Heurelho Gomes could be on his way out of Tottenham, according to the Daily Mail, with Corinthians set to make a January move for the out-of-favour goalkeeper.
The Brazilian has slipped down the pecking order at White Hart Lane after summer signing was installed as number one by manager Harry Redknapp at the start of the campaign.
Redknapp admitted that Gomes is likely to leave the club in the new year and revealed the 30-year-old is unhappy after effectively being relegated to third choice behind Carlo Cudicini.
“He’s not happy and he’s eyeing a January move. If the chance comes for him to play elsewhere, I’m sure he’ll take it.” the Spurs boss said.
“I’ve not bombed out Gomes and made him No three keeper but we decided Carlo Cudicini would be better on the bench.
“Gomes has trained hard but Friedel is fantastic. If ever there was a man who didn’t deserve those two beatings by Manchester United and Manchester City, it was him.”
A move back to his homeland with Corinthians could now be on the cards for the Brazilian who has suffered an indifferent spell during his time in England.
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After building up a decent reputation with PSV his time in North London will be remembered for a catalogue of high profile errors which have overshadowed some sparkling performances at White Hart Lane.
Juventus manager Luigi Delneri was relieved his strikers could produce the goods in their 3-1 victory over Cagliari on Saturday.
The Italian boss had seen his side lose their past three games before the clash at Stadio Sant’Elia, scoring just twice in 270 minutes, but an Alessandro Matri brace plus a Luca Toni strike eased fears Juventus were without strike power.
“We always said that Juve paid the price for not having the right players in the right place, especially in the box,” Delneri said.
“Both (Jorge) Martinez and Milos Krasic did well interpreting their roles, but we changed to a 4-3-1-2 giving Alessandro Del Piero and Matri more freedom.”
“Do not forget that at Palermo (2-1 loss) we only had Martinez as a reserve in attack and he’s not really a forward. We should have Vincenzo Iaquinta back soon too, so it’s easier when you actually have strikers.”
“It’s not simple to win at Cagliari, so this result gives us great confidence for the future, even if we have to keep our feet on the ground. We know we’re on the right track.”
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The result created a gap mid-table in the Serie A, with Juve in eighth place on 38 points, six clear of Cagliari in ninth.
Arsenal are poised to announce the signing of Santi Cazorla after he passed a medical, whilst Arsene Wenger also wants Real Madrid’s Nuri Sahin on loan, reports The Guardian.
The Spanish winger is on the verge of a £16 million move from Malaga, after impressing in the Andalusian side’s advance to the Champions League qualification places in La Liga last term.
Cazorla is said to have passed a medical at the Emirates Stadium, with a move all but completed.
Meanwhile, Wenger is also set to approach Jose Mourinho about taking playmaker Sahin on a season-long loan deal.
The Turkey international moved to the Santiago Bernabeu last summer from Borussia Dortmund, but had a tough first season in Spain, not playing very regularly due to injury and the strength of the Madrid midfield.
With the likes of Sami Khedira, Kaka and Xabi Alonso ahead of Sahin Mourinho’s preferences and a move for Luka Modric being the Spanish champions’ number one priority this summer, the eastern European man is expected to play a bit-part role next term.
Mourinho has recently admitted that he would be willing to listen to offers for Sahin, and Arsenal are keen to bring him to north London.
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Sergio Aguero is aiming to learn from Carlos Tevez’s mistakes in learning English to enable him to settle into life in Manchester. Aguero is determined to be a huge success in England and is prepared to everything he can to fit in and adjust to the different culture.
Elsewhere in the papers Arsene Wenger insists that he is no quitter; Fergie set to make a final Sneijder bid, while Fernandes considers a move away from Loftus Rd.
*
I’m no quitter, says Wenger – Guardian
Mata on verge of £23.5m Chelsea move –Guardian
QPR’s Fernandes considers move from Loftus Road – Guardian
Man City ready to let £25m flop striker go for free – Mirror
Fergie to make final bid to bring Sneijder to United as midfielder has Inter time-out – Daily Mail
New boy Aguero is learning from Tevez trouble by studying English – Daily Mail
Life is Tweet again for Barton despite swipe at referee Webb – Daily Mail
Davies: Bolton cannot compete with big spenders – Mirror
Roy Hodgson emerging as candidate for England job – Mirror
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Ben Arfa eyes comeback a year after sustaining injury – People
Capello won’t drop Walcott after wingers comments – People
In many respects the world has got a lot smaller in the last 40 years. Transport and communication has got quicker and easier, and a holiday in sunny Europe can cost you less than a dreary break in Blighty. This mentality of looking abroad over staying in England is a mindset that has stretched far beyond your average 2.4 child family; football clubs are also employing these tactics to sign young players more than ever before.
