Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger believes the gap between Europe’s top nations and its minnows is narrowing.Germany continue their qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championships when they play host to Group A cellar dwellers Kazakhstan on Saturday.
The 2008 European runners-up are five points clear on the group’s table with straight wins over Belgium, Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as a 3-0 win at Kazakhstan.
But Schweinsteiger cautioned his team-mates not to expect an easy victory when Kazakhstan visit Kaiserslautern, saying minnow nations no longer feel fear at the thought of taking on top sides like Germany.
“It is not easy to scare those teams out of the stadium anymore,” Schweinsteiger said.
“They improve and they learn more these days. Maybe in the past you could go there and devastate them.”
“Today you have to show a good performance in order to achieve a good result.”
“If you look at the match against Azerbaijan last year, we could have only won 2-0 there (Germany won 6-1).”
A visit from Kazakhstan will also serve as preparation of sorts for Germany’s friendly with Asian Cup finalists Australia on Tuesday, though Schweinsteiger said Joachim Loew’s side are more concerned with clinching their berth in the Euro 2012 finals.
“The next three qualifiers (against Kazakhstan and at Austria and Azerbaijan) are very important for us.”
“If we win we can achieve a lead against Austria, Turkey and Belgium. The others will steal points off each other. Therefore it is even more important to win the game on Saturday.”
Schweinsteiger also took the time to defend national team-mate Mirslav Klose, who has not scored a goal for Germany or at club level in almost two months and has fallen behind Mario Gomez in coach Louis van Gaal’s pecking order at club side Bayern Munich.
“He is a very experienced player, who also shows cleverness and knows how to handle certain situations,” Schweinsteiger said.
“Even if it is not very easy for him at the moment, you can see his engagement in the training sessions in Munich.”
“We should be happy to have a striker like him in the background behind Mario Gomez. Gomez and him, they are both quality players.”
Ian Wright thinks it is time for England to make a stand against FIFA in order to save football. Ian Wright refers to the issues facing FIFA right now, which includes corruption, bribery, backhanders and now a presidential election where Sepp Blatter is the only choice. Wright goes on to compare the situation at FIFA at the moment to the Mafia.
Ian Wright’s suggestion is the FA leading national associations with a boycott of FIFA until this mess is sorted out a drastic step indeed – but a move the former Arsenal and England striker feels is necessary to force FIFA into change. Wright has concerns about the possibility of England pulling out of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup – but feels there are bigger issues at play here and safeguarding the way football is run being the most important thing.
The recent suspensions of Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam support the theory of corruption at FIFA. Wright feels that even if Blatter wasn’t involved in the corruption himself that doesn’t mean that he is innocent; surely Blatter must be questioned for failing to realise what was going on. As well as all of this is the continued questions on the Qatar World Cup bid and exactly what went on there. Of immediate concern is the fact that Blatter is the lone running for re-election.
We know that the FA had wanted the election to be postponed until someone to challenge Blatter can be found – but despite these calls it appears the election will still go ahead on Wednesday as planned. Wright suggested that Blatter has too much power for one man and treats world football like his own personal play thing. National associations must pull out of FIFA events and take the power of football back from one man and given back to the world.
It appears that Wright may have a point and pulling out of the FA may be the only way for FIFA to sit up and take notice. But surely it is only going to work if other Nations follow from the example in England. However, FIFA will want England at the World Cup and if other top Nations such as Spain, France, Germany…also pulled out then surely FIFA would have to act, wouldn’t they?
FIFA may also have other problems with the news that major sponsors Coca-Cola and Adidas are growing concerns – if either or both were to pull out it would be interesting to see what sort of impact that would have. But I think Ian Wright is right in order to reform FIFA someone needs to take drastic action, I have my doubts if that someone will be the English FA. But I would be reasonably confident that if someone else was to pull out – the FA would also do so.
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Should the FA pull out of FIFA? Follow me on Twitter and debate this issue.
Manchester City defender Micah Richards has backed Carlos Tevez to return to first-team action, and help the club in the race for the Premier League title.
The controversial Argentine forward has been on the sidelines this season at the Etihad Stadium, with his refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich compounded by his decision to go AWOL.
