Arsenal’s first half performance was excellent. 1-0 up through Olivier Giroud, the Gunners just need to stay focused and push on for the two strikes they need to get through… but Mesut Ozil has provided an unwelcome sideshow.
The German was one of the Gunners’ better players in the opening 45 minutes, but when Geofrey Kondogbia requested his shirt, he may have been better off declining. But the pass-master did the deed, and now the footballing world is well and truly divided.
In truth, there are far, far, FAR worse things that can happen on the pitch, however, swapping shirts at HT when your team are trailing on aggregate and facing Champions League elimination doesn’t send out a great message. Just ask Mario Balotelli about the storm that usually follows such an act…
Naturally Twitter reacted, and here are some of the best tweets…
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As reported by The Telegraph, Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as favourites to sign exciting Bordeaux winger Malcom.
The paper say that Spurs have held talks over the last week with a view to securing his signature for £35m, although the player would not arrive in North London until the summer, with the French club hoping he stays until the end of the season.
With seven goals and six assists in French football this season, the Brazilian youth international is showing excellent promise and at just 20 years of age has plenty of room for improvement too.
Tottenham supporters certainly appear excited by his potential signing, believing he can add the attacking spark that can rejuvenate Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
They’ve lacked creativity at points this season and could do with attacking reinforcements to help Harry Kane continue his imperious goal scoring march.
Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the reported deal…
Roberto Martinez was delighted with Lacina Traore’s Everton debut, and hopes there is plenty more to come from the Ivorian forward in the future, reports talkSPORT.
The on-loan Monaco forward didn’t take long to get off the mark for the Toffees, scoring inside three minutes of his debut as Everton reached the FA Cup quarter finals by beating Swansea 3-1.
Martinez pipped West Ham to the signing of the 23-year-old during the January transfer window, and could not hide his excitement following his debut performance.
“For Lacina Traore to play 60 minutes was a real success for us. He’s been working really hard behind the scenes and for us to get 60 minutes was the target,” Martinez said.
“For him to be able to play against a team like Swansea was a real nightmare for a striker coming into our league. I thought he coped with the instructions for the team off the ball really well.
“And he then scored within two minutes of his new career at Everton so it’s a beautiful sign for the future.”
Traore was replaced with Steven Naismith, who went on to score and win a penalty for Everton before being taken off with concussion.
Martinez revealed that he hoped the Scot would be fit enough to take part in the week’s training, despite obvious concern at the time of the incident.
“He’s OK, we’re going to check him in the next 24 hours. He had a bit of delayed concussion when he had the knock,” he added.
“He was OK but then all of a sudden he became a bit dizzy and he couldn’t remember much of what was happening and at that point we couldn’t take any risks.
“Obviously we’ll keep him in observation for the next 24 hours but we hope he’ll be fine and he can join the group for next week’s training.”
Click below to find out how mini can be mighty!
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It has been coming for a few seasons now. Bacary Sagna’s injuries have finally caught up with him. He has lost that yard of pace and incision which used t0 ensure he was a cut above of all the other full backs in the Premier League.
The right hand side is a flank which is left heavily exposed with Arsenal due to Theo Walcott choosing to wreak most of his havoc down this wing.
Nacho Monreal has been signed on the left hand side to combat the wing threat other teams posses which has been the undoing of the North London club recently but this only half resolves the issue.
Wenger’s success used to be built on knowing when it was the right time to move players on and develop the team for the better when it is necessary.
Despite Sagna still being capable enough he is not up to the burden of the upper echelons of the Champions League anymore so drastic action needs to be taken.
Arsenal’s dominant play has always been based around counter attacking starting from the fullbacks so solving their current right back conundrum could reignite them back to the glory trail they so desperately desire.
To see who Arsenal need to defensively deploy on the right click on the man himself to reveal the list
As we enter the final few days of 2012, it gives supporters at all clubs the chance to reflect at both the change and the fortunes that their clubs have underwent within the past twelve months. And if you’re a Tottenham Hotspur fan, you’ve got plenty to get your teeth into.
But it appears that even within a season full of variables, supporters can always rely on one home comfort to remain a constant. Indeed, despite a change of manager, a whole pallet of new players at the club and even a shiny new £40million training ground, Spurs still appear to be scintillatingly average at making anything of set-pieces.
