Transfer speculation can entertain and frustrate in equal measures. In the summer months waiting for the new season to start reading the back pages for the latest rumours of who could be leaving or arriving your club is an enjoyable pastime. But sometimes speculation can cause more trouble than enjoyment for clubs and players.
Tottenham have had a shaky start to the transfer window so far this summer. Intense speculation about the future of Luka Modric has prompted doubts over the futures of their other key players, including Gareth Bale who has been linked with Barcelona. But the latest name to be reportedly heading for the White Hart Lane exit door is Michael Dawson. Dawson wouldn’t be high on a list of the most likely leavers at Spurs, not because of a lack of talent but the Spurs’ skipper seems like a settled and loyal member of their squad.
Reports emerged on Wednesday that Dawson was in a dispute with Spurs over his contract but the defender has immediately refuted the claims. Unfortunately for Spurs they are one of the clubs at the centre of so much speculation and this has lead to the obvious and lazy rumours that everyone from the kit man to the captain is considering their future. According to the media there is currently a domino effect of discontent in the Spurs’ dressing room.
But Spurs are in no way the only club affected by speculation. Back in October last year Liverpool owner John Henry made a statement on the Liverpool website labeling stories about their key players possibly leaving as “destructive and unwarranted”. That statement came after speculation over the future of Pepe Reina. Henry seemed willing to ignore nuisance rumours and accepted them as common practise these days. If such reports are completely untrue most can be brushed under the carpet and deemed harmless. It is those rumours that plant a seed of doubt in people’s minds that can be destructive for both the clubs and players they are concerning.
Cesc Fabregas’ transfer saga is another popular rumour but this one just won’t go away. To be fair to the media this one seems to have just a little truth behind it despite a possible deal for Fabregas not gaining any steam recently. Whilst Arsenal claim he will stay speculation surrounding their captain’s future just won’t go away, the latest being that Fabregas has told Barcelona’s Xavi that he is ‘suffering’ because of his desire to join the European Champions. The constant speculation over the future of their captain and best player has understandably be causing unrest at Arsenal for years.
Luckily for Spurs these new claims about Dawson seem to just be rumours. Spurs will no doubt take centre stage on the back pages sometime soon but hopefully for Harry Redknapp it will about star arrivals rather than anymore unwanted departures.
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It’s easy to forget that Salomon Kalou is just 25 years of age. The man is a Premier League winner, champion of three FA Cups and one League Cup. He has also scored goals not only at the Home of Football (Wembley), the Theatre of Dreams (Old Trafford) and, um, the Stadium of Light (Sunderland), but also on perhaps the three biggest stages of them all, the Olympics, the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League (including a penalty in the shoot-out in Moscow).
He is, in the current Chelsea squad, 3rd top goal-scorer – behind Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and 7th longest-serving player. Most astonishingly is a statistic that seemed to have passed everyone by, including most Chelsea fans. This was that, after his goal against Wolves at the end of October, he had scored 9 goals in 9 games, against Inter Milan, Aston Villa, Wigan x2, Stoke, Blackpool, Man Utd, West Ham and Wolves.
However, despite these impressive statistics and accolades, ‘Number 21, Salomon Kalouuuu’ has a frustrating inconsistence, a flattery to deceive that sees the pendulum of his performance swing from laudable to laughable, often within minutes. You only need to go as far as last Sunday where, but for Kalou’s goal, Chelsea would have found themselves point-less at St James’ Park. This is over-looking the fact that, but for his second-half miss, with the goal gaping, Chelsea would have left St James’ Park as league leaders.
See also his performance versus Atletico Madrid last season, which saw him fluff an opportunity at 0-0 but ultimately, score 2 goals in a 4-0 win. No-one will ever forget, nor let Salomon forget, the ‘Worst Miss Ever In An FA Cup Final™’, which came at Wembley in May. I’m sure I don’t need to go on with examples of his exasperating execution, as anyone who visits Stamford Bridge on your average Saturday is bound to be baffled by Chelsea’s apparent Ivorian-Irishman O’Kalou, such is the regularity of the cries of woe and anguish from the Shed and Matthew Harding faithful.
