The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) have denied reports that national team coach Guus Hiddink is headed for Chelsea.On Monday, the BBC quoted a senior source at the TFF as saying the association is resigned to losing the 64-year-old Dutchman to Stamford Bridge, where a vacant managerial position is waiting following Carlo Ancelotti’s sacking.
The report sparked a fresh round of criticism in Turkey, with leading media outlets prematurely lambasting Hiddink for abandoning the national team ahead of the 2012 European Championships.
But a TFF spokesman has since rubbished the speculation of Hiddink’s departure, saying there would be no movement on the issue until TFF President Mahmut Ozgener returns from holiday.
“There is nothing official happening because both parties are away,” Turker Tozar said.
“Mr Hiddink is on holiday now and the president is on holiday for a week as well. Nothing can happen at the moment.”
Tozar also denied that a compensation deal had already been negotiated between the TFF and Chelsea, saying: “Mr Hiddink is still our manager and he has a contract until 2012.”
Hiddink had a temporary spell in charge at Stamford Bridge in 2009 after they sacked Luis Felipe Scolari, and he led the Blues to FA Cup glory that season.
However his commitment to coaching the Russian national team meant his tenure was only temporary.
He is known to have a strong relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who sacked Ancelotti despite the Blues finishing runners-up behind champions Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that his side had lost concentration during their 2-1 Champions League reverse away to Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Gunners took an early lead in the Donbass Arena through Theo Walcott, but were behind by half-time and failed to recover after the interval, leaving them still short of securing a place in the knockout stages.
Wenger told reporters:"Congratulations to Donetsk, they played well and won the game.
"We had a good start, but after that we lost our urgency and let Donetsk come into the game too much.
"We lost concentration in the duels and you could see what was coming towards half-time.
"I felt we moved out of the game altogether and moved into the game altogether, so it was more of a team problem, a kind of complacency problem more than an individual problem.
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"In the second half we came back into the game and gave a lot, you cannot fault the team and we were a bit unlucky.
"We have learned the lesson that at this level you cannot lose focus at any moment and that is why we were punished. But we are still in a strong position in the group."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
In the last 4 games Preston have accumulated a total of five points with 1 win, 2 draws and a defeat.
Lows of a poor defeat at Tranmere and a home draw against Scunthorpe United have been counterbalanced with a deserved win at Exeter and an encouraging draw away at play-off chasing Carlisle who are unbeaten in 15 home games.
Mad March has been a rollercoaster ride where it seemed as if Preston would be destined for a bottom half finish after failing to take chances against a poor Scunthorpe team who rarely threatened the Preston net until the latter stages of the game and it was only an offside flag that prevented Chris Holroyd scoring his first Preston goal. While Graham Cummins managed to end the teams goal drought at Tranmere with an early goal, an embarrassingly poor second half performance saw the Lilywhites slip to a 2-1 defeat on a warm night in Merseyside and there was a lot of anger expressed at the team at the end of the game with the away support loudly shouting “Westley sort it out”
The next two games have showed that he has indeed listened to these chants as PNE claimed four vital points. A brace from influential striker Iain Hume, including an 85th minute winner, ensured a first away win for Westley since taking charge of Preston with a 2-1 victory over struggling Exeter. This success was the first time that Preston had scored more than one goal since the 3-2 home win against Wycombe all the way back in January when the caretaker managers were in charge.
Even though it wasn’t a win, the away draw at Carlisle was perhaps the most promising of the quartet. Before last night, Preston had failed to keep a clean sheet away from home in 2012 and only 3 teams this season (Rochdale, Hartlepool and Tranmere) have stopped Carlisle from scoring. With Carlisle unbeaten in 15 matches at home, a 0-0 draw is a strong result and no less than we deserved after a solid performance where we looked threatening at times with Graham Cummins wondering how he didn’t manage to score after being put one on one with the keeper.
The next two games against Bury and Brentford are ones which we will be looking to get at least four points from to get over the 50 point mark as after that the next three games are Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons and Stevenage. All three of those games will be extremely difficult (including a return to Westley’s old club) and the sooner we can get to 50 points the better as it will lift a weight off the shoulders and mean there is no pressure to get results against a lot of very tough teams in April.
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An international survey, conducted by OnePoll for UEFA Champions League sponsor Heineken has shown that men around the world would be prepared to give up and miss out on a romantic date with a leading international supermodel in order to see their team win the UEFA Champions League Final.
