Are we trying to become the first team to be knocked out the league to concentrate on the cup?
Yes we are in poor form but a 5-1 home defeat to the team bottom of the Championship? Be ashamed Millwall. This now makes it one win in ten league games. We’ve gone from play-off contenders, to only six points off the drop zone.
In the first half we dominated the game and had plenty of chances, the first goal came from poor defending, and so did the second. But at 2-1 down at half time I was still confident that we’d get something from the game, oh how wrong I was…
We collapsed. Plain and simple.
We were terrible, to be fair lets not take credit away from Peterborough, they looked dangerous every time they went forward. Well done to any others that sat through the full 90 minutes as it was painful. Summed up at the end by Jimmy Abdou at full time, captain for the game, didn’t stop running, collapsed in the centre circle and then looked to the crowd as to say “how did that happen?”
I’m happy John Berylson was there for the game. Maybe he’ll have seen tonight why we don’t get massive crowds.
The whole night was a write-off. Afobe on the wing, why? Surely Woolford should play? Karleigh Osborne is a decent player but Shittu is surely missed. But what got me was some fans’ comments after the game.
Jackett out! Really?
Why would people want Jackett out? Yes he’s made some mistakes this season, but name me a manager who hasn’t. He got us here and he should be given a chance to fix it if anything is wrong. Plus, someone tell me who would you bring in?
In KJ we trust…just.
Plus some players should be out of the firing line – Some of the comments I’ve seen from after the game are ridiculous.
“Jimmy Abdou is just a headless chicken” – he’s a defensive midfielder, if he wasn’t running about after the ball I’d be worried!
“Keogh is uninterested” – The bloke has problems off the field for god sake, if you had problems surely it would effect your work?
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“Smith should be sent back to Spurs” – Are people serious? Stop the world I want to get off.
We do not become a bad team overnight but something needs to change and quick… I never thought I’d say this around November time but we need to make sure we keep ourselves safe for another season.
100% of fans would’ve taken the position we are in at the start of the season, and yes we were punching above our weight at times this season but look on the bright side? One game from Wembley of course…
Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League progression now lies in their own hands, after their 0-0 draw in Rome against Lazio
The North Londoners started the game brightly and were unfortunate to see Gareth Bale’s early strike ruled out for offside when the Spurs winger was clearly a yard on; however they were soon put on the back-foot for most of the game, with Hugo Lloris in inspired form in the Tottenham goal.
The result means that Andre Villas-Boas’ men need just a draw in their final group game against Panathinikos in order to make it through to the knock-out stages and the Tottenham manager was delighted to come away from Italy with a point and singled out Lloris for special praise:
“It was important for him and he was a great help for the team, he was decisive in a couple of moments.”
Villas-Boas also expressed his disappointment at Spurs once again having goals chalked off that have cost the club vital points in their quest to qualify from the group:
“Against Lazio we’ve had four goals disallowed. Two of them rightly and two of them not, maybe three.
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“It’s difficult to see decisions go that way but we move on. We take the result. We are in a comfortable position to qualify.” (Sky Sports)
The date was the 15th August 1992. The match was Manchester United vs. Sheffield United. And after 15 minutes, the first goal in Premier League history was scored by a Mr Brian Deane, a commonly known fact for fans of English football trivia, earning Deane a spot in the history of the game. He actually scored the Blades’ winner that day as well, notching from the penalty spot to give them a 2-1 victory over the eventual Champions.
Deane was actually an experienced striker before he bagged that first goal, indeed his goal scoring record initially for Doncaster Rovers and then Sheffield United was pretty decent. He earned three caps for England under Graham Taylor, making his debut against New Zealand in 1991 before his final appearance in the Three Lions shirt came against Spain just weeks after his goal against Manchester United.
That first Premier League season proved to be his last at Bramall Lane and he became Leeds United’s record signing when he joined in the summer of 1993 for £2.9 million. His 83 goals in 198 games for the Blades was by far and away the best goal to appearance ratio he ever achieved at any club and he remains something of a cult hero at the club after returning in 1997 to score another 11 goals in that season.
