Urawa Reds have extended their unbeaten run in the J.League to seven matches with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday.The 2007 AFC Champions League winners made a slow straight to their domestic campaign this season, but continued their resurgence to move into 10th at Kawasaki.
An own goal from former Yokohama F Marinos defender Takanobu Komiyama in the ninth minute was enough to earn them the three points against the fifth-placed Kawasaki Frontale.
Meanwhile, league leaders Yokohama F Marinos made it seven wins from their last eight outings with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Omiya Ardija.
A second-half brace from striker Masashi Oguro put them three points clear of Kashiwa Reysol – who play on Sunday – after Rafael had put the visitors 1-0 up on 36 minutes.
Gamba Osaka moved into fourth with a 2-1 win at Jubilo Iwata.
Defender Daisuke Nasu had cancelled out Sota Nakazawa’s first-half strike before Rafinha struck a 72nd-minute winner for Gamba.
Elsewhere, Sanfrecce Hiroshima found the net twice in each half on their way to a surprisingly comfortable 4-0 win over Shimzu S-Pulse.
Striker Tadanari Lee and an own goal from Australian defender Eddy Bosnar had the hosts 2-0 up at the break.
They sealed the win with two goals in the last eight minutes as Georgia international David Mujiri scored, followed by Lee completing his brace.
A double from Takayuki Yoshida helped Vissel Kobe to an entertaining 4-2 win over Ventforet Kofu.
Defender Yosuke Ishibitsu and midfielder Hideo Tanaka also found the net for the home side, while Paulinho and Kim Sin-Young were on the scoresheet for Ventforet Kofu.
In the day’s other game, Montedio Yamagata remain in the relegation zone after a Atomu Tanaka strike gave Albirex Niigata a 1-0 win.
On Wednesday night, a depleted Arsenal side faced their most important game of the season with a reported £25 million at stake if they could get past Udinese and reach the Champions League group stages.
A notable absentee from the starting eleven was Andrey Arshavin and he only made a fleeting appearance in the 91st minute of the game. This is a clear indication of just how far the 30-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at the club in recent times.
When he arrived at the Emirates Stadium in January 2009, after a protracted transfer saga, the Russian playmaker proved an instant success, winning the Premier League Player of the Month in April and Arsenal’s player of the month for March and April. His four memorable goals against Liverpool at Anfield confirmed his status as one of the Premier League’s most exciting players.
Maybe during his debut six months in England, he was slightly overrated by the British media as he was a bright spark during a fairly dull season and as a result he has never gone to achieve the sort of things that were first expected of him.
I think he looks a stronger player when he starts in a support striker role, somewhere he regularly plays for his national team and that Wenger should give him the chance to link up with Van Persie for Arsenal instead of being wasted on the wing. If Arsahvin was to leave Arsenal I would not be surprised to see him playing as a forward or supporting the striker at his new club, not on the wing.
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He has been linked with moves away from the Emirates this summer and looked like a player wanting to leave with his display against Liverpool in the first game of the season. It was a disgraceful and lacklustre performance from the Russian which gave Arsenal supporters no evidence that he would once again become the player we once saw gracing the Premier League with his dynamism and excellent ability.
Arshavin is definitely still capable of moments of magic and seems to thrive in the big games, his winning goal in the Champions League tie against Barcelona was a special moment for all Arsenal fans and his contributions to the team are still important. In fact with 10 goals and 17 assists in all competitions last season Arshavin is perhaps a bit unsung at Arsenal and without his contributions to the team, it is unlikely that the Gunners would have been challenging for the title for so long.
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After the high-profile departures of Nasri and Fabregas in the last week, Arshavin is just the sort of player Arsenal currently need to step up as he gives an extra dimension to their attack. However before this is possible he needs to rediscover his lost form and actually look interested in playing for the club again.
Saturday’s performance against Blackburn was an embodiment of just how disappointing Arsenal’s start to the season has been with losses to Liverpool, Manchester United and now a 4-3 defeat to the bottom club in the Premier League. The match demonstrated the worrying defensive problems that Arsenal have with poor teamwork at the back especially during set pieces and throughout the game the Gunners struggled to cope with Blackburn effective counter-attacking football.
There were moments in the game which appeared to show how ittle it meant to the players, when conceding goals they walked back to the centre circle and just shrugged their shoulders. During a pivotal moment in the game, as Walcott was brought down by Robinson, there were surprisingly little sign of protest or complaint from any of the Arsenal players.
