All posts by h79snht.top

An exciting new era for youth football begins this evening, with the Next Gen series kicking off. It is an international tournament, with 16 of the worlds best clubs showcasing their stars of the future in an exciting knockout competition. The likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Manchester City, and Celtic are all featuring in the inaugural challenging 6 month international competition. In light of the competition, should the FA look to set up an elite Premier League for the academy sides rather than the regional Premier Academy Leagues which currently exist?

Next Gen is hailed as the new era in competitive football, providing competition on a level that isn’t seen through the regional Premier Leagues. Players will be able to test themselves against world class opposition players trained and nurtured by the best sides in Europe, which can only be of benefit for youth development in this country. It’s a unique opportunity for youth players to experience all aspects of a competitive, large international tournament, including adapting to an unfamiliar style of play, prolonged periods of travel and two match weeks, which are more likely to help them transition into the first team, than the current Premier Academy Leagues, with its lack of competitiveness, as well as its constraints and restrictions.

Unlike playing in the reserves or the Premier Academy League, Next Gen will stretch players, and this is likely to improve their play. Many promising young academy graduates haven’t been provided with enough consistent high quality challenges in the regional leagues, so it could help more to reach senior levels, but more needs to be done on the domestic front to improve the standards of youth football.

Aside from the FA Youth Cup, English youngsters don’t really have enough competitive games, in order for them to frequently test themselves. The Premier Academy League is made up of 40 clubs currently split into four regional leagues, 2 southern and 2 northern, meaning the best sides may only play each other once over the season or not at all, this format lacks that competitive edge for players to be able to benefit from it. Youth football in this country has been stagnant, and now is the time for long overdue progressive ideas to make the difference.

Should the FA do away with the regional leagues and set up one elite Premier Academy League for the best academy’s in the country? It would perhaps provide a greater competitive edge, if there was one elite league and the matches week in week out were of a higher standard. If the best academy’s are playing against similar opposition, then this is likely to increase competitiveness and standards. Playing against similar level opposition on a consistent basis is likely to improve the youth development in this country.

However, there are some problems associated with making a single elite Premier Academy League. It is likely to widen the gulf between the Premier League elite teams and the rest. This could pose a big problem to the smaller academies, with restrictions and constraints on travel and rules lifted, they could find themselves forced out of being able to compete on that level with the cash rich Premier League sides. It could potentially go the other way and kill youth development in the country with smaller clubs in different regions missing out, and subsequently the talent in the local area slipping through the net. Academies could also become more elitist, and it could encourage young players to join bigger clubs, with clubs like Crewe, Huddersfield, and Mk Dons missing out. However, small the academy, they serve to fulfil the potential of local talent around the community, so to wipe this out would be a travesty.

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It is difficult to see where the FA should go next. If they set up an elite Premier Academy League and replace the regional leagues, it is likely to improve standards short term, and provide those players with a consistent competitive basis, through which to improve. However, if it is only the cash rich Premier League sides who can afford to compete on such a level then it could spell disaster for the youth development in this country as a whole, as smaller academies will simply be unable to compete and could potentially be wiped out. Whatever the FA decide to do next to improve the standards of youth football in this country, it is important that the changes come from them, and not just the Premier League, it is key that the football leagues must be consulted as well. Youth football standards certainly need to improve, and the Next Gen series is likely to provide the basis for that, now it is time for the FA to start thinking things through and see whether an elite Premier Academy League could be the way forward.

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Do you think the FA should set up an elite Premier Academy League? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or follow me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate.

Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has defended himself following his loan move to the United Arab Emirates to play for Al-Ain, with details of a huge financial bonus for the Premier League club being revealed.

The Ghana international forward, much to the annoyance of manager Steve Bruce, completed the temporary move on Saturday and has admitted he had little choice in the affair.

“The offer was too good to refuse. But I did not have a choice once Sunderland accepted Al-Ain’s proposal. I am now looking forward to playing in the UAE,” the forward told Sky Sports.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail claim that the Wearside club have received a world record loan fee of £6million for the former Rennes player, who will also be unavailable for club selection early next year as he will feature in the African Cup of Nations.

The move leaves Sunderland light on the ground in attack, with the deadline day loan move for Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner providing them with some relief.

Bruce also can call upon summer signings Ji Dong-Won and Connor Wickham, but has previously stated that both were prospects for the future, and are not yet ready for Premier League football.

