If media reports are to be believed then Joe Cole is on his way out of Anfield this summer, with Tottenham Hotspur apparently readying a £10 million bid for the forgotten man. In a business sense this would be a very good bit of import export for Liverpool, having signed the former Chelsea man on a free transfer, but the arrival of Joe Cole was dubbed one of the best signings of the transfer window, so what has happened to the England international whilst on Merseyside?
During Cole’s short spell at Anfield he has already seen two managers in charge, firstly Roy Hodgson and now Kenny Dalglish. For a new signing it is always hard when the manager who brings you to the team leaves relatively early into your career, but the fact of the matter is that even under Hodgson’s tenure Cole’s form was being criticised, with the former Fulham manager even commenting “He knows he is better than that and he knows he can do better than that”. Every footballer goes through blips in form, but ‘King Kenny’s’ arrival should have made Cole want to start fresh and give his all to impress; although this appears to have failed with the reported selling of the midfielder, so has Cole simply lost the desire to play or are there other issues?
Not playing is obviously not going to help anyone’s fitness, however, in the modern age of football where players have intense and specially designed diets, training programmes and routines, becoming overweight is not a plausible option (call me a hypocrite). But it has become apparent to even Stevie Wonder that Joe Cole has put on a few pounds, surely the former West Ham man hasn’t become the next Benni McCarthy, content to earn his weekly wage by warming the bench?
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Getting sent off on his league debut for Liverpool after 45 minutes was close to rivalling Jonathan Woodgate’s Real Madrid debut as the worst one ever but this wasn’t enough for Cole and he decided to miss a penalty in his next game. Not the best start by any stretch of the imagination and perhaps they were early warning signs from the eye in the sky that Cole’s Liverpool career was going to derail. Two incidents don’t ruin a career that has seen Cole been labelled the answer to England’s left midfield problem, the midfielder clearly has shown he has an abundance of talent over the years, but has he really lost his ‘edge’ or should praise be going to the continual good form of Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez, with the former in particular arguably Liverpool’s player of the season.
Ultimately Joe Cole will more than likely leave Anfield in the summer without ever showing fans why he was dubbed a child prodigy at West Ham and won Chelsea’s player of the year in 2008.
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So why has Joe Cole failed to make the grade at Anfield?
The Telegraph has reported that Manchester United have made a bid to sign Udinese’s Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez. Previously Manchester City thought they had their man and were sitting down to discuss personal terms with the player – but in an unexpected twist it has now emerged that the player’s representatives had a further meeting with United. It’s now rumoured that the player would prefer a move to United.
Neither of the Manchester clubs have yet to have agreed a fee – but Udiense have accepted that the player can leave in the summer and is free to discuss a move. Personal terms are not said to be an issue for either club. It was previously thought that Udiense would be holding out for a fee in the region of £35.4m for Sanchez – but they would now be prepared to consider offers in the range of £18m – £26.5m. If Sanchez did choose United over City then it would be a significant blow to Manchester City’s transfer plans – because Sanchez was seen as their key signing. Manchester City have been tracking the player’s progress for months and further talks were held with the player three weeks ago and it was thought the deal was on the verge of being completed.
Manchester City may have vast resources – but they still would not have wanted to be rivalled for their transfer targets by Manchester United. United still have greater global appeal in terms of signings – even if Manchester City will also be playing in the Champions League next season.
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Javier Hernandez’s start to his United career has been so phenemomenal even the ABU media are forced to acknowledge his greatness.
Goals, enthusiasm and an extra dimension to United’s play have meant that the Mexican with the infectious smile and beguiling attitude has already become a firm fan’s favourite.
It wouldn’t surprise me if in the next few years the number of babies christened ‘Javier’ doesn’t massively increase such is the level of adulation Chicharito has inspired. I’m a firm believer in Chicharito and here at redflagflyinghigh we championed him as our player of the season- a poll run seems to indicate the vast majority of our visitors agree.
Can I dare to be a critical for one second, in fact it’s not even technically critical more an observation as to how a player who’s taken the club by storm may raise himself to an even higher level next season.
Chicharito’s goal scoring is obviously excellent, he’s the sort of finisher that leaves defenders and goalkeepers completely dumfounded. It’s not just his finishing but the timing of his runs is also near faultless. I’ve yet to see a striker who seems able to time his runs so perfectly and even the times he’s caught offside are often open to debate.
The one facet of his game- or several facets if you will that could be improved is his all round play, his ability to hold up the ball and bring others isn’t at the same standard as his striking prowess. Now before you all either click off the article or start writing an abusive comment, allow me to reiterate, I’m not having a dig at the lad, merely pointing out how he could elevate himself even further.
