Tag Futebol

Goalkeeper Jose Reina has admitted Liverpool may have to lower their targets for next season following the uncertainty at Anfield.

The Reds will compete in the Europa League next season after finishing a lowly seventh in the Premier League table this term.

Meanwhile, the club has been put up for sale by American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and so are unlikely to spend big in the summer transfer market.

The club's hierarchy and manager Rafael Benitez have vowed to retain their star players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, but keeper Reina has offered a downbeat assessment of their targets for the new season.

Reina was speaking from Spain's training camp ahead of the World Cup finals.

"As long as we build a competitive squad we do not have to fear anybody," he said.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

"But it is looking like we will not yet. We have to be less optimistic than the last few years and get ready for setting another kind of target.

"(The owners) have to move quickly and anything that happens has to be right now."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Newcastle have reportedly made a bid of £3.15m for Twente defender Douglas, Sky Sports claim.

The Tyneside club are eager to strengthen their squad ahead of the 2012-13 season, and will look to build on their fifth-placed finish from last term.

With Romain Amalfitano already been added to Alan Pardew’s squad, a commanding defender is next on the Geordies’ radar.

Douglas has impressed for the Eredivisie side over the last number of campaigns, and as such has been linked with a move to one of Europe’s big leagues consistently of late.

The Brazilian centre-half has also admitted that he is ready to leave the Enschede-based side for a new challenge, but manager Steve McClaren is said to be eager to recoup a handsome price for the South American.

As yet there has been no news on whether the bid has been accepted, with Newcastle looking to build on their acquisition of Cheik Tiote, who also move to the north east from Twente.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]

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

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[divider]

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

Borussia Dortmund ace Shinji Kagawa could miss the rest of the Bundesliga season with a broken foot.

Kagawa, 21, has scored eight goals for his club this season as they continue to take all before them, currently sitting 11 points clear of Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga.

But the Japanese midfielder broke a bone in his foot while playing for his country in an Asian Cup semi-final against South Korea, which they won on penalties after the sides were locked at 2-2 at the end of extra time.

The loss of Kagawa will be a blow to Japan, who face Australia in Saturday’s Asian Cup final, but the news will hurt the Bundesliga table-toppers more, with a recovery expected in the final stages of the season at best.

“The news is bad. He was a prominent figure for us in the first half of the season,” Dortmund press-officer Hans-Joachim Watzke told SID.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“The end of the season (in Germany) is three-and-a-half months away and a broken foot needs time to heal. It will be close (whether or not he plays again this season).”

While the world patiently waits for the new Premier League season to arrive, a flurry of activity relentlessly flows through every club, with players arriving and departing in equal measures. While there has yet to be a bank-breaking, marquee signing this summer, the media is awash with rumours of big name stars searching for new employers. Many of the players who receive the most coverage are star strikers. The men who pose the greatest goal threat for their respective teams are often the players held in highest regard, demanding lucrative transfer fees and generating excitement around any club. Whilst there are no doubts that there will still be a considerable amount of movement and new additions to the Premier League, these 10 players may be the most likely to claim the golden boot when next May arrives.

This list includes previous winners of the prized top scorer trophy, new signings that are untested in this league and outside bets who have shown enough talent in finding the net to acquire a place in this group of stars. While some performed admirably last campaign, some had relatively quiet seasons. Have a look at this list and see if you agree whether one of these players will add an individual trophy to their career come the seasons climax.

Click on Papiss Cisse to unveil the 10 candidates

[divider]

[divider]

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[divider]

[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]

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.

*

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

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Villas-Boas accuses Stoke of underhand tactics – Mirror

Wenger rules out swoop for Joey – Sun

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’right’]

A Danny Allsopp brace all but booked Melbourne Victory’s spot in the finals as the home side defeated Gold Coast United 2-0 at AAMI Park.

In a preview of a likely-first week final, Melbourne dominated the play and thanks to Allsopp’s well-taken goals either side of half-time have moved within touching distance of a confirmed spot in the finals.

Allsopp, who only re-joined the club at the start of January, is now the form striker in the league, having managed five goals in his past four matches.

With Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse set to come back into the side in the next two weeks, Victory will have their best attacking line-up available for the finals.

As temperatures neared 40 degrees Celsius in Melbourne on Sunday, Allsopp scored a cracking goal on 28 minutes from over 25 yards out and then showed his versatility by turning John Curtis in the box and firing accurately 11 minutes into the second half.

The veteran striker could have had his first-ever A-League hat-trick, spurning several chances, but it mattered little as Melbourne made it two wins in a row.

Elsewhere, a first-half goal from Dylan Macallister was enough to give Wellington Phoenix a vital 1-0 win over 10-man Newcastle Jets in Wellington.

Macallister’s goal in the 20th minute secured a club record fifth straight victory at home for Wellington but more importantly the three points lifted the Phoenix to sixth (35 points) on the table and in the process dented Newcastle’s hopes of reaching the play-offs as they stayed in eight spot with 31 points.

The Jets were not helped by the red card shown to Ryan Griffiths in the 66th minute for abusing referee Chris Beath, who also booked captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley in the first half.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

But the Phoenix did not escape either with Andrew Durante, Troy Hearfield, Vince Lia, Ben Sigmund and Manny Muscat all shown yellow cards by the referee.

