Arsenal is set to battle it out with PSG for Stephane Sessegnon, according to the Mirror.
The Benin international has been in sensational form this season and has played a big part in Sunderland’s recent resurgence under Martin O’Neill.
Arsene Wenger has been keeping tabs all season on the versatile Sessegnon, who would give Arsenal some much needed options in midfield. The midfielder is valued at £10m and could provide the ideal replacement for the likely summer departure of Andrey Arshavin.
Whether Sessegnon wants to move to North London remains to be seen, as the 27-year-old remains unsettled in England largely down to his family’s unwillingness to leave their Paris home.
If PSG were to follow up their interest with a summer bid then it is more than likely that Sessegnon will welcome a return move, although Arsenal are clearly waiting in the wings just in case.
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You can be blessed with the quick feet of Lionel Messi, the vision of Paul Scholes or the technique of Cristiano Ronaldo but it will all amount to nothing without the vital ingredient of self-belief. The psychological demands of the beautiful game are all too easily overlooked, when in fact they help contribute to some of the most exciting and often surprising incidents in the sport.
I think we’re all in agreement that Barcelona were the superior side in their recent Champions League clash against Chelsea. Had one of their multiple chances at the Bridge found the back of the net then perhaps we would be reading a different fairytale altogether, rather than this modern day version of David and Goliath. Their failure to score coupled with the outcome of El Clásico planted a seed of doubt at the heart of the Catalan giants, which continued to grow as the clock ticked down.
You could sense the atmosphere had changed after Messi crashed his penalty against the crossbar, as Barcelona continued to knock on the door rather than searching for an alternative route past a resilient Chelsea rearguard. As they swept the ball across the box in an arc formation it began to dawn on me that their failure to penetrate through had left them bereft of ideas. This was highlighted by the usually assured Lionel Messi picking up a booking for a rash challenge, a clear sign that the unyielding confidence of the Spanish giants was crumbling away.
Forgive me if I appear to be belittling the achievements of Chelsea, who were sensational across the entire 180 minutes. Whereas their opponents were found lacking, Drogba and co were thriving on the confidence Roberto Di Matteo has installed in them since his transition from sidekick to top dog. The Blues knew that it would be foolish to compete with Barca’s own brand of football, but instead of letting this demoralise them they were buoyed by their own belief that they could weather the storm and punish them on the break.
You need look no further than Fernando Torres for evidence of the fragile nature of self-confidence. In the not too distant past the Spaniard was idolised in Merseyside, flourishing in the admiration of the fans, his fellow team-mates, his manager and perhaps most importantly the national press. Introduce the concept of being valued of £50m and suddenly all that washes away and is replaced by the weight of expectation. Torres has endured a torrid journey in his search for that defining moment of inspiration and if Gary Neville’s reaction is anything to go by, he found it at the Nou Camp.
The importance of confidence is even more apparent in the Premier League, as it helps shape the contrasting fortunes of a number of clubs. Newcastle are a team playing with a creative freedom gifted to them by Alan Pardew, a man who has somehow bought a sense of cohesion and team spirit to a club that was once in disarray.
The Toon Army could arguably be credited with stealing Tottenham’s crown as the most exciting team in the division. The Lilywhites flaunted a similar style of attacking football in the early part of the season that led many to hail them as outside title contenders and portray Harry Redknapp as the front-runner for the vacant England role. However, the club have struggled to overcome the significant defeat against their North London rivals Arsenal and have unquestionably entered a state of freefall. Redknapp is often praised for his man management skills so it will interesting to see if he can resurrect his teams battered mentality before they slip out of Champions League contention altogether.
If we drop down into the Championship, Reading represent the perfect example of a team blossoming under a manager who shares the gift for motivating and inspiring his players. Much like Di Matteo, Brian McDermott isn’t blessed with a wealth of experience but they both possess a natural talent for getting the best out of their players. Compare these two with someone like Sven Goran Eriksson, who has enjoyed success across the continent and is regarded as a master tactician. In spite of this I feel the Swede was always hampered by his ability to ‘gee up’ his squad, which inevitably accumulated to his failure with the England national side and a growing number of domestic clubs in the country.
