England looked to have salvaged a draw against Netherlands after coming back from two goals down, but a late strike saw the visitors win 3-2 at Wembley.
After a scoreless first half, Arjen Robben opened the scoring for Bert van Marwijk’s men just before the hour mark, and Klass-Jan Huntelaar doubled the Dutch side’s lead less than 60 seconds later.
However a young Three Lions side fought back, and goals from Gary Cahill and a last-minute Ashley Young strike looked to have given England a draw, but Robben struck again in injury time to decide the game in the Oranje’s favour.
Interim manager Stuart Pearce stated that his side may have been slightly naive in the nature of the defeat.
“We probably showed a little bit of naivety and a slight lack of belief,” Pearce told ITV1.
“That’s something we’ve got to get into the squad, going forward.
“Once we’d got ourselves back into the game, we’re disappointed to have been beaten. But there were a few good showings, we learned a lot and that was the exercise.
“I’ve offered my services in the summer. I’ve really enjoyed the last few days, it’s been fantastic and the players have been outstanding. Their focus and contribution in training has been very good. I enjoyed tonight.
“I don’t think I took the post to prove anything to anyone. I’m in a situation as Under 21 manager and they needed someone to fill in on the short term and I also said “if you need me to take the team to the Championships in the summer (I will)” and that’s it.
“I’m sure they’ll go through the process of getting someone in place before the summer and if they don’t, then they know they have got me available and all the planning is done,” he concluded.
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With results like this, there is no point or need to dissect or analyse; everything just went right. What makes me happiest, as a Red, is that under Kenny, I’ve been able to say that more often than not. Not a single player shirked his duty, hid from the spotlight or let up for a second. Those were the things we’d been used to for a good few years and it feels as if those times are slowly returning.
However, a special mention should go to two players: Maxi Rodriguez (obvious, yes) and Jay Spearing. Firstly, Maxi stepped in and bagged a hat-trick. With this little Argie it’s either one or the other. There’s not grey area; he’s either anonymous or one of the best players on pitch and on Saturday he put in a superbly intelligent performance. Some may say he was just ‘in the right place at the right time’ but that requires a sharp, incisive footballing brain. There are strikers who would love to have that ability and Maxi showed on Saturday that he is more than capable of being much more than just a squad player. Keep it up Mr. Rodriguez.
As for Spearing, I would be the first to admit that I’ve never rated him very highly but he has had a fantastic couple of games. He’s stepped in to a pretty massive void and we haven’t missed the man that would normally fill it. That’s not to suggest that Spearing is going to replace the Captain; that’s absurd but as a stand in, he’s been doing a great job and I’d be more than happy for him to continue in this vain and continue to prove me wrong.
It’s Newcastle up next and we take a run of great performances and results, with a cumulative 11-1 goal difference from our past three home games, Newcastle have got a lot to do if they want to match us. And the two aforementioned stars from the weekend are more or less guaranteed to start; it’d be criminal to replace them after their showing on Saturday.
Read more of David Tryer’s articles at the excellent Live4Liverpool
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Listen to the third episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin, who performs a live version of his cult tribute to Mark Viduka, with Razor on backing vocals!
Steven Pienaar is stood at a crossroads and seemingly edging towards one route more so than the other. With Everton having offered the out-of-contract player a wage increase during the summer and his insistence not to accept the newly offered terms, it seems ever increasingly likely that the South African will seek pastures new, leaving Everton Street in the distance as he ventures forth.
It must be a disparaging realisation for David Moyes that a player he bought for £2 million from Borussia Dortmund and whom he gave the opportunity to prove himself in the Premiership, will renounce these past pledges in the hope of securing a better deal for himself. Everton have no doubt nurtured the player and given him the exposure that has resulted in various clubs, such as Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United, becoming admirers. To leave without any remuneration in return or acknowledgement of the things that Everton have done for him would leave a bitter taste in the mouth of any manager. But then again as former players have professed before ‘look out for number one’, for the clubs can be just as unforgiving. This appears to be a reciprocal relationship of self-interest by both parties resulting in an imbalance in the eventual outcome.
