Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has stated that his side must not take their foot off the gas when winning games.
The Old Trafford outfit lost the Premier League title to Manchester City on goal difference last term, and as such the England man feels that the Red Devils should look to win each game by as many goals as possible.
“We know when we are winning two or three-nil we need to go and win five or six-nil,” The Sun quote Cleverley as saying.
“It does not need the manager to tell us we let sides back into games last season.
“With 60 or 70 games a season, if you’re two or three up you might think ‘We have another big game Tuesday so we can take our foot off the gas now’.
“But we have a squad to cope with the number of games so we can go all out for 95 minutes every game,” he commented.
Cleverley feels that Chelsea and Arsenal will have a big say in the title race this term, and the battle may well go right down to the wire once more.
“The way the four teams have started you can definitely see a four-horse race.
“Arsenal are probably playing the best stuff at the minute while Chelsea are winning games — which is what they are good at.
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“It’s dog eat dog up there. You know if you get a bad result there’s going to be two or maybe all three of the other teams winning.
“You have to be on your game every week and a bad three or four-game run could be very significant. I think it will be the most competitive season ever,” he concluded.
Brad Friedel has insisted that “there was never a big fight” between him, rival goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Andre Villas-Boas.
Manager Andre Villas-Boas has shared goalkeeping responsibilities between Friedel and Lloris over the course of the last three games in the Premier League and the American was between the sticks for Saturday’s defeat to Chelsea.
When Lloris was brought to Tottenham Hotspur in the last transfer window, speculation raged about how Friedel was set to become second choice goalkeeper.
But Friedel insists that despite this, no problem exists between him and Lloris, and that Spurs were searching for someone to be the top goalkeeper at the club long-term.
“It was always in his (Villas-Boas’) plans to play me against Chelsea and I knew from the point he benched me against Aston Villa. The media wanted to make out that it was this big fight between Hugo and myself and the manager, but there was never a big fight,” he told sportsillustrated.com.
“The fact is Tottenham have been looking for the last year and a half for a long-term number one goalkeeper. I don’t think they envisioned what my fitness levels would be at this age and I sort of surprised myself.”
He also reiterated that the competition between the two keepers is friendly and helps both players improve their game.
“It’s healthy, but there’s a competition. It’s friendly. It’s going to be a situation where Andre will choose a team that he feels will win the game on the day and that’s how it’ll be from now until the end of the season,” he added.
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Friedel’s run of 310 successive Premier League games was ended by Lloris earlier in the month.
West Brom boss Steve Clarke faces an anxious wait to see if on loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku can recover in time for his side’s home fixture against Manchester City.
The 19-year-old has illustrated this term why Chelsea were willing to part with a reported £18 million fee to Anderlecht for the star’s services last season.
The Belgian international has already become a real asset for the Baggies, illustrating his sheer power and pace.
However, the player picked up an ankle problem which excluded him from participating in this round of 2014 World Cup Qualifiers.
It is a tight call whether the 6ft 3in marksman will be able to the lead Albion line against the Premier League champions, but his manager is hopeful.
Clarke is aware that the striker has had the knock for a few weeks and was feeling the strain against QPR. But he is happy that all the correct precautions have been taken to ensure the player doesn’t become seriously injured.
The former Chelsea number two went on to tell the West Bromwich Albion official website: “It’s not a big problem but it’s one we’re mindful we don’t want to become a big problem. We’re monitoring it.”
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The Baggies’ front line has been on top form this season with Lukaku providing another dimension to the already formidable Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long partnership.
The loan signing has been part of what appears to have been a successful bargain summer recruitment policy for the West Midlands side, with new midfielder Claudio Yacob also impressing after signing on a free from Racing Club.
Everton will be looking to keep hold of their place in the top four when they welcome struggling Sunderland to Goodison Park on Saturday.
David Moyes will feel a win is overdue after watching his side string together four consecutive draws, with the one at Fulham last week particularly frustrating.
Sunderland have failed to win any of their last 15 Premier League games against Everton, a record they will be desperate to put right following their poor start to the season.
Martin O’Neil watched as his side lost 1-0 at home to Villa last weekend, a result which saw his team get booed off the pitch at the final whistle.
O’Neil will however take comfort from his own personal record against Moyes, losing just one of his ten Premier League clashes with the Scot.
Everton have no new injury concerns, with only Darron Gibson set to miss out once more with a thigh problem, although he is thought to be close to a return, possibly before the end of the month.
