Alexandre Pato was thrilled to play a part in Brazil’s 4-2 win over Ecuador that secured their place in the Copa America quarter-finals.Needing a win or draw from their final Group B match on Wednesday to avoid elimination, Brazil ran out 4-2 winners thanks to an excellent second half display.
Pato and Santos’ starlet Neymar both scored a brace each to assure Brazil’s passage to the quarter-finals.
Speaking after the game, the AC Milan striker praised the attitude of his team-mates after their difficult start to the tournament, and admitted that a win was the most important thing.
“It was the match that we were all hoping for. It was crucial for us, we had to win no matter what. We went looking for a good result and we found it,” Pato said.
“We qualified and in first place, it was what we wanted. Now it is time to work and forget all that happened. A new Copa America begins.”
Pato also highlighted the team spirit inside the Brazil camp, which he said was decisive.
“Here when you win, everybody wins and when you lose, everyone loses. It was an excellent game by the whole team, they all gave something extra and this enabled the 4-2 victory and a great game,” he said.
Brazil now play Paraguay in the quarter-finals, after drawing 2-2 with Gerardo Martino’s men in the group stage.
Meanwhile, Ecuador forward Felipe Caicedo was disappointed following his side’s defeat, a loss that confirmed his team’s exit at the group stage for the fifth Copa America in succession.
“We played well, we could at least have drawn the match,” Caicedo said.
“We lacked concentration at the end and gave Brazil too much space. We could not keep the same rhythm, and that hurt us in the rest of the game.”
The Sun report that Wolves boss Mick McCarthy will do all he can to tempt Robbie Keane back to Molineux, in a desperate bid to save the club’s Premier League status. Tottenham announced last week that Keane was free to leave the London club and it seems that Wolves are the early favourites for his signature.
Robbie Keane has expressed his desire to stay in the Premier League, and Wolves may be his only option. He has an affinity with Wolves, only last year stating how ‘overwhelmed’ he was by the welcome he received when Tottenham travelled there.
”No matter what you’ve done at a club, a lot of the time people just boo you, but with Wolves it’s different. Even to this day I go back and it’s great.”
Wolves need something to save their season and Robbie Keane’s return could change the whole atmosphere around the club. Mick McCarthy knows he needs to do something quick to change Wolves’ season and the signing of Keane may just do this.
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Will Keane make a fairy tale return to Molineux – RATE THE RUMOUR
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With Euro 2012 rapidly approaching, England fans are hoping to avoid another scathing post-mortem come the end of the summer: why are we not as technically good as Holland? Why can’t we beat the Germans? Why can’t we pass it like Spain? The very same questions appear year after year, tournament after tournament.
As a footballing nation, England prides itself upon its colossal tradition and the gratification of being football’s founding institution. Yet for all the legends and myths attached to the English psyche, as a collective footballing entity England is in danger of slipping into the realms of mediocrity, as failure to evolve in the same manner as our contemporaries leaves English football susceptible to deterioration.
For some time now, nations in Europe and beyond have been developing new systems, innovative training regimes and unique tactical philosophies which though not entirely revolutionising the game, have notably reshaped and reinvigorated the way in which we think about football. On the other hand, England in contemporary times have brought Kevin Davies and Michael Ricketts into the international fold.
As well as the national team struggling to adapt to modern football’s progressive ways, our club sides have also thrown a stubborn fist in the face of transformation. Despite the rapid spread of globalized forces into the English game, domestic clubs still remain largely antiquated institutions as traditional hierarchical structures persist. There is an owner; he owns. There is a manager; he manages.
Only on very rare occasions has this arrangement been compromised, with generally blundering consequences. A list of various Directors of Football at English clubs reads like a Crimewatch episode for those wanted for crimes against the customary norms of English football. Damien Comolli at Spurs and Liverpool, Avram Grant’s ill-fated time in the job at Chelsea and Sir Clive Woodward’s groundbreaking appointment at Southampton all ended in prevailing misery for those involved. The idea of a manager having anything less that total control over his playing squad is an alien one to English football – time to change?