With Pienaar’s seemingly obstinate mentality, the matter presents itself as to whether or not Everton try to cash in on the player rather than letting him go for nothing in return. This could be denied in January by a foreign club if Pienaar opts to sign a pre-contract agreement, or if he decides to bide his time at Everton until the end of the season and transfer to another English club. There are two options available in light of the situation; one, Everton can continue to persevere in contract talks and two, they will try to manufacture a move for Pienaar to a Premiership club. With the first being a non-starter, the solitary option is to sell in January or involve him in a player swap deal.
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Everton captain Philip Neville has declared that, “He is such an influential character. But it happened to Joleon Lescott a few years ago and we did not want him to move. It has happened to several other big players.” If Pienaar is using Everton as a stepping stone then he will have succeeded in his mission by not signing a new contract and moving to a top club, whether home or abroad. Ultimately the final decision comes down to the player himself and what he wants to achieve, Everton can only do so much persuading until all avenues have been exhausted. As Neville again states: “You can say to Steven every minute of every day that we do not want him to leave but at the end of the day it is his decision. The club wants him to stay, but there is not much else we can say.”
A period of limbo thus ensues for both club and player, with the future to be determined by a single decision. Who would be an adequate replacement or are their already enough players at Everton to compensate for Pienaar’s departure if he indeed does leave?
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As the Premier League reaches its quarter stage, many players have excelled and impressed in the opening nine games with some high score demolitions and last gasp winners. However, some players have not been up to expectations and this is a chance to name and shame.
The Champions of last year have been embarrassed by their rivals; however they have inflicted similar defeats of their other rivals. Some teams have underachieved so far and some the complete opposite but there is no denying that some players have just been poor. Whether it be missed chances, lack of effort, goalkeeping howlers or defensive mistakes, plenty of performances have raised eyebrows this season for good and bad reasons and here is a list of the top 10 players that have disappointed so far this season.
Click on Roger Johnson to unveil the top 10 players to have disappointed this season
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Compiled by Brad Pinard
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Barcelona were at their brilliant best in a 5-0 demolition job of Almeria in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
The result was not quite the 8-0 win Barca pulled off over Almeria in their La Liga meeting in November, but it was still wholly convincing.
Midfielder Lionel Messi scored a double, while David Villa, Pedro and Seydou Keita all netted in the rampant result which all but booked Barca spot in the Spanish cup final at the expense of La Liga strugglers Almeria.
The Catalans were 4-0 up inside 31 minutes, but failed to score for the best part of an hour before Keita topped off the victory in the 89th minute.
Elsewhere, Karim Benzema struck a vital away goal in Real Madrid’s 1-0 triumph over Sevilla in their first-leg encounter.
The France international is under pressure to hang on to his spot in Real’s first team following manager Jose Mourinho’s acquisition of striker Emmanuel Adebayor, but Benzema fired his side ahead in the 17th minute at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
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Benzema took possession outside of the penalty area, dribbled into the 18-yard area, snuck the ball past Sevilla defender Julien Escude before slotting under veteran goalkeeper Andres Palop.
Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing has stated that he is eager to show Kenny Dalglish his worth in an attempt to nail down a regular starting place in the side.
The 23-year-old is currently serving a three-match ban after being sent off against Fulham on December 3rd, but may play an important part of the remainder of the season for The Reds following Lucas Leiva’s knee ligament injury.
With the Merseysiders likely to be toying with the idea of buying a new central midfielder in January, Spearing wants to stay in the manager’s plans.
“The club is massive worldwide and the owners have come in and shown that they’re going to back the manager. A club the size of this is always going to attract big players,” he told the LFC magazine.
“It has always been my dream to play week in, week out so it’s up to me to prove to the manager on a daily basis that when the transfer window does open and he has money at his disposal that he can look at a position like mine and think: There’s no need to sign anyone there – we’re pretty strong.
“Kenny has given me a lot of confidence and has shown the faith that young local lads like me need to get a chance. But half of it has to do with myself as well; the effort I put in day in, day out. There’s a lot of stuff in training that not a lot of people see.
“It’s the way I’ve been brought up because you don’t get much from life without hard work. My dad said to me that I had to take each day as it comes and prove every single day that I was better than the last one.
