Mark Noble struck twice for West Ham as they cruised to an easy victory over beleaguered Southampton at Upton Park.
Sam Allardyce’s men chalked up their third home win of the season with a dominant performance against the Saints, who were powerless to resist their East London hosts.
The Hammers controlled proceedings from start to finish and heaped even more pressure on Nigel Adkins in what has been an eye opening start to the season for the Premier League newcomers.
Adkins’ decision to drop striker Rickie Lambert to the bench in order to pack the midfield appeared a shrewd call as the visitors frustrated West Ham in first half and managed to keep the scoreline level at the break.
The hosts were restricted to half chances but never came close to breaking the deadlock. Allardyce cut an irritated figure on the touchline and his words at the interval had a marked effect as some typically poor Southampton defending allowed Noble’s long range free kick to creep in at the far post just 58 seconds after the restart.
Kevin Nolan was then on hand to tap in after determined work from Yossi Benayoun to beat Maya Yoshida to the ball in the build up as the away side began to crumble. Saints supporters called for Lambert to be introduced but it was replacement Jay Rodriguez that played a part in halving the deficit. The summer signing displayed quick feet to turn James Collins and set up captain Adam Lallana to smash the ball into the roof of the net.
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However any hope of a comeback was short lived as Noble restored West Ham’s two goal advantage from the penalty spot after Jose Fonte handled in the area under pressure from Andy Carroll. Modibo Maiga then came on for on-loan Liverpool striker and applied the gloss to an impressive with a brilliant solo goal.
Arsene Wenger described Arsenal’s 5-7 Capital One Cup victory away to Reading as a “miracle.”
The Gunners were 4-0 down within the opening 37 minutes at the Madejski Stadium, but managed to fight back and claim victory in extra time.
A Theo Walcott hat-trick made the result possible, with the England international terrorising the Royals’ defences during the second period.
Wenger was thrilled with his side’s attitude and determination:
“You always see new things in our game.” He told told Sky Sports after the game.
“That is why it is never boring.
“It finished well for us but they (Reading) made a fantastic start. We were not sharp, beaten in every single one-against-one and it was 4-0. It could have been one or two more.
“After that, I believe, in the second half, we came back after 4-1.
“We created chance after chance and it was 4-2 but, at 89 minutes, we still needed to score two goals.
“The miracle happened. In extra time, we were always in front.”
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Walcott’s strike on the verge of half-time opened Arsenal’s scoring after Jason Roberts, Mikele Leigertwood, Noel Hunt and a Laurent Koscielny own goal had given Reading a formidable lead.
Further goals from Olivier Giroud, Koscielny and another Walcott effort levelled the score with seconds of normal time to play.
Much criticised striker Marouane Chamakh netted twice in extra time, either side of a Pavel Pogrebnyak goal to put the Londoners 6-5 up, before Walcott added his third of the night in the 120th minute.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is confident that his side can overcome Real Madrid in their Champions League clash this week.
The Argentine has never been on the winning team against the Bernabeu side, despite spending five years with their city rivals Atletico.
He netted an impressive 74 goals in the red and white shirt, with some against Real, but never found himself in the winning camp.
This is a record he is looking to end this week:
“It’s always special to play against a club like Real Madrid.” He told the mcfc.co.uk
“Personally, my connection with Atletico Madrid gives it an additional kick – but there’s no difference in how much I want to win this match.
“Never defeating Real when I was with Atletico was a real regret for me – Atletico haven’t succeeded in beating them for many years – but I did get to score against them even if we never managed a win.
“Wednesday night will hopefully break that run for me.”
City are currently bottom of Group D and know that they must win against the La Liga champions and beat Borussia Dortmund in the following fixture to have any chance of qualifying.
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Despite this Aguero says that the team will not give up on a place in the final 16 of the competition:
“We should never give up. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?
“Of course, it’s harder now because we’re not just relying on ourselves but also on the other teams’ results.”
The magnitude of Newcastle’s 3-0 win over Wigan at home this week cannot be underestimated, but the fact that most were talking about the game beforehand in the terms that their season needed ‘saving’ tells you everything you need to know about how it’s gone for the club this term. However, can the root cause of all of their problems be best attributed by a failure to invest significantly over the summer?