Louis Saha is in contention to start for Sunderland, against the club he left in January. The 34-year-old is yet to get off the mark for his new club.
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Manchester United target Christian Eriksen is refusing to sign a new contract with the club, according to reports from talkSPORT.
The Danish international has been on the radar of the Premier League outfit for some time, following multiple impressive performances with the Amsterdam club both domestically and in Europe.
The 20-year-old has previously claimed to be happy in Holland and keen to remain at the Amsterdam ArenA for the foreseeable future.
However, Ajax director, and former Arsenal player, Marc Overmars told reporters that the youngster has changed his mind, and may attempt to leave the club:
“We would like Christian to sign a new contract with us, but it’s not something he wants.” He told Sporten in Denmark.
“We will see what happens after this year. We speak with him and his agent and we will see what happens after December.”
With his current deal set to expire in 2014, the midfielder could be available at a reduced fee during the coming transfer windows.
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United have been heavily linked with the starlet in recent months, with Sir Alex Ferguson keen to add his creative talents to the Old Trafford armoury.
Liverpool are another interested party, with reports claiming that Brendan Rodgers sees the playmaker as the ideal long-term replacement for club captain Steven Gerrard.
Sir Alex Ferguson should try and sign Liverpool starlet Raheem Sterling according to former Manchester United winger Willie Morgan, reports the Daily Mail.
The United old boy has told Ferguson to make a shock bid to bring the highly rated winger to Old Trafford in a move that would certainly ruffle the feathers of arch rivals Liverpool FC.
The 18-year-old has flourished under new manager Brendan Rodgers and has become a regular in the team, featuring in every Premier League game so far this season apart from the defeat to West Brom on the opening weekend.
Morgan who made 236 appearances for United between 1968 and 1975 told the Manchester Evening News: “Sterling is the first winger I have seen in a long time who looks like a proper winger. He looks very good already and I think he is going to be great.
“If you just let him go wide on the outside of the full-backs all the time I think he will be a great player. He’ll frighten people to death, so long as nobody coaches it out of him. He’s the brightest prospect out there and would suit United.”
Sterling’s form this season has also caught the eye of England chief Roy Hodgson who awarded him his first senior cap in the friendly defeat to Sweden last month.
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A deal would seem unlikely though, as no player has moved straight from Liverpool to Manchester United or vice versa since Phil Chisnall made the switch from Old Trafford to Anfield in 1964.
The general consensus when it comes to transfer activity is that January is never the best time to do your business, and while for the most part the long-term planning that the summer offers is clearly preferable, mid-season signings can often have a fantastic impact at the club, sometimes better than they are given credit for meaning the winter window shouldn’t be feared as much as it often is, with plenty of bargains to be had.
Doing the lions’ share of your transfer business in the summer is without a shadow the best approach to take; it allows the new player time to settle in to fresh surroundings, among new players, a new manager and potentially completely different style of play, but it also allows them the opportunity to build up their fitness and come to terms with the culture of their new club.
When it comes to the January transfer window, when a club moves for a new player, it can often be seen as a panic buy or a chance to compensate for a flaw in the squad which was previously assumed to be an area of strength and not weakness; managers up and down the country will be looking to do the odd piece of business, but it’s not the time for wholesale changes, despite the inherent tinkering nature of the window.
However, this feeling that the winter window now no longer offers you value for money is certainly a false one by and large and while there may be plenty of banana skins to avoid, with the right scouting, there are treasures to be found which have made positive changes both long and short-term to the team’s that they represent and there’s no real reason for this great taboo to exist anymore.
Take Manchester United for example, who have benefited hugely from their transfer dealings in the past midway through the campaign. They brought vice-captain Patrice Evra to the club back in 2006 from Monaco for a fee in the region of £5.5m and while he may have needed to have been subbed at half-time during his debut against Manchester City, he has proved to be a fantastic servant to them during an eight-year stay so far.
During the very same window, Sir Alex Ferguson also purchased club captain Nemanja Vidic from Russian outfit Spartak Moscow for £7m and while Fernando Torres, then of Liverpool, may have given him a torrid time on a number of occasions, the Serbian international has been one of the best, most consistent defenders in the entire top flight since moving to Old Trafford and he was absolutely instrumental in helping the side to four league titles and two Champions League finals.
