Andre Villas-Boas makes no bones about the fact that Chelsea’s recent plight has been self-inflicted. The Portuguese boss knows that victory tonight at Stamford Bridge will save him the indignity of being the first Blues manager not to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
Elsewhere in the news David Silva talks up the Champions League; Sepp Blatter says goal line technology may be used at the 2014 World Cup, while AC Milan are in talks over Carlos Tevez.
News
Villas Boas – Chelsea’s plight self-inflicted
David Silva talks up the Champions League
FA hopeful over Rooney decision
Milan in Tevez talks
World Cup to use goal-line technology
Arsenal to field fringe players
El Clasico trio battle for Ballon d’Or
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Transfer Talk
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Tottenham poised to launch £8m bid for Cahill as Redknapp eyes sales – Daily Mail
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City lay out the welcome Mat – Sun
Liverpool lead pursuit of Bologna striker – TalkSport
Gotze will stay at Dortmund! Arsenal blow in £30m chase for German starlet – Daily Mail
It was in December of 1995 that a Belgium man, of limited footballing ability became one of the most (in)famous players on the planet. Jean-Marc Bosman helped to change the way the game is run by contesting the right of his club (RFC Liege ) to retain him after the expiration of his contract. In doing so he took footballing power away from the clubs and handed it directly to the players.
All this came at a time when football was leaving behind its hooligan past and being embraced once more by the mainstream. Coupled with the explosion of the transfer fee: the record in 1990 (when Bosman’s contract with Liege expired) was £8million; twelve months after the case was settled Alan Shearer moved to Newcastle for £15million, players had never been more in-demand.
Clubs simply couldn’t miss out on fees of this magnitude, a fact that gave the player (and his agent) all the chips at the negotiating table. Players could demand higher wages, better merchandising deals and other such perks simply by threatening that they would ‘leave on a free’.
Liverpool found this out to their cost in the late 90s with Steve McManaman. The player had entered the final year of his contract and was stalling on a new deal. Afraid of missing out on a transfer fee Liverpool made efforts to sell him and accepted a bid by Barcelona. McManaman, however, turned down the move and later agreed to join Real Madrid once his contract at Anfield expired. Madrid was prepared to pay higher wages for McManaman as they hadn’t had to pay a transfer fee (the earlier bid by Barcelona was believed to be around £12million). This set a precedent as it allowed any highly-rated player to demand increased wages or they would leave for nothing, costing their current club the income generated by the transfer fee.
The pressure to keep star players saw clubs prepared to pay higher and higher wages. In 2001 Sol Campbell became the first British player to secure a £100,000 a week when he joined Arsenal (after moving on a Bosman). By 2011 both Rooney and Tevez are earning over £200,000 a week.
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These increases started in the top flight, but have filtered down to the lower leagues. Deloitte claims in the 2009-2010 season, wages accounted for a massive 68% of all Premier League clubs turnover. That represented an increase of £64million in the collective wage bill in just 12 months, figures which are sure to be replicated when the figures for last season are released. Even more staggering are figures from the Championship where player wages account for 88% of all turnover!
Of course, the increase in the Sky TV money has allowed clubs to pay more. And men like Rooney, Gerrard and Torres generate millions in merchandising for the coffers of their clubs. But when a single player like Wayne Rooney can hold a club of the stature of Manchester United to ransom for an improved contract then something must surely be out of control with the current system.
Perhaps the only solution might be the introduction of a salary cap. This was brought into rugby league in the 1990s because clubs were paying too much of their income on wages.
Critics have argued that a salary cap would mean Manchester United could only pay the same wages as Wolves and thus be punished for their success. However, in rugby league the cap still rewards the more successful clubs. The amount any club can pay on wages is based against their revenue meaning Manchester United could still pay more than Wolves. It just means that they can’t pay more than they can afford (Manchester City , before the deal for their stadium naming rights was struck, were paying 110% of their revenue on wages).
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Despite all the money gravitating around the football world, the monster that is debt is stronger and more gargantuan than ever. The authorities are attempting to implement ‘fair-play’ rules to subdue the beast. Whatever the success of these schemes and the results that arise from them, I believe we can trace a large part of the problem back to one limited Belgium footballer.