Nevertheless, I feel that our bewildered-looking, Bambi-on-ice impersonator is a vital member of our squad. Lets recall some of the better times: a hat-trick against Stoke, a standout performance at the San Siro which included a goal and a stonewall penalty that was not given and the winning penalty in the Community Shield last year and Chelsea’s only goal in the same fixture this year. Focusing on last season, which is only fair in my opinion as the 2010 version of Salomon Kalou is a different player to the wet-behind-the-ears 2006 version, the 37 appearances he made show just how worthy a squad player he is for Carlo Ancelotti. It’s also worth mentioning that he would have enjoyed more pitch-time for Chelsea, had he not been in battle at the African Cup of Nations. If anything, his value to the team and to Ancelotti has become even greater this season, with the side so often left with a youthful and inexperienced substitutes’ bench after 2 seasons of sparse arrivals and frequent departures. He has 6 goals from 6 Premier League starts (and 5 substitute appearances), and has arguably (or perhaps not) been on better form that Chelsea’s supposedly 2nd senior striker, Nicolas Anelka.
Possibly Kalou’s best attribute is his lack of injury proneness; the Ivorian can almost always be trusted to play any role in any game, and his unwavering determination and enthusiasm to help the Chelsea cause whenever he pulls on the shirt should, in my eyes, be given more credit that has previously been given. This is a family man with a squeaky clean image who lives with his sister, who learnt how to play football the hard way at the astoundingly successful Académie Jean Marc Guillou, funded by ASEC Mimosas (aka ASEC Abidjan), which has more than 10 alumni now playing in top-flight European leagues (with one of them reportedly earning £220k per week at an infamously wealthy Manchester club). Given his development while he has been plying his trade in West London, it is not ridiculous to think that, with a continuance of loyalty and willingness to learn and improve, the Ivorian will one day be more than just ‘a handy squad player’.
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As we sit here on the day of the Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, I decided to take a look back down memory lane at the great European Cup finals of all time. There have been some classic finals in the past decades and we can hope tonight’s showpiece in Munich proves to be another one of those occasions.
Manchester United 4 Benfica 1 (1968)
The Red Devils became the first English side to win the European cup, and what made it sweeter was the fact it was won at Wembley (perhaps a good omen for SAF tomorrow). The game is remembered for European footballer of the year and football writer’s Footballer of the Year, George Best’s ‘wonder’ goal, but it could have been so different for United if goalkeeper Alex Stepney hadn’t saved from Eusebio, when the score was 1-1, when the Benfica forward broke through in the final moments. United sealed an emphatic win in extra time, with ‘that’ goal from Best, another from 19 year old Brian Kidd and another from Bobby Charlton.
Celtic 2 Inter Milan 1 (1967)
Celtic broke Britain’s European duck, in a remarkable game of attack versus defence, with the Scottish club managing 42 attempts on goal, with the Italians only achieving a measly five. Inter Milan took the lead on seven minutes via a Sandro Mazzola penalty, but that is as good as it got for the Italians, with Celtic unleashing wave after wave after attack, which eventually paid dividends with Tommy Gemmell and a deflected Bobby Murdoch shot, sealing the win.
Manchester United 2 Bayern Munich 1 (2000)
Everyone related with the German giants started to celebrate when the clock ticked over the 90 minute mark but 36 seconds later, the party was abruptly halted thanks to a Teddy Sheringham equaliser. Everybody began readying themselves for extra time but somebody forgot to tell Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored a dramatic winner on 92 minutes and 17 seconds to clinch the Treble for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
Liverpool 3 AC Milan 3 (Liverpool win 3-2 on pens) (2005)
AC Milan fans are still recovering from this historic night in Istanbul, where Liverpool achieved, what was deemed impossible at half time. 3-0 down against a stereotypical Italian defence, the game basically over, but in a mad seven minute spell Liverpool showed us all why we love the beautiful game with Gerrard, Smicer and Alonso completing a sensational come back, to take the game to extra time and eventually penalties, which of course the Merseyside outfit won.
Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (1960)
This cup final is viewed by many as the greatest European final ever, and it is hard to argue against with ten goals, two hat tricks (Ferenc Puskas 4 and Alfredo di Stefano 3) and world record number of fans at Hampden Park (127,261). This victory was Real Madrid’s fifth consecutive European Cup final victory in a row.
