Barcelona have claimed their third straight La Liga crown after drawing 1-1 away to Levante on Wednesday.Requiring only one point to sew up the Spanish top flight title, Pep Guardiola’s men led courtesy of Seydou Keita’s well-placed header from a Xavi free kick in the 27th minute.
Levante struck back in the 41st minute, when Felipe Caicedo got the better of Barca shot-stopper Victor Valdes.
Lionel Messi almost put the visitors ahead midway through the second half, but his shot rebounded back into play off the post.
That was as close as either side came to scoring in the closing stages, Barca doing enough to seal thei 21st La Liga title and third in succession.
The final whistle sparked jubilant scenes from the all-conquerin Barcelona outfit, which can go on to claim a trophy double if they beat Manchester United in the Champions League final later at Wembley Stadium in London later this month.
Elsewhere in Spain, Real Zaragoza’s hopes of escaping the relegation zone were dealt a serious blow after they went down 2-1 to fellow strugglers Real Sociedad.
Tamuda gave Sociedad the lead after 24 minutes at the Estadio Municipal de Anoeta, but Gabi looked to have given Zaragoza a share of the points when he equalised on 54 minutes.
But Aranburu broke Zaragoza hearts when he netted in the 88th minute, sending Sociedad five points clear of the drop zone, while Zaragoza remain one point from safety.
Almeria snapped a seven game losing run when they held on for a 0-0 draw against fourth-placed Villarreal.
AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has stated that Arsenal will not win trophies unless they start to spend more in the transfer market to sign ‘big players’.
The Scudetto holders beat the Gunners 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at the San Siro a fortnight ago, and ahead of the rematch at the Emirates Stadium the Italian coach has told Arsene Wenger to have an active summer recruiting new faces.
“For me it’s impossible to win the title or Champions League without signing big players,” the tactician told The Sun.
“You will never do it without big players. That goes for Arsenal, Milan or any big club. You must buy big.
“I have a strong team but in that I have three big players, bringing experience, character, technical ability and leadership. You need leaders.
“For me in every team there are two leaders. One technical and tactical leader and one with character.
“In Milan our technical leader is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In terms of character, until last year, it was Rino Gattuso. Now Mark Van Bommel or Thiago Silva,” he concluded.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
If it was up to the FIFA world rankings England would have beaten Montenegro, Turkey would have beaten Azerbaijan, Slovakia would have beaten the Republic of Ireland and Austria would have beaten Belgium, just. This was not the case!
With a whole host of international matches being played on Tuesday a number of results broke the supposed norm of the FIFA world rankings. It certainly leaves me wondering whether it is worth taking any notice of the point system that ranks teams in terms of their ability, especially when football over the many years has proved to be a sometimes unpredictable game.
It seems I am not alone in my scepticism of the system. Through trawling the forums, websites and blogs on the internet there is an abundance of arguments that raise many different, but all valid reasons why we shouldn’t pay to much attention to the standings, and how they produce them.
One such argument that carries significant weight is the calculations used by FIFA and the resulting disparity between perceived quality and the actual world ranking of some of the teams. For example in 2006 the United States found themselves ranked 4th in the standings much to the surprise of even their own players. Furthermore, in 2008 Israel climbed the rankings up to 15th despite failing to reach a major international competition in recent times.
There is also a strong argument behind the notion that more points should be gained by the higher the ranked team a country beats. Simplistically speaking would it be fair for Wales to gain 2 points for beating Andorra and then only another 2 points for beating Brazil?
Then there is the large and complex discussion that comparing European national teams is fine, they all play the same opposition, they all play in the same format and the same seeding system. Comparing Asian and American national teams is fine too. The problem then arises when they are all compared. They all play different oppositions, they all play in different formats and have different seeding systems. At face value does that all seem a bit inconsistent? It also leaves us questioning if that is why the American national team where able to find themselves at the dizzy heights of 4th in the FIFA standings in 2006.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
It also speaks volumes the fact that due to the perceived flaws with the FIFA system other rivaling systems have been established such as the World Football Elo Ratings. A system that has proved to be not only more respected but more accurate.
