Tottenham are still interested in appointing Franco Baldini as their new Director of Football despite previously rejecting links between himself and the club.
The role has been available since chief scout Ian Broomfield was sacked by Daniel Levy two weeks ago.
Baldini has been Director General at Roma since his appointment in 2011, however it is believed his position at the club is insecure after La Maggica’s poor start to the season, lying tenth in Serie A, leading to rumours the Italian may resign.
Last week however, the former assistant to Fabio Capello committed his future to his club, stating: “I have an obligation over here with Roma. It is a long project which I am committed to.”
Andre Villas-Boas’ side have made a mixed start to the Premier League season and Jose Mourinho’s former assistant is still an admirer of the more continental club structure, making no secret of the fact that he would like a technical director brought in.
“I have worked with one at Porto and Academia and had no issues with that and I certainly promote that,” said the Spurs boss.
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It is rumoured that Daniel Levy is now looking at F.C. Porto’s Antero Henrique and former Barcelona sporting director Txiki Beguiristain as possibilities to fill the vacancy.
Premier League managers are always keen to secure new arrivals in their squad, regularly entering the transfer market for the next big thing. With home-grown status becoming more and more craved, due to new squad quota rulings, the prices of English talent has inflated drastically.
Foreign imports have always been much craved in the Premier League, yet the passion and commitment of British stars has always formed the backbone of the set-up.
Due to their increasing price tags, many English players have have struggled with the burden of high hopes weighing heavily on their shoulders. The media often pounce on failure, with a desire to find stories to fill column inches, ramping up the pressure on players still adjusting to new surroundings.
This list looks at 15 victims of the inflated fees associated with English talent.
Click on the Liverpool duo below to see 15 victims of inflated fees
The idea that fans know better than a manager in football really annoys me. Of course those who watch football are entitled to their opinion about the game and certain players. But I doubt Joe Bloggs down the pub really figured out the future of football was 4-2-3-1 until being told it was a hundred times during the World Cup. (I’m not excluding myself from this condemnation I recently watched the Juventus vs. Inter Milan game, where both teams used formations reliant on several attacker’s and various versions 3-5-2 and 3-4-3. I watched with little to no idea of what either team was achieving with their various formations). My point is there’s nothing more irritating than arm-chair managers and the Sky Sports News era believing they’re Jose Mourinho due to the (lack of) insight Paul Merson gives them every Saturday.
Among my main annoyance with fans who believe they know better than the manager are people who still believe a team playing with one up front is sending out a negative message. Mike Bassett: England manager parodies the out-dated 4-4-2 system in 2001, and yet fans still groan if their team contains only one striker at home. One example of this short sighted terrace simplicity, is Sunderland, since Martin O’Neill’s arrival, the Black Cats have used almost exclusively 4-4-1-1 a natural formation for a team whose best player Stephane Sessegnon likes operating in the hole. Yet when things aren’t going right and the Wearsiders aren’t scoring goals, fans instantly point to the lack of strikers on the pitch, bypassing the more obvious failings of a defensive mindset and poor performances of the club’s three main creative players. Also when looking at the two best strikers currently on the North East club’s books I believe it’s doubtful that both Louis Saha and Steven Fletcher could play together seeing as the two have such similar attributes. Another option is Fraizer Campbell who can operate as a striker but also winger when Sunderland aren’t in possession but their remains major doubts about the England international’s quality, he hasn’t scored since February. Another reason teams rarely use this system is football matches are often won and lost in the midfield, so packing three in midfield makes sense when trying to impose your will on your opponents. Such is the out-dated nature of 4-4-2, Spain were able to grind their teams into submission in most games without playing with a striker of any nature, defending and attacking with over-whelming possession.
Also like any sport in football you should aspire to be the best and the top teams rarely use this formation, the marquee game of the weekend just gone saw Manchester United out-wit Arsenal with a variation of 4-4-1-1 up 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. Manchester City have such a plethora of attacking options Roberto Mancini rarely only puts one of his four top-drawer strikers on the pitch. But the Italian doesn’t just limit himself just to 4-4-2 trying 3-5-2, 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-3 among other formations even if the former Inter Milan manager has had varying success with his systems this term. England’s failings with 4-4-2 in the world cup should also have shown fans just how ineffective the formation can be, attempting pin-ball football to try and get the ball forward in the Euros regularly saw England out-played and somewhat fortunate to reach the quarter finals.
