Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew says his squad needs to buy another player like Cheick Tiote in the summer transfer window.The Ivory Coast midfielder cost only 3.5 million pounds – 10 percent of the transfer fee received from the sale of forward Andy Carroll to Liverpool in January – and has had a terrific first season in English football.
Tiote will again look to weave his magic in Saturday’s visit to Anfield and Carroll’s new club.
“It will not be easy to find another player like Cheick for the sort of fee we paid. But there are more of them out there. The only problem is a lot of them are selling for a lot more money than we paid for Cheick,” Pardew said.
“It’s difficult, but it’s something that our chief scout Graham Carr, myself and my scouting team are all on top of.”
“Getting players over the line, whether they are players you have at the club already or new players, is one of the most difficult parts of the game. That includes convincing players that the future here is bright, which I think it is.”
“We have got a good foundation to go forward now, so attracting players shouldn’t be a problem and hopefully the financial side of it, we can find.”
“We are competing against Champions League teams and foreign teams – it is always difficult.”
“Deals are not going to be done quickly, but hopefully they will be done.”
“For sure, our pool of strikers needs boosting, there’s no doubt about that, and that will be high on the agenda.”
Carroll may have chosen to join Saturday’s opponents but Pardew insisted Newcastle are able to mix it with the biggest clubs in the Premier League.
And he suspected their former forward would not be playing a part in Sunday’s Anfield showdown.
“I don’t think he will play, I think he is injured,” he said.
“I don’t think Liverpool want to say that, but I think he is, and we are not expecting him to play.”
“We want to compete with them. It’s a good showcase for my players to show that they should be here next year competing against the likes of Liverpool and the Manchester United.”
Newcastle will be without goalkeeper Steve Harper (knee), midfielders Hatem Ben Arfa (broken leg) and Kazenga Lua Lua (broken leg), plus forwards Alan Smith and Leon Best (both ankle).
Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that his club have made an increased bid for Wigan Athletic’s French winger Charles N’Zogbia.
The 24-year-old Les Bleus international is known to be keen to leave the Latics, with both the Blues and Sunderland having shown an interest in the player.
McLeish told his club’s official website:“We have made another bid for Charles and we wait to see if it’s successful or not. We’re awaiting Wigan’s response.
“At the same time we’re in the hands of the gods in terms of the other offers. If there are other clubs in for him, then we have to wait and see
“But we’ve tried and we’ve tried our best and the board have worked hard to make these kinds of things happen.”
N’Zogbia joined the Latics in January 2009 and has since scored eight goals in 54 appearances in all competitions.
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He had previously spent four-and-half years at Newcastle United, having arrived in England from Le Havre in the summer of 2004.
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Blackburn manager Steve Kean was disappointed with his side’s 2-1 defeat to Stoke on Monday, and feels his team have missed an opportunity to get out of the relegation zone.
A Peter Crouch double gave The Potters a 2-0 advantage, before David Goodwillie pulled one back for the hosts, but the game ended in defeat for Rovers at Ewood Park.
Kean has praised his players for their attitude, and feels that a poor refereeing decision may well have cost them a point.
“I felt the commitment was there,” the Scottish coach told Sky Sports.
“I felt the second goal was a bit of a killer because we were pushing for the equaliser. We didn’t deal with the counter attack. The ball has come in too easily.
“Peter Crouch, if he can get that type of service, then it’s going to be tough. Having said that, we tried to get the line higher in the second half and pressurise their full-backs.
“As a result of that we dictated the second half, I expected when we got the first to get another and maybe even nick it at the end.
“We’re disappointed with the goal that’s been disallowed from Chris (Samba). The ref has said he’s given it against Yakubu which was surprising because I’ve seen it again and he’s stood there minding his own business. I thought it was a perfectly good goal.
“To get that wrong and then you’ve got Chris hitting the bar as well, we feel as though it’s a missed opportunity today. We could have found ourselves out of the bottom three with a positive result.