I’ve no doubt Sir Alex Ferguson will have picked up on the areas needed to develop in Chicharito’s game and be looking forward to unleashing an even better forward on the footballing world next season.
The reason I feel it may be neccesary to try and work on Chicharito’s all round play is more or less due to the role he seems destined to fill. A near lone striker role with Rooney often so deep he’s practically a midfielder. Chicharito is great at getting behind the defenders and latching on to through balls with his perfectly timed runs, or even whipped in crosses with his superb movement which always seems to create space.
If the Mexican could also hold the ball up a little better and be able bring in the other attacking players a tad easier than he does at the moment, then we could well be in utter dreamland next season.
One man Chicharito could learn a thing or two from is Andy -or should that be Andrew- Cole. Why Cole? I hear you cry.
Cole’s a United legend of that there’s little doubt but he’s not the automatic name that springs to mind when you think of Chicharito comparisons- that seems to be almost exclusively Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
The reason I think Cole could become the perfect player for Chicharito to emulate is because he’s one of the few out and out goal poachers who developed -some woud argue drastically changed- his game for the benefit of the team, without sacrificing his goals.
Let’s not forget Cole arrived at Old Trafford with the near ridiculous record of 55 goals in 70 games for Newcastle. I remember vividly getting home from school and thinking the Manchester Evening News must’ve made some sort of mistake when I saw the front page.
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How on earth had Fergie pulled this off? Signing the most talked about, prolific striker in the country from one of our main rivals for a reasonable fee and a fringe player, yet to truly prove himself? It was an astounding coup of Cantona-esque proportions.
Cole had been having a somewhat barren spell in his latter days at Newcastle having not scored for a couple of months- although he still had one goal in two games for the season. Yet there was no doubt that he was a truly gfted goalscorer a once in a generation type of player. Cole managed a highly respectable 12 goals in 18 games for the Reds but was chastised somewhat for not getting a crucial winner at West Ham that would’ve given United the title.
Despite this the 1995/96 season looked set to be a great one for Cole especially with the return or a certain Frenchman. It wasn’t the success it should have been for Cole though who managed a disappointing 13 goals, although he did help United lift the double. 1996/97 saw Cole endure some difficult times once more not least with an horrific injury sustained during a reserve game against Neil Ruddock which left him with a double leg break.
Cole recovered though and was able to help United to our second successive title. Something then seemed to gradually happen to Cole, in the following season he rediscovered his true goalscoring form yet seemed to have devloped more as a player. 25 goals in all competitions showed he knew where the back of the net was, but his link up play and willingness to hold the ball up improved markedly.
The pinnacle of this improvement was the 1998/99 season as Cole formed one of the deadliest strike forces in United’s history with Dwight Yorketo sweep the Reds to the coveted treble.
The following season saw Cole regain his status from Yorke as United’s top scorer as he won his fourth title in five years and also racked up the assists.
Its worth noting that when Cole retired he not only had 187 goals to his name but also 127 assists -a record bettered only by Dennis Bergkamp and Ryan Giggs from open play.
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Cole came to United as ‘just’ a goal poacher, a quick predator with the ability to get in behind defences and finish with almost any part of his body. Chicharito has similar triats.
Cole then developed his game to fit into a United side that contained the likes of Cantona, Giggs, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Solskjaer and Sheringham. A team where everyone chipped in with goals and the entire front six were all capable of finding the back of the net.
Cole has ever quite recieved the recognition from the British media that his acheivements deserve, the whole -erroneous- “he needs five chances to score one” statement from ‘rent-a-ludicrous quote’ Glenn Hoddle didn’t do him any favours. It’s funny how when the then England boss claimed Michael Owen wasn’t a natural goalscorer or that not taking Eileen Drury to the World Cup was his biggest mistake his comments were laughed at, yet when he commented on Cole people seemed to take note.
Yet despite his detractors those who watched Cole week in week out during the nineties and early noughties saw him develop from a player that had one real asset to his game- albeit a very useful one- to someone who could link up with his team mates, hold the ball up and find a killer pass as well as anyone on the pitch.
Chicharito may well be being touted as the next Solskjaer but if he were to develop into the next Andy Cole, I for one wouldn’t be complaining and I doubt his team mates would either.
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Hong Kong club Kitchee will host the Barclays Asia Trophy in July, the only Premier League-affiliated competition held outside England.Kitchee will welcome 2009/10 champions Chelsea, as well as Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers for the biennial pre-season tournament, which kicks off on July 27.
Matches are set to take place in the Hong Kong Stadium, with a final to determine the winner and a playoff for third place.
