Arsene Wenger has taken a swipe at Roberto Mancini saying he has broken the basic rules of football, with his open courting of Samir Nasri. Unfortunately it has become the sign of the times in football and until the authorities and penalise those responsible then it will continue to happen.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Chelsea looking beyond Modric; Alan Pardew condemns Newcastle fans, while Wesley Sneijder remains United’s priority.
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Blues look beyond Modric – Sky Sports
Wenger: Mancini broke ‘basic rules of football’ – Guardian
Sneijder United’s priority – Daily Telegraph
Premier League trio withdraw England starlets from U20s World Cup squad – Daily Mail
Clichy: I got sick of Arsenal blowing it – Mirror
Pardew condemns fans – Daily Telegraph
West Brom set for talks with United crock Hargreaves after Old Trafford exit – Daily Mail
City will let unhappy Tevez leave for less than £50m – Guardian
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Liverpool plot £10m swoop for Sunderland midfielder – Mirror
The Football Association is no stranger to controversy; in fact the two are regularly seen next to one another in the national press. When the ‘board of decision makers’ aren’t busy avoiding making a decision regarding the next England manager, they’re devising new weird, wonderful and often ineffective proposals to try and improve the beautiful game. The ‘new’ technical director role appears to be the FA’s attempt at rejuvenating their image in the world of football but I bet the majority of you have absolutely no idea what the job actually entails, which is probably why the usually clueless Gareth Southgate is favourite to land the job.
In a nutshell the FA’s technical director will be responsible for helping raise the standards of both the elite and grassroots game in England. The successful candidate will work alongside Sir Trevor Brooking and be based at the new football base at St George’s Park, helping to create a centre of excellence for coaches. The new recruit will also lead the FA’s input to support the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan, hopefully dropping as many spanners into the works as humanly possible.
However, there is certainly a pressing need for an appointment with England remaining of the few nations in Europe without someone in a similar role. The post has been vacant since Howard Wilkinson’s departure in 2002, although Les Reed served as acting technical director up until 2004. Wilkinson was keen to stress the importance for a swift appointment claiming, “Any federation needs someone who is responsible for the strategic direction in terms of technical matters and the FA is no different.”
Alex Horne, the FA’s general secretary, added: “The role of technical director will be crucial as we continue to strive towards improving the technical ability and knowledge of our players and coaches both now and in the future.”
Putting all of this into consideration, it begs the question why Gareth Southgate has found himself as the bookies favourite?
According to recent media reports Southgate, the FA’s current head of elite development, has already been impressing behind the scenes. Just last week he jetted off to Brazil to compile possible training base camps for the 2014 World Cup finals. Apparently he’s seen as the countries very own ‘Michel Platini’, alleged one FA source, which is a fair comparison when you consider the growing number of people who seem to dislike the pair.
Southgate strikes me as a rather uninspired choice, especially for a role that has a real potential to shape a more promising future for football. Despite harbouring a certain degree of intellect, he usually spends most of his public appearances tripping over his words alongside Roy Keane and Adrian Chiles on ITV. He emits a particularly bland presence and despite his achievements on the pitch, I can’t see him being named as an popular idol amongst many of our future generation of stars.
Perhaps I’m being too harsh on Southgate, maybe you need his own brand of personality to successfully communicate with other delegates in the world of football. I’m sure there’s a number of obstacles and office politics to overcome, which would perhaps deter or suppress a more passionate candidate. The fact that he also holds a FIFA Pro Licence should not be overlooked.
The biggest reservation I have with the appointment of Southgate is his relative inexperience with youth development, let’s not forget he managed to lead a particularly promising young ‘Boro side to relegation in 2009. Perhaps the role would be better suited to the likes of West Ham’s Director of Youth Development Tony Carr or Manchester City’s Youth Academy Director Jim Cassell, who both boast a wealth of experience in this field. Although I imagine their respective clubs would put up a particularly strong fight in order to retain their services.