“If we can keep performing we can soon find ourselves in a better position. I’m disappointed we’ve not at least got a draw,” he concluded.
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Blackburn stay in 19th place, whilst Stoke are up in 8th place after the victory.
The recent comments by Gavin Law of Liverpool’s shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered, have caused some concern over the possibility of the Reds signing token players in the summer rather than what’s needed on the pitch.
The banking company’s Mr Law; head of corporate affairs, expressed the desire for Liverpool to sign players of nationality where their bank operates, like Japan and China. He mentioned how the likes of Manchester United’s Ji-Sung Park has massively increased coverage and revenue in Korea and how Liverpool want to do the same, by saying:
“Liverpool are more aware than most other clubs we’ve spoken to of the commercial opportunity for them. If they can sell a million shirts with another Mr Park on the back, why wouldn’t you?”
So could we see a few Asian players sign for Liverpool in the summer? Or should Liverpool’s main concerns be to sign quality on the pitch, before commercial interests are considered? After all, they’ve just announced a pre-season tour of Asia this Summer.
Fortunately for Reds fans, the club has responded to the desires of their shirt sponsors. Fenway Sports Group have said they will not be signing players to sell shirts and new arrivals will be signed on the basis of their football talent before any commercial advantage is considered.
However, there are a number of Asian players that could match Liverpool’s summer transfer targets. Monaco’s Park Chu-Young is already said to be a target of Liverpool and the winger has been impressing in the French league this season. Or, the Reds could go for a player with Premier League experience in Bolton’s right sided midfielder, Lee Chung Yong, who has shown some class since joining the Trotters in 2009.
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The comments made by Liverpool’s £20-million-a-year sponsor have only created more scrutiny on what is already a much-debated subject. When Arsenal signed Japanese international Junichi Inamoto in 2001, it was criticised in regards to Arsenal cashing in on the Asian market, as sales of Arsenal shirts increased and tourists from Japan were visiting Highbury.
Inamoto wasn’t a huge star in his own country at the time, unlike Hidetoshi Nakata, who moved to the Serie A in Italy in 1998. The player had commercial success but was also rather successful in Italy playing for the likes of Roma, Parma and Fiorentina.
The accusation of Arsenal signing the player for commercial reasons was not helped after he was released a year later having never made a Premier League appearance for the Gunners, only getting games in the League Cup and Champions League. The player did go on to have successful spells with Fulham and West Brom, however.
Commercial interests are very important to Liverpool, who want to financially match the likes of the current top four and the signing of a talented player from Asia would be a smart move on the pitch as well as off it.
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It’d be worrying for Liverpool fans if they did sign an Asian player, who would only a fringe player in the squad at best. However, if they are to sign someone similar to the ability of United’s Park, then it would be successful in both avenues and you can’t argue against that.
Can Liverpool get the better of Man City at Anfield tonight? You can back them at 6/4 for the win!
West Ham United manager Avram Grant is as confident as his club’s owners that midfielder Scott Parker will remain with the Irons this summer.
Spurs have been rebuffed in a £7million bid for the 29-year-old England international, with Hammers co-owner David Sullivan maintaining his stance that Parker is not for sale at any price.
That view was backed up by Grant following his side’s 2-0 pre-season win at MK Dons.
He told Sky Sports News: “From my side there is no news.
“We have ambitions at this club, we want to progress and we want to go forward. We have a plan for the next few years, not only for one year and Scott Parker is a big part of these plans.
“I am happy for him. He is a good player and he is a good lad. He is good for the vision of the club.
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“He is professional. He knows that he is a very important part of our ambitions to progress and to be a very good team.”
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has confirmed that referees chief Mike Riley phoned him to apologises for the mistake that cost them three points in the recent Premier League game with Blackburn.
Official Andre Marriner allowed Morten Gamst Pedersen to take a short corner to himself in injury time in the 3-3 draw, that saw Rovers grab a late equaliser.