The club’s fifth-placed finish last season made them the surprise package of the top flight and presented manager Alan Pardew with an opportunity to really go on an establish the side in the top six, with so many of their rivals at that end of the table in a state of transition. Instead, they simply dragged their heels during negotiations for the likes of Mathieu Debuchy, Douglas and Luuk De Jong and they only managed to secure the versatile Vurnon Anita who has gone on to make any sort of impact on the starting eleven.
Living up to the standards set during last season’s fantastic fifth-placed league finish was always going to be an impossible task, and there’s a certain sense of inevitability about their struggles so far this campaign as they sit 14th in the table, just five points above the drop zone. The Wigan victory was the first that the club have managed to secure in the Premier League since Alan Pardew was bizarrely awarded with a new eight-year contract. The club’s hierarchy of Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias, even when it seemed impossible to, have managed to make a huge muddle of a great opportunity by getting their priorities completely wrong.
[cat_link cat=”newcastle-united” type=”list”]
Securing a yes-man on a longer deal was not the main thing to take away from last term’s success. Ashley is clearly delighted that he has finally found a manager willing to work within the financial parameters that he’s set out; one who will continually back the club’s transfer policy to the press under pressure, yet you have to question the length of the deal in the climate of the modern game, with turnover so high. Any slump in form like the one just endured again in the future will only increase the pressure on Ashley to make a decision on Pardew and while an eight-year deal protects the club should anyone else come sniffing around in terms of compensation, it works both ways and should they need to sack him, it will be costly, needlessly so too, seeing as there was no real pressure to hand him a new deal in the first place.
They signed just four players in the summer, with only Anita making the grade so far – Romain Amalfitano has yet to make a first league start, despite the injuries and added fixtures in Europe necessitating rotation, and at 23 years of age, you’d like to think that he’d be ready by now, while Curtis Good and Gael Bigirimana are both considered good prospects for the future. Failing to be held to ransom in the transfer market was deemed a positive approach at the time, but it is seriously costing them now and they look ill-equipped to compete on multiple fronts at once.
Pardew told Sky last week: “We have been unlucky but we are in the process of analysing whether we under-cooked it [the transfer window] and that’s what we should do. It would be silly not to. It’s increased the discussion mode on that. We obviously had an idea of where it was going to go but it probably is going to change before we get there. It’s very important just to keep our eye on the ball.”
They haven’t been helped this season by a small squad trying to compete in Europe and at home, and every injury or suspension to a first-team member has been keenly felt, while the form of several key performers such as Cabaye, Cisse and Tiote isn’t at quite the same level as it was last term, with only really Demba Ba stepping up to the plate in a similar fashion. Coupled with the needless tinkering of a winning formation, reverting back to a traditional 4-4-2 that doesn’t sit as easy with the players as the fluid 4-3-3 they used last year, and they’ve simply succeeded in making a mountain out of an avoidable molehill; snatching regression from the jaws of progress.
There is obviously money there to spend should Ashley deem it worthy of investment, hence the very public pursuit of Andy Carroll, with it looking increasingly likely as if the club will move for him in the summer and it’s not as if he’ll come cheaply or for anything below £15m.
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You have to question whether the club’s transfer policy under head scout Graham Carr is a sustainable one, because as soon as you start to enjoy any sort of success and clubs on the continent begin to realise what you’re doing, the result is that they drive their prices up for players. This is exactly what happened to Newcastle in the summer, where they bargained themselves into a standstill on both Debuchy and Douglas.
The club are short in terms of both quality and quantity and while they’ve acquitted themselves well in the Europa League so far, it’s come at a cost to their league form. A failure to invest in the right areas in the summer was not only ill-judged but unforgivable and as a result, the club are going backwards, looking nervously over their shoulders at the drop zone when for all intents and purposes, it looked like the dawning of a new, successful era on Tyneside last season.
You could sense the frustration from Arsene Wenger earlier in the season when so much praise was directed towards Steve Bould. Arsenal had started the season in impressive fashion, at least from a defensive perspective, and yet the manager wanted to make it quite clear that it wasn’t just his new assistant that was taking the defence to positive new levels.