Benfica 5 Real Madrid 3 (1962)
Real Madrid were looking to reclaim their European dominance after Benfica had taken the trophy the year before, and with two early goals from Puskas it looked like Madrid would do just that. However within ten minutes Benfica were level again, only for Puskas to complete his hat trick before half time. Benfica managed to draw level in the second half and eventually went on to retain their crown with two goals in four minutes from Eusebio.
Nottingham Forest 1 Malmo 0 (1979)
Just two seasons earlier Forest were playing in the old second division, something of a fairytale football story. If that wasn’t enough of a story for you, UEFA rules meant that Trevor Francis Britain’s first £1 million signing couldn’t play in European matches for three months, which meant the Cup final was the former Birmingham City man’s Euro debut, a huge gamble by Old Big ‘Ead but one that paid off with Francis netting the winner.
Milan 4 Ajax 1 (1969)
This Milan performance destroyed the cliché of Italian football being negative and defensive, with Pierino Prati scoring the last hat trick in a European final to date. This Ajax side would eventually go on to be European Champions three years in a row in the early 1970s.
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Real Madrid 2 Bayer Leverkusen 1 (2002)
A very close encounter with Raul opening the scoring after eight minutes for Madrid but Leverkusen’s Lucio levelled the score only five minutes later. It is what happened in the 45th minute that gets this game onto such lists, arguably one of the greatest UEFA Champions League goals was scored by Zinedine Zidane who volleyed a high arcing cross from Roberto Carlos into the top corner from the edge of the area, a goal worthy to win any match, especially a cup final.
Borussia Dortmund 3 Juventus 1 (1997)
Everyone loves an underdog and the German’s duly obliged in giving us a victorious one. The German’s went 2-0 up before Del Piero (who else) pulled a goal back but Dortmund sealed the win with a Lars Ricksen goal, 16 seconds after he came on as a substitute, which was and still is the faster goal by a substitute in the Champions League ever.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp says he would be lying if he claimed Luka Modric was happy after being denied a transfer.Croatia international Modric met with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy on Wednesday and was told the club had no intention of letting him join Chelsea or Manchester United.
Tottenham hope their strong stance will ensure prized asset Modric remains in north London, but Redknapp conceded the 25-year-old playmaker was far from satisfied upon his return to pre-season training.
“He’s going to remain here, but there is no point me saying he’s walked in here today and everything is great, he’s happy and he’s going to stay,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.
“The kid is a bit confused at the moment and it’s not been easy for him.”
“I’d be telling you lies if I said he’s happy and he doesn’t want to go and play for whoever wants him – I think there are three or four of the top five that want him. But we want to keep him here.”
“The chairman wants to keep him, I want to keep him and we need him if we’re going to progress. We need him and, as he said to me this morning, we need to add to him.”
Redknapp confirmed he and Levy were keen to strengthen the squad prior to Spurs mounting a bid for Champions League qualification.
“We are looking to improve and we need to,” Redknapp said.
“It’s no good people talking about Champions League football if we don’t improve the team, we know that.”
“We have to make way with one or two going first, we are just a little bit overloaded in one or two areas, but if we can do that we will look to bring one or two in.”
“We know what we need and it won’t be for the lack of effort.”
“Daniel always does it, in the end we always spend money here and improve the team and he will do it again this year.”
Who doesn’t love a good rant? The Premier League are ‘investigating’ Blackpool boss Ian Holloway after he made ten changes to his side against Aston Villa. Holloway’s emphatic response is that he will quit if his club are fined for fielding a ‘weakened side’. The claim is that Holloway intentionally fielded a sub-par team against Villa with the knowledge that they were more likely to get points against West Ham on the weekend if his players were fully rested.
Holloway was understandably furious with the allegations: “We deserved at least a point and how dare anybody tell me the players I’ve been working with, I can’t treat them with respect and give them a chance.” He also highlighted how important it is to keep players fresh and not to burn them out: “We’ve got four games in 12 days and the lads I’ve played every week are struggling to keep up the level”. How can the Premier League argue against that? The League’s fixture list is ridiculous convoluted at the best of times and Holloway has a duty by his players to ensure that he doesn’t over-exert them. When the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool rotate their squads, no one takes much interest. When Blackpool does it, it creates a furore.
