New Arsenal signing Mikel Arteta has stated that the chance to move to North London and compete in the Champions League was too good to turn down.
Arsene Wenger signed the Spaniard from Everton in a last-gasp £10 million deal on transfer deadline day, with the 29-year-old earmarked as a potential replacement for outgoing Cesc Fabregas.
“It is a big opportunity for me and my family and I think it is the right time for me to take it. It is a big challenge, a different challenge, fresh for me and I want to see myself on the biggest stage, the Champions League,” he is reported to have said in The Telegraph.
The manner in which the playmaker left Goodison Park may disappoint Toffees fans, but Arteta feels he has been a loyal servant to the Merseyside outfit.
“I am 29 years old so I haven’t got much time left to take a chance like this one. I think I have done my best for Everton.
“I always try hard, I have been as professional as I could and I was grateful for the support and the love that the club and the fans showed me. It is very difficult to say goodbye. I still can’t believe it but at the same time I think it is the right moment for everyone.
“Obviously I am never going to forget what I have done here and what the people and this club have done for me,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Per Mertesacker, who also joined the Gunners on Wednesday in a £9 million move from Werder Bremen, is excited about the challenge ahead.
“Arsenal have this ability to play good football and to have Arsene Wenger on top of that as coach is unbelievable. I have wanted this for so long. It is a challenging task which I will tackle because I will also develop further as a player,” the Germany international told the club’s official website.
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The pair may make their Arsenal debuts in the side’s next Premier League match, which is against Swansea at the Emirates on September 10th.
With Andy “Tikaboo love” Gray languishing in the lawyers den and Richard “Grizzly” Keys hanging out the back of the dole queue, an unexpected career might await the crude-some two-some in cheap, straight to video pre-21st century exploitation flicks. Football FanCast have come up with a few ideas. But what else could the dynamic duo get up to? Feel free to contribute your photoshops, whatever they are, to [email protected] and you may receive a caramac bar, the clutch peddle from a 1984 Vauxhall Astra, 3 AA batteries and a bar of soap shaped like a Jim’ll Fix it Badge. Possibly. But even more possibly not. Here are some examples to give you a bit of inspiration…
Wigan achieved the impossible last season and beat the drop once again, improving on last season’s final day heroics by sealing their top flight status with one game to spare. The result was that the club’s boss Robert Martinez was hailed as some sort of tactical genius, a rising star in the game and he’s recently been linked with the Aston Villa, Liverpool and Tottenham jobs, but what exactly has he done to garner such a lofty reputation?
Let’s get a few stats out of the way nice and early. Martinez has a win percentage of just 26.77% at Wigan, winning only 34 of his 127 games in charge and losing 57. In his three seasons at the club, they have finished 16th, 16th and 15th finishing with 36, 42 and 43 points respectively.
It’s often made out that Martinez has done a great job of keeping the club in the Premier League, but the season before he took over, they finished 11th under Steve Bruce and 14th the year before that and the new Hull City boss boasts a significantly better win percentage of of 33.82% over 68 games, winning 23 games – not too far off Martinez’s total in almost half the amount of games.
For those that know me well, they will realise how difficult it is for me to begrudgingly praise Bruce as a manager – a man who has traded off his past glories as a player for far too long and lacks any coherent style of play or plan in most jobs, but context must be applied to this character assault of sorts as Martinez has essentially turned a steady mid-table outfit into regular relegation candidates.
Here comes the nice part of my criticism sandwich – Martinez is clearly an intelligent man, he comes across as thoughtful, considered and bright in interviews and his handy stint on ITV during the Euros so far, where he hasn’t been afraid to buck the trend compared to his lobotomised fellow pundits, acting as a breath of fresh air to the usual mundane rubbish we’re ‘treated’ to. In short, you can see why he would interview well for a top job.
However, he’s done little more than persist with an ‘attractive’ style of play at Wigan without the necessary players to carry it off successfully – that’s not noble or something to be admired or applauded, that’s downright negligent, a dereliction of duty as it were. It’s a myth that Martinez’s side play beautiful passing football just as much as it is with Bolton under Owen Coyle. They’re no Stoke of course, but let’s not pretend for a second that they’re Arsenal on a budget, because that’s hugely misleading.
Martinez looked to all concerned to be a frontrunner for the Liverpool job after the club sacked Kenny Dalglish in the summer, after turning down the Aston Villa job last season which led to the mind-numbing and hope-shreading tenure of Alex McLeish. It was then reported, or shall we say, megaphoned in to the nearest camera, radio station or tape recorder that would have him by the club’s media-hungry rent-a-quote chairman Dave Whelan – a man clearly trying to make up for lost time when it comes to the limelight due to a playing career cruelly cut short by injury. Pseud psychology well and truly over with.
