Sunderland host Fulham today with both sides searching for wins, but for very different reasons. Martin O’Neil’s Black Cats are looking over their shoulders as they hover just five points above the drop zone and will be eager for new arrival Danny Graham to help them put that right sooner rather than later.
Martin Jol’s Fulham have the opportunity to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom three to 11 points, which should all but confirm their top-flight status for another season. The Cottagers are yet to lose a game in which striker Dimitar Berbatov has scored so all eyes will be on the Bulgarian at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.
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Mark Schwarzer has still not responded to the offer of a new contract to keep him at Fulham next season, according to Martin Jol.
The Cottagers boss has been heavily linked with a new goalkeeper and Roma’s Netherlands international custodian Maarten Stekelenburg is the favourite to the make the move to Craven Cottage in the summer.
However, Jol is also keen to keep the 40-year-old Australian veteran on board, while current number two David Stockdale appears set to join loan side Hull City on a permanent basis if they clinch their place in the Premier League as expected.
But the Dutch tactician has admitted that Schwarzer is still dragging his heels over whether he will stay with the Cottagers because he wants to be guaranteed first-team football in order to feature in next year’s World Cup in Brazil – something which won’t happen if he stays put.
Jol said: “We made him an offer so that means we would like to keep him.”
On 27-year-old Stockdale’s future, he added: “The reality is Stockdale wants to be the number one so I’ve got a little problem and it’s a choice. Do you get him back and make him the number one or do you stick with your keeper? Schwarzer did ever so well, so it’s about making decisions.”
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Lyon have played down rumours of midfielder Yoann Gourcuff joining Arsenal this month.
The Gunners have been linked with the playmaker for some time, with stories circulating that previous bids have been made to bring him to the Premier League.
It has been suggested that Arsene Wenger may return with a fresh offer this month, as he looks to get his team’s Premier League campaign back on track.
However, Lyon’s chairman Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed that there has been no contact, and that the player will be staying put:
“Arsenal and Gourcuff? I don’t know about any offers,” he is quoted by The Metro via beIN Sport.
“I have never spoken with Arsenal.”
Gourcuff has struggled to live up to his potential with Lyon, following his £20m arrival in 2010.
This has led to rumours that the French club are willing to sell their man in the cheap, in a bid to reduce their wage bill.
Wenger is believed to be a long-term admirer of the 26-year-old, but he could face competition from Russian outfit Spartak Moscow.
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Although he is technically gifted, Gourcuff has struggled with a series of injuries in recent years and has missed the majority of the current campaign with a knee problem.
Former England international Emile Heskey has penned a one-year deal to play for Australian A-League side Newcastle Jets.
The veteran forward was released by Aston Villa at the tail-end of last season, and failed to find a new club during the European transfer window, despite confessing that he had offers.
The A-League starts in October, and the 34-year-old will pair up with former Leeds striker Michael Bridges for the east coast side.
Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond feels that Heskey’s stature and experience will offer quality to his side.
“He’s someone who can really lead the line and that is exactly what we’ve been missing,” the coach is quoted as saying in The Guardian.
Heskey is looking forward to a new challenge in his career and hopes to act as a role model for younger players.
“I hope I can help grow football at the grass-roots level and also provide advice to young players at the Jets,” he commented.
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Heskey follows ex-Italy international Alessandro Del Piero to Australia, who signed for Sydney earlier this summer.
They should be on top of the world after giving a damn good tickling to African giants Ghana in their opening game, but WOB understands that not everything is hunky dory in the USA camp. The reason? Dissatisfaction with the working methods of coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The former Baywatch star has forced Team USA to particpate in bizarre ‘bonding’ exercises.
“Last week we broke the world record for most footballers crammed into an old-model VW Beetle,” revealed Amish-looking goalminder Tim Howard, “Klinsy actually had his own car shipped to our training camp here, even though Brazil is full of old Volkswagens. And beetles. Geoff Cameron was stuck in there for three hours before we could prise him out. He plays for Stoke, man. He doesn’t need to be supple.”
More controversial has been Klinsmann’s World Cup quilting project, where grown men are encouraged to tell the story of their experiences at Brazil 2014 by stitching bits of cloth together. According to one disgruntled player, the manager plans to auction the finished item to raise funds for girls’ soccer in the Third World.
Just as unpopular is the coach’s insistence on a soundtrack of sunny, laidback Adult Oriented Rock during warm-up and warm-down sessions. “I know we need to counteract acid build-up by gently exercising after a hard workout, but he keeps us out there while whole Eagles albums play.
