Traitor – a person who is guilty of treason or treachery, in betraying friends, country, a cause or trust.
No football fan likes to see a favoured player leave their club, but they hate it when that player leaves their club only to go down the road to their local rivals, sometimes even worse, their league rivals.
Every club has one, a player who was once a hero, turned villain as he ditches his team in the name of careerism and often for better wages and a chance of glory.
This Traitors XI is filled with footballers branded Judas as they commit the ultimate sin and join their arch-rivals.
Click on Luis Figo for a mix of derby side-swappers, money-grabbing mercenaries and players who are simply disloyal to their team and their fans, who collectively form Judas United FC – A Traitors XI
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Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero faces an anxious 48-hour wait to discover the extent of a hamstring injury he sustained in his sides victory over Stoke yesterday, the Telegraph reports.
The Argentina international scored his eighth league goal of the season, continuing to show signs that he was beginning to get back to his best following a slow start to the campaign.
Aguero will now definitely miss Manchester City’s FA cup third-round tie against Watford on Saturday and is a doubt for their league clash at Arsenal a week later.
“It’s bad enough that he won’t play on Saturday,” said first team coach David Platt.
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“It’s difficult to assess an injury like that for how long it’s going to be. On Saturday, he will be out. He’ll be doubtful for Arsenal. It’s a hamstring. There are different degrees of hamstring, that’s why you need the 48 hours. We’ll just have to see.”
The news will come as a huge blow for City boss Roberto Mancini who had seen his side struggling for goals recently, before hitting four past Norwich and three more yesterday against Stoke, performances in which Aguero was an integral part of alongside Edin Dzeko.City have cover in forward positions from the likes of Carlos Tevez and the unpredictable Mario Balotelli. However with key midfielder Yaya Toure set to depart for the African Cup of Nations along with his brother Kolo, Mancini won’t want to lose other key players from any areas of his team.
Victor Anichebe believes his Everton teammate Leighton Baines is the Premier League’s most lethal set-piece specialist.
Nigerian striker Anichebe netted the Toffees’ winner in the 2-1 win away at Newcastle on Wednesday.
But it was Baines’ free-kick that stunned all in the North East, as the superb strike just before half-time levelled the scores after Papiss Demba Cisse had given the Toon an early lead.
The Kirky-born left-back has established himself as a fine dead-ball specialist. He won Everton’s goal of the season two years ago for a stunning FA Cup free-kick against Chelsea, while he has never missed from the penalty spot in his Premier League career.
And, asked if his teammate is the best in the division, Anichebe told evertontv: “It would be very hard to find someone [better]. He’s definitely up there and he’s a great plus for the team.
“I haven’t seen a better free-kick. I was sitting on the bench and I saw him about to take it from 35 yards or whatever and I didn’t think he was going to hit it. I was shouting on the bench [for him not to].
“It was an unbelievable free-kick, but that just shows how good he is. He is unbelievable, every game he is consistent. I don’t see him playing badly.”
Baines is no stranger to Everton’s goal of the season award, after his exquisite free-kick last season against Swansea saw him shortlisted for the prize again.
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The England international has scored nineteen goals in all competitions for the Merseysiders since joining from Wigan in 2007.
Brendan Rodgers is trying to make the best of a bad situation, I get that. The tie isn’t over yet, and why would it be? Zenit scored twice at home and still have to travel to Anfield. For all the money they’ve spent in recent transfer windows, Zenit are not that good.
The Liverpool manager might be forgiven for consciously protecting his players, even if he believes they should come in for some criticism. Describing the away loss as “near-on perfect” is what you’d expect from a manager, as how often do they stand before reporters and publically slaughter their own team? But sometimes you’d like that, and at the very least, it would be better if managers didn’t try and convey something that is as far from the truth as can possibly be.
Andre Villas-Boas was guilty of similar actions earlier in the season, at a time when he was still finding the right level of comfort for the hot seat at Tottenham. He was overly confident of his team’s performance in the 5-2 loss at Arsenal, while having absolutely no evidence from the 90 minutes at the Emirates to support his claims.
But that’s what managers do, and some go to greater lengths to try and paint a better picture than what is actually a more worrying reality.
How does Rodgers realistically defend his Liverpool side after the trip to Russia? For starters, Hulk, who isn’t really worth the fee Porto received from Zenit, opened the scoring with a scorcher – one of his few party pieces. Where was the Liverpool defence? Why allow someone of his ability from range the time and space to size up Pepe Reina’s goal?