Kitchee play Chelsea, while Villa take on Blackburn, who could lose their top-flight status if results on the final day of the Premier League season go against them.
“It is exciting to think that the next stop for the Barclays Premier League after the end of the season on Sunday is Hong Kong,” Kitchee chairman Ken Ng said.
“For Kitchee it was fantastic to win our first league title in 47 years. It is a wonderful bonus for us now to be playing Chelsea.”
“Our supporters, and indeed all football fans in Hong Kong, will be looking forward to see us lining up against world famous stars like Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard and John Terry.”
“I’m sure they will get both a warm Hong Kong welcome and a competitive game on July 27.”
Billy Davies has been sacked by Nottingham Forest, with former England coach Steve McLaren in talks to replace him at the Championship club.Previously in charge of Preston North End and Derby County, Davies, 47, took over at the City Ground in December 2008.
He guided the club to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, but lost in the semi-finals on both occasions.
A divisive figure, Davies publicly criticised the Forest board’s transfer policy and clashed with the club’s hierarchy on several occasions during his tenure.
“Nottingham Forest have announced this afternoon that they have terminated the contract of manager Billy Davies with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement.
“They have also revealed that they are now talking to Steve McClaren about the City Ground vacancy.”
McLaren, 50, has been out of work since he was sacked by Bundesliga club Wolfsburg in February.
The former Derby County and Manchester United assistant coach began his managerial career at Middlesbrough, taking the club to the final of the 2006 UEFA Cup.
He endured an unhappy spell as England coach, succeeding Sven-Goran Eriksson in August 2006 but failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships and was sacked in November 2007.
McLaren won the Eredivisie with Twente in May 2010, before making the short-lived switch to Wolfsburg.
He has also been linked with the vacant managerial position at Aston Villa.
It has been a summer of turmoil for Aston Villa that started with the simple task of appointing a new manager. When Gerald Houllier confirmed that he would not be returning as manager due to health issues, the fans must have thought it was a chance to start afresh with a new man steering the good ship Villa.
But I do not think they had in mind the manager of huge rivals Birmingham City, Alex McLeish.
However Randy Lerner disagreed and went against all of the fans protest and complaints to appoint McLeish as manager. The summer was not to improve for the Villains as Ashley Young sealed his highly expected £16m move to Manchester United, goalkeeper Brad Friedel left to join Spurs and Nigel Reo Coker was released, it really has been a summer of discontent for Aston Villa and their fans.
Only today the club have had to turn down a £15m bid from Liverpool for Stuart Downing but the England winger seems to have set his mind on a move to Anfield and is likely to hand in a transfer request in order to force the move.
With so many integral players moving on to pastures new, the upcoming season will be one of transition for the Villa and McLeish will now be looking to bring in some new talent to complement the squad that he already has at his deposal while also trying to win over the many disgruntled fans.
This time last year Aston Villa had just experienced a successful season under the stewardship of Martin O’Neill, reaching their first Wembley final since 2000 going down 2-1 to Manchester United in the Carling Cup final and achieving a 6th place finish in the Premier League. However to the surprise of everybody O’Neill resigned just five days before the start of the season on due to a disagreement over the future ambitions of the club with owner Randy Lerner.
The season that followed was one of disappointment with Villa flirting with the bottom three, so much so that Lerner had to splash the cash on Darren Bent to ensure the club even remained in the league.
Now McLeish will be looking to rebuild a new side to which mount an attack on the top six in the Premier League. To do this he will need to bring in a number of new players and it is not like the club is short of cash with all the money from the Young sale.
At the back, signing Shay Given to replace the departed Friedel, bringing in Alan Hutton at right back and raiding his old club to sign Roger Johnson would make for three very good signings for McLeish and would probably only cost around £10m for all three.
In midfield, Charles N’Zogbia who is almost certain to leave Wigan this summer would be a suitable replacement for Ashley Young while signing Scott Parker in the middle would be a good move. It is important that they add some experience to a young side that chucked away the most points from winning positions in the Premier League last season and Parker will surely bring a new-found resilience to the side. The injury-stricken Owen Hargreaves may also be an option in the midfield on a free transfer but only a pay as you play deal as he proves his fitness.
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One positive to come from last season was the emergence of young talent progressing into the first team. After their impressive displays last season Marc Albrighton and Irish international Ciaran Clark will surely now play a major role in the team. It is also easy to forget about Fabian Delph who has been overshadowed by his £6m fee during his time at Villa Park but this could be the year he proves his worth to the side. Steven Ireland will also feel he has a big chance to establish himself under a new manager and if he can show the undoubted quality we all know he posses, he could well become an important player this term.