Deano spent four years at Leeds United between 1993 and 1997 as Howard Wilkinson’s side struggled to live up to their title victory of 1991/92 and began to slip slowly down the league. Deane always worked hard up front, putting in a shift as a target man, but he found goals more difficult to come by at Elland Road, managing just 32 in his 138 games at the club. He formed effective partnerships up front for the Whites though, playing with Rod Wallace and Tony Yeboah during his time in West Yorkshire, but having been signed as a replacement for Lee Chapman, he struggled to replace the man whose goals had fired Leeds to the First Division title.
Once George Graham had taken over at Elland Road, Deane moved back to Sheffield United briefly, before securing a surprise switch to Benfica where Graeme Souness was the manager. Seven goals in 18 in Portugal proved that Deane still had the ability to find the back of the net at the highest level, prompting Middlesbrough to fork out to bring him back to England after less than a season. He actually managed three years with Boro, notching 18 goals in 87 appearances there, but that lack of goal scoring prowess saw him moved on to Leicester in 2001 with Middlesbrough struggling in the Premiership.
He bagged himself another piece of ‘first goal’ history with the Foxes as well, scoring the first competitive goal at the new Walkers Stadium by recording a double against Watford. 19 goals in 52 games followed in Leicester colours, a decent return that helped the side back into the Premier League following their disappointing relegation the year before. However, Deane had seemingly found his level in the First Division and joined recently relegated West Ham, now aged 35. He continued his nomadic existence as a footballer, lasting just one season at Upton Park before heading for the exit.
He rejoined Leeds United, who had just been relegated after a long stay in the Premier League, but the club was in financial turmoil and were struggling to put together a competitive squad. Deane did a job up front for a while amidst all the chaos, and the Elland Road crowd recognised his efforts, but by now, age appeared to have caught up with the striker. He managed six goals during the 2004/05 season with the Whites, but four of those came astonishingly during a 6-1 win over QPR, a game never forgotten by those who saw it. With Leeds starting to strengthen their squad under Kevin Blackwell, Deane moved onto to Sunderland, before ending his career with a brief spell at Perth Glory and a final two appearances back with Sheffield United in the 2005/06 season, making him the only player to turn out for the club in three different spells.
Deano enjoyed a fine career at the highest level for many years, though he never quite hit the top of the Premier League game. As a target man, he will always be remembered for his hard work up front, even if finishing was never his strong point. He now works as a Sports Consultant for a solicitor’s firm in Leeds, but after a long career of 654 league appearances and 195 goals, Brian Deane will always be remembered for that goal he scored on the 15th August 1992.
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Nobody knows when the term “world class” crept into the language of sport – or who first qualified for the distinction – but I imagine it must have been more than 50 years ago, coinciding with developments in football that made it truly international. It is a description used so often and so loosely today that if the author still lives he may feel a burden of responsibility for corrupting the minds of sports followers.
A friend of mine suggested that “world class” is a rating often heard as a basis for negotiation. “People use it all the time,” he said, “and I wonder how they arrive at the assessment. Surely, to argue that anyone or anything is world class is purely a matter of opinion and has no definable substance.”
This brought to mind remarks once passed by Sir Alex Ferguson shortly before the start of a Premiership season which are no less appropriate as another campaign has just begun. Manchester United’s manager recalled being at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1960 when 135,000 spectators, the great majority Scots, hailed the thrilling virtuosity displayed by Real Madrid when overwhelming Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 to secure a fifth successive European Cup. In the context of that enthralling performance, Ferguson addressed the issue of greatness. “The description ‘world class’ can only be justified if a player has had success in World Cups,” he said.
This is one way of determining the completeness of a footballer, but is inevitably flawed. It would, for example, rule out one of Ferguson’s all-time favourites, Eric Cantona, who never took part in the World Cup finals for France, and Ryan Giggs who has yet to enjoy the experience with Wales. It also disqualifies George Best, who was unfortunately denied an appearance on the ultimate football stage, which may help to explain why his career went into rapid decline when Manchester United’s European Cup-winning team of 1968 broke up.
