Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Manchester United will pay £40m for Pochettinho
Having left Southampton for Spurs with barely a glance back over his shoulder and a toodle-oo, you wouldn’t bet against Mauricio Pochettino leaving his current club in the not too distant future. Real Madrid are favourites to recruit Pochettinho – a likelihood that will only increase should Spurs defeat Barcelona in their must-win Champions League match. But rumours from Manchester United say they want Poch and are prepared to pay £40m to get him.
In the Premier League era, Teddy Sherinham, Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov have all swapped Spurs for Manchester United, moving north for more money and a lot more silverware. Poch is on £8m-a-season at Spurs, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United’s current boss, earns almost double that. And under his guidance, United are a turgid long-ball team. Spurs buzz.
The question for Pochettinho is whether he will win the league at Spurs. No. He won’t. Not unless the London club matches Manchester United’s investment in talent. Which they won’t do. They can build the big new stadium, but Spurs will always be a smaller club than United. Surely he’ll go. and Sours, well, they just better hope their owners don’t agree to take Mourinho in a swap deal. Transferring football mangers makes sense. But under Mourinho, the only way is down…
Posted: 7th, December 2018 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Spurs balls: falling crowds should worry club
As Spurs continue to build their new municipal stadium, news is that the Premier League’s highest-placed London club’s victory over Southampton was watched by 33,012. Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs manager, says: “We cannot ask more of our fans.” Not the ones that turn up, no. But surely the relatively small crowd in a cavernous Wembley Stadium is a worry for the Spurs moneymen. Last season, the same fixture on December 26 was witnessed by 57,297 fans.
Spurs’ average attendance in the 2016/17 PL was 31,639. They then moved into Wembley. Spurs’ lowest league attendance in the 2017/18 season is the 50,034 that watched them take on West Ham United on January 4, 2018. Tottenham’s lowest Wembley attendance in 2017/18 was the 23,826 who saw them beat Barnsley 1-0 in the League Cup on 19 September, 2017.
They don’t just come to see Spurs. It’s pretty fair to say the fans come to see who Spurs are playing. This season, the Spurs v Liverpool match was watched by 80,188 fans. But around half that number – 43,268 – saw the Lillywhites play Cardiff.
When it comes to the Champions’ League, the identity of the visiting club is vital. On 3 October 2018 82,137 saw Spurs take on Barcelona. That figure dipped to 57,132 fo their must-win match with Inter Milan.
The club’s new ground has a capacity of 62,062. There should be plenty of tickets available.
Transfer balls: Real Madrid break rules to sign Chelsea’s Hazard
Big news for Chelsea fans is that the slowest burning seduction in football is reaching a climix: Real Madrid have agreed personal terms with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. The BBC brings that news but supports it with no facts. Hazard is under contract at Chelsea. Do the rules permit him to agree terms with another team? Surely not. FIFA’s rules are clear:
Regulation 18.3 of the FIFA Regulations:
“A club intending to conclude a contract with a professional must inform the player’s current club in writing before entering into negotiations with him. A professional shall only be free to conclude a contract with another club if his contract with his present club has expired or is due to expire within six months. Any breach of this provision shall be subject to appropriate sanctions.”
Hazard’s Chelsea contract runs until June 2020. Did Real break the rules or did Chelsea allow them to speak with Hazard?
And just two days ago, the BBC told us: “Chelsea are ready to “immediately” agree a new contract with Eden Hazard, but are waiting for the forward to make a decision, says boss Maurizio Sarri.” Confused?
Admittedly, Hazard hasn’t helped things by telling us: “Sometimes in my head, I wake up in the morning and think I want to go. Sometimes I think I want to stay.” Adding: “Real Madrid are the best club in the world. I don’t want to lie today. It is my dream since I was a kid. I was dreaming about this club.”
It’s true – I read it on Google
As the BBC plays fast and loose with the facts, Spain’s AS reports: “Onda Madrid claims that Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Eden Hazard as they seek to take the Belgian to LaLiga in the summer.”
What is Onda Madrid? Well, it’s a radio station based in the Spanish capital. The website features football stories exclusively about Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It’s pretty partisan. But its site has no news on Hazard. You’d suppose signing a player for 170m euros would a pretty big story. But no. Nada. But one local news station’s uncorroborated claim is still reported as fact all over the web. Clickbait rules – even at the BBC.