One Englishman leading the charge for greater evolvement is Lee Congerton at Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Formerly Chief Scout at Chelsea, Congerton moved with Frank Arnesen to the German club last summer and has excelled in his new role as Technical Director. In a recent interview with the Guardian, Congerton outlines his desires for the role to be more widely recognised in England: “I would love to see this role grow in England because I think it can offer so much to clubs. Here in Germany every club has it and it’s very much about the medium to long-term development. And that’s maybe a problem with the English game – the coach goes, big pay out and off we go again.”
Congerton’s words strike a resonating chord in regards to the psychological oversight which is adversely affecting football in England. The English disposition does not allow for this kind of progressive, enterprising form of football governance. The manager is in charge and he must get it right; if he does not, simply sack him and get another in. It’s a cyclical disaster and one which much change if English football on whole wants to achieve growth and betterment.
The introduction of such a role for English club would no doubt aid the development of the academies, as well as laying the foundations for a more expansive way of thinking in the English game. Young players find exceeding benefit with the presence of similar positions at German clubs – outlined by the striking rise in prominence of Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Thomas Muller. Germany are widely insisted to be great favourites for Euro 2012 playing a enviously attractive brand of football, and with club and international football inextricably linked, this has been aided to no end by the developmental structure of the German game.
Why can’t the English do this? Because we’re too resistant to change. Too stubborn, too proud. Congerton states that his “dream in years to come would be to help a manager be successful at a big Premier League club and put some footprints in the sand for the role to grow for others.” Unless the English attitude alters significantly in order to accommodate this change, we may find ourselves languishing further behind our counterparts for many years to come.
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Can you explain why we as a nation cannot find it within ourselves to accept change? Tweet me @acherrie1
Talk of building a new stadium in Liverpool has been around since the time a Texan cowboy owner and co-owner infamously stated: ‘The first spade will start going into the ground on that [stadium] project by March’ back in February 2007. Thankfully the dastardly duo were (eventually) shown the door, however the issue of a new stadium remains (the above statement never coming to fruition).
Increased revenue through an increased capacity is a must for Liverpool Football Club if they are to compete in the upper-echelons of the Premier League. The club’s new American owners, FSG concur. They made it clear upon arriving, that boosting gate receipts through an increased capacity is paramount if club is to go forward and reclaim its position as the most successful side in English football. But just how should the club achieve this?
Should Liverpool and its new owners follow the Arsenal model?
The Gunners also foresaw the need to generate extra income through ticket sales and chose to leave their historic home, Highbury, way back in 1999 when it was ruled the stadium could not be suitably renovated. They chose to build a brand new stadium, moving there in 2006. However, their brand new home also came with a brand new name – a brand; Emirates. The middle-eastern airline paid £100m in 2004 to secure naming rights on the stadium in a deal will run for 15 years. This is the route Liverpool’s new Managing Director; Ian Ayre has stated the club will go down if the Red’s choose to leave Anfield, much to the ire of many Liverpool fans.
Even though the extra revenue is now pouring in for Arsenal, building a new stadium has had some negative impact. The cost of the project has been felt, not least on the pitch. Gunner’s fans have lamented the fact that over the last few years, they’ve been unable to compete at the very top when it comes to signing new players – most available cash being swallowed up by the ground investment. With the purse-strings tightened Arsene Wenger has had to rely more and more on his youth ranks, whilst any shopping (with the odd exception) has been done in the bargain basement. It has been commendable that the Gunner’s have still managed to remain competitive, always finishing in the top four of the Premier League. However, the bottom line is they haven’t won a trophy since 2005. This barren spell is finally starting to take its toll on some of the more ‘senior’ players who have had their heads turned with the lure of more money, or trophies, being offered elsewhere (though no player will admit to the former!)
