All posts by h79snht.top

With eyes still firmly on the present with an intriguing Premier League title race, race for fourth and race for survival encapsulating the nation, few have looked to the immediate future and indeed a busy summer ahead incorporating the European Championships and indeed our very own Olympic Games at London 2012. With the England manager’s job still very much up in the air and Team GB matters seemingly put to one side and forgotten about, there is still an element of mystery surrounding just who will make up the squad whereby just three players may be over the age of 23.

We know Stuart Pearce will be the manager but other than this, any inkling of a final squad has been the butt of rumours, speculation and word of mouth. We also know that Pearce himself sent out letters to over 200 footballers with 11 reportedly turning down an invitation to be part of the squad. With the Euro’s and Olympics filling the summer programme, it may be the case that a few ‘also ran’s may make the Team GB squad and vice versa, and a lot of rejigging will have to take place with players understandably not being able to partake in both competitions.

Jack Rodwell, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have appeared in promotional pictures advertising the supporters and team jerseys already, and a lot of persuasive phone calls and arm twists will have to take place to release the players from their respective Football Associations, whereby dissent has been rife from the smaller nations, despite the players’ wishes to link up with the squad. So let us give you ten names, who just may be taken under Stuart Pearce’s wing for the big event in the summer.

Click on Jonny Evans to unveil the top 10

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Who do you want to see in the squad? Would these players forge a successful side? Do you even care? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

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Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has maintained that his side can still win the Premier League title, and has thanked the players and staff at the club for welcoming him back to action.

The Argentina international scored a hat-trick for the Etihad Stadium outfit in Saturday’s 6-1 rout of Norwich, and has been back in favour after a spell AWOL away from the club.

The temperamental forward hopes Roberto Mancini’s men can still have success this season, and is glad to be back playing.

“Of course we can still win the title,” Tevez told City TV.

“Obviously we have to put pressure on United. We just need to continue to play the way we are and we will arrive and the top. Mathematically it’s not impossible.

“I am very happy that I played very well but the most important thing is that I want to say thank you to my colleagues for all the support they have given me since I arrived.

“It wasn’t easy coming back to training and to play but they have given me a lot of support and the technical staff have been very good to me too. I really appreciate everyone’s help,” he confessed.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Manchester United will not offer Michael Owen a new contract, and as such he is free to leave the club on a free transfer this summer.

The ageing striker has had an injury-plagued season, and has not featured for the Red Devils since November due to a knee injury.

Owen confirmed that he would be leaving Old Trafford on his Twitter account, but as yet has not decided what his next move will be.

“The manager informed me after our testimonial match on Tuesday that the club would not be offering me a new contract,” he confessed on the social networking site.

“I have loved every minute of the three years I have spent at such a fantastic club.

“I now plan to have a short holiday during which I will contemplate my next move.”

Sir Alex Ferguson praised Owen’s professionalism and wished him well at his next club.

“It is a pleasure to have had Michael at Manchester United,” he told the club’s official website.

“Michael is a consummate professional and was an influential figure in our dressing room. Unfortunately he had no luck with his injury this season.

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“Michael’s record of goals per game is exceptional and we wish him all the best for the future,” the Scot concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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England manager Roy Hodgson has stated that he is proud of his players despite their Euro 2012 elimination at the hands of Italy.

With the game going to penalties after a 0-0 draw, Ashley Young and Ashley Cole missed spot-kicks to see the Three Lions crash out of the tournament.

Despite this, Hodgson cannot fault the effort shown by his players.

“I thought the chances were there for both teams. I actually thought we created some very good chances ourselves,” he told reporters, published in Sky Sports.

“But as the half wore on, and extra-time, I thought we were tiring badly and we weren’t able to establish enough good possession in the midfield so they came at us time and time again.

“In some ways, you might have even preferred it if they’d have got a goal in that time when they were playing well as that’s a little bit less of a cruel way to lose than on penalties.

“We’ve gone out but we’ve gone out without actually losing the game and I think we’ve gone out with our heads held high.

“I personally think the lads have done a fantastic job for their country and I also think that people have appreciated it.

“I really can’t fault the players for their effort. Towards the end we had a lot of players out there running on empty really.

“Tired legs, fighting off cramp – but they kept going right to the end.

“But when you go to penalties you have a chance. Unfortunately it was Italy who took that chance and not us.

“The five penalty takers we have are good ones and we’ve been doing a fair amount in training with Ashley Young smashing in penalties on a regular basis so of course you hope.

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“I know everyone in this country has an obsession with penalties and that’s going to get even worse now but the fact is you can’t reproduce the tired legs.

