Lille playmaker Eden Hazard has admitted that he wants to play in England next season, with Manchester United and City keeping tabs on the talented attacking midfielder.
The Belgium international is one of the hottest prospects in the world game, and with star performances for club and country over the last 24 months, is being monitored by a raft of leading European clubs.
Hazard scored a penalty in Lille’s 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, and has been in a rich vein of form of late.
Manchester City’s Patrick Vieira and United scout Martin Ferguson, Sir Alex’s brother, were in attendance at the Stade Lille Metropole, and Hazard made his intentions clear after the match.
“I want to play in England next season. That’s what I’ve decided,” he told French reporters, translated to English by The Guardian.
Tottenham had made an audacious attempt to sign the starlet in January, but it is expected that the financial clout of the Manchester clubs will win the race for the prodigious talent once the transfer window reopens.
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I know what your thinking, Player of the season?! Well yes! It has been a disappointing season for Wolves. One full of hope and optimism which ended in failure and disappointment. But there have been glimpses of light this season and those who have produced need to be credited.
Whether it is the shot stopping Wayne Hennessey, who we believe has made more saves than any keeper in the top 5 leagues in Europe this season. To Fletcher’s eagerness to score with his head, Jarvis constant runs on the wings and the re-insurgence of Michael Kightly. The Wolves Football Fancast Show lads have decided, like last season, to put together a list of players who they feel deserve the now ‘famous’ accolade this season, with a couple of controversial one’s thrown in aswell.
Although they have not made the list due to the amount of games they played, special mentions have to be given to both Emmanuel Frimpong and David Davis. Frimpong, who in his very short spell at Wolves showed genuine class and could have helped steer the tanker round. Davis, who’s re-call came at the mass midfielder crisis Wolves faced, rose to the challenge with some impressive performances and surely has cemented his position in the first eleven next season.
Matt Jarvis won the award last season. We presented him with a T-shirt that read ‘I’m the Wolves Football Fancast Show Player of the Season 2010/11’ and on the back ‘and all I got was this lousy T-shirt’. Like last season, if we can, we will present the shirt to the winner.
So here is the list. Get voting! We’ll close the poll before the end of the season.
[poll ]
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Roy Hodgson starts his new role as England manager this week as focus shifts from the drama of the Premier League to the International prestige of Euro 2012.
The initial shock of Hodgson’s appointment has passed and fans are now waiting to see who will be included in his first squad announcement this Wednesday.
England has had the same core team for the last 4 tournaments so no one expects there to be many shock inclusions. Even so the question being asked by many is whether Hodgson should go with youth or experience.
The pros and cons are there for all to see. The old guard are the better players but do they ever impress at big tournaments? The youngsters are the next generation of talent but do they possess enough skill and experience to threaten the very best nations?
The upcoming Euros certainly offer the perfect chance for Hodgson to experiment with his squad.
Most would agree that our senior players are still the best we have to offer. Players such as Gary Cahill aren’t yet as good as John Terry. Isn’t it more important to aim high with the best players available than worry over who needs experience?
This would seem fair considering England’s best XI on paper normally consists of mostly over 30s:
Fans may argue over the wingers but the rest of the side has been the same for a while. They’re all talented footballers who should be able to play together so why not give them one last hurrah?
After all the Italian World Cup winning side of 2006 consisted mainly of players in the twilight of their careers so why can’t England replicate their success?
Unfortunately these English players have never proven themselves on the International scene. While Italy may illustrate that age is not the deciding factor, it doesn’t take into account the issues that have plagued England during the golden generation.
Can Lampard and Gerrard play together? Who will partner Wayne Rooney? Plus there are now serious personal issues between Rio Ferdinand and John Terry due to the Chelsea captain’s unresolved court case.
Surely then Euro 2012 is an excellent chance for England to give the next generation of players their chance so they’re ready for 2014 World Cup. Especially since there is currently little attention on the team and the underwhelming appointment of Hodgson has failed to spark national pride.
When was the last time England entered a tournament with so little expectation on their shoulders?
If fans accept the seniors will fail to impress again then it would make sense to try the youngsters.
A more youthful feel would leave the side looking very different:
Most fans would have little faith in this side lifting the trophy but it’s important to understand it would be an investment for the future.
How do players like Leighton Baines seamlessly replace Ashley Cole if they don’t play until their predecessor retires?
Germany showed at Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup that trusting the next generation can help blend a team from an early age. Players like Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller impressed at Under 21 level and were backed to carry that form into the senior team.
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England’s reliance on their senior stars has often prohibited them from transitioning the next crop of youngsters into the side.