With this in mind, should Liverpool follow suit? They themselves are without a trophy since 2006 and with Manchester United finally overhauling the clubs record 18 league titles, challenging sooner rather than later is paramount. However, most Liverpool fans are looking forward to this immediate future with a degree of sense and optimism. They recognise the club is in the midst of a massive restructure, but appear to be moving in the right direction. If the club were to go ahead and vacate Anfield, youth, like at Arsenal, would certainly be the key. At the forefront of this, Liverpool could not ask for a better man to be in charge, especially when it comes to putting the club first; step forward Kenny Dalglish. The manager and club legend has already fast-tracked some of the squads youth players through to the first team with success. Youngsters like Flanagan and Robinson joining Spearing and Kelly, who have benefitted from more playing time, as well as the canny man-management skills the Scot possesses. It is also worth noting that at this present moment in time Liverpool’s youth academy is widely recognised as one of Europe’s finest: ‘the only one that can compete with La Masia’ as Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola put it. Names such as Sterling, Suso and Coady are already tipped for stardom. With such apparent strength here, would now be the perfect time for Liverpool to move to a new stadium, tighten the purse-strings, and rely on youth?
As of yet, no decision has been made on whether the extra capacity will be found through redeveloping one of football’s most historic grounds, Anfield, or by building an entirely new stadium for the club. The former is something FSG (Liverpool’s owners) already have a track record in. Upon purchasing the Boston Redsox in 2002 FSG were placed in a similar situation. They chose to redevelop the baseball outfits historic home, Fenway Park with much success – the baseball team has enjoyed consecutive home sell-outs from 2003-2011 and remained competitive throughout.
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So the question remains: should Liverpool follow the Arsenal or Boston method? Doing nothing is not an option.
Is it time for Roy Hodgson to be put of his Anfield nightmare? The manager has lost the faith of the fans, and they are turning on him at every bad result. After a recent good run of form it seemed that Liverpool had turned a corner, but defeat to Stoke on Saturday evening gave rise to renewed calls for his head. If NESV decide that Roy Hodgson is not the man to take Liverpool forward through this transitional phase there will be some exceptional candidates for one of the top jobs in world football. We have put together a short list of five managers who would be considered should there be a change at the top at Liverpool.
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Click on image below to see the FIVE candidates
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What do you think? Comment below and contact me on twitter, where you can also get all the latest Liverpool news!
Manchester City and Manchester United are set to battle it out this summer to sign Athletic Bilbao’s highly-rated midfielder Ander Herrera, according to The Sun.
The 22-year-old box-to-box man has been labelled ‘the Spanish Steven Gerrard’ and has impressed in the Basque club’s stellar La Liga campaign and progression to the Europa League semi-finals.
City are believed to have sent chief scout Rob Newman and football officer Brian Marwood to watch Herrera during Bilbao’s draw at Granada on Wednesday.
United meanwhile have had first-hand experience of playing against Herrera this term, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side knocking the Red Devils out of the Europa League.
The midfielder still has four years left on his contract at San Mames, but a transfer fee of around £16 million is being touted for the English sides to potentially land their man.
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Movies. Movies are great aren’t they? A wise man once said; “Men like films where lots of people die very quickly and women like films where one person dies very slowly”. Failing this of course, sports films can often do the trick for men in lieu of a decent body count per minute ratio. Except that is, if they’re football films. Football films are almost all universally rubbish. If they’re actually about football.
American sports fans can get stuck in to a wide variety of over dramatic cheesy waffle. Their homegrown sports are ready made for it. Ostensibly, a lot of American sports are geared more towards entertainment than sport anyway. Cheerleaders, hot dogs, silly mascots. All things football has tried to appropriate with varying degrees of cringe worthy success, and all aimed at making it more of a “day out”. Even the multi point scoring “something must be happening at all times or else our bums’ll fall off” logistics are cater made for the all action brainless blockbuster treatment. In fact almost all sports are so inherently dramatic and possessive of rich narratives that it’d be hard to find one you couldn’t make into a suitable movie of the week starring Ted Danson’s hair and Sean Maguire.
