Chelsea are looking to the future, as they appear to be keen on signing highly rated Uruguayan starlet Juan Cruz Mascia. According to reports in the Daily Mail, the young attacker has been invited to London for talks, in the first official approach for the player.
Chelsea have moved quickly for the young marksman, which is just as well as his goal scoring ability hasn’t gone unnoticed by a host of top clubs from England, Italy and Spain. His current club Miramar are reportedly willing to listen to offers around the million pound mark, which could prove to be a shrewd piece of business from the Blues.
Dubbed the next Diego Forlan, Mascia registered an impressive 6 times for Uruguay in the recent South American Under 17 Championships, where they finished runners up to Brazil.
Mascia is adept with either foot and his tall frame gives him a strong aerial ability. If Chelsea do snare Mascia his adjustment to life in West London will be made all the more easy by his strong grasp of the English language.
It appears Chelsea are on toa winner if they can complete a deal for Miramar’s young star.
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Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is hoping for a little less drama after his side’s latest comeback against Coventry in the FA Cup.
Birmingham came from 1-0 down – 3-1 on aggregate – to beat West Ham United and reach the final of the Carling Cup on Wednesday.
And they were forced to repeat the trick at St Andrew’s on Saturday, fighting back from 2-0 down against Championship club Coventry to eventually win 3-2 and progress to the fifth round.
“I wouldn’t want to live through that too often with the stress levels, but I thought the team played well today,” McLeish said.
“There was a lot of really good stuff.”
“We had to show great strength of character again against Coventry and it underlined the importance of having a squad with quality. The more intense the competition the better from my point of view.”
“We shouldn’t have made it hard for ourselves because we started great,” he added.
“Coventry are obviously very dangerous up front. The big lad (Clive) Platt was a handful and of course we all know about Marlon King. But I knew there was goals in it for us.”
McLeish credited David Bentley with turning the tide – the loan signing from Tottenham struck in the 35th minute to drag Birmingham back into contention.
“Bentley’s was a cracker,” McLeish said.
“We needed that. If we’d gone in 2-0 down it would have been much tougher. The second half was again a measure of this squad’s resilience and their desire not to give up until the final whistle.”
Coventry manager Aidy Boothroyd felt his team’s ambition got the better of them as they surrendered their lead in the second half.
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“I thought it was a terrific occasion and I’m afraid we got caught up in it in the second half and wanted to try to score three and four goals rather than being sensible,” Boothroyd said.
“If somebody’s bigger than you and better than you, you don’t go toe to toe with them – and that’s what we did.”
“For some strange reason, despite what was said at half-time, we went all out to try to beat Birmingham City, a Premier League team, convincingly when really what we should have done was weathered the storm, kept calm and hit them on a sensible counter-attack.”
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has praised in-form attacker Maxi Rodriguez after his hat-trick in their 5-2 win over Fulham on Monday.The Argentine has scored seven goals in his last three games, flourishing under Dalglish after showing only glimpses of his best under predecessor Roy Hodgson.
His strikes on Monday at Craven Cottage, along with goals from Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez, saw the Reds move above Tottenham and into fifth spot in the English Premier League.
Maxi sealed his hat-trick with a 25-yard drive into the top corner, and Dalglish said he deserved the praise he was receiving.
“He’s a really intelligent footballer. He knows where to go and when to go,” Dalglish told BBC.
“Everything’s happening for him at the moment. He deserves the accolades.”
“He’s a very clever player. A lot of balls have been falling to him in the box, but you’ve got to be there to put them away and he has been.”
Fulham had won their last four games at Craven Cottage, but could not recover after conceding three goals in the opening 16 minutes against the Reds.
Second-half goals from attacker Moussa Dembele and midfielder Steve Sidwell proved to be nothing more than consolation strikes.
Dalglish’s team is unbeaten in their last five outings and he believes missing out on the Europa League’s fifth spot would not be a blow.
“Nobody would ever have anticipated the run that the boys have been on since January, would they? It’s been unbelievable,” he said.
“Even if we don’t get fifth, they’ve been absolutely fantastic. For us, the position hasn’t been as important as the response of the players.”
Fulham manager Mark Hughes said the game was all over after his side conceded three goals in the opening 15 minutes.