Given that Hodgson has just begun his new role he is unlikely to gamble with a young squad but he does have an opportunity to find a successful mix of youth and experience.
The old adage “you can’t win anything with kids” still makes Alan Hansen blush but it does hold some truth. Manchester United brought through youngsters that year but the core of the team was still players like Schmeichel, Keane and Cantona.
Unlike England, United have always managed to transition their team successfully. When Michael Carrick signs he plays with Paul Scholes. When Chris Smalling joins he plays alongside Rio Ferdinand. It allows each player to learn from their predecessor without the pressure of filling their shoes.
It’s important for England to trust the next generation of talent. If fans have already written off their chances then why not try transitioning our youngsters alongside more experienced campaigners?
It’s a difficult decision for a new manager to make but isn’t a fresh squad with a few old heads the best solution for England going forward?
A new survey of over 2,000 football fans by online bookmaker 888sport.com has shown that former WBA and Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is the right man for the job as England’s manager, rather than Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who was recently labelled by the media as the “people’s choice”.
This would appear not to be the case as the survey reflects the fans’ overwhelming support for Hodgson, with 73% of the voters stating they’d wouldn’t be happy if Redknapp had been offered the role, while 77% support the appointment of Gary Neville to the England coaching staff. More importantly 65% of fans agree Hodgson was right to omit Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand from the squad over the alleged John Terry racial slur controversy directed at Ferdinand’s brother Anton.
Although not all fans are pleased with Hodgson’s decisions. 30% of the voters think that Liverpool midfielder Stewart Downing is the least deserving of a place in the squad. It is also apparent that fans are still hurting from England’s pitiful World Cup 2010 performance with 59% of fans expecting England to exit at the Quarter-Final stage and a tiny 4.82% expect them to make it to the final. Spain are the fans’ favourite followed closely by Germany to win Euro 2012.
England have their work cut out for them as they are missing key players Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill – both having to withdraw due to injury. Cahill and team-mate Terry were first choice pairings at the back with 40% of the vote and now Hodgson will need to rely on Joleon Lescott with Terry as a pairing that got 12% of the vote. Fortunately, Wayne Rooney will only be missing twomatches through suspension for kicking out at Miofrag Dzudovic in a game against Montenegro. A lot of responsibiity and pressure is on Rooney to perform well, as he is voted England’s most likely top tournament goal scorer.
Matt Le Tissier, an ambassador for 888sport.com believes the research provides Hodgson’s men with a much-needed boost saying, “As a player and manager, it’s great to know you have the support of your fans so it’s really encouraging for Roy and England that the results show such positive feeling towards the new set up”. England fans may not be very confident about England going far in this tournament but it is clear they are confident in new manager Roy Hodgson to guide the Three Lions to further success.
This survey was conducted to coincide with 888sport.com’s new free-to-enter ‘Winning Streak’ score predictor. This is an opportunity for fans to win £888,888 for correctly guessing the result of every match in the tournament and guaranteed prizes are available for the most prolific pundits. According to this survey fans predict England will play out 1-1 draws in first two games against France and Sweden and barely make it through with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine, before falling at the Quarter-Final stage once again.
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Enter 888sport.com’s score predictor ‘winning streak’ and you could be walking away with £888,888
The second tier of European club competition, the Europa League, used to be a respected tournament, how times have changed. The insulting chant ‘Thursday night, Channel 5,’ says as much about the Europa League’s reputation as it does about Channel 5’s – neither organisation comes out in an especially positive light.
What if, however, UEFA were to move the Champions League and Europa League to alternate weeks? It is a proposal that brings with it both positive and negative connotations. However, considering the financial gap between the two competitions it could well act as a step forward in the attempts to raise the profile of the Europa League and bridge the gap between the two sets of competitors.
Benefits
The main benefit would surely be that the number of viewers for the Europa League would rise. Is it any wonder that few watch Europa League football when not only is the quality of a lesser standard but that deficiency is highlighted when you are able to compare it to the football you watched the night before.
Moreover, as much as it’s beneficial for the soul to watch as much football as possible do UEFA really expect people to be able to watch three games of midweek football?
Yes, we all love football, but we also have work, families and other halves that require some of our attention. If you have the choice between taking time off to watch football during the week you will almost certainly end up watching the Champions League.
If, however, the two European competitions were shown on alternate weeks then you would have no choice but to use the Europa League to satisfy your craving for midweek football. It might be a slow process initially but by switching to alternate weeks UEFA could create a culture whereby people watch the Europa League almost as regularly as they watch the Champions League.
Alternating the weeks would also mean that the Europa League could be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. No longer would teams have to play on the Thursday before the weekend. When teams play on Thursday it invariably means that their opponents have had at least a day longer to rest since their last league game as well as not having to play mid week.