Sigmund’s yellow was his eighth of the season meaning he will miss the next two crucial away matches against Adelaide and Sydney.

Ipswich Town have had a week of good news and bad news. The bad news is that Paul Jewell’s main transfer target Joel Ward turned down the chance to sign for Ipswich and chose to sign for Crystal Palace.

However, the good news is that Ipswich have now made their first summer signing in Macclesfield right back Elliot Hewitt. The young Welshman turned 18 years old on Wednesday and this signing shows Ipswich are heading in the right direction.

Joel Ward put in some very encouraging performances at the back for Portsmouth last season and at 22 years of age he looked like just what Ipswich needed. Many see the club’s failure to sign Ward as bad news but others are actually pleased that the club failed to lure the former Portsmouth man to Ipswich.

If Joel Ward did sign for Ipswich he would have been joining the club for the wrong reasons. Over the last few seasons the Ipswich squad has consisted mainly of players who clearly don’t care about playing for the club and are only playing for the money. Their lack of passion and desire to play for the club was always clear to see.

It was obvious that Grant Leadbitter never cared about Ipswich because he only started to play well when his contract was coming to an end and he needed to sell himself to other clubs by playing well. Joel Ward is not necessarily in the same category as Leadbitter as he turned down higher wages to join Crystal Palace and be closer to his family. However, if Ward did accept Jewell’s offer it wouldn’t have been for the right reasons and it would have showed in his performances on the pitch.

The great thing about this week has been that Ipswich have signed a player who looks like he will be proud to wear an Ipswich Town shirt. Elliot Hewitt is exactly the right type of player fans have been crying out for. A young lad with the desire to make a name for himself and more importantly a desire to play for Ipswich. Picking the gems out from the lower leagues is a far superior transfer policy to what Ipswich used to do when they only searched for players in Premier League Reserve teams.

It seems that Paul Jewell may well have learnt the lesson that other managers have failed to. If he keeps up this transfer policy then there will be a different atmosphere at Portman Road next season. Fans will turn up to the games and see the team play with passion and determination whether they win or lose. It will be refreshing for the fans to see a new attitude within the team after so many years of seeing failed Premier League players lug around the fine pitch.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

A change in the teams work rate and philosophy won’t come with just one signing though.

It is concerning to think that Paul Jewell once named Grant Leadbitter as his Ipswich captain. At the time myself and most other fans were unhappy with the decision as I can’t think of a worse player to captain the side. It can hardly be inspiring for the team to play under a captain who doesn’t care about the club. Thankfully Paul Jewell did strip Leadbitter of his captaincy later on in the season and all we can do is hope that he has learnt his lesson. The next few signings will shape the team for next season and whilst the signings don’t necessarily need be young they need to want to play for Ipswich.

[ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

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.

*

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

*

Best of WEB

*

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

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

One Of Us Speaks: The Not A Season Preview Blog – A Cultured Left Foot

Arsenal to replace Nasri with this Marseille midfielder? -Gunnersphere

*

[divider]

Click on Miss Blasi below to see her in all her glory

Never one to shy away from voicing his opinions, Arsene Wenger has been in the news again recently for condemning the FA for saying they will take the ‘strongest team possible’ to the European Under-21 tournament in Demark next year. The bone of contention Wenger has is that this will inevitably mean a call-up for 18 year-old Jack Wilshere, who may have already featured just a week earlier for the England senior side in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on June 4th.

Wenger has noted that;

“Jack Wilshere will play more than 40 games this season and, at 18, you have to be conscious that every time he plays, when he goes into the fight, he has to put in 200 per cent to win the ball. When a guy like him has played 40 games in the season, he needs a rest.”

Whilst also stating that;

‘The FA have to decide if he is in the first team or the Under 21s. Personally, I don’t believe a player ever performs when he has been in the top team and comes back to the Under 21s.’

We are by now, very used to the Wenger take on things, and love him or hate him, he invariably has an opinion. But is he right to be worried about the national team’s utilisation of one of his side’s prize assets?

It seems to me rather demanding of the FA to expect Wilshere to play for both the senior side and the Under-21s, and as Wenger says, the FA should probably make there mind up as to where they want him, not that this is putting Wilshere himself off the chance to play for both. However, I feel Wenger has a point.

This is perhaps not a typical club vs. country row; for starters Wenger has not expressed his dissatisfaction with Wilshere playing for his country full stop, more that he dislikes the idea of a potential summer off for one of his young talents being dashed by two facets of the national side.

I for one, can sympathise with Wenger, because how many times have we seen prodigious young talent have their career’s ruined by overzealous managers and officials, wanting to utilise their talents at every turn? The issue I believe is that Wenger himself is not in control of England’s usage of Wilshere. Wenger can use Wilshere as much as he likes, after all, Arsenal pay his wages, but with the youngster at the mercy of the FA all summer long, the decision is taken out of his control, and right or wrong, isn’t this the crux of the issue?

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

If you liked this, then why not check out my blogs, or follow me on Twitter.

[divider]

Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Chelsea v Aston Villa and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!