You can go on and on like this. In golf, I suppose, the clearest, most obvious way of electing a player to world class is to go for those with major championships to their names. A number of cricketers stand out as much for their presence as statistical evidence. All the gold medallists at next month’s Olympics in Athens will be accorded world class status, although there are examples in history of outstanding athletes who, for one reason or another, didn’t come through on the day. When there were only eight weight divisions, world class status in boxing was clearly defined. Now there is such a proliferation of world titles that the term has no real meaning.
At some point in last week’s informal debate in the pub, I introduced a list of footballers held for some time in my head and acceptable to managers, past and present as irrefutably world class. It includes, of course, Pele and Diego Maradona, who were jointly honoured by Fifa as the outstanding players of the 20th century. In no order of preference, there are seven others – Alfredo di Stefano, Best, John Charles, Ferenc Puskas, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and, the most recent entry, Zinedine Zidane. By their towering standards others are judged.
We hear and read so much about the supposed scale of excellence in modern football that it might not be a bad idea at this stage of proceedings to suggest that things are not necessarily a great deal better than they were and that people should not be deceived into thinking otherwise. Nobody is obliged to share this point of view, but whenever questions crop up about greatness in football, some of us keep seeing faces from the past.
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Interestingly, of the players mentioned above (plenty of others come close) only three, Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer, managed to become World Cup winners. Puskas (1954) and Cruyff (1974) appeared in a World Cup final but ended up on the losing side. Di Stefano, once described by Sir Matt Busby as the best player he had ever seen (“Magnificent. The complete footballer”) and Charles, who was rated the most valuable player in Europe when he appeared for Wales in the 1958 finals, were denied the ultimate stage. More recently, the hotly-debated enigma of Lionel Messi has also struggled to win trophies on the international stage, yet has been hugely successful at Barcelona.
Doubtless, any number of players operating in the Premier League this coming season will be rated world class. It depends, of course, on how you look at things; curious how often that consideration crops up.
Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez believes that his falling out with manager Roberto Mancini last season has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Tevez was left out of the Manchester City squad for almost six months after he refused to warm-up in a Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich last September. However, after making up with Mancini and the adoring Manchester City faithful, Tevez has made an impressive beginning to the new campaign scoring in all three games thus far.
The Argentinian striker now wants to make winning trophies at Manchester City his main priority. Tevez told The Guardian: “I am focused on my club and on the Premier League and the Champions League.
“This is what I wanted to do – to have this hunger for success back again. The disagreement with Roberto has ended up being good for me because it has helped give me back this hunger.”
Despite Tevez’s recent patch of form, he has been overlooked by Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella for their World Cup Qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru. Tevez’s team-mate for club and country Sergio Aguero is a surprise inclusion in the Argentinean squad after recovering from his knee injury – sustained in the opening day victory at home to Southampton – quicker than expected.
Tevez’s 24-year-old strike partner believes that if he continues to show a good run of form, he will soon earn his national call-up, “he is playing very well, looking quick and strong. If he keeps playing that way, Sabella will be looking at him,” Aguero said.
Tevez also offered his opinion on Manchester City’s tough Champions League Group which consists of the champions of Spain, Germany and Holland – Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, admitting that he is looking forward to one particular fixture in the group.
“Real will be very difficult rivals but they are great games to play in and even more so because of the group we are in. Cristiano [Ronaldo] is a former team-mate and he is playing as well as ever.”
Meanwhile, it is thought that Aguero may have landed himself in hot water Roberto Mancini after the Manchester City manager insisted that his star striker would not be travelling back to his homeland to play the second of Argentina’s World Cup Qualifiers.
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Aguero, however, insists that he consulted Mancini on playing for his country, “I explained to the manager that I would see the national team medical staff and he was satisfied with that. I am going to be well looked after. Three days ago I started running and now I am going to consult the doctor here. I still have some pain but we will see how it develops.”
If Aguero remains unscathed then he and Tevez should resume their flourishing partnership at the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City on 15th September.
It was around this time last year that the extent of the young and precocious talent of Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha emerged to make an impact beyond Selhurst Park.