Lille striker Gervinho is set to announce this week which club he will join in the summer. The player has admitted a liking for the Premier League with Newcastle planning a bid of around £9.5m but there is also likely to be interest from Liverpool and Arsenal. There is also likely to be interest from Spain and Germany, so there is certainly no shortage of offers for talented Ivorian.
Gervinho’s actual name is Gervais Yao Kouassi who plays as striker for Lille in French Lique 1 – although the player can also play as a winger. Gervinho started his professional career in Belgium playing for Beveren – where he scored 14 league goals in around 2 seasons. In 2007, he moved to France and played for Le Mans and impressed despite the fact that he only scored 8 goals from 59 appearances.
In May, 2008 Gervinho was linked with a move away from Le Mans with other French teams interested but Arsenal were also linked. After hearing about the interest from Arsenal Gervinho suggested it would be a dream to play for the North London club. However, despite the continued interest from Arsenal his next move occurred in France from Le Mans to Lille for a fee of 8 million Euros.
Since moving to Lille Gervinho has really started to fulfil that potential with his goal-scoring; this season hitting 15 goals. The 24 year old striker has also made a number of appearances for his country, since making his debut in 2007. Since then he has made 19 appearances and scored 5 goals. Despite interest from a number of clubs reports in France suggest that Arsenal is the team he is most likely to join. It will certainly be interesting to see how he gets on in the Premier League if those reports proved to be correct. However, the African players that have come in to the English top flight have generally done well – so there is no reason to think Gervinho will be any different.
Check out this video on Gervinho:
[youtube ZtfQXaYG-v0&feature=fvst]
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Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is set to further strengthen his defence in January with a bid for Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen in the pipeline, the Metro reports.
The Liverpool boss isn’t entirely satisfied with his defence, despite already strengthening it this summer with the signings of Jose Enrique from Newcastle and Uruguayan starlet Sergio Coates.
Vertonghen was linked with a move to Merseyside and Premier League rivals Arsenal during the transfer window although both failed in persuading Ajax to sell.
That could all change in January with Dalglish set to renew his interest in the 24-year-old Belgian international who has become a key figure at the Amsterdam Arena.
Fresh interest in Vertonghen comes off the back of criticism aimed at current Reds defender Jamie Carragher after the stalwart’s mistakes against Bolton and Stoke.
Dalglish spoke out in defence of the 33-year-old and insisted that his place in the side was down to his consistent displays and not based on reputation.
He said: “I don’t know what I can say to you about him because there is nothing that I would like to change about him.
“Jamie Carragher will do me just fine the way he is.”
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With Liverpool reviving their interest in Vertonghen, and with a January bid expected, it could nonetheless spell the end of Carragher’s regular first team opportunities at Anfield.
He may be a World Cup winner, raking in £200,000 a week, but I cannot help feeling sorry for Fernando Torres. You have to wonder whatever next for a player who cost £50 million – and, yes, I’m already talking about his Stamford Bridge career in the past tense. This is what happens when a billionaire foreign owner decides to sign a player on a whim, without consulting his manager.
Carlo Ancelotti was sacked as Chelsea chief less than four months after Torres joined the club on transfer deadline day. If the Italian had been able to sign the forward he wanted, the Blues may well have won the title – and the boss might still be in a job. We used to extract the urine out of club directors when I was at Tottenham but at least they were local businessmen with a genuine feeling for their club, a basic understanding of the game, and they would certainly never have tried to tell manager Bill Nicholson who to sign.
As it is, Torres is left in limbo under a new manager who doesn’t fancy him and appears to be doing well enough without him. It no longer even seems much of an issue if the most expensive player in British football history doesn’t start a match – it’s simply expected. Torres was never worth all that money even at his peak and, although only 26, he was past his best when he signed for Chelsea. But he still has plenty of attributes and could do a decent job for a decent team. He just doesn’t have that extra yard of pace or the special sharpness that separates the greats from the merely very good players.
