Davide Santon, Cheik Tiote and Tim Krul should all be available for Newcastle’s clash with Benfica on Thursday
The Magpies face a crucial couple of games this week as they look to progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League and fight off the threat of relegation, and Pardew needs his star men available.
Pardew is hopeful that Santon, Tiote and Krul will all make the trip to Lisbon on Thursday but if the game does come too soon they should be fit for the Fulham clash.
“Cheik could be OK for Thursday, and Santon was perhaps a day’s training away from being involved,” Pardew revealed. “Sadio’s close. Tim’s close. I need them all back for Thursday. We know the next two are really important games for us.
“I think all those players I mentioned have got a great chance for Fulham, of course. Whether they make Thursday, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Sylvain Marveaux has been nursing a groin strain and was left on the bench against Manchester City but he should be fit and available for both games should Pardew call on him.
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One player who will not make either game is Matthieu Debuchy as he struggles with a hamstring injury but Alan Pardew has revealed the Frenchman has a chance of making the Sunderland game on April 14th.
Sergio Aguero is a doubt for Sunday’s game at Tottenham after picking up an injury during City’s win over Wigan on Wednesday.
The Argentina striker was replaced at half-time after suffering from a tight hamstring during City’s 1-0 Premier League win over the Latics and faces a battle to be fit in time for Sunday’s trip to London.
David Platt indicated the 24-year-old was only withdrawn as a safety measure and did not sustain serious damage.
But the City first-team coach admitted that Aguero remains a doubt to face Spurs at White Hart Lane.
“He has got a problem, but it was a slight problem,” he told reporters. “It was more of a precaution than anything else. He felt his hamstring tighten up.
“Just the sheer proximity of the game on Sunday would say he is a doubt.”
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Aguero will be monitored and assessed over the next couple of days, before City make a decision as to whether he will join the squad at the weekend – but the club feel the problem is unrelated to the hamstring tear the Argentine suffered in January.
Tottenham are considering a summer swoop for Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez, according to reports from The Metro.
The German international is believed to be out-of-favour at the Allianz Arena, after losing his starting berth to Mario Mandzukic last season.
Despite having a prolific goalscoring record – 159 goals in 279 appearances for Bayern and Stuttgart – Gomez’s hopes of forcing his way back into the European Champions’ first-team look slim, with reports suggesting that Robert Lewandowski is on the verge of completing a stunning move from Borussia Dortmund.
As a result, Spurs chief Andre Villas-Boas has made the 27-year-old one of his top transfer targets, as he looks to add a guaranteed source of goals to his team.
The Londoners narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last season thanks, in part, to struggling to find the back of the net on a regular basis.
AVB is confident that Gomez can provide the firepower needed, and that he will create a fine attacking partnership with Gareth Bale.
The Portuguese coach is willing to offer around £7m for the hit-man, a figure that may tempt Bayern to sell.
Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen are also in the race, and could oppose any bid submitted by Tottenham.
The north London outfit are also keen on Leandro Damiao of Internacional, a player they saw an offer for rejected in January.
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Could Mario Gomez get the goals Tottenham need for Champions League qualification?
West Brom need to tie down key duo Shane Long and Youssouf Mulumbu to longer term deals, according to Gareth McAuley.
The Northern Ireland international central defender, who picked up the Player of the Year awards at the Hawthorns following an excellent Premier League campaign, pledged his own future to the club on Friday when he signed a new one-year extension to keep him at the club until summer 2015.
And the 33-year-old has been quick to point out that the priority now is to ensure influential striker, Long, and key midfielder, Mulumbu, are tied down to deals beyond two years’ time.
Long has been heavily linked with a move away over the course of the past season, but the Republic of Ireland international has always maintained that he is happy at the club, while Mulumbu has already said he is keen to sign a new deal.
McAuley told the club’s website: “They are big and important players for us and I’m sure it will be sorted out.
“It’s like my situation. I had next year as well so there’s no rush or real pressure on it.
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“But everyone will want it sorted out and the sooner it happens, probably the better it is for the lads and for the club.”
Arsene Wenger has admitted that the transfer window is a problem. The need to juggle player recruitment and the coaching of players already in-house would understandably lessen the decisiveness on at least one of those fronts, and yet Wenger is determined not to delegate absolute control over the issue of transfers to another party, no matter how much he trusts them.
