Kashiwa Reysol have regained top spot in the J-League after a 3-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday.Forward Hideaki Kitajima opened the scoring for the home side in the first minute before Brazilian Jorge Wagner doubled the lead in the 21st.
Kitajima grabbed his second in the 83rd to seal the points before Genki Haraguchi fired a consolation for the 2006 champions in the final minute of normal time.
Kashiwa now have four wins and one loss for the season to lead the league by one points from Yokohama F Marinos and Vegalta Sendai.
Yokohama F Marinos climbed to second after fighting back from two goals down in the first half to beat Avispa Fukuoka 3-2.
Avispa raced to a 2-0 lead as Hisashi Jogo netted in the 31st and 42nd minutes, but Kazushi Kimura’s men managed to overturned the lead in the second half.
Kazuma Watanabe pulled a goal back almost immediately after the break before Yuji Ono’s brace snatched victory for Yokohama.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Ventforet Kofu played out a 1-1 draw as did champions Nagoya Grampus and Shimizu S-Pulse.
Japan international Ryoichi Maeda bagged a brace as Jubilo Iwata comprehensively defeated Montedio Yamagata 4-0 to move into seventh.
Vissel Kobe also climbed on the table after they edged out Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 courtesy of Kang-Jo Park’s 68th-minute strike.
Elsewhere, Omiya Ardija and Albirex Niigata had a scoreless stalemate while Cerezo Osaka held high-flying Vegalta Sendai to a 1-1 draw.
He’s been good, really good, but the best? Nani has probably been Manchester United’s finest player this season, fulfilling potential that we could all see, but never really got hold of. Well something has got hold of the Portuguese winger because he is producing the best form of his career. One of the reasons we love the Premier League however, is that it is awash with talent, and Nani, is not the only wide man shredding full-backs to pieces.
As far as I am concerned, there have been three other contenders so far this season: Florent Malouda, Adam Johnson and Gareth Bale. There are plenty of other candidates but for a variety of reasons they are struggling. Aaron Lennon is a ghost, walking through the shadow of last season’s player, Theo Walcott started magnificently but has been curtailed, and as good as Matthew Etherington has been, he is just that fraction off the standards of the first three.
Adam Johnson has been class when playing for Man City (and England) this season, the problem is that he hasn’t been playing as much as he (or I for that matter) would like. In a squad as competitive as City’s that was always going to be an issue, but I still believe what he has produced warrants a greater number of starts.
Gareth Bale is one of the most exciting players in the league at the moment. He has lost the self-consciousness of playing at full-back and having to adhere to defensive duties with reluctance. Pushed forward he has been like slaloming greyhound, released from his traps. His volley against Stoke is – no arguments please – the goal of the season so far, and anyone that believes otherwise can send in a photograph of them trying to volley a ball, while standing, when it’s five foot off the ground.
And then there is Florent Malouda. While wingers are supposed to be supplying the ammunition, West London’s highest cheekbones have been firing them in of his own accord with ruthless ease. Six goals already this term (joint top scorer with Berbatov and Drogba) has made up for the injury to Frank Lampard.
To say that Nani is becoming the best winger in the league implies that he must have attributes of that and beyond his competitors. And what do we want our wingers to possess? The ability to beat men, at pace, with the ball never more than half a yard from their next touch; there must be a final product, whether sweeping in a cross, of finishing themselves. Can we say that Nani has these qualities more than the likes of Bale and Malouda? They all can boast these skills, and the question will be over what period of time? Right now, I personally, would put Malouda at the top of the pile, but then Nani and Bale have time on their side (23 and 21 respectively compared to 30-year-old Malouda).
Nani has had a couple of years struggling to live up to pressure of playing for Manchester United, and adapting to the Premier League. But the story is a familiar one for Malouda and Bale, who took time to bloom. Johnson is still raw, but all are capable of becoming the ‘league’s best winger’; it will be a matter of having to wait to see what paths their careers take. And after all, maybe we shouldn’t even be entertaining such a conversation, I mean, it feels sacrilegious talking about it while Ryan Giggs still graces the Premier League’s pitches.
