Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has confessed that he would be open to a move to Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
The Frenchman has enjoyed a successful period in the Premier League following his 2010 arrival at St James’ Park.
His impressive form has seen him linked with big money moves on a number of occasions, but he has elected to stay in the North East.
However, he has admitted that his loyalty would be tested should PSG attempt to sign him, but that he would only consider moving on at the end of the season as the Magpies battle against relegation:
“After I have saved my club, you never know. Signing for PSG would be a childhood dream.” He is quoted by talkSPORT.
“If there is a proposal, I will study it with interest. If there is a proposal. The ‘if’ is important. PSG is a club that lives in my heart. To play would be a nice gift.”
The 25-year-old started his senior career with Lyon, making over 50 first-team appearances.
But, after a bust-up with a team-mate he left the club in 2008 to join Marseille, after rejecting rumoured interest from Manchester United.
He again impressed in southern France before agreeing a loan switch to Newcastle during 2010.
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Despite a serious injury, the Tyne club turned the deal into a permanent one a year later.
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale’s claim that his side are now the superior force on the pitch when it comes to the matter of supremacy in north London wasn’t greeted with widespread dismay earlier in the week, rather a knowing nod of the head by most, which if anything signals a sign of the times, but does the evidence back up his point?
After delivering one of the outstanding performances of the season during the club’s 3-2 win against West Ham away at Upton Park on Monday night, Bale confirmed his status as one of the deadliest players in the world at the moment with another match-winning strike late on of stunning proportions to go on top of his earlier goal and assist which helped haul Tottenham back into the game. The debate about whether he is or isn’t world-class is a moot one for the most part, but what is clear is that he is now finally delivering the sort of devastating displays needed to become one of the world’s best players for the first time in his career.
With that in mind, who better to comment ahead of the eagerly anticipated north London derby on Sunday, with Bale telling The Sun: “I think five or 10 years ago Arsenal were always miles ahead of Tottenham. But that has changed in recent years. Over the past few seasons we have closed that gap and I think now we have overtaken them on the pitch. I think we have the stronger squad.
“Hopefully we can continue to do that as a club off the pitch as well, with the new stadium that is being built. But on the pitch and as a team now we are a lot more consistent and as a club we’re moving in the right direction. Arsenal may say they are still ahead of us. But whatever people’s opinions I don’t think anyone can deny we are up there fighting with them on merit now.”
Arsenal haven’t finished below Tottenham in the league table since the 1994/5 season when the Gunners finished 12th to the rivals 7th in the league. For those fans mollycoddled on the recent successes of the Arsene Wenger era, the early 90s were a dark period for the club in terms of competitiveness to an extent that they were considered little more than a cup side, and the Frenchman turned the rivalry on its head.
Under Harry Redknapp, the 5-2 defeat last season threatened to be little more than a blip on their way to finally finishing above them, but he somehow contrived to oversee a side that threw away a 12-point advantage to finish third, eventually missing out of Champions League football in the process which ultimately cost him his job. Of course, Redknapp’s version of events, as it always is, is spun a little differently to that, but in all honesty, nobody is really buying it, just as QPR are further adrift from 17th spot now than they were when he took over from the sacked Mark Hughes back in November and he’s a master at altering perception to forgive his flaws in the face of statistical information to the contrary.
Nevertheless, he had helped assemble a decent and at times thrilling Tottenham side to watch and while they may have at times been absolutely rotten during that run that saw them throw away third place, they were brilliant for a two-three-month period that saw them briefly talked about as outside title challengers. The pace of change that has taken place at the club since then, though – new manager, coaching staff, training ground, the loss of both Modric and Vand der Vaart, new playing style – makes their achievements this term seem all the more impressive.
They are far from the finished article now under Andre Villas-Boas, perhaps even lacking more in several key areas now than they did under Redknapp and many of last season’s best performers – Assou-Ekotto, Kaboul, Parker, Friedel, Walker, Adebayor – have barely contributed at all this term, yet the side are unbeaten in the league since December 9th and their last-minute capitulation against Everton, a run that stretches over 11 games and they still retain an outside chance of finishing second ahead of Manchester City.