Arsenal balls: the myth about Wenger’s Mbappe monument
Huge News on the BBC that Paris St-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe, 19, rejected the chance to play for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal in 2017. France Football had the scoop that pretty much every knew already, but the BBC points its readers towards the Metro website. Thereon we can enjoy the wonders of Google Translate. Metro can’t be arsed to put Mbappe’s words into more erudite English, so it just repeats what Google Translate burps out. Mbappe is talking in French to the French magazine about the French manager Arsene Wenger:
“He is a real French football monument who has left Arsenal. I have not seen many people in this world being viewed in such a unanimous way. When the entirety of Europe gets on its knees in front of him to celebrate him, that certainly means something. A little while ago, before I signed for PSG, we were in contact in 2017. I chose a different direction but he wasn’t annoyed at me. He was a gentleman about it and wished me good luck.”
How close did Arsenal come to signing Mbappe? Not very. He joined Paris Saint-Germain for £166million instead of the buttons the Gunners were offering.
PS: The Sun and the Mirror also have the exact same quotes in mangled English that Mbappe gave to France Football in his native French. Does no-one check anything anymore?
Posted: 5th, December 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Lucas Torreira looks smaller on the telly
Arsenal are back. Well, so says Mark Irwin in the Sun. Unai Emery has “brought the nastiness” back to the Gunners, he tells his readers. The Gunners are no longer a “soft touch with diminutive midfielders who can be trampled all over”. If size was everything, Manchester United’s giants would be top of the table. It isn’t. This we know because the best player on the pitch at the weekend’s North London derby which Arsenal won 4-2 was Lucas Torreira. The 22-year-old from Fray Bentos, Uruguay towers 1.66m in his socks and weighs in at 60kg. In post-Brexit terms, Torreira is 5ft 4 inches high and tips the scales at under nine and a half stones.
Yesterday the FA changed Arsenal and Spurs with failure to control their players. Even the little ones…
Posted: 4th, December 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Media Bias: Son dives for Spurs but Arsenal prosper
Arsenal beat Spurs 4-2 in the North London derby in which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was sensational. Both sides scored from the penalty spots. But should the Spurs penalty for a foul on’ Heung-Min Son been given? Let’s look at the match reports for signs of bias.
Arsenal FC says “contact looked minimal”. The game turned on “Son’s elaborate fall for the penalty”. The penalty was “controversial” .The official Spurs website says “Son was clipped in the box by the sliding Rob Holding”.
Clipped? Really? No.
The neutral’s view comes to us via the Guardian:
There was controversy when Spurs went ahead. Son had sprinted through again and Rob Holding jumped into a risky tackle but, when Son checked back, there was no contact from the Arsenal defender on him.
The Indy:
If contact had been made, Son was guilty of at least jumping and appealing as if he’d been deeply injured from a graze. What was worse, TV replays showed that no strong contact had been made whatsoever. It appeared Holding had not even touched him.
The Sun gives us the tabloid view:
SON HEUNG-MIN was given a dressing down by Arsenal ace Sokratis Papastathopoulos at full-time over his disgraceful dive to win a penalty for Tottenham.
The Spurs ace was guilty of a shocking bit of simulation which tricked referee Mike Dean into pointing to the spot during the North London derby.
What about the red card awarded to Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen with the score at 4-2? Arsenal says he was sent off late on “for a lunge on Lacazette”. Spurs make it more benign:
Insult to injury followed five minutes from time as Vertonghen slid the ball out to substitute left-back Danny Rose but was involved in a collision with Lacazette as he did so, which resulted in the Belgian international picking up a second yellow card.
One team’s lunge is another’s collision. As for the dive, well here it is:
Posted: 2nd, December 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Transfer balls: David de Gea makes Manchester United sweat
Should David de Gea leave Manchester United for Paris St-German, the Red Devils will splash out £70m on Everton’s England international Jordan Pickford, 24. If he’s worth that much it makes you wonder at De Gea value in the open market – twice that; three times? The Sunday Mirror counters earlier news that United’s best player had agreed new contract at Old Trafford and was also on his way to PSG.
In other news, the Times says David de Gea won’t let Manchester United sell him in the final year of his current contract. The Spaniard will sign a new contract at Old Trafford if the Premier League club agrees to make him their best paid player. That sum is a matter of debate, waving between the £300,000-£500,000-a-week United lavish on the irritating Alexis Sanchez.