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Steve Morison’s late winner ensured West Brom’s poor home form continued as Norwich left the Hawthorns with all three points.
As the clock ticked down towards it’s conclusion in the Midlands the Welshman popped up to powerfully head home Grant Holt’s cross to be the Canaries’ match winner for a second successive game. Andrew Surman had earlier given the visitors a the lead against the run of play before Shane Long came off the bench to equalise from the penalty spot after Jerome Thomas had been fouled. But the Baggies couldn’t hold on to earn a share of the spoils as Morison popped up to make it three straight defeats for Roy Hodgson’s side as they slipped closer to the drop zone. Paul Lambert, on the other hand, will have been delighted that his players managed to leave the Midland’s with maximum points to keep them firmly entrenched in the top half of the table.
It was Albion who started brighter though as they sought to remedy a home record that had seen them win just two out of the 10 games contested in front of their own supporters. Peter Odemwingie almost of got them off to a flyer cracking a fierce 25-yard drive at goal that was pushed over by John Ruddy whilst James Morison saw his effort cleared off the line by Surman. The away side were hardly in the game but almost broke the deadlock after Ben Foster rushed out to clear a loose ball only to see it smack off Morison and hit the post as the Hawthorns crowd held it’s breath. The Baggies continued to attack in numbers which left them vulnerable on the counter attack and that proved to be the route Norwich took to break the deadlock. Simeon Jackson helped the ball onto Wes Hoolahan who in turn picked out Surman for the midfielder to volley home in space just before the break.
The Canaries continued to soak up the pressure after the break and it was the introduction of Long that turned the tide back into the Baggies favour as he struck over just after coming on before scoring from the spot after Daniel Ayala had brought down Thomas in the penalty area on 68 minutes. It was backs to the walls time for the away side after that as West Brom poured forward in search of a winner only to be hit by a sucker punch with 11 minutes left on the clock. After weathering the Albion storm the Canaries were finally given the chance to attack taking full advantage as Morison stole in to nod Holt’s cross past Foster and ensure all three points went back to East Anglia.
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A disastrous World Cup campaign in South Africa which included player revolts and walkouts left French football in disarray. Since then the French Football Federation replaced the unpopular Raymond Domenech with Laurent Blanc. Things have improved dramatically since the World Cup winner took over. There has been an influx of young French talent to the squad and players such as Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema, who were overlooked for the tournament have come back into the fold. France are currently top of their European Championship qualifying group and took the scalp of England at Wembley recently. Just when things were starting to look rosy for our friends from across the Channel, the French media is awash with revelations of racist remarks from Laurent Blanc, casting his future as manager into doubt.
There have been huge efforts from world football governing bodies to implement various campaigns into football to help fight the ugly side of the beautiful game. So for this latest scandal to come to light from what is one of the most multicultural nations in the world is not only a disgrace, but a step backwards. The comments from Blanc came from a meeting in November where he and French Football Federation technical director François Blaquart, Under-21 coach Erick Mombaerts and Under-20 coach Francis Smerecki were discussing recruitment of French youngsters. The contentious comments arose when discussing the best way to develop young French players – should they go for the strong athletic players, or the technical players? Blanc was championing the latter but his words were poorly chosen, Blanc is alleged to have said, “The Spaniards, they don’t have a problem because they don’t have any blacks’ or ‘What is there that is big, strong, powerful? The blacks.” This comes from the recording leaked by French football official Mohammed Belkacemi to Mediapart.
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This scandal has an immediate impact on French football, but also has a worldwide impact on football in general. It shows that after everything that has been done over the years to stamp racism out of the game, it still persists. There are also claims that restricting the number of black and North African players that can enter French academies was discussed, something which Blanc strongly denies. The worrying thing from this allegation is that it shows there is still a long way to go in the fight against racism if it’s present within National football federations. What hope is there to completely eradicate racism from the terraces, when it’s prevalent in board rooms of major sporting nations? I don’t actually believe Laurent Blanc is a racist, however his comments show a lack of intelligence if he feels talking in such a manner is acceptable.