If the FIFA rankings are to be believed then we as a nation should be mounting a serious challenge in the tournaments we enter. This is simply not true, England have been high in the rankings for years now but have not mounted a serious challenge since Euro 96. Before that Italia 90, therefore the rankings are dubious and have very little meaning, other than initiating debate.
Manchester United are eager to bring Malaga winger Isco to Old Trafford this summer, according to Metro.
The tricky midfielder played a key role in helping the Andalusian side finish in fourth place in La Liga last term and was included in Spain’s preliminary squad for Euro 2012 before being omitted in the final cut.
However, with Malaga facing a financial meltdown the Spanish side need to sell their star players, with Santi Cazorla poised to move to Arsenal and Salomon Rondon wanted by a host of European teams.
United are set to take advantage of the situation and make a move for Isco, who has a £16 million buyout clause in his contract but could be available for much less than this.
The Red Devils have already signed Nick Powell and Shinji Kagawa this summer, whilst negotiations with Sao Paulo over a deal for Lucas Moura are continuing.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Harry Redknapp will look to bolster his Tottenham squad in January by bringing in Villarreal attacking midfielder Borja Valero, according to reports in The Sun.
Redknapp is not looking to break the bank in order to add strength in depth at White Hart Lane this winter, and the £9million price tag could be extremely tempting for North London club.
The former West Brom midfielder failed to settle in England and only featured 31 times in the league for the Baggies in his time in the midlands. After a successful loan spell; where Valero became a key player at El Madrigal; a permanent move to Spain was declared in the summer but Villarreal are struggling in the bottom half of La Liga and are out of all European competitions already.
With just one cap for Spain, Valero wants to be playing European football to catch the eye of national coach Vicente del Bosque and Tottenham could be the ideal suitors for the 26-year-olds attacking style of football.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Chelsea are expected to renew their interest in Luka Modric in January and with Spurs vying for three competitions when the new year begins, strength in depth may become a crucial aspect of success or failure.
The first time I laid eyes on the story linking Liverpool with AC Milan’s Ronaldinho I’m sure I shared the same reaction as most reds fans in thinking, ‘great, more tabloid crap’. The story seems to be gaining momentum however, with more news outlets taking notice of it, and our own Brazilian rising star, Lucas Leiva chipping in his opinion of his international team mate in the hope that we sign him.
What’s more is that the more you read about this bizarre transfer rumour the more realistic it seems to become, especially when you consider that Ronaldinho is down the pecking order at AC and is available for free in the summer. The only stumbling block would seem to be his wage demands as he currently roughly earns a whopping £7.5 million a year and would need to take a huge pay cut if he were to sign for Liverpool.
Some may argue that he’s past it now but at 30 years of age I believe he still has enough time to recapture some of his old form and it would be an absolute dream to see a trio of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Ronaldinho leading our front line. For me, the former Barcelona star is one of the players that fits the term ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ and any opportunity to snap him up for a cut price should be seriously looked at. It may have been a good four or five years ago now but Ronaldinho at his best took technical football skill on the pitch to a whole new level with his unique playing style, and I was genuinely disappointed to see that he wasn’t able to keep it up for too long.
You may call it wishful thinking but the change of scenery and a chance to play in the new surroundings of the Premier League may just be the kick-start Ronaldinho needs for his career; along with that I can see Liverpool’s squad being lifted by the signing of such a huge footballing icon. Damien Comolli mentioned recently that strange things could happen in this transfer window, and I can see his point; besides, who would have guessed a few years ago that the likes of Robinho and Carlos Tevez would sign for Manchester City or that Joe Cole would leave the Champions to join one of their fiercest rivals for many years.
However much truth there is in this particular story remains to be seen, but going along with the scenario of it being genuine, would you be happy with the signing of the former World Player of the Year, Ronaldinho?