“You can’t reproduce the pressure. You can’t reproduce the feeling of nervous tension. They stood up to it better than we did, (Andrea) Pirlo’s penalty being a classic example,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Arsenal are thought to have agreed a £13 million transfer fee with Montpellier for striker Olivier Giroud, according to Mirror Football.

The tall marksman is on international duty with France currently, but did not feature for Les Bleus against England on Monday night.

After leading Montpellier to an unexpected Ligue 1 triumph last term, Giroud has been in the limelight, with a number of English and European clubs interested in prying him away from the French champions.

Although the club’s owner has stated in the past that Giroud was worth £50 million, it is believed that the forward has a £12.8 million release clause in his contract.

Arsenal are thought to be eager to strengthen their squad this summer and have already confirmed a deal to bring Germany international attacker Lukas Podolski to the Emirates Stadium.

However, with Robin van Persie stalling on signing a new contract and with only 12 months left on his current deal, Arsene Wenger is looking to bring in striking options to aid the side should their current skipper opt to leave.

The Gunners are thought to have met Giroud’s release clause and will now discuss personal terms with the frontman after Euro 2012.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Peter Hill-Wood has hit back at claims that Arsenal is badly run, in light of criticism aimed at the club by shareholder Alisher Usmanov. The Gunners chairman feels that the Uzbek billionaire’s comments were ‘not helpful’ and has called for a little reality about Arsenal’s current situation. Hill-Wood feels supporters need to realise that the club cannot compete with the likes of Manchester City and the Gunners can only spend what they earn and have to live within their means.

Elsewhere in the news Vertonghen is hoping to reach an agreement with Ajax so he can complete his move to Tottenham; FIFA defends its World rankings, while Nemanja Vidic gives Manchester United by returning to full training.

Headlines

Kolo Toure has called upon Robin van Persie to quit the Gunners for Manchester City, suggesting he can achieve all his ambitions at the Etihad Stadium – [Guardian]

Jan Vertonghen’s agent claims that the Belgium ace is in constant contact with Ajax in attempting to pave the way for his Tottenham move – [Guardian]

Ray Lewington has officially joined up as a full time coach with Roy Hodgson’s England regime – [Guardian]

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers steps up negotiations to make Roma striker Fabio Borini his first signing at Anfield – [Daily Telegraph]

Sepp Blatter reveals that it was Frank Lampard’s goal that never was at the 2010 World Cup that forced their hands to embrace technology – [Daily Telegraph]

Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will continue to play pivotal roles in Liverpool’s development as a football club, according to Rodgers – [Independent]

QPR have strengthened their midfield options by signing Manchester United midfielder Park Ji Sung – [Independent]

Nemanja Vidic has given Manchester United a massive boost by returning to full training following his knee injury – [Daily Mail]

Dave Whelan has warned Chelsea that they won’t wane over their £10m asking price for Victor Moses – [Daily Mail]

Tony Fernandes has warned Joey Barton that he is on his last warning at Queens Park Rangers – [Sun]

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PLEASE NOTE – click on the sources to view the respective articles

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The idea for Malaga to release their Champions League kit—or even make one—prior to actually qualifying for the competition proper, seemed a really strange and regrettable move. Yes the club can now consider themselves genuine players in the transfer market, and there’s more than enough reason to believe the team can navigate out of the qualifying group. However, it appears that all is not well at the Andalusian club, with the Qatari owners seeming unwilling to bankroll the team as other owners are doing around Europe.

It started with the departure of Fernando Hierro late last season—a surprise move considering his position and ideas for the future. His parting statement was familiar reading, although not all that familiar when dealing with an apparently highly ambitious club. There was a disagreement in how the club should move forward, and Hierro decided to part with the new-look Malaga.

There should have been a lot of hope going into this next La Liga campaign: Here was a club who might genuinely be able to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid in the foreseeable future, and they had the manager and players in place to start the process straight away. Champions League qualification was a big plus for the club in allowing them to move forward at pace. Providing they can qualify for the group stage, Malaga will set themselves up as a very desirable destination for some of Europe’s best talent.

Moreover, the club were in a position where the big names such as Robinho were being linked for a move. Ruud van Nistelrooy was a good signing for the short term, but the club really did need a little more star power to build on what they had. Like PSG and Manchester City have done, Malaga really needed to announce themselves Europe-wide.

The recent reports of Malaga’s players going unpaid should be a huge knock to the ambitions of the club, but especially to La Liga as a whole. Doubt is starting to creep, and Malaga could be just another one of those clubs who failed to match the might of the biggest two in Spain. More worrying, the club’s owner seems extremely reluctant to build on the promising summer of last year.

Just 12-months removed from signing one of La Liga’s stars, Malaga are reportedly willing to let Santi Cazorla go. With him will go their status as a genuine big club among Spain’s top-flight, and without a draw like Santi Cazorla, where does that leave a club with seemingly big hopes for the future.

