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.
Arsenal continued their strong start to the season smashing six past Southampton who still searching for their first point since returning to the Premier League.
The Gunners were unbeaten in their first three games and had yet to concede a goal whilst their newly promoted opponents had endured a difficult start to life back in the top-flight.
It didn’t get any better for Nigel Adkins’ men at the Emirates Stadium as they were comprehensively outplayed by the home side and found themselves behind after just 11 minutes courtesy of a Jos Hooiveld own goal. Hooiveld was hauled off a minute before the Gunners scored again just after the half hour mark with Lukas Podolski curling a stunning 25-yard free kick past the despairing Kelvin Davis.
That kicked off a spell that saw Arsene Wengers’ men score twice in two minutes with the first coming courtesy Gervinho’s fierce strike before Nathaniel Clyne turned Kieron Gibbs’ cross into his own net. However the Saints were to have the last word in the first half as a mistake from Wojciech Szczesny gifted Danny Fox the opportunity to reduce the deficit.
Despite their dominance in the opening forty-five minutes Arsenal took their foot off the gas after the break and almost allowed the visitors a route back into the game but the usually reliable Rickie Lambert dragged his effort wide. That scare prompted the hosts to take control once again and Gervinho was on hand to make it 5-1 tapping in from close range after Aaron Ramsey’s effort came back off the post.
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Theo Walcott then came off the substitutes bench to apply the gloss with three minutes remaining latching onto Santi Cazorla’s through ball and finishing confidently past Davis to compound the misery of his former club who remain rock bottom.
Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has been added to Roy Hodgson’s England squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifying fixtures against San Marino and Poland, Sky Sports report.
The Reds midfielder has grown in stature and importance at Anfield, and despite being sent off against Manchester United in a recent Premier League fixture, has impressed for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Shelvey has scored a number of goals in the Europa League also, and has been promoted from the England under-21 side as cover for Frank Lampard.
The Chelsea man limped out of his side’s win over Norwich at the weekend, and at this stage is a doubt; Shelvey has been picked ahead of Manchester City’s Gareth Barry.
Meanwhile, Ryan Bertrand has also been added to the Three Lions’ contingent, after continuing his strong start to the 2012-13 campaign.
The versatile wideman comes in as a straight replacement for Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs, who has dropped out with a thigh injury.
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Tony Pulis’ post match interview on Sunday afternoon was particularly hard to stomach for Liverpool fans.
The Welshman stood in front of the camera’s, clearly eager to get something off his chest. “I was disappointed with the number of bookings we received, and thought Liverpool should have had some more of their players cautioned.”
As soon as he was given the slightest push as to who he thought should of been carded, the Stoke boss launched an angry tirade against Luis Suarez for diving, in a rant that anybody who saw Sunday’s match will know, screamed hypocrisy.
“I’ve been on about and banging the drum about people who fall over,” said Pulis. “It’s an embarrassment. The FA should be looking at this.”
Pulis than had the audacity to claim Suarez should receive a three match ban, in a bid to stop him from “falling over.”
This is the same man who two weeks ago was praising Peter Crouch for scoring against Manchester City, despite a blatant handball in the build up.
Suarez was cheating to get an advantage for his team in the same way Crouch had done, something Pulis had advocated just 14 days previously.
Don’t get me wrong, the Suarez dive on Sunday was pathetic and it is something that needs to be stamped out of the game. Gareth Bale’s wasn’t much better on the same day, and it is fast becoming ridiculous.
But Pulis had clearly instructed his side to kick lumps out of Suarez all game, and the Uruguayan striker got little to no protection from referee Lee Mason.
Within four minutes Robert Huth had made a clear stamp that left a mark behind on the strikers chest. Mason ignored it, and despite video evidence there will be no retrospective punishment.
This was not just an isolated incident, Huth continued to cynically foul the Liverpool number seven at any given opportunity, and it remains a mystery as to how he stayed on the pitch.
The same could be said for many of Stoke’s players. Everyone knows they are a physical side, and they get results from playing to their strengths.
But Sunday was particularly brutal, with smaller, young players such as Raheem Sterling, Joe Allen and Suso being targeted time and again alongside Suarez.
Listening to Tony Pulis take the moral high ground after watching his players kick lumps out of Liverpool for 90 minutes was simply unbelievable.
One of the things most people want stamped out of the game is the fake card brandishing we see from players in an attempt to get others sent off.
Pulis has done exactly the same thing from the safety of his post match press conference, and should focus his energy on looking at his own players thuggery before criticizing Suarez.
It is especially disappointing as everyone knows Suarez is an easy target, and Pulis has simply jumped on the bandwagon to disrupt one of the most exciting if not controversial talents in the Premier League, something that is far to easy to do.
