Brendan Rodgers has hit back at criticism of £15 million signing Joe Allen this week after the Welsh Player of the Year was scrutinised by “so-called pundit” Alan Shearer on Match of the Day.
Rodgers brought the 22-year-old with him from Swansea this summer, and has become part of the new regime at Anfield. His career for the Reds has started well, being voted player of the month for August by Liverpool fans. However, Alan Shearer criticised the midfielder for not doing enough on the ball in attack.
The Liverpool boss believes Shearer’s analysis is wrong, and that keeping the ball is integral to the Welshman’s role in the team.
“I saw something the other day criticising Joe Allen for not playing risk passes. Unbelievable – so-called pundits who don’t know the dynamics of a team and how it functions,” Rodgers said.
“Joe’s role is to keep the ball. And that, in Britain, is a special talent. It is why Paul Scholes is still playing to his age.”
Rodgers believes the return of injured holding midfielder Lucas Leiva next month will give Allen more licence going forward.
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“When Lucas is back, you’ll see more aspects of Joe’s game. Lucas could hold, with Joe playing in an advanced role. Lucas is more defensive, and that will help Joe,” he added.
The great performers in Europe are always going to see their popularity rise in the Premier League. The pull of English football means that many of the best will always find a way to transfer to one of the leading clubs in England.
It may have been disappointing that England never got to witness past greats such as Zidane, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, and even now English clubs have to battle the two giants in Spain for the very best Europe has to offer. Regardless, it would also seen inappropriate for players to dismiss English football and any future in the Premier League. Rising empires all over Europe also means it’s difficult for many clubs to compete financially, but the history of some of the big clubs is sure to be a greater pull than the size of any potential pay packet.
English clubs want the glamour and high-profile nature of the best Europe has to offer. Their quality also almost guarantees security in clubs’ investment, although that’s evidently not always the case.
Some may be in their prime while others are still establishing their qualities in European football, but all of the following players would be big hits in England.
Click on Marco Reus to unveil the top 10
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has slated his teams’ performance after their 2-1 defeat away at Wigan yesterday, as reported by talkSPORT.
West Ham were second best throughout the game at the DW Stadium and the manager felt that the performance was of a bottom three side rather than a top ten side which he expects from his players.
“It was a bottom three performance rather than a top four display. We never hit the level of performance that we know we can,
“We never really tested Wigan. When we got into the final third we hardly produced a ball of quality to cause them a problem. We also kept giving the ball away before we could get into their half. It was a lackluster performance all round in possession and out of possession.
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“We were chasing around instead of staying as a tight solid unit. We had too many players not hitting their top form,”
Aston Villa are locked in a battle with Fiorentina in a bid to sign French U-21 ace Massadio Haidara, according to talkSPORT.
The Nancy left-back has gained the attention of a number of top European clubs after impressing for his club at the age of just 19. It was reoprted that Paul Lambert had lined up a deal for Haidara in the summer but the move never materialised. The Villa boss now hopes to reignite his interest in the player, who has spent his entire career at Nancy. However, the Scotsman may have to do battle with Fiorentina, who have only recently declared their interest in the young Frenchman.
It is thought that Haidara can head to Birmingham or Florence for as little as €2.5 million, a relative bargain considering the supposed talents that the youngster possesses.
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Since making his first professional debut for Nancy in 2010, at the age of just 17, Haidara, who is also eligible to play for Senegal, has made 33 appearances, taking over as first choice left back midway through last season. With Villa performing below standards this season, Lambert keen to invest in new blood in January, With Haidara one of many targets that the former Norwich man is set to bid for.
“He scores when he wants” has been the chant at Portman Road for a while now and of course those chants have been rightly aimed at in form striker DJ Campbell.
I must admit, at first I was skeptical as to whether he would be the right man for the club. After all, it is usually hard work and grit that gets you away from the relegation zone and Campbell is not a player that I thought had these qualities. However it has been a pleasant surprise to see the man on loan from QPR work his socks off and score some crucial goals.
He has already become a bit of a fans favourite and it is safe to say that everyone at Ipswich would love to see him stay, but I find myself thinking; has Campbell done too well during his loan spell?
The problem with the striker doing so well is that he will have grabbed the attention of his parent club as well as any other clubs that have some cash to spare.
I guess another factor to think about is whether QPR would be happy to let him go and whether the player would be happy to go back to QPR. It seems clear that Campbell would love to go back to QPR if he has a chance of playing Premier League football and before Mark Hughes was sacked it looked certain that the player would be going back there for good. Now his future will depend on whether Harry Redknapp can offer him first team football.
Although QPR are struggling, their main problem is their defence rather than their front line so it seems likely that Redknapp will not be too bothered about letting the 31-year-old forward move on. The London club will no doubt splash the cash on a number of high profile signings in January too so I cannot see Campbell being high up in the pecking order there for very long.
That suggests that Ipswich will have a good chance of keeping him but many other Championship clubs will be relishing the chance to snap up the former Blackpool man.
Unfortunately, if history is anything to go by then the Tractor Boys have very little chance of securing his signature. Over the last few seasons the club has missed out on almost every one of their preferred transfer targets. This summer we saw Sam Baldock and Tomasz Kuszczak chose to move to smaller Championship sides rather than joining Ipswich, but hopefully the same thing will not happen again.
It may not be much to go on but Campbell looks happy at Ipswich and he has obviously fitted in well with the rest of the team. His body language suggests that he gets on well with his teammates and would be happy to stay put. Also, from his point of view it would make sense to join Ipswich because he knows that the team work well around him, whereas if he moved elsewhere he may not have the same success.
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It would be a shame if Ipswich did not sign Campbell as he is a brilliant poacher at Championship level and will always provide at least 15 goals a season. QPR may demand a fairly high fee for him and he may ask for a lot in terms of wages, but you cannot put a price on a consistent goalscorer.
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.