Under the stewardship of then Eagles manager Dougie Freedman, the Ivorian-born winger was making astronomical progress, so much as to quickly establish himself beyond doubt as the Championship’s hottest property.
Barely a year later though, the England Under-21’s future is shrouded in uncertainty, as his ongoing failure to secure a place in the Manchester United first team fuels speculation regarding his next move.
Yet this was a journey many thought couldn’t go wrong.
Having secured a £15m switch to the soon-to-be Premier League champions, still under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, a place among football’s elite beckoned.
An initial loan straight back to Palace, though at times a tad uninspiring, proved ultimately triumphant, he shone in his home club’s play-off fixtures as they were promoted to the top flight.
In his place as the last Ferguson signing, it seemed the youngster represented the future of United, a prospect that increasingly appears to have been stillborn in reality.
That is not to say that Zaha himself has done anything to limit his own opportunities at Old Trafford. Indeed, impressive performances against the likes of Wigan and Sevilla in pre-season, served merely to heighten the anticipation ahead of his arrival in England’s highest tier.
But somewhere along the line, however, things appear to have gone slightly awry. As the season approaches its third month of competition, the wide-man is yet to secure a competitive appearance, with the suggestion of a start having been practically non-existent.
Had the Red Devils exploded out of the blocks under new boss David Moyes, perhaps this ‘biding-our-time’ rhetoric that the Scot continually feeds to baffled journalists in relation to Zaha might have perhaps met with a more receptive air. Given the stuttering form exhibited thus far, though, the ongoing omission of one of England’s brightest young talents appears slightly puzzling.
If he had not proven himself at Championship level, like former Palace starlet turned nearly-man John Bostock, then the notion that he must develop behind the scenes at Old Trafford might, similarly, have been justified.
But considering the 125 appearances and 15 goals he notched up whilst in South London, again his failure to merit any Premier League playing time is something of a mystery.
Indeed, the $64,000 question is whether the move to Manchester was in fact right at all.
It was no secret that a host of sides were interested in securing Zaha’s signature in the January of 2013, Manchester United were one, but on the list were also Arsenal and Liverpool, both of whom have afforded opportunities to young players recently.
And yet, one cannot help but feel that in prospect, United probably seemed like the ultimate springboard to the big time.
In considering the prospective dilemma, it could be opined that the prospect of overhauling the unfavoured Nani and unremarkable Anotonio Valencia, whilst under the developmental eye of one of the best managers of all time, comprised something of a ‘too-good-to-miss’ opportunity.
Compare that to the fortunes of Arsenal, trophyless for eight years and with strength and depth in Zaha’s preferred right-wing position, or Liverpool who’s prospect of silverware seemed then about as likely the return of Mark Lawrenson to the Anfield back-line (it could still happen…) and a move to Ferguson’s side would probably have seemed like a no-brainer.
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But the unpredictable nature of David Moyes current tenure in charge at Old Trafford, is something perhaps nobody could have foreseen. The offering of a new five-year deal to Nani, for example, whom his predecessor appeared to have lost all patience with, came more out of left field than a Stewart Downing cross.
Combine that with the apparent ever-lasting patience with a tolerably effective Ashley Young and the prospect of playing Shinji Kagawa in a wide role, which Moyes eluded to yesterday and you have a recipe that nobody in football saw coming.
Furthermore, the emergence of Adnan Januzaj, perhaps Moyes saving grace so far this term, has served to generate harsh comparisons with Zaha that he is yet to have the opportunity to contradict.
That could all change tonight though, with the chance of an appearance possible against Norwich in this evening’s Capital One Cup tie. An eye-catching performance from the winger could place him back in contention for Premiership action at Old Trafford. An understated one, however, is likely to see him loaned out in January.
Did he make a faux pas moving to United? No. He did what was right at the time, but whether it remains right now, though, is a different question entirely.
The French domestic league has become a hotbed for potential Premier League talent over the past few years, with Ligue 1’s athletic style providing physical players in the mould of the English top-flight, available at much cheaper prices in comparison to those already plying their trade in the Premiership.
