Everton have completed the signing of the former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford on a four-year deal.
The 26-year-old moves to Goodison Park after being released from his contract with the West Yorkshire side last week.
Beckford scored 31 goals for Simon Grayson's side last season as Leeds secured promotion from League One.
He scored the crucial second goal on the last day of the campaign against Bristol Rovers as ten-man Leeds won 2-1 to seal second spot behind Norwich City.
Beckford also scored the only goal of the game at Old Trafford in January as Leeds knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup.
The prolific forward was at Chelsea as a youngster but drifted into non-league football with Wealdstone before reviving his career at Elland Road, that included loan spells at Carlisle United and Scunthorpe United.
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Beckford was linked with a move to Everton in January when it was widely reported that he had signed a pre-contract agreement with David Moyes' side while agreeing to stay at Leeds until the end of the season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Joe Hart and Daniel Sturridge have pulled out of England’s squad for Wednesday’s international friendly against Italy, the FA have confirmed.
The Three Lions face the side that eliminated them from Euro 2012 in Switzerland in midweek, but will be without two members of Roy Hodgson’s experimental squad and will not call up replacements.
Hart did not feature in Manchester City’s 3-2 triumph over Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday, and has withdrawn due to a back strain.
This means that either Jack Butland or John Ruddy will make their international debut against Cesare Prandelli’s men.
Sturridge has been competing for Team GB this summer in the Olympics, but has also been forced to miss the game due to a toe injury.
It is not known whether Hart and Sturridge will be fit for the new Premier League season that starts next weekend.
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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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The news that Jack Wilshere will escape FA censure for his latest Twitter outburst will have come as a great relief to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but with the prodigious young midfielder currently occupying column inches (this one included, I understand the irony, believe me) for all the wrong reasons, Wenger should look to stamp down on Wilshere’s behaviour at the club before the young player gets in any more hot water over anything.
Wilshere is currently the country’s brightest young talent. While Andy Carroll may have hogged the headlines with a barely believable £35m transfer deadline day move to Liverpool from his boyhood club Newcastle, it’s in Wilshere where England’s future predominantly lies.
Capable of dictating play from the middle and with a level of maturity that belies his tender years, Wilshere is a phenomenal talent. Capable of playing on the wing too, he’s been earmarked to play the holding midfield role in England’s upcoming friendly against Denmark on February 9th by current manager Fabio Capello.
His rise to fame has coincided with an extended run in the first-team at Arsenal, dispelling any myths that manager Arsene Wenger may have once had a preference for foreign born talent as opposed to English talent along the way.
Wenger always strongly maintained a principle that I happen to agree with him on, that if you’re good enough, you will play, no matter what your nationality. The ones guilty of xenophobia in this instance were the ones that lambasted the Arsenal manager for his failure to bring through English talent, not Wenger himself.
Wilshere heads a bright young generation of English talent for both club and country at the moment, but it’s in his penchant for getting into trouble both on and off the pitch that the 19 year-old needs to completely cut out of his career.
His latest misdemeanour was a rant aimed at referee Phil Dowd after Saturday’s unbelievable 4-4 draw against Newcastle. Wilshere stated on his Twitter feed that: “Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop. It’s killing the game. If Diaby goes, what’s the difference between that and Nolan on our keeper?.” The comments were subsequently deleted a short time later.
The difference between this and Ryan Babel’s fine from the FA for bringing the game into disrepute after he posted a picture of referee Howard Webb in a mocked up Manchester United shirt in jest on Twitter are hard to differentiate between. It would appear that in this instance then, it pays to be English. Inconsistent refereeing may have irked Wilshere initially, but it’s the inconsistent disciplinary procedures at the FA that have saved him from any further action being taken against him. Wilshere’s other scrapes with the authorities, both on and off the pitch, have seen him sent off for a terrible lunge on Nikola Zigic in Arsenal’s 2-1 against Birmingham back in October and arrested twice after being caught up in a fracas at a nightclub in August and after an incident involving a cab driver in January. Of course, with being such a young and high profile footballer, Wilshere is obviously going to attract some unwanted attention on nights out. He’s most certainly not the first Premier League footballer to have been caught out so often when so young, but it’s the fact that he keeps putting himself in these situations at all that’s most troubling. I’m not advocating that he live like a monk. He’s 19 years of age and we should allow a degree of leeway for what is essentially a teenager finding his way, but Wenger needs to seriously get hold of him, sit him down and cut out this unsavoury side of his character before it starts affecting his performances on the pitch. Wilshere has formed a key part of an impressive triumvirate in midfield this season with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. The fact that he doesn’t look out of place in this company speaks volumes about his potential. He has the ability to be a world-class footballer, especially if he cuts out any trouble off the pitch. Wilshere would be best served displaying some of the maturity he shows regularly around the Emirates on such on a Saturday afternoon and displaying it more in his life choices away from the pitch on a Saturday evening. His decision-making with the ball is fantastic, but in life, so far it’s been more than questionable and he needs to put a stop to these ‘incidents’ before it gets too far out of hand.