It’s not really a swipe at Wenger to say he dithers on transfers, more an acknowledgement of the truth and the shortcomings of a great manager. He places faith in those he already has, and the arrival of others are often seen as a disruption rather than an enhancement. Wenger made the point prior to the North London Derby that Tottenham would experience some problems early on with such a high volume of new recruits; the Arsenal manager, on the other hand, prefers three senior arrivals at most, though that ideal went out the window in 2011.
But this summer, even with all the money available to him, it seemed as though Wenger was waiting for the perfect deal, the type of transfer that he could feel wholly comfortable with. Yohan Cabaye for £10million, Vicente Guaita for circa £5 million; going above his own valuation for a Gonzalo Higuain simply won’t do, and only when the pressure began to mount with a degree of severity did the Frenchman permit a bending of the rules to capture Mesut Ozil for £42.5 million.
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It’s a manager and his ideals warring with the reality of modern football. There has to be some give from one or the other, and quite plainly, the football world is not going to hold back and appease one man.
For David Moyes and Manchester United, the troubles on the transfer front were notably different. The similarity is that both Arsenal and Moyes are new to the highest tier of the market, but that’s where the comparisons end. United’s prime summer target in Cesc Fabregas was never likely to move this year. Any hints or boosts United may have found along the way were simply devices for the player to discover his true value to Barcelona. Had the situation called for a transfer, many indications suggest that Arsenal would have been the only destination. It’s not that United can be faulted for trying, but rather that they persisted and wasted time where there was no realistic positive outcome.
The other problem, and one not of United’s own making, is that the best players simply have more clubs available to them now. PSG, Monaco, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, and others are now further up the transfer ladder than they once were. It’s no longer just Manchester United and Real Madrid battling for the best; leagues around Europe are experiencing a boom, and the Premier League isn’t the only attractive destination.
With the case of Thiago Alcantara, United, if they were really in for the midfielder, lost out to a club who are far more attractive in terms of manager and in the likelihood for success domestically and in Europe. Marouane Fellaini, who always seemed to be the last resort, was held at arm’s length. United kept their interest fresh by offering bids that they knew, surely, Everton would reject, all the while scouring Europe for a midfielder who fit the bill.
The pursuit of Ander Herrera came late and was totally misguided. Athletic Bilbao are not a club who are about to be bullied. Unlike the majority of Spain, the Basque club have no tax debt, so have no need to sell. The Javi Martinez saga of last summer should have been an indication of what United should expect. Instead of offering £25 million and hoping Bilbao would cave, there should have been an understanding that, considering recruitment as one of the primary reasons, Bilbao would not settle for anything other than the player’s release clause. As Uli Hoeness put it last season, “Javi Martinez isn’t worth €40 million, but that’s the sum we had to pay. We decided to take part in the insanity for once.”And as we saw with Fernando Llorente, the club would rather let one of their players move on a free than submit to either one of their own or an outsider.
For United, Fellaini was the backup option, the player who was always available if they really wanted him but one that would be used to save face rather than address a glaring need in the midfield.
Arsenal, on the other hand, came about their best piece of business due to fortune – it’s fortunate that a player like Mesut Ozil becomes available from a club who don’t really need to sell – and the lack of any real planning. How long was Ozil a genuine target for the club? An interesting question.
What is clear is that while the financial capability is evidently there from both clubs, they’ll each need to totally master their respective new dawns. Ok, maybe no one really masters the dangerous waters of the transfer market, but some clubs do it better than others. Arsenal and United will both need to up their game in the future.
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Why did Arsenal and Manchester United leave their transfer business so late?
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is a constantly calm and composed figure -you’ll rarely see an animated touchline display from the Portuguese, and his monotonous tone in press conferences often suggests a deep level of logical rationalisation behind every word.
But could there be more pressure on the Spurs gaffer to deliver this year than first meets the eye? Considering the wealth of finance that’s been at his disposal this summer, the successes of his predecessor and the openness of the Premier League this season, can AVB actually justify not qualifying for the Champions League come the end of May?