However, with Tevez returning to fitness and City struggling to find the net of late, Richards wants the South American back in contention.
“I’m a big fan of Tevez. I’ve always said that I love him,” the England international told reporters, published by The Daily Mail.
“There were games last season when he carried us on his own; games like this where he would get a 1-0 win for us.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the manager but I’d love to see him back.
“We need to go back and see where we’re going wrong, and why we’re not scoring as many goals as we used to.
“Teams seem to be defending better against us. We were scoring four, fives and sixes and now we’ve gone through a spell where we’ve been struggling to score,” the full back admitted.
Despite slipping down to second in the standings at the weekend, Richards is still confident over City’s silverware charge, and knows that the race will go down to the wire.
“It’s not over but with United it’s always going to be hard to pip them. That’s the most disappointing thing. Having been first for so long, we’ve now slipped down to second.
“The result against Swansea has made that game even more massive now. But Chelsea is the next one and that will be tough – it’s a game we have to win now.
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“We won’t give up until the end of the season. Everyone was saying last year when we got to the FA Cup Final that we wouldn’t win and it would be 20 years before we won a trophy, yet we did it. I still think we can do it again,” he concluded.
Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle with Rangers for teenage defender Danny Wilson.
The 18-year-old had been due to fly out with the rest of the Gers squad for their pre-season tour of Australia but will now remain in the UK to finalise the transfer.
Chief executive Martin Bain said of Wilson, who had just 12 months of his Ibrox contract remaining:"We have agreed a deal in principle with Liverpool for the transfer of Danny Wilson.
"Liverpool's offer will see the club receive £2million up front with add-ons linked to games played taking the total value of the deal to £5million.
"Danny was entering the final year of his contract with the club and had indicated that he felt it was in his interests to move on.
"Given that and the value of the offer from Liverpool, it was deemed appropriate to accept that offer given the player wanted to go.
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"We are aware that with Kevin Thomson and Danny leaving the club in the last week that there is a need to add to the first-team squad."
Wilson made his debut for Walter Smith's side nine months ago and went on to start 24 first-team matches for the club last season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
In his response to questions put forward by Liverpool fans site Red and White Kop, John W Henry once again highlighted the importance of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play which will come into effect next year:
“We don’t know English football, but we do know the sports business and what it takes to be successful. You must first of all have the right people in place and you must be able to give them the resources they need to be successful. With the new Financial Fair Play Rules coming into effect next year, we know that we need to emphasize revenue growth. That is an area we feel we are very strong. And LFC already has a strong commercial team.”
As Henry says, NESV have been experts in increasing revenue growth at the Boston Red Sox to the point they are now second only to the New York Yankees in Baseball in regards to turnover. Despite having a small Ballpark at Fenway, they have managed through corporate sponsorship, improved marketing and increased ticket prices to make the Red Sox into a profitable, sustainable business model, crucially helped by the team’s success on the Baseball field. Success on the field has led to increasing profits off the field, making the Red Sox a franchise to compete with the best without NESV pumping money into the team.
The ability to replicate this success with Liverpool was crucial to NESV’s decision to buy Liverpool. Currently, as for things stand, this could prove to be difficult with “Sugar Daddy” owners such as Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich ploughing money into their clubs without a care for profit, making it difficult for others to compete. What will be changing in the not too distant future though, is the introduction of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play laws.
It will require clubs to break even over a continuous three-year period within the next ten years if they want to play in European competitions. The UEFA rules state that clubs will only be allowed losses of 45m between 2012-2015 (meaning owners can pump in 15m per season in exchange for shares), and this will be reduced to 30m between 2015-2018 (10m per season) . The figures will be reduced even further still by 2019 until a point when European clubs will have to break even if they want to play in Europe. It is an initiative put forward by UEFA president Michel Platini to encourage clubs to spend wisely, and to prevent clubs spending their way to success despite accruing mountains of debt. It is designed to increase competition in Europe and prevent what UEFA sees as not playing by the rules of “fair competition.”
It effectively means that wage bills exceeding revenues will be a thing of the past, and this was crucial in attracting the interest of NESV to Liverpool. Former Reds Chairman Martin Broughton commented before the takeover by NESV was completed:
“We weren’t looking for an Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour, because we understand a rational commercial approach is the way forward in football now. . . A hugely important aspect for Liverpool is [Uefa’s] financial fair play rules. They come into effect pretty damn soon, and will have a massive effect on many, many clubs. I couldn’t help notice that Manchester City’s wage bill for last year was exceeding its revenue. That is going to be very difficult under financial fair play.”
You could certainly describe Henry’s business model at Boston Red Sox as a “rational commercial approach.” The Financial Fair Play rules are also why Henry & Co have been looking so closely at Arsenal’s business model and footballing philosophy. It is a sustainable profitable enterprise but also develops young players that are capable of competing at the top level in the Premier League. Henry’s three visits to the Kirkby Academy and his appointment of Damien Comolli are strong indications that he is already focused on preparing Liverpool for these new Financial Fair Play rules. It also tallies with his philosophy of developing youngsters with the values of the team; something they are developing at the Boston Red Sox.
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Overall then, it looks as if John W Henry has a pretty coherent long term strategy for the club but it is predicated on UEFA’s Financial Fair Play laws being a success. Whether UEFA’s guidelines work, could be crucial to how successful Liverpool are in the next ten years.
Read more excellent Liverpool blogs at the ‘Live4Liverpool’ website
With Leeds United’s takeover seemingly imminent, it has been refreshing to see the fans with renewed optimism and belief.
Who knows, by the time you read this we might already have new owners, but what does that mean for Leeds?
Financially, will we have the backing to make the club a name in Europe once again?
We have been told to “dare to dream’” by the chairman of the supporters trust, so we shall.
Amongst all the dreaming, we have to make sure we don’t lose focus on what this really means. When the takeover goes through, Ken Bates will be gone. There’ll be no more lies, no more court cases and our name wont be dragged through the mud time and time again. If the group that takes over Leeds has the clubs best interests at heart with the financial clout to make a real difference to our fortunes, the sky really is our limit.
Oddly, amongst some fans it appears that the faith in Neil Warnock has faded a little.
Whilst I can understand that the end to last season wasn’t exactly one to fill us with much hope, you have to question how much motivation any manager could get out of a team with nothing to play for. Even though some of the players were playing for their futures it was quite clear that Warnock was looking for something of an overhaul of his playing squad.
Throw in how the key players, Snodgrass being the most obvious, faced the prospect of another summer of the usual lies/excuses that are reeled out to justify a lack of ambition, it is a little easier to understand how finding motivation may have been a little harder than normal.
However, I’m confident that Warnock is exactly the right man to get Leeds promoted. His record speaks for itself, he’s a promotion specialist who knows the type of player needed to get out of this division.
As fans, we need to make sure that if we do indeed get taken over by a group with money to throw around that we keep faith with the players that Warnock chooses to bring in. By that, I mean that if you’re expecting Buffon and we sign Paddy Kenny, try not to be too underwhelmed.
In all seriousness, we do deserve the good times that seem almost inevitable now, but as the great prophet Ali G once said, we also need to ‘keep it real’.
The last thing we need is to get ideas above our limits, we’d all love to see Leeds back in the Champions League in 2 years, winning trophy after trophy, but before we even get into the Premier League we’ve got a long hard season ahead and promotion is by no means a given. Confidence is key, but making sure we don’t get over confident is too.
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The odds on Leeds getting promoted have steadily fallen since talk of a takeover began, as I write this we are currently second favourite to win the league, despite only signing 3 players. I’d imagine in the next few weeks, that might well change again.
Anyway, I’ll let you get back to dreaming of a return to the glory days!
After all the speculation this week that Wayne Rooney was going to leave Manchester United, he’s only gone and put that to bed by signing a new 5 year contract. There were pages and pages of football news and hundreds of articles and blogs dedicated to the story and Manchester City were already being lined up as a potential destination for the England international, but the Red Devils fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Whatever Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said to him and the terms presented to him by David Gill seem to have made up Rooney’s mind and he’ll be a United player for many years to come.
Manchester United fans, what do you think about Wayne Rooney staying at Old Trafford and can this news help to you to seriously challenge Chelsea this season and win yet another Premier League title?
Highly-rated 23-year-old Holland winger Eljero Elia looks set to leave Hamburg this month, but it won’t be on the cheap. The Bundesliga club have told Premier League suitors Liverpool and Wigan that Elia will only move for a hefty sum and have slapped a £12.5 million price tag on him.
Elia is keen to leave Hamburg after falling out with manager Armin Veh earlier in the season, but the German club’s valuation of him could potentially scupper a move. According to the Daily Mail Hamburg have already turned down a loan offer from Wigan and will only let Elia leave on their terms.
Hamburg sporting direct Bastian Reinhardt has said “We do not loan players out, this is a simple conclusion,” and went on to state that “as the current employer of Elia, we require at least 15 million Euros from potential buyers.” It will be interesting to see whether this price tag puts off any potential suitors for the Dutchman who has been capped 15 times by his country.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is looking at Elia as a possible replacement for want away midfielder Charles N’Zogbia and has already had a deal until the end of the season turned down. Liverpool were thought to be interested but the departure of Roy Hodgson may have changed things, while Wolfsburg seem to be frontrunners as they look to spend some of the funds recouped on Manchester City’s new £27 million striker Edin Dzeko.
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Roberto Mancini hailed the perfect opening to the Premier League season as City ran riot in the second half at the Etihad Stadium. New signing Sergio Aguero capped a super debut with two goals and assist, showing City fans there could be more than a future should Carlos Tevez choose to move on.
Elsewhere in the papers there have been a mixed bag of stories that include; Walcott critical of Capello’s preparation; Joey Barton in the clear, while Obi-Mikel pleads for his kidnapped father’s return.
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Mancini hails ‘perfect night’ as Agüero shines on debut – Guardian
Walcott critical of Capello’s preparation – Guardian
Wenger defiant as heat rises on Arsenal – Guardian
Chelsea’s Mikel appeals over father’s kidnapping – Guardian
Don’t worry! De Gea will shine, claims former United legend Schmeichel – Daily Mail
Enrique says Carroll will terrorise defences after winning fitness battle – Daily Mail
Meireles is Chelsea’s latest target as Blues weigh up new Modric bid – Daily Mail
Spurs’ next signing must be a striker – Mirror
Barton in the clear over row – Sun
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There was an almost macabre element to endure as you sat back and watched the Robin van Persie transfer story unfold. It wasn’t anything to do with the ambitions of the player nor even the acceptance of the club to sell to one of their greatest rivals. It’s more the simple principle that Arsene Wenger has been perceived to have done the best he could, to squeeze £24million out of his star acquisition.
Because even if circumstances dictated Van Persie’s sale was inevitability, it still doesn’t mean it’s right. Sir Alex Ferguson personally intervening to make the sale stick, felt akin to the school bully walking over and nicking Wenger’s lunch money. Wenger was powerless and even though he may view the avoidance of a beating -in this case, a potential RVP Bosman- as something of a victory, the truth is he’s still been forced to give up something he so dearly wished to keep.
Wenger achieved the best possible deal he could for the football club and time may even dictate Van Persie’s sale to be something of a masterstroke, given his injury history. But even if it does turn out to be a blinder, it’s one that should never have been played.
As the Gunner’s failed to net in their Premier League curtain raiser against Sunderland on Saturday, the hacks of Fleet Street probably couldn’t believe their luck.
The Sun took it upon themselves to spell it out as bright as day for Arsenal fans with the overzealous “NO RVP = NO GOALS,” hammered their back page, adjacent to the rather apt image of Arsene Wenger burying his head in his hands. The task of replacing 37 goals may have started in earnest during the weekend, but it’s clear that the replacement duo of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud are going to be under massive pressure to perform from the off this season. Foreign signings need to be allowed a fair period of adjustment to bed into the trappings of English football. The stirring has begun and it feels as if it their purgatory period may have already defined by the shadow of their predecessor.
Because they’re not just replacing any run of the mill striker. It feels very clichéd to describe Van Persie as irreplaceable but how do you go about replacing a player who at times last season, almost dragged his team kicking and screaming back into the top four? Talismanic is one thing. Scoring 30 league goals, creating another nine and urging your team on as club captain is quite another. You may not be able to put a definitive value on those traits, but £24milion certainly doesn’t cover it.
However, the sale of Van Persie was dictated under the looming circumstance of his rapidly expiring contract. The Dutchman had one year left to run on his deal at the Emirates. The reality was of course, that should Wenger refuse to sell his prize asset now, that he would go for nothing the following summer. Barring an absolute catastrophe, it’s hard to envisage that he’d have had a lack of clubs to pick from with a non-existent transfer fee. He wanted out and he had to go this summer.
And considering the situation, Wenger did a cracking job to get the amount of money he did for his skipper. At 29, Van Persie is at the wrong end of his twenties, had a contractual situation that drastically effected his transfer fee and most prominently, had only managed more than 28 league games in a season for the first time in his career last term. He represents a substantial risk to Fergie, but should they win a Premier League or a Champions League off the back of his mercurial left foot, the fee is all but forgotten.
But the point is that the elements of risk in this deal would be a hell of a lot more prominent, had he not cost £24miilion. And if his deal had say three years left to run as opposed to one, there’s no way he’d have left the Emirates for a penny under £30million, at the very least. As a simple matter of risk management, would Manchester United, Juventus or any other club for that matter, have been willing to risk a potential £35million plus on a striker of Van Persie’s age and with his injury record? It doesn’t matter that he’s nearly 30; he was arguably the best out-and-out striker in Europe last season. If Wenger didn’t want to sell, clubs would have had to cough up that sort of money.
But the length of his contract distorted the circumstance and however you frame the £24million, it could have been so much different. It feels like Groundhog Day again at the Emirates. Similarly with the Samir Nasri deal to Manchester City in 2011, no one can deny that £25million was a good bit of business. But yet again, it was dictated by his contract situation; Nasri had one-year left to run on his latest deal.
It remains to be seen what their North London rivals attain for their prized asset, but as we are seeing with Luka Modric’s protracted move away to Real Madrid, no one is pushing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy around. His philosophy has been to regularly top-up Spurs’ players with new deals when their stock has incrementally risen. You can’t prevent the likes of Modric and Van Persie from wanting to move, but you can ensure that the club remains in a degree of control. However you may critique their transfer activity, Spurs have ensured everything has been done to ensure they get maximum value out of their players.
But as Alex Song becomes the latest Arsenal player to jump ship, following his £15million move to Barcelona, it feels like something of a tipping point has emerged. Here was a player who, according to recent reports, showed a lack of professionalism in training towards the end of last term and the club has subsequently been happy to let him move on. But conflicting stories have suggested that Song was in fact, desperate to commit his future to the Gunners and his advisors initiated contact with the club in January, in the hope of renewing his £55,000-a-week deal that had three years left to run.
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It’s difficult to make a staunch analysis on such conflicting reports and who you believe will greatly determine what viewpoint you take on Song’s departure. As immoral as footballers wages may be, was Song really asking too much in looking for parity with the club’s top earners? A salary of £55k a week for a man who chipped in with 11 league assists as arguably Arsenal’s second most influential player last season, doesn’t seem particularly reflective with the rest of the market. Have Arsenal flogged a greedy, unprofessional player to Barcelona and avoided the next Nasri/Van Perise? Or is this transfer the legacy of having their fingers burnt for two summers on the trot?
The term watershed season is wheeled out a little too often this season, but it feels like it could definitely be slapped on Arsenal’s term this season. Arsene Wenger is trying to run the football club in the mould of sustainability, not reckless investment. But as important as it is to acquire new players, he equally needs to find a way to keep the ones he already has. Next up is Theo Walcott. Let’s hope the script isn’t already written.
How can Arsenal buck the departures of their finest players? Are the club right to not hand new contracts out like confetti or does something have to change quickly at the Emirates? Tell me how you see it on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your views.