Wenger will always do it his way, and it won’t matter how bad the repercussions are. He’s a proud manager, but his stubbornness is well-known. He won’t look for help, quite simply because it suggests that he was wrong in the first place. He won’t accept small tips from those around him, because why should he admit to taking advice from those who aren’t as experienced in the game as he is? It’s understandable to a degree, but again, it’s incredibly frustrating.
There was word recently of a bust-up between the manager and Bould, with the former Arsenal defender getting very little say in the running of training. And maybe we’re seeing evidence of that of the pitch. Yes, Arsenal do still have one of the best defensive records in the Premier League, but it’s the manner in which they concede that really confuses. It’s difficult to understand how a team coached by one of Arsenal’s finest can be so cavalier at the back. Yet at the same time it’s totally and predictably Arsenal.
The idea has always been that Wenger surrounds himself with yes-men, however I believe that to be incredibly disrespectful to those who do work with him. Pat Rice was and still is a football man, so is Bob Wilson and the various other coaches at the club. If any of them see inconsistencies in training or problems in the preparation, I’m confident they would speak up.
It’s one thing to say the club is full of yes-men who won’t challenge Wenger; the more realistic view is that plenty challenge the manager, it’s just that he decides to go in another direction—specifically his own.
Wenger said the rumours of a clash between himself and Bould were lies, but we’ll never know. The manager says a lot of things that are the opposite of what really goes on. But despite knowing this, many fans choose to be selective in what they believe.
It’s difficult to paint the picture of Arsenal as a club where the manager simply refuses help from his coaches; no matter how good a manager Wenger is, he can’t run the playing side of the club on his own. The problem has and always will be his lack of desire for outside help. We’ve seen it in the past with his decision not to allow former players to take up roles at the club, while Martin Keown’s brief period as a coach in 2006 should have been extended.
You’ve got to wonder how much more Wenger could have achieved had he taken on the advice of those around him. There’s no shame in looking for answers from others, while even the best managers form close bonds with their assistants and look to freshen up their coaching staff. You only need to do a quick search to discover how close Tito Vilanova and Pep Guardiola are; Alex Ferguson has had so many assistants and coaches over the years that you can be certain the setup at Manchester United never stagnates; while Frank de Boer at Ajax has surrounded himself with former players and those who understand the traditions of the club. It helps to breed success and never allows for the in-house atmosphere to become dangerously laid back.
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We’ll never really know what goes on inside Arsenal and specifically with regards to the running of training. But there has been plenty of evidence in the past to suggest Wenger wants to keep it his way and with very little help from outside.
Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t been playing like the Ronaldo of last season for the majority of this league campaign. There have been games where he stood tallest as the most outstanding in the vast talent pool at the Bernabeu, but something hasn’t been the same for the Portuguese forward.
But before the picture of a ‘return home’ to Manchester is painted, none of the Real Madrid players have been the same this season.
Talk of Ronaldo’s sadness would have been music to the ears of PSG, Manchester City and perhaps even Zenit—everyone except Manchester United. Not that Alex Ferguson wouldn’t love to have him back at the club, but do finances suggest United are in a position to outmanoeuvre others with stronger positions of power? They’d move heaven and earth to bring back a Ronaldo in his prime, but I’m yet to be convinced.
It may take a package deal involving David de Gea and a few others as well as circa £60 million for Florentino Perez to take the proposal seriously, but that remains speculation for now.
There have been a few to reach the conclusion that Ronaldo’s talk of a move is simply to negotiate a higher pay package from Real, and why not? He’s one of the best players in the world and arguably the most marketable. He’s probably paid for his transfer to the club already from shirt sales alone.
When he spoke of his sadness earlier in the season, it didn’t appear that he was hinting for a move away. It’s also incredibly difficult to come to terms with the idea that the player now longs for something other than his dream club only three years after arriving in Spain. Manchester United may be spoken of as his home, but so much has been said in the past of his desire to be a Real Madrid player.
The idea for Ronaldo to leave now doesn’t make total sense. The idea for the player to scare his club into acting in his favour does. On the face of it, the whole matter is about money. When you dig a little deeper, it’s about the player wanting the support and backing from Real Madrid to beat Lionel Messi, both to league titles and personnel accolades. He’d get all the support at Manchester United of course, but I believe the player wants that to take place in Spain.