The finer details of the Liverpool performance can be dissected elsewhere and the topic of the team’s quality over the course of the season will continue to be much debated.
But it’s Rodgers. It’s whether he believes what he’s saying. It’s whether he’s still struggling to find that position in the Liverpool dugout that he’s had to look for since the start of the season.
What good do the manager’s post-match offerings do for his team? If he says the performance at Zenit was good, then his team are likely to accept that. Subconsciously they’re under the impression that they gave their all in a match where a better side came out victorious. That’s not the case, because again Zenit are not that good.
But it’s not just central to the away trip in the Europa League. This Liverpool team have not beaten any of the teams above them in the league; West Brom have done the double over them, and they’re out of the FA Cup. Yet Rodgers seems to offer small packages of praise to his players, as if all is well on the road to ultimate victory.
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Do you wonder if the pressure is starting to tell for the former Swansea manager? Maybe he is in at the deep end. I doubt he’s the type to admit defeat, but the wider footballing world are not going to be too forgiving, nor are they likely to offer leeway with the idea that Liverpool are on a long-term plan to rebuild.
It’s about status and maintaining a high level in English football. Liverpool are one of the most decorated teams in England, one of only two who are well ahead of everyone else. Chelsea and Manchester City still have a lot to do to match Liverpool and Manchester United, who collectively hold eight European cups and 37 league titles. However, the Liverpool manager speaking about wins at home against much lesser teams doesn’t create a pleasant image. Is he conceding that Liverpool have fallen that far and now have to take whatever they can get from wins against recently promoted sides?
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It isn’t really a surprise that Rodgers was part of Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff at one time, and you can see he wants to pick up traits from the Portuguese manager. But no one will allow that. Mourinho can do what he wants and wage wars where he feels the need, and for the most part he can leave you wondering whether he is actually in the right. You had to smile at the Real Madrid manager’s post-match interview following the 1-1 draw with Manchester United; calm, confident and maybe just a bit too cool considering the surrounding issues at the Bernabeu.
For Rodgers, it’s hard to talk about in him a similar light because he hasn’t earned that reputation in the game. It’s always necessary for managers to twist the truth in a manner which suits them and their team, but consistently drawing conclusions that do not sit at all right can become a damaging trend for Rodgers.
I’d like to see the Liverpool manager given the time he needs at Anfield and go as close to completing this five-year plan as he can, and then perhaps even go beyond that. But admitting sometimes that you weren’t quite good enough is always essential. Targeting underperforming players isn’t always a bad thing. Going stale, however, is the likely outcome from indulgence into the fantasy world.
Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak says that he is fully committed to the club, despite speculation surrounding his future.
The Russian front-man moved to the Madejski Stadium last summer, after seeing out a short-term contract with Fulham.
Despite a relatively successful time in Berkshire, Pogrebnyak’s future is far from certain, with rumours circulating that he could return to his homeland with Zenit Saint-Petersburg.
However, the 29-year-old played down talk of a move away from the club, insisting that he is focused on helping in the Royals in their quest for Premier League survival:
“The season is not over, so it would be too soon to talk about the future.” He is quoted by Sky Sports via Sport-Express.
“Now, I focus on helping Reading to get important points in the Premier League.”
Pogrebnyak has netted five goals for Reading this term, but has been unable to prevent the club from slipping to 19th place in the league.
He spent two seasons with Zenit earlier in his career, before moving to Germany to play for Stuttgart.
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The Russian giants are believed to be keen to bring their former man back, and could pull off a swoop should Reading fail to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
I’ll start this by pointing out that I’m a fan of GFH. After originally voicing my doubts as the takeover concluded I’ve spoken out in support of them over the last few months as they’ve progressed in making positive changes for the club, it’s made a refreshing change.
Change is exactly what GFH promised, and credit where credit is due, in the majority of areas they’ve stuck to that promise. We’ve seen cheaper match tickets, cheaper season tickets and a few little promotions here and there to try and get the fans united again, for that they deserve recognition.
On the flip side, there’s a serious problem that needs addressing before all of the above becomes meaningless, and with that in mind, I’d like GFH to read the following and try to remedy the situation, for the good of the club.
