If you believe the News of the World, Arsenal’s assistant boss Pat Rice is ready to retire at the end of the season. Rice, 61 years-old, joined the Gunners as a player in 1964 and went on to make 528 appearances for the club. On a poll on the official Arsenal website, Pat Rice was voted the 17th Greatest Gunner of all time. The man is Arsenal through and through.
He retired from the game in 1984, but soon took up a role as Arsenal’s youth team coach. He remained the youth team manager for 12 years, until he was designated Arsenal’s caretaker manager following the departure of Stewart Houston. He won all three of his games in charge, making him the only Arsenal manager with a 100% victory rate.
He was to be replaced by Arsene Wenger in 1996 and graciously took an assistant manager role alongside him. Almost 15 years later, it seems that Rice is ready to relinquish his Arsenal commitments.
I have to say, I think the time is right. Pat Rice has done a good job at Arsenal, but the Gunners must embrace change. Over at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistants have changed as regular as clockwork and all have helped to add something different to the side.
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Arsenal need a new voice. Rice doesn’t strike me as the kind of man to speak against Arsene Wenger. The Gunners need an assistant manager who will question Wenger if needs be. I would also suggest that Arsenal’s new number two should have some defensive nous. The Gunners have been all over the place at the back this season and need somebody who can whip them into shape. Arsenal had such success in the 2006 Champion’s League (reaching the final) because they brought in Martin Keown as a specialist defensive coach and he whipped the likes of Senderos and Flamini into shape.
So just who could this man be? For me there is only one obvious answer. Since 2001, Arsenal’s youth team has been coached by Steve Bould with great success. He’s vocal, opinionated and thick-skinned. More important still, he’s defensively minded. Bould was part of Arsenal’s “famous four” defensive line up, which also featured Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon. Let’s put it this way: he knows a thing or two about defending.
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Pat Rice made it to the assistant managerial spot through his success managing the youth team. I for one hope that Steve Bould takes the same route. A fresh outlook could be just what the Gunners need in their push for silverware.
If you’re interested and want to hear more feel free to follow me on Twitter: @ThePerfectPass
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There’s an old mathematical joke that goes, “there are 10 types of people in the world – those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” On Planet Football, there are 10 types of people, and nine of them don’t understand Dimitar Berbatov.
Critics of Berbatov point to his inconsistent goalscoring record, his laziness, his lack of pace and seemingly his lack of care about football. But are these valid points?
Firstly, it must be noted that “doesn’t score enough” has changed to “doesn’t score consistently”. Goalposts are changed so frequently with Berbatov you begin to wonder whether some have a pre-conceived notion of the Berb, and nothing he does on the pitch can change this. True, eight of his 14 Premier League goals have come from two games, but it must be said that three of these sunk Liverpool in a thriller that will live long in the United memory, and the other five destroyed Blackburn in a performance that gave Ferguson’s men much-needed confidence as they kick into a tough December schedule. “When was the last time United really put a team to the sword – when Tevéz was in the team” was a refrain form Berbatov’s detractors. The performance against Blackburn – with Berbatov at the fulcrum – shows us that United can kill teams with Berbatov. In September, Berbatov was magnificent against West Ham, however others around him were not on his sparkling wavelength, and so a potential ‘Blackburn’ became simply a 3-0 stroll.
Never before has a player had his price tag quoted so much against him, so much so that for a while, there was a danger of his tomb stone being engraved Dimitar “£30.75m” Berbatov. Even Robinho, who did half at City of what Berbatov has done at United for £1.25m more hasn’t had it levelled against him as much. His off days, which were accepted at Spurs in the face of his brilliance on other days, were highlighted and casitgated, inevitably with “you expect more for £30m”. Yes, Berbatov’s price was inflated, due to a bidding war with Man City, and essentially compensation for tapping him up. Is this Berbatov’s fault? Of course not, yet it was thrown in his face at every single opportunity. His first season at United disappointed those who quivered at his YouTube highlights, marvelled at the stories of his enigma and cultured personality and whispered “Cantona?”. However, was it really that bad? Nine Premier League goals was doubtless disappointing compared to his 15 the previous season for Spurs, but 10 assists left him as the second top assister in the league. It must also be noted that he played 500 less minutes at United, as well as playing in a more withdrawn second striker role with Rooney at the centre of most United attacks. Moments of genius such as that piece of skill against West Ham and crucial goals like the 90th minute winner at Bolton showed how valuable he could be.