With the many departures this summer, fans optimism ahead of the new summer season remains low but if McLeish can suitably replace the departed players, bring in some much needed experience and still continue Gerald Houllier’s youth policy, you never know it could actually turn out to be a pretty good season for the Villa Park faithful.
Manchester United’s Michael Owen and New York Red Bulls’ Thierry Henry flipped the switch to light up the Empire State Building on Tuesday.The building will shine the white, green and blue colours of the Major League Soccer on its North and South sides, while on the East and West sides the building will shine all red for Manchester United.
United tackle an MLS All-Stars team on Wednesday at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
“We’ve been over in the States for over two weeks now and we’ve had three good results against different American sides and this has got a good feel to the game,” Owen said.
“Obviously, it’s got an All-Star team with a lot of players that we already know about, that we’ve played against, obviously with the likes of Thierry Henry and David Beckham.”
“So we are really excited for the match and we’re obviously here to win, we want to win, even though it’s a friendly.”
Owen, who has signed a new deal with United, said manager Sir Alex Ferguson was still weighing up his options for the new season.
“Well at this stage of the season, there is a lot of change because we’re all not where we want to be yet. It’s still pre-season,” Owen said.
“We’ve still got three or four weeks until we start properly.”
“So, the manager chops and changes things and the training that we do is equally as important as well to get that fitness up, but obviously once the season starts then that’s when the manager will generally pick his stronger teams and that’s when we’ll see who he picks.”
United will be hoping for a repeat of last season’s All-Star result when they ran out 5-2 winners in Houston.
Newcastle are ready to battle Stoke City for the services of unwanted Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, reports The Daily Mail.
Newcastle were thought to be targeting another front man in the form of Eren Derdiyok who currently plays for Bayer Laverkusen in Germany, even sending chief scout Graham Carr to watch the Swiss international. However, Newcastle have been forced to focus elsewhere after Derdiyok stated he had no intentional of leaving Laverkusen, who will play in this season’s Champions League.
‘I did not realise they were watching me, but it does not make any difference to how I feel about my future,’ he said. ‘I have a contract with Leverkusen until 2013, and I am extremely happy with that. I have no thoughts about leaving, because I have managed to force my way into the team at Leverkusen, and we now have a Champions’ League campaign to look forward to. I do not want to miss out on that after helping us to qualify’ continued the Swiss player.
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It leaves Newcastle to double their efforts in now trying to secure the services of Bendtner, who has been long out of favour at Arsenal, and courted by other clubs, most notably Stoke. The Potter’s who were thought to be leading the chase for Peter Crouch, have now grown tired of the Tottenham forward, and have instead offered around £8 million for Dane.
The race for the Premier League Golden Boot kicked off this weekend, with many of the main contenders already making their mark by opening their accounts this term. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero made an impressive 30 minute cameo by scoring twice whilst Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney also scored their first league goal of the new season.
If one team doesn’t run away with the league this term then I expect the top scorer charts to be a real mixture of players fighting at different ends of the table so my top ten includes a few outside bets.
Each of the top teams in the title race have at least one clinical striker on their books, so once again the race for the Golden Boot should be a close contest and a very important one in the chase for Premier League glory. But who will be the top ten challengers for this season’s top goalscorer?
Click on Gervinho to see the 10 players vying for the Golden Boot
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Do you agree with the top ten? Have I been too kind to one player or missed another out? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
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An early goal from Peter Odemwingie was the difference at Carrow Road as West Brom picked up their first win of the campaign at the expense of Norwich.
The Nigerian hitman struck after only three minutes taking advantage of some slack defending from the home side to volley home Nicky Shorey’s long ball to record the fastest goal in the Premier League so far this season.
He could have doubled his tally in the second half but failed to convert a second half penalty with Canaries keeper Declan Rudd proving his equal on that occasion.
Norwich did have the occasional half chance but Ben Foster in the Baggies goal never had a serious save to make as Grant Holt and Chris Martin were well shackled by the visitors defence.
Paul Lambert will now have major concerns as he still searches for his first ever win as a top flight boss whilst counterpart Roy Hodgson will be delighted by his sides performance.
Odemwingie was a threat throughout and was certainly sharp as he stole ahead of Richie De Laet to open the scoring. It could have been two just before half time with the post denying Graham Dorrans who drove a superb effort at goal.
The game petered out after half time until the 75th minute when Steve Morison brought down Steven Reid in the area. Odemwingie stepped up to take the spot kick only for Rudd, on his full debut, to tip his casual effort round the post.
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