It’s logical to suggest that you can never have too much confidence given the ‘world beater’ attitude it inspires from within. However, we know this is not the case and we only have to look at the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and Mario Balotelli to witness how an inflated ego to be detrimental to ones career. It can also be seemingly impossible to get back, hit a bad patch of form or endure a spell on the sidelines and you might witness players literally trying to hide on a football pitch. Has Michael Owen ever been the same since he pulled up all those years ago in his Liverpool shirt? Will we ever see the forgotten talent of Manchester City’s Michael Johnson boss a midfield again?
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Confidence therefore is vital, without it and you won’t even see a pass let alone attempt it. Too much of the stuff and you lose all sense of reality, trying audacious lobs from the highway line much to the frustration of those around you. As the title race reaches its peak City will be buoyed by their recent run of form whilst United confident from the fact they’ve been here before. Who will emerge triumphant? No one knows and that should inspire confidence about the state of English football from within all of us.
Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’m confident Chelsea will be joined by the Special One in the final.
The award season is now upon us and with the announcement of the six nominees for the young player of the year being disclosed and although both Gareth Bale and Sergio Aguero are likely to be the favourites, I thought I would take a closer look at the outstanding young performers in the Premier League this 2011/12 season.
If there’s one thing that managers love, it’s a talented young star to lead their team into the future. There are currently many emerging players in the Premier League, producing the sort of displays that deserve recognition. Although the experienced pros often gain a lot of praise the impacts of young stars can be invaluable to all sides, no matter what their ambitions.
Some have emerged from youth systems, while others have been poached from clubs at home and abroad, but no matter what their origins their achievements should not slip under the radar.
To qualify for the team, the performer has to be 23 years-of-age upon the beginning of the campaign, this list shows a fantasy eleven who fit that criteria, and obviously has been performing to a high standard this season:
Click on Joe Allen to unveil my starting XI
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Let me start this week’s blog by welcoming striker Clive Platt to Sixfields. He has signed a 2 year deal at the club and will join on 30th June when his contract expires at Coventry City.
Clive brings with him a lot of experience to Sixfields as the striker has taken in more than 600 senior appearances and scored more than 100 goals. With the lower leagues being his bread butter, he has spent time at Peterborough United, Walsall, Rochdale, MK Dons, Notts County and also has previous experience working with Aidy Boothroyd during his time at Colchester United. Hopefully this means that Aidy will know how to get the best out of the 34-year-old front man.
During 2011/12 he made 23 starts and 10 substitute appearances for Coventry City, scoring four goals. Aidy has said he will be basing a lot of his signings on leadership qualities and desire to play. I have no doubt in my mind that Clive has all this and more and can’t wait to see him in the Claret & White next season.
One thing I am concerned about is where this signing leaves last season’s top scorer Adebayo Akinfenwa. I can’t see the two of them playing together as they are similar in what they offer in the power stakes. I really hope something can come from the two of them, maybe use Bayo for an hour and then bring Clive of the bench and use his skills to finish off the game. This would be solution for me to eventually see them working well together in the same team. It also concerns me that Aidy has said that if the right offer comes in he will sell Akinfenwa which I think a majority of fans will be seriously worried about as where would have been now had it not been for his 18 goals last season?
John Johnson has signed a new contract with the club which I am really pleased about as he can play anywhere across the back-line and even fill in at defensive midfield. I really felt towards the end of last season he started to knuckle down and work hard being rewarded with fine performances for the club. He has signed a one year deal with the option to extend to another year which is a great move by the club. So come on Johnno keep on going from strength to strength. Anthony Charles has also signed a one year deal with the club. He joined in January after a big injury layoff and I like Aidy Boothroyd do believe that there is more to come from the big defender. With a full pre-season behind him Charles can go on and play a key part in the squad next season.
Last Thursday saw the Richard Butcher memorial game take place at Sixfields in honour of the late midfielder and youth product of the club, from what we heard in a speech made by the Macclesfield vice-chairman. Richard was a top guy, the ultimate professional and he is sorely missed in the football community. It was an entertaining game between the Wembley ‘97 winning team and a Cobblers all star team. Over 1,500 fans turned up to watch the game that all stars who went onto win the game 3-2. It was good to see so many of the old pros turn up and play for the all star team including Russell Wilcox who was part of the Graham Carr Division 4 winning team in 1986/87 season. Hopefully lots of money was raised for what is a great cause.