“The only way that I was going to get games was by working harder than anybody else in training; not necessarily show that I was better than anybody else but prove that I could compete and not be overawed – to show them I’m up for the fight,” he concluded.
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Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has admitted that he is concerned by the number of foreign players in the English top flight, and feels it may be a detriment to the national side in the long run.
Only 38% of the players who participated in Premier League fixtures over the weekend were qualified to represent England, which is much lower than the other major European leagues.
When quizzed whether he was concerned by the figure, Scudamore admitted to wanting more home-grown players.
“In a way they do which is why we have put such an emphasis on the Elite Player Performance Plan,” he stated to Sky Sports.
“We are making huge strides under our director of youth Ged Roddy, with everybody at the Football Association and Football League on board with the development plan which is entirely designed to bring through more and better young players, coached in better environments by better coaches.
“That is not to decry anything that is going on at the moment, but we would like to see that balance reduced. We don’t want it eliminated, we still want to attract the best foreign talent we can. They have graced our Premier League, but certainly we do want to see more home-grown talent.
“You can’t get involved in numbers. I want that number increased and if it was back towards 50% that would be good, if it was higher I would only want it to be higher if the English talent was good enough.
“We’re not going to set high targets on this, it depends on how the rest of the game develops. Say we’re sat here in 10 years’ time with 100% of players English home-grown because football economies in Russia, China and the rest of the world have developed where all of the world’s best talent drains off to these places, it would be a false number,” he concluded.
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STOP THE PRESSES! ADAM JOHNSON IS UNHAPPY WITH LIFE AT MANCHESTER CITY AND WANTS TO LEAVE THE CLUB UNLESS HE STARTS TO PLAY MORE OFTEN! HE SAID SO HIMSELF, WITH WORDS FROM HIS OWN MOUTH! EVERYONE PANIC! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN? ETC. ETC.
I might have over exaggerated the situation a little, but isn’t that what everyone does?
Here’s what Adam Johnson actually said, speaking to The Sun after the Manchester Derby: “Every footballer has to think about it when the time comes. It is still early but I definitely would consider it. It is disappointing when you are not playing from the start in games like [the Manchester Derby]. I was itching to get on. I was dying to play from the start not just come on.
“The manager has to make decisions but I was gutted to be left out. With the players we have it will be a rotation but I am full of confidence and I just want to be playing. I have got to train and get on with it, nothing is going to change. I have to keep the right frame of mind and get in the team because I want to play for the national team as well.”
Of course, there’s not really much in what he’s said that suggests he’s making an ultimatum to Roberto Mancini. Yet that doesn’t stop The Sun running with ‘Adam Johnson’s Manchester City Quit Hint’. After checking The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Independent and The Guardian, the story was reported in pretty much the same way. And, after checking The Daily Express, I’ve come to the conclusion that Diana might have died…
The fact that Johnson understands that he needs to work hard in training and insists that he will do that is glossed over (after all, it’s not actually the quotes that people will remember). The quotes where he says that are buried near the bottom of the story, while the report centres around the implication that he might need to leave City in search of first team football sometime in the future.
That could be in two years’ time if he is still playing in dribs and drabs or in ten years’ time when there is younger talent available to whoever is in charge of the club (“Every footballer has to think about it when the time comes”). There’s no ‘play-me-or-I-will-leave’ threat there: he’s just confirmed that he’s unhappy at starting most games from the bench. In fact, it reads more like he’s looking forward to getting on the pitch for City, not looking at which clubs he can move to.
Since this article has appeared in The Sun, I’ve heard City fans talking about Johnson “spitting his dummy out” or “making thinly veiled threats” or “running to the tabloids”. Of course, none of which are likely to be true. Saying something is disappointing is not to spit one’s dummy out, for one thing, while affirming a desire to play regularly isn’t a thinly veiled threat. And it would seem most likely that The Sun approached City (or England) for an interview with Johnson and posed the question ‘would you consider leaving if you needed to get first team football?’