Unfortunately I think racism is something that will continue to mar football, sometimes no matter how much effort is put into campaigns to remove it from the game, you can’t change the mindset of certain people. What’s worrying is that if a scandal like this is coming out of a multinational nation such as France, what is potentially going on in Eastern European countries where racism still rears its head regularly? It was only a few months ago that Lokomotiv Moscow fans celebrated Peter Odemwingie’s sale to West Brom with a banner showing a banana and the message: “Thanks West Brom”.
The allegations in France are just another example that kicking racism out of football is a never ending task. Luckily in our country racist incidents are few and far between, although there are still isolated incidents, so it’s something that continually needs addressing in the sport of football.
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Every club needs a leader. At least one man who can stand up and take responsibility, who can drive a team on, who can lead by example. Steve Bruce has decided that his man at Sunderland is Lee Cattermole. So far this season, Cattermole has played three games, and been sent off in two of them, both in the first half for two bookings. Safe to say, Cattermole’s leadership this season has been questionable.
I can appreciate the reasoning behind his initial appointment, and I will also say at this point that I do rate Cattermole as a player. He is the type of man who will never shy from a fifty-fifty challenge, and can be counted on to never give up. I also believe he is underrated as a footballer, and his passing ability and reading of the game goes unnoticed due to the aggressive nature of his game. I do not however, think he is not quite ready to be a Premier League captain. His attitude is what helped make Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira great captains, but Cattermole needs more time to take a step back and get a better hold of his state of mind. His sendings off this season have been reckless stupidity, and that it is the last thing his team needs from him.
It struck me on the same day, for completely different reasons, that Manchester City also might have some issues over their choice of captain. Carlos Tevez will lead from the front, and harry every ball till his mangled face turns as blue as his shirt, which is a great thing to see from a striker, but is he a captain? Despite his time in England, Tevez’s English is still limited at best. He is not a natural leader and his communication (vital to any captain) is ropey, this doesn’t smell like the recipe for success. Gareth Barry and Kolo Toure may not be Bobby Moore, but they have captained Villa and Arsenal respectively, and are surely better candidates for the armband. Cattermole and Tevez baffle me as captains, but are they the worst the Prem has seen?
William Galls strikes me as a man far more concerned with his own image than that of his team; quick to criticise others and on a constant search to blame someone other than himself. Hi petulant sulk at St. Andrews is the most obvious example, but least we forget the fact that he refused to speak to his defensive partner Kolo Toure for the latter’s last 18 months at the Emirates.
John Terry’s value as captain depends on who you ask. Frank Lampard will tell you how good a leader he is, Wayne Bridge’s opinion may be slightly less complimentary. A man that has led his side to three titles must have good credentials and previous to the allegations last season, one would have considered Terry a perfect example of what a captain should be, but that has damaged his reputation long-term. It was enough for Capello to strip him in double quick time.
And what happens when you need a leader to dig you out the mire. Relegation looms, and you look around the dressing room as to who will drag you out of all the problems. Well when Southampton’s Premier League survival hung in the balance, who did Harry Redknapp turn to in order to steer the sinking ship? Step forward, Nigel Quashie. A man who had already experienced two relegations from the Prem (with QPR and Forest), his success rate at leading teams out of such problems amounted to zero. It stayed at zero as the Saints fell into the second tier (and it stayed at zero when he was relegated with West Brom soon after that). I’ll be honest, if I was playing for a team battling relegation and looked to see my captain was Quashie, I’d start preparing for my wage drop in advance.
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So who would you least like to have? Cattermole watching from sidelines, Tevez barking at you in Spanglish, Terry (allegedly) sleeping with your ex, Gallas sulking, or Quashie directing you to the Championship? Or am I missing someone else, has your club been lead in the wrong direction?
Let me know, and if you want, follow me on twitter. Maybe you can also tell me how Bernardo Corradi still manages to carve out a career as a professional footballer (Udinese if you were curious), despite having the first touch of a rhino on valium.
Fulham hat-trick hero Clint Dempsey has praised his side after they beat Newcastle 5-2 on Saturday.
The United States international bagged three goals in the commanding win, with an impressive second half display by Martin Jol’s men.
Despite a fantastic individual showing, the attacker has stated the victory was down to a collective performance by the team.
