After receiving my weekly email from the Real Madrid store, they kindly informed me that not only could I spend a fair few euros on the Super Copa victory T-shirt, I could also purchase the new third kit –which looks suspiciously like the away kit from last season, and the realisation of just how much money a club gets from its fans each season began to set in.
It’s not just the tickets and travel to matches – which if your team is in Europe can become more than a little bit expensive. If you have a season ticket to a top club it also means that you can be tempted to buy tickets to competitions such as the Capital One Cup – making that amount of money even higher.
All fans want to go to the maximum amount of games that is possible to support their team, but especially in the current economic climate it is not possible to attend every game, buy all the merchandise and still afford to live, eat and support a family.
Uefa and Fifa do not exactly make the process any easier, with the Euros now looking to be spread over a few countries and the Spanish Super Cup set to move to China – how are fans expected to pay for all of this?.
Clubs clearly need to get money from somewhere, and deals for sponsorship are one of the main sources, not to mention the income from TV, but the revenue gained at games and through sales of club merchandise is also a profitable source, and fans do understand this and will happily buy the shirt and spend money on tickets – to a point.
It does seem slightly ludicrous that clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea are willing to do what can only be described as extorting fans with the prices they charge for said things, and basically put fans in the situation where they have to choose between the away kit or a trip to see the team away from home.
Asking a fan to pay £45 for the shirt, not to mention the badges and a name on the back is bad enough, but then double this for the away and third kit, not to mention any special merchandise for the club winning trophies, then the calendar they try to sell every January and various other pieces of crest related merchandise and you are looking at a pretty steep price for a fan to pay.
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Yes clubs have to face up to the FFP rules now, but is it so unreasonable to ask them to keep the home shirt for a couple of seasons instead of changing it each and every year? Fans are happy to contribute to the club they love, but there becomes a point where they are being exploited by the club and football’s governing bodies – and this is where we have to draw the line.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has praised his team after they fought back from a goal down to beat London rivals QPR 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Former Spurs striker Bobby Zamora had given the Loftus Road outfit the lead in the first 45, but two goals in quick succession secured the Portuguese manager’s first victory on home soil.
Firstly, Alejandro Faurlin converted into his own net, before in-form striker Jermain Defoe scored the winner 60 seconds later.
Villas-Boas has stated that he was pleased with the way his team fought their way back into the game.
“It was a good, important win for the players who put all the effort in. All credit to them,” Villas-Boas told reporters, published in FourFourTwo.
“We believed and the players showed great commitment. We pushed them further forward at half- time and closed the gaps. The players showed great desire and commitment today to win for the fans. All credit to them.”
Spurs attacker Gareth Bale also commented that the win was crucial for the home faithful.
“It is a massive win. Vital to get our first home win for us and the fans. We have quick players on the counter-attack. That’s the kind of team we can be,” the Wales international stated.
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Spurs now face Carlisle in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday, before facing a trip to Old Trafford to go head-to-head with Manchester United next weekend.
Despite eventually cruising to a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa yesterday, it took Tottenham Hotspur a good chunk of 45 minutes before they really found the desired flow and rhythm to their game. Andre Villas-Boas’ side are continuing to grow as a unit, but there were more than one or two within White Hart Lane whom suggested that Thursday’s European exploits, might have proved more hindrance than help.
Yet for anyone that endured all 90 minutes of Spurs’ little midweek soiree against Panathinaikos, you can debunk that myth right away.
Because although the amount of physical output within the Europa League will inevitably increase and potentially take its toll, the efforts of Villas-Boas’ starting XI in Athens, suggested that no one can realistically hide behind the stigma of burn-out. How can you, if you quite evidently don’t give a flying fig about the competition whatsoever?
Of course, it is very easy to read too much into the efforts of one, off-key and in some elements, bizarre, game of football. Very rarely will Spurs come up against a side with such a disparagingly poor attacking outlet as what Panathinaikos offered last Thursday. But that’s what makes the result all the more difficult to accept.
Playing in sweltering heat against a side who were so seemingly impotent it was rubbing off onto their opponents, must have offered more than a slight motivational issue. When it took such little effort to dominate proceedings, naturally, taking things up to the next level can’t be easy.
