Departing striker Eduardo has thanked the Arsenal medical staff who nursed him back to full-fitness following a career-threatening injury.
Eduardo joined Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday in a £6million deal after three years with the Gunners.
During his time at the Emirates Stadium, the Croatia international spent 12 months on the sidelines after suffering a horrific broken leg and dislocated ankle injury during a Premier League game against Birmingham City in February 2008.
"The past few days have been very emotional for me," he told the club's official website.
"Although I am excited about the challenge ahead with my new club Shakhtar Donetsk, I am so sad to be leaving my home for the past three years.
"Arsenal is a very special football club and I will miss so many people – my team-mates, all the staff and, of course, the wonderful Arsenal supporters.
"When I first came to England, I could not speak the language and knew nobody, but as soon as I arrived I was made to feel at home and part of this big family.
"I had some very difficult times with my injury, but Arsenal was always there for me – the medical staff, the management, the players and the supporters. Thank you everybody.
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"Although I have now left the club, Arsenal will always be in my heart.
"I will always look for the Arsenal results and of course, I wish Arsene Wenger and the great players at the club well for next season and the future."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Juan Mata’s arrival at Chelsea in the summer has seen new manager Andre Villas-Boas deliver on his promise of expansive, attacking football. The former Valencia man has brought a real spring to the step of an aging Chelsea squad and provided the much-needed boost to put Fernando Torres on the right path to his form of old.
With Glen Johnson being a far better attacking full-back than one who excels in the art of defence, manager Kenny Dalglish may look to the returning Jamie Carragher (if fit) to keep the Spanish international quiet. With a back-four that has not always been up to standard, Juan Mata may look to exploit the lack of pace in Jamie Carragher and target the Liverpool defender as a weak-link in a possible right-back position.
Needles to say, much of Chelsea’s attacking creativity will come through Mata, a player well versed in the possession football Roman Abramovich is so desperate to see at Stamford Bridge. A player who is lethal in front of goal and with the creative touch to unlock a Liverpool side who will be dogged in their defence, stopping Juan Mata may be the key to a Liverpool result next weekend.
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Nothing would please Liverpool fans more than putting a dent in United’s title chances tomorrow in what promises to be a lively game at Anfield. Kenny Dalglish’s men could certainly with a victory, having gone off the boil in recent weeks.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Liverpool blogs that includes five set for the chop at Anfield; realistic ambitions for Liverpool, while two cheap deals to solve the reds’ problems.
We also look at the best Liverpool articles around the web this week.
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Top TEN funniest football chants of recent times
The Top TEN Premier League Wag Imports…well I would!
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FIVE set for the summer chop at Anfield?
Will supporters be hit in the pocket in light of new rulings?
So why are Harry, Kenny and Fergie keen to splash cash on him?
Liverpool’s Top TEN Cult Heroes
Liverpool refuse to budge over £11m fee
Premier League trio in battle for Hungarian Star
Who is England’s most hated footballer?
What is a realistic ambition for Liverpool?
14 reasons why the future is bright at Liverpool?
TWO cheap deals to solve Liverpool’s current problems
*Best of Web*
The honeymoon is over; looking forward to the future – This is Anfield
Should we stay or should we go? – Tomkins Times
Does Kelly’s Emergence Pile More Pressure on Spearing? – This is Anfield
The signings we need to make to capture title No.19 – Live4Liverpool
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5 reasons why Aquilani should return in the summer – Our Kop
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Click on image below to see a gallery of Christian’s lady wife
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has confirmed that world football's governing body will discuss the use of goal-line technology, following the controversy of Frank Lampard's 'goal' in the World Cup loss to Germany.
With England trailing 2-1, Lampard's superb chip beat goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and bounced down well over the line, but the match officials failed to spot the incident correctly and play continued.
Germany went on to secure a comfortable 4-1 victory, while later on that same day, Argentina's 3-1 win over Mexico was marred by Carlos Tevez opening the scoring for a clearly offside position.
Blatter told a media briefing in South Africa:"It is obvious that after the experience so far in this World Cup, it would be a nonsense to not reopen the file of technology at the business meeting of the International FA Board in July.
"Personally I deplore it when you see evident referee mistakes, but it's not the end of a competition or the end of football, this can happen.
"The only thing I can do is yesterday I have spoken to the two federations (England and Mexico) directly concerned by referees mistakes.
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"I have expressed to them apologies and I understand they are not happy and that people are criticising.
"We will naturally take on board the discussion on technology and have first opportunity in July at the business meeting."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
It is over a decade since Howard Wilkinson’s Charter for Quality reforms changed the youth development system in England, and it appears that the time has come for another revamp of the youth set-up in this country. The Premier League have announced the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), which if fully approved could come in as early as next year, making whole-scale changes to the academy set up in this country. The aim of the plan is to revamp the youth development system in order to produce more top quality home-grown players to benefit both clubs and the national team.
The EPPP is a dramatic reform, which paves the way for clubs to match the Barcelona model of training youngsters. Current rules limit coaching hours and place travel restrictions on young players, but this plan aims to change all that. It is aiming to bring in 15-20 hours of coaching time per week for ages 9-16, up from the current target of 5 hours, which will bring it closer into line with other European countries. Coaching is currently limited to 2,000 hours between the ages of 10 and 18, but the EPPP would up that to around 10,000 hours, which will no doubt make a huge difference to the young players in England. It also aims to scrap the travel rule, which currently only allows sides to sign players based within 90 minutes travelling distance of the club. The new plan would mean that the bigger clubs could effectively take players from different areas and move them into a residential complex on site, the thought behind it being that the most promising players can only benefit from playing amongst the best.
Under the proposals, clubs youth operations will be put into one of four categories or tiers. Clubs in the highest tier will have far fewer restrictions placed upon them in terms of the amount of coaching time they can provide per week, and the age at which a child can be trained, also the travel restrictions will not apply to them. The cost of equipping a category one or two training facility means that these tiers will be out of reach for the majority of Football League clubs who have produced exceptional talent in the past. Restrictions in terms of accessing players will apply to tier three and four clubs, which could then force them to abandon their youth operations altogether, as they will not get access to players until a much later age. This could effectively mean that the best youngsters will all end up at the bigger clubs no matter where they come from, as the smaller clubs might not have the funds or resources, to be able to compete in this area.
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Manchester City have already announced plans for a huge new training complex, which would place them at the forefront of youth development in this country. Fortunately for them they are in the luxury position of being able to create such a complex, but the teams that will be able to achieve anything like this are few and far between. The EPPP could rule out very good academies because of money, which is wholly unfair to smaller clubs.
The changes in the constraints on travel and the notion of compensation being restricted to smaller clubs, could also have a very negative aspect. Smaller clubs who see their youth academy as an additional revenue steam, would lose out on this valuable income, and it could render their programs ineffective. It would be terrible if small clubs had to abandon running their youth set-ups, and could effectively work the opposite way and kill youth development in this country. The changes could make the system more elitist, with finance dictating what category a clubs academy belongs to, and smaller clubs forced to close their academies due to the financial strain.
A large proportion of top quality Premier League and England stars actually came from the lower leagues and were produced by smaller clubs, so it would be a shame if these academies were eradicated. It seems that the changes-which seem to be coming from the Premier League instead of the FA-are not in the interest of the lower tier clubs, and clearly favour the bigger clubs, which poses problems. The Football League still have to ratify the plan before it gets the go ahead, but you would think that they would have to make some changes to the plan, as it does nothing to favour clubs in the lower tiers. Compensation levels need to properly weighted to ensure the smaller clubs can survive, and the restrictions in terms of access to young players need to be more lenient than they are set out to be in the plan. There must be a place for smaller clubs in the programme, as they have produced so many talented youngsters over the past few decades, they provide vital experience and more often than not can toughen up a player, before he moves onto a bigger side to progress his career.
The ideas behind revamping youth development are long overdue, but there are other changes that need to be implemented as well. The link between academies and the first team has to be stronger, as there is plenty of top quality talent at the bigger academies who don’t get a fair shot to make their senior side. If the big clubs are having first options on the nations talent, then they have to ensure that young players will be given the experience they need in order to give them the best chance of making it in the game. We don’t want even more youngsters to fall by the wayside, which seems to happen far too frequently in the modern game. At the top clubs, young players often sit and watch on as money is thrown about and foreign players are brought in, which render it impossible for them to breakthrough into the first teams.
The changes proposed-particularly regarding coaching time-are likely to overhaul youth development in this country, but other changes also need to made. The way children are selected for academies, the manner in which they are developed, and the transition between academy and first team level must be looked at, if we are to truly revamp youth football in England. The EPPP does propose some radical changes, but these are unlikely to have the desired effect on youth development unless the whole mindset and attitude around the youth system in England is changed as well.
Do you think the elite player performance plan is likely to make any difference to youth development in this country? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below, or following me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate.
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From the highs of Barcelona, to the lows of Brisbane Road. It’s been a strange week for Arsenal. One the one hand, they proved they could beat the best at their own game using skill, technique and finesse. But on the other, they underlined a problem we have become all too familiar with when questioning why the Gunners can’t seem to end their six-year trophy drought. Once again, Arsene Wenger’s men failed to see out a game which required some grit and what many would call ‘ugly football’. So is this the real problem? Do Arsenal need to learn to win ugly in order to win trophies?
It’s an age-old argument, I know. But if there was one of the ‘top four’ capable of not seeing through the game against Leyton Orient, speaking on past experience, it was Arsenal. They’ve certainly become tougher than they used to be. Players like Jack Wilshere have added a little bite more bite to their game which has been missing since the good old days of Patrick Vieira.
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But I’m not just talking about someone who’s not scared of putting their foot in. Against the O’s, Arsenal needed someone to score the ugly goal. Put the game beyond the home side – be it through the world’s best team goal, or in off Bendtner’s backside – they all count.
Before the Barcelona game, Wilshere himself said that Arsenal needed to be harder, more aggressive and close their opponents down quicker to get the ball back. I’d argue that if they added that to their game on a regular basis, the Premier League trophy would have been at the Emirates long before now.
It seems to be a recurring problem with Wenger’s style. He gets his team playing some unbelievable football and any real fan can appreciate just how good they can be at times. But there is another side to the game; the side where you go away to a small ground, with intimidating fans and a surface designed to upset the usual rhythmic passing of an established quality side. This is the side of the game where you need your players to stand up and be counted. Stick it out, defend together and take your chances, however few and far between they come.
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It’s a frustrating flaw which many have identified over the years. Every season Arsenal go without a trophy, Wenger declares them ‘better off and more experienced’ the next time round. But there always seems to be this result just around the corner. It may seem an over-reaction. After all, it was just a draw against a team who were buzzing for the occasion of an FA Cup tie against one of the best in the world. But the result is symbolic of the lack of trophies at the North London club over the past few years. It seems ridiculous to suggest it, but if Arsenal could be just a littler uglier, would it solve an ongoing problem at the Emirates club? Food for thought, Mr Wenger.
Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Twitter @joino
England boss Fabio Capello already knows his starting XI for Saturday's World Cup opener against the United States in Rustenburg.
Capello was believed to be still considering which of his 23-man squad to play in a couple of key positions in the Group C curtain-raiser.
Which of his three goalkeepers in David James, Joe Hart or Rob Green should start the tournament as number one, who could partner John Terry in the centre of defence following the injury to Rio Ferdinand, whether to rush Gareth Barry back from injury to start in defence and who should play alongside Wayne Rooney up front were all believed to be selection issues.
However, the Italian coach has revealed he already knows the make-up of his first starting line-up, subject to nobody picking up injuries during the final few training sessions.
Asked whether he knew which goalkeeper would start against the US, Capello replied:"Yes, I've decided, I know.
"I know the 11 that will play Saturday and I hope the next two days, during the training, all the players will be fit."
Meanwhile, Capello claims he is in relaxed mood ahead of the tournament despite snapping at photographers before a training session at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex base on Wednesday morning.
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"I'm relaxed," he added."I can understand the pressure because in every moment we walk around you can see the security, the journalists, you can see when you move to golf, to safari, you need to police a lot of this.
"I understand that this is a really, really important moment for the country."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Michael Owen must be the luckiest man in the world. Playing for Manchester United, on an occasional basis, with no real pressure, earning vast sums of money… while still being able to indulge in his love of horse racing. When he writes his next autobiography, they’ll have to call it Riley – The Life Of.
It is not the script we expected Owen to follow when he was a teenager and emerging as one of the greatest goalscorers the game has seen. At that time he was always being compared with me, as we both banged in goals for England at an early age. It was regarded as only a matter of time before he bettered my 44 for England and Bobby Charlton’s record of 49.
Yet he has ended up stuck on 40 from 89 caps, which is still an outstanding record. But Fabio Capello’s arrival as England boss turned out to be the death of his international career. And his decision to play only cameo roles at United ended any hope of a comeback. I am not buying into the idea of Owen making an England return – even though he’d make an excellent option to come off the bench and grab a goal. Capello has never fancied him, and he is not the first manager with an aversion to what you’d call out-and-out goalscorers.
It’s not true that players like Owen have suddenly gone out of fashion. All my managers were sceptical of me and I seemed to spend half my life arguing with Bill Nicholson at Spurs about his obsession with me having to track back. I wouldn’t have a go at Owen about the way things have turned out for him. I’m sure I’d have been delighted to have had the same existence at the age of 31, if only the squad system had been about in my playing days.
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Back then, being on the bench, or being substituted, had a real stigma attached to it, suggesting you weren’t good enough or weren’t performing up to scratch. I remember a dog invading the pitch at White Hart Lane. As the referee and players tried to catch it, Bill Nick decided to make a substitution, bringing on David Jenkins for Frank Saul. Clear as a bell, one terrace wag yelled: “Bring Saul off – but leave the dog on instead!” Yet now all players recognise that it’s a squad game and that even the idea of being ‘dropped’ has become obsolete – players are just rested, rotated and managed.
Owen, then, is very much the ultimate modern footballer. And signing him was something of a masterstroke by Sir Alex Ferguson. If you’re challenging for four trophies and trying to juggle six or seven senior strikers, it is handy to have one or two who are relatively happy to play bit parts. As Owen showed with his brace in the Carling Cup at Leeds the other night, he certainly has not lost his eye for goal.
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You would imagine that when Ferguson talks to Owen, they are more likely to discuss racing form than football. And Owen’s chief remaining sporting ambition is more likely to be owning a Derby winner than collecting more medals with United or England. There is nothing wrong with footballers not being completely in love with football, as long as they remain totally professional.
Strikers, in particular, have rarely been obsessed with the sport and few top front men have gone on to become successful managers. I couldn’t have thought of anything worse than staying inside football after I’d hung up my old shooting boots. In fact, I can readily identify with Owen. We probably ended up with a lot more in common than I gave people credit for, when everybody compared him to me as a teenager.
Germany captain Michael Ballack has been left out of Joachim Loew’s squad to face Italy on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old missed his country’s 2010 World Cup campaign with an ankle problem before fracturing his leg in September.
He returned for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in January, but Loew was in no hurry to rush the midfielder back into the national squad for the friendly.
“I am happy Michael is back after the two injuries. He looks to be finding his rhythm. But we both know it will take some more time,” Loew said.
Germany host the Azzurri in Dortmund, with Philipp Lahm expected to wear the captain’s armband in Ballack’s absence.
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Germany squad: Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen), Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Manchester City), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Arne Friedrich(Wolfsburg), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Mesut Oezil (Real Madrid), Christian Traesch (Stuttgart), Mario Goetze (Borussia Dortmund), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Cologne).
Veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira will stay at Manchester City for another season after signing a one-year contract extension at Eastlands.
The 33-year-old France international joined the Citizens on an initial six-month deal from Internazionale in January.
The deal contained an option for the 2010/11 season should both parties be keen to continue the agreement and Vieira has now signed up for another year.
The former Arsenal captain made 14 appearances and scored one goal after being brought back to the Premier League by City boss Roberto Mancini.
The pair had worked together at Inter and Mancini was believed to be keen to bring an experienced head into the dressing room.
"The club is delighted to confirm that Patrick Vieira will be staying with City after taking up the option of a one-year extension to his contract," confirmed a club statement.
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News of Vieira's extension follows the release of three experienced first-team players.
Out-of-contract trio Martin Petrov, Benjani Mwaruwari and Sylvinho were all shown the exit door at the City of Manchester Stadium on Tuesday.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email