Walter Mazzarri is eager to rest and relax after Napoli’s ‘stratospheric’ Serie A campaign culminated with a 2-2 draw at Juventus on Sunday.Goals from Christian Maggio and Cristiano Lucarelli twice put the visitors ahead, but Juventus pegged them back with second-half goals from Giorgio Chiellini and Alessandro Matri to take a share of the honours on the final day of the season.
The result was a moot point for Mazzarri and his squad, who had already secured third place on the Italian table and a Champions League berth next season.
But the manager was still delighted with the final-day showing, praising his troops for finishing off the season in the right fashion after securing their first trip to Europe’s top-tier competition in 17 years.
Asked to describe the game and Napoli’s season in general, Mazzari said: “I cannot find the right adjective. I would say stratospheric.”
“A champion such as (Juve goalkeeper) Gianluigi Buffon didn’t allow Ezequiel Lavezzi to score. We broke so many records, we played an historical season, and we missed the record number of victories due to a great save by a great goalkeeper.”
“What do you want me to say? I’m happy. Now I’ll enjoy my holidays because it has been a stressful season, a very long one.”
“If I’m not wrong, we played 50 games and we aren’t used to that, not having that much international experience. We were in two competitions until February.”
On-loan Parma striker Lucarelli, who picked up his first goal for the Old Lady in the 70th minute, was thrilled to have played a hand in the draw with Juventus and said he hoped to squeeze one more campaign out of his aging body.
“It’s very satisfying because it’s always pleasing to score a goal against such a great goalkeeper,” said the veteran, whose stint at Napoli is his tenth at an Italian club.
“It’s always pleasing to score against Juventus because they are a great team, even if gaining points wasn’t so important in this game.”
“I think it was a great match. We were calm and enjoyed playing a lot. It’s a pity that we drew 2-2 in the end – it would have been good to leave Turin with three points, but that’s okay.”
“With the (knee) injury at the beginning of the season I haven’t played that much this year, so I definitely want to play another year to close out my career.”
“I’m satisfied with my career; it’s a pity I came to play for a great team only when I was 35 years old.”
Well a week ago I stated this was a make or break week for Charlton, and Seven days later I sit here rather happy.
Charlton have picked up 4 crucial points after following a 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe up with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Yeovil Town as they head in to a crunch top of the table clash with League 1 giants Huddersfield town this weekend.
Huddersfield go in to the game following a 2-0 victory over Chesterfield on Tuesday night and are back in with a shout of automatic promotion again.
It’s been a strange season for Huddersfield so far. They made a flying start along with Charlton, and back in November when the two sides met it was first v second in a tightly fought encounter. Charlton came out 2-0 winners thanks to Hogan Ephraim and Yann Kermorgant and in the process ending Huddersfield’s amazing and record breaking 43 unbeaten record.
But this meeting at the Galpharm sees Huddersfield managed by a different man since that night in November with Simon Grayson now the man at the helm and it’s fair to say it’s been a frustrating start to his time with the Terriers after he has already witnessed his side throw away a few leads including a 3-0 lead over Bury and a 2-0 advantage over Stevenage.
There is no doubting who Charlton will have to watch on Saturday afternoon, his name is Jordan Rhodes and his quite simply unplayable at this moment in time. The prolific youngster bagged his 34th goal of the season on Tuesday night and although he didn’t cause Charlton’s backline too many problems in November, he is quite simply a player who can make something out of nothing. Not only is he doing it on the club scene but also at international this season bagging a hat-trick for the Scotland’s Under 21’s already this season.
What has tended to be Huddersfield downfall this season is their defence. Although they have one of the most highly rated keepers in England right now in Alex Smithies it means little if your defence is leaking goals. As a result they will have to be at their best to stop the rampant Addicks from scoring a few.
Charlton must build on Tuesday’s superb win over in-form Yeovil to push themselves over that line. A week ago there were question marks over whether Charlton could see this title push through and, the response coming from the ecstatic Charlton fans on Tuesday after the final whistle would have made most neutrals think that Tuesday night guaranteed promotion.