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I don’t believe footballers are ever really weighed down by their price tags – it certainly never bothered me when I made a couple of British transfer-record moves. But when a club has paid well over the odds for you, they are hardly likely to sell you at a massive loss, and that means Torres could have to see out a substantial part of the remaining four years of his contract before he is let go. Perhaps there will be a loan move in a year or so, then maybe a cut-price switch to Spain a little further down the line.
Torres seems destined to be remembered alongside the likes of Justin Fashanu at Nottingham Forest, Garry Birtles at Manchester United and Steve Daley at Manchester City, three of the first £1 million footballers – all of whom flopped badly. If Torres was vastly over-priced, then what about the fella Liverpool drafted in on the same day, Andy Carroll?
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Liverpool would never have spent £35m on the big target man if they had not just received £50m for Torres, so to do so was the economics of idiocy. It was as if the money had simply burnt a hole in their pockets. Carroll is a good old-fashioned centre-forward, without the good old-fashioned goals tally, and he doesn’t seem to fit in to Liverpool’s style of play. I can remember another big centre-forward, Tony Hateley, having a similarly frustrating move to Anfield in the ’60s. He scored a few goals but simply didn’t fit in there.
He had also been to Chelsea where the manager, Tommy Docherty, claimed his passes should have been addressed “to whom it may concern”. But Hateley was able to move around and get a fair few goals before his son Mark became one of only three England players to score at Rio’s Maracana Stadium. John Barnes was another and modesty forbids me from mentioning the third!
Whether Torres gets to play at the Maracana in the 2014 World Cup, or whether he even makes the Spain squad for the Euro finals, looks highly unlikely right now. And we should never forget that, however much money you are earning, any footballer worth his salt is only ever really concerned about playing football.
Sporting Lisbon and Vasco da Gama will face off in the Beach Soccer Club World Cup final after both posted semi-final victories on Friday.Sporting edged Lokomotiv Moscow 5-4 despite a late charge from the Russians, who rallied from 5-2 down to draw within a goal with four minutes remaining.
Alan nodded Sporting into the lead on four minutes, and produced a sublime lob to double the Portuguese club’s lead nine minutes later.
Belchior got in on the act with a header one minute later and Lokomotiv were reeling.
The Russians pulled a goal back through Ilya Leonov, but Madjer found the net at the far post to keep Sporting ahead 4-1.
Shaykov’s powerful strike reduced the deficit to 4-2, but Fernando got one back for Sporting with a magnificent volley in the 31st minute.
That proved to be enough for Sporting, though Lokomotiv made the finish interesting as Igor Borsuk and Shaykov both produced late goals.
Meanwhile, Vasco da Gama saw off fellow Brazilian club Flamengo 5-4 to join Sporting in Saturday’s final.
Flamengo striker Andre, who leads the tournament in scoring, improved his tally to 13 with an impressive four goals, though his individual feat was not enough to lead his side to the final.
Betinho broke the deadlock for Vasco in just the third minute, and Bruno Xavier’s header saw Flamengo fall two goals behind.
Andre nabbed his first in the sixth minute, but Pampero’s powerful effort put the score 3-1 in favour of Vasco seven minutes later.
Andre and Xavier then traded goals as score reached 4-2, and Andre’s hat-trick goal drew Flamengo within a goal.
Pampero’s second gave Vasco some breathing space, and Andre was only able to add one more as time expired.
Tottenham Hotspur favourite and former Argentina international Osvaldo Ardiles has heralded Barcelona as the ‘future of the football’.Barca defeated Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, capturing their fourth European Cup in emphatic fashion.
It was their second Champions League triumph in three years under coach Pep Guardiola, whose reign has also yielded three consecutive Spanish league titles.
Speaking at Sunday’s London Legends’ Cup, a post-season tournament contested by retired players at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, 1978 World Cup winner Ardiles had no hesitation in declaring this Barca side one of the greatest.
“Barcelona are the team to beat, they are the best team in the world,” Ardiles said.
“I think they are probably one of the best in the history of football. I think they are an extraordinary team with a few wonderful players like Lionel Messi.”
“I think they are going to reign in football for a long, long time. They are all very young as well, it’s a real pleasure.”
“It’s the future of football, this is how football is going to be played in the future certainly.”
