Everton fans will be relieved following news that injured Belgium international Kevin Mirallas will be available much sooner than first thought, and could even start when the Toffees take on Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Premier League this weekend.
The creative winger was taken off at half time during the Merseyside derby on Sunday after picking up a knock from a stern tackle by Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. Blues boss David Moyes was concerned that Mirallas could be out for up to a month with ligament damage.
This morning however, it was announced that the Belgian’s injury is not as bad as initially predicted, following a scan by the club’s medical team.
The 25-year-old has been in good form since joining from Olympiacos for £6million in the summer, contributing one assist and one goal to the Toffees’ cause.
Steven Naismith, who scored Everton’s second goal against Liverpool at the weekend, told reporters he was impressed with Mirallas first half performance in the Mersey derby.
“Kevin was our main direct threat in the derby in terms of driving at defenders and it showed with the amount of chances he was creating for himself and others” said the Scottish forward.
“Losing him at half-time in the game was a blow, but Liverpool changed their system in the second half as well and it became a bit scrappy with a lot of fouls – the game kept getting stopped which didn’t help.
“Looking back, there was some great play from us too – switching sides and with Kevin being a massive threat creating chances.”
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Steven Pienaar will also be available for selection after serving a one-match suspension, meaning the Everton midfield will be at full force against Fulham with the exception of Darron Gibson who is currently sidelined with a thigh injury.
A few months ago, very few football fans will have heard of Peter Herbert unless they happened to have an interest in the outcome of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in which Herbert is the lead defence counsel for Dr Augustine Ngirabatware.
Herbert has been a committed and hard-working lawyer for many years, but by football fans he will forever live in the memory as the man who tried to silence Spurs fans, and furthermore enthralled himself and the Society of Black Lawyers into the heart of any incident or allegation where the term “racism” or “racist” could be applied.
I first heard Peter Herbert on talkSPORT in the days after the Kick It Out T-shirt boycott, in which the likes of Jason Roberts and the Ferdinand brothers refused to wear the anti-racism campaign’s warm-up t-shirts in protest against a lack of progress in the battle against racism throughout the world of football.
Although condemned by some managers, it would be difficult to not understand their point of view. In recent months, two senior, high profile players were handed minuscule bans for using racist language and England’s Under 21 squad were racially abused by sections of the stadium of Serbian supporters – reigniting the issue over UEFA being rather toothless in their approach to stopping racism. A five figure fine, of which no fan would ever end up accountable for, will never stop racist chanting.
Enter Peter Herbert, a man calling for change and with good reason too. Initially, the barrister was concerned with setting up a Black Players Union, arguing with Andy Gray that it would not be a divisive organisation.
“[The black players union] is not a breakaway anything; it sits alongside mainstream structures and works in partnership with them,” Herbert explained to Keys and Gray.
“It’s a support group, somewhere safe to talk about your problems. They give the FA the primary information and expertise needed to change the system. Freedom of choice and change, that’s what we’re about.”
I liked the sound of Herbert, he argued effectively – but then again he is a lawyer. Andy Gray then called out his interviewee on a comment he had made previously. When asked how he would feel about a white players union, Herbert replied “they’ve already got one, it’s called the BNP”. Suddenly, a man who quotes Martin Luther King was beginning to edge towards sounding more like Malcolm X.
Suddenly, a string of incidents had blemished the name of English football as pundits warned we were heading back to the dark ages of the 70s and 80s where National Front chants were sung on the terraces and banana throwing was acceptable. At Millwall, Marvin Sordell accused small sections of the crowd of racial abuse, of which a 14-year-old boy was subsequently banned from the New Den, and Oldham’s Lee Croft was wrongly believed to have used racist language towards a ball boy.
Peter Herbert however was handing the larger issues, all be it the wrong issues. Clarke Carlisle, PFA Chairman and Question Time panellist, has accused Herbert of careerism following the two issues he has decided to champion.