Detrimental
The current group stage system for both competitions is arranged as such that they are both shown on one week, with weeks containing no European football interspersing the weeks containing it. As such, there would be space to put the two competitions on alternate weeks without having to greatly alter the beginning and end dates of the group stages.
The same cannot be said for the knock out stages. Because the knock out stages are played over two legs, if we wanted to alternate those weeks as well then the group stages would either have to begin earlier or the victorious teams would have almost no break between rounds. This would mean that their schedule could become increasingly manic towards the end of the season, which is tiring enough as it is. Currently the group stages end between the 4th-6th of December with the knock out rounds beginning at the beginning of February. If UEFA then had to move that date forward to January then it would mean that teams involved in European fixtures could be hit even harder by players leaving for the African Cup of Nations as they would for the coming season.
Moreover, moving to alternate weeks for both the group stages and the knock out rounds of these competitions could disrupt domestic cup competitions. For example, teams might be expected to play a cup fixture, a European fixture and two domestic league fixtures all in the space of a week, which would obviously be impossible.
Ultimately, it seems unrealistic to pile any more pressure on the end of season fixture list yet UEFA need to find a solution to the ever increasing financial inequality gap between it’s two European club competitions. If they cannot identify a solution that would raise the revenues of the Europa League then it’s participants face being left behind by their Champions League rivals.
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The group stages of the Champions League bring in more than three times as much television money as is received by the winner of the Europa League. This is because of a lack of interest in the competition. Something needs to be done; quite what that is, though, remains unclear.
Arsenal boss Aresne Wenger has admitted that the club will put an internal deadline on Robin van Persie’s situation, and may well sell him in the next month.
The Netherlands international has revealed that he will not sign a new contract at the north London club and as such is now being speculated with a move away from the Emirates Stadium.
With Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus circling, Wenger has revealed a sale could happen soon.
“We are very, very ambitious. You know that,” he stated in a press conference, covered by The Sun.
“Not only very ambitious but also very proud of the way we run our club.
“Van Persie is a world-class striker and I am a big supporter of him. I have supported him throughout. He has one year left and is in demand but our desire is to keep him.
“However, we will do what is in best interest of the club. If you have a decoder in your head you can decode that.
“The official transfer deadline is August 31 but then we can create an internal deadline.
“Of course. I believe the transfer market should stop before the season starts anyway.
“But the situation is not the same as last season because we have a squad that is solid and used to playing together. We have bought two strikers in Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski.
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“The seriousness of last year’s situation was made difficult for us by injuries, not only through the transfer market,” he concluded.
As opening day defeats go (and for Saints fans there have been many to endure over the years) this one may well live long in the memory.
Taking on the defending champions on their own patch with a squad that lacked any significant top-flight experience had many people (myself included) fearing the worst.
Swansea City visited the Etihad stadium in similar circumstances on the opening day last year, and despite playing well, they were well beaten 4-0, and not many pundits or neutrals were in much doubt that there was a repeat in the offing here.
The consensus amongst the majority of Saints fans was to just enjoy the day and celebrate our return to the Premier League after an absence of seven years, no matter how heavy the defeat was going to be. Yet we made a bright start in the opening 10 minutes, and after Aguero was carried off after twisting his knee as a result of Clyne’s excellent tackle, there was a feeling that this may not be such a one-sided affair after all.
These feelings were amplified when Silva fluffed his lines from the penalty spot after Tevez tumbled dramatically to win the penalty, after a tangle of legs with Hooiveld.
The breakthrough came five minutes before the break when a suspiciously offside Tevez sprinted clear to beat Kelvin Davies in the Saints goal with a fierce low drive at the near post. For the last five minutes of normal time and an extra four added due to the Aguero injury, it was one way traffic with City threatening to add to their tally, but with some resilient defending fused with a smidgen of good fortune, we held firm.
The opening ten minutes of the second-half pretty much followed the last ten of the first but then manager Nigel Adkins made an all important change by bringing on star striker Rickie Lambert.
Lambert had been a surprise omission from the starting line-up, with Adkins preferring the pace of Guly Do Prado and Jason Puncheon up front with new signing Jay Rodriguez. Within five minutes of coming on Rickie slammed home the equaliser and more amazingly after a fast paced counter-attack Saints took the lead when Lallana set up another substitute, Steven Davis to side foot home from distance.
As a Saints fan it was a time to pinch yourself, 2-1 up away to the champions after being one down and with the home side enjoying as much as 80% possession at one point in the second-half. The lead though, would last a meagre four minutes after some slack defending let in first Dzeko and then Nasri to regain the lead for City, a lead they held onto until the final whistle.
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Despite the loss, this was a Saints performance beyond reproach, 90 minutes that showed immense spirit, togetherness and enough proficiency from a squad that is greater than the sum of its parts.
A display that should have a number of Premier League teams worried about coming up against us in the coming months, keep playing like this and with two or three quality signings then we may not be the relegation fodder we were expected to be.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said he was pleased with his side’s performance despite having to come from behind to defeat a defiant Reading side 4-2.
Chelsea opened the scoring when Eden Hazard’s trickery and guile proved too much for Royal’s defender Chris Gunter. In typical fashion, veteran Frank Lampard slotted the penalty in the bottom left corner to put the home side ahead.
But then Stamford Bridge was stunned into silence when Danny Guthrie and Pavel Pobgrebnyak quickly overturned the score-line to lead 2-1 at the interval. Chelsea’s fear of defeat was relieved when Gary Cahill equalised with just over twenty minutes remaining.
The controversial moment of the game appeared in the 81st minute when Fernando Torres slotted the ball home from close range. However, replays seemed to suggest that the Spaniard was standing in an offside position. The European Champions then ensured victory in stoppage time thanks to Branislav Ivanovic.
Di Matteo admitted that he thought it was a tough game, but he was impressed with the character his side showed. Di Matteo told Sky Sports, “In the second half we wanted to keep them under pressure and we did so. We had to take a bit of a risk but we managed to get the goals and win the game.”
Di Matteo said he was also happy with the start £32 million pound signing Eden Hazard has made to his Chelsea career, “the new signings have certainly impressed, and also the players we already had here.”
The Chelsea manager was also full of praise for newly-promoted Reading, “they were tough opponents. We expected them to be tough, and I said to the players after watching Southampton on Sunday against Manchester City that newly-promoted teams have all the spirit and enthusiasm from coming back up, and they made it very hard for us.”
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Chelsea certainly seem to play an exciting brand of football under Roberto Di Matteo and they must surely be serious contenders for the Premier League title this season. As for Reading, if they continue to display the spirit and the quality they appeared to possess last night then they will give themselves a great chance of avoiding the drop this season.
Friday saw transfer deadline day come and go with many signings made in the Championship. With Millwall not getting involved this meant the Lions were the only club in the Championship not to sign a frontman in the summer, a horrifying statistic.
This saw many fans start to panic and criticise the management techniques of the summer moves and wonder where the goals would come from. So what happens next? Millwall beat Middlesborough 3-1 with striker Andy Keogh bagging a brace.
The game started out evenly with ‘Boro having the main chance with Ishmael Miller forcing a save from Maik Taylor in the veterans 500th career game. The Lions broke the deadlock after 25 minutes courtesy of Liam Trotter who struck a bouncing ball sweetly into the top corner from outside the box. He celebrated with his trademark celebration, thinking he’s dancing like Usher, looked more like Carlton Banks to me. The deserved second came just ten minutes later. Henry saw his shot cannon off the post into the path of Keogh who was on hand to slot the ball home for his first of the season.
The first half performance was soured somewhat with Jimmy Abdou bringing down George Friend In the area with Marvin Emnes slotting away the penalty but 2-1 to the Lions at half time, fully deserved.
Millwall were in the same position a week before at Sheffield Wednesday, on that occasion they backed off in the game which led to an attacking onslaught and defeat. This game saw a different Lions outfit, instead of sitting back, they seeked to kill off the match.
The best chances in the second half mainly fell Millwall’s way with a goal-mouth scramble leading to Keogh, Trotter and Osborne all managing to miss with Boro bodies being thrown on the line. Tony Mowbray’s men were restricted to long range efforts, but one nearly found its way in with Grant Leadbitter putting firing just wide.
Boro also had a penalty appeal turned down when Chelsea loanee Josh McEachran was “tackled” in the area. I’m not saying it was a dive but it would have looked a lot better down the road on the high board in the Olympic Park. It became obvious that McEachran would become the selected boo-boy for the afternoon.
The Lions eventually killed of the game in the final minutes with Scott Malone laying one off for Andy Keogh to score a second and secure a vital three points for the hosts.
Now comes the international break, when your in form it’s the last thing you want, but it is needed for Millwall, it is time to get players to full fitness such as Paul Robinson. Plus the loan market will open, another player such as Harry Kane standard would be perfect.
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A great performance by Kenny Jacketts’ men and the win was fully deserved. This saw the Lions move into the top half and over South London rivals Charlton, I’m sure Lions fans wouldn’t mind the table staying like that.
Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente has been linked with a move to the Premier League on and off, for about two years now and with his contract up at the end of the season, a potential cut-price deal is there to be done in January, but stylistically speaking, would he be able to adjust to the demands of the top flight?
We cannot for one second questions Llorente’s class and pedigree; his form over the past three seasons which has seen him plunder 71 goals in 145 games comes under the bracket of the highly sought-after one in two ratio that all strikers aspire to get towards, while 74 goals in his past five seasons in La Liga shows a consistency rarely matched by players turning out for unfancied outfits.
Nevertheless, as Andriy Shevchenko, Juan Sebastien Veron and Robinho among countless others highlight that ability is not always necessarily the only barometer for success in England; they all failed to adapt their natural games at varying points in their careers to the tempo and physical rigours that the league puts you through. Of course, that is not say that they are not excellent players in their own right and have had success elsewhere in other leagues throughout their career, but sometime it’s not as simple as ‘good player can play well for top club’ and there are other factors take into account.
For those among you with a passing interest in Spanish football, Athletic Bilbao’s slow start to the season which has seen them pick up just five points from their opening five league games will not come as much of a surprise given their struggles towards the end of last season. The cycle under Marcelo Bielsa looks to be heading towards its inevitable conclusion, which has seen the players hampered by both mental and physical fatigue at the manager’s methods and playing style. Llorente is clearly on the look-out for a move to a bigger club, but whether that should be to an English club is up for debate.
If you list the 27-year-old’s strengths they would be – hold up play, great ability in the air, clinical nature in front of goal – and on paper, it looks like he’s tailor-made for English football, but dig a little deeper and it’s not as crystal clear as previously assumed. The top flight has increasingly become the domain for smaller, more technical players to showcase their talents, and in that regard, it’s become a more technical league than it was five, ten years ago. Being built like a brick expletive-laden house is no longer a pre-requisite.
Edin Dzeko at Manchester City last term managed to finish the campaign with 14 league goals, a decent return and his involvement in the team’s final day comeback against QPR which went a long way to helping them secure the title will not be quickly forgotten, but there’s no denying that his movement at times can be found wanting and he can look cumbersome next to his more fleet-footed team-mates such as Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and David Silva.
Bilbao play with a high pressing line up the pitch, but Llorente’s job is fairly simple, stay in and around the box and occupy their two centre-backs through sheer fear of what he can do in the air. The tempo of the side lives and dies by the energy it has in midfield rather than the closing down of Llorente. He’s played in a lone striker role for them for years now and done exceptionally well, but he benefits from the slower tempo of La Liga. In Spain, a side like Bilbao last season was the exception, while in the Premier League that level of effort is the bare minimum.
There’s a worry that he may be just a little too one-dimensional to do well in England. Much like Veron did at Manchester United, Llorente would likely flounder in the Premier League but do himself justice in the slower-paced environment of European football. Andy Carroll’s subsequent struggles for form and fitness at Liverpool have proven that the age of powerhouse centre-forward is dying out and while in a certain system, like the one he had at Newcastle and does now at West Ham, he will do well, but you sacrifice elsewhere to get the best out of it.
The only club that Llorente could possibly work at in the Premier League is at Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s penchant for playing two touchline hugging wingers well-suited to Llorente’s strengths and you could see him doing well up top at Old Trafford, but with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, the club’s striking ranks are already swelled in terms of numbers and quality and they simply don’t need him.
He’s Spain’s go-to plan B because he’s a very un-Spanish sort of player. While he’s certainly a better player than the ‘lump it, put it in the mixer’ stylings of Carroll et al, at Arsenal, he’d have to do more than that. The fluid front three which has recently seen Gervinho playing in a more central role sees the club’s wingers like to get inside their full-back rather than on the outside, with Podolski hardly blessed with game-changing pace.
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While Chelsea’s pursuit of Andre Schurrle hints at the need to replace Didier Drogba as the burly presence up top in the squad, they also have Romelu Lukaku on loan at West Brom who fits that mould and there are whispers that he may be recalled from his loan in January if he continues to do so well. Would Llorente really fit in with the likes of Mata, Hazard and Oscar, playing quick one-touch football? The club’s transfer activity this summer alone hints at Fernando Torres being given one last sustained throw of the dice as first-choice, with Daniel Sturridge in support.
Fine player though he is, Llorente may just be a touch too slow and limited for the top flight. If he does end up finally securing his move to Serie A champions Juventus, he’ll likely do very well for the club, much like he has at Athletic Bilbao, but that doesn’t mean he’s cut out for the Premier League, where being clinical and superb at one aspect of your game alone doesn’t quite cut the mustard.