But there was something very macabre in watching the likes of Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone et al dwindle about the pitch with such an alarming lack of urgency in the last 20 minutes. A period that not only saw Spurs throw away what seemed like a guaranteed three points in the group, but nearly loose the game altogether. This is hardly meant in the way of the alarmist propaganda we’ve seen aimed at AVB of late, but you couldn’t help but feel that the team’s effort on Thursday completely undermined the vision of the Portuguese.
This is a competition that the manager has gone out on record in public, as one that he has every intention of winning. His victory in the competition with Porto in 2010 represents perhaps his finest managerial achievement in the game and hence, there is a school of though that it is within his best interests to talk up the Europa League’s prospects. But more importantly, it’s within the club’s, too.
Villas-Boas has been on the charm offensive to disarm the proportion of volatile Europa League based opinions in White Hart Lane, and generally speaking, he’s catalyzed a groundswell of optimism for a shot at winning it. The heroes of the 1984 Uefa Cup win are still spoke about today in North London and although the competition now has a very different outlook, the prospect of lifting some genuine European silverware has captured the imaginations of fans.
Yet consequently, Villas-Boas knows he is taking an educated risk by backing the competition to such a hilt. As he did in the home tie against Lazio, the Portuguese fielded a very strong team indeed and one that evidently had more than enough to beat Panathinaikos. So when the players turn up and churn out a performance like that, they’re leaving Villas-Boas in the lurch. Had Spurs been unable to make a breakthrough against Villa yesterday, how many people would have turned to Thursday’s game as a scapegoat?
Considering how pedestrian several of the side were strutting about in Athens, it wouldn’t have half been some excuse. Of course, the likes of Michael Dawson and in particular Tom Huddlestone, have come in for pelters given their performances. The skipper might have chipped in with a goal but he looked generally uncomfortable and for a player that already has a fight to get back into the team, Huddlestone’s attitude was laughably half-hearted.
But let’s not shirk responsibility from others, here – Clint Dempsey hardly churned out much better and the fact that Jan Vertonghen has looked near on faultless in the two adjacent fixtures to the Panathinaikos game, tells a story in itself. Every player has bad days, but there were far too many last Thursday for it to be passed off as coincidence.
Furthermore, the aforementioned performances of say, Jan Vertonghen, against Aston Villa, suggest that at this stage of the season anyway, Spurs’ European travels can’t be used as stick of which to hit Villas-Boas with. As the season progresses, particularly over the next four weeks, Villas-Boas must be mindful of the rigors the congested fixture list will take upon his team.
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But Andre Villas-Boas’ and Tottenham Hotspur’s European vision is nothing more than a pipedream, if the players seem unable to buy into it. Maybe the prospect of a trip to play an Atletico Madrid or a departed Champions League team in the next round will be more appealing, but they won’t get that opportunity if they turf out more of what we saw against Panathinaikos in the group stage. It simply wasn’t good enough.
There is a growing culture of optimism around White Hart Lane and the three points gained against Paul Lambert’s men, served almost to erase the Europa League woes from memory. But if Villas-Boas plumps with a similar starting XI for the tie against Maribor in Slovenia later on this month, he will surely expect to see a massive improvement on the performance he was dished up in Greece. There’s no point in the players turning up in body for this competition, if they’ve left their spirit at home.
Am I reading too much into this or were you similarly disillusioned with Spurs’ Europa League efforts last week? Let me know what side of the fence you fall on, on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and talk Tottenham.
Edin Dzeko came off the bench to score two late goals to earn and rescue 10-man Manchester City against West Brom at the Hawthorns.
Roberto Mancini’s men were heading to an unlikely defeat as they struggled to cope with the loss of James Milner in the first half after he received the first red card of his career.
Defeat was harsh on the Baggies who made their numerical advantage count but any fears over City’s title credentials were quashed to leave them third level on points with rivals United and four behind leaders Chelsea.
Milner’s dismissal in the 22nd minute for hauling down Shane Long following a mistake from captain Vincent Kompany was unquestionable and set the tone for a frustrating afternoon.