First came the Mark Clattenburg incident. Chelsea made a complaint to the F.A. over the referee apparently using racist language during a game. Now, I wasn’t there, but I’m fairly certain Mark Clattenburg, a man who has refereed for years, during a period in English football where racism is the number one topic, in the middle of an extremely tense title-race clash, would not just slip in a couple of racial slurs. Peter Herbert was also not at the game, but he decided to file his own complaint with the Metropolitan police, who have now dropped the case over a lack of evidence.
Then, Peter Herbert delivered the bombshell that he will always be remembered for. He warned Tottenham Hotspur that he would be making another official complaint to the police unless more is done to stop racist chanting at White Hart Lane. But, Herbert does not only mean the disgusting hissing noises made by away supporters doing impressions of Nazi gas chambers, he also wants an end to all chants involving the “Y-word”. The “Y-word” is a racial slur; originally it was a term of offence. But it has been adopted by Spurs fans of every ethnicity and religion as a defence mechanism against anti-Semitism, as well as being a banner of identity.
Herbert is fighting a battle with Tottenham he simply won’t win. And furthermore, I believe his hostile efforts will prove detrimental in the bid to stop racism. In Leicester, an Under 15s team called Nirvana FC, constituted of mainly Black and Asian players, received racial abuse from spectators. The club claim that their opposition’s supporters made monkey noises, offensive gestures and ended the match with a violent pitch invasion. The sudden outburst of racist behaviour, that wouldn’t have happened a few months ago, happened for the same reasons a Chelsea fan was caught on camera doing a monkey impression – because the sensationalist approach to racism in football, has heightened racial tensions.
I don’t accuse Herbert of being a provocateur, but his method of attracting the headlines, labelling the FA as systematically racist, and getting involved in every allegation will not make him any friends and will not add weight to his arguments.
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Saying that Herbert should stop complaining is an easy position for someone who has no experience of being racially abused. However, it is a view shared by John Barnes, a man who knows more than anyone about racism in English football.
“The Society of Black Lawyers should stick to law. They are lawyers, they should not be getting involved in football, they should be getting involved in legal matters for which [the Clattenburg case] isn’t one,” said Barnes.
“Racism is a big problem in football and it’s a serious problem but what’s going to work against it is if you start looking for racism where it doesn’t exist.”
Nolberto Solano has revealed he “feels sorry” for Newcastle fans after watching their side get dumped out of the FA Cup against lower league opposition.
Saturday’s defeat to Brighton sent the Magpies crashing out of the competition at the first hurdle, meaning the wait for domestic silverware goes into a 59th year.
Since the FA Cup last came to Tyneside in 1955, former Toon midfielder Solano featured in the side that came closest to matching that feat, reaching the final in 1999, where they were beaten by Manchester United.
The Peruvian believes the Magpies should have set out to challenge for the domestic trophy and sympathises with supporters after the latest disappointment in the club’s cup history.
“When you know you aren’t going to get a top-five finish in the Premier League then you HAVE to go for it in the FA Cup,” Solano told The Evening Chronicle. “I can’t understand why they haven’t.”
“I know that there are injuries but Newcastle weren’t at full strength against Brighton.
“The FA Cup was the best route to success. It gets you back into Europe and that was important because they won’t be going back there via the Premier League.
“I feel sorry for the supporters. You always have to go for it in the cup.
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“In my first season we did it with Ruud Gullit and the city was buzzing all the way through to the final.
“The city loves a cup run, it gets everybody excited and it helps you win league games too. It is a nice distraction and you are better off being in it, even with extra games.”
The jeering at the conclusion of Saturday’s 1-0 loss against Stevenage was not because of the result (well, it was – one point from nine is not the start the fans had wished for). No, the negative, irritated reaction was due to the insipid performance from entire Oldham team
It was bereft of imagination or attacking instinct. It was dull, labourous and lacked an energy that might at some point make the opposition feel slightly uncomfortable. This was a well-oiled Stevenage which still has obvious traces of Graham Westley’s philosophy flowing through it. It is rough, powerful and ready to fight for three points. Ultimately, they were allowed to settle into their usual effective style without many questions being asked.