My ideal candidate for the role would be Steve Coppell, putting my affiliation with Palace aside for a second, he has a reputation for rearing young starlets and his understanding of the game is unrivalled.
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But who would you appoint given the opportunity? Is there a standout figure with the knowledge and experience to help England implement plans for future success?
Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’m still struggling to believe that this ‘man’ could essentially become our football equivalent of prime minister.
The introduction of new squad rules concerning home-grown players and the well-documented state of Liverpool’s finances means that Rafael Benitez (or whoever is manning the Anfield hot-seat next season) will probably have to utilise some of the vast wealth of youth talent currently available at Anfield next season. A once-fertile youth system has undergone something resembling a drought over the last ten years, but the current crop of youngsters emerging at Liverpool have managed to invoke the excitement that was last seen around the time of the first-team graduations of the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Steven Gerrard.
Amongst this crop, I believe that the following five starlets are most likely to make a first-team breakthrough next season.
Daniel Ayala – Defender – 19 years
Strong and tall, the Sevilla-born defender Daniel Ayala was thrown into the deep end a few times for Liverpool last season and excelled on each occasion. Deployed as a substitute against both Tottenham and Chelsea, Ayala admirably managed to quell the attacking threats posed by the likes of Jermain Defoe and Didier Drogba. The young Spaniard also started during 4-0 romps against both Burnley and Stoke City, impressively marking his first competitive starts for the club with clean sheets.
The decline of Jamie Carragher and injury proneness of both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel means that Ayala is likely to feature more prominently next season. With his contract recently extended until 2012, Ayala is assumed to be highly-rated by the Anfield management. Carragher himself has praised the 19-year-old, informing the club’s official magazine that, “He’s only played two games but we’ve had two clean sheets. It was a lot more difficult at Burnley because we were under pressure in the first half but for a young lad to come in, in what was again a makeshift defence in only his second senior start, he did very, very well. Although the result makes it look easy, it certainly wasn’t.”
Lauri Dalla Valle – Forward – 18 years
Compared to a young Fernando Torres, it is safe to say that the young Finn is one of the most exciting prospects at Liverpool. Being likened to the darling of the Kop is high praise indeed, but Dalla Valle’s pace, work-rate and finishing ability all bear testament to this sentiment.
Upon arrival from Finnish side JIPPO in 2008, Dalla Valle fired in 20 goals in 28 outings for the club’s U18 side. Having been subsequently promoted to the reserve side, the Finn took to reserve team football like a duck to water, most notably firing in a 32 minute hat-trick in the 5-1 FA Youth Cup drubbing of Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium. The dearth of striking options in the absence of Torres means that Dalla Valle may get the chance to showcase his talents for the first-team next season.
Martin Kelly – Defender – 20 years
A key member of Gary Ablett’s title-winning reserve side of 2007/08, local lad Martin Kelly certainly possesses the quality to establish himself within Rafael Benitez’s first team next season. Having made his senior debut as a substitute in a Champions League clash with PSV during 2008, Kelly made his first start against Lyon last year, deputising for the injured Glen Johnson. Kelly’s confident and assured display on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence saw the defender named as man of the match on the club’s official website.
Following a return from injury, Kelly made his Premier League debut, coming on as a substitute during the 4-1 demolition of relegated Portsmouth. The elegant defender is capable of playing in a range of positions across the back four, and is highly-rated by Rafael Benitez and his team. Expect to see more of the 20-year-old next season.
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Dani Pacheco – Forward – 19 years
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Cheekily poached from Barcelona in the summer of 2007, Dani Pacheco looks destined to forge a stellar career at Anfield. The 19-year-old made a series of cameos for the first team last season, notably coming close to scoring with his first touch upon his Liverpool against Fiorentina last year.