The paper says De Gea’s camp are confident of securing a “hugely lucrative signing bonus” from one of Europe’s wealthiest clubs should no new deal be agreed with United by January 2020, when he will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement elsewhere.
Over in the Mail we’re told Napoli have rejected Manchester United’s £91m offer for Senegal international defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 27. The sums are impressive. The quality less so.
Posted: 2nd, December 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: medics investigated for prying into Alex Ferguson’s medical records
Can it be that the joy of spotting a famous face is not confined to the well? I’m talking not of grave hunting, rather of the two medics and a senior hospital consultant under investigation for allegedly and illegally spying into former Manchester United manger Sir Alex Ferguson’s medical records. At the time, Fergie was very ill in hospital with a brain haemorrhage.
The matter appears to be founded on fact because the Sunday Times says the hospital has “apologised unreservedly to the patient and their family”.
Dr Chris Brookes, chief medical officer for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, which runs Salford Royal where Ferguson was treated, tell media: “Investigations are ongoing to determine if the individuals have accessed a patient’s record electronically without a clinical requirement or authorisation to do so.” If found guilty, they could be struck off.
You wonder what they were looking for? The paper says the alleged prying was born of “personal curiosity”. And we can forgive that, can’t we? We all like a sneaky gawp at the famous.
Posted: 2nd, December 2018 | In: manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Chelsea and Manchester City rethink business as FIFA gets tough over loan players
Fifa wants to stop big clubs stockpiling talent. From the start of the 2020-21 season, clubs will be able to loan out 6-8 players; the exact figure has yet to be agreed. This is will hit Chelsea hardest. The Blues have a whopping 39 players out on loan. Fifa want to create “the loans of players for the purpose of youth development as opposed to commercial exploitation”.
These are the top Premier League clubs with players on loan:
Chelsea 39
Man City 28
Wolves 27
Brighton 16
Watford 14
Everton 14
Easy to sneer at Chelsea, who have turned a tidy profit from recruiting young players and selling them on. But none of the young brood had to sign for the club. And maybe having Chelsea on their CVs helps their careers? The worry is that the young player won’t improve at lesser clubs, where they train and play with less talented players. Stay at Chelsea or Manchester City and you play with Eden Hazard or David Silva, respectively. Chelsea have three players on loan at Vitesse Arnhem. Will they improve as quickly at the fourth best side in Holland?
Oliver Kay has a tale from June 2018:
Matej Delac and even fewer would recognise him. He is the Croatian who signed for Chelsea in September 2009, four weeks after his 17th birthday, as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in Europe. He left last month without making a first-team appearance, without even having qualified for a work permit to play in the United Kingdom.
He was the club’s longest serving player. Chelsea loaned him out nine times. He’s now at Horsens in the Danish Superliga. He recalls:
“They [Chelsea] said to me: ‘We are buying you for the future. You will go on loan, gaining experience at a better level than the Croatian league. Then you will come back, maybe as No 2 goalkeeper. Then after that, anything is possible.'”
They might even make a profit on you.
Transfer balls: David Gea should thank Alexis Sanchez for Manchester United wage hike
Transfer Balls: The BBC leads with news that Spain international De Gea wants Manchester United to offer him a five-year contract worth about £350,000 a week. Why so little? The wage will, says the Beeb, match what Alexis Sanchez earns. Odd, no. Doesn’t Sanchez earn £500,000-a-week? BBC journalist Simon Stone told us Sanchez was costing Manchester United half a million quid every week:
“#MUFC have committed to paying Sanchez £180m over four and a half years”
Wow. @sistoney67 breaks down the huge numbers behind Alexis Sanchez’s proposed move to Old Trafford. pic.twitter.com/6Sq3KpBaWe
— BBC 5 Live Sport on BBC Sounds (@5liveSport) January 18, 2018
The numbers are utter tosh, then. But the media loves to guess. The Sun says: “De Gea will then be offered a new £400,000-a-week, five-year deal.” The Mail agrees with the BBC that it’s £350,000 a week. And the Standard says the deal “could be worth up to £300,000-a-week”.