Written By Mark Wilson at the excellent Live4Liverpool website
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Everton manager David Moyes has been the boss at Goodison Park for ten years, and has admitted that his ambition to succeed is still as strong as when he joined the club.
The Scottish coach has been a hard-working servant at the Merseyside team, but has confessed that this season has been difficult due to a lack of financial backing.
“My ambition is as strong as ever, but this has been the toughest year. We weren’t able to do any business in the summer while teams around us were able to buy,” he told The Telegraph.
“But I was never promised anything when I took the job. You don’t moan about it. You work with the goods you’ve got. We had a good January and it’s galvanised us a bit.”
Moyes also admitted that loan signing Royston Drenthe has started to improve, and that the Dutch winger has become more of an important players at the Toffees after he scored against QPR at the weekend.
“It’s taken Roy time to settle. Coming from Real Madrid you think he will understand what we do here, but he didn’t straight away.
“He’s beginning to do a bit better and can still do much better. But he has that ability to score a goal, to create a chance. We’re beginning to trust him much more now,” the Scottish coach concluded.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed question marks about Wayne Rooney’s future at Manchester United, but admitted his selection dilemma in attack are tougher than any other point in his career at Old Trafford.
Ferguson started with Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa in attack in the 3-2 win over Fulham and Rooney came off the bench for the final quarter of the match only to sustain a gash to his thigh that will keep him on the sidelines for at least a month. Although Ferguson stated that he did not want to start with Rooney and Van Persie together due to concerns over the fitness of both, his decision to leave the former out prompted speculation about his future. But the United manager has rejected any doubt about Rooney’s status at the club, saying:
“It doesn’t bother me to be honest with you, I am not in the slightest bit interested. It won’t affect me one bit, it is not a problem. It is only one game.”
Asked whether Rooney can rediscover his previous sharpness, Ferguson said:
“Yes of course he will. He will concentrate on that. He is a boy that needs games you can see that from the frame he’s got. He’s stocky, strong and he really needs games, simple as that.”
The most recent barometer of Tottenham’s readiness for the Premier League season, was last Thursday’s marquee friendly against Valencia. And whilst it was by no means a complete disaster, it spelt out emphatically the issues that Spurs have yet to address during the summer transfer period.
The way in which Andre Villas-Boas’ side went to the Mestalla and enjoyed such large spells of possession, offered real room for encouragement. Valencia are one of the more technically accomplished teams on the continent and their impressive third placed finish under ex-coach Unai Emery is testament to that. Considering the starting holding pair of Jake Livermore and Jermaine Jenas may not even make the XI on Saturday, it made the feat all the more impressive.
But there was a stark difference between the two sides last week and it wasn’t difficult to distinguish which side carried the greater threat. Valencia looked dangerous whenever they went forward, and although Spurs went down to a couple of fantastic goals, it’s difficult to argue with the final result. Tottenham looked toothless up front and it’s no surprise that Mauricio Pellegrino’s team were happy to let Tottenham see so much of the ball. They didn’t do an awful lot with it.
And the frustrating thing for supporters is that nothing that happened last week was of any real surprise. The situation that Spurs find themselves with up front, has been well publicised all summer. Jermain Defoe is the only recognised striker at the club and as great a goalscorer he may be, he simply does not suit AVB’s new set-up. Some fans may feel bored of the continuous assumption that the well-liked Defoe has no future in the starting line up, but those who watched events at the Mestalla cannot be under any doubts; that was only a sampler.
Tottenham need at least one more frontman and they’ve known that for what feels like a very long time. And it doesn’t matter how you want to frame it, if Spurs go to Newcastle without that striker, they have in some respects, failed themselves in the transfer window.
No one is under any doubts that Daniel Levy will pull a frontman out of the bag before the transfer window slams shut, but there is something macabre in the way in which it appears to be left to the last minute. Some have suggested that what the Spurs supremo is doing is a masterstroke and that there is no ‘value’ in the transfer market before August. However right that might be, the concept of it is deeply flawed.
