Louis van Gaal has led Manchester United back into the top four of the Premier League after a noticeable absence under David Moyes.
The Dutchman’s start to managerial life in England was not as smooth as the former Netherlands manager would have hoped for. They didn’t pick up a win until mid-September when United overhauled Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford by four goals to nil. The lowest point for van Gaal has to be either the 4-0 League Cup thrashing United suffered at the hands of League One side MK Dons or the 5-3 defeat to bottom club Leicester City back in September.
Despite the manager experiencing a slightly rocky beginning, with many stating that his start was no better than Moyes’, he has now put a run of results together and United look like a force once again. His appeal for the media to judge him after three months appears to be an accurate one as United are slowly starting to turn a corner. Their 3-0 victory against Liverpool on Sunday was their sixth Premier League victory in a row. They have scored 13 goals on that run and have only let in three since their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on the 8th November.
One of the most fundamental factors behind United’s success is that they are starting to look more like a team again. This is mainly due to the fact that the injury list is slowly starting to shorten. Earlier in the season, the defence had to be constantly reshuffled and the likes of Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett were thrown into the starting line-up despite having hardly any experience at Premier League level. The younger players showed signs of inexperience but did impress overall, showing LvG that his willingness to have faith in the younger players at the club was a shrewd move.
Under Van Gaal’s leadership, David De Gea has really announced himself as one of the best goalkeepers in European football at the moment. His performance against Liverpool was absolutely outstanding and a wide range of world class saves across the season so far has rescued points for United. A talk of a new deal worth around £35million may sound like a lot of money but for a goalkeeper of that class, it’s more than worth it. The goalkeeper must also be praised for how he has inspired confidence in the defence in front of him. The influence a good stopper makes on the back four can separate the best from the rest and De Gea is certainly proving that this season.
As well as the defensive side to United’s game improving, things are also starting to click in an attacking sense. Robin van Persie is now in amongst the goals. He looked dejected at the start of the season, probably due to the hysteria that surrounded Radamel Falcao’s arrival at Old Trafford. Although the Dutch striker took a while to get going, he has now scored four goals in four Premier League games. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata have also been impressive in recent weeks and the towering Marouane Fellaini has shown United fans that he has something to offer in the middle of the park. The fans have also allowed the team to relax and perform well.
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There is optimism buzzing around Old Trafford these days compared to the nervous vacuum that surrounded the pitch under David Moyes. If United can end 2014 with three wins against Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, van Gaal’s team will be bursting with confidence going into the New Year. With the possibility of further reinforcements in January, the outlook at Old Trafford is suddenly becoming a lot brighter – and that’s down to the Dutchman’s stern, yet effective managerial approach.
As one of Serie A’s more impressive midfielders right now, Radja Nainggolan was always likely to attract some attention this month. And sure enough, Arsenal are among a host of clubs, including Liverpool, chasing the Belgian ace ahead of a potential move before the looming transfer deadline passes.
The Roma man is understood to be valued at around £26m, with both Roma and Cagliari – who own a share of his rights – demanding £13m to part with the tenacious enforcer. So, would Arsenal make a move for the 26-year-old? We think so, and here are FIVE reasons why…
Better than Wenger’s current options
Although the numbers are slightly hampered by Francis Coquelin’s lack of game time – he’s only been back at Arsenal since mid January – Nainggolan outshines the Gunners’ current crop of players. In terms of duels won and tackles made per 90 minutes, the Belgian tops the records of Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta and is not too far adrift of Coquelin, despite playing over three times the amount of minutes as the Frenchman in league action this term.
Where Nainggolan is undisputed king, though, is going forward. The Roma man registers more shots, goals, key pass and chances created-per-game, showing his abilities heading up the pitch are as good as back down it.
In his prime
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Coquelin is young at 23, while Arteta, 32, and Flamini, 30, are edging towards the closing stages of their careers. Nainggolan, however, is, at 26, very much in the peak years for a midfielder. This is reflected by his gutsy showings and tireless playing style, with the ‘mohawked’ enforcer clearly in prime physical condition.
