Wolves have made their first signing of the summer after securing Belgium defender Jelle Van Damme on a three-year contract.
The 26-year-old international centre-half has joined the Molineux club for an undisclosed fee from Anderlecht.
Van Damme, who spent one season in the Premier League with Southampton in 2004-05, is relishing the prospect of returning to England.
"I've played in the Champions League and won two titles with Anderlecht," he told the club's official website.
"I'm coming up to 27 now and even in the Anderlecht squad I was one of the most experienced players.
"It was quite a young team but in the last season we achieved quite a lot including making progress in the Europa League.
"I hope to bring that over to this group and help by becoming one of the leaders in this team if I can."
Van Damme will join former Anderlecht team-mates Adlene Guedioura and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia in a growing contingent at Molineux when pre-season training begins.
"He is a versatile defender who can play in several different positions and also boasts Champions League experience with Anderlecht and 22 international caps with Belgium," added manager Mick McCarthy.
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"There were other clubs who were keen to sign him but we were able to get in early and register our interest and get the deal done.
"He's older and more experienced than the last time he played in the Premier League and I'm looking forward to working with him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Romelu Lukaku has explained the frustration he suffered at Chelsea last season, just days after sealing a season-long loan move to West Brom Albion, reports the Daily Mail.
The 19-year-old Belgian international, was signed last summer by former Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas in a deal worth £18 million, however Lukaku only started one Premier League game, and found himself fourth in the striking pecking order, behind Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge.
New Baggies boss Steve Clarke, has acted quickly in signing up the powerful forward, who had two prolific seasons with Belgian club Anderlecht prior to his big money switch to London.
‘I couldn’t see myself staying at Chelsea. I sacrificed a year of my career with them and didn’t want to put up with it any more,’ Lukaku explained.
‘I decided in March I wanted to go out on loan, and told my agent to find me a club. I am relieved to have found a solution.
‘On the first day of pre-season I told the manager I wanted to leave.
‘Roberto Di Matteo told me I ought to think about Chelsea as there weren’t going to be many other strikers this season, but this is the time for me to think about myself.
‘I got sick of watching the others from the bench. I just played 12 games and when I was playing well, they would take me off.
‘I lost my hunger for the game over the past year. I won’t beat about the bush – my season at Chelsea went very badly.
‘As regards getting minutes on the pitch, I wasted my time.
‘Last season I was in the reserves alongside a young lad who’d barely turned 15 and I asked myself what I was doing there.’
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Lukaku will be hoping to show Baggies fans the sort of form that saw him described as one of Europe’s hottest young striking talents, and is looking forward to linking up with Steve Clarke.
‘Steve Clarke constantly phoned me when I was on Chelsea’s US tour,’ he explained.
An uncomfortable truth has been creeping up on Manchester United over the last two games, and on Tuesday night at Old Trafford, it finally hit them full in the face. The champions are not yet settled defensively, and it’s time to do something about it.
Sir Alex Ferguson put last night’s dropped points – for a home draw with Basel is, unquestionably, two points dropped for a squad of this ability – down to defensive “carelessness”. He pointed out that while the team’s forward options guarantee United goals, they need more time to get everyone fit at the back and figure out their best starting back four. David de Gea has already played behind so many different defenders he must be starting to wonder how many more are hiding around Carrington.
United can score, there is no doubt about that. Powered up front by Wayne Rooney, and last night by the emerging Danny Welbeck, the Red Devils have fired 32 goals in their opening ten competitive fixtures of the 2011/12 season, including the Community Shield. That end of the pitch, then, appears sorted. But the other end is where Ferguson has problems to address: despite a far-from-disastrous 11 goals conceded in the same ten games, United know it could have been worse. Chelsea, for instance, created almost 20 shots at goal at Old Trafford last weekend. On Saturday, Stoke had the better of the game and de Gea was forced into a couple of spectacular saves to earn his side a point.