The reasoning behind Martinez’s supposed rejection of the Liverpool job was that he refused to work with a Director of Football at the club, but upon appointing Brendan Rodgers, there was no such role put in place and the former Swansea boss seemed extremely reluctant to work with one in the future at his first press conference at Anfield – so that idea goes straight out of the window then. Martinez looked to be FSG’s second-choice candidate behind Rodgers. The club’s owners looked to cast their net far and wide when choosing their next manager and there was rumoured to be a shortlist with about six names on it.
Clearly seeing this as proof that he wasn’t under serious consideration, Rodgers ruled himself out of the running as a face-saving measure; as soon as he learned of how serious the club’s interest was in him, the deal was tied up inside two days of first contact. Martinez on the other hand, had two interviews in two weeks, so there was clearly a level of reluctance on FSG’s part to hand him the job, but their lack of communication and the open way that they went about their search was definitely as much of a hindrance as it was a help. However, what is clear, is that the Wigan boss, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was considered at great length for the job and was undoubtedly a very serious contender.
Aston Villa moved quickly to ditch the one-man wrecking ball to all hope Alex McLeish this summer without a direct replacement lined up, which shows you just how poor a job he did. They eventually moved for Paul Lambert, the Norwich manager that impressed hugely after a superb first season in the top flight, but not before reports that Martinez had turned down the chance to speak with the Midlands club for the second successive summer flew around. Say what you will about the man, but he definitely has a giant brass pair of cojones on him.
Tottenham dispatched with the services of Harry Redknapp after he somehow managed to finish fourth in a three-horse race for Champions League football next year. The names linked with the job, which is still an extremely appealing one lest we forget, were similar to those earmarked for the Liverpool job – Fabio Capello, Andre Villas-Boas, Louis van Gaal – yet Martinez’s name keeps cropping up.
There is a sense of goodwill towards Martinez. He doesn’t bitch and moan when his side loses, he doesn’t question the integrity of officials every other week and he conducts his business with a great degree of dignity. He seems an absolutely smashing chap, and he may well be a very good manager in the future, but so far, he’s unproven at the highest level.
The club won seven of their final nine game last campaign in the league, but the question should not be ‘what a fantastic run, Roberto, what do you put that down to?’ but rather ‘why the hell didn’t you play like that for the other 29 games?’ Does he have trouble motivating his sides? His transfer record has been pretty patchy so far to boot too, albeit on a tight budget, although the name Mauro Boselli is likely to be one that hangs around his neck like an albatross for a few years to come.
To his credit, though, he did introduce a more attacking 3-5-2 formation in the midst of that nine-game run which went some way to helping them preserve their top-flight status for another year, which had the potential to turn into a fluid 3-4-3 when the side had the ball. There is clearly a footballing brain at work there, but it remains very much a work in progress.
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The success of younger managers such as Pep Guardiola, Andre Villas-Boas and Jurgen Klopp in recent times has set a perverse chain of events in motion where every other club now attempts to copy that recruitment policy – young, relatively unproven managers are now the ‘in’ thing as opposed to their more experienced counterparts. The aforementioned triumvarite all flourished because they were the right person at the right time with the right ethos for their respective clubs going forward, their age is merely a coincidence.
A meritocracy should still exist in football management as much as it does out on the pitch. Young managers should be allowed to cut their teeth, like Martinez is doing at Wigan, at a smaller, lower-profile club and be allowed to make mistakes. At the moment, the 38 year-old’s reputation appears to be ensuring he jumps the queue so to speak over more qualified candidates when being linked with top jobs. He has ability, that much is clear, but he’s far from the finished product and simply doesn’t warrant a crack at the Aston Villa job just yet, let alone the Tottenahm and Liverpool ones. We’re always very keen to appear on the cutting edgeand ‘in the know’ when it comes to tomorrow’s stars, but for once, it seems as if we may have jumped the gun a bit too early this time.
This weekend’s opening day of the season was not one of the most exciting, in terms of goals and entertainment, which I can remember. However there were still important results for Wolves who won away at Blackburn and Bolton who stuffed newly-promoted QPR 4-0 at Loftus Road. While watching this weekend’s football I was questioning whether or not the opening weekend ever gives a clear indication what is to take place for the coming season. Looking back at the history of the Premier League there are cases where it does both.
The problem is that teams and their managers are still trying to find the best combination for selection and tactics and they are still recovering from a hard pre-season. While the supporters like to see potential for the new season, the mangers know that there are still many games left in the season.