While Arsene Wenger’s love of French players has always been well known, and indeed Arsenal’s successes have been forged out of a crucial element of members of the France national team in their starting XI, Newcastle have more recently undergone a French revolution in the transfer market, bringing in the likes of Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Moussa Sissoko to bolster the ranks at St. James’ Park.
No doubt, in the summer, the Premier League will once again look across the Channel in a bid to find some cheap talent that can improve their teams. We’ve compiled a Top Ten of Ligue 1 stars who would be a success should they arrive on English shores, with full details of any potential future transfer.
Click on Mamadou Sakho to reveal the Top Ten Ligue 1 stars who would be a hit in the Premier League
The recent publication of this year’s Deloitte Football Money League review was hardly met with untold worry by Tottenham Hotspur fans, but the news that the club had posted an overall loss in revenue would have certainly provoked a universal grunt of frustration.
You don’t need to have anything in the way of an economics degree to figure out why the club’s total revenue took a £19.3million hit during the 2011/12 season, with the glaring absence of Champions League football proving an inescapable demon for all connected with the club.
The frustration on missing out on another chance to dine on Europe’s most exclusive table was always going to hit the club’s bank balance as much as it left its supporters dreadfully disappointed. The doors that Champions League football opens in terms of both financial luxury and player recruitment hardly need preaching to a set of supporters who are reminded almost daily about its merits.
But it was within another statistic within Deloitte’s annual review that bears a similar level of perpetual frustration, yet an even more harmful word of caution to their long-term financial prospects.
Deloitte’s description of ‘capacity constraints at White Hart Lane’ might serve to do Spurs’ hallowed old ground something of a disservice, but as is always the case when the Football Money League is wheeled out, a glance down the road to fierce North London rivals usually tends to bring a brutal sense of perspective.
Because although a £20.6million disparity in broadcasting income between Spurs and Arsenal can be accounted for amongst their failure to gain Champions League qualification, a staggering £54.1million difference in their matchday income, most certainly cannot.
It’s the elephant that’s been in the room for several years now in North London and after what feels like a lifetime of struggles to get their long-awaited Northumberland Development Project off the ground, talk of the new White Hart Lane has a touch of the taboos about it.
Not because fans harness anything in the way of anger towards the project; most supporters are well aware of the delicate need to attain naming rights before phase two of the development (the stadium itself) can even begin to be thought of as a reality. Yet with there being no immediate news in sight from a club who continue tend to give very little-away in regards to stadium developments, some have felt it easier to simply just put it to the back of their minds.
Although for however far your head may have been in the sand in regards to Spurs’ stadia-based woes, this latest round of financial figures should leave you with little doubt as to quite how important attaining an increased capacity stadium is to the club’s future.
Because while they might be on the same plateau of competition with Arsenal in the Premier League this season, financially, the Gunners are in a different postcode. And regardless of whether Andre Villas-Boas’ side achieve their target of qualifying for the Champions League this season, without the eventual development of White Hart Lane or the less-likely arrival of a sugar-daddy in N17, that fight to attain elite European football may become unsustainable.
There is a school of thought amongst some sections of fans that following their Uefa Champions League adventure during the 2010-11 season, that chairman Daniel Levy was hiding a nice chunk of money behind the White Hart Lane sofa for him and ENIC head-honcho Joe Lewis to sit upon.
Yet for all the lavish financial gains that their run to the quarterfinals brought to the club, it also brought its fair share of financial pain as well, primarily to the tune of a 36% increase in their wage bill from £67million to £91million. If you consider that the total of Spurs’ additional revenue as a result of their Champions League run was estimated to sit at around £37million, the hit they took in wages hardly equates to peanuts.
Should Tottenham qualify for the Champions League again next year, they will of course be able to look forward to a similar slew of riches that will fall their way, although those expecting a change in attitude from Levy towards a summer of excess on transfer fees and wages are likely to yet again feel disappointed.
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The supporters know better than anyone just how volatile qualification for the Champions League may be. Some will argue that you have to speculate to accumulate and show ambition to get there in the first place. Although it’s worth noting that Chelsea harness a £170million wage bill and still finished outside the top-four last year.