Ferguson has already deployed ten players in his defensive line this season, though admittedly two of those were Ezekiel Fryers and Michael Carrick in the League Cup win over Leeds. Every senior defender in the squad, apart from the injured Rafael, has had at least one start. Injuries to the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, coupled with the summer sales of stalwart duo Wes Brown and John O’Shea, have forced Ferguson to throw Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans into starring roles earlier than he might have liked.
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All three have impressed, but of those three, Jones has drawn the most praise. His swashbuckling forays upfield have drawn rave reviews from all quarters, and provided another goal on Tuesday night, this time for Welbeck. (Surely Jones will eventually start shooting himself?) United hero Paddy Crerand, now a regular pundit on MUTV, recently went so far as to compare Jones to the legendary Duncan Edwards, who is widely considered to have been one of the best players England has ever produced.
High praise indeed, then. But one wonders how necessary it really is, just a few games into Jones’ debut season at Old Trafford. The centre-back is, after all, just 20 years old, and if there is one nation who know exactly how to ruin a footballer’s career with unreserved hyperbole in the infancy of their career, it’s the English. Besides, one key area of Jones’ game could still do with polishing, and that, unfortunately, is his defending.
The youngster showed some of his lack of experience against Chelsea, particularly when he was left for dead by Fernando Torres late on as the Spaniard raced clear only to round de Gea and miss an open goal. Tuesday night’s second-half collapse again displayed frailties in Jones’ play – he was caught out of position for Alexander Frei’s equaliser and his poor pass to stand-in right-back Antonio Valencia led to the penalty from which Basel briefly took a shock lead.
This is not to say that Jones will not be the player that everyone expects him to develop into, or that United made a mistake. The biggest strength a defensive unit can have is steady playing time as a five (including the goalkeeper), and United are in no position to achieve that. Ferdinand and Patrice Evra were also poor on Tuesday, and after Fabio went off (yes, another injury) Valencia demonstrated again that he is a willing but suspect full-back.
Jones cannot be held responsible for United’s current defensive frailties, and certainly should not be. But too much expectation, too soon, has overwhelmed too many players in this country in the past decade or so. Perhaps laying off the hype would help Jones’ career more than the endless praise he has received in the past few weeks – but I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.
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Alessandro’s late goal gave Corinthians a 1-0 win away to Paulista leaders Palmeiras on Sunday, while Botafogo beat Sao Paulo.
Palmeiras, led by Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, remain top of the Paulista championship, but are now just one point clear of second-placed Santos.
Corinthians are eighth on the table and seven points behind Palmeiras, but have two games in hand over the leaders.
Botafogo gained a much-needed 2-1 victory over fifth-placed Sao Paulo.
Goals from Anselmo and Andre Neles put Botafogo on course for victory and Marcelinho Paraiba’s 92nd-minute strike came too late for the visitors to find a way back into the match.
Botafogo are 16th, one point clear of Santo Andre in the last relegation place.
Mirassol climbed to fourth with a 2-1 win away to Bragantino.
Esley put the visitors 1-0 ahead in the 39th minute but Luciano Sorriso levelled for Mirassol a minute before half-time.
The match appeared to heading for a draw before midfielder Xuxa snatched all three points with a 90th-minute winner.
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An eight-minute brace from Vandinho helped Sao Caetano beat Paulista 2-1, while two late goals gave Ituano a 2-0 win over visitors Sao Bernardo.
Daniel broke the deadlock for Ituano on 80 minutes, before an Anderson Salles penalty five minutes into stoppage time completed the scoring.
During a summer transfer window clubs are linked with multiple players and fans all have their own opinions, stating that some players just aren’t worth their transfer fee and there are better ones out there. That must be bad enough for a new signing- to feel like they are second, or even third best in the eyes of the fans, but what about those players who are not even considered the best in their family?
How must it feel for players to be compared to their more successful sibling time and time again, always knowing that they are going to come off worse, and not quite live up to the expectation their sibling created. Football is no different from anything in life and sibling rivalry exists with a vengeance with the players not just vying to be their parents golden boy, but the fans too – and here is a look at the top ten footballers who did not quite reach the dizzy heights of their brother.