Our pre-season friendlies have recently been announced, two of which will be at Sixfields against Derby County & Chelsea U21’s which I believe should bring a good turnout from the people of Northampton.
Speaking of Derby they are apparently the front runners to sign our very own Michael Jacobs, I just hope this saga ends soon and Michael either decides to stay or go, the sooner the decision is made the sooner Aidy Boothroyd will know whether or not he will have funds needed to rebuild our squad ahead of the new season.
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Chelsea and Porto have reportedly settled on a £38 million transfer fee for striker Hulk, with a move set to be wrapped up in forthcoming days according to The Guardian.
The west London club have been splashing Roman Abramovich’s money in a bid to revamp their squad ahead of next season, with deals for Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne already in place.
With Didier Drogba leaving the club on a free transfer the Stamford Bridge side are eager to bring in a replacement frontman, with the burly Brazilian earmarked as the next big-name signing.
Chelsea are thought to have initially offered £30 million for the South American, however Porto were keen to recoup £40 million for the star.
However, with the help of financial facilitators assisting in the negotiation process, a fee of £38 million is said to have been agreed.
Hulk now only has to agree personal terms with the Champions League winners, which is said to be a formality, and pass a medical in west London.
Similar to the Hazard deal, owner Abramovich is said to have taken a hands on role in securing the transfer, with technical director Michael Emenalo assisting in the absence of a full-time manager.
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Liverpool are said to have agreed a fee of £12 million with Roma for the potential transfer of striker Fabio Borini, Mirror Football report.
Brendan Rodgers is keen to bolster his new squad this summer, with the contingent’s attack in need of a revamp after a poor goalscoring display in 2011-12.
The Northern Irish coach knows the Italian forward well, as Borini spent a loan spell at Swansea when Rodgers was in charge at the Liberty Stadium.
With Andy Carroll appearing to be surplus to requirements at Anfield, Rodgers has moved quickly to try and bring Borini to Merseyside.
The sprightly marksman spent last season on loan with Roma, and the capital city side bought his full ownership rights from Parma earlier this summer.
Despite this, the Serie A outfit are seemingly willing to listen to offers for their striker with Liverpool now given access to talk to the player after a fee was agreed.
A deal for the forward is thought to be close to being wrapped up, which would make Borini Rodgers’ first signing as Reds boss.
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Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has been the subject of some serious interest from Manchester City the past week or so, but how crucial is he to Brendan Rodgers vision at the club? Can you really put a price on such a key player?
The 27 year-old centre-back is now entering his eighth season at Anfield, during which he’s feature for the first-team just 167 times, which works out at an average of 24 games in the seven seasons to date so far. This little fact in itself partly explains why Rodgers is thought to be considering an approach for the Danish international – at no point in his career has he ever played more than 30 league games, so with that in mind, isn’t a figure around the £20m mark perfectly reasonable?
It certainly is, although you’d hope that Liverpool, even with their famed poor negotiating skills and ability to get a decent price for most of their players would be able to push that up a few notches, such is City’s need to add strength in depth to their defence, or generally just sign anybody, such are Roberto Mancini’s frustrations in the transfer market.
Nonetheless, this completely misses the point of how important Agger is to the future of this Liverpool side and how key his partnership at centre-back is alongside Martin Skrtel. In Agger’s absence last season straight after he picked up a rib injury in the Carling Cup final triumph against Cardiff City, the side managed to pick up just three points from a possible 18 in the league; they kept just one clean sheet and shipped 11 goals in the process, which sums up rather neatly just how integral he is to the back four.
That is no coincidence and Skrtel plays far better alongside an authoritative partner, willing to dictate the back four and as he’s matured, Agger has increasingly become that sort of player, taking over the mantle from Jamie Carragher, who has seen his role in the side reduced.
