West Ham capped off a great week with their second win in seven days, as they followed up the impressive victory against Liverpool to cruise past Stoke 3-0 at Upton Park and in turn move out of the Premier League relegation zone.
It has to be said that Avram Grant’s men were gifted the opener by Stoke, as Demba Ba capitalised on a defensive mix-up to give the Hammers the lead after 20 minutes. 10 minutes later it was 2-0 thanks to a Manuel Da Costa header, a two-goal cushion that West Ham took into the break. They were tested more after the break, but managed to keep a clean sheet and Thomas Hitzlsperger continued his good form since his return from injury with a trademark strike to put the icing on the cake.
So what FIVE things did we learn about West Ham today?
Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle believes that central defender Gary Cahill has a big future on the international stage.
The 24-year-old missed out on selection for the World Cup finals this summer, but is expected to be called up by coach Fabio Capello if the Italian decides to make changes following England's dismal performances in South Africa.
Coyle told the Bolton News:"I still think he was very unlucky not to be in that squad for the World Cup. Michael Dawson and Ledley King are great players, but I would also put Gary in that bracket.
"He showed such guts to get over his injury and get back to top form. I know people will accuse me of bias or whatever, but from a purely footballing view I would definitely have given him a shot.
"Regardless of whether there are major changes, or people hanging up their boots, I honestly think that Gary will go on and earn international caps for England.
"He's good enough right now, it's not as if we're talking about whether he will improve and mature in the future.
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"Hopefully, he can hit the ground running this summer and get back into the England squad. Once he gets his chance, I'm positive he'll take it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
So, it’s derby week. Everyone loves derby week. What self-respecting City fan doesn’t want to read endless articles by ex-United players (and current ones too) telling us how you can’t buy history or class or how the match doesn’t matter to them, and on and on and on, all merely a warm up until Alex Fergurson starts his legendary mind games.
Align this with Paul Scholes’s autobiography being out and I expect we won’t be able to shut up the notoriously shy and private family man in the lead up to Sunday. Oh Paul, how I yearn to hear your views on City’s emergence, it really will complete my week. Not that it’s all one-sided of course.
So we are treated to five days of tiresome, banal interviews with ex-players, ex-managers, or current players talking PR-fed nonsense and endless clichés like it being another game at the end of the day and the lads are over the moon at the thought of winning and sick as a parrot with the thought of defeat and so on. Sky Sports News will wheel out some fancy new graphics with accompanying bombastic music and the charade is complete.
It started on Wednesday with a laughable Daily Mail article, by that notoriously shy “Sportsmail Reporter” who is too modest to put his name to the endless guff he, or they produce. The article claimed that Anders Lindegaard had claimed that the Manchester derby was not that important – a complete lie, he said nothing of the sort, simply pointing out the obvious- that it won’t decide anything at this stage of the season. Sadly Nigel de Jong was soon being quoted saying City were the top dogs now – I didn’t open the article, he probably said nothing of the sort, merely mentioning the league table. Inevitably one of the old guard had to have a word or two, and it was Ryan Giggs who broke ranks first, making some laughable comments about Mario Balotelli:
“He is a little strange….. god knows how many fines he has received in England! No one except ManchesterCity fans really like him. ..”
If only he could cheat on his wife or girlfriend with a succession of women like most footballers do, and stop embarrassing himself by getting the odd parking ticket instead (which was a made-up story anyway). And if Giggs had the remotest idea of what football fans in this country think, he might be aware that Mr Balotelli seems rather popular with many opposition fans, due to being two pepperonis short of a pizza.
It has always been thus. Before the derby that fell close to the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, Paul Scholes had plenty to say, as fears rose that the minute’s silence may be disrupted:
“There is always that few who might cause problems. It would reflect badly on their club but that’s not stopped them over the years.”
Rick Boardman of the band Delphic said in a recent interview, talking about City fans before a derby:
“They care more about us losing than winning games themselves – I just don’t get that. It could all change but I’ve got confidence in our club. And whatever happens, we’ll always have the history. “
Today we see Mario Balotelli proclaiming the Manchester derby will soon be the biggest in the world, Chris Smalling discussing Aguero, Micah Richards claiming United are frightened of City and various other fascinating insights (such as some tactical advice for City on Sunday from Robbie Savage – cheers Robbie).