Only five members of the team who played in the horrendous defeat at Old Trafford started on Saturday but little had changed, the team still lacked leadership and again failed to defend simple set pieces. The shaky foundations are built in attack and not in defence where the team is as vulnerable as before leaving themselves far too open for Blackburn to take advantage.
There was no leader, Van Persie is probably the side’s best player and I have no doubt he is a capable captain who leads by example off the pitch but you can question whether he is the leader in personality who the side desperately need?
There has not been a real leadership figure in the ranks at Arsenal for many years and it showed last year with the collapse of their season after the Carling Cup Final defeat. Would a team with a true leader have thrown away a 4-0 lead at Newcastle or conceded a penalty in the last minute against Liverpool when the game was won? These were crucial points that mean the title went to Old Trafford and while Fabregas was a fantastic player, he was not a natural leader and he was often found wanting.
Upon his arrival in England, Wenger inherited a tremendous captain in Tony Adams, whose passion and determination inspired the Gunners to domestic Doubles in 1998 and 2002. His successor, Patrick Vieira, was also a great man to lead the side and since he left in 2005 Arsenal have won nothing.
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You often find that the best leaders work from the back or from midfield where they have a good view of everything going on in front of them; it is therefore difficult for Van Persie to work out where it is going wrong in defence from the other end of the pitch. The club need players who are going to step up and take responsibility which is essential particularly when they are going through a bad patch. A captain on the pitch is different to leader and that is what Arsenal lack, someone who is going to take a game by the scuff of the neck and take his team to victory. There was hope among Arsenal fans that deadline day signing Per Mertesacker would be the answer to their leadership concerns but his first few games have shown little to demonstrate this.
Many have cited a lack of leadership as the primary factor behind the north London club’s failure to secure silverware over the last five seasons, and the last season’s events only added more credibility to that theory. Wenger’s side looked rudderless while going out of the three cup competitions in quick succession. Former club captain Cesc Fabregas appeared in just one of those defeats, the 3-1 loss in Barcelona, with Robin van Persie taking the armband in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham and again at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.
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Wenger has recently argued that the responsibility of leading a team can be shared by several players just as effectively which is true but not if the team actually lacks any real leaders on the pitch. This problem has been exacerbated for this new season as the side appear to lack any character. Last season Arsenal went from the verge of greatness to one who emerged with nothing because they had no-one who could galvanise the team and drag the rest of them out of the mire. Wenger may have brought a new-look team over the summer but he has once again failed to address this fundamental issue.
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Following the Merseyside Derby on Saturday someLiverpool fans and many fans from opposing clubs were calling Luis Suarez a diver after Jack Rodwell tackled him.
At first look, the tackle looked bad but then replays show that it was not that bad a tackle and Suarez may have milked it.
The FA on Tuesday announced that Jack Rodwell’s red card will be rescinded as Everton appealed that sending off, suggesting now that Suarez overreacted for that challenge. Two ex-Liverpool players spoke out after that game and both believe that Suarez should not have reacted the way he did after that challenge.
Graeme Souness said:
“I’ve played in Latin countries and I’ve worked in Latin countries and I think they, at times, can exaggerate that situation. I think he [Suarez] is a fabulous football player, but I think he’s also a very cute player. He’ll be a great asset for Liverpool, but I think yesterday he overplayed that”
Whilst Ray Houghton went on to comment:
“He did catch Suarez but does that mean that he should have screamed at the top of his voice before he hit the ground? Probably not but that is the way football has gone unfortunately.
If you want to stop challenges like that then we may as well go and play a different game. I don’t think it was a red card. I don’t think it was a yellow card, it was just a very good challenge.”
Now being a Liverpool fan, I have to try stick up for our players as best as I can and I defended Suarez when the debate began that he dives and goes to the ground too easily. But now that the red card has been rescinded, we have very little leverage now in our defence for Suarez.
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The likes of Ronaldo, Drogba and Torres, when they first came to the Premier League, they went to the ground too easily but over a couple of seasons they learnt that they have to stay on their feet as much as possible and hopefully the same will happen to Suarez. In my opinion he does not go down as easily as those three I have mentioned. What is your take on all of this?
According to reports in Italy, Juventus striker Amauri is set for a move to Tottenham Hotspur in January. (Controcampo)
The Brazilian born Italian moved to Juventus for £20 million in 2008 and had in impressive first season in Turin. However, the striker’s form has since deteriorated and this season he has not been involved as Juventus have reached the summit of Serie A.