The remit that awaited Andre Villas-Boas following his summer appointment was a somewhat extensive one. While not all were necessarily wholly behind Daniel Levy’s decision to put his faith in the Portuguese, there was a base expectation that we’d see a more tactically refined and sparklingly efficient Tottenham side.
And while Villas-Boas has certainly delivered on the refining front, Spurs still seem dreadfully wasteful when it comes to the art of the set-piece.
Given how atrocious the side was when it came to maximising any form of potential out of set-pieces last term, it’s hardly like fans were asking for much from their new manager when it came to something resembling improvement.
Supporters only saw their team put the ball in the back of the net once through either a direct or an indirect free kick during 38 league games last term, courtesy of a Kyle Walker free kick against Blackburn. Throw in corners into the mix and it doesn’t get much better; only four teams scored less from set-pieces in the Premier League last term.
Now whether you want to point your finger at the coaching staff or the wasteful indulgence of several supposed esteemed set piece wizards (step forward Mr. Rafael van der Vaart), the return from set pieces over the course of a Premier League season represents a pitiful return. But with the appointment of Villas-Boas, all that was now in the past. It was hoped that we’d at least see a slightly better drilled side when it came to attacking a free kick.
Is this pointless moaning or a gripe that holds a little more seriousness in its weight? Improvement is relative and considering the terrible output that Tottenham produced when it came to set-pieces, they’re certainly doing a little better this time round.
Steven Caulker’s header from Tom Huddlestone’s free-kick against Manchester City, was the first in a mini renaissance in terms of set piece success last month. Gareth Bale followed up Caulker’s effort later on in November with a dipping effort from a direct free-kick against Liverpool and Jan Vertonghen recently slotted away a neat finish from a Kyle Walker delivery.
But is the relative improvement in output from set-pieces enough?
For a team that possesses perceived set-piece specialists in the guise of Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone, Gylfi Sigurdsson and even Clint Dempsey, supporters haven’t half been served up some questionable deliveries. All too often we’ve seen deliveries from the aforementioned quartet, Huddlestone being one of the worst offenders, either overhit or fail to beat the first man.
Again, even during Spurs’ swashbuckling 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa last Sunday, we were treated to another masterclass of wasteful set piece action. It’s become something of a much feted statistic in recent days, but to end the half 15-1 ahead on the corner count, yet offer such an impotent threat from the dead-balls must have concerned Villas-Boas.
When you gallivant to victory in the style Spurs eventually did at Villa Park, it’s easy to sweep it under the carpet, although given the fine margins that currently exist during a season which is one of the tightest in recent memory, every opportunity must be maximized.
Although is it necessarily the end of the world if Tottenham continue to stumble along so unproductively at set-pieces? Because for as poor as Spurs were last term at dead balls, the team that finished above them in the Premier League weren’t much better. In fact, it’s worth noting that North London rivals Arsenal were in fact worse than the Lilywhites when it came to set-piece productivity, knocking away only eight goals from them in 38 games.
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Of course, you only need to look at the two Manchester sides who put away 19 (City) and 18 (United) away from set-pieces to understand quite how important they are in terms of moving forward, but to attain Champions League qualification, it might not perhaps be the end of the world if Villas-Boas fails to make great strides from where Harry Redknapp left off.
It’s something of a tired cliché but fixing an issue like this doesn’t happen overnight and although we’ve not quite seen a sparking transformation in results, we are seeing an improvement.
Their opener against Sunderland may have come courtesy of a Carlos Cuellar own goal, but it was assisted by a wicked Kyle Walker delivery. The right back has endured a frustrating season thus far but since Villas-Boas has turned to the England man to set-pieces, we’ve begun to see a gradual improvement. It’s slow progress, but following his assist for Vertonghen’s goal against Swansea, it’s improvement none the less.
Set-pieces have felt like a thorn in the side of Tottenham for longer than the mind can remember. Andre Villas-Boas has sought to improve this and while we’ve seen small signs of encouragement in recent games, the hard work can’t stop there.
Midfield playmaker Jack Collison has endured a turbulent few months in his footballing career, but the Welsh international is putting in the hours off the pitch, in order to get himself match fit for his new club, Ipswich Town.
The 26 year old is currently part of a squad vying for promotion from the Championship, with the centre midfielder having already experienced the delight of going up to the Premier League with West Ham United in 2012. Collison said he is enjoying every minute at Portman Road, with his main aim of gaining match fitness in order to get a regular spot in the starting XI.
