Valencia left back Jordi Alba is the latest addition to Manchester United’s transfer list, with Sir Alex Ferguson looking to strengthen his squad at Old Trafford. The Manchester club are considering Alba as a long term replacement for Patrice Evra, with the 22 year old currently the stand out candidate.
Alba has been a stand out performer for Valencia thus far this season, with his displays catching the attention of Europe’s top clubs and the Spaniard made his international debut in last month’s 3-1 victory against Scotland.
The fact that Alba has Champions League experience, as well as a blossoming international career ahead of him has reportedly convinced United that he is their man.
United may also shop in Spain for a central midfielder, as they look to find a player who can assert dominance in the heart of midfield, a quality that has been questioned in recent weeks.
One of the player’s currently linked is Atletico Bilbao and Spain international Javi Martinez, although Bilbao’s apparent £30 million pound valuation may prove a stumbling block.
Perhaps more likely is a move for Villareal’s Bruno Soriano, with any offer around the £10 million mark likely to test the financially insecure club.
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Since joining Liverpool from Newcastle back in January, Andy Carroll has been sidelined with a thigh injury which has meant he hasn’t kicked a ball in anger for the whole of 2011. Not surprisingly, the inactivity that goes with such an injury has meant Andy has put on a few pounds (not just because of his contract fees either!) and the Geordie striker has been put on a special training regime by the Reds to ensure that he’s down to his ‘fighting weight’ when he does eventually start.
Carroll isn’t the first footballer to struggle with his weight, as these 5 examples show;
Mido – The Egyptian striker was famous for the amount of weight he put on whilst at Middlesbrough, and his size was often a subject for chants from ‘mean’ fans up and down the country. Mido, who also had spells with West Ham, Tottenham and Wigan, never really fulfilled his potential at Boro scoring just 12 goals in 51 appearances. He blamed his lack of form on an inflamed ‘pubic bone’. The 28 year old is currently at Dutch giants Ajax, and weighs a svelte 83kg.
Yakubu – Currently at Leicester City, the Yak, has never been what you would call ‘dainty’. Another ex-Boro legend, the Nigerian’s weight was often called into question during his time at Everton. Following one 10 month lay off, Yakubu admitted that he had spent most of his spare time watching DVD’s including Will Smith’s ‘Hancock.’ He stressed that he had tried very hard not to get fat, but admitted that the boredom often resulted in him stuffing his face.
3) Andy Reid – Often compared unfavourably to the Michelin Man, Reid is another footballer who has struggled to lose that ‘spare tyre’ over the years. Strangely it’s never really stopped Reid from performing, with most of his past managers claiming that he’s as fit as a butcher’s dog. Reid has spent much of his career at Sunderland, maybe because vertical stripes are quite flattering. He’s at Sheffield United for the time being who have a similar slimming effect.
Mick Quinn – If anyone knew about weight problems, it was the Mighty Quinn. The Liverpool born striker, who managed over 200 goals during his career, was known for his ‘playboy’ lifestyle. Fans initially loved his rotund appearance, singing ‘He’s Fat, He’s Round, He Scores at Every Ground’ at the tubby-target man. Following his retirement however, Quinn piled on the pounds and weighed a hefty 19 stone when he signed up for ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club, alongside dart’s player Bobby George and astrologer Russel Watson. Quinn managed to lose 4 stone 8 pound and was named Mr. Fit Club 2006.
Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock – As played by Ray Winstone. No, I’m joking! Ex-Liverpool and West Ham hardman, ‘Razor’ Ruddock was always a hefty player but since retiring like Quinn he’s really piled on the pounds. When he went into the Australian jungle for his stint on I’m A Celebrity (Get Me My Career Back), it was hoped that some of the weight would drop off. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone tuck into a Kangaroo’s anus as quickly and happily as Ruddock did!
This article is only meant to entertain, not to mock! You know who else has a bit of a weight issue…yeah, me….but that’s ok! I like to eat, and that’s just fine! More cushion for the pushin’, more of me to love etc etc. So to all my hefty brothers, be they wheezing heavily on the pitch, or just wheezing heavily at the side of it, I say just be comfortable in your skin, whatever you weigh! If this list is anything to go by, you might still have a footballing career ahead of you. And women go crazy for a bigger man! Look at Barry White and the Hairy Bikers!
For actual dietry advice, consult your GP, but for the latest amusing articles and transfer rumours join my Twitter page @petermagpie
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Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole isn’t the most popular footballer around as he is hated by Arsenal fans, loathed by all neutrals, even some non-football fans dislike him for being unfaithful to his ex Cheryl Cole, but the guy is arguably the best left-back in the world.
Fellow professional Phil Neville seems to think so as he has recently lavished praise on the Blues and England left-back as he believes Cole typifies everything the modern fullback should be.