Click on Joel Cantona below to get the ball rolling
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As a Newcastle United fan it was painful viewing on Saturday watching Jose Enrique maraud down the left side of Anfield wearing the deep red of Liverpool. It felt like he was cheating on the club that brought him to prominence and gave him the chance display his talents in the biggest and most popular league on the planet
Ever since it became public knowledge that Enrique wanted out of St James’ Park and Liverpool wanted to bring him to Merseyside his departure was a foregone conclusion. Now lets get this straight I don’t hate Enrique and I certainly don’t blame him for having the ambition to challenge for trophies, play in Europe and ultimately represent his national team. His chances of achieving these goals will be greatly enhanced at Anfield. But is he the man to finally fill the left back problem that has existed at Anfield ever since John Arne Riise left the club?
I’m not going to sit on the fence regarding this matter and frankly I don’t think he’s the man to plug that gap. His performances over the last four seasons have definitely endeared Enrique to a lot of Geordie fans, myself included. However a lot of people look at the Spaniard with rose tinted spectacles and disregard his lack of ability to operate in his specialist position. In my Enrique is hugely overrated. The fact is that for a defender he isn’t actually the best at defending. When faced against a winger with tricky feet and the ability to bamboozle then Enrique will get beaten very easily. He doesn’t have the discipline to just stand his ground and force the winger to back track. Too many times he will try and put his foot in or use his body to shield the ball from the winger giving away a free kick in a dangerous area. The Arsenal 4-4 game provides the best example with three of the crosses for the goals coming from Enrique’s side. Theo Walcott had him in his pocket during that first 45 minutes until the famous second half capitulation. Heading is also another weak part of his game and he doesn’t fair well when an aerial challenge comes about.
In fact the only reason Enrique’s defensive frailties are overlooked is because of the work Jonas Gutierrez puts in to help him when he’s under assault. The Argentinian grafts his socks off to get back and help Enrique out and is usually the man to regain possession and alleviate any pressure on the defence. Now that Enrique is at Liverpool this will mean Stewart Downing will have to finely tune his defensive duties although I’m sure the England winger won’t track like Gutierrez does which will put Enrique under pressure he hasn’t experience for a few years.
You could say that his defensive game is weak because he is part of the new breed of attacking full backs. Whilst he is great at going forward and charging to the by-line he’s only scored one goal in his entire Newcastle career whilst his assists count isn’t anything to shout home about. His crossing is okay at times and he can whip a delicious ball into the box when given the space too. But more often than not when he has to cross the ball under pressure he either over hits it or checks back and tries to find another route to goal subsequently losing the ball. There’s also his erratic passing to contend with which Liverpool fans will get frustrated with. For a man possessing a superb left foot he lets himself down with his lack of accuracy when making a simple five-yard ball. It seems his concentration deserts him when he has to make a simple decision. I will say that when it comes to delivering long balls he does have superb accuracy but is often let down by teammates misjudging the ball or possessing poor control.
Enrique does have some positives to his game with his unbelievable strength and speed that making it nigh on impossible to beat him using the long ball. But due to the many negative aspects I don’t think he is the man to fill the left back slot at Liverpool. Their agenda over the next few seasons is to get back into Europe, the title race and to win some trophies. Enrique, for me, doesn’t have the abilities or the experience to help them achieve that. I honestly think he’ll be Liverpool’s weak link especially in Europe and at 25-years-old is way past the learning curve.
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Manchester United full-back Rafael da Silva has avoided a longer suspension following his sending off against Tottenham.
Da Silva, 20, will miss United’s clash with Birmingham on Saturday after he received two yellow cards in his side’s 0-0 draw with Spurs at White Hart Lane last week.
But it was the Brazilian’s vehement protests towards referee Mike Dean that drew the ire of the FA and resulted in a misconduct charge against the defender.