Mario Balotelli was also pushing his luck with referee Mark Clattenburg with a series of petulant fouls that saw him cautioned. That appeared to calm the Italian striker down and he almost produced a moment of divine brilliance to break the deadlock, taking on two defenders down the left before firing straight at Ben Forster.
The visitors continued to fashion out chances Yaya Toure heading over from close range when well placed. And against the run of play West Brom snatched the lead in the 65th minute. Peter Odemwingie produced a precise through ball for Long to turn Joleon Lescott and finish cooly past Joe Hart.
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Dzeko was thrown on in the 79th minute and barely 60 seconds later he had brought City level, climbing highest to head past Foster from a corner. Hart then made two crucial saves to keep his side level tipping Romelu Lukaku’s acrobatic strike over the bar just moments after beating away the Belgian strikers close range header.
And with time running out Dzeko popped up again to steer the ball home from he edge of the area to cap a memorable comebacl.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when football shifted away from heroes on the pitch to mercenaries and those who were very much getting paid to do a ‘job.’
It’s also hard to think of who the stars of today are that will have bronze statues of themselves put up on the front lawn of some flash stadium. The statues that are up now are reminders of legends of the game, those who chased something more than a pay increase and many who stuck by their clubs.
The game seems to be filtering out the last few remnants of yesterday, only to be replaced by those who know their current position is a stepping stone to somewhere else. Everyone talks about playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona, as if there is no real preference for either. But where are the Matt Le Tissiers who turned away from the tempting advances of those a few steps up the ladder? Who are the current players that will remain captains of their teams from an early age such as Tony Adams and stay on to help oversee the newcomers who need to be taught the traditions of a club?
It’s all very well cheering for the big names that come through door, the transfers which were no doubt sensationalised with a background of fireworks as the mark of something new. But it never quite does it in the way that sports is supposed to. There’s no connection between supporters and players anymore. There remains an iron gate separating the two, as if worlds apart is something normal.
Some Americans talk about the joy they get out of watching college sports over the professional leagues. College basketball and football in America can garner equal levels of interest in some states as the NBA or NFL, yet there’s little in the way of money hungry mercenaries out for their own glory. The step up to the next level and to the major leagues takes focus for many of the best college athletes, and that’s natural, but it’s surprising what happens when you take money out of the equation and make it just about sports.
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That’s not to say fans don’t want a little slice of glamour, something that draws them to a stadium on a Saturday afternoon. But those aren’t heroes, not in the way they once were. It’s hard to find a role model in the game, with many taking actions that remind you what’s happened to the sport.
For clubs like Arsenal, for example, Robin van Persie is the type of player that should have become legendary in the eyes of many. So many have seen the pictures of him in an Arsenal shirt during his youth, while even more could not escape the idea of Dennis Bergkamp passing on the torch. But van Persie arrived at the peak of his powers in a time where money has seemingly taken the joy out of the game and replaced it with something that doesn’t quite sit right.
If it wasn’t enough that people are unlikely to look at footballers in the way they once did, it becomes another problem that there isn’t really any room for the everyday supporter. While players on the pitch are in another world, the gates to the stadiums are being manned by individuals demanding two-week’s wages to see a group of performers for whom there is no connection.
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It’s incredibly difficult to find a comfortable place in the modern game with the direction money has taken it. Yes there are some short-term joys from football, but how many times do the majority of fans look to a time when the game seemed a little more simple, right across the board? The advancements in many aspects make the game safer for fans and players, yet it still doesn’t hold that same spark when you’re questioning a player’s performances. Is it for the club or himself? There’s always another motive for success of any kind and the desire to be somewhere better.
Everyone will remember the great moments of the recent Premier League years; the titles that were captured in breathtaking fashion, the goals that will forever be shown in a highlights package on ITV4 and the greats that glided across our fields. But are the modern greats legends for the fans in the real sense of the meaning? Not because that player who was around for two-years scored against your rival in his only appearance, but for the genuine bond he had with the club and supporters.
Fans never forget their place in the game and their role, but for players we’ve been cruelly reminded that for the large majority it is just a job. Not celebrations, just turning up and earning your pay.