Neville told the Liverpool Echo:
“I’ve never seen him have a game where the winger he’s against has dominated him – because he is impossible to play against.
“He’ll make a 60-yard run and as an opponent you have to follow that and you quickly find yourself back on the edge of your own area. So you then have to make another 60-yard run to get back into the attacking third where you want to be. By the time you are there, you’re no longer fresh because you’ve just run 120 yards.”
Some of Cole’s most impressive displays have been against some of the world’s best players, particularly Cristiano Ronaldo as the pair came up against each other a few times at both club and international level. The Three Lions’ man has had the better of the former Manchester United player in their individual mini battles. Sir Alex Ferguson moved Ronaldo out onto the left flank in the 2008 Champions League final to try to take advantage of an out of position Michael Essien, but avoiding Cole on the opposite flank could also have been a factor in the Manchester United boss’ thinking.
The Chelsea fullback has managed to reach such a level and continue to perform at that level despite being hated by pretty much everyone, which makes it all the more impressive. Like his club team-mate John Terry he had a lot of negative press attention surrounding him over the season following revelations about their individual misdemeanours, but it didn’t seem to affect Cole in the same way as it did Terry who was guilty of letting it get to him at times.
However, Cole was probably fortunate to be injured during the times the scandalous stories were at their height.
It wasn’t his first taste of scandal though as the former Arsenal fullback was involved in a tapping up storm prior to his eventual move to Chelsea. He was labelled Cashley Cole after famously saying he almost crashed his car when he heard the wage package Arsenal were only offering him something like £55,000-a-week.
When Cole moved to Stamford Bridge in a swap deal involving William Gallas (2006) many thought Arsenal were getting the better deal and Chelsea were just acquiring another petulant mercenary, how wrong they were.
The 29-year-old was arguably one of the better performers of England’s dire 2010 World Cup campaign (although it’s not saying much) and managed to play the left flank pretty much alone as Steven Gerrard often drifted into the middle.
Last season Cole won an historic Premier League and FA Cup double with Chelsea and has been linked with Real Madrid (arguably biggest club in the world) following his best season in a blue shirt. Also, his England record is quite astonishing as he has made around 80 appearances country all of when he has been names in the starting XI, he has never appeared off of the bench.
Many may argue their individual cases for the likes of Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm, but love him or hate him surely Ashley Cole is the best fullback in the world and has shown it over an extended period of time?
Follow me on Twitter: ajwilliams1987
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Click on image below to see the BRAZILIAN babes at the World Cup
The old chestnut is that football is a gentleman’s game played by thugs, while rugby union is a thug’s game played by gentlemen. Some have ventured to suggest that rugby league is a thug’s game played by thugs… but I couldn’t possibly comment as I’m due to travel north at some point in the future. But as a former footballer and a keen fan of the egg-chasing, I’ve always been willing to accept that while rugby union players might not always be more intelligent or better-bred than us, they’re generally a hell of a lot more dignified. That was, of course, until these last six weeks and what must surely rank as England’s most disgraceful World Cup campaign in ANY sport.
After the dwarf-throwing, carousing and leaping off ferries, as well as several pretty disreputable on-field performances, I have to say that I feel sorry for Martin Johnson. When England’s footballers flopped so badly at the World Cup in South Africa last year, I firmly believed Fabio Capello was wrong to lock up his players and leave them in isolation. So I can hardly say now that I disagree with Johnson’s approach of treating his players as adults and allowing them to go out for a drink. If Johnson keeps his job – and I can’t see many coaches banging on the RFU’s door demanding to replace him – then he will be left with a major dilemma on future tours because he has been let down badly.
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For the 1966 World Cup, we were away together as a squad for – as my missus always remembers – a total of 14 weeks. And I can honestly say that, while we enjoyed the occasional lively night out on the beer, nobody ever over-stepped the mark. There was always the feeling that we were there to do a job, that we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something really special and win the World Cup. It was a sense of duty and a pride in our country that I believed our rugby players possessed. Sadly not.
I always thought Mike Tindall was a bright lad. When you’re the England rugby captain, in the most rugby-mad nation on Earth and you’ve just married into what is New Zealand’s Royal Family as well as our own, you really ought to know better. Tindall is worthy of that harshest of condemnations: he acted like a footballer. Footballers have realised for a long while that camera phones and CCTV have changed the game. Every drinker in every pub is now a potential photo-journalist. Our rugby players are learning this the hard way.
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Nightmares
I’ve always admired the hell out of rugby players. They put themselves through the sort of physical punishment that footballers could not imagine in their worst nightmares. When you compare it to footballers diving around as if they’ve been shot in the head, when they’ve actually just stubbed their toe, it really is laughable. Yet everything about rugby union seemed far more civilised than in my own sport. I went to Twickenham last year to see England play the All Blacks and enjoyed the lack of segregation and the mutual respect between rival fans.
