UK Football

David Moyes is widely regarded as one of the most talented managers in the Premiership.  The accomplishments he has achieved with an Everton team that has never had the money to spend big, or that is always being poached for players from other clubs, is nothing short of incredible.  But I don’t understand what he’s doing right now, as all reports indicate that Everton star Lescott is on his way out of Everton. 

Apparently the big defender has not officially turned in a written transfer request, but has made his desire to leave known.  This comes with the information that City has been repeatedly sending bid after bid to Everton, attempting to pry the England man from Moyes grip.  Now that’s not very surprising that Lescott would be tempted, especially considering City are probably offering to double his wages if he signs for the opposition.

I think Everton are in danger of making a huge mistake here with the handling of Lescott, and the attempted signing of Senderos.  But Moyes has proven himself as well more than capable at making a great team out of nothing in the past, so I guess Toffee supporters just need to keep the faith, and they’ll probably come out fine. 

There’s no way that Aston Villa are going to make it into the Champions League this season, the way that Martin O’Neill’s men are finishing the season.  Villa have put in a number of uninspired performances of late, but today really showed Aston Villa to be a team that doesn’t quite have that extra kick necessary for success in the Premiership.  That and the fact that Martin O’Neill has only played 19 different players in the Premier League this season, and Villa look all the more tired for it.

Aston Villa as it stands do not have the depth of squad to compete successfully over 38 matches with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.  Although full credit to Martin O’Neill as his side is almost there, just not quite yet.  A few key purchases this summer, and maybe we’ll have a different story this year, but Villa aren’t yet ready until they can make a few changes.

One of those changes being Gabby Agbonlahor, a fantastic forward in his own right, and one of the fastest players in the league, but the England hopeful just isn’t mature enough yet to be entrusted as Villa’s main attacker.  And Agbonlahor has shown without a doubt that he’s just too young yet to carry Villa the way that Martin O’Neill is expecting of him, thorough his spotty performances of late, and the way that Agbonlahor just looks to be completely out of ideas at this stage of the season.

photo: John Dobson

Aston Villa need another capable forward that can act as a worthy replacement for Agbonlahor when the England hopeful is off his game.  Heskey is too old to fill the bill, and John Carew seems bound for a swift exit from the club.  This summer Martin O’Neill needs to look to the striker position once more, and find a capable replacement for when their 22 year old star isn’t playing up to the standards required of a club challenging for the Champions League.

Strikers Villa could buy from the Championship for cheap, and that would benefit the club greatly, is where Martin O’Neill should find players with great potential, like Reading’s Kevin Doyle or Birmingham City’s James McFadden.  Both have proven to be fantastic when they’re on their game, and the excellent Villa midfield would only help Doyle or McFadden excel in the Premiership.  Both of which would be a worthy replacement for three or four matches while Agbonlahor is rested, and given a chance to get his confidence straight.

photo: Robwingfield

A few new strikers, and maybe a midfield addition here and there and Villa are suddenly Champions League contenders, and Martin O’Neill’s men have a great chance of achieving that goal next season, but this year Aston Villa have fallen out of touching distance already.  Yesterday’s match against Tottenham should have been a guaranteed three points, but Villa stumbled and were conquered by the much more determined Spurs.  And Villa needed those three points considering with their next three matches, Villa will be lucky to get anything as they have to face Liverpool at Anfield, Manchester United at Old Trafford, and then come back home to face an Everton side that’s been getting better and better.

Villa’s European hopes for this season are pretty well over, but now that Martin O’Neill has almost done it, the Irishman knows which changes he needs to make, so that Aston Villa won’t make it through 28 matches at the top of the table, only to burn out in the final chunk of the season.

Joe Kinnear is looking to make his return to managing Newcastle United after having to take an absence to undergo heart surgery.  Kinnear has his sight fixed on April 11th’s fixture against Stoke.  Although considering Kinnear’s history of heart problems, and the fact that the same sort of ailment pushed him out of management in the first place, I’m not so sure Kinnear should even return at all.  Managing a football club is an incredible strain on your ticker, whether through the stress of winning or losing, or yelling at the officials for making bad calls during a match.  And while I understand someone not wanting to let go of that world once they’ve been a part of it, your health has to come first, and I’m just not so sure that Kinnear is healthy enough to run a football club.

It’s not fair to Kinnear or Newcastle to have a manager that is unable to commit himself one hundred percent on account of illness.

The ruling on Mikel Arteta’s injury means the Everton midfielder will be out for at least six months, confirming speculation that the Spaniard would be unavailable for the rest of the season.  David Moyes will be hard pressed to find a replacement, especially with a squad that has had so much trouble through injury and finding consistent goal scorers.  But I don’t think he’ll worry too much, as Everton have found a way to win when it counts, despite having a squad that seems lacklustre compared to last season.  Although I still think selling Andy Johnson was a stupid move, I say it all the time, and here I am saying it again.

