Ledley King has decided to call time on his footballing career, after finally conceding defeat in his long term battle with knee injuries.
The Tottenham captain was one of the few one club players in the modern game, notching up 323 first team appearances and scoring 14 goals – since making his debut back in May 1999.
Unfortunately a series of knee injuries has hindered King’s opportunity to play more games not only for club, but for his country as well where he gained 23 England caps.
Thierry Henry once hailed him as the ‘best defender he ever played against in England’ and you don’t receive many accolades that are better than that.
Spurs have announced that Ledley King will continue at the club in an ambassadorial role and be a champion for the regeneration of Tottenham, while also granting him a testimonial so fans will have the opportunity to give him a proper send off. Daniel Levy believes it will be a special night and the chance to celebrate one of the most gifted players to ever don the Tottenham shirt:
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“It will undoubtedly be a special night at the Lane, the chance for fans and teammates to pay tribute to our longest-serving, not to mention one of the most gifted players in the history of the Club.” Official Site
As the dust settles on what was another entertaining, but in most cases, unfulfilling transfer window, supporters are left to reflect on their club’s performance within the past few months and whether they did enough to ensure that their team can progress this season.
There was certainly no shortage of millions splashed out throughout the summer and the usual suspects were the ones leading the spending and their respective starts to the season suggests it is money that has been well spent. There were some interesting loans deals as well, although it remains to be seen what difference they will make.
So how do you assess Man United’s performance? Do you believe that with the significant arrivals of the likes of Young and Jones that Sir Alex has done enough to ensure that the team can retain their title and look to capture the Champions League this season?
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Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has spoken highly of new recruit Emmanuel Adebayor ahead of their La Liga clash with Osasuna on Sunday.
The retired Togo international has been included in Mourinho’s squad for the match at the Bernabeu, and the Portuguese boss is hopeful Adebayor can have an immediate impact as the Mallorcans aim to recover from their shock 1-1 draw with strugglers Almeria last weekend.
Mourinho bought Adebayor to shore up his quality goal-scoring stocks, given the layoff of Gonzalo Higuain to injury.
“Obviously I am very happy. I always wanted it and I consider it important for the team to have three strikers, so that when we lose one like (Gonzalo) Higuain we have cover in two great forwards,” he said.
“The situation is calm for the team now that we have two attackers like Adebayor and Karim (Benzema). It is often difficult for a striker to come into a new team, but he has a lot of quality and experience. He has played in big clubs and knows what it is like to play under pressure to win.”
Questioned whether or not the 26-year-old would fit in at Madrid, both on and off the pitch, Mourinho said he had no doubt Adebayor would settle in without a fuss.
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“He is an option here, he is loved and has responsibility, but also pride in playing for Real Madrid. He is going through a change of team, team-mates and manager, league and country, culture and opponents,” he said.
“I think that he will not have problems with the squad, I like him and he has a lot of experience – despite being young. He will do well for us.”
Idealism appeared to play little part in West Ham’s appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager last summer. A club whose history is a monument to the ‘right’ way to play football seems almost diametrically opposed to the ‘win-at-all-costs’ approach of the former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn manager.
The 57-year-old may have attained promotion at his first attempt for West Ham but few supporters were enamoured with the way in which it was achieved. Considering the quality of the squad and the money available to Allardyce, to win promotion through the playoffs was hardly ideal, especially considering they relied on an 87th minute goal to achieve the feat.
The West Ham manager’s penchant for players over six foot, and football to match, had Hammers fans grumbling and groaning for large periods of the season whilst much of their football between Christmas and March was some of the ugliest on offer in the top two tiers of the English game. The five draws of March, in particular, inspired the voicing of concern from fans. Although The Hammers ended the season with a run of eight wins from their last nine matches, scoring twenty-five goals along the way, criticism of the manager’s style has remained.
Upon achieving promotion, Allardyce has now split opinion amongst the club’s supporters. There are those who appear to have detracted previous statements about only playing attractive football, who are merely grateful for their swift return to the top flight, especially considering how close they came to not realising that goal.
Some, however, are not swayed by such a view. They would sooner believe that if a manager had, as Allardyce did last year, the best squad in the league and still refused to play attacking football then he doesn’t belong at West Ham.
However, considering they are a newly-promoted team, and considering that, comparatively, West Ham have gone from the strongest squad in the league to one of the weakest, is it too much for fans of the club to expect both style and substance from Allardyce?