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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has expressed his displeasure with his team’s performance against Norwich on Monday night, as they were beaten 2-1 at Carrow Road.

A Kieran Richardson strike was not enough for The Black Cats, who could not build on their 4-0 win over Stoke last weekend.

The Bantams boss was particularly unhappy with his side’s inability to hold onto the ball.

“We didn’t pass it as well as we normally do, we gave the ball away too cheaply, which is one thing which we have improved on, especially after the performance against Stoke,” he told Sky Sports after the match.

“Today we had too many people that gave the ball away too cheaply, well for me anyway.

“We made a rally towards the end, but we needed to score maybe a little earlier and then it might have been a bit different. But overall I’m slightly disappointed with it,” he stated.

Bruce was also unhappy with the manner of the home side’s second goal, which effectively ended the game as a contest.

“Well the timing, straight afterwards we’ve switched off and not gone with runners and not the done the basics, and the first one was exactly the same.

“They played a one-two down the side of us and we’ve switched off for that minute, and that’s what it takes.

“But fair play to Norwich and the crowd and all the rest of them. It was going to be a difficult one, and one in which we needed to play well on the night, and unfortunately we didn’t do that,” he concluded.

Sunderland will look to regroup back at the Stadium of Light, as they take on West Brom next Saturday.

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Diego Maradona is planning a sensational bid to bring Carlos Tevez to Dubai club Al Wasl and put an end to the strikers Manchester nightmare according to talkSPORT.

The Argentina international is currently suspended at the Etihad Stadium after his refusal to come on as a substitute against Bayern Munich in last weeks Champions League game and has held meetings with officials investigating the incident.

City boss Roberto Mancini has stated he will never consider the troublesome striker for selection whilst he is in charge and it looks as if Tevez could be on his way out sooner rather than later.

Despite only joining City in 2009 the 27-year-old has been hankering for a move away from the club for some time and Maradona is considering making a move to bring his fellow countryman to the Far East.

Since becoming Al Wasl manager earlier this year the South American legend has been desperate to turn his new side into the top club in the United Arab Emirates having failed to win a title since 2007.

Backed by wealthy investment  of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum the 50-year-old manager is positive the club can put together a package that would adhere to Tevez’s demands and give him and his family a chance to start a new life in Dubai.

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Yohan Cabaye was the hero for Newcastle as they left it late once again to beat Wigan 1-0 at St James’ Park and stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions.

The Frenchman was on hand 10 minutes from time to curl a sublime effort into the top corner at the Gallowgate End to keep the Magpies in fourth place whilst Roberto Martinez’s Latics stay in the Premier League relegation zone after their sixth defeat on the trot. It could have been so different for the visitors who were bright in the first half keeping Newcastle at bay with some resolute defending. They should have opened the scoring early on with Victor Moses’ fierce half volley from just inside the area superbly tipped wide by Tim Krul after four minutes. Confidence levels were boosted by that as they continued to frustrate the hosts with some resolute defending as they went close to breaking the deadlock again only for Hugo Rodallega to flash his shot wide of Krul’s near post on the quarter hour mark. That was a wake up call for the Geordies who took a foothold in the game from then on but just couldn’t turn their high percentage of possession into goals. Their best chance of the half fell to Leon Best but the Republic of Ireland strikers angled header from a Jonas Gutierrez cross was acrobatically parried away by Ali Al Habsi in the visitors goal. Ryan Taylor then curled a free kick narrowly wide as the home side pushed for a opener before Best found himself lucky to still be on the field after wild tackle on Maynor Figueroa resulted in a yellow card.

Magpies Boss Alan Pardew recognised the need for an extra dash of creativity and responded by taking Best off and throwing Hatem Ben Arfa on for the second half playing just off Demba Ba. It paid off almost instantly with the Frenchman’s movement allowing Taylor to find space and swing a cross over from the left with Ba meeting the ball with a downward header that was saved on the line by Al Habsi. That seemed to wake Wigan from their slumber and they almost broke the deadlock through Rodallega again with the Colombian collecting Figuero’s long punt only to smash the ball into the side netting. Still it was Newcastle who looked the more likely to score and Ben Arfa almost did just that but Al Habsi was equal to his fiercely struck shot as the Toon Army supporters started to become restless.