The creative forward, who operates just behind the main striker, is equally gifted with his goalscoring and chance-creating abilities. Whilst bereft of height, Pacheco possesses great vision and technique, as well as an eye for goal. The undisputed star of the reserve side, Pacheco has drawn admiration from Rafael Benitez, with the former Valencia manager stating that, “He is a player with talent and if he can keep working hard, he will use it more effectively. Sometimes players with talent are a little bit inconsistent, so if he works hard, like he is doing now, he can be very, very important. Everybody can see him playing really well with the reserves, scoring fantastic goals and getting a lot of assists. He is a player who can make a difference in the final third, which is what the fans like.”
Jack Robinson – Defender – 16 years
At the tender age of 16 years and 250 days, Jack Robinson is the youngest player to have ever played for Liverpool’s first-team. Having made Anfield history during the side’s 0-0 draw with Hull City, great things are expected from the Warrington-born defender.
Yet to feature for the club’s reserve side, Robinson has become a key member of Rodolfo Borrell’s U18 team. The left-back is noted for his sweet left foot and quality in the final third, as well as assuredness in defence. The departure of Fabio Aurelio means that Emiliano Insua is now the only recognised left-back within Liverpool’s first-team squad; in the instance that Aurelio isn’t replaced, it is likely that Robinson will feature more frequently for the first team next season.
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Chelsea 0-3 Sunderland – With most of Chelsea’s England contingent picking up their monthly pre-International tournament injuries, a depleted Chelsea side were left with the task of pulling away from the drawing drawing Manchesters. It was a task in which they failed miserably, much to the surprise of absolutely everyone and their dog as Sunderland achieved – according to Match of The Day – “one of the greatest results in their history.” Which is certainly an achievement (and presumably a surprise) for a club who’ve won 6 League titles and 2 FA Cups in their time. The margin and nature of their victory will have surprised even Steve Bruce (still failing miserably to prevent his slow transformation into a fat lesbian, unhelped by wearing a woman’s skiing jacket) and certainly the bookies who priced the 0-3 score line at 250-1. Luckily for them that outcome seemed so ludicrous at 3pm yesterday evening they can be safe in the knowledge that absolutely no body would’ve taken it. Without Ray “Butch” – Uncle Fester – Wilkins to stare at them with terrifying sunken-eyed menace from the sidelines, the Blues seemed to capitulate entirely and were picked apart by a vibrant, adventurous Mackems side in a manner reminiscent of swaggering Champions League regulars. A clean sheet for the home side would’ve seen Petr Cech collect his 150th clean sheet (can you collect clean sheets? Is it like England caps only with linen?) but that looked a tricky prospect right from the off, as the away side peppered his netty frame with shot (19 in all) right up until the fat lady sung. They even had about 5 attempts in the build up to their opener, before Nedum Onuoha decided to casually walk past everyone before slotting neatly beyond the helmeted one. Asamoah Gyan continued to bolster his growing cult hero status by being the only one of Sunderland’s scorers to actually play for them, even if his now customary mid-electrocution funky chicken celebration was partially ruined by a silly white man with no rhythm trying to get in on it.
Everton 1-2 Arsenal – In a nice break from tradition, football acknowledged that some stuff might have happened at some stage before 1992 as the longest running game in top flight football recommenced at Goodison park. Arsenal became the only team to take advantage of Chelsea’s unexpected humbling by doing their usual Arsenal thing of passing it around a lot and occasionally shooting, only this time without winning a penalty. At one point Samir Nasri almost scored Michael Owen’s 98 Argentina goal and Chamakh missed an open goal from 3 yards out because it wasn’t on his head but in the end it was left to Sagna (ED: and not Song. Definitely not Song) and Fabregas to steal the spoils. Everton rallied but couldn’t do a Man United, like they’d done against Man United. For some reason in my head Diniyar Bilyaletdinov sounds more like a sentence than a name.