It’s cracking journalism: it’s turned a dull story that, without that question and subsequent quote, would barely be touched, into a story that every City fan has an opinion about. And, of course, The Sun has a few more pound coins in the bank account. And then the other papers got in on the act by using the quotes along with the words ‘speaking to The Sun, Adam Johnson said…’
I understand the frustration of the fans. Coming off the back of two disappointing goalless draws and reading that one of the club’s prospects for the future isn’t happy at not starting matches isn’t the ideal opening to the week. That being said, however, there are positives to be taken with City’s ‘dip in form’ (plus it’s good to know that one of the players wants to play for the club instead of sitting on the bench every week – yet that’s a bad thing?).
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For a start, having conceded two silly goals against Wolves, two soft goals against Blackpool and having a man sent off (and subsequently shipping three goals) against Arsenal isn’t a great way for a defence to be performing, especially if that defence belongs to a team looking to challenge for honours sometime in the future. City have actually conceded 10 league goals all season and eight of them came in October over a period of four matches.
It would seem that Roberto Mancini has gone back to basics: the foundation of any good team is a solid defence and, with Birmingham being City’s seventh Premier League clean sheet (from a possible 13) this season, City are showing they have just that. In fact, Joe Hart hasn’t had a meaningful save to make in the last three matches, and no team that leaks goals for fun will do well in the long term.
And despite the recent leakage, only Chelsea have conceded fewer goals this season.
That being said, it would be wrong of me to sit here with a desire for crisps or chocolate (in a house that is deprived of both of those snacks) and make excuses for City not beating Birmingham. On paper, the squads aren’t even near each other in quality. It’s that very reason I think many City fans – and perhaps even one or two City players – expected to turn up last weekend and win. Birmingham, to their credit, had other ideas and restricted City to half-chances and long range efforts.
Watching an inherently defensive performance isn’t a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, but, given the choice between attractive, free-flowing football and another season without success and occasionally dull, but mostly effective and efficient performances with success, can we, as City fans, honestly say we’d prefer not to win something? I’ve been starved of any success for my team for all of my lifetime: it’s a very difficult choice.
City played no differently against United and Birmingham than they did against Chelsea earlier in the season. Except they failed to score, obviously. Thinking back to the Chelsea game, I can barely remember a chance for either side, other than Tevez’s goal and Ivanovic’s header. Yet that winning goal is the dividing line between many fans (myself included, in all fairness) saying that it was a good performance instead of a disappointing one.
I agree that Roberto Mancini needs to find the correct balance between defence and attack and that, at this moment, he is currently more focussed on keeping the opposition out than he is sticking the ball in the net. But, as silly as this may sound, the performances aren’t too far away from what’s needed to be classed as ‘free-flowing’ and ‘entertaining’. The possession football City have been playing has been good; it just needs to be a bit quicker.
The reason, I think, that City are currently struggling to open teams up is because they are allowing their opposition too much time to get back into position. Moving the ball quicker doesn’t give them that time and allows gaps to be exploited, resulting in more chances and, potentially, more goals. Add that to the current defence and you’re no longer talking about a manager who’s on the verge of losing his job, but a manager who’s on the verge of revolutionising a club that’s been a laughing stock for years.
Speaking of which, to the fans who are disillusioned with the current state of affairs: a laughing stock is not what City are. That was a title reserved for being beaten by York City to sink to the lowest point in the club’s history. Neither is this a crisis or disaster: that is needing to beat Stoke and pray that one of QPR, Portsmouth or Port Vale lose.
This is just a blip.
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The frustration is that any side looking to win the league (or, indeed, finish fourth or above) doesn’t fail to win that match at home to Birmingham. Manchester United don’t drop points at home to West Brom, or Chelsea don’t lose to Sunderland at the Bridge, or Arsenal aren’t beaten at The Emirates by West Brom or Newcastle…
Ah, no, hang on…
The truth is, City will drop points in matches they should win. They’ll also do it at infuriating times in the season: last weekend was, in essence, a ‘good’ time (if that’s possible) to fail to win, given that Chelsea lost, Manchester United drew, and, from the teams around City, only Arsenal won. City were always going to stay in fourth by not winning, but, on the bright side, they’re not as far behind the rest as they could have been.
So, City aren’t currently playing like Real Madrid or Barcelona and they aren’t winning every game by three or four goals. But is anyone in the Premier League doing that?