Tottenham Hotspur fans have also condemned management for the use of just one striker. But last season by consensus Spurs were playing the best football in the Premier League with just a solitary forward, relying on excellent creative players such as Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart to create chances in a team that cannot be considered negative. I also think the fans booing vehemently when Jermain Defoe was substituted for Emanuel Adebayor said as much about the popularity Andre Villas-Boas then it did about a negative approach. Spurs played the last half hour with Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Clint Dempsey supporting Adebayor hardly a dearth of attacking options. The team they were playing in that match-up as well Wigan have enjoyed great success playing with a 3-4-3 system a style no other team in the division regularly use.
My point is 4-4-2 was going out of date ten years ago, let alone now, in 2012 the idea of playing with just one striker shouldn’t be stereotyped as negativity.
Let me know your thoughts on 4-4-2 on Twitter where you can find me: @jimmylowson
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Scans on Manchester City defender Micah Richards have revealed that he may only miss up to two months with a knee injury.
At first the knock was believed to be a lot worse and Richards will see a specialist on Tuesday to decide whether or not surgery is going to be needed.
It was originally feared that the big City defender had damaged his ligaments and could have been a long term injury concern, but the area of cartilage between his knee and thigh bone looks better than first feared.
Reports on Monday suggested that the England defender has already undergone surgery but the club has come out saying that’s not the case and that the club’s medical staff were discussing the best course of action.
Richards might have to undergo keyhole surgery today at a Manchester hospital and that could keep him out for up to six to eight weeks.
The injury came in the club’s 1-0 win against Swansea and after collapsing in agony in the penalty box, the defender was stretchered off and given oxygen.
It was a painful blow to Richards who was only making his third appearance of the season after a number of setbacks. It’s the second injury he’s suffered this season – Richards also missed the opening to the season after injuring his ankle while playing for Great Britain at the Olympics.
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When Lacina Traore scored in the dying minutes of the first-half, Liverpool fans may have been forgiven in giving a jealous glance at Anzhi’s giant centre-forward. Fast-forward a couple of week, Liverpool have now been rumoured with the player. Would you have him?
Out of the targets rumoured, the striker would represent the best fit for Liverpool, if their transfer policy is anything to go by. At 6ft 8′ the striker measures as one of the tallest players in the world. So there wouldn’t be trouble finding him in the box. Like a lot of tall strikers at the moment, he’s not just a good target man, but he can actually play football. With Rodgers hoping to sell Andy Carroll to West Ham or anyone else that would have him, Traore may provide a cheaper alternative.
However with Anzhi being owned by Billionaire Suleyman Kerimov, I don’t see why they have to sell. This club has the highest paid football player in the world. The only way I could see him joining Liverpool is if his chances were limited at Anzhi’s, with the Premier League a very decent destination.
From what I’ve seen of him, Lacina Traore would be a decent addition to the Premier League if he were to play how Ba, Crouch and Adebayor play their football. However I’m not quite sure yet if he would be able to deal with the physicality of the Premier League, cliché aside. I also don’t think he possesses some of the skills that Ba posses, an I think that would be an area that he should look to improve on. The Premier League is full of dynamic players, Traore would do good in following in their stead.
So I think I’m gonna have to say that I think this rumour is pants, but I would like to be proved wrong. Nah really I would.
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The Premier League is the greatest domestic league in the world for action-packed, incident-heavy games, while off the pitch 2012 has also seen plenty of wider issues such as racism, Hillsborough and Fabrice Muamba’s health scare brought further into the light. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a selection of the best moments from the last calendar year, stretched across last season and this one.
Not all of them are positive, plenty of them are, but they’ve helped to shape the last year of action and have all been headline-grabbing stories in their own right. So, without further ado, and to keep it interesting and you lot on your toes, they’ll be done completely at random and in no discerning chronological order….
Click on Robin van Persie to unveil the 15
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I wonder if Andre Villas-Boas has a framed screenshot of the Premier League table hanging in his office? Having amassed 40 points from 22 games, Tottenham sit just two points behind the Champions of Europe, with a six-point gap ahead of fierce rivals Arsenal. The club may not be hailed as the outside ‘title challengers’ they were this time last season, but they are arguably in a better shape to regain entry into the Champions League.
The arrival of Villas-Boas caught many by surprise and evoked an uneasy reaction from supporters still holding a candle for Harry Redknapp. The national press were quick to voice their concerns, seemingly eager to ignite another tabloid friendly disaster that was frequent column filler last year.
However, despite some early teething problems stemming from obscure tactical decisions, Villas-Boas can now rest assured that his feet are firmly under one of English football’s most prominent tables. Only league leaders Manchester United better the impressive tally of 22 goals away from home and while a few more net-busters at the Lane would be welcomed, the team is slowly shaking free their negative persona.