As we head into the second leg of the last 16 Champions League tie between Manchester United and Marseille, Stephane Mbia, who plays for the Ligue 1 outfit, has signalled his intention to join their English opponents in the near future. The Cameroonian midfielder has sounded out a move to Old Trafford and will be looking to impress Sir Alex Ferguson in the return leg in the coming weeks.
Stephan Mbia told L’Equipe that “I want to go as high as possible. First I want to do well at Marseille, so my performances will one day send me to a club like Manchester United. Real Madrid are also an attractive side, but the club of my dreams is Manchester United. I feel fine at Marseille for now, but you have to have ambition.”
Mbia has plenty of quality to go with that ambition. The powerful midfielder completed a £10 million plus move to Marseille back in 2009 after a five-year spell with Rennes. Standing at 6ft 2in tall, Mbia is certainly a presence in the middle of the park and unsurprisingly the defensive midfielder has drawn comparisons with Patrick Vieira and the like.
The 24-year-old has been capped by Cameroon 32 times and his style of play would appear to fit the Premier League perfectly. Manchester United are in need of some midfield reinforcements, with Owen Hargreaves’ future at the club looking uncertain, while Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are both set to retire within the next couple of years, so a swoop for the £16 million rated man may be on the cards in the summer.
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Real Madrid won their first Copa del Rey trophy since 1993 after defeating Barcelona 1-0 in extra-time on Wednesday.Jose Mourinho’s squad also won their first trophy since 2008 at Valencia’s Mestalla, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s terrific header in the 103rd minute.
The fixture between Spain’s two biggest clubs is dubbed ‘El Clasico’, but this match was far from a classic, with Mourinho’s side stifling Barcelona with their excellent defence and a crowded midfield.
Barcelona enjoyed most of the early possession but could not break down a stubborn Real side, who had the majority of the first-half chances.
The best of those came 10 minutes before half-time, with Barcelona’s back-up goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto, who was called up to replace Victor Valdes, required to make a low save to deny Ronaldo.
Real nearly opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Mesut Oezil’s ball was nodded onto the post by the impressive Pepe, who could only watch as the ball bounced wide after hitting the woodwork.
Barcelona improved early in the second half and Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta went close to scoring the opener, while Pedro did find the back of the net but had his goal correctly disallowed for offside after Messi had set him up, but played the pass marginally late.
Angel Di Maria, who was fantastic for the victors, had a chance to win the game in normal time, but his strike was well saved by Pinto as the match went to extra-time.
The goal eventually came thanks to fine work down the left hand side from Marcelo and Di Maria, with the Argentine producing an inch-perfect cross for Ronaldo, who met the ball with a powerful header to delight the Madrid half of the crowd.
Barcelona tried in vain to equalise and although Di Maria was sent off for a second yellow card in the dying stages of the second period of extra time, they were too late to grab a winner.
The result was the first defeat in a final for Pep Guardiola since he took over as coach of the Catalan giants in 2008 and could give Real a psychological edge heading into their two-legged Champions League semi-final with Barca, beginning on April 27.
Manchester United striker Michael Owen will be on the sidelines for six weeks, as he tries to recuperate after picking up a thigh injury.
The former England international picked up the ailment in The Red Devils’ Champions League victory over Otelul Galati in early November, and the extent of the knock has been revealed by the Premier League champions.
“Michael has a thigh muscle injury and will be out for six weeks or so,” a spokesman for the Old Trafford club confirmed.
The knock is the latest injury for a player plagued by lengthy periods on the sidelines throughout his career, and the attacker is not expected to return to at least Boxing Day.
Meanwhile, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been praised by Swansea’s Brendan Rodgers, as the Welsh side prepare to take on the Premier League champions this weekend.
“I want to be in this game a long time and Sir Alex epitomises that,” Rodgers told Mirror Football.
“Hunger, desire and motivation – he has all the things that you need to be successful over such a long period. He’s a one-off. Look at the way people think of him – he has earned all that respect.
“For me personally, Sir Alex is a genius – an absolute genius in football management. How he has managed so much change to create and build all the time.
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“He’s a great advert for young managers and has been incredible and an inspiration for us all. He’s a role model for every single manager, not just in the Premier League but worldwide,” he concluded.