Newcastle also reaped the dividends of their good scouting work after they bought Papiss Cisse from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg for a fee in the region of £8m and he helped to spearhead the club to an unlikely but hugely deserved fifth-placed finish in the league last season, with his 13 goals in 14 games from January onwards more than making up for the goal drought of team-mate Demba Ba. With Lille right-back Mathieu Debuchy set to move to the club this time around, and with Danny Simpson out of contract in the summer, Magpies fans can be pleased with the business that they’ve done so far, even if more is surely required to stop the rot and make up for their lack of movement before the start of the campaign.
Everton also stand out as a club which have made the most of other clubs wariness of doing deals in January and after selling Diniyar Bilyaletdinov back to Russia to Spartak Moscow, with the £5.5m picked up from the sale they were able to bring in Nikica Jelavic and Darron Gibson on permanent deals and Steven Pienaar back on loan from Tottenham, which more than prepped the ground for a full-time switch in the summer. It completely transformed their season and this term they look a more organised and creative side truly capable of cracking the top four again. Phil Neville, Louis Saha and Tim Howard were all picked up at the same period in the past too, proving that manager David Moyes has an enviable transfer record in January compared to most.
Throw into the mix that Blackburn managed to bring in Christopher Samba from Hertha Berlin back in 2007 for just £450k, Fulham pinched Brede Hangeland from FC Copenhagen for just £2.5m, Matthew Etherington moved to Stoke for £2m from West Ham, not to mention Luis Suarez and Martin Skrtel switching to Liverpool and Gary Cahill to Chelsea and there are quite a few examples of fantastic deals being struck at this time of year.
It will always be tricky to get more bang for your buck when it comes to the notoriously difficult January window, but these deals prove that there are loads of players out there available at a decent price that can come in and leave a lasting impression on the starting eleven. For every Andy Carroll there’s a Luis Suarez and for every Fernando Torres there’s a Nikica Jelavic, but the same certainly applies to the summer transfer window and to completely write off a time to do some potentially superb deals based on the worst excesses of the past is the wrong viewpoint and approach to adopt.
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With many top clubs still competing in Europe at this time of year, there’s an obvious reluctance from most to part with their best players while they still stand a chance of winning something, therefore inflating their value to coincide with their true worth to their current club, but dig a little deeper and explore a little more off the beaten track and the cultural backwaters of Europe have so much to offer. It takes more imagination, creativity and bravery to take the plunge in January, but for those that do, even though there’s more risk, the rewards if it is done right can be huge.
This current moment in time represents an interesting moment in the debate over “Safe Standing” at football matches. On one hand, the Hillsborough Charity Single, a cover of “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” performed by a number of famous musicians including Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams has reached Number One in the UK pop charts, whilst at the same time, fourteen clubs throughout the football league have backed a proposal to take a step towards reintroducing standing, rephrased as “Safe Standing”, in sections of their respective stadiums.
But would Safe Standing, which has become a popular and successful element of spectating at Bundesliga games, have the same effect on the Premier League, or does it have the potential to open up some old, and even some fresh wounds, in light of the resurgence of interest in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster?
Well, it’s time to dispel a few myths. Firstly, I can safely say I have never attended a football match where at least one portion of the crowd, if not the entire away support, haven’t spent the majority of the game on their feet. Similarly, there are periods of the match where most of the crowd are unseated; waiting in optimum position to start celebrating or deliver an outburst of emotion that could not be successfully portrayed whilst sat down. From my experiences as a Charlton fan, of which I have attended a few other grounds around the country as well as The Valley on a regular basis, it seems fairly typical of English clubs that a designated area of the more hardcore fans would collectively assemble and remain standing throughout the match. Therefore, suggesting Safe Standing is hardly a huge deviation from the norm, it would more be a legalisation of a practice that is very much already on-going.
Furthermore, I have never been at a match where stewards or club officials have made a considerable effort to make supporters keep to their seats, most probably because the effort would be futile. Apart from threatening to postpone the game, when it comes down to it there is little a handful of stewards can do to control a lairy mob of football fans anything from a couple of thousand to tens of thousands strong.
Another myth is that English stadia in the top two divisions are currently all-seater by law due to the Hillsborough disaster. Although the Taylor Report, which examined the terrible tragedy, recommended the transition away from standing sections at stadiums, it was more to do with providing better crowd control and giving the police a better opportunity to do their job than it was an effort to avoid future crushes. All seater stadiums allow for easier surveillance, a better record of who and how many are attending the game as well as where they are situated, provides natural lines of division through large groups, and furthermore makes petty crimes such as pick-pocketing and scuffles between fans much more difficult.