As results improved on the pitch, the tabloids were running out of ammo and so turned their attention to his unique brand of vocal mannerisms. A piece in the Daily Mail portrayed Villas-Boas as a Mr Bean type character stuck in a Carry On film and revelled in the fact the 35-year-old failed to land the Burnley job in 2010, after sending in a lengthy and confusing application.
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‘Tommy Docherty used to say he never said anything to his players his milkman wouldn’t understand,’ said the Claret’s chief executive Paul Fletcher.
‘I don’t think any milkman would fathom the meaning of a lot of Andre’s presentation.’ (Daily Mail)
It seems as though a short-sighted few are still longing for the beautiful game that was built on blood, sweat and tears. They fail to realise that football has evolved, it now thrives upon newfound intelligence which sees managers treasure patient build-up play rather than long ball bombardment.
The detailed preparation process can no longer be ignored or deemed insignificant, especially when tactics need to be repeatedly adjusted to triumph over each new opponent. The modern player needs inspiring beyond the cliched ‘go out there and enjoy yourself’ speech and Villas-Boas is someone perfectly capable of providing just that.
In many ways Harry Redknapp is still the media’s darling, a graduate from the old school of coaching who prefers warriors to artists. His “you’d have to be a dope to mess up the Chelsea job” comment screamed petulance and portrayed an annoyance at being replaced by this new breed of intellectual coach. His tactics in the game against Spurs highlighted just how afraid he was of his former side, but of course the media spun such a performance as a positive, despite the fact QPR were at home and should have been relentlessly pursuing victory.
In Portugal there is an altogether different perception of the manager they believe will one day take charge of the national team. Villas-Boas is widely renowned as an articulate and elegant communicator, even current Porto boss Vítor Pereira revealed he was jealous of his predecessors media skills.
Villas-Boas does however fail to appreciate context and instead persists with translating his thoughts from Portuguese to English in a literal format. His remark that Jermain Defoe can “smell” crosses was not a reference to his special nasal powers but instead the striker’s good anticipation and awareness off the ball. But that isn’t half as funny and certainly won’t look as good strapped across a newspaper headline.
Yet his current crop of players seem to understand him perfectly and now play with a natural sense of rhythm and balance that was missing last season. Unlike Roman Abramovich, Daniel Levy will not loom, pry or demand instant success. There is a reassuring sense of security in their relationship, although this would be officially confirmed if Levy could bring in an identifiably ‘Villas-Boas’ signing like Joao Moutinho or Willian.
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There is also a strong sense that he is learning from his previous errors of misjudgement and not just because he’s finally admitted to making them at Chelsea. He has been less ruthless in his changes and has even allowed Michael Dawson back into contention after reported exile. The defensive frailty of Spurs in the latter stages of games has also been rectified, as the club haven’t conceded late on since that last gasp defeat to Everton. In fact, they’ve only let in two goals in their last eight games.
Whereas Arsenal fans are growing tired of Wenger’s methodical approach, loyal Lilywhites seem perfectly content with their own professor. There is a growing consensus that young, dedicated tacticians will be the future template of all successful managers in the Premier League.
Southampton certainly think so – having today appointed 40-year-old “astute tactician” Mauricio Pochettino – it’s just a shame that such a decision has come at the expense of yet another English manager.
Liverpool currently sit seven points outside the top four back in seventh place in the league table, but with the club’s domestic form fluctuating so much this season, it seems as if the goalposts have been continually moved by manager Brendan Rodgers to the point that it’s difficult to quite know what the minimum expectations surrounding the team are now this term and whereabouts they hope to finish.
It goes without saying that the side want to finish as highly as possible in the Premier League and being seven points adrift of Tottenham is not an insurmountable lead by any stretch of the imagination, but after Rodgers claimed earlier in the campaign that replicating the eight-placed finish under predecessor Kenny Dalglish would be a ‘magnificent achievement’, the 40-year-old appears to have bought too much into the hype surrounding the side in recent months.
It’s still worth noting that Liverpool haven’t beaten a club inside the top ten in the league all season, which hardly seems conducive to a top four finish and if the shock FA Cup defeat away at Oldham taught us anything, it’s that while the starting XI has been in superb form in recent weeks, that the support cast isn’t quite up to the standard required just yet. Doubts also remain over the club’s ability to deal with physical opposition, while Rodgers has developed a worrying tendency to get his starting eleven wrong in games of importance.