Spurs 4-2 Blackburn – With legendary Lilywhite and Tommy Chong/Cracked out old wizard look-alike Ricky Villa in attendance, Gareth Bale fittingly continued his weekly price hike and cyclical transformation from overrated Welshman to the greatest British player in the history of sporting awesomeness. Added to his repertoire of astonishing skills now are majestic heading and the ability to feign a scuffed shot for the purposes of bamboozling the keeper and slotting it right in the corner. The boy is an undoubted genius. Which was helpful for Spurs, having one of those incredibly fun looking days where they attack with free flowing abandon and defend in exactly the same way, because Roman Pavlyuchenko was trying his bestest to take woefully awful shots on goal throughout, even when he was given a free one from the spot.
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Villa 2-2 United – Meanwhile, at Manchester United’s second favorite English ground, Aston Villa conspired to throw away a game both Andy Gray and Alan Green had already declared they’d won before United somehow conspired to not win it despite equalizing with a full 5 + 5 minutes left. Frederico Macheda put his rather limited party trick of only scoring spectacular and important goals against Aston Villa to good use in one of the two yearly fixtures he can, after the home side had taken a commanding, deserved and comfortable looking two goal lead with 15 minutes to go. Nani continued to be a big gangly ball of contradictions as he whined and dived and failed to beat the first man from all 437 of his corners before delivering an absolute peach of a cross for Vidic to equalize. As far as “end product” goes, he’s been well above most this season, his Holy Baleness included.
Stoke 2-0 Liverpool – Down at the home of the only team in England to employ football as a tactic for when things aren’t going their way, Liverpool realized there actually are lower levels to sink to, as they were comprehensively outplayed and deservedly beaten by Tony Pulis’ side despite using their Big Four get out of Stoke away free card of favorable refereeing decisions. One hundred year old leather striker Ricardo Fuller put the home side ahead with a shot he seemed to make accidentally leading fans in the away end to start chanting “Dalglish”. And there was me thinking demanding knee jerk personnel changes based on past glories, club legend and nostalgia was solely the preserve of Newcastle United fans.
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Other things I noticed. I’ve never seen a goal scored in front of a full Wigan end. Paul Merson is the punditry equivalent of that Chelsea fan who said “yeah” a lot. Johan Elmander is the new Lionel Messi. Carlos Tevez is rubbish at the hand of God but has had some kind of hypnotically powerful connection to the fans of all the clubs he’s ever played for and that famous Ricky Villa cup final wonder goal isn’t actually that wonderful.
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Everton and West Ham could be set to battle it out for Inter Milan striker Luc Castaignos, reports Talk Sport this morning.
The 19 year old has been allowed to leave by the Nerazzurri, and FC Twente’s recent announcement that they have not completed their deal for his services could result in a dog fight between Everton and newly promoted West Ham.
‘This transfer could take a while, because Inter are clearly not in a rush either’ announced Twente Chairman Joop Musterman.
A move back to the Eredivisie could suit Castaignos, who joined Inter last year from Feyenoord, where he came through the youth setup. However, a lack of urgency from Dutch outfit Twente leaves the door open for two Premier League clubs who could both do with a new striker ahead of the new season.
Sam Allardyce’s side are eager to strengthen attacking options as Ricardo Vaz Te remains unsettled in East London, and David Moyes’ Everton side must begin the new campaign without the ever present Tim Cahill, who is set to complete a move to the MLS this week.
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QPR are also said to be interested in the promising Dutch youngster, and are set to re-evaluate a £3 million bid that had earlier been rejected by the San Siro outfit.
It would not surprise many that the name that springs to mind is Robbie Keane. Redknapp clearly does not have great faith in him to spearhead the attack, having made only two starts this campaign. The rise to prominence of Van der Vaart being played in a role just off a lone striker in a new system, entails the club is unlikely to need four out and out strikers. Indeed even with Defoe being injured, a player who would surely be considered above Keane in the pecking order at White Hart Lane Keane is unable to muscle in to the first eleven. Yet there are many questions raised over the quality of the two strikers left who are rotating that sole striker’s position between them, Pavlyuchenko and Crouch. If a forward of the highest calibre to improve the first team is what is desired by Spurs fans, and I believe that it is, then there is no question that there is no room for Keane.