The first thing to remember is that, although their fans might feel as though there is a ‘West Ham way of doing things’ in reality that means little. Admittedly, some teams, like Barcelona, do have a continuous ethos at the club in terms of how the game should be played. Yet even the big clubs can turn on such inherent beliefs. Real Madrid and others have been known to sacrifice style for substance in order to achieve their goals. They proved that with the appointment of Fabio Capello and then Jose Mourinho.
Or if you’re looking for an example a little closer to home then you could take Arsenal. Their reputation as a free-flowing, attacking team belies the fact that for nine years under George Graham they were perpetrators of a defensive, direct style of football that was not totally at odds with the philosophy of Sam Allardyce.
Generations of fans become accustomed to witnessing a style of football that they enjoy or appreciate and when a manager tries to change that they object.
But that doesn’t mean said style is entwined with the club’s identity.
Ultimately, Allardyce is utilising his squad in a way that he feels is most effective. I’m not defending his style of play, or his personality, but it does seem that those West Ham fans that criticise Allardyce should realise that he is not really to blame.
Allardyce’s teams have always prioritised winning over stylish football; that is his managerial identity. Anybody who expects him to change this is dreaming. The fans may be unhappy with his style, but don’t use the excuse that it is unbecoming for West Ham to play as such because it is incredibly ignorant of any team to claim they are too good for a certain style of football when they have been relegated.
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The second point to be made is that, if the fans are looking for somebody to blame, why not vent anger at the owners who chose Allardyce as manager in the first place. In appointing him, they were the individuals responsible for choosing to abandon the attacking principles of West Ham. I don’t like his style of play, and I wouldn’t want him managing my club but to criticise Allardyce’s managerial style seems a little unfair considering it was that style that earned him the job in the first place. It might be possible to expect both style and substance from some managers, but Allardyce isn’t that man.
No goals at Craven Cottage, but it was certainly a lively encounter in West London.
Both Martin Jol and Alex McLeish were in charge of their first games at their new clubs and both will be satisfied to get off the mark with a point in a game that neither side really deserved to win on the balance of play.
Damien Duff and Bobby Zamora both went close on occasions for the hosts, while Emile Heskey and Stilian Petrov wasted good chances for the visitors.
Shay Given showed why Alex McLeish was so keen to bring him to Villa Park with excellent saves from Zamora early in the second half to complement his brilliant stop from Johnson towards the end of the first half.
Schwarzer was equally accomplished at the other end and two fine stops from Emile Heskey, who looked a handful on his return to the Villa line-up, ensured that it remained goalless
The game ebbed and flowed with neither side getting themselves across the finishing line; however both managers would have been satisfied with the result.
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The transformation of Nani at Old Trafford has been quite unbelievable. No longer is he the frustrating winger who fans wanted to love but couldn’t trust him to be consistent. How things have changed, changed so dramatically in fact, to the point where he is fast becoming Manchester United’s most important player. Nani is now the man to be relied on to score important goals. His superb strike against Stoke is another example of how far the winger has come.
If we cast our minds back a year, it seemed his days at Old Trafford were numbered. He had a very public falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson, and his performances were at best inconsistent. Something changed in 2010, and Nani has got better and better. He announced himself as the player for Manchester United’s future with his superb performance against Arsenal. That game was the turning point and Nani has not looked back. It shows the immense faith that Sir Alex Ferguson has in the winger that he was not sold, and Nani has not let his manager down.
It was clear that Nani needed Cristiano Ronaldo to leave the club. The departure of Carlos Queiroz as well did not help Nani, in his struggle to settle into Old Trafford. Queiroz was a father figure to Ronaldo, helping him in his first years at the club. For Nani not to have that father figure must have delayed his development, but his ability was never in any doubt. Nani will always be judged against Cristiano Ronaldo. For two players who are so different, it is unfair on the winger. Ronaldo played his best years at Manchester United through the middle but I can’t envisage Nani having that ability. He is an out and out winger, Ronaldo wasn’t.
Manchester United fans must be very excited to have two out and out wide men when Antonio Valencia returns. It is the way Sir Alex Ferguson prefers to set his team out, and it is an exciting brand of football. Nani can carry United over the finishing line this season without a doubt. Imagine if this Manchester United team really fired in the second half of the season. If Wayne Rooney finds his goal scoring touch and Antonio Valencia returns the same player, United could stroll to the Premier League title. If that was to happen, the importance of Nani can’t go unmentioned. Nani is fast becoming the most important man at Manchester United.
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With Jose Mourinho reportedly planning a mass summer clearout at Old Trafford, Matteo Darmian could be on the chopping block, but should Everton swoop for the Italian?
When Matteo Darmian signed for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United, fans at Old Trafford were delighted with the Italian’s performances.