If that was true, in essence, Daniel Levy is saying to Andre Villas-Boas that he won’t have his first choice XI for the first or arguably the second fixture of the season. Depending on how many changes hinge on the sale of Luka Modric, that could even be perceived as writing the first game off. Regardless of whether you think Spurs already have enough in the tank to get past Alan Pardew’s side on Saturday, it simply isn’t good enough. Nobody needs reminding of how many points Tottenham missed out on guaranteed Champions League football last season. You must be prepared for every game in this league. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, is an apt little adage.
Levy cannot be panned for his running of the football club and the fact Tottenham Hotspur are looking to push on for another shot at Champions League football this season, is in no small part to the stance Levy has adopted since he became chairman. But that doesn’t mean he’s bulletproof. The Essex-born businessman has invested highly in disposing of Harry Redknapp and acquiring his favoured coaching set-up in Andre Villas-Boas and his team. The Portuguese needs the best possible start; leaving the team woefully short up front for the first game of the season seems a little bit counter-productive to say the least.
It is the responsibility of Levy and his team to acquire the transfer targets, not Andre Villas-Boas. And up front, the excuses are running out for why no one’s been brought in. Emmanuel Adebayor may be flailing around with wage demands but that isn’t an excuse. Spurs should have set a deadline and they should have enforced ultimatums to the Togolese international. Putting all their eggs in the bag of someone like Adebayor is a huge gamble and at the moment, it’s blowing up in their faces. If the ex-Arsenal man couldn’t agree terms with all parties earlier, it should have been a case of thank you and goodbye.
Similarly with another massively rumoured target, Leandro Damiao, Spurs seem to have postured for an eternity with the Brazilian. For near on 18 months now, Tottenham have tracked the Internacional starlet. They knew what the goalposts were going to be. If they are that keen on him, why was it decided to leave it till after the Olympics to table an offer? The odds on him having a good tournament were always high and consequently, his transfer fee would have risen. If efforts are being made to negotiate a lower fee, than they only have themselves to look at in the mirror.
You can never second-guess what has been going on behind the scenes and it would be foolish to suggest Levy hasn’t been working hard. One or two deals have been thought to have been brokered, only to fall apart and who knows who the board were working to acquire. But all of their rivals have done the bulk of their transfer work early and they head into the season more or less there. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen were excellent deals that were sorted out weeks ago. The problem is, that could only be the tip of the iceberg.
Tottenham need at least one striker, if not two. Arguably their most talented player has no future at the club and a replacement must be sought out. To top things off, the new manager supposedly craves a new goalkeeper to bring to the fore. The new season starts in a matter of days.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Levy will sort the problems out at Spurs and things will start moving quicker when, with all fingers crossed, the Modric deal goes through. No one is criticising the chairman for refusing to be bent over by Real Madrid. But if the team struggle to make an impression upon the Newcastle United defence on Saturday, don’t look at Adebyaor, Damiao or Villas-Boas for criticism.
How do you feel about Spurs transfer brinkmanship this summer? The right thing to do or a gamble too far? Let me know how you feel about how the summer’s gone on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and get involved with the Spurs talk.
We celebrated 20 years of the Premier League last season and what a pair of decades they’ve been. There’s been incredible goals, saves and celebrations year after year produced by a number of incredible players. England’s top flight has seen some truly remarkable talent during that time, with some of the greatest players to ever play the beautiful game lighting up the league. Much was expected of stars like Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira when they first arrived, but others, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Cesc Fabregas, shot to stardom out of nowhere.
However, there’s been scores of players who simply haven’t delivered the goods at the highest level unfortunately. Countless times, an individual has broken through the ranks or signed from abroad with much expected from him, only to disappoint everyone when he fails to make the cut. It’s inevitable given the turnover of players these days among the top clubs that some of the replacements aren’t going to be up to scratch, but there have been some miserable flops over the years. We check out the top 15 Premier League players that offered so much, but delivered so little.
Click on Mario Jardel to unveil the 15 that offered much and delivered little
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.