“Consecutive errors led to goals,” Hughes said.
“On too many occasions we were giving away unforced errors and giving the ball away in the wrong part of the pitch.”
“The game was gone in the first 15 minutes. It wasn’t something we’d expected the way we’ve played in recent months.”
Hughes said he was keen to get his players into the dressing rooms to rectify the problems they had in the first half.
“We’re not the type of team to shore up and go for damage limitation,” he said.
“We’ve been fantastic for the majority of the season. We were all taken aback by how the game panned out today (and) we just need to learn from it.”
Hughes said Uruguayan Suarez was afforded too much freedom by his defence and the attacker took advantage, creating chances and getting on the scoresheet.
“He’s a talented player. He’s an exceptional player, always in pockets of space which in fairness we allowed him,” Hughes said.
“If we dictate him then it’s OK, but he dictated us today.”
Fulham sit in 10th following the loss, while Liverpool are still in contention for the Champions League qualifying spot at four points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
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.
When UEFA’s Executive Committee approved the Club Licensing and Fair Play Regulations in May of 2010, the move was heralded as imperative for rescuing football’s financial integrity. Too long had clubs overextended in pursuit of success; too long had the financial landscape been grossly exploited by Europe’s richest. Something had to change.
Analysis of Premier League club’s accounts provide unnerving reading. Manchester City recorded the highest ever monetary loss in English footballing history in 2011, as their £197million eclipsed Chelsea’s erosion of £141million in 2005. Since the Glazer’s takeover of Manchester United was enacted, the club have hemorrhaged in advance of £500million. As a general trend, clubs in England have been expending sums far beyond their income capabilities for many years. Outside the wealthy elite, the hyper-inflation of wages and widening of the gap between top and bottom leaves mid-ranging clubs in fatal peril: Portsmouth’s financial capitulation can partially be attributed to a desire to spend money the club simply does not have in an attempt to close the increasing gulf.
The introduction of the various regulatory measures has brought a stinging sense of reality to the European game, a sobering reminder that procuring an endless string of debts is no longer a viable or sustainable option. Clubs still endure losses of course, but above all the legislation has forced many to reassess their absurdly excessive spending habits, with a more rational approach adopted. Undoubtedly, UEFA’s intervention has curbed the ludicrous debt accumulation which has afflicted the European game in recent years. Clubs are perturbed by the treat of elimination from UEFA competition and the subsequent loss of revenue this would bring. Football’s finances appear set to regain at least a smidgen of the respectability lost in the globalized era.
However, there is a potential adverse consequence of UEFA’s increased involvement in dictating finance in football, one which may becoming alarmingly apparent in the coming seasons.
Let’s look at the elite of European football, the wealthiest and most influential clubs, as a group of spoilt little brats. Also for the purposes of this analogy, let’s view UEFA as a stuck-up, haggled old disciplinarian of a headmaster wanting to take all their toys away. They have so many that they don’t know what to do with them anymore, so the headmaster restricts the little brats to just a few each. Bad move. These little brats have rich and powerful parents, who are disgusted at the treatment of their precious ones. The parents group together and form a plan. They get their little brats together, pull them out of the school with nasty old headmaster and form their own school, one where they can indulge their gluttony without an overbearing presence watching their every move.
Can you see where this is going? The further UEFA extend their domineering arm into the affairs of Europe’s biggest clubs, the greater the prospect of a breakaway league forming. A notion of a ‘European Super League’ has been whispered and speculated upon for many years now, yet has never seemed an attainable option. The authorities would never allow it, the fans would never allow it. But what does that matter nowadays?
Clubs in the modern era display abhorrent disregard for the wishes of supporters and national associations, instead seemingly doing all they can to arouse conflict. The Premier League’s idea of a 39th game has fostered the prospect of clubs becoming further disconnected from their cradle in search of profit. Real Madrid have recently signaled their intent with the construction of a club theme park in the UAE, whilst Lionel Messi being propelled to the status of world icon suggest La Liga clubs are increasingly creeping in on the Premier League’s territory. Likewise, clubs already play friendly matches abroad – what is to stop Europe’s biggest sides embarking on a year round tour of exhibition matches, extracting maximum earnings in far flung climates?
