Attacker Alexander Hleb has revealed he would fancy a return to Arsenal when his loan spell at Birmingham City expires at the end of the season.The Belarusian, who is owned by European champions Barcelona, left the English Premier League powerhouse Arsenal in 2008 but has found opportunities at Spain limited, and he admitted his desire to return to London.
“I love Arsenal. It is always in my heart but now is too early to speak about a new club,” he said. “I want to give my best for Birmingham but if I have chance to go back (to Arsenal).”
“Everything is possible but I am just saying if I get this chance, of course I’d come, but it’s too early to speak about this.”
Hleb cited problems with adapting to Alex McLeish’s quintessentially British approach to football as a key reason for his decision not to remain at St Andrews.
“Before, I think teams like Birmingham were easy to play with but it is difficult when you play in such teams, not like Arsenal or Barcelona.”
“Here you need to just fight and run, not too much passing, and this for me is something new.”
“I have enjoyed it in a way because it is something new. This is a different experience although I prefer to play and to enjoy football.”
“But I will give 100 per cent for this club every weekend.”
And given Pep Guardiola’s preference for local talent, a return to Camp Nou is unlikely for Hleb.
“Barcelona is the biggest club in the world but it is difficult when you are not from Spain,” the 29-year-old said.
“It has happened with everybody, with Henry, everyone (as) Josep Guardiola picks the Spanish players.”
“I’ve not had a lot of chances to play there. (But) I prefer to stay in the Premier League.”
A Liverpool master-class, capped by Maxi Rodriguez’s second hat-trick in three games, helped Kenny Dalglish’s side to a 5-2 win over Fulham.It took just 26 seconds for Liverpool to open the scoring in the English Premier League encounter at Craven Cottage on Monday.
Aaron Hughes strode confidently out of the Fulham defence only to see his pass intercepted by Dirk Kuyt, who released Luis Suarez down the left flank.
His cross almost resulted in an own goal by Carlos Salcido but Mark Schwarzer came to the rescue, only to see Maxi pounce and fire the ball past the outstretched Australian keeper.
The visitors lead was doubled after just six minutes when England right-back Glen Johnson was allowed to surge down the right, reaching Fulham’s goal line and sending a perfectly-weighted ball to the back post.
Chris Baird lost sight of Maxi and the Argentine angled home with his left foot.
The third Liverpool goal came on 15 minutes and just seconds after Fulham had their first shot of the game, albeit a miscued one.
Kuyt received the ball on the corner of Fulham’s 18-yard box and struck a tame looking drive at Schwarzer’s near post.
The goalkeeper seemed set to comfortably collect the ball but, in a momentary loss of concentration, palmed it into his own net.
Liverpool spent the remainder of the half playing exhibition football.
Assured in defence and inventive in attack, they were showing the sort of form that should guarantee Dalglish the manager’s job on a permanent and long-term deal.
Fulham were playing like their summer holiday started three games too soon.
The home side did look a new team in the second half, however, thanks largely to the introduction of Bobby Zamora from the substitutes bench.
The forward helped them pull a goal back 10 minutes after the interval, holding the ball up well before setting up Moussa Dembele to curl a shot past Pepe Reina.
But Maxi popped up to complete his hat-trick just four minutes after Fulham were given the faintest glimmer of hope, and it was the Argentine’s his most spectacular of the evening.
Brede Hangeland was caught in possession by the attacker, who took one touch with his white boots and rifled the ball beyond Fulham’s stranded keeper from 25 yards.
Suraez must have felt upstaged by his treble-scoring team-mate because, just five minutes after Maxi completed his hat-trick, the Uruguayan popped up with a goal of his own.
Jonjo Shelvey cut an already shredded Fulham defence apart with a single pass to release Suarez, who slotted calmly past Schwarzer.
Steve Sidwell managed to reduce the deficit with five minutes remaining with an expert finish from outside the Liverpool area, but it did little to reduce the feeling of disappointment surrounding the west London side.
Last August a defiant Harry Redknapp told the Telegraph that he believed Tottenham could not only finish above arch-rivals Arsenal in the Premiership for the first time since 1995, but that his Spurs side were capable of mounting a serious title challenge. “We were behind Arsenal by miles for years and years and years but now we’ve got a chance to really push them and get above them,” enthused the former Portsmouth boss, before continuing: “That would be great for Tottenham fans and its possible we just need to improve that little bit now and if we could do that it could happen.”