Arsenal need someone for the ‘here and now’ as they look to get their season back on track, with their top four hopes already in the balance after a stuttering start to the season.
Willing to do the dirty work
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Arsenal have been famed for their slick playing style for some time. Easy on the eye and entertaining, when the Gunners are on form, they’re irresistible. Yet, if clever opposition cut their creative influences out of the game and press well, Wenger’s sides tend to struggle. A soft underbelly contributes to this, with few Emirates Stadium stars in recent seasons possessing the ‘backbone’ to go with their technical skills.
Nainggolan, however, has this fight and fire in his game. His willingness to get stuck in could help the Gunners to move away from their lightweight tag.
The sort of player Arsenal lack
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As mentioned before, Arsenal lack a ‘battler’ in the middle of the park. Although impressive of late, Coquelin is not yet proven at the highest level – the fact Wenger allowed him to go to Charlton on loan earlier this season suggests he may have some doubts about his ability at the top level – while Arteta is known more for his passing than his ability to destroy. Flamini, however, is more willing to get stuck in, yet the criticism he’s faced from Gooners – one has to merely glance at Twitter on a match day to see that – hints that he’s not up to the job.
Statement of intent
Although signing a player just to prove a point – the addition of Mesut Ozil in 2013 appeared to have a whiff of that about it – is now always wise, getting Nainggolan in now as the Gunners look to kick on from their recent resurgence and break back into the top four could send out a message to their rivals. Addressing a major weakness at a critical point of the season would surely strike fear into the hearts of Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs – who are yet to make a notable addition this month.
With the news emerging that last January, Liverpool met the release clause of, then Atletico Madrid striker, Diego Costa. We now look at what might have been, had the striker opted for Merseyside red, rather than West London Blue…..
It seems strange to think that ‘Super Diego’ only signed for Liverpool 14 months ago. With all that has happened since, it seems like he has been there a lifetime. So how has his first year at Anfield gone?
Signed on ‘Diego Deadline Day’ as it is now affectionately known in Merseyside, Costa needed to make an instant impact, and how he did. After Kolo Toure had gifted West Bromwich Albion an equaliser with only 25 minutes to go, the Spaniard came off the bench to endear himself to the travelling support with an injury time brace to ensure his new side gathered all three points.
The goals continued to flow for Costa during a super run for the club which saw them chalk eleven straight wins, which took them to the precipice of the title. One particular highlight was his hat-trick at home to title rivals Manchester City, seriously denting their hopes of winning their second title. Of course the game also saw the notorious stamp, ending Vincent Kompany’s season.
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All seemed destined for the three pronged attack of Suarez, Sturridge and Costa to propel their team to a first title in over twenty years. Then all the hard work seemed to be undone, the two star men, Suarez and Costa were involved in a training ground bust up, punches were thrown and bridges were burned. Luis Suarez of course would not play another game for the club and the burden of a title challenge was placed on the shoulders of Diego.
Now to Chelsea at home.
The game where one moment swung the title race. Steven Gerrard slipped in midfield leaving Demba Ba a free run on goal, he had to score, he didn’t. Straight into the keeper’s arms, and following a quick throw out Diego Costa was smashing his side into the lead. A lead they would hold on to.
A further brace at Crystal Palace extinguished a rousing fight back from the hosts and Liverpool had done it. A first league title since 1990. Although the whole team fought to ensure the title would be heading to Anfield, it is fair to say had Costa not signed, Liverpool may have missed out on the biggest prize.
Following this, buoyed by his first campaign in England, he spearheaded Spain to an unprecedented fourth consecutive major tournament win, winning the Golden Boot in the process.
Then we move to this season, when the rest of the team struggled, he flourished, dragging his team to many points, which has set up this year’s campaign, as they canter to a second successive title.
