Tag Futebol

For many years, Scottish football has been considered to be one of the least competitive leagues in the world. But it has the potential to become extremely popular.

Financially, football in the country is not at its best. However, this is the perfect excuse to produce young Scottish players that can prove their doubters wrong. The most successful Scottish club is Celtic, now managed by Ronny Deila.

Each and every year, Celtic clinch the title with relative comfort. The Glasgow club have now won the Scottish title on 45 occasions, winning it in three consecutive seasons from 2012-2014 after the notable absence of Glasgow Rangers from the top tier of Scottish football. Despite struggling at the start of this season, collecting seven points from four games and occupying a relatively low 5th spot in the division, it is certain that the Hoops will be lifting their fourth consecutive league title.

Aswell as league commitments, Celtic will again have to contend with European matches. Failing to qualify for the Champions League after a 2-1 aggregate defeat at the hands of NK Maribor from Slovenia, Celtic are now in the Europa League group stages where they face Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb and FC Astra. With the Celtic Park outfit firm favourites for the Scottish Championship, they should now concentrate on getting as far as possible in a European environment in order to put Scottish football back on the map.

Fulham had a remarkable Europa League back in 2010, reaching the final, and beating teams such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg along the way. If the Cottagers can do it, then why can’t a club like Celtic, a club with huge tradition and stature, do the same?

In the past, Celtic have qualified for the Champions League and caused a threat to top opposition, including grinding out stunning victories against the likes of  FC Barcelona and Manchester United. When Celtic Park is at its full capacity, which it often is, the phrase ‘the crowd is the 12th man’ is an understatement, as the atmosphere for a European fixture is astonishing and frightens the opposition.

For the rest of the world to see this would prove that Scottish football is a hidden gem, and has huge potential to continue growing. Money is an issue, with the likes of Rangers who have both performed in European competitions in the past, being demoted to the third division because of tax debts, while Hearts also entered administration, which resulting them in plying their trade in the second tier of Scottish football.

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Nevertheless, Celtic will get the title sown up within no time at all, and the main target should be to focus more the Europa League, which the players will gain much needed experience from for the future.

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Brendan Rodgers’ worst nightmare is currently being played out. Luis Suarez is attracting the attention of the big clubs. The Premier League champions in fact. Moneybags City with a wad of cash so thick they could use it to beat whales to death. So now ‘Operation keep Suarez’ is flowing faster than the Mersey River with Rodgers unequivocally denying that his Uruguayan star will be departing Anfield for more lucrative pastures in the January transfer window. How the Reds would cope if they lost him doesn’t even bear thinking about. For so long Steven Gerrard was considered the beating heart of the club but now that mantle belongs to Suarez. Without his driving force in attack or the eight league goals he’s scored they would be floundering at the foot of the table. For Rodgers, John W. Henry and the rest of the Anfield hierarchy their actions in the transfer market will speak louder than words and could be the key to ensuring Suarez remains a red.

This week on FFC will the Reds live to regret putting so much responsibility on Raheem Sterling’s shoulders and which Anzhi ace could be heading for Anfield?

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Best of FFC

In danger of getting too big for his boots at Anfield?

Did Liverpool FC have a lucky escape with Tottenham duo?

Why Liverpool must seek to rectify instead of worry

Will Liverpool regret relying so heavily on him?

What impact would this deal have on both Liverpool and Manchester City?

Manchester City prepare shock Luis Suarez bid

Liverpool and Southampton on £6m transfer alert

Selyuk confirms Liverpool’s interest in Anzhi ace

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Best of WEB

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Should Our ‘New Steven Gerrard’ Be Used As A Make-Shift Striker? – Live 4 Liverpool

‘It was my decision!’ – Ex-LFC attacker reveals reason he left Anfield. Loss…? – Liverpool Kop

Attack proves to be best form of defence for Rodgers – This is Anfield

‘Make us an offer…please!’ – Is this the year’s most exciting transfer news? – Liverpool Kop

How Do We Compare To Our Rivals? – The Tomkins Times

Are the kids sounding the death knell of these senior players? – Live 4 Liverpool

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Rodgers’ Review: An in-depth analysis of our season so far – This is Anfield

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Quote of the Week

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“He is not for sale. There will be no bidding war. He’s staying here. I don’t have that fear (his head will be turned) with Luis. He has already shown in the summer his commitment to the club, he’s signed a new deal. I think you’ve seen up until this point he’s in a great moment in his footballing life here at Liverpool; he is scoring goals and working well and he’s very happy here. He’s certainly not someone we want to sell or move on. If we lost Luis then we’ve got no strikers. Luis Suarez won’t be leaving Liverpool to join Man City according to Brendan Rodgers

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Featured Video

During an underwhelming evening in Russia, in a game no team particularly wanted to win, a disjointed performance saw England miss out on qualifying from World Cup Group G in pole position.