It’s been discussed countless times, but under Bates the communication with the fans broke down to an irreparable point. Over time even those that were trying not to turn against him had no choice due to the utter lack of respect shown to entire fan base, there are only so many times you can ignore questions from the people that matter before they start to realize that they’re being sold a lie.
When GFH took over we were promised better communication between the board and the fans, and for the first few weeks that seemed to be the case. We were reading interviews left right and centre that had been given to fans, blogs and the damage done by Bates seemed to be healing.
With that in mind, it’s hard to understand why of all a sudden the fans are feeling as though they are on the wrong side of a divide once again.
The last few months has seen countless rumours about GFH’s intentions, we’ve also had Neil Warnock telling us that the search for his successor is already taking place. Reports continue to appear claiming that the club is about to be sold and even the GFH website stated that the company were actively looking to sell it’s share in the club, yet the silence from the owners couldn’t be more deafening.
The club may have released a statement last week reaffirming their stance on the takeover rumours, but it didn’t even come close to answering the questions being asked.
When it comes to the future of the club the fans are in the dark once again, and this is something that needs to change. The season is coming to an end and we’ve got a manager in charge who seems to get a kick out of telling us all how much he won’t be here next season, so why have we not had some form of statement of intent from the owners letting us know exactly what their plan is? Nobody expects names of potential candidates, but at least let us know that someone out there is working on bringing the right man in.
Not only that, but are we going to be entering the new season with GFH at the helm or someone else? Again, nobody expects details, we just want to know exactly what is happening with our club. If we’re up for sale, tell us. If we’re not, tell us. If there’s a bid in progress then tell us. It really shouldn’t be as difficult as this to find out information about the future of the club you support and plough money into week after week.
It also confused me to find that GFH have not been in contact with L.U.S.T. since they took over, despite efforts from the trust. With re-engaging the fans being at the top of their priority list I find it odd, and a little disheartening, to see that whatever went on throughout the takeover saga appears to have left the wedge created by Bates between the club and the trust firmly in place. We as fans were expected to give GFH a slate wiped completely clean once they finally completed the deal, so it would be a bold statement, and one that would show a truly united front, were they to offer the same to L.U.S.T and to build a bridge with them as soon as possible. As Ken found out on more than one occasion, ignoring them will not simply make them go away.
Lowering ticket prices and promotions may well get the fans attention, but in the grand scheme of things what use is that when we’re all staring into the abyss of a wasted season not knowing what the future holds? There’s no action plan to turn to, we’re all left guessing and trying to piece rumours together.
The hard work in getting the fans interest back has begun with promise, but GFH are in danger of letting it all go to waste by not sticking to the one promise that mattered most to the fans, communication. We don’t expect fine details, but when we ask a question we no longer expect it to be met with silence, we were under the impression that those days were done.
Whether they plan on staying or selling, GFH have the opportunity to bring the fans and the club together for the first time in recent history and it is an opportunity that won’t last forever. Even if the answers to our questions aren’t exactly what we want to hear, the mere fact that someone had been bold and brave enough to answer them would be enough, and it really would demonstrate the change that we were all promised.
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Should any board member from GFH be reading this I’ll keep it short and sweet, you’ve made positive strides in your short time here but we still have a serious lack of direction. If you speak to us and give us a dream to buy into we’ll be right behind you, the choice is entirely yours, but it’s a choice that needs to me made sooner rather than later.
We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.
Summary: A brace from John Terry and stunning strike from David Luiz earned Chelsea a valuable derby win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Blues breezed past their west London counterparts on the Thames to claim third spot from Arsenal and give their bid for Champions League qualification a timely boost.
After a bright opening from Cottagers, which saw Bryan Ruiz volley narrowly over in the fifth minute, the visitors took the lead in spectacular circumstances on the half hour.
Picking the ball up 35-yards from goal Luiz blasted an unstoppable drive into the top corner that gave Mark Schwarzer absolutely no chance.
And just before half time the game was settled when Juan Mata whipped over a corner from the right that was headed in by Terry at the near post ahead of Phillipe Senderos.
Mladen Petric spurned two chances after the break to give Fulham a lifeline and with 20 minutes remaining Terry nipped in to bundle the ball home after Fernando Torres flicked on a corner.
Martin Jol post-match…”We couldn’t get the goal we should have had in the first few minutes and we had other chances, but we didn’t get the break. If you didn’t see the game, the result was bit harsh.”