All of the top clubs in the Premier League have huge scouting networks that can take them all over the world from Abuja to Zagreb. In 2009, then Celtic manager Tony Mowbray declared that he would be looking further afield to find players: “I am trying to expand the scouting system that is in place. We are actively pursuing all parts of the world at the moment, including South America where some players have European passports”. Clubs are increasingly finding themselves left behind if they don’t pursue these widening avenues and a new emphasis is being put on signing promising players at a younger and younger age.
There have been numerous rules imposed by FIFA, UEFA and the FA to encourage teams to develop their academies instead of spending their way to success. They have been effective in the respect that teams now find themselves with stronger youth set-ups. But many of these laws have inadvertently resulted English clubs ignoring English talent for reasons of finance and practicality.
There are two rules that are set to have a big impact on the way that football teams trade in the transfer market. The Premier League’s 25 player squad rule was implemented at the start of the season and states that teams must have at least eight ‘home grown players in their squad. The other rule is UEFA’s financial fair play initiative which will impose European bans on teams who find themselves with large debts and who do not spend within their means.
The two rules together are encouraging teams to buy young players at small prices, with a decline in the big money moves with which we have become so accustomed. Even mega-rich Manchester City said that their capture of Edin Dzeko could signal their last big money signing for the foreseeable future.
However, far from reverting back to the old days of sourcing talent from the local area it is infact proving cheaper to sign teenagers from Europe than from down the road.
When a club tries to sign a young player from another English team compensation is decided by a tribunal if the two parties can not reach an agreement between themselves (and when the selling club is reluctant to let their most talented kids leave and the buying club wanting to pay as little as possible an agreement can be very difficult to come by). A tribunal can often drastically increase the fee of a player, in 2009 Everton were forced to pay a total of £1.7 million for 16 year-old Luke Garbutt – a lot of money for a player without a first team appearance to his name.
The FA also impose a rule on home-grown players which is called the ’90 minute rule’. It states that a youth player must not live further than 90 minutes away from the club which he plays for. While the rule is meant to stop big clubs poaching talent from smaller clubs, it is widely seen as more red-tape preventing young players from developing to their full potential and discouraging the big teams form making moves for English talent.
As a result of the FA’s rule over the transfer of youth players, teams are looking towards Europe where the rules are slightly different.
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The compensation which a team pays for a youth player from a European side is far cheaper than what they could have to pay in England. If a player is younger then 17 then a fee of €90,000 has to be paid for every year of development put in by the selling club, but if he is 18 then the amount of only €10,000. It is unsurprising that the U18 sides of many Premier League teams contain a high number of non-English players. Arsenal have 13 non-English players in their U18 squad, Manchester have 13 in their academy and Chelsea have seven. FIFA has imposed a ban on the transfer of players below the age of 18, however this rule does not extend to the European Union where the freedom of movement law applies.
The battle to find the talent before it reaches its peak always been competitive, but with the new rules in place it is due to hot-up even further. Manchester City have a worldwide scouting network which costs them £3 million every year, yet City’s technical director Mike Rigg still deems his youth set-up to be 10 years behind Arsenal and Manchester United. It would be difficult for the FA to change their rules without playing into the hands of the big boys. After the transfer of John Bostock from Crystal Palace, then chairman Simon Jordan was bitter towards the tribunal system for not ordering a larger fee to be paid: “I feel mugged and brutalised, it is scandalous, and this sends a message to smaller clubs. Why bother to bring players through if tribunals cannot reflect the work that has gone in?”.
Young players need to be developed so that they can reach their potential and excel at the highest level of football. However it is difficult to do this without leaving one party feeling as if they have been ripped off, and the lower leagues need to be protected just as much as clubs in the Premier League. But until a middle ground can be reached this foreign trend looks set to continue.