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It was great to see a huge number of fans jumping around with chants like “Championship here we come”, as this shows the belief is very much back with the fans, if it had ever gone away. Another 3 points over Huddersfield on Saturday would move Charlton on to 85 points and another huge step towards that inevitable title.
Everton boss David Moyes is close to confirming Strasbourg teenager Magaye Gueye as his latest signing.
The France Under-21 international can play in midfield or attack and scored nine goals in 17 league starts for the Ligue 2 outfit last season.
The Toffees are believed to be readying a £1million offer for the 19-year-old after previously snapping up Jermaine Beckford, Jan Mucha and Joao Silva this summer.
Meanwhile, Jack Rodwell hopes he will be given the chance to establish himself in the England team so that he can shine at Euro 2012.
With several established players set to be moved into the international wilderness after the debacle in South Africa, Rodwell is keen to show his England credentials.
He told the Liverpool Echo:"I'd be honoured to make the next step to the senior side. I've got some experience at Under-21 level now, which was much different to the youth system.
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"I think I'd definitely be ready. I've always believed in my ability and it's my dream to play for England. I'm going to keep working towards it. Whether it's one or four years, I'll keep doing my best to get there.
"But, yes, I definitely believe I've got the ability to do it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Looking through the footballing archives, there is substantial evidence to support the decision Manchester United made in bringing Jesper Olsen to England. The Dane is a household name in his homeland and the Netherlands, whilst also managing to write himself into the World Cup record books with goals at Mexico 1986. So ‘the Flea’ was ready to take the English game by storm, right?
Well, sort of. Despite his proven pedigree as a top quality footballer and five years at United, English football never really suited the winger. Towards the end of his stay in England, he struggled with the demands of the game and soon enough became a victim of Sir Alex Ferguson’s cleaning out project when he took over from Ron Atkinson in 1986.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the talented Dane, though. His spell at Old Trafford produced 24 goals in 139 games and a memorable FA Cup win in 1985 over holders Everton. He added this medal to an already impressive collection formed during his Ajax days. He won two Eredivisie titles and a Dutch Cup, as well as being proclaimed ‘the most surprisingly talented player’ in the Ajax squad by his then coach, Kurt Linder. The Daily Mail even listed him as number 31 in the 40 best wingers to grace English football, ahead of Arjen Robben and Steve McManaman.
Unfortunately for Olsen, he may be remembered by some for all the wrong reasons. No amount of trophies, medals or goals for his country in major competitions will erase the memory of the part he played in the second round tie against Spain in Mexico ’86.
It had started so well. Olsen was picked on merit and didn’t disappoint as he opened the scoring with a penalty. But whilst trying to perform the most straight forward of back-passes something went drastically wrong as he presented the ball to Emilio Butragueño. He scored the first of his four that day as Spain went on to win 5-1. Consequently the phrase ‘a real Jesper Olsen’ was born into Danish proverb.
It seemed Olsen had reached the pinnacle of his career. In 1988 he travelled with the Danish squad to the European Championships but played no part and was later sold by Man United to French side, Bordeaux, in a deal which saw Ferguson actually make a profit on the player.
After one season he again moved on, this time to Caen. But after a serious injury Olsen decided on retirement in 1992, despite having the chance to return to England with Blackburn and Nottingham Forest.
He now resides in Australia and in spite of some cruel mocking he still may receive from fans because of Mexico ‘86, Olsen gives back to the game with his ‘Fun Football Group’ company, which he founded in 2003.
Three years later, though, Olsen was omitted to hospital after suffering a serious haemorrhage. Recovery has been slow, but Olsen remains involved in football. He even managed to go over to Melbourne to offer words of wisdom to Guus Hiddink and his Australian side, before they embarked on Germany for their first ever World Cup.
The career of Jesper Olsen can be remembered in different ways. World Cup goals and FA Cup medals can be counteracted with slurs on mistakes at international level and even the ridiculous ‘pass-penalty’ he took part in with Johan Cryuff.
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But none of that seems to matter to the man himself. Even now, despite previous health problems, he in employed as an assistant manager at Melbourne Heart in Australia’s A-League, and whatever may be said about Jesper Olsen, you have to give him credit, he definitely loves football.