That honour instead goes to Belgium, which Roberto Martinez will no doubt accept begrudgingly based on his pre-match comments, after Gareth Southgate made wholesale changes to the starting XI that so easily dispensed of Panama last time out.

Neither side showed much quality until former Manchester United youngster Adnan Januzaj creamed a beautiful curler beyond the reach of Jordan Pickford on the 51st minute.

England attempted to respond during one of the rare instances in which the second-choice forward line of Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford managed to combine – the former playing in the latter, only for the Red Devils youngster to have his one-on-one saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Some stand-ins did impress, however. Liverpool teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold gave a good account of himself at right wing-back, creating two scoring chances before a 79th minute substitution, and Tottenham’s Danny Rose remained busy on the opposite flank. Chelsea youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, continued to show glimpses of his enormous potential.

What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

Late on, substitute Danny Welbeck attempted to stab home a loose ball from a corner, only for Marouane Fellaini to stretch out one of his impassable legs and divert the effort safely behind. Dries Mertens almost extended Belgium’s lead soon after but unlike Januzaj’s effort, Pickford just about managed to get a glove to it.

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All in all though, it was a night that really took the sting out of England’s thrilling start to the World Cup, and the Three Lions now face the daunting challenge of Colombia in the first knockout round on Tuesday.

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So, England fans, who was your Man of the Match from the 1-0 defeat? Let us know by taking part below and giving each player an individual performance rating out of ten…

There was understandably more than a few raised eyebrows when West Ham United decided to sign Marko Arnautovic in a club-record deal from Stoke City during the summer transfer window.

The Austria international’s attitude had often come under scrutiny during his time at the Britannia Stadium, while his record of 22 goals in 125 Premier League matches for the Potters and the fact he was due to turn 29 years of age in April didn’t exactly class him as a really positive addition on paper.

Those worries would have been realised when the east London outfit made a disappointing start to the season under former manager Slaven Bilic, and the attacker was sent off for elbowing Southampton defender Jack Stephens just 33 minutes into his second top flight appearance for the Irons.

The 28-year-old was suspended for their following three fixtures in all competitions, and the board would have been fearing the worst about a player they had spent £20m on just a month earlier, with a potential further £5m to follow in add-ons.

Arnautovic failed to score a single goal or provide a single assist before Bilic was sacked following the 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at the London Stadium on November 4, or in any of his first four Premier League appearances under current boss David Moyes.

West Ham’s transfer strategy – which has often been unclear – has come under fire ever since David Gold and David Sullivan became co-owners of the club, and they have often invested in older players with no re-sale value, players like Andy Carroll who have spent much of their time with the club on the sidelines because of injury, and players with no Premier League experience that have proven to be flops.

They have also been involved in embarrassing incidents like the one where Sullivan admitted that his children had begged him not to sign Jose Fonte from Southampton and Robert Snodgrass from Hull City, even though Bilic wanted them.

The addition of Arnautovic was slightly different as he had plenty of Premier League experience and had had few injury issues during his time with Stoke, while at his age he should be in the prime years of his career.

The Austria international’s West Ham career changed following a calculated risk from Moyes that saw the 28-year-old used as a centre-forward in the 1-0 win against Chelsea in December with Carroll injured and Javier Hernandez struggling for form.

The attacker scored the winning goal, and he put in an influential performance that the board and the supporters would have been expecting consistently from the very first minute of his debut.

While he hit a blank in the goalless draw against Arsenal, Arnautovic then netted four goals in his next three Premier League appearances across the festive period.

He was showing the passion he had for the club and that meant he was becoming a real fans’ favourite for the London Stadium faithful.

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A last-gasp assist for Andy Carroll in the crucial 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion on January 2 showed the huge impact he was continuing to have, and he also proved that he was building successful relationships with his teammates after setting up Manuel Lanzini twice in subsequent 4-1 win against Huddersfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Having missed the clashes with Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion – which his team only took one point from – because of a hamstring injury, the 28-year-old made a surprise early return to the starting line-up against Watford last weekend, and he found the net again in a 2-0 win.

Arnautovic has seven goals and a further three assists in his last nine top flight matches, and he looks as though he will be the talisman for them in their bid to stay away from the relegation zone in the final 11 league fixtures.

West Ham’s transfer strategy hasn’t always been clear or respected, but on this occasion the club look to have got it spot on with the Austrian being the perfect fit for them at the right time.

