France Manager Didier Deschamps has praised the improvement of French Midfielder Yohan Cabaye, yet at the same time taken a swipe at Newcastle’s role in his development.
The former Marseille boss and World Cup winner, believes the star’s great form on the international stage is nothing to do with his transfer to Newcastle United.
He is aware that the midfielder is getting several plaudits for his assured displays, but has put it down to playing regularly for the national team and meeting their expectations.
In a bizarre statement he looked over any role the Magpies have played in the star’s development. Deschamps even went on to suggest that his international starlet doesn’t even play to his full potential for Newcastle.
“He didn’t change his status because he joined Newcastle; it is because he has been called into the French team and he has matched expectation,” Deschamps said.
The fans of Newcastle United football club are aware that Cabaye came in off the back of a double winning season with former side Lille, but would find these statements baffling as the Frenchman played a pivotal role in Newcastle finishing 5th in the Premier League last term.
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While achieving European football was not a completely new experience for Yohan Cabaye, it is believed that to achieve this feat in the English top flight is far harder than in the Ligue 1.
Newcastle United supporters arguing this will point to their recent outing against one of the form teams in the France, Bordeaux, who they swept aside 3-0 with a less than full strength side.
As reported by The Daily Mail, West Ham United must up their initial bid for Lazio talent Felipe Anderson if they want to bring him to the London Stadium this summer.
What’s the story?
The Hammers have an important transfer window ahead, with new boss Manuel Pellegrini looking for the talent that can see them improve on last season’s relegation battle in the English Premier League.
One player on their radar is Lazio attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson, with the club having already made an offer for the player, according to The Daily Mail.
The paper also report though that the initial £25m plus add-ons bid will have to be upped, with the Italian side looking for a fee that looks more like £35m.
Is he worth pushing the boat out for ahead of next season?
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Worth the fuss?
With the fitness of Manuel Lanzini in doubt ahead of the new season after his knee injury in training ahead of the World Cup, it’s more important than ever that the Irons add much-needed creative guile in midfield.
Felipe Anderson can certainly provide that, having provided 10 assists for the Italian club last season, despite not being a regular starter. With 8 goals also added across the season, it’s clear he is a player who likes to make an impact in the final third.
With an average 1.9 key passes and 3.7 dribbles per game, as shown by WhoScored, he could be the perfect complement to the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Lanzini himself when he returns from injury.
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That’s worth paying that little bit extra for and now is not the team for the Hammers board to be cheap, when they have a great opportunity to progress under Pellegrini.
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Newcastle United fans here in the Tavern are still looking for the club to build on their solitary signing so far, as they view the transfer window as a possible way to Premier League safety.
Rafa Benitez seemingly continues to ring around clubs as he looks to nail down some more signings this window, as desperate times calls for desperate measures on Tyneside with the possibility of relegation looming. Although, you can’t fault the effort of the Spaniard, as the Magpies seem to have another player on their radar. As according to reports in the El Confidencial, claims suggest that Newcastle United have sent scouts out to Spain to watch Real Betis starlet Fabian Ruiz.
The 21-year-old has been labelled as priceless for current club Real Betis, as one of the most promising young talents to come out of the Spanish top-flight in recent times. However, according to reports, the midfielder has a release clause that is currently set at a measly £13 million, with the Spanish club doing all they can to extend his contract that will allow them to increase in the buyout price. But, with clubs like Barcelona and Arsenal linked with a move for the midfielder, it looks as if he could be living some of his last days with his current club.
Although, arguably the biggest boost for a Newcastle side that would have a limited budget for the potential signing of the midfielder, is that the 21-year-old’s agent doesn’t want the club to increase his release clause which makes him very affordable.
Landlord’s Verdict:
A player that looks to be something special after attracting the interest of some of Europe’s biggest names, and a player that could become a star in his current form for a side of Newcastle’s calibre. Nevertheless, a player that will prove difficult to attract with the money available to competitors, but with the opportunity to immediately progress at St James’ Park this could be a turning point in the transfer saga.
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Newcastle fans… Thoughts on the interest? Let us know down below!!!
When Howard Webb took charge of both the 2010 UEFA Champion’s League final and the World Cup final within the space of two months, he had reached the absolute zenith of his profession. He commanded the respect of all players (in no small part because he could probably knock seven shades out of them), the envy of all referees and the general opinion from fans that there is ACTUALLY a good referee on the planet. Four years on and he has become a big-game bottler. He will fly to Brazil 2014 to officiate on the back of his reputation, not his record.
