Having secured their spot in the Champions League for another season, Mauricio Pochettino knew that his Tottenham side could afford to take their foot off the gas somewhat on their final match of the season against Leicester.
That allowed Lucas Moura, the January signing who has struggled for gametime, the opportunity to get a rare start in Spurs’ final game at Wembley before their return to the newly-renovated White Hart Lane next season.
The Brazilian – valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt – is a clearly talented player but it would appear that Pochettino has reservations over his ability to adjust to English football as he has seldom thrown him in at the deep end since his arrival in North London.
Nevertheless, the decision to start Lucas went down well with the Spurs faithful and we’ve taken a closer look at some of the most enthusiastic reaction on Twitter to the team news…
Crystal Palace confirmed the signing of Connor Wickham from Sunderland on Monday and they through the striker straight into action in their final pre-season game against Dagenham and Redbridge, which ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Eagles.
The game wasn’t important, but the fact Alan Pardew decided to throw the striker straight in to action perhaps gives us a bigger indication to the role the former Sunderland striker will have in South London this season.
The Palace boss has already enjoyed a productive summer, signing Yohan Cabaye, Alex McCarthy, Patrick Bamford and Bakary Sako.
Wickham, who reportedly cost Palace a fee in the region of £8m, struggled to set into life in the North East and hasn’t ever replicated the form he showed for Ipswich when he broke onto the scene in the 2010/11 season, which earned him his big money move to the Premier League.
Pardew said after Palace’s 1-1 draw in a pre-season friendly at Fulham before signing Wickham on Saturday: “Connor is somebody we feel will be great for the club.”
But will Wickham be great for Palace? He hasn’t scored prolifically in his Premier League career so far, though he has scored regularly in the Championship, highlighted by an impressive eight goals in eleven games during a loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday two years ago.
However, replicating that form into the Premier League has been a problem for Wickham.
That same season, he came back and scored five goals in the last eight games to keep the Black Cats up. Other than that, though, Wickham hasn’t delivered the goods in the Premier League and has struggled to find the back of the net on a regular basis, with five goals remaining his best Premier League goals tally to date.
But it is a bit of a mystery that he hasn’t been more of a success as he’s got all the attributes to do it. He is 6ft 4in tall, really strong in the air and on the deck and can bully defences with his size and power.
But he isn’t cumbersome by any stretch. He still has a decent turn of speed to get in behind defences and once there, he is a decent finisher in front of goal.
He is built to score goals at the top level and you can’t help but feel he is yet to deliver his best, and we’ve only seen glimpses of what he is capable of in small bursts of form for Sunderland. Given time and the right environment, he may well produce the form that warranted his big move up north so early on in his career.
And Selhurst Park could well be the perfect environment for Wickham to finally reach his potential. In Pardew he has a manager who will put his faith in the striker and play towards his strengths. Wickham will be the main striker at Palace as he is arguably the best striker at the club, which is something he didn’t always enjoy at the Stadium of Light, and he found himself forced to play out wide on the left on many occasions.
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The move to Palace could well be the perfect thing for Wickham as he would be moving back down south where he is from, and it could be the fresh start he needs to kick start his career and start firing in the goals again.
In the 2012/2013 Premier League campaign at Newcastle there was a lot of vehement criticism thrown in the direction of the club’s manager Alan Pardew. The former Southampton and West Ham boss has reached his lowest ebb on Tyneside in recent months, as his charges decided to surrender to a 3-0 defeat to deadly rivals Sunderland with barely a whimper, whilst the 51 year old still insisted his side were the best team outside of the top six.
The pressure has been mounting for a significant period of time at Newcastle United as the once named ‘Pardiola’ appears to have believed his own hype amongst making a heap of costly errors both on and off the pitch within the last season. The one consistent excuse which appears to have bought the Premier League second longest serving manager a reprieve though appears to be the belief that the business model installed at Newcastle United is failing to provide Pardew with the tools to succeed. Is this a legitimate reason for the club’s drastic fall from grace as they plummeted from 5th place in May 2012 to 16th in May 2013?