The trouble is that there’s already a precedent set by the Premier League. When Mick McCarthy fielded a Wolves side with ten changes against Manchester United in December 2009 the League saw fit to fine him £25,000. Mick argues that Holloway won’t be able to dodge the fine: “They won’t escape it, how can they? If they do then the Premier League is absolutely toothless.” Whether Blackpool sidestep the fine or not, doesn’t the whole affair highlight the Premier League’s infuriatingly bad judgement?
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Ian Holloway is manager of Blackpool FC and as such, it’s his duty to pick eleven men to take to pitch every match day. It is not the duty of the Premier League to decide who has a right to play and who doesn’t. If the Premier League approved the 25 players required at the beginning of the season, what right do they have to say now that a certain collection of these players are not worthy? Every player in the accepted 25 man squad must be capable or they wouldn’t have a contract in the first place.
It compounds the whole affair that Holloway’s team played so well against Villa despite apparently being a ‘weakened side’. Nobody can say that the players didn’t acquit themselves well or that they were unworthy opposition for Villa. They lost only by the odd goal and deserved at least a point. In the fight for Premier League survival, why shouldn’t Blackpool be allowed to field whatever team they want? It’s Blackpool that will live or die as a result of Holloway’s decisions. This strikes me as a case where the League has no right to stick its beak in.
The FA has no right to ‘ok’ team-sheets. If the fine goes through it will be indicative of a sad state of affairs. It would be sadder too if Holloway follows through on his promise to quit. He’s a genuine character and a good bloke. I personally hope both he and Blackpool remain in the top flight next season and that the Premier League sees sense.
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A strong end to a difficult season must give Lion’s fans reason for an optimistic summer. There seems to be a magical word in the Championship and it begins with ‘M’. When teams have it they are feared, without it they can stumble. Southampton had it and then Reading found it. Momentum!
As the season came to a close it appeared we had finally found it, the form team in April, all of sudden we were sweeping aside all opposition with a new found swagger and exuberance.
A surprisingly smooth finish to a turbulent campaign, seven games unbeaten, culminating in The Lions finishing above our South London rivals Crystal Palace seems to have masked a season spent flirting with relegation. Our Achilles heel was no doubt what had, over the last few seasons, been such a key ingredient to our success.
The Den was no longer a fortress. Especially at the turn of the year, it seemed as if teams were arriving with a smile on their faces, relaxed and licking their lips at the prospect of playing in front of the Lions’ faithful. The opposite could be said of the hosts.
When a team isn’t winning at home, momentum is suddenly a foreign word. Strong home form is vital for any successful side in this division; it releases pressure and provides a platform for confident away performances.
Occasional convincing away wins, at Oakwell and Turf Moor, kept the murmurings of discontent from becoming anything more. But with any poor form questions around the suitability of the manager seem inevitable.
Kenny Jackett is the longest serving manager in the division. He has provided stability following a difficult period, where we saw a frequent change in management and personnel coinciding with the club falling into League One and struggling; League Two suddenly became a scary possibility.
But this year saw his biggest challenge since his first season, turning around the fortunes of a losing side, this time a side which he was responsible for. January signings of Shane Lowry and Andy Keogh have not only turned out to be very astute acquisitions, but also shown that Jackett has the backing of Chairman John G Berylson. A partnership which will certainly be crucial to any progress the club makes over the coming seasons.
Jackett has come through a turbulent spell with his reputation in enhanced. Whether promotion-chasing or survival-seeking, Jackett has shown he is the best man for the job.
Off the back of our tremendous end of season run-in, we have cause for optimism as we look forward to next year. Keogh will be crucial and if Jackett can get young Harry Kane again for another year, then the partnership that has already yielded 13 championship goals in such a short period, will undoubtedly shine again.
We have also spent the season without our previous player of the year, Tamika Mkandawire, who in our first season back in the Championship was perhaps the main reason for us holding the third best defensive record in the league behind promoted QPR and Swansea.
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With these positives at either end of the pitch and a Chairman willing to back his Manager financially, we must be itching for August to come around already. We can learn from the experiences of this season, take the momentum we seem to have generated, thus making The Den a fortress again and becoming a feared side in this division.
It can be a funny old division, with pre season favourites such as Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Middlesbrough all underachieving. Southampton got off to a strong start and held on as the season drew to a close, Reading came from nowhere at the turn of the year and powered to promotion.