Redknapp also predicted in last year’s interview that Craig Bellamy would join Fulham and that Liverpool would be challenging for honours, neither of which materialized. But his assertion that, “you have to push on; if you don’t and stand still then others will pass you,” did come to fruition, as perennial Champions’ League qualification rivals, Manchester City, replaced Spurs in the top 4, in fact finishing in third. Redknapp’s belief was echoed regularly throughout the season by his White Hart Lane charges, with Peter Crouch claiming in March: “Doing better than Arsenal really does mean something. It is great for the club because they [Arsenal] have been above us for a number of years and now it is so nice to go one step further.”
The 6ft 7in striker was speaking not long after the Gunners’ elimination from the Champions’ League by this weekend’s finalists, Barcelona, and Spurs’ unexpected progression to the quarter-finals after a 1-0 aggregate win against AC Milan. Since then, neither club were able to maintain the momentum gathered from their early season form, with Arsenal eventually finishing fourth in League, and requiring a two-legged qualification tie to progress to the group stages of next season’s Champions’ League, and Spurs ending up behind City with the consolation of Europa League football next campaign.
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But what now for the eternal north London rivals? A busy summer is inevitably in store for Redknapp and Arsene Wenger as both managers seek to improve on relative disappointments this campaign, but can Spurs pip Arsenal in the League next season for the first time in seventeen years? Personally I think next year will come too soon for Redknapp’s players, and it is unlikely they will be able to attract the likes of Sergio Aguero – who Spurs unsuccessfully bid around £38million for in January – without the allure of Champions League football. The Argentine has actually announced his intention to leave current club Atletico Madrid this summer, but will probably move to a club considered amongst the more esteemed on the continent, rather than a team with only a Europa League offering.
It could be argued that Spurs’ star asset this term, £8million signing Rafael van der Vaart, wouldn’t have considered joining a club of Tottenham’s stature had the club failed to reach the top 4 the previous season. In this regard, it would be difficult to imagine Redknapp convincing players of the Dutchman’s calibre to relinquish at least one year outside of European football’s top table. Conversely, should Arsenal’s leader finally decide to invest considerably in new playing staff, the Frenchman will likely be able to entice players of a standard which could improve the team’s performance; much like van der Vaart has done with Spurs this season.
All of these questions remain to be answered, but seeing as the Gunners’ propensity for late-season disappointments has continued for a sixth consecutive year, surely now is the time Wenger will negate his miserly economic principles in order to push Arsenal back to the summit of the Premier League table. For now we will have to wait and see, but it is likely that the elusive fourth position, which Spurs deservedly achieved last year, will impact significantly on both clubs’ attempts to improve on faltering finishes to the recently completed season.
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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is unconcerned that the club will struggle to keep hold of players at the end of the season.Redknapp steered Spurs to the quarter-final stage in Europe this season before being edged out by Barcelona and he is confident the club can build on that success rather than having players picked off by other clubs.
Although they have missed out on the top four finish they needed to qualify for the Champions League again, Redknapp’s men travel to fifth-placed Liverpool knowing a win could put them in line for a Europa League place next season.
“I don’t think it will be hard to keep hold of our players. We never had Champions League football before,” he said.
“Players have not signed for us because we’re in the Champions League. If people want to leave it’s up to them, we can find other players. There are plenty of other players about.”
“It has been a fantastic season, one of the best Tottenham seasons since I don’t know when.”
“We were in the last eight of the Champions League and were pushing to finish in the top four all year.”
“We have done better this year than last. We beat teams like Inter Milan and AC Milan in the Champions League. It has been a great run.”
“If we finish fifth, for me it would be a better season than last year. It’s tough to get into that top four and is getting tougher.”
“We need to improve a little bit again if we want to keep pushing and that’s the challenge for next season.”
Sunday’s hosts Liverpool have been resurgent since Kenny Dalglish took charge in February and Redknapp said they will be a force to be reckoned with next season.
“Kenny has done a great job since he’s taken over. He’s a top man, a different class, a proper legend of the game,” he said.
“Liverpool fans love him; he’s Liverpool through and through. It’s a great club with a great tradition and I’m very pleased to see Kenny back in charge there.”
