Vitoria Setubal moved further away from the relegation zone after a late goal saw them snatch a 1-1 draw with Vitoria Guimaraes.Setubal have won just four times this campaign and are without a victory since early January.Their trip to the Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques got off to a horrible start when Rui Miguel opened the scoring for Guimaraes after 27 minutes.Things were looking dire for Setubal until the final minute of regular time, when substitute William scored his first goal for the club to earn them a share of the spoils.The point moves Setubal five points clear of 15th placed Naval de Maio at the edge of the relegation zone, although Naval can cut the gap to two points with a win on Sunday.In Saturday’s other fixture, Sporting Lisbon were unable to break through a stubborn Rio Ave defence in their 0-0 draw at the Est?dio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube.Third-placed Sporting would have been expecting to take full points against lowly Rio, but failed to find the back of the net and slip further behind top two Porto and Benfica as a result.
Despite all the focus on the transfer window and players moving here there and everywhere, something that can be just as good as a new signing is a player who pulls his finger out for the second half of the season and really lives up to the reputation that they once had – or indeed in Bendtner’s case – gave themselves.
As the business half of the season really gets into full swing, points are more vital than ever and titles are on the line- not to mention the fact that knockout competitions are reaching the point of no return and every goal or miss is vital to the team and players. Not only this, but with the Euros fast approaching and managers now making their decisions on who they want to include in their squad, it is more vital than ever for players to show what they can do and either solidify their position in the squad or indeed push their way into it.
Teams are now encountering not only injuries and suspensions, but also the loss of players to the ACON, and there is a chance for players who’s form has not warranted their inclusion in the side thus far to break into the first team and prove that they are a quality addition to the side.
So, lets take a look at the 10 Premier League players who have got it all to do in the second half of the season, and after a – shall we say – disappointing start to the season, they have the opportunity to not only improve their stats but to really help their team push on and make or break their season.
Click on Nicklas Bendtner to unveil the top 10
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So there you have it, my top ten. Do you have a different player who needs to pull his socks up? Comment below or follow me on twitter @RebeccaKnight01
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Liverpool have joined fierce rivals Manchester United in the chase for Borussia Dortmund star Shinji Kagawa with both clubs preparing bids when the transfer window opens in January talkSPORT understands.
Reds boss Kenny Dalglish is still keen to add fresh faces to his squad with a midfield playmaker high on his agenda and is prepared to spend big to bring Kagawa to Anfield despite signing Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing in the summer.
Reports coming from Germany suggest Dalglish has already sent scouts to cast their eyes over the Japanese international who is contracted to the Bundesliga side until 2013.
It’s thought that Dortmund would be prepared to do business if an offer of £18 million is put on the table for the 22-year-old who is rated as one of the best young midfielders in Europe.
Liverpool have the finances to afford that sort of price tag despite spending over £100 million on players in 2011 but they will face competition from Serie A giants AC Milan and Juventus who are also vying for Kagawa’s signature.
Rivals United are also thought to be interested in bringing him to the Premier League although Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have cooled his interest in the midfielder which could let Dalglish in.
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Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is confident that Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will remain at Anfield after holding positive talks with the duo.
The two players have been in South Africa this summer representing England at the World Cup finals and speculation has intensified about their plans for the future.
However, new Reds boss Hodgson sees no reason why they should leave Merseyside and also remains confident that Fernando Torres' future remains at Anfield.
The former Fulham manager said of his discussions with Gerrard and Carragher:"I think they went splendidly. I was very happy to meet the players and, of course, Kenny (Dalglish) who I already know so well.
"I was delighted to see how positive they are. Everybody is looking forward to the new season.
"Obviously Steven and Jamie are the playing heartbeat of the club and it's very important we keep people like that with us.
"I anticipate there might be a situation where other big clubs will try and sign Steven, but he gave no indication that he wanted to leave.
"Nobody at the club wants him to go so I will be doing my utmost to make sure he stays. I am confident he will.
"Unfortunately with the World Cup still on, I won't be able to meet Fernando (Torres) face to face for another few weeks. That's just circumstance and you won't hear me complaining about it.