The single goal loss came from yet another defensive mishap. A long ball aimed simply away from the Stevenage’s penalty area was naively allowed to bounce by young James Tarkowski. The 19-year-old defender was then out-muscled, keeper Alex Cisak raced out and commited a blatant foul inside his area. Penalty awarded. Penalty dispatched.
Last Tuesday night, Athletic were on course for a 1-0 victory against an average Walsall side. However, with 10 minutes remaining club Captain Dean Furman inexplicably attempted a back-pass without realising a Walsall player blocked his path to Cisak. To the home support’s horror, George Bowerman was gifted the opportunity to bury the ball into the net, which he duely did.
Three days previous and Tarkowski was at fault again, bizarrely heading upwards rather than out. MK Dons, who won 2-0, were far from slick yet scored from the resulting corner. For the sake of his self-belief Dickov needs to take him out of the starting 11. Cliff Byrne, with his vast experience and steady, unforgiving nature, makes him a fine candidate to move in from right-back and partner the impressive Jean Yves-M’voto.
So three league games, three defensive calamities. It is very much like last season. Hard work a plenty, lapses of concentration in the dangerous and crucial areas more so. However, move beyond the defence and there are more ills. Take the midfield. With James Wesolowski’s torn hamstring, Dean Furman has a lost his influential partner. The energy was been sapped. There is little imagintion, movement and more worryingly no willingless to find space.
Saturday saw Dickov switch from his usual 4-4-1-1 to a more flat 4-5-1 with the inclusion of Carl Winchester, who formed a midfield three with Furman and Yousuff M’Changama. Despite a congested core, Stevenage were able to use their intelligence to constrict space on the Boundary Park pitch. Ok – so find some, you would say. It didn’t happen. And so Stevenage were able to organise themselves with ease.
It was also evident on Saturday that Robbie Simpson does not suit the lone striker role. Despite being generally ineffective, he did look slightly more threatening after the break when Dickov replaced Winchester with the powerful Matt Smith, allowing Simpson to drop into the hole behind Smith, who was instructed to lead the line and dominate aerially.
Ultimately, the performance as a whole was far from acceptable. To claim just a single point from two winnable home games is a dreadful return. The tempo that was set in the opening half against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup has yet to be replicated. In truth it has become laboured, and this against sides such as Walsall, who are tipped to struggle.
If Walsall are supposed to find themselves towards the foot of the table, then Oldham, on this evidence, will not be far from them. Of course, the opening 10 or so games do not require fantastic results. As long as there is promise in the performance and style teams generally excel once they have gelled and formed strong partnerships. Results come eventually with good performances. Oldham might be waiting a while.
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Having just experienced the wettest summer for a century, a never ending depth of unemployment and the continuous gloom of austerity, it’s fair to say we could all do with a bit of comic relief in our lives. Everyone has their own personal form of escapism and for many of us, the footballing world offers us a break from the doom and gloom that’s hanging around the UK.
Or at least it should do, anyway. With every aspect of football, from a half-time pie to the petrol it costs to get us to grounds proving so excruciatingly expensive, at the very least, we live in the hope of entertainment.
The hope that even if after a 200mile-round journey that ended in woeful defeat, we’ll still end up laughing at the really quite ridiculous goal celebration we all had to endure. The hope that during a tedious week at work, you’ll still end up spontaneously laughing at the clever retort of a player who’d been receiving stick all game. The general belief that the footballing world will at the very minimum, give us something to smile about.
Call it a penchant for nostalgia, but you simply can’t shake the feeling that football’s sense of humour is currently suffering from the same blues as everyone else. Or worse still, it’s gone missing completely.
Where have all the characters gone, the laughs and the silly haircuts? When was the last time you read a funny story or amusing modern day anecdote in the paper? Football is supposed to offer us all an outlet, an escape from the trappings of modern day life. It appears recently anyway, it’s more part of the gloom, rather than the tonic.
