Udinese defender Christian Zapata has been linked with a move to Liverpool, according to Mirror Football.
The 24-year old has been at Udinese since 2005 and played for the club 127 times but is attracting interest from several of Europe’s top clubs.
Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are all rumoured to be tracking the £14 million-rated Colombian but Liverpool appear to be leading the race for the versatile defender.
Zapata is currently with Colombia, for whom he has won 17 caps, where he is preparing for the Copa America and any deal will have to wait until after the tournament.
The 6ft 2in defender would be the second big-money signing at Anfield after the arrival of Jordan Henderson from Sunderland with plenty more signings expected during the transfer window.
Manager Kenny Dalglish and Director of Football Damien Comolli have been given the financial backing of new owners Fenway Sports Group. The owners are keen on younger players with potential resale value and Zapata certainly fits the bill.
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The club are also in need of cover at left-back with the futures of Fabio Aurelio and Emiliano Insua yet to be decided. Paul Konchesky’s days at Anfield appear to be numbered having failed to lived up to expectations and spent the second half of last season on loan at Championship club Nottingham Forest.
In recent years, Arsenal have developed a reputation for crumbling. At the business end of the season, everything falls apart. Last season was perhaps the finest example so far. After suffering defeat to Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final, they swiftly exited the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona and the FA Cup at Manchester United before dropping out of the title race completely. Their dramatic losses of form always raise questions about Arsenal’s mental strength. Where is the self-belief of United’s squad? Where are the leaders? Why can’t they shake off defeats and close out the season or just close out a game? These are all valid questions, but it would be wrong to suggest that all their problems are mental.
Since the invincibles side, Arsene Wenger has steadily siphoned the leadership and experience out of the squad. He continues to do so with the recent sale of Gael Clichy to Manchester City. Clichy may be only 25 but he has 48 Champions League appearances and nearly 200 in the premiership. The duty of left-back now falls to the vastly less experienced 21 year-old Kieran Gibbs.
Whilst Wenger’s young side may be full of talent, willingness and speed, it lacks the power of players in their physical prime and the mentality of those who have tasted success and want more. There is an over-riding sense that even at their best this Arsenal side are an incredibly talented group of boys. Van Persie is the old hand and Fabregas has inherited the responsibility of captain because of his essential role on the pitch, not because he has the mental qualities required. When things are not going well he often looks pained, struggling under the weight of his title.
Whilst the squad lacks leaders, it also lacks fighters. Perhaps as a consequence of Wenger’s football philosophy and his abhorrence of the physical side of the game, hard talking players are a rarity at Arsenal. Jack Wilshere may be the first midfielder to demonstrate a willingness to get stuck in since the departure of Flamini in 2008. Wenger’s nurturing, molly-coddling attitude towards his youngsters and his bitter complaints of ‘rugby teams’ create a sense of victimisation rather than a desire to fight back.
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The biggest problem Arsenal face is not a mental one. It is the quality of their squad. Even their best starting 11 has flaws, primarily in defence, and there is an unhealthy dependence on the fitness of Van Persie and Vermaelen. Walcott has shown flashes of brilliance but has struggled to find consistency due to injury and Arshavin has gone from a star to a sub in a disappointing season. There is a lack of depth up front and the need for a solid, consistent, central defensive partnership to bring some stability. It is these problems that really took Arsenal’s season off the rails.
We all love a spectacular goal, and since the start of the Premier League back in the 90s, we have seen a fair few stunners. But what would you regard as the greatest Premier League goal of all-time? Would you go for a goal that required a great technique? Is a long-range strike what you’re looking for? Or does it all depend on how important the goal is?
Choosing the best Premier League goal of all-time is too great a task for one man, so we’ve gone all democratic and decided to give you the fans the final say! There will be no coalition here, just one great goal that has received the most votes. There’s no way you can remember all of the great goals that the Premier League has seen, so we’ve even got some videos to jog your memory. Simply watch a bundle of great strikes and then vote for the greatest Premier League goal ever!
Click on the image to see the contenders – ENJOY
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Manchester United defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday in a friendly re-match of last season’s Champions League final.Barcelona lifted their fourth European crown with a 3-1 win over United at Wembley Stadium on May 29.
And although goals from Nani and Michael Owen helped the English Premier League champions come out on top at FedEx Field, Washington, the pre-season victory is unlikely to have been much consolation for United, who have lost two of the last three Champions League finals to the Spanish giants.
Thiago Alcantara struck for Barcelona, who were without Lionel Messi, Dani Alves and new signing Alexis Sanchez.
In other matches, Inter Milan defeated Celtic 2-0 despite being reduced to 10 men in their Dublin Super Cup pre-season match.
Luc Castaignos and Giampaolo Pazzini scored first-half goals to put the Italian side ahead at the Aviva Stadium, and despite Tiago Motta’s dismissal for a second yellow card, Inter held on to record a victory.
Inter remain second on the Super Cup table after day one following Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over an Airtricity XI of players from the Irish Premier League.
With new signing Sergio Aguero watching on from the stands, Roberto Mancini fielded a side largely made up of reserve and youth team players, but it made little difference as the English Premier League side controlled the match.
One of City’s forgotten men, Shaun Wright-Phillips, broke the deadlock on 52 minutes, before Adam Johnson made it 2-0 seven minutes later and young substitute Luca Scapuzzi finished off the victory with a third on 83 minutes.
City will face Inter on Sunday to decide the winner of the tournament.
In London, Arsenal threw away a two goal lead and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors in the Emirates Cup.
Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey had given the Gunners a comfortable lead in the first half, only for defensive lapses to allow Lucas Viatri and Pablo Mouche to equalise for the Brazilian side after the break.
The New York Red Bulls top the Emirates Cup table after day one following their 1-0 win over French side Paris Saint-Germain, with Joel Lindpere scoring the winner in the 27 minute.
Fernando Torres was on target as Chelsea won the final of the Barclay’s Asia Trophy 2-0 against fellow EPL side Aston Villa.
Youngster Josh McEachran opened the scoring in the first half before Tores deflected a Florent Malouda strike past Villa goalkeeper Shay Given to register just his second goal in a blue shirt.
Blackburn easily defeated Hong Kong side Kitchee 3-0 in the third-place playoff.
Elsewhere, Everton beat newly relegated Birmingham City 2-1 at St Andrews, Bolton defeated Conference outfit Newport County 3-1 and Norwich won 3-0 away to Coventry City, while West Brom and Wolves also recorded narrow victories over Bristol City and Ipswich Town respectively.
Finally, La Liga runners-up Real Madrid defeated Championship side Leicester City 2-1, with Jose Callejon and Karim Benzema on target for the Spanish visitors.
Bolton entertains Norwich City at the Reebok this weekend and you can watch the action in style, courtesy of another Football FanCast giveaway. We have teamed up once again with the good people of 188Bet who are providing an executive box for 10 people for Saturday’s game.
Both teams were on the wrong end of defeats at the weekend with Owen Coyle’s side the latest side to face the wrath of the Champions’ strike force that tore apart their defence at will. The result in fairness wasn’t a fair reflection of the play, but Bolton will be determined to get a positive result against the Premier League new boys.
Paul Lambert will also feel that the results haven’t mirrored the Canaries efforts so far this season and the Scot will be determined to see his Norwich side register their first win of the season. It promises to be a classic and the perfect fixture for your very own Premier League Box experience.
To enter the prize draw for one of the 5 pairs of places in the Executive Box then sign up to 188BET to be in with the chance for Saturday’s big giveaway.
The competition closes at 11:59pm on Thursday 15th of September so as long as you sign up and make your bet before then you’ll have a chance of winning. So sign up, place your bets and keep your fingers crossed! You be watching Bolton v Norwich in ultimate style in just under a week’s time.
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When this new Premier League season begun back in August many would have expected few teams to still remain unbeaten going into October’s fixtures. Champions Manchester United? Probably. Massive spending Manchester City? Almost certainly. Aston Villa and Newcastle United after losing various key players? Ye…..hang on a minute! Don’t you mean now perennial title challengers Chelsea? Nope. Or how about big spending and revitalised Liverpool? Certainly not. Finely balanced and attacking Spurs? No no no! Strange as it may seem, as the first league fixtures of October ended, there are four Premier League teams who are still yet to taste defeat this season in the league; first placed Manchester United, second placed Manchester City, fourth placed Newcastle United and seventh placed Aston Villa.
Undefeated and flying under the radar of some of the supposed ‘bigger’ clubs in the Premier League Newcastle United and Aston Villa are enjoying a fine start to this season. Even the most ardent supporters of these two clubs would have struggled to believe they would be unbeaten after 7-league games, after the extremely turbulent summer they witnessed. To be honest, many must have feared the worst. Let’s start in the north-east on Tyneside.
Newcastle were still reeling from the loss of local lad Andy Carroll as the summer began, but with the transfer window now open again, here was a proper chance to use the huge sum of money they received for their former striker and replace him. Instead, talk was of an exodus of more key players, due to broken promises and contract issues. Captain Kevin Nolan was first high profile name to leave. What must have confused (and maybe embarrassed) fans of the Toon Army was the fact that he left to join a side in the Championship! Next to leave and following in Carroll’s footsteps was the much vaunted Spaniard Jose Enrique, amidst a flurry of unhappy Twitter messages. Finally, never to be outdone in the controversy stakes (and certainly not on Twitter) was a certain Joey Barton, who appeared to spend most of his time fighting with the board but staying on the right-side of the fans, before making-up with the management team, then leaving for newly promoted QPR on transfer deadline day.
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Three more key players had departed, and their replacements seemed a little underwhelming. In came midfielders Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux and Mehdi Abeid from France, followed by another Frenchman, albeit from Manchester United, Gabriel Obertan who had endured a nightmare career thus far with the Champions in England. The striking role was filled by yet another Frenchman with experience of the English league with West Ham in Demba Ba. Enrique’s replacement was found in one time promising Italian left-back Davide Santon. Those six players were hardly household names to the average supporter, but somehow manager Alan Pardew has moulded an impressive unit with Cabaye in particular standing out from the bunch. The retuning Ben Arfa from long-term injury also seems like a new signing. Other than an Arsenal in turmoil, Newcastle are yet to face any side fighting for a top-four finish and beyond so sterner tests are to come, although they have beaten their derby rivals and a tough Wolves side away from home, whilst drawing with fellow surprise packages Aston Villa.
Villa also had their fair share of traumatic events during the summer and many feared they too, would be left worse off. Against the backlash of appointing Alex McLeish, former manager of their most hated rivals Birmingham City, Villa fans with disgruntled from the off, to say the least. Making things seem worse, something Villa fans have had to become accustomed to during the summer transfer window also occurred; they lost their best players. Off went Ashley Young and fans player of the year Stewart Downing to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, whilst also losing ever-green keeper Brad Friedel. In fairness, a great replacement in Shay Given was signed to take his place in goal, and Spurs duo Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas also came in, adding Premier League experience. The long pursuit of Charles N’Zogbia also ended and came in as a perfect wing replacement for Young/Downing.
However it is the return to form of Gabriel Agbonlahor that has helped Villa remain unbeaten in the league this season, firing in 4-goals in 7-games. Perhaps even more influential in keeping their unbeaten status is new keeper Shay Given who seems to perform highlight saves every fixture. Similar to Newcastle however, tougher tests are yet to come for Villa as they too are yet to face any of the clubs who are challenging for honours this season.
Are both clubs getting the credit they deserve thus far? Probably not. Will they remain unbeaten all season? Again, probably not….but who knows? It’s a funny old game!
If you want to read more from myself including news, thoughts and views you can follow me on Twitter @fantasista1077 thanks!
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Most fans, during the course of their lifetime, have had cause for complaint when it comes to feeling victimised by the powers that be. Whether it is the media, the FA, referees, or some other authoritative body: most fans, teams and managers have tried to argue that they’re getting the short end of the deal.
So as we reflect on Wayne Rooney’s undoubtedly rash actions against Montenegro, is there any evidence to suggest that his subsequent three-match ban is in any way an example of how UEFA are uniquely punitive when it comes to England?
Platini
Whilst Michel Platini may not have been part of the committee that decided Rooney’s fate last week his influence within UEFA is significant enough for some to believe that he could have played a role in any decision made. If we couple this with his comments from 2008 about English teams financially cheating in European football then we can already hear the conspirators among us accusing UEFA and its president of Anglophobia.
And it is true to an extent that Platini is not English football’s biggest fan. His comments about our clubs in the past have been abrasive at best and I’m sure many will remember the enormous smile on his face as Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in 2009.
However, can we really suggest that these are English specific qualities that Platini resents? Are they not merely universal problems that exist within football and most of us complain about anyway? Who, apart from Manchester City fans, is pleased to have a club who can outbid every other on the planet? Not me.
And so whilst Platini’s attacks on English clubs have been hard to take would we react as unsympathetically towards them if an English head of UEFA touted them? Or are we simply unhappy that someone has dared to criticise ‘the best league in the world’?
I am afraid this is rather the point too. Nobody likes criticism, least of all people who already feel as though their neighbours dislike them (as we do in the football). And, whilst Platini definitely has his moments as an insufferably arrogant man he does make a fair point. Financial domination is cheating. Many will disagree with Platini, insisting that he appears too eager to put England down, but as the man himself says says: ‘he’s just doing his job’.
FIFA
The vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups also left a bitter taste in the mouth of English football fans. The suspected corruption within FIFA has grown in to a worldwide mistrust of the organisation and several nations, including England, feel as though they have been let down. England had arguably the best bid; the infrastructure and stadiums on offer were second to none and the World Cup would have been the most profitable were it to be held in the UK. This too has fuelled the suspicions of many that England is often held at a disadvantage.
Rooney
Ultimately there is no real proof of any anti-English agenda and we must face up to the fact the Wayne Rooney was punished for his actions within the means of the law. There may be a debate as to whether the ban would have occurred for a striker from another country but it has happened before to other players such as Arshavin in 2008 and Vidic in 2006. At the end of the day Rooney knew the potential outcome and he has been dealt with accordingly.
The truth
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Yes, it may seem unfair, but we must accept it with grace. If we don’t then we run the risk of sounding like a plethora of bitter robots. Unable to accept accountability for our actions, constantly complaining and making ourselves even fewer friends in the process.
England’s faults and failures are a result of nobody’s doing but our own. The suspect behaviour of UEFA and FIFA may or may not be a figment of our imagination. But, in the end, even though Rooney’s suspension will continue to consume England fans’ predictions for our performance this summer we must remain aware that when the Euros arrive England’s attitude and inherent sense of entitlement to success (perpetrated by media and fans alike) will be the real enemy, not UEFA.
Harry Redknapp admits that he has a selection dilemma on his hands due to Rafael van der Vaart’s preference to play as a second striker and reluctance to play on the wing.
The Spurs boss used the Netherlands international on the right flank against Arsenal in the London outfit’s last outing, but Van der Vaart does not enjoy the defensive responsibility of playing in midfield.
With England striker Jermain Defoe in good form, and playing well alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, Redknapp is struggling to fit all his top players into his first team.
“Yes, it does seem to be a problem. Rafa can’t run back and chase the full-back. Against the better teams it is a problem,” he told The Sun.
“Rafa’s best position is in the middle, playing just behind the front man. The only problem is that Jermain Defoe plays there too and Jermain is playing very, very well at the moment.
“So, I guess I have got a decision to make, haven’t I? I suppose it’s now between Rafa and Jermain over who plays in the team.”
“Rafa is a terrific footballer. He has great skill. But if you’re in the team and asked to do a job, really, you should just do it,” he concluded.
Redknapp’s headache is due to a team performing well, with Spurs winning their last four Premier League games in a row and looking to challenge for a Champions League qualification finish this campaign.
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Reports in the media on Tuesday morning indicate that under pressure Chelsea are ready to make a January move for Bolton defender Gary Cahill.
Andre Villas Boas’ men have lost their last three league fixtures, including defeats at home to Arsenal and Liverpool, and now find themselves 12 points behind current Premier League leaders Manchester City.
The Portuguese coach has stated that his side are still in the race for the title but must know that his team cannot afford to drop further points and risk the gap at the top widening.
Cahill is currently in the last year of his contract at the Reebok Stadium, and has not yet indicated whether his future lies with Owen Coyle’s men or elsewhere.
The England defender is a free agent come the summer, and although the struggling club will be keen to hold on to their star player, may feel a January sale would be preferable to losing him with no monetary reward.
Both The Telegraph and Mirror Football indicate that Chelsea are ready to offer a cut-price £7 million for the centre half, as they look to shore up their leaking backline.
Tottenham and Arsenal both tried to sign Cahill during the summer window, and will watch as event unfold in the new year.
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All of the connotations associated with West Ham’s history of football over the years were brought into disrepute this summer as notorious long ball merchant Sam Allardyce arrived at Upton Park. However, surely the ‘academy of football’ tag can be forgotten for a while as the club look to bounce back immediately from its relegation from the Premier League last season.
After Avram Grant’s horrific spell in charge last year, things could only get better for the East End club who currently sit second in the Championship after missing a chance to go top last weekend. Allardyce has definitely brought his own style to Upton Park along with pals Kevin Nolan, Joey O’Brien and Abdoulaye Faye.
A large number of Hammers fans were sceptical over the appointment of Allardyce and his perceived negative tactics. Over the years an Allardyce side has been very quick to play the long ball and defensive, but in my opinion he was just utilising what he had at his disposal. Each club he has been at have had players in their side that suit the aerial game, and so it has been successful when used.
Allardyce performed wonders at Bolton and Blackburn and wasn’t given enough time at St James Park (Sports Direct Arena); where it is notoriously a tough place to be a manager. To say that because Big Sam is in charge, then West Ham will become a dull, physical team is extremely harsh. Playing to their strengths West Ham will keep the ball and use their width, not lump the ball up to 5ft7 Sam Baldock. Talented footballers Jack Collison, Mark Noble and Henri Lansbury defy any Allardyce tradition and the fact that the clubs tallest player; Carlton Cole; cant head the ball anyway, the long ball has rarely been successful.
One thing that Big Sam has given to the Hammers is a tougher mentality and more of a will to win. Last season if West Ham went one nil down, they lost the game. Away from home they were unable to win and rarely scored a goal. Scoring 33 goals in 38 games at the highest level is just unacceptable. However, yes they are playing weaker opposition, but the Hammers have already scored 36 goals this season and have won more than last year, and it’s not even Christmas yet.
Since Alan Pardew left Upton Park in 2006 West Ham have not had the squad to be able to play silky football, as is equally pleasing on the eye as it is on the league table. West Ham fans can’t possibly suggest they were happy with the results over the past 18 months or so and the football has not been much better.
With Allardyce now in charge the Irons will play to their strengths; which is a necessity in the Championship, and will more than likely earn promotion back to top flight as they will go from strength to strength in the second half of the season. With Big Sam one of the favourites with some people to become the next England manager (no thank you) it is in everybody’s interest to sit and watch a few West Ham games this season as his style of football may surprise you, but the impressive results shouldn’t.
Managers such as Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, who sadly past away in recent years, have left a long legacy at Upton Park but West Ham are a very different club to that at the moment and Allardyce will be looking to make a similar successful time during his stay in East London. Given a chance Allardyce will get the Hammers promoted and keep them in the Premier League.
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