Howard Webb is your prime example of a referee who gives the advantage to the defensive side. He shirks from the big decisions. Go back to the FA Cup tie between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates. Howard Webb gives Liverpool a penalty. Correct decision. When Suarez found himself bowled over in the box just minutes later Howard Webb waved play-on. Pretty much as stonewall a penalty as you are likely to see. What would another converted penalty have made the score? 2-2.
Since the last World Cup, of the 11 penalties Howard Webb has awarded in the last half-hour only one has been a penalty with the potential to change a match. Compared this to his record prior to the World Cup where 83 of the 154 he awarded had that potential and percentage-wise you have a change of over 40. Those stats can’t be coincidental.
Since the same day, of the 22 red cards Webb has given just one has come in a penalty decision. Before the World Cup it was seven from 46, down from 15 per cent to less than five. With the Premier League average at 11 per cent, Webb falls comfortably short of this.
Not once in a career of over 500 games has Howard Webb ever given a red card inside the first 15 minutes of a game. You’ll often hear commentators cite ‘common sense’ and refs ‘allowing the game to flow’. Where Webb may have ever felt he needed to give an early red card his famed ‘common sense’ has prevailed literally every single time.
In terms of his style, he isn’t one for losing control in games. He doesn’t get involved in melees, he speaks firmly and pointedly with captains and offenders, and still conducts himself in a uniquely composed manner. But his record has shown a weakness when it has come to stamping his foot down on a game.
For want of sounding unbiased, managers will regularly, and through gritted teeth I might add, assure themselves that the decision balance themselves out over the course of a season. And in the case of Arsenal vs Liverpool, with his refusal to award Liverpool a penalty preceded his decision to allow Steven Gerrard to get away with a tackle worthy of second yellow card, this notion I suppose is accurate. But the decisions remain incorrect. Howard Webb is no longer worthy of his seat at the high-court of world referees and he has shown he is no longer the big man for the big occasion.
The Premier League is often hyped up to a ridiculous extent by the media in this country, but is it still the breeding ground for the world’s top players? Do they see plying their trade in England as the pinnacle of their careers? Or are we merely preparing them for bigger challenges elsewhere? Let’s investigate.
Sky Sports ramp up their coverage ahead of any reasonably sized big game in this country to an almost absurd degree, making every encounter between Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle seem like the biggest game on the footballing calendar. The obvious elephants in the room are Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The Premier League is undeniably a much richer league and there’s simply much more strength in depth here than there is in Spain. There’s currently a real financial crisis going in over there at the moment and it’s finally started to have a knock-on effect on how the clubs do their business; the fact that not one club had the money readily available to bid for Michu this summer, despite him only going for £2.5m after being the top goalscoring midfielder in the league last year says it all.
However, Barcelona and Real Madrid are certainly the two biggest clubs currently operating in Europe, if not only for the sheer volume of world-class players that each has within their fantastic squads, so you’re left with a pecking order which operates at La Liga, the Premier League and then that hegemonic duo on top of anything we have to offer still.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero mad something of a slip=up in a post-match interview last month stating that he would have signed for Real Madrid ahead of Manchester City had they come in for him last summer, despite the rivalry they share with city rivals Atletico. He was then forced into an embarrassing climbdown the day after, during which he went on to stress that he was perfectly happy at Roberto Mancini’s side.
This is of course not to say that he wasn’t being sincere in his commitment to City, I’m sure he is happy there at the moment, after all, he did play a crucial part in the side winning the league title last season, so it’s not like his ambitions aren’t being fulfilled in the short-term at least, but if Real Madrid or Barcelona came calling next summer, he’d probably want the move. That’s not a slight on City, they’re probably the only two clubs he’d consider leaving for, but it’s not an unrealistic expectation.
Arsenal are a huge club, but they too have found it difficult to keep some of their bigger players happy over the years, acting as something of a feeder club to Barcelona. Players like Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song has move to Catalunya once they have matured as footballers, while over at Liverpool, they were sucked dry by the two big Spanish giants with Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano both departing at great expense, but to an even greater cost to their side.