And just a few days ago Joe Bernstein told Mail readers:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 29th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer Balls: Liverpool want shot of Fabinho and Manchester United target Militao
Let’s kick off today’s Transfer Balls with news of Ousmane Dembele’s desire to leave Barcelona and play for Arsenal, Liverpool or any other side that can afford* a £100m transfer fee for a player who enjoyed one decent season at Borussia Dortmund before being flogged for an eye-watering sum to the Spanish giants. The BBC has news: “France forward Ousmane Dembele, 21, has told Barcelona he does not want to leave in January.” That’s according to an unnamed source talking to ESPN. It might be the same source who gave the Mail the story just two days ago: “Ousmane Dembele asks Barcelona if he can leave in January.”
Google News updates the breaking non-story:
Two non stories = two exclusives and Liverpool ‘news’
In other transfer gossip, former England, Chelsea and Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole, 37, has been offered a new deal by LA Galaxy – just days after being released by the club. But he fancies swapping LA for life in Birmingham. Aston Villa want him. Why is uncertain. Experience counts – but if he can’t make the LA Galaxy side, why would an ambitious Championship club seek his services?
At Liverpool, missing midfielder Fabinho is to be the subject of a post-match chat with Paris St-Germain when the sides meet in the Champions League. PSG will offer a lot of money for the Brazilian. And Liverpool will wonder who they’re talking about. Fabinho joined Liverpool for around £40 million in July. He’s been less than spectacular. But that’s what £40m buys you these days: a squad player who can afford a well-paid agent.
In the obligatory news on Manchester United’s search for a defender, Jose Mourinho wants to sign Porto defender Éder Militao. He’ll be great – right up until Mourinho calls him rubbish, unfit, fat and useless.
* Not Arsenal.
Posted: 28th, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United cheat and win: blatant Fellaini handball secures Champions League win
Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Young Boys sees them progress in the Champions League. Their winning goal scored in stoppage time by Marouane Fellaini should have been ruled out for handball. When will VAR be used in big games? It cannot come soon enough.
Here’s Fellaini using his hand to control the ball, which is against the rules of the game:
So, no-one gonna mention Fellaini’s handball to knock the ball where he needed it? #ManUtd pic.twitter.com/8qsNKg87BI
— Matthew Newman (@YourFilm_MN) November 27, 2018
But did the media see the cheating? Marca, the Spanish newspaper, says Fellaini’s handball was blatant. His goal not only put United through to the next round but knocked Spain’s Valencia out.
The Manchester Evening News: “Belgian international Fellaini touched the ball with his hand before he unleashed a ferocious effort into the net, however the player insists there was no intent behind the action.”
He’s got a twitch that makes his hand control the ball involuntarily? And “ferocious”? The MEN continues:
“No,” he [Fellaini] told BT Sport when asked if he had handled the ball. “For me it was not a handball, I controlled the ball. If it touched my hand it was not on purpose. I think it was the right moment to score a goal in the end.”
The Valencia coach, Marcelino, is quoted by Marca as saying: “If the goal of Manchester United featured a handball then you become even angrier. The little details matter. What is strange is that VAR isn’t present in such a big competition. It’s no consolation to us. But this is football.”
Manchester United march on. Valencia go into the Europa League. And Fellaini, well, he’s no Raheem Sterling.
Posted: 28th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, News, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Ozil victim of tabloid copy and paste factories
The Daily Express’ report on Arsenal’s 1-2 win at Bournemouth is the same report you can read in the Daily Mirror. Both are written by Neil McLeman. The Express and Mirror are both owned by Reach. Surely this sharing spells the end for one of the titles. A clue to which tabloid is getting sidelined comes on the Express‘ back page. In a story about Spurs player Dele Alli, the paper tells readers the article continues on page 55, column 3. But page 55 doesn’t mention Alli once. In fact, it doesn’t mention football at all, preferring to focus on England’s win over Australia in the rugby union. There is news of Alli on page 53, column 2.
DailyExpress: Dele Alli story is continued on Page 55
Page 55 contains not a single word on Dele Alli
As for the Ozil story so good it’s repeated in two daily tabloids, well, it’s some balls about Mesut Ozil being left in the “cold”. The German was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s win. Asked why Ozil didn’t play, Emery replied: “It depends how the match is going, what the result is. I decided for other options.” He added: “The match was very demanding…with physicality and intensity.” Put that though the tabloidese machine and you get: “Unai Emery admitted he needed players who could cope with the physicality and intensity of Bournemouth.” Can anyone think of a Premier League game that isn’t intense and physical? Answers to the Mirror and Express. Two cover prices – but one second-class stamp should cover it.