“Next season Liverpool will be stronger again.”
“Suarez has done great and there’s Carroll up front too.”
“Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are the backbone of the team and they have a fantastic keeper. They have the nucleus of a very strong team.”
Liverpool will be without defender Fabio Aurelio (thigh), Daniel Agger (thigh), Gerrard (groin) and forward Milan Jovanovic (knee).
Croatia play host to Georgia on Friday while Greece are at home to Malta a day later as the race for top spot in Euro 2012 Group F heats up.Heading into the weekend’s qualifiers, Group F shapes as one of the tournament’s most open.
Greece – the 2004 champions – top the table on 11 points, just one ahead of Croatia and Israel, with Georgia in fourth place on nine points.
Greece and Croatia have both played one game fewer than Croatia and Israel, and will be keen to claim full points from their home matches this weekend to put some breathing space between themselves and those chasing.
Croatia will be hoping for more good form from Spurs’ midfielder Niko Kranjcar, who has four goals in the campaign so far.
Israel journey to Latvia on Saturday in the group’s other match.
Group B is also a competitive one, with Slovakia, Russia and the Republic of Ireland deadlocked on 10 points in a three-way tie for top spot.
All six teams in the group are in action on Saturday, with Russia hosting Armenia in St Petersburg, Slovakia at home to Andorra and Ireland doing battle with Macedonia in Skopje.
Robbie Keane needs just one more international goal to reach the 50 mark for Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland, while Slovakia are missing key quartet Vladimír Weiss, Marek Sapara, Miroslav Stoch and goalkeeper Jan Mucha.
Group A takes centre stage on Friday, with Germany holding a five-point lead on top of the table.
The battle for second is on in earnest, with Belgium a point clear of Turkey and three ahead of Austria.
Belgium host Turkey in Brussels as Austria face the visiting Germans in Vienna. Group A’s other match sees Kazakhstan play host to Azerbaijan.
New Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin misses out for Turkey with a knee injury. Genk goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, 19, will be between the posts for Belgium, while captain Thomas Vermaelen is back after a long injury layoff.
In Group C, Italy can build on their five-point buffer at the top of the table when they take on Estonia at home on Friday, with second-placed Slovenia journeying to the Faroe Islands.
Romania face Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group D, as Belarus welcome the group’s leaders France in the other match.
The Netherlands have a nine-point lead in Group F, but second-placed Sweden can bridge the gap when they visit Moldova and San Marino will try to get off the bottom when they welcome Finland.
Keeping striker Mikael Forssell quiet will be key for San Marino, with the Hannover forward boasting five goals to his name in Finland’s qualifying campaign.
In Group I, Lithuania visit bottom-placed Liechtenstein looking to keep their slim hopes of second place alive, in a group dominated by Spain and the Czech Republic.
On Saturday, Group G sees England play Switzerland at Wembley as they look to break their deadlock on top of the table with Montenegro, with both sides possessing 10 points from their four games.
They will have to it without the suspended Wayne Rooney, however, and Montenegro can keep the pressure firmly on England with a win from their home clash with Bulgaria.
Norway can go a long way towards winning Group H when they travel to Lisbon to do battle with Portugal.
The Scandinavian nation tops the group on 10 points, three ahead of Portugal, with both sides level on goal difference.
Crucially, captain Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Portugal’s squad after missing friendlies against Chile and Finland in March.
Denmark are also in the mix on seven points, and they face a difficult trip to Reykjavik where they will do battle with bottom-placed Iceland.
Twitter ’s influence on football is growing ever stronger. Not just can you read about what smug Michael Owen is saying, but you can get closer to footballers in an age where the fan and the player are quite a way apart. Well, now it seems like Twitter is not only giving fans the opportunity to find out more about their players, but it’s also allowing them to have an influence on teams’ transfers. I bring to you the ‘twansfer’.
Ok, that’s a stupid name and one that I won’t use again, but fans of Yeovil Town have actually had a real influence on who the club has bought by airing their views on Twitter. Young Yeovil manager Terry Skiverton asked fans to tweet him suggestions on who the club should buy in the summer, and the ideas came flooding in. A little time later and Yeovil had signed free agent Kieran Agard, a player who had been highly recommended by many fans. So, is this innovative strategy possibly one that Newcastle could use in the future?
