After a bright start to the season, the last minute equaliser scored by Blackpool caused some fans to start spitting their dummies. That’s how ridiculously quickly Brighton’s expectations have risen. Three wins out of four represents an excellent start to life back in the Championship, one that the club and Gus Poyet will be very satisfied with. Next up, the visit of Sunderland in the Carling Cup marks the next challenge for the Seagulls, and there will be plenty of optimism at the Amex.
Sunderland, having lost the Tyne/Wear derby on Saturday, will be looking to bounce back, but they certainly won’t have things all their own way. As well as being without Craig Gordon, John O’Shea, David Meyler and Fraizer Campbell, the senseless sending off collected by Phil Bardsley means that he will be suspended.
With Ashley Barnes and Craig Mackail-Smith both in scoring form, and Will Buckley as well, Poyet has plenty of fire-power at his disposal. Buckley is questionable due to a hamstring tweak, as is striker Will Hoskins (hip), but there aren’t too many problems besides.
Aston Villa welcome Wigan to Villa Park on Saturday looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season but also end a run of four consecutive draw.
Alex McLeish saw his side pegged back at the death against QPR last week with Richard Dunne’s cancelling out a second half penalty converted by the impressive Barry Bannan. Despite avoiding defeat in their opening six games they have won only one and performances have hardly been inspiring with new boss McLeish opting to tighten the Villans defence before getting to work on the attacking side of their game. He has, however, invigorated Gabriel Agbonlahor who looks a different proposition under the former Birmingham and Rangers boss. A lack of firepower was evident at Loftus Road last Sunday in a laboured display and McLeish will be looking at summer signing Charles N’Zogbia to provide more out wide after a mediocre start to his career in the Midlands. The former Wigan man scored the equaliser in last seasons corresponding fixture but will be out to haunt his former club on Saturday.He could be joined in the starting eleven with Darren Bent and Emile Heskey back from injury. Jermaine Jenas could also make his first appearance in a Villa shirt since joining on loan from Tottenham.
Villa Park is a happy hunting ground for The Latics who have yet to taste defeat during their six Premier League visits conceding just two goals in the process. Manager Roberto Martinez was a target for Villa in the summer as they sought to replace Gerard Houllier but opted to remain at the DW Stadium and has presided over decent start to the campaign. The Spaniard was unhappy with his sides showing in last week’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham. They’ve taken only one point from three games on the road so far and will be confident of picking up their first win away from the DW at Villa. They’ll travel to the Midlands without key players Hugo Rodallega and Antonio Alcaraz who are both injured whilst Emmerson Boyce is unlikely to be rushed back into action from a hamstring problem. Steven Gohouri will also miss out after his sending off against Spurs.
Key Players
Gabriel Agbonlahor – Three goals so far this season only scratches the surface with the striker playing with more freedom and confidence under McLeish. His lighting pace and willingness to chase down and hassle defenders will unnerve the Wigan back line and give Villa an option over the top.
Franco Di Santo – With Rodallega missing the Argentine has stepped up his game to compensate for the Colombians loss. With three goals to his name already this campaign he’ll be looking increase that tally against Villa alongside Victor Moses up front.
Verdict: 2-1
Gabriel Agbonlahor is the player from either side who is currently ranked highest on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Agbonlahor is currently in 11th place overall Agbonlahor has three Barclays Premier League goals this season, scoring a goal on average every 176minutes 20second of action Although he dropped eight places to 22nd overall, Franco Di Santo is the Wigan Athletic player who is currently ranked highest on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index Di Santo’s three Barclays Premier League goals have come on average a little quicker than Agbonlahor’s, every 148minutes 40seconds
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Danny Wilson could be set for a loan move to Leeds United after falling down the pecking order at Liverpool, the Daily Record understands.
The 19-year-old has barely featured for the Reds since signing at the start of the 2010/11 season whilst Roy Hodgson was in the Anfield hotseat.
Sporadic appearances in Europa League ties and domestic cup games have been the only relief for Wilson, with current boss Kenny Dalglish now willing to let him leave on loan.