It now looks as if Harry Redknapp has won the battle for the forward’s signature, with a wage packet of 35,000 a week rumoured to be enough to tempt Amauri to North London.
With Roman Pavlyuchenko’s future up in arms, the striker is apparently looked upon as a good back up to Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermaine Defoe.
Despite Juventus splashing out £20 million just over 3 years ago, the club are prepared to cut their losses on the striker with a solitary international cap for Italy with the transfer fee set to be small.
The player’s agent Enersto Bronzetti confirmed the rumours at the weekend, stating that Amauri ‘is close to signing for an English club.’
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Although the deal may not be set in stone yet, with Bronzetti not ruling out Amauri staying in Italy, ‘Of course, if a top Italian club were to make an offer, then it would be difficult to say no, and Napoli are one of them.’
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has once more defended his comments over the race row in football, and reiterated his desire to battle the problem in the game.
The governing body’s chief has been slated after stating that racist comments could be forgiven at the end of a match if the players shook hands, but again has insisted that racism in sport or society is unacceptable.
“I can tell you that since I have been working with FIFA, which is now virtually 37 years, my first international operation was in Africa, it was in February ’76,” he told Fox Soccer.
“Then I realised, first of all what football means in Africa, but I have also realised what it means to discriminate or be racist.
“I can tell you that in all of my life in football, it has been accompanied by fighting discrimination and fighting racism.
“I thought, and I am still a very optimistic man, that after the World Cup in South Africa, which was about connecting all the different people and races in the country and bringing them together through football, that this is over. But where there are human beings there is some movement and we can never stop to go against racism and discrimination.
“We should also be a little bit, in a sporting spirit, when there is something happening on the field of play during a match between two football players – I call it foul language, I’m not talking about discrimination – at the end of the match if you have had foul play, the match is over and you shake hands because that’s what you want to do at the start of the match and at the end of the match. You should forget what happened on the field of play.
“Having said that, I go on with all of my determination and energy to go against all discrimination and racism,” he concluded.
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As the festive period approaches fast, there are many football fans up and down the country not wishing to find a new pair of socks or a Christmas jumper in their stocking, but instead, a decent defender, a quality striker or new manager to be delivered to their clubs.
As the fallout of another weekend of action drew to a close, much of the musings broadcast over the phone-in’s and message boards are from disgruntled fans who have self-diagnosed problems with their side. Patience is a virtue, but a virtue which is sadly lacking from the hyper-critical who wish for immediate remedy.
What fans do not appear to understand is that there is no quick-fix to solve the failings of a football team. It’s not like putting new batteries into a remote control or a working pair of spark plugs into a car. Simply removing one component of a side and replacing it with a perceived working part does not necessarily guarantee an end product, yet continually fans yearn for change in the hope that change for change’s sake will improve fortunes.
This is a common and age old criticism of football fans, and one which is unlikely to appease any time soon. All across the football spectrum from park sides to those competing at the highest level, there is a demand for constant improvement, and more often than not, that improvement is perceived to only come about through an altering of personnel.
Following their insipid midweek draw to Benfica, Manchester United fans rained in to express their dissatisfaction about the champions current midfield pool and a whole host of names were launched forward as finite examples of who would make the Reds better. Similarly, Chelsea fans reeling from their loss in Leverkusen felt Andre Villas-Boas needed to recruit in several areas, whilst Manchester City fans were bemoaning the lack of quality cover in the Citizens full-back berths.
Of course, the desire to chop and change runs much deeper than simply team affairs. Ask the natives of Blackburn and Sunderland whether they should keep faith with their managers and you will be hit with a resounding response, and even an Everton fan spoke at pains about the need for Bill Kenwright’s regime to be usurped by somebody, anybody, for the supposed better of the club.
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Similar discussions rage all across the footballing pyramid and still the attitude remains the same despite absolutely no evidence that change represents an unequivocal chance of things actually improving. It seems that in an age where results speak volumes, there is increasingly little tolerance to indifferent form or fortune with no chance of redemption. If somebody isn’t doing their job, get ‘em out.
In reality, the mechanics of engineering a successful side run far deeper than knee-jerk amendments and little forethought is given to stability of keeping a settled side and the potential instability of unsettling it. For all of the stats which chart pass completion, shots on target ratio’s and win-lose percentages, it is virtually impossible to compile figures which would suggest a pattern of improvement or decline in relation to new signings or managerial appointments.
A pertinent reference that change is not always needed is in the upturn in form that Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have overseen since the middle of September. After limited incomings and key outgoings over the summer, the Gunners faithful were baying for new blood and although a deadline day flurry saw fresh faces enter the Emirates, Arsenal have gone about reconstructing their season by righting the on-field wrongs which were costing them points earlier in the campaign.
Arsenal’s catastrophic collapse at Blackburn – arguably the lowest ebb’s of Wenger’s Arsenal career – fielded nine of the same players who little over a month later featured in the stunning 5-3 defeat of Chelsea, yet the two performances were poles apart in terms of an understanding and coherence bred from gradual progression on the training ground and implementation in games.
The notion of procuring better players to make a better side is borne from a computer generated Football Manager style fan involvement which caters little for the harmony and equilibrium needed for any team concept to flourish and instead presumes an upgrading of attributes will be the solution to any given problem.
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There is a saying in politics that the man on the street can vote for who runs the country but should never be allowed to run the country himself, and with football fans constantly striving for the simplest solution, perhaps those sentiments should be extended to the nations favourite sport.
Tottenham Hotspur are on fire right now and there are few players in the Premier League in as good form as Spurs midfielder Gareth Bale.
The Welsh winger has been tearing up defences across the country and was at it again at Carrow Road during the week, as Bale scored twice in Tottenham’s 2-0 win against Norwich.
That victory leaves Spurs 3rd in the Premier League table, ready to mount an assault on the two Manchester’s at the top.
Strictly Come Dancing might have finished, but here are Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor dancing in celebration on Tuesday night.
Leave your suggestions below…
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Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson looks set for a move to Everton according to reports in the British press.
Gibson is a fringe player at Old Trafford, has not been part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans this campaign and has been forced to watch the action from the sidelines.
Mirror Football have reported that the Republic of Ireland international is set to sign for the Goodison Park club in a £2 million deal, with the signing expected to be announced on Friday.
Gibson is ready to put pen-to-paper on a four-year contract, reportedly worth £40,000 a week.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports have stated that United have rejected a transfer bid from Newcastle for youngster Ravel Morrison.
The young winger has starred for the youth teams and reserves at the Premier League champions, but due to his contract expiring in the summer has been linked with a move to another club.
The 18-year-old will be available on a free transfer come June, but Alan Pardew’s men are thought to want to steal a march on their rivals by paying a small transfer fee and securing the starlet’s signature immediately; United have rejected this proposal.
Morrison has stated that he is keen to find regular first-team football, and has been reluctant to put pen-to-paper on a new deal at United.
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If the rumours about Carlos Tevez playing again for Manchester City are true, it could be a real headache for Roberto Mancini. Would he play the man who refused to play and to do the job he is paid to do – or would he leave out a man that gives 100% in every game he plays and is a prolific goalscorer? Roberto Mancini has a big decision to make.
Lets look at the reasons for and against
Why Carlos Tevez should play again for Manchester City:
1. He always gives 100% – Everyone knows that when Carlos Tevez plays he doesn’t stop running and will chase every lost cause. Unlike some of the current players at Manchester City, Tevez doesn’t rest on his laurels. He uses every game as an opportunity to prove himself to the fans and everyone else how good he is, even though we all know his talents.
2. He is their ex-captain – Because of Tevez’s leadership skills, he commands respect. He may not be treated the same way by his team-mates when he returns, but he can still help Vincent Kompany to lead the team and help show everyone why he used to be the captain.
3. He is a great goalscorer – Tevez has scored 52 goals in 84 games. Pretty good record. Tevez is always a goal-scoring threat and can score from most chances. Every team needs someone who finishes off their chances and he can do that.
Why Carlos Tevez shouldn’t play for Manchester City again:
1. He has the wrong attitude – Refusing to play and refusing to do their job is completely stupid and how Tevez has kept his place in Manchester City’s team amazes me. Yes he has apologized, which is always the first step to go, but he didn’t do his job and then he disappeared to Argentina for a few months, abandoning his club and his position of trust.
2. Would he be picked? – With Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli as striking options at Man City, Mancini would rather opt for them rather than Tevez, seeing as the other three know where the goal is and Mancini has obvious problems with him.
3. His team-mates might not respect him – While his team-mates have been mounting a Premier League title challenge, Tevez has been in Argentina, playing golf and lounging around the beach. Will his team-mates have the same respect they had for him before?
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