Samir Nasri’s latest petulant outburst could land him in hot water with the French Football Federation (FFF) after he reacted angrily to reporters’ questions in the wake of his side’s Euro 2012 quarterfinal defeat to Spain. The Manchester City midfielder has earned a reputation for voicing his opinions but may have taken things a step too far amidst reports in the French media suggesting he could face a ban of up to two years from the national side and potentially miss the 2014 World Cup.
This is not the first time Nasri has caused controversy with his comments but given there’s so much attention on professional footballers nowadays, wouldn’t it be more sensible for Nasri to keep his mouth shut and focus on his football?
After all the playmaker is particularly talented but he seems to be letting himself down with his insensitive reactions. While many will understand his emotions were high after being knocked out of the Euros, surely he can appreciate how tactful players have to be considering their comments can be so easily misconstrued. He recently tweeted an apology but it remains to be seen how remorseful he truly is.
“Too many false truths are circulating at the moment. I want the supporters, particularly children, to know how much I sincerely regret that my words could have shocked them.
“I love the French football team, football and I have a profound respect for the public. For the rest, it was a personal issue between me and a few journalists. I will explain myself when the time comes”
A public apology is always the most sensible response but Nasri’s decision to delay any explanation of his behaviour is typical of a player who is far more comfortable playing the victim. He may have accepted responsibility as a role model for youngsters but he’s also cleverly sidestepped the issue by insisting he’ll explain himself at a later date. It’s this sort of insincerity that confirms public opinion of him as a provocative character. His emotive response in Donbass may have been understandable but he still told journalists:
“You are looking for s***, you are looking for trouble, f*** you”
This sort of reaction is completely unacceptable from someone who is already the focus of so much media attention. He’s not the first outspoken sports star nor will he be the last but it’s vital he learns to pick and chose his words more carefully. If a player shows genuine regret for his actions and admits the error of their ways then few will deny them a chance at redemption, unfortunately Nasri’s reputation means he’s unlikely to be forgiven so quickly. Last season the midfielder launched a verbal attack toward Arsenal fans upset by his decision to defect to Manchester City.
“I hope they are watching me now collecting my Premier League winner’s medal, I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.
“I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me, they should celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles.”
His tactless comments didn’t go down well in North London and while Nasri’s newly polished Premier League winner’s medal justifies his decision to change clubs, he must appreciate the unnecessary controversy he causes and how damaging it can be. Considering their position in the public eye, professional footballers have a responsibility to censor themselves, especially given the oversensitive nature of the media. FFF president Noel le Graet dismissed Nasri’s behaviour insisting he must hold himself to greater standards when representing Les Bleus.
“You can do what you want when you play for Manchester City but not when you wear the France team shirt,”
It would appear that at the no longer tender age of 25, Nasri still has a lot to learn about public relations. His inability to curb his opinions has not only overshadowed his obvious talent but has also tarnished his reputation. While his childish behaviour may be dismissed as entertaining at domestic level, there’s a certain standard to International football that supersedes one player trying to be the centre of attention. A two year ban may seem a bit harsh for someone whose emotions got the better of them but since this is far from his first offence, Nasri could well be made an example of and given his disrespectful actions, it’s about time he learned his place in the football machine.
Do you agree with Nasri’s comments? Should Nasri be punished for his actions?
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Bolton boss Owen Coyle announced that he is not interested in signing transfer listed Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton.The 28-year-old was placed on the transfer list by Newcastle on Monday after criticising owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias.
Barton was linked to several clubs including Bolton, but Coyle said on Thursday he would not try and sign the one-time England international.
“I think Joey Barton’s best position is in the centre of midfield, that’s not an area we are looking to strengthen,” Coyle said.
“What I do know is whoever does manage to sign him is getting a hugely talented player and I’d imagine a player with a point to prove so it will certainly be good business for someone.”
The Scottish manager has not ruled out a move for Manchester City wingers Sean Wright-Phillips and Vladimir Weiss.
Coyle helped Bolton to 14th in the English Premier League last campaign, but said his team was capable of producing surprises this season.
“I think if you ask anybody at the beginning of the season they would say that the top six places should fill themselves, barring something going horribly wrong any of those elite clubs,” Coyle said.