Of course, they still eventually qualified for the competition. Although should that hypothetically happen to Spurs next season after splashing out on couple of big money transfers tied down to £100,000-a-week contracts, they haven’t got a Russian billionaire to balance out the books when the Champions League party reneges for another season. The point is here that while Champions League football is absolutely vital to the club in both the long and short term, it doesn’t represent a secure means of income of which to finance the sort of financial boost the club needs to take them to the next level.
As the club have proved in recent years, you don’t need a relatively gargantuan wage bill to compete for a top-four finish, yet as they continue to loose financial ground to their rivals, it’s going to become increasingly difficult to do so. Qualifying for the Champions League this season would be a massive stepping-stone en route to further success both on and off the pitch. But without securing the funding for a new stadium, the chances are their Champions League pushes are likely to become fewer and further between.
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Football may not be a game renowned for its long memory, but even by the Premier League’s standard, the change in fortunes that Scott Parker has suffered in little over 12 months at Tottenham Hotspur feels incredible.
As we headed into the final straight of last season, the former-Charlton Athletic man was already well on course to pick up both the supporters’ player of the year at White Hart Lane, as well as a starting berth for his country at the European Championships.
Yet fast forward to the March of 2013 and it seems hard to believe quite how altered Parker’s standing within first team affairs feels this season. Because where as he last season he represented something of a priceless commodity, this time around, he feels more of a clunking component in a stuttering machine.
Of course, it’s easy to overplay what many have perceived to be a season of regression for Parker in the white half of North London.
A near on four month absence with an Achilles issue has cast an overwhelming shadow over the midfielder’s season and where as ideally he would have been eased back into first-team proceedings, the season ending knee injury to Sandro hyper accelerated his return to the fore.
Indeed, the 32-year-old had amassed only an hour of Premier League football before his season was effectively jump started at QPR in January and the lack of options in the Spurs engine room ensured that Parker had to find his form the hard way.
Yet with only eight league games remaining this season, Parker heads into the final straight with his influence upon Andre Villas-Boas’ side a real talking point within the home crowd.
Superficially, when looking beyond Spurs’ recent hiccup of form, it feels difficult to justify a lot of the negativity that has surrounded Parker’s performances. Out of the 20 games he’s featured in for the Lilywhites this season, the England man has only played on the loosing side four times, with three of those losses coming in the last three games. Certainly, if he has been struggling to replicate the form of last term, it’s hardly had a detrimental effect upon the results.
But while Tottenham have hardly been floundering with Scott Parker in the side, they’ve not often felt like they’ve flourished in his presence, either.
It would be cruel to proportion the weight of Spurs’ often-jagged performances in recent months solely on Parker’s shoulders, although you can’t help but feel that he serves to represent a motif of the side’s collective inability to sustain any real rhythm to their play.
Should Spurs claw their way to Champions League qualification this season, supporters aren’t likely to worry too much about how they got there; just as long as they do. But despite going on a 12 game unbeaten run, while Villas-Boas’ side played some great football in patches, it was hardly a sustained free-flowing exhibition of attacking football.
In the games against Norwich City, Newcastle United and especially the two legs against Lyon in the Europa League to name but a few, Spurs managed to avoid defeat, but they certainly didn’t make life easy for themselves. The result has ultimately always been ground out, but at times Villas-Boas’ side have rarely managed to hit the high gears for more than a 10 or 15-minute spell.
And perhaps few have tended to look quite as laboured as Parker has done within the side, when things haven’t necessarily been free-flowing.
Some will point to the fact that the usual barometer for a good Parker performance last season was when you barely heard his name mentioned at all, as he mopped up loose ends and went about his business both quietly and efficiently. This season however, while he’s still performed that role well, the remit for his midfield play has encompassed a slightly larger scope under Villas-Boas.
The anchor midfield pairing in the Villas-Boas system requires an awful lot more dynamism and interchangeability than the relatively singular role Parker was asked to play alongside Luka Modric last term.
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Where as last season, the England man was given the sole task of sitting and sweeping up, this time around, he’s had to offer a presence in the final third for the first time in his Spurs career. When Mousa Dembele sits, Parker has to move forward and consequently, he’s often looked painfully exposed when approaching the edge of the penalty area.
