All posts by h79snht.top

I can’t remember the last time a Premier League footballer as young as Raheem Sterling caused such an aggressive reaction from the Liverpool fanbase, the media and the general public.

The 20 year-old’s contract situation has become the Premier League’s biggest talking point over the last few weeks, following news of the Reds forward rejecting a contract worth over £100k per-week that would have extended his Anfield stay past 2017.

From gaffers to groundsmen, billionaire owners to ball-boys, pundits to players and Joey Barton to Joe Bloggs, the beauty of football is that everybody has an opinion. My concern, however, is that 90% of the opinions regarding Sterling have only followed the simplistic, superficial narrative of him being a money-grabber, bending Liverpool’s arm for a few extra million.

But are we actually judging Raheem Sterling, or just the stereotype of the greedy, disloyal, financially-motivated, young modern day footballer? Too many have been too quick to make up their minds.

It’s all been a bit of a PR disaster for Team Sterling so the common feeling of angst towards him is no great surprise. His exclusive interview with the BBC was only ever going to exacerbate current tensions; mentioning figures he’s turned down and describing Arsenal’s rumoured interest as ‘flattering’ was naive, stupid and inflammatory. The resulting assumption is that whoever put him up to it – naturally, his agent – is probably the same person telling him not to sign a new deal with Liverpool. Once again, his agent.

But are Sterling’s counter-arguments really so bizarre that they’re impossible to take at face value? He told the BBC the limited opportunity for silverware – not financial gain – is at the source of his reluctance to pen extended terms which, in my opinion, is a perfectly reasonable concern for a footballer of such obvious talent.

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After all, Liverpool have won just two trophies in the last decade, the 2006 FA Cup and the 2012 League Cup, and are still waiting for their first under Brendan Rodgers. In the last five years they’ve qualified for the Champions League only once and on some occasions not even picked up the wooden spoon prize of Europa League football.

The Reds’ surprise coup for the Premier League title last year almost proved successful but that was under rather special circumstances and the situation now is completely different. There’s no longer a fully fit Daniel Sturridge, a world-class talisman like Luis Suarez or a Steven Gerrard enjoying an affluent spell in the twilight of his career – or for that matter, the added passion and emotion of Liverpool’s 2013/14 campaign coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

The chances of another runner-up season any time soon, whilst Chelsea are healthy and stable, Arsenal are clawing their way back into the reckoning, Manchester City are far from over and Manchester United are on the mend, seem remarkably slim.

One could accuse Sterling of disloyalty. He wouldn’t be where he is today without Liverpool. But he wouldn’t be where he is today without QPR either and nobody seems too concerned about him honouring a club he spent seven years at, compared to just five on Merseyside, and initially learnt his trade. Shouldn’t they be reaping the rewards for Sterling’s development into one of Europe’s best youngsters right now? Not a club over 200 miles from where he grew up in Wembley.

Furthermore, Sterling, in my opinion at least, is destined for the top. He’s comfortably the best player in Liverpool’s squad at just 20 years of age and was 2014’s Golden Boy winner. You only need to mull over the names of some of his predecessors for the award – Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Cesc Fabregas, Mario Gotze and Paul Pogba, for example – to consider what this says about the England international’s future, the level he could play at and his capacity to win titles. Why stay at Liverpool if he’s already good enough to contribute at Chelsea, Manchester City or, dare I say it, Manchester United?

And it’s not as if he’s somehow left Liverpool facing a raw deal. With two years left on his contract, they can still demand an enormous transfer fee for the most talented Englishman of a generation. Money-grabbing would be to sign a £100k per-week deal, before turning around next summer and saying he wants to leave. When you think about it, he’s actually saving the Merseysiders a fair few bob by being honest about his ambitions.

Indeed, I fail to see where money actually enters the equation, apart from all the talk in the media. His agent probably is eyeing the commission from either a new contract or a move to another club – but that doesn’t mean Sterling has the same motivation. Yet, he still can’t escape the notion that it’s somehow all about the money – a Premier League player verging on talisman status at one of the biggest clubs in England currently earning less than what some get in the Championship. If it was all about the money, wouldn’t Sterling have said something a little sooner, not delayed contract negotiations even further?

Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps Sterling’s agent is whispering sweet nothings into his ear whilst the Liverpool star thinks about which colour he wants his Buggati Veyron to be. But let’s not judge an innocent man until he’s proven guilty. And perhaps more importantly, lets not judge him upon the greedy acts of other footballers.