“It was definitely a frustrating first half. We didn’t have any rhythm,” he told Sky Sports.
“It had to do with them being confident from their form but also I think maybe it was in the back of our mind a little bit the result against Blackburn, being a man up, and not taking advantage of that game and losing.
“But in the second half I thought we showed a lot of character and got the early penalty and Danny Murphy put it in the back of the net, which gave us confidence.
“Their mentality switched from thinking they were going to get three points to trying to salvage a point.
“We never took our foot off the gas and we were able to take advantage of our opportunities and put the ball in the back of the net.
“I’m happy with the way things are going and hopefully I can keep putting the ball in the back of the net,” he finished.
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Heard the one about the “family man” Premier League footballer who had an affair with an ex-“star” of Big Brother? Well you probably have if you are able to master an internet search engine, but details of their tryst cannot be reported in the mainstream press due to him successfully obtaining an injunction preventing the fully story from being revealed.
Leaving aside the issue of whether this tawdry tale should be considered newsworthy, why was this footballer able to stop the story from being published when the likes of John Terry, Peter Crouch and (for those with longer memories) Garry Flitcroft were not so successful?
The answer can be found in the European Convention on Human Rights which the UK signed up to in 1998. Article 10 of the Convention protects the “right to freedom of expression” including the “freedom to impart information”. However, under Article 8, an individual has the right to “respect for his private and family life”. Clearly there is a conflict between these two Articles, and the Courts will generally be required to weigh up which of these competing interests is more legitimate in deciding whether to grant an injunction or not.
In the case of John Terry, despite initially being granted a temporary “super injunction” (which prevented the press from reporting that an injunction had even been obtained), the Judge lifted the injunction as he deemed it “not necessary or proportionate having regard to the level of gravity of interference with the private life of the applicant”. That is to say that freedom of expression (of the press) was more legitimate than the possible interference with Terry’s private life. It seems that the key factor in making this decision was that Terry was less concerned with “personal distress” than the impact of adverse publicity on his reputation and more particularly, the commercial effect that the revelations would have on his sponsorship deals.
In the case of our unnamed footballer mentioned above, however, the Judge must have believed that the main motivation in seeking an injunction was to protect the player’s family and not his own image. This is particularly the case where a player’s children are likely to suffer bullying at school if details of the story are revealed.
It remains to be seen how this area of law will develop in the future. The furore surrounding the latest raft of injunctions and political unease at the judiciary “establishing a new privacy law via the back door” has put this issue at the forefront of the media agenda. David Cameron himself has waded in to question whether Judges should have the power to issue “super injunctions”. It is unlikely that the government will seek to introduce a new privacy law in the near future, but it may be that the new Defamation Bill (currently in consultation until June 2011) is used to re-assert the legislature’s authority over the judiciary.
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Adam Leadercramer is a senior lawyer at onside law, a boutique law firm specialising in the sport and entertainment sectors. Adam regularly advises players, clubs, third party investors, agents and others involved in the football industry, and is a Millwall season ticket holder.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is delighted to have finally landed Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan, having tracked the player for several years.
The 24-year-old joined the Black Cats for a club record fee from Rennes just before the transfer window slammed shut, with Bruce relieved that a deal was done after seeing Kenwyne Jones leave the club and Fraizer Campbell suffer a serious knee injury.
He told the Sunderland Echo:"I was actually after Gyan a year ago, when we had Darren Bent on the go.
"He was definitely our top target. I first watched him three years ago and I have consistently kept watching him since then.
"The problem we had with him over the summer was the fact I did not think I was going to get him. Fenerbahce were in as well and I just was not sure.
"In the end you have to say fair play to the owner, because with Frazier Campbell getting injured Rennes knew they could stick to their asking price and never budge.
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"With what happened to Fraizer it became a necessity to bring someone in and we wanted Gyan, because I did not just want to go down the route of bringing in somebody for the sake of it.
"I am delighted to get him. He has that fire in his belly, he is a wonderful athlete and he has a great attitude."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Two teams desperately battling for safety meet at the Reebok Stadium with Bolton knowing they need a win to cut the gap between themselves and Wolves.