“But I think it’s also fair to say that on any given day we are all capable of beating whether it be the top six or not.”
“Consistently we know that we’ll not match them over the season but we know game to game we can go and win games and take points and that’s why it’s the best league in the world.”
Bolton meet La Liga outfit Levante in a pre-season friendly at Reebok Stadium on Friday.
Santos moved top of the Campeonato Paulista with a 3-0 victory over Mirassol on Wednesday.Striker Maikon Leite opened the scoring in the 27th minute to give the hosts at Estadio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho the advantage at the break.
Midfielder Ze Eduardo maintained his perfect record of scoring in both of Santos’ Paulista matches so far this campaign when he struck two minutes after the break, before netting a second in the 75th minute.
Elsewhere, Mogi Mirim’s Ricardinho scored both goals in his side’s 2-0 dispatching of Ponte Preta.
Portuguesa brought up their maiden victory of the Paulista campaign with a 1-0 triumph over Oeste at Estadio Dr. Oswaldo Teixeira Duarte.
Santo Andre and Linense played out a 1-1 draw, while Americana beat Sao Caetano away from home 1-0 at the Estadio Municipal Anacleto Campanella.
Bragantino and Corinthians exchanged first-half goals before finishing 1-1 and Sao Paolo crushed Sao Bernando 3-0 to go level on points with leaders Santos after two games.
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Dagoberto, Marlos and Fernandinho were the scorers for Sao Paolo in their victory.
Football often throws up the most implausible surprises, yet there are some things in football that should happen, set in irrevocable stone. Real Vallodolid should beat tiny Alcorcon and reach La Liga. Steve Evans should never have been allowed to manage another football team. Cristiano Ronaldo should be the most impressive player at Euro 2012.
However, things do not always go to plan in football. After the craziest of seasons in the Premier League, we have seen the unpredictable nature of football grab our collective attentions and place us on the enthralling edge of our collective seats. At the European Championship, though, the fear is that once again Europe’s leading lights will go disappointingly dim after the travails of the league season.
The post-mortem following Holland’s disastrous defeat against Denmark has focused predominantly upon the failure of the nation’s most menacing attacking players to decamp with their festive attributes when it most matters. Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie: all magnificent throughout their respective domestic seasons, yet startlingly impotent in the famous orange.
Likewise, much focus was placed upon Cristiano Ronaldo’s mediocre turnout against Germany. Indeed, the issue of his inability to replicate glittering club form on the international stage is one which has been a perennial weight upon his broad shoulders throughout his career and a exasperating pest unlikely to be shaken in the near future. In fact, the issue is one which has characterised the club/country debate for many years now; why are the best players in Europe so frustratingly plain in the most illustrious of settings?
There is of course, the most obvious and cliched of explanations. Footballers play too much football. After a long, hard slog of a season, are footballers suffering from smothering burnout come the summer of an international tournament. Perhaps, though there may well exist deeper and more alarming reasons which compromise the integrity of international football.
Of course, the ‘winter break’ conundrum is often cited as a foundational reason behind a national team’s success. However, of the 28 players who featured in the 2010 World Cup Final, a quarter were at a Premier League club the season before. A similar trend was present at the 2008 European Championships. At no point was were the fitness levels of those players noticeable worse than their colleagues afforded a rest over the Christmas period.
The fact is that, on the whole, most players competing in this summer’s championships will had a similar amount of minutes on the field over the course of the season. There will be deviances as injuries, form and suspensions dictate differing levels of minutes played, yet the majority of players at the tournament will have accumulated corresponding levels of fatigue. Essentially, tiredness is not a sufficient vindication for the disconcerting degree of mediocrity on show at international tournaments.
Instead, the riches afforded through the prominence of the club game has resulted in the dwindling salience of international football. Playing for your country can simply not offer the financial incentives that the money mastery of club football can. Besides this, a glorified perspective of club football is driven into the football supporting conscience by the media and television companies, particularly Sky Sports’ rampant hype of the Champions League and Premier League. As such, all levels of football’s institutional structure is geared towards the promotion of club football over internationals.
Media exposure creates increased importance and interest, which in turn creates greater demand for club football; players and mangers alike must then cater to this demand by pouring the majority of their physical and emotional resources into their club exploits. What we are left with is the vacant natural enthusiasm that all players should assume without endeavour every time they pull on their national shirt.