Joe Cole is set to return for Liverpool as Brendan Rodgers rotates his squad for the Reds’ Capital One Cup clash with Swansea this evening. The former England International has been sidelined with injuries since returning from a season-long loan at Lille, but will now be given the opportunity by his boss to fight his way back into the first team.
Rodgers selected the former Chelsea and West Ham midfielder for his first competitive game as Liverpool manager when they took on FC Gomel back in August; however Cole was substituted after just 23 minutes with a hamstring injury. Since then, the 30-year-old has been struggling for match fitness, making just two sub appearances in the Premier League so far this season.
Rodgers has told reporters how it has been a difficult season for Cole, especially now that talented youngsters Raheem Sterling and Suso have broken into the first team at Anfield.
“It’s been difficult for him” said the Northern Irish manager. “Joe worked hard throughout pre-season, then he got injured and others have come in and done well, so I’m not going to throw them to the garbage because a senior player is available again.
“This game is an opportunity for Joe to come in and prove himself. He’s worked hard, there are no complaints there, and he’s very keen to be a success at Liverpool. We will take it from there.
“He doesn’t want to be picked on anything that he’s done before, it’s about where we are in terms of form now that is important. But Joe loves his training, loves playing games and wants an opportunity to show his qualities and that he has a future here” added Rodgers.
Rodgers is expected to make several more changes tonight in order to give some of his other marginalised players the chance to impress. It is believed Sebastian Coates, Jamie Carragher, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing will all start against Swansea, as well as youngsters Oussama Assaidi, Jack Robinson and Samed Yesil.
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It was all looking so bright for Andre Villas-Boas at the start of the season. With a victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a fixture in which Spurs had failed to claim all three points for 23 years, it seemed the former Porto boss had finally lifted a weight off the back of every Tottenham fan who has witnessed their side come-up short against the Premier League’s top teams throughout the club’s recent history.
The main concern for Tottenham fans is playing in the Champions League, but as an extension of that, there is the desire to beat top four clubs – this ambition cost Harry Redknapp his job at the end of last season. Spurs have now lost their last four out of five Premier League outings, including defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea as well as a humbling loss in the shambolic North London derby.
Tottenham have now slumped to 8th in the table, and will face stiff competition for fourth spot from Everton, West Brom and their old foes Arsenal. Currently, Steve Clarke’s in-form West Brom side occupy the league’s lowest qualification position for the Champions League with six points and a seven goal lead on Spurs in the table.
Today’s papers are claiming AVB will be handed £20million by Daniel Levy in January to turn his fortunes around, but is it enough? Or will it make any difference at all?
Mark Hughes this summer was handed £18.5million, the fifth highest net spend for the pre-season transfer window, but is yet to reap the rewards for the club’s investment as rock-bottom QPR continue the search for their first win of the season. Tottenham also had money to spend this summer, bringing in Moussa Dembele, Clint Dempsey, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris and the permanent signing of Emmanuel Adebayor for a combined total of nearly £60million.
Despite the spending spree, Spurs are yet to fill the gap left by Luka Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart, as the cheaper signings of attacking midfielders Dempsey and Sigurdsson have failed to impress. Belgian international Moussa Dembele looked to be in good form at the start of the year but has since been held back by injury.
AVB’s shortlist includes the likes of Willian and Christian Eriksen, who will be available if the price is right. Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu informed Europe’s top clubs that if they want his Brazilian midfielder they can pay his buy-out clause of £28million, whereas Eriksen has made his intentions to leave Ajax clear as he refuses to extend his contract past summer 2014.
Another option is rekindling a deal to bring Portuguese playmaker Joao Moutinho to White Hart Lane, who was an integral cog of AVB’s Porto team which won the Primera Liga undefeated and also lifted the Portuguese Cup, Portuguese Super Cup and Europa League trophy in the same year. CSKA Moscow’s Alan Dzagoev and Miralem Pjanic are also on the North-London club’s radar.