A player that is evidently considered so far from the first team by the management cannot continue to receive such high wages at the club. It is astonishing that being one of only two players to take home more than £50,000 a week as a basic wage, the other being Van der Vaart, he plays so rarely for the club. It is therefore important for Spurs to clear him off the books. Although Keane has previously been a great servant of the club, he cannot continue to be such a drain on their resources whilst not playing enough football to justify it. This is why he must be got rid off even if the transfer fee is not particularly high, which in all likely hood it would not be as he is a 30 year old striker who has not been playing much football.
Looking across the midfield of the team, I don’t think there is much justification in keeping onto both Bentley and Kranjcar. Neither are part of the first team and both seem to struggle when they do come into the team only sporadically as most players do. As I feel he has a more varied game, can contribute more and is a general more diverse squad player I would opt for keeping on to Kranjcar at the expense of David Bentley. Although putting in ok performances for the last two games, Bentley did not shine and based on last seasons form, particularly his scoring I believe given a chance Kranjcar would be able to.
Other than that I don’t think anyone else is ready for the exit unless someone is bought in first, but if that was the case in midfield I think both Palacios and Jenas positions could come under scrutiny. Whilst Jenas has improved on his rare outings this season meaning he is not an immediate tip for the exit. Palacios’ form however has gone drastically the other way and should only be saved form the exit door as he is the only mature midfielder at the club that’s game is focused around breaking down the opponents attack. A position where I feel at least one is required at the club, and Sandro is still a bit too young to be the only player to fulfil this role.
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Defensively there should be no need for exits again unless someone is bought in first. Despite the club having six recognised centre backs, the prevalence of injuries ensures that at the time being this is a necessity. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bassong shown the door if both Dawson and King make full recoveries and reform a solid partnership, as Kaboul and Gallas for cover should be sufficient.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis insists he is yet to decide who he will have in goal for Saturday’s ‘six-pointer’ at home to Newcastle.Asmir Begovic has been Pulis’ regular between the sticks for Premiership fixtures this season, but Thomas Sorensen, who has played in all of Stoke’s FA Cup matches this campaign, is eager to retain his place.
Pulis said: “They are both top quality goalkeepers and it’s a nice problem for me to have. Asmir didn’t have a great day when we lost at West Ham two weeks ago, but he was brilliant in the previous game against West Brom and you are going to get that with young players.”
“Thomas has seen it all and done it all and he’s been terrific in the FA Cup matches. He’s helped us to get to Wembley and he’s a top professional who still wants to play as many games as he can.”
Stoke should be at full strength with striker John Carew making good progress from the back strain which forced him to miss Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final victory over West Ham.
A semi-final date against Bolton beckons, but Pulis insisted: “It’s a great occasion to look forward to, but we have already put it on the back burner because staying in the Premiership is by far our biggest aim.”
“I’ve always said if we can stay in the Premiership for three years that would give us a great base to push on. That remains the case and the game against Newcastle is massive for both clubs.”
Stoke won 2-1 at St James’ Park last September, but Pulis warned: “Newcastle have had some great results, like winning at Arsenal, and their away record is very good.”
“My players know we will need a top performance to win the game and I’m sure our supporters will roar us on.””They will probably be even louder than usual as they look forward to Wembley and that can only help us.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny says that the London club are excited about their upcoming run of difficult fixtures.
The Gunners will face Liverpool twice, Manchester United and Bayern Munich in the next 16 days, four games that could define their season.
The quartet of opponents is only the start of an extended run of games that might test Arsene Wenger’s side after an impressive opening half of the season.