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On November 30th, with the side set to host Southampton at Anfield, they sat closer to the relegation zone than the top four, with four points separating them from Nigel Adkins’ third-bottom team and a 10-point gap from fourth-placed West Bromwich Albion in fourth, but Rodgers sounded optimistic when pushed if the club could still finish in the top four: “It is realistic, absolutely. Teams are taking points off each other. Let’s be honest, it is a big ask, a massive ask, but that has to be our target. We are going to look to try and get as close to that as we possibly can.”
Fast forward to December 14th and perhaps Rodgers’ most ill-judged rhetoric during his time in charge reared its ugly head when he stated at a press conference just before the humiliating 3-1 defeat to a struggling and subsequently woeful Aston Villa side: “We lie four points off the top four. For me the ambition is to grow higher. We are 11 points off second and that can all turn around very quickly. You need to get consistency – and that is what we have at the minute.”
However, in recent weeks he’s sought to play down expectations by labelling a top four finish on the eve of the game away at Arsenal as ‘difficult’ and it seems that nobody quite knows, not least of all the manager himself, quite what the target in the league is for Liverpool this season. Confused yet? You should be.
What is clear, though, is that this is a campaign of transition and expectations have been dampened to such an extent by Rodgers in the summer that a general consensus has been reached by a fanbase willing to be patient with the new man at the helm, that just so long as they finish eighth or higher, then they will be satisfied with the progress that the club are making both on and off the pitch.
Lest we forget, this is a young squad, with several new signings in key positions which have increasingly come to rely on both Luis Suarez and captain Steven Gerrard in recent months. This is not a fully formed outfit by any means and they are still getting to grips with Rodgers’ methods and style of play, while in terms of depth, they come up short compared to many of their rivals.
In that sense, Rodgers is fortunate to have taken over the club at a time when the supporters are tired of false promises and the quick rate of managerial turnover and are willing to place their faith in a new ‘project’ and ‘philosophy’, craving stability above all else. Nevertheless, Rodgers seems to have a troubling tendency to keep the media on side and in the loop with regards to his thinking and decision-making almost at every turn.
Of course, being media-friendly is all part and parcel of the game these days and having a poor relationship with them can only make your job all the more difficult, as countless managers have found to their cost in the past, but Rodgers seems to want to create news where none really exists. He’s not the first manager to contradict himself within a matter of weeks, but Liverpool fans seem to be straddling that line now between whether to continue to dampen down expectations or dare to dream of something more and a consistent party line above all else is what’s required.
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With a tough run of fixtures in the pipeline, including Arsenal and Manchester City away from home not to mention the tricky test of Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia in the Europa League, now is not the time to be getting carried away by what has been some good form against opposition you’d expect them to do well against.
The challenges ahead are huge and whether they finish sixth, seventh or eighth, splitting hairs in such a fashion really takes away from what the larger objective in mind is, restoring Liverpool to the top four in a matter of seasons, not months and Rodgers would do well to remember that.
The words common sense and Newcastle United don’t often go together. Certainly, the Toon Army have seen some interesting times at St James’s Park since the Premier League began, ranging from Kevin Keegan’s infamous rant about Sir Alex Ferguson to Mike Ashley’s beer swilling appearances in the home shirt of those who despise him so much. Things are looking up these days for the Magpies after Alan Pardew’s men mounted an assault on the Champions League last season with the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse all excelling.
Transfers don’t always go that well on Tyneside, indeed there seems to be no shortage of names that makes any Newcastle fan cringe by simply remembering them. Considering the club attracts some of the most passionate and vocal fans in the league, they’ve been represented on the pitch by some appalling footballers. We revisit the past two decades of Newcastle history and put together the worst Newcastle United transfer XI since the Premier League began.
Mario Balotelli admits he would love the chance to play against Manchester City in Europe if Milan qualify for the Champions League.
The 22-year-old left City during the January transfer window to move back to his homeland and he has been a revelation since moving to the San Siro.
A dip in form and problems away from the action saw his time at the Etihad Stadium come to a premature end, but he has shown his true colours with Milan and looks at home back in Serie A.
However, the controversial Italy international hit-man still has feelings for his old club and admits he would jump at the chance to face them in Europe’s elite club competition next season.
“We at Milan are trying to qualify for the Champions League directly, without needing the preliminary phase,” he told mcfc.co.uk. “And I am sure that City also will qualify for the Champions League. I hope to come back to play at the Etihad.
“If that will happen I will come back with love and respect for everyone – club, players and supporters. I would love a Champions League group with Milan and City, it would be great.”
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