Manchester United are the only club that has proven somewhat immune to this trend over the years, partly because of the power Sir Alex Ferguson has over players and the loyalty he inspires and secondly because until the Glazers came into the club, they were on such a sound financial footing, that they never had a pressing need to sell. While Cristiano Ronaldo may have moved to the Bernabeu, it was for a whopping £80m fee, all of which was paid up front, so in that respect, the move was done on their terms, but the fact that it went ahead at all shows that the player thought that he was making a step up in terms of his career. The same could also be said of Luka Modric this summer.
There are still plenty of world-class players operating in the top flight at the moment – Aguero, Yaya Toure, van Persie, Mata, Silva, Kompany and Cole to name but a few who wouldn’t look out of place over in Spain. This is without even mentioning a whole host of fantastic players at the likes of Newcastle, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal, but the real question is do the players themselves see England as good as it gets?
In terms of competitiveness, the grounds, the fans and the money on offer, it probably is, certainly way ahead of anything in either Spain or Italy and while Germany is an emerging league on a par with those two and as good as the Premier League has to offer at times, it’s still ranked just below in terms of prestige, even if you get more bang for your buck over there.
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The Premier League has always been the place where players come to learn their trade before, if they’re good enough that is, moving back to Spain’s big two. The pace and power of the league, when allied with their technical abilities, can make them an attractive proposition for prospective clubs.
The truth of the matter is, though, that while we have a fabulous league in terms of entertainment value, it’s not the most tactically aware around and the Premier League remains a league where talents are honed rather than brought in ready-made, so much so in fact that I can’t think of a single player that has been brought to England at the pinnacle of their careers and could be said to be bracketed under the term ‘world-class’.
Tottenham have moved into pole position to sign Jack Grealish this summer, but fans are completely split on a move for the feisty youngster.
According to the Telegraph, Mauricio Pochettino has made Aston Villa’s Grealish his “prime target” as he looks to strengthen his midfield this summer.
Grealish showed potential as a winger when he first broke into the Villa senior side, but was fantastic as a central midfielder for Steve Bruce last season.
The 22 year-old excels at driving forward from midfield with the ball at his feet, and could replace some of the ball carrying ability lost if Mousa Dembele leaves the club.
Grealish missed most of the first half of last season, but still managed three Championship goals and six assists, and went from strength to strength towards the end of the season.
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Aston Villa will likely be forced to sell their most valuable assets this summer to fight off their financial troubles, and insist they will not sell for under £40million.
Daniel Levy will of course hope to use the Villans’ precarious financial situation to his advantage and bring that price down a bit, but fans aren’t all that convinced.
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Some fans are ready to get behind the young Englishman, who has a reputation for losing his cool, while others want to see more ambition from the club.
Either way, you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
When Joe Hart signed for West Ham on loan in the summer, it was the fact he had done so alongside his former Manchester City teammate Pablo Zabaleta that seemed to make it so exciting.
Hart has won the Premier League golden glove a record four times from his Manchester City days, and is still England’s number one – though he may not be by the time the next round of international fixtures comes along.
And while Hart might be longing for his days of glory at the Etihad, it was his current side’s trip to his parent club that sealed his current spot on the West Ham bench.
Unable to play, Adrian took up the role between the sticks and gave a great account of himself as his side were unlucky to lose to a rampant Manchester City, who were on course to set a record run of Premier League wins.
Since then, the Spanish goalkeeper has kept his place in the side and done fairly well.
We all knew he was a good goalkeeper, but consistency and concentration were often his let-downs in the past. Since coming in for Hart, the competition seems to have spurred him on. Against Tottenham, he showed it.
To go to Spurs and come away with a result is a difficult thing to achieve these days, especially when you find yourselves in the midst of a relegation dogfight. But that’s exactly what the Hammers did thanks in no small part to their goalkeeper.
You often need luck and help from your keeper to get a point away to Tottenham, and with Adrian, they certainly got the help. He a massive seven saves to help his side to a point, whilst the defence in front of him also deserves praise for the fact that they stuck to their jobs diligently. That Spurs had 31 shots is testament to their quality and the defensive nature of the West Ham performance, but the fact that 14 of those shots were blocked says a lot about the Hammers defence, too.
Adrian, however, was on hand to help when needed.
Though that characterisation of a man involved only on the periphery of the game is an unfair one. The Spanish stopper attempted more passes than any other West Ham player on the night, which is surely a reflection of Tottenham dominance rather than anything else, but for a goalkeeper who is prone to a lapse in concentration, it’s encouraging.
In the same vein, however, his 30% pass accuracy – explained by his long kicked clearances and the fact that only Javier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate were jumping to try to win them – still saw him complete more passes than Winston Reid and Hernandez himself.
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Indeed, Adrian had more touches than five West Ham players on the night as the Hammers’ rearguard action was all-encompassing.
But in the end, if defences are solid, they’re helped by whatever trust they have in their goalkeeper behind them, and in Adrian West Ham have a goalkeeper they can trust ore than Hart at the moment.
Arsenal’s rise and stay at the top of the Premier League table has been in spite of a squad ravaged by injury, leaving key players out for lengthy spells and allowing for fuel to be added to the fire of expected failure.
Among those has been Theo Walcott, who not only looked to finally mature into a player that the club and supporters were waiting for last season, but also finished as the team’s top scorer across all competitions. That was achieved even with the spikiness of early last season, where the protracted contract saga saw Walcott on the fringes of the starting XI.
This new Arsenal – and we’ll call it that because it does feel new or at least different from seasons past – has been built on multiple layers. The first being the sturdiness and togetherness of the backline, with the excellent defensive displays of last season proving to be more than a flash in the pan. With the addition of Mathieu Flamini and the return to form of Wojciech Szczesny, Arsenal have a more than solid defensive base with which to build their clearly identifiable attack upon.
Mesut Ozil is the catalyst. As one of the leading midfielders in world football, he’s raised the level of play at Arsenal while also giving others the confidence to express themselves to the standard which Arsene Wenger wants to see.
But the transformation from top-four team into a side who look the complete footballing outfit is a little shy of completion.
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Depth is one aspect that doesn’t really need to be touched on in too great a detail, but rather the variety of play and the final cutting edge to an attack that has made teams like Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund such formidable and attractive sides.
Does Theo Walcott deserve a place immediately upon his return? Well yes. He’s the key to making Arsenal’s play that little bit more unpredictable and that more dangerous on the counter. When possession teams move the ball about just in front of the opposition penalty area, as Arsenal are doing often this season, they need someone with the pace to break in behind the backline and help to turn that possession into goals.
Barcelona did it expertly under Pep Guardiola. Lionel Messi is of course quick, but the width and penetration offered by Pedro and vitally Dani Alves allowed Barcelona multiple avenues to goal. Possession football works well when you have the right personnel – as Barcelona and Arsenal do – but adding that extra dimension of pace is hugely important in stretching the play.
Walcott may yet to fully convince those up and down the country, but inside the Emirates his importance is fully appreciated.
Even prior to last season’s goal scoring exploits, Walcott proved vital in helping Robin van Persie to reach the scoring figures he did in his final seasons with the club. And then there’s evidence throughout Walcott’s career as to how much of a weapon his pace is, even against the best teams in Europe.
He changed the game against Barcelona at the Emirates with Arsenal down 2-0, eventually helping to secure a 2-2 draw. Against Milan and Liverpool a couple of seasons prior, he spearheaded Arsenal’s counterattack on the way to two goals, while in the league against Chelsea, Arsenal recorded a memorable 3-1 win at the Emirates with Walcott as one of the keys to the victory.
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Mesut Ozil, importantly, saw a lot of joy with players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and Karim Benzema ahead of him at Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho’s successes in Spain were built on the not-so-popular counterattacking system with Ozil and Xabi Alonso as the architects. At present, Arsenal do not have that level of pace in the team to capitalise on Ozil’s ability to unlock a defence or spring a lightning-quick counter. Walcott’s inclusion will not only see Ozil benefit, and vice-versa, but Olivier Giroud too.
Arsene Wenger will find comfort in the return of Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott over the coming weeks. But while the German’s inclusion in the starting XI will force a lengthy debate, there’s no question as to how important Walcott is to the way Arsenal play.
West Ham United have confirmed that they still hope to become the main tenants of the Olympic Stadium, despite news emerging of a delay in the decision.
Legal challenges from Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient put an end to West Ham’s hopes of buying the stadium in a partnership bid with Newham Council in 2011.
But they are still hopeful that the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will choose them as their preferred bidders for tenancy.
West Ham reiterated their interest in the stadium in a statement released by the club.
“It is now 20 months since West Ham United
were initially named as the preferred bidder to occupy the Olympic Stadium post-Games. We are obviously disappointed, that three bids later, a decision has yet to be reached.
“We do however remain fully committed to becoming the catalyst to galvanise the Olympic Park
by bringing people, jobs and a robust and sustainable commercial offer that guarantees a return to the taxpayer of the money already invested.”
The LLDC cheif executive Dennis Hone said yesterday: “In the scheme of things if it slips another month or two I would rather get the right solution.
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“I would hate to bung someone in there and see it fall apart in five years. If it takes a couple of extra months to get there, then so be it. We have had discussions with all of the bidders.
“The difficulty is that we are balancing the adaptations we have to make to the stadium against the proposals that have come in and the benefits – financial and otherwise – that those proposals bring. If it was a knockout [verdict] it would be an easy decision, but it’s not.”
Following the final fixtures of the domestic season last weekend, we’re now on the home stretch for the 2018 World Cup. But before Gareth Southgate’s side square up with the likes of Panama and Belgium in the Group Stages, England must ready themselves for two warm-up friendlies that could have a decisive impact on how they perform in Russia. Use them effectively to learn more about this young team and the Three Lions could defy their pre-World Cup critics; waste the opportunity and England will enter the tournament under-prepared.
Nigeria are first up, facing England at Wembley on Saturday, so here’s three crucial questions Southgate needs the Three Lions’ clash with the Super Eagles to answer…
Can England’s formation work against lesser opposition?
Soccer Football – International Friendly – England vs Italy – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – March 27, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate with Raheem Sterling at the end of the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
Southgate seems intent on making his three-at-the-back formation, a cross between 3-4-3 and 3-5-2, England’s primary World Cup formation. But having only really used it thus far against traditionally strong teams – namely Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil – there’s not a mountain of evidence to suggest it works against lesser opposition. In fact, the only time Southgate’s fielded his side with a three-man defence against such opponents was in the scrappy and unconvincing 1-0 win over Lithuania in qualifying, which required a penalty from Harry Kane.
The significance of that shouldn’t be downplayed; the earliest England will play a high-quality team is in their last Group Stage game against Belgium on the 28th of June, but if they fail to take at least two points from their opening two clashes with Tunisia and Panama because the formation doesn’t work, the Three Lions’ World Cup bid will be over by the time they meet the Red Devils. Nigeria, ranked 43rd in the world by FIFA, represent a significant and suitable test.
Is Ruben Loftus-Cheek ready to start?
Ruben Loftus-Cheek clearly has a fan in Southgate and with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ruled out of the World Cup through injury, there is an opening in England’s midfield. The problem, though, is that there’s already some strong competition to fill it – while Jesse Lingard excelled in an advanced midfield role during the last batch of friendlies, it seems inevitable that Dele Alli will be brought back into the side after sitting out the win over the Netherlands and the draw with Italy.
But there’s no doubting Loftus-Cheek’s natural ability and he seems perfectly suited for not only that role but also the energetic, athletic philosophy of this England team; he’s got the dynamism to stretch teams on the counter-attack, as he did for Crystal Palace all of last season, and the quality to create goals. The question though, is whether he’s ready to start for England over two players who have far greater experience and more proven track records at both club and international level. Perhaps a runout against Nigeria will give Southgate a clearer idea of whether a 22-year-old who missed a big chunk of last term through injury has what it takes to make the step up.
Can Vardy and Kane play up front together?
On paper, Kane and Jamie Vardy make something close to the perfect partnership. While the Tottenham man can drop deep, hold up the ball and create chances, the Leicester icon’s strengths lay in clinical finishing and stretching the opposition defence by making relentless, surging runs behind it. That should make them a feared strikeforce for pretty much any opposition in the world, but there haven’t been too many games in which England have used both in the same starting XI.
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And while Southgate seems pretty set on having Raheem Sterling as a support striker to Kane, Vardy represents the kind of Plan B that could make all the difference at the World Cup, especially in the latter stages of games. So perhaps Saturday’s friendly can be a testing ground for the best way to get both into the side; whether that’s making a shock switch to a 4-4-2, using Vardy from out wide or modifying the dimensions of Southgate’s three-at-the-back setup.