Everton boss David Moyes is looking to solve his striking crisis by bringing in Monaco forward Dieumerci Mbokani.
Mbokani made his name playing club football in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Mazembe where he scored 67 goals in 72 games. A successful loan move to Anderlecht was then followed by a permanent transfer to Standard Liege in 2007. During his time in Liege he netted 35 times in 81 games ans his growing reputation resulted in a move to French club Monaco for a fee believed to be in the range of €6 million in 2010.
However, Mbokani has been out of form this season and has failed to make much of an impression for his new club and only found the net on one occasion. It is believed that David Moyes sent a scout to watch the Congolese striker play in Monaco’s 2-0 defeat to St. Etienne at the weekend.
Everton have been horribly short of goals this season. Their tally of ten goals in nine home games is he second worst in the Premiership and is a big contributor to their lowly league position. With Jermaine Beckford, Louis Saha and Yakubu all either struggling for from or fitness a new striker would help take the weight of goals off of Tim Cahill.
Watch below for a taste of what Mbokani can do…
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Up until recently, I didn’t know what a snood was. And now I do, I can’t helping thinking there are too many pansies in the game these days. Just imagine me walking out at Burnden Park in the 1960s wearing a snood and gloves. The Bolton fans would have loved that. And Bill Nick, too. He’d have banned them, no question. His idea of a football strip was one that had holes in it and had been worn 100 times. It wasn’t a proper outfit otherwise. In fact, we only got a new kit if we reached the FA Cup Final.
There was none of this fancy stuff – snoods, gloves, under garments, willy-warmers, or anything like that. We should ban it all on behalf of us old footballers who got grazed hands and knees, and froze to death while we were running around. I read the other day that boots worn by some of today’s top players can help keep your feet warm. What? I’m thinking about getting a pair to wear around the house. I could have worn them last weekend as I watched the Ipswich v Leicester game. It should have been abandoned when the referee took the players off, although I can’t imagine I’d like to tell Roy Keane I was cancelling a match that his side were winning 3-0.
Back in my day, fixtures were rarely cancelled because of snow. They normally laid a tarpaulin over the pitch, which solved the snow problem, but when you pulled it back it was hard as rock and as slippery as an ice rink. If they’d left the snow on it would have been easier to play. I remember up at Manchester City one year we could hardly stand and lost about 5-1. But that was all part of the game. Sometimes we’d have grounds like that, other times it would be a mud heap. Nowadays they’re all like billiard tables. We had to adapt dramatically. There were times you could not pass a ball 20 yards because it got stuck in the mud. You had to lift it or chip it, and all these various skills came in to play over the course of the season.
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I had to laugh at Wayne Rooney complaining last week that Christmas was a difficult time for footballers. You don’t know you’re born, sunshine! We played Christmas Day and Boxing Day. One year at Chelsea, we were home to Portsmouth on Christmas Day and away to them on Boxing Day. We won 7-4 and then lost 3-0. How do you work that out? Christmas morning at Stamford Bridge would be a full house. Men would watch the game, have a pint and go home for dinner. It was a good tradition.
The one perk we had at Tottenham was that they’d give us a turkey each and a bottle of perfume for the girls. The perfume was worth about sixpence and the turkey was all right, although it always looked like it had given itself up rather than been caught. At Chelsea we didn’t even have a Christmas party and if we did in Milan, I wasn’t invited. We used to have them at Spurs until it all got a bit out of hand.
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The first team had finished training, so we went to the White Hart and started having a decent drink. One of the reserve team players was ordered to get us, so we sent him packing. Eventually Cecil Pointon, our trainer, came in and said: “Come on, lads.” But we insisted he had a drink first. By the time we got back for the festivities, Bill Nicholson had a face like thunder. The board of directors were sitting there with all the rest of the players – the reserves, third team, youth team – and there were the star pupils staggering in. We all sat down and started throwing rolls – it was mayhem.