Back in 1995, Manchester United took on Aston Villa in the first match of the season after selling Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes during the summer. They lost 3-1 to the Villa which led Match of the Day pundit, Alan Hansen to infamously exclaim that they ‘couldn’t win anything with kids’. United went on to win six of their next eight Premier League titles, two FA Cups plus a Champions League with a similar side to one that lost to Villa (although they did add the likes of Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Jaap Stam during the season.) This proves that the first game of the season may not be as important as first thought.
Another example comes at the start of the 2009 season. Arsenal were heavily tipped to miss out on the top four with Everton meant to be their main source of competition. However the season didn’t exactly start to plan as Everton faced Arsenal but the Toffees were 3-0 down by half time before eventually losing 6-1 in an truly awful performance. However it didn’t mean that much for the new season as Arsenal went onto to finish third with Everton in 8th.
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Importantly with the transfer window not closing until the end of August, after the season has started, clubs can still strengthen and can finish the season with a very different team to one that they started with. This makes it hard to say if it gives an indication, I suppose the only way we will see is in the final table at the end of the season.
Mohammed Sissoko is not a happy man in Italy and is desperate to move elsewhere in search of first team football.
Juventus manager, Luigi Del Neri, has limited Sissoko’s chances in the team this season and the former Liverpool man has largely been regarded as a back-up.
The 25-year-old has been expected to leave Serie A in January and a move back to the Premier League has been touted as the most realistic prospect. Aston Villa have been strongly linked to the player but may face competition from rival clubs.
However, a recent suspension to Juve star, Felipe Melo, may throw a spanner in the works as Del Neri may look to Sissoko as a part-time replacement. Though it would seem that the Mali international is unwilling to stay with the Vecchia Signora and has used an interview with Football365.fr to vent his frustration:
“You never know what you have. If you want to be sold, it will be on their terms.”
“The directors wanted to sell me at the beginning of the year and sometimes they try to enter into agreements that I do not like.
“When competition is healthy, I do not have problems. But it is no longer the case.
” Del Neri will only pay attention to me when he needs me. Otherwise it is calculated. I do not want controversy, but I’m not a (commercial) good.
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“If someone has disrespected, these are the leaders of Juve to me and vice versa. Accident? They know that they made a mistake with me and now they invent that I did not play against with Napoli because I refused to do so. But that is completely false. I did not play is because I have inflammation of the quadriceps and did not want to risk hurting myself.
“One day I’m sold, the next day I’m not. Melo gets three-match ban and I am no longer on the market. “
Sissoko’s comments might just be enough to force the hand of Juventus and allow the want-a-way midfielder to leave. Villa could use some extra beef in midfield and the 25-year-old was often held in high regard at Anfield. At £6million, it could be a real coup for the midlands club.
Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini is being lined up as the next Italy manager according to The Sun.
The ex-Inter head coach has spearheaded the Etihad Stadium side’s recent assault on English football, with the trainer delivering the Premier League title on the last day of 2011-12.
Despite this, Mancini is yet to sign a new contract, however there have been rumblings of a new deal potentially being negotiated with club owner Sheik Mansour this summer.
Italy are in disarray ahead of Euro 2012, with another round of football betting scandals blighting the national team’s preparations.
A 3-0 defeat to Russia in their last friendly before the competition in Ukraine and Poland has the Azzurri fans worried, and Cesare Prandelli’s position is thought to be under threat if the side do not perform this summer.
With a tough-looking Group C comprising of world champions Spain, Republic of Ireland and Croatia to negotiate, reports in Italy are stating that Prandelli will lose his job should he not lead the side through the group stages.
As such, Mancini is being earmarked as a possible replacement after winning domestic titles in both England and his homeland.
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There are very few clubs in modern football that are afforded the time to see through a team-building project. The combination of ambitious players and the necessity for immediate results makes a nurturing, progressive environment a rarity.
At the top end of the spectrum you have Real Madrid and Chelsea, frontrunners in impatience and disruption. The pressure on results is so great that there is no time for rebuilding. There is time for tweaks, but not for projects. There is just about time to explain a philosophy, attempt to implement it and see if it works.
In contrast to these clubs you have Manchester United and Barcelona, both clubs have been allowed time to build teams. Ferguson went through six seasons of team building before his first title and has bought time for further rebuilds through his successes. Barcelona too, have been allowed to develop this team over time, with Rijkaard’s team developing into that of Guardiola’s. These clubs are currently devoid of the pressures because they are successful.