The study found that one in two men (52%) around the world would consider passing up a date with the likes of Brazilian model Adriana Lima if it meant that they got the opportunity to see their beloved team lift the 2011 UEFA Champions League trophy in Wembley. In fact, without hesitation, 37% of these men would miss or definitely miss out on such a perfect evening.
However, the international beauties can take comfort in the knowledge that despite this snub, even more men would find an excuse to skip their friend’s all-important stag-party (62%) while an amazing 44% would actually hand over the ultimate honour of being the ‘best-man’ to someone else! It just goes to show how the tournament captures the imagination of men around the world and the lengths people would go to in order to see their favourite team triumph in Wembley and be crowned champions of Europe.
The research among 5,638 men of legal drinking age across 15 countries, also found that this year’s final may even strain a few relationships. 58% confirmed that they would be willing to skip a date with their wife or girlfriend, while 55% of men around the world would be prepared to get their relationship off to a rocky start and face the wrath of potential in-laws by attending the match rather than meeting their girlfriend’s parents for the very first time.
Men’s passion for football clearly impacts on other important events in their lives, in and outside of work. The top ten life events that men from around the world would be willing to miss to see their team win are as follows:
1. A friend’s stag-party (62%)
2. A date with a girlfriend/wife (58%)
3. Meeting a girlfriend’s parents for the first time (55%)
4. An important meeting with the boss (48%)
5. A mother’s birthday (46%)
6. Best – Man’s duties (44%)
7. Wedding anniversary (44%)
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8. Girlfriend’s birthday (44%)
9. University Graduation Ceremony (43%)
10. An important hospital appointment (43%)
While football is considered more important than almost anything else, at least three in five men would be honest and try to explain the reason why they have missed out on a special occasion in order to go to London’s spiritual football home. However, 75% men believe that they would expect their family and friends to understand why they chose to be at the final instead of with them.
Stoke 1-2 Man. Utd – With the world, his wife and all their immediate family pre-occupied with the subject of Wayne Rooney last week, the man who overtook Carlos Tevez to become the world’s highest paid boglin on Friday evening spent his 25th birthday sunning himself in opulent Dubai whilst his lesser work colleagues slugged it out in Stoke, a city with the only football team in the country to employ football as a back up tactic. But the gods of football it seems do at least have a sense of humor, if not over troubled with the values of loyalty and perspective, as Rooney’s unknown, unfeted understudy won United the game with the very strikers instinct El Wazza’s been missing this season. Javier ‘Chicharito (Little Pea)’ Hernandez may look like a 12-year-old girl with a crew cut but already looks the part of heir apparent to Ole Solskjaer. His first goal was a gem of genuine originality as he arched like a flying sea lion to reach an awkward pull back, and scored – very deliberately – with the back of his head. To compound the irony, he celebrated by kissing his badge, which now almost certainly means he’ll angle for a move away the second United fail to win the league four times in a row. Gary Neville somehow avoided being sent off for a clear second yellow but was so rubbish anyway it most likely did Stoke a favor. Tuncay leveled with the goal of the game but that only served to wake United up from their second half malaise and Chicharito grabbed his second from close range before celebrating with a fan who looked bigger than all of United’s players put together. But then Wayne Rooney’s head was in Dubai.
Man. City 0-3 Arsenal – What on paper looks like a serious credibility dent in City’s quest to turn the big four into five is tempered slightly by the fact they played for 86 minutes of this encounter with ten men. Boyata received his marching orders in less than five minutes for denying a goal scoring opportunity, a decision which didn’t take into consideration that the recipient was Marouane Chamakh, or that the ball wasn’t four yards out and in the air. Samir Nasri gave the visitors the lead after one of those rare Arsenal moves that actually ends with a shot before their weekly compulsory penalty was saved admirably by Joe Hart. Adebayor was brought on to rally the home side and give the visiting Gooners something to shout at, but the away side made comfortable work of their personnel advantage and after Song had toe punted a resolution to another bout of obsessive compulsive passing disorder, Nicklas Bendtner rounded things off after breaking free of the City defence at the speed of a arthritic dinner lady.
Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn – With ownership issues now thoroughly behind them and with no one to aim overly sentimental minor celebrity endorsed viral video appeals at, Liverpool fans could concentrate on the proper business of supporting their team, and for once this season, their team actually looked worth supporting. So up for it they were in fact that Paul Robinson had his work cut out just trying to keep Blackburn in it in the first half. His valiant, balding resistance was undone only a couple of minutes into the second however as Sotirios Kyrgiakos – who looks like a circus giant who isn’t actually a giant – powered in a Steven Gerrard corner, helpfully assisted by Martin Olsson, who bafflingly decided to direct his headed clearance towards the middle of the goal, despite sanding on the post. Rovers found themselves level only a few minutes later however, as the most loveable man in football El Hadji Diouf, had his scuffed shot cleared off the line by Konchesky, right onto the iron buttocks of Jamie Carragher and back into the net. It was a goal of Laurel and Hardy-esque comic ineptitude, rescued from significance – though probably not an appearance on a football funnies Christmas video hosted by Danny Dyer in a shed – by Fernando Torres, who slotted in the winner from a Joe Cole cross only a few minutes later.
Continued on Page TWO
Chelsea 2-0 Wolves – The subplot to this game – as it’s become in every game these two have faced off – was the meeting of Petr Cech and the inspiration behind his iconic headwear, Stephen Hunt. His first action in this game – midway through the second half – was to almost score, rather ironically, by throwing himself head first at a ball that was quite easily volley high, placing his bonce in a fair degree of danger in the process. He may have dished it out, but no one can say he’s not willing to take it. As for the actual football, Chelsea managed to win comfortably without really playing that well and after Florent Malouda had broken the dreadlock, I mean dead lock, they never looked in doubt of doing it either. They had the chances to increase their lead, at one point scuppering their own breakaway by having too many people in it, but any early season hopes fans had of going through the entire campaign beating everyone 6-0 have unfortunately faded.
West Brom 2-1 Fulham – West Brom continued their relentless march to universal respect and admiration, furthering their chances of staying up comfortably whilst also actually playing football, despite being pitted here against a team sneakily employing state of the art camouflage tactics. Such is the odd hue of Fulham’s dark green away number, that at times it was actually quite hard to see them if you squinted, giving the impression that the Baggies were playing no one at all (which probably made the score line quite surprising for anyone slightly visually impaired.) This could also go some way to explaining why the home side weren’t awarded a stonewall penalty when Kelly was brought down in the second half, with the referee presumably assuming him to have tripped over the turf. But by then West Brom were already in charge, having recovered from the second, or first chronological bum goal of the weekend to take and hold a 2-1 lead. Roberto Di Matteo is quickly becoming one of my favorite League managers, despite his obviously having no eyes.
Sunderland 1-0 Villa – In one of those games with pots of chances but woeful finishing, it was left to Richard Dunne to save the day from goallessness, by leaping like a lorry driver to clear a near post cross into his own net. Even more unfortunately for Dunne, this was made all the more pointless by the fact there were no Sunderland players anywhere near him when he did this. He was actually clearing it away from his own team mate’s attempt to clear it away, probably with more success. Sensing the kind of day this was going to be Villa gave up trying to score the regular way and instead devoted the rest of the game to trying to win dubious penalties. Something they thankfully didn’t achieve.
West Ham 1-2 Newcastle – Andy Carroll returned to the pitch after a universally proclaimed “tough week” – though I’m pretty sure it was tougher for his girlfriend – and immediately got himself back amongst the goals. After Carlton Cole had given the ‘Ammers the lead, Carroll set up his land lord Kevin Nolan for the equalizer, possibly as part of some ingenious new rent system, before former fellow friend of the fuzz Joey Barton whipped in a gorgeous cross for Carroll to attack like a ..er..no I probably shouldn’t go there…
Tottenham 1-1 Everton – Fresh from his world alerting hat-trick in the San-Siro, the boy Bale was a little subdued as the Toffees held Spurs to draw at the Lane. Leighton Baines curled in a postage stamp free kick after Yakubu had been fouled by thin air, only for Rafael van der Vaart (who seems to score obligatorily in every match now) violently smashed home the equalizer from half a yard out for no practical reason whatsoever. In the second half Tottenham push forward for the winner, but could only consistently pick out Peter Crouch, unfortunately for them.
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Birmingham 2-0 Blackpool – Liam Ridgewell somehow avoided giving away a penalty for handball before nodding the brummies ahead shortly after ensuring Ian Holloway gets worked up by something other than Wayne Rooney this week. Gary Taylor Fletcher – who looks far more like an extra from a cheap Guy Ritchie gangster movie homage made for bravo TV than he does a footballer – had some good chances for Blackpool before human mountain Zigic doubled the home side’s lead after some generous defending from Charlie Adam. Adam then injured himself in a clash with Zigic, but insisted on taking the resulting free kick anyway before running off for treatment, despite said injury being to his striking foot. Unsurprisingly, it was rubbish. The freekick, not the treatment.