Of course, most sports dramas don’t depend largely on the sports themselves. In football films, the good ones don’t at all. Fever Pitch or Looking For Eric for example are both great films, that succeed entirely by virtue of at no point having any of the main characters be footballers.
When they are, the main bulk is usually taken up by the heart warming life story of some dashingly hansom yet brooding individual and their struggle to find time for their passion whilst working 3 jobs as a single parent and looking after their crippled black lesbian transsexual brother on life support …or something. The sports action usually comes as a climax and will almost always involve someone scoring something in the last seconds of play, often from a daringly maverick tactic of some sort that’s “never been done before” or has, but with disastrous consequences.
My point, if I have one, is that these clichés seem to work in almost all sports films, but football/soccer ones. The jaded football fan will yawn at such dramatics on the silver screen. Not because it’s so implausible that the young renegade with a heart of gold can come on with 5 minutes to go and score a hat-trick against the club that killed his parents, but because the drama can never be as potent or emotive as it is in real time.
Invictus, Clint Eastwood’s film about South Africa’s stirring 1995 Rugby World Cup victory staring Matt Damon as François Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Morgan Freeman in a hat, is a good example of it working for another sport. The political and social backdrop was the main focus, with the Rugby itself being ramped up dramatically with slow motion, music, and all sorts of other manipulative jiggery pokery that works because Rugby can be made more emotional with the use of such tactics. Take for example England’s 2006 World Cup win. Johnny Wilkinson won it with the last kick of the game. It couldn’t possibly have gotten any more dramatic than that, and yet if you watch a replay of that moment, you can see a plethora of England fans behind the sticks, joyfully standing up with their arms raised aloft, already in mid “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” in a sort of “Yes! My 8 year old son has just won the 100 meters at his school sports day” type celebration. The level of euphoria differed from person to person of course, but that kind of fist pumping is the general reaction you get from the climatic moments in most sports.
Now imagine, if you will, that Wilkinson had been Beckham, and old golden balls had converted a last minute free kick in the football World Cup final to send England to glory. Finding just one person in the crowd even able to stand up with their arms aloft amidst the melee of flying legs, arms, cups, wallets, phones and teeth would be a monumental achievement. The reaction would be seismic.
Because football makes us wait for it’s scores, the emotional out pouring that results from a particularly dramatic late goal trumps anything in any other sport on the planet. Even most players themselves say the sensation can’t ever be topped in life itself, so it’s hardly going to be achieved by a slow motion hero shot of Shia LaBoeuf.
You could make quite passably adequate films of both Manchester United and Liverpool’s ‘99 and ‘05 European Cup final wins. Both would seem ludicrously over the top to someone without knowledge of the games themselves but those with that knowledge, would never be able to top the feeling of actually watching it. United’s almost identical 5 goal comebacks against Spurs in 2001 and 2009 would seem appallingly Disney on the big screen, as would Kiko Macheda’s debut winner for the reds, or Deportivo’s four goal comeback against Milan in 2004. I could reel off hundreds of these, because football’s scripts are weirder, odder and more unbelievable than any hack writer could possibly come up with.
And this is why football can never be made into a good film, as long as the narrative focuses on the action. Because football is too good for film. But it won’t stop them trying. Here are some of the more notable efforts.
Goal: The Dream Begins – A young Mexican immigrant gardener is spotted having a kick about by a kind hearted gruff Scottish football scout and rescued from his harsh, dangerous life in lush, affluent, sunny Los Angeles and taken to the hallowed heavenly promise land of Newcastle upon Tyne to fulfill his destiny of becoming the 345th Messiah at St James Park. Complete with bizarre wistful hero shots of Kieron Dyer and Titus Bramble, the film also treats us to an awkward cameo from Becks, and a bar scene to match anything written by Tarantino as Raul and Zidane impart their guru like wisdom to our young hero, by telling him “hey, you look good, keep it up”…or something equally inspiring. The most interesting thing about this terrible film is that the actors were constantly positioned in full kit along the touchline at Newcastle games, and instructed to run on the field to celebrate any actual Toon Army goals in order to achieve the quite commendably realistic action sequences. This is all rendered useless however, as Anna Friel failed to get her kit off.