Most of us are from Germany for God’s sake. We want icy techno, not Lame-o FM.” The unnamed player then dropped his bombshell. “Jozy Altidore isn’t injured. He just couldn’t wait to get back to the North East of England. We envy him. We all want to get back to our rooms to do some coding, but Surfin’ Jurgen is all ‘hup, hup, hup!’”
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“It’s not fair,” added teamomate Clint Dempsey, applying a spot of black eyeliner.
UEFA are doing all they can to make their secondary competition a little more attractive. Well not necessarily all they can, but they’re moving in the right direction by offering qualification to the Champions League. Although try to spot the irony.
The thing about this, and especially with regards to teams like Tottenham, is they still have to win the tournament that they so often look down upon. Is there now an incentive to go all out and prioritise it over the league? Absolutely. But people’s perceptions of something aren’t likely to swing so dramatically over night.
Let’s not forget that the Europa League can be as tedious or confusing as anything in football. The competition starts in the summer for some, while the Thursday-Sunday fixture list that is sure to overpower the calendar is nothing short of a headache.
What always seems to be forgotten, however, is that the Europa League is good preparation for the Champions League. For most teams who compete in UEFA’s secondary club competition, there isn’t much of a gulf in class between them and those regularly in the Champions League. What it often comes down to, however, is the matter of experience and juggling the congested fixture list.
What needs to be taken away from UEFA’s latest decision to enhance their competition is that finally football in England may be focused on the drive for trophies above all else. How tired does the whole thing about the “race for fourth” get? Let’s not bang on about whether it’s as good as a trophy or not, the simple fact is that this sport has been taken away from what actually is important. For those still competing in the Europa League in the second half of the season, there will and should be a desire to go after silverware knowing that it offers a ticket to battle alongside the elite of European football.
The prize money is another thing. With greater reputation will come the increased revenue streams, but I don’t think that’s too much of an issue at this stage. The Champions League will more or less compensate for the chasm in financial reward between the two competitions. Yet once again, it just puts more emphasis on the drive to attain some silverware.
I’m not going to suggest that UEFA should have done this all along, but rather I’m going to ask why it actually had to come to this. Ok, it’s easy to see that the glamour of the Champions League is unrivalled and everyone wants to compete in it. But that competition has been morphed into something it never should have been. The Champions League does nothing to strengthen the meaning behind its name, offering second, third and fourth-placed teams an opportunity to compete alongside the genuine champions. If it went back to the traditional format of the European Cup, perhaps there would be greater prestige and reputation attached to the Europa League. A question to ask: why do fans want to be involved in the Champions League, even if they know their team has little hope of actually winning it?
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For now, the incentive is there. Tottenham are already a team who can comfortably finish in the top five in England, and all that was needed was an extra push to force them over the line into the top four. Fortunately the discussion about weighing up top four or an actual trophy may be put to bed. In fact it should be put to bed. For all those who favoured a top four finish over the Europa League a few months ago, I again ask why fans want to be involved in the Champions League.
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In the run up to Joey Barton’s home debut for Marseille, the controversial midfielder has asked French supporters to judge him on his performances, not the stories describing him as ‘Hollywood.’
The English midfielder is expected to play in Marseille’s Europa League clash with Limassol on Thursday.
“It’s difficult because of my bad reputation; I find it a bit unfair. They are stories like Hollywood, far from the truth,” the former Queens Park Rangers captain told the BBC website.
Barton joined the French club in August after signing from QPR, and has only played once before in the Europa League, due to the fact that he is serving a 12 league game ban which he picked up during his time in the Premier League, after being found guilty of two counts of violent conduct.
The midfielder however, is enjoying his new French life so far, and is happy to be away from the English press.
“The English media love to make headlines and dramatise as English football is the number one sport.
“I hope that people in France and here in Marseille judge me on what I do here and not in relation to what they read.”
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Marseille currently sit top of Ligue 1 with 6 wins from their first 6 games, ensuring that it won’t be easy for Barton to step straight into the side.
“There are some very good players here, but when you want to be a big club you must have a team of 15, 16, or 17 players. All players cannot play every week and I hope to bring something different to the team and become an important member,” he added.