Collison said “The boys are flying at the moment. We’ve got three wins on the bounce before the international break, and we’ve just got to continue that good momentum. It’s a great club, and it has a fantastic manager in Mick McCarthy. It looks like we’re on the up, and it’s nice for me to be involved.”
Collison also added that he is looking to extend his stay with the promotion chasers, and is putting in the graft off the pitch in order to get himself match fit and earn himself an extension to his current deal.
“The aim for me is to get a bit more security”, said the former Hammers academy star. “Obviously to do that I’m going to have to get myself fit and try and work my way into the team because at the moment I haven’t played yet, and I’ve had a couple of niggling injuries. It’s up to me to get my head down and work hard, get fit, and then we’ll see what happens.”
After coming through the famed West Ham academy under the watchful eye of Tony Carr MBE, Collison quickly established himself as one to look out for as a 17 year old. After impressing with the youth and reserve team in East London. The versatile midfielder made his debut away at Arsenal in 2008, and went on to make 105 appearances in a seven year period. Obviously, Collison still keeps an eye on West Ham’s results, saying that after last season’s difficulties, the new signings have helped the Hammers rise to a staggering fourth after 11 games.
“It was a tricky season for West Ham last season. But the new signings that have come in have all hit the ground running. It’s not often you get that. Sometimes the new players take a while to bed in, especially the ones from abroad. Looking at Sakho and Valencia, they’ve done brilliant, but with me still keeping in contact with some of the players there, they say that Aaron Cresswell has been one of the best players at the club.” Said Collison.
“It’s nice to see the boys do so well. I’ve still got a lot of friends down there, and it was a big part of my career. But Football moves on quickly and so have I, and I’m looking forward to the next challenge which is to put my stamp on Ipswich.”
Part of Collison’s move to the Tractor Boys was to regain his spot in Chris Coleman’s high flying Wales squad. With 17 caps already under his belt, Collison is aiming for more, and feels Ipswich is the right place regain his international spot.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to get myself fit and available for selection and try and force my way into the team at Ipswich. Obviously if I can do well over a long period, I think Chris Coleman will have another look and get me back involved because that’s the goal, and with the team doing so well it will be great to be part of it.”
“It’s good to see that unbeaten in the group still. I think Chris Coleman has now had a bit of time with the squad, and he’s managed to put his ideas across. From the backroom staff, to the meeting’s he has, is all down to Coleman’s hard work and the boys are in and amongst it are also doing well at club level and seem to be maturing. Looking at the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey over the last couple of seasons they’ve kicked on massively. It’s been a huge plus for Wales and everyone is enjoying the confidence.”
“It’s now time for Wales to qualify for a major tournament. There’s been a lot of talk over the last five or six years about young Welsh players all coming through at the same time. Now there really starting to get the results and long may that continue if everyone stays fit and everyone seems to be buying into Coleman’s ideas. The team spirit is excellent and hopefully by the end of qualification, they’ll be preparing for Euro 2016 in France.”
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Once match fit, it’s certain that with his vital knowledge and experience in the second tier of English football, Collison will play a pivotal role helping Ipswich gain promotion, while also getting back his place in the Wales set up.
You can follow Jack Collison on Twitter (@Jcollison31) by clicking here
Nothing encapsulated a farcical few months for Tottenham any better than last night’s festivities under the lights at White Hart Lane. It had been such a drama filled day for those in and around the club that it was perhaps easy to forget that there was a Premier League game last night at all.
Off-field uncertainty and the brutal undermining of his position on a near daily basis has dominated Tim Sherwood’s tenure. The news that the Englishman would likely be leaving his position in the summer hardly came as a huge surprise, but the manner of it left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. Whatever you think of a Sherwood as a manager, his treatment whilst in charge of the club has been pretty disgraceful.
As much as he tried to bat away the sympathisers it was difficult not to feel sorry for a man that looked broken even after leading his side to a romping 5-1 victory over relegation threatened Sunderland:
“I can’t comment about my employment – you’ll have to ask my employers,’” he said.
“I don’t know whether it (speculation) does anyone any favours. We’ve just got to get on with it. There has been an opportunity to manage this great club and I’ve done well. I think my win percentage is higher than any Tottenham manager.”
