Both Radamel Falcao and Hulk are reportedly unsure of their futures, with Chelsea weighing up a summer move for one or both, according to Metro.
With Didier Drogba out of contract and likely to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, Roman Abramovich is ready to splash the cash to bring a new top forward to west London.
Falcao scored a brace for Atletico Madrid against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League final, and has been a hit in his debut season at the Vicente Calderon.
With increased speculation over the Colombia international’s future, the hitman’s father has revealed that Falcao may leave the Spanish side.
“My son is very happy at Atletico and wants to stay, but his future depends on the board.”
Meanwhile, Hulk has been linked with a move away from Porto for some time, and his agent has confirmed that the Brazil international wants to leave the Portuguese champions this summer.
“The time for Hulk to move is now. He is the most coveted player in Europe and we should work together to do what is best for him,” Theodoro Fonseca confirmed.
The Blues have already sealed the signings of Kevin De Bruyne and Marko Marin for next season.
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Austrian side Sturm Graz progressed to the third round of Champions League qualifying despite a 3-2 loss to Videoton.All five goals came in an eventful first half at the Sostoi Stadion in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, but the victory for the hosts was not enough to see them through to the next round following Sturm’s 2-0 first-leg win at home.
The visitors twice came from behind on Wednesday with Akos Elek and Gyorgy Sandor putting Videoton ahead only for Andreas Holzl and Ferdinand Feldhofer to equalise for Sturm.
Zoltan Liptak’s goal in the second minute of first-half injury time restored Videoton’s lead, but Sturm’s advantage from the first leg was enough to ensure they progressed 4-3 on aggregate.
Maccabi Haifa also progressed to the next round despite losing on Wednesday, with FK Borac Banja Luka’s 3-2 victory in Bosnia Herzegovina not enough to overturn the Israeli side’s 5-1 first-leg lead.
Continuing the trend of losing teams progressing, Rosenborg were beaten 2-0 by Icelandic side Breidablik but still moved into the third round 5-2 on aggregate.
The Norwegian side all but sealed their progress into the third qualifying round with a 5-0 home win last week, and goals from Dylan McAllister and Kristinn Steindorsson in the return leg were not enough to turn things around for Breidablik.
Georgian outfit Zestafoni held on for a 3-2 aggregate win over Dacia Chisinau following their 2-0 loss in Moldova.
Zestafoni led 3-0 from last week’s first leg, but went behind early thanks to a Dmitri Popovici strike and were forced to play most of the second half with 10 men after Teimuraz Gongadze received his second yellow card in the 64th minute.
Ghenadie Orbu scored a late spot kick for the hosts to ensure a nervy finish for Zestafoni, but they held on to book their spot in the next round.
Cypriot champions APOEL smashed four goals past Albanian outfit Skenderbeu to secure their progression 6-0 on aggregate.
After jumping on ‘my high horse’ last week about the dangers of respect being lost for managers, maybe I didn’t go far enough. Maybe in fact it isn’t just the managers that are being disrespected by certain players – but the fans, as well as their fellow professionals. What a week it has been for Manchester City. They have propelled themselves into a great position to challenge for the Premier League crown. They showed the strength of their squad in Europe and Carlos Tevez has sensationally declared he wants to leave Manchester City. There is never a dull moment at Eastlands.
Mario Balotelli showed what he was all about against West Ham. He was having a very good game up until he lost out in a challenge and should have been awarded a free kick. Cue tantrum – he kicks up a dramatic fuss and for ten minutes, Manchester City were playing with ten men. Manchester City knew the risk when they signed him. They knew that Jose Mourinho couldn’t get Mario Balotelli’s mind focused so what chance does Roberto Mancini have? Does Balotelli’s potential out way this risk? He is without doubt a very talented footballer who could be as good as wants to be. Will he ever reach that potential? So far, injuries have prevented the Premier League from inspecting the Italian. Will Balotelli only add to the infighting at City, remember this is a man who believed it acceptable to sport an AC Milan shirt on Italian television.
Before anyone jumps on this writer and accuses him of attacking Manchester City, it is simply not the case. Manchester City are a great team who at the start of the season I predicted to win the league. The infighting will cost them this season. That is the point being made, nothing else. It has to be addressed. Manchester City can’t continue to add to the simmering tensions at Eastlands. Something has to give.
As I look down from my high horse, what I see is a very disheartened Carlos Tevez. He lives and breathes football. His family are living in Argentina, he is homesick but he still puts in performances like he has for Manchester City. He has been phenomenal and if he says he wants to leave for family reasons, I am sure the majority of City fans would accept that – as long as he moved to Boca Juniors. In a recent interview with Argentinian television, his frustrations were clear.
In an interview with Argentinian station TyC Sports, Tevez reportedly said: “If you ask me, I would love to have my old life back in my neighbourhood of Fuerte Apache. I don’t want to play any more. “I’m tired of football but I’m also tired of people who work in football. Football is only about money and I don’t like it.”
Tevez also admitted that he was disillusioned with the attitude of young players in the game. “The young players think they have won something in football because they have two cell phones and a house,” he said. “Today there are many bad people in the football business and you have to fight with them all the time. I’m going to play football for three or four years in Europe then I will quit. “Today the young players have no education at all and I don’t want to listen to them.”
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When a player like Tevez who has won 13 titles in his career looks around and examines what football has become who can blame him for wanting out. Maybe its an Argentinian belief, but Juan Roman Riquelme and Martin Palermo were the same. They played for the love of the game, not the big houses and the fast cars. Players like Emannuel Adebayor – who clearly left Arsenal for a pay check and Mario Balotelli must drive Tevez up the wall. Look at what he does week in week out for Manchester City. Tevez has very real problems and all his strike partners want to do is inflame situations and cause trouble.
Manchester City can win the league this season (as I have said so many times) but the off field attention seeking struggles have to stop. You would have to be a very deluded individual if you believe that everything is peachy off the field at Manchester City. Sure, recently there have been some top notch performances – but without Tevez where would this squad be. Player power at City could cost them so much this season.
Manchester United are believed to be ready to make a last-ditch attempt to sign Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen, who is of interest to Tottenham and Arsenal, according to Mirror Football.
The Belgium international is entering the last year of his contract, and as such could be available at a cut-price £7 million, with the Emirates outfit supposedly the current frontrunners for the centre half’s signature.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson is thought to have sent scouts to Holland to watch the Amsterdam-based club’s captain, and was impressed with glowing reports after Vertonghen led Ajax to their second consecutive Eredivisie title.
Vertonghen himself has admitted that he has a choice to make, and that he is interested in the attacking brand of football that Premier League clubs are starting to play.
“I have to make a choice. There’s something going on with Tottenham, but there are more clubs interested in signing me.
“The most important thing for me is that I get regular playing time. Plus I need a stable environment.
“More and more clubs in England seem to realise that you can go a long way with ‘good football’.
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“Arsenal started with it, and teams like Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester City are playing good football as well now,” he concluded.
Veteran striker Adrian Mutu will play for Serie A outfit Cesena next season, after his move from Fiorentina was confirmed on Friday.Mutu, 32, was close to leaving Fiorentina in January for the newly promoted club, but the move was blocked before its eventual completion in the off-season.
He has signed a two-year-deal at Cesena, with the option of a third available.
“ACF Fiorentina announces that they have sold Adrian Mutu to Cesena Calcio on a permanent basis,” a statement on Fiorentina’s official website read.
“The club thanks Adrian for his work over the past few seasons and wish him all the very best for the future.”
Mutu had to accept a pay cut to join Cesena but will bring a wealth of experience to the club.
He netted 54 goals in 112 matches for Fiorentina and has also played for the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus in the Serie A as well as Chelsea in the English Premier League.
He was out of favour with the Florence-based club after walking out of training when the move to Cesena did not eventuate in January.
Mutu has never been far from controversy during his career, having twice been suspended for failing a drugs test – once at Chelsea and once at Fiorentina – for which he was banned from fooball for one year and six months respectivley.
Liverpool’s steady but far from spectacular resurgence returned with a 3-0 victory following a disappointing 2-0 defeat by the Potters. Surely a sign of how far Liverpool have fallen in recent times, the upcoming trip to North London sees them as rank outsiders in the betting. With talismanic captain out for the trip, reds fans will be hoping Torres will be able to show some of his best form, like he did so devastatingly against the Champions.
At FFC we have seen a variety of blogs this week highlighting Comolli’s arrival and having to get his homework right, 7 strikers linked heavily with Liverpool move and Is Gerrard’s absence a blessing in disguise?
Plus we look at the best Liverpool blogs on the web this week.
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Hallå Underbar – Christian’s lady puts Premiership WAGS in the shade
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Time for Liverpool to cut their losses and CASH in?
Comolli must get homework right HERE before spending Liverpool’s millions
Can Liverpool FC look to succeed where so many have failed before?