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Let’s wait and see whether he accepts a £150k per-week contract – his apparent demand according to the tabloids – or remains adamant that his future lies away from Anfield.

I have a far more simple theory; after watching Steven Gerrard every day in training for the last five years, about to walk off to the MLS without a Premier League title to his name, Sterling doesn’t want to be his generation’s also-ran. When he jets off for a swansong abroad, aged 34, he wants something more than the just Kop’s adoration to recognise how talented a footballer he was.

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Kolo Toure gifted West Brom a hard earned 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool as former Everton striker Victor Anichebe cancelled out Daniel Sturridge’s first-half opener.

The left-back passed the ball straight to Anichebe on the edge of his own area to hand the forward an easy finish past the helpless Mignolet.

Sturridge’s opener was his 50th Premier League goal, but West Brom ended up with a crucial point as they battle relegation. Here’s how Twitter reacted to all the talking points…

24 minutes – Daniel Sturridge gives Liverpool the lead with a simple tap-in from a Luis Suarez cross…

59 minutes – Luis Suarez gets the better of Lugano but sees his effort saved by Baggies keeper Ben Foster…

67 minutes – Kolo Toure gifts West Brom an equaliser when his pass across the Liverpool box is straight at Victor Anichebe, who smashes home…

Manchester United are certainly champions on the pitch, dominating the Premier League era. There have been plenty of world class names that have graced the famous Old Trafford pitch for 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon to be rewarded with silverware at the end of the season.

Is this where the winning mentality stops? Not quite. When all of us grew up wishing to be professional footballers we wanted all the glitz and glamour that came with it. There are those who like to keep a low profile and carry on about their business away from the media limelight – but you won’t be finding any of that here.

There will be plenty in the United changing rooms past and present who will have a lot more to show for themselves then a collection of medals or engravings on a trophy when their careers come to pass. Sir Alex Ferguson once complained how the modern footballer has often been far more difficult to handle. This may gave you an insight into why when they have so much to distract them off the field of play too.

Eric Cantona may have retired early to try and find his way on the red carpet in Cannes, but this list will show plenty who have something they can parade in Leicester Square for movie premieres that doesn’t involve acting skills.

To see the illustrious list of Man United beauties click on Gemma Atkinson

Arsenal’s method for building hasn’t always been particularly spectacular. The youth policy approach is often a necessary route for those who wish to ignore the big summers of heavy spending for one reason or another, most likely through lack of ability.

Clubs on the continent have done this to great effect at stages over the past decade, with Spanish clubs having little choice other than to invest in their youth systems in the face of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s overwhelming superiority and the financial crash. Germany, on the other hand, did so as a collective means to create a better product on the international stage. Joachim Lowe is now reaping the benefits but German clubs are so well stocked on young, high-end talent that they can afford to look to their youth system before the transfer market.

Yet Arsenal have produced very little in the way of genuine excitement or potential superstar names – and that’s not to say the club haven’t produced good players.

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The jury is still out on whether Cesc Fabregas can be deemed Arsenal’s own product considering where he is now in his career, or whether he was always likely to reach this stage due to his earlier education with Barcelona.

But then there’s Jack Wilshere, an undeniable product of Arsenal’s academy who has an incredibly high ceiling as a footballer. As a teenager he looked right at home playing alongside the best team in the world in the Champions League, effortlessly duelling with Barcelona’s Xavi and Iniesta when the two teams met in 2011.

After that, there is cause for some concern and at least a little criticism.

Arsenal rarely push the boat out on bringing in a youngster who is a sure-bet to be a star player in the future. For the club, it’s been a matter of playing it safe with youngsters who may make it to the first team but won’t have that star appeal that’s so regularly associated with those from Spain or Germany. If the players don’t make it at Arsenal, the club will at least make a profit on their initial investment by selling them on.

Ryo Miyaichi, Joel Campbell, Denilson, Carlos Vela (to an extent, though perhaps one of the exceptions), Kyle Bartley, Samuel Galindo, Fran Merida, Francis Coquelin, Ignasi Miquel, and countless others have come through the Arsenal ranks one way or another but have made little impact in the first team. Even Kieran Gibbs may not have as high a ceiling as Ashley Cole did, despite being a regular in the squad.

What does that get chalked down to? The scouting is one area of critique, where the club often miss talents or lack the ruthlessness of others on the continent. South America isn’t off limits, as Denilson, Galindo, Campbell, and Vela have been signed, yet players who go on to have success at other European clubs are passed over, and that includes Porto.

The point about, say, Denilson is that he wasn’t the best in his age group. The minimal fee of £3 million more or less guaranteed you a player good enough to be a squad option but never one to make waves in any of the major leagues in Europe. It doesn’t always come down to simply a matter of price, but there is a lot of evidence that Arsenal go for the second or third tier down in terms of talent when shopping for players for the future.

A couple of names worth mentioning are Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin who arrived from Barcelona’s youth system but were far from the biggest talents in their group. It represents an idea of stockpiling players in the hope that at least one will make it big. Serge Gnabry and Thomas Eisfeld are two other examples, and despite the notably high level of excitement and intrigue around those two names, it’s not something that hasn’t been generated for other names in the past. The two German youngsters may make it big at Arsenal, but they, like the others, are gambles rather than guarantees.

The academy is by no means weak, but it hardly contains one or two Mario Goetzes, Iscos or Neymars – the young stars who will unquestionably make a difference in the future. Is that too much of a stretch? Barcelona, Bayern, Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Ajax, Schalke, and many others produce star players in handfuls.

Arsenal made a point to say that they still want to rely on youth for the majority of their squad, looking to the academy first as their primary means of boosting the first-team. And that’s fine, but the investment in the youth system and the return isn’t on par to what we’re seeing abroad.

A case to be made for Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is that all three could, and probably do, represent exceptions. All three were signed for big money and arrived with the prospect of being key players for the future. Walcott has already achieved that status, though not without plenty of frustration along the way. Yet for their age group, they’re not on the level in terms of talent or ability as Goetze or Isco, though Oxlade-Chamberlain has the best chance of reaching a similar peak.

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Borussia Dortmund, however, went in search outside their own academy to bring in youngsters like Robert Lewandowski, who, following his apprenticeship under Lucas Barrios, guided the club to a league and cup double, as well as to the Champions League final. Isn’t it worth asking how Arsenal missed him, despite having scouts in the region that found both Lukas Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny? The same can be said for Kyriakos Papadopoulos or the talents in France with the highest ceilings for the future.

It’s not a negative way of building, and it can certainly offer its own brand of glamour and excitement. But a youth policy that sits as the biggest foundation for any football club needs to be far better than hit and hope. Arsenal rarely seem to be going for the fence with their youngsters, overall reducing the risk of losing money if the talent fails to reach his potential but also losing out on a tremendous asset by showing a reluctance in going big.

Is there a flaw to Arsenal’s approach to gathering young talents?

Join the debate below

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Arsenal were far from down to the bare bones in their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, but they did make hard work of the three points. Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski’s absence was coupled with the uncharacteristic sluggishness and profligacy of Santi Cazorla. Both lasting effects of this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

It does raise concern for the coming weeks. Laurent Koscielny was not fully fit following his Achilles injury suffered in the Community Shield against Manchester City, but he saw minutes nevertheless in the opening weekend. Partnering him, because there was no other option, was Calum Chambers. The former Southampton starlet’s assured performance should not take away from the negligence of going into the start of the campaign with only one senior centre-back available.

In attack, Olivier Giroud started on the bench, also due to a lack of fitness, with Yaya Sanogo lining up through the middle and flanked by Alexis Sanchez and Cazorla. He’ll work for the team and he’ll give his all, but Sanogo, as if we need further reminding, is still not good enough for this Arsenal team. It may be a lack of attacking intelligence; does Sanogo know when to make the runs of an established centre-forward? Maybe, maybe not. But the real worry is his lack of ability to properly complement those around him.

There’s a danger of it all unravelling early. This summer has been the best for the club in many years, arguably the best in Arsene Wenger’s tenure as manager. Thus far, the buys have been either exciting or positive, and the departures haven’t forced sleepless nights. It’s the kind of transfer activity a club of Arsenal’s resources should be conducting regularly.

But the team isn’t ready, and forced selections can lead to injury. It wasn’t lost on anyone that Arsenal have only played three pre-season games ahead of the Community Shield, and that trip to New York featured less than half of the first-team regulars.

This week the team travel to Turkey to face Besiktas in their first leg effort to be included in this season’s Champions League proper. On Saturday, a tough away trip to Everton awaits.

What struck most about the win over Palace was just how poor the passing was throughout the entire team, as if none had quite woken up to the fact that the league season had begun. Had it been midway through the campaign, you’d be able to easily forget the performance. Sort of. It would be one of those that you check off as that of the mentality of (potential) champions, winning even when playing poorly.