You also have to take into account that if Liverpool did actually sell Agger this summer, who on earth would they replace him with? It’s hardly like ball-playing centre-backs with proven international and European experience are growing on trees and any proposed switch could have the potential to disrupt the balance of the entire side.
Names such as Ashley Williams, Diego Godin and Simon Kjaer have all been mooted in the past, but you’d take Agger over any one of them at the moment, and talk of luring Mats Hummels from German champions Borussia Dortmund is fanciful at best, with the club not willing to offer the defender Champions League football at present, while the Bundesliga side obviously can.
Agger is an experienced member of this squad, which is a lot younger than you’d initially think. Rodgers clearly wants the side to play the ball out from the back, as was clear by their reluctance to hoof it forward on the few rare occasions when they were actually put under any pressure by FC Gomel at Anfield, and Agger fits this style down to the ground.
So far, Rodgers has adopted a very pragmatic approach to interest in the club’s players, rather reasonably stating that every player has their price – most manager would obviously never say such a thing as it provokes a media storm, but it’s definitely true and at least Rodgers is willing to admit it.
It appears as if there’s just not the funds and he may have to sell before he buys, stating earlier in the week: “The reality is we don’t the money that was here. I don’t have a bucket-load of money to go and get in a load of players. We have to be strategic.” Strategic can be used as a byword for ‘skint’ in this instance and alongside Suarez, Agger is one of the club’s only real saleable assets, but unless there’s a replacement of equal ability available, which there isn’t, then there’s simply no point in giving any move the green light.
Before the Europa League game, Rodgers had this to say: “Of course you might lose a top player but if it benefits you going forward and you can make two or three steps because of it – you may have to consider it” but after the win he offered this: “For me there’s no update because we don’t want to sell him. He’s a player who’s very important for me and will remain that way.”
Both are rather contradictory remarks and Rodgers is playing a canny game, emphasising his importance to the side, while he’s stated in the past that it would take a ‘ridiculous’ offer to tempt him to sell – we all know that given recent history, Manchester City are somewhat prone to ridiculous offers for players they desperately want.
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Nevertheless, there is no real inclination that Agger actually wants to move and while it may seem like a bit of a silly point to make, he does have a ‘YNWA’ tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand, which would indicate a degree of loyalty, which someone like Skrtel would do well to follow suit on, given his previously cryptic remarks when confronted with similar speculation earlier on in the summer.
Agger is a hugely integral figure to this current Liverpool side, just as much as Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Lucas Leiva are and if the club have serious ambitions of having a real go at cracking the top six again in the coming campaign, then they need to keep hold of their best players and the cultured Dane certainly falls into that category and then some.
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has admitted that he wants to strengthen his squad before the end of the transfer window, but will have one eye on the future when selecting his targets.
The Premier League champions have been surprisingly quiet in the transfer window this summer to date, with no additions at the Etihad Stadium to report.
However, the Italian trainer has revealed that he wants a number of new faces at the club before the start of 2012-13.
“We are a young team because we have played together for only two years,” Mancini told Sky Sports.
“We won after 50 years. We need to work harder than last year and we need to buy the players that will help the team to improve.
“We don’t need big changes. We don’t need 10 players like maybe two or three years ago.
“But we need three or four or five players and in these five players will be young guys for the future because it is important to put young players in the squad and make them as good as the players that we have.” he finished.
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During Manchester United’s opening game of last season, alarm bells started ringing.
United led West Brom 1-0 at the Hawthorns, courtesy of an early Wayne Rooney strike, and looked in cruise control. Until a speculative effort from Shane Long slipped under the hands of United’s new number 1, and then from nowhere West Brom had pulled themselves level.
Welcome to English football David De Gea.
United went on to win the game 2-1, but all the talk after the game, from press, pundits and fans, was how was this young Spaniard going to replace legendary goalkeeper Edwin Van der sar?
De Gea looked nervous on crosses and somewhat lightweight. West Brom could sense it, the fans could sense it, and even Ferguson was chewing his Wrigleys faster than usual on the touchline.
After all, it was his decision to gamble £18 million on the 20-year-old Spaniard, who had impressed during his time at Atletico Madrid.