The year of 2012 has seen a variety of knocks for the world of footballing humour. We’ve seen Mario Balotelli denounce the need to smile after scoring goal. In February, we saw Porto threaten to report Manchester City fans for leading chants of ‘You’re not incredible’ to Brazilian striker Hulk.
And perhaps in the most depressing instance of a sense of humour failure, we recently saw Falkirk’s PA announcer suspended after complaints from Rangers fans. His crime? Cheekily denoting the club as ‘Sevco Franchise’ (the name of the company used in the purchase of Rangers’ assets in the wake of liquidation) when reading out the half-time scores.
It might not seem like much, but it’s the little things that often make a big difference in football. In a sport that has quickly evolved into a business, it’s the unique sense of humour that so often adorns football, which gives it a human touch. One that is distinctly lacking in the 21st century.
Even something as basic as a colourful opinion from a footballer, feels like it’s very much in the descent. Footballer’s used to be able to talk to journalists to give tip offs, share stories and have a drink. But now the PR sterilized face of the former and the starving cynicism of the latter, have led to a relatively non existent relationship between the two.
There’s not much to laugh about even when footballers do manage to get their points across, too. The social phenomenon of Twitter has been credited with bringing footballers closer to supporters. One could only imagine the entertainment the likes of George Best, Rodney Marsh, Paul Gascoigne and even Jimmy Bullard would have provided had they still been playing in today’s world. It’s worth noting that a more refined Marsh can currently be found tweeting from his Florida home.
But now, even if a footballer’s opinion hasn’t been vetted by swathes of public relations staff, it’s not usually much to shout about. Those looking for a colourful opinion will be greeted with a cliché and those searching for something amusing will usually find an uploaded picture of a Nando’s chicken. It’s hardly a gag a minute.
So where has the humour and the laughs gone and who’s to blame? As a nation of such cynics, have we driven away the on pitch jesters?
Well, we certainly haven’t helped cultivate an environment that caters to the footballing maverick. As every single move on the pitch is overanalyzed a hundred times over, so is their activity off the pitch. Footballers are so often targets for the tabloid media and within the cult of celebrity that we currently inhabit, they’re absolute fodder to make it on the front pages for the wrong reasons.
Every comment they make travels faster than the speed of light through social media; one wrong move or risqué comment and before you know it, it’s been retweeted a thousand times over. Ashley Cole would hardly pass as a stand up comedian, but within an hour of delivering his “#BUNCHOF*****’ tweet, it had been regurgitated 17,000 times over. You get the point.
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Even the very game itself, seems to be intent on sucking all the fun out. For quite a while now, a player has been able to throw his jersey off in a moment of pure jubilation. Again, during West Ham United’s recent 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, the Hammers’ Senegalese midfielder Mohamed Diame, was booked for ‘over-celebrating’.
The health and safety executives among us may be giving a very astute nod of the head, after Diame went to celebrate with the Upton Park faithful. But if football can’t bring itself to let players enjoy a debut goal with their own fans, it doesn’t bode particularly well for the game as a whole.
Maybe it’s a view entrenched in nostalgia and one that doesn’t take into account the joys of humour that do currently exist in the game. But is it really asking too much of football to simply have a laugh now and again? They say it’s good for you. And for the beautiful game, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
Where do you think football’s sense of humour has gone? Let me know on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and tell me where it’s hiding.
QPR manager Harry Redknapp today moved to deny the context of comments made earlier in the week connected to Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas’ time as Chelsea manager, reports ITV Sport.
The Queens Park Rangers manager has suggested in the past two weeks that you would have to be a real dope not to succeed in bossing Chelsea, while attempting to put pressure on Tottenham ahead of tomorrow’s game by claiming that Andre Villas-Boas has enough quality at his disposal to be able to field two teams strong enough to compete at the top of the Premier League.