Even though Arsenal face a range of different challenges over the course of the next few weeks, Szczesny says that the team are excited about the run:
“We’re looking at it as a chance to create an even bigger gap between us and the teams behind us. We’re looking forward to it and I hope we can show people what we’re made of.” He is quoted by The Mirror.
“We’ve got hard games, but every single game in the Premier League is difficult at the moment – there are no weaker teams.
“We’ve got a difficult run but we’re looking forward to it. It’s good to be around the top but right now what we care about right now is being top at the end of May. It really doesn’t matter to us now.
“I’m looking forward to the big games, every player looks forward to games against big opponents and world class players. We’re looking forward to it.”
Arsenal face a particularly stern test next weekend as they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool.
Although the Reds dropped points away at West Brom last weekend, they possess one of the most feared strikeforces in English football in Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.
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However, Szczesny says that he is not afraid of ‘SAS’:
“They have been fantastic – their goal-scoring record speaks for itself. They’re great players,
“We managed to keep a clean sheet against them at home [Arsenal won 2-0 in November] and we’ll try to do exactly the same thing away from home and hope for a result.”
With strong rumours that a final decision has been made on the stadium issue over at Liverpool, it is thought that after months of dithering over the matter, that John W. Henry is said to be coming to the conclusion, much like he did with the Boston Red Sox, that staying put at Anfield and redeveloping the site there instead of a full scale move to another site is the play to make, but is this in the best interests of the club?
The report published in the Daily Mail a few days ago states that: “Detailed plans are in place for a phased expansion of the Main Stand and then the Anfield Road stand. The work is expected to cost about £150 million, a huge saving on the estimated £400m that a new stadium in Stanley Park would cost, although an estimated £50m has been spent by the club on designs and planning for a new stadium.”
This was backed up even further by a Liverpool council spokesperson, who have worked with the club closely for years on how best to resolve not only Liverpool’s, but Everton’s future homes, had this to say on the matter, with an announcement thought to be imminent: “It does seem to be the case that the club have decided to stay at Anfield and that Liverpool officials are preparing to confirm the decision.” But is it the best move for the club?
Well the answer to that one, in the short-term at least, is an overwhelming yes. Match-day revenues at the club have long been a source of frustration by the hierarchy at the club and even though they are said to have made £1.5m from the game at the weekend at Anfield, Manchester United are set to bring in double that for the game at the 75, 765-seater stadium at Old Trafford. When you add that number up across the whole season, with league games alone, that comes to £38.5m that they are missing out on. The new site would see Anfield turned into a 60,000-seater stadium, up from the current 45,000, with 7,000 of those reserved for corporate seating at a cost of £150m.
It’s a sad indictment at the way the game is heading and at times these days supporters are treated more like customers rather than the life-blood of the club, but since football cross over from a sport into a fully-fledged entertainment business, the trend was bound to happen. There’s also the knowledge that if every other club is doing, particularly your rivals, why run the risk of falling further behind financially due to principle in a game that increasingly is starting to be run without it.
The breakthrough comes as the council’s director for regeneration Mark Kitts intimated that homes would be given “an open market valuation” – which he suggested could be upgraded to reflect an area in better condition – plus a 10% “home loss payment” and removal costs and matters are eased even further by the fact that the club will not have to negotiate directly with residents or buy their houses,with the council stepping in to perform an arbitrary role. The council has the option of applying for compulsory purchase powers which would force residents to sell, if necessary, but the added 10% bonus on top of many homes receiving as close to their market value as you’re likely to get in today’s economic climate appears to have smoothed things over to an extent.
Building a new stadium would be fraught with risks and most importantly, would have to comply with the strict Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules which are coming into effect at the start of next season and after nearly 15 years of stagnation over the issue, the time for a move appears to have passed. Getting this call right is a huge decision and one that could have repercussions on the club’s long-term future for decades to come and the sensible approach appears to be erring on the side of caution and maximising the current’ sites potential. Manchester United make on average from match-day income 108m per year, Arsenal 93m, Chelsea 67m while Liverpool bring up the rear on 40m, so a decision has to be made and soon, but it has to be the right one for the club going forward.