The Spanish coach was livid with the decision, and has admitted that he received a call from Riley.
“Mike Riley rang and explained his view. He was very supportive and that shows we have the right man in charge,” Martinez told Mirror Football.
“His view was that the referee got it wrong.
“The decision has a big influence on us. Dropping two points for us at the moment is a matter of live or death in the Premier League,” he stated.
Marriner has not been assigned a game to officiate this weekend in a move that looks like a disciplinary measure against the under-fire referee, but Martinez does not want him to be overly punished for the mistake.
“I would rather Andre refereed and try to get himself sharper. It will not get us the points back. To see him not referee is not giving us any comfort,” he concluded.
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Wigan face Sunderland on Saturday, and will look to get points to get them off the bottom of the Premier League.
Craig Moore, chairman of the FA Commission that recently punished Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, with a five game touchline ban for criticising referee Martin Atkinson, has this week stated that the Scottish manager’s comments “undermined the FA’s Respect Campaign”.
Moore further suggested that Ferguson’s failure to officially apologise to Atkinson was a “serious aggravating” factor for his punishment, and his reluctance to retract the comments “undermined the attempts by the FA, through its Respect Campaign, to encourage higher standards of behaviour within the game.”
Whilst the content of Ferguson’s comments justified a severe punishment – he claimed an absence of a “fair or strong” referee in United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on March 1st – the intrinsic nature of the discussion was flawed.
The Respect Campaign was launched at the start of the 2008/2009 Premier League season as an attempt to promote better behaviour towards referees. However, the initiative was immediately undermined by a series of outbursts from managers, notably Joe Kinnear, then manager of Newcastle, claiming a “Mickey Mouse referee” had overseen his side’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham. The man in black that day was, you guessed it, Martin Atkinson.
Instead of clearing the lines of communication between referees and managers or awarding referees a voice of their own, the Respect campaign simply attempted to provide a deterrent to managers and players for speaking about the officials. Unfortunately, the incentive to refrain from complaining about referees was not, and is not, strong enough.
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We are all aware that referees face a tough task in trying to make the correct decision every time, but their jobs are made much more arduous as a result of a lack of accountability. Had Atkinson been granted a few minutes to publicly explain his decisions, within say an hour following full-time, and with the aid of televised replays, then at least Ferguson would have had grounds to complain based on Atkinson’s reassessment.
If all referees were obliged, as managers are, to participate in a post-match analysis, then managers, players and fans would better understand the methods employed by referees to reach a conclusion on decisions that have to be made in the blink of an eye. Officials should be afforded the opportunity to clarify their in-match judgments and conclude whether they were correct or not. By providing a reexamination of events, referees could afford managers a platform for discussion where all parties share a voice.
Currently, managers can only assume that muted officials defend every glaringly erroneous decision they make. In the current managerial climate, each refereeing decision could be the difference between achieving the targets set by the chairman or instructing your agent to look for available coaching positions in the Championship. In this regard, it is understandable that managers vent their fury at inaccurate refereeing, as the pressure on them to produce results is so high.
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Respecting referees and the demanding task they continually face is of fundamental importance, especially as a way of setting an example to youngsters who imitate their heroes behaviour in Sunday-league matches. The problem is the FA has been attempting to encourage others to respect officials whilst at the same time neglecting their duty to do so. Suspending and charging managers for speaking out against decisions is only legitimised within the framework the FA has developed. It is time, and has been for a while, for the FA to grant referees and their assistants the capacity to reevaluate their decisions, thereby providing managers with a more concrete platform for debate and an enhanced respect for those in charge.
When the subject of playing the ‘Tottenham way’ comes up the same names are always mentioned. Hoddle, Gazza, Ginola, Lennon – the breed of player who has a special place in the heart of Tottenham fans. They are the entertainers who play according to the history of the club. They have the skill, creativity and flair that keep the paying public entertained and have the ability to change a game with a little touch of class.
