Looks like golden balls wants a medal to match…
David Beckham this morning has revealed his desire to captain the Great Britain this year at the London Games.
Having led his country already, the 36-year-old made it clear that he would love to lead his nation to the Olympics.
London 2012…
Beckham signed a new contract with LA Galaxy earlier this week and in that deal that made him available for section at London 2012.
All the signs point toward Beckham taking the captaincy, given that he was a major part of the Olympic bid team. The former England captain has been influential in securing the games for London since Singapore in 2005.
England Manager Fabio Capello has also backed Beckham to become a prominent feature in the GB squad.
Beckham will be one of 184 players who have been contacted by GB coach Stuart Pearce and his team to confirm that they will be available for selection.
Ryan Giggs was also among one of the players who confirmed he would be available for the GB squad. If selected, the Welshman will be among the three over-aged players available for the squad. The remainder of the squad will have to meet the guidelines of being under the age of 23.
Beckham, who turns 37 in May, was approached by French giants PSG over the summer, which the Englishman chose to turn down. He has since decided to extend his contract over in the states, prolonging his career to the age of 39.
Beckham also confirmed that he had seen interest from some unknown Premier League sides, reigniting a possible return to the Premier League since leaving Manchester United back in 2003.
What’s more important though is that the spotlight remains focused on the young talent that will be showcased from our great nation come the 27th July.
If you’re not lucky enough to wake up outside of Manchester this morning, you’ll be forgiven for feeling the depressing darkness wash over you.
It will have come as little surprise to many to draw back the curtains on this grey Manchurian morning, only to be greeted by heavy showers and dark skies.
Manchester’s failure in Europe
When our two Manchester clubs started their Champions League campaigns, both club managers were filled with a hope of conquering Europe. But it was not to be, as both sides ended those aspirations prematurely and crashed out of Europe’s elite competition
And those failures were no more disappointing then for Manchester United fans, who were left with blushing faces to match their red playing shirts as they exited out of the Champions League last night to FC Basel.
The Reds started the season full of their usual ambition that walked hand in hand with the Manchester United’s historical success. But a recent slump, including a 6-1 drumming to their derby rivals, has seen United step onto the unfamiliar territory of failure.
Like their Manchester counterparts, City started the season in similar style, yet they too fell short of the last sixteen despite their win against Bayern Munich.
But for Ferguson there was particular embarrassment for the failure to qualify from a group that the Scotsman could have handpicked himself.
City though had a much tougher group and the expectations for the blue side of Manchester were far less. And thus, Mancini’s debuted City flop goes somewhat under the radar.
Roberto Mancini’s extensive rebuilding of Manchester City will enviably take time to bed in and though many will expect an instant success from such a colossal spend, football simply does work that way. And given that City found themselves in a really challenging group in Bayern, Napoli and Villareal, the Italian can be forgiven for his halter in European progression.
But in a group with Benfica, Basel and Romanians Otelul Galati, finishing second would have come as a disappointment for a well-educated Manchester United team from the outlay. Who would have gone as far too even bet against qualification for a Manchester United team that has not failed to qualify for the last 16 since 2005? Exiting from a group along with Otelul Galati for a team like Manchester United is more than an embarrassment, it’s a professional tragedy.
United only wins came over the Romanian club. Drawing twice with Benfica and being reduced to a point in the final moments at Old Trafford were disappointing results that could have been salvaged last night with a single point. But last night showed how the mighty have fallen, with a more frequently apologetic Ferguson, English football looks certain to fall into a state of flux.
Let’s not blow things out of proportion though. Manchester United can still rule domestically in a Premier League that is increasingly becoming a majorly talented league. However, things have to change.
Now they find themselves in the Europa League, Patrice Evra said exactly what was on the minds of many. The French left back told the media; ‘It’s an embarrassment to play in the Europa League.’
An embarrassment it might be for the Premier League champions, but reality it has become and if Fergie wants to salvage some silverware this season he will need to be ready to compete. Whether he decides to make a run for the Europe’s plastic cup remains to be seen. Except, plastic might be as good as it gets when it comes to venturing beyond the domestic silverware.
It feels like a different decade almost when Manchester United reached the final last year to battle against Barcelona.