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"When I do meet him, I will be doing everything I possibly can to convince him that Liverpool is the place to be.
"If he sees progress, I am confident that he won't want to go anywhere else. I think he understands the club and the city."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The director of football concept is one used extensively in Europe and there is little doubt that it works. As more football people in England study what goes on in Europe the concept is becoming more common within English football. However, with very few exceptions it doesn’t really seem to work in England, but why is that the case?
One possible explanation is the fact that the water is so murky around what the role of the director of football should be, where it stops and where the role of the manager begins. The term director of football is a term used to describe a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. However, the exact nature of the rule is extremely unclear and variable leading to much debate in the sports media. The term director of football is used almost exclusively in the UK with terms such as sporting director or general manager used elsewhere. The presence of the director of football can act as a middle man between the board and the manager and may relieve pressure of the manager by handing certain aspects of the job away from day to day coaching; Allowing the manager to focus on the on-pitch issues.
However, despite these perceived benefits problems can often occur between the director of football and the manager; over the powers of each role and in particular questions about transfer policy. This has led to many disputes that have seen managers resign because they feel they no longer have control over who is being signed and who is being sold or the director of football set-up being removed from the club.
English football is littered with many examples of the director of football concept failing to work; one of the more high profiled examples was at Newcastle United when Dennis Wise was appointed in such a role. The set-up was heavily criticised by many people involved with Newcastle including Kevin Keegan and the late Sir Bobby Robson. In fact Dennis Wise appeared to play a major role that saw the departure of Kevin Keegan as manager. The situation all revolved around the loan signing of Ignacio Gonzalez and Wise contacted the manger Kevin Keegan to recommend the signing of the player. Keegan was not impressed with this proposed signing but Wise urged him to check out some videos of him on YouTube. Keegan was not impressed with what he saw and told Wise the player was not good enough and no one at the club had seen him play. But despite the objections from Keegan the loan signing was completed behind his back. The deal was said to have been completed in order to open up opportunities in South America where Newcastle would have first option on players. However, Newcastle paid out £1m in wages to the player, who was never expected to play for the first-team. Wise left his role at Newcastle in April, 2009 following the appointment of Alan Shearer as manager.
One of the more successful director’s of football in England has been Frank Arnesen who proved his reputation as a well renowned director of football in Holland with PSV Eindhoven where he served the role for ten years. In that time he was credited with uncovering talents such as Brazilian striker Ronaldo and Dutch stars Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben. Arnesen arrived at Tottenham in 2004 and his transfer record was hit and miss – but unearthed talents in Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson. However, the important job that he did was changing the culture at Spurs it was no longer hand to mouth but there was now a long-term strategy in place.
Arnesen was pursued by Chelsea and after only a year with Tottenham ended up moving across London to Stamford Bridge. But Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy ensured the club received £5m in compensation from Chelsea for poaching Arnesen. Arnesen has had some level of success at Chelsea and has been credited with the signings of Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel. However, the concept hasn’t worked as well as Chelsea hoped under the guidance of Arnesen, with the club still pursuing expensive purchases of established internationals , rather than unearthing and developing young talent as hoped. It has been recently reported that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blamed Arnesen for the lack of talented youth in the Chelsea ranks. Arnesen has since resigned from his role at Chelsea and will be leaving the club at the end of the current season to join up with Hamburg as the sporting director.
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Damien Comolli earned a reputation for himself as a football scout working alongside Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Comolli joined Arsenal in 1996 and was credited with the discovery of several of Arsenal’s players notably Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Gael Clichy. Between 2004 and 2005 he began to establish himself as a technical director AS Saint-Etienne – during his time there the club was successful by finishing sixth in the league and Comolli oversaw a number of important signings and developed partnerships with local and amateur clubs both domestically and internationally.