Perhaps if April hadn’t have shown as many positives we wouldn’t have reason to be so optimistic but continue our form into the start of next season and you just never know. In the Npower Championship, momentum can take you a long way.
The recent news that the Iranian women’s football team are to be banned from competing at the London 2012 Olympics by FIFA should raise questions on what is and what is not acceptable for teams to wear and what are the boundaries in what kind of attire can be worn on the pitch.
Iran were assigned to play Jordan in Amman on Friday 3rd June in a London 2012 Olympic qualifier, but a FIFA organiser called the game off due to their ‘‘hijab’’ style of clothing, as it does not conform to Law 4 – Players’ Equipment, that was laid out by international football’s governing body.
FIFA’s course of action is based on Iran wearing a full-body kit with added headscarf to keep in touch with their religious beliefs. This decision appears to show a lack of consistency on FIFA’s part especially if comments made by Ali Kafashian , head of Iran’s Football Federation, are to be believed. Kafashian, quoted in an Arman newspaper, said, ‘‘the (Iranian) Football Federation had already discussed with FIFA director (Sepp Blatter ) for Iranian women’s participation with full Islamic hijab. We managed to acquire Blatter’s consent on this matter.’’
FIFA have refuted this claim and said that both party’s had agreed in the spring of 2010 that the women’s team were permitted to wearing a cap that covers the head to their hairline, but that would not extend below the ears – in keeping with the Laws of the Game. Maybe it is because of this ‘reassurance’ that Marzieh Akbarabadi , Iran’s official in charge of women’s sports, feels the move is politically motivated.
The FIFA official who inflicted this ban is a Bahraini national and Akbarabadi detects that something else may be on the agenda. He contradicted FIFA’s assertion and said that the team’s kit was ‘‘of the same style that FIFA had approved,’’ but senses that, because of a recent crackdown on Shiite protesters in Iran by the Sunni rulers of Bahrain , the Bahraini official ‘‘took advantage of an international event.’’ After all the recent fuss over Blatter’s re-election – if you can class it an election – as FIFA President, this is all they need, dealing with an issue that is much more than being about football.
In some ways, FIFA could be seen to be doing Iranian women a favour in not letting them play in attire that comes draped in historic and discriminatory connotations; signs of an oppressive regime. Although, this is not them making a stand against these conditions – not according to what they say anyway. Instead, it is them merely sticking to the book. Many people will find the reasons why most Iranian women have to cover themselves up from head to toe as aberrant, due to religious purposes that are based on prejudice (some people say it is connected with religion whilst others state that it’s a ‘cultural’ thing; one that is patriarchal. It could also be deemed that they are both intertwined).
FIFA could be accused of being hypocritical when it comes to their actions because if they, judging by their actions, can respect the beliefs of the rulers in Qatar , a country that was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup despite it being a land where it is illegal to be homosexual, then surely they can respect the beliefs of the Iranian government? You cannot have one rule for someone then another for someone else when they are both behaving in virtually the same manner.
Whatever the reasons are for sides wishing to compete in a particular form of regalia, should the wish to not wear shorts be stamped upon? As long as the competitors compete in their official team colours does it matter? Does wearing a head scarf that is tied tightly to the head, leaving no room for it to obstruct an opposing player’s view, really affect the game that much? It’s not as if they are wearing a clown’s outfit with giant boots and a nose that would completely disrupt the running of play.
If anything, the team wishing to wear tracksuit bottoms could be adversely affecting themselves, so it’s up to them – they’ll reap what they sow. But at the same time, FIFA , as unlikely as it sounds after the recent allegations that the British sports media have bestowed upon them, may want to see a fair playing field and have nothing that could, despite protests to the contrary, stop a side playing to their full potential i.e. the non-covering of legs for a game that requires lots of running. Most football purists, I imagine, will not even contemplate the thought of football’s ‘dress-code’ being changed for fear of it being turned into a ‘sissy’ sport. There should be a limit to what items of clothing one can participate football matches in, but shall we break with tradition and allow teams to wear items such as tracksuit bottoms, long lycra bottoms or even head scarf’s? It’s very much open to debate.
Other instances of kit rebellion
This is not the first case that an aspect of team clothing has caused problems for all concerned. India ’s national football team qualified for the football World Cup for, as of now, the only time in their history. Although this was only due to the fact that three members of their qualifying group – Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines – dropped out, which left India being declared ‘winners’ of the group. At this time, the Indian national side played barefoot, but as this was against FIFA laws, they were prevented from entering the competition for refusing to wear football boots despite competing ‘bootless’ in the 1948 London Olympics two years earlier.
There have been a couple of instances when the Cameroonian national side and its football body have been held to ransom over their style of kit. In 2002, they unveiled a sleeveless shirt that FIFA were none too pleased about, which led to their sponsors Puma having to add a black sleeve to the vest after being threatened by football’s governing body.
Then in 2004, they, and again, Puma, introduced a one-piece kit whereby the shirts and shorts were stitched together. After being warned beforehand that wearing them in an international game would bring punishment, the Indomitable Lions wore them anyway and incurred a six-point deduction that would come into effect from when their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign began.
The Cameroon Football Association were also handed an £86,000 fine by FIFA. This was revoked after Puma took Blatter and co to task and both party’s settled out-of-court. Cameroon also had six-points restored after the initial deduction.
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There was rigorous debate in the season just gone regarding the ‘snoode’, a form of scarf that was beloved of many players during the winter months. The dispute is likely to be over now as players will be abstained from wearing one in official matches from 1st July 2011.
Give me your thoughts.
Read more of Ricky Murray’s articles at This is Futbol
With all the money that is around in the modern game, it is easy to overlook some of the other issues that are evident in the world of football.
Playing professional sport with an illness is something that should not be taken for granted. When people mention ‘asthma’, most people overlook it as a ‘minority’ illness and something that isn’t very serious.
How do I know this? Well, I myself am a sufferer and have been all my life. Every time I play sport, I go through the routine of warming up, doing my one inhaler and making sure my other inhaler is near by in case I need it.
Why is this relevant to football? Well, few people know that many professional footballers have to go through the same routine before matches and training. It may surprise many people of some of the names that suffer with asthma, and how they have done so well to overcome the problems it carries.
Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard confirmed he suffers from it and has spoken out to ensure that it should be treated properly, and not be overlooked. He says it shouldn’t hold youngsters back from wanting to enjoy the game.
Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes has played with the condition all of his career, and has not let it stop him playing at one of the best clubs in the world…not to mention picking up all those medals along the way.
Louis Saha, Paul Gascoigne, Ian Wright and Robbie Fowler are just some of the other well-known names that overcame the condition and go on to become very successful in the footballing world.
One player that only confirmed he suffered from asthma last year was former-England captain David Beckham, who was photographed using an inhaler during LA Galaxy’s MLS Cup Final defeat to Real Salt Lake. Beckham, who has carved out massively successful careers in sport, advertising and merchandising (to name but a few) has never let the condition hold him back.
His agent, Simon Oliveira, was keen to point out that Beckham never wanted to make it public that he suffered from asthma, but youngsters should instead use it as an inspiration and follow in his footsteps.
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“David has suffered with this since he was a young boy but obviously it has had no effect on his performance.
“He has never sought to make it public but, if it does inspire any sufferer to think they can achieve great things, then so much the better.”
Although it’s way too late for me to consider a career in sport, players like this can act as an inspiration to youngsters that have asthma…not just in this country, but all over the world. The condition stops us from breathing properly, but it is fantastic to see so many great players shrug off the condition and battle against it to achieve what they have.
This week sees something every Fantasy player yearns for – a double gameweek. Liverpool and Everton play Sunderland and Spurs respectively before facing off against each other next Tuesday evening. Bearing this in mind, should your captain be from one of the Merseyside clubs or is it best to stick with someone who’s been bringing in regular points?
The Captaincy Debate
Let’s start with a consistent point scorer – Robin van Persie. The Arsenal striker is the Premier League’s top scorer with 25 goals. He netted in midweek against AC Milan before missing a golden opportunity to tie the game. The latter is a very strange occurrence these days as he continues to carve out a reputation as one of the best forwards in the world. Newcastle come to the Emirates on Monday night. The Toon have conceded 10 goals in their last two visits to London which bodes well for van Persie to extend his recent scoring record.