7 strikers heavily linked with Liverpool move
Is Gerrard’s absence a blessing in disguise?
Liverpool’s Loan Watch
Liverpool top TEN Midfielders of all time?
Liverpool’s challenge is far from over…isn’t it?
Would Wendt signing provide a better option for Hodgson?
Where do Liverpool and Johnson go from here?
Good to see NESV getting a head start on the Academy front
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Click here to see the Best LIVERPOOL BLOGS around the Web this week
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Is it good news that Roy might not be spending in January? – Live4Liverpool
10 disastrous quotes of Roy Hodgson’s LFC reign – This is Anfield
Exclusive Robbie Fowler interview – Mirror
Nice Move NESV, Bad Move Roy – Kopblog
Top 3 Out of Favour Strikers for the Reds to look at – Live4Liverpool
Tottenham recorded a much-needed 2-0 Premier League win over Blackburn on Sunday at White Hart Lane.
The hosts were dominant throughout, with Rovers not having a single shot on or off goal in the 90 minutes, and a goal in each half from Rafael van der Vaart and Kyle Walker secured victory for the north London outfit.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was pleased with the victory and has challenged his side to win their remaining three fixtures in the race for fourth place.
“We’ve got to win our games – it’s going to be close, it’s going to be tight. I mean, we’ve got two really hard away games I think this week,” he told Sky Sports.
“Bolton are in good form and they’re fighting for their lives and then we go to Villa who still need a result, probably, so they’re tough games.
“Then Fulham at home, that’s a very difficult game so we’ve just got to see how we go.
“We’ve just got to keep trying to win the games and if we win all the games, no-one can finish above us, really. That’s the top and bottom of it.
“We’ve got a much better goal average than Newcastle. But we’ve got to win the games. Chelsea are looking very dangerous, they’re in fantastic form, but we’ll see how we go,” he stated.
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The National Football League (NFL) uses a draft system to recruit newly eligible college American football players. The draft is the most common method common source of player recruitment within the NFL. Players that have been out of high school for at least three years are eligible and although the rules do not explicitly state that players have to have been to college – nearly all players selected in the NFL draft played college football.
The present rules state that there are 7 rounds of the draft; with any expansion team (brand new team) getting the first pick in round 1 followed by the teams based on their end of season record starting from the bottom with the Superbowl losers getting the penultimate pick and the Superbowl winners having the last pick. The order typically stays the same for the remaining six rounds. However, if teams finished with identical records then the order is cycled for each round.
It is somewhat difficult to know how the draft system could be incorporated into English/European football. There are a number of issues here such as the fact we are dealing with a different sport that is organized in a different way. In America high school and college sport is a big deal – because they are future NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS… stars. However, in England talented football players are snapped up by football clubs by a young age with a view that becoming professionals at that football club.
Then there is the transfer system to be considered. In America players are signed that are free agents (through the draft system) or traded (exchanged) with other players – so transfer fees aren’t involved – but high wages are. However, then again there is wage capping going on in the US – whereas there isn’t in England.
So with that all in mind any adapted draft system could only really apply to the free transfer market and with dealing with players that are still amateurs that are now free agents. Therefore, there is no real value to apply any draft system to general free transfers or potential free transfers. This can only work if it is applied to players before they are professionals.
The players that would be in question would be those that have been released from clubs before they have been offered a professional contract. But here perhaps lies the problem; players that have been released are not highly rated at least not in the opinion of a youth coach somewhere. In contrast the players in the NFL draft are highly rated and the best youngsters would be within the draft.
So in order to have an equivalent system then youth players couldn’t be signed automatically to the professional club – but instead would enter the free market system; where any club would be free to sign them. However, that system would have a major flaw in that if that were to happen – where would the incentive be to train up a young player?
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Therefore, why not take it back further and look at players that are recruited to the club in the first place. The present rules have location restrictions on signing players below a certain age; which in some way is a bit unfair and puts a lot down to luck. Why does it matter which part of the UK players are from and why do clubs need to have catchment areas?
Then there is the issue of how teams that follow lower down in the league can be given an advantage and whetever or not any adapted draft system should be introduced exclusively to the Premier League or across all the professional clubs in England. There is of course the argument that there may be more need for it down the football league – due to the fact that there is a lot less money.
However, it is common for changes to be implemented into the Premier League and then gradually spread throughout the leagues. There are currently many people who claim that England isn’t producing the talent at the moment; It’s debatable if that is true given the emergence of players like Jordan Henderson, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
But should a youth player sign for Chelsea just because they happen to be close when in the long-term it may not be the best club for their career. Take the example of Ryan Bertrand at Chelsea; a very talented young left back that should be challenging the likes of Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines and Kieran Gibbs for a place at left back in the England team. However, instead he has found himself on loan to Championship clubs for several seasons and unable to progress.
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Imagine for a second that there was a draft system that benefited teams lower down in the table much like the NFL draft and Wigan picked him up instead. Then at this time Bertrand could be getting regular games in the Premier League and challenging for a place in the England team.
So should we look to adjust the Premier League and introduce some sort of adapted draft system? Maybe there isn’t a lot wrong with the current system – but one of the reasons for the draft system is to try and stop contract wrangles for the best youth players. There were rumours around that Manchester United had offered Phil Jones £80,000 per week. Surely Jones doesn’t need to be earning that sort of money at 19 years old. However, it may simply not be possible to adjust the draft system for the Premier League.
Gary Neville, Micah Richards, Ashley Cole and Stephen Warnock. What have these names got in common? Is it that fact that they have all played for England in the last few years, therefore acknowledged as international-class players? Or is it that they are all established Premier League full-backs that could comfortably get into most Premier League teams?
Well, both of those statements are true…but I was leaning more towards the statement that Matt Jarvis has comfortably coped with all of them this season, and has sometimes made them look silly. 24-year-old Jarvis has been the star of, what has been so far, a disappointing start for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Many Wolves fans will agree with this and have been calling for Fabio Capello to take a chance on Jarvis for well over a year now. OK, yes it may have been a bit much to ask for Jarvis to be taken to the World Cup (although let’s face it, he probably would have done a better job than most of them did out there), but it is surely time that Capello and his cronies sat up and took notice.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has hailed Jarvis’ recent performances and has called on Capello to take a look at his wing-wizard. Again, you might think that this is a bit biased. Well, plenty of pundits have jumped on the ‘Jarvis for England’ bandwagon, with the likes of Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier and the ultimate critic himself, Alan Hansen, all praising his recent performances.
Jarvis, who joined Wolves from Gillingham for a bargain price of around £600,000 in 2007, has been a fan’s favourite down at Molineux for some time now. He forged a great partnership with fellow-winger Michael Kightly, a partnership which was a key part of Wolves gaining promotion in 2009.
Last season, Jarvis proved he was Premier League quality with a string of good performances; with one of the highlights being when he scored the third goal in a crucial 3-1 win against West Ham – a game many saw as the one which ensured Wolves’ survival.
Now, it’s only fair to look at the competition for a place on the wing for England.
Stewart Downing – Has had a decent start to the season at Aston Villa, but has struggled to hold down a place in the first team.
Ashley Young – Has looked impressive for Villa this year, but didn’t impress in his first start for England, against Montenegro earlier this year.
Aaron Lennon – Struggled with injuries this year and has not had the best start to the season at Spurs.
Shaun Wright-Phillips – Rarely gets a game for Man City these days, with most of his appearances coming from the substitute’s bench.
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Adam Johnson – A player in the similar type of mould to Jarvis, Johnson is probably one of the best English wingers out there. However, his off-the-field antics and Mancini’s tinkering has seen him dropped to the bench a lot this season.
So, I think it is fair to say that Jarvis at least deserves to be called up to the squad. With the France friendly just around the corner, it seems the perfect opportunity for Capello to try out some new blood.
After the disappointment of the World Cup, it seems only fair that new players be given a chance in the under-achieving England squad. The likes of Jarvis, Johnson and Young could well be the future for England, let’s just hope Capello realises this and stops picking the same old players.
With Gary Neville stepping into Andy Gray’s shoes at Sky, the former United defender joins the long list of players who have made the transition from the pitch to a paid-up pundit and in Neville’s case with relative ease.
To be fair to Neville, a player who irritated me greatly, he is one of the decent analysts out there who has a genuine insight into the game of football and is actually educating those listening over tactics, positioning and the general mindset of players and teams at certain points within the game. He has the ability to be amusing as well, as he highlighted with his critique of David Luiz’s performances this season, and doesn’t have to rely on cheesy puns or jokes that are served up by the regular goons on the Beeb. Neville has certainly opened my eyes and dispelled the myth that footballers actually have a brain and have something to offer as pundits.
Below is a list of ten players turned pundits who irritate me greatly
Click on Lawro below to see the Top TEN
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