Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has stated that he will give £3,000 to charity if Tottenham finish higher in the league than his side, and has challenged the White Hart Lane faithful to donate to a good cause also.
Spurs’ 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday night lifts Harry Redknapp’s men up to third place, three points ahead of The Gunners with an extra game to play.
The England midfielder feels that talk of Spurs finishing above Arsenal is premature, and has issued a challenge to his rival fans on Twitter.
“All Spurs fans buzzing that they are ahead of us in the league (for once). Its a marathon, not a sprint!
“I tell you what; at the end of the season if Spurs finish above Arsenal I will give £3,000 to charity and if Arsenal finish above Spurs every Spurs fan that follows me must send me a pound each and I will give it to the Jack Marshall charity,” he stated on the social networking site.
Wilshere has been sidelined for the entire campaign due to injury, but is expected to return to action for Arsene Wenger’s side towards the end of the year.
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Eden Hazard’s growing number of potential suitors has been bolstered by the news that Spurs have joined the chase for the 20 year Belgian international, according to the Metro.
North London rivals Arsenal have long tracked the rising star with Arsene Wenger hopeful of doing a deal next summer. However, recent developments have seen Manchester City and now Spurs join the race, with Barcelona and Real Madrid both watching on with interest in Spain.
Lille will not allow Hazard to leave on the cheap, and a bid of at least £30 million has been touted as the required fee for the playmaker. This may rule Arsenal out of the running with the clubs strict financial model, yet Spurs are allegedly ready to smash their transfer record in order to sign Hazard and challenge for the title.
Another Belgian courting interest from the capital is centre back Jan Vertonghen. The 24 year old Ajax stopper is likely to be available for around £10 million in January and both Arsenal and Spurs are considering making a move.
However, despite Arsenal’s long standing interest, the return of Thomas Vermaelen has quelled Wenger’s desire to move for a centre back in the immediate future.
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Shane Long struck nine minutes from time to secure a well deserved point for West Brom after QPR looked to have secured only their second win at Loftus Road this season.
The Republic of Ireland international was on hand to covert substitute Peter Odemwingie’s cross to claim a vital point for Roy Hodgson’s side and provide a substantial buffer between them and the Premier League relegation zone. For long periods it looked as if Rangers would be collecting only their second three point haul at home after Heidar Helguson had put them into a 20th minute lead. Chances came and went for both sides with Shaun Wright-Phillips seeing his effort disallowed for offside whilst Albion thought they should have had a penalty for a foul on James Morison. Neil Warnock will be disappointed his side once again failed to turn their chances into goals in what turned out to be a miserable afternoon for the R’s boss who turned 63 on Thursday. Despite dropping two points he will have been purring over the performance of captain Joey Barton who returned from suspension to turn in an inspirational display.
It was the former Newcastle midfielder who provided the cross leading the first goal sending a superbly weighted ball into Helguson who made no mistake from six-yards heading past Ben Foster for his fourth goal in as many games at Loftus Road. The home side were well on top and Wright-Phillips thought he had doubled their lead four minutes later lashing the ball into the top corner only for the goal to be chalked off due to the assistant referees flag. Replays showed the goal should have stood and ultimately it proved crucial as QPR went on to spurn a series of chances that would have made the game safe. The visitors were missing the creative influence of the injured Zoltan Gera but went close through Morison and Jerome Thomas although both failed to test goalkeeper Radek Cerny.
Wright-Phillips then went close again only to see his header beat Foster but sail agonisingly wide of the post and Rangers were made to rue another missed chance. The Baggies were still spoiling after being denied a penalty for Daniel Gabbidon’s foul on Morison as they desperately sought an equaliser. They’d have to wait until the 81st minute for their salvation with Long display the predatory nature that persuaded Hodgson to spend a club record £7.5 million on him in the summer turning Odemwingies cross in from six-yards to seal a vital point.
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Jordi Gomez struck with just three minutes remaining to secure a vital point in Wigan’s fight for survival and bring Chelsea’s title challenge to a stuttering halt.
The in-form midfielder was on hand to tap in his fourth goal in five games following Petr Cech’s fumble to give the Latic’s hope of beating the drop and lift the confidence levels at the DW Stadium even higher following their win at West Brom last week. Roberto Martinez’s men certainly deserved a point for their hearty endeavours against the Blues who were broght back down to earth with a thump following their win against Manchester City on Monday night. Andre Villas-Boas’ side looked on course to make it four wins in a row that would have closed the gap between league leaders City and themselves to four points. Daniel Sturridge’s goal just before the hour appeared to have settled a game that was evenly contested despite both sides being at opposite ends of the table.
It was the home side who started the brighter with Gomez having a penalty shout turned down after he tumbled in the penalty area before Chelsea went on the offensive. Unfortunately the Wigan defence was appearing uncharacteristically resolute restricting the visitors to pot shots from distance with John Terry fizzing an effort over from 30-yards. The impressive Oriol Romeu then saw his sublime low volley tipped wide by Ali Al Habsi before Didier Drogba missed the best opportunity of the half five minutes before the break. Raul Meireles’ cross found the Ivory Coast hit man in the Wigan six-yard area only to see his diving header fly wide. More appeals for a spot kick were forthcoming from the Latics after Branislav Ivanovic appeared to block Victor Moses’ drive with his arm.
Chelsea continued to crank the pressure up after the restart and substitute Solomon Kalou almost made an instant impact only for Drogba to fire his cross into the side netting. It was going to take something special to breakdown Wigan’s uncompromising defence and Sturridge duly provided it taking Ashley Coles pass in his stride before firing his seventh Premier League goal of the season past Al Habsi. Wigan responded brilliantly to going behind with Maynor Figuero forcing Cech into a low save following a driving run up the left flank before Hugo Rodallega latched onto Ivanovic’s sloppy back pass only to be denied by the Chelsea keeper. Former Blues striker Franco Di Santo was sharp to the followup but was denied on the line by Ivanovic who made up for his almost fatal error seconds earlier. The hosts continued their pursuit of an equaliser and were rewarded in the 87th minute as Gomez tapped home after Cech spilled Rodallega’s effort.
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Newcastle striker Demba Ba has stated that rumours over a potential move to Manchester United are false, and made by someone not on his management team.
Armand Doorn, who claimed to be the Senegalese frontman’s representative, stated that the Premier League champions were ready to make a transfer bid for the in-form attacker before the end of January.
Ba however has clarified the matter, and admits that he has nothing to do with Doorn.
“Really, I don’t know how desperate this “armand doorn” can be to talk like he’s my agent!!” Ba stated on Twitter.
“He’s nothing for me. Stop lying and show respect.”
Ba’s management have also released a statement rubbishing Doorn’s claims, and despite admitting that the African forward had a buyout clause in his contract, said that the player is happy on Tyneside.
“Armand Doorn is not Demba’s agent. Alex Gontran is the only person who can speak on his behalf and Newcastle have not had an offer for him,” a spokesman told talkSPORT.
“Demba feels good at Newcastle. He has just started something there. There is a release clause in his contract but the figure will remain confidential.
“If a club wants to speak to Demba, then they must go to Newcastle first. We respect the process,” he finished.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he would like to sign the £30m rated Lille playmaker Eden Hazard, but he is constricted by a need to generate profit on a season-by-season basis.
The Belgian international looks set to leave the Ligue 1 champions in the summer, sparking a scramble between Europe’s leading clubs for his services.
The Gunners have a successful track record of buying talent from France under Wenger, and the Emirates Stadium trainer has praised Hazard’s considerable ability.
“I really like him (Hazard) and, for several reasons: it’s his creative power, his ability to misalign the opponent, his vision of the game and his consummate skill to address the last pass which make him a very interesting player,” Wenger stated according to Mirror Football.
Despite realising Hazard’s quality, Wenger revealed that he is required to make a certain amount of money each campaign to balance the books, which may limit his ability to bid for the attacking midfielder.
“You should know that each season, it is imperative to show a profit of between fifteen and twenty million pounds. I would add that the purpose of a coach is to always buy at a price he sees fit,” he concluded.
Arsenal can expect competition from the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Manchester City for Hazard’s services should they enter the race for his signature.
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It’s often an issue up for debate, with some fans seeing things in certain players, which evades others. The tribal world of football often leads us to defend a chosen clubs players beyond the realms of sanity at times, but the sight of your new signing, or former star performer obviously performing below the expected standards frustrates more than any other aspect of the beautiful game.
This list runs through 10 players who have, for various reasons, failed to live up to their reputations, consistently delivering displays which cause the fans to tear their own hair out or scream wildly at the television set.
As always there will be players who some feel should or shouldn’t have made the list, but as is the way football is world of debate and arguments. If we all agreed on everything it would be a very odd world indeed.
Click on Theo Walcott to unveil the top 10s
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Arsenal fans everywhere leapt for joy on Saturday afternoon, when Robin Van Persie latched with deadly precision onto Alex Song’s long arching through ball, and the final whistle was greeted with deafening sighs of relief, suggesting Arsenal have come out of recent games with credibility still very much intact. Some may say the Gunners have even turned the corner. The Milan-Sunderland week will forever haunt fans, almost as much as the Szczesny-Koscielny mix-up that saw Birmingham City lift the Carling Cup last term.
But with forthcoming league fixtures deemed ‘winnable’, potential transfers targets seemingly upbeat about summer moves and nearly turning over Milan in the Champions League last night, was there ever really a crisis at the North London club?
A win can work wonders, but two wins have the ability to get fans ever so carried away again once more. The Gunners fans have experienced exactly that. Two highly commendable victories against stellar opposition in Tottenham and Carling Cup victors Liverpool have bolted down the belief that Arsenal can actually do it and nail down that fourth spot this season, amidst a campaign which has been amongst the most inconsistent in Wenger’s tenure.
With Tottenham’s collapse in their respective last two league fixtures, Gunners fans would take the most pleasure from even catching their arch-rivals in third when seemingly just weeks ago, Spurs were out of sight and that there was a cavernous gap between the top three and everyone else.
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With the gap now representing just four points between the two clubs, Arsenal’s critics have been thrown a curveball with the North London’s clubs recent contrasting fortunes. With a recent profit of some reported £49.9 million and many media outlets reporting that the Lukas Podolski deal is as good as done, it seems that the power may be shifting back to the red half for the remaining months of the campaign. With Chelsea also unsettled or perhaps boosted via the departure of Andre Villas Boas, some are suggesting that Arsenal are best placed to secure Champions League qualification.
Robin Van Persie is in the form of his life, and whilst some players are still coasting for the Gunners, when the Dutchman is fed, he is finishing more often than not, papering gently over many of the cracks that the Gunners may have found themselves within if without the striker.
Of course, when you are winning, everything is rosy and Arsenal fans cannot be lulled in by the teams’ recent success. A week is a long time in football, and a few injuries to key men such as Szczesny or Van Persie or another ‘Swansea’ shock result can halt or lessen the clubs’ momentum going into May.
But there are green shoots of recovery in that a few of the long-term injuries are back in the first team fold. Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs have regained fitness, with Andre Santos deemed not too far away from a full recovery also. Furthermore, the Gunners will not have their hand forced in playing most definitely their best defender Thomas Vermaelen in the full-back positions where his talents aren’t best suited. Jack Wilshere too is still likely to figure at some point this term according to his manager but his return will be treated with the utmost care and consideration.
Arsenal face Newcastle United at the Emirates in the next Premier League game and a home defeat would spark up the ‘Wenger Out’ brigade once more. That’s just the way it is at the Emirates this campaign, and a sign of the immediacy and impatience in modern day football. The Gunners have been inconsistent and will have to be on their game to deny a spirited Magpies team who came back with great passion and commitment in the recent Tyne-Wear derby.
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But with Arsenal’s slump over for the time being, the calls of a crisis may have been a little premature. Arsenal crisis, what crisis?
Are Arsenal going to come good in the remaining months of the season or are there more troubles ahead? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
Alan Hansen was infamously ridiculed for his declaration that “you’ll never win anything with kids”. The immortal phrase was uttered on August 19, 1995 after a baby-faced Manchester United had lost their opening day fixture. We all know what happened next with the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and to a lesser extent the Neville brothers helping to inspire the Red Devils to a league and cup double. Hansen found himself with the contents of an omelette on his face but would he endure the same mockery if he repeated the phrase today?
In recent years we’ve seen Arsenal’s stars of the future fail to reach their projected heights whilst United’s success is epitomised by their continued reliance on the experience of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. The prospect of another ‘golden generation’ seems increasingly unlikely, with only a few standout players across the league ever really breaking through into the first-team, after life in the academy. Is it fair to say that despite pumping millions of pounds into academy football, it’s getting more and more difficult for players to establish themselves in the senior squad?
At present, the only real taste of professional football a young starlet is likely to enjoy (at a Premier League club) is through participation in the Carling Cup. The competition is bit like first-team football with training wheels on, there’s a certain degree of intensity and atmosphere but it’s still perceived as a distraction from the league campaign.
Without any disrespect to the lower league clubs, an away tie against the likes of Barnet isn’t going to be too dissimilar from the standard of their usual fixture in the reserves. The sad fact is that even if a team manages to progress to a stage where winning the trophy becomes a real possibility then these youngsters will always make way for their senior team-mates.
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To put things in perspective, in the 1990 FA Cup final the average age of the Manchester United and Crystal Palace starting line-ups was around 26. Two decades later when Portsmouth played Chelsea the two starting line-ups featured 11 players over 30, with the average age rising to well over 29.
Speaking of Chelsea, their turbulent twelve-month period is unlikely to encourage any other clubs to disregard their aging squad members and promote their younger counterparts. Andre Villas-Boas tried to install a drastic overhaul during his brief spell as manager but met fierce opposition from the stands and their idolised senior squad members. Sunday’s convincing FA Cup semi-final victory over rivals Tottenham was exemplified by the performances of Terry, Drogba and Lampard, which will undoubtedly leave promising talents Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu even further adrift of a regular position in the starting line-up.
During his time at the Bridge, Villas-Boas suggested that the Premier League should be allowed to field reserve sides in the Championship, akin to the set-up in Spain. However, League chief Andy Williamson perfectly sums up why this could never happen;
“Our clubs are constituted as sovereign entities which represent their town or city with pride, rather than being a subsidiary of another club in another part of the country,
“These are senior professional football matches that matter – they are not just platforms for developing other clubs’ players.” (BBC)
The simple fact of the matter is that the reserve leagues aren’t competitive enough to help continue the development of young players. The demands for success from fans, the media and even the chairman will mean managers are increasingly reluctant to test these individuals in the first-team. Perhaps the advent of the Elite Player Performance Plan will help spark a transformation and as the country’s best young talent gradually migrate to the top-flight, we may find ourselves with reserve football that is the equivalent of the U21’s at international level.
All is not lost for our current crop of young stars, as loan moves across the divisions have proven an effective way to gain experience of the physical demands of professional football. However, unless such players continue to shine week in week out – Wilshere at Bolton or Welbeck at Sunderland – then they’re unlikely to find any further opportunities at their doorstep once they return to their parent club.
It’s certainly easier to break through at Championship level with an increased number of games and significantly less competition for places. The exceptional players will attract the attention of the Premier League elite and will often find themselves at the heart of a high profile move. In spite of the recent success story of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, many find themselves struggling to adapt (see: Connor Wickham, Marvin Sordell and Carl Jenkinson).
As the financial implications for failure become ever more apparent, a reliance on success in the here and now will always stunt the development of the future of tomorrow. Competitions like the Carling Cup will allow for brief cameos on the centre stage but when teams are criticised and even fined for fielding ‘weaker’ teams in the Premier League, it’s difficult to see many youngsters being handed a starring role.
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Come find me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’m currently watching that 1990 FA Cup final, wondering what could have been…
You can picture it now: Michel Platini taking a few practise swings with his new Thor-like hammer; the letters “FFP” emblazoned across the side of it.
Does this summer represent the last chance for clubs to indulge in the heavy spending that has become part of football over the past decade? Or will Platini be forced to keep his hammer from seeing the light of day by forceful club owners?
It’s hard to imagine football without reckless spending. Even if Uefa do follow through with their plans for Financial Fair Play, you’d still expect there to be a few big signings flying about. But on the other hand, Michel Platini’s reputation is on the line here. He and Uefa have been heavily persistent that this new model will be implemented and enforced with an iron fist.
A level playing field and the opportunity for every club at some stage to really have a crack at a league title is a good idea. The American leagues thrive off that sort of rotation in competition. In the past five years there have been five different winners of the World Series, four different Super Bowl champions, and five different Stanley Cup winners. Salary caps are in place to enforce a similar ruling to what Uefa are advocating, and teams are forced, for the most part, to build their squads through draft systems.
Sure there’s money flying around in the form of monster contracts, but the transfer fees that are involved in football, coupled with the contracts, help to create a greater disparity between those at the top and bottom.
With the new rulings in place, would we see less outside investment in football teams? Probably. After all, most investors don’t pick up football teams to sit around waiting years for a team to slowly, patiently, and according to the rules, build their potential title winning squads. They speed up the process through the strength of their chequebook.
For the most part, none of them are fans of their football club. They either buy into the club to make a profit somewhere down the line, or, in the case of one or two in the minority, have so much money that the club is their own real life Football Manager.
But that’s the point, isn’t it? You build an empire or a footballing dynasty through investment in the transfer market. Clubs like Ajax, who make excellent use of their youth academy, aren’t going to be super powers in European football any time soon. And even Barcelona, who follow a similar ideals, have splashed big in the market.
In many ways it would be great to have a more level playing field across European football, but isn’t it still a bit of a romantic idea? How long will it take teams at the bottom of the food chain to catch up with those at the top?
The Bundesliga is an excellent benchmark where clubs look to balance their books more efficiently. They don’t indulge in big spending like the rest of their European counterparts do. For the most part, clubs are owned by fans who take up 51 per cent of the club and, in turn, block investors from taking over the way they do elsewhere.
A fee paid of around £15 million for Marco Reus by Borussia Dortmund is seen as one of the larger fees from a German perspective. In countries such as England and Spain, it’s the norm for a fee like that to exchange hands.
Germany is a good example of where FFP is in effect to a degree. The league have shown that there is a possibility to remain competitive across the board instead of limiting it to a few clubs, and the national team have been able to thrive off the success of clubs’ youth academies.
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The thing about this Financial Fair Play is that you’d like to see it in practice before you can definitively say how much of an impact it will have. The idea is great, but there’s still too much in football weighing it down.
The big-money transfer, for example, could still be sanctioned without much fear of Uefa coming down on clubs. The spreading out of the transfer fee has always been the norm with clubs, so where a club pays £30 million for a player, that fee is split over the duration of the player’s contract. Coupled with the wages of that player, the total expense for that one transfer still totals to less than £30 million in one year.
It’s perhaps more a case of reckless spending which will see it’s final days. There will continue to be big spending because there are clubs who can legitimately afford it. But the case of spending £100 million for three or four players may be a little harder to disguise.