To move Manchester City from Manchester would be of little distress to the club’s owners. There would be protest, there would be uproar, but ultimately money speaks loudest. As Manchester United claim that a third of the world’s population are supporters, the Glazers must surely be wishing to take their brand into supplementary markets, the confines of Salford no longer satisfying their profiteering hunger. Impulsive aspiration is replacing common sense and clubs are looking for new avenues to enhance revenue. With their power and influence now supplanting that of the regulatory bodies, there exists feasibility in the idea that top teams may seek to slowly configure a ‘Super League’ independent of FIFA, UEFA or national associations. The inclination has always been present; now clubs have the grotesque sums necessary to initiate such a change, it moves one step closer to reality.
Above all, this leaves UEFA in a precarious position. Enact the regulations any deeper and risk the loss of their most profitable assets or take a softer approach and allow clubs to re-engage with their rampant financial frenzies once more? Michel Platini’s reign has been characterised by the insistence on the reformation of modern football’s ills, and there appears to be no let up in his desire for remedy. He is right to address football’s most disturbing developments in such a forthright manner, yet walks a delicate tightrope in doing so.
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If you want to discuss UEFA’s Fair Play regulations or any other football debate, tweet me @acherrie1
Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald blamed "silly" goals for Aston Villa's Europa League exit at the hands of Rapid Vienna.
Villa lost 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to go out of the tournament at the qualifying stage at the hands of the same opposition for the second successive year.
The Midlands club twice led through Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey, but the match turned on a penalty miss by captain Stiliyan Petrov.
"I am very disappointed. We were in total control at 1-0 and gave away a silly equaliser," said MacDonald.
"We also missed a penalty and gave away a silly third goal. We made three silly mistakes and we are out of the tournament.
"You can't legislate for individual mistakes from international players.
"It is a big blow for Aston Villa to go out of Europe again. A lot of the lads were disappointed to go out last season.
"It is a major blow for them. They are professional footballers and proud of what they do."
Meanwhile, MacDonald refused to discuss his own position following suggestions that an early European exit on the back of Sunday's 6-0 thrashing by Newcastle United had harmed his chances of getting the job on a full-time basis.
He took interim charge of first-team affairs following the departure of Martin O'Neill on the eve of the new season.
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"My own position is not uppermost in my thoughts 10 minutes after a game," he added.
"It is not about me but how the players and the football club react on Sunday.
"I have never been told I was first choice and expect nothing to change until after the game on Sunday."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given has confirmed that he will seek a loan exit from Eastlands if he has not been given a first-team opportunity before the transfer window reopens in January.
The 34-year-old Republic of Ireland international has had to act as back-up to Joe Hart so far this term and is not too happy with that situation.
He told The Sunday Times:"It's very, very frustrating. I know it doesn't matter what I do on the training pitch, I won't be playing at the weekend.
"If I'm flying around like Clark Kent in goals, I still won't play on Saturday. That can be demoralising.
"The club said I wasn't going anywhere and that was frustrating. We'll see what happens come January and hopefully if the situation's the same, I can go on loan and try and get some games in.
"I've never said I want to leave Man City. I believe it's a big club that in the next couple of years is going to do big things. I want to be part of that, but I also want to be playing football.
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"I wouldn't mind where a loan was and wouldn't rule out abroad if it was a good club and a good team, no disrespect to a club that's fighting relegation and getting pummelled every week – though at the minute that probably seems better than what I'm doing."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
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
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is confident of keeping midfielder David Jones at Molineux.
Jones, 25, has just one year remaining on his present contract, but has been linked with several moves away following an impressive first season in the Premier League.
The former Manchester United youngster recovered from knee problems to make 20 league appearances last term, but has recently been mentioned as a possible transfer target for Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers.
"I want Dave to stay. He's got a year left of his contract and it's the same situation as where we were in March," explained McCarthy, who offered the midfielder fresh terms towards the end of the last campaign.
"We're trying to sort something out. Hopefully that will get done. I think it will get sorted out fairly quickly.