So when news that Joe Cole was to become a free agent, well, it just seemed to make sense. The fans would love him, the manager already loves him and Defoe and Bale, who have urged Levy to seal the deal, are just two of the players who love him. For a footballer who just wants to feel loved, he couldn’t ask for much more. He is, as John Terry verified, an Englishman who is one of the few who can ‘break down a defence’ and would get his wish of not having leave London if he opted to change blue to white. He’s even saying the right things. He has criticised English teams for playing too much ‘kick and rush’ football and for always looking to hit the front men too early, believing they should instead favour a more fluid passing approach. Music to my ears.
So Joe Cole is a good fit for Tottenham. But where does Joe Cole fit if he arrives?
On the basis that Cole does sign our squad will consist of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to midfield talent. Even presuming that the likes of Bentley, O’Hara and Jenas move onto pastures new it still raises the question of who should miss out when the starting XI is announced on game day.
Cole has the benefit of being a versatile player, so could play anywhere across the middle. But he has said that when he finds a new club he would prefer to adopt the central creative role which he began his career with at West Ham. So if Cole gets his way, our midfield four could read: Bale and Lennon on the flanks and Palacios and Cole in the middle, but what of Modric, Huddlestone, Kranjcar and new signing Sandro? Alternatively he could play on the left, but how could Bale be dropped after his explosion onto the scene last year? Moving Bale to left-back is an option, but a risky one considering that he has showed that his abilities in defence can be exposed by top sides. It’ll be tough to get a balance and keep everybody happy, and with the new squad regulations imposed by the FA a few more players could be shown the door.
With Champions League football beckoning, and the hope that a new set of fixtures will be added to the calendar, a deeper squad in terms of talent was going to be needed. But other than a new striker and maybe a defender, Tottenham don’t need a whole host of new players.
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Cole would be a great addition to the squad if a deal can be done, there can be no doubt, both in terms of his ability and experience, but in place of whom? Over to you, Harry Redknapp.
Pre this season, Arsenal’s brand of technical, fluid, possession-based football saw them win over many new fans around the globe, whilst others looked on in envy as they continued to play the game the right way, forever seeking perfection. Playing their beautiful style, many concluded that Arsenal were second in Europe only to Barcelona – and the media somewhat cruelly branded them ‘Barca-lite’ – as they failed to win honours whilst the Spanish ‘real thing’ swept all before them.
However if Arsenal and their style of football were Barca-lite, does that now make north-London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, (Real) Madrid-lite?
At present no team in England attacks with more devastating pace and velocity than Spurs do. Whether the speedy onslaught occurs through a period of possession, or a swift counter-attack, Spurs remain a constant threat for 90-minutes – and more opposition are falling victim to this white whirlwind as the team grows into itself this season.
In Europe I’d wager currently there’s only one team better at attacking with such devastating speed, blitzing their opposition into submission – Real Madrid.
Los Blancos have turned this style of play into something of an art-form over the last couple of seasons. Whilst Barcelona have had the world purring with tiki-taka football, winning everything in sight, Real Madrid have kept pace (no pun intended) almost every step of the way, schooling teams in lessons of powerful, counter-attacking football. Why these lessons have been so successful, has been down to the pace and attacking talent at their disposal, mixed with a steely grit – a perfect balance for this style.
Madrid had already begun employing the counter-attacking style under the likes of Capello, Schuster and even Pellegrini who took it to another level. But Jose Mourinho has perfected it – even tweaking it, making the team more powerful and determined. But speed still kills.
Cristiano Ronaldo in particular, has been a goalscoring phenomenon since setting foot on Spanish shores. His fleet of foot and directness (in other words, his willingness) to head straight towards goal from his starting left-wing position has been used to great effect. Look over to the other side of the pitch, and it’s another speed merchant in Di Maria.