Whilst what Suarez did was wrong, you feel for him to some extent and saw it as an act of desperation after being kicked from pillar to post by Huth and co all afternoon, and continue to be ignored by the referee. Lee Mason actually laughed at his appeals following the Huth stamp.
There was no word from Pulis’ counter part Brendan Rodgers on the incident.
“They are a bunch of big men who make it difficult for you and there is no right or wrong way to play football,” he said.
“What I was proud of is our young guys stood up to that. It was a physical game but no complaints from us.”
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Rodgers take on the game has just made Pulis look all the more foolish.
I am not sure when the Stoke boss became the spokesperson for fair play in the Premier League, especially since his side have finished bottom of the fair play league three times in the last six seasons.
It would be nice to see an apology for his words and his own players actions on Sunday. But following his delusional comments on several occasions this season, it seems about as likely as a game going by without Luis Suarez making the headlines.
What do you think of Tony Pulis’ words? Is he being hypocritical or does he have a point? Follow me on Twitter @LukeGreenwood89 and let me know your thoughts.
When Brendan Rodgers sat down to his pre match press conference, he no doubt would have been expecting the first question to be about a certain Andy Carroll.
The saga involving the big striker has been the focal point of Rodgers Anfield reign thus far, with his decision to allow Liverpool’s record signing to leave on loan sparking controversy and confusion amongst the clubs supporters.
This has been compounded by the news summer signing Fabio Borini will be out for three months with a fractured foot, leaving Liverpool with Luis Suarez as their only available senior striker. This has led to speculation Carroll may be recalled from his loan spell as early as January, speculation Rodgers was quick to dismiss, as sure enough the first question centered around a possible return for the former Newcastle man.
‘I haven’t considered Andy coming back,’ Rodgers said somewhat dismissively. ‘He has gone to West Ham to get games under his belt. We have people watching when he plays and reporting back on how he does.”
The whole saga has been very strange from the off, and Rodgers hasn’t covered himself in glory during it. The current situation is that Liverpool have just one victory and six points from their opening seven Premier League games, and just one fit striker until January. Anything less than a win against Reading at Anfield tomorrow will see the knives sharpened once more.
Rodgers must secretly if not publicly wish he could walk to East London right now to bring Carroll back, such is the desperation surrounding Liverpool’s lack of attacking options. But his stubbornness in refusing to give the big striker any sort of first team chance has come back to haunt him.
It begs the question as to whether Rodgers decision to isolate Carroll, and subsequently go on to publicly criticize Stewart Downing, has shown a real flaw in his management style? Liverpool need all the goal scoring help they can get, and Rodgers has got on the wrong side of £50 million of Liverpool’s attacking talent before the end of October. Whether that’s an overpriced £50million remains irrelevant, Liverpool could do with a fit and firing Downing and Carroll as they search for crucial Premier League points.
There are those who will say Rodgers is a coach who knows exactly what he wants, and will admire his no nonsense approach to players who don’t fit into his ideas. Every top coach needs an element of stubbornness, an absolute confidence and belief that their way is the right way.
But his treatment of Carroll and Downing could also be viewed as an act of inexperience. It is almost comparable with Andre Villas-Boas’ tenure at Chelsea last season, an example of a young manager coming in and trying to stamp his authority on proceedings too quickly.
The turning point of Villas-Boas’ Chelsea reign came during a Champions League tie with Napoli, where both Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were left out of the side. Following a heavy defeat, Villas-Boas had to somewhat sheepishly turn back to the players he left out.
Rodgers has been slightly naive in first shipping out Carroll, and then publicly criticizing Downing. Firstly these situations should have been dealt with in house, and not out in the open for the press to dissect. Secondly, you never know when you are going to need these players. The subsequent injury crisis and failure to bring in transfer targets has left Rodgers in desperate need of attacking talent. One is in East London, and one is ‘upset’ at his managers public criticism of his performances.
The likes of Raheem Sterling, Jonjo Shelvey and Suso have shown enough to suggest Rodgers may just about get by until January, despite the striker crisis. Rodgers is convinced the owners will back him in the next transfer window, and told the press he already has a list of strikers drawn up on a transfer wish list. But although he won’t admit it publicly, you must wonder if the Liverpool boss holds regrets over the early treatment of two of his most attacking players. Results from now until January will only tell.
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What do you think of Rodgers handling of the Carroll/Downing situations? Follow me on Twitter @LukeGreenwood89 and let me know your thoughts.
We’ve all been exposed to the odd horror away day in our time, but the advances in safety at our grounds ensures that the only real hooligans on a matchday, are those responsible for charging in excess of £3 for a pie.
Of course, all fans take and dish out their fair share of stick on a Saturday, but there are some away days across the world that will have you moaning about an awful lot more than a dodgy bit of catering.
Here, cold terraces are warmed up by mid-game pyrotechnic displays, mickey taking is replaced with the threat of trouble and the stands are so steep, they’ll probably give you a nosebleed.
So click on the Stade Velodrome to unveil the top 10
[divider]
Feeling miffed I left out Glanford Park or the Weston Homes Community Stadium? Let me know on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your away day suggestions.
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The sacking of Roberto Di Matteo and the appointment of Rafa Benítez at Chelsea last week has caused much criticism to come the club’s way.
Many have been taken aback by the level of venom shown towards Rafa Benítez when he came out in front of the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge on Sunday after the sacking of a manager who last season secured Chelsea the Champions League title and the FA Cup. The amount of booing towards the new appointment caused surprise and it is apparent that many Chelsea supporters are extremely unhappy at the decision.
Is this another incident that shows that club owners do not listen to what the fans want? It seems to be becoming more common that clubs are making decisions and running the club in ways many fans hugely disagree with.
The activity at Chelsea Football Club has clearly riled fans. Numerous supporters made it clear that they are angry at recent events, jeering Rafa Benítez, some holding signs, including phrases like ‘Rafa Out!’, ‘Chelsea fans never forget’ and ‘In Roberto We Trusted And Loved. In Rafa We Will Never Trust. Fact.’ They also had applause for Roberto Di Matteo at 16 minutes, referring to how he used to wear the number 16 shirt.
So, can it really be said that Roman Abramovich and the other people in charge at Chelsea really understand and listen to their fans when they have made such contentious decisions? They do not seem to have shown much regard for the history of the club, by sacking a man who is considered a club legend and seems to love Chelsea and managed the team when they won two titles. Can it be said that they really take into account the feelings of the fans when they employ a man who has previously criticised the fans and has had a generally bad relationship with the club.
This is not to say that the fans were right to boo their new interim manager and not actually give Rafa Benítez a chance. Additionally, it is not Rafa Benítez’s fault that Roberto Di Matteo was sacked. It is also a worry that some fans may want to see him fail, which, arguably, gives the impression they are not being good fans.
However, whatever people may think of the reaction of the fans at Sunday’s match, it still seems to give evidence that the owners may not really understand the club’s fans.
Trizia Fiorellino, the Chair of Chelsea Supporters’ Group has talked to BBC Sport about how while fans are not expecting to choose managers; she believes they chose someone unacceptable, saying: “The strength of feeling surprised even those in charge. It was quite venomous right at the beginning. The fans don’t expect to pick and choose the managers but it was pretty evident there were only two people that were not acceptable in this case – Benitez and Avram Grant. It was almost as if the board and the owner were trying to send a message to the fans to say ‘we run this club, not you – you have no say.’ Benitez is not popular and I think he will remain unpopular throughout his reign.”
Of course, Chelsea are not the only ones who could be accused of not listening to their fans. One notorious example is the outrage amongst Blackburn fans after their owners sacked Sam Allardyce in 2010, a move which even angered the players. They were also famously outraged about former manager Steve Kean, when many continuously called for his sacking. The sacking of Chris Hughton by Newcastle, in the same week as Sam Allardyce’s dismissal from Blackburn, was also an unpopular move.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has caused anger amongst fans in the past, for example when St James’ Park was renamed the Sports Direct Arena last year. It could be argued that moves like this, which anger fans, show that some owners in modern football prioritise money over and business over the desires of the fans.
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Many disagree with decisions their clubs have made. Arsenal fans have many opinions over the actions of the club. Many Arsenal fans have been concerned about the priorities of the club, including many wanting Arsenal to buy more players in transfer windows, and concerns over prices, where it seems that prices seem to be kept expensive despite protestations from supporters.
With the possibility that booing against Rafa Benítez could continue, it is clear that many fans are unhappy. It could be said that this means clubs perhaps should listen more to what the fans want.
Four games unbeaten isn’t a bad start. Well it certainly sounds better than four games without a win. In truth, it is probably a fair reflection of what the performances have been like.
Absolutely average.
Some glimpses of the old Blackpool, sometimes mind-numbingly dull, but for the most part, just really average football.
After two games without a win or loss, I expected consecutive home games to shape the Blackpool fans’ opinion of the new manager. A win or loss would have made it a definitive good or bad start for Appleton. But here we are, two games later talking about four games without a result and unfortunately some minds are already being made up.
It is always difficult to give a manager time. In Appleton we had an unknown quantity, which was good. No Blackpool fan had any prejudice against him. Which made him the ideal candidate to be given time to shape the squad. Unfortunately though, the way the team has played for the last two matches has left some supporters a little disillusioned.
After an uneventful end to the loan window where Blackpool brought only Wes Thomas in, Watford came to town on Saturday in pretty decent form. And you could see why. They were a team with a plan and they executed their counter-attacking style perfectly against a home side that got booed off the pitch at half time following one of the worst 45 minutes of football I could remember at Bloomfied road. Lacking in every area, poor performances all round and, perhaps most frustratingly, no sign of a plan.
When a new manager comes in, you can always expect a transitional period. Things will change and they will take some getting used to. Not just for the players but for the fans too. But where Watford came with a gameplan, Blackpool seemed to lack any kind of direction. Despite a second half which saw Watford penned into their own half, it was still hard to see what the defined ‘style’ was. It wasn’t blustery, attacking football, it wasn’t long ball, nor was it formulaic, disciplined football. It was just a great comeback that maybe masked the flaws.
But it was a comeback, and kept a bit of belief around the place coming up to the Birmingham game. Assuming we could carry our second half display into the game, against a side really struggling for form, then surely we would be seeing the first positive result for Appleton.
Disappointingly, it didn’t materialise and whilst the Watford game contained the worst 45 minutes I could remember, the Birmingham match was the worst 90 minutes in recent times. I will point out that I don’t just mean a Blackpool performance, but just the worst game of ‘football’ I can remember. Both teams deserved to lose. No points should have been awarded and the game erased from the footballing chronicles. It should have been aborted after the ball didn’t see the turf for almost a full 10 minutes after kick-off and all players given a one-match ban for unsporting conduct.
The state of the pitch has to be taken into account, because it was instantly used as an excuse by the players. The pitch is a shambles, there’s no doubt about it. If this was in February, after a tough winter period then ok, but in November, for the pitch to be cutting up as it was is a disgrace. But no more a disgrace than 22 professional footballers not being able to string two passes together. You can blame the pitch for isolated moments and individual errors, but you can’t blame a bad surface for 90 minutes of what we used to call football.
Blackpool eventually got off to a good start by getting the much sought-after first goal. So surely then, after weeks of harping on about the importance of the first goal, Blackpool would power forward and win the game with ease. In reality, it was hard to see what difference the first goal made. The pattern of the game didn’t change, Birmingham didn’t come out, Blackpool didn’t press on and then just after the break Birmingham scored from, you guessed it, a poorly defended corner. No change whatsoever.
The problem with the manager going on and on about the importance of the first goal is that when we do concede first the players lose belief. It was evident against Watford when they scored after just 5 minutes and the Blackpool players looked frightened. The have had it drilled into them that if they score first they will win, so then when they went behind they lost the faith. And I wonder what they think now after they got the elusive first goal and still went on to draw.
On Tuesday night, not even a handful of players came out with any positives. Basham performed manfully in the midfield, our one-man defence of Cathcart did ok and Delfouneso had one of his best games, giving the Birmingham right-back trouble all night. Aside from that the team were woeful. Ince put in another anonymous display after getting on the scoresheet early on. Thankfully, he does have this knack of getting a goal, even when playing poorly, but there can be no doubting that he is indeed playing poorly. The best description I heard likened him to a sycamore leaf. Going round and round and round until he inevitably hits the floor.
Too many Blackpool players are not playing well, right the way from front to back. The strikers have lost their confidence, midfielders don’t get to play back-to-back games so never get any sort of form going and the defence is, well, as bad as always. The goal conceded was like a terrible deja vu that just keeps happening. Curtis Davies must mark Blackpool games in his diary as he knows he will have a fruitful night. Heading long balls away all night long until he has the chance to trot up for a corner and convert his obligatory goal. If every man and his dog knew that he would score against us, why didn’t somebody on the pitch do something about it?
Which leads nicely onto the main question. What exactly is Appleton’s plan?
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If that game had finished 1-0 you could have walked away, after rousing from your slumber, thinking that although it wasn’t entertaining, the defence has been tightened and we are hard to beat. But it didn’t finish 1-0 and all you can see are the same old problems, but without the old attacking flair that kept everybody on the edge of their seat. Kept everybody entertained. Kept everybody awake for starters.
It is always difficult to give a manager time, especially when you can’t see where he wants to go, but with 4 draws under his belt it would seem unfair to make a judgement just yet, however hard it may be to resist.
Saturday’s trip to rock-bottom Peterborough is now a huge game. Fail to get a win there and Appleton will leave himself with a lot of work to do to impress the fans. Just as it was last week, the first win or loss under the new manager is so crucial. Five games unbeaten is a credible start. Five without a win would be a big fat black mark against his name. No pressure then…