Change can do you good, apparently. Daniel Levy probably wasn’t listening to Sheryl Crow when he was appointing Andre Villas Boas, but the crux of that song could hold a fair bit of meaning at White Hart Lane next season. Could a dashing of new players and an injection of youth into this Tottenham squad be just what’s needed to propel them to headier heights?
A brief look at this current Tottenham squad offers some interesting analysis. On paper, Spurs’ strongest staring XI, set up in the preferred 4-4-1-1 formation, isn’t particularly easy to pick holes in.
Of course, football is a lot more complex than how the players look on the team sheet. But a steady, if not spectacular goalkeeper in Brad Friedel, was supplemented by a back four that picked itself all season (with the obvious exception of Ledley King at centre-half).
The attributes of Scott Parker and Luka Modric speak for themselves and whilst Gareth Bale is unswappable, supporters value Aaron Lennon’s balance in high esteem- he was certainly missed when out injured. Rafael van der Vaart had another successful season in front of goal and Emmanuel Adebayor hit a fantastic 17 league goals.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t faults in that side. But if we shelve the issues of rotation and tactical set up away from home momentarily, there aren’t any obvious players in that side which you would instantly want to pluck out and replace. However you feel about Harry Redknapp, if he had that exact team for another league campaign, does it really seem that unfeasible that another challenge for third place couldn’t be on the cards? You would think they’d be there or there abouts.
Yet the last few weeks have brought with them something of a mini-revolution in N17. Whilst not quite a coup d’état, the replacement of Harry Redknapp brings with it a change in ideas and a new philosophy. And consequently, Spurs are facing perhaps the busiest summer of activity at White Hart Lane in several seasons.
Emmanuel Adebayor has returned to Manchester City and may or may not return. Luka Modric looks more than likely to cut his ties with Spurs in an off-season which may finally spell the end of club legend Ledley King’s time at the club; as a player, at least. Add to that the chance that Villas Boas might look to replace the veteran Brad Friedel and Tottenham are suddenly staring at a new-look spine to the team.
Superficially, this seems like something of an upheaval. But the mood at White Hart Lane feels drenched in cautious optimism and dare you say it, even relatively buoyant. Supporters aren’t afraid of the impending changes.
Because as good as brand of football that Spurs employed last season, they began to feel like the sort of film churned out on ITV2 every evening for a fortnight- decent entertainment, but pretty repetitive after the hundredth time. You always know how it’s going to end. For all the talk of Redknapp’s missing Plan B, sometimes you just felt even the players knew their endless spells of possession and domination were going to end fruitless. A completely unfounded hunch of course, but maybe it’s a good thing that those XI players are going to be shaken up a bit.
And already, it feels like just the right sort of players are making their way to North London. We can wax lyrical all day about Gylfi Sigurdsson’s abundant potential. But it’s his youth, his determination. He’s not afraid to shoot, to have a pop and try something different. Sigurdsson won’t bring with him a default Tottenham mode, if such a thing exists.
The impending arrival of Manchester United youngster, Ezekiel Fryers, is another that can make a subtle, yet real difference to Spurs next season. No one is saying he is going to come in and tell Benoit Assou-Ekotto to sit in the boot room. But he should be coming with the hunger and passion to make his mark on this team. If he offers genuine competition for ‘Disco Benny’ at left-back, then that is something which is only going to enhance this Tottenham team.
Jan Vertonghen’s exhaustive move to Spurs might be made into a three-hour biopic one day. But when he does arrive, he’ll bring something new to the team and can hopefully finally begin a period of stability in the continuously yo-yoing defence at White Hart Lane. As already mentioned within these columns, the Ajax skipper’s move can invigorate Michael Dawson again. This can only serve to galvanise the club.
This isn’t a call to ignore the potentially hazardous future that may await Tottenham. Villas Boas must get off the ground running quickly and if Modric does leave, then the premise of ‘change’ seems nothing more than a diversion tactic.
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But a change can help Tottenham Hotspur. It may have always been on the cards, but it’s time we embraced it for what it is. This is a chance for new players to come in and bring with them more competition for places, different ideas and a hunger and drive for success.