Posted: 26th, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Key Posts, News, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Transfer Balls: De Gea Manchester United leaves for PSG and signs new deal
Transfer Balls: Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea “will join Paris St-Germain in the summer” says the BBC. He will? The Spain international’s current deal at Old Trafford runs out at the season’s end, we’re told. You’d suppose Man Untied would do their utmost to keep hold of their best player – and use that one-year extension. But the BBC says his leaving is a done deal.
The Mail on Sunday agrees. It says David De Gea is set for a “sensational move” to Paris Saint Germain. He’ll earn “£60million” on a four-year deal in Paris. He is “poised to join Paris Saint Germain when his current contract expires”, says the Mail. “Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is resigned to losing his star goalkeeper.”
But after the facts, we get to the truth: no deal has been signed. Three paragraphs into the Mail’s story, we’re told David de Gea “could be set to earn around £15.5m a year in wages with the French giants… if he were to sign a four-year deal in Paris.” Could. If.
All utter tosh, then. But enough for the Daily Express to tells its readers: “Man Utd news LIVE: Jose Mourinho agrees to January transfer, £60m David de Gea deal.” Nope. No deal.
The gospel according to the Sport Bible website
Manchester United fans need not worry. Indeed, on June 15, the Manchester Evening News declared: “Manchester United agree new contract with David de Gea.” The paper told us: “David de Gea has agreed a new five-year deal with Manchester United.” talkSport told us, also in June 2018: “DE MAN Manchester United agree new contract with goalkeeper David De Gea.” Did no-one tell the BBC, Express and the Mail that de Gea was not heading to PSG?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 25th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media bias: Chelsea denied clear penalty, Hazard tumbles and lucky Spurs
Spurs tonked Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League. At 1-0 to Spurs, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard was felled in the Tottenham box. Penalty! No. None given. But should one have been? Let’s look for any signs of bias in the media:
BBC: “Chelsea will be furious at a soft free-kick for Spurs’ first goal and a failure from Martin Atkinson to give them a penalty when it was only 1-0 when Juan Foyth appeared to foul Eden Hazard in the 18-yard box.”
Chelsea website: “We had our moments in the first half, with Eden Hazard denied what looked like two clear penalties”
And again:
Chelsea website: “The Blues had what looked like a legitimate penalty appeal turned away when Hazard was bundled over in the box by Juan Foyth”
Former referee Peter Walton was in the studio for BT Sport: “…when you re-run it there’s a knee-on-knee and the foul comes when Foyth’s knee touches Hazard and that’s enough to put him over. For me that was a penalty.”
Guardian: ” Eden Hazard ought to have had a penalty on 14 minutes when Juan Foyth went into him from behind ”
Chelsea blog We Aint Got No History: “An early goal from a dubious foul, then a clear penalty uncalled on Hazard, then an unlucky second goal.”
And on the Spurs website? Only this: “13 mins – Hazard over in the box, appeals waved away.” No word on how he went over.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 24th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Spurs | Comment
Manchester United sell kit that does not actually exist
Dreaming up news to market the band is hard graft. But Manchester United are very good at it. The Brand are selling a replica kit that does not exist in the real world. The kit is a “digital concept” within the world of FIFA 19. The “Adidas x EA Sports Manchester United” kit has been designated as the club’s fourth kit. But it only exits in the the computer game. The horror show continues as Adidas announce that only “limited quantities” of the hideous neon leopard skin shirt will be produced and put on sale. So if you want to dress like a video game avatar pretending to an actual footballer, get in there fast. Yours for €90.
Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid are also prepping to flog digital kits to the slack-jawed masses.
Posted: 23rd, November 2018 | In: Fashion, manchester united, News, Sports, Technology, The Consumer | Comment
Transfer Balls: Rashford makes Manchester United an offer they can refuse and a Liverpool move is back on
Good news for Chelsea fans: N’Golo Kante has signed a new five-year deal. “It has been two beautiful years and I wish for more to come,” he said after signing the news contact. “Since I came, I have completely improved as a player, challenged myself and got some awards I never thought about. I like the city, I like the club and I am happy to be here for more time.” Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia hails him for his “tireless and unselfish displays”. Kante is the player every other side wants in their team.