However, will £20million be enough for any of these targets considering the shortlist seems more like a Christmas wish list of Europe’s rising stars? They all have bags of potential, and have been linked to many of Europe’s elite clubs. In the summer, Spurs and Porto reached a financial agreement over Moutinho, but failed to seal the deal. It is doubtful the Portuguese champions will allow their star player leave half way through the season, and the kitty to be given to AVB is £8million short of Willian’s contract clause. Furthermore, will any of the desired personel be willing to risk missing out on Champions League football and join a team that has only made it once into the European tournament?
Villas-Boas also wants some improvements in defence, with Michael Dawson expected to be shafted against his wishes, and William Gallas being firmly into his twilight years, but will surely not be able to bring in players to raise the quality in two key departments. £20million will be not enough in the January transfer window, better known for huge fees such as Andy Carroll’s £35million move to Liverpool and signing what you can as oppose to what you want.
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Daniel Levy has often been generous in terms of funds available to his managers. But considering the vast amount of money Manchester City have spent year upon year to improve the team, an estimated combined total of £970million, and have still proved they are way behind Europe’s other big teams following their failure to make it out of the group stages in the Champions League, money certainly doesn’t guarantee success. Many of the City signings have failed to live up to their price-tags; Roque Santa Cruz (£17million) Robinho (£32million) Wayne Bridge (£10million) for example, whilst others who have been good servants to the club came with transfer fees that seem excessive to say the least; Milner (£24million), Lescott (£24million), Kolarov (£16million) and an ageing Craig Bellamy (£14million).
The case of Man City has many differences between that of Tottenham. City were a club in the middle to lower table wilderness who made a bid for the Premier League title. Tottenham have always been a team of relative success but have been striving to take the next step. At the end of last season, Spurs were a single point away from qualifying for the Champions League, but that single point difference is completely unquantifiable in monetary terms.
There is little doubt that any of the names on AVB’s shortlist will improve his team, and would make exciting additions to the Premier League, but can a £20million cash injection alone come anywhere close to guaranteeing a Champions League spot for the North Londoners? It seems unlikely. Until AVB can take points from the Premier League’s big boys, Spurs fans can consider the promised land of the Champions League a far-away destination.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has warned clubs monitoring Christian Benteke that he will not be sold, according to the Daily Mail.
The 21-year-old Belgian has been a big hit following his summer move to the Premier League side, dislodging former captain Darren Bent as the club’s centre-forward and becoming the focal point of their attack.
This has led to whispers that a number of top teams are tempted to make a move for the ex-Genk forward, but Lambert stated that he will be going nowhere:
“Christian has been excellent for us. He is a big strong lad but he can also play.
“If he keeps progressing the way he has so far, he will be an incredible player.
“I have to hold onto Benteke. He’s going nowhere.”
He went on to claim that Benteke will get even better:
“I have run out of things to say about Christian. He is not the finished article but he has been excellent for us and a fans’ favourite.
“You have to be a good player to get into the current Belgium side and he has scored plenty of goals for them already.
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The latest Barcelona player to be linked with a move to the top flight is forward Alexis Sanchez, and while for many it seems something of a long shot in the upcoming January transfer window, he remains a likely transfer target of clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer – but would he fit in?
The 23-year-old has struggled for his best form since moving to the Camp Nou last season from Italian outfit Udinese for an inflated fee of €26million, plus a further €11m in add-ons and it quickly became clear that he was to play a vital part in Pep Guardiola’s side. By the end of last campaign, with the much-vaunted coach doing his best to eradicate out-and-out strikers in his team, alongside Lionel Messi, he was their most potent attacking threat and finished the term with 12 league goals in 25 games and 15 across all competitions. It was far from the blistering form which we had become accustomed to seeing from him in Serie A, but considering the team’s struggles, he did reasonably well by all accounts.
Nevertheless, the departure of Guardiola appears to have hit Sanchez harder than most and the rise of Christian Tello and resurgence of Pedro have seen him slide down the pecking order at the club under new boss Tito Vilanova to the extent that he’s no longer assured of a starting place. He remains goalless in 10 injury-disturbed league outings this season and has just one goal in 18 across all competitions. All is clearly not well, but where has it gone wrong?
The main problem comes with the team’s possession-based game in that it grants Sanchez less space in behind the opposition’s defence to stretch his legs and use his exceptional pace. Starting predominantly on the right, a lot of the team’s play down that flank is revolved around getting the best out of Daniel Alves, while the Brazilian can often be found linking up regularly with Lionel Messi, who drifts out wide from a central position.