Berbatov’s second season at United has become one of the most underrated season of recent times. Despite spending two months out with injuries, Berbatov managed 12 Premier League goals – the highest of any second striker in the league. Crucial and brilliant goals against Sunderland and Blackburn led to fans and commentators alike proclaiming “now we are seeing the real Berbatov”.
However, injury to Wayne Rooney in March against Bayern Munich killed Berbatov. He was often placed up front on his own, or else with a clearly unfit Rooney, and United missed their up-to-then brilliant partnership, crashing out of Europe and blowing the Premier League. Berbatov took the brunt of the blame and suddenly his season had been a disaster, and he had to be sold.
Ferguson, once again proving himself to be wiser than the baying mob, kept faith in the Bulgarian, and Berbatov started this season like a house on fire. An excellent pre-season, followed by nothing short of magnificence against Chelsea, Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham, Everton and Liverpool saw Berbatov shoot to the top of the goalscoring charts and back into the hearts of the United fans. However, Rooney’s ankle flared up again and the goals dried up for Berbatov. Not necessarily performance though, in seven of his ten goal-free games he was very good – only playing poorly against Tottenham and Bursaspor – and largely anonymous against Valencia through not much fault of his own. But suddenly due to his lack of goals he was ‘Lazy Berbatov’ instead. Again, an unfair stigma – he has tracked back well this season, and covered good distance in most matches. Against Rangers last week he sprinted back to win two challenges deep in his own half. He started and finished the move for the fourth goal against Blackburn, covering a good 90 yards in the process. He’s no Carlos Tevéz, but then again, should United fans really want him to be?
Tevéz for all the plaudits he is rightly getting these days, was an average second striker at United, often lacking the quality or the nous to play in this position. He would frequently misplace passes, fluff great scoring chances, or be out of position due to chasing the ball – all traits which could be said to be more annoying than not covering marathon distances during games. He has improved no end at City, primarily because he’s playing in a different position, which he’s better at, and also is the main man – as a confidence player this is important for him. However pining for the player he is now is no good – he was never that player at United and was never going to be. Berbatov is having the season now that Tévez never had at United, and is a more harmonious dressing room presence to boot – with Alex Ferguson cryptically referencing Tévez’s moaning in the dressing room when placed on the bench.
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With Berbatov on form as he is, this season could well see Manchester United capture that 19th title against the odds, and challenge in Europe. For all his failings in his first two seasons at United – and doubtless there was some – he has been unfairly castigated based on his price tag, unfair comparisons to others and personality traits. By the end of the season, perhaps everyone will recognise Berbatov’s genius touch, exceptional hold-up play, clever passes, and maybe, just maybe his goalscoring prowess. And then, Planet Football will be a better place.
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“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” – The immortal words of Mark Twain – Author, humorist, philanthropist, skeptic and renowned wit. Not the person you’d immediately associate with David Beckham. In fact I’d be mightily impressed if our Dave could identify a picture Twain and not feel perplexed as to why he wasn’t on a bucket of Chicken. Yet this saying, and more accurately it’s often misquoted version – mistaken from an influenced song title – “Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated” is as apt as any to describe the later career of England’s flagship sportsman.
Beckham was being written off when Wayne Rooney was still suckling at the breast of a middle-aged scouser. So about 2003. Sir Alex Ferguson pulled off a masterstroke by replacing him with an unknown Portuguese, but owed this far more to luck than judgment, as the decision was made well after Beckham had left. In fact were it not for the kind hand of fate striking in a pre-Season friendly with Sporting Lisbon, Ferguson may been left to rue the day he considered Beckham surplus, because the player was far from through, winning plaudits and fans in Spain despite the relative failure of the Galactico project. When Madrid finally did prize back La Liga from Barcelona, it was the re-call of Beckham that many considered the crucial play.
Twice now he’s been dropped form the England set up, and twice he’s fought his way back in, often proving influential in the process, much to the eternal chagrin of Alan Green.
People even wrote him off in ‘98 after his (massively exaggerated) crime against Argentina, believing he’d never play in England again, let alone captain the side. Even yours truly sat uncomfortably on Sky News less than a year ago on behalf of this very site proudly proclaiming that Becks’ “career at the top level was over” after his Achilles injury playing for Milan in March. And yet here he stands, on the brink of a move back to the Premier League, still one of – if not the – best deliverers of a football in the world.
The man has made a career out of proving people wrong, and people have made their careers off the back of slating him.