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"We want him to stay and be part of the squad and I haven't heard anything from anyone."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Natural goal scorers have been a rare breed at Everton down the years. If you ask him David Moyes how many he’s has at his disposal in 10-seasons at Goodison Park he could probably count them all on one hand. It’s been the Toffees’ achilles heel for much of the Scots reign in the blue half of Merseyside.
Unfortunately for the modern striker doesn’t come cheap and it’s a position the club can ill afford to blow their meagre budget on. A decade of financial austerity has thwarted their attempts to make significant progress into upper echelons of the Premier League and the prosperous realms of European football. Having to survive on Moyes’ enviable knack of picking up a bargain was never going to be enough to fulfil their desired goals.
On the few occasions the 49-year-old has had cash burning a hole in his pocket it’s usually been frittered away on a front man that was found wanting under the weight of an expectant Everton fan base. England internationals James Beattie and Andy Johnson both failed to live up to their hype after big money moves. Yakubu looked like the answer to Moyes’ prayers after his move from Middlesbrough in 2007 scoring over 20 goals in his debut season. However a serious achilles injury in following campaign ultimately put paid to his Toffees career. In no uncertain terms they’ve sorely missed the presence of a penalty area predator dating back to the days of Tony Cottee and Gary Linekar.
So when Croatian international Nikicia Jelavic pitched up at Goodison Park on the final day of the January transfer window you couldn’t blame supporters for approaching their new £5.5 centre forward with a sense of trepidation. A stunning goal on his full debut at Tottenham set the Toffees tongues wagging before three underwhelming performances set off the usual alarm bells. Another case of flattering to deceive you might think. After all Jelavic was fresh from a prolific spell with Rangers in the SPL; a league perceptively weaker than England’s top-flight.
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Yet six goals in as many games puts paid to the theory that the 26-year-old would be fighting a losing battle to replicate the hot form he displayed during his spell North of the border. But Jelavic’s contribution has stretched beyond more than just providing a steady stream of goals since his arrival on Merseyside. His presence in the final third has given Everton additional attacking purpose and yielded a shift in confidence for the players tasked with creating goal scoring opportunities.
The Toffees started the season without a recognised striker in the ranks forcing Moyes to utilise midfielders Tim Cahill or Marouane Fellaini in advanced roles. Whilst providing an aerial threat the duo weren’t accustomed to the role of a lone striker often finding themselves out of position and unable to offer the desired impact in the opposing penalty area. Fine approach play from the likes of Leon Osman was often wasted whilst deliveries from out wide were frequently left unchallenged.
Statistics don’t lie and Everton’s blunt attack has cost them precious points over the course of the season. In the 26 games up until Jelavic arrived they’d averaged around a goal a game. Seven draws and 10 defeats was an indication of their wastefulness. Infuriatingly for supporters performances weren’t inherently poor either. The issue was the Toffees’ lack of cutting edge in the striking department that saw them unable to build leads and clawing back deficits. Winning games was virtual impossible without a genuine attacking threat leading the line.
Last week’s 4-4 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford is a far cry from the difficulties faced prior to Jelavic’s introduction to the first team. The clinical Croat has inspired an abrupt change in mentality throughout the Everton ranks which has coincided with their best run of the season. Instead of attacking with an air of caution the Toffees creators in chief are now able to express themselves freely knowing their craftsmanship won’t be wasted.
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Jelavic is a striker that comes alive both in and outside the penalty area and has bestowed a confidence in the players to take chances when in possession. They know that if the correct service is provided the former Rangers man will attack the ball ball with menace and devour any chances without a seconds hesitation. But theres more to his game that merely fulfilling his goalscoring quota. His tendency to pull away from defences, link up play and maintain Everton’s attacking momentum gives him an air of unpredictability making it difficult for centre halves to judge his movement. Pulling them out of position to create openings for the midfield to exploit demonstrates a level of intelligence rare in everyday strikers.
He’s got the Toffees faithful purring in delight with a series of dynamic displays that have proved to be the stimulus for a late season charge towards the top-six. Sadly for Moyes and co their usual sluggishness from the starting blocks means they’ll come up short on this occasion having to settle for another season of void of success. However it certainly will give them food for thought over the summer after Jelavic proved once and for all he’s the final piece of the Everton jigsaw.