Despite a miserable few years for Liverpool, Brendon Rodgers is confident the club can finish in the top four this season and return to Champions League football.
The former Swansea boss can’t wait to get going, but fully understand the pressure that the Liverpool job brings with it.
“I’ve said right from the off I want to make us as competitive as we can possibly be,” The Liverpool boss told Sky Sports.
“The challenge at the top of the table is greater than ever. Now there are seven or eight teams involved but the top four is certainly not something we’ll shy away from.
“It’s where a club of this status wants to be but it’s always easier said than done and the reality over the past three seasons or so hasn’t been that.
“Our job is to try to push on. There has been a lot of work done over the last few years to try to get the club back into the top echelons of the league so we are hoping to do that.”
“There has been a lot of change and a lot of work going on and of course every manager wants patience but the reality of football means that’s not the way it works,” he added.
“The challenges are great and the pressures at this level are great.
“There is a long way to go for us. We will be better next year than we are this year because there will have been more time to work with the players and they will have adapted more to my methods.
“But all we can do is retain our focus and concentration to improve how we play and, more importantly, to be effective.
“A system or style is not very good if you’re not winning games. You have to win matches.
“Your principles are based on the players you have and hopefully over the next number of years we will be able to bring in certain types which allow us to play a certain way.
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“Until that moment comes the players are working tirelessly and relentlessly to improve their game and get results and at this early stage it is very promising for them.”
It’s been an odd season at the Boleyn Ground. The Hammers fans have never warmed to Sam Allardyce as boss, they’ve been less than seduced by his direct tactics and what they perceive as unsophisticated, maybe even flat-out boring football.
But right up until around Christmas time, they looked on course for a run at the Champions League spots or at least a European fight. They were playing some fairly decent football with Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia up front, and Stewart Downing even earned an England call-up for his efforts at the tip of the diamond. The fans may not like to admit it, but that was a tactical master-stroke from Big Sam.
And then Andy Carroll came back and Sam reverted to type – the big man up front leading the line. The diamond was dead and West Ham hit a slump in form that they can’t get out of.
Yet they might still make Europe. A Big Sam team with Kevin Nolan in it might make it into Europe via the fair play table – odd isn’t it? Even odder is that their competitors for this European post are an Everton side including Gareth Barry, the player who has the most yellow cards in Premier League history.
So it’s been a strange season, but with West Ham failing to challenge for Europe via their league position, some things never change.
The change in system, along with the injuries that Allardyce has had to put up with this season have probably been the major factors for the drop off in form. Carroll came back and he scored four goals in 10 games, which isn’t terrible, though it’s hardly setting the world on fire given that he’s a striker who’s amassed more than £50million in transfer fees.
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Still, to have to keep changing your squad isn’t ideal. Yet the system can only do so much. At some point you have to stop talking tactics and start talking about the heart and passion of the players.
That’s something Big Sam teams have been known for – what Bolton lacked in quality and sophistication, they made up for in heart.
Yet this West Ham team haven’t really done that this season. If you’re playing as well as they did at the start of the season it doesn’t really matter, but when you start to lose games and when you start to find yourself off form, that’s when you really need to dig in.
West Ham fans don’t particularly like Big Sam, but everyone would agree that you can’t go through an entire season just playing beautiful football. Sometimes you need to man the trenches and defend, you need to get stuck in and grind out results. And that’s something West Ham haven’t actually done this year.
And the proof is the fact that they’re anywhere near the top of the fair play league.
I’m not saying that teams should be dirty. Or that you can’t have a good season without being prone to the odd dirty tackle or professional foul. But there will probably come a point in every season where you need to take a yellow to stop a break for example. And sometimes it just shows that you’re up for it if you fly into a tackle.
Everton and West Ham, two teams who have had poor seasons and two teams who are high in the fair play table. That’s not a complete coincidence.
There are several reasons for a slump in form. One is tiredness, Everton have had lots of games and lots of travel. That might be a reason for their slump, and when you’re tired, perhaps the will to be competitive in every game fades.
Another is upset in the dressing room, maybe the players aren’t playing for the team or the manager any more. Things can get into the heads of the players, and perhaps they’ll lose a competitive edge as a result of that. That sort of psychology shouldn’t come into play, but it often does.
Perhaps another still is when systems change. Carroll came back into the team and played in a different manner to Sakho and Valencia. Maybe that’s one reason for West Ham’s dip in form. And when there’s any sort of slump, perhaps it’s almost like a depression hanging over the club, where the players just can’t get up for games any more.
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So the form of West Ham and Everton might have to do with many reasons. But one symptom of poor form is a lack of a competitive edge on the pitch. The good disciplinary record is not a reason for poor form, it’s a symptom of it. But it’s still worrying.
It’s too late to do anything about it, though. If they start now, they’ll perhaps lose a place in next season’s Europa League. But it’s almost like a pity prize.
They’ve lost their form, lost their competitiveness and somehow they could be rewarded with a place in Europe.
Could you imagine just how angry Roy Keane would be if he were a West Ham player? The phrase ‘a little bit soft’ springs to mind. That doesn’t sound particularly East London to me.
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.
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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.
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 mid-July in the summer transfer window of 2011. England international Stewart Downing has just come off the back of a superb Barclays Premier League season, in which he played all 38 games for Aston Villa, notching up seven goals and nine assists in the process. A model of form and consistency, a £20million transfer to Liverpool beckoned in a move that seemed overpriced, but perhaps sure to pay dividends.
What a difference a year makes. Over twelve months on, the fate and fortunes of both player and club have taken several tumultuous bumps along the way. A term of bludgeoning underachievement and extraordinary mediocrity has seen Brendan Rodgers ushered in to start a new era. But while the club look to be turning the page, it is Downing that seems to be stuck in the last chapter.
But despite the woes that the ex-Middlesbrough man is enduring and the seemingly endless amount of negative press that he receives, there’s still the capacity to breathe new life into his faltering Anfield dream. It’s time for Downing to go back to basics and rediscover the kind of form that saw him build his reputation at Villa Park.
As the book was closed on the short-lived second coming of Kenny Dalglish in Merseyside, there seemed to be several defining elements that have come to serve as some kind of motif. The image of Dalglish standing with a brooding Andy Carroll after divulging £35million particularly sticks out, as does the now unsavory incident with the Luis Suarez t-shirts of support. But perhaps the one with the most longetivity, has been the enduring image of Downing himself.
Nobody should ever read too much into statistics, but with Downing, the temptations have always seemed a little too much to resist. His figures for the Premier League season 2011-12 read: played 36, scored zero, assisted zero. Even though Downing notched up a couple of goals in the FA Cup, was denied by the post and bar on more than one occasion and still grafted hard for his side, the stats tell a very damning story indeed. For some, the abysmal end product from such an overinflated acquisition represents a fitting tribute to all that’s been wrong on Anfield over the last two years.
And it’s been a hard stigma to shake. As last season rumbled on, it felt as if his lack of attributable contribution to the team became a sinister stick to hit him with and as such, both his game and his confidence seemed to go to pieces. Liverpool fans could atone for his difficult period of form, but what did become hard to accept, was his inability to even harness the bread and butter of his game. Despite anything else, supporters expected Downing to produce his trademark consistent delivery, even if other parts of his game weren’t all there. At times, he struggled even to produce that.
But as the Fenway Sports Group called time on Dalglish’s reign as manager, you could have mistaken Downing for thinking that a fresh direction of management could bring him a change of fortunes. Yet the appointment of Brendan Rodgers has looked ominous for his prospects.
The Ulsterman’s preferred style of play in his 4-3-3 set-up doesn’t particularly cater for a traditional winger in the mould of a Downing. They must have more of a cutting edge to their game – a higher level of craft, a real sense of tactical awareness and an unremitting work rate. So far this term, Rodgers has preferred the duo of Fabio Borini and the excellent Raheem Sterling as his widemen and as the side have began to forge their own identity, Downing has been left in the cold.
Worse more, after a couple of frustrating appearences against West Brom in the Capital One Cup and Young Boys in the Europa League, Downing has come in for a degree of critique from his new manager.
Speaking last week, Rodgers warned his winger that he must work harder if he wants to remain a Liverpool player:
“The big challenge for him now is that commitment to the cause to fight, because he has the qualities. He has a wonderful left foot but what is important is that it is more than talent.
“Talent alone is not enough. You have to work hard, you have to fight for the shirt. We have seen that in a number of the young players and if you don’t do that then longer-term you won’t be here. It is as simple as that really.”
Rodgers comments represent perhaps the first public wake-up call to his faltering winger. The ex-Swansea man isn’t afraid to give younger players who he feels are talented enough and hungry enough, the opportunity to play under his stewardship. The message was loud and clear and it’s now or never for Downing if he wants to give it a go.
But there is still a chance to turn his fortunes around and Rodgers seemingly offered an olive branch to Downing in his concession that he’d be willing to give him a chance at left-back. And if he does, it’s one that the ex-Boro man has to seize with both hands.
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Because the basics of the game, the talents on which his success have been built around, can still be an asset to this team. That trademark swinging delivery from the left and his cultured left foot can do damage from anywhere on the pitch and a switch to full-back wouldn’t change it. He is disciplined enough to do it, as Rodgers pointed to during his stint there in Middlesbrough’s 2006 Uefa cup run. A renewed exhibition of his talents could see him persuade Rodgers to even reinstate him higher up the pitch.
But he has to make his move now. Liverpool are metamorphosing at rate of knots now under Rodgers and he won’t have any qualms about leaving Downing behind if he has to. Life has been tough for him in his first season and the expectation has been something he’s never previously experienced. But if he gets his chance, it’s time to go back to basics and step up to the plate. If not, he could be staring at a January exit.
Does Downing have a future at Anfield? Follow @samuel_antrobus on Twitter and let me know if Rodgers is right to contemplate a move to full-back for the ex-Middlesbrough man.
After a few seasons of struggle, hurt and agonising pain of the play-offs, newly installed manager Stuart Pearce has inherited a team that is as strong as ever at Nottingham Forest.
In the past three Championship seasons, the two teams occupying the automatic promotion spots by the second international break have gone on up to win promotion to the promised land come the end of the campaign. Nottingham Forest currently sit pretty in second.
After the heart break of crashing out of the play-off semi-finals on a number of occasions, former Manchester City and England Under-21 gaffer Pearce is well on course to guiding Nottingham Forest back to the holy grail of Premier League football.
Despite losing young talents Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow to Newcastle United – although they have returned on loan for the remainder of the season, Pearce made some shrewd signings in the summer transfer window. Former Chelsea youth academy product Michael Mancienne joined from German outfit Hamburg, and now the defender is the club’s captain and is leading by example. Britt Assombalonga, the former Watford forward who arrived for a sizeable £5million fee from League One side Peterborough United has already found his feet at the club and is sure to bang in more goals than he has done thus far.
However, the one arrival that has impressed the whole of the Championship is Michail Antonio. The signing from fellow Championship side Sheffield Wednesday has been in remarkable form since pulling on the famous red and white shirt. The winger has made a combined total of nine goals and assists so far, more than the likes of Middlesbrough midfielder Grant Leadbitter, Charlton Athletic’s Igor Vetokele, Norwich City forward Lewis Grabban and teammate Assombalonga. Scoring five goals so far, Antonio’s passing, long shots, dribbling and aerial duels is the reason why he is the hottest property in the second tier of English football.
Having scored four goals in 26 appearances for the Owls during last term, Antonio is the main man in order to increase his team’s chances of gaining promotion after a 15 year absence from the big time. Financially, Forest is in good hands with the Al-Hasawi family pumping money into the club. This is something strange to most clubs, as Forest actually have foreign owners who care purely for the club. Appointing Stuart Pearce as manager is a great example.
All in all, this fantastic club is already in great shape to compete with the Premier League’s very best. The fan base is fit for England’s top flight as well as the brand of football Pearce insists on implementing in Nottingham. The long overdue promotion struggle will most definitely galvanise the new signings, aside from the experience of the the old guard in the shape of Andy Reid and Danny Collins.
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That’s something legendary Brian Clough will be extremely proud of.
Aston Villa youngster Rushian Hepburn-Murphy has faded into the background this season due to injury.
The 19-year-old attacker, who made his league debt for the Midlands outfit in 2015, was on the sidelines for four months with a groin problem.
On Monday night, the teenager showed that he is ready for action once again by scoring inside the first two minutes of the Under-23s’ 4-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
The youngster’s performance has attracted the attention of the fans, who feel that he should be brought into the first-team squad.
Villa are well positioned in the Championship in fifth place, but just one point separates them from seventh.
The team have failed to win their last three games – drawing two and losing one – and they have been missing a threat up front.
The likes of Jonathan Kodjia and Gabriel Agbonlahor remain sidelined with injuries, while Scott Hogan is easing his way back in following stomach surgery.
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After the U23s’ game, Hepburn-Murphy took to Twitter, and in response, fans made it clear that they want Bruce to call up the attacker.
Since the days when Patrick Vieira ruled the roost, Arsenal have struggled to find a central midfield combination good enough to lead the side to consistent Premier League title challenges and silverware. Alex Song has come and gone, Mathieu Flamini has aged while Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby have been on the treatment table more often than on the pitch.
However, the signs are there that Arsene Wenger may well now have a double act with the range of positive attributes to help the Emirates Stadium side reach its potential. Although the Arsenal manager has experimented with Santi Cazorla in a deeper role at times this term, the partnership between Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey looks to have the hallmarks of a top-class central midfield pairing.
The Frenchman has been mightily impressive since the turn of the year, with the 23-year-old taking his chance in the first team with aplomb and proving himself as a top-drawer and diligent enforcer. The Gunners have been crying out for a physical presence in the ‘boiler room’ that has the necessary discipline and the ability to win the ball back when the side does not have possession.
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The signs are that Coquelin can fill this role in the long-run with the former Charlton loanee also signing a new long-term contract with the club. Ramsey has had his injury problems throughout his career, with this season proving no different. Due to an inability to consistently play and string together a run of games, the Wales international has not been at his blistering best this season but there have been recent reminders of his calibre.
In the first half of last season the former Cardiff box-to-box man was arguably the form player in the Premier League, showing a seemingly never-ending willingness to run, while adding an abundance of goals from the middle of the pitch. Injury blighted his purple patch last term and played its part in Arsenal’s season derailing, while the Welshman has had to deal with further setbacks since.
The signs in recent weeks are that Ramsey is starting to reenact last season’s stellar performances, with a couple of important goals by the 24-year-old. In Coquelin, Ramsey has the ideal midfield partner to anchor the ship and allow him to go forward at will, knowing that Arsenal will not be overrun as a result.
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Keeping the Welshman fit and increasing his time on the pitch will be crucial in the North London club becoming consistent title challengers, as on his day he is one of the most complete central midfielders in the Premier League. With Coquelin an effective and no-nonsense partner for him, it appears that Wenger finally has a youthful, exuberant and functional central midfield duo to compete with the division’s best.
Just what is going on at Arsenal? The ultimate football hipster, Arsene Wenger, has shaved the bushy beard off and started listening to Justin Bieber and One Direction. Okay, I’m speaking metaphorically, but his transfer policy has gone from hipster to mainstream. The days of little known European teenagers flooding into North London (and back out again) in their droves are seemingly long gone. Here we have a Wenger prepared to go out and buy top class talent in order to fire the Gunners back up to the top of the Premier League.
Could this be Wenger going out in a blaze of glory? He’s now signed Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech in what could be seen as one last attempt to secure a parting league title for the club. A team of superstars is under construction at the Emirates, rather harking back to the Highbury days. Big names are coming, and they may not stop with Cech.
Recent links with Barcelona’s serial winner (Pedro), have created a buzz of excitement in and around the club. The World Cup winner has been relegated to the bench as a result of Barca’s ludicrously talented front three, but he is exactly the type of player Arsenal need.
A product of La Masia, Pedro has won all there is to win in the game and has been part of the Barca revolution and the imperial Spanish international side. He can play across the front three and has a shed load of top class experience.
The arrival of Luis Suarez in Spain has frozen Pedro out somewhat, with a role coming off the bench making up the majority of his appearances last season. Still, he scored 11 goals and chipped in with nine assists. His versatility across the front line is reminiscent of Arsenal’s last signing from Barcelona, Sanchez.
Now, Pedro is not the irrepressible presence of the buzzing Chilean, but he has partnered him in a victorious Champions League final. With doubts over Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud’s ability to lead the front line, Pedro would be a welcome addition. His ability to finish with either foot would work wonders with the likes of Santi Carzola, Sanchez and Ozil playing behind him. Predator Pedro? Maybe.
Pedro’s finishing ability isn’t the only attribute that would help him easily slot in at the Emirates. The fact he can play on either flank represents a possible natural wide option for the Gunners, with the prospect of dragging full backs up and down the country out of position enough to excite Gunners fans. Current wide men Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have struggled with injuries, and Aaron Ramsey is not a natural fit on the right.
His ability to perform on the big stage may be the most tempting factor for Arsene Wenger. If he is to open his chequebook for the Barcelona star, he would be buying a man made for the big occasions. This Arsenal team are often criticised for not possessing the mentality to perform in the big games and are slammed for a lack of natural leaders. Pedro would change that. He is a man who is used to winning. Barca fans remember his goals in the European Super Cup, and his opener in the Champions League final against Manchester United fondly.
Pedro became the first Barcelona player to score across all six club competitions in a single season. Predator Pedro performs. He is a man so comfortable on the big stage, that certain sections of the club’s support labelled him ‘The King of Finals’ How’s that for a winning mentality? Wenger would not only be addressing a tactical problem with the potential Pedro signing, but he would be introducing a steely determination to win into the Arsenal dressing room.
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We saw what Sanchez could do last time out, but at times he was carrying the Gunners. The addition of his old partner in crime could have a similar impact on the North London side, and with both former Barca boys in the team, the sky would be the limit for Arsenal once more.
In his press conference on Thursday afternoon, Jose Mourinho finally had his say on reports linking Cristiano Ronaldo with a dramatic return to Manchester United.
What’s the Story?
If Jose Mourinho’s latest comments are anything to go by, it seems that the dream return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford may remain a dream for United fans.
After a number of reports had suggested that the Portuguese star could make a romantic return to his old club, Mourinho swiftly moved to quash the rumours in his press conference ahead of United’s F.A. Cup tie with Yeovil;
“I should be the last one to add some fuel to the fire. Madrid is on fire, the results are not good and it is a club where I worked three years. I care about the club and I don’t want to add fire. To put some water on the fire I would say Cristiano is the kind of player every manager wants, every club wants. But only one manager can have and only one club can have – Zidane and Real Madrid, that’s my feeling”.
How good has Ronaldo been this season?
Like most Galactico’s, the 2017/18 season has been one to forget for Ronaldo thus far.
Incredibly, Real Madrid are 19 points behind Barcelona already, have been knocked out of the Copa del Rey by lowly Leganes and have a tricky Champions League tie against free-spending Paris Saint Germain.
While Ronaldo, who is valued at £108million by Transfermarkt, has been struggling with injuries, he is still yet to live up to expectation and is reportedly ready to leave the Bernabeu. However, it looks as if he won’t be heading back to Manchester for the time being.
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