Despite a positive start to life at the club though, Darmian’s chances have diminished since Mourinho took over and reports suggest he could be one of several that is moved along this summer.
The 28 year-old, valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, can play on either flank comfortably, but has only started two Premier League games in Manchester this season.
Everton have had their own problems with full backs, with injuries to Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman forcing Cuco Martina and Jonjoe Kenny to start several matches.
Martina has taken plenty of flak of fans, so could Darmian be the perfect upgrade? Coleman will turn 30 this year and Baines is already 33, so while they are not going to hang up their boots any time soon the Toffees do need to start planning for the future.
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Fans can’t seem to make their minds up on a move for Darmian though, with 54 per cent in favour of a move and 46 per cent against it.
He’s been making moves in Merseyside, but Liverpool’s Emre Can has recently revealed that he could have been playing for his side’s fiercest rivals. Apparently, before David Moyes was relieved of his Manchester United managerial duties, a deal was in place to bring Can to Old Trafford.
The deal then fell through upon Moyes’ sacking in April, but had he been able to sign Can, would this have changed things for the Scot?
Emre Can is not the only player David Moyes had failed to bring to his new club. Before his first and only season in charge of Manchester United, Moyes was also supposed to secure the signing of Ander Herrera. But this massive blunder should have been an indication of things to come. In the end, Moyes could only secure the signing of Marouane Fellaini.
One of Can’s greater attributes is his versatility on the field. He can be utilised as a midfielder, but has also dropped back into the defensive line for Liverpool. Can has become a constant at the back for his new side, but had he been signed by Moyes, he surely would have been kept in midfield. This is due to the fact Moyes inherited a defence that still included Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.
Can’s recent confession highlights yet another failing of Moyes’s tenure at Manchester United; another player that he ‘almost’ signed. When players would have once flocked to play under Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes simply just did not have the same appeal.
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Although Moyes could not land Can, he did sign a slightly older, but incredibly talented, Juan Mata. At Manchester United at the moment, Daley Blind is essentially doing what Emre Can has had to do at Liverpool. He was initially played in midfield, but in the past two games, Blind has himself dropped back to left back.
Whether David Moyes had signed Emre Can or not, this transfer alone would never have been enough to salvage his career in Manchester. His days were numbered before he had ever really began. It was not the right appointment for him, and he is far better off at Real Sociedad.
Emre Can himself was also better off signing for Liverpool on the basis of how things ended for Manchester United last season. Fellaini was branded a flop and a waste of money under Moyes, and Can would have likely suffered a similar fate.
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As the season progressed, it was blindly obvious that Moyes’s side just did not want to know any more. Can is now proving himself to be a useful member of Liverpool’s team at only 21-years-old, and will continue to improve.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has made Swansea’s Ashley Williams his number one summer target, according to reports from the Daily Mail.
The Northern Irishman coached the centre-back in his spell with the Swans, prior to taking the Anfield hot seat ahead of the current season.
After addressing the club’s attacking deficiencies with the additions of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge in January, he has now set his sights on bolstering his defensive options.
Williams is reportedly Rodgers’ main target, and he is lining up a bid for the Welsh international’s signature at the end of the season.
With news that veteran Jamie Carragher is set to retire and speculation that Martin Skrtel could return to Zenit Saint Petersburg in a £12m deal, Liverpool’s rear-guard appears to be an area of uncertainty.
Rodgers is keen to bring in the man he worked with at Swansea and is confident that the 28-year-old will slot in seamlessly alongside Daniel Agger.
Michael Laudrup will be far from happy to lose his star defender, but the club may reluctantly accept Liverpool’s advances, as they did last summer with Joe Allen.
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Rodgers is reportedly planning an overhaul of his squad at the end of the current campaign, with a number of first-team players believed to be surplus to requirements.
Liverpool fans can’t decide who they want to partner Virgil van Dijk in the heart of defence, with Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip both struggling for form.
Liverpool’s front three pretty much picks itself, but there is still plenty of competition for places elsewhere in the team.
Virgil van Dijk has been immense for the Reds since he joined in January, going from strength to strength since his debut goal against Everton.
With the emergence of Andy Robertson and impressive form of goalkeeper Loris Karius, Jürgen Klopp has suddenly got a fairly impressive defensive unit on his hands.
Still, fans can’t decide on who should partner the big Dutchman in defence, with Joe Gomez injured on international duty and the other candidates all a lot less desirable.
Dejan Lovren has had spells of decent form this season but they always end with one of his trademark disastrous performances, while Joel Matip seems to have gotten worse as the season has gone on.
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The second centre back spot is there for the taking at Anfield, and fans have been discussing the options on Twitter. Some of the best reactions can be found below…