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It seems as if the league’s style of play has had an effect on his confidence and he’s garnered a reputation as something of a diver, which in Spain, is no mean feat. He can usually be found drifting in and out of matches, failing to impose himself and while his conversion rate has never been anything other than solid, the goal have dried up enough to warrant closer inspection of what else he does to contribute to the team.
Barcelona have opted for a far more direct approach this season, especially away from home, with the majority of their play coming down the flanks rather than through the middle, and while in theory this should suit Sanchez, he’s been unable to strike up a partnership with either Martin Montoya or Alves in the same way that he did with Mauricio Isla at Udinese and he’s simply not as comfortable playing with his back to goal than he is running into space behind.
The floating role that Messi occupies in the middle means the Chilean international lacks a fixed reference point and their understanding, while occasionally decent, is nothing like what the Argentine shares with his other attacking team-mates, most notably Cesc Fabregas. His role is to drag markers away from the middle, allowing Messi more space to exploit; it’s a selfless, somewhat sacrificial role much to the detriment of his overall impact on the side and he’d arguably suit Real Madrid’s counter-attacking style much more than Barcelona’s at the moment.
This has opened the door for a potential future switch to the Premier League, and while talk of a switch to Liverpool is fanciful to say the least given their recent standing in England, the possibility of both Manchester clubs and Chelsea being interested is a very real one.
The player’s agent Fernando Felicevich has ruled out a move for his client in the near future, telling todomercadoweb.es: “In no case will Alexis leave Barcelona. He has returned after injury and played well. Alexis stays in Barcelona.
“Has no reason to leave. He is at the best team in the world. In addition to that Barca has Messi, a player that everyone can learn from.”
Barcelona are not a club that you walk away from in a hurry, even if you are struggling, but should the rumours coming out of Old Trafford regarding Nani’s future come to fruition and the Portuguese winger be allowed to leave, then all of a sudden a spot has opened up in the side, with the jury still well and truly out on Ashley Young, while Manchester City’s lack of creativity from wide areas is well-documented.
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Chelsea on the other hand, could perhaps do with another player to supplement their 4-2-3-1 system, with a heavy reliance on all three of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar to start to have any sort of impact, and Marko Marin seems to have disappeared at Stamford Bridge since his surprise summer move.
It would be a great shame if Sanchez were to be dubbed a failure at Barcelona because he has the potential to be a world-class player when he matures, but his fragile confidence has played a part in making him an increasingly square peg in a round hole.
His future is far from assured, even if his recent struggles are understandable, and a move to England, where his pace, crossing ability and tactical awareness would mark him out as a superb signing for plenty of top flight clubs, even if only the Manchester duopoly and Chelsea stand a reasonable chance of tempting him away.
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has insisted winger Arda Turan will not be sold despite being linked with Liverpool FC, among others, talkSport reports.
The Turkish winger had been linked with moves away from the Vicente Calderon Stadium after expressing to CNN Turkey, his desire to play for a club “capable of winning the Champions League”.
However Atletico boss Diego Simeone denied the the claims, telling reporters:
“Arda isn’t going, definitely. I didn’t hear what he said but people have told me. Everyone has the right to say what he wants to, what’s important is what he does on the pitch.
“There isn’t a single Atletico supporter who wouldn’t say that Arda is one of the best players we have and that he gives his all in every game. He has a contract with the club, he’s ours, he’s an extremely important player for the squad and he demonstrates it when he has to.”
Turan, 25, signed for Atletico from Turkish club Galatasaray in 2011, and has become a key player for the Spanish side who are enjoying a very impressive league campaign. They currently sit second in the table, only behind Barcelona and seven points ahead of neighbours Real.
The Turkish international who also helped Atletico to triumph in the Europa league last season, has scored four goals in 16 appearances for them so far this term.
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Liverpool chief Brendan Rodgers has moved early in the winter transfer window, already securing the services of England forward Daniel Sturridge in a £12million deal, and is believed to be keen to add to his squad further.