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Their grumbles turned to cheers just minutes later though as Cabaye struck to notch is first goal for the club since his move from Lille in the summer. Again Taylor was afforded plenty of room to swing in a cross that found substitute Sylvaine Marveaux with the winger taking a neat touch and laying it off to Cabaye to bend a right footed effort away from Al Habsi and into the top corner to send the Geordie faithful wild. However celebrations should have been short lived as Wigan went on the offensive and any touch to Moses’ low cross across the face of goal would have resulted in an equaliser. Fortunately for the Magpies they held on claim yet another three points and maintain their impressive start to season.

Over the last 20 years the Premier League has been blessed with players who just have that bit more about them than the average customer. From the hard tacklers to the quirky personalities, the Premier League has been blessed with entertainers, now let’s look at the top ten Premier League characters.

10. Craig Bellamy

Love him or loathe him, Craig Bellamy is undoubtedly one of the biggest characters in the Premier League. A tremendously talented football player, who certainly has not achieved what his ability allowed for, unfortunately Bellamy has too often fallen foul of disciplinary action or injury limiting his playing time. The late Sir Bobby Robson labelled him the ‘gobbiest’ player he had ever worked with. Bellamy’s most controversial incident perhaps came in 2007 when he allegedly confronted John Arne Riise with a golf club before an away game at Barcelona. Bellamy was fined £80,000 by the club but made amends as both the Welshman and Riise scored in a 2-1 victory.

9. Stuart Pearce

Positively nuts in his commitment to the cause, his nickname ‘Psycho’ tells half the story. Stuart Pearce gave everything for club and country throughout his career and was an outstanding left back. Perhaps best remembered for his penalty miss for England against Germany at Italia 90, and subsequent penalty he scored at Euro 1996 against Spain, Pearce embodied passion on the football pitch. Kevin Keegan once stated that Pearce ‘emerged, running out of the mist, wearing nothing but a pair of underpants and a towel wrapped round his head. That’s why they call him Psycho.’

8. David Luiz

For the Sideshow Bob hair alone, David Luiz deserves his place on this list. Yet, there is so much more to the Brazilian. Maybe it’s his recent habit of ‘giving luck’ to teammates in a pre match ritual by touching their foreheads, eyes closed in concentration. Maybe it’s that he is disturbingly attacking centre back, indeed Luiz is more likely to be found on a bamboozling run down the left wing than he is to be making a last ditch tackle. Or maybe it’s that he cannot seem to take life too seriously, indeed his post match interview with Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard is comedy gold. Luiz will need to cut the mistakes from his game if he is remain a cult hero to Chelsea fans, but currently for the neutral he is a joy to watch.

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7. Paolo Di Canio

An enigma, Paolo Di Canio made headlines throughout his time in the Premier League. It was at Sheffield Wednesday that the Italian started his career in English football and it was not long before he courted controversy, with Di Canio fined and suspended for 11 games after he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground. Di Canio moved to West Ham and was consistently one of the Hammers best players in his time at the club, two moments in particular stand out. His scissor kick volley against Wimbledon in 2000 and his outstanding act of fair play against Everton in 2001. Against Everton Di Canio snubbed an open goal, catching the ball from a cross after Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard had went down injured. Di Canio was awarded a FIFA Fair Play Award for the incident.

6. Dennis Wise

At five foot 6 Dennis Wise was hardly one of the Premier League’s intimidating players, yet Wise was not one to shirk a battle in centre midfield. Sir Alex Ferguson once stated that Wise ‘could start a fight in an empty house’, he was probably right. Wise amassed 65 yellow and 5 red cards in the Premier League and was never far from trouble. Wise was convicted of assaulting a taxi driver in 1995 and was sacked by Leicester following breaking teammate Callum Davidson’s jaw. Despite his dirty side, Wise was extremely successful as captain in his time at Chelsea, winning two FA Cups, a League Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup.

5. Joey Barton

Is Joey Barton the most outspoken player in the Premier League today? Many would argue that he is, with Twitter a valuable tool at the disposal of the opinionated Mancunian who has over 800,000 followers. Barton has never been far from controversy, publicly denouncing those selected for the England squad on numerous occasions in the belief that he himself should be in the squad, yet thus far Barton has amassed just one cap for English. Barton has spent time in prison and his career at Manchester City was brought to an end following a training ground assault on teammate Ousmane Dabo. Despite these poor marks on his character, Barton is undoubtedly one of the biggest characters in today’s game.