At any level below the very top, the players become a problem. Even at a club of Arsenal’s stature, the players’ heads are turned by the lure of glory elsewhere. Wenger’s previous successes have allowed him time to build, but his failure to win trophies is prompting his players to abandon his project before the chairman does.
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Attracted by the bright lights of the big clubs, loyalty and commitment are disappointingly scarce. Consider the transfers of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing this summer, both players were hugely important to Aston Villa. They were players to build a team around, along with Darren Bent. Villa may have money now, but their teambuilding begins again.
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Further down the pecking order the manager does not even control when his team will be torn apart. Steve Bruce always complained bitterly about the disruptive effect of the January transfer window on his squad when he was Wigan manager. The top clubs swooped in to pick at his assets, (such as Heskey and Palacios in 2009) and left him to work with what was left for the second half of the season.
What are the conditions that allow a club time to build? A lack of expectation has allowed Borussia Dortmund time to build and take people by surprise. Previous success bought Rafael Benitez time at Liverpool and supreme sums of money allow Manchester City to build. These are certainly all factors, but they are conditions that are rare nowadays. Are chairmen in such a rush they’d rather buy than build? And do players have the loyalty to try and help a club improve or is it just every man for himself now?
On the 10th January, Liverpool picked up a free agent that may have passed under many people’s radars. It wasn’t a back page headline-making move for a star striker or a solid wing back to provide competition for Glen Johnson, yet it could prove to be more important than either of those things. For after being in charge for less than five days, Kenny Dalglish’s first move in January was to bring in experienced number two Steve Clarke to work along side him.
This latest backroom move means that Liverpool now appear to be clawing themselves away from the off-field mess that they were in only a few months ago. With new owners intact and the unsuccessful and unpopular Roy Hodgson replaced (albeit temporarily), Liverpool have finally realized that nothing will be achieved on the pitch until pressing matters are resolved off of it.
The inclusion of Steve Clarke to the coaching staff is a very shrewd move by Dalglish since a managerial acquisition with the track record of Clarke can only be beneficial. Clarke has worked under, and learnt from, the likes of Jose Mourinho, Bobby Robson and Luis Felipe Scolari, and has won the Premier League twice, League Cup twice and the FA Cup in his role as a managerial assistant. During his semi-successful time at West Ham in which he and Gianfranco Zola took West Ham to within two points of European qualification in their first season, Clarke’s important role was recognized when he became the highest paid assistant in the league.
It could certainly be argued that Liverpool have acquired one of the finest assistant managers in England, and history has shown how important having a number two, and crucially the right number two can be. Two of the Football League’s most successful managers, Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson, have always had a right-hand man by their side throughout their most distinguished managerial spells.
Peter Taylor was assistant to Brian Clough at Hartlepool, Derby County, Brighton and Nottingham Forest and is now widely regarded as one of the best assistant managers of all time. The chemistry between the two men was undeniable and both were fully aware of the contribution that the other had on their success. Clough humbly said of Taylor: “I’m not equipped to manage successfully without Peter Taylor. I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back.”, while Taylor said of Clough: “We just gelled together, we filled in the gaps…My strength was buying and selecting the right player, then Brian’s man management would shape the player”. Taylor and Clough won seven different honors while working together from 1968 to 1980 which included two European Cups and two League Championships.
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While Alex Ferguson’s list of assistant managers is far longer than Clough’s, the success that the right partnership has brought is equally as impressive. Bryan Kidd, Steve McClaren and Carlos Queiroz have all contributed in no small part to Manchester United’s success over the last two decades and it’s surely no coincidence that during 2003/04 when Ferguson had no assistant for the majority of the season United finished 15 points behind Arsenal. Ferguson is clearly aware that the support and ideas that an assistant can provide is the catalyst for creating a good team, and without a number two around who else would he get to speak to the BBC?(!).
Steve Clarke was a firm favorite during his time at Chelsea and I’m sure that he can achieve a similar status if he can help rebuild the shambles that Liverpool currently find themselves in. Two minds are always better than one and when they are as experienced as Dalglish and Clarke, who have around 70 years of football know-how between them, it can only be a good thing. The afore-mentioned Peter Taylor perhaps put it best when he said: “I always knew that two men, the right two, could build up a club quicker than one”, Liverpool fans will be hoping that they’ve finally found the right two because there’s plenty of building to be done.
The man that arrived from Liverpool, with a fairly good reputation, after having just finished a loan spell with Swansea City, Paul Anderson has certainly been a player that perplexes many people, possessing all of the attributes to be a danger, but so far, not fulfilling his potential.