The two managers meet tomorrow afternoon at Loftus Road in the Premier League. Redknapp spoke to silence speculation of a grudge, denying even a social relationship with the Spurs boss.
“I don’t have a relationship with Villas-Boas but then I don’t have a relationship with any other manager in the Premier League,” said Redknapp.
“I don’t socialise with him, he’s gone to Tottenham and done a great job. What’s the problem? I’ve got no problem with him at all.
“Good luck to him, he’s doing a fantastic job there. Long may it continue for him.
“I’ll shake his hand after the game and invite him in for a drink, whatever the result. I don’t have any problems with him. He seems a nice guy.”
Going onto further contextualise comments made earlier in the week suggesting that a “dope” could manage Chelsea, Redknapp stated, “I was asked a question about [Chelsea’s] Rafael Benitez and I said he’s gone in there and done very well, but you’d have to be a dope to mess up with that squad of players.”
“I said Rafa Benitez is not a dope, he’s a top manager who will do very well there.
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“I never mentioned anyone else, so why people have started relating it to the manager at Tottenham I don’t know.”
John Heitinga has admitted his frustrations in being left out of the Everton team and feels underprepared for international duty with Holland.
Heitinga was voted the Toffees’ player of the season last year, but has not started any of the matches so far and made just two substitute appearances against Manchester United and Aston Villa.
He is currently with the Dutch squad as they prepare to face Turkey in their opening World Cup qualifier.
He said: “I’ve felt better reporting for international duty. The Everton boss’ decisions feels bad.”
The 28-year-old was reportedly close to leaving Goodison Park in the summer after Fenerbahce made £5million bid for the player, but has stayed at the club to fight for his place.
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Manager, David Moyes has preferred the central defensive pairing of Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka so far this campaign.
“It’s a bullet I must bite every year. I was also left out for most of our early games in the two previous seasons”, Heitinga added.
It’s the end of the English footballing season in May 2005. Arsenal are about to lift their 10th FA Cup with their victory on penalties over Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The Premier League has narrowly eluded them, with last season’s historic Invincibles side, unable to overcome the Oligarch fuelled power of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. But things are rosy for Arsene Wenger’s side.
A second placed finish in the Premier League sets them in good stead for another crack at the title next season and their new 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium, is entering its final phases of construction. And to poignantly add a bit of gloss onto proceedings, they’ve just done the double over their North London rivals Tottenham, who finish a relatively standard 9th in the league.
Indeed, Martin Jol’s side showed some fleeting glimpses of quality in the league, none more so than when they buried four past Arsenal in their infamous 4-5 loss at White Hart Lane, but this was still a side with the likes of Noe Pamarot and Noureddine Naybet starting every week. In many respects, they are light-years behind the red side of North London.
Fast forward to the present day and that rosiness that seemed to come as a perennial bonus with every Arsenal season ticket, simply could not be further away. As we enter the final stages of 2012, supporters don’t need to be slapped round the face with the seven-and-a-half year statistic that is there continued trophy drought. Because there is potentially something far more depressingly poignant sitting on the horizon.
It is of course the age-old threat that’s never been fulfilled from their hated rivals up the road in Haringey. Arsenal fans have heard it all before when it’s come to the men from Tottenham Hotspur and their designs on finishing above them in the league. Each time the Gunners have had their backs against the wall, the old cockerel has choked at the vital moments. Be it a final day, lasagna based bottle job, or self-destruction of a 10 point lead, Spurs have continuously failed to outdo their North London rivals.
But where as once the notion of Spurs bettering Arsenal in the league was one of near absurdity – indeed, it’s not happened since 1995 – today, the reality is that it’s now become a very distinct possibility.
The rivalry between both Spurs and Arsenal has been given a real shot in the arm in recent years, given the Lilywhites growth in prominence. Where as for much of Arsene Wenger’s reign in North London, Tottenham have resembled little more than plucky underdogs, their recent renaissance under Harry Redknapp has given the fixture more meaning than it every has in recent years.