Besides, as fans of the club, we’re in it for the long haul. We have to be – it’s the very nature of being a fan of one club; whatever they do, wherever they go, however they play, we support them.
Endorsing a stadium with a corporate name isn’t a new phenomenon. Back in 1912, John I. Taylor, owner of the Boston Red Sox gave the name Fenway Park to their home ground. He claimed it was due to the proximity of the stadium in the Fenway area of Boston. Others have suggested that the family business of Fenway Realty also gave an added incentive.
A businessman such as Taylor must have surely been aware of the commercial value of attaching his company to a successful sporting outfit.
A century later and the issue of ‘naming rights’ is at the fore of the business known as Premier League football. Manchester City have recently signed a deal with Etihad Airways, the chairman of which is Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, half-brother of Sheikh Mansour.
As well as sponsoring the company’s shirt, the airline will now pay £10.2million per year for the next decade to have the stadium formerly known as Eastlands named after them.
This has caused much consternation in the corridors of City’s rivals. Arsene Wenger was the first to call the deal into question, citing the links between Mansour and Al Nahyan. Liverpool ’s commercial director Ian Ayre has also voiced concerns.
The general argument goes like this: Manchester City could never have commanded the amount of money for the naming rights (incidentally a similar amount to what Wenger’s Arsenal is receiving from their naming deal with Emirates) without the links between the two Sheikhs.
Perhaps this is true. After all, despite last season’s success City is still some way from eclipsing the likes of Liverpool in terms of name value.
The deal is being viewed by critics as the easiest way for City to side-step the ‘fair play rules’ being brought in by the governing bodies to force clubs to only spend what they have made, thus eliminating the ability of the so-called sugar daddies to transform a club from mediocrity to greatness.
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For me the argument is a mute one (in much the same way as the argument of the ‘tapping up’ of players). By this I mean that everyone does it. Any club in City’s position would be doing exactly the same thing. Bolton Wanderers play at the Reebok stadium whilst both Liverpool and Chelsea have investigated selling the naming rights to their homes.
Wenger himself was happy to sell the rights for Arsenal’s new stadium. Having left behind one of the most iconic names in European football he realised the need for the income to support the club in the future. All of this is a born out of a need to compete.
Money is the lifeblood of modern football and those without it are destined to struggle for survival. The days of a club needing nothing more than a Brian Clough to inspire them to success are over. Now, they need higher ticket prices, Sky’s TV money and the windfalls of a top-four finish to have a realistic chance of battling for trophies. Their income in turn affects their ability to pay fees for, and wages to, the best players in the world.
Manchester United has been the best team in England for twenty years. And they have done this partly by paying high transfer fees and huge wages. Chelsea’s leap from nearly-men to contenders was only ignited by an oligarch’s spending spree, which brought in a top manager and gave him the funds to transform the club over a single summer. And, whilst the amounts were greatly inferior, Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League on the back of a huge investment by Jack Walker.
The greatest cost of sacrificing history and tradition for the corporate cash is that of football losing what remains of its soul. With the antics of players and the extortionate ticket prices to watch top-flight teams the sport has already haemorrhaged a lot of the affection people felt. Now, to see iconic homes such as White Hart Lane and Anfield possible being replaced with Americanized monikers like ‘M & T Bank Stadium’ and ‘Home Depot Centre’ would be another finger wrenched from the grip of nostalgia.
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The cost of the naming rights to Manchester’s Commonwealth Games stadium is not the issue here. It is the cost on the clubs involved to maintain and fight their corner that is taking the biggest toll.
Read more of Alan Bradburne’s articles at This is Futbol
Striker Garry O'Connor does not know whether he has a future with Birmingham City beyond January.
The Scotland striker was handed a six-month contract during the summer following an injury-plagued last season.
The 27-year-old started Saturday's 2-0 home victory over Blackpool after steadily climbing the pecking order in recent weeks but his long-term future remains a mystery.
"Nothing is being said at the moment about a new contract," he explained.
"The gaffer has got faith in me. It is just about people upstairs at the club.
"I would love to stay at Birmingham. It's a fantastic club and I've enjoyed my time here and hope it can continue.
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