Everton can kiss their hopes for a spot in a European competition next season goodbye now that Mikel Arteta has picked up a knee ligament injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.  Arteta is probably Everton’s most brilliant attack specialist, creating a wealth of opportunities, as well as the club’s joint top goal scorer with seven league goals this season.  If only the Toffees hadn’t sold Andy Johnson, perhaps Arteta’s goal scoring ability wouldn’t be missed as badly.

Which is also why I’m happy that the FA will protest any move Blatter makes to attempt to bring this new proposal into becoming a FIFA rule. 

photo: Mr. Phillip Chambers

Steven Gerrard will be out for at least three weeks following a scan which revealed that the Liverpool captain has a torn hamstring following Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Everton 1-0.  But I honestly don’t think that Liverpool will miss Steven Gerrard as much as you would think, because Rafa Benitez’s system relies on his skipper too much.  When Liverpool play without Gerrard they flow better, and everyone gets involved in the attack to compensate for Gerrard’s absence in midfield, making the team better.

Otherwise every player on the pitch in red look to Gerrard to bail them out of any scenario, and he may be captain fantastic, but he’s not that good.  Sometimes I think Benitez would do well to include Gerrard in his rotation system, so the manager can see that he has a talented club, and Gerrard at times can hold them back.

photo: thetelf

Shay Given now starting his term at Manchester City had a few critical comments to make about the Newcastle regime, and the shortcomings that lead to the Republic Of Ireland keeper’s decision to leave.  Given was quoted as saying, “There are a couple of things they could have done to keep me, but I think in the end they just wanted to take the money.

“I just felt that after the service I gave the club, then the regime at Newcastle could have handled the whole thing a bit better.

“They made me do things I didn’t want to do and this was an opportunity to further my career and pick up more silverware.”

Given is a fantastic keeper, and Newcastle will miss him sorely, as I believe the rest of their campaign this season will reflect.

David Beckham desperately wants to stay at AC Milan, and AC Milan are willing to pay for him to do so as they apparently made the LA Galaxy an offer, which I’m guessing was probably rejected considering Beckham is MLS’ star boy.  David Beckham isn’t hiding his desire to depart from the Galaxy, as seen in this video from Setanta Sports:

http://www.setanta.com/uk/Videos/football/2009/02/05/Becks-I-want-to-stay-in-Milan-video/

But no worries to AC Milan fans that want David Beckham to stay, or for England supporters that want to see Becks compete in a league worthy of his talents, Beckham apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave November 30th on a free transfer.  Which makes me question, why don’t the Galaxy sell him while they can make some money in the process, instead of seeing Becks leave in November and having nothing to show for it.

Beckham is hitting brilliant form once again, and I would hope for the sake of his career he does everything to convince the Galaxy to let their captain go.

The Tottenham captain returns, Robbie Keane is back at White Hart Lane just six months after having departed for Liverpool.  I’m not really surprised to see it, despite all the talk from Rafa Benitez and his attempts to convince the public that Keane belonged at Anfield.  Robbie Keane was never meant for a club like Liverpool, and he will flourish once again back at Tottenham.

The fans love him, and Keane always was a vital part of Tottenham’s accomplishments during his six years at Spurs.  Now with Keane back, as well as Defoe and Chimbonda, Redknapp should now be able to completely turn the club around and get Spurs firing on all cylinders once again.

The only other fairly major change at the deadline was Jo’s departure from City on a loan deal with Everton.  Everton will have Jo’s services for the remainder of the season, and none too soon considering that Everton don’t really have any capable striker’s available.  Perhaps given this second chance at life in the Premiership Jo will find his form, or Everton have wasted time and money getting a Brazilian who isn’t suited to EPL life.

And finally, Andrei Arshavin, who knows whether he’s still relegated to life at Zenit St. Petersburg, or Arsenal’s newest addition to midfield.  Neither Arsenal or Arshavin’s agent will comment as of yet.  Of course the transfer window has closed, and no doubt if the deal has been done Arsenal will announce it sooner rather than later.  But I have to say, if Arsenal let Arshavin get away again, than Arsene Wenger clearly has no plan for making a legitimate attempt at winning the league.

photo: John Dobson

Tottenham have picked up Carlo Cudicini on a free loan deal from Chelsea. The move means Tottenham finally have someone capable, instead of the unpredictable Gomes, as Gomes has played a big part in the horrid season Tottenham are having. And if nothing else Cudicini will bring capable hands as a back up for the next time Gomes is injured.

West Ham have found their replacement for Craig Bellamy in Savi Nsereko, although I don’t understand how signing an unproven 19 year old and letting another club buy Bellamy is in any way good club strategy. Bellamy was awesome, and understood how to play Premiership football, not to mention how to make perfect runs behind the opponents defence. Nsereko could end up being a dud, I know he was the UEFA U19 best player of the tournament, but that’s a big difference from trying to cut it in the Premier League.

photo: Vintagekits

Sunderland are on the verge of selling Pascal Chimbonda to Tottenham Hotspur, and I don’t really understand the move. Sunderland were really trying to achieve something with the signing of stars like Chimbonda, but in the aftermath of Roy Keane I just don’t understand the direction that the club is taking. Just over the halfway point of the season, and Sunderland are selling their best players? That club really needs to get itself straight, or else they‘ll drop another five places and find themselves back in the Championship.

Word is that Robbie Keane is heading for an Anfield exit, especially after Liverpool’s last match, in which the Irishman was left out of the squad completely, Rafa Benitez even resorted to putting David Ngog in place of Keane on the bench. But this is nothing new, Robbie Keane has never been right for Liverpool, and Liverpool never should have bought him.

photo: Jonnymccullagh

Keane needs to go somewhere else, maybe another mid-table club where the expectations will be lower, and Keane will once again flourish as he did at Tottenham.

Manchester United are in trouble again as 12 senior players will be unavailable for Tuesday’s fixture against West Brom. The problems are also mounting as United’s upcoming fixture against Everton that was supposed to take place next Monday has been moved to Saturday, because of Everton’s upcoming FA Cup replay with Liverpool. Meaning the almost fit Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown will probably still be unavailable after having lost an additional two days of recovery.

But United have been playing well with the youngsters, and as long as they still have Giggs, Neville and Scholes to keep the younger players in check, United will do fine.

photo: stella_gonzales2003

Liverpool have well and truly fallen flat in the Merseyside derby, first in the Premier League and now in the FA Cup. Liverpool had the golden opportunity of having two matches at Anfield, both of which should have seen them end up with favourable results. But Liverpool and Everton have now drawn twice. Which is beyond me, because Liverpool have a decent defence, and Everton don’t have a capable striker to speak of.

I’m still in the camp that thinks selling Andy Johnson was one of Everton’s biggest mistakes of the season, second only to their not finding a suitable replacement before the first transfer window expired. How David Moyes expected his side to compete for fifth place once again this season I have no idea, considering the talent he has on that team, the packed midfield, and the lack of anybody up front to receive that final ball and score.

But I would have to say, given the two results showed Everton dig deepest to repel the Liverpool attack twice at Anfield, Everton now have the advantage when the replay at Goodison Park takes place.

Sir Alex Ferguson, proving that he can reward loyalty, says that Ryan Giggs, British football’s most decorated player in history, will be offered an extended contract at the end of the season. And why not, Giggsy has proven time and time again that he’s still got what it takes to play at the Premiership level. He may not have those quick feet anymore, and he’s probably lost a yard or two of pace, but the coolness and intelligence Giggs still shows on the pitch is priceless.

No doubt the Welshman still has a few titles left in him before he hangs up his boots for good.

Well Aston Villa will tell you that they are prepared to face the Premiership’s elite and even become one of them at the end of the season, and you would think they have a chance given the fact that they sit only one point adrift of the top four on the table. But I’m just not that impressed with Villa after today’s match. They got the dream start, with a goal after only 30 seconds of play, but then failed to build on that momentum in any reasonable fashion, and couldn’t score another effort until the 54^th minute, well after Everton had levelled in the 30^th.

And this was an Everton side that had to lead with 20-year old striker Victor Anichebe because of injuries to Yakubu and Louis Saha. So I guess it’s a good idea that Everton sold Andy Johnson eh? But Everton never played like a club with the conviction to win, despite playing at home, and really that’s sad because David Moyes is an excellent manager with an excellent club. But their attacks were pretty well useless most of the time because of the lack of a capable strike force in the box.

Which means to me, Moyes needs to look to the striker position in the January transfer window, because Yakubu is out for the season, and Louis Saha is injured so frequently that you really can’t put any faith in him, or the weight of your club on his shoulders.

And that’s the Everton that Villa failed to dominate, allowing Everton even 61% possession and 13 shots to Villa’s 6.

But maybe that’s the part that makes Villa fit for the top four of the Prem actually. If you can grind out a victory when you aren’t playing well, that’s the mark of a true champion. And Villa certainly have had their share of those, so maybe, just maybe Martin O’Neill’s men are ready for the Champions League.

And let’s face it, Arsenal still don’t look long for the top four, so there’s going to be a spot available for someone at the end of the season.