If only a team like Chelsea could have signed him, with Mourinho now out of a job he could have only wished for a player like Costa. But alas he is a Liverpool player and quite rightly a modern day Liverpool legend.
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Here is to years more of Super Diego.
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Everton have had a poor season, and with only eight games left of the current campaign it looks unlikely that they will turn it around. The Toffees had a chance to save face by winning the Europa league and for a moment England pinned their continental hopes on them doing just that. But ultimately they were dumped out of that competition in the last 16 by Dynamo Kiev. To make it worse England’s last chance of European glory this season were beaten 5-2 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate.
The Merseyside club were expected to finish close to their last season high of fifth place but now a mid or bottom half of the table position looks likely. Players like Ross Barkley and Seamus Coleman stayed loyal but have recently been linked with big summer moves out of Goodison. Here are three players Everton should buy to strengthen their team in the upcoming window.
Tom Cleverley
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Cleverley is currently coming to the end of a year long loan deal with Aston Villa but is apparently willing to snub the Birmingham based club in favour of a move to Merseyside. Manchester United are still his parent club but manager Louis van Gaal is unlikely to renew his contract so he’ll be available to leave for free. Roberto Martinez is said to be an admirer of the midfielder and his experience playing for United could help Everton with their stability issues next season. Martinez and Cleverley worked together at Wigan during 2010-11 so perhaps they have a good enough working relationship to sway the player into reuniting with the struggling Spaniard.
Aaron Lennon
The winger has been on loan with the Toffees since January and so far has been doing a good job. Martinez described him earlier in the season as a breath of fresh air so it seems likely that the club will be taking up their option to permanently buy him this summer. Tottenham have priced him at £6m which is very reasonable and shouldn’t be an obstacle for a club like Everton. Lennon struggled to find his place under new Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino but has been rejuvenated during his time on Merseyside. The 27 year old has made seven appearances with his only goal being Everton’s winner against QPR. The player has settled well with both the team and manager so Martinez would be better off sticking with a talent he has personal knowledge of rather than searching for someone new this summer.
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Lewis Dunk
Both Sylvain Distin and Antolin Alcaraz are out of contract this summer so Everton may need to bring defenders in to fill the gap. Brighton and Hove Albion’s Lewis Dunk has been named as a possible signing. Dunk featured against Arsenal in their FA cup fourth round match so he has experience playing against a top Premier League team. As he is currently plying his trade in the Championship Everton would be a big step up but at 23 he is surely ready to make a move into the top flight and Martinez can develop and nurture the young defenders talent if he believes he is worth the effort. Both West Ham and West Bromwich Albion are also rumoured to be readying a bid for Dunk so perhaps a future in the Premier League is inevitable.
Arsenal’s slim hopes of leapfrogging London rivals Chelsea and winning this season’s Premier League title were ended as the sides drew 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners will be happy with their progress in the second half of the campaign, which has seen Arsene Wenger’s men string together an excellent winning run and power themselves into the top four.
With an FA Cup final to play against Aston Villa also, despite the fact that the North Londoners will not be English champions this term, it looks set to be a relatively successful campaign.
One of the real positives of the 2014-15 season is also an improved record against the division’s top teams, with Arsenal showing this term that they can go toe-to-toe with England’s best.
Last season’s heavy defeats at Anfield, the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge now seem like a distant memory, with the Gunners faring well against the same teams this term.
However, the failure to beat Chelsea at the weekend will leave a slightly sour taste in the mouth.
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The Blues and their manager Jose Mourinho have been slammed for a lack of ambition and conservative play, but in truth it was Arsenal’s job to break their opponents down – they were the team that were at home and needed the three points to keep the title race alive.
Over the course of 90 minutes that featured plenty of slick passing, energy and gusto from the hosts, few chances were created.
Mesut Ozil had the best opportunity of the game to break the deadlock in the dying moments of the clash but fluffed his lines, while Thibaut Courtois had little to do.