And it offers an interesting yardstick for the plight of Arsenal over the last few years. The Gunners have continued to taste Champions League football every season. Title challenges have continued to remain on the cards for Arsene Wenger’s men, despite them never quite being able to see it out through the course of the season. But as their quest for a trophy continues, the focus has always been on the fluctuating gap between themselves and the Manchester United’s and Chelsea’s of this world. Never what’s been going on behind them.
Because if – and it remains a massive if – Andre Villas-Boas’ side manage to finish above Arsenal in the league this season, it perhaps represents so much more than a power shift in the merciless exchanges between the two sets of fans.
The two ways of looking it are of course wither Tottenham have progressed way beyond what many would perceive to be their projected means. The other, that Arsenal have in fact regressed, as they’ve reclined onto a similar plateau of ambition to the men from White Hart Lane.
And it’s here in which, depending on your viewpoint, you can gauge the seriousness of what a superior Spurs finish to Arsenal in the league, may represent. Let’s be under no illusions here in that Tottenham have hardly fluked their way into challenging for Champions League qualification. Even since the mediocrity that lingered in the mid nineties. Spurs have continued to invest heavily in their squad, more often than not, to greater extents than Arsenal.
Some may suggest that the club have simply been more wise and intelligent in that spending. That may be so, but has it really just been a bit of common sense and a spot of financial rationality that has seen them bridge the gap?
Clubs shouldn’t spend for the sake of it and Arsene Wenger’s legacy is the biggest testament to that in recent memory. But in that seven-year gap since Arsenal last won a trophy, they have seen the financial gulf between themselves and their North London rivals rise almost beyond measure.
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For the last available accounts, the Gunners’ net income dwarfed Spurs’ by near on £92million. The cash cow that is the Emirates Stadium makes well over double the amount of matchday income that White Hart Lane is capable. While they, as every team does, have debts to structure, Arsenal are in a different financial post code to Tottenham Hotspur.
But while that gulf of fiscal health has increased between the two clubs, the gap of competitiveness has shrunk. And however you wish to frame that, it produces some awkward questions for the hierarchy in the red half of North London.
Tottenham’s upturn in fortunes was perhaps an inevitability. All clubs go through periods of success, regression and dormant stages of mediocrity. But given the off pitch progress Arsenal have made, that gap they once held over there great rivals when they last won a trophy, simply should’t have been shredded to the point it is today. How they go about regaining it, is a question that certainly produces some difficult answers.
The last time England played, they faced a tough fixture at Wembley against Ukraine – arguably the most tricky of opponents to overcome in the qualifying group.
However, what was more difficult to stomach was the failure of England’s youngsters to make a real impact on the game – personified in the young promise of Tom Cleverley.
On a night that England struggled to a home draw with visitors Ukraine, one glaring issue was Roy Hodgson’s readiness to use their inexperienced and unprepared youth.
A one off poor performance? The game that revealed England’s next ‘big thing’ to be just another ‘could’ve been’? Or, an example of an inherent English problem? Tom Cleverley’s disappointing performance did not only highlight how undeveloped he looked, but also highlighted the disparaging distance between the future stars of England and the ‘Golden Generation’.
Firstly, it cannot be ignored how poorly Cleverley performed. Frequently touted as the answer to England’s midfield problems, Cleverley is in the unfortunate position of filling the void of ageing stars Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard once they retire. However, Cleverley looked markedly off the pace; his touch, tactical awareness and tepid approach were glaringly obvious, and until he was substituted, looked completely out of his depth.
This was highlighted best by his three attempts at goal. The first two were clear goal scoring opportunities, but he lacked the poise and finesse expected, especially given his position as an attacking midfielder, someone who is needed to create and score goals.
Though unfortunate to hit the woodwork on his third attempt, Cleverley’s failure to convert any of these chances was worrying for someone playing in such a goal-necessary position. His performance was also highlighted by his lack of link-up play with Jermaine Defoe, as well as his failure to imprint himself on the game.