Arsenal need reinforcements – and that’s not the reflex of years of frustration. The team are undermanned in defence, and one more central midfielder is also needed. For those who try to build it up as a necessity, though I feel it’s more of a luxury due to the numbers in the squad, another centre-forward should also be on the end-of-window shopping list.

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But ahead of all that, Arsenal need to find their fitness and rhythm, and quick. None of the top teams who played on the weekend were totally convincing, and there have been plenty of comments that the Premier League season has come too soon. But even with three points in the bag, Arsenal are still some way off where they need to be for this season.

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There’s no question Liverpool have endured a difficult start to the 2014/2015 Premier League season. After last season’s impressive second placed finish in which they were fingertips away from having a their hands on the title, the Reds currently sit in midtable and have already lost to the likes of West Ham and Aston Villa. The departure of Luis Suarez has no doubt put the Merseysiders at a disadvantage, as his replacement Mario Balotelli hasn’t lived up to his £16m price tag so far.

In some respects, Brendan Rodgers’ summer spending spree – he spent in excess of a staggering £110m – has rather gone to waste. Many were expecting young talent’s Emre Can and Lazar Markovic to start brightly and show the Premier League they are future world beaters. But their spell in England’s top flight has thus far been plagued with injury. Rickie Lambert has struggled to get in the first team, but he could never realistically last the full 90 minutes anyway, Dejan Lovren is been part of a defence that has leaked sloppy goals and Adam Lallana hasn’t delivered the goods regularly, with most expecting him to be the shining light in the Liverpool midfield.

The current crop of players that have spent at least one season at Liverpool, including Mamadou Sakho and Daniel Sturridge, have failed to find the superb form they reproduced last season. Another player in this category is Simon Mignolet and questions are being asked about the Belgium international ‘s physicality. This has sparked rumours that former FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who is a free agent, could come in to replace the signing from Sunderland.

Valdes was Barcelona’s number one goalkeeper since 2002, and was considered one of the best shot stoppers in the world, despite not being first choice for his country. So why hasn’t a club snapped him up yet? Well he’s recovering from a serious knee injury, so any club that takes on Valdes will be signing an unfit player. Mignolet is still relatively young, and has vast experience in England’s top flight. If Rodgers wants another goalkeeper to challenge Mignolet, he should wait until January and nab Chelsea’s Petr Cech.

The 31 year old has been replaced as the Blues’ number one goalkeeper by 21 year old Thibaut Courtois at Stamford Bridge. From 2011-2014 while Cech was still number one for the West Londoners and Courtois was on loan at Spanish side Atletico Madrid, in which time the Czech Republic international had a higher save success rate with 76.8%, made more saves per game and claimed more crosses than his teammate.

Meanwhile in the 2013/2013 campaign, Mignolet’s save success rate was 6% lower than Cech and he conceded 23 more goals than, despite Liverpool finishing above Chelsea in the table. Cech’s Premier League prowess is the reason why he still regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and will certainly make a bigger difference than Valdes if he was to sign for the Anfield club.

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Manchester United have taken a huge step to ensuring they make a return to the Champions League after some crucial victories in recent weeks.

Wins over Liverpool and Spurs mean they now have an eight-point buffer with just seven games to go, that given their current form should be enough to see them over the line.

The return to European competition will prove important in the manager’s recruitment process this summer as he looks to strengthen his squad once again with some of Europe’s most talented players.

And with plenty of players set to depart Old Trafford at the end of the season you can be sure there will a few more arriving at the club as Louis van Gaal looks to build on a positive first season in charge.

Here are just five of the possible signings he could be looking to make, with reports linking all of them with a move to the Red Devils…

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Mats Hummels

The United defence is an area that Louis van Gaal will certainly be looking to strengthen this summer with a top centre-back surely a priority. And if reports are to be believed Dortmund defender Mats Hummels could be the man to help them do so.

Despite the German outfit trying to tie him down to a new contract, the World Cup winner is said to be keeping his options open regarding his future and it looks increasingly likely that he will leave the club in the summer, especially as Dortmund will have failed to qualify for the Champions League.

The Red Devils are said to have already agreed a deal in principle with the German star and although this has been denied by the man himself, the fact he is considering his future looks promising for United.

Raheem Sterling

Having stalled on signing a new contract at Liverpool, the future of Raheem Sterling looks in some doubt. And alongside Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City’ astonishingly United are also said to be interested in the 20-year-old and could be looking to offer £50m in order to prize him away from Anfield.

Given the fact Liverpool risk losing him on a free when his contract expires, if Sterling really has intentions of moving on and playing Champions League football then they could be left with little choice but to accept that type of money if a bid was to be made over the coming months.

Edinson Cavani

With both Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao having disappointed for much of the season, United could well be in the market for a new striker to lead their attack on the Champions League.

The future of the duo has been placed in some doubt of recent weeks and it is thought the club have lined up an audacious swoop for PSG star Edinson Cavani to replace the pair, having previously failed to sign him when David Moyes was in charge.

The Uruguayan forward was unhappy at being substituted last weekend casting fresh doubt over his happiness in Paris, and having been linked with a move to the Premier League for some time now this could finally be the summer Cavani arrives in England.

Nathaniel Clyne

One area Louis van Gaal will be keen to strengthen is the right-back position with Rafael out of favour and question marks over Antonio Valencia who has been filling in for much of the season.

And it appears the Dutchman feels the ideal man to fill this role is Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne with speculation growing over a proposed move to Old Trafford.

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The Saints man has put in a number of impressive performances this season, and after breaking into the England squad would no doubt favour a move to a Champions League side.

The Red Devils are reportedly willing to offer Mexican striker Javier Hernandez as part of the deal, and with £15m on top of that; it may well prove enough to land the 23-year-old.

Kevin Strootman

Kevin Strootman continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United and reports suggest he is the main man on Van Gaal’s shopping list as he searches for a world class midfielder.

The Dutchman has been ravaged by injuries in recent seasons however and will play no further part in Roma’s season as he continues his recovery from a knee problem.

The 25-year-old has started just four games in 12 months for his club so would certainly be a risk, particularly given the fact he would probably cost upwards of £40m, but the United boss is an admirer of the Strootman having worked with him at international level and so it would be no surprise to see him do whatever it takes to get the deal done.

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.”

goalkeeper Tim Krul has distanced himself from rumours that he could leave the club in January.

The Dutch stopper has emerged as a top target for big spending French outfit Monaco of late, with the Mediterranean side desperate to land a top quality number one.

Krul has developed into one of the best stoppers in the Premier League over the course of the past few seasons, helping the Magpies to re-establish themselves in the top tier after returning from a brief hiatus in the Championship.

However, the club’s recent struggles have led to rumours that he may be keen to move on while his stock is high.

But, Krul says that talk of a St James’ Park exit are nonsense:

“I have got a four years contract at Newcastle, I’m really happy,” he is quoted by The Metro.

“I love playing for this club, so I just focus on myself and getting a good season this season and then hopefully going to the World Cup.

“It is my second home, I have been here eight years now, it’s a second home and second family. Playing in front of 52,000 Geordies is a fantastic feeling and I don’t think many clubs can beat that.”

Monaco were believed to be plotting a £9m move for Krul, but they may now opt to pursue other targets.

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Newcastle fans, does this come as a relief?

Have your say below!

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West Ham have named former Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic as the man to replace Sam Allardyce.

The Hammers decided not to offer Allardyce a contract renewal at the end of the season after four years in charge of the Boleyn Ground outfit.

And after two weeks of searching for a suitable man to guide the Hammers in to the their new Olympic Stadium in August 2016, and help deliver their ambition of breaking in to the Premier League’s top six, they have got their man on a three-year-contract.

West Ham’s co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan had reportedly spoken with the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Carlo Ancelotti and Unai Emery during that search, while it is believed Rafa Benitez verbally agreed to take the job before Real Madrid came calling.

But the Hammers have settled for their former defender, Bilic, who represented the club between 1996 and 1997 before signing for Everton.

Bilic made 48 Premier League appearances for West Ham during that time, scoring two goals.

Bilic told West Ham’s official site: “I’m really glad to be back with West Ham United.

“It’s in the Premier League, which is among the best in the world. It’s a big challenge and you are competing with the best and what better club to do it with than West Ham.”My first priority when choosing a club is to look at its ambitions. When I spoke to the Chairmen and Karren Brady, they made clear that it is not only the fantastic new Stadium we are moving into, but they showed their determination and ambition to make what is a big club even bigger.”I saw their determination and passion that they want to do that. That was the number one reason. I could feel that they really wanted me so it was an easy choice.”I would say to the West Ham fans that I will give my best and together we will achieve great things.”West Ham’s season begins as early as  July 2 with a Europa League first round qualifier.

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