“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and it’s been a great opportunity.”
Even after what appeared to be a despondent farewell speech it was still uncertainty that dominated the mood last night. The club were quick to write off the stories as ‘speculation’ and there doesn’t seem to be any definitive decision on Sherwood’s future as yet. He continues to be a man precariously placed on the edge of the footballing precipice.
The off field antics aside, it was actually the 90 minutes at White Hart Lane last night that truly summed up everything about Sherwood’s reign at Spurs.
We had it all. There was remonstrating with the fourth official, fans and basically anyone else that would listen to Sherwood’s bursts of fiery passion. He may be tactically misguided but the drive and determination was still there for all to see last night.
The performance was typically Spurs-like; a farcically gifted opener for Sunderland followed by 50 odd minutes of drab monotony, alarm bells ringing once more. This wasn’t a game for the purist by any means, but Spurs certainly did offer fans a bit of respite from week after week of disappointment in the second half. Christian Eriksen again showing why he was the coup of the summer’s transfer window and why Spurs should be building their side around him for years to come.
It wouldn’t have been a Sherwood victory without a couple of goals from his adoptive son Emmanuel Adebayor, complete with the usual salute.
5-1 seems emphatic, but some were left unconvinced by a performance that at times lacked a certain degree of conviction. Both Paulinho and Chadli looked abject, Lennon largely anonymous and both wing backs well out of their depth at this level.
Even in victory Sherwood’s sides struggle to win everyone over.
You can lump me in with the rest that have supposedly conspired against Sherwood, but last night was not just symptomatic of his tenure, more so Spurs over the course of the whole season.
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There has yet to be a game where the whole side has clicked, two or three players maximum at a time have carried Spurs over the line and this has got to be a worry going forward.
An evening dominated by passion and drama; even Sherwood’s staunchest critics would have left the game last night having at least seen the man go out with a bang.
Nothing more than a folly for some greater grand design at Spurs, it is difficult not to be sympathetic towards the departing Englishman after last night.
According to reports in The Guardian, Everton have agreed a £25m deal to with Besiktas to bring striker Cenk Tosun, who has scored 63 goals for the Turkish outfit, to the club during the January transfer window.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Guardian says that the 26-year-old is set to sign a four-and-a-half deal with the Toffees when the window opens on January 1, and he is set to be Romelu Lukaku’s replacement after the Merseyside outfit failed to find one during the summer.
The Guardian says that Sam Allardyce has tracked the Turkey international, who has been in prolific form this season, for some time, and wanted to bring him to Crystal Palace when he was in charge there last term.
The report adds that Everton are set to pay £20m up front, with another £5m potentially to follow in performance-related clauses.
How good has Tosun been this season?
He has been excellent.
The 26-year-old has scored 13 goals and provided a further three assists in 23 appearances in all competitions for Besiktas, with four of those goals coming in the group stages of the Champions League as the Turkish outfit finished on top.
According to WhoScored.com, Tosun’s strengths include his finishing and his ability in the air, although he has only won 37 of the 99 aerial duels he has contested in 22 outings in the Super Lig and in Europe.
He has successfully completed 16 of the 30 dribbles he has attempted too though, which suggests he is also decent with the ball at his feet.
Will he be a good signing for Everton?
The 26-year-old has scored goals at every club he has been at during his career, and his record of 63 in 141 appearances in total for Besiktas is certainly impressive.
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Tosun isn’t afraid of a battle, is good with either foot and looks to be physically suited to the rigours of the Premier League, but it remains to be seen how quickly he adjusts and whether he can find the net as regularly as he has done before.
That said, with Yannick Bolasie returning to action and with others like Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney in the team, he should have plenty of creativity behind him.
In a season where we’ve seen few outstanding attacking talents, we’ve seen plenty of imperious defensive displays. That’s probably been the recurring theme of this season. The teams with the best defence have done very well indeed.
It’s not that there have been no wonderful attacking displays, though. Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas lit up the league in September. Eden Hazard carried on that mantle for Chelsea for the rest of the season. Sergio Aguero deserves a very honorable mention too having run away with top scorer, he’s even been out injured this season too.
For Spurs, the attacking highlight is obviously the arrival on the elite stage of Harry Kane. With over 30 goals in all competitions and 20 league goals despite having only become first choice mid-season, he’s probably been even more impressive than the players i’ve mentioned above. And that’s high praise indeed.