And because of this there’s still a deficit in the accurate appraisal of his talent. Like so many who are over hyped at one point or another, the back-lash of underrating is inevitable, but for Beckham this constant tussle has seemed to go on forever, without ever settling on an accurate assessment.
Because he was once overrated, and famously, the idea that he’s not actually, and never has been anywhere near as good as his legend suggests is common place. And it’s utter rubbish. He was twice voted runner up for World Player of the Year, not by the English press but by the managers and captains of actual football teams.
While it’s popular legend at Manchester United to claim Beckham’s seizing of Ryan Giggs’ pin up mantle was due to the latter’s modesty and the former’s love of fame, the real reason is ever so slightly closer to the truth that Beckham was better than Giggs for most of the eight years they shared in the first team – Something the Welshman’s Indian summer has all but glossed over in United lore.
When he retired from the captaincy of England after World Cup 2006, his reputation took a bettering, yet he scored or created half of all of England’s goals at that tournament. Even though it seemed an off form Beckham was still more influential than the rest of the side, he was still made the scapegoat (once the tabloids had stopped throwing jingoistic puns the way of the very unknown Portuguese who’d replaced him.)
I once read an article by Alan Hansen (No I’m not sure why either) that suggested Beckham would never be a “great” player because he’d never influenced the very biggest games, a belief which contradicts not only his World Cup Record (he’s scored in three tournaments) but also that both United’s winning goals in their 1999 Champions League Final triumph came from Beckham corners. Hansen – the very first to doubt and be proven wrong by Beckham when he claimed “you never win anything with kids” – should’ve know this, but with Beckham people have their opinions (either way) and stick to them, the facts are irrelevant.
His SPOTY Lifetime achievement Award was a mistake. No player should receive one whilst they’re still playing, and there were many who deserved it more than Beckham, but once again the bitterness and re-writing that often accompanies any Beckham appraisal was in full force amongst those only too happy to point this out.
So now that we’ve established that I like David Beckham, where does this leave us, and him, now? If he were to sign for Spurs how good a move would it transpire to be for both?
At first glance it doesn’t seem that encouraging for Spurs fans. With City splashing big again on rising stars like Edin Dzeko, Tottenham look a little off the pace going for Beckham and (if reports are true) Everton’s dodgy haired World Cup flop Steven Pienaar. Pienaar is a Spurs of old signing, not a Spurs of new one and Beckham seems a nostalgia target, especially for a man like Redknapp who so coverts the England job.
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But on closer inspection it seems less foolhardy. Tottenham aren’t really competing with City anymore. As unfair as it may be, despite losing their Battle Royal last season the Manchester outfit have leapfrogged Spurs, missing a turn and passing Go straight into the title race (though Harry may well think he’s in there too). As unlikely as it may have seemed a few months ago, Tottenham’s battle to stay in the top four is being fought (right now at least) with Chelsea. And what Chelsea have over Spurs is experience (well, and a truly world class striker.)
What the Lilywhites don’t need is more squad players. They have a good, strong, already rather large squad, but what they don’t have in it are truly exceptional players with experience. For this reason Pienaar is perplexing, for he’s simply more of what they already have, but Beckham – despite being a fair few years off exceptional now – is undoubtedly experienced, and revered enough to be respected. So even if the move never transpires (and as we speak it seems anything but certain) Beckham simply training in North London could be just what Tottenham need to bolster the confidence, consistency and motivation within the squad. Because this is what Tottenham really need (Well, and truly world class striker.)
And if he does get the chance to play, then write him off as a crocked has been at your peril. I did, and he’s still bloody here!
You can follow Oscar on Twitter here; http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary where you can witness his exasperated attempts to think of funny things to say.
Roberto Martinez believes young striker Callum McManaman can help Wigan Athletic away from the English Premier League danger zone.
The Latics manager has resisted the temptation to spend out big money in the transfer market for a new forward, despite off-loading six-million-pound man Mauro Boselli to Genoa at the start of January.
That was partly because of the emergence of McManaman, who was again excellent at Bolton in the FA Cup on Saturday and is a player Martinez believes has a huge future at the club.
“He’s ready,” Martinez said.
“We’ve also got Hugo (Rodallega), Charles (N’Zogbia), Franco (di Santo), Victor (Moses) and Tom (Cleverley) at the club, so the forward line is very good here.”
“But Callum’s ready for whatever role we will give him. It’s not a case of relying on Callum to stay in the Premier League.”
“But rather than bringing in a player without any Premier League experience, to be an extra member of the squad, I feel Callum deserves that role in the squad.”
