Borussia Dortmund are set to hijack Arsenal’s move for Schalke playmaker Julian Draxler this summer, according to talkSPORT.
Dortmund have already announced the departure of Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich this summer and top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski is set to follow his team mate to join Pep Guardiola at the Allianz Arena.
The combined fees could be in the region of £75million, allowing Dortmund to rebuild their squad to challenge in the Bundesliga once again and Draxler has been pinpointed as their number one target.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has scouted the 19-year-old German international on numerous occasions but the Gunners may not be able to compete financially with Dortmund.
Schalke want £15million for their academy product and the attacking midfielder will have an easy decision to make if Arsenal fail to qualify for next seasons Champions League.
Plenty of European rivals may join the race for Draxler so Wenger is hoping to do his business early this summer.
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Piers Morgan set the bait and Chelsea fans were all too ready to bite. The controversial Twitter user’s post on Eden Hazard prior to kick off last night drew an angry tirade of criticism from a number of supporters.
While many users focused on the inclusion of Fernando Torres, Morgan decided to concentrate his attention upon the midfielder who has only recently been named the PFA Young Player of the Year. Despite having tweeted a tongue-in-cheek criticism of the Belgian before, Morgan’s latest comments on Hazard still managed to generate the desired response.
Overrated or not, Hazard was ultimately powerless to prevent Chelsea from exiting the Champions League at the semi final stage last night.
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Sunderland centre forward Stephane Sessegnon has been backed to recover his form for the visit of Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light this weekend.
The Benin International has had an underwhelming start to the season and the team are keen to get the player firing on all cylinders again.
Scotland International forward Steven Fletcher has been deadly up front and if Sessegnon can also muscle in on the goal trail, the Black Cats could have a potent partnership.
It is a worry for the side with the striker still yet to record a goal in his 8 appearances this season, and he did not even manage to register a shot against Manchester City last time out.
However, midfielder Jack Colback is confident last season’s top goalscorer will turn it round.
The Sunderland ace told the Northern Echo “Sess was magnificent last year” and that he believed Sessegnon carried the team a little bit last season.
This is why he is confident that if the player gets more of the ball then he will re-deliver his flamboyancy he expressed in his opening season for the Black Cats.
Colback is aware that it is crucial to ensure that their attacking players, like Sessegnon, Mclean, Fletcher and Adam Johnson get on the ball.
With the side slipping to their first defeat last time out, the importance of their next fixture is not lost on the side.
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The last meeting ended 1-1 at St James’s park, but Sunderland will be looking to record similar heroics to their 2-1 victory over their rivals in October 2008.
Javier Hernandez has left Manchester United for Real Madrid and The Red Devils have lost a gem.
From day one at Manchester United the Mexican international won a lot of fans with his incredible finishing ability and his mesmerising movement off of the ball to create space for his more senior team-mates with far greater experience. It didn’t work out for Hernandez at Old Trafford and it was a massive waste of clear talent by Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes.
Overall for Manchester United the 26-year-old made 102 Premier League appearances, however over half of those outings were made from the bench (51.9%). It all looked to be a real attempt at forcing a Javier into a super-sub mould, like one-time Red Devil Ole Gunner Solskjaer.
Now at Real Madrid you would expect for ‘Chicharito’ to only get chances off of the bench as he is competing with a consistently brilliant front three of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the stats suggest that Sir Alex made a big mistake with his use of Hernandez.
In his first Premier League campaign he scored 13 goals in just 15 starts and 13 substitute appearances. In his second and third seasons with United he scored 10 in each – so therefore not failing to hit double figures despite sporadic appearances.
Sir Alex Ferguson signed him in the 2010/11 season and during the Premier League campaign he outscored Wayne Rooney 13-11.
During his second season with the club he had to compete directly with Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, and academy graduate Danny Welbeck for a starting place. It was expected that he wouldn’t be chosen ahead of talisman Rooney or £30m signing Berbatov, but many would have put him ahead of Welbeck who was making his first appearances for United. The now Arsenal striker made more appearances than Hernandez throughout the Premier League season and yet was outscored by the Mexican 10-9. Of course Sir Alex wanted to build for the future with Welbeck but he was clearly wasting Hernandez on the bench.
In his third season, which was to be Sir Alex’s last, new signing Robin van Persie was the clear top goalscorer as he carried The Red Devils to their most recent title. Rooney was still in full use as he made 22 Premier League starts and scored a credible 12 goals. Hernandez started only 9 league matches and still managed to chalk up 10 goals whereas Welbeck was again above the Mexican who started 13 league matches, scoring just one goal – make your own mind up there.
From title winners to a season of misery as David Moyes took charge and he again picked Welbeck over Hernandez but did follow in SAF’s footsteps of making ‘Chicharito’ United’s most used substitute with 18 appearances off of the bench. Javier was now well and truly cemented as fourth choice with RVP, Rooney and Welbeck all making more starts and scoring more goals than the Mexican.
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And so onto this season where we now expect ‘Chicharito’ to get just a small amount of minutes each week. His Real Madrid career is in the very early stages but he has so far played 52 minutes of La Liga football and has already netted twice in that period. With Ronaldo and Bale preferring the wider positions, Javier is now only behind Benzema and if the Frenchman was to pick up an injury, Hernanadez would surely be given the first team chances he deserves.
Sir Alex Ferguson wasted Hernandez’s ability and the Mexican was one of a few mistakes that the retired Scotsman made.
It could be worse Nando, you could be one of these guys…
We’re in to the business end of the season and both Aston Villa and QPR appear to finally be doing the business in the Premier League having won their respective fixtures last weekend.
It’s a real relegation six-pointer at Villa Park this afternoon, though, and nothing less than three points is a must for both sides as relegation looms dangerously over them.
The last three top-flight meetings between them have ended in score draws, while QPR go in search of a third consecutive win in the Premier League for the first time since March 1995 and Villa haven’t won consecutive league matches for 67 outings.
QPR: Cesar, Samba, Hill, Park, Jenas, Remy, Bosingwa, Fabio, Zamora, Townsend, Mbia
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Arsene Wenger has warned his Arsenal side that they face missing out on Champions League football next season if they continue to drop points, the Guardian reports.
Defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday left the Gunners seven points adrift of North London rivals Tottenham in fourth and the Emirates Stadium boss admits his side need to beat their psychological demons and take the initiative in games if they’re to bridge that gap.
“We have lost two big games in the last week and that’s very damaging for us,” he said. “We cannot afford to drop points any more if we want to be in the top four. This was very similar to last week.
“The team has fantastic quality and spirit but we only come into the game when we’re 2-0 down. At the moment, that’s worrying. In the big games, once you start 2-0 down, it’s very difficult.”
Wenger bemoaned his side’s lack of self belief at Stamford Bridge, conceding they were second best for much of the game and made it easy for the Blues before Theo Walcott’s second half goal.
“Chelsea played well at the start but we were not well positioned on the pitch and were stretched, giving them too much room to play,” he added.
“We didn’t defend tight enough and allowed them to play where they wanted.
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“There’s a psychological part of it, for sure, because we didn’t really go for it at the start again.The team have to believe more in the quality we have.”
Following Arsenal’s rather lukewarm campaign, another step backwards in terms of quality and league position from the year previous, Arsene Wenger has vowed to spend big in the summer. In a bid to move the Gunners back towards the Premier League title race, the Frenchman will be handed a cheque of £70million to spend on summer recruits, with a number of areas of Arsenal’s squad in need of bolstering and improving.
But if Wenger wishes to show real intent and ambition to the Emirates faithful, something which has been in short supply over the past five years or so, he will have to go back on his traditional policy of keeping transfer fees as minimal as possible by making at least one big name, high price signing that will not only raise the quality and efficiency of the starting XI but also strike fear into the rest of the top four, who have collectively taken a total of 14 points off the Gunners this season.
[cat_link cat=”Manchester-United” type=”tower”]
In a bid to kill two birds with one stone, if the Arsenal boss is to make one overzealous purchase this summer, it will be a striker. The North Londoners can lay claim to being the only club in the English top flight to have four players reach double figures in the scoring charts – Theo Walcott, 14 goals, Santi Cazorla, 12 goals, Olivier Giroud, 11 goals, and Lukas Podolski, 11 goals – yet with the majority of their goals coming from attacking midfield, there is strong justification to bring in a more prolific front man.
Earlier in the season, Arsene Wenger briefly flirted with the idea of bringing in Radamel Falcao, yet, as expected, the level of quality available to the Gunners has diminshed somewhat as we edge closer to the transfer market. Falcao, Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski – three of Europe’s leading strikers who are all reportedly up for sale this summer – appear to be out of the Gunners’ grasp, due to their price-tags, wage packages and competition from clubs with a stronger record in Europe and domestically over the past few years, whilst the tabloids have speculated the next bracket of continental forwards, including the likes Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Stevan Jovetic and Christian Benteke, are much more likely candidates to become summer signings at the Emirates.
Yet there is one striker who fills the gap between the two brackets of calibre, is already well acquainted with the Premier League and will be available for a realistic fee in the summer – Wayne Rooney. Arsene Wenger has always been an admirer of the England international, but would he be a good fit at the Emirates? Will the Arsenal boss be tempted to launch a bid for the Manchester United forward? And would Rooney reciprocate the Gunners’ interest?
Upon murmurings of discontent on Rooney’s part following Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to bench him for Manchester United’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid, the reply from the rest of Europe regarding acquiring the 27 year old’s services was a resounding ‘no’. With no continental powerhouse interested in the Englishman, the only link the redtops could forge with a move away from Old Trafford was PSG, whom due to their huge financial backing, have been connected to almost every player of European standard looking for a new challenge.
It seems that Rooney’s particular skills set only make sense in the Premier League. In terms of technical ability, although over the years he has produced goals of world class quality, the United forward is still a long way behind his La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga counter-parts, with a few too many simple passes failing to reach their targets, and a number of uninspiring performances against the big teams. Similarly, Rooney’s work rate, which in England he is continually praised for, is a much less desirable attribute abroad. The notion of a striker filling in at right-back for the sake of the team or clearing off his own goal-line would not be particularly welcomed in Spain, and if anything would be judged as a waste of a front man.
It seems therefore, that should Rooney seek a new home over the summer, it will have to still be in England. With Manchester City clearly off the cards due to the controversy it would cause, the England international’s options remain slim if he is to remain at a top club.
Whilst Chelsea would be a far more attractive prospect than the Gunners, as they are much closer to the Premier League title than Arsenal and now have one of Europe’s most consistently successful managers at the helm in Jose Mourinho, it seems unlikely the Blues will opt for Rooney with the likes of Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski still available to them, and the power of Roman Abramovich’s purse capable of attracting almost any striker throughout Europe whom the Portuguse desires.
Arsene Wenger will almost certainly be able to lure Rooney to the Emirates, not only through a lack of better alternative for the United man, but if he is to assure him a role as a striker rather than in midfield – choice of deployment was the underlying motivation for his second transfer request in the space of three years, and it is clear where Rooney sees his future in terms of how he is utilised as a footballer.
But does he tick all the boxes as the Gunners’ new front man? First of all, Rooney can certainly score goals – a side of his game which is often unfairly underplayed by his critics. For United, the 27 year old stands with an impressive record of 197 goals in 400 competitive appearances, whilst twice scoring in excess of 25 league goals in a season and never finding the net on less than 11 occasions. His strongest campaigns in terms of goal scoring have come when United have needed his abilities the most, suggesting he would be capable of handling the pressure of increased importance should he opt for a move to the Emirates.
Yet, Arsenal’s current style of play would require modification to get the best use out of Rooney. Olivier Giroud has not been quite so prolific as his preceding reputation suggested, but there is no doubt that he has been integral in attack at times for the Gunners this season. The Frenchman’s ability to hold up the ball has been crucial for Cazorla, Podolski and Walcott, whilst his height and leap make him Arsenal’s only aerial threat barring their centre-backs. That being said, Rooney is well acquainted with playing alongside wingers, and his robust strength in addition to his technique make him a suitable target man for the Gunners’ forward-thinking midfield to play off of.
Similarly, Rooney can play in a supporting role when required to do so, and would only cause a fuss if it became his permanent position in the starting XI, whilst the North Londoners could certainly do with the added intensity, physicality and determination that the United forward provides. He would furthermore fit in well with the English contingent that is emerging at the Emirates, with Carl Jenkinson, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs all becoming first team regulars this season, not to mention the potential for an excellent on-pitch partnership with Jack Wilshere.
Rooney would be the kind of signing that could really change things at the Emirates. The message of intent that would ring out from the Three Lions man’s transfer would alone be a huge advantage to signing him, not to mention he quality he would add to the Gunners current starting XI. It seems a realistic prospect for both parties, yet the question that remains is whether or not Arsene Wenger is capable of parting with £25million – Rooney’s current price-tag.
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Any other season, you’d instantly say no, with Arsenal’s current record transfer fee set at just £16million paid for Santi Cazorla last summer. But with Wenger’s job on the line, his contract set to expire next year, he may just decide to take the risk. For £25million, he’s the most consistent, proven and talented candidate available, and the fee strikes a balance between the fans’ need for a marquee signing and Wenger’s concern with spending big for the sake of it. Rooney is the ideal solution to Wenger’s transfer conundrum, and the Gunners Gaffer would be a fool to let the opportunity to sign the United man slip by.
Manchester City and Chelsea are set to miss out on Neymar, with Bayern Munich preparing an £86m move for the Brazilian sensation, according to reports from The Metro.
The Premier League duo have been tracking the 21-year-old from some time, and were believed to be readying summer bids for his signature.
City reportedly spoke to Neymar after England’s recent friendly against Brazil, whilst Chelsea are rumoured to be highly interested in the attacker as they look to usher a new generation of top talent into Stamford Bridge.
But, they both appear to be set to miss out on the Santos star, with Bayern readying a ginormous £86m offer.
The Bundesliga giants are said to have vast sums available to spend this summer as they look to support Pep Guardiola, who will take control of the club later this year, in the transfer market.
Although both City and Chelsea are heavily backed, they are unlikely to be able to match the Bavarian side.
It has been widely speculated that Neymar would remain in South America until after the 2014 World Cup, but such a large offer would tempt both the youngster and his employers to alter their stance.
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Bayern are also said to be interested in Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, but any move for the Brazilian international would, likely, end their pursuit.
Tuesday will see Kenny Jackett celebrate five years in charge of Millwall. How ironic that he will celebrate it away at the club he spent his playing career, Watford too.
Jackett joined Millwall with the club in a dire situation, in the dregs of League One and seemingly heading to League Two, and if they went down, they weren’t coming back for a long time.
Jacket’s first game was away to Altrincham in the F.A Cup and looking at the team we have now compared to that game is astonishing. The likes on Marcus Bignot, Ahmet Brkovic and Will Hoskins. Now we have Liam Trotter, Darius Henderson and James Henry.
The Lions stayed up by the skin of their teeth that season, it was now Jackett’s time, make the team his own.
He certainly did that!
The likes of David Forde and Jimmy Abdou were brought in, plus James Henry on loan. These players excelled, Millwall were big by name in the division, but not by finance, Forde and Abdou were major signings for the team and they were both free transfers, a masterstroke by Kenny. They may have lost in the Play-Off final that season, but Jackett was still in the building process.
Kenny pulled off some shrewd business yet again, Jack Smith, Liam Trotter and Darren Ward all brought in on frees, then came the pivotal signing, Steve Morison, a punt from non-league that came off in a big way!
Yet again the Lions were on a small budget, their rumored transfer budget for the summer of 2009 was 75K. Kenny was a miracle worker once again in the transfer market.
Many expected the Lions to struggle, but narrowly missing out on the Play-Offs was the spirited final finish, this was down to a great passion and togetherness, oh, and Steve Morison.
But then came Kenny’s biggest challenge.
Morison left for the gravy train of the Premier League and Norwich City, leaving ‘Wall with about 20 goals missing from their side. Jackett made some mistakes but they were rectified in January, the signings of Shane Lowry and Andy Keogh, plus the signing of Harry Kane on loan kept the Lions up, and Keogh only cost 200k from Premier League Wolves….
After a 6-0 defeat to Birmingham City last season, the Lions were applauded off the field. This was a turning point, the fans trusted Kenny, and we knew he could do it.
Jackett is the seventh-longest serving manager in English football, and no wonder. He’s played to the strengths of the club, built a strong powerful team, and look at the players, Darius Henderson, proven goalscorer, free. Liam Trotter, Premier League potential, free. Danny Shittu, a real ‘wall rock at the back, free.
Need I go on?
Kenny is the most underrated manager in the division, he got a team from the bottom six of League One to the outskirts of the Play-Offs to the Premier League, he’s never mentioned for jobs, he’s seen as unfashionable by other clubs, I don’t mind, an underrated club and manager get along very well, its hard to imagine KJ manage another club despite his previous success at helping turn Swansea into the attractive club they are today.
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One thing that has already stood out for me with Kenny is his professionalism. Millwall fans found out Jackett’s father died a couple days after the Play-Off final, when in real fact, he sadly passed away in April, he only told a few of his coaching staff but not the players, until after the final whistle at Wembley, for some reason this just always stuck out in my mind.
In a time of managers chopping and changing Kenny is a shining light in Championship football.
Lets raise a glass to five years to Kenny, here’s to many more!
It’s easy to come away from Arsenal’s win at Liverpool with a lot of optimism for the near future. It’s also easy to paint over any good work done by the club this summer with a black brush due to the high-profile departures. But so far, it’s hard not to find some form of understanding with Arsene Wenger’s thinking going into the season.
The obvious area to address was how the club would replace Robin van Persie’s 30 league goals from last season. Considering that Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski have come in from other countries and may need some time to adapt, it might be a fair assessment to say the club have moved sideways rather than forward. If, however, van Persie had remained at the club this season, Arsenal would look a much stronger side with ambitions that could match those further up the league table.
It’s not that Giroud or Podolski are bad players, but where’s the depth? Where’s the cushion to fall back on when your new recruits don’t hit the ground running? It was also brought up recently that Arsenal are in fact in the same position as they were last season with regards to their strikers; if Giroud is injured or out of action for any length of time, do the club really want to rely on Marouane Chamakh?
But I think it’s interesting to see that Arsene Wenger is making the most of the resources he has to him, both in terms of cash and playing personnel.
Santi Cazorla’s signing this summer was a masterstroke. It hardly needed the match away at Liverpool to tell that this is one of the most technically gifted and creative midfielders in all of Europe. But instead of raising the question as to why other big clubs didn’t go after him, rather look to the excellent eye for a bargain by the Arsenal manager. While clubs in the Premier league are looking for reinforcements in England, Wenger has found a real magician in a foreign league for a bargain price. I don’t think anyone could argue that Cazorla isn’t good enough for any club in the world. His versatility, calmness in the midfield and status in European football is such an incredible boost to Arsenal.
The loss of Alex Song certainly prompted many to expect an arrival of a similar player on transfer deadline day, and it would be foolish to suggest there wasn’t some degree of disappointment in Arsenal’s failure to strengthen or replace in that area. But what has been really pleasing to see is Arsenal’s lack of reliance on a genuine holding or defensive midfielder. Sure, I recently flagged up that area as a position of weakness even with Song in the team, but the combination of Mikel Arteta and Cazorla really add something different.
While trying very hard not to get carried away, Arsenal’s midfield—whether you want to include Diaby as the consistent third in the midfield trio—look to use their strength of awareness, ball retention and calmness under pressure to combat the loss of an Alex Song figure in the side.
I made the point recently that Arsenal looked like they were attacking with 11 players but defending with only 10. It was clear that Alex Song’s desire to get further up the pitch left a huge gap in the midfield for the opposition to exploit. Now, it seems like there is a real hunger from these current midfield players to help one another out and take up their defensive responsibilities. It would, however, be foolish to assume this Arsenal team could sail through the season without a real defensive midfielder. But it does appear that Wenger has a lot of faith in Francis Coquelin to fill in that role where needed, while Diaby—provided he can stay fit—will feature in the bigger and much more open games.
As I said, it’s important not to get carried away with this Arsenal side following their impressive win at Anfield, but it is clear that the squad is short of a few bodies. Attacking and at both full-back positions could prove to be a problem going forward: Arsenal are never far from a long term injury to a key player.
But Steve Bould has arguably been one of the signings of the season, as the new assistant manager has surely played an enormous role in helping the club to three league clean sheets in a row—two of which featured the third choice keeper.
It’s more of a frustration that the club didn’t do what they could to ensure this team could challenge for the title this season. But away from that, the versatility of a few members in the squad—namely Cazorla, Podolski, Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain—leave this Arsenal team deceptively strong.
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Key members have departed the club this summer, but at least Wenger has completed some very exciting and clever moves during the window.