For Manchester City it’s a little different though. With money comes depth and whilst their full attentions will remain on the Premier League, flexing some of their reserve muscle will be more than enough potency to stomp over Europa contenders.
Whilst this all remains speculative, what has become clear is that over the last 24 hours the value of the Europa League has shot through Europe’s terracotta roof. As bigger disappointment as it might seem, chance at a trophy is better than no chance at all and in order to make light of a bad situation both Manchester clubs will need to find a new focus. Otherwise, this overwhelming shame could cost them two trophies, not one….
There has always been a place for these three men to sit amongst football royalty. Possessing skill levels that even surpass the talented few who have been fortunate enough to claim the very same award, the honour now presents itself to these three, as they continue to represent a generation of the most gifted footballers of modern times.
Had it been that there time of prosperity did not collide with one another, it could have been a sure fired bet that they would have all picked up the award based on this year’s merits. But there can only be one winner, even though all three players will be remembered by a cohort of fans who have watched them over the past few years.
Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi
For Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi, there really are little more prestigious honour then what one of them could be awarded. Fifa’s World Player of the Year is a clear message to the footballing community that its holder really is the games most gifted player.
Their season’s achievements are an advertisement for the Spanish league, with all three candidates playing their club football in La Liga.
The only showcase of Premier League talent was Wayne Rooney, who has been out forward for Goal of the Year for the over-head-kick he scored against Manchester City. Messi though may well grab this award too, for the clever chip and volley he scored against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Messi has won the World Player of the Year award twice before, the first in 2009 and then again in 2010, whilst his Barcelona team mate Xavi has never won the award, coming third on both of Messi’s winning years.
Former Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award though. It was back in 2008 after coming third in 2007 – a year which Kaka won.
All three of these football superstars were on the shortlist to win the award last year, with Ronaldo and Xavi finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
And Messi has been made favourite by the bookies to make his award winning hat-trick this year, completing a three year whitewash of decoration.
In other news, Ferguson and Pep Guardiola are competing to take home the Manager of the Year award. Whilst the scot led Manchester United to their record breaking 19th league title, Guardiola has led his Spanish giants to a domestic league win and Champions League domination. Ironically, it was a Champions League final that hosted both teams, where in this most elite contest Guardiola prevailed.
So more than likely then, Barcelona will be recognised as the team whose talent oozes from their players right to their management, affirming the beliefs of many that they remain the team to beat going into 2012.
As Carlos Tevez stepped onto the plane to fly home to Argentina, he sent packing any hopes of playing for Manchester City again.
Following Tevez’s unplanned trip home after being refused permission by Mancini, the chief executive of PFA Gordon Taylor has said that he is ‘very disappointed’ in the Argentinian striker.
The 27-year-old’s flee from the country meant that he missed scheduled training with the Mancini’s men.
Taylor, who represented Tevez during his alleged misconduct surrounding the Bayern Munich Champions League game, said he ‘was in danger of burning bridges’ following his recent antics.
Tevez is a massive disappointment
But the reality, Taylor’s disappointment in Tevez was a smoke screen for the PFA Chief Executive’s red face. Only weeks before, Taylor had managed to persuade those football governing bodies to half Manchester City’s initial fine – only for the argentine to throw it back in his face.
Mancini will now undoubtedly push for further punishment against his former captain, whose diva like behaviour this year has occupied the paper headlines season long.
On Tuesday, the argentine looked to have come round, having confirmed that he would not be appealing the fine. With everything looking like a lesson had been learnt, Mancini expected to see Tevez at training on Wednesday. But it was not to be.
The problem that City face is following the actions of Tevez, his value is diminishing by the second and he will be hard to offload to any club, let alone the ones that will stretch to cover his wage.
But Tevez’s self-destruct mode is induced by one man only, the consequences of which will hurt him the most. And now with a complex legal situation on the horizon, things are only about to turn worse for Tevez.
Taylor added; ‘Sometimes sorry is the toughest word but it does put an end to difficult situations and stand-offs’. However, it looks like things have long past ‘a sorry’ rectifying the situation.
It might now be the case that they look to pick holes in the Argentine’s club contract to push for termination and even try an sue Tevez for a breech in his terms.