Da Silva immediately accepted the charge, but found out on Friday that he would not miss any further Premier League matches.
Instead, he was hit with an 8,000 pound fine and a warning over his future conduct.
In an FA disciplinary hearing, Da Silva and his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, gave evidence which led to the Brazilian being cleared of any further wrongdoing.
“Dermot Gallagher said it was the worst decision of the week,” Ferguson said by video link.
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“Everyone knows it was a bad decision. It happens. Unfortunately, in a game of that magnitude it could have had a big impact.”
Rafael’s next Manchester United appearance is likely to come against Blackpool on Tuesday.
Manchester City begin the new season as favourites with the bookmakers ahead of rivals Manchester United. Mancini’s men will be looking to retain the trophy that they so dramatically won last campaign. With a considerable amount of finance in the clubs pocket, City have the ability to pick and choose from the wealth of talent available. However, the clubs challengers have already engaged in spending sprees and the Champions will need to move quickly in order to claim the players that they desire.
Manchester United and Chelsea rank second and third favourites to win the title in the betting market. Sir Alex and his young team just missed out on the trophy last season, having it snatched away in the last seconds by their City neighbours. The club will be as hungry as ever to reclaim the silverware that has become accustomed to standing in the Old Trafford Trophy cabinet. Chelsea meanwhile are in a period of transition. Having lost star striker Didier Drogba, Di Matteo has acted quickly, acquiring Marko Marin for Werder Bremen and Belgian starlet Eden Hazard from Lille. The club will be looking to improve on last season’s disappointing showing in the league by making a challenge for the trophy that they have obtained three times.
Arsenal have been given the fourth shortest odds with the new season now just weeks away. The Gunners have never failed to make a challenge for the league’s top spot at early moments in the season but sudden lack of form usually sends the club slipping down a couple of places. Holding on to Van Persie may see the North London clubs odds shorten even further, lose the Dutchman however, and there may be trouble ahead for Wenger’s men.
Tottenham and Liverpool both come into the season with matching odds for title glory. With both clubs in a similar transitional period; new managers bringing new philosophies and a sense of the mystery for the future could mean that these clubs will not be quite ready to launch a serious title challenge this campaign.
Newcastle sit just above Everton in the odds market, both clubs considered to have had excellent seasons last year. The Magpies were the surprise package of the season, fighting for a Champions League place all the way until the competitions unforgettable climax. Pardew and his form team could repeat their 5th placed finish should they acquire some new talent. While David Moyes will once again be hoping for a similar campaign. The Toffees have been supremely consistent over the last few years, finishing above expectations on a shoestring budget and the Goodison faithful should be content with another season of relative success.
Fulham are priced next with last season’s impressive showing seemingly leaving an impact on the bookmakers. Under Martin Jol, the club could achieve another top ten finish; a decet achievement considering the size of the club. The remaining 11 teams are all placed as firm outsiders; an indication of the divide between the Premier League’s top and bottom half. From the also rans, QPR have spent lavishly thus far and could make progress toward the top half of the table. Stoke remain an unpredictable team to judge. Whilst their squad does not ooze quality, their stalwart defending and bloodied work rate may generate a top ten finish. Whilst Aston Villa could be worth an outside shot should they improve on their disastrous campaign last term. Paul Lambert is an astute manager and with the clubs stature and fan base, the top ten should be acquirable.
Below are the current odds for next seasons Premier League Champions – courtesy of Bet At Home
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So is this the year when Manchester City became title contenders?
Roberto Mancini will always be a manager under pressure at Manchester City, though he does well to hide it, grey hairs apart. What the press think and say should be irrelevant of course, but with unlimited funds available (in theory, if not in practice), his team is expected to (soon) rule the world. But as he said to the press last week:
‘This year will be different, but we want to improve on last year. We had our targets then and maybe we could have done better in the league because we were in first position [at one point]. But the players were together last year and that’s why we will be better this time.’
