpool find the perfect recipient of the fabled No.7 shirt
A transfer masterstroke by Kenny Dalglish?
The 5 to lead the Liverpool clearout this summer?
King Kenny breaks the mould in more ways than one
Why Liverpool’s biggest transfer battle has already been won
Don’t be fooled by Kuyt’s eager feet
It pales in significance compared to Bob Paisley
An ideology that the likes of Wilshere and Carroll would be key to
The man who brought Liverpool FC into the modern era
Liverpool linked with a Royals swoop
Where do Liverpool and Daniel Pacheco go from here?
*Best of Web*
Dalglish and Clarke: The Formula is Complete – Tomkins Times
The French International to solidify the Liverpool midfield – Our Kop
Dalglish’s five-point plan – Daily Telegraph
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A Very Big Decision For Kenny Dalglish To Make – Live4Liverpool
Magic Maxi Books Taxi For Next Season – This Is Anfield
This evening before over 200 members of the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust, Ivan Gazidis the CEO of Arsenal Football Club flanked by senior directors of the Trust replied to questions from his audience.
Before doing so he made a 15 minute statement, he prefaced these comments by reminding the audience that the meeting was being televised and that this would be going out on the official website of the Club. As such he indicated that he would not be giving ammunition to the circling media vultures who presentation of the meeting would probably not be as accurate as the meeting itself. Indeed, some of you may already have early news of what was discussed, via the various social media networks like Twitter. So given that the meeting is going out on Arsenal Player at 10pm tonight, this blog will be short and hopefully to the point. He started by reminding everyone of how proud he was of the values that underpinned Arsenal Football Club, throughout what struck me was that Ivan Gazidis is a slick and very eloquent communicator. He never allowed his face to reveal any emotion in response to some of the difficult questions. Given his undoubted eloquence, I have to say that I came away frustrated because of his reliance upon the usual formal Arsenal rhetoric. I am not suggesting that Mr Gazidis was unhelpful or insincere; however I do believe that as CEO he acted in accordance with the word that we heard repeatedly throughout. “Balance”
Key points:
This was a profoundly disappointing end to the season which ended in a familiar way, with expectations dashed in the final stages of the season.
Arsenal FC’s primary function was to be a social institution, yet it was also a business and there had to be a balance struck between the competing interests in the short and long term. These being the self sustaining model of the Club’s revenues and the need to remain at the top of the game. Arsenal had laid down examples of what it stood for. It had obligations to the fans, the local community and of course the wider game in general.
He addressed the issue of ticket price rises head on and said that Arsenal FC had been mindful of the likely discomfort of fans in taking the decision to increase ticket prices. He went onto counter criticism very oddly by saying seeing as there had only been two price rises in 6 seasons, the club could have increased the ticket prices by a greater amount given that running costs of the stadium had doubled in some areas.
He was tasked with increasing the commercial revenue streams of the club, and in order to do this AFC had invested in a world class Commercial team. They have been working well and he now saw the green shoots of recovery.
He detailed the ownership status of the club, with SK owning 66.6% and AU owning just under 30%. He said that SK had grown to love AFC following his involvement and understood what the club stood for and was 100% behind the self sustainability model of the financial model.
Questions ranged from the predictable to the unexpected and IG adhered firmly to his brief
He was not going to discuss specifics such as individual players; neither was he going to give away commercially sensitive information.
He played a straight bat throughout and my impression was that he only answered questions directly where there was not likely to be any media controversy arising from his responses.
He acknowledge the failings, and expressed that changes would take place, but he was not at liberty what changes and when.
Continued on Page TWO
He gave AW his 100% backing and refused to acknowledge that AW was either stubborn or error prone. He acknowledged that player wage inflation was making the business model difficult, and the challenge was to increase revenues by activities such as the pre-season tour to Asia.
In response to a question which suggested that AFC needed a David Dein, he said that there were no plans to bring him back.
Several questions were highly critical of Arsene Wenger and his seemingly unaccountable control of the club, the wage budget was there and IG refused to say if AW had spent all of it last season. He mention balance repeatedly, and referred to having to balance the need to spend at the right time compared to the final benefits of those decisions. He refused to explain how it was that we had two players who were close to doing a Matt Flamini and being able to walk away from the club on a Bosman, or being sold at far below the real market value.
AW was in charge essentially as he knew the real values of the players. He appealed for unity, and in response to a question highlighting some disrespectful comments about the attitudes of fans made by our Chairman and AW himself. He conceded that we could all do better.
He refused to state whether SK had taken out loans to pay for his purchase, and certainly on the subject of the introduction of share dividends, SK was committed to what had gone on before at the club, and had taken pains to reassure fans.
He said that he would look at the possibility of safe standing areas in the stadium, but his intial thoughts was that any rearrangement might be too expensive.
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The rest of the questions failed to prise anything of note bar the following
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There were gasps of astonishment as he replied to a question from the Le Grove Blog about who was AW accountable.
He said Arsene Wenger was accountable to the fans, and it was the fans that could in theory make it unsustainable for AW to remain at the club. Happily later on he conceded that AW was also accountable to the Board and the vision of widespread fan protests and adverse chanting faded from my mind.
I asked a question about reducing the debt on the club by asking the two Billionaires to buy out the existing loans on the stadium in strict proportion of their current share holdings. This was considered by IG as being too expensive in business terms, and there were doubts if the proposal would meet the UEFA fair play rules. I had the opportunity to get him to clarify how much this would cost, after the end of the meeting and he indicated a figure of around 50 million pounds. So if the debts are 230 million, it would cost under 300 million to release 20 million pounds a season. I still think that whilst we are waiting for commercial revenue streams to come on tap. Some alternative must be found rather than expecting the loyal fans to pay for the inflationary costs.