So is Scott Parker really a fading force or more an unfortunate victim of accelerated change? Whichever way you look at it, the role he’s being asked to play by Villas-Boas hasn’t made it easy for him to stand out in this team.
Yet on the other side of the coin, while he has tended to look like an awkward component in the Tottenham machine, the core attributes of his game have still remained a priceless asset in the newly found steel the side have developed in recent games. Calls from some supporters to drop Parker’s industry for the technical excellence of young Tom Carroll aren’t without gravitas, but as we’ve seen so often throughout the 32-year-old’s career, subtracting his skillset from your side often tends to do more harm than good.
Having had both Sandro and Scott Parker plying their trade in this Andre Villas-Boas system, there can be simply no arguments that the Brazilian remains the better fit and perhaps the overall better player. But with Sandro out the picture following injury, regardless of his limitations in the Portuguese’s system, Parker has done an admirable job within the starting XI. A long term option he may not be, but over the next eight league games, he still has a massive part to play.
There may be only three days of the transfer window remaining but Manchester United’s squad still requires drastic changes if they’re to effectively compete for a top four spot in the Premier League this season.The deadwood is still stockpiled as high as the ceiling at Old Trafford and despite already spending £131million on new recruits this summer, several prime transfer targets are yet to arrive.So with action required on both the inward and outward fronts, being the lovely bunch we are at Football Fancast, here’s a list of THREE ins and THREE outs Manchester United must make to return the club to it’s former glories.
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Football – Manchester United v West Ham United – Barclays Premier League – Old Trafford – 21/12/13Manchester United’s Ashley Young (L) celebrates scoring his sides third goal with Tom CleverleyMandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason CairnduffLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
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OUT – TOM CLEVERLEY
Tom Cleverley has had to bear the brunt of the Manchester United fans’ wrath but the dissatisfaction is largely justified.
Once dubbed the next Paul Scholes, the 25 year-old has spent the last two years closer resembling Nicky Butt, and even that’s a pretty kind appraisal compared to what you can find online – the petition to ban him from England duty at the World Cup for example.
Roy Hodgson condemned the petition but eventually agreed with public opinion, excluding Cleverley from his Three Lions squad for the tournament in Brazil. Indeed, the midfielder’s contribution over the last two seasons – especially in terms of output – has been minimal, as shown in the stats below:
The Carrington product’s limited quality has come to epitomise Manchester United’s intrinsic flaws in the middle of the park and their failed recruitment in that department over the last five years.
Most United fans want him gone, and with just a year left on his current contract, that’s now looking increasingly likely. Aston Villa and – rather surprisingly – Valencia, (yes, Valencia) have emerged as potential suitors:
IN-ARTURO VIDAL
Of course, if we’re talking about direct replacements for Tom Cleverley then top of the list is unquestionably Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, who Manchester United appear to be closing in on amid one of the summer’s most arduous transfer sagas:
The Chile international has emerged as arguably the world’s most compete midfielder since joining the Old Lady in 2011 through his ability to contribute in both attack and defence. Here’s a look at how he fared last season:
That regular supply of goals from the middle of the park, as well as Vidal’s dogged athleticism, will be vital for United – Tom Cleverley, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher netted just twice collectively last season but no midfielder has bettered Vidal’s 28 goals in Serie A over the last three seasons.
Here’s a look at the 26 year-old in action:
//www.youtube.com/embed/r8iKLIacxxw?rel=0
Furthermore and perhaps most importantly, the South American has shot to stardom under Juve’s 3-5-2 formation, as shown below:
He also performed well in a similar system, albeit in a more advanced role, for Chile at Brazil 2014. That should make him the ideal man to help implement Louis van Gaal’s new-found 3-4-1-2 philosophy.
The midfielder is rated as highly as £50million however, and Vidal has claimed he’s ‘100% ready’ for the new season in Turin.
OUT-SHINJI KAGAWA
A multitude of Manchester United’s attacking options could be suggested here but Shinji Kagawa is the unfortunate candidate.