Now look at the Spurs squad, particularly in the wide areas, and you see pace almost everywhere. Both left and right-hand sides of the pitch are balanced and blessed with speed, in both attacking and defensive positions.
Whilst Madrid have the best European player in the world working their left-flank, Spurs have the new Welsh-wizard, Gareth Bale. Thankfully, the Bale bandwagon has died down recently but there’s no smoke without fire – and Bale was ablaze for a period of time last season. An awesome sight at full speed, when on-song he is almost unplayable. On the other wing, Spurs can call upon lightning-fast Aaron Lennon who can be any full-backs nightmare. Kyle Walker, a recent England debutant, has impressed greatly this season and is yet another player at Spurs who wouldn’t look out of place in a 1oo metres sprint.
But it’s no good having pace in your side if you don’t have the technical ability to go alongside it. Although Madrid and Spurs have some of the quickest wide-men in Europe these players are all comfortable with the ball, particularly when running at the opposition. And the similarities don’t end on the wings.
Mixing speed with guile and steel this season is another reason for Spurs’ current likeness to the Spanish giants. Joining the attack and helping create, Madrid’s guile can be provided by Ozil and/or Kaka, whilst upfront the razor-sharp Higuin is now preferred to Benzema. In the same areas, Spurs have very similar players in Modric and van der Vaart, whilst Madrid-reject Adebayor is the preferred choice to Defoe.
Madrid set-up using two holding midfielders but Xabi Alonso is the unique exception to his position, as very few, if any other players could fulfil his role. The steel therefore comes in the form of Khedira, Coentrao (primarily a wide-man) and (defender) Pepe, who’s been specifically used in midfield for certain matches, as a destroyer. Spurs have the impressive and tireless Scott Parker, and can choose from Sandro and Huddlestone to keep things tighter if tactics dictate.
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As Real Madrid continue their near-impossible quest to try and peg back what is possibly the greatest club side of all-time, Spurs could well end up challenging for what is a wide-open Premiership title. Playing a similar style to Madrid, all’s that’s missing is a more consistent domination of matches and a winning mentality to beat the other champions elect.
Who knows, maybe soon we’ll refer to Madrid as Spurs-lite, after all, they both wear white.
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Argentine international Fernando Gago could be the latest player to join Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool revolution this summer. Speaking to Calciomercato.it, the player’s agent Zoran Vekic said: “As for Gago, I can say that at the moment it is just speculation. I guess there is some interest. To be more precise, we must still wait for the next few weeks, when we will know his situation better.”
The 24-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, who has appeared 121 times for Los Blancos, started his career with Argentine titans Boca Juniors. He made his debut for the club in December 2004, featuring in the side’s 1-0 victory over Quilmes. He established himself as a key player for the club during the course of the next season, and featured prominently in their hugely successful 2005/06 season, which saw Los Xeneizes land five major titles.
Gago moved to the Bernabeu in December 2006 for a fee of €20.4 million, and was followed by his compatriot Gonzalo Higuain. He instantly adapted to La Liga, and appeared 17 times for Real Madrid during their 2006-07 title-winning season. His importance to the side grew in 2007/08, and Gago racked up 42 appearances as Real Madrid stormed to a second successive title.
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El Pintita featured in Argentina’s 2005 FIFA World Cup Championship-winning under-20 side, and he has received full international recognition. He made his international debut in 2007 and has been capped 30 times.
A combination of injuries and tough competition for places has meant that Gago’s influence at the Bernabeu has diminished over the course of the last two seasons.
The combative anchorman, who has drawn comparisons with club legend Fernando Redondo, came close to joining Manchester City in January 2010. The summer arrival of German international Sami Khedira has pushed Gago further down the Bernabeu pecking order, with Mourinho preferring to partner the former Stuttgart man with Xabi Alonso.
Rumours suggest that Gago will be available for around £10m this summer. With Liverpool sorely lacking midfield steel since the departure of fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano, a move for Fernando Gago could prove to be an excellent one for both club and player this summer.
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