Over the summer he also repeatedly dismissed talk of challenging for the title. But little should be believed that comes from the mouths of managers in press conferences, and the general feeling is that City should be title contenders this season, which is reasonable. They have the investment in players, but not the experience. The question is how will they react? Last season, it was felt that Mancini had to finish in the Top Four to retain his job. Having done that, and captured the first trophy for the club in 35 years, the pressure on him and the team is reduced, but only very slightly.
What does he have to do this season? Another trophy would keep the fans happy. For the owners, who knows? A semi-educated guess would assume they want to see a challenge for the title, successful or otherwise. They, and the fans, will expect to see improvements year-on-year.
The Community Shield showed glimpses of the old City – a calamitous last-minute gaffe, a last-minute winner for Manchester United, an underwhelming performance from the men in all-blue. Very little should be gleaned from what was a friendly, albeit an ultra-competitive one, in the same way that City’s destruction of Inter Milan the previous week told us precious little either. The missed opportunity for Vincent Kompany to hold aloft the world’s biggest 50p will have been disappointing, but will soon be forgotten, along with most Community Shield results. Who won last season? No idea.
Behind the scenes, if you believed everything you read, there is anarchy, chaos, poor team morale, in-fighting, backstabbing and unprofessional behaviour on an industrial scale. Somewhere in there is an element of the truth – there seems little doubt Mancini has had a problem relationship at times with Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, over who wealds power at the club. We are used to a system in Britain of the manager having that power – of deciding who to buy and who to sell, though not always on the scale Alex Ferguson controls his club. And this is how Mancini wants it too – absolute power, his decisions, his team. Unfortunately Brian Marwood sees things a little differently. Mancini wants complete control – down to the hiring of medical staff, and what milk to have in the canteen (Cravendale, if he’s got any sense).
The team itself is strong, the squad is strong. Mancini has repeatedly said over the last week or two that he still wants a couple more signings. The rumours clearly point to a central midfielder, a right-sided midfielder and perhaps an extra central defender too. City struggled last season to mount challenges on numerous fronts, tiring in late-winter until elimination from the Europa League cleared the calendar somewhat, boosting energy levels as a result. The season ahead will be no different, and Mancini will be aware of the need for a deep squad if the team is to keep going at the business-end of the season, as they did last time around.
For City, the Champions League will be a new and exciting experience. As for what City can hope to achieve, it is hard to say – their first objective will be to progress from the group. As 3rd seeds, it could be a tough draw, especially when you consider that the German Champions Borussia Dortmund are 4th seeds. A group of death is on the cards, every sport writer’s ultimate wet dream. Secretly, Mancini would probably rather finish 4th in the group than 3rd.
Continued on Page TWO
A fairly young squad will enter the season a year older and more experienced, strengthened with three defensive signings, possibly Samir Nasri (or Wesley Sneijder, though that looks unlikely ) and a wide-man (Fiorentina’s Alessi Cerci is repeatedly mentioned in press rumours) in midfield, the exciting Sergio Aguero up front with possibly another defender on the way too.
The defence, which was the joint meanest in the Premier League last season has lost the underwhelming Jerome Boateng, and gained Gael Clichy from Arsenal, and the Montenegro defender Stefan Savic, whilst 6 foot 8 inches goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon has come in as back-up to Joe Hart, replacing the departed Shay Given.
Midfield is as you were with the odd arrival or two imminent. No one has departed but the future of Shaun Wright Phillips is up in the air, with a number of other Premiership clubs keeping a close eye on the situation (Bolton or Stoke being the likely destination should he leave). His ill-advised twitter comments this week suggest he wants to stay, but that any departure will be manager-led. Only time will tell, and an impressive pre-season has helped his cause, when two months ago his future at City looked non-existent. Elsewhere it is settled, and varied. The pursuit of Nasri will take away the reliance on Silva, De Jong will continue to protect, Yaya Toure bomb forward, and hopefully the English trio of Milner, Barry and Johnson will offer a bit more this time round (not that Barry did much wrong, despite what you may have read).
But it is upfront where the doubts persist, and the squad seems in a permanent state of flux.
The signing of Sergio “Kun” Aguero is as exciting a signing as City could have made. Comparisons with Tevez will be inevitable, but he is his own man, less trouble (hopefully) off the pitch, with a superb shot, dribbling skills, close control, and the ability to play up front or drop deeper. A stable family man married to Diego Maradona’s daughter with a young son, he will make every attempt to adapt to his new life and succeed.
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As for Carlos Tevez, who knows? Back in the Manchester drizzle that he so adores, Mancini has said that he is happy for him to stay, and that he might well do just that, as no one wants him. Not at the price City demand anyway. His departure was inevitable just a month ago, but now it seems almost unlikely. Only if Inter come up with the money does a move look possible this summer. Alternatively, a deal with Corinthians could be resurrected in the winter or next summer. Whilst him staying at City is on the surface a huge bonus, the thought lingers that perhaps it would be best for him to leave, and for him and the team to move on. Argentina is never going to get any nearer, a third restaurant in Manchester has only just reached the planning stage, and the weather won’t improve for decades.
Elsewhere, much of how City progress this season will depend on Dzeko and Balotelli having more settled seasons. Dzeko’s first touch has disappointed, and concerns continue on whether he fits into a Mancini side, but the goals will come, and he should propser with a pre-season behind him. Balotelli’s contributions on the pitch will depend on controversy avoiding him for a change – if he can concentrate on playing football, his talent will destroy many a team.
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Last season, City’s home form was generally ok, but it will need to become a fortress if the team is going to challenge for titles. It is often mentioned that titles are won and lost according to teams’ records against the other big boys, and whilst I have always felt this argument to be deeply flawed, City will certainly have to improve in this area. Their record last season against the relegation rivals was better than anyone’s. But against the other Top 6 teams, it left a lot to be desired, and Mancini attracted much of his criticism and accusations of negativity when “parking the bus” against Arsenal at Highbury, and to a lesser degree at home to Manchester United. Both times though, City avoided defeat. Perhaps next season they will have to push on and think more about winning these games.
For all of Alex Ferguson’s snide barbs about noisy neighbours, it is clear now that Manchester City have arrived, with expectations to match. If last season was about breaking into the Big Four and challenging for a trophy, then it was mission very much accomplished. Now the team is expected to move on. The Etihad stadium will welcome on Monday a team bustling with talent, the best of a generation, and trophies will now be expected as the norm. The only question remaining, with the world and his wife still watching on waiting for the fall, will be whether the talent, or the pressure on that talent, ultimately prevails.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis believes speculation-hounded Liverpool could not be in better hands.
Pulis’ side travel to Anfield on Wednesday, but all eyes in the build up to the game have been on the possible exit of Liverpool’s record signing Fernando Torres.
Reds manager Kenny Dalglish has been forced to answer mounting speculation about the Spanish player’s future, with the the furore surrounding Torres and the possible arrival of Ajax striker Luis Suarez taking the attention away from Wednesday’s English Premier League game.
But Pulis believes the Merseyside club have the ideal man in charge.
“Kenny has obviously been a great player and has managed a great club and I think the big thing with the Liverpool situation is that it didn’t work out for Roy Hodgson and they needed someone, they needed a talisman and they can’t find anyone better than Kenny Dalglish,” Pulis said.
John Carew made his first start for Stoke in the 1-0 FA Cup win over Wolves on Sunday after joining on loan from Aston Villa and is set to keep his place in the side to face Liverpool.
Tuncay is set to leave the Britannia Stadium, with a possible move to Wolfsburg being discussed, and is unlikely to feature on Wednesday.
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Ricardo Fuller is a Sunderland target and the two clubs are believed to be in discussions about a possible transfer.
Thomas Sorenson was the hero against Wolves with his penalty save in injury time, but he is set to lose his place to first-choice keeper Asmir Begovic for the trip to Anfield.