This argument is one which several have used to justify the failure of Newcastle United, myself included, but it is one which is falling upon extremely weak foundations. The only way that Alan Pardew can in the short term quell the unrest at St James’s Park is by signing strength in depth in all areas of the side. Even if Pardew fulfils this objective, is this even enough? Or has the tide already turned?
It is clear that several supporters see their manager as a puppet to the club’s owner Mike Ashley. They see the mediation and motivational skills as irrelevant if Pardew can’t ultimately ensure that his playing staff deliver on matchdays. What appears to be far more important is the style of play which the Magpies are offering. The direct style of play was miserable for the fans to endure when Sam Allardyce was the at the helm, let alone when it has been ineffective under Pardew. The use of Papiss Cisse as a target man is a tactic which immediately needs to be disregarded.
The personnel Pardew already has at his disposal have superb potential. Hatem Ben Arfa is a talent that can capture the imagination of all his supporters at any given moment, whilst the ability of players such as Debuchy, Cabaye and Sissoko offer reason to be optimistic that the Magpies can succeed next term. They need to be given direction and licence to develop within the system that suits their playing style.
If Pardew is to have a chance of winning the supporters back around, he needs to silence his pleas for help from Mike Ashley channeled through the media. It is extremely naive for the Magpies boss to think that the fans believe they can influence their owner. There is an acceptance on Tyneside that the Sports Direct Owner has own agenda which he will carry out regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of his actions. Alan Pardew needs to realise that he must handle what is within his control if he is to succeed. That is ensuring that the club play attractive football, which will give the fans a chance to warm to their boss again like they once had.
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It may seem highly unlikely to many in the North East that Pardew can restore his ailing reputation, but it is not impossible. He survived in his first season in charge with Peter Lovenkrands, Nile Ranger and Shefki Kuqi, struggling to as the man at the helm would say “get him over the line”, and the squad has certainly improved since then.
The current business model at Newcastle United may be a discussion relevant to the future of the club in years to come. The brutal honest truth now though is the supporters are far more worried about the desperation on the field of play that they witnessed at the end of this season, than the financial solvency of the club in three or four years time.
As reported by The Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are interested in signing Swansea City defender Kyle Bartley this summer.
Bartley had a successful spell on loan at Leeds last season, striking up a formidable partnership with Pontus Jansson in the heart of the Elland Road side’s defensive line.
Struggling this season to get regular first-team football at the Swans, a return to Leeds could be tempting for the 26-year-old.
Leeds could certainly do with the defensive improvement having conceded more than all 13 of the teams currently above them in the English Championship table.
Fans are eager for the deal to happen, believing signing the defender could be the start of an exciting summer as the club look to build a squad capable of competing for play-off positions next term.
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Will his return see an improvement in Leeds’ fortunes?
Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…
Regardless of whether you believe Harry Kane will go to Manchester United this summer or not, it’s a story doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Some say a £40million move to Old Trafford would be a step up too soon for the England international, who has only had half a season of success in the Premier League so far. Others, though, believe he’s the kind of striker Louis Van Gaal should be targeting in the summer.
So we booted up our copy of Football Manager 2015 to see just how well he does as a Manchester United player, and the results speak for themselves…
The arrival of Kane from Spurs didn’t mark the end of Luis Van Gaal’s summer business, having already secured Memphis Depay from PSV, he also brought in Wesley Sneijder, Jan Vertonghen, Adriano of Barcelona and his Camp Nou teammate Marc Bartra.
Oh, and a dramatic u-turn mid-way through July saw Falcao turn up at Old Trafford again, snubbing Mourinho’s Chelsea to sign a permanent deal at United.
Falcao’s return and Van Gaal’s failure to offload Javier Hernandez meant Kane was seemingly low down the pecking order, with Rooney and Van Persie also vying for first-team opportunities.
So it’s no real surprise that it took Kane until the end of November to register his first United goal, netting the first in a 2-0 win away at West Brom.
Kane then went on to become United’s cup competition striker, and he played a vital role in the Red Devils’ route to Capital One Cup glory. His 72nd minute goal in the second-leg of the semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday ensured his side went through to the final on away goals after a 3-3 stalemate over two legs.
Then Kane banged in the first goal of a 4-1 battering of Chelsea in the final to claim the first piece of silverware of his pro career.