There’s also the matter of what might appear unfinished business in La Liga. The club’s biggest target for now remains La Decima, and Mourinho aside, what kind of reception would Ronaldo receive if he guided Real to their tenth Champions League trophy?
The battle at the Camp Nou last April saw Real Madrid reclaim the league title from Barcelona. Ronaldo, on that night, had his name up in stars. Alexis Sanchez had just equalised for the home side, but minutes later Ronaldo was racing towards Victor Valdes’ goal to drive home the winner. You can’t suggest the player didn’t enjoy that. He did what he was brought in to do and he did it at the home of his own greatest rival. More of the same is needed, and if Ronaldo really wants to make the claim that he is the world’s best, why wouldn’t he want to remain in Spain and continue to duel with Lionel Messi?
And then there’s Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho looks as good as out the door and Florentino Perez looks quite content. In fact, I’m sure most of the Spanish internationals at the club and their allies are quite content with the apparent outcome. But Mourinho helped to make up Real’s strongest hand in attempting to win the Champions League; with him gone, can they really afford to let Ronaldo go as well?
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It should always have been one or the other for Real, one of either Portuguese to continue the fight against Barcelona and build on the recent seasons in European competition. Prior to Mourinho’s arrival, Real were hardly a threat in the Champions League, finishing at best in the last 16 and continuing to drift further and further away from the tenth European cup. What would happen if the club had to restart the building process following the loss of both Ronaldo and Mourinho, all the while watching Barcelona advance out of sight?
There’s the matter of money from both Ronaldo and Premier League clubs, but could Florentino Perez simply be playing it cool at least until the summer?
It was arguably one of the most surprising and strangest transfer stories of recent seasons, when Belgium footballer Yulu Matondo was signed and then was subsequently released by Bury within 24hrs.
Yulu Matondo is a former Belgium U21 international who has played with the likes of Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini, not to mention his Champions League pedigree having played on numerous occasions with Club Brugge.
On his release from Bury, the Shakers put out a statement that Yulu was not good enough to play for them and subsequently sent him packing:
“Yulu was a free agent; he was out of contract and had shown a little bit in training.
“I signed him on non-contract terms with a view to looking at him in the reserves against Bolton.
“If he had shown something in that game, I might have been able to throw him on the bench – he’s on the next flight to Brussels.” Bury’s Official Website
However, Yulu has refuted that version of events and claimed he left Gigg Lane of his own accord after the club made him an offer where basically he would be left having to play for free:
“Bury FC did not release me, I left of my own accord after I was made an offer that meant I would have to play for free!
“Now they have given a story to the media about me which is completely untrue. At no stage was I told I was not good enough or otherwise. The club have triedto dress this up into something that it isn’t in order to protect their own reputation and to cover up their own financial policy.
“I can assure you that their version of events is far wide of the mark as to what did actually happen and their comments about me are not only disparaging but they are damaging to my future career.
“To set the record straight, I was first invited to Bury in mid-January this year (2013). I saw it as a short term stepping stone to get me noticed in English football.
“Having played at the top level in good continental leagues and also in the Champions League, at only 27 years of age, I still have bigger ambitions than League One in England and Bury were very aware of that from the start.
“General terms were agreed with Bury before I first went there. Half way through my stay at the club, Bury offered me much less than what they had originally promised me . This was far from ideal as we had agreed terms two weeks prior to this but in order to fulfill my ambitions of playing at a higher level In England, I agreed to this as it was only ever going to be a relatively short term agreement.
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“In order for me to play in last Monday’s reserve match vs. Bolton, I had to register and sign with the club. I did this on a non-contractual basis.
The following day the club told me they were very happy with me and wanted me to stay. However, there was one big problem with the deal they were now offering me……they said I had to play for nothing, zero! Bury FC said they would not pay me even one pound a week. That was bad enough but they went on to tell me that I would also have to pay for all of my own expenses including accommodation, food and travel!
“Contrary to what is now being reported in the media, I was very much wanted by the club. To read what they have now said about me is both bemusing and most disappointing. My trust in the club has gone.
“The club promised me one thing but then did the complete opposite. Their comments since I declined their offer are not fair and I believe they have damaged me both in the short term and maybe the long term. I am very angry about it.”
Former England International defender Sol Campbell has come to the defence of Rio Ferdinand, according to the Daily Mail.
The former Tottenham and Arsenal man has leaped to the defence of his former partner ahead of tonight’s game with Montenegro stating that the Manchester United player would have been ‘shocked’ to have received the call-up.
Ferdinand has struggled with injuries this season and withdrew from the England squad due to his ‘intricate and pre-planned’ regime of training with Manchester United, something Campbell sympathizes with.
He told The Mirror: ‘People have to talk and work it out. I think it [the call-up] was a shock to Rio.
‘He was probably thinking he didn’t have a chance and then all of a sudden he has a chance. It was kind of surprising.
‘I know what Rio is going through, the extra matches take a lot out of you. If you haven’t put that into your routine or if no one a month ago told you, ‘I’m thinking about putting you in’, it’s hard.
‘International football is physically demanding – and there is the travelling. If you’re in your routine and all of a sudden you have to look into playing another game it is demanding on the body.’
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If it was up to the travelling fans Rio will have played his last game for England, as they vented their anger towards the player during the 8-0 win over San Marino last Friday.
Arsenal are set to bid for Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm in the summer transfer window, according to the Metro.
Wojciech Szczesny has been Arsenal’s number one goalkeeper for most of the season, but after being dropped in recent weeks, it seems Wenger has lost faith in the Polish shot stopper.
With Lukasz Fabianski the next rated goalkeeper at the club, Wenger will be looking to bring in a new number 1 at the club instead of promoting from within.
Vorm conceded two goals on the weekend to Arsenal, but has still impressed the French manager with his performances since he joined the Welsh club in 2011. Despite having three years left on his contract, Wenger is confident he can tempt the Dutch international into moving to the Emirates stadium.
Arsenal have also been linked with Liverpool ‘keeper Pepe Reina over recent months, however the Spaniard has been linked with a return to Barcelona instead, meaning Wenger may have to draw his attention elsewhere.
Vorm, who was an unused substitute in Swansea’s 5-0 win over Bradford to win the Capital One Cup, has also been linked with Manchester United over recent months.
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The 29-year-old is expected to start in Swansea’s home game against Tottenham on Saturday, as Swansea look to try catch up with 8th place West Brom.
Luis Suarez has been called a lot of things since his move from Amsterdam to Liverpool. The good: a genius; a fulcrum; a dynamo; a world-class player. The Bad: a racist; a sewer rat; a diver; scum.
This headline – from just one of the myriad of Suarez articles – sums up Britain’s response: ‘Classy Player, Classless Human Being’. It’s a fair response, an understandable one. Players kick, pull, dive and swear – all in the ‘heat of the moment’. To bite, we as a football-loving nation have decided, is beyond the pale, a step too far.
To defend Suarez’ actions would be spurious – a stab at the contraire with no clear motive. If biting is rare in the English game, then finding someone on the Uruguayan’s side will be rarer. But these aren’t the actions of a clear-thinking individual. Suarez biting Branislav Ivanovic – the second incident of that kind in his career – screams of a man with impulsive anger issues.
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) should be applauded for their stance on the scandal. They announced their intention to offer anger management counselling to the forward after Sunday’s controversial 2-2 draw in front of The Kop. This shows an apt and inclusive response to the serious issue of mental health. Something a lot of football fans should take notice of.
When Michael Johnson quit football, he didn’t seek solace in the sport he had given his life to, but endeavoured to escape it forever. “I have been attending the Priory Clinic for a number of years now with regard to my mental health,” he told the Manchester Evening News, “and would be grateful if I could now be left alone to live the rest of my life.” This after a picture of him was ridiculed by fans and some press outlets alike.
Football is riddled with problems, each more significant than the last depending on the actions of a few. The pressure applied on footballers and the mental health issues that can manifest cannot be ignored, as is the case with fan violence, racism and sexism – just some of the inherent problems of society that magnify themselves to startling degree in the context of football.
I hope that Suarez, who duly apologised for his actions, can find redemption within the sport and prosper as a result, rather than being forced down a path of ignorance and dismissal. I fear, though, that this latest inexcusable act will see him forced out of England.
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