The Portuguese’s £107million spend during the previous transfer window, smashing Tottenham’s record transfer fee three times to land Paulinho for £17million, Roberto Soldado for £27million and Erik Lamela for £30million, was the largest total expenditure of any Premier League club in the summer, slightly edging out traditional big spenders Manchester City and eclipsing the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool by some way.
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You could certainly argue that AVB was entitled to such a luxurious free reign in the transfer market; not giving the Spurs gaffer the opportunity to compensate for the departure of Gareth Bale would have been a grave error on Daniel Levy’s part. At the same time, although Tottenham lead the spending charts this summer, selling the Welsh wonder to Real Madrid, as well as Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Steven Caulker to other Premier League clubs meant that the Lilywhites’ incomings and outgoings essentially broke even, barring a few million pounds.
But even so, £107million’s worth of transfers, even if it’s come at no actual cost for Tottenham, is still a huge opportunity wasted if it doesn’t get the North Londoners any closer to Champions League qualification. Similarly, upon Villas-Boas’ arrival at White Hart Lane, Levy splashed out £60million on new talent, including the likes of Hugo Lloris, Moussa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen, to help kick-start the Portuguese’s White Hart Lane revolution.
Along the way, the Tottenham chief has been incredibly accommodating to his manager. Levy brought in a new technical director in the summer in the form of Franco Baldini in a bid to secure AVB his desired transfer targets, and back in 2012, the Spurs boss was handed a lucrative three year contract, believed to be worth £15million according to the tabloids, which currently puts him as the fifth highest paid manager in the Premier League and just £1million per-year behind David Moyes at Manchester United. Spurs fans will be quick to point out the regular inaccuracies of the British press, but Levy’s offer in 2012 must have been competitive enough for Villas-Boas to resist the urge to jump ship to lavish overspenders PSG a year later.
Overall, that’s £160million invested in AVB over the last two seasons, in addition to £15million on him personally for his management abilities and the hiring of a new technical director to aid his efforts in the transfer market. For that kind of support financially and structurally, Levy will be undoubtedly expecting a positive return from his manager.
Last season, the Portuguese went some way to pay back the Tottenham chief by overseeing the Lilywhites’ highest points total of the Premier League era, but as time goes by, it becomes glaringly obvious that Villas-Boas is yet to trump the feats of his predecessor Harry Redknapp.
With considerably less financial backing – in fact, the current QPR boss spent less than £40million throughout his two final campaigns in North London – and without the talismanic influence of a come-of-age Gareth Bale, Redknapp achieved two top four finishes at White Hart Lane in the space of three seasons, originally taking over the Lilywhites when they were at the bottom of the Premier League table back in 2008.
A rare few of the Tottenham faithful would trade-in the current Spurs boss for old ‘arry, but time is ticking for AVB to deliver before the difference between himself and his predecessor becomes disturbingly noticeable. He’s received continuous support from Levy, has been privy to an unprecedented level of finance for a Tottenham manager and possesses at his disposal arguably the most talented Lilywhites roster of the last twenty years.
Granted, the Tottenham project is still very much a work in progress. Their summer spending was almost exclusively invested in players under the age of 25 who haven’t plied their trade in the Premier League before – Paulinho for example, is still transitioning from the very different world of South American football.
At the same time, with just a year left of his three year deal at the end of the season, financially and for the sake of stability, it could make more sense on Daniel Levy’s part to let the Spurs boss try and accomplish his ultimate vision at White Hart Lane in a final term rather than go back to the drawing board.
But amid what appears to be the most open, uncertain and equalising Premier League campaign to date, you’d expect a squad headed by one of the most talented managers under the age of 40 in Europe, that’s seen £160million’s worth of investment in new personnel over the last two years, to begin effectively challenging the established order of the English top flight.
The lilywhites are currently in a strong position meet that ambition, with twenty points from their first 10 games putting them fourth in the table and on track to qualify for the Champions League come the end of the season.
Failing to do so however, and serious questions will have to be asked of AVB, especially in the modern climate where the ultimate responsibility for final league standings rests firmly on the shoulders of managers to such an extent that Alan Pardew’s three year reign at Newcastle makes him the second longest-serving gaffer in the English top flight.
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And whilst head coaches are often the scapegoat for some questionable performances from the players, Villas-Boas has no excuse if his Lilywhites side fail to capitalise this season.
He’s been continually backed by Daniel Levy in every sense, he’s been given free rein in the transfer market and an almost blank cheque to spend on new recruits over the last two years, he has an incredibly strong squad at his disposal that includes some of Europe’s hottest young talents and twenty established capped internationals, he’s paid good money for his services and has a unique opportunity to take advantage of the significant shift in the balance of power at the top of the Premier League table.
To put a long story short, Champions League qualification is on a plate for Villas-Boas and Tottenham this season, and quite frankly, finishing up in fifth place is not good enough. AVB may seem an eternally composed and calm figure, but he’ll be well aware that he needs to deliver come May-time, or it could be his head on the chopping block.
Should AVB get the axe if Tottenham don’t qualify for the Champions League this season?
The Black Cats stunned Manchester United at the Stadium of Light in the first leg, but it’s still only a one-goal advantage they take into the second leg at Old Trafford.
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet however, will be pleased to see his side improve results in recent weeks and will be confident he can mastermind a famous trip to Wembley for the Mackems.
David Moyes is becoming more and more under pressure by the game and a lot will be riding on his success in this competition this season. Failure to reach the Final could perhaps prove a disaster for the new United boss, while a victory and potential Wembley date with arch rivals City could help him get the United fans back on side.
Here’s where this game could be won or lost…
Adnan Januzaj v Adam Johnson
Januzaj has been a breath of fresh air at United this season, regularly putting in match-winning performances, despite still only being 18-years-old.
His rapid rise to United’s first team has been incredible and a lot of their play now goes through him. The key to keeping United quiet is to keep Januzaj quiet, which is what Adam Johnson may have the task of doing.
Johnson’s hat-trick in Sunderland’s 3-1 Premier League victory over Fulham gave us all a hint of the old flying Englishman we were all so used to seeing. If he can recreate a similar performance in the second leg then he has the ability to take Sunderland to Wembley singlehandedly.
Michael Carrick v Lee Cattermole
Michael Carrick has been a regular and consistent fixture in David Moyes’ team this season and has arguably been playing his best football to date.
His ability to slow the game down and dictate the tempo will allow United to contain Sunderland’s style of play, but he will also provide another form of attack if needs be.
Cattermole, on the other hand, is the no-nonsese, box-to-box midfielder United haven’t had for a long time. Cattermole’s boisterous presence in midfield got the better of United at the Stadium of Light and Poyet will be asking him for more of the same.
Danny Welbeck v John O’Shea
Welbeck has six goals in his last six games for United and is fast becoming the perfect stand-in while Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney remain sidelined. His ability to create chances, as well as score them, will provide United with added bite in their attacking threat as they attempt to regain control in this tie.
John O’Shea is having one of his best seasons at Sunderland so far and has built up a good understanding with fellow centre-half Wes Brown.
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His aerial threat at set pieces will be a big worry for United, but he’s just as effective defending them as well. If the former United defender can keep Welbeck quiet and then add some danger to Sunderland’s attack at corners, his performance could have a lot to do with who makes the Final.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini says that he expects his team to win the Premier League title on Sunday.
The Sky Blues moved two points ahead of Liverpool with just a game to go after a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium to put themselves firmly in the driving seat.
City know that a win at home to West Ham will guarantee them a second title in three years, and that a draw will be enough unless Liverpool overturn a 13 goal difference between the sides with a massive win against Newcastle.
Pellegrini has remained cagey up until now about his side’s prospects, but after the game he revealed that he’s now confident of lifting the trophy this weekend:
“Of course I expect to win the title because now we are top of the table,” he is quoted by ESPN.
“Now we can talk about the title because if we win the next game we are going to win the title. We could not do the same before this game because we had to beat Aston Villa.”
Pellegrini also talked up the way in which his team have put themselves in pole position after they broke the 100-goal mark thanks to a late Yaya Toure effort.
“I think it will be very important, not only [to win] the title but in the way we are going to win the title if finally we win it. I think we have a style of play, I think we are an attractive team, I think we score many goals and we are always thinking to score more goals. That to me has the same importance as winning the title.
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“I am very happy to win the title this way. There are different ways to win titles. I choose this one with attractive football so that the fans enjoy the season. For me, the aesthetic part is very important.”
Former Everton defender Alan Stubbs has told the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United to forget about summer moves for Ross Barkley.
The 20-year-old midfielder has emerged as one of the Premier League’s very best young players this term, playing a key role in the Toffees’ impressive season which almost yielded Champions League qualification.
Naturally his performances have alerted some of the division’s big hitters, with cross-city rivals Liverpool said to be plotting an audacious £38m move and United having been linked with him for some time.
Everton have sold a number of big name players in recent years to balance the books, with Marouane Fellaini having left just under 12 months ago to follow the likes of Wayne Rooney and Mikel Arteta away from Goodison Park.
But Stubbs believes that Barkley will not be going anywhere this summer:
“When someone of his talent comes along they stick out like a sore thumb, Ross was like that as a young boy.” He told talkSPORT.
“He had a hunger I’ve only seen before in Wayne Rooney. He wanted to be the first on to the pitch, practising all the time. He just loves football.
“The club are in a different position than we were five years ago, where we had to maybe sell one of the big stars.
“The club is in a much healthier place at the moment. Keeping Leighton Baines last summer was a huge statement.
“We’ve now got players in abundance who can kick us on to the next level. It’s important now as a club that we start to keep these players, rather than sell one or two every now and then. Barkley is the future.”
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Although he won’t be moving during the summer according to Stubbs, the ex-Toffee believes that Barkley will go to the World Cup:
“He’s got to go Brazil, he’s the future for England. Whether he starts or is just in the squad, he’s got to go.”
Perhaps it’s that memories are terribly short in football – it was only three years ago that Cesc Fabregas’ transfer to FC Barcelona was painted in the worst possible terms for Arsenal.
It was a sign of how far the club had fallen, a sign that Wenger had led the club astray. It’s 2014 and now Arsenal are apparently no longer in need of a 27-year-old Fabregas coming into his prime. Both conclusions are probably too extreme and it seems the truth, in life, as well as football, often lies somewhere in between.
It’s not so much that Arsenal do not need a player of Fabregas’ quality but that their need is greater in other areas. Bringing in a striker was a priority last summer and feels even more important this time around. A right-back is needed to replace the out of contract Bacary Sagna, with all reports suggesting Serge Aurier is on his way from Toulouse.
A central midfielder is also required, but one with more destructive tendencies than Fabregas. Ozil, Rosicky, Cazorla, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere could all fall into the vague ‘attacking midfielder’ bracket that Cesc also occupies. All have differing strengths, and it’s unclear whether Cesc would play as far forward as he does for Barcelona, but Arsenal are clearly are not short in this area.
However, this kind of argument didn’t stop Arsenal signing Ozil last summer. The club already had a plethora of silky midfielders that liked to operate between the lines. The logic was that Ozil’s ability put him in a bracket with a select few, and when these kind of players come available, you can’t turn them down. Cesc would surely meet this quality requirement and therefore should be a target if Arsenal were to follow the same kind of thinking.
Given the above-mentioned group of midfielders combined propensity for picking up injuries, it’s possible to paint Fabregas’ similarities in a positive light, and certainly seems unlikely that there would be too many times in the season when all are available.
That Arsenal aren’t interested in taking their former captain back to the Emirates probably says more about Aaron Ramsey than it does about Fabregas. There’s no need to further eulogize about the Welsham’s dramatic development as a footballer but what’s important is that it appears to be lasting. Ramsey picked up where he left off after his absence with injury to quell any fears that what came before was some sort of extended purple patch.
The problem with saying no to Cesc for Arsenal is that someone else gets to say yes – and the idea of Chelsea with a midfield pair of Matic and Fabregas for next season is particularly frightening. This isn’t a good enough reason to buy a player on it’s own, but it’s a factor worth consideration.
Turning down Fabregas is brave decision by Wenger and it’s easy to imagine it seeming like a bad one should Fabregas move to Stamford Bridge and Arsenal sustain a long-term injury to one their key midfielders.
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However, given the rise of Ramsey and stagnation of Giroud, Arsenal could spend £30m more wisely than on their former captain. Whether they’ll break the trend of missing out on targets as they’ve done in the last two windows remains to be seen.