McManaman is expected to drop to the bench for Tuesday’s clash at West Brom, with both sides in desperate need of the points at the foot of the table.
Only three points separate 18th-placed Wigan and West Brom in 16th, with Latics hoping to complete a league double over the Baggies following the 1-0 victory at the DW Stadium in November.
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Back will come the likes of Rodallega, N’Zogbia and goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, while James McCarthy and Di Santo will be pushing for starts after recovering from long-term injuries.
Antolin Alcaraz, however, will not be fit, although his soft tissue problem will hopefully have cleared in time to face Blackburn on Saturday.
Inter Milan climbed to third place in Serie A on Thursday with a 3-0 win over bottom side Bari at the Stadio San Nicola.
The result makes it six wins from seven league games for Inter under new boss Leonardo, and after an indifferent start to the season the defending champions are now just seven points behind league leaders AC Milan with a game in hand.
Inter would have been expecting a victory against lowly Bari, but had to wait until the 70th minute to break the deadlock, when Moroccan midfielder Houssine Kharja played a neat one-two with Samuel Eto’o before beating Bari goalkeeper Jean Francis Gillet with a low shot from an acute angle.
That was where the scoreline stayed until the fourth minute of injury time when a through ball from Thiago Motta played Giampaolo Pazzini into space and the striker cut inside his marker before firing a low shot past Gillet.
A minute later it was 3-0 when a Javier Zanetti cross was chested down by Thiago Motta into the path of Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder who blasted home from close range with the last kick of the game.
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The loss leaves Bari five points adrift of Brescia – their next opponents – at the bottom of the table, while Inter welcome fifth-placed Roma to the San Siro on Sunday.
Every year the club v country row reignites, particularly when there are international friendlies as England had the other week. Fans and members of the press regularly sympathise with managers having to loan out their top players for five days, for what is essentially a learning expedition.
Increasingly we are seeing more and more Premier League players dropping out of squads with minor illnesses and injuries. Only to play for their club days later.
It is obvious an international manager would want access to that country’s best players but injuries sustained on international duty are so often the cause of bigger issues to their club. So are managers such as Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini wrong to forge a sick note in order to safeguard their star men? And what exactly can be done to halt this increasing trend?
Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21s were badly affected with 11 players being withdrawn from their squad to face Italy. Although the former England defender put this down to the number of games played in the Premier League stating: “The amount of games in England is a problem to us.” Concluding that: “We have to get a balance between club and country.”
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He has a point; with last season’s top four teams playing an average of six games each in all competitions during the month of February. Each club plays four games in the tightest Premier League race in years, so is it any wonder these clubs want to protect their first team players? Not forgetting that Arsenal have the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City four days after their league match against Stoke City.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie of Arsenal; Peter Crouch of Tottenham Hotspur; Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa and Ben Foster of Birmingham City were all players unavailable for their countries but able to play for their club within the next seven days. They are merely a few of many.
In England these withdrawals are sometimes cited as the reason for the country’s lack of international success with many England managers over the years complaining about the lack of understanding and support from club bosses. But it is hard to feel sorry for the FA when it is the clubs that are paying these stars’ wages and often end up with injuries to key players, with many spending months in recovery before making another appearance for their club.
It is natural that managers may fret about the number of injuries players collect while on international duty; in the four years following 2002, 5 different players broke bones in their feet while playing for England. This is nothing new, Bryan Robson was a big miss for England in the 1986 World Cup after dislocating his shoulder in a warm up game. The most recent and notable injury to an Englishman sustained while away with his country would be Dean Ashton; after breaking his ankle in 2006 he missed the whole of the season for his club West Ham United. And although he did return for his club a year and a half later, he was never the same player and retired at the age of 26. As it stands West Ham are still awaiting their financial compensation from the FA regarding the incident.
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This is not a sequence of events confined to England; Djibril Cisse of France, Phillipe Senderos of Switzerland, Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium and Stuart Holden of the USA have all returned to their clubs will long-term injuries following international duty.
Of course you cannot wrap the players in cotton wool but when it comes to a choice between club and country, a way needs to be found for the two to work in unison. Otherwise one will have to come first and who knows which one that will be?