On the pitch, self-discipline and respect towards referees are things that rugby players have long been rightly proud of. Yet dissent is gradually creeping its way into the sport and you fear rugby will end up going the same way as football in the long run. Rugby players used to enjoy the moral high ground over footballers – but that has now been lost. And this thug can tell rugby’s gentlemen that the high ground will not be easy to regain.
Manchester United failed to follow in the footsteps of the three other Premier League teams in the Champions League last night, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men did earn an away draw and will be heavy favourites heading into the second leg at Old Trafford next month. Elsewhere Arsenal scraped past Stoke in the Premiership, but it came at a cost as both Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott suffered injuries, with the latter certain to miss the Carling Cup final against Birmingham at the weekend.
In the newspapers this morning it is being reported that Arsenal are lining up a £15 million bid for Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro, Kenny Dalglish is set to hand a chance to Joe Cole in the Europa League tonight and West Ham are preparing to start legal action against the FA in regards to compensation for the injury to Dean Ashton.
Walcott out, Fabregas in race against time – Guardian
Cole to be given chance to kick-start Liverpool career – Telegraph
Arsenal prepare £15 million bid – Daily Mail
Chelsea outcast set to leave Stamford Bridge – The Sun
West Ham ready to take legal action against the FA – Guardian
Dawson: Tottenham now Premier League’s most wanted – Telegraph
Scholes set to extend United career – The Sun
Villa target West Ham ‘keeper – Mirror
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New takeover bid for Manchester United – Daily Mail
Liverpool's Spain striker Fernando Torres believes he is approaching the World Cup in fresh condition following a recent injury lay-off.
Torres missed the closing two months of the domestic season following knee surgery.
The 26-year-old made his first competitive appearance since April 8 as a second-half substitute during Spain's 6-0 rout of Poland in Murcia on Tuesday evening.
Torres was a 66th minute replacement for David Villa and found the net late on before confirming at full-time that he feels fit and ready to make an impact in South Africa.
"I am very happy because now it is nearly two months after the surgery and I haven't noticed any problems," he declared.
"This was a very important day to me because to play in the World Cup is most important.
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"The minutes I played were useful to gain rhythm and to confirm that my knee is good.
"It was perfect and to get a goal as well, I'm very happy."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester City bounced back from the disappointment of forfeiting a two goal lead against Fulham to beat Everton 2-0 in the Premier League last weekend. Goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner ensured victory for Roberto Mancini’s men in a hard fought game at the Etihad Stadium.
Here are the captains, Vincent Kompany of Man City and Phil Neville of Everton, before the match, with referee Howard Webb tossing the coin. But what are the trio all so in awe of?
Leave your suggestions below…
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This week you can win a copy of The Smell of Football!
The Smell of Football is the brutally honest and utterly unputdownable story of how ‘Baz’ conquered his personal demons to build a life in the game.
From the terrified teenager who purposely tried to get injured in training rather than get picked for the first team, to the experienced pro who became Head of Medicine at Premier League Everton FC in charge of the treatment of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill.
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Last week’s winner: Oliver Campbell – click here to see all entries
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An eclectic and eccentric view of football, business and management by media entrepreneur Chris Ingram.
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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how vitally important the FA Cup is to smaller football clubs.
And blow me down, Crawley get drawn away to Man United in the 5th Round!
Just look at the economics:
Man United’s matchday revenue is £3.4m per game
In the FA Cup the home team has to share the revenue 50% = 1.7m
Crawley’s estimated annual turnover = 850k
So, this is going to deliver Crawley FC two year’s revenue from just one game at Old Trafford!
Rival clubs in the Conference Premier will see this as ironic: the new owners of Crawley have been accused of `splashing the cash’ in a dash for promotion. The cost of the assembled squad is at a level that most other clubs at this level can only dream of. However, such is the ability of football to scramble our brains, that most owners of clubs talk about the importance of balancing their books and running a club like a conventional business but if given a chance, would spend big money chasing the dream. Wage bill limits may be far from perfect but they are certainly a help in encouraging chairmen and directors to act sensibly (and I speak as one of the guilty parties!).
Even supposing my figures are not exactly right (and tell me if you know better), they’re broadly right and they need to be seen in the context of what’s happening at this level of football. One club handily-placed for promotion into our League may go out of business because they lost 3 games (and therefore all their revenue for a month) because of the snow. Windsor and Eton, 118 years old, went into administration last week. Kidderminster in the Conference Premier, are one point off the play-off places, but haven’t paid their players this year and the Inland Revenue are threatening to pull the plug on them because of money owed to them. Football clubs tend to be incredibly fragile businesses at this level.