Liverpool, however, are still chasing Nabil Fekir. Jurgen Klopp is said to be keen to rekindle a move for the France midfielder. Fekir was on his way to Liverpool in the summer. He never arrived. But Liverpool still want him. They also fancy Dortmund’s Julian Weigl. Arsenal like him, too, chiefly because they like pretty much anyone that plays for Dortmund with a hard to spell name. If he comes to the Emirates, Weigl will join fellow ex-Dortmund players: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat.
Over at Old Trafford, news is that Marcus Rashford would find it hard to refuse a move to Real Madrid. He would also find it hard turn down the job of Prime Minster, the manager for Victor Secrets On Tour, £1bn in spun gold and the French throne. The odds of Rashford playing for Real are slim. But with two years to go on his current deal, rumours abound that United must do more to keep him happy or else another huge club will. So Real Madrid it is. Or Wolves. Or maybe Everton. Or, well, anywhere that will give him a game. “Manchester United’s England striker Marcus Rashford, 21, is ready to talk to Real Madrid if he fails to win a regular first-team place at Old Trafford,” says the BBC. To which the obvious answer from United is: “Let us know how it goes.”
Finally, Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez wants to sign Atlanta United’s attacking midfielder Miguel Almiron. Arsenal, West Ham and Everton also like the Paraguay international. Magpies owner Mike Ashley will surely swoop to get his man, sealing the deal with a 10% discount is one of his Debenhams stores (not applicable with any other promotion) and a Saturday job for any of Almiron’s loved ones in Sports Direct.
Posted: 23rd, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Spurs balls: Eriksen contract countdown and stadium move in January
The inability to finish a stadium on time is costing Spurs money and stress. The new White Hart Lane won’t be completed until “January or February”, says Spurs manger Mauricio Pochettino. For £1bn, you’d expect a firm answer on a moving in date. Wasn’t Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, supposed to be a master negotiator, the smartest man in the room?
Just in cast the ground’s not ready, Spurs have taken out an option to play at Wembley until the end of the season. “We are so disappointed because we expected to play in 2018 at the new stadium and it should have been ready to play before the end of the year but that is not going to be possible and we need to wish and hope that in January or February we can move there,” says Pochettino.
“Yesterday afternoon we were there, checking the facilities, the changing rooms, everything, and we are so excited, we cannot wait to move there. We understand that it is a fantastic project for the future of the club that will be for ever. To wait maybe one or two months more – we need to have patience.”
Spurs play Chelsea at Wembley this weekend. They’ve lost their last three home fixture to Top 6 rivals – it’s four matches if the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United is included. Are they going to win the title? No.
And will the players stay at a club that isn’t winning cups? Christian Eriksen is out of contract in June 2020. “When Christian signed, he was a prospect, a very good player but still young and Tottenham provided a very good platform to develop his quality,” says Pochettino. “Eriksen and Tottenham, and Tottenham and Eriksen, was a very good mix. Good for Tottenham and good for Christian Eriksen. That’s why I hope Christian continues to develop his career with Tottenham.” Eriksen is 26. He’s one big transfer left in his career. Spurs need to start winning.
Liverpool Balls: Salah to Barcelona for €100m and some loose change
If the absurd, greedy, money-soaked world of football, Liverpool and Barcelona have struck a bizarre deal: the Spaniards must pay a 100m euro (£89m) surcharge on top of any transfer fee if they want to sign a Liverpool player before 2020. The BBC says the deal was agreed when Barcelona signed Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho for £142m in January.
The Times says the extra charge was brokered by Liverpool’s sporting director Michael Edwards. And you wonder what the point of it is? Did Barcelona agree to the deal because they don’t want any of the current Liverpool side? Or is it to ensure that if the Spaniards go for, say, Mo Salah, they must pay at least €100m plus 1 euro – an echo of the £40m plus £1 Arsenal bid for Liverpool’s Luis Suarez before he also joined Barcelona for £75m?
If for some reason this deal works, will other clubs follow suit? Perhaps Southampton, Liverpool’s feeder club, can slap a £100m surcharge on any sales to the Reds? It’s all such such huge sums of money that you wonder where it’s all heading and if the fans will tire of watching their money making the very rich ever richer?
Posted: 21st, November 2018 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Nicolas Pepe tops the wish list
Transfer balls: Arsenal are looking to sign a forward in the January transfer window. Danny Welbeck’s ankle injury has ruled him out for a few months at least. Arsenal a little light up front. News is that top of the wanted list is Nicolas Pepe. The Lille winger will cost the Gunners around £27 million, says the Times. The Star, however, has picked up a different brochure. It says Pepe is worth £43m. The Sun says Pepe is on a “three-man shortlist” to replace Luis Suarez at Barcelona. The Mirror says, Lyon, Sevilla and Real Betis all wants Pepe. The Sun says Bayern Munich are keen. Goal says he’s good enough to play for Real Madrid. And the Times says Spurs also want him.