Aston Villa will look to move further away from the relegation zone when Wolverhampton visit in the Midlands derby on Saturday.Sitting in 13th on the English Premier League table, Villa are only two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United.A 3-2 loss at Bolton on March 5 out did not help their cause but memories of their last home game, a 4-1 thrashing of Blackburn, will be fresh.A win would only see them move mid-table but would be a serious aid to ensuring they remain in the top flight next season.Emile Heskey’s late winner gave Villa the points at the Molineux when the teams last met in September.It is the beginning of a season-defining run for Gerard Houllier’s side, which includes games against teams around them on the table before finishing the season with a trip to Arsenal and a home clash against Liverpool.Everton, Newcastle, West Ham, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic beckon in six crucial games.They will again be without defender Richard Dunne, who is out with a shoulder injury but has been the subject of an off-field investigation during the week. Visitors Wolves have been poor on the road this season, losing 11 of 14 trips and collecting only five of a possible 42 points.Wolverhampton face a similar run home but points are a must as they begin to drift away from the safety zone.An 87th-minute equaliser from Steven Fletcher gave them an unlikely point at home to Tottenham in their last league game on March 6.Although they are unbeaten in their last three home games, they have not won away from Molineux this year, with their last win on the road a shock 1-0 defeat of Liverpool on December 29.Winger Michael Kightly has declared himself fit to play after an injury-ravaged 15 months, but he is likely to be used off the bench against Villa.
Joachim Loew has extended his contract as Germany manager, ending speculation of a move to Bayern Munich.Loew led the national team to third place at the 2010 World Cup, winning fans for blooding the likes of Mesut Oezil and Thomas Mueller.Bayern Munich are yet to announce a replacement for manager Louis van Gaal, who will leave the club at the end of the season after his side failed to mount a serious defence to their Bundesliga defence.But despite rumours he was top of the candidate list, Loew will not follow the same path predecessor Juergen Klinnsman took from the national team to the Munich club.”I am delighted that we were able to agree early on continuing our work until the 2014 World Cup,” Loew said in a statement on Tuesday.”Together, with German Football Federation (DFB) chief Theo Zwanziger and general secretary Wolfgang Niersbach, we believe that it makes sense to continue our successful path with the team in the same style.”Loew has been in the Germany job since 2006, and extended his contract to 2012 after the World Cup.
The USA have begun their CONCACAF Under-20 Championship campaign with a comfortable victory over Suriname in Guatemala.The Americans took the lead in the 19th minute when Greg Garza’s free-kick was flicked on for Bobby Wood to score his side’s opening goal of the tournament.
The US doubled their advantage ten minutes later thanks to Joe Gyau before Conor Doyle added a third.
Kelyn Rowe completed the rout in the second half, collecting the ball off Doyle before unleashing a low, right-footed drive as the Americans ran out 4-0 winners.
The USA now face Panama in their final Group B match on Sunday and look likely to progress to next week’s quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Guatemala beat Jamaica 2-0.
An early own-goal by Jamaican defender Jhamie Lettini and a 35th minute strike from Guatemala midfielder Gerson Danilo were enough to seal the win for the hosts.
The top four teams at the end of the competition will qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup which is being held in Colombia later this year.
Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed a spat with striker Didier Drogba was behind his early exit from Stamford Bridge.Scolari was sacked by Chelsea in February 2009, merely seven months into a three-year contract with the Blues.
A player revolt against the Brazilian manager was rumoured to have led to his departure, something Scolari was quick to dispel at the time.
But the 62-year-old has confessed in an interview to a troubled relationship with Ivory Coast international Drogba, who was hampered by a knee injury in the 2008-09 season.
”Drogba had a bad knee, and the previous year he had played 12 to 15 games with the help of cortisone injections,” Scolari said.
“I wouldn’t accept that, I did not want it. He had to go through physiotherapy, and he thought he had to get it done in a big clinic in Cannes, in the summer.”
“So the dummy here said ‘no’, and the problems began.”
”To this day I do not believe in this sabotage conspiracy, but I did not know how to handle certain things, or handle it like I do in Brazil.”
Scolari landed at Uzbek club Bunyodkor after leaving Chelsea, and took over at Brazilian side Palmeiras in June last year.
His tenure at Palmeiras is beginning to bear fruit, with the club one point clear on the Campeonato Paulista table and assured of reaching the play-offs.
Asked if he would consider a move back to Europe, Scolari was reticent but would not rule it out altogether.
”I won’t say I won’t go back to Europe, but I think to myself, I am 62, almost 63 years old,” he said.
“Will I have to go back there to a medium sized team to make my name?”
“No, I think I have to stay here in Brazil and find a solution for Palmeiras, which is a team I like.”
”The basis of this group is that the players want an opportunity. They are giving me the chance to show them that opportunities in life are few and far between.”