For now though, City will need to firm up a strategy around what to do next. The situation was that Carlos needed to get back to fitness and that hasn’t happened. We’ll see more on this when, and indeed if, he returns back to England.
The fortress Leeds United had built in a string of good performances came crashing down last night, as Grayson’s men lost 5-0 to his former club Blackpool. Ironically, it was keeper Paul Rachubka whose hands had held together the final defence lines of so many championship clubs that dropped the ball on three separate occasions, reducing the Yorkshire side’s ambitions to rubble.
Rachubka’s performance had caused the Leeds boss so much concern he hauled off the former Blackpool keeper at half time, handing a senior debut to 18-year-old Alex Cairns.
Rachubka has seen a number of poor starts in a Leeds shirt and was at blame for a late equaliser against Coventry. Following that game though, Leeds Boss Grayson backed Rachubka to bounce back on with future good performances.
But with three errors in 45 minutes gifting the Seasiders three goals, Grayson was forced to make the substitution and bring on his promising Leeds academy graduate.
Unfortunately, the inexperience of Cairns showed, conceding a further 2 goals in the second half before the final whistle blew for full time and a 5-0 defeat.
Rachubka started the evenings calamities in the 13th minute when he could only parry a Jonjo Shelvey shot directly into the path of Lua Lua’s, leaving a simple tap in for the Blackpool striker. Following that the Leeds goalkeeper then dropped a routine pass, which lead to Right Back Tom Lees’ dismissal for handling the subsequent shot and reducing Leeds to ten men.
Rachubka’s hat trick of errors came in the 31st minute after a speculative 25 year effort from Lua Lua was palmed down Shelvey for his second goal of the game. The Liverpool based Shelvey then went on to score his hat trick in the second half.
It will be interesting to see the reception he gets from the Leeds faithful come sundae afternoon
Grayson now faces a tough tie at Leicester City, with a quandary as to who he will play between the posts. Leicester have also limped their way to 22 points alongside the Yorkshire club and are one place above them in the table. The Foxes had high hopes for this season after spending big money and signing ex-Leeds United hero Jermaine Beckford.
So far this season, Manchester City’s results have been a different gravy. And now the North Western club’s success has seen Tottenham take stock, with Harry Redknapp successfully beefing up his strike force with Emmanuel Adebayor.
This morning the Tongo international has called his latest season with the Manchester club a ‘headache’, insisting he does not regret his move in spite of the blues massive success.
Adebayor moved to White Hart Lane on a season long loan in August after being frozen out by Mancini’s expendable side.
It was clear from the outlay that once the former blues centre forward started to see more time on the bench, the Tongan thought he should have been on the field. And Adebayor may have had a point, scoring 15 goals in 34 appearances was an impressive stat line during his time in Manchester. He shared equal success during his loan spell at Real Madrid, adapting to the Spanish game quickly and scoring in one every 3 games.
Even though he wished his city team mates the best for the future, his lack of comment regarding former manager Roberto Mancini spoke volumes. Refusing to comment on the Italian’s man management skills, Adebayor focused more on his relationship with Redknapp indicating clear signs of a frayed relationship with the City boss.
And his happiness shows in his on pitch performances. Adebayor has scored three goals in six games this season, firing Tottenham closer to a top four finish and that all important Champions League spot.
That’s a trend that is set to continue. Now that Redknapp looks to have kept hold of Modric, the creativity is there to feed a proven striker with goal scoring opportunities. Add Van Der Vaart and Bale to that concoction and you have what could be a spear head attack.
So, the signs certainly suggest that Adebayor is happy down in the North of London and providing the Spurs manager can keep it like that, his new acquisition can expect to produce 15 to 20 goals come the end of the season. Though keeping the threat of Bent off the team sheet will hinge on the Tongon’s success…
Across the shores in Florida state, Golf’s world number one Luke Donald may have won the end of season Disney flagship tournament, but it looks like Carlos Tevez is taking the mickey up in Manchester.
The Manchester City forward has said that he is considering taking legal action against his club manager Roberto Mancini for the defamation of his character according to a host of media sources this morning.
It was on Tuesday where the Manchester City forward was fined 4 weeks wages, equating to £1m, for what the club say was five separate breaches to his player contract during the game against Bayern Munich.
Though it is not clear what all of the five reasons are, all players’ contracts hold the generic citation that a player is obliged to ‘participate in any matches where the player is selected.’ The club’s investigation proceedings conducted after the Champions League game found Tevez guilty of refusing to play in the European tie against the German outfit.
Tevez however still pleads his innocence and his advisers believe that none of the five reasons City gave for their fine for were breached. The Argentine goal scorer has two weeks to appeal the decision. If the appeal fails, he can then take it to a Premier League tribunal.
Tevez’s record
Tevez hasn’t played since City’s Carling Cup tie against Birmingham back in September and following the Argentine’s recent antics, it looks like it might be his final involvement in a blue shirt. Following their run of results, Manchester City have to stand by Mancini and, as a result, let Tevez go come January.
It seems such a long time ago now that Tevez captained Manchester City to FA Cup victory, taking the blues to their first major trophy in 35 years. Since Mark Hughes signed the 27-year-old, he has scored 53 goals in 91 appearances. Even with Manchester City’s prolific squad – losing that fire power will hurt.
But his shenanigans off the field have ironically kept him off the field and so he has only made 5 appearances, two of which were starts, and is yet to find the back of the net this season.
The likelihood of him playing for another European giant is slim and with Brazilian side Corinthans even pulling out of their £40m bid, there is little left potential for the argentine. A prospering club career needlessly thrown out the window, soon to be followed by a flourishing international career.
Never before have the words ‘what a waste’ ever been more relevant.
The Manchester United fortress that had been built upon 19 league titles, 11 FA Cups and 3 European titles came crashing down around the feet of Alex Ferguson, as City thumped the Manchester rivals 6 – 1 at Old Trafford.
With City fans still coming down from the sugary blue sherbet buzz of a 6-1 victory over Manchester United, their euphoric come down will not be the only thing to take a tumble this week. The hopes and dreams of the Manchester United faithful will have taken a bruising, not at least to losing so definitively to their derby counterparts, but more because it puts a major dent into these early Manchester United Premier League ambitions.
Manchester City take the reins
The loss that ended United’s 19 game home winning streak seems to have really hit Ferguson hard, as his post-match interview revealed a lot of felt pain for the scot. In the interview with BBC, Ferguson said: ‘it was a horrible defeat’.
The pivotal point in the game came when Jonny Evans brought down an industrious Balotelli, though City were already in control at this point and continued to run riot on 10 men United.
While it was Mario Balotelli’s first goal that set a platform for the win, David Silva was the real fire behind City’s win in which Jonny Evans only added fuel to. And even though many Manchester United fans will have seen some hope in a Darren Fletcher consolation goal, the brutal reality was that even the Scottish international would be unable to derail the Manchester City freight train.
In the end, two goals from Balotelli and Dzeko, as well as contributions from Aguero and Silva was more than enough to sink the Manchester United destroyer.
The defeat marks Manchester United’s worst home defeat since 1955, as Mancini’s men scored 5 goals in the second 45 minutes to embarrass Fergie’s men who in the past have seen so much success.
There will be many fans that rightly pin point the sending off of Evans as the pivotal moment in the game, but in actual fact the warning signs had been coming long before his dismissal. Manchester United have by their standards limped through home games against Chelsea, Basle and Liverpool. Many of the red’s fans will contend the slump, but their results leading up the derby spoke volumes.
And with the fickle threads that are interwoven in the fabric of football as ever present in these modern times, Manchester City’s tag as being ‘noisy neighbours’ was well and truly put to bed, with questions surrounding their footballing dominance over the city now taking its place.
But the blue half of Manchester should not get carried away. As emphatic as this win was, let’s not forget Manchester United are Manchester United and seamlessly have the bounce-back-ability like no other team.
Ferguson will now need to lean on his experience to get his United team back to winning ways and put aside the shock that will be instilled at Old Trafford. If this is the case, it might be Everton who prove to be the unforeseen casualties in the United backlash.
Yet the questions surrounding a Manchester power slide still pose, which were raised quicker than the three stoppage time goals City scored. Whether this will be one of the most significant results in recent Premier League history remains to be seen, but regardless of what the future holds, this fixture will remain in the record books for a long time – at least, that will be the hope of Manchester United fans.
What was more evident was where Mancini had a rich squad of quality to flex, Ferguson struggled to come up with a solution when he looked to his bench with only Hernandez posing a real threat. Mancini though could bring on Dzeko and Nasri, both of whom possess real quality and are able to inject game changing performances. It goes without saying, the presence of Scholes was missed as United lacked his creativity, forcing Rooney to come far too deep to impose his goal scoring threat.
Nevertheless, life outside the derby continues and both sides will need to hurdle over the ramifications of City’s victory, as they find themselves in unchartered territory and their reactions from this game will be telling in the eventualities of the season.
Though two Manchester clubs clash this weekend in what is to be the tie of the season, there is at least one thing both sets of Manchester fans can share.
Following the ridiculous antics Carlos Tevez has subjected City fans to, Manchester’s rival fans have come together to vent their frustrations caused over the striker’s actions. Manchester has become awash with ‘Trash your Tevez Shirt’ waggons, which so far, have been well received by both sets of fans.
The unwanted shirts are to be shown to the Argentinian international and then suitably dispatched the local charities.
The images not only display the overtly enraged feelings of disgruntled Manchester City fans to a player who is still employed by their beloved team, but rarer, their tandem hatred for Tevez that is shared with the red side of Manchester.
Even Manchester City fans, who have had their fair share of the rough with the smooth, have reached their breaking point with the Argentinian.
So, it would be fair that without the backing of the fans, Carlos Tevez’s days in the colours of blue and white are over, right?
Well, it might not be quite as simple as that.
In this modern age of football, players have a regular habit of dirtying their images, only to wash it again with a goal in a crucial game or a season long performance that ultimately earns a club Champions League football perhaps..?
And for Carlos Tevez, the stage is set with a Manchester derby. Primed ready for a match winning performance that we know the Manchester City forward to be capable of against their local rivals would be like vaccinating the blue side on Manchester with amnesia serum. So, I suppose the real question that poses is; does Mancini share that same faith?
The Italian manger needs to remember what business he is in, which of course is winning games. Regardless of his personal feelings and injustices, a Carlos Tevez match winning goal is enough to cement his standing of City’s most success manager.
And it is in these pressured situations that risky decisions are made, often providing not only a source of entertainment and talking point, but the definitive moment in a tie of this nature. It is for that reason, Tevez reaches the summits of my football betting strategy this weekend, as I can see a pivotal moment in the forward’s career. Whether that be a demise or a rise to blue moon stardom remains to be seen. But with odds available like they currently are, the sky might just be the limit.
Posted in Football News | Tagged arg
For what many have called a two horse race, the Premier League looks odds on to produce the grand national of footballing spectacles this Sunday, as Manchester United take on the derby rivals Manchester City.
Even though we are still in the first furlong of the race, the competition between both clubs is rife and the pressure has provoked players from each club to speak of the challenge that mounts.
Both Nigel De Jong and Nani have openly spoke out in the media, talking of their confidence going into the weekend. Whilst De Jong spoke of his determination to win the game, Nani has also spoken out, factoring United’s home form into his derby confidence.
And he would be right to do so. Manchester United have won 24 of their last 25 games at Old Trafford, but City go into the weekend 2 clear points ahead of Fergie’s men.
Manchester United
Manchester United winger Nani has every reason to be confident in himself too, after scoring twice in their last meeting in the community shield back in August.
The game promises to be a pivotal moment in the season, as both clubs have started their respective campaigns impressively. It is in light of this, that many Premier League fans feasibly forecast a similar result to that of when an immovable object met the unstoppable force.
But on the contrary, the Premier League should expect to see goals and one of these Manchester clubs wield their dominance in a league that has yet to be claimed. Though this is still very early in the season, winning these sorts of games not only stands you in good stead, it gains momentum to unquantifiable measures and instils a fear amongst those teams who are fixture to play you.
There really is a lot of reward in this Manchester contest. Whether you agree or disagree with how this story will end, the pressure that will reach boiling point and with some much on the line, this tie promises to be dramatic.
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