In 2005 Comolli became director of football at Tottenham and signed some players of notable quality such as Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modric. Even some of the players he was criticised for at the time have now proved that they were good signings examples include; Roman Pavlyuchenko, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Gareth Bale. However, during his time at Spurs the then manager Martin Jol frequently has disagreements with Comolli and later revealed that players had been signed without Jol’s consent. Tottenham decided to go in a different direction and Comolli left Tottenham along with then manager Juande Ramos, assistant Gus Poyet and first team coach Marcos Alvarez.
Comolli then returned to Saint-Etienne for a further 2 year spell before joining up with Liverpool in 2010. Comolli has been instrumental in bringing in Liverpool’s January double signing Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. However, with the transfer fees involved is this really the role of a director of football? I was under the impression that the role was about bringing in players cheaply and developing them – not signing more established players for big transfer fees. Also does Kenny Dalglish really need a director of football working alongside him, when he is likely to have considerable resources to play with in the summer?
There may be an opportunity for a director of football to work alongside the manager if he has less resources to play with. However, even then is it necessary or is it better to have a well established scouting network to indentify the players but allow the manager to make the full decision on whetever or not to sign them.
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The role seems to be more suited to clubs that look to develop players rather than those that will buy in expensive new signings all the time, so it may suit teams with lower budgets. But I suppose the question remains, is it really necessary? Is English football in such a broken state that we need to change the set-up? And is having a director of football really any better than a good management set-up, scouting network and youth system?
It will certainly in interesting to see if the new financial fair play rules have any impact of the director of football set-up – as clubs look to develop the team within their own personal resources. I certainly see the benefits of someone charged with the job of uncovering hidden gems – but how does this role differ from that of a scout? The only real difference seems to be that he has powers to sign players without the manager’s consent. I can’t see this set-up ever really working in English football and will just cause more tension and problems before it is completely scrapped.
Join the conversation on Twitter and tell me if we need a director of football set-up in England?
After reading Wayne Bridge’s rather witty response of ‘Mancini is my only handicap’ after Mancini criticised the left back, saying he only stays at City for the money and plays golf on a Saturday afternoon, it not only made me chuckle slightly, but also made me ponder the issue of players being alienated from their respective squads.
The aforementioned Mancini is notorious for this – the Siberia of the reserves is something multiple City players have found themselves contending with since the ice cold Italian arrived, with Bellamy, Adebayor and Bridge – to name but a few all ostracised and effectively barred from the first team no matter what.
I have to say, I do find this slightly strange – yes a player may not be the first choice, but surely he is worth letting train with the first team and having as a back-up option? The players cast aside like an unwanted toy by Mancini are not without talent, and it remains to be seen if the Italian will eventually come unstuck one day because of doing this.
Take Chelsea and AVB for instance – yes Anelka and Alex wished to leave, and handed in transfer requests, but only after they were pushed to, after being basically humiliated by AVB and not only made to train with the youngsters, but park and eat with them also.
Now with the injury crisis Chelsea are experiencing defensively, one wonders if AVB made a mistake with Alex – probably the best centre half Chelsea have in the squad. Likewise Anelka could have been utilised a great deal with the African Nations approaching. Sturridge is prolific, but seems to be at his best cutting in from the wing, and this leaves the main man spot to fill up top. Forgive me if I am not falling over myself to nominate Torres for this position, but I would quite like to see Chelsea score goals in the games they play.
There are however some situations where players deserve to be treated like they have the plague – Carlos Tevez is one of these, and no amount of talent can excuse the behaviour the striker has displayed at times this season. A bust up with the manager is one thing – these happen and it is dealt with and moved on from. Downright disrespect however is quite another thing, and simply cannot be tolerated.
Unless the Chelsea pairing of Anelka and Alex and indeed Bridge at City have done something drastically wrong that the public are not privy to, it does seem strange that they are being treated in the way they are by their managers. If nothing else, it is disrespectful and ungrateful to players who have done nothing wrong except not be ones the manager fancies.
I may be being overly sentimental here, but I do not believe it is right or fair to treat players in such a way. Yes sometimes they do not fit in and need to move on, but humiliating them is not the way forward. You never know when a player may come in useful or may cross your path again, and leaving under a cloud is something that is becoming all too familiar sight these days, and when a player is told he has no chance of playing for the first team and shown an utter lack of respect, quite frankly I don’t blame them for being more than a little aggrieved.