The meeting ended as it had begun, with rounds of applause for passionate questions from longstanding fans of the club. IG would not indicate if changes might take place to the coaching staff, or which players would be brought in. It was all a question of balance.
He received a polite round of applause, but I left there thinking that I had been witness to a very diplomatic and professional defence of the Club’s reputation and this was balanced by acknowledging the failures of last season and the disappointment of fans who had been effectively priced out of the club.
Check out the actual content on the Arsenal player later, because sadly after the first ten or so questions, I could have given the same answers myself. i.e. I am not going to reveal any sensitive information, we are all in this together, and we can do better. Remember, it is all a question of BALANCE.
Article courtesy of FTK at the excellent Arsenal Insider
The news that United had made a deal to bring Phil Jones to Old Trafford was met with a wave of satisfaction rather than excitement by most Reds.
A proven Premier League player –of sorts- who was still in his teens could only be a welcome addition to the record breaking title winner’s squad.
Jones had shown for much of the season that he was a capable defender/defensive midfielder who’s peak years were ahead of him so it made a lot of sense for Sir Alex to fork out £16.5 million on him.
The funny thing is that in the space of only a few days Jones has gone from a capable defensive player to a ‘colossus’ -according to that stuffed donkey aficionado Stuart Pearce, thanks to an assured display against the mighty Ukrainian under 21 side.
Then there was the period last week when it looked as though Liverpool may hijack United’s deal, cue lots of deluded Scousers, on phone-ins and forums hailing Jones as the greatest defender in the history of football, a player so good that his Majesty Daglish could build an entire team around him and duly deliver the Premier League to its rightful home of Anfield.
While Liverpool fans have duly changed their tune about a player they are no naturally glad they didn’t get ‘cos he’s not even all that anyway like la’ most United fans and members of the national press- not to mention Pearce, have been getting a tad over-excited at just how good Jones is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m confident the former Rovers man will have a long and illustrious Old Trafford career ahead of him but some of the praise and expectation being heaped upon him worries me slightly.
Many people both Red and less fortunate, have been quick to predict a similar impact from Jones at Old Trafford to the one Smalling delivered in his debut season.
The former Fulham man was outstanding last season and not even his mum could have envisioned Smalling settling in so quickly and looking so much at ease in a United shirt.
Smalling’s excellence, coupled with Jones’s showing both at Blackburn and for England under 21s has meant that the expectation around the 19 year-old has suddenly increased to almost ridiculous levels.
A player that would do well to reach double figures for United next season is now being touted by some as a possible choice to fill the defensive midfield role already.
I’m not about to be foolish enough to state: “you’ll never win anything with kids” only a total idiot would say such a thing- but I do think a modicum of rational perspective is needed.
Jones has been bought for the long term of that there should be no doubt and if it takes him a while to adjust to life at such a huge club as United then there can be no real complaints.
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Players such as Gary Pallister, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and even Cristiano Ronaldo all took at least a season to truly find their feet at Old Trafford before becoming legends so it’s not too negative to think Jones may take at least a year.
All the recent hype from the media and pundits around just how good Jones is has seaped through to many fans -myself included- whereby it’s easy to lose sight of the fact the lad is a teenager who’s barely played 30 top flight games.
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All of a sudden there’s a sneakiy feeling that with all the money at Old Trafford seemingly being spent on players such as Luka Modric or Alexis Sanchez, we may have to make do with the defensive players we’ve got- particularly in midfield.
Could Jones come into the United side immediately and do a job in midfield? Probably -at least against the so-called lesser teams, but we shouldn’t expect him to. £16.5 million is a lot of mony I admit but it’s an investment and it’s important, as with all investments, we look for the long-term gains rather than the short term rewards.
I’m as excited as most Reds that we seem to have bagged a future star, but I don’t want to see the eagerness for instant success affect how United handle a player who could turn out to be one of Sir Alex’s most savvy signings.
It’s important that not just the club but also the fans remember that Jones needs time to settle into United and that time may be longer than the US tour, not everyone is a Mexican forward after all.
Read more of Justin’s articles at Red Flag Flying High
Owen Hargreaves could be handed a chance to resurrect his Premier League career after entering into talks with West Brom.The 30-year-old only managed 27 games during a four-year spell at Manchester United thanks to a litany of injuries, and was released as the end of last season.
Baggies sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth revealed his club are interested in the former England man and added that, if fit, his signing would be a “no brainer”.
“We have been in talks with Owen,” he told West Brom’s official website.
“He’s based over in the United States at the moment so we might try to get to meet him in the next week or so and see if he would consider coming to us.”
“If Owen is fit to play Premier League football, it is a no-brainer.”
“Make no mistake, Owen Hargreaves is a fantastic player. He’s shown he’s a top, top player from his England, Manchester United and Bayern Munich days.”
“Obviously, Owen has had a few medical issues over the last few years. But we would be absolutely delighted to get a fit Owen Hargreaves.”
“That would be a wonderful signing for us.”
Ashworth claimed that his club have the medical department to handle a player that has had more than his fair share of injuries.
He added that while Hargreaves does have other options – with Championship Leicester City reportedly interested – West Brom were the first to make contact.
“The three things we’ve got going for us are: one, we’re in the Premier League, which is attractive in itself; the second thing is we’ve got a fantastic medical team. We had an unbelievable hit-rate last season in terms of player availability,” Ashworth added.
“I think that’s attractive to Owen, that we’ve got a proven track record in the last couple of years of maintaining players and keeping them out on the pitch, which is the most important thing.”
“Thirdly, we were the first club to contact him. He’s told me that, and he appreciates that.”
“I’d like to think we’ve got a chance – but Owen has plenty of other options as well.”