A return to former club Rangers was touted before the transfer deadlined whilst Blackpool have also been credited with an interest in the Scotland defender.
It’s now emerged that Leeds boss Simon Grayson has increased his interest in the centre half and could make a move now the loan window for Football League clubs has opened.
Grayson is desperate to bolster his side, especially in defence, after a poor start to the season which has see them win only two of their first six games.
Conceding goals has been the Whites’ main problem so far this season and Grayson is keen to bring Wilson in to shake up his backline.
It would certainly be a coup for the Elland Road boss, with the defender having won the SPL with Rangers and played in the Champions League as a 17-year-old before his move to Liverpool.
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England manager Fabio Capello looks set to pick Wayne Rooney in his squad for Euro 2012, as he dropped a hint regarding the player’s importance to the team.
The Manchester United forward has been handed a three match ban after being sent off against Montenegro in qualification, which will see him ineligible for all the group stage games of the tournament in Ukraine and Poland.
Due to the fact that he will miss a sizeable chunk of the competition, rumours have circulated that despite the attacker’s quality he would not be included in the squad.
However, Capello dropped a hint at Rooney’s involvement when talking about the senior players in the team.
“The young players are really good and ready to play with the seniors, and the experience of the seniors is really important,” he stated at a Club Wembley breakfast.
“During the games we need some leaders, people that know something. Jack Wilshere is incredible because he is so young. We also need the experience of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Scott Parker.
“You need this kind of player, plus Rooney, I hope,” he stated.
Capello also said that he is happy with the quality he has to choose from, and feels he can field a strong side next year.
“I am happy with my players. I have a lot of confidence in them.
“There are not many young players in the world who are better than the English ones. But you need to wait until the end of the season to understand if they are at the top and ready to play with the seniors.
“We had a gap between the oldest and the young. Now, with people like Wilshere, (Phil) Jones, (Danny) Welbeck, (Daniel) Sturridge – it’s really interesting.
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“It will be a really good team for the next Euros,” he concluded.
Manchester City winger Adam Johnson has put pen to paper on a new contract at the Etihad Stadium, keeping him at the club until 2015.
The England international and big-spending Premier League club have been locked in discussions over a new deal for a number of months, but Sky Sports can reveal that the extension has been agreed.
Rumours have circulated in the English press that Johnson, who joined the side from Middlesbrough for £7 million back in January 2010, was displeased with his lack of regular first team action and a move was potentially on the cards.
However the new deal will go far to quash the speculation, as Johnson now fights to be more of a frequent fixture in Roberto Mancini’s starting XI.
Mirror Football indicate that the club will double the 24-year-old’s wages, with his current salary of £45,000-a-week being boosted to £90,000-a-week.
Johnson will be in contention for City this weekend, as they host Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
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Pressure continues to mount on Chelsea boss Andre Villas Boas, as his side threw away a 1-0 lead to get beaten 2-1 by Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Wednesday night.
Didier Drogba had given the Premier League club the advantage with a neat finish early in the second half, but Eren Derdiyok equalised soon after, and Manuel Friedrich gave the Bundesliga outfit all three points in injury time.
The result moves Leverkusen into top spot of Champions League Group E, whilst The Blues drop to second and are level on points with Valencia.
Unai Emery’s team destroyed Genk 7-0 in the other pool game, with Spain international Roberto Soldado grabbing a hat-trick.
With Chelsea to host Valencia at Stamford Bridge in the last game of the group, it is a do-or-die clash for the English team, but Villas Boas feels confident his team can still progress.
“We believe in what we do, we believe in the talent of these players, we believe in them and that talent that is going to take us through to qualification – of course,” he told Sky Sports.
“Any negative result is difficult, we were organised and compact, but we have conceded on the details and that has made the difference, we have to improve our focus and concentration levels.
“We thought we had the game in our hands at 1-0 as we were compact and solid and had good chance for 2-0 but we didn’t take the chance and eventually paid heavily in the last minute.
“Obviously with the run of defeats you improve your work, focus and determination because at the moment it is not sufficient.