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The North London derby kicks-off what promises to be an action packed weekend in the Premier League. Tottenham’s away record against the top three is woeful at best and if Harry Redknapp wants to take the North Londoners to the top then this is one area that clearly needs to improve. Elsewhere Chelsea face a tough trip to St Andrews, Avram Grant looks ahead to a daunting trip to Anfield in order to kick start the Hammers’ season, while Wayne Rooney will finally get to witness what Manchester United fans really think about him as he returns from the US.
In the papers this morning Ray Wilkins seeks legal advice; Mark Hughes questions the progress made at Manchester City and Roy Hodgson refuses to stir up Gerrard row.
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Hughes: Manchester City would be better off with me in charge – Guardian
Wilkins seeks legal advice – Sky Sports
Hamburger SV in talks with Tottenham over Niko Kranjcar – IM Scouting
Wenger drops Bendtner from ‘best ever’ squad – Daily Telegraph
No FA support for Carroll claim – Sun
Liverpool in pole position to land Sampdoria’s Reto Ziegler – IM Scouting
Moyes calls on countries to cover wages – Guardian
Hodgson refuses to stir up Gerrard row – Guardian
Rooney braced for fans’ reaction – Daily Telegraph
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Chelsea chase Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Arturo Vidal – IM Scouting
Ever since Torres left Liverpool people have been waiting to see the old Fernando. People have been waiting for the Torres of old who used terrorise Vidic and put Chelsea back in their place. They’ve been waiting for the striker who scored the winning goal of Euro 2008; they’ve been waiting for the man Chelsea broke the British transfer record for. But is he ever going to actually turn up?
I don’t support Chelsea, and I wasn’t a fan of him whilst he was at Liverpool either, but I do want him back to his old self. Above all we want these players in our league so they can entertain us. And frankly, apart from missing a few open goals, Torres has not been providing much entertainment.
At first people were saying that the team was too centred around Drogba. Now it’s centred around Torres. People were saying that he had to adjust to life at Chelsea. He’s been there almost a year. There aren’t really many excuses left. He has excellent support in the form of Mata, Lampard, Ramires and others yet still he struggles. I’m not saying that he won’t regain some kind of form this season because he will. But I am starting to think that, sadly, he will never be the striker he was at Liverpool. Ever since his hamstring injuries he has lost a yard of pace and to say he’s lost is his spark is a bit of an understatement. When Arsenal played Chelsea at the weekend I was glad Torres was playing instead of Drogba. I genuinely didn’t feel worried by Torres at all. And I was right not to be. Chelsea are an excellent team and if anyone can get the best out of him I feel it is the attack-minded Villas-Boas but a look at other strikers with similar career paths suggests that his reputation as one of the best strikers in the world might be gone forever.
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Michael Owen
The Obvious comparison is Michael Owen. Now I know Owen was never as good as Torres in his prime but Owen’s career took a similar path in terms of peaks and troughs. Starting brightly for club and country Benitez sold Owen to Real Madrid. Some questionable form lead to a spell in the Spanish capital spent mostly on the bench before being sold to Newcastle. Here he should have enjoyed his peak years but injury and the fact that he never really regained his true form meant that he ended his spell in Newcastle averaging less than seven goals a year between 2005-09. I’m sure when Newcastle fans saw that they’d signed Owen they thought it would be only a matter of time before he emulated the great Alan Shearer. It wasn’t to be, and Newcastle fans will be able to tell their west London counterparts that Torres’ return to glory is by no means guaranteed.
Andriy Shevchenko
But then again, don’t Chelsea fans already know this? Remember the former Ballon D’or winner Andriy Shevchenko? He went from being one of the most feared strikers in the world to an extravagant irrelevancy in less than a year. His struggles to adapt to the Premier League turned into a career-threatening nosedive in form from which he has never recovered. The similarities between the two purchases are in fact remarkable. Both stink of an over-involvement of Roman Abramovich and in the same way that Shevchenko was unable to deal with the pressure it remains to be seen with Torres is.
Fernando Torres
Torres may be unlucky with his current situation, but so were Owen and Shevchenko. So was Van Basten, So was Robbie Fowler with the way his career turned out too. The fact is that regardless of whether he has the mentality to return to his former standards the pressure and old injuries may mean that he may never do so. Torres will always bee a quality player; he will always be able to score goals and will always be a good striker. But ultimately he may be in something of an unstoppable decline. Every football fan in this country would love to see him back to his best, and he has shown signs of improvement this season. However it has been far too inconsistent and he is still a shadow of his former self.
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Barcelona forward Pedro is expecting Arsenal to provide a stern test for the La Liga title holders in Wednesday’s Champions League encounter.
The two sides met in the quarter-finals last season, with Barca winning 6-3 on aggregate after a 4-1 win at the Nou Camp in the second leg.
But the Spain international is expecting the Gunners to be a much tougher prospect at their Emirates Stadium home when they meet in the last 16 midweek.
“They have a great team, and we know that it will be a very difficult game. They have great players, especially in attack, fast and physical players. It will be a hard tie as both teams are in good form,” Pedro said.
“They are in good form and have very good players like Cesc (Fabregas) and (Robin) van Persie. Arsenal are always hard opponents, and this game will be no different.”
“Getting a good result away is always important for us. We know that it will be hard, but as always we will go out to win the game.”
“We are hoping for a good result, and a win would be very positive for the second leg at home.”
Pedro also played down renewed speculation about a bid for national team-mate Fabregas, pleading his ignorance about any potential move for the Gunners captain.
“I don’t know. I hope so. He is a great player and was here before,” Pedro said.
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“We know that he can adapt to here. He has also expressed an interest in coming here, but there is no reason to talk about this.”
“We are going to be playing against him and his team, but I hope that one day he can play here. He is a great player and we would all like him here.”
Xavi is considered the best exponent of accurate and brilliant passing around, but anyone who does not place Paul Scholes thereabout is mad. The diminutive midfielder is renowned for his brilliant range of passing, great vision, brilliant long shot and also who can forget his tackling!
Replacing Scholes is going to be a very difficult task for Sir Alex, for the past few seasons Scholes has defied his age and performed immaculately for United, showing he’s still young at heart. He alongside Fletcher has been running the United midfield, and are the heartbeats of the present United team, passing the ball around with astounding accuracy and guile. Scholes can dictate the tempo of a game and pull all strings from midfield, a true midfield Maestro.
But as he nears his retirement age, its time United look at someone else to step into the shoes of the legend and carry on the flag he’s been holding so high for so long! United have 3 midfielders currently vying for Scholes’s position, namely Darron Gibson, Michael Carrick and Anderson. An Ideal replacement would have the abilities all three players in one player in all honesty! That is how immense Paul is.
Of the 3, Anderson seems to be the nearest United have to replacing Scholes, He has good passing and also great vision and creativity also brings energy to the midfield but Anderson’s Lack of goals, inconsistency and a rumoured bad attitude have let him and the fans down.
Meanwhile, Carrick has just ended another dismal season, going missing for the club at pivotal moments throughout the year, though he does have an incredible passing ability, his inability to be the focal point of attacks and lack of physical presence and energy have been a letdown.
Darron Gibson’s improvement off late has been impressive, at the end of last season, Gibson was ahead of Carrick in the pecking order, displaying the trust the manager has in him. Gibson has a decent ability to pass but his greatest strength is his shooting, more reminiscent of Lampard in his early days. So how Gibson progresses the coming season, one must wait and watch.
If United were to look in the market currently, three names pop up as possible replacements, namely Marek Hamsik, De Rossi and Andrea Pirlo. All three have the necessary attributes to continue on Scholes’s Legacy.
So as Scholes’s retirement draws nearer, the question arises, who is the ideal candidate to replace Paul Scholes? Or more importantly, Will Manchester United be able to replace Paul Scholes??
Written By Siddarth Sampath
Click image below to see a gallery of the Brazilian babes at the World Cup