However, Ashley Young has hit form for Manchester United since returning from injury. In his last two games against Norwich and Spurs, he has helped to produce match-winning moments. He crossed in for Ryan Giggs’ late strike at Carrow Road whilst last weekend, he netted two and provided the assist for Wayne Rooney in United’s 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane. Even though United have an array of talent in the final third, Young will be a key player in the final third against West Brom on Sunday.
Then again, with the lure of a double gameweek, Royston Drenthe is a very tempting option. The ex-Real Madrid midfielder has been deployed irregularly by David Moyes. When he has been on the pitch for the Toffees, Drenthe has excited Everton fans. He scored a superb long range strike against QPR last week, his second wonder goal in West London this season having netted at Craven Cottage in October. The Dutchman will be hoping to reproduce this form in Everton’s next two, as David Moyes side come up against tough opposition in Spurs and Liverpool.
Yet Drenthe hasn’t started too many games this season so perhaps it’s worth looking to Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan perhaps hasn’t been as prolific as many expected this season with only six league goals. If Liverpool are to make a push for the Champions League spot, Suarez needs to be netting more often than he is currently. Suarez remains a very dangerous proposition though and his opponents will be wary of this.
The Captain: Luis Suarez – Back the Uruguayan in this double gameweek – it’s a gamble which might just pay off
Vice Captain: Robin van Persie – If in doubt, keep RVP in mind for the sole reason that he can’t stop scoring.
Long Term Look
When Bobby Zamora left Fulham on Transfer Deadline day, Pavel Pogrebnyak’s arrival at Craven Cottage was seen by some as a puzzling replacement. He’d only scored one goal, that being a penalty, in 14 Bundesliga appearances. It’s been a different story for Pogrebnyak in England though.
The Russian international has five goals in his first three appearances including a hat-trick against Wolves last weekend. What’s more, Fulham’s new striker has only had five shots on target. The man now known at Craven Cottage as “the Pog” is priced currently at £6.3 million on the Fantasy Premier League which makes Pogrebnyak a must have as the season enters its final eleven games.
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Manchester United sealed a record 19th league title with a hard-fought draw against Blackburn Rovers.Wayne Rooney’s equalising penalty in the 70th minute sparked celebrations among the huge away following at Ewood Park as they grabbed yet another Premier League title.
It was also a momentous occasion for United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who finally overhauled the number of titles won by rivals Liverpool, just as he vowed to do when he took the Old Trafford hotseat 25 years ago.
But while it was unfounded joy for the travelling fans, the result leaves Blackburn looking nervously over their shoulder at the wrong end of the table despite a heroic performance against the champions.
Steve Kean’s team now face a potential survival shootout at relegation rivals Wolves on the last day of the season.
A chance came almost straight away for United after Rooney whipped in a superb cross from the right but Nani’s header crashed against the crossbar.
Blackburn gave the Reds a fright in the 18th minute when Chris Samba had the ball in the back of the net but he was penalised by referee Phil Dowd for shoving Nemanja Vidic.
Just two minutes later the hosts took the lead after Tomasz Kuszczack – replacing Edwin van der Sar – came off his line to fend off Brett Emerton’s cross.
But the ball wasn’t cleared and Martin Olsson was able to send a cross to the far post where Emerton put it past the nervous keeper.
Javier Hernandez made a clever turn from 20 yards and fired, but keeper Paul Robinson reached low to make a good save.
Another Kuszczack error could have proved fatal, with the Pole taking too long to clear a back pass, giving David Hoilet the chance to slide in and stab the ball just wide.
Following the break, Ryan Giggs fed a well placed shot through two defenders to Hernandez who was running into the box, but the Mexican couldn’t get it under control.
Manchester United slowly increased the pressure but Blackburn’s defence held out.
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A blistering strike by Nani was deflected off Chris Samba’s chest and when Valencia found Giggs, Phil Jones threw himself in front of the winger’s shot.
At the other end, Olsson made a magnificent climb to head Emerton’s cross but he hit the top of the near post.
But United got the point they needed in the 70th minute when Hernandez chased the ball into the area but Robinson made a late challenge and the striker came crashing down.
After a minute-long consultation with his assistant, Dowd awarded the penalty and Rooney converted the spot-kick to rapturous cheers from the away stand.