Throughout the match he looked uncomfortable in his position, as well as almost in awe of the expectation upon him. Despite the fact that at 23 he is not as young as some players in the England squad, he is still a young and inexperienced international, with a huge amount of expectation upon him.
And herein lies the problem. England seem to have skipped a generation, cast off a lot of ‘maybes’ and ‘could’ve beens’, over relied on the Golden Generation and incorporated a significant number of younger players too early.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, only 19, has already played 7 games, and seems to be cementing a place as a starter for both club and country. When Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge were struck with illness, both 23, Raheem Sterling (17), Ryan Bertrand (23) and Adam Lallana (24) were called up. With a combined total of only 57 youth caps between them, and only Bertrand holding any senior caps (two), this presents the problem England – an inability to graduate young players through its youth system so that, come 23/24, they are ready for senior international football.
Instead, many players are flung from U17/19/21 to the senior squad following a handful of good performances in the Premier League. Sterling is a fine example of this; after Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers requested Sterling to stay in the U17s, and not be promoted to the U21s, Roy Hodgson called him up to the senior squad, forgoing both the U19 and U21 squads.
Though Hodgson did say Sterling would not get any playing time, it does exemplify an English trend – one of bi-passing youth ranks, direct entry into the senior squad, placing large burdens of expectation upon their shoulders (though this is in part down to the media) and burning them out before they reach their physical and technical peak.
Not only does it potentially harm players as individuals, it also has the prospective of collectively damaging England’s chances of success at international competitions. One reason for Spain’s success is often put down to its players continually playing together at various stages of the national set up, thus creating a homogenous team that has a greater understanding of one another.
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England, on the other hand, are at complete odds with this; over relying on a handful of players that are still (just about) young enough to play for England (Gerrard, Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry et al) while cherry picking the best of the players just about old enough. They are then forcefully integrated into the senior squad, and expected to step up to the plate straight away. Although they may have a group of gifted individuals, England has continuously failed to assemble a national team for the past three tournaments.
Though a number of factors obviously affect how teams are brought together (injuries, manager, club commitments, personal issues), it is no secret that England fails to allow its potential future to evolve together. Where the likes of Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso and Torres all have a history of playing together during their primitive years, England forces gifted individuals in to a team and expects greatness. This is baffling to say the least as international managers get less time with their squad, so the constant changing of players creates an extremely unsettled, and unbalanced, side.
So, who is really to blame? Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have a combined total of 190 caps, yet the rest of England’s front 6 had a total of only 93 – the same number of caps Frank Lampard possesses individually – with Jermain Defoe throwing 51 of those in to the pot.
So, is it really Tom Cleverley’s fault that he wasn’t ready to play for England? We can only hope that with his good form at Manchester United over the past few weeks we’ll see a vast improvement against San Marino or Poland.
David Silva has signed a new five-year contract at Manchester City committing the Spanish international to the club until 2017, The Daily Mail reports.
The deal is reportedly incentive based, with Silva receiving a basic salary of £120,000 a week, but could earn a similar amount to the top earners at the club, such as: Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure by performing consistently.
Silva is into his third season at City since arriving from Valencia in 2010 and has seen off the likes of Adam Johnson to become a mainstay at left midfield for Manchester City.
He said: “I’ve been here for two years now and I feel very happy here at the club, in the city and with all the people.
“So now I’m delighted to be extending my contract and being here really does feel just like home for me.”
The 26-year-old has won the FA Cup and the Premier League in his first two seasons at City and attracted interest from Real Madrid, who were keen to know if any contract talks broke down.
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But a move back to Spain now appears to be dead in the water and Silva highlighted the impact of the fans in determining his decision to stay at City.
“The fans have always given me their support since I arrived here, and recently they’ve been wanting me to sign, so hopefully this goes someway to thanking them for the affection they’ve shown towards me, something which also helped me decide to put pen to paper”, he claimed.