Meantime, the biggest clubs are rumoured to be asking the FA to ban replays in the FA Cup, with everything decided on the one game. This is due to their worries about the wear and tear on their squad. With players at my club’s level earning up to £600 a week while Premier players earn up to £200,000 a week, the sympathy at grass roots level only goes so far.
There is a vital, symbiotic relationship between big clubs and small ones in this country.
We need help from the big clubs BUT each level of football relies on much of its talent being developed by the divisions below them. Eliminating replays in the FA Cup will without doubt, result in even more clubs folding at the grass roots level. The FA would be well advised to remind the top clubs of this.
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Chris Ingram is as passionate about football as he is about business. Owner of Woking Football Club, and a majority shareholder in the fast growing sports media business Sports Revolution, Chris is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Recently celebrating 50 years in the media industry and still actively involved with Woking, Chris is ideally placed to comment on the business side of football.
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READ more of Chris Ingram’s work at our Football Business Section
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that there has been no further developments in Robin van Persie’s situation with the club.
The Netherlands international has stated that he will not extend his current contract in north London, which expires next summer.
The Gunners are desperate to keep him whilst Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus are hot on his heels; the French coach has confessed nothing has changed.
“There is nothing to elaborate. The options are clear – we want to keep our players,” Wenger told reporters, published in Sky Sports.
“I would be happy for him to stay in the English Premier League – at Arsenal.”
Meanwhile the Gunners have been linked with a move for Malaga winger Santi Cazorla, and Wenger has admitted that the Spaniard is a player of quality.
“You see I have come here to say as little as possible! I am ready to talk a lot, but not a lot about transfers, because it is a very fragile subject and a very secret subject.
“But I share the opinion of Mikel Arteta – he [Cazorla] is a great player.
“We bought Giroud and Podolski and I hope that we bought Diaby and Wilshere too, who didn’t play at all last season. We will add Wilshere to the squad as soon as possible. But we are not at the end of it [transfers] – we will still bring players in,” he concluded.
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Arsenal are currently on a pre-season tour in Asia.
‘It’s just a natural reaction from a demanding public. It’s nothing new. It’s the same everywhere.’
These were the words of Chelsea’s new manager after only his first home game in charge when addressing the issue that his team was subjected to booing by the home support. Villas-Boas then appealed to the Chelsea fans to get behind their team, claiming a negative atmosphere off the pitch effects players on it: ‘What I would say is empathy can be decisive because you have to put your opponents under pressure. You put opponents under pressure by raising your voices and supporting your team. In our game we need support and tranquillity. We suffered a goal in the fourth minute and people need to be behind us all the time.’
So is Villas-Boas right? Do supporters have a greater responsibility to lift their team when things are not going to plan on the pitch? Or should the ultimate responsibility lie with the players, whose job it is to lift the crowd and inspire their support?
In the context of what was only their first home game of the season, and, when the boos rang out, during half-time at a goal-down, it seems absurd that any supporter would be booing their team. Indeed, many fans would never dream of publicly booing their team, no matter what stage of the season, no matter how low things had gotten –I’m sure there are many of you out there. But how many, hand on heart, could say the same? Maybe supporting a ‘top four’ club spoils a supporter a little. How dare their team not perform, and be second-best at any stage on the pitch to a team that is seen as more inferior. But I suppose that’s where a paradox lies; ‘top four’ clubs contain world class players, who, particularly in Chelsea’s case have been bought in for massive amounts of money. If a loyal supporter who is lucky enough to only earn in a year, what one of these players earns in a week, see’s that player not pulling his weight or performing, isn’t that supporter well within their rights to let their feelings be known?
Booing for many is a step too far however. Many can get frustrated, shout ‘constructive’ abuse (often the source of much amusement between fans and helps lighten the mood!), moan and groan, but booing the team is a no-no. Like it or not, when you are a fan, it is your duty to support your team through thick and thin. And when crowds famously unite in support and passion, as many English crowds do, it can motivate your team. Pick the players up off the floor and inspire them to great things, even when all hope seems lost. It is a sentiment not lost on Villas-Boas: ‘There are a couple of stadiums in the league where there are good examples of pressing the opponent by the crowd behaviour’ the Chelsea manager said on the subject. But still keen to emphasise his point and scrutinise those fans who were awfully quick to let their feelings known to the new manager, he simply stated: ‘Last year I was whistled at Porto and the season ended with four trophies and no more boos’.
He was right, and one tends to agree with his sentiments that those quick to judge, should wait to see what happens during the course of a whole season, not, the course of a whole half – especially in the opening home game of a new season, with a new manager at the helm and new tactics being deployed. But then again, patience is a virtue that seems to have no place in modern football.
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If you want to read more from myself including news, thoughts and views you can follow me on Twitter @fantasista1077 thanks!