Wigan 1-1 Bolton – In the showpiece game of the weekend, Wigan and Bolton slugged it out old school as their fans and players kidded themselves anyone outside of Greater Manchester would still be watching Match of The Day when it came on. Hugo Rodallega gave Roberto Martinez’ side the lead and should’ve gotten a headed winner after Elmander had draw the Trotters level. Franco Di Santo sounds, and looks, exactly like someone who should’ve be a character on the long running but now sadly defunct Sky1 camp football miniseries Dreem Team. In fact he should be, because he seems to serve no other purpose what so ever as far as I can work out.
Other Things I Noticed: The rather amusing sight of Javier Hernandez’ first interview question on Match of The Day, delivered to him in the slow, patronizing, simplistic tone of an Englishman addressing an assumed inferiorly lingual foreigner, only for it to be answered with a perfectly fluent stream of confident and coherent language, much to his surprise. His second question was asked normally.
Aston Villa have suffered a defensive injury blow, as it has been revealed that Richard Dunne has a fractured collarbone and will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
The Irish centre back was replaced late in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, and will now undergo an operation on his right clavicle.
Ciaran Clark has also picked up a knee injury, and Villa Park boss Alex McLeish has wished the duo a speedy recovery.
“We’re gutted to be losing the big man,” the Scottish coach told the club’s official website.
“He was trying to get us back in the game when he made a tremendous leap but, unfortunately, he landed badly on his shoulder and fractured the collarbone.
“He is a stalwart defender and has been that for the past dozen years or so in the Barclays Premier League.
“It’s not good for us to be without such a top player and a defender of his massive experience.
“We wish Richard a speedy recovery and Ciaran, too, from his knee injury. We will look now for someone else to step up to the mark,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Midlands club will be glad to hear that Chris Herd has recovered from an ankle ligament injury that has seen him on the sidelines since December.
The Australian is hoping to be available for selection for Villa’s game against Wigan on February 25th, and spoke of his delight at returning to fitness.
“I’m relieved to be back fit and training with the team,” Herd said.
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“I’ll be training as hard as I can over the next few weeks to try and work my back into the side.
“It’s been really frustrating but I’m glad to be back and I still plenty more games to look forward to this season,” he concluded.
So Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has told his French friend and teammate Samir Nasri to leave Arsenal and join him at Manchester United to win silverware. Not exactly words that will please Arsene Wenger or Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson may not be too happy about Evra interfering with transfer policy.
However Ferguson is long term admirer of Nasri and would clearly love to add the midfielder to his squad. But he is a key player at Arsenal and certainly not someone to sell to one of your Premier League title rivals.
Arsenal also has concerns about where the player’s future might be. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been trying to tie Nasri to a long-term deal for some time – but so far he has not signed and would therefore be available on a free transfer next summer. So Arsenal may have to face up to the reality of losing their star player on a free transfer to rivals to Manchester United.
Patrice Evra therefore decided he would do his bit for United and ensure Nasri doesn’t sign that contract – so United can get the player on the cheap. Evra said “Little prince, if you want to become king you know where you should go. Every year at Manchester United is a guarantee of a title. I have been here for five years and cannot keep count of the trophies I’ve won – 12? 13? 15?”
He is a clever man Evra because he must know how keen Nasri is to win trophies especially as the exodus continues at Arsenal. But Evra’s comments will not make Arsenal’s negotiations with Nasri any easier. So is Evra right to try and convince his countryman to join United or should he simply mind his own business?
The comments from Evra suggest that Nasri would be welcomed at Manchester United and you can certainly see why United would want the player – who has scored 10 Premier League goals this season, a pretty decent return for a midfielder. However, at the end of the day I am big believer that transfers should not be discussed through the media and talking about players at other clubs is somewhat disrespectful. So in this case Evra should have kept his mouth firmly shut.
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There are two things that I never thought I would find myself doing in my lifetime – one is agreeing wholeheartedly with a column in the Daily Mirror and secondly conceding that Tottenham should be considered serious title contenders.
Being affiliated with the Red half of North London I have never looked upon the mob down the Seven Sisters Rd as a serious threat, but as Steve Stammers points out in his column there is something about them in the past two seasons to suggest they are certainly not in a false position and perhaps have the squad to sustain a genuine title challenge.