The club’s owner John W.Henry stated in a letter to The Anfield Wrap back in June: “A long-term myth has existed about the financial impact of a new stadium for Liverpool. Maybe it became a good reason for selling the club at one point. Whatever the reason, a belief has grown that Liverpool FC must have a new stadium to compete with United, Arsenal and others. No one has ever addressed whether or not a new stadium is rational. New stadiums that are publicly financed make sense for clubs. I’ve never heard of a club turning down a publicly financed stadium. But privately carrying new stadiums is an enormous challenge. Arsenal is centered in a very wealthy city with a metropolitan population of approximately 14 million people. They did a tremendous job of carrying it off on a number of levels. But how many new football stadiums with more than 30,000 seats have been built in the UK over the past decade or so? I’m sure every club would like to move to a new facility.
“Can Liverpool as a community afford Chelsea or Arsenal prices? No.”It is often said that for Liverpool to compete in match-day revenue with United, Arsenal and Chelsea, we need a new stadium. But you can see that the £50 or £60 million differences stem as much from revenue per seat as from the number of seats. Even if Liverpool were able to get to 60,000 seats, there would have to be an increase from £900 to £1550 in revenue per seat as well to catch Arsenal. “If Anfield yielded £1550 per seat, without adding seats, LFC match-day revenue would rise from £41M to £71M. That would be the same as building a new stadium with 60,000 seats or increasing seating at Anfield and increasing revenue per seat to £1170.
“Building new or refurbishing Anfield is going to lead to an increase from £40M of match-day revenue to perhaps £60-70M if you don’t factor in debt service. That would certainly help, but it’s just one component of LFC long-term fortunes. This will be principally driven financially by our commercial strengths globally.”
Henry appears to be that rare breed of owner in football that actually ‘get’s’ his local community to an extent. There’s simply no point in building a new stadium or ramping up ticket prices to such an extent that you alienate the community you purport to represent. There’s a clear difference in expendable income between London and Liverpool, so why try and pretend that it doesn’t exist in the first place? At the moment, Anfield may have increasingly become awash with what we shall politely call ‘tourist fans’, but that is what the 7,000 seats being created are for, while there will be an extra 8,000 for regular punters. On the face of it, it looks a decent compromise.
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You sense that Henry is extremely mindful of tinkering too much with the ground at the risk of losing some of its famous atmosphere and while the process to get to this point may have been frustratingly slow at times, it at least looks like it’s heading towards a logical and fiscally-responsible conclusion.
It’s far from ideal and Henry’s words imply that there’s already a tacit acceptance that they will never be able to keep up with the match-day incomes of both Arsenal and Manchester United, but the club have improved immeasurably in marketing themselves to a worldwide audience and in truth, that’s where the real big bucks lie these days. Thankfully, it’s not quite another ‘spade in the ground’ moment, but it’s certainly in the best interests of the club in not only short, but also the long-term.
Roy Hodgson will effectively end Rio Ferdinand’s England career by not picking him for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, The Sun claim.
The Manchester United defender was omitted from the Three Lions’ Euro 2012 squad, with it being believed that Ferdinand was not included due to personal issues with John Terry.
However, after Terry’s retirement from international football it was rumoured that Ferdinand could well be part of the England set-up once more in their bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
With games against San Marino and Poland in October, it is believed that Ferdinand will not be included in Hodgson’s contingent for the fixtures, with the coach preferring to select younger players.
England coach Gary Neville has recently stated that Ferdinand should not be part of Hodgson plans due to his age, and as such any omission could well force the United centre-half to hang up his international boots.
Meanwhile, Mirror Football indicate that Hodgson told fellow travellers on a London underground train that Ferdinand would not be selected for the upcoming games.
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