Signing permenantly for Nottingham Forest, for the slim sum of £250,000, after a successful loan spell, pressure wasn’t immediately heaped massively on Anderson, as many appreciated his tender age, and the time he needed to develop under the stewardship of Billy Davies.
In the Billy Davies era, he was a useful asset, as Forest used his admirable energy and work-rate to their advantage, as ‘Ando’ frequently helped out Chris Gunter, and they formed a great defensive double act. Going forward however, couldn’t be more of a different tale. Anderson is superb at running with intent, purpose, and enthusiasm, and approaching the opposition left back as if the game is entering its final minutes. His arms going back and forth from behind his body, looking almost as if he’s ready for the battle that’s about to commence with the full-back, imposing himself early, before he gets a proper chance to flaunt his true colours.
His true colours?
Delightfully bright… Until he reaches 5 yards from a potential showdown with the waiting full-back. “Take him on” and “Beat him for pace”, are the usual cries from the Forest supporters, as ‘Ando’ subsequently either turns back, unambitiously, or runs inside, implementing more rigidity on games that are already narrow enough.
So much now, the Reds fans never expect anything from the No7. Gone are the days he has the ability of getting fans on the edge of their seats, or in some cases, standing hopefully up. All of whom simultaneously put their hands on their head violenty in frustration, as they witness yet another failure as he goes forward.
The majority have learnt to remain firmly in their seats, hands centimeteres from their slightly drooped face, as the cries of disappointment have turned into resigned, slightly exaggerated, ‘face to legs’ action, as everyone wonders how he still manages to produce the waste.
When rumours of an alleged bust up involving Anderson circulated the net, from an extremely unreliable source, one thought crossed my mind. Many were worried about a potential dressing room split, but that was far from my thinking.
At last, Anderson had proved he can take someone on.
A moment I’m sure would’ve been celebrated, if it wasn’t for Forest’s struggles.
There’s no doubt, in all seriousness, that Anderson is a decent squad member, but no more than that. With Forest currently fighting to keep him, it shows the mess the club is in. Day after day, week after week, stories will keep flowing, of players Forest hope to keep. It sells newspapers, and keeps communication continuing at the club, where they know full well, for yet another summer, they’re set to lose players for free, without anything more than a half-hearted attempt to retain them.
Despite Anderson’s well aired faults, following the loss of McCleary, there’s no natural right winger at the club. Mind you, I notice Grant Holt has granted a transfer request, so he obviously loved the role to the point he’s prepared to drop a league.
We’ve seen what happens when Cotterill puts faith into a young right winger, and plays him on a regular basis. Anderson could be his next successful project, if kept. Since 2009, Anderson’s evidently played with fear in a Forest shirt, affecting his performances. Clear him of those psychological blockages, and he could become a winger that full-backs don’t want to be facing. At the moment, he’s the type of player a full-back goes to bed and dreams about coming up against.
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A player the calibre of Paul Anderson, should be a meat and drink contract renewal for this club. The hesitancy of this player is possibly indicative of the direction the rest of the squad thinks the club is going.
Whether fans want him or not, is there to be debated.
But like so many others, it’s whether he wants us, that will probably prove the ultimate downfall.
English Premier League club Chelsea have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Spanish defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu.Romeu, 19, will be in Colombia competing at the Under-20 World Cup for Spain until August 20 at the latest, meaning the deal is not expected to be finalised next month.
With Michael Essien ruled out for up to six months after undergoing knee surgery, Romeu could provide cover in central midfield for the English Premier League side.
“He’s one of the most interesting, bright young players in the number six position, as we like to call it,” Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said.
“And hopefully we can agree personal terms with the player and hopefully he will pass a medical. Oriol is a player, of course with a bright future, he still has to evolve as a player and prove himself as a player.”
Romeu made his full Barcelona debut in May, after featuring for the reserve team 49 times.
Villas-Boas also discussed the future of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The 19-year-old joined Chelsea from Belgian club Racing Genk earlier this month, but was already set to join Atletico Madrid on loan as Chelsea look to further his development.
“Regarding Cortois, it is also a question of time and of deciding where we think it is better for him to evolve as a player, in Spain or in another country,” Villas-Boas said.
“Of course, the Spanish League is extremely competitive and Atletico is a great club to be at, but it is not decided yet.”
Courtois also had the option of returning to Genk next season, but has since passed a medical with Atletico and will spend the 2011/12 campaign at the La Liga club.
Chelsea will play a Thailand Premier League All-Stars XI in Bangkok on Sunday.
Runners-up to Manchester United last season, they begin their latest Premier League title challenge on August 14 with a trip to Stoke City.