As the chairman got up, Dave Mackay shouted: “Sit down – you’re p****d!” It was pandemonium. And then dear old John White capped it all. You shouldn’t laugh, but it wasn’t an absolute sin to drink and drive in those days. On his way out, he took one of the main gates with him, collected it around the bumper of his car. That was the last party we ever had. Festive best wishes to you all!
Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, Wayne Bridge, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott… Lloyd Foot?
There are few British teams who can boast about having produced as many young talented players as Southampton FC with the South-Coast team’s youth system having turned-out some of the most highly-regarded players in the Premiership from Shearer to Walcott. And now the Saints Academy is looking to its next big talent – eighteen-year-old Lloyd Foot.
Standing at 6ft 2in, Foot has the stature of a commanding centre back, strong and domineering – arguably key traits in making it in today’s game. Influenced as a child by the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, Foot also possesses the leadership qualities to boot. However he sees his best attributes as his ‘style of playing out from the back and composure’, and he aspires to play like the Real Madrid and Spain defender Sergio Ramos. I’m sure both Southampton and England would hope such comparisons materialise further.
He is hoping to follow the rapid ascendance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who has this season progressed from the Academy into the first team at The Saints, and is currently a regular in the gossip columns with the papers focusing on his rumoured big money transfer to a Premiership side.
Foot though, and excuse the pun, has his feet firmly on the ground: “It’s hard to say when I’ll break into the first team, as you need experience as a centre back. Hopefully in the next few years but it’s up to the gaffer.” At the moment he is enjoying the thirteen-match unbeaten run the Southampton Academy side are on.
He puts the success of the club’s youth academy down to its structure. “The structure is brilliant. A lot of money is ploughed into it every year and all the coaching staff are really good.”
Whether or not Foot plays a direct role in the first team campaign this year, he is confident of the club’s chances: “I definitely think we’ll go up this year, and then next, if we could get a couple of good signings, we’ll hopefully do well in the Championship.”
It is at this level of football or higher where Foot envisages himself plying his trade in five years time. With such talent, commitment, and at a club that has such a good track record, it looks as if Foot could go all the way.
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La Liga club Atletico Madrid claim Chelsea offered them 52 million pounds for stars Sergio Aguero and Diego Godin.
Atletico chief Miguel Angel Gil says the Premier League giants attempted an expensive double-swoop on two of the club’s best players during the January transfer window.
The news would not be surprising with Chelsea thought to be keen on signing a defender after the chase for Benfica’s David Luiz came to a halt when the Portuguese club rejected Chelsea’s 17-million-pound bid.
Gil also revealed that Chelsea were not alone in their pursuit of Argentine Aguero, with Real Madrid also making a 39 million pound offer for the in-demand striker.
“Yesterday I received an offer of 45 million euros (39 million pounds) from Real Madrid for Aguero and I said no,” Gil told AS.
“This week, Chelsea offered us 60 million euros (52 million pounds) for ‘Kun’ (Aguero) and Godin and our answer was the same.”
“I will not negotiate with Real Madrid or any other club for Aguero now or in the summer. Atletico have said no to the two offers because they believe in these two players.”
But Chelsea refused to comment on the speculation that the pair were on their way to Stamford Bridge.
“We do not respond to transfer rumours no matter how wild they are,” a club spokesman said.
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While Gil’s hands-off warning could sour Chelsea’s interest, they are reported to be seriously interested in the duo.
Aguero, just 22, has scored more than 50 goals for his club and regularly represents Argentina, while Godin has already won 43 caps for Uruguay at the age of just 24.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew bemoaned the injury to striker Shola Ameobi after his side lost 1-0 at Fulham on Wednesday.
After a busy transfer deadline day that saw key striker Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool for 35 million pounds and fellow forward Xisco depart on loan to Deportivo La Coruna, Pardew is now facing a striker shortage that threatens to derail his side’s Premier League campaign.
And the manager’s disappointment at losing Carroll was compounded when Ameobi left the Craven Cottage pitch after just 10 minutes with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
It left Pardew with the untried pairing of Leon Best and substitute Nile Ranger up front, with both failing to make an impact.
“Shola’s injury has not helped our cause, it’s another blow following the one on Monday,” Pardew said.
“We need to rally together and I thank them (the club’s fans) for their support at Fulham.”
Pardew admitted his side were second best at Fulham, who won thanks to a second-half strike from Damien Duff.
“We did not play well enough tonight. The pitch was not the best and didn’t help either team, but we did not threaten enough and we could have been a lot better,” he said.
“They didn’t let us play much, it was a tight, tense affair. But we have Arsenal on Saturday and hopefully we will come away with better points.”
Fulham boss Mark Hughes was happy with his side’s improving form, with Wednesday’s result coming just days after their 4-0 trouncing of Tottenham in the FA Cup over the weekend.
“We scored one, could’ve had a number of others, had good clear chances and could’ve won more comprehensively,” Hughes said.
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“Probably as pleased with the performance and result tonight as I was at the weekend.”
“It was difficult for us in the first half. Newcastle came to stop us playing our normal game. They penned us in and, really, that wasn’t the game that we wanted to play,” he said.
“Second half, we had to address that and make sure we imposed ourselves.”
Inter Milan manager Leonardo has reacted with disbelief at criticism directed at striker Samuel Eto’o.
Inter lost 1-0 at Juventus on Sunday, widening the gap between them and Serie A-leading city rivals AC Milan to eight points as a result.
Eto’o was the chief target of blame for the loss, but he was defended by his manager on Tuesday.
“I don’t know how someone can criticise Eto’o,” he said.
“It really takes some cheek. Eto’o has scored (24) goals this season. He sometimes might not time things right or have the space because he’s strictly marked, but it does not make sense to say that there is a problem with Eto’o.”
Leonardo and Inter are readying themselves for Wednesday’s trip to Fiorentina, who are undefeated in three games in February.
The Brazilian is under no illusions as to the task at hand.
“Well, we have played against many teams when they were in their best form: Napoli, Palermo and now we’ll be playing against Fiorentina,” Leonardo said.
“Maybe this is the destiny of a big team: to face teams in good form. I think that Fiorentina have started very well this year and have achieved a great win in the last match.”
“I think that our team has alternatives, but we’re a very compact side that has the ability to perform in the big matches.”
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Leonardo also touched on the retirement of former national teammate Ronaldo, and was liberal with his praise of the ex-Inter striker.
“I think that Messi is playing so well, but as far as I’m concerned – after Maradona and Pele, who are two untouchable myths in the football world – comes Ronaldo,” he said.
“It’s like losing a fortune, I don’t know how to say it. I think he will be among the best players: after Maradona and Pele, there will be Ronaldo.”
Tottenham’s Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes’ nervy performance against AC Milan last Wednesday has again set alarm bells ringing among much of the club’s faithful support once more. It’s difficult to question the undoubted improvements the ‘keeper has made to his game over the last year or so, but despite this improvement, will it be enough to ensure his prolonged stay between the sticks?
Gomes appears to be a goalkeeper capable of producing the sublime and the ridiculous only minutes apart. He’s as error-prone as they come in the Premier League, yet he’s a key player for Spurs and they miss his presence when he’s not in the side. Quite the contradiction.
It’s clear that good goalkeepers don’t grow on trees, sometimes you have to persevere with one until they’ve developed, matured and combined their promise with their performance. A goalkeeper’s peak years are thought to be between the ages of 32-36; and such is the nature and importance of a goalkeeper’s decision-making to the position, it is thought that as a goalkeeper matures, so will his decision-making.
It’s safe to say that Gomes at the age of 30 hasn’t quite reached this point or his peak just yet. He’s both eccentric and inconsistent. His main strengths lie in his reflexes and his ability to make himself big (not a tough ask I’ll grant you) in one on one situations.