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Spain and Barcelona’s success in recent seasons has led to both the club and national teams being discussed as among the best teams ever. It is not just the amount they have won, with Spain becoming the first ever country to achieve three consecutive major international tournament triumphs, but the way in which they have done it. An aesthetically pleasing brand of quick, high-intensity pass-and-move football, coupled with high pressing and squeezing of opponents to win the ball when not in possession. In short, ‘tiki-taka’.
Both sides appear to be turning the whole of the pitch into midfield. Every player is technically gifted and comfortable with the ball at their feet, similarly to the Dutch ideology of ‘Total Football’. It makes it difficult to win the ball in any area of the pitch and opponents must be on guard as they can be picked apart at any moment. As seen at Barcelona and with Spain at Euro 2012, even conventional strikers made way for midfielders as the ‘false nine’ role took to the international stage.
At the heart of the team are Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Two midfielders of a slight build whose deft control and unerring precision with the ball, as well as the amount they utilise it, have made them icons of the game. And with countries across the globe worshipping this style of football, many want to replicate it.
In Brazil, the lack of shorter technically gifted players in the ilk of Xavi or Iniesta is being bemoaned by their national press. In their squad they only possess midfielders at either end of the spectrum. Robust holding-midfielders or energetic, playmaking attacking-midfielders. Spain have stolen the moniker of ‘home of the beautiful game’ from Brazil, and it seems the general consensus is that they must join them in their style of play to regain that title.
It would not work.
Many of the Spanish team have grown up with the possession-based philosophy promoted at every stage of their development, while in Brazil the dedication is less intense and there is still that extra admiration and encouragement of individual brilliance. The majority of the Spaniards also adhere to such notions week in week out whereas none of the Brazilian side can boast that they play in such a 4-2-3-1 system, with a similar passing style, at club level.
The desire to imitate the Iberian teams suggests there is a notion of the right way to play, something which Jonathan Wilson speaks at in length in Inverting the Pyramid. This is not the case. While Barcelona’s football may have wowed fans all over the world, they found themselves stifled by the defensive tactics of Chelsea in last season’s Champions League semi-finals. The Blues were derided for their negative ‘anti-football’, but they ended up as champions. Added to Real Madrid’s dethroning of the Catalan club in La Liga last season, it show the ‘right’ way is not always the winning way.
Brazil have become far more of a pragmatic sideover the last 30 years. Current coach Mano Menezes has recently introduced a high pressing game as part of Brazil’s make-up, but when it comes to possession they should aim to utilise the current tools they have to their maximum. If they cannot hold the ball against a team like Spain then they must exploit their pace on the wings (Hulk, Neymar and Lucas Moura) and robust midfield (Lucas Leiva, Sandro, Ramires) to counterattack. It is a method that has frequently been used in an attempt to best La Roja and the Catalan club, though admittedly only to limited effect.
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It is not as easy as suggesting playing in a completely different manner in two years time. You need the correct players to do it. If the success of Spain has encouraged Brazil to return to the more fluid, dynamic football of old then that is what they should seek to begin instilling at youth level. Of course, the successes of Marcelo Bielsa at Athletic Bilbao and Jorge Sampaoli at Universidad de Chile have shown that such a philosophy can be rapidly installed at club level, but they train their players on a far more regular basis than at international level. If they attempted to implement such changes on the senior national team with the current crop of players in two years time, it would be a complete failure.
When it comes to the World Cup in 2014, Brazilian football fans will be desperate for glory. If they manage to lift the trophy, it will not matter too much if they do not win by playing the swaggering passing game with which the Spanish have been so successful. La Roja did not become successful overnight. It has taken years of work in youth development yet while ‘tiki-taka’ may be lauded and put upon a pedestal, it is not the only way to claim silverware as both Real Madrid and Chelsea have shown.
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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Tottenham can leave the memory of their 4-0 drubbing at Fulham behind them as they travel to Blackburn in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Spurs were humiliated at Craven Cottage on Sunday as Fulham cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup, but Harry Redknapp’s men cannot afford to dwell on the loss for too long as they face another challenging road trip in the league.
A rejuvenated Blackburn are up to eighth in the Premier League after turning their season around under new manager Steve Kean.
Tottenham sit three places higher on the table and are in the middle of a battle for a top-four spot with Chelsea, making Wednesday’s game a pivotal one for both sides.
Spurs’ confidence might have been dented by their abysmal performance against Fulham, but defender Sebastien Bassong said they needed to move on quickly and refocus on the Blackburn game.
“It was a bad day for us and we have to forget it and move on,” Bassong said.
“We now have to go up to Blackburn and try to win that game. We have no choice.”
“We have to look forward and the good thing is that the next game comes around very quickly and that will help us move on.”
“We’ve showed already that we have character in this team and now we have to do it again.”
Both sides could be fielding several new faces after a flurry of transfer activity on Monday.
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Kean added Mauro Formica and Ruben Rochina to his squad on the final day of the transfer window, having already secured Roque Santa Cruz and Jermaine Jones on loan.
El Hadji Diouf has gone to Rangers on a six-month loan deal, while defender Pascal Chimbonda was released on a free transfer.
Redknapp has personnel issues of his own, with injuries keeping Ledley King, Tom Huddlestone, Gareth Bale, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul out of the side, while defender Michael Dawson will miss through suspension after being sent off in the loss to Fulham.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is condemned to roll a large boulder up a hill for the entirety of his afterlife. Zeus creates a situation whereby every time Sisyphus nears the top the boulder rolls to the bottom again, the Greek king is condemned to the perpetuity of futile effort and frustration.
Without meaning to sound melodramatic, there are comparisons between Sisyphus and David Moyes. Despite the Glaswegian’s best efforts, over a decade at Goodison Park has brought him little success. The 04/05 season saw Everton qualify for the Champions League yet their dream was short-lived. Moyes’ side also made it to the FA Cup final in 2009 only to lose out to Chelsea; yet apart from those instances there have been few moments where silverware was within reach.
Moyes’ Everton have always been a formidable side, always capable of beating the best in the league. There isn’t one team in England that looks forward to an away day at Goodison Park and the city’s ‘family’ club have a number of players coveted by other managers.
Why, then, has David Moyes not achieved the success that a three-time LMA Manager of the Year perhaps deserves? The uncomfortably familiar trend to each season must be wearisome for both the talented manager and the fans. In the last ten years Everton have come 7th, 16th, 4th, 11th, 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th, 7th and 7th.
So, in his first full season at the club Moyes took Everton to 7th place, last season he did the same. There have been peaks and troughs in between but the pattern is largely tainted by a sense of déjà vu. However, this consistency should not be undervalued. For Moyes to have come in the top eight for eight out of his ten seasons at the club is hugely impressive considering the budget on which he operates.
Arsene Wenger often receives praise for how he maintains Arsenal’s Champions league status whilst spending very little and, proportionately to the amount of money Everton have, Moyes’ achievements are not dissimilar.
Nobody could claim that Everton’s Premier League performances have been below par during Moyes’ tenure. However, what is evident is that with the club’s competitors increasing their financial investments, Everton are in danger of being left behind. To have consistently built and managed strong sides at Everton, despite his financial restraints, is an achievement that cannot be underestimated yet neither is the fact that Everton have been riding their luck with Moyes – few managers could run the club as efficiently as he does, yet if this lack of funding continues he could be tempted away from the north-west.
Without investment from Bill Kenwright, Jon Woods or Robert Earl the club will be unable to keep up with those around them yet the three majority shareholders in the club have already explained that investment on their part is not a possibility.
The only option, it would therefore seem, would be to sell the club. Easier said than done. Everton are haemorrhaging money.
Their most recent financial statements revealed that although their loans had been reduced from £30.5m to £23.7m their overdraft has increased from £5.1m to £9.1m. The service charges and interest on these debts alone is a huge burden.
On top of this they also sold their Bellefield training ground in 2007 for just over £9m. That money, however, has already been spent and the club now has to pay £1m per year to rent their new training ground at Finch Farm in Halewood.
In order to stay afloat it has been said that Everton will need to sell, on average, one decent player every summer.
Consequently, finding a buyer has been a difficult task. Moreover, the comparison between David Moyes and Sisyphus becomes a little clearer. Just as Sisyphus suffers catastrophic set backs every time he nears the top of the hill, David Moyes is forced to sell one of his star players at the end of every season. How he is ever supposed to build a truly successful team under such circumstances is something of a mystery.
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Perhaps Everton’s owners are happy to merely cling on for now, hoping that Moyes’ stewardship will safeguard them until some frivolous and foolhardy new buyer steps up to save the club; however until such time it appears the satus quo of the club will remain.
You can comment by following me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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.
Japan manger Alberto Zaccheroni praised midfielder Shinji Kagawa for his match-winning performance in their Asian Cup win over Qatar.
Kagawa scored a brace to help book his side a spot in the final four of Asia’s premier soccer tournament on Friday, as they came from behind with 10 men to beat the host nation 3-2 in Doha.
The Qataris had the game in their own hands when they went 2-1 up in the second half following the dismissal of Japan’s Maya Yoshida, but Zaccheroni’s side were inspired by the 21-year-old Kagawa’s equaliser and found a winner late on through Masahiko Inoha.
Zaccheroni said Kagawa’s second-half performance inspired Japan to victory.
“I know what he can do on the pitch and what he can do for the team. The way he performed today I am very satisfied,” Zaccheroni said.
“In the first half he did not really show what he can do on the pitch but in the second half he did.”
The Italian boss said the way Japan toughed out victory was a credit to the spirit of the side.
“It was a great comeback and I could see the good mentality from our players. Eventually Inoha grabbed the winner and that shows what Japanese football is all about,” he said.
“Even though we were a man down, normally teams think about defence but we didn’t, we had the bravery to keep attacking and eventually we won the match.”
Qatar manager Bruno Metsu was proud of the performance his squad put up on Asian football’s biggest stage.
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“We played very well against Japan. We frightened them and we were very skilful in the match,” Metsu said.
“Not many teams could play so well against a good team like Japan and I think we should applaud the Qatari team for a very good technical performance.”
“We have shown the whole world that Qatar is a strong team. We showed that we can play good football, although we still made mistakes and we conceded goals because of these mistakes.”