As previously mentioned, standing has long been a feature of the Bundesliga following a decision by the German footballing authorities not to switch to all-seater stadia in 1993. But surely it would be wrong to suggest that our continental friends are simply toying with fate and waiting for a tragedy of their own. Much money and time has been invested in providing the right safety measures to allow fans to remain standing without endangering themselves or those around them. Editor of European football website “Gannin’ Away,” Andy Hudson, describes how the “vario” seats used in Germany provide safety to standing supporters: “There are metal barriers situated at regular intervals on the terracing. This removes huge gaps of open terracing that many people remember from UK football grounds. As a result of the barriers, there are never too many fans squeezed into a confined space. This eliminates any potential for surges and people tumbling down the terracing. Also, ticket numbers are regulated so the standing areas are never to full capacity. While you could get X amount of fans in an area, clubs sell less than that volume. This is a practice that’s replicated across many European countries”.
The Bundesliga has been so readily compared to in this debate as a model of success not just because they have effectively handled the safety aspects of having standing fans, but the German league has also reaped the benefits. Most fans would argue that standing at a match is more fun, it may sound a trivial point but for the majority of supporters it is true. Furthermore, there is some evidence of this in the Bundesliga. The fantastic atmosphere at matches has been acknowledged by reporters for some time, and has even carried across into Champions League clashes involving Bundesliga clubs, where German fans, although seated for European occasions (another benefit of the Vario seat, which has a foldable rail seat), have remained loud, passionate and electric in their support throughout. Similarly, back to the domestic league, German clubs have regularly high attendances with the average stadia being of larger capacity than their English counterparts.
So, where do I stand on this? Well, I do support the idea of standing sections of stadia. Other journalists have suggested that seated stadiums have allowed for minority groups, women and children to feel more comfortable attending matches, but the Safe Standing campaign is directed at choice rather than being either all standing or all seated. But the proposals have received condemnation by those affected by Hillsborough and it is easy to understand why.
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Unfortunately, along with the disaster came a huge injustice that has still not yet been fully overcome. It is not the technical aspects of Safe Standing that alarm fans, it is the emotional and historical connection to a tragic event. Currently, there is an unwritten law that football fans are allowed to stand at their own digression, and as long as they don’t cause trouble authorities allow them to remain on their feet. In my opinion this convention should continue, regardless of the benefits to the English spectator experience, until the wounds left behind from Hillsborough are fully healed.
Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed that the club have extended Thomas Hitzlsperger’s contract until the end of the season.
The German international had originally joined the Toffees on a short term contract in October but Moyes has been convinced to keep hold of the former West Ham and Aston Villa player until the summer.
The 30-year-old midfielder has made only seven appearances for the Merseyside club since his arrival but with a relatively small squad, Everton need to have willing rotation players in the ranks.
Promising youngster Ross Barkley has been let out on loan once again, this time to Leeds United, in order to give him first team football and many Evertonians believe Barkley will be a future star for club and country.
Moyes is happy to see the youngster get some more first team football and is also pleased to see the experience of Hitzlsperger remain at the club for a few more months.
“We have decided to keep him on. Thomas is going to stay until the end of the season,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
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“He has played a few games for us now, and he has been around the block a few times. He knows exactly what is required.”
Everton manager David Moyes is concerned over the injury sustained by Phil Jagielka in the Toffees’ victory over Reading yesterday.
Jagielka was fouled by Royals striker Adam Le Fondre just five minutes into the game at Goodison Park in which a 3-1 win helped Moyes’ side keep track on the Europa League spot in the Premier League.
The England defender is now doubtful ahead of Everton’s FA Cup quarter final with Wigan next week and will require surgery to sew up a deep gash in his ankle.
Moyes was furious that the tackle went relatively unpunished and feels that his side have been bullied at times this season with fierce challenges the only way opposition teams can stop Everton from playing their free football.
While admitting that he hasn’t seen a replay yet, Moyes knew straight away that his defender was badly hurt and that he is now going to be without a key player for a number of weeks.
“I genuinely haven’t seen it again but I thought on the pitch it didn’t look good,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
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“Jagielka knew about it and it is a bad one. He will have surgery tonight to stitch up his ankle. It is a bad one because he is a key player for us.”