What has become clear is that while they may have been a touch more enjoyable to watch under Redknapp at their best and less reliant on Bale to, for want of a better word, continue to bail them out every other game, they are a much more difficult side to beat this season under the Portuguese boss and that they’ve won nine league outings by a solitary goal speaks volumes for their mental strength and the sort of spirit that has become ingrained throughout the squad.
When looking at the raw data, the issue of belief becomes even more important considering that Tottenham have kept just seven clean sheets to Arsenal’s nine, they’ve conceded 32 goals to their 30 and scored 47 goals to their rivals tally of 52, while both teams have lost six teams in the league this campaign. However, it is Tottenham that find themselves with a crucial four-point lead ahead of Sunday’s big game at White Hart Lane having lost their last two derby games 5-2. It simply doesn’t add up.
Cast your eye around their squads and the depths of both are relatively comparable, with perhaps an edge to Arsenal’s, but it’s the quality of the starting elevens and the partnerships within the teams that matter most, while the approaches of the two managers could not be more opposed, with confidence fragile in one camp and high in the other. Wenger not only completely lacks a plan B, he plays it in games willingly knowing it won’t work, just as they did in the 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich at home in the Champions League, while Villas-Boas takes on an altogether more pragmatic style, picking his teams dependent on the opposition, not regardless of them.
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In the end, the real difference between the two, rather fittingly, is that Tottenham have a game-changer such as Bale in the final third and Arsenal don’t possess someone with quite the same ability. Sure, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere are the envy of most clubs, but Bale could walk into any side in Europe on current form and he may just about be enough to drag the club back into Europe’s elite competition for next season while the Gunners continue to find it more and more of a struggle to continue their outstanding run of 17 consecutive years of participation.
It’s long been suggested that balance of power has shifted in north London, often rather prematurely, and while we may gauge more clearly by Sunday the real difference in quality, which looks paper thin at the moment, the momentum looks to be with Tottenham for the future not only because of their talismanic Welshman, but because of the respective visions put forward by the men in each dugout.
If there was one player within this Tottenham Hotspur side that has perhaps personified the Lilywhites’ rollercoaster season so far, although he might seem the most apparent choice, Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson might prove a somewhat fitting selection.
Indeed, the 23-year-old has – very much in sync with the greater feeling of the team he plays for – struck something of an enigmatic figure at White Hart Lane. Having arrived at the club last summer generally heralded as an attacking component that would fit seamlessly within Andre Villas-Boas’ new-look side, if Sigurdsson was a model puzzle piece, then it’s certainly been hard work making him fit properly.
Like the performances of Villas-Boas’ side for much of the season, we’ve often seen flashes of brilliance from the former-Hoffenheim man, but only when the often-overbearing mist of inconsistency has subsided.
When watching him scurry about the pitch for Spurs this season, it’s not felt particularly difficult to recognize his talent and potential, but figuring out quite how to maximize the most out of it has resembled a much harder task. Again, not exactly something that cannot be applied on a much larger plain in N17.
But as now enter the final straight of the Premier League campaign, far from finding himself on the periphery as he has done at several points this season for Spurs, Sigurdsson is now sitting at the heart of an increasing bitter battle for Champions League qualification. And although some at White Hart Lane remain slightly skeptical about his true worth to this Tottenham side, he looks set to play an important role in determining his team’s fate this season.
Sunday’s ground out 2-2 draw with Everton saw Sigurdsson underline his recent rise to prominence within Villas-Boas’ side by scoring a crucial 87th minute equalizer in a game which saw the Icelandic international turn in another astute performance on the left-hand side.
Sigurdsson is now enjoying what’s comfortably his best spell of form at the club since his £8million summer move, having now started seven of the Lilywhites’ last eight games and scoring four goals in his last nine showings. Not a bad turnaround for a man whose placing at the club was deemed insecure enough to lure Reading in for a deadline day bid at the end of the January transfer window.
The key to his turnaround? Belief, perhaps more than anything else.
After a difficult start to his Tottenham career, in which a crushing sense of expectation paired with a seeming lack of time and patience to adapt to a new role within a new formation, saw Sigurdsson struggle to make an impact at his new club.
With Clint Dempsey managing to find his feet quicker at the club, the former-Reading man had to make do with bit-part cameos coming off the bench in an attempt to force his way back into proceedings; cameos of which came much harder to come by following Gareth Bale’s central deployment and the arrival of Lewis Holtby from Schalke.
Yet despite often struggling to find a solid role within this side, Sigurdsson has kept his head down, worked hard and continued to furrow away whenever he’s been given the chance.
But it was when he really seized his opportunity against West Ham United after coming off the bench to score in the 3-2 win, that he reached something of a crossroad in his Spurs career. There was little more that Sigurdsson could have done to earn to a start, but for as easy as it would have been for Villas-Boas to leave him on the bench against Arsenal, the Portuguese rewarded his effort with a start. A superb assist to Bale in the North London derby followed and since then, he hasn’t looked back.
Playing on the left hand side of whatever variation of a midfield three or four that Villas-Boas has asked of him, Sigurdsson has managed to finally carve a niche out for himself in this Tottenham side. It’s not perfect – Sigurdsson has recently admitted that playing out on the wing isn’t his ‘favourite’ position – but most importantly, it’s a role that he’s making the most out of. And should he move forward with his Spurs career, it’s this period now that could be the making of him.
While Spurs were left far too bereft of pace and penetration during the weekend, Sigurdsson once again demonstrated why his guile and industry has a place within Villas-Boas’ side. Technically astute and consistently inventive, what sets the 23-year-old apart from the seemingly infinite pallet of similarly neat and tidy players at the club, is his goal threat.
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His current return of six goals is hardly setting the world on fire, but with a run of games has come a surge of confidence and Sigurdsson is beginning to show the vision and touch in front of goal that saw Tottenham fight it out with Liverpool to acquire his signature in the first place. Should he wish to eventually play more centrally within this Spurs side, he’ll have to start contributing more during matches and wield a far greater influence in building up play.
But as we enter the final straight of the season, Sigurdsson is finally looking like an effective part of the puzzle at Spurs, as opposed to a faltering and awkward component.
With Champions League qualification now hanging in the balance and a squad looking worryingly destabilized by injury, Tottenham need the likes of Sigurdsson to now step up and shoulder responsibility.
In terms of solidifying his Spurs future, the Icelandic international now has a guilt edged opportunity to finally convince the remaining doubters – as well as his manager – that he deserves a permanent place in this side. Where the club finish will go a long way to determining how well he will have taken that chance.
Norwich manager Chris Hughton has set his sights on Birmingham’s teenage sensation Nathan Redmond, according to reports from The Mirror.
The Canaries boss sent scouts to watch the 19-year-old in action against Wolves, and was impressed by the feedback received.
He is now ready to make a summer offer for the winger, who is widely tipped as one of the Championship’s finest emerging stars.
Hughton is keen to add some creativity and flair to his attacking set-up this summer, and sees Redmond as the ideal man to follow his capture of Ricky van Wolfswinkel from Sporting.
Only Stoke have netted fewer goals than the East Anglians this term, which is a real source of concern for the club.
Hughton, who joined Norwich from Birmingham last year, has made multiple attempts to sign some his former players, with Curtis Davies one of his top targets.
Multiple bids for the defender were knocked back in January, but he is confident of being able to reach an agreement with the Midlanders to take Redmond this summer.
He may also return for Davies, a player he is known to be a fan of.
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Meanwhile, Blackburn’s Martin Olsson is also being lined up for a move, with the Carrow Road outfit keen to bring in a new left-back.
West Ham plan to splash out on as many as five new players over the summer according to co-owner David Sullivan.
West Ham are on track to finish in the top half of the Premier League table this season and are looking to increase the quality of the pool of players they have at their disposal.
The co-owner says that boss Sam Allardyce will be handed a significant amount of money to spend on his summer transfer targets.
Sullivan, speaking in the matchday programme, said: “Our planning has already started to make sure next season is even better than this one.
“A crucial factor of that will be recruiting the right players in the right positions.
“Our aim for the coming season is to bring in four or five players that will strengthen the squad and provide Sam Allardyce with greater options and variety next season.
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“We will be aiming to bring in at least one proven goalscorer to further bolster our attacking threat.”
Liverpool’s Uruguayan frontman Luis Suarez, has been a footballing sensation since joining the Premier League club back in 2011. But after a series of high profile incidents, is he too much of a liability for the Merseyside club?
The forward was prolific for the Reds in the league last season netting 23 goals. His talents are undeniable and he has been inundated with much footballing praise as a result of it. If you were to compile a list of footballing greats to grace the Premier League it would be difficult to omit someone of Suarez’s calibre.
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Unfortunately for the hordes of people that praise him, there is a matching number that rightly condemn him for his behaviour both on and off the pitch. Exhibitions of diving and cheating are now seemingly tolerated in modern football; racism and biting are fortunately not. The Uruguayan was rightly found guilty and punished on both charges.
Liverpool may currently reside in the shadow of their previous footballing achievements, but their world appeal is largely unrivalled. You only have to travel to recognise the attraction and status that a club like Liverpool has. Famed for its history, playing style and overall club ethos, Liverpool are recognised the world over. A player like Suarez does more damage in tainting this reputation than he does add to it with his football.
Can Liverpool cope without a talent like Suarez? Many would argue that he alone has carried the team of late to the league position they find themselves in. Aside from Suarez and an ailing Gerrard there really isn’t much world-class talent to be found in the squad. This does not mean Liverpool should keep hold of the troublesome Uruguayan however. A club with a strong view to youth development cannot function when the role models in the dressing room include a man of his character. If he is to be the key man at the club he has to behave with that in mind. I think most Liverpool fans would rather a harmonious squad of prodigious talent than a squad that bows to the beck and call of one particularly distasteful individual.
Aside from racism and biting, the very character of the man was highlighted by his recent media outbursts. He recently stated that he wanted to leave Liverpool because he was: “not prepared to continue suffering at the hands of the English journalists.”
While this suffering is to a degree self-inflicted, let’s assume this was his reason for a transfer request. This led to speculation that a move to Madrid was in the offing, with a £30-£40million fee being touted.
Unfortunately, now Arsenal have been linked with a move for the forward. Few have moved to downplay the interest, and clearly Arsenal feel Suarez is open to a stay in England. Does Suarez really think the club and fans that invested so much in him both financially and emotionally are stupid enough to not see through the hypocrisy here?
Again I reiterate my view that Suarez is one of the best players to ever play in our country. However, there comes a point when a player’s worth is exceeded by the cost he forces the club to bare. I think Liverpool would be wise to sell their man quickly before he destroys the credibility of the club as a whole.
Liverpool are no longer the great footballing power that they once were. Which means they cannot attract the talents of big name stars that say a Champions League outfit perhaps could. However, playing for Liverpool still means something to most footballers in our game. If the £30-£40m cold be made directly available to Brendan Rodgers I believe that the squad can be reshaped and actually made better for the future. Feasibly that figure would present the club with opportunity of bringing in three quality footballers.
Luis Suarez is a one-off genius who would be irreplaceable for any club, but this does not mean that Liverpool cannot rebuild if they lose him. Daniel Sturridge is not the direct replacement for Suarez. In Sturridge you have a footballer to complement an incoming attacking midfielder/deep lying frontman but not to be one. A couple of names being bandied around of late could easily be captured with the money from a potential sale of Suarez. Christian Eriksen looks to be on the move this summer and would add attacking flair and goals from an advanced midfield role. Similarly, the club have been crying out for a Jamie Carragher replacement in the heart of defence. Investment in someone like Kyriakos Papadopoulos may be a shrewd move for a club with a focus on youth.
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My main point is that Liverpool fans should look to embrace the departure of Luis Suarez and try to see it as a great opportunity for the club. It should, if FSG allow it, give Rodgers the necessary tools to overhaul the squad in certain areas and push them back towards the pinnacle of Europe.
The interesting thing about Nicklas Bendtner’s return to the Arsenal line up is that it wasn’t too long ago that fans were speaking of their preference for the Dane over Marouane Chamakh, who had remained at the Emirates while Bendtner went out on loan.
It’s not to say that one is a considerably better option than the other: if Arsenal fans had their way neither would be at the club, so Chamakh’s permanent departure this summer is a step in the right direction.
Bendtner’s return to the pitch for Arsenal against West Brom will best highlight Arsene Wenger’s dithering nature in the transfer market. The Arsenal manager isn’t incompetent; incompetence doesn’t take you into the Champions League in back-to-back seasons when everyone outside the club tells you it’s impossible. Rather, it showcases how damaging Wenger’s refusal to make a firm decision on a transfer can be.
The fact that Bendtner was almost off to Eintracht Frankfurt and then Crystal Palace suggests the Arsenal manager had no time for him, that his journey with the club was truly at an end. But circumstances worked against the betterment of the attacking options at Arsenal. Had the Dane moved on in the middle of the window, you’d place a great deal of faith in Wenger to recruit a replacement – and I use replacement very loosely.
But the manager had a fallback option, the cheap, easy alternative that he likes to keep close to hand just in case things don’t work out. You know what else is rather interesting about all this? Bendtner is exactly the type of player Wenger used to buy. He’s the troubled talent who has yet to find a home, the player who has put together high-class performances at international level but is seeking more of the same on a weekly, domestic basis. Had Bendtner been at another club, and one who were keen to offload, you’d almost bet your house that Wenger would have come along with a bid. After all, the Frenchman loves a project.
It will take a lot for Bendtner to get back into the good books of the Arsenal support, even if it is only until the next transfer window; though don’t expect Wenger to act in January if things are going fairly well with the striking options at his disposal.
The Dane has the talent, let’s not get too drawn away from that fact. He’s a long, long way off the high pedestal he’s placed himself on, but he does have the qualities to play for a club of Arsenal’s stature. The problem and the question is whether he wants to. He can play Champions League football, he could involve himself with a group of players who are determined to win silverware and have the talent, if not the depth to do so. Or he can continue to dress unusually, act with even less dignity in public and adopt the profile of a nomadic striker.
Fans weren’t too convinced by Mathieu Flamini when Wenger said he was impressing in training and could go on to be of use to the Arsenal team. Much of the same is being said of Bendtner, with Wenger insisting that he’s working hard behind the scenes to get back on track. There’s no hiding the fact that he is troubled and has made a number of poor decisions career-wise, despite being a celebrity in Denmark. But for all the dithering that has caused this return, fans have little choice but to accept what is on the table.
Is Wenger right to place faith in Bendtner?
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Alan Hansen isn’t too far off his assessment of Arsenal. The problem, like with most, it that it’s laced with the hope of failure, hatred even, and resentment at the idea that the pieces could finally fall into place for Arsenal.
I don’t expect Arsenal to win the Premier League title this season. The squad isn’t strong enough. But there is a difference between winning the title and being in contention. At this stage, Arsenal are contenders for the Premier League title. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re top. If the excuse that they’ve only played the “weak” sides of the league is wheeled out, then what exactly is the point of those teams? Dock points off Arsenal because they’ve had an “easy run.” Yet funnily Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham have all lost to one of the “weak” teams so far.
Hansen’s criticism is based on the fact that Arsenal aren’t as good without the ball as they are with it. Yes, that is true. But again, people like to ignore the progress that’s being made at the club this season. The pieces are in fact coming into place. Clubs like Arsenal have to pace themselves in their building, either through choice or necessity. The team may not be a title-winning team now, but why couldn’t they be next season or the season following? In any case, Arsenal aren’t a team who finished seventh, or ninth or even lower; they finished in the top four, as they have done in all the years of Arsene Wenger’s reign. Why is it so absurd that a fourth-placed team could win the title?
The club have made a massive improvement from what they were last season. The midfield is stronger in terms of numbers, while most are capable of carrying out the style of football fans want to see on a weekly basis. The defence, too, doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves. But then I wouldn’t be overly worried. Those who criticise Laurent Koscielny for not being strong enough and Per Mertesacker for being too slow are the same who say David Luiz is a terrible centre-back.
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My own criticism of Arsenal, as it has been for the whole of the season thus far, is that the squad isn’t deep enough. But everyone knows that. The problems Hansen is highlighting are correct. The team don’t defend as well as Borussia Dortmund, for example, whose pressing game alleviates the need for an out-and-out “destroyer” in the middle of the pitch – Hansen alluded to Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, citing their leadership, but his true intention was clear. Dortmund press from the front and win the ball high up the field. Arsenal simply don’t do that. Dortmund are a good example but Barcelona – at least the Barcelona under Pep Guardiola – are even better. They worked tirelessly to win the ball back as a unit so individuals wouldn’t be exposed.
This is where Arsene Wenger’s tactical shortcomings come into play. When discussing the best tacticians in the game, Wenger doesn’t belong. He’s tactically inflexible, forcing his own methodology on every situation. When you’re not as good as Barcelona, you simply can’t do that. And if there is a suggestion that Barcelona only did it when faced against Spanish opposition, they twice made Manchester United look well, well, well, below average.
But where is the credit? Nobody plays football as well as Arsenal do in the league. Manchester City, Chelsea and even Manchester United – the three teams who Hansen states will finish above Arsenal this season, though failing to state how or why – all have fantastic footballers but collectively don’t move the ball about as well as Arsenal. Some teams are ok with that; others want to maintain or even rediscover the ideals of their club.
Arsenal blew away Napoli in the Champions League, they spun Norwich in circles and even looked good in spells against Dortmund. But where is the acknowledgement of the football on display? Santi Cazorla is so good that it isn’t sensationalism to say he could have easily played for Barcelona during the Guardiola era; Mesut Ozil actually came from Real Madrid and was considered their most important player by Cristiano Ronaldo. Why are we not celebrating the football that’s on display at the Emirates?
Everyone has an agenda. Everyone is desperate to see Arsenal fail. If Arsenal do eventually finish fourth, there won’t be any comment about the good football that was played this season, the fact that the club obliterated their transfer record or the improvements of players like Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud. Instead, everyone will point the finger and say “I told you so, they simply weren’t good enough.”
That’s why, while Hansen’s criticism may not be far off the mark, it’s a little hard to take. The compliments seem forced, as if he reluctantly obliged to tip his cap to the team so far but held absolutely no sincerity in anything he said.
In their current state, I don’t believe Arsenal will see out the season and finish top. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that they deserve to be where they are now.
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Fulham looked weak, stunned, out of their depth, and far from the team who put four past Crystal Palace only a few games prior. That was predominantly due to the quality displayed by Manchester United, who had put themselves three-nil up inside 22 minutes.
You can discuss the shortcomings of teams and even managers, but when they’re so ruthlessly exposed by an opposing team, you acknowledge their ability – in this case United – for turning on the style in such a fashion.
How much should we extract from United’s last three or four games? Well a lot, because if we’re going to be quick on the draw when David Moyes looks lost at sea, it’s only fitting to praise a team who look to be navigating out of that particularly rough spell.
The margin of victory against Real Sociedad could have been bigger had it not been for the heroic performance of Claudio Bravo in goal for the Basque club. On the night, United, and Wayne Rooney in particular, looked energised and focused on the job at hand.
The turnaround against Stoke could and probably will hold far more significance than simply beating a team who are below United in terms of quality and resources. Yes, losing to Mark Hughes’ side could have prolonged this difficult start to the domestic campaign for Moyes, but the new manager’s celebrations were evidently laced with an understanding of the long-term effects that win would have.
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How far should we support the line that anyone can beat anyone in the Premier League? League-leaders Arsenal struggled against Crystal Palace but came through unscathed, while Manchester City lost to Cardiff and United themselves picked up a loss against West Brom. So the win at Craven Cottage on the weekend was notably thrilling, while accepting the premise that even the “underdogs” are capable of having their day.
Alex Ferguson’s teams were not always the most impressive, but the Scot forced a level of performance from his players that was often unmatched across the league. For all the shortcomings of a host of players, there was an inevitability about results: a knock-on effect of fear generated from the manager to his players that eventually washed over the opposition.
It’s not that the fear-factor has been lost from this United team under Moyes, but rather that it had to be rediscovered. Very few thought that the transition would be smooth, and naturally there was a period of bedding in that may not be complete.
But the players themselves know the culture of the club and the manner of performance that’s expected of them. Good players don’t always combine for football that can at times be described as merciless. The van Persie-Rooney duo looked like a renewed force that could legitimately claim the title of best strike partnership in the league. They’ve been there and done it, and why shouldn’t they have enough about them to alone guide United up the league and force a stay at the top?
It needed a decent run of results, but domestic teams are now seeing the combined ability of United’s front two. With Javier Hernandez waiting in the wings – and having scored in the League Cup – there is plenty of firepower to genuinely frighten opposition backlines.
United had a way about them under Ferguson, an attack that relentlessly pummelled the last line of opposition defence until the wall fell. Going three-nil up within 22 minutes is evidence that the intensity hasn’t deserted United just yet. It’s a level of play that forces mistakes in defenders, once again stemming from a fear that the wave after wave of attacks will continue for much of the ninety.
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There is still much to do. Moyes needs to retain defensive stability while also utilising an ever-increasing array of attacking options. But fortunately the locker still holds one of United’s most valued weapons. There aren’t too many teams around Europe who genuinely strike fear into the opposition in the way United can.
Will United’s fear factor help guide them up the table?
It’s another year that Arsene Wenger won’t get his hands on the Champions League trophy. Last night, Arsenal were defeated 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich in a game which was overshadowed by two interesting decisions.
After Mesut Ozil’s lazy seventh minute penalty was saved, Arsenal’s night turned into a living nightmare. Wojciech Szczęsny’s 37th minute red card (the second of his career) after the Pole had fouled Arjen Robben in the box, led to a Bayern Munich penalty kick. Up stepped David Alaba, but his penalty (which was 10 times better than Ozil’s) crashed against the post and Arsenal went into the break, full of optimism that they could grind out a result against the current Champions League holders.
However, Arsenal were chasing shadows for much of the second half, and since the Gunners had used two substitutes (Kieran Gibbs came off injured) in the first half, Arsenal had one throw of the dice left to try and outsmart their opponents.
But it wasn’t to be, as goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller gave the holders a well deserved 2-0 lead to take back to Germany.
Arsenal looked tired, dejected and fed up by the final whistle, as the red card obviously put a massive dent in Arsenal’s game plan. However, there was a shock before the game that might of affected Arsenal’s plan.
The surprise inclusion of Yaya Sanogo starting ahead of Olivier Giroud AND Lukas Poldolski was a main talking point. The 21-year-old Frenchman had only played three games for Arsenal before the clash with Bayern, with his only start being against Liverpool a few days before. Some might say that with Olivier Giroud’s private life being plastered in the papers, starting Sanogo was a wise move by Wenger. However, after Szczęsny was dismissed, you can obviously tell that by 75 minutes, the youngster was tired to the core after putting a shift in for his team. But, why didn’t Wenger take Sanogo off for Fabiasnki?
Arsenal, who were playing with one striker, should have played defensively by taking off Sanogo when the red card happened. The move would have benefited the Gunners as they didn’t need to attack, which would have frustrated their German counterparts. Taking a 0-0 draw to Bavaria would have been the dream result, as one goal for Arsenal in Germany would swing the entire tie in Arsenal’s favor and could have potentially knocked Bayern out of the competition.
I believe Sanogo had a great opportunity to show Europe what he could do, however, in a game of such magnitude, shouldn’t you have played a striker who has experience in the competition against similar players? Lukas Podolski would have been the perfect striker to play yesterday. He’s tenacious, he knows how the Germans play and he knows his international team mates’ weaknesses. He would have been the ideal striker to start last night, and yet Wenger went for inexperience to try and knock out the current holders of the competition. Of course, you need to experiment, but do that after Sanogo has got a few games under his belt. The more experience he gets, the better he would have coped in a match like last night. Yes, the red card ruined Arsenal’s gameplan completely, but I still believe Wenger should have gone with Podolski instead of Yaya Sanogo.
This result could also derail an Arsenal season full of promise. In the 2007/08, 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, the Gunners had promising campaigns, where winning trophies was a massive possibility. Arsenal were winning games against the teams around them convincingly, and looked liked a side that was going to be winning trophies at the end of those seasons. However, one bad result (strangely, all of the games were against Birmingham City) ruined Arsenal’s seasons, as a bad run of form cost Arsenal matches, results and more importantly, first team players.
Wenger has been in the game long enough to know what could happen in the upcoming weeks. Games against Sunderland, Stoke, Tottenham, Manchester City, Everton (twice), Chelsea and Bayern Munich all await the Gunners in the next few weeks, games that can defy Arsenal’s over- expected season.
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Arsenal HAVE got the quality in their squad to win the majority of these fixtures and win trophies on paper, but, will their minds and morale be strong enough to end this horrific run of not winning silverware? We’ll soon see, but one thing I guarantee you is that Arsenal fans will not be sitting easily in the next few weeks.