Kane took his chances whenever he could and scored sporadically throughout the rest of the campaign, ending the season with 10 in all competitions (two in the Premier League) – sixth in the Old Trafford charts that season, behind Falcao (29), Depay (17), Rooney (14), Mata (14) and Di Maria (12).
SEE ALSO >> FM15 Stories – Falcao flops at Chelsea, Mourinho sacked
Two of those came in both legs of United’s quarter-final victory over PSG in the Champions League, though they were stopped by Real Madrid in the semi-final.
As you can see above, Kane only managed two starts in the Premier League and was mostly used as a substitute. He ended the season with 25 appearances in all competitions, 15 of which were off the bench, which means his return of ten goals wasn’t particularly disappointing.
His highlight of the season, despite his important goals in the Capital One Cup and Champions League, was being named in one of April’s Team of the Week after helping United to a 3-1 home win over Watford.
Man United wrapped up the Premier League title by beating rivals City to the post by just three points, though Kane will not be remembered as a vital member of that title winning side.
At the end of the campaign Kane is immediately linked with a move back to Tottenham who, despite ending the season in fifth, appeared to have missed his presence up front. They replaced him with Fabio Borini in the summer, but he could only manage three Premier League goals.
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Spurs did bring in Salomon Rondon in January to help chip in with the goals, but he broke his foot soon after arriving in north London and was sidelined for 2 months. Oops.
So it’s little wonder Spurs were keen on bringing Kane back home after he had little impact during Man United’s double winning season. Perhaps a loan deal might be in the offing. Shame we’ll never find out…
A lawyer who helped create the Bosman ruling in 1995 is to challenge UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play regulations in court.
French lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont has lodged an official complaint with the European Commission in opposition to UEFA’s new rules, due to come into play next season.
He is representing football agent Daniel Striani, who represents a number of high-profile players across Europe, including those in the Premier League.
Europe’s governing body hope the new regulations, which sets limits on the amount of losses a club can make, will ensure all sides will eventually break even.
They also hope it will keep wages under control and prevent clubs from falling into administration or even liquidation under the weight of heavy debts. Clubs who fail to comply could ultimately face expulsion from European competitions such as the Champions League.
However, Dupont believes the regulations will hamper the growth and development of smaller clubs and maintain the status quo, playing into the hands of teams such of Manchester United, who already have large stadiums and substantial commercial income.
It would also prevent the rise of a club like Manchester City, whose owner Sheikh Mansour bankrolled an almost unprecedented spending spree on players that ultimately delivered them the 2012 Premier League title.
“A club owner is prohibited from overspending even if such overspending aims at growing the club,” he said in a statement.
Dupont was part of the legal team that defeated UEFA and the European Commission in 1995 over Belgian midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman’s desire to move clubs at the end of his contract.
They challenged football’s transfer rules at the European Court, citing restraint of trade, and helped create the Bosman ruling which allows players to move clubs freely at the end of their contract.
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The European Commission confirmed it had received a complaint but would make no further comment on the case.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made a handful of changes for the visit of Stoke City at Anfield this afternoon.
With one eye on next Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg, the German coach made five changes.
Sadio Mane, James Milner, Dejan Lovren, Andy Robertson and injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made way, making room for Danny Ings, Georginio Wijnaldum, Joe Gomez, Alberto Moreno and Ragnar Klavan.
Overall, it was a lacklustre performance from the Reds, who dominated the ball but failed to get past Stoke’s defence as the match ended goalless.
One man who received criticism from the fans was Gomez, who recently lost his position at right-back to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Today, the 20-year-old – valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt – was included in the lineup, but struggled defensively and when moving forward.
The performance will not go down as one of Liverpool’s best, but they were unlucky not to be given a penalty late in the second half when the ball struck the arm of Erik Pieters.
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Despite the injustice, plenty of the fans’ focus was on Gomez’s disappointing display.
Things have not been easy for Arsene Wenger this season. Despite leading his side to silverware at the end of last season, fans were unsettled with the Frenchman.
Early in the season, Arsenal recorded draws against Manchester City, Everton, north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Premier League newcomers Leicester City.