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To be honest it seems pretty unlikely. Newcastle pay Graham Carr and the rest of their scouts hundreds of thousands of pounds to search out the best talent across Europe and around the world, and of course their job depends upon how good the players that they recommend are. Sign a few Cheik Tiote ’s and the scout gets a pat on the back, bring in someone like Xisco and you’re given a right rollicking.
However, with all the football that is available to watch on TV and online, there’s no questioning that a lot of fans have a great knowledge of many different leagues. Fans are no longer just going by the stats on Football Manager, we’re actually watching football from around the world, being tipped off by fellow fans and then checking them out for ourselves. Whether that means we could do the jobs of professional scouts, I’m not so sure.
It is a good idea, though, and perhaps the way to go about it would be to see who the fans recommend, then get the scouts to go and watch them for themselves. It’s nice to see a young manager showing a bit of innovation and trying ideas and for smaller clubs who can’t fork out a lot of money on scouts, it might well turn out to be a decent idea. For the likes of Newcastle and other Premier League clubs it’s perhaps a bit far-fetched, but if Alan Pardew asked you to tweet some transfer targets to him, who would you suggest?
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The notion of standing in football stadiums immediately conjures up thoughts of disasters.
A number of accidents involving British sides have left a permanent scar on the game and resulted in the condemnation of terraces in football stadia around the world.
Of course there are still standing specific areas in stadiums around England and the world but regulations mean that you won’t see legal standing in lets say a World Cup or Champions League game.
Last season over on The Busby Way we looked at the possibility of reintroducing standing at Old Trafford. The terrace at Old Trafford is famous and prior to the Taylor Report in 1990 there were plans for the Stretty End to be all standing with a cantilever roof to link with the rest of the ground.
Of course the idea we suggested was met with scepticism and responses of it’ll never happen but what if I was to say there is a safe way to return standing to football stadiums in England?
When we looked at bringing it back to Old Trafford we cited the German model of ‘safe standing’ and having had the chance to meet Jon Darch from the Safe Standing Roadshow and Malcolm Clarke of the Football Supporters Federation it is apparent that not only is there a market for standing at games but that it can also work.
German football is member (fan) controlled and they believe that standing is an integral part of football support thus have designated areas in stadium specifically for standing and as long as the game is run that way in Germany it will never be outlawed.
But as expected they encountered problems.
In the late 1990s UEFA outlawed standing in stadia that wanted to host European football competitions like the Champions League and the then UEFA Cup so the Bundesliga teams were faced with a problem, how would they convert their standing areas into seating areas to satisfy UEFA regulations?
Hamburg came up with an idea convert every second step in their standing areas into a fold up chair. When folded down it was just a metal step but in event of European football it could be flipped up into a seat.
It wasn’t a popular idea though as more teams chose to go with the ‘rail seat’.
Approved of by UEFA and FIFA, the variositze or rail seat consists of one step or two depending on preference to be stood on, then a rail with seat in front and behind.
The seat can be unlocked and folded out with a key but when in the locked position the rail in front and behind prevents the spectator from being pushed forward and toppling, unlike the danger presented when standing in stadiums today with the low back or even no back chairs.
This railway chair is what the Safe Standing Roadshow want to bring to English football and personally I was sold by their presentation.
The actual ruling behind standing in itself is quite daft, standing is prohibited only in the top two flights of football so League 1 and below can have terraces whilst if you are fortunate enough to be promoted into the Championship from League 1 then your stadium will need renovation.
I find it hard to see the correlation between fan safety and the quality of football you play yet the ruling still stands.
Another interesting point raised was the fact standing is only prohibited at football games. So you may find yourself expelled from Old Trafford for standing at a football game but if you go back the following week for the rugby that Old Trafford can be found to host, the same stewards won’t bat an eyelid as you stand and cheer.
Although attempting to make the game safer the ruling on standing at football games for me does not actually address the real problem.
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When Trafford Borough Council threatened to reduce Old Trafford’s capacity due to persistent standing they commissioned a report to show just how dangerous standing is.
Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out like that and instead the report found:
Jumping up and down when celebrating Squeezing through narrow aisles when going toilet Taking the stairs out after a game
were all more dangerous than just standing during a game.