While I would never go as far as to suggest that Tottenham have a better or more talented squad than us, they do possess real depth and in the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart they have three World Class players at their disposal. Harry Redknapp has instilled a real toughness about Spurs; a determination never to give up and it is this kind of belief that has seen them pull out two consecutive 2-1 victories after going a goal down to both Aston Villa and Fulham respectively. How many Tottenham teams of old would have caved in at this point and gone on to lose by two or three? It is resilience and the ability to grind out results when you are up against it that marks a side’s title credentials and you have to say that there are certainly shades of that within Harry Redknapp’s current crop.
One area that I do believe lets Spurs down is upfront. I read that no team in the Premier League has had more shots on target than Tottenham and that in itself tells its own story. Redknapp lacks a top quality striker and it will certainly need to bring one in during the January window, especially if they still remain in around the top of the table like they currently are. As Arsenal fans we generally use to think that none of us would ever see Tottenham challenge for a title, let alone win one in our lifetime, and while it is perhaps a little premature to think that this season may well be that time, I would be foolish to discount them as contenders in the coming seasons.
Written By Billy Pearson
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I don’t know about you but I always find it immensely satisfying when I see a newly promoted team or an unfashionable side royally upset the Premier League apple cart and barge head first into the upper echelons like an rowdy, uninvited guest at a swanky dinner party. The monopolisation of the top six has lead to the same teams dominating those positions for the last 10-years or so with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea playing in a league of their own. They are separated from the rest by the quality players that inhabit their squads and the sheer wealth lying in their bank values waiting to be tapped into. For clubs promoted to the top flight and even those stuck knee deep in mid-table mediocrity the thought of challenging at the business end of the Premier League is a something that rarely enters their heads. Anywhere between 9th and 17th is passable and anything above is a massive bonus and a serious accomplishment.
It hasn’t happened many times in the 20-year existence of the Premier League but on the few occasions a team without the resources and stature of the so called ‘big clubs’ decided they want a place in the illustrious top six, it’s rather exciting to watch. This season Newcastle United, touted as relegation candidates just a few months ago, have made an astonishing start to the campaign going 11 games unbeaten a run which has seen them soar into the top three. For a few hours on Saturday after their win over Everton the Magpies went second which is some achievement considering the troubled pre-season they endured which was documented closely in the press. Whilst their challenge to stay in their current position may ultimately falter as the season progresses it’s safe to say that, as of now, the Geordies are surprising everyone on and off the field.
Their rise to prominence is both remarkable and enchanting evoking memories of sides who have no business challenging at the top flight summit but fancy adding a bit of spice to the Premier League season. You have to admit it’s always a pleasure to watch the underdogs beat the big guns, david slay goliath and the weedy kid kick seven bells out of the school yard bully.
Ladies and Gentleman I present to you the Top TEN Premier League Surprise Packages.
Click on the Norwich City boys to see the Top Ten
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It is never a great situation to be in when you wish for some of our teams players to be sold as early as yesterday but there is currently a lot of dead wood in the Liverpool squad right now who we need to get rid of this summer as they have simply not been good enough or added any value to the team. The longer we continue to hold onto these players the more we are going to be wasting on them in terms of wages and also they will possibly be preventing the emergence of young talent to fill into their positions.
I have highlighted 5 players that I feel must be sold this summer as they have simply not done it for us this season.
1) Milan Jovanovic
The Serbian international arrived on a free transfer at the start of the season after being signed by Rafa Benitez. We all looked forward to seeing him as he was meant to provide the width down the left that the team needed. I kept a close eye on him during the World Cup in South Africa last year when he was playing for Serbia and he looked pretty good.
He got a couple of games in at the start of the season under Roy Hodgson by Jovanovic never really shone at all. Then Dalglish came in and even under Dalglish the Serbian international does not look like an international at all. There is no doubting that Jovanovic has some talent but he has just not delivered in a Liverpool shirt. Surely if he was good enough King Kenny would have seen this and given him a chance.
Considering Liverpool signed Jovanovic for free we can actually benefit by selling him for around £2 million. Jovanovic came out recently and said that he wished Rafa was still in-charge at Liverpool and that he played under him. Maybe he is right and he would have played well under Rafa but that is not the case so I am sorry Milan but he have to go. Getting rid of Jovanovic will also give the likes of Pacheco and Sterling an opportunity to play in the first team next season.
