Tag Futebol

I think it’s fair to say that the football league is in a rather tempestuous place: struggling with a debt crisis of its members whilst watching the elite Premier League clubs drifting ever further away from their humbler counterparts. The introduction of the play-off system has been a positive of recent times adding extra incentive and money in the late season. However, the current reforms on offer might not be quite so beneficial.

The proposed plans to revamp the player academy system in the leagues are being received, at best, with mixed reviews. To some the plans are inconvenient, and for others they are disastrous.

The reforms state that instead of receiving compensation for academy players as decided by a tribunal, with each team offering their evaluation of the player, the clubs will now receive a set figure for every year the player has been at the club. Simon Burnton (Guardian) gives the example of Luke Garbutt, signed by Everton from Leeds in 2009 as a sixteen year old. A tribunal decided Garbutt’s price at over £600,000 but the new system would price him at just over £130,000.

The elite player performance plan, or EPPP, will therefore make it easier and cheaper for top Premiership clubs to sign academy players from those in the lower leagues. Not only will tribunals be scrapped but so will the rule saying that clubs can only sign players under the age of sixteen if they live less than ninety minutes away. The idea is that top clubs will spend more time training the youth prospects and as a result the young players, the clubs that signed them, and hopefully the English national team will benefit.

However there are numerous problems with this theory and there is the very real danger that it will only be the Premier League clubs that benefit from the change in rules.

First of all: club academies can be a great source of income for lower league clubs and whilst not all clubs will suffer, the clubs with brilliant academies will. The removal of the tribunals could be feasible, if the new proposed compensation was more generous then it would be understandable. But frankly you have to ask the question of whether such a small returns on players that take so long to nurture will be reward enough for the lower league clubs? Will they continue to invest in youth development in the same way if the rewards are not so great? Not only will they receive less money for their academy graduates but also they will also not be able to hold on to them as easily as any club in the country could poach them.

As far as the national squad is concerned I understand the reasoning that young players should be coached by the best coaches at the top clubs but the danger is that with less rewards on offer perhaps the lower clubs will stop producing talented players at all because of a lack of incentive. Where would the national team be without the constant stream of talent being produced by smaller clubs? Are we suggesting that we want to put all of our trust in the coaching systems at a few clubs when there are some excellent academies around Britain at ‘smaller’ clubs? Take Southampton for example who, in the last five years, have provided us with Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Surely this is an academy that we should be supporting not undercutting.

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Furthermore, with the players costing less for the top clubs, what’s to stop them from simply taking many more academy players even if they don’t necessarily think they’re good enough? The lower club might be losing a player that the other team barely even wants. What is more is that whilst the youth players at bigger clubs might receive better coaching they will receive a less intensive form of it with so many more youth players signed.

Yes, we want all of our prospects to be coached by the best, but is this reform not simply a proposal to get around the problem that there are not enough good coaches to go around. The solution should not be to take human resources away from the ‘smaller’ clubs and effectively give them to the ‘bigger’ clubs but should instead be a huge investment in the way we train coaches in this country.

There are less than 3000 English coaches with either A, B or Pro badges from UEFA. Spain, Italy, Germany and France all have between 18,000 and 35,000 each. The EPPP will not solve this. The creation of the FA centre at Burton (to be opened mid 2012) will go some way to aiding this problem but more needs to be done, and I’m not sure that this reform is the answer. If anything it might exasperate the problem. If the top clubs do start to take on more and more, cheaper, academy graduates from other clubs they may also need to increase their coaching staff. I wonder which clubs they will be taking the extra youth coaches from?

However there are some positives to the scheme for the small clubs involved: their grants for youth development will be increased next year if they accept the proposals. However, whether the grants are increased by enough to make it worthwhile for league clubs to train players that they will lose early and for little money is yet to be seen.

Frankly the Premier league should be offering more money to clubs for youth development regardless of whether they reform the academy system or not. The fact that they are withholding this season’s grant until the proposals are passed suggests that they have too much financial clout and some feel that that the FA should step in.