Meanwhile, early on in their Champions League campaign, Arsenal were not doing too badly. When they faced Galatasary, Danny Welbeck even managed to score a hat trick. Yet the week before Arsene Wenger was hounded at Stoke. A 3-2 loss was enough for fans to turn on their long serving manager, as they heckled him when he tried to board a train back to London. It was a low point for not only Wenger, but the fans themselves.
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The second half of the season has been far more successful for the north London side. Usually, Arsenal do well in the earlier stages of the Premier League, yet tend to bottle it towards the end. Back in January, Manchester City were tipped to battle Chelsea in order to defend their Premier League title. But Manchester City did not plan for the arrival of a certain Olivier Giroud.
Giroud put a dent in City’s title hopes, along with a penalty from Santi Cazorla, and Arsenal’s away win was a big deal at the beginning of the year. Only Stoke had managed to take three points from City at the Etihad before then. This began the real turning point for Arsenal, and more importantly Wenger, who needed to salvage his season.
Arsenal’s biggest win this season came at home against Aston Villa at the beginning of February. Five goals and five different scorers – Giroud, Ozil, Walcott, Cazorla and Bellerin. This game may have put a nail in the coffin for Paul Lambert’s career, but it helped to revive Arsene’s.
Now Arsenal are in second place and are set to stay there. There was a question as to whether they could even make the top four just a few short months ago.
They are also on course to retain the FA Cup, unless Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa can stop them. Arsenal fans were calling for Wenger’s head at the end of last year, but now they are singing his praises.
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If the narrative that’s underpinned Andrey Arshavin’s career at Arsenal is one of frustration and beleaguering mystery, then the resolution could ultimately be one of tragedy, following the news that the Russian is contemplating hanging up his boots at the end of the Premier League season.
Only five years after he had the world at his feet following his awe-inspiring performances during Euro 2008 and aged only 31-years-of-age, recent reports have suggested that the former Zenit man is seriously considering the prospect of retirement when his current deal with the Gunners expires at the end of June.
The initial outpouring of emotion from the wider footballing public towards Arshavin, however, seems to have been one of scorn.
The Russian’s career doesn’t hang in the balance at the hands of injury, nor does it find itself coming to a close towards anything approaching financial pain should he choose to retire; Arshavin is reported to earn around £95,000-a-week.
Whereas we’ve seen footballers who loved the game beyond measure, such as Dean Ashton and Fabrice Muamba, have their careers taken from them in their mid-twenties, Arshavin seems to be wasting away his outrageous gifts without much of a care in the world. And it’s within that notion of care that you’ll find the epicentre of the majority of fans’ disdain towards him.
Because following his club record £15million move to the Emirates Stadium in 2009, it simply wasn’t supposed to end like this.
After announcing himself on the world-scene with a string of magnificent performances for his country at Euro 2008, Arshavin dazzled supporters following his move to north London a little over six months down the track.
Technically gifted, a wonderful dribbler of the ball and a seemingly unstoppable force when running at speed, the little Russian showed exactly why the likes of Barcelona had battled for his signature following his exploits in Austria and Switzerland.
Despite only playing half a season with the club, Arshavin came runner-up in the voting for Arsenal’s player of the season award, following a blockbuster introduction to English football that saw him notch up seven assists and score seven goals in little over 12 games; four efforts of which came in the now infamous 4-4 draw away to Liverpool, where Arshavin became the first player since Dennis Westcott in 1946 to score a quartet at Anfield.
Far from being the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he had to offer the club, sadly that outstanding effort on Merseyside proved to be the zenith of Arshavin’s Arsenal career. Understandably, after eking out only four-and-a-half months consistent service from a four-and-a-half year deal, supporters are well within their right to lambaste a player who should have produced so, so much more for the sort of money the club had shelled out for.
Although while the buck ultimately stops with Arshavin and nobody else for his lacklustre time in North London, how much can fans really demonize a player whose fate was in no small part catalyzed by a manager who simply never believed in his record signing?
Arshavin has not been without his failings at the Emirates Stadium. If all flair players tend to bestow the footnote of ‘drifting in and out of games,’ then Arshavin’s must surely come with an asterisk beside it.
Too many times the Russian has worn the look of a man disillusioned enough with his football that the basic work ethic simply hasn’t been in attendance and for those paying their hard-earned money to watch their side play, Gunners fans have been well within their right to throw their share of stick his way.
Although if Arshavin has remained firmly in the line of fire from Arsenal supporters over the last couple of years, then Arsene Wenger has played his own part in helping him over the trench and straight into no-mans-land.
The common argument that Arshavin’s woes have stemmed from being played out of position are often batted away as the stuff of urban myth and even for those that do go along with the tactical failings that the Russian has endured, the common argument is that he should have done better under the circumstances.
But should he really have done better?
Andrey Arshavin spent his entire career at Zenit ghosting in and out of games, expertly finding space and picking the right time to expose the failings of opposition defences throughout games. Industrious defensive work, sustained deliveries from out wide and the bread-and-butter elements of the traditional winger has never been in his attacking remit.
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Yet for the vast majority of his Arsenal career, this is the role that he’s been asked to play. Has he been totally bereft of the opportunity to play as a No10? Not entirely, no and even on the rare occasions we have seen him play centrally, rarely have we been treated to a performance of the calibre he once used to produce as par for the course.
But Andrey Arshavin’s biggest failure at Arsenal hasn’t been this perceived lack of care for the badge of some form of showing of contempt for the club that pays his wages. The biggest crime he’s been guilty of is not being someone that he isn’t.
Regardless of what fate now lies ahead for Arshavin at the end of the season, the book should have closed on his Arsenal career a long time ago.
His wage demands, decreasing stock and reported reluctance to play below a level he is now surely destined for, have all played a part in ensuring interest ‘couldn’t be colder,’ from other clubs. But although the blame for his demise must lie in his lap, it’s been a two way street from the outset, however Wenger wishes to frame it.
Hosts flounder in pursuit of 164 to finish 88 short – the largest margin of victory in the history of The Hundred
ECB Media17-Aug-2025London Spirit 164 for 6 (Chathli 69, Harris 34, Arlott 3-25) beat Birmingham Phoenix 76 (Lamb 23, Gray 2-13, Dean 2-16) by 88 runsA cracking partnership of 47 from just 21 balls between Spirit’s breakout opener Kira Chathli and the megastar Grace Harris took the game away from Phoenix, who floundered badly in pursuit of 164, losing three wickets inside the first 33 balls to eventually finish 88 short – the largest margin of victory in the history of The Hundred.The result propels Spirit to joint-top of the table with a slightly superior run rate to Southern Brave, and leaves the Phoenix down and virtually out, on just four points from five matches.The hosts will be disappointed with their campaign. Just a single tournament half-century, to Emma Lamb, and little to show for the efforts of their Australian pair, the great Ellyse Perry and the national team’s new star opener, Georgia Voll.Both made single-figure scores here as Phoenix stuttered up top against some disciplined new-ball bowling from Spirit’s left-arm spinner Bex Tyson and the rejuvenated Issy Wong, who yet again burnished her credentials as one of the best young seamers in the English game.Reigning champions Spirit, under Charlie Dean, who bowled beautifully to pick up two wickets including that of England team-mate Amy Jones, are again building at just the right time.Chathli in particular has been a revelation. Her 35-ball 69, containing 13 fours, is her most impressive knock to date in the tournament, while Harris is the heartbeat of their middle order, a woman in the form of her life who’s now plundered 199 tournament runs this term at a ferocious strike rate of 180. Her knock today may have occupied just 15 balls, but she still planted four of them over the rope.They needed it too, after losing Georgia Redmayne and Cordelia Griffith in the powerplay and then Charli Knott soon after, the impressive Phoenix seamer Em Arlott picking up three more wickets to draw level, on 10, with Lauren Bell as the most prolific wicket-taker of the tournament so far.Chathli, named the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “In The Hundred that’s definitely my best performance to date. They bowled really well up top – as did our bowlers as well – but the key is to give yourself a few balls, and after that it got a little easier.”We just focus on what do really well as a team, which is to play positive cricket and there’s no doubt in my mind that every member of our team backs each other to deliver their skill.”