No doubt, the South Korea international is a talented player – he won two league titles and netted 21 times in 49 Bundesliga appearances during two years at former club Borussia Dortmund. Here’s the highlights from his Westfalen spell:
//www.youtube.com/embed/20F59R5ZZ5M?rel=0
But since moving to Old Trafford in summer 2012, the 25 year-old has continually struggled to find a place for himself in the United squad. He’ll never beat Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney to the No.10 spot, has tried and failed to produce out wide and Louis van Gaal saw fit to pick the slender-built Adnan Januzaj over him in central midfield against Sunderland.
At this point he’s become more valuable to United as a transfer commodity than as a player – Kagawa’s wage package and market worth makes him unjustifiable to simply keep on as a bit-part player.
Fortuitously, speculation this morning suggests a return to Dortmund is imminent:
IN-JUAN CUADRADO
The signing of Angel Di Maria is certainly a step in the right direction but in comparison to former title-winning United sides, the current one is desperately short of pace and natural penetration going forward.
In that regard, the best option on the market is undoubtedly Fiorentina midfielder Juan Cuadrado – a real road-runner who absolutely destroyed Serie A last season and produced strong form at the World Cup, as detailed below:
Indeed, no player at Brazil 2014 beat the Colombia international’s four assists, including this rather special knock-down to James Rodriguez:
Combining pace, athleticism, trickery and netting prowess, this goal typifies the South American:
//www.youtube.com/embed/DUlRxcSaxZo
He’s also incredibly versatile and was utilised in a plethora of positions by the Florence outfit last season:
Cuadrado’s industriousness, skill and immense athleticism, in my opinion, makes him a strong candidate for the right wing-back role in Louis van Gaal’s 3-4-1-2 formation. But the winger also offers the option of reverting back to the United gaffer’s more favoured and tested 4-3-3 system.
And there may be only a few days of the transfer window remaining but the 25 year-old refused to rule out an Old Trafford switch earlier this week:
OUT-CHRIS SMALLING
Football – Manchester United v Hull City – Barclays Premier League – Old Trafford – 13/14 – 6/5/14Chris Smalling – Manchester United Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason CairnduffEDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Manchester United aren’t really in the position to let go of centre-backs right now. After saying goodbye to Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand this summer, their only established options at the heart of defence are Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Johnny Evans and new signing Marcos Rojo, which obviously isn’t enough centre-halves to play with three-at-the-back all season.
But if one had to be jettisoned to make room for a new recruit, that defender should undoubtedly be Chris Smalling.
Despite amassing 124 appearances for United and 12 caps for England, the 24 year-old has struggled to adapt to top level since joining the Old Trafford side from Fulham in summer 2010.
As viewable below, his stats over the last few seasons are hardly awe-inspiring:
And his quality on the ball, for a professional footballer, is exceptionally poor:
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//www.youtube.com/embed/ZH4JSPt3F6s?rel=0
But with United desperately struggling for numbers at the back and the Three Lions man currently injured, it’s unlikely Smalling will be moved on before deadline day.
IN-JAN VERTONGHEN
Why aren’t Manchester United smashing down Daniel Levy’s door, trying to work out a deal for Jan Vertonghen?
The Tottenham centre-back is one of the Premier League’s stand-out defenders and further showcased his qualities at the World Cup with Belgium, but the only rumours we’ve heard this summer are in regards to a new five-year contract, which he’s yet to officially sign.
Capable of playing at left-back or centre-back, Vertonghen would be ideal for the left side of United’s back three, offering the strength and aerial ability of a central defender but also dependable in one-on-one situations out wide.
He’s also a front-footed defender who gained his standing in England by playing out of the back and scoring goals during his first season at White Hart Lane, the vitals of which are detailed below:
Thus, he would suit the central berth in a back three perfectly too. Here’s a look at the Spurs star in action:
//www.youtube.com/embed/LVgHB_IGKpk?rel=0
The former Ajax man would significantly raise the quality and suitability of the Red Devils’ backline. But admittedly, this late in the transfer window, Tottenham would demand an unprecedented sum for their key defender.
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