The media don’t help. After all, Sky Sports News will hype up anything. If the intensity of a Norwich v Ipswich match can be compared to the last days of Rome, then a Manchester derby is perfect fodder for them, especially if it falls into one of their Grand Slam Sundays, Super Sundays, Magnificent Mondays, Showdown Showcase Specials or World War Wednesdays.(I may have made a couple of them up). What’s more, as the internet has taken over the world, papers have more room to fill, with as much news available as they’ve always had.
Of course it’s not all bad – derby week can offer the odd nugget of gold, such as positive in-depth interviews with managers and players (there are ones with Balotelli, Young and Mancini this week), but please spare us Lou Macari’s views on City’s money. Every man has his breaking point.
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But the last word should go to the The Daily Telegraph’s pointless feature about Wayne Rooney’s bicycle-kick goal against City last season. Fans and players commented on WHERE THEY WERE at that historic moment, but the go-to man must be David Prosperi, the vice-president of Aon Global PR.
“Not only was the Aon logo extremely visible throughout the multiple global TV replays and photo images when it happened, but years from now, when the goal against Manchester City is shown time and again as perhaps one of the greatest of all time, you will still see the Aon name. That one image epitomised the value of Aon’s relationship with Manchester United.”
AC Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso has apologised for losing his cool in his side’s Champions League defeat on Tuesday.
Tenacious midfielder Gattuso was involved in several incidents during the Italian giants’ 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham, which means Milan will need to win at White Hart Lane to make the Champions League quarter-finals.
The game became ugly when AC Milan’s Mathieu Flamini only received a yellow card for a crude two-footed lunge on Tottenham’s Vedran Corluka, who had to be substituted.
Gattuso traded words with Tottenham’s assistant manager Joe Jordan before shoving him in the face. Tempers flared again after the final whistle, with Gattuso head-butting the Spurs coach.
The retired Italy international had to be restrained by team-mates and escorted down the tunnel. He is expected to face a sanction from UEFA.
“I lost control,” Gattuso told reporters after the match.
“There is no excuse for what I have done. I take my responsibilities for that.”
“I was nervous. I didn’t want to argue with players and I did it with him, but I was wrong to do what I have done.”
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp did not want to comment on the incident at the post-match press conference, but was quoted as telling The Daily Mail: “He picked on the wrong man there. I know who I’d pick between Joe and Gattuso anyway … Joe all night long.”
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Redknapp believes the incident showed Milan were ‘rattled’ – a fair achievement for a club who are making their first appearance in the Champions League.
“Milan lost their heads at the end there – they were rattled, for sure – and I guess that’s a good sign,” he said.
Gattuso also picked up a yellow card in the match, meaning he will miss the second-leg clash at White Hart Lane on March 9 regardless of any UEFA punishment.
In fact, he is very much representative of what football is at present; a theatrical, results driven business. Where Mourinho is concerned, football itself fades into an easily ignored backdrop: Victor Valdes completed more passes than any outfield Inter player, Barcelona ended up with 555 passes compared to Inter’s 67 and enjoyed 86% possession…vitriol and endless statistics have been conflated, corroborated and spewed yet the only stat that matters is the number 3. This is the number of trophies Mourinho’s Inter team finished 2009-2010 with.
Any club Mourinho has managed has had a very simple aim: win. Just win. The directive contained nothing on beauty, nothing on the aesthetic representation of a higher ideological belief, nothing on art, or integrity, or anything except the endgame itself. Winning is a finality that does not discriminate against form. And it is something he has, not just a habit of doing, but a compulsion. Domestic titles in three countries (champion of Portugal twice, champion of England twice, champion of Italy twice and this is all discounting the ‘minor’ cups), a UEFA Cup victory, and two Champions League successes – with different teams – all within an eight year period. It is absolutely ridiculous. Mourinho cannot be ascribed the mantle of ‘anti-football’ when it is clear he represents the most marketable, most sought after, and most valued asset in the professional game: a veritable guarantee for success.
What Mourinho is, before every derogatory epithet the press and people can affix to his name, is a great tactical manager. To think otherwise, given his repeated achievements, is honestly baffling. If it were really that easy then why haven’t more attempted to even vaguely replicate? ‘His teams are all worth hundreds of millions of pounds’ is the most common argument. Porto weren’t. His Chelsea team remained largely unchanged but consecutive years followed without a Premier League crown. At Inter this year six of the starting eleven (Lucio, Motta, Sneijder, Pandev, Eto’o, Milito) are in their debut season, meaning he bought them. This year’s team is a Mourinho team; last year’s was the one he inherited. To introduce six new players into the team and create immediate success is indicative of his greatest talent that perhaps isn’t as measurable as tactics, money spent, and trophies won: individual player management.
The bond he creates with his players is probably rooted in the simplest of psychoanalytical theories: create a common enemy and the followers forego their differences, focus more willingly, band together and are thus galvanised. The siege mentality he creates whereby it is his men who are the universally persecuted is transfixing. More so than any other manager he has a natural ability to garner absolute obedience – even more, it is impassioned acquiescence. And this is where I think maybe the bravado, the ego, and the function of his personal theatrics is most overlooked.
At Chelsea he was the self proclaimed Special One. At Inter, in the Bernabeu, the Sky cameras panned to his solitary figure doing a lap of honour while the players celebrated with the trophy; we are all so enamoured and brimming with opprobrium at the man that we are at the whims of his greatest deceit. He leaves himself as the sole proprietor of his own success and failure – the team is not to blame. At Chelsea he intentionally magnified the pressure on his own reputation and the function was to detract from the team (arrogant, no doubt, but with a degree of foresight and mediation). It’s probably why his players love him so much.
And now, with every conquest and every achievement he is adding to that first proclamation of being the Special One. He has made himself the entertainment, the orchestrator and – if he fails – the culprit. That second leg at Barcelona, the only place that derides his reputation with superciliousness, was probably his greatest achievement: Mourinho defeated Barcelona, not Inter. Finger aloft, his celebration positively screamed I am the sole reason for your demise and soldered the point home to every Catalan fan who pejoratively tagged him as ‘the translator’.
All of this I can concede without ever liking the football his teams play. I don’t have to like what he stands for but cannot be blinkered against what he has achieved. Johan Cruyff perfectly encapsulates the differing ideology at work in the game at present – something which is more an indictment on football at present and its directives than it is on Mourinho as a manager:
“It’s better to lose with your own vision than win with someone else’s.”
The moment teams start believing this is the moment Mourinho will be less the spectacle and football, as an aesthetic and as an art, returns to being the means and the ends.
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Brendan Rodgers was left fuming at referee Phil Dowd yesterday, following the decision to dismiss Daniel Agger – as well as award two penalties in the space of minutes that ended any hope of a Liverpool comeback at the Hawthorns. The new Reds boss felt that Dowd was conned by Shane Long on two occasions and the soft red card knocked the stuffing out of the team – in a game that they were certainly in, before a mad five minutes in the second half. Rodgers believes that Liverpool will face more setbacks in the coming season, as he works on re-shaping the squad.
Elsewhere in the news Alan Pardew has apologised for shoving the linesman; Roberto Mancini thinks there are plenty of teams that could win the title, while Adebayor looks to have cleared the way for a permanent switch to Tottenham.
[divider]
Headlines
Man City manager Roberto Mancini feels ‘four or five’ sides could win the league this year – [Guardian]
Michael Carrick insists Manchester United will come back stronger than ever this season, given the events of last year – [Guardian]
Despite youngsters’ impressive display against Italy, England manager sees his senior citizens playing a key role on road to Brazil – [Daily Telegraph]
Alan Pardew has apologised for pushing a referee’s assistant Peter Kirkup that resulted in the Newcastle United manager being sent to the stands – [Sky Sports]
Frank Lampard enters the final year of his Chelsea contract with manager Roberto Di Matteo hoping player and club can agree a new deal – [Daily Mail]
Arsenal have confirmed the sale of midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona for £15m – [Guardian]
Brendan Rodgers endured horrendous start at Liverpool helm as club suffered heaviest opening day defeat in top flight since 1937 – [Daily Telegraph]
Emmanuel Adebayor is set to complete a permanent move to Tottenham before the end of the month – [Daily Mail]
Brendan Rodgers is ready to place a bid of £7.5 million for the highly-rated Birmingham goalkeeper – [Mirror]
Newcastle are braced for bids for Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye, with Chelsea and Manchester United keen on both midfielders – [Mirror]
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PLEASE NOTE – click on the sources to view the original article
The House of Commons has set a date for the debate surrounding confidential documents relating to the Hillsborough stadium disaster. An online petition has passed the 100,000 signatures mark, requiring the motion to be automatically added to the agenda for October 17th. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who was the club’s player-manager at the time of the disaster, has signed the petition, along with former boss Rafael Benitez, who told the Daily Mail he had “signed the petition already and have been supporting that decision”.
In other news this morning, Joey Barton’s ‘free’ transfer to QPR has sparked controversy after rumours began of massive payments to agents; Sir Alex Ferguson has dubbed striker Wayne Rooney the ‘white Pele’; Swiss side FC Sion step up their legal campaign to stay in the Europa League; and
Hillsborough files set to be debated in House of Commons – Daily Mail
FC Sion seek Platini’s arrest after UEFA re-instate Celtic – Daily Mail
FA asked to probe Barton agent fees – The Sun
Ferguson: Rooney is the white Pele – The Sun
City’s Champions’ League winners the key for Mancini – Daily Mirror
Rice: I missed having Arsene on the bench – Daily Mirror
Villas-Boas ‘forgives’ Torres following outstanding performance – The Sun
Blackburn fans planning massive anti-Kean march this weekend – Daily Mirror
Defoe: Adebayor the perfect partner – The Independent
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Woodgate will miss long Europa League trips to guard against injury – Daily Mail
Carson Yeung’s arrest leaves Birmingham unsure of finances – The Guardian
DJ Campbell backs Barton to succeed at Loftus Road – The Guardian
Former England coach Steve McClaren is keen on an immediate return to management after being sacked by Bundesliga club Wolfsburg.
McClaren, 49, joined Wolfsburg in May 2010 after winning the Dutch Eredivisie title with FC Twente.
The Englishman leaves Wolfsburg 12th on the Bundesliga table, one point off the relegation zone after winning just once in their last 11 league matches.
The team also made an embarrassing exit from the DFB Pokal Cup at the hands of second tier outfit Energie Cottbus.
“Naturally, I am hugely disappointed that my time as head coach of VfL Wolfsburg has come to an end,” McClaren said in a statement.
“Since I came to the club, I have worked really hard to implement changes to bring stability and success on the field. I believe we have been making good progress and have only lost two of the last ten games in the Bundesliga.”
“Unfortunately, although I have enjoyed a good personal relationship with the senior management of the club and general manager, Dieter Hoeness, whom I fully respect, we have not been able to settle on a formula that I thought we needed to bring long-term success and therefore sadly the time has come for me and the club to move on.”
“I now look forward to the challenge of securing another management opportunity in football.”
McLaren’s assistant Pierre Littbarski has been appointed caretaker manager and will take charge of the team for the visit of Hamburg on Saturday.
Another former Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh will be leading the opposition at the Volkswagen Arena.
Veh took over from title-winning manager Felix Magath in July 2009, but lasted just six months in charge before suffering the same fate as McLaren.
“Of course it wasn’t nice back then,” Veh said.
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“I still think we could have accomplished a lot more but as I always say, we coaches have to live with that. There’s always situations when things don’t go well and the coach is held accountable for that and is the first in line to go, even though that is not always the right decision.”
Veh believes Wolfsburg could prove to be an unknown quantity in their first outing under new leadership.
“There always is the chance that due to a change new energy is set free,” he said.
“But if it were this easy then there would be changes every three months. What remains is that we don’t know how they will play. Maybe they will have some new ideas.”
Not so long ago the name Jack Rodwell would have been circled and underlined multiple times as it sat proudly on top of many transfer shortlists. However, as season after season was curtailed by injury he slowly faded from the print of gossip columns, which is why his move to Manchester City caught many by surprise. Was this a case of Everton trying desperately to balance their books? Had David Moyes lost faith in his precocious talent? Or did Roberto Mancini fear he would spontaneously combust if he didn’t spend more of the many millions at his disposal?
The initial reaction to this transfer seems to be one of ridicule, with many criticising Mancini’s decision to purchase a player with a similar medical history to Owen Hargreaves. Everton chairman Bill Kenwright came under fire for again allowing the sale of a promising youngster whilst a wise crack about Rodwell ‘retiring’ from first-team football spread like wildfire on Twitter. However, dwell on this transfer deal for more than a minute and you’ll soon realise that it benefits all parties involved.
The best aspect about this transfer is the fact that it isn’t built on false promises. Mancini has already stated that Rodwell will have to improve considerably before he is competing consistently for a first-team place whilst the player himself insisted, “the hard work starts today.” This is a move fuelled not by greed but by ambition, perhaps forced upon him by the club but nevertheless he appears determined to silence any doubters.
“I relish the opportunity of playing with some of the best players in the world and continuing my development. I look forward to working with Mr Mancini and his coaching staff and ultimately playing in front of the City fans at the Etihad Stadium.” (mcfc.co.uk)
Everton have already lost key players during the summer, with veteran talisman Tim Cahill hopping across the pond and underrated centre-back Joseph Yobo finally sealing a move to Fenerbache. The loss of Rodwell will inevitably hurt the most, a popular figure on the terraces that never had a prolonged injury free spell in order to fulfil his potential. Moyes is once again the victim of his own success having continued to succeed despite being forced to sell before he can strengthen but perhaps Rodwell’s departure will mean other vital players like Leighton Baines can remain at Goodison.
Where does this leave Rodwell? What convinced Mancini to spend such a sizeable sum on another midfielder? The former Evertonian was long thought to be on Sir Alex Ferguson’s radar so dare I suggest this is another element to Mancini’s mind games. I personally believe it runs deeper than that, with the Italian identifying that Rodwell could become a key player for Manchester City should one particular player pick up an injury.
Rodwell doesn’t have the brute strength to displace Barry or De Jong as the holding midfielder, he doesn’t have the capability to play out wide like Adam Johnson or Milner and neither does he possess the creative flair to compete alongside Nasri or Silva. Who are we missing? Yaya Toure, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the league and someone I believe Mancini hopes Rodwell can learn from and one day emulate.
Whenever I have had the pleasure of watching Rodwell play, he has always struck me as a complete midfielder, blessed with the technique and tenacity to pull the strings in the centre of the pitch. He reminded me of Gareth Barry under Martin O’Neill during their successful time together at Aston Villa. Last year, despite making just 14 appearances, he ended the season as Everton’s best passer with an accuracy of 87%, with 75% precision in the final third. As we already know, like many teams across the continent Mancini adores his possession football tactics, a style of play that Rodwell should slip seamlessly into.
Rodwell, now 21-years-old spent the majority of last season as the poster boy for Team GB before an inevitable injury cost him his place in Stuart Pearce’s Olympic squad. His omission could be a blessing in disguise given that the competition served only to demoralise a nation further on the international stage. It has however enabled him to have a full pre-season with Everton and in turn prompted Roy Hodgson to call him up to the senior England squad for the friendly against Italy.
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A taste of first-team football on Wednesday could well prove to be the exact kind of inspiration he needs to make a success of himself in Manchester. He may not play week in week out – when has he ever? – but there are few better ‘squad players’ teams in the Premier League can call upon, than an eager to impress Jack Rodwell.
Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’m currently laughing at Martin Jol’s *reported* plans to bid £3m for David N’Gog.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has spoken of his happiness at his side’s 1-0 win over Swansea on Saturday, stating it was vital for the Gunners to get their first win of the season.
After just one point from their first three games, and the 8-2 humiliation against Manchester United in their last outing, The Gunners were under pressure to get a win against the newly promoted team.
An Andrey Arshavin goal five minutes before half-time gave the London side a 1-0 victory, but the home team were helped by a mistake Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm.
Despite this, the French trainer was pleased with the victory.
“It was vital for us to win the game. I think we started quite well and slowly the nerves took over. We played handbrake-ish, restrictive in the second half,” Wenger told Sky Sports.
“It’s not often that we pass the ball back to the goalkeeper from halfway. We just wanted to get over the line. We didn’t manage the second goal and any mistake and then you don’t win the game – a game that we absolutely had to win.
“Swansea make it difficult for you because they keep the ball well and are quick on the flanks,” he continued.
In a new look Arsenal team, Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta made their first appearances for their new club, and their boss was happy with the manner of the performances.
“Mertesacker was calm and composed – he leads the line well but needs to adapt to the pace of the game. Arteta played well overall, especially in the first half. You could see that he will bring us some technical security,” he praised.
Russia international Arshavin has had a dip in form of late, but Wenger has backed the goalscorer to get back to his best.
“Arshavin has a very good spirit. He had lost confidence and has a good attitude in training – people sometimes think he doesn’t care. That’s not true at all, he cares very much and he had just lost confidence – you could see he was himself again,” he concluded.
Arsenal will now face a tough test in midweek as their Champions League campaign starts on Tuesday with a trip to Germany to take on Bundesliga holders Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.
[divider]
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