This is not to say that footballers no longer feel pride or motivation to play for their country; it is simply that an increased volume of their interests are forced into the club game at the behest of the altered footballing landscape.
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There are also other contributing factors. Fatigue is undoubtedly affecting yet not the sole reasoning. The necessity of adapting to an often wildly varying tactical system may also affect a player’s game, whilst the absent comfort of regular team-mates must be a destabilising detail.
However, the increased gravity of clubs in world football has instigated a rapid reversal of previous trends whereby representing your country was the ultimate achievement. When the inevitable ‘why can’t England players replicate their club form’ argument re-opens come July, look no further than the relentless elevation of club football above all else.
It is without a doubt one of the most addictive developments in the history of football, so much so that it has even been cited as the reason behind about 30 divorces in the UK since its inception in 1982. Football manager games have brought an entirely new dimension to football fandom, the ability to take control of a club and run it the way you want. The games have advanced to a such a stage that you find yourself entirely immersed in this fantasy world, accelerating into a make-believe future with your club, sometimes even losing track of who the club has signed in real life or in the game.
The sense of realism is clearly what sells the games to the fans, because stripped away as nothing more than a spreadsheet and a collection of intricate flow charts it is hardly the most interesting of concepts. But just how close to real life is it?
Scarily close. Let’s use new Bristol Rovers boss Paul Buckle as an example. Buckle joined Rovers on the first day of June, and since then has brought 14 players into the club, quite a haul in less than 2 months. He was recently asked how he managed to accomplish such a feat, to which he replied that he had, over the space of 4 years, created a database of players that he had scouted and assessed, and as a result was able to call upon his research as a source for new players. Whether this was experimented with as a result of playing Championship Manager or another similar title was not explained, but the comparisons between what Buckle has managed to do and what you or I could do with a laptop and a copy of Football Manager are clear.
Yet while Buckle created his own database, others have decided to jump on the back of the likes of Football Manager’s scouting resources for their own uses. In 2008 Everton signed a contract with Sports Interactive to be able to use the company’s network of 1000 scouts in 50 different countries before the game was released, supposedly allowing them the best opportunity to pick up talented players before on the cheap before anyone else can get involved. Whether or not that has worked depends on your view of the Everton transfer policy, although even a highly knowledgeable group of scouts can’t make much difference when the chairman employs a strategy of ‘let’s not buy anyone, ever.’
These games do have a proven track record of pointing-out rather than unearthing gems, particularly in youth squads. The likes of Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi and David Beckham were all destined for greatness according to previous versions and have successfully gone on to prove the developers and scouts right. There have also been some instances of players on the game out-performing their real-life selves, for example Ramon Calliste who helped this writer catapult his Southend team from Division 3 to the Premier League on Championship Manager 03/04, scoring more than a goal a game throughout his career. Back on planet Earth, Calliste is hunting for a club after being released by Scunthorpe.
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But what could be more realistic than a failed foray into the transfer market? You only need to look at some of Alex Ferguson’s signings over the years to see that even great managers and scouts get it wrong sometimes. Liam Miller, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Massimo Taibi, Bébé… you just can’t win them all.
So you’ve led your team from the bowels of the Football League to the glory of the Premier League title, maybe with a few European and domestic trophies thrown in for good measure. Basically, you’re a legend. Could you cut it in the real world?
Some have tried. In 2006, one plucky football fan took his knowledge of management games, and his experience of managing an under-11s team, put it in a CV and sent it to Middlesbrough, manager-less following Steve McClaren’s ill-advised decision to become England coach. In his covering letter, John Boileau described himself as, “a young, ambitious football manager with vast experience (on Football Manager 2005)” whose greatest achievements included signing Raul, Fernando Torres and Thierry Henry as his strikeforce at Doncaster Rovers. Somehow Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson managed to overlook the talented Boileau, stating in his reply to the former Doncaster manager that, while he was clearly the outstanding candidate, Gibson feared he would be snapped-up immediately by a bigger club.
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So right now it would appear that the transition from fantasy to reality is still a fair way off. But the rate these games advance, how long before we see a real-world rookie in the hotseat at a top club?
Are you a Championship or Football Manager fan? Favourite game in the series? Let me know on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/_tomclose
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