Most footballing disasters have occurred due to poor crowd control at entry or exit. Very rarely have accidents occurred due to standing during action.
Standing during games is something that will always happen and although stewards will try to enforce it early on very rarely is it strictly adhered to. At the FA Youth Cup semi final first leg between Manchester United and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge we were threatened with expulsion in the Shed End but after a while the stewards gave up and allowed us to stand for the whole 90 minutes whilst at Bramall Lane for the final we were allowed to stand for 90 minutes unopposed.
John Darch and the Safe Standing team believe as fans we should get the choice whether we stand at games, there is a misconception that they are trying to return to the days of terraces but simply they want to give fans the option to stand at games safely and having seen their model for doing so if given the choice I would like to.
Arsenal battled to a point at St James this evening, much to the frustration of Arsene Wenger. You did sense that the performance epitomised his side of recent seasons where the football is very pretty but lacking an end product. Gervinho was the one bright spark on the day; however his sending off will mean a three game ban for Arsenal’s big money signing this summer which clearly only added to Wenger’s disappointment.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Gunners blogs that include thanks to Cesc Fabregas, £12m reasons to question Wenger’s strategy, while Arsenal must not make the same mistake with Chamberlain.
We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week.
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Cesc Fabregas: Thank you and goodnight
Here’s hoping the press don’t destroy Arsenal ace
Are Ian Wright’s concerns justified?
£12m reasons why Arsenal fans may be questioning the club’s transfer strategy
Will this new transfer strategy see other Premier League clubs follow suit?
Why Arsenal must not make the same mistakes with Oxlade-Chamberlain
The ‘Cesc Fabregas Effect’ transforms future deals
Bremen star’s ‘Come and Get me’ plea to Arsenal
Clearly a blindspot for Arsene Wenger
2 players for the price of one
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Best of WEB
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The thoughts of a frustrated tourist – Gunnersphere
New Signings Imminent? Wenger to begin Spending Spree? Saga draws to a Close.. – Highbury House
Wenger press conference: The beginning of the end I’m afraid –Le Grove
Time to limit players’ wages – Online Gooner
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One Of Us Speaks: The Not A Season Preview Blog – A Cultured Left Foot
Arsenal to replace Nasri with this Marseille midfielder? -Gunnersphere
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Click on Miss Blasi below to see her in all her glory
Cesc Fabregas looks to finally have got his dream move to Barcelona and a medical is taking place as we speak. It has been arguably the biggest transfer saga of the past two years and Arsenal have decided that the time is right to cash in on their talented Spaniard. £35m is the fee and the Gunners support will be hoping that Arsene Wenger will look to use the funds to strengthen the rest of the squad.
Elsewhere in the papers Roberto Mancini has called on fans to be realistic; Sir Alex Ferguson has called on critics to lay off De Gea, while Villas-Boas accuses Stoke of underhand tactics.
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Arsenal and Barcelona finally secure terms for Fábregas deal – Guardian
Mikel’s father in suspected kidnapping – Guardian
Touré to train at City before ban ends – Guardian
Mancini: fans must be realistic – Daily Telegraph
QPR need cash injection – Daily Telegraph
Record signing Carroll vows to repay Liverpool boss Dalglish’s faith – Daily Mail
Keane in race against time to join LA Galaxy after Tottenham accept £1.8m bid – Daily Mail
Liverpool line up shock swoop for Celtic’s ‘Derry Pele’ McCourt – Daily Mail
Sir Alex: Lay off De Gea – Mirror
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Villas-Boas accuses Stoke of underhand tactics – Mirror
With the final day of the transfer window drawing nearer the mad rush for that big last minute deal will soon commence. The window officially shuts at 11pm Wednesday evening and this late finish means that clubs will undoubtedly be doing their business late into the night.
Whilst fans regularly enjoy the excitement of Sky Sports News excellent deadline day coverage, for the clubs the pressure to get the right players at the right prices often means they leave their business to the last day.
With only hours left a transfer story can break and even though there looks to be no time left to complete a deal, those final hours and minutes can be crucial in a teams’ season. But what are the top ten deadline day swoops of past seasons?
Click on Luis Suarez to see the top 10 deadline deals
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Do you agree with the top ten? Have I missed an amazing last minute deal? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5