Is your glass half full or half empty this summer? Is change a positive at White Hart Lane or a potential negative? Let me know how you feel, tell me how you view it on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has left the door open for Wayne Rooney to cross the divide and join the Eastlands club.
Rooney has sparked a transfer scramble among Europe's elite clubs after revealing he is unhappy at Manchester United and unwilling to discuss a new contract.
City, who swooped to sign Carlos Tevez from their local rivals in July 2009, are reported to be the frontrunners due to the deep pockets of their Abu Dhabi-based owners.
Mancini played down suggestions that the England striker could make the switch in January when speaking at his press conference ahead of Thursday's Europa League encounter with Lech Poznan.
However, he did leave the door open for a possible raid on Old Trafford for Rooney.
"In December it is normal that teams that want to improve and have money to spend will want to buy players," he explained.
"Maybe in January we can change some players, but it depends on the situation. If we have injuries, maybe."
Meanwhile, Mancini has suggested that Rooney would find it more difficult that Tevez to swap Manchester clubs.
The Argentina striker left United after two seasons when they were unwilling to meet the transfer fee set by his third-party owners.
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Mancini added:"It was different for Carlos. Rooney is English and has played for United for a long time.
"Carlos was there for two years. That makes a difference."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
This is the 2nd part of the article focusing on former Premier League clubs. Since the Premier League was formed in 1992 there has been 44 competitive teams to date, some teams have failed to return to the top flight, whilst others have made flying visits or for the even more unfortunate, further relegation down the football league pyramid sealed their fate. However, this article is to remember those teams that made up the Premier League of yesteryear and see whether their club is set for a return to the big league or nowhere near it.
Leeds United
Leeds United were certainly one of the bigger boys to make up the Premier League in the past, the West Yorkshire club won the (old) Division One title in 1991-1992 season, the season before the league names and structures changed in England. It wasn’t until the late Nineties that United enjoyed their best Premier League spell under David O’Leary who guided his Leeds side into the ‘Top 4’ for three consecutive seasons – the club qualifying for European competitions. They reached the Semi-Final of the UEFA Cup in 1999-’00 losing to Galatasaray and a season later United reached the Semi-Final of the Champions League but were defeated by Valencia. With star players like Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer this Leeds team was considered one of the best in England at the time, however the high transfer fees and player wages were to be the downfall of the club, but also set a precedent or a warning for other clubs in the future.
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Failure to qualify for the Champions League in the 2001-2002 season saw a financial problem within the club after chairman Peter Ridsdale had taken out large loans to fund the transfers and wages of players like Robbie Fowler, Seth Johnson and Rio Ferdinand. United’s plight worsened rather rapidly with the sale of Rio to Manchester United causing David O’Leary to be sacked after falling out with Ridsdale. Eventually more star players were sold to repay loans and the club was able to survive relegation by finishing 15th, but a season later with a squad largely full of loan players, Leeds United were relegated after 14 years in the top division.
Since then Leeds have failed to return to the Premier League and further disappointment was in store for the fans. The club finished 5th in their second season in the Championship but were beaten in the Play-Off final by Watford. However, the following season would rub salt in the wounds as the club suffered its first relegation to the 3rd tier of English football in their history and were also in Administration due to financial difficulties. After failing in the play-offs in their first two League One seasons, United were able to achieve promotion in the 2009-10 season by finishing 2nd and their first season back in the Championship sees them currently in 5th position with a great chance of promotion under manager Simon Grayson.
Continue to the NEXT PAGE for Forest and another sleeping giant…
Nottingham Forest
Perhaps the biggest club currently outside of the Premier League given their list of honours, but Forest were relegated in the inaugural season in 1992-93 which saw the end of legendary manager Brian Clough’s career as manager after 18 years, and Forest’s 16 years in the top flight. However, under Frank Clark, Forest were able to bounce back to the Premier League after one season and finished in a credible 3rd place during the 1994-1995 season. Their team boasted a number of quality players like Stuart Pearce, Ian Woan, Steve Stone, Stan Collymore and Bryan Roy to name a few. Despite getting to the UEFA Cup Quarter-Finals the following season, Forest’s league form declined and they finished in 9th place. The following season Forest were relegated from the Premier League – finishing bottom – but were able to bounce back at the first time of asking under manager Dave Bassett, with controversial Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk scoring 34 goals. However, Bassett was sacked half-way into their Premier League return season and Forest finished bottom of the pile once again and were relegated out of the top flight in 1998-99.