“I think we defended well as a team in the 90-minutes – the first goal we lacked concentration and on the set-plays when you are not tuned to it, and even if you are, players can anticipate you and they made the most of the opportunity they got to take an unfair result in my opinion but that is the reality, a defeat where we should have got something – it is not happening for us,” he concluded.
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Chelsea have Wolves at home on Saturday, and simply must pick up three points to stop the bad run of form.
Liverpool have been criticised for their unrelenting support for Luis Suarez by Kick It Out chairman Lord Ouseley.
The Uruguay international was found guilty of racial abuse against Patrice Evra in The Reds’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United back in October, and handed an eight-match ban.
Despite this, the Anfield club’s players wore t-shirts with Suarez’s face on it as a mark of support in a recent warm-up, and Kenny Dalglish has been adamant in his backing of the player.
This conduct is deemed as hypocritical by Ouseley, who feels the Merseysiders are guilty of double standards.
“Liverpool FC need to take a hard look at themselves and how they have responded to the complaint and the investigations into the allegations of abuse in the Patrice Evra/Luis Suarez case,” he stated to The Guardian.
“Throughout the entirety of the proceedings, over the past three months, all we have heard are denials and denigration of Evra. Since the publication of the 115-page report of the findings of the FA’s independent commission, Liverpool’s vitriol has increased.
”Suarez’s attempt at a belated apology is nothing short of lamentable. I cannot believe that a club of Liverpool’s stature, and with how it has previously led on matters of social injustice and inequality, can allow its integrity and credibility to be debased by such crass and ill-considered responses.
”Liverpool have been particularly hypocritical. You can’t on the one hand wear a Kick It Out T-shirt in a week of campaigning against racism when this is also happening on the pitch: it’s the height of hypocrisy.
”Liverpool players wore a T-shirt saying: ‘We support Luis Suarez’, seemingly whatever the outcome. This was a dreadful knee-jerk reaction because it stirs things up,” he concluded.
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Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has admitted that he is proud to equal Thierry Henry’s goalscoring record for most goals in a calendar year.
The Netherlands international scored against Aston Villa on Wednesday night to make it 34 goals for the North London club in 2011, equalling the French attacker’s record.
Despite being honoured at achieving the tally, Van Persie feels that winning trophies for Arsene Wenger’s men is more important than individual accolades.
“It is a big honour to equal Thierry’s record because he is probably the best player Arsenal ever had. To achieve what he did in a year is really special. It makes me proud,” he told The Daily Mail.
“I think it has helped that I haven’t missed a single Premier League game and featured for 90 minutes in most of them.
“When you have a good run, and you feel fresh and fit, you try things, you take more risks here and there than, for example, if you are just coming back from injury. You always need a couple of games when you’re back from injury.
“As a striker I think it is really important to have a go. If you look at my performances, I take more risks now because I know with the team behind me I will always get more chances.
“It’s not that I only get one chance normally, I always get one, two, three, sometimes four chances in a game. That sort of tells me that I can take a risk here and there.
“It (the scoring records) is not my main target. The main target is to win games and to help my team out and to have a good run.
“After losing to Manchester City, it is always really important to bounce back after a defeat. Great teams do bounce back and that’s what we had to do at Villa on Wednesday.
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“Now we have Wolves on Tuesday, then afterwards QPR both at home, so hopefully we can have a good run again,” he concluded.
It is extremely easy to become complacent in any line if work, but especially for professional footballers. The amount of money they get paid each week makes their life financially stress free and time and time again a player will become too comfortable at a club and suddenly a year of his career has gone by.
Whether it is a lack of confidence or just the fact that they are playing for all the wrong reason, it is becoming even more common for players to accept sitting on the side lines and taking their pay check each month without doing a lot to deserve it. However, we are midway through the January transfer window and so it is an ideal chance for these players to leave their respective clubs and find some regular first team football that has been missing in the past.
A chance to get their careers back on track should not be sniffed at and whether they were an up-and-coming youngster that has not fulfilled their potential or have struggled after a big money move here is a look at the top ten players whose career is passing them by.
Click on Michael Turner to unveil the top 10
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Have I missed anyone out? Let me know on Twitter: @Brad_Pinard
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The Premier League may have long considered itself to be the leading football league in the world; able to effortlessly attract any of the best talents while casting a watchful eye over it’s shoulder at the chasing pack from Spain and Italy. What it may have missed, however, is the prominent arrival into the eye of the neutral of a league which combines all the best characteristics of each of those leagues and could quickly overtake what England has to become the best football product in Europe.
In the past five years the Bundesliga has had four different champions, offered a number of surprise packages competing for European places and continues to boast one of the most impressive youth production lines in European football. 18 clubs contesting in a league which has one of the most unorthodox titles of all the leading football nations: a shield rather than a cup, and perhaps an accurate representation of just how unique this league is. Certainly something to admire from the other leagues who consider themselves to be of the elite but who have their own glaring shortcomings.
One of German football’s most impressive offerings are its stadiums, atmosphere and fan and player interaction. The wages, huge transfer fees and a sometimes underserved sense of importance among footballers has created a huge chasm between them and supporters in England. Atmosphere in many grounds around the country have suffered greatly for one reason or another and Premier League clubs—no matter where they’re placed in the league—can often struggle to sell out their grounds on a match day. But rather than just being a football match, there is a real sense of a party atmosphere at Bundesliga stadiums, with colourful backgrounds from shirts, flags, and anything else that may be brought into the grounds. Not forgetting the hugely impressive standing terraces at Borussia Dortmund’s Signul Iduna Park. The Premier League and specifically Liverpool love to talk up the magic of the Kop End at Anfield, but I’ve yet to see something more impressive in a major European league than the standing terraces at Dortmund. FC Koln, who finished last season in 10th place in the league and only gained promotion back into the top division in 2008 can boast the impressive 50,000 seat RheinEnergieStadion; bigger than Stamford Bridge, Anfield and White Hart Lane.
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The German national team has benefited greatly from the regular emergence of quality in youth in recent years. Sebastian Deisler was going to be the next big product of Germany football in the early 2000s, only to retire early due to injury; Lukas Podolski struggled to make a meaningful impact at Bayern Munich and eventually returned to FC Koln; and Bastian Schweinsteiger has only in the last few seasons found his niche in the middle of the pitch from his former stomping ground on the wing. The assembly line, however, has since gone into overdrive with players such as Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Holgar Badstuber and Mats Hummels finding their way into the national side. There has incredibly been no shortage of goalkeepers either, as Manuel Neuer picked up his big move to Bayern in the summer and established himself as Germany’s No.1 at the last World Cup; and we’ve seen Bayer Leverkusen snap up Bernd Leno from Stuttgart—an exceptionally promising ‘keeper—as well as Ron Robert Zieler and Marc-Andre ter Stegen receiving deserved praise.
The Bundesliga hardly ever fails to pull surprises and excitement out of the hat. Just after their winter break Borussia Monchengladbach welcomed Bayern Munich to Borussia Park: a match which Bayern needed to win to remain firmly ahead of defending champions Dortmund, and one which Gladbach needed to further cement a place in the Champions League. With much talk surrounding the recent snub to Bayern by Marco Reus, it was the future Dortmund player who capitalized on another Manuel Neuer mistake. The team who just escaped relegation last season had now done the double over Bayern in the league, finishing with a 3-1 victory and a brace from another rising star Patrick Herrmann.
The fascination surrounding the Bundesliga is greatly warranted. A league so rich in genuine enthusiasm for the game and players who draw their performances through the exuberance from those in the stands. Offering a variety almost every season with newcomers—both clubs and players—catching the imagination. Recent champions Wolfsburg have found difficulty in replicating the form that took them to the league title with Edin Dzeko and Grafite as their forwards, dropping off in much the same way Stuttgart have done; and the eye-opening run Hoffenheim went on a number of seasons ago to find themselves at the top of the table going into the winter break has been replaced by similar feat in Lucian Favre’s side at Gladbach.
German football has taken the best elements from the other top leagues and found a perfect balance in presenting an exciting and varying product each year. It surely won’t be too long before German football takes it’s place as one of the leading, if not, the leading football league in Europe.
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