For a player that was supposedly well on his way towards irreversible decline last season, even Patrice Evra’s fiercest critics would have a job digging into the Frenchman this term. The ex-Monaco man may have resembled a figure of uncertainty within the Manchester United back four last season, but from what we’ve seen so far, he seems back to his effervescent best.
While some were perhaps overzealous in their critique of a man who played 37 league games for a United side that ultimately only lost the title on goal difference, the 31-year-old was certainly lacking in the authority and assuredness that we’d become so used to seeing since he arrived in England back in 2006. And that’s putting it mildly.
But this season we’ve seen something resembling the real Patrice Evra back in a Manchester United shirt and he seems to have brought his shooting boots along for the first time in living memory, too. Evra has put away four goals so far this term and he’d probably have you know that tally should be five, following the awarding of United’s winner against Liverpool to his defensive counterpart Nemanja Vidic.
One bad season doesn’t make you a bad player and at times last term, while the frustration aimed towards him wasn’t by any means embraced by anything approaching the majority of the Old Trafford crowd, Evra’s performances last season were at times, some way off the high level of expectation he’d set for himself.
With a lack of anything in the way of genuine competition at left-back, complacency was a word that seems to have been banded about at times torwards Evra last term and rumours linking Sir Alex Ferguson with a swoop for Leighton Baines seemed to gain in prominence as the campaign wore on. Was this the proverbial kick up the backside the Frenchman needed? Who knows, but either way United fans have been treated to a refreshed and reformed defender this term.
Yet while many seem happy to champion Evra as king of the left-backs once more, it’s worth noting that in the Premier League’s top ten, only West Bromwich Albion possess an inferior defensive record to the 29 goals that Fergie’s men have shipped so far. That’s ten more than second placed Manchester City, third placed Chelsea and dead equal with Martin O’Neill’s 14th placed Sunderland.
You hardly have to have even watched much of United this season to gauge that that their seven-point Premier League lead has been based upon irrepressible attacking gusto rather than solid defensive steel and a Robin van Persie-backed 56 goal haul for the side is homage to their irresistible form in front of goal.
Although Patrice Evra has hardly got off scott free for the barrage of flack that Fergie’s back line has taken over the last couple of months, the popular area of blame has tended to lie with an ever-changing central defensive partnership and an uncertain presence in between the sticks, with neither David de Gea or Anders Lindegaard yet to solidify themselves as number one at Old Trafford.
Yet while Evra hasn’t been without his faults this season, from a defensive perspective anyway, he’s been as good as any of his more vaulted peers within the Barclays Premier League.
Both the aforementioned Baines and even Chelsea’s soon-to-be out of contract Ashley Cole have been linked with moves to Old Trafford in recent weeks. Although it might surprise some to hear that Evra has won more aerial duels, made more successful tackles, blocked more shots and made more clearances than either Cole or Baines. Not bad for a man still dubbed to be something of a weak link in some quarters this season.
Indeed, Evra’s ability in the air this season has been a hugely underrated weapon in the United defense, with the left-back winning a dominating 48 out of 66 aerial battles, compared with Baines (8/18) and Cole (11/21). If the Everton and Chelsea duo are the yardstick as to which the league’s left-backs must be measured against, then Evra’s not doing too badly for himself, is he?
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Perhaps surprisingly, it’s going forward in which Evra hasn’t quite been firing on all cylinders. His personal contribution to Ferguson’s side with four goals can only be applauded, but in terms of his wider play, he’s maybe not quite the marauding force of old.
Out of his 56 attempted crosses, only 14 of them have hit the target, and while that statistic in itself can be somewhat misleading, Baines’ 66 accurate balls out of 205 attempts tell a story in itself. Still, the revered attacking prowess of Chelsea’s Cole has produced a sorry three accurate crosses out of an attempted 29.
Statistics will never tell the entire story but even if you’re looking to pick holes in Evra’s all round play, defensively the Frenchman has more than held his own amongst the generally more favoured duo of Leighton Baines and Ashley Cole. And for United fans, that’s all that matters.
Naturally, Patrice Evra is never going to be the player he was at the peak of his powers a few years ago, but fans need to move on from the season endured last term and start focusing on the present. Because if they do, they might just realize that for however unfashionable Evra is compared to the all singing, all dancing Leighton Baines, they still possess one of the finest left-backs in the country.
In late November there were several who had consigned QPR to the dead and buried pile. Relegation from the Premier League appeared to be the only option.Then arrived Harry Redknapp. The West London outfit have now transformed themselves into a side capable of survival.
If the Hoops become another Harry Houdini success story they can start planning for the long term. The project at Loftus Road is an ambitious one but will it be one for Redknapp to carry out? Will he want to put all his eggs in one basket again and commit to the club for the foreseeable future if they get relegated? Would he stay even if they pulled off the miracle escape? I am not so sure.
The 66 year old will not have forgotten how he left White Hart Lane under a dark cloud. There were few Lilywhite supporters that shed a tear when the axe was wielded upon him. They felt he had run his course and taken the club as far as he could.This must have left a bitter taste in the mouth. Will Redknapp risk being so cruelly discarded once again? He may be a hero at QPR now, that can all soon change.
The frustration at Tottenham towards Redknapp was born out of their manager batting his eyelids elsewhere at the England job. This would be a warning sign to be careful to not make the same mistake twice but this is not just your normal Premier League boss. Redknapp is a creature of habit. He must be painfully aware that he will not have many more chances to manage in the upper echelons of World Football again and can’t turn down taking a risk. This is why you can see him being motivated should a big job opportunity arise for him once again. The roles he would truly desire is set to a very small list of clubs, but what would happen should one of these come calling?
There may be several QPR supporters who think I am barking mad to suggest he would leave after giving him his chance to rebuild his name but they may forget the man we are discussing here.
Harry Redknapp is a football manager who is tactician on and off the field who has always thought of his career prospects first. He after all had no fear in walking out in Southampton when they were consigned to the Championship. Then when he saw a sinking ship on the horizon at Portsmouth, he did not hesitate to drive away to London. It is not necessarily fair to criticise him for this, even though several football fans will, but it does show what he is, ruthless.
There was always an inevitability that Redknapp would be back in the English top flight. The QPR position was the right fit at the right time. The R’s had not won a Premier League game all season and things could only get better. You also suspect that the close proximity of the January transfer wind which coincided with his appointment was a factor.The Winter Window gave the “wheeler dealer” plenty of scope to take punts on those who he saw as “proper” players up for a relegation scrap. He needed no regard for the future.
When Redknapp suggested he was keen on the Ukraine managerial position, just before his appointment in West London, it forced the hand of Tony Fernandes to move in. The QPR owner could not take a risk on one of the few managers that could lead them to survival not walking through the doors. Every man and his dog knew that Redknapp would never go to Ukraine. It was a show of power though that he will use whatever he can as leverage to preserve his managerial name and keep it in shining lights. It is certainly food for thought how often Redknapp though now mentions how great his working relationship is with Mr Fernandes so regularly to the media. Future employers always would want great communication with their manager.
Mark Hughes may have been lambasted for signing mercenaries in January, but Harry Redknapp did too. The difference was that the present QPR boss had a far easier sell to the players he brought in to ensure they were motivated. Loic Remy and Chris Samba have come in for ludicrous and large transfer fees, but if you look at the bigger picture they are in no lose situations.
If they play to their potential they could keep QPR safe which would be satisfying but regardless of how the R’s do they are putting themselves in the shop window.Would you be surprised if Redknapp admitted to those he signed that he was also using the club as a tool to put himself in the media spotlight once again? yes, but nobody would be shocked if that is what he is doing.
Remy and Samba know if QPR go down that they will be in demand and could earn themselves moves to clubs that did not even remember they existed six months ago. The situation is the same for their manager at the helm. Even if survival is attained in the summer, the squad requires a huge face lift. Does Redknapp have the stomach for that fight for the next few seasons? That is debatable. There could be several options which could lead him to push the exit door once more.
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The Chelsea manager’s position is seemingly up for grabs in the summer. He has seemingly switched across from one deadly rival to another before. They currently have Rafael Benitez at the Helm who they never suspected would be leading the Blues into battle and if Redknapp moved there you have seen stranger.
Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal may also be up in the summer and Redknapp’s CV would shine over others and North London is not foreign territory to him.
I may be speculating about clubs that the QPR boss could end up at, although there is one thing that I can be fairly certain on. This is that if he were to stay at Loftus Road for the long term I would be more shocked than if he were to pull of Premier League safety this campaign.
The transfer rumours about what could be the biggest move of the summer – Gareth Bale signing for Real Madrid – have brought to the table the name of Gonzalo Higuain, who could be used as a bargaining chip in Los Blancos’ attempt to land the Premier League star. Far from being a trick from the Spanish giants to reduce Bale’s value, Tottenham could be making the best of the deal if El Pipita ends up showing his class at White Hart Lane.
Far away from the ‘Galactico’ label – he is too humble for that – Higuain seems condemned to prove himself over and over with Real Madrid. Perhaps because of the fact that, the Argentinian has learnt in football opportunity knocks but once, and has acquired an ability to convert minutes played into goals that very few strikers can compete with.
In December 2006 and after impressing for a short period of time with River Plate, a 19-year-old called Gonzalo Higuain arrived at the Bernabeu with the difficult task of replacing Brazilian legend Ronaldo. The expectations were quite high and in his first season the youngster only showed skills, hard work and a more than concerning difficulty to score goals. Far from impressing anyone with 2 goals in 23 games, he was nicknamed Igualin (igual means equal in Spanish), in a sarcastic reference to how similar the new starlet was compared to Il Fenomeno.
[cat_link cat=”tottenham” type=”list”]
Higuain could have been one more in the long-list of talents that pass through Real Madrid without leaving a mark because of the lack of patience of fans and media, but his stubborn nature made him stay and prove everyone wrong. Regularly coming on as a substitute – he has been living in the shadow of Van Nistelrooy, Raul and Benzema, among others – he started banging in the goals and his scoring averages would often make the attacking starter blush. Six years and 115 goals later, no one doubts his talent.
The 2012-13 season is not being any different for El Pipita, as the number nine position is shared between him and Benzema, with Mourinho often opting for the Frenchman as a starter in many important games. Nevertheless, the Argentinian has managed to bag 11 La Liga goals in 19 appearances, with an average of more than one goal every two games.
Playing as a sub or substituted when playing as a starter, statistics become more relevant when we look at the minutes played. Considering the time he’s spent on the pitch, Higuain only needs a bit longer than one game (115 minutes) to score a goal. This means he would be hitting 20 league goals at this stage of the season if he had the same playing time as Cristiano Ronaldo. Enough to fight with the best of Premier League top scorers.
Having said that, Higuain does not respond to the classic profile of a goal-hunter. In fact, he is not a scorer as much as he is a goal-chance generator. With a selfless attitude uncommon in a striker, the 25-year-old possesses an outstanding ability to create spaces for his team mates. Unlike many others, he would make a run with the absolute certainty that the ball will not land at his feet, but knowing that his move will increase the collective chance of success.
Adapted to Villas-Boas’ formation, Higuain’s capacity to drag defenders could have a reflection on the scoring numbers of players like Adebayor, Defoe or Lennon, and his speed and constant movements can also be a relief for the midfield when looking for long, raking passes. Those, together with his sacrifice in defensive duties, make for a complete striker whose talent is not being fully exploited in Madrid.
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Real Madrid is a club that when selling is often not looking for money as much as for a space in the squad to bring a new player. Given that, Spurs can take advantage of an underrated estimate for the services of Higuain, as reports suggest the Spanish giants are desperate to land Gareth Bale. Villas-Boas, therefore, could see in the summer a top striker among his squad, as well as a good amount of money to buy two or three solid reinforcements which should stand them in good stead for a return to the Champions League next season.
Norwich can avoid relegation this season despite having tough games against Arsenal and Manchester City, according to Bradley Johnson.
The Canaries midfielder has spoken out to try and give his team-mates a lift going into the final six matches of the Premier League campaign, following a run of one league win in 15 outings which has left them just four points clear of the drop zone.
Johnson is aware that they must travel to face Arsenal this weekend, while reigning Premier League champions Manchester City await at the Etihad Stadium on the final day.
However, the former Leeds man is confident they can get a result against both clubs while Chris Hughton’s men also have to face fellow strugglers Reading, Stoke and Aston Villa where vital points can be accrued.
“We knew it was going to be tough from the beginning of the season,” Johnson told Sky Sports.
“The Premier League is the hardest in the country and we knew it was going to be hard from the get go and we would love to have been safe now but we aren’t and now every game we go into is a cup final.”
On facing the league’s top teams, Johnson added: “No one expects us to go to clubs like Arsenal and Man Utd and win, but we’ve beaten both of them at home already this season so who says we can’t do it away from home?
“We know it will be a hard game. If we get anything out of it, it will be a bonus.
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“We work hard for each other and we got into Arsenal’s faces at home. We upset their rhythm.”
What a difference 3 days make. After the dismal and frankly pathetic performance by Wolves on Saturday, confidence was at a low ebb with fans and with 4 awkward games to go, there was only 1 word on the supporters mind, I’ll let you make your own mind up to what that word is. We started the evening with 48 points and were 2nd from bottom, with Bristol City all but relegated below us on 40 points. There was an odd, dare I say, relaxed atmosphere, a sense of inevitability that Wolves were not going to get anything against the team placed 2nd in the Championship. Maybe that helped the team who knows. I did find it funny that almost exactly a year ago Wolves had to play another team in sky blue to stay up, Man City came to the Molineux on the 22nd April 2012 and duly sent us packing to the Championship, with goals from Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri putting the club out of its long suffering misery. The situation was exactly the same last night, Hull came out, clad in aqua blue, needing a win to all but guarantee automatic promotion, they faced a Wolves team that could not lose otherwise we may find our selves, like Bristol City, cut a drift from the rest of the pack.
After the late win away against the Messiah’s (Mick McCarthy) Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon, Steve Bruce made 2 changes, in came the former Albion man Robert Koren for Jonny Evans’ younger brother, Corry. Bruce’s second change was the rather amusingly named Ahmed Fathy for another former Albion man, Jay Simpson. With these changes in mind, Steve Bruce lined his team up in a cultural 3-5-1-1 formation, in goal was the Fulham loanee, David Stockdale. In front of him were a trio of centre backs, James Chester, Jack Hobbs and the man mountain Abdoulaye Faye. Bruce’s 5-man midfield consisted of 3 Irishmen, Robbie Brady on the wing, Stephen Quinn and David Meyler (no relation) were the operators in the centre of the park. The 2 Egyptians were Ahmed Elmohamady who operated as the other wingback and the aforementioned Ahmed Fathy partnered Quinn and Meyler. Robert Koren sat ‘in the hole’ behind the Peterborough loanee, and highly rated striker/attacking midfielder, George Boyd.
Wolves were largely unchanged, after O’Hara’s sending off on Saturday, Saunders was forced to bring in Tongo Doumbia for the aforementioned midfielder. With that, Wolves had the impressive Dorus De Vries between the posts. In front of him were Gorkss and Johnson with our young prodigies, Doherty and Robinson, occupying the full back positions. The midfield consisted of the revived Stephen Hunt on the right hand side, Doumbia and Henry were the two midfielders who were tasked with stopping Quinn and co, and Stephen Ward was given his second game at right midfield. Our front two was, the captain, Kevin Doyle and Bjorn Sigurdarson.
The game kicked off in beautiful sunshine, with a hint of breeze, Wolves had the better of the opening opportunities, a Stephen Hunt free kick was caught by Stockdale after Tongo Doumbia was brought down. It was clear to see Saunders set the team up in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Stephen Hunt in behind Kevin Doyle, to solidify the midfield and match the 5 men of Hull. In addition to Hunt’s free kick, Bjorn Sigurdarson picked the ball up and drove at the midfield, something that he is becoming extremely good at, and fed the ball out to Jack Robinson, Hull applied pressure but the Liverpool man held it well and gave it inside to Tongo Doumbia. The Malian midfield general looked up and switched the ball to the other side to the oncoming Matt Doherty who, again, like Robinson, was pressured off the ball and Hull passed their way out of danger. With 15 minutes of the 90 gone, it was clear that Wolves, even with 5 in the middle, had no midfield, the ball was being lumped up to the Doyle or Hunt in the hope that they could perform some sort of miracle with it. Wolves had a surprisingly good passing rhythm they knocked it around nicely, we just seemed to lack any sort of intensity. Wolves’ best chance of the first 45 came when Tongo Doumbia’s presence and strength stole the ball off Quinn and his pass found Jack Robinson, who’s precise cross found our Icelandic striker, who’s header bounced out, Ward found the ball to cries of “shoot!” he duly obliged. The ball, sadly, bobbled out after Kevin Doyle came close from Ward’s deflected shot.
Hull were under the cosh, but, once again, Wolves could not capitalise on the early pressure. Hull got forward on 20 minutes through the Egyptian, and Sunderland loanee, Ahmed Elmohamady. He got the ball deep and displayed a fantastic burst of pace to run roughly 60 yards and deliver a pin point, low cross into the Wolves box, hearts were in mouths for a few seconds, but thankfully, Elmohamady’s cross found no one. Hull had another good chance when the other Egyptian, Fathy, smashed the ball from 30 yards only to see it whistle past the right hand side of Dorus’ goal. The 4th officials board went up for the first time on the half hour mark, Steve Bruce had decided Robert Koren’s evening was up, he was hooked and Jay Simpson replaced. Initially, the thinking was that Bruce wanted to match Wolves’ 4-man midfield by putting Boyd and Simpson up front together. However, Simpson was put out on the wing, an odd move from Bruce I thought.
Halftime came and there was a sense of frustration amongst the fans that were sat in my earshot. I, like them, felt that Wolves lacked any sort of intensity to get a goal, we had some half decent chances and one very good chance we just lacked any sort of ability to take an opportunity if it came along, sound familiar? Hull on the other hand had a very odd first half, it looked as if Bruce had waited to catch Wolves on the break, seeing the way we started on Saturday, can you blame him for doing that? Saunders trumped him, he was happy to keep the ball and containing Hull’s rare bursts forwards, he deserves credit for that. That frustration and annoyance soon dissipated though when Wolverhampton Wanderers’ favourite rude boy, Adam Hammill, came on and gave the crowd, an American football style, half time show. His flicks and tricks dazzled the pie eating, tea-drinking supporters as the temperature took a sudden drop. It really was awesome to watch some with that much ability just ‘larking about’ with a football.
The teams arrived for the second half unchanged, to cheers and mutual applause from both sets of fans. After a rather dull first 10 minutes, fans cockles were warmed when Bjorn Sigurdarson ran down the right in typical, powerful, fashion cut inside with such confidence for a man of such a young age, he was unfairly pulled down and the attack was snuffed out by the diligent Hull defenders.
At around about the hour mark, came a moment, a moment that gave Wolves the slightest notion of a glimmer of safety. Doumbia, impressive all game, pounced on a dawdling Ahmed Fathy just inside Hull’s own half, the tackle wasn’t the best and the ball bounced forward to an eager Bjorn Sigurdarson, he, as he had done all evening, ran at Abdoulaye Faye and co. Sigurdarson spotted the run to his left, of the captain, and ever loyal, Kevin Doyle, who let the ball run across his body, into the 18 yard box, and first time, with his left foot, brushed the ball, Claude Monet-esque, past David Stockdale’s left hand side. Unlike the celebrations on Saturday, these cheers and smiles were not tinged with the nervousness like against Huddersfield, it was utter joy from every home fan there and it was spectacular.
Now the pressure was on, as every one took their seats, Wolves had half an hour to hang on or get another one and kill off The Tigers. The pressure started from the impressive Elmohamady who had another trademark burst down the wing and whipped a ball in, it was deflected out and the young Irishman, Robbie Brady, skied a long-range shot over Dorus’ goal. Another chance fell 8 minutes later when the goal scorer, Kevin Doyle, cleared the aforementioned Irish man’s cross. Hull’s pressure was there but Wolves, surprisingly, dealt with it diligently and professionally there was hardly any drama from Wolves’ defensive play, it was impressive. It was weird if I’m honest.
Wolves, with 30 minutes remaining, created a fantastic opportunity when Stephen Ward’s cross was headed out to Tongo Doumbia who took one touch on his chest and, to coin an Alan Partridge phrase “had a foot like a traction engine”, sadly the midfield general’s shot went inches wide, to many gasps from the Molineux faithful. It seemed that Hull’s main tactic was putting balls in the home team’s box, this was obsolete as Johnson and Gorkss were both rocks at the back and dealt with the deliveries of Elmohamady and Brady with consummate ease.
With 15 minutes left, Bruce brought on Matty Fryatt for Abdoulaye Faye and went for the equaliser. Hull nearly found it with about ten minutes to go, Brady ran at the Wolves backline, he dazzled Doumbia with a few step overs. Brady dropped a shoulder to the right and picked out Jay Simpson with a delightful, Xavi-esque, pass that split Wolves’ offside trap. Simpson, like Doyle, let the ball go in front of him, across his body, he placed it with his left passed De Vries. Time stood still for the South Bank and co as the ball glided past our Dutch goalkeeper. Thankfully the woodwork was on hand to save Wolves’, it was lucky that the ball did not go in, but it was luck we made ourselves.
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Now, one highlight this season has been the introduction of youth into the squad. This was emphasized in a moment by a young man, Matt Doherty produced a match winning tackle on Jay Simpson, it had the timing and awareness of a player 7 or 8 years his senior, it got a standing ovation from every one clad in gold. It was one of those season defining moments, a highlight certainly. As the great golf commentator Peter Allis famously says, “Well done young man”. This tackle created one of the most crazy moments at the Molineux this season, from the resulting tackle Wolves hit Hull on the break with Hunt who scrambled possession from the Hull defenders and hit a tame shot straight at Stockdale who parried the ball to his left onto Sigurdarson, who took a second or two to get the ball from under his feet, his resulting strike hit the underside of the Englishmen’s goal, every single person in the ground had their hands on their heads, in utter disbelief that it was not the goal that sent Hull packing.
Another chance came 7 or so minutes later when Roger Johnson, ran from his own 18-yard box and hit a surprisingly accurate pass to Kevin Doyle, who flicked it to Ward, he delivered a decent ball to the oncoming freight train that was our former captain, sadly, like most British centre backs he was flagged for an offside. The substitutions of Ward and Sigurdarson for Batth and Foley, gave Wolves’ the solidity and stability it needed to see the result out, with relative ease. Hull offered little in the last 10 minutes or rather they did, it was just that Wolves matched the away teams attacks with their solid defensive work.
Andy Woolmer blew his whistle after a questionable 5 added minutes. Relief, pride and joy exuded out from the Wolves fans as the players stood and applauded each side of the ground. “Hi Ho Silver Lining” rang around the ground as the fans made their exits, each one with high fives, smiles and hugs for their fellow supporters. It was nights like that which make me so proud of my beloved club, after such a disaster of a season, which has seen two managers and some truly shocking results, Wolves fans stayed behind and sung their hearts out, till they were puce in the face. It is this sort of positive attitude that has given Wolves a lifeline, one that they simply have to grasp, otherwise we shall be joining The Robins in League 1 next year.
Ivan Gazidis has been quick to talk up Arsenal’s position going into this summer’s market, all the while making everyone aware of the difficulties due to the managerial merry-go-round among some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
But in all honesty that isn’t enough of a barrier to prevent Arsenal getting what they want and need this summer.
The club are armed with at least £70million for Arsene Wenger to use as he pleases, while Gazidis has also been quietly pushing for the manager to use all of the resources available to him.
Despite the number of players Arsenal have been linked with and the depth the team needs, there is already a good foundation for a strong starting XI, with only a few additions required.
The emphasis, however, needs to be on building a squad who are capable of handling the pressures of four competitions over the course of the season. There really is no excuse for Wenger not to strengthen considerably ahead of next season.
Click on Gonazalo Higuain to see the Arsenal XI every Gunner will be praying for come the start of the season
15/10/2011 Gonzalo Higuaín Celebra El ‘Hat-Trick’ Ante El Betis.El Real Madrid se impuso al Betis (4-1) en un partido correspondiente a la octava jornada de la Liga BBVA, disputado este sábado en el Santiago Bernabéu, con goles de Higuaín en tres ocasiones y Kaká, consiguiendo un resultado que deja a los blancos líderes provisionales.DEPORTESREUTERS
Ashley Cole is rated higher than Leighton Baines in FIFA 14’s list of the top 5 defenders in the Premier League, thus making him England’s best left back.
The Chelsea footballer is on third place of the list and leaves the Everton left back behind him on fourth. EA Sports has therefore made it clear that if you want a strong left side for England you will have to choose the Three Lions’ centurion over the Toffees’ man.
Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic is the top defender in the game’s League and is followed by Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany. United’s Rio Ferdinand sits behind Baines on fifth place.
England’s left back position has raised many debates as people have supported that Cole’s experience is vital whilst some other argued that Baines’s quickness and hunger makes him better than the former.
Cole is one of the all time greats as he has played for both Arsenal and Chelsea where he counts 156 appearances for the Gunners and 217 for the Blues. He has also amassed 105 caps for England.
Baines on the other hand is considered as one of the Premier League’s best defenders with 204 caps for Everton where he also scored 18 goals. He was also just a breath away from joining Man United this summer alongside his former teammate Marouane Fellaini.
Nevertheless you can still play with each one of them in Chelsea and Everton respectively, but you will have to make Roy Hodgson’s tough decision when you play in international competitions.
None of them though make the list of best defenders in the world although Vidic and Kompany get third and fourth place respectively.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Silva will be the man to beat overall in the game whereas Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm is second best. Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos makes the list on fifth place.
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EA have made a little tweaking on the defensive part as well as now defenders are able to make a second chance tackle to recover from a failed tackle.
Therefore all of you take notice that once the opposing defender misses to capture the ball from you that does not mean he is done trying.
Such is the nature of modern football fans and the tendency for “knee-jerk” reactions that any form of criticism can be misinterpreted as full-blown hostility.
Every club wants to move towards young, progressive managers, ignoring those who have been around for well over a decade. But couldn’t you argue that there’s a reason the veteran managers have been around for so long? Yes, they’re good, but they’re that good because they’re able to learn from their mistakes and prolong their stay at the top of the game.
Is the same true for Andre Villas-Boas?
He’s tactically intelligent and has an idea for taking Tottenham forward. I stopped short of saying a clear idea because there is little clarity in what he’s currently doing. It’s ironic that his rival counterpart at the Emirates is often accused of stubbornness, but there is something quite clearly stubborn about the way in which Villas-Boas sets up his team.
The loss against Newcastle on the weekend could have been completely different on another occasion. Spurs peppered the Newcastle goal with shots but were unable to beat Tim Krul. The loss aside, that was one of the only times this season where Spurs looked like they could score more than once. The fact that they didn’t only compounds the problem of Villas-Boas’ rigid management.
There shouldn’t really be a worry as to whether he’s good enough or not – I believe most are of the opinion that Villas-Boas has the managerial skill set to eventually be considered one of the leading coaches in Europe. But flexibility becomes part of that. Where flexibility can justifiably become a secondary issue is if the manager is getting it right off the bat, where his clear go-to tactical set up is working and bringing results. That isn’t the case at present for Villas-Boas.
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The Portuguese’s stubbornness isn’t really a newly-discovered aspect of his managerial style. At Chelsea he insisted on doing it his way, which is fair considering the goal is what the owner apparently wanted. But it resulted in his firing midway through the season. At Spurs last season, he was accused of seeing things that clearly weren’t there after losses.
But he has done a lot for Tottenham, arguably warranting the patience of fans. The question is how long will his belief that he is right with the current team last? They’re not scoring and therefore not producing what is expected of them following the activity of this past summer. He alone is accountable, and for all his insistence that this is the right tactical approach, we haven’t really seen much in the way of an improvement.
Villas-Boas is dealing with a large number of players who are new to this league and this country – bedding in is natural, so is allowing time for each player to familiarise themselves with one another. But the manager is neither doing himself nor his players any favours. Defensively they look good; there’s a unity and an understanding about the back line. The attack is greatly contrasting. You could argue that players aren’t working for one another and you could also question whether there is a clear brief as to what they ought to be doing on the pitch. This isn’t a needless attack, because so many good players can’t be so ineffective for so long.
Villas-Boas was brought up working with Jose Mourinho and Bobby Robson. It wouldn’t be amiss to say he’s developed some of their characteristics for doing things their way. But those managers earned that right. Mourinho may be a controversial figure, but he’s a winner. He’s been a success wherever he’s been and even if he moves on from Chelsea, he’ll immediately have a host of top clubs offering him one of the best-paid jobs in Europe.
The Tottenham manager still has some way to go before he reaches that plateau. It is very much about learning on job. Last season following a sluggish start, Tottenham put together a good set of results and found themselves in a battle for fourth place in the Premier League on the last day of the season. This time, they don’t have Gareth Bale to help them up the league table. Villas-Boas will need to learn to use what he currently has to compensate for that loss.
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It was midway through Michu’s first and only season with Rayo Vallecano that he was linked with a move to Manchester United.
Like Levante during the same season, an interesting and exciting talking point was emanating well away from the big two in La Liga, though not necessarily geographically.
Rayo were and continue to be the smallest of the Madrid-based teams currently competing in the top flight. During that season in which Michu came to fame, the team that wanted to attack, but couldn’t always help themselves at the other end, where they became entrenched in a relegation scrap that went all the way down to the wire, past the final game and well into the final minutes of the league season.
At Rayo, Michu was compared to Frank Lampard for his goals from midfield – a fitting description back then. But Michu has abandoned the clearly defined midfield role and has walked along a path of ambiguity. Still no one really knows if he’s a midfielder or a forward. Perhaps he’s both, like his compatriots who effortlessly move about the pitch and throw up great debates as to how to properly define, say, Juan Mata, who is a No.10 at Chelsea but who played as a left winger and striker at Valencia.
And there is no knock on Michu’s abilities, just that he doesn’t fit the mould of a typical Spanish player. The positional uncertainty is there, so too is the quality in the final third, but the style and fluidity of performing in *that* type of system is clearly absent, or rather a different approach is preferred.
It doesn’t matter too much. With the building of a superpower comes the need to further develop to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Spain have conquered Europe and the world, but it would be foolish for them to not seek other means of advancing through on goal; the oft-marginalised Plan B.
The thing is, that Plan B may not come from Michu, at least not initially. Diego Costa is the bullish battering ram than can complement the ‘traditional’ players in Vicente Del Bosque’s team. He’s direct, he’s proving to be a fantastic source of goals, and his call up eventually will be deserved.
But like Michu, it would have been a little unusual, even wrong had he – and for the sake of the argument, dismiss nationality – been called up to the national team in 2009. It was the height of Guardiola’s Barcelona. Xabi Alonso, as good as he is, was breaking up the most dominant midfield axis in Europe in Barcelona’s midfield three. Andres Iniesta would find a place further up the pitch, but that again highlights the flexibility of many of the Spaniards. There was talk of the false 9 to attempt to replicate the Barcelona model to its fullest. First it was David Silva and then eventually Cesc Fabregas. It was the necessary evolution of a national team taking the strongest elements of its domestic game.
Now, however, is the right time for Spain to be talking about Michu and even Costa. Not because of how good they are, but because of their contrasting style that will strengthen Spain’s standing at the zenith of international football.
In a Barcelona where Fabregas is steadily carving out his future as the direct option over Iniesta and even Xavi, Michu will represent a similar alternative for Spain. He won’t play keep ball with Xavi, Busquets or Silva; you may even forget he’s on the pitch while the tiki-taka is in full flow. But he will pop up when it matters and will likely to put the ball in the back of the net, such are his instincts further up the pitch.
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Michu may have deserved a call by the Spanish coach in the past, but now the time is right.
Has the wait for Michu’s Spanish call up been justified?
The tenure of Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Tim Sherwood has from its inception been an unnecessarily tenuous affair, to objective observers at least.
Taking over from former boss Andre Villas-Boas, Sherwood had no previous managerial experience whatsoever but, on the face of it appears to have steadied the ship, acquitting himself well in his new and unfamiliar role.
Yet it would appear grumblings of discontent are emerging from the stands at White Hart Lane, with many supporters feeling that their former midfielder’s reign in charge would be best confined to the history books at the end of the season, a view that has sparked gossip-mongering over who could be next in line to take the job.
Here, we examine whether Sherwood should stay on or undertake a new challenge come May.
It was a surprise to many in the world of football when experienced Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy handed Sherwood an 18-month contract as head coach.
Having been working as technical-director, he undertook the role of interim boss following the sacking of Villas-Boas, guiding his side to a 3-2 victory over Southampton at St. Mary’s. It appeared then that Levy had seen enough, with the announcement that his role would be permanent, coming the following day.
Things started off well, with the seemingly rejuvenated Spurs losing just one of their next six matches, with doubts that had been expressed regarding Sherwood’s appointment appearing unjustified.
These were brought racing back to the surface, however, following a 5-1 home defeat to Manchester City, which has sparked a period of uncertainty, with the side losing three of the subsequent five games.
Focus will similarly not have been aided by the speculation that former Barcelona, Bayern and current Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal is being lined up to take charge of the North Londoners.
The Duthcman made clear that he would not be in charge of his national side come Euro 2016, stating “maybe there will come a new challenge, I have said before that a challenge should be a club in the Premier League.”
Sherwood though has remained dignified throughout, to a point that it is not unreasonable to expect his services to be in demand if he is released from his current role.
Whether or not that would be fair though, is up for debate, as his record thus far must be assessed in its right and proper context.
For one thing, the former Blackburn midfielder is working with a side that is entirely of his predecessors making, having made no additions in January and losing experienced striker Jermain Defoe in the process.
Indeed, the only ‘signing’ that he has been able to make has been the reinstating of Emmanuel Adebayor to the side, who to his credit has notched up eight goals for his new boss.
Furthermore, it has to be said that the influx of players that occurred during the summer has included some questionable acquisitions, with Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli and Roberto Soldado all putting in performances of dubious quality.
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It is a testimony to his impact then, that his current record has seen his side picking 23 of the available 33 league points since he took charge, compared to 17 under Villas-Boas when he took over, and 15 in the 11 league games prior to his sacking. It would seem then, that based on his results so far, which is of course all he can be judged upon, Sherwood is doing better than the former incumbent.
But Spurs fans appear, dare I say it, to have a rather lofty opinion of their club whose record since the Premier League began in 1992 has been pretty ordinary. In 20 seasons they’ve only finished in the top 4 twice, won the League cup twice and got to the quarter finals of European competition twice. The majority of this, granted has been achieved within the last 5 years, however, if the Premier League has proven anything it is that nouveau success among clubs outside of the big 5 can be fleeting.
This is not to say that the supporters are unjustified in their thirst for success, more that it should be moderated by an element of realism regarding the facts of their club. Are they a big club? Well that depends how you would define that rather broad statement, in terms of fanbase, yes, but in terms of performance and trophies the answer would at best be a weak ‘kind of’ at worst, a pretty resounding no.
In summary then, Sherwood, if given the time to formulate the side into something of his own, with tactful signings and little more experience, could well prove to be the man for Spurs, a side who’s season appears to have been largely undone by the sale of star-man Gareth Bale. If though, the club opts not to persevere with him, one can only hope they do so for his replacement, after all, in building a enduringly successful team, stability can often prove to be nine tenths of the law.