When Saturday Comes – Sean Bean lives out his own personal fantasy by playing a tough, maverick Sunday league player inexplicably scouted and signed by his boyhood love Sheffield United. After drinking, swearing, shagging, fighting and occasionally doing a passable impersonation of someone who can just about play football, Bean is brought on to face the evil Manchester United who, in contrast to the efforts of the Goal team, are portrayed here by fat, balding middle aged extra’s in ill fitting kits. Inspired by Sean’s natural skill and mullet, the Blades come back from 2-1 down to triumph 3-2, thanks to two goals from our hero, one from the penalty spot, which I do sort of have a problem with realism wise. No one would let a trainee on their debut take a penalty would they?
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Escape to Victory – Pele, Bobby Moore, Ossie Ardiles and Sylvester Stallone fight the Nazi’s with the help of Michael Caine and Ipswich Town. This is quite possibly the most fantastical football film ever made and is so ludicrous that it’s actually quite good. The highlight being Sly Stallone’s slow motion penalty save at the climax, which is the most pointlessly over the top save seen since Bruce Grobbelaar hung up his tash. The ball is basically hit straight at him, as he’s so small anywhere near the corners would’ve been too much of an ask, but the very fact he actually catches it, in a completely non goalkeeper-like way and a bit like he’s handling a hot egg, makes it’s surrealism all the better. The only football film with any football in it that deserves the status classic.
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You can follow Oscar on Twitter here; http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary, where you can remind him of some other, equally appalling attempts to make films about football.
West Bromwich Albion manager Roberto Di Matteo has admitted to being content at the Premier League high-flyers.
The Baggies temporarily moved up into fourth position in the table following Saturday's 2-1 success over Fulham.
But the Italian tactician is refusing to get carried away with life in the upper echelons of the top-flight.
He also paid special praise to playmaker Chris Brunt after he played a part in Youssouf Mulumbu and Marc-Antoine Fortune's goals.
"I am very happy where I am and very grateful for the opportunity I have been given here," he said.
"You can't have a long-term plan as a manager because you have a few bad results, you get questioned and then you get a ticket for your holidays.
"But my staff and I are very ambitious. When we arrived last year he had a season when he was in and out of the team, but I think he has matured a lot since then and he has become a tremendous asset for us.
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"He (Chris Brunt) is the kind of player who every week gives you a performance of eight (out of ten).
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Waking up on Tuesday morning the first football orientated news story that caught my gaze was that Manchester City were prepared to ‘offload’ striker Edin Dzeko in the summer. Slowly bestirring oneself from an eight-hour slumber the neurones whizzing around in my recently reanimated brain laboured hard to put together a feasible motive as to why a club would want to let a front man, with 18-goals to his name this season, leave. Using the term ‘offload’ makes it sound as if City are desperate to dispose of the Bosnian. More than likely it was his crimes against goalscoring that broke the camels back. In truth Dzeko has fluttered in and out form this season, failing to nail down a regular starting spot ahead of popular pair Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli. Even the nefarious Carlos Tevez has wormed his way back into the fold and now appears to be Roberto Mancini’s new sidekick as they chase a first Premier League title in City history.
However there is a deeper narrative to the news that Dzeko is will shortly be clearing out his locker at the Etihad Stadium and waving goodbye to the blue half of Manchester once the season reaches it’s climax. City’s frantic need to bring home a league title has seen them burn holes through many a chequebook over the last two or three seasons with players joining and leaving before they’ve even had time to unpack their suitcase. Dzeko cost them £27 million just over 18-months ago but the chances of recouping half of that amount appear to be slim. It’s a growing and unsustainable trend that could threaten City’s hopes of ever achieving their championship goal and making an impact in European competition. It could plunge them firmly in the red with the new Financial Fair Play rulings looming over the horizon.
I’ll try to avoid delving into the whole ‘Man City trying to buy the title is so unfair’ but in reality it actually is with it having a negative effect on other clubs around Europe. With a billionaire Sheik subsidising Mancini and predecessor Mark Hughes’ lavish thirst for expensive players they are constantly driving up the cost of transfer fee’s and wages forcing clubs to spend beyond their means in order to compete. City’s unlimited spending power puts their rivals under pressure to match up or settle for second best. With the new financial regulations coming into force next year clubs will only be permitted to record debt of upto £37.5 million over a two year period with the focus on eventually breaking even and operating within their profits in time for the 2014/15 campaign.
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But, with City’s penchant for spending colossal amounts of money in the transfer window their chances of complying with the new laws are slim. Their decision to dump Dzeko, inevitably incurring a massive loss on what they paid for him, is the latest in a long line of players that have been purchased at over inflated rates and sold at a deficit. Perhaps the worst examples of the clubs careless spending are strikers Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz who were purchased at a combined cost of £100 million. Jo eventually left on a free after scoring once in 21 league appearances following his £17.5 million move from CSKA Moscow. Santa Cruz joined for a similar amount from Blackburn in 2009 but went on to play 20 games finding the net just three times and hasn’t worn a City shirt for almost two years. Adebayor fared slightly better following his £25 million move from Arsenal with 19 goals in 45 appearances but his petulant behaviour towards Mancini saw him loaned out to Tottenham this season with a cut price summer move to White Hart Lane on the cards. Robinho joined Hughes’ revolution just after the Abu Dhabi group took control of City costing a hefty £32.5 million. He departed to AC Milan within two-years for half of what the club paid for him. Even big money buys like Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, James Milner and Kolo Toure won’t command half of the fee’s they were purchased for.
Add into that a hefty weight bill and substantial player bonuses and it starts to paint a picture as to why their negligent transfer strategy could potentially hinder the chances of glory in the future. With UEFA cracking down on clubs frittering away capital that they don’t possess City could face expulsion from the Champions League if their finances fail to abide by the new directives. Buying players and then discarding them once they fall out of favour or become alienated operates beyond the realms of prudence. It will never be sustainable in modern football environment that is entering a economic transition. In all honesty it’s absurd. No doubt costly acquisitions in the mould of Adebayor and Santa Cruz will make their way to the blue half of Manchester at the seasons conclusion and ultimately end up on the City scrapheap. The decision to get rid of Dzeko in the summer bears all the hallmarks of City’s ‘buy now ask questions later’ transfer blueprint.
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Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has revealed his delight at being able to secure the Champions League trophy at London’s Wembley Stadium.Goals from Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa were enough to hand Barca a 3-1 triumph over Manchester United on Saturday to claim their fourth Champions League trophy.
But it was at Wembley in 1992 under the legendary Dutchman Johan Cruyff that they claimed their first European Cup win, and Valdes said he was pleased the current crop of players had been able to replicate that victory.
“It is the fourth European cup for this club. You only need to speak about that,” Valdes said.
“It is a magical scenario for us like it was at Wembley in 1992 and we have won the title again in the same place.”
“For us it is something very special. It is without doubt very special. I hope that all the fans and people of Barcelona celebrate this victory a great deal.”
Valdes’ team-mate Xavi echoed the goalkeeper’s sentiments about the magnitude of the win, saying their triumph was one for fans of beautiful football.
“I am very happy, it is an historic and special moment for Barcelona,” Xavi said.
“The truth is it’s a unique moment. We have enjoyed it a great deal on the pitch, the people who have come to watch or stayed at home to watch it have enjoyed it.”
“We try and play for the people, we try and do it for the people. Today we think Barcelona played great football and deserved the win.”