Rafael Benitez post-match…”Obviously to win is very important and to win with a clean sheet and with three goals is important and to win a derby… there are lots of positives today.”
Good night for…John Terry: A welcome return to the side for Terry, who took both of his goals with extreme aplomb. Apart from a few scares the Chelsea skipper soon found his feet once again as the teams defensive cornerstone.
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Bad night for…Phillipe Senderos: Failed to pick up Terry for both of his goals and was generally the weak link in Fulham’s back line. Wasteful in possession and, at times, was his own worst enemy with poor positioning.
Tottenham are interested in signing Brazilian midfielder Hernanes, according to talkSPORT.
The Lazio midfielder is also wanted by PSG as well as the Premier League side.
Hernanes, who scored 11 goals in Serie A this season, is currently on international duty with Brazil for the Confederations Cup. The 28-year-old came off the bench in his nation’s 2-0 victory over Mexico last night.
Andre Villas-Boas is keen on bringing the midfielder, as he looks to add more creativity to his midfield ahead of the new season. Spurs relied heavily on Gareth Bale for inspiration last season, and the club’s Portuguese manager is key to boost his options going forward.
But PSG are leading the race for the Brazilian’s signature according to reports in the Italian press. Gazzetta dello Sport claim the high spending French club’s sporting director Leonardo is flying out to meet with the midfielder in Brazil, to negotiate a transfer.
Hernanes scored two goals in Lazio’s Coppa Italia run, as the club went on to beat rivals Roma in the final to lift the trophy.
But it looks set to be his first and only trophy with the Rome club, as PSG and Spurs step up their pursuit of the Brazilian midfielder.
Should Spurs make Hernanes a priority? Should he join PSG instead of Tottenham?
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Preceding him in making a big-money switch from La Liga, and specifically not from one of the Big Two, to the Premier League in recent times has been Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Juan Mata and David Silva. This summer, Roberto Soldado joined Alvaro Negredo in swapping Valencia and Sevilla respectively, each held back by the glass ceiling of Spanish football, to join new, exciting and deserved frontiers.
If there have been concerns over Soldado’s scoring form at this stage in his Tottenham career, then they’re misguided. The Spaniard was Valencia’s most saleable asset in a period of the club’s history when financial strengthening was paramount. In two of his three seasons at the Mestalla, Soldado helped to guide the club into the Champions League, a tandem formed with now departed coach Unai Emery that would see Valencia as the third best club in Spain.
This is a player who Tottenham have not only bought for his scoring exploits, but for his experience and big-match temperament. He’s well suited to the Champions League, as well as finding room to make himself known in clashes with Real Madrid in particular. He may not be as fashionable as Torres was and Aguero currently is, but Soldado has offered a similar guarantee of goals wherever he’s played.
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Tottenham would do well to steer clear of the path that was trodden by Real Madrid, who failed to capitalise on the talent of a young Soldado, first farming him out to Osasuna and then moving him on permanently in 2008 to Getafe. Last season, Real suffered in attack due to the inconsistent or altogether poor form of Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema; at Valencia, Soldado was battling for the place as La Liga’s top scoring Spanish striker. On the final day of the season, he lost out to Negredo, finishing one goal behind the then Sevilla striker’s 25.
At Valencia, Soldado was without question the best striker. At Spurs, the Devil may care attitude of Emmanuel Adebayor and the inconsistency of Jermain Defoe has offered the Spaniard the same status. Soldado is not without his flaws too, of course. Only last season did he really do away with those lengthy scoring droughts. At 28, he is the finished product, but how late has the switch away from La Liga come?
I don’t subscribe to the idea that every foreign player needs to “adapt” to English football. It may be the case for some, but it shouldn’t be seen as the default rule. Soldado, however, needs the team setup to get the best out of him.
His quickness was often of use in La Liga, able to counterattack with midfield playmakers releasing him through on goal. The industry of players like Sofiane Feghouli and Jonas were often the perfect foil for Soldado, too. The Spaniard isn’t always likely to play a part in the build up play; despite being able to craft his own chances, he’s very much seen as a poacher.
Instead, Tottenham’s much talked about midfield will need to find a balance in protecting their goal and furthering their good defensive form and bringing the best out of a striker who is more than capable. In Erik Lamela, Andre Villas-Boas has a wide player with creative tendencies and far more experience in a top European league than Christian Eriksen. At present, Tottenham have a lot of players who are capable of shooting from range and adding to the score line themselves, but where is the designated playmaker and direct line for the striker?