As such, the most frustrating thing for the Arsenal fans will be the strategy of the hosts in the second half.
As Chelsea started to sit back and defend their potential draw, the Gunners had the incentive to take the initiative and really put their opponents under consistent pressure.
With Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and other attacking options on the bench, Wenger’s decision to introduce the sprightly English pair came too late in the game.
However, the decision to remove Olivier Giroud, a striker that has been in excellent form despite a subdued performance on Sunday, with less than 10 minutes remaining, was somewhat baffling.
Putting two strikers on the pitch, through the middle, with 15 minutes left would surely have had the inevitable champions sweating much more than a continuation of the 4-2-3-1 ploy.
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Although Chelsea were accused of being too defensive, the contrary cannot be said of Arsenal, as the hosts did not throw everything they had at a side that started to sit back with 20-30 minutes remaining.
Arsenal continue to develop and will be a threat in the title race next year; being more ruthless and decisive against top opposition like Chelsea in the future could take them to the next level.
Manchester United are safe in a Champions League spot now – barring freak results that see them drop six points on Liverpool and suffer a 14 goal swing to level up the goal difference.
But the run that the Red Devils went on recently – a run of three games without scoring – almost let Liverpool back into the race for fourth and seems to have irked Louis Van Gaal somewhat.
In the summer, Van Gaal spent hundreds of millions of pounds on attacking players, and even David Moyes before him signed Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini. United have one of the most attacking teams in the league and have had to face criticism all season as pundits have commented on the team’s imbalance. United are a little top heavy.
They have a huge amount of world class attackers, so 3 without a goal is just unacceptable for the money they’ve spent over the last year or two.
But that’s not the whole problem. It seems strange to say that United can have spent so much money on their attack and yet be short in that area. But on the evidence of the past few weeks, it’s definitely the case. And Van Gaal must share some of the blame.
Not for his recruitment, but for his tactics.
Over the past few months, United have had success with longer passes. The tactic of throwing a long ball up to Fellaini isn’t quite ‘hit and hope’, but it has left them predictable in the last few games.
Van Gaal was irked again earlier in the season when Sam Allardyce suggested – tongue in cheek – that United were a long ball team. There’s a difference between long balls and long passes – United’s play might have long passes, but they hit their targets. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Or so protested the dutch manager.
The truth is that United work the ball into positions where they can find a cross, and they have to pass the ball a lot to get it there.
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The problem now is that teams have nullified the threat, and United were left trying to pass it through the opposition in the last few games. But Van Gaal’s men have found that just passing in front of the opposition’s defensive line doesn’t work – not unless you diversify the play a bit.
But Van Gaal has looked to address this problem. After the West Brom game he said that they needed to pass it more quickly. That the lack of goals was definitely a concern and one of the reasons was the lack of speed in the build up.
And then he went out fairly swiftly and bought Memphis Depay – a man who’s scored 22 goals this season.
It might sound paradoxical given the ‘long pass’ tactic at the moment, but this signing looks like Van Gaal wants to play even more direct. For LvG, his long ball tactic is too convoluted! It’s funny how Van Gaal can make anything seem sophisticated.
United have to pass the ball around an awful lot in order to give young or valencia etc space to find a cross. Against West Brom, United had 80% of the possession, they had a 90% pass accuracy and Ander Herrera ran the game and made 127 passes – almost 100 more than the West Brom player with the most passes – keeper Boaz Myhill who had 34. And most of those would have been goal kicks and the like. Let’s put Herrera’s volume of passes into perspective – Darren Fletcher, playing in the midfield role for West Brom managed only ten passes and 18 touches of the ball.
Yet United attempted more long balls and crosses than West Brom. Rooney, Carrick, Herrera or whoever Van Gaal uses in the playmaker role, has to spread the play and look for ways to create space. And only then can the ball to Fellaini be played.
But if United are closed down properly as they do this then they need to pass quicker, find space more ably or just change tack. Something they didn’t do against West Brom, Everton or Chelsea. In fact, even when they beat Crystal Palace they were still trying to send it long to Fellaini. Van Gaal might be too sophisticated for hit and hope, but United are the most erudite long ball team in history.
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But Memphis Depay will allow them to change their style from time to time. He gives another dimension. He’s direct, he dribbles at defenders and he likes to shoot.
On paper, he looks like an Angel Di Maria replacement, but actually Di Maria isn’t as direct as Depay. The Argentinian midfielder doesn’t shoot too much, and if you look at their relative goal and assist stats you’ll see the whole story – Depay has 22 goals and 4 assists this season, Di Maria has 3 and 10.
Di Maria is the man to play the key passes and Depay is the man to make something happen on his own. And that’s what United have been missing over the last few games – someone to take the responsibility and create something on their own.
The passing has been good – 90% accuracy against West Brom – but it can only get them so far when the defence is well-drilled. Van Gaal’s addition of Depay will give them something extra to counter a good defence, and their passing won’t be in vain. It’s just a shame he couldn’t play a month ago.
In what will undoubtedly be a cause for celebration for the majority of Tottenham fans, £17million flop Paulinho has joined Chinese outfit Guangzhou Evergrande, as confirmed by the club – and The Daily Mail – this afternoon.
The Brazil international arrived at White Hart Lane in summer 2013 following his impressive performances at the Confederations Cup and the £87million departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, but needless to say he’s struggled to live up to his billing in north London.
Indeed, Paulinho’s managed just 45 Premier League appearances for Spurs, with around half of those outings coming from the bench and the majority of them spent disappearing in the middle of the park.
So what better way to celebrate the 26 year-old’s departure than reminiscing over some equally terrible Tottenham signings? In honour of Paulinho, we’ve created Tottenham’s Transfer Flop XI of the Premier League era – detailing their biggest deals that turned the most sour.
How does the flopped Brazilian compare to this mob?
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GOALKEEPER – HEURELHO GOMES
Heurelho Gomes certainly had his moments in a Spurs jersey and the Brazil international’s exemplary shot-stopping abilities were never in doubt.
Yet every stellar save was counteracted by sudden sprees of goalkeeping madness; with fluffed parries into the back of his own net, inexplicable expeditions thirty yards from the goal line and hilarious attempts to skill his way past onrushing strikers galore. More shots passed through his body than Charlie Sheen on a Friday night.
The now-Watford No.1 made nearly a centenary of Premier League appearances for the Lilywhites and ended up becoming a bit of a cult hero at White Hart Lane. Rather interesting, he’s also the only person on Wikipedia with the first name ‘Heurelho’.
But at a cost of £7.8million – which actually makes him one of the most expensive Premier League goalkeepers of all time – Spurs never got anything close to their money’s worth.
RIGHT-BACK – ALAN HUTTON
Many will point to Paul Stalteri as Tottenham’s worst right-back of the Premier League era, a Canadian international famed for playing several positions equally terribly yet juxtaposing it by a rather incredible goal to clinch a 4-3 win against London rivals West Ham in 2007.
But it’s long forgotten the infamous Juande Ramos (also the purchaser of Heurelho Gomes) once coughed up a rather incredible £9million for Alan Hutton – which, back in January 2008, made him the most expensive defender in White Hart Lane history.
He was billed as some sort of Scottish Dani Alves after proving particularly formidable going forward for Rangers in the SPL. But what turned up in north London was a right-back about as ordinary and unexceptional as you can get in the Premier League.
Hutton stuck it out for three years with Spurs, eventually making 51 Premier League appearances, before being flogged to Aston Villa for a pittance in 2011, who quickly decided to loan him out to Mallorca, Nottingham Forest and Bolton Wanderers.
CENTRE-BACK – RAMON VEGA
Back in 1997, £3.75million was a heck of a lot of money – especially for a Spurs side who hadn’t finished higