West Brom striker Shane Long has revealed that he is hoping to stay at The Hawthorns.
The Republic of Ireland striker has been linked with moves away from the Midlands in recent months, with the likes of Liverpool, Lazio and Sevilla said to be interested.
Despite the arrival of Romelu Lukaku, who has limited the 26-year-old’s playing time, Long has still manager 27 first-team appearances this term, notching nine goals along the way.
But, he insisted that he is fully committed to the Baggies, and is expecting to still be a West Brom player next season:
“Am I committed to West Brom for next season? Yes, I’m happy here. I like playing for the manager here. He is very good, and I’m learning a lot every week,” he is quoted by Sky Sports.
“The lads are a good bunch, the family are happy up here, so I’m not looking to move on.”
Long went on to state that the speculation is not effecting him, and that he is focused purely on helping Wet Brom build on their impressive start to the campaign:
“I’m concentrating on this season and hopefully getting a few more goals before the summer and kicking on from there.”
Long also praised Lukaku, who has netted 12 times since his arrival from Chelsea over the summer, and revealed that he hopes the Belgian will spend next year on loan with the club as well:
“They (Chelsea) paid £18m for him. I thought they’d bring him in with a view to bringing him off the bench and giving him games and forcing his way into the team,
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“I suppose with Demba Ba coming in there, rather than having Rom sitting in the reserves at Chelsea it is better to put him on loan to us, playing games every week and showing what he can do.
There has been plenty of anticipation built into the return of the Premier League this weekend for Arsenal, not least because it will offer a good account as to how far the team have come from the positive steps forward from wins at Bayern and Swansea.
Arsene Wenger has seemingly gone against the grain in an attempt to salvage whatever was left from this season, adding great emphasis to defensive preparation and giving the boot to those who were more than under-performing. But that won’t be enough to silence the doubters. Whatever the outcome of this season may be, we simply must see a return to the Wenger of old during this summer’s transfer window.
Whatever may be said about the club’s apparent restrictions on how freely Wenger can move in the market, there’s no taking away from the fact that whatever money has been spent has left the club with very little return. It’s not always how much in the way of transfer fees you have available to you, but rather what you do with your resources.
In the summer of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri’s departure, there was more than enough of a case to be made that signings were poor, and for significant amounts of money. Surely the club should have known that Andre Santos would have broken down in such a way that he had. And the fact that both Park Chu Young and Gervinho arrived from the French league – apparently Wenger’s area of expertise – is even more worrying.
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Despite how well Mikel Arteta has adapted to his role at Arsenal, and for all the positives that can be said for Per Mertesacker, were either of those two players bought in with specific roles earmarked for them? Were they going to be valuable and necessary additions to the squad, rather than simply individuals in a team lacking any real purpose?
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was always intended to be one for the future, yet even he forced the club to part with big money.
But what has been disappointing is not just the deals Wenger makes, but the ones he ignores.
It’s a worry that so many good players slip the net – especially when they’re to be considered ideal targets for a club of Arsenal’s stance. Limited resources or not, the club need to be snapping up the deals which fall into their bracket and who are good enough to make a difference.
Yet it’s not just about bringing in important signings to appease the fans, it’s about the symbolism of a successful transfer window. For Wenger, he is hardly seen as a master tactician at Arsenal, yet he is more than capable of doing what’s right for the greater good.
Instead, the Frenchman’s biggest draw is what he does in the market, parting with very little and bringing in enormous rewards. It’s the shrewdness in picking up another team’s disposable names and turning them into treasures at Arsenal. We haven’t seen that in recent years, and more than anything the fans want to know that the fire hasn’t died out inside the man in the dugout.
That’s where a lot of the anger came from during that brief episode involving talks of a new contract. Fans are questioning whether Wenger is the man to take Arsenal forward, not solely due to the performances on the field but where they stem from in the market. Yes, it is important for the club as a whole to receive a lift and a spark from a new arrival – Andrey Arshavin’s impact in 2009 should never be undermined. But plenty of success can be had simply by playing the transfer game far more astutely than others.
Santi Cazorla was a massive statement last summer, and unfortunately many in England still fail to grasp how much of an important signing he is to the club. The problem is that even good signings need strong leadership and a sense of clear direction.
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But it needs to be more of the same. Signings like Cazorla is exactly what the club should be completing. Well within price range, more than good enough to make a lasting impression in the team and that added dash of ingenuity that isn’t always available for something around £12million.
Going into this summer, and even if Wenger doesn’t stay on past his current contract, it would be an overwhelming positive to see the manager rise up in the market and get the job done like he used to. Modest fees were never an issue, as even in a time when Thierry Henry signed from Juventus, there was still big money being spent on Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon and Luis Figo.
What we’ve seen from Wenger in recent weeks is the calm exterior that we assumed was lost for good. The witty comments and wry smiles that greeted journalists, rather than the fiery backlash we’ve come to know this season. Yes, circumstances have been difficult, but there are surely many hoping that this is the beginning of a swansong that is befitting of Wenger and his accomplishments.
Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has heaped praise on the Premier League amidst rumours Arsenal will attempt to sign him in the summer.
Valdes has been a long serving stopper at Barcelona but after refusing to sign a new contract at the Nou Camp it appears the Spaniard will be leaving the La Liga leaders at the end of the season.
Arsenal are desperate to sign a new, experienced goalkeeper and Valdes is equally in a hurry to move to big European side as soon as possible.
Valdes would be seen as the high profile, proven ‘keeper that the Gunners have been crying out for since the days of David Seaman and Jens Lehman.
Barcelona are still going to require a hefty fee to part with their number one but the player seems certain that England is the place to be.
“I lived in an area of Tenerife where there were a lot of British people. I watched them go into football bars wearing their shirts in the middle of the day,” Valdes told The Sun.
“Each team had a different bar, one for Chelsea or a different one for United. I would see fans celebrating in the street in the middle of the day, dancing in the sun with beers.
“It was funny, I’d not seen this before.
“I like the Premier League, of course.
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“I like the respect of the crowd towards footballers in England. It’s a different way of living football.
“They clap a simple tackle in England, we’re not used to that. I like it.”
New Leeds boss Brian McDermott has hailed the club’s fans for their support during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Despite going behind in the first half, a Luke Varney brace saw the Whites seal a huge three points that may prove to be enough to see them secure their Championship status.
The game was McDermott’s first in charge and the former Reading boss says he was delighted with how the Yorkshire club’s passionate following supported his team during Saturday’s clash.
“I was really pleased. It was hard in the first half and we knew we shouldn’t have gone in a goal down but there was a good response after the interval, which was really important,” he said.
“I told them at half-time that the crowd really wanted to get behind them. I’ve been at places where that hasn’t been the case but when we got to 1-1 it made a real difference.”
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Tottenham Hotspur fans will undoubtedly be pleased with the acquisition of Brazil star Paulinho – the stocky midfielder produced a good account of himself during his country’s successful Confederations Cup campaign, with two goals to boot.
But more than simply a club in need of added quality signing a player of a high enough standard with further potential to develop over the next few years, the £17million purchase also represents a much welcomed change in tact at White Hart Lane, with an early summer signing in sharp contrast to previous years, where Chairman Daniel Levy, who headed transfers under Harry Redknapp, often waited for deadline day to make bargain bucket deals.
The deviating path in the transfer market has undoubtedly been influenced but two clear factors; firstly, the appointment of a new technical director, former England assistant Franco Baldini, which has in effect modified the structure of the Tottenham hierarchy and Levy’s role when it comes to sourcing new talent, and secondly, PSG’s pursuit of Andre Villas-Boas, which has allowed him to claim a greater authority amongst the corridors and backroom meetings at White Hart Lane.
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There is something to be said for the old approach. Despite the tendency it had to leave Spurs fans in a nervous wreck as the transfer window edged ever closer to closing, in fear that the Lilywhites roster would not be substantially improved by new signings, Levy’s manner of holding off until the last minute saw them capture Rafael Van Der Vaart, Scott Parker and William Gallas in recent years, whilst last summer the North Londoners brought in Moussa Dembele on the 29th of August, and Clint Dempsey and Hugo Lloris on the 31st.
But the method quite clearly had its flaws – had Levy not been so concerned with getting the best deal possible, Joao Moutinho would have become a Tottenham player last summer, whilst the club also let their pursuit of Leandro Damiao peter out – and considering the situation during the current off-season, the change in transfer policy couldn’t have come at a better time.
Andre Villas-Boas and his employers are desperate to keep a-hold of Gareth Bale for as long as possible. Although both club and player have insisted the Welsh wizard is going nowhere this summer, it’s not hard to imagine a situation where Bale’s head could be easily turned as we approach the end of August by the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, especially if secured signings of added quality at such a point in time were few and far between.
But the early acquisition of Paulinho has already gone some way to curb the threat of Tottenham’s talisman winger making a last-gasp dash for the Spanish sun. The Brazilian will undoubtedly not be the club’s only big signing this transfer window, as the Lilywhites attempt to surround Bale with as much quality as possible, before he feels he’s outgrown his surroundings and team-mates at White Hart Lane.
Similarly, the signal of intent is clear to see. £17million is a lot of money, even by modern standards, and whilst local rivals Arsenal attempt to trump them with their £23million pursuit of Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain, Paulinho’s capture sends out a clear message that Daniel Levy and Andre Villas-Boas are very much interested in overcoming last season’s final day heartbreak of missing out on Champions League qualification, putting the club’s money where their mouths are in the process.
But the deal spans further beyond that in terms of what it symbolises. The ambition for this season was always breaking into the top four, although Paulinho’s costly purchase makes the target seem that little bit more realistic. The difference is however, Tottenham are now conducting themselves like an elite Premier League club, rather than simply the best of the rest of the English top flight, scavenging the transfer market for the scraps of other major European clubs.
Instead, Spurs have focused on the player they want and need, that will bring specific skills to the first team whilst also raising the quality, without dithering over ideas of whether or not there’s a more cost-effective target out there, and losing out on players over the pride of a few extra million. It dictates to the fans that the Lilywhites are now capable making the big signings, but furthermore, that they are able to attract the right quality of player, without having to rely upon mitigating transfer circumstances working in their favour.
Furthermore, with the coming Premier League season set to be the most unpredictable yet following the change of the managerial guard at Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – David Moyes’ appointment at the latter symbolising the end of an era and great uncertainty at Old Trafford – Tottenham can only benefit from getting their deals done as early as possible. Every club in the top flight is hell-bent on taking advantage of the insecurity all-round, and whether their ambition is to maintain or improve upon their current league standing, all will be investing heavily in the transfer market this summer.
Liverpool have made four key signings already, and are set to make their biggest purchase of the summer in Shaktar’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, valued at £25million, whilst Manchester City have already spent £54million on two players, but will also be looking to bring in a new, high quality forward. You know it’s an important transfer window when even Arsene Wenger breaks a decade-long habit in spending big, and leaving purchases to the last minute, in the manner which we have seen from Daniel Levy in recent years, will undoubtedly have left the club a long way behind it’s divisional rivals.
The change in philosophy couldn’t have come at a better time – Paulinho is a fantastic addition to the Spurs roster and feel at home in the Premier League, whilst this summer more than ever, it is vitally important that the Lilywhites are seen moving forwards rather than backwards, which in itself is no easy task considering strong investment all-round in the English top flight, and the constant murmurings that Gareth Bale could be leaving for a higher calling at some point over the next two months.
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But the purchases cannot stop there. For all of the positivity in this article, Spurs have often made a select few early signings, only go silent until the final week of August. Paulinho is a good start and a strong foundation, but Tottenham must continue to bring in further quality, as early as possible, not only to guarantee a positive start to the season – something which undoubtedly scuppered the club’s chances of Champions League qualification last year – but also to prevent their targets being lured away by other clubs.
David Villa’s potential move is becoming more and more of a likely possibility by the day, whilst Ibrahim Afellay, youngster Bernard, Jackson Martinez and Fabio Coentrao have also been heavily linked with a relocation to White Hart Lane. The club will not be able to secure the signings of all, but Tottenham fans will be hoping at least two can be attracted to North London this summer, and furthermore, like Paulinho, they will not be purchased in the final hours of transfer deadline day.
Will Spurs benefit from doing their business early this year?
A former England international, Liverpool’s goalkeeper for seven years, owner of the highest record of Premier League appearances until May 2011, holds the record for the most clean sheets with 173, a philanthropist, a League Cup as well as an FA Cup winner and now a player as well as an assistant manager in Iceland. You’d be forgiven for thinking that would keep anyone busy, but not David James, as now he’s coming back to our screens as BT Sport’s newest co-analyst.
He has played for a whole collection of teams including Watford, Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Bristol City and Bournemouth. He has also had 53 appearances for the Three Lions from 1997 to the last World Cup in South Africa.
I met the former Manchester City player at BT Sport’s offices in Stratford where he greeted me with a smile and a very firm handshake, the strength you’d expect from an experienced goalkeeper. The room was pretty noisy as some of his colleagues, including Michael Owen, were in the middle of a rather loud conversation, but James would have none of it and asked them in a strict tone to keep it down, to which everyone obliged. The former member of the Liverpool ‘Spice Boys’ looked more serious now, with a healthy sense of humour nevertheless, but no more bleach blonde, no more dreadlocks and no more Superman comb-over, his frizzy hair and knowledge does just fine.
I ask him what his new role is and initially, it seemed like I’d caught him a bit off guard as he wasn’t sure about his title description until my interview fixer jumped in and told me that he is a co-analyst. He is not very fond of the term football pundit as he thinks it is a cliché but he is looking to bring the best information to the public based solely on facts and not his personal opinion. The Daily Mail called him the ‘stat-man’, which surprised him, however he does see the importance of the numbers games when it comes to football.
“For many years covering football matches has been pretty much the same, with ex-players and the presenter sat around the table giving their thoughts or opinions on stuff. I’m more, I like to think, sort of technically analytical than just subjectively opinionated, in a sense that things happen for a reason.”
BT Sport have also come up with a very interesting method of showing the key moments of the match to the audience with the use of a LED interactive pitch. That is where the veterans, such as James and Steve McManaman, enter the Tron-like field and show the best moments of the game themselves without the use of footage.
“There are other shows which have all the gadgetry and I think it’s not real. We can actually get in there; we can talk and physically show people. You can actually do the movements, move people and go through those processes.
“For me, as a coach, I’m thinking about the younger players who are trying to learn the game. If you just show pictures and don’t actually demonstrate it then it’s just words and they’re going to try and make up the missing bits.
“Unfortunately I’ve got too many goals in that net so far and I may have to have a word with the production staff.”
The 43-year-old is still active with Icelandic team IBV and his love for the game is evidently still strong. But how can anyone juggle the demands of a football team with that of BT Sport? James is under a rather tight schedule as he literally leaves the studio on Saturday after the show and flies to Iceland to make the Sunday fixture with his squad. The club seems fine with it, but the former West Ham keeper admitted that the combination may be tricky.
Being an analyst however is not his ultimate goal as he tells me that he would really like to become a manager. “When I first went out to Iceland to play for IBV my intention wasn’t just to play, it was a long way to go just to play football.
“I am currently doing my UEFA license and it was an opportunity as an assistant manager to get involved in the coaching side of things and by doing that to help the goalkeepers they had.”
The aspiring coach has got his UEFA A license and says that even though he played professional football for 25 years he still learnt more as he explored another side to the game.
There is a difference in analysing football and actually getting on the field to play the game so I ask him about how he would compare the two tasks. His high experience in professional football has given him a lot of confidence between the sticks, but he admits that BT Sport is something new for him.
“I’ve done commentary or pundit work, if you like. It’s been much more orchestrated. The BT Sport sort of ethos is more relaxed and free in a sense that the studio is spacious and the conversations are a lot more interesting so it feels a lot more natural, which is good.”
England are playing Scotland at Wembley tonight and the former international explained he was ready for the match, as he has already done his homework, but he did have interesting things to say about the team and the young goalkeepers.
He calls the difference between the Premier League and the England national team a paradox and believes that because England has the best football and the most money they attract players from around the world. He adds that the coaching staff are concentrating more on the first team and less on the youth players who could be moulded as excellent footballers for the future one day.
I ask him who his favourite goalkeeper is after Joe Hart and he says “Joe Hart”, then I repeat the question and he insists on the Manchester City keeper. The 43-year-old believes that young keepers are experiencing the same problem as all other youth players that are ignored by clubs. He argues that the only way that another English keeper could overtake Hart’s place is through a consistent starting place and performance at Premier League level, which is very important for him as that could also push and benefit the 26-year-old goalkeeper.
“English clubs have had goalkeeping coaches for 15-20 years and the problem, I’d argue, is that the goalkeeping coach just works with the first team goalkeeper rather than looking at the development of young keepers through that club.
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“If every club had a goalkeeper from 15 years ago up until five or six years ago then English football would be awash with English goalkeepers. So somewhere, the system is failing.”
I ask him who does he think will win the league this year and after a few seconds of concentration he says that Chelsea are the favourite. He reckons we will see a different team this year as the returning Jose Mourinho is very good at maintaining control of the dressing room, something his successors struggled to build, and in addition to the quality of the team the Portuguese manager has at his disposal.
The frizzy-haired analyst told me that West Brom could offer a few surprises this season, even without last season’s star Romelu Lukaku, but won’t be able to hit the European spots. However, he can see Liverpool nabbing fourth place thus bringing some extra competition to the North London rivalry from last season. As for champions Manchester United, the former Liverpool keeper thinks they might end up in third place behind aforementioned Chelsea and fierce local rivals Manchester City.
My twenty minute mark was up but I still tried to squeeze in some extra questions for the goalkeeper/analyst – asking him if he’s excited about the upcoming Premier League. His face immediately contorts into a giant smile and says: “Absolutely!” He is set to go to Anfield on Saturday and meet Simon Mignolet and Stoke’s Asmir Begovic; jokingly adding that he’ll ask them about English goalkeepers.
The IBV goalkeeper and I shook hands again, that grip was still strong, and I knew that I would definitely be hearing about him more in the future as his career develops. Could I be writing about his achievements as a manager in a few years? Only time can tell…
David James is co-analyst on BT Sport’s coverage of 38 exclusively live Barclays Premier League Football matches. BT Sport is free with BT broadband, to find out more visit www.btsport.com
Amid Manchester United’s lukewarm form, and debates over whether the Premier League champions can overcome the inevitable hangover of Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in time to stage any form of title defence this season, it’s long been forgotten that Wayne Rooney’s future at Old Trafford was up in the air this summer.
The England international was at the epicentre of one of the summer window’s most speculated and reported transfer sagas, with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho even declaring at one point in the off-season that his summer transfer policy could be described best as ‘Rooney or bust’.
But several crisis talks later between Rooney and Ferguson’s successor David Moyes, the issue of the 27-year-old’s future was eventually put to bed by a committed and hard-working performance against his potential suitors as deadline day loomed in.
Some have claimed keeping a hold of the United striker was the Scot’s best piece of business of the summer – not that there’s too much on the transfer front at Old Trafford to compare it to – whilst others are yet to be convinced. So with nearly a quarter of the current Premier League campaign already gone, it’s time to revisit the Red Devils’ Rooney transfer saga, and ask is the new Carrington boss made the right decision.
Well, you can’t argue with Rooney’s form so far this season. If Sir Alex was eternally convinced that the England forward was by no means at his best last year, he’d have no complaints this term. Wazza Roo has recorded five goals and three assists in eight appearances for his efforts in the Premier League and Champions League combined this season, in addition to goals against Montenegro and Poland for the Three Lions. The retired icon even admitted in a press conference for his new autobiography today that the striker is finally back to his best.
If the Red Devils had handed over that sort of firepower to Chelsea in the summer, it would have undoubtedly left them rather blue in the face. The West Londoners pose the biggest threat to United’s title defence this season, but a lack of efficiency in the final third has been by far their biggest flaw.
Jose Mourinho is currently rotating between Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o with limited effect – the striking trio have found just one Premier League goal between them this year – and one can only imagine the extent at which Chelsea could be dominating proceedings in the English top flight if they had Rooney operating at full throttle to spearhead their attacks at the moment.
But under Sir Alex Ferguson the Red Devils had a knack of spotting and anticipating Premier League trends, and subsequently acting upon them. My concern with Rooney is that his style of play is slowly becoming a thing of the past in the English top flight, especially in his dual role at the tip of United’s midfield.
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The roles and services of Premier League No.10’s have been a common feature in punditry discussions this season, and as many of football’s talking heads will tell you, there’s no concrete definition of what a number 10 should do, or specific attributes they should possess. Rather, the number 10 role is designed to assure a wealth of quality, especially in the final third.
Not that Rooney hasn’t or won’t continue to do that for United, but the overall trend for the Premier League’s current no.10’s is a greater emphasis on technical ability, creativity on the ball and flair – such as Oscar at Chelsea, Christian Erkisen at Tottenham, Mesut Ozil at Arsenal and Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool for example – rather than the battering-ram robustness of the England international.
There’s something to be said for having the most pivotal influence in the England national team conducting play from the tip of midfield; it certainly serves Manchester United’s typically English identity and ethos well. But a playmaker, Rooney quite frankly is not – his pass completion rate this season is at just 75%, distinctly less than his divisional counterparts – although he’s certainly maintained a respectable impression of one since Robin Van Persie joined the Old Trafford ranks in summer 2012.
Yet, as David Moyes is condemned by Usain Bolt and other sectors of the United faithful for failing to source any creative quality in the middle of the park over the summer to replace the playmaking influence of Paul Scholes, one can only wonder if Rooney’s presence in his attacking midfield role has reduced the United gaffer’s scope to bring in a flair player from the continent that would have undoubtedly alleviated the apparent creative crisis going forward United currently find themselves in.
The Red Devils were reportedly offered the services of Mesut Ozil during the summer by Real Madrid for a £40million fee, but where would the world-class German international actually fit into Moyes’s starting line-up, especially after making the ultimate decision to keep Rooney this summer, rather than let him go.
Whether I’m right or wrong, United have made their bed, and now they and Rooney must both lie in it. New Chief Executive Ed Woodward quipped in the summer that he wasn’t afraid of letting a player’s contract run down, in specific reference to the England international, but words are one thing and actions are another, and it seems implausible that the Manchester United management would allow Rooney’s current deal to simply expire in 2015, for his potential worth on the transfer market more than anything else.
Having decided Rooney’s fate in the summer, Moyes is compelled to offer him a new deal, that will most likely include a pay-rise, or flog him at the end of the season, which will only seem like a more absurd notion than it did during the previous transfer window if the England striker maintains his goal-scoring form for the rest of the season. And at that point, the Red Devils will be faced with the same conundrum regarding Rooney’s potential departure; his only suitors are other Premier League clubs.
If there was a chance to shift the England international for any respectable profit, it’s well and truly gone – not that the Premier League champions are in the market to make money.
But my concern remains tactically-based, rather than any and consideration for United’s financial gain. Rooney is more than capable of taking up an attacking midfield role, but it’s by no means a position that accommodates for his finer qualities, or one that he considers to be his strongest personally.
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His style of play limits United’s creativity, but until Robin Van Persie’s footballing abilities begin to decline, it’s the only regular spot in the Red Devils’ starting line-up the England international will receive.
It may have been an incredibly controversial move, and one that would have undoubtedly raised several awkward questions at the start of David Moyes’ Old Trafford tenure, but letting Rooney leave for pastures new in the summer, on the back of his second transfer request in the space of three years, may well have been the better solution for the Premier League champions in the long run.
The 27 year-old is undoubtedly an exceptional player, but the English top flight evolves at an eternally rapid pace, and as a result of Moyes’ decision to hold onto Rooney in the summer, the Red Devils could quickly find themselves being left behind.
You can never totally prepare for injuries. But at Arsenal and due to its history, damage limitation should be of great concern for the management.
Arsenal put out a very good XI against Liverpool, and against Dortmund four days later, and again against Manchester United four days after that. The problem is the XI was mostly unchanged; at least the core of the attack. The two positive results over the first two games should silence those who grew concerned over the lack of depth in the team, though only momentarily. Against United, Arsenal looked lifeless in the first half. It wasn’t so much that the team lacked ingenuity – this team have shown what they’re capable of this season – but rather that many looked to be running on empty.
Arsene Wenger received plenty of criticism for his assessment of his squad following the closing of the transfer window. He stated that his squad were strong enough to deal with the rigors of the forthcoming campaign, which is true: without injury, this squad are capable. The problem is, though, Arsenal never go through a spell where the entire squad is injury-free.
The season hadn’t even started when Thomas Vermaelen was ruled out for the long term. Arsenal already needed another centre-back even with the Belgian fit; at that point, another defensive addition became a must.
Unlike others, I wasn’t overly concerned about the issue of depth in attack. Wenger’s pursuit of Luis Suarez and a small handful of other strikers was over a matter of quality, but numbers-wise, Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott were enough to supplement Olivier Giroud’s contribution at centre-forward. Each of them had hit double figures for scoring last season.
Thus far, Arsenal have seen their attack compromised, as even with the addition of Mesut Ozil and the freedom Mathieu Flamini at holding midfield allows the other midfielders, Arsenal have not yet reached their maximum in terms of output.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is able to play a similar game to Walcott, both offering the kind of pace that is absent throughout the rest of the squad. But both have fallen to injury very quickly following the season’s start. Arsenal, with everyone fit, looked much stronger with the additions of Ozil and Flamini, but once again there is no way to properly prepare for injuries.
It brings up the wider topic as to what can be done to prevent these long-term injuries to a squad who do have the depth to go a long way. It’s a matter of training. Are all the players put on the same training regime? If so, why? Why is Per Mertesacker prepared in the same way as Theo Walcott when both are completely different?
This is what should be classed as damage limitation and not always just splashing out in the market.
Ozil has come under some questioning for his performances of late. It’s been discussed in the past that players like Ozil need fast attackers in order to demonstrate the full flight of their capabilities. Playing keep ball is one thing, but fundamentally it’s about converting that possession into goals. As an example, look to Ozil’s contribution in the first half alone against Sunderland where he put Walcott through on goal at least three times.
Another issue is that due to injuries – notably of Podolski, Walcott, Santi Cazorla for a long period, and Oxlade-Chamberlain – Ozil has had to play the full ninety for majority of his time at Arsenal up until this point. That wasn’t the case at Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho often substituted Ozil around the 70-minute mark. Such was the regularity of the substitutions that it became less a matter of tactics and more about keeping Ozil fresh.
I’m not going to use the age-old cliché that Ozil needs to adapt to English football – he’s world class and is capable of slotting in immediately. But it is clear why he hasn’t hit his peak yet at Arsenal, and those reasons greatly contrast why he was so good for Real Madrid for so long.
This Arsenal squad, with everyone fit, are able to go through a league season and emerge at the top of the table come May. The problem is the other competitions. The problem is the persistent injuries. The squad has a level of depth in quality that allows for rotation – think of the various and effective combinations that can be made from the midfield – but that will hardly ever be the case.
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Arsenal need reinforcements in attack, not because Giroud isn’t good enough – he’s proven how valuable he is – but because he is clearly being burnt out due to the absence of others. Due to the high level of injuries that have already occurred this season, much of the same can be said for other areas of the pitch.
Will Arsenal’s lack of squad depth come back to haunt them?
Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a hard fought 2-0 victory over Newcastle at St. James’ Park.
Edin Dzeko scored the game’s only goal in just the eighth minute before Alvaro Negredo wrapped up the points in the sixth minute of added time, but it was the decision to rule out Cheick Tiote’s stunning equaliser for offside in the first-half that cast a dark shadow over the game.
Here’s how Twitter reacted…
8 minutes: Edin Dzeko puts City in front for his 5th Premier League goal of the season…
36 minutes: Newcastle think they’ve equalised through a Tiote screamer, but it’s wrongly ruled out for a mysterious offside…
70 minutes: A defensive mix up at the back for City presents Loic Remy with a golden opportunity to equalise, but Joe Hart does well to save…
74 minutes: Newcastle defender Yanga-Mbiwa kicks out at Samir Nasri and receives just a booking. Nasri is strecthered off as a result…
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90+6 minutes: Alvaro Negredo wraps up the points for City with a rather fortunate effort when one-on-one with Tim Krul…
It’s no secret that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is a shoo-in for the Premier League’s Player of the Year award. Rightly so; the Uruguayan is topping the Premier League’s goals and assists charts, with 30 strikes and 12 set-ups in 31 outings.
But Manchester City’s Yaya Toure has enjoyed an equally as mesmerising campaign, so in homage to his Man of the Match display against Crystal Palace this afternoon, a Selhurst Park fixture which eventually finished 2-0 to the visitors, here’s three reasons the Cote D’Ivoire star is worthy of the Premier League’s greatest individual accolade.
1. Assists
Perhaps in a bid to make up for lost time, having missed City’s last two Premier League fixtures through injury, the 30 year-old made his presence felt early on with this sublime cross to Edin Dzeko, which the Bosnian target man nodded into the back of Julian Speroni’s net:
https://vine.co/v/Mvv2djdqDDU/embed/simple
Toure’s assist for Dzeko was the midfielder’s fifth of the season.
2. Goals
As if Toure hadn’t shown enough of his world-class quality with his beautiful ball to set-up Edin Dzeko, he produced another moment of brilliance just before half-time. Picking the ball up near the half-way line, the Etihad star drove at the Palace defence, before conjuring up this curling effort just inside the box:
https://vine.co/v/Mvr7EIhI0Pe/embed/simple
Joleon Lescott was particularly impressed:
https://vine.co/v/MvrZTdMWMmI/embed/simple
That goal was Toure’s 19th in the Premier League, making him third in the division’s scoring charts and just one goal behind second-place Daniel Sturridge.
3. Controlling the game.
Arguably more important than Toure’s impressive output is the manner in which he’s begun to control games under Manuel Pellegrini. The former Barcelona midfielder’s strength, power and attacking threat has always been well documented, but the Chilean’s Etihad arrival has brought out a more technically-demanding side to Toure’s game, by conducting, controlling and dictating the tempo of the match.
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Despite being on the pitch for only 66 minutes, the 30 year-old finished the match having made 46 successful passes – the third most of any Manchester City player. He also finished the afternoon with an 85% pass completion rate, whilst Toure’s two successful through balls was the most of any player on either side.
Combining his technical ability with his athletic prowess, the African star is capable of controlling any given match from the middle of the park, as highlighted by these Manchester City fans on Twitter: