Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has backed Fernando Torres to get over his open goal miss against Manchester United, and has stated his importance to the Stamford Bridge team.
Torres managed to score his first goal of the season in the 3-1 defeat to Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, but unexplainably could not capitalise on an open goal, and has received criticism in the media.
Despite this, Cech is focussing on the positives from the Spaniards performances, and believes Torres is improving.
“I keep saying the same thing – I can see every time the guy is improving,” the keeper stated.
“At Stoke he had a brilliant game, while against Leverkusen he didn’t score a goal but created both of them.
“On Sunday, he created a huge chance for Ramires or Daniel Sturridge. But it was a pity Ramires slid in as it was difficult for him to finish it and allowed the keeper to make a save, whereas Daniel would have just tapped it in. So it was unlucky.
“Then he scored a great goal, and got himself another opportunity. What everybody needs to remember is just how well he played for the whole game and the great goal he did score.
“He created a lot and his movement was there. You can see it. I’m not worried about it. He will score lots of goals,” the Czech Republic international continued.
Cech feels that the contribution to the team that Torres is making is very important, even if he has not been getting the goals.
“Everybody counts the goals a striker gets. It’s always like that.
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“But if you see, for example, Dimitar Berbatov got to United not only because he scores goals but because he created 30 every season for Tottenham.
“With Fernando it’s the same. He scores goals, as he showed, but he can create them as well. Ideally, of course, you want your strikers to score. But if they can create two goals every game, then who cares how many they score?” he concluded.
The FA has confirmed that it would block any potential rule changes in regards to relegation and promotion, as some Premier League clubs are keen to abolish demotion from the top flight.
Richard Bevan, who is boss of the League Managers Association, stated earlier in the week that some top flight sides were interested in scrapping the relegation format, which is becoming more of a possibility given the foreign ownership of an increasing number of teams.
With the financial model of other, mostly American based sports in mind, it is thought that Premier League teams would look to protect their investment by doing away with relegation to The Championship.
Currently 10 out of the 20 teams in the top tier are run by non-British owners, with a vote from 14 of the 20 clubs needed to enforce a rule change in the division.
Despite this, the FA has the power to veto any potential ruling, and has confirmed that it would do so in the case of any relegation related decision.
“The FA’s share can be used so it has to approve any major rule change,” an FA spokesman told The Sun.
“This covers changes to promotion and relegation.”
The news will be welcomed by all teams currently competing in the lower leagues, who are constantly buoyed on by the chance to qualify of participation in the Premier League.
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Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has stated that his team are progressing well, and that he is happy with how the Merseyside side are playing ahead of their clash with Manchester United.
The England international signed for the Anfield outfit from Aston Villa in the summer, and feels that if Kenny Dalglish’s men become more clinical in front of goal they can be real contenders.
“We’ve been creating chances and I think there will be a day soon when we put all of them away and we’ll have a big win over somebody,” he told Mirror Football.
“We need to be more clinical and kill teams off – the game against Wolves was a good example of it. We made it a harder day than it needed to be because we should have scored a few more times.
“But it’s good to see the fans are enjoying the way we’re trying to play. We’re trying to do our best for them because they deserve it,” he stated.
Downing is happy with Liverpool’s attacking style of play, and claims that the team are eager to entertain their supporters.
“Fans watch football to be entertained. They want to see goals and forward players attacking. It’s nice when you can do that.
“Some managers obviously don’t want a game to be too open, but from a fans’ point of view, players are there to entertain and do well.
“I think, particularly at home so far, we have done that this season. Our football has been good and long may it continue,” he continued.
Downing has yet to score for The Reds, and has admitted he would love to find the back of the net against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in Liverpool’s next game.
“It’s always nice to score, and I can’t wait to get one at the Kop end. Maybe that will happen against Man United – that would be perfect,” he concluded.
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With United undefeated, top of the league and in ominous form, their trip to Anfield will be a real test for the new look Liverpool team on October 15th.
You could sense the rage and indignation around the country as the news was announced. You could hear a collective tut and a million heads being shaken. Football had died (again). Manchester City had announced their annual financial results, and had posted the biggest losses in football history, a cool £195m for the 2010/11 financial year. They’re Manchester City, they spend what they want.
Well not if UEFA have their way of course. And the inevitable response to the announcement was to reignite the debate over how they could possibly meet UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Obscene losses? Perhaps. But less obscene than owners who wrack up debt, or owners who asset-strip clubs, or are there for personal gain alone. At least the money being spent is their own – but that’s an argument that has already been done to death (but will have inevitably resurfaced over the past few days).
Rival fans might scoff at how the huge losses will cause City to fail to meet FFP rules, but it was these rules that bizarrely helped cause the losses in the first place. City’s owners knew the day they took over what was on the horizon, and as Brian Marwood has stated in the past, the club embarked on an accelerated programme of expansion and purchases, “attempting to squeeze ten years’ development into three”.
Equally bizarrely, due to the ruling on “trends”, the huge loss might actually benefit City. Why? Well the FFP rules are far from set in stone and far from black and white. The key to meeting the requirements is not simply to spend only what you earn, but to make movements towards that point (at least for the next few years). So for now City and other clubs have to be seen to be taking steps to narrow the gap between outlay and income, and City will undoubtedly do this – this year’s figures are certain to be the worst by a long way, so the only way is down from now on (or up, depending on how you look at it). As long as the losses reduce each year, the club has little to worry about. Thus City have deliberately posted bad results – they have used last year’s accounts to lump in all the deadwood and heavy purchasing before the rules get stricter – £35m of those losses are precisely for the writing off of deadwood, a one-off cost of players City know they won’t get a good return back on. After all, if your wife told you to start behaving better as of next Sunday, you could be tempted to burn down the house on the Saturday (I could have used a better example to be honest). So whilst in theory a club can only lose €45m over the next three seasons, the fact is that UEFA will probably be quite liberal with that figure.
What’s more, UEFA are highly unlikely to ban a “big” European club from the Champions League – in a sport ruled by money at the highest levels, it simply isn’t in their interest. Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail said as much on Friday, reporting that Michel Platini has softened his stance on punishing clubs, looking at fines rather than expulsions, a system that will not unduly worry City.
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But as mentioned already, City will bridge the gap. Over the weekend came reports of a new kit deal at the end of the season which could be worth an extra £18m per year. City’s huge stadium sponsorship and campus deal is not included in last year’s figures, nor was any income from the Champions League, which City will expect every season now – even if they go out in the group stage, they will earn over £20m.
And whilst big-name signings will continue, they will become less common. What’s more, as City now have a top-class squad, they will recoup more in player sales than of old, so will become more self-sufficient on that front.
FFP doesn’t work in simple lines of income versus outlay anyway, and some losses can be discarded from calculations, such as for academy development, spend on infrastructure and the like. It’s all linked to the insomnia-curing UEFA Club Licensing Handbook, especially its Annex XI.
For the purpose of the first two monitoring periods, i.e. monitoring periods assessed in the seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15, the following additional transitional factor is to be considered by the Club Financial Control Panel:
Players under contract before 1 June 2010
If a licensee reports an aggregate break-even deficit that exceeds the acceptable deviation and it fulfils both conditions described below then this would be taken into account in a favourable way.
i) It reports a positive trend in the annual break-even results (proving it has implemented a concrete strategy for future compliance); and
ii) It proves that the aggregate break-even deficit is only due to the annual break-even deficit of the reporting period ending in 2012 which in turn is due to contracts with players undertaken prior to 1 June 2010 (for the avoidance of doubt, all renegotiations on contracts undertaken after such date would not be taken into account). This means that a licensee that reports an aggregate break-even deficit that exceeds the acceptable deviation but that satisfies both conditions described under i) and ii) above should in principle not be sanctioned.
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All perfectly clear I’m sure you agree – but the new point to mention in that cut and paste is the dismissal from calculation of player contracts agreed before 1st June 2010.
City’s income will continue to rise and their costs will tail off, having probably reached their peak. Brian Marwood admits there is still plenty of work to be done to adhere to UEFA’s rules, but I doubt anyone at the club will be having sleepless nights just yet. What they want soon though is the deadwood to be cleared for good (yes, that includes you Carlos), and for the academy to bear fruits within a couple of years to keep player purchases down. Until then, they just have to move in the right direction – on and off the pitch. Whatever the figures may suggest, it’s a case of so far, so good. And however much whinging may emanate from non-City fans, the club hasn’t yet broken any rules.
Reports in the British press today are stipulating that Arsene Wenger may be ready to make a club record bid for Borussia Dortmund’s teen sensation Mario Gotze.
The 19-year-old has shot to prominence at Signal Iduna Park with impressive displays for the Bundesliga champions, and he scored the winner recently in a 1-0 away victory over Bayern Munich.
Gotze has also broken into the Germany international setup, and is likely to play a part in Joachin Low’s first team at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Mirror Football state that Arsene Wenger is ready to bid £30 million for the playmaker come January, as a statement of intent to the likes of Robin van Persie to sign a new contract.
Dortmund have previously stated that Gotze was not for sale at any price, and have rejected rumours that he will leave Dortmund in the next transfer window.
Bayern Munich are also thought to be massively keen to add the attacking midfielder to their ranks, and if The Gunners do bid for the starlet they can expect competition from a number of leading European clubs.
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The number of emotions seen at Upton Park this year has been quite ridiculous. The anger shown towards Avram Grant, the gutted response to relegation and the cheer at scoring a few more goals and gaining a few more points in the Championship are just a few.
Things are looking up in the East End now as we approach 2012 with an optimistic attitude and the January transfer window with the expectations of keeping the top players. The Hammers are likely to go into the New Year in the top two of the Championship and Sam Allardyce has installed a positive attitude all around the club.
As it just a week before the year is out, it is time to have a look at the West Ham End of Year Awards for 2011:
Click on James Tomkins to unveil the West Ham Awards for 2011
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Rome was not built in a day. as we are often told; quite how many it was actually built in is beside the point – longer-term planning almost always bears fruit eventually, whether it is football or to suit this hugely convoluted segue, city building. This conveniently brings me to the somewhat surprising appointment made by QPR of former Blackburn, Manchester City and Fulham boss Mark Hughes this week, a move so startlingly short-sighted it cannot help but be to the detriment of the club further down the line.
Neil Warnock was rather harshly ushered out the back door just before he was given the chance to spend any of the January funds promised to him by Chairman Tony Fernandes. Warnock, is a Championship manager through and through. The Premier League’s level has always seemed a bit beyond him. However, at QPR, he has certainly been given a bum deal. Despite the club’s poor recent form, few would doubt that with significant reinforcements in January, he could at least guarantee them something approaching mid-table obscurity. Alas, that was not to be the case.
Fernandes has entrusted QPR’s Premier League future in the hands of Mark Hughes – a manager very much of a Premier League standard, but quite crucially, and I cannot emphasise this point enough, not as good as he thinks he is.
The feeling persists that Hughes still feels that he was dealt a raw deal, quite ironically given the nature of Warnock’s departure, after falling short of the infamous ‘trajectory of results’ laid out to him by former Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook – this led to Hughes’s sacking and the hiring of Roberto Mancini; a manager with the profile that the club had wanted all along.
The truth of the matter is, that despite proving himself at Blackburn to be a manager of genuine pedigree and quality, with an eye for a bargain, at Manchester City he proved anything but, needlessly wasting millions on average players with no long-term thought behind them or the style of football that they would go on to play. A strong sense of injustice still dominates a man that clearly wasn’t ready to take a club with the potential that City undoubtedly had, to the next level.
He left Fulham last season after a decidedly steady campaign, with Hughes departing leaving the club in 8th position in the league and with an entrance into the Europa League for a second successive season via the Fair Play league table.
Upon leaving Fulham, Hughes told reporters: “As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences. I believe my management team and I have done a good job and the club has a strong foundation from which they can go forward.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club. This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party.”
This was of course in reference to Hughes being touted for a job with Aston Villa, although one suspects that he was keeping an equally keen eye on the available Chelsea job prior to Andre Villas-Boas’ appointment.
After glimpsing a taste of the higher echelons, Hughes obviously feels that he belongs there and that his managerial ability merits a place at the top table. I have my reservations. A move to Aston Villa never materialised and what appeared as a bold gesture designed to make him seem more employable, inevitably turned sour and resulted in a spell doing the rounds of Monday night football, peering in from the sidelines.
QPR, at best, represents a sideways move for Hughes from his last job at Fulham. The reasons behind his departure from Craven Cottage were supposedly down to a lack of funds promised by Mohammed Al-Fayed. As a result, Hughes is developing a reputation for being a nomadic manager.
Which is what makes the fact that he’s been given a two and a half-year deal by QPR seem all the more baffling. There are currently just seven managers operating in the top flight that have managed for two and a half years or more – Ferguson, Wenger, Pulis, McCarthy, Lambert, Martinez and Redknapp – at their respective clubs. Indeed, there are only 22 managers in the entire Football League that have stayed at their clubs for the same amount of time.
Does anyone genuinely believe that Hughes will be at the club in two and a half years’ time? Also, while we’re on the subject, why do Chairman still persist in going for such long contracts when manager’s rarely ever see them through?
Part of the reason is to protect their own investment; should Hughes do a runner and take a bigger job, a prospect which in my eyes is an absolute certainty, they will at least have the small crumb of comfort that they’ll get due compensation, but beyond that, it smacks of short-termism.
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Don’t get me wrong, Hughes is a fine manager, and his appointment is certainly a trade up in terms of ability and stature on the seemingly hard-done by Warnock, but will he be there in a year’s time to see through any project he proposes to build? I wouldn’t rush to the bookies anytime soon to bet that he would be if I were you.
All you are left with, should Hughes depart before seeing out his deal, is a squad moulded half in Warnock’s image and half in Hughes’s – a smorgasbord of styles and philosophies. In short, a recipe for a disaster, and an expensive disaster at that.
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I championed Andre Villas-Boas’s appointment in the summer for Chelsea over Guus Hiddink’s, the some-time favourite for the post, simply because Chelsea were a club in the midst of an identity crisis and appointing a manager of Hiddink’s ilk and age would have been nothing more than a stop-gap solution and a delaying of the inevitable. The equivalent to putting a plaster on a broken leg – the Hughes appointment is very similar in that regard.
The one word that you’ll constantly hear out of Hughes’s mouth is ‘ambition’. Of course, ambition is not a bad thing in itself; if used right, ambition can be a positive thing; it’s good to strive for excellence. However, when allied to a sense of injustice and a strong and to an extent unfounded belief in your own abilities that Hughes certainly has; a manager with ideas way above his station – all you get is a marriage destined for divorce.
The thinking behind the appointment is clear – Hughes’s profile will help attract a better calibre of player in the January transfer window with the significant funds Fernandes has to offer, and they will be significant, otherwise Hughes would never have signed on. But, and this is a big but, you have to question the wisdom of such a short-term project. Fernandes looks to be fairly genuine in his aspirations for the club, and the idea of bringing in a manager of Hughes’s stature is certainly a sound one, but whether Hughes is the right man for the job long-term, is in some doubt.
Warnock may not have been the long-term future of the club either, but he certainly could have sufficed until the end of the season. Hughes is a good manager, I fancy him to consolidate QPR around mid-table this season with ease, but that isn’t the problem, it’s what comes after he does a reasonable job that worries me and should worry QPR fans.
You can follow me on Twitter @James McManus1
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After a nine day break, the Premier League returned,
A date for which Fergie must have yearned,
Against the Wanderers, United looked strong,
Paul Scholes goal meant another swansong,
Disappointment was the emotion further to the west,
As Liverpool drew to cause Anfield unrest,
Ex-Red Fernando with an overhead kick,
Surprisingly enough we’re not taking the mick,
Didn’t go in though as you’d have thought,
Rebound turned in by Lampard, three points brought,
One nil win sends the Blues to fourth,
But frustration overrides a touch further North,
Wolves hold firm against the Spurs,
Whilst Harry’s philosophical, McCarthy purrs,
Defeat for Midlands rivals West Bromwich,
Another three points for the Canaries of Norwich,
Four miles to the east Everton went to Villa,
A one all draw by no means a thriller,
Newcastle squeeze past Hughes’ Rangers,
Whilst Arsenal look like passing strangers,
Blitzed by the effervescent Swansea,
Pass after pass with great majesty,
To the North West, with not so much style,
Steve Kean’s Blackburn had all the guile,
Vital three points for the Rovers’ ten,
Misery away for Fulham again,
Just one game left in the weekend for now,
Can Wigan stop the City juggernaut somehow?
Goal of the Weekend
Although there were some good efforts this weekend, it was a particularly tricky choice to pick the best goal in the Premier League, from Andrew Surman’s technically brilliant volley to Michael Carrick’s low curler. However, for a piece of individual skill, Newcastle’s Leon Best takes it.
The ex-Coventry City forward knows he has a big chance to prove himself with Demba Ba away at the Africa Cup of Nations for a few weeks. Best managed to rekindle some of his early season form which for a brief period put his Senegalese teammate in the shadows. His turn and finish was sublime and was fit to win what was an otherwise dour encounter against QPR.
Player of the Weekend
Swansea City have many a journalist foaming at the mouth. Playing with such style and panache never before seen from a promoted team, they continue to prove doubters wrong. Nathan Dyer was the standout player for the Swans at the weekend.
A constant menace throughout, the tricky winger managed an assist in the first half, being brought down for a penalty, something Arsene Wenger unsurprisingly disagreed with. In the second period, Dyer went one better this time plunging the ball past Szczesny to double Swansea’s goal tally for the afternoon.
Save of the Weekend
Adam Bogdan has had a tough few weeks. He faced the ignominy of being the keeper to on the receiving end of Tim Howard’s freak goal and to boot, conceded three at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. However, the diminutive goalkeeper made a fine save from Wayne Rooney’s penalty in the first half. He flung himself low to his right as he managed to claw out the United No.10’s spot kick.
Quote of the Weekend
Ray Wilkins commentary can infuriate some fans at the best of times if what’s trending on Twitter is anything to go by. First renowned for his regurgitation of “Stay on your feet!” he seems to have settled on “My Word!” as his new catchphrase. Along with commenting that Yohan Cabaye should “get on with the game” before he was carried off on a stretcher, he produced another cracker during the Newcastle and QPR game.
“Eddie [Niedzwecki] you gotta leave your hair alone fella, it’s disappearing.”
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Ray, as the great football philosopher Jonathan Terry once said, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
If you’d like to suggest a new catchphrase for Ray Wilkins or merely more musings on the Premier League then why not follow me on Twitter! @arhindtutt
Harry Redknapp claims he is flattered by the messages of support from everyone in football with regards to taking the England job. The Tottenham manager claims he is yet to be approached for the post and will cross that bridge when he comes to it. Redknapp certainly isn’t fazed by the job at all and is fully aware of the baggage that comes with it.
Elsewhere in the news Sir Alex Ferguson questions why Liverpool did not appeal the Suarez ban; Arsene Wenger hits out at the rumours regarding Van Persie, while Andre Villas-Boas believes that referees should be made to pay for their errors.
Harry Redknapp claims he is unfazed with the aggro the England job brings with it. The Tottenham manager is the favourite to take the job from Fabio Capello and is fully aware of what the job entails – Guardian
Sir Alex Ferguson has questioned why Liverpool didn’t look to appeal Luis Suarez’s ban if they believed he was innocent of the charges – Guardian
Thierry Henry will return to New York next week after Arsenal failed to extend his loan period at the football club – Guardian
Andre Villas-Boas believes that referees should be made to pay for their errors during games. The Chelsea boss was speaking in light of Howard Webb’s dubious penalty at Stamford Bridge that allowed United back into the contest – Daily Telegraph
Kenny Dalglish believes that the FA should look to Sir Alex Ferguson to take over the reins of the England job vacated by Fabio Capello – Daily Telegraph
Arsene Wenger has hit out of stories coming out of Spain that Real Madrid are preparing a bid for Robin van Persie. The Arsenal boss says the Spanish press like to invent stories and this is another one of those made up ones – Independent
Micah Richards has closed down his twitter account after suffering racist abuse from rival supporters – Daily Mail
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Tottenham and Arsenal are set for a transfer battle for the services of Ajax defender, Jan Vertonghen – Metro
Martin O’Neill has revealed that he doesn’t see eye to eye with his opposite number at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. The Sunderland boss says that Wenger has never taken up an offer of a post match drink and isn’t expecting that to change today – Sun
Since I have started watching football, there have been some pretty good goals from the likes of Rooney and Messi and so on. But where there are screamers, there are also finishes that if they were in the right net, would surely be contenders for goal of the season. Here I have put together ten own goals that have probably made it into several bloopers videos and will certainly make it into many more.
10. Carl Jenkinson – You’ve just been signed for Arsenal from Charlton by Arsene Wenger and you’re trying to make a good impression and show the manager you’re not a complete waste of money. So what do you do? If you’re Carl Jenkinson you would lob the ball over your own goalkeeper from 30 yards!
[youtube EQAeGbjU3bY]
9. Tony Popovic – Had this beauty from former Crystal Palace defender Tony Popovic been in the right net, it surely would be an early contender for goal of the century. With Portsmouth already 2-1 up, Popovic decides to try and cleverly flick the ball to God knows where, only to flick the ball over his own goalkeeper. It’s worth a watch.
[youtube oP3jbpcCo2E]
8. Festus Baise – Another goal where it’s not quite clear what the defender is trying to achieve. Sun Hei defender Festus Baise, like the previous own goal, is trying to look clever, only to flick the ball over his own keeper. The difference with this one, though is this one is from the edge of the penalty area. You can tell the standard in Hong Kong football is not terribly high.
[youtube Feurle7qkfQ]
7. Jamie Pollock – This own goal from Manchester City’s Jamie Pollock was just brilliant. Just outside his own area, Pollock volleyed it over on opposing striker and then headed the ball over his own keeper. There was only one question City fans were asking Pollock after this game. Why?
[youtube eWNjWfIHXL4]
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6. Assaf Mendes – On this extremely windy day when Maccabi Haifa were playing Dynamo Kiev in a practice match, Haifa goalkeeper Assaf Mendes put the ball on the ground to kick it to one his teams players. He kicked it about 25 yards up the pitch when the wind took control and took the ball back the way it came, straight past the arms of poor goalkeeper Mendes.
[youtube O4tVtfDTqJs]
5. Lee Dixon – MOTD pundit Lee Dixon is still made fun of for this one, despite it happening 21 years ago! Just outside his own area, Dixon attempts to pass it back to goalkeeper David Seaman, only for the ball to loop over Seaman’s head.
[youtube MpSo1aciPqU]
4. Ashraf Soliman – This next one is all the way from Israel. With the score tied at 2-2, Ashraf Soliman scored 7 minutes into extra time to send through opposition Umm al-Fahm to the next round. The own goal would normally be described as a poacher’s finish. Soliman didn’t seem to fully understand…
[youtube nAxBWcNTgns]
3. Diego Sosa – If this next one isn’t deliberate, I don’t know what is. Diego Sosa of San Martin just sees his goalkeeper parry the ball to him after an Estudiantes shot, only for him to power the ball straight past him. What was going through his mind?
[youtube XAAuHp-FsKo]
2. Kenny Farrell – This one is more unlucky than anything else. Mervue United’s Kenny Farrell attempted to clear the ball in a tense game against Waterford, only for the ball to smack team-mate Mike Elwood on the face and go over the goalkeepers head. The twist? This happened from about 35 yards from their own goal!
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[youtube w8gCRnuWOxo]
1. Chris Brass – It’s pretty fair to say that no own goal list or bloopers video is complete without this beauty from Bury’s Chris Brass against Darlington. Trying to clear the ball over his head, the ball whacks Brass in the nose and goes past his goalkeeper, breaking Brass’ nose in the process. Unlucky, eh?
[youtube Ds0wEBKuxv8]
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If you have a spare 5mins then take a look of the latest ‘Football Coffee Break’