Anyhow, Arenal need him most. So will they get him? “If there is a very good opportunity we are definitely going to consider, we will see,” Raul Sanllehi, the Arsenal director of football, told media. “Danny Welbeck’s injury alters, in a way, the views. It’s a good time to start analysing what options we have in the market. We are not closing the door but it’s still not the preferred one. I am not saying that’s a green light to go to the market but we have good players in the house also that may get further opportunities, like Eddie Nketiah for example.”
Closing the door. Green light. In the house. Did Sanllehi learn England from The Big Boom of Cliches? He’s pretty managed to say nothing. Once upon a time, a hot French talent would have been a shoo-in to play for Arsenal. But now… Well, can they really compete in the transfer market? In 2017, Arsenal bid £92m to sign Thomas Lemar from Monaco, said Sky Sports. They never got him. The France winger joined Atletico Madrid one year laster for €60 million.
Posted: 21st, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Bullshit.com: Frenkie de Jong to Manchester City is a ‘done deal’
Transfer Balls: Following the Mirror’s news that Frenkie de Jong had agreed to join Manchester City for £60m comes news in the, er, Daily Mirror that he hasn’t. But he might. The paper of record (surely clickbait factory – ed) says City will have to pay a club record £75m for the Ajax and Netherlands midfielder.
It’s been three days since the Sun said Frenkie de Jong to City was done deal – three days since the Mirror told its readers City “have beaten Barcelona” to the signing. Manchester City “have blown the competition out of the water”.
Frenkie de Jon signs for Manchester City – BBC
Daily Mirror says Frenkie to City is done
Frenkie de Jon signs for Manchester City – The Sun
That was all tosh. But worry not because the Mirror has more news:
A day is a long time at bullshit.com
The paper reports in an “exclusive”:
Manchester City will have to pay a club-record £75million in the upcoming bidding war with Barcelona for the new Johan Cruyff…
However, Spanish champions Barca are also very keen on De Jong, and several other top clubs are monitoring the rapid progress he’s making this season.
Why is £75m the fee in a “bidding war”? It’s more than the £60m it cost city to sing Frenkie three days ago.
Posted: 21st, November 2018 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, Manchester City, News, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Arsenal balls: Ramsey could stay
Being a pundit is easy. You speak. And then move on to the next bit of mindless chatter. Which brings us to former Arsenal striker Ian Wright who is waxing lyrical about Aaron Ramsey, the midfielder who delayed signing a new deal for so long ever Arsene Wenger left the club. Arsenal offered Ramsey an eye-wateringly expensive long-term deal and then withdrew it. Ramsey is now free to leave at the season’s end. Says Wright:
“I think it might be the perfect time for us (Arsenal) and for him to move on. I think the boss should be given now the time, especially the money, to try and find maybe one or two replacements for someone like Aaron Ramsey, rather than giving Aaron Ramsey the kind of money he was asking for… It isn’t something I’m too disappointed about, I’m pleased for him and I’m pleased for the new ruthless Arsenal in respects of the way they are saying ‘if that’s the way it is going to be then that’s the way it is going to be’.
This the same Ian Wright who opined in September:
“Ivan Gazidis has got a lot to answer for for this to happen because Ramsey should be a focal point in the team… I’m desperate for him to stay.”
In other news, Arsenal have found a replacement for the very replaceable one-goal-a-season Aaron Ramsey. It’s Villarreal midfielder Pablo Fornals. The Sun says the the 22-year-old has a €20m release clause. If not him then the Mirror says it could be one of five – yeah, just five – players Arsenal could sign to replace Ramsey. The Express says they could replace him by picking another player already at Arsenal. Oh, and in the Standard, Arsene Wenger says Ramsey might yet stay at Arsenal.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 20th, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Pogba wants to leave Manchester United to go ‘home’
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, 25, says he wants to leave Manchester United. He’s missing life at Juventus. Corriere dello Sport has the scoop. But the Daily Mirror does its own translation. “Pogba says yes to Juve,” says the paper. But he hasn’t because Juventus haven’t asked him any questions. This is just about Pogba wishing for a return ‘home’ – you know, just as he waned to go ‘home’ to Manchester United, the club he left to join Juventus.