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However, he can look particularly suspect when asked to rely on his decision-making ability as opposed to his instincts. He looks extremely susceptible to high balls into the box and his handling ability and communication skills can often be called into question.
It’s rare for a goalkeeper to have such big flaws yet still be capable of producing such outstanding performances while being integral to their own side. Being a goalkeeper is a tough ask in the modern day game, and with footballs being made lighter than ever before, it’s worth mentioning that this is not a game designed for goalkeeping excellence anymore – the movement that modern day balls have through the air must mean that it becomes difficult for ‘keepers to do anything with any real conviction nowadays.
I do retain a degree of sympathy for the goalkeeping fraternity. It’s a position where one’s errors are magnified tenfold in comparison to their saves. The do-or-die nature of the position means that they are often castigated for a player’s errors further up the pitch, yet despite all of this, Gomes does stick out as being particularly prone to errors of the game-changing variety.
There is no question that Gomes has his plus points though. He is a dominant and at times overwhelming physical presence. He is capable of keeping Spurs in a game almost single-handedly at times and due to his sheer size, he can reach things most other goalkeepers can only dream about.
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It’s also worth attaching some perspective to this too and a frame of reference – Gomes is not the first goalkeeper, nor will he be the last either to make high-profile errors. Pepe Reina, the best ‘keeper in the league to my knowledge, regularly delves into the depths of a Nick Hancock blooper reel and finds something to top even the most horrific of mistakes on those terrible compilation clips. The song ‘Reina drops keep fallin’ on my head’ will live long in the memory for most Everton fans.
The most important thing with a goalkeeper prone to the odd gaffe though, is that that they go onto atone for these errors with games where they become almost impossible to breach – Reina most certainly does this for Liverpool.
There is a school of thought that subscribes to the view that as long as a goalkeeper’s gaffes aren’t as regular as their match-winning performances, then they balance themselves out. The only time when this becomes an apparent problem is when the defence begins to lose trust in the man between the sticks and the lines of communication break down more often than not.
Petr Cech treads the line very carefully at Chelsea yet retains an influence that’s hard to match over his team mates and his presence is much-needed – I think that it’s safe to say the same for Gomes at White Hart Lane. Most Spurs fans accept that humiliating errors are just par for the course with Gomes now. He will make them in the future, in the most unfathomably awful ways imaginable I‘m sure, however the next minute he’ll make a game-defining save, and with that you get the balancing act of picking and sticking with a number one.
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A microcosm of Gomes’ Spurs career came this December in the away league game at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, where the Brazilian turned from villain to hero in a matter of moments. After letting a rasping drive all too easily pass him for Didier Drogba’s equaliser, Gomes then proceeded to give away a penalty, only to then save Drogba’s resulting injury time spot-kick and earn himself a shot at redemption and with it, Spurs a point in the process.
He is most certainly mad, sometimes bad, but often brilliant. Gomes retains the club’s number one jersey for now, but such indecisiveness will not serve Spurs well going forward as they hope to capitalise on a potentially bright period in their recent history with some silverware – something that I’m sure the player and his manager are acutely aware of.
Whether they place their trust in a player capable of destroying months of work in a moment of madness remains to be seen. With other areas of the team in more urgent need of strengthening if Spurs are to make this season’s Champions League appearance a regular occurrence as opposed to a brief soirée, Gomes is likely to retain his place in the starting eleven for the foreseeable future, at least going into next season.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola believes Getafe must not be taken lightly ahead of their visit to the Camp Nou on Saturday.Reigning Spanish champions Barca are clear at the top of the La Liga table, but saw their lead cut to five points over Real Madrid following a 1-1 draw away to Sevilla last Sunday.And Guardiola realises the importance of taking maximum points at home to mid-table Getafe in order to maintain their grip on first place. “It is one of those games that can cause you to lose the league,” Guardiola said.”Three points won’t win us the title, but if we don’t get them, things get much more difficult.” “We are entering the all or nothing stage of the season and we need to stay in shape and form for the final stage of the campaign.””A lot has happened this week and the game comes before a break in the fixture list.” Guardiola was referring to two incidents – the hospitalisation of key defender Eric Abidal and allegations of systematic doping within the club. Frenchman Abidal underwent surgery to remove a liver tumour on Thursday and is now expected to be sidelined for months. “As far as we know, the operation went very well and Abidal is developing correctly,” Guardiola said.”We must thank the doctors for their good work and hope people respect the privacy that his family has asked for.””Sports issues are secondary, what really matters is the person ? Abidal is a very likable man and has been with us for some time. We will try to be positive about the situation and hope it has the minimum possible effect.”Guardiola was also quizzed on the allegations made by broadcaster Cadena COPE, which published a story suggesting sources at Real Madrid believed both Valencia and Barca had been guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs in recent seasons.Both Valencia and Barca deny the allegations and have begun legal proceedings to sue Cadena COPE for defamation. “Ask Cadena COPE and (Real President) Florentino Perez,” Guardiola said.”When those two decide who is right, they’ll let you know ? the club (Barca) has done what is right and left things quite clear.” “An announcement was made and a claim has been presented, things couldn’t be more clear.”Barcelona drew Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League on Friday, meaning they’ll face a tough trip to the Ukraine if they are to face either Real or English Premier League outfit Tottenham in the semi-finals.”We know (Shakhtar) well (having met in the 2008/09 Champions League), they know us well and they have the same manager as before,” Guardiola said.”They will continue playing basically the same, as will we. They are former UEFA Cup champions, they have competed in the Super Cup and games against them have been very close.””They have only lost against Arsenal in this year’s Champions League, and would be top of any theoretical league of results in Europe this year. They are very physical and have good players, plus an experienced coach. It is a handicap, but the draw throws these things out there. We will try to play our best against whichever team, and I hope to get through.”
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini does not regret bringing striker Mario Balotelli to England despite his recent bad behaviour.The Italy forward was recently left out by his national team after reportedly throwing a dart at a City youth team player.
This was far from Balotelli’s first offence as the 23-million-pound man has also received two red cards this season – one as City crashed out of the UEFA Europa League.
Balotelli was also left out by Mancini for City’s last game but the manager has drawn a line under the incident ahead of Monday’s game with Sunderland.
“He lost the national team for two games, which is not a good thing for a young player,” Mancini said.
“I think his behaviour will be better in the future. I do not regret bringing him here, Mario is a fantastic player.”
“At the moment everything Mario does will be massive. If Mario went to a restaurant and spoke with a woman, people would say he spoke to five.”
“He played 15 games at the start of the season and scored 10 goals. In the last two months he has shown he wants to change his behaviour.”
Inconsistent form has seen City fall away slightly after leading the pack but Mancini said they still have high aspirations.
“We want to try to get back to the top of the table,” he said.
“We have the same target as we did at the start of the season – to qualify for next season’s Champions League and get to a cup final.”
“I think we have a chance.”
And Mancini needed no prompting to recognise the strength of the Sunderland side his charges will come up against.
“Sunderland are a good team, they play nice football and have a good manager,” Mancini said.
“Steve Bruce knows the Premier League well and Asamoah Gyan is a fantastic player, as is Danny Welbeck.”
Manchester City will be without goalkeeper Shay Given (shoulder) and defenders Jerome Boateng (knee) and Micah Richards (hamstring) for the clash.
If planet Earth took a collection of its finest footballers to play against a Mars XI there would be few coaches who could select a team, apply the tactics or direct the globe’s talent better than Arsene Wenger. Although the Frenchman has once again invited criticism of his abilities for guiding his Arsenal side to a sixth consecutive trophy-less season, Wenger can boast 3 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups on his list of honours. More remarkably, the former Monaco boss has overseen and influenced a colossal transition in Arsenal’s fabric by coercing the Gunners’ move to a modern 60,000 capacity stadium and implanting a tactical philosophy, an academy structure and economic principles which his eventual successor will struggle to alter.