Swansea played out the longest game in Premier League history against Man City last weekend, and will be frustrated that they could not take all three points as they outplayed City for long stretches. The longest game in Premier League history was a test on player fitness, and Swansea covered the most ground they have in a single game this season with 66.92 miles, led by Jonathan de Guzman’s 7.01 miles, the most by a single Swansea player this season.
Jonathan de Guzman has impressed for Swansea this season, and leads the team for passes completed in the opposition half with 199 so far this season.
A good performance was marred by injury to goalkeeper Michel Vorm. Vorm has been a key figure for Swansea this season and had made 45 saves so far in nine games
Angel Rangel picked up a booking against City, and is one of only two players to have now been booked five times this season, along with Wigan’s James McArthur
Miguel Michu has been Swansea’s star player this season, and he can now count speed among the qualities in which he is dominating the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Michu was clocked at 23.06 mph against City, the 7th fastest speed registered so far this season.
Chelsea’s last Premier League game against Man Utd has made headlines, but that aside was a scintillating game of football. Goals from Juan Mata and Ramires weren’t enough to prevent a 3-2 defeat for the blues. As well as his goal, Ramires committed five fouls in the game against Manchester United, the joint highest in the last round of games Mata’s goal was his fourth of the season, coming from 19 shots at goal with 68% on target and at a rate of 21% of shots converted to goals.
Fernando Torres was controversially sent off in the game, in a moment which will blot an otherwise excellent start to the season for the Spanish striker. Torres has four goals this season from just 14 shots at goal, an impressive conversion rate of 29%.
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Despite Manchester United’s Premier League campaign having petered out some time ago, they can still have a big say over the race for Champions League football next season.
David Moyes would most likely say that he couldn’t care less who qualifies next season, but he really should. For the good of Manchester United and for the good of his employment he should be praying his old Everton side make it.
For a long while this season United’s league performances have been a matter of pride above everything else. They find themselves 10 points off fourth place with just five games remaining; a practically insurmountable difference. An upturn in form in recent weeks – including the arrival of Juan Mata – has suggested small positives going forwards for Moyes, and a victory this weekend at Goodison Park would be another small step in restoring the lost pride of the season.
But it may just be most beneficial for United if they were to shelf their search for pride this coming weekend. The battle for fourth place looks to be heading to the wire, and Arsenal have a one-point advantage. If they are to make Champions League football in 2014-15 then their financial power will continue to grow. As a club with worldwide international support, a 60,000-seater stadium, world-class training facilities, and a core of very talented players, Arsenal have the potential to make Man United’s inevitable hiatus from UEFA’s flagship tournament a longer, more painful wait.
Everton, for all their improvements this season, still don’t have the kind of clout in Europe that Arsenal do. They’re very much still a work-in-progress club, reaching for the stars but having only recently left planet earth.
Roberto Martinez has worked wonders this season, and if Everton achieve Champions League football they will thoroughly deserve it. But the reliance this season on loan signings demonstrates what the club lack financially. Martinez had to make do with a number of late temporary options because the club can seldom afford to pay the money that players like Romelu Lukaku would cost them.
The money that Champions League participation provides for individual clubs would be far more dangerous to Man United in the power of a club the size of Arsenal. Added to their recent sponsorship renewals and kit manufacturing deals, Arsenal would be a harder beast to tame, were they to have the luxury of Champions League football.
Roberto Martinez has already admitted he is planning a big spend this summer. And Champions League football would no doubt allow him to attract a higher calibre of player. But the resources of the club don’t enable them to pay the type of wages that the Gunners can offer, whilst Arsenal’s Champions League history makes them a far more attractive prospect.
United would be able to catch up with Everton far more easily than Arsenal in the long-term. If Arsenal miss Champions League football, what they have set out to achieve since the erection of the Emirates Stadium would be knocked back. If the club continues to benefit from Champions League participation, they become much more difficult for United to overhaul.
Heading into a new era of financial power, and with the monetary increase that the BT television deal will give Champions League clubs from 2015-16 onwards, Manchester United can’t afford their absence to be a long one.
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By no way am I trying to question the professional integrity of David Moyes’ players. Each and every ones of them are under pressure to perform against Everton, many of whom are fighting for their Manchester United careers. They’ll be focused on derailing Everton’s progress in the home straight. And as a matter of pride for David Moyes, damaging his old club’s push for Champions League football would be some consolation, if only scant. But they should be mindful of the ramifications.