Let’s hope he can keep that form going. He needs to be managed well over the next few months to maximise his contribution to club and country, but also to aid his development into a top player for years to come.
That’s what Pochettino has done well this season. He has got his team to attack well, and he’s brought through some good young players too. These are certainly two of Pochettino’s strengths as a manager.
But this season has been a strange one in the Premier League, and it’s been a strange one for Spurs.
It’s been a defensive season in many ways, yet no team has come close to beating defensive records. Chelsea have conceded almost double the amount they conceded in 2004-05 when they set the record for fewest conceded and Southampton have been impressive at the back, but have conceded a few more goals over the last few games.
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And no team is even close to 90 goals let alone the 103 that Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea managed in 2009-10. Man City are head and shoulders above the rest on 81.
So teams have been relying on their goalscorers in one game and then going on to relying on their goalstoppers in the next game. Spurs’ problem hasn’t been so much the goalscoring – though take Harry Kane out of the equation and Spurs may have been in big big trouble – but the real problem has been the defence.
Pochettino’s defence has conceded 53 goals so far this season with one game to go. That’s the same number as Burnley and more than Hull and Sunderland. And that’s been the problem, really.
When you’re able to compare Spurs’ goals conceded stats to clubs who will be relegated, you know it’s been a poor season at the back.
They’ve clearly conceded too many goals, and there’s been too much of a reliance on Kane too. And the key here is the word ‘too’. It’s probably a bad thing to rely on one player, and it’s probably a bad thing to concede lots of goals, but if the likes of Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela had been able to chip in with more goals overall, Spurs could have won more games. Conceding three goals isn’t a problem when you score five, like Spurs managed when they beat Chelsea on New Year’s day.
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But it’s much easier to win games when you don’t concede. It’s fine relying on Kane if he’s on form, but you can’t ask too much of him. And that’s exactly what Spurs’ defence has been doing. When you concede three goals, you’re asking a lot of your strikers to score five. They can’t do it every time.
Pochettino has had a fairly successful first season because he’s laid a foundation for the future in terms of young talent and in terms of some attacking play too. And I think that’ll be a benefit in the long run. But he really needs to address the problem in the defence.
If Spurs concede the same amount of goals again next season then Harry Kane’s goals may not be enough to see them challenge. It’s fine to rely on a very good player, but if you do that then you better not ask too much of him. And that’s what Spurs have to avoid next season.
The Championship must be one of the most unpredictable leagues in the world…
Millwall epitomise this. Look at us the week before, there seemed to be no hope after the humiliation at the hands of Derby County, now two wins in a week have pushed the Lions up the table, and maybe they can start to look up, rather than down…
We had the win against top of the league Blackpool on Tuesday night, but the arguably “bigger” game was going to be away at Charlton on Saturday.
This game was always going to take on slightly more significance since Crystal Palace take their one year tour of the Premier League, but this game is only a rivalry by geographical sense.
But there is no real rivalry of hatred. The hatred only comes one way and that’s from The Valley end. Charlton can’t stand Millwall and it shows. Whereas Millwalll just see Charlton as something to laugh at and three points…
It was the same case yet again, as a deflected Scott McDonald goal saw the Lions claim three points..
Games recently against Charlton haven’t been the most prettiest affairs, and neither was this one. The first half saw barely a shot on target. The second half opened up a lot more with Millwall have the majority of chances, Charlton not registering a major shot on target until the last fifteen minutes of the game.
The game for me highlighted three things. How bad Charlton are. I know they had vital players missing, but if they play like that this season it’ll be trips to Oldham and Port Vale next year.
Also how good some of the football was at times from the Lions. From the highlights you’ll see a late Scott Malone chance that hit the side netting, the build-up play to that was scintillating to watch. Maybe Lomas is getting somewhere where Jackett massively failed, a passing team.
Also, Lomas spoke last week about how he needed to include real Millwall players, I don’t know why these players weren’t starting before, but they’re now in. Jimmy Abdou and Paul Robinson have been two of the best players in the revival of form. They might not be the best players but they bring real balance into the team, unlike the likes of Shittu…
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Saturdays game see the Lions host Leeds United, now this is a “rivalry” that has more hostility compared to Charlton. Another chance for the Lions to continue the good form and the push up the table under Steve Lomas.