4. Eric Cantona

A unique specimen of a footballer, Eric Cantona will forever be looked back upon as one of the best players and biggest characters to grace the Premier League. His time in English football saw him win five league titles in 6 seasons and he was twice voted PFA Player of the Year. Cantona oozed arrogance on the pitch; he really was a class apart. Unfortunately Cantona may be remembered best for his assault on a fan at Crystal Palace, in the infamous Kung Fu kick incident. Perhaps even more bizarre was his press conference regarding the incident, where Cantona stated, ‘When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much’ before getting up to leave.

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3. Roy Keane

The most successful captain in Manchester United’s history, Roy Keane gave everything to the cause in the heart of midfield. Keane spent 12 years at Old Trafford, 8 of which were spent as captain. He was the definition of box-to-box midfielder both scoring goals and contributing defensively. It was Keane’s leadership and questionable disciplinary record that earn him his place in this countdown however. On the one hand, Keane’s never say die attitude was his best quality, on the other it was his worst. He held a long standing rivalry with Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira which led to numerous confrontations between the pair. It will be his knee high tackle on Alf Inge Haaland that many remember him for though, a tackle that Keane talked about in his autobiography as premeditated.

2. Vinnie Jones

Football’s archetypal hard man, Vinnie Jones has even fashioned out his post football career on the image he obtained during his playing days. In 7 Premier League seasons Jones managed 7 red cards and 39 yellows. Amongst Jones’ honours is the record for the quickest yellow card, when Jones’ was cautioned after just 3 seconds playing for Chelsea back in 1992. A better player than many would admit, Jones spent his career at the top with Wimbledon, Leeds, Sheffield United and Chelsea. In 1998 Jones’ appeared in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and as they say the rest is history, with Jones since appearing in numerous films.

1. Mario Balotelli

What can be said about ‘Super Mario’ Balotelli that has not already been said? The striker is clearly a top class footballer but his behaviour both on the field and off it is notoriously erratic. Balotelli endured a torrid relationship with Jose Mourinho before reuniting with first boss Roberto Mancini at Manchester City. Since joining City Balotelli’s notable exploits include confronting a school bully after asking why a young City fan was not in school, giving £1,000 to a homeless man following a trip to the casino, throwing darts at youth team players at the clubs training ground and becoming the face of a fireworks safety campaign following a fire in his home, cause by, you guessed it – fireworks. At just 21 suppose Balotelli will continue to astound, indeed as the planner for City’s Christmas do, expect the unexpected.

Do you agree with the top 10? Comment to me on Twitter @CamHumphries 

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When Wenger asked Arsenal fans not to boo Samir Nasri on his return to The Emirates most Arsenal fans read it as a reminder to boo him. To adapt a cliché: hell hath no fury like a fan-base scorned. And Arsenal were scorned indeed. The departure of one of your best players is bad enough, it’s even worse when he’s the back up plan to your departing captain and he also decides to leave for a team that represent the exact opposite philosophy to that of your own club. So, when Nasri did return to north London it was hardly surprising that he was unceremoniously booed throughout the game. You can understand why Wenger would say not to boo a former player, to be fair Nasri gave one hundred per cent whilst he was at the club but to leave under the cloud he did cannot be expected to be forgiven, and it was pretty clear that Wenger knew that. You didn’t hear him calling for Arsenal fans not to boo Thierry Henry when he came back with Barcelona, he didn’t tell the fans not to boo Robert Pires when he came back with Villarreal, and why? Because they never would have been booed, most ex players wouldn’t.

Arsenal have seen a fair few of their players shipped off to other clubs in recent times but their aren’t many that would warrant a poor reception. Players say they don’t understand it when their old fans turn on them but their ignorance is false. Take the players sold to Manchester City: first you have Kolo Toure who gave everything for Arsenal and expressed a desire to finish his career at Arsenal only to be sold against his will. He is always received well; in fact I still wear my Toure Arsenal shirt with pride. Then you have Clichy. Clichy was also a long-standing servant for Arsenal and it was clear that he was stagnating at Arsenal. He is yet to face his old club but you can be sure that nobody will heckle him when he does, there is no cause.

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Finally Adebayor. People think there was no cause to boo Adebayor either but the fans’ problem with the striker stemmed back to long before his sale. He came to Arsenal after falling out of favour at Monaco and developing a bad reputation as a trouble-maker. Arsene Wenger gave him a chance for a fresh start and at first he took it. However after his first really successful season in 2007/08 he began talking up rumours of a move, claiming he wasn’t paid enough and inviting the advances of clubs like AC Milan. Needless to say his form the following season suffered and when his relationship with the fans was never the same. So, unsurprisingly, when he signed for City with wages around £160,000 per week many of the fans disdain increased towards what they saw as a player ungrateful to the manager that made him.

There will always be cause to heckle former players, and if there isn’t then they probably won’t be heckled. Henry, Pires, Campbell, Toure and many others can all pay testament to this; whilst Cole, Nasri, Adebayor and a few others will warn you of the perils of jilting the love of those fans that used to idolise you.

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Only a minority of fans have such short memories that they would resent their former players moving clubs. Players can move on for any number of reasons and most of those are perfectly understandable: not enough game time, more ambition, being unhappy in a foreign country. However to move either for money or to a rival will not go unnoticed; to do both as Nasri and Ashley Cole did is unacceptable. Similarly with Sol Campbell during his time at Tottenham. He had the option of moving to Manchester United but instead he chose Arsenal. Is it at all surprising that Spurs’ fans resented him for it? Football fans are often accused of being fickle but it is rarely the case. As Thomas Vermaelen said recently after signing a new contract at Arsenal: the temptation to jump ship in times of trouble should always be overpowered by the desire to help out the club that has invested so much time and money in you. If you can genuinely say as a player that you gave your all to a club then it is acceptable to move on. If you sign for a club, benefit hugely from their manager and coaching staff before forcing a move to a rival before you’ve even seen out your first contract, as Nasri did, then don’t ever presume that you would be welcome back in that part of the world. Yes, players have short careers and they need to make the most of their opportunities but that doesn’t mean that you can go through life with no principles and expect to be loved for it.

For more Arsenal news and stories follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

Roberto Mancini is furious with the fixture pile-up City are facing in the coming weeks. The Italian is particularly disappointed that Liverpool have an extra 48hrs to prepare for their match in the coming week, due to TV scheduling.

Elsewhere in the news Villas-Boas concedes the title race; Adebayor vows to keep laughing, while Arsenal’s fringe men poised for leading roles.

Mancini angry with fixture pile-up – Guardian

Chelsea are out of the title race admits Villas-Boas – Mirror

Jose Mourinho reiterates desire to return to England – Independent

Torres’s swagger refuses to return – Guardian

Wenger predicts 2012 will be the Year of the Ox – Mirror

Adebayor vows to keep laughing – Guardian

Harry: We need a mega signing – Sun

Sir Alex on alert as Inter look to sell Sneijder – Daily Mail

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Kaka given all-clear for £22m Chelsea move – Mirror

City strikers to blame for United catching us – Kompany – Mirror

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It only comes round twice a year and it’s always far more exciting than Christmas. Christians have Easter, children have birthdays, but for us football fans, the most important dates on our calendars are August 31 and January 31. Yes, it’s transfer deadline day. Prepare yourselves for a day of endless rumours of who goes where. Has Michael Owen been spotted in a Brighton supermarket? Did Fernando Torres really check into that Liverpool estate agent? And surely that wasn’t Lionel Messi in the dark sunglasses making his way through Leeds/Bradford Airport with a load of LUFC officials in tow.

Either way you put your work on hold, pop on Sky Sports News and settle down for the day. But not before you’ve enjoyed The Coin Toss’ Top 10 Deadline Day moves.

Click on Wayne Rooney to unveil the top 10

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It has been a thrilling year of Premier League football with landmark occasions and undoubted talent arriving on our shores. Goal-scoring has improved, defending hasn’t, but plenty of action packed matches and an improvement in how fans can watch the games means it has never been better to be a fan of English football.

Everyone will have their highlights on 2011, whether it be the possibility of Robin van Persie breaking records, Manchester United v Barcelona in the Champions League final, West Ham’s relegation or the fact that Fabio Capello is nearing the end of his England reign.

Certain players have disappointed and let down clubs but numerous players have excelled and gone from strength to strength, whether they have come through the ranks or become an unsung hero, here is a look at the top ten most improved players of 2011.

Click on Kyle Walker to the top 10

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