With all the names being bandied around in the media, and the financial power that Manchester United can still exercise, they are destined to strengthen this summer. Even with Champions League football, Everton can’t hope to challenge Manchester United when it comes to the transfer market. Arsenal can. Whether Arsene Wenger opts to is another matter entirely, but missing out on Champions League football would damage them this summer. Less competition for United would help, and Everton finishing fourth would be an important step in their rise back amongst Europe’s elite.
Earlier this week I wrote a piece – which you can read here – on why life without Luis Suarez will be just fine for Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool. Nevertheless, the Premier League season is still in its embryonic stages, and with so much yet to happen it may be worth examining the counter argument, that the Reds’ transfer dealings will lead to a season of failure rather than success. After all, it is normal practice for the avid football fan to pore over every minute detail of their club’s business in the transfer window, and inevitably harbour concerns over a particular player who may prove to be averse to the demands of Premier League football. Though there are strong signs that Liverpool have bought well, one can never be too sure; for every Daniel Sturridge there is an Andy Carroll, for every Xabi Alonso a Christian Poulsen.
Last season’s feeble defensive record – epitomised by the three-goal capitulation at Crystal Palace in their penultimate game – ultimately cost Liverpool a first league title in 24 years. For all the team’s attacking verve, without a solid backline winning the championship will always be an uphill struggle. Rodgers has responded to this defensive ineptness by prising centre-back Dejan Lovren away from Southampton, whilst also tempting Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo away from La Liga to earn their stripes in English football instead. Lovren, however, has looked sluggish and unconvincing in his early Liverpool career, whilst Alberto Moreno will take time to adjust following his costly mistake in the defeat to Manchester City, despite redeeming himself with a magnificent solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur. Javier Manquillo is a promising though ultimately inexperienced right-back, and as for Liverpool’s longer serving defenders the terms of Glen Johnson’s blackmail of Brendan Rodgers still remain a mystery, which can be the only explanation for his baffling persistence with playing the pedestrian England full-back.
Despite a fine start to his Liverpool career, saving a last minute Jon Walters penalty on the opening day of the season against Stoke, Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was party to a number of errors in his first season at the Anfield club, most notably in a crucial away game against Manchester City in which he was arguably at fault for both City goals. For all his shot-stopping ability, his aerial presence was susceptible to pressure at times, and his distribution could be found wanting. An absence of credible competition may be one explanation for this, with Brad Jones never a realistic competitor for the goalkeeper jersey, yet Rodgers has decided to stick with his deputy this season (unless rumours of a move for Victor Valdes materialise). Without an injection of healthy competition amongst Liverpool’s men in gloves, Mignolet’s weaknesses may once again come to the fore this season.
Part of what made Liverpool so successful in their title challenge is the way in which their midfield trio – usually consisting of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and one of Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen – was able to dominate the middle of the park, pressing their opponents with masterful efficiency and allowing the forwards to flourish. However, this cannot hide the fact that the team had a glaring lack of cover in midfield, and were it not for the relative good fortune they enjoyed with regard to injuries and suspensions, the season could have been a lot less successful than it turned out to be. Though Emre Can and Adam Lallana are talented individuals and add depth to Liverpool’s midfield, they do not solve the problem of a replacement for Gerrard in the ‘quarterback’ role, a buzzword for the midfielder dictating the play in front of the back four. The Liverpool captain excelled in the role last season but with Champions League football to consider this campaign, the 34 year-old cannot be expected to start every game. With Lucas Leiva’s best days seemingly behind him, Liverpool need a cover, if not an eventual long-term replacement, for Gerrard in this deep-lying role – something which they have failed to address in the transfer window.
Last but not least, we are faced with the small issue of Luis Suarez. Though his striking partner Daniel Sturridge was prolific in front of goal last season, the Uruguayan’s goals proved invaluable – he topped the scoring charts with 31 league goals in 33 appearances. With Suarez now gone, his replacements come in the form of Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli. At 32, the former is unlikely to match Suarez’s ruthlessness, whilst the potential pitfalls of having the undeniably talented Balotelli on the playing staff do not need to be re-examined. It was always going to be a challenge for Liverpool to find a striker as capable as Suarez, and without his menacing presence the Reds may ultimately lack the goals needed to lift the trophy in May, especially considering Manchester City’s equally formidable record in finding the net last season.
A season of cautious optimism awaits for Liverpool, with a first venture into the promised land of the Champions League since 2009. It remains to be seen, however, if the new boys can turn out to be as successful as the vintage class of 2013.
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