Wanderers have had a truly awful first half of the season and sit four points away from safety after losing to Newcastle on Boxing Day. Boss Owen Coyle has been given the whole of January to turn things around at the Reebok Stadium and he’ll be keen for his side to kick start their survival bid against fellows strugglers Wolves. The imminent sale of defender Gary Cahill won’t help Bolton’s cause with the England man set to become a Chelsea player in the New Year. However the rumoured £8 million fee will give Coyle some room to manoeuvre in the transfer market and bolster a squad crippled by injuries to key players. Bringing in a defender to replace Cahill and a striker who will supply a regular source of goals is sure to be top of his list. Summer signing David N’Gog has failed to do just that since his move from Liverpool and Coyle will be hoping his side can start 2012 on a winning platform.
It will be difficult against a Wolves side who held Arsenal to a draw at the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day. Mick McCarthy was delighted by his sides resilient display in North London as they gained a valuable point in their battle to avoid relegation. Wolves have endured another poor season slipping back towards the bottom three after stringing together a number of positive results in the opening weeks of the campaign. Two wins in 16 games since the end of August put them on a steep descent towards trouble although their performance against the Gunners will have provided a huge confidence boost heading into this game. With Steven Fletcher back in the goalscoring groove and Matt Jarvis returning to the form that won him an England call up McCarthy will be optimistic that his side can triumph over Bolton.
Bolton Wanderers 19th : 12 points
Team news: Gretar Steinsson could return from illness to face Wolves leaving seven other first team players in the treatment room.
Key Player: Mark Davies
Since returning to the starting eleven in the last month or so Davies has been a shining light for Bolton putting in some enterprising performances in midfield. He’ll be a big player for the Trotters in 2012 as they battle to beat the drop.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 16th : 16 points
Team news: Nenad Milijas is suspended after being sent off against Arsenal although David Edwards could return from a groin injury to replace him.
Key Player: Wayne Hennessey
The Welsh international was unbeatable against Arsenal on Boxing Day pulling off five or six unbelievable saves to ensure his side travelled home with a vital point. Hennessey has improved remarkably this season and will be expected to maintain his impressive form in 2012.
PREDICTION
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Bolton just can’t seem to win home or away this season and will be further debilitated by the loss of Gary Cahill. Wolves have the means to win this game with Steven Fletcher banging in the goals up front and they should move clear of the bottom three after this one.
It’s a well known fact that Fabio Capello prefers to use the 4-4-2 system, however we all know the limitations of this system and it’s debatable if it suits England’s best players. The best alternative systems are 4-5-1 and 4-3-3. The potential limitation of either of these systems is the lack of striking support for Wayne Rooney.
It has been suggested that after the recent friendly against Ghana, 4-3-3 has become the new favoured formation. Therefore, it seems logical to discuss this first. Based on the Ghana game it seems the idea is to play two wide players with a central striker. Players like Ashley Young, Adam Johnson, Stewart Downing and other wide players would be in contention to support Rooney. If the formation doesn’t work it can be altered by bringing on another striker.
The 4-5-1 system is generally considered a negative and defensive system, however with the right players it can also be considered a very attacking way to play. The key to this formation is getting the midfielders to push up and support the loan striker.
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The 4-4-2 system is something English players will be used to and is still favoured by a lot of managers who prefer this system; Capello being one of them. It can make teams a bit overly predictable; however it is hard to beat, if a team has a lot of good strikers.
It’s important to remember that it’s players that win games and not formations, but managers need to pick their best players and find the right formation. Rather than pick a formation and then try and find the players that fit into that system. So Capello has to decide who his best players are?
In many ways strikers are a weakness for England at the moment. In particular, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe have had poor seasons in the Premier League. England could probably do well to build the team around players like Ashley Young and Adam Johnson. Therefore, you can understand the appeal of the 4-3-3 system. But is Wayne Rooney suited to playing the lone role up front? Especially as he often plays more as an attacking midfielder rather than an out and out striker.
These questions will need to be answered and England will need to decide on the best system going forward. So that’s my view, but what do you think? What system is most suited to the England players? Can Wayne Rooney play as a lone striker?
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