In contrast to City and PSG, Malaga have gone about their rebuilding process in a slightly quieter manner, preferring to remain modest with their transfer fees (at least in today’s climate) and really only breaking the bank for the former Villarreal midfielder. The Champions League should have been an entrance into a greater market, allowing the club to show themselves as another major contender among Europe’s richest.

The truth is, Malaga do not have the foundation of PSG, Manchester City or even Atletico Madrid, for example. La Rosaleda holds less than 30,000, and the club’s name isn’t backed by a major European city. The owner seems afraid to dip into his wealth and help move the club another step up the ladder, rather insisting that the club sell it’s assets to address it’s debt.

Maybe Hierro saw that there was little future in the club, or at least that success wouldn’t come as quickly as some had hoped. Malaga are currently a great number of steps behind Manchester City and PSG, and the current issue regarding 40% of player wages still owed only acts as a blanket to what may be in the near future.

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There’s a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding the club now, rather than a clear vision of what the targets should have been for the upcoming season. With the economy in Spain and the problems over revenue distribution in La Liga, lack of decisive ownership may see Malaga become just another hopeful to fall by the wayside.

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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has admitted for the first time he was wrong to make rapid, sweeping changes during his tenure as Chelsea manager. Handed the remit of bringing entertaining, winning football to Stamford Bridge, Portuguese Villas-Boas termed this ‘his project’.

However, changing a playing style that for years had been built around the strength and pace of players such as Didier Drogba was always going to be difficult. The 34-year-old tactician soon lost the confidence of his players, the fans, and eventually the management and was sacked in March. Talking to The Mail Online, he stated “There are changes that have to be done here at Tottenham but I won’t promote change as aggressively as at Chelsea. When you promote so much change and things are going along smoothly, everybody is happy and you are able to progress. But when you are faced with a setback, it’s the ability to bounce back that will keep you right on track. Our setbacks last year had a tremendous impact when we wanted to correct things. But it was always like we were putting out fires and never establishing what we were before. So I think change will become progressive at Tottenham.”

With the departure of Luka Modric to Real Madrid imminent, Villas-Boas has been looking at signing French duo Yann M’Vila and Etienne Capoue, from Rennes and Toulouse respectively, to bolster his midfield options. The London-based club are also still in talks with Emmanuel Adebayor over a move from Manchester City, but the striker’s high wage demands are slowing down any progress.

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striker Jermain Defoe has declared that he’ll keep on scoring, after adding two goals to his season tally during a 3-0 win at Fulham on the weekend.

The 30-year-old striker now has nine goals to his name as the leading English goal-scorer in the Premier League behind Robin Van Persie, Michu and Luis Suarez who are all level on 10 goals.

At Craven Cottage on the weekend Defoe’s brace came during a hot five-minute spell in the second half following a relatively ineffective first half performance, where the Cottagers limited his play considerably.

“In the first half I didn’t really get a lot of touch[es] on the ball but I thought, you know what it doesn’t matter, because as the game gets stretched there’ll be chances for me to run in behind when they go forward a little bit more, [and] I’ll get a chance,” said the diminutive England international during an Absolute Radio interview.

Defoe then commented that his confidence under Andre Villas-Boas has hit the roof, “When you’re scoring goals you’re buzzing, you just can’t wait for the next game, because you’ve got that belief. You always feel like you’re going to score every game you go into.”

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The striker’s performance this season has helped to push Spurs into 4th in the Premier League with a five-point gap now open between fellow fourth-place hopefuls, and rivals Arsenal.

Jack Wilshere’s comeback is drawing closer after Arsene Wenger claimed the midfielder should be back in training by the end of next month, according to goal.com.

Wishere has not played a competitive match since May 2011 due to a series of injuries, which has seen the midfielder miss out on Euro 2012 and the Olympics.

Wenger believes the 20-year-old is making good progress and revealed he could make a return to first team action by the New Year.

Wilshere’s injury, combined with Alex Song’s departure, means Arsenal could still be looking at midfielder options this transfer deadline day, with a proposed loan move for Real Madrid’s Nuri Sahin still a possibility.

With Tomas Rosicky also out of action due to an Achilles injury, Wenger highlighted the importance of having his players back to full fitness.

“Getting our injured players back like Wilshere and Rosicky is the best way to strengthen our squad.

“After the international break they should not be too far away from training”, he said.

In defence, Wenger will soon be able to welcome back Bacary Sagna after the France international broke his leg in May and missed Euro 2012. Like Wilshere, he should make a return to training by the end of September.

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Meanwhile, Laurent Koscielny is in the Gunners squad to face Liverpool on Sunday after recovering from a calf injury.

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