Since then Forest have failed to make it back to the big league with a few mid-table finishes in the Championship, although in 2002/03 season under Paul Hart, Forest finished 6th but failed to qualify to the Play-Off final. Two seasons later saw Forest relegated once again, becoming the first ever former European Cup winners to drop into the third tier of domestic league football. Forest spent three seasons in League One before achieving promotion back to the Championship; they finished in a credible 3rd place last season and currently sit in 6th place.
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Southampton
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The Saints were one of the founding clubs since the Premier League started and enjoyed an impressive 27 years in the top flight before they were relegated in the 2004-05 season. Despite a number of poor finishes during their Premier League history, they will be mostly remembered for star player Matthew Le Tissier who decided to stick with his boyhood club despite interest from bigger clubs. It was Le Tissier’s goals that were able to keep the Saints up in their first few seasons but they finished in 10th place under the management of the late Alan Ball in 1994-95. Later Glenn Hoddle also finished in 10th place with the Saints but their best season came under the management of Gordon Strachan in 2002-03, with the club finishing in 8th place whilst also finishing runners-up in the FA Cup. The club was relegated two seasons later and since then have suffered further relegation into League One, including a deduction of points for entering administration. The Saints are now 5th in League One with a great chance of promotion.
Sleeping Giants
Whilst the football league has a number of former Premier League clubs, there are also a number of clubs who’ve never experienced the glamorous top flight experience in the last few decades, despite having the big stadium and crowd support with a rich history, certainly another article for another day.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas will attempt to complete a £6m deal for Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor this week.
After a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle at the weekend, Villas-Boas admitted he is a striker short in his attacking options. A fee has been agreed for the 28-year-old Togo striker, who scored 18 goals whilst on loan at White Hart Lane last season, and the former Arsenal forward is on the verge of accepting a wage cut after accepting that his Manchester City career is over.
Meanwhile, Villas-Boas has assured Jermain Defoe that he has a future at Spurs, despite interest from Sunderland and Aston Villa and the impending arrival of Adebayor at White Hart Lane. The 29-year-old England international scored 17 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions last season, with these statistics taking a blow due to Adebayor being picked ahead of Defoe in a lone-striker role. Villas-Boas was full of praise for Defoe, after scoring for Tottenham in pre-season, against Italy in an International friendly for England, and again against Newcastle to cancel out Demba Ba’s opener.
The Portuguese manager told The Mail Online “It is a different situation for him now. I have nothing to do with anything that happened in the past. He is our striker, is playing extremely well, is full of confidence and has been deadly in front of goal.”
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The transfer window may be done and dusted now the August deadline has been and gone and teams are unable to spend money until January, but that doesn’t mean they can’t bring in any reinforcements if necessary. Those individuals still available on a free transfer, whose contracts have expired and are yet to find a club, are free to keep talking to clubs until they sort out a new deal.
For example, Michael Owen finally bagged himself a new Premier League club, joining Stoke City this week having been released by Manchester United earlier in the summer. A move never materialised for Owen on deadline day itself, but he stayed calm and secured a deal after the window had shut. Liverpool are so short in the striking department, they may have to turn to the free transfer market and see who’s available, so we’ve compiled our own list of the ten players still out there without a club.
Click on Harry Kewell to unveil the 10 freebies
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Tottenham are Liverpool are set to go head to head in January to sign up Spanish starlet Isco in a cut price deal, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Malaga ace is highly sought after and both Premier League clubs sent scouts to watch the 20-year old who scored a brace against Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League.
Isco still has four years remaining on his current deal; however with the Spanish side reported financial problems it is believed that should a club meet the player’s £16m buyout clause that Malaga may well be tempted to cash in.
Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini is under no illusions that it will be difficult to keep hold of Isco; a player who has been described as having limitless potential:
“He is a player who has a great future. Nobody knows what his limit is.”
Both Tottenham and Liverpool are desperate for a new striker in January, given that both clubs only have two recognised strikers within their respective squads.
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