The West Brom error seemed to stick with De Gea for some time. Errors followed in the Champions league against Benfica and Basel, and the Spaniard had to pick the ball out of his net six times as United were mauled 6-1 by rivals Manchester City in October.
However, De Gea still found he had the backing of his manager, as Ferguson fumed there was an ‘agenda’ against his young goalkeeper. He told reporters last September:
“There’s obviously an agenda on De Gea. We’ve experienced that in the press for some reason. They seem desperate for the boy to fail.
“That’s the impression I get and I don’t understand it. It’s nothing to do with his age. They never did that with Petr Cech.”
Things were going to get worse before they got better for the young goalkeeper.
Perhaps the most glaring error of all came during the New Years Eve fixture at home to Blackburn Rovers, as De Gea wished Fergie a happy 70th birthday in the worst possible fashion, by getting brutally out muscled from a corner to allow Grant Hanley to bundle home a Blackburn winner.
It seemed Ferguson’s patience had finally run out, and Anders Lindergaard was drafted in as De Gea took his place on the substitutes bench.
At this point De Gea’s dream of being mentioned in the same breath as Edwin Van der Sar, had turned into the nightmare of being mentioned in the same breath as Massimo Taibi, until an injury to Lindegaard saw him re instated. He has not looked back.
De Gea went on to record nine clean sheets in his next 18 games, and produced a man of the match performance in the 3-3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A spectacular late save from a Juan Mata free kick was described by many as the save of the season.
De Gea ended the season with a 78% save percentage, which was in fact the highest of the 2011/2012 Premier League season. It begs the question as to whether De Gea was to blame for United’s defensive frailties in the early part of the season, or whether he was let down by his defenders on too many occassions.
United seemed to miss the physical presence of Vidic last season on some occasions more than others. They ended the season with their second best defensive record in Premier league history, but had days where they looked especially vulnerable.
They conceded three goals at Chelsea, three at Newcastle, three at home to Blackburn, another three at home to Atletico Bilbao, and of course six at home to Manchester City.
And David De Gea proved his worth on several occassions, making several fine and crucial saves during the second half of the season.
Ferguson’s ‘agenda’ comments are perhaps not entirely inaccurate. There was always going to be a bedding in period for De Gea, as there is with any foreign player.
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The £18million price tag and the fact he was replacing a legend in Edwin Van Der Sar, was an exceptionally heavy burden to carry for a 20-year-old during his first few months in a foreign country.
Rival fans wanted him to fail, and the cruel world of goalkeeping meant every error was greeted with ironic cheers, and chants of ‘dodgy keeper’.
The statistics show that De Gea proved his worth in the second half of the season. With a year behind him, now is the time for Dea Gea to show everyone he is the “outstanding replacement for Edwin Van Der Sar” that his manager told everyone he would be.
You also feel he can only benefit from the return of Nemaja Vidic, and the opportunity to play behind a consistent centre back pairing. Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones seemed to alternate on a weekly basis last season.
Everything seems in place for De Gea to build on the promise he showed in the second half of last season. The 2012/2013 season, is the time for the real David De Gea to stand up.
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey has stated that Gareth Bale is an important man for the nation ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Belgium.
The Celtic nation are expecting a tough game against the emerging central European nation, with Premier League superstars such as Eden Hazard and Marouane Fellaini in toe for the Belgians.
However, Ramsey has stated that Bale has the ability to outshine any of the opponents’ attacking players.
“This is the first game to actually qualify for Rio – that’s our target,” Ramsey told Mirror Football.
“Belgium is going to be a good test as they have some talented players playing at the highest level.
“But I personally wouldn’t swap Gareth for any of their lads. He is always a threat creating and scoring goals.
“He has that quality to whip in a ball or come inside and shoot from distance and cause a problem for the goalkeeper.
“You can’t say he has got off to a slow start, he’s created a few opportunities in the games I’ve seen on Match Of The Day.
“Spurs have had a tough start to the season but he has definitely shown on the training field he is as good as ever.
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“He has a few hat-tricks, like against Inter Milan when he tore Maicon apart. He is definitely a player who can be the key for us to unlocking defences,” the Arsenal midfielder concluded.