Soldado has barely played two months-worth of Premier League games; the goals and performances will come. He’s proved to Vicente Del Bosque that he can cut it for the Spanish national team, improving on his linkup play with a group of midfielders who are unlikely to be instructed to go direct. Villas-Boas will also need to find a balance with what he has, and there should be little doubt that it will come to fruition.
A crucial factor in this is that Soldado is a player who needs very little motivation to succeed.
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Is Roberto Soldado’s form a cause for concern at Tottenham?
Andros Townsend has been taking the footballing world by storm, a series of swashbuckling displays for both club and country have seen the young starlet begin his rise to prominence. Some may have been apprehensive about the possible comedown from his England heroics, but Townsend continued to dazzle and delight as Tottenham put Aston Villa to the sword on Sunday afternoon.
Not everything is perfect in the world of AVB, and Spurs were more clinical than they were convincing during their last Premier League outing. But with Erik Lamela watching on impatiently, is it high time that Spurs shuffled their attacking pack?
AVB has become seemingly obsessed with this whole ‘inverted winger’ idea, where both Spurs’ predominant wide men play on the opposite side to what is considered orthodox. A left footed Townsend playing on the right and a right footed Sigurdsson on the left.
It has been a ploy that has consistently seen Townsend cut in off the wing, a la Bale, and cause problems for opposition in more central areas. Townsend has been remarkably successful, and this in no small part down to his apparent comfort at playing off either foot. In fact some of his recent finishes with his supposed weaker foot have put a lot of the Tottenham frontline to shame.
The problem for me though with the current Tottenham system is the decision to persist with playing Sigurdsson out left. I like the Icelandic midfielder a lot and he is undoubtedly an outstanding talent, but I along with many Spurs fans would argue that he just isn’t a winger. In fact both Sigurdsson and AVB clearly feel the same way because he so regularly drifts into the middle of the park, congesting areas that the likes of Dembele and Eriksen should be patrolling.
Spurs’ narrowness was brutally exploited by West Ham a couple of weeks ago, with a wall of claret placed up against AVB’s midfielders. Too slow to introduce Lamela in my opinion, the gameplan was brutally exposed by the apparent tactical genius of ‘Allardici’ or whatever ‘Big Sam’ is calling himself now.
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Tottenham always look most dangerous when they have pace and craft in wide areas, think Lennon and Bale during the Redknapp Champions League campaign. With Townsend as the only predominant wide man he is now beginning to be marked out of the game, the first half against Aston Villa was a profound example of this with the England star consistently frustrated by the home side doubling up on him.
For me the only solution, and one that I think AVB will inevitably turn to is the gradual inclusion of £30m record signing Erik Lamela into the first team. Fans seem frustrated by the slow introduction of Lamela to proceedings at Spurs, but personally I think it is only prudent to be cautious with such a precocious young foreign talent.
However, the current shortcomings for Spurs may well dictate the necessity of bringing the Argentine winger into the fold much more quickly than first thought. Lamela is another left-footer who was comfortable playing out right during his hugely successful days at Roma.
The dilemma for AVB is as to which way round he plays these two youngsters. Switch Townsend onto the left wing, or play Lamela there?
As a traditionalist I always think it is best to play a winger on his natural side, being able to comfortably cut in is just an added bonus. Clearly with two left-footed wide men AVB doesn’t have this possibility and this is an issue for him to mull over.
In my view though it really doesn’t matter, keen to keep the opposition guessing I would expect both wide men to float in off the wings and interchange regularly during a game. The key difference between this and what Spurs have now is that with two genuine wingers, it is impossible for teams to double up without creating additional space for the other man.
Townsend proved against Villa that he is neither one-dimensional nor predictable, able to beat his man and cross or cut in and shoot; he menaced Antonio Luna for much of the afternoon.
Having watched Lamela briefly for Roma I expect exactly the same kind of variety that might already be expected from Townsend. The most important thing is that Spurs move quickly away from the realms of predictability that they currently find themselves in in, something that has regularly stifled their abilities to score.
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With Lamela and Townsend racing down either flank I can see Spurs being a totally different prospect in the coming months
Is it time for AVB to create the Lamela-Townsend partnership?