2) Christian Poulsen
What was Roy Hodgson doing signing Poulsen, I have no idea! Poulsen must be one of the worst players I have seen wear a Liverpool shirt. When Hodgson became Liverpool manager he was tasked we bringing in some new players and he decided to sign Poulsen from Juventus for a reported £4.5 million fee. That was £4.5 million wasted in my opinion.
Poulsen came with the reputation of being a tough tackling midfielder and was set to take over from Javier Mascherano. Just like Jovanovic, I kept an eye on Poulsen during the World Cup in South Africa where he played all the games for Denmark and he did not do too badly at all.
But put him in a Liverpool shirt and it seemed like he had no idea how to pass the ball or who to pass it to! The fans turned against Poulsen and Hodgson dropped him. King Kenny came in and it seemed like he was going to give Poulsen a chance and Poulsen featured in a couple of games under Dalglish but the King himself saw that Poulsen was not cutting the grade and rather decided to go with Jay Spearing in midfield.
With Gerrard picking up an injury that ruled him out for the season, one may have thought that Poulsen would have been the one to step into his place but Dalglish did not even consider Poulsen as I am sure he knew it would be a disaster fielding the Danish player, so Dalglish rather stuck with Spearing who has gone on to do well.
If Liverpool can get £2 million for Poulsen this summer, I will be happy, in fact even if we were to let him go for free I would not be disappointed. Poulsen simply has to be sold this summer!
Continued on Page TWO
3) Paul Konchesky
Another Roy Hodgson signing who must be sold. Come to think of it, Roy Hodgson really messed Liverpool up by being the manager and playing with his tactics and signing his average players. Liverpool needed a left-back when Roy Hodgson took over so Roy decides to go back to his old club Fulham and get their left-back, Paul Konchesky.
At first I thought that Konchesky would be a decent signing for Liverpool as he was a pretty solid left-back for Fulham and he even got a call up to the England squad. But ever since he joined Liverpool this season, he has put in one bad performance after the other. That subsequently lead Kenny Dalglish to send Konchesky out on loan to Nottingham Forest for the rest of the season.
To show how bad Konchesky has been, Dalglish opted to send Konchesky out on loan who is an out and out left-back and rather have a right-back in the form of Glen Johnson to play at left-back!
For the £3 million we spent on Konchesky, I feel we should be able to get that same amount back when we sell him this summer. Liverpool will certainly go out and buy a good left-back this summer which will mean Konchesky is surplus to requirements. Young Jack Robinson has come in at left-back now with the injuries Liverpool have had and he has been decent and is certainly one for the future. Even now I will pick Robinson ahead of Konchesky.
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4) Sotorios Kyrgiakos
The big Greek defender is not that bad a player at all but I feel for the benefit of the younger defenders at Liverpool, Soto has to be sold so the likes of Danny Wilson and Ayala get a chance to play a center backs for Liverpool as they are the future.
Soto is great when it comes to an aerial battle be it when he is defending or attacking but I feel his positioning at times needs a lot to be desired. I get scared whenever I see a striker running towards Soto as he will most likely foul him or be beaten.
I am sure there will be many clubs who would be after Soto’s signature if we are to sell him. Especially the newly promoted teams in the Premiership, they would benefit from having a hard physical player like Soto in their team.
So for me, Soto to leave to give the younger more promising central defenders a chance in the team.
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5) David Ngog
I know there will be some fans who believe that David Ngog should not be sold this summer and that he should stay and provide cover for Suarez and Carroll next season. I disagree.
Ngog has been given a lot of opportunities during his time at Liverpool. He filled in on many occasions when Torres was injured. Although Ngog did not do terribly badly when given the chances to play, he was not exactly prolific in front of goal either. Yes, Ngog is young and has a lot to learn but we cannot continue to rely on a player of Ngog’s ability to be our back up striker when our big guns are injured or out of form. For a striker who has played 90 times for Liverpool and to have scored only 18 goals, that is pretty poor!
We saw it when Torres was injured and Ngog was leading the line, he simply can not deliver regularly. What Liverpool need is to go out and buy another top striker who will provide cover or competition for Suarez and Carroll. Although Ngog is only 22 years old, he has a lot to learn but he should do it away from Liverpool or else we will continue to be disappointed if we put our faith in him.
This article was written by Ron and is courtesy of our partner website ourkop.com
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