The Mirror says Pogba became a “marquee signing” when he joined United for £89.3 million. A marquee is a big tent. The Mirror merely means he was expensive. And he’s proven to be over-priced. What fee would Juventus pay for the player keen to move away from them and now keen to return? The Mirror says Juve could “steal a march” on Barcelona, who for some obscure season apparently also want Pogba. Why do they? He’s a good player but £100m good?
In the interest of fairness to the Mirror, here’s the Corrier dello Sport story pushed through the prism of Google Translate:
«Pogba says yes to Juve». Boom. The summary of the English Sunday press gives an indiscretion that could change the course of the market and the history of this season in the coming weeks. And he follows other gossip related to the future of the French midfielder who would want him more and more convinced to return to Juventus. Paul’s official statements, of course, tell of his great happiness of being back at Manchester United and wearing the Red Devils shirt. But the drafts that come from Old Trafford reiterate a general coldness in relations with José Mourinho and a strong temptation of the world champion midfielder to be a part of that “family” (a term that Paul has used several times to define Juventus) . “Who knows …” has in fact thrown there to a specific question about his new life Juventus, a few weeks ago when he returned to the Stadium as an opponent for the Champions League match. A return enriched by a warm welcome from the Juventus fans, for him who has been able to exalt himself over the years in Serie A as he has not yet managed to do in Premier.
That’s right. The Mirror’s top story is founded in the dello Sport’s reporting on the British tabloid press. It’s a human caterpillar of utter tosh.
Posted: 20th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Real Madrid in for Harry Kane at Spurs and Liverpool want Demirbay
Transfer Balls: undaunted by their apparent failure to recruit Aaron Ramsey from Arenal – he’s on his way to Bayern Munich, reportedly – AC Milan have begun talks with another player with ‘Arsenal captain’ on his CV, this time former Gooner and Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas. The 31-year-old has had enough of warming the bench at Chelsea and Italy beckons.
Manchester United are ready to offer Roma’s 22-year-old Italy midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini twice his weekly wage. We’ve no idea what that amount to but estimates put it shy of Alexis Sanchez’s £500,000-a-week but north of what Marcus Rashford pockets by way of a monthly goal bonus. We are told, however, that Pellegrini will cost United £26m in transfer fees.
You can expect to hear lots about Harry Kane or Eden Hazard heading to Real Madrid because the Spaniards are desperate for a goalscorer, having worked out that Cristiano’s Ronaldo’s 50 goals a season were hard to replace. Gareth Bale, 29, and France’s Karim Benzema, 30, are not quite up the task. so Kane it is. A huge money offer will surely tempt Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman.
Finally, Hoffenheim central midfielder Kerem Demirbay is wanted by Liverpool. Another centre back for the Reds? Why not?
Posted: 19th, November 2018 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Transfer balls: Manchester City have not signed Frenkie de Jong but Spurs or Manchester United might
“Spurs set to beat Barcelona to Dutch wonderkid Frenkie de Jong,” screamed EuroSport on November 16. Two days later, the BBC tells us Frenkie de Jong is on his way to Manchester City.
Frenkie de Jon signs for Manchester City – BBC
The Mirror says Manchester City “have beaten Barcelona” to the signing of the Ajax and Netherlands midfielder. Manchester City “have blown the competition out of the water”. The Express agrees: “Barcelona and Tottenham STUNNED as Manchester City win £61m Frenkie De Jong race.” The Sun also agrees: “Man City win race to sign Ajax ace Frenkie de Jong and will pay £61m for long-term Fernandinho replacement.” We’re told Barcelona and Manchester United were both ready to bid fo the player. They just never got round to it.
Frenkie de Jon signs for Manchester City – The Sun
And then you realise it’s all utter tosh. The Sun admits as much: “De Jong is believed to be keen to work with Guardiola and would favour a move to join the Spaniard rather than across town at Old Trafford.” So nothing is agreed. It’s rumour. There will be “a potential summer bidding war for the midfielder”.
Why the BBC, which runs fact-checking news segments, features this utter balls as fact is lamentable. It doesn’t need to compete commercially with the tabloids in a time of falling newspapers circulation, so why does it bother?
Posted: 18th, November 2018 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment