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There might be good intentions behind this reform but ultimately the smaller clubs are losing players, money and possibly members of their coaching teams, and for what? So the top clubs can have more talented youngsters and increase the gap between them and the clubs they pillaged both monetarily and in quality.

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Arsene Wenger has been left frustrated by his Arsenal’s team latest failure to sustain their challenge for major honours at home and abroad.Arsenal are in action at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, but they would prefer to be contesting the FA Cup final at Wembley the day before.

Wenger’s side bowed out of the competition against Manchester United in the quarter-finals.

They had already suffered a shock defeat to Birmingham in the League Cup final, before also exiting the Champions League against Barcelona for the second successive season.

And a run of frustrating results saw the north London side drop out of contention for the English Premier League title yet again.

“We just felt we could not get over the line,” Wenger said.

“We want to analyse why that was.”

“It is very frustrating for us because we were very close in every competition. We feel very flat because we wanted to be involved in the FA Cup final this weekend.”

“We do not feel that we under-performed overall because we were in the Carling Cup Final, the quarter-final of the FA Cup against Manchester United, we lost three days after Barcelona, so we produced quality games and at the end of the day there are objective signs for us that show we have the quality.”

Boasting some of the more impressive statistics in the Premier League, Wenger believes his team are agonisingly close to finally turning potential into prizes.

“We are the best team in the league away from home and we have the best defence in open play,” he said.

“We feel we have made up some of the gap between us and the top teams from the seasons before – we are top of the league in the top four of Man United, Chelsea and Man City. So we have every reason to be frustrated.”

Wenger thinks Arsenal could still overhaul Chelsea and claim second place, provided other results go their way in the final two matches.

“We can still catch the second place and we can finish second, third or fourth, depending on our results.”

“Of course we want to finish in the top three and if possible second. It is not unrealistic to finish second when you are just three points behind.”

“If Man City can want third place because they are only two points behind, so it’s open.”

Midfielders Cesc Fabregas (thigh) and Samir Nasri (hamstring) are doubts for Villa’s visit to the Emirates Stadium.

Defender Laurent Koscielny (thigh) and midfielders Abou Diaby (calf) and Tomas Rosicky (thigh) are all out.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was left unhappy by the amount of stoppage time played in his side's 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

Darren Bent netted a last-gasp equaliser for the Black Cats in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with only four minutes having been put up on the fourth official's board.

Wenger said afterwards:"If you have a watch, you can control. It's as simple as that.

"It was outside the four minutes. I know the referee can give more than four, it's a minimum of four minutes.

"But in the four minutes nothing happened to justify the extension of the time. But I cannot do anything about that."

Meanwhile, Wenger was pleased with his side's overall display at the Stadium of Light, adding:"I believe the performance was good. We had problems to start in the first half.

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"In the second half we played very well. We were, even with ten men, in control of the game and unfortunately in the 95th minute they equalised.

"I was very pleased. We could battle, we could play, we had all the ingredients of a good team. We had a slow start, but in the second half we did well."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Arsenal are believed to be weighing up a loan move for former striker Thierry Henry, who is on a break from his MLS duties.

With the top flight competition in the United States not restarting to March, the veteran French attacker has been training with the North London outfit in a bid to maintain fitness.

However, Sky Sports indicate that Arsene Wenger has made a loan bid to the New York Red Bulls for Henry, which would see him eligible to play for The Gunners over the next two months.

Henry is the club’s all-time top goalscorer and is adored by Arsenal fans for his performances over eight seasons in England.

The Gunners will be without Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho come mid-January, as both will be on international duty at the African Cup of Nations, and this may force Wenger’s hand to make a temporary move for Henry.

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker feels that Henry still has the quality to play in the Premier League, after facing the speedy attacker in training.

“I am very happy to play against him in training and it is a great experience,” the Germany international told The Guardian.

“He is playing very, very good. He is a great opportunity for us but I’m not the manager. I couldn’t make a decision on what is possible for him or for us. In training, he shows his class and to have him with us is great because he shows his attitude, his experience.

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“He still has the same attitude he showed in a lot of games at Arsenal,” Mertesacker concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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This season the Premier League has proven to be one of the most tightly contested since it’s inauguration. With four games to go until the end of the season there is only nine points separating ninth placed Newcastle to bottom placed West Ham.

The race for fourth place is still wide open, with Liverpool’s resurgence under Kenny Dalglish adding them to the mix along with Tottenham and Man City. Arsenal’s failure to beat Bolton on Sunday has all but ended their title hopes and the title looks to be heading to Old Trafford. However, with the budding Champions still to play Arsenal and Chelsea the Blues are still in contention. So with everything to play for in all areas of the league I have compiled a list of the top ten players I think have contributed towards this ultra competitive season. These ten players are the surprise packages of the season.

The players who we maybe didn’t know much about, or who have excelled and made us stand up and take notice of them. You may disagree with some of my choices or think I have overlooked a player so feel free to throw your own choices in…..

Click on Peter Odemwingie below to see the 10 surprise packages

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A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Arsenal would be initiating a fan share scheme. With the full backing of the club’s board, fans are now able to buy a fraction of shares so that supporters can be given a stake in the club. People who opt into the scheme will be able to attend Arsenal’s Annual General Meetings, where they will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on how the club is run and they will be able to vote on policy. The announcement of the fan share scheme has gone down very well amongst Arsenal fans, who are delighted at the prospect of being able to buy affordable shares and have a influence over their club.

Whilst fans at Arsenal are pleased, at Manchester United there is great unease over the ownership of the club. The Green and Gold protest movement gathered a real head of steam last season, where scarfs in these colours could be seen across Old Trafford and discontent with the Glazers mounted. On Wednesday it was revealed that the club had failed to reach their season ticket target against the backdrop of the Manchester United Supporters Trust urging fans to boycott buying season tickets in the hope of encouraging the owners to sell up. With relations between the club’s owners and fans at such a low ebb, would it be a wise move for Man Utd to initiate a similar fan share scheme to Arsenal in order to bridge the gap?

When the Red Knights were interested in buying Manchester United earlier this year, part of their mantra was to propose that supporters trusts would be able to buy a 25.1% stake in club, which would give fans a decisive say in the clubs policy. It was a neat move by the bids chairman Keith Harris, who realised that getting the supporters on side would be crucial if the Red Knight’s bid was to have any chance of success. As it happened the takeover did not go ahead, but perhaps the Glazers could learn a thing or two from what was a popular bid from the Red Knights and consider a fan share scheme themselves.

If the Glazers iniatiated a similar fan share scheme to the one proposed by the Red Knights, it would surely ease tensions between the club’s board and the fans. If they were to offer supporters a chance to buy a certain amount of stake in the club it might actually give the Glazers a longer incumbency as owners of Man Utd. The impact the movement against the Glazers has had, can already been seen in regard to the disappointing season ticket sales, and as time goes on the level of discontent with the owners is only going to increase. There will surely come a point when the clamour for their departure will make their position untenable.

A fan share scheme would certainly go some way to bridging the gap between the supporters and the boardroom. The Glazers however, have only ever seemed happy with maintaining full control of the club, and though a fan share scheme might be a good move on their part, you would not be holding your breath for it. Such is the level of antipathy against the Glazers amongst the fans, that there is also no guarantee that it would sate supporters appetites for the owners heads. But if the Glazer family want to have any sort of popularity at Old Trafford without selling the club, then a fan share scheme might well be their best bet.

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Manchester City surrendered their lead at the top of the Premier League as they failed to score for the first time this season after being held to a goalless draw by West Brom.

Roberto Mancini’s millionaires failed to break down a resolute Baggies side at the Hawthorns and now only sit above rivals United at the top of the table on goal difference. Despite dominating possession for large majority of the game City just couldn’t find a way past the home side’s defence as Albion kept up their impressive recent form. Roy Hodgson had already masterminded away wins at Blackburn and Newcastle and his players made it seven points from the last nine to consolidate their position in the top half of the table going into 2012. The last 12 months have been a fairytale for the Citizens with Mancini guiding them to an FA Cup win in May whilst they are leading England’s top division at christmas for the first time since 1929.

It was no surprise that they swaggered into the Midlands expecting to travel home with another three points under their belts although they didn’t get exactly what they wished for. The Baggies consigned City to shooting from distance for much of the first half with Mario Balotelli and Samir Nasri both trying their luck but failing to beat Ben Foster. Even the usually impeccable David Silva was having an off day in front of goal side footing over the cross bar from 15-yards after being picked out by Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian was then guilty of spurning a golden chance allowing Gareth McAuley to make a last ditch challenge after breaking the offside trap with James Milner then heading wide from close range. The hosts seemed happy to sit back and soak up the pressure rarely venturing forward although when they did Christ Brunt flashing an effort past the post before Paul Scharner decided to try his luck from 30-yards forcing Joe Hart into a save.

More openings appeared in the second half as City became frustrated with Albions commitment levels continuing to rise after the break with Shane Long almost breaking the deadlock but couldn’t manage to direct his header from Jermaine Thomas’ cross towards goal. Brunt then fired a free kick wide of Hart’s goal before Thomas drove a 25-yard strike off the foot of the post as the pendulum swung in favour of the home side. The visitors weren’t out of it yet and continued to push for a winner but it wasn’t forthcoming and Mancini’s men will now head into the New Year with United breathing heavily down their necks

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Santos Laguna striker Darwin Quintero has had a six-game ban for violent conduct reduced to four on appeal.The Mexican Football Federation’s disciplinary committee, which handed the Colombian international the initial suspension on Monday, reduced the ban on Friday on appeal from Santos.

“After analysing the evidence supplied by the club, in the second sanction it is clear the hit made by Darwin Quintero is not violent so it is reduced to one match (from three),” the federation said in a statement.

Quintero had been given two bans of three matches each after being sent off in the 71st minute of Santos’ 3-0 win over Cruz Azul last Saturday when he headbutted opponent Christian Gimenez.

Quintero, 23, said he had reacted to being racially abused by Rogelio Chavez, an accusation the Cruz Azul defender has denied.

Quintero will miss four of the remaining five matches in the round-robin phase of the Clausura championship including Saturday’s visit to title holders Monterrey, returning against Estudiantes UAG on Aril 29.

Santos have also lost goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, a 37-year-old veteran of three World Cups, for the rest of the season with a broken toe following an accident at home, the team’s coach Diego Cocca said.

Santos, runners-up to Monterrey in the Apertura in the first half of the season, are fifth in Group One, 10 points adrift of leaders Tigres UANL and seven behind Monterrey.

The top two teams in each of the three groups plus the next two best-placed teams in the overall standings go through to the knockout phase.

Last week I wrote an article highlighting the opportunity of signing good players from Manchester City’s swelling squad, however, I didn’t expect Tottenham to be one of the clubs to be in the market. The two clubs are some of the most evenly matched in the Premier League, and I can’t see how City’s back-up players would help Spurs’ already healthy looking squad. Harry Redknapp told SkySports:

“One or two walk through the door and it gives everybody a lift. I hoped Joe Cole would have done that if he’d come here but I think there are one or two out there who would do the same – maybe from Manchester City. Stephen Ireland would cost too much. I like him but he is expensive at £11million or £12million.”

I totally agree with what Redknapp is saying but I’m surprised it is his club that could be in the market. Perhaps if Tottenham were facing a problem in registering their eight home-grown players they might want the likes of Ireland or Micah Richards, but Spurs can boast an already impressive array of home grown talent.

After bids for Joe Cole and Scott Parker have been thwarted, and mentioning Stephen Ireland as a possible interest, it is clear Harry is in the market for a central midfielder. He already has Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, and Wilson Palacios, as well as Luka Modric operating there towards the latter stages of last season after the emergence of Gareth Bale, and even Jamie O’Hara is still a Spurs player at the moment (although he will be injured for the next few months). As good a player as I think Stephen Ireland is, would he definitely hold down a first team spot at Tottenham? Redknapp obviously wants a squad big enough to compete in the Champions League as well as domestic competition, but for Ireland, he may just be swapping the bench at Eastlands, for one at White Hart Lane.

For Tottenham, their midfield is decent – Jermaine Jenas could be improved upon, but as a back-up he’s not too bad – but if they going to spend money, it should be on a striker to help an uncommitted Robbie Keane, and a centre-back to compensate for the fitness of King and Woodgate.

After their fourth place finish, Tottenham are one of the teams now in position where they are trying to break up the Big Four’s long-standing dominance. They have reached the point whereby to improve their squad the quality of players that they buy have to be of the highest standard. Clearly if they are interested in the same players as Man City they will not be able to match them financially, and have so look elsewhere, but at least further than the rest of City’s squad (although Bellamy could be an option?). The teams who should be trying to persuade Mancini to part with his squad players are the clubs just behind Spurs, Everton and Villa i.e. Fulham, Birmingham, Stoke and Sunderland, that’s where the likes of Ireland could flourish.

You get the feeling that Redknapp is getting itchy feet, usually so busy in the transfer window; this summer has so far been a quite one. Because there has been a lack of transfers generally, there hasn’t been the usual merry-go-round and knock on effect where clubs can pick up players from each other. That said, Spurs are notorious for leaving things late, and you wouldn’t put it past Redknapp looking further afield than the Eastlands training ground, and picking up a couple of quality players on deadline day.

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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery

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It may only be ‘just a game’ but let’s face facts, to many of us, football plays a massive role in our day to day lives. Over the course of a season it can take us from euphoric highs to shattering lows.

This weekly torture, in knowing that our mood will be defined by the weekend’s results, is something that we football fans strangely seem to thrive on.

While considering myself a patriotic Englishman, the international break did not quite have the same effect. Yes, I wanted England to do well. Yes, I was pleased with the back to back victories. However, did the results define my mood? No, international friendlies just don’t quite do it in the manner that club football does.

The point behind this article is that from the heart, I am passionate about English football. It may have been just two weeks without the bread and butter that is league football, but I have missed it. Now, taking that into consideration, you can see that I love our game in its current format.

When the eradication of promotion and relegation from the Premier League was mooted a few weeks ago I was horror-struck by the prospect. My view being, ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’.

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I was once again dismayed this week, this time by a suggestion from Barcelona president Sandro Rosell. The 47 year old Spaniard put forth the idea that the Premier League, as well as Europe’s other top leagues, reduce the number of clubs involved.

If, for example, the Premier League was reduced from its current 20 team format to 16 teams, each side would have 8 fewer games per season. This, as Rosell went on to state, would allow European fixtures to be played at the weekend, ‘We could perhaps play Barcelona versus Manchester United on Saturdays.’

Indeed, Rosell said that the free fixture dates ‘are for the clubs to organise friendly games or to increase the European competitions.’

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of European football. The Champions League and the Europa League make the gap between domestic football that little bit easier. Yet, the very thought of watching Barcelona versus Manchester United on a Saturday night at the expense of a Premier League fixture, no, it’s not for me. By all means, back in May, in the Champions League final, it worked for me. Yet midseason, instead of Manchester United versus Swansea? I’m actually quite content to keep things how they are.

Thankfully, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore calmed me down on Thursday night, as it seems he too, is happy with the game as it is.

Scudamore stated that, ‘Our clubs have no view whatsoever to be playing European football on a weekend. European football is a midweek competition, and domestic football is a weekend competition.’

In 2014 the ECA (European Club Association) and UEFA will have to negotiate a new deal to govern the structure of European football. Already the prospect of a breakaway European Super League has been mooted. Money talks and the top clubs may just be tempted when offered increased revenues?

I for one am fearful of a change, for me the current system works perfectly and European football is a healthy entity. I only hope that in a few years time I will still spend my Saturday’s watching the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa play each other than Bayern Munich and Barca.

Do you share my fears for the future of English football? Will a European Super League be formed in 2014? Comment and follow me on Twitter @CamHumphries

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