The aesthetic quality of Arsenal’s football has never been in question, but the Gunners haven’t been able to supplement their form with silverware during a period when neighbours Spurs have won the League Cup and perpetual title rivals Manchester United have landed 3 Premier Leagues, 3 League Cups and a Champions League trophy. It is important to note that since the Premier League’s inauguration in 1992, Arsenal have spent £273million on transfers whereas Tottenham have expended £399million and Manchester United £430million during the same period.
Throughout the League’s 19 seasons the Gunners have recorded a net spend on transfers of £35million overall, which is less than Stoke, West Brom, Wolves, Everton, Birmingham, Fulham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham. The fact that eight out of the above 12 teams have endured a considerable portion of that period in England’s second tier, and some even further down the Football League ladder, speaks volumes. The continual pressure placed on Wenger to spend above his means is surely unfounded as Arsenal’s repeated presence in the Champions League and Premiership title race represents an astonishing return when balanced against the expenditure of ‘smaller’ clubs.
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Chelsea and Manchester United have expanded their trophy cabinets significantly since Arsenal last lifted the FA Cup in 2005, but the Stamford Bridge outfit have spent an average of £48million a season on players since 2003 whilst United’s total of £6million is largely reduced due to the £80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. In that time Arsenal have actually made a net profit of £3million from transfer transactions and featured in a European Cup Final and two League Cup Finals in the past five years. Although Portsmouth, Birmingham and Tottenham have all secured silverware recently, this demonstrates a substantial amount of investment and fortune that Arsenal haven’t been afforded. With this in mind, shouldn’t Arsenal fans be satisfied with their manager’s efforts in establishing an esteemed club stature by exercising organic and economical methods whilst exhibiting some of the most stylish football of any team?
Of course this feat is widely respected but fans of any club expect a healthy level of progressive self-improvement. A number of Gunners fans have begun to accept Cesc Fabregas’ impending departure based on his apparent mental deterioration and the sizeable fee his sale would command. I don’t necessarily agree with this theory but I do believe Fabregas’ emergence as Arsenal’s talisman has logically coincided with Arsenal’s barren spell. The reason is, Wenger altered his tactical beliefs after 2005 in order to accommodate the Spaniard and in doing so abandoned the tactics that had previously proved so successful.
The 1998 Double-wining side contained a familiar back-four with two holding midfielders – Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira – two wingers – Ray Parlour and Marc Overmars – and a support and target striker – Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright/Nicolas Anelka. That team was replaced only by name in Arsenal’s 2004 Invincibles season as Gilberto Silva replaced Petit, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires occupied the wings and Thierry Henry succeeded Ian Wright, contributing 39 goals in the process. The Invincibles side produced an FA Cup the following year but disintegrated rapidly, largely due to age, and Arsenal are still waiting to repeat the trophy-winning achievement.
The Arsenal class of 2011 are almost unrecognisable from Wenger’s tactical halcyon era as the Frenchman has sought to adapt his squad parallel to football’s developing form. The evidence resides in Arsenal’s squad-list which currently includes several offensive players with no fixed position – Tomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin, Abou Diaby and Aaron Ramsey. Their talents are unquestionable but I sincerely doubt that most of them would have found a place in Wenger’s previously successful system.
Arsene Wenger is a victim of his unrivalled intelligence and Arsenal fans’ expectations are always elevated as a result. His record is perhaps more extraordinary than say Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti or even Sir Alex Ferguson and it is vital to Arsenal’s future that Wenger retains his obduracy. Expensive signings never guarantee immediate dividends and Arsenal’s conductor simply needs to recall the system that best worked for him. Have faith, Arsenal fans’ unrelenting trust in Wenger must continue.
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