Former Liverpool forward John Aldridge wants his old club to move for Radamel Falcao after offloading Luis Suarez.

The Reds agreed to sell their star man to Barcelona recently in a deal worth £75m.

Although Brendan Rodgers has now overseen major additions over the course of the past few weeks, from the £90m spent a direct replacement for Suarez has not yet been secured.

WANT MORE? >> Liverpool transfer news | Latest transfer news

Loic Remy was dubbed as a man to help fill the void left by the Uruguayan, but his £8.5m switch from QPR to Anfield collapsed following issues surrounding his medical.

A number of targets have been linked with moves to Merseyside, and Aldridge hopes that Rodgers opts for Monaco’s Falcao:

“I thought Remy for £8.5m was a very shrewd buy but it’s fallen through for whatever reason, so Liverpool do need another striker in my opinion should something happen,” he is quoted by the Daily Star.

“Who is out there? Falcao, they’re saying he had a horrendous season last year.

“He was a bit part of the player he was last season. If he can get back to where he was the previous season then he would be one wouldn’t he?”

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Falcao only joined Monaco last year from Atletico Madrid in a deal worth around £50m, but he is understood to be open to leaving the Stade Louis II after failing to settle in his new surroundings.

The Colombian missed the back end of last season and the World Cup with injury problems, but is still considered to be one of European football’s most dangerous marksmen.

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Steve Clarke has indicated that star loanee from Chelsea Romelu Lukaku wishes to stay with West Brom.

Since joining the Baggies, Lukaku, who was an £18 million signing for Chelsea has started just three matches. However, he has managed three goals in those appearances and it is thought that he will play against Southampton tonight.

Though Chelsea are able to take back the 19-year-old in January’s transfer window, Clarke has insisted that Lukaku feels happy with West Brom and is wanting to continue improving his game at the Hawthorns.

“I haven’t spoken to Chelsea about what might happen but I speak to Lukaku and I know he’s happy. He’s in a better place now than he was when he came to us because he has played matches in the Premier League and has been a handful,” Clarke said.

“Lukaku has shown everybody that he’s a big talent and one for the future. He’s raw, he works hard on the training ground and he wants to be better.”

The Baggies play Southampton in a home match tonight, and Clarke has warned his team to be wary of the side.

“Nigel has had two successive promotions and done a great job for the club. They are a team we will treat with 100 per cent respect. We expect a really difficult game. Nigel’s teams always like to pass the ball. They are dangerous, can create chances and score goals,” he added.

West Brom are waiting on tests to see whether Shane Long and Claudio Yacob will be fit for tonight’s match. However, Chris Brunt and Billy Jones are now available to play.

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West Ham United are reportedly looking to tie up a deal for Swansea City defender Alfie Mawson, but they should forget about the 24-year-old and sign Aston Villa centre-back James Chester in a bargain £10m deal instead.

Sky Sports reported on Thursday that the Irons are in talks with the Welsh club to sign both Mawson and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski following the Swans’ relegation from the Premier League, and a potential deal relies on them agreeing on a transfer fee for the duo.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that Aston Villa are under pressure to raise £50m from player sales over the course of the next two transfer windows, and Chester may be one of the players that is available.

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The Telegraph say that the Wales international could fetch up to £10m and is a target for Brighton and Hove Albion and Stoke City, but perhaps the Irons should be taking a close look at him too following another impressive Championship campaign.

The 29-year-old played every minute of their 49-game league season as they were beaten play-off finalists, and he captained the Midlands outfit when John Terry was absent through injury.

The Welshman excelled alongside the former Chelsea skipper and he showed the defensive qualities he brings having made 378 clearances, 71 tackles and 54 blocks, as well as winning 150 aerial duels, as per WhoScored.com.

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Decent on the ball with an 87% passing accuracy, Chester has the ability and experience to make a real impact in the Premier League again for West Ham, whose fans want the club to sign a £16.2m free-kick specialist to replace Manuel Lanzini, and it will be interesting to see if the £10m price tag could tempt them to make a bid.

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According to reports in the Sunday Mirror, Manchester United are in advanced talks to bring young Ajax forward Justin Kluivert, son of Patrick, to Old Trafford this summer, and Red Devils fans have been quick to have their say on the rumour.

The Sunday Mirror says that Jose Mourinho has kept a close eye on the 18-year-old’s progress with the Dutch giants, and he is now ready to agree a £10m deal for the teenager at the end of the season that would include various add-ons.

The attacker has scored six goals and provided a further two assists in 22 appearances in all competitions for Ajax this term, and the fact that he is able to play on either flank means he would be a versatile option for Mourinho next season.

Man United supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the potential move for the Dutch youngster, and while one believes he is “100% not coming”, another said ‘rather have Griezmann’.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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West Ham’s final home match of the season may have ended with Sam Allardyce lapping up the applause around Upton Park, but in truth, the Boleyn faithful is anything but behind their manager.

As the Hammers gaffer has often remarked, the Premier League is a results-based industry, and in terms of obtaining the points required to stay in the top flight, throughout spells at Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham, his track record is exemplary.

Yet the price it comes at, the East London fanbase is unprepared to accept. A club that produced some of the greatest English technical talents of a generation, such as Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick, is now the Premier League’s leading representative of attritional long-ball football.

The Hammers boast one of the strongest defensive records in the Premier League – their 14 clean sheets is only bettered by four other sides, three of which constitute the division’s top four – but averaging just 1.1 goals per match at the more entertaining end of the pitch, it’s understandable that the subdued Boleyn boo-boys are calling for change in the dugout ahead of next season.

Yet, in my opinion, it doesn’t necessarily have to come to that. In British politics, the controlling elite has an endless tradition of compromising with the low classes when it comes to the relinquishing of power. In other words, Allardyce doesn’t need to stage a complete philosophical revolution at Upton Park in order to keep his job; he just has to show the fans that he’s taken their concerns  on board.

There’s no better place to do that than in the transfer market. Allardyce was famed for his wheeler-dealing at Bolton Wanderers, but the transfer interactions of his three-term Hammers tenure haven’t been quite so impressive.

He may view the £15million capture of Andy Carroll as one of the deals of the century, but in truth, no other Premier League manager was prepared to pay such a mighty fee for the Liverpool outcast last summer. Likewise, £11million signing Matt Jarvis has never come close to repeating the eight-goal feats of his final campaign at Wolves  and summer acquisition Stewart Downing is still yet to shake off the cobwebs of his haunting Anfield stay. Scratch even deeper, Alou Diarra, Razvan Rat and Modibo Maiga  only make Allardyce’s transfer record for the Hammers even more troubling.

Compare that with the 59 year-old’s market escapades at Bolton. Yes, when he joined the Wanderers his first task was to make them as mean defensively as possible, but the Bolton side that recorded a 6th-place finish in 2005 and also reached a League Cup final – to date, the highest point of management Allardyce’s career – contained such Champaign-football alumni as Ivan Campo, Jay-Jay Okocha, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Fernando Hierro, all of whom brought international class to the Reebok stadium. That summer, Hidetoshi Nakata, the greatest technical talent Asia had to offer at the time, also joined the Bolton ranks.

To say Allardyce’s Bolton were football purists would be untrue, but to suggest long-ball football was the only weapon in their locker would be an equal fallacy. Rather, the Wanderers’ blend of quality footballers, mean athletes and dogged defenders made them a multi-dimensional side that could play in a variety of ways. It was an amalgamation of contrasting styles that achieved results and kept the fans happy, but perhaps most importantly, it demonstrated Allardyce’s ambition and astuteness in the transfer market.

And in many ways, ‘ambition’ is the key concern of the Upton Park support. As Allardyce has regularly discussed, there is and has never been an official ‘West Ham way’. The East Londoners have fought as ugly and dirtily as the rest of them to maintain their Premier League status in the past – the notion that they’re somehow unique a club with a unique philosophy is a complete myth.

But the absence of any ambition to evolve West Ham’s current style is the core of the fans’ discontent. Rather than making signings that can improve the Hammers going forward, Allardyce’s acquisitions have largely consisted of old cronies from his former stomping grounds, or players that strongly lend themselves to his attritional ideology.

In 2016, West Ham will move to the Olympic stadium. The ground’s 54,000 capacity will give them the fifth-largest crowd in the Premier League, yet it will be home to a style of football that wouldn’t look out of place in League One.

In the coming summer window, Sam Allardyce has a fantastic opportunity to get the fans back onside. Two solid Premier League finishes is a strong platform to build from, but now the Hammers gaffer must show his ability and ambition to evolve the first team to a different level, moving away from its growing one-dimensionalism. He needs to make quality signings that can bring excitement and class to Upton Park. A signing of the Jay-Jay Okocha variety would be the perfect remedy.

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The fans do not want revolution. They do not want change that can debase the club and harm it’s immediate future, purely for the sake of better entertainment on a Saturday afternoon – after all, there’s nothing fun about being relegated. They simply want evidence that there is a master-plan – ideas in place to suggest that they won’t be caught in an eternal purgatory of mid-table finishes and ugly, unexciting football.

Allardyce managed to encompass the best of both worlds at Bolton and a more recent example would be Stoke City’s slow yet sturdy transition under Mark Hughes this season, so it’s by no means an impossible task.

But it will all depend on the West Ham manager’s commitment to the issue. Thus far, criticism from the fan-base has been largely palmed off by Allardyce as unrealistic, uninformed demands. The coming window however, is the ideal occasion to show that has been listening to the voices from the terraces.

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The old adage that the league normally sorts itself out after ten games is one which usually stands up to close inspection and certainly does so this season, but with Liverpool languishing down in 12th under new manager Brendan Rodgers, there are legitimate reasons for the club’s fans to be concerned. Should results fail to live up to expectations and the side continue to flounder inconsistently, how long until patience begins to wear thin about the man at the helm’s vision?

Firstly, let me just say that I find all the talk involving the word ‘philosophy’ absolutely farcical. It seems along the way, in an attempt to make yourself sound more intelligent, that this word has been confused with ‘style’. Liverpool have a clearly defined style, there’s no doubt about that, but let’s not pretend it encompasses more than one principle, which is keeping hold of the ball and using possession as both a means of attack and defence.

Capitalism, Anarchism, Darwinism, these are philosophies, these are schools of thought cultivated over years of work, debate and ideas. Passing a football well, something most teams would aim to do given they have the right resources and players available, most certainly is not.

There’s also the fact that Rodgers has shown a worrying lack of flexibility in adapting to new players. His two summer purchases of Joe Allen and Fabio Borini were both targeted because they were familiar with the new manager’s style of play and methods, with the thinking being that it would take them less time than usually associated with a new player to settle into fresh surroundings. It’s proved the case with Allen, who has been superb thus far, but for Borini, the jury is still well and truly out over whether he’s up to the task.

This also applies to the players that Rodgers has marginalised at the club and shipped out. Andy Carroll was allowed to depart simply because he’s incapable of playing the sweeping, counter-attacking, one-touch football the club has adopted. Meanwhile, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson have been reduced to Europa League outings for the most part on occasions when the squad is rotated.

This hasn’t stopped Rodgers from complaining of a ‘thin’ squad repeatedly, but when you alienate some of the only senior players that you have, then it’s no wonder that results have been erratic. Is a new manager’s job not to solve problems, particularly in light of the club’s reduced budget and belt-tightening? At every turn so far, Rodgers has taken the easy option out. To paraphrase a well-known saying, it really is his way or the highway.

It sounds as if he’s already pleading for more time too, hailing the Newcastle draw as a dominant performance and stating last week: “I have signed a three-year deal here and the process will go on beyond that. Hopefully I can be here to keep building it. I am loving every minute here. I came for the challenge, but it is easier said than done. I just look at the stats over the last three years and it has been going the other way. Our job was to spin that around and, through a lot of hard work, get us on an upward spiral.”

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He’s argued that there’s ‘no quick fix’ and while I wouldn’t disagree, for the club has lacked stability for quite some time at every level which has only served to hasten the downward spiral that Rodgers talked about, the side wasn’t that bad last term under Kenny Dalglish.

It was unquestionably a cup side, capable of beating anyone on their day in the league and they did reach the FA Cup and Carling Cup finals, going on to win one with largely the same side. Ask yourself this, could you see the team doing that this season under Rodgers?

This is not to cast a wistful look back at Dalglish’s time in charge, because it became clear by the end of the campaign that the players had long since checked out mentally and gone on their holidays and some of the performances down the back straight were embarrassing, but they looked far more fluid, dangerous and intuitive going forward earlier on than anything we’ve seen so far this term.

Liverpool fans are often mocked for being paranoid and have an almost irrational sense of loyalty towards their club, rejecting even the faintest whiff of reasoned criticism. Of course, it’s a parody for the most part and there’s been a distinct lack of pressure placed on Rodgers so far from the fans. It seems they are willing to be patient for now just so long as it looks as if progress is being made.

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Integrating young players such as the exciting crop of Andre Wisdom, Raheem Sterling and Suso into the starting eleven is the sort of move that the fans want to see and it’s a commendable approach which has bought him time, but should the club finish in the bottom half of the table by the end of the season, something not out of the realms of possibility at the moment, then where do the club go next?

That in itself is the real crux of the issue here – just how long to you give Rodgers to implement his ideas on the squad if results aren’t improving on a consistent enough basis? Is one season enough? Two? Three? Most managers get a honeymoon period, and Rodgers has made all the right noises about the culture and tradition of the club which means he’s well-liked by most, but when that gives way, is the football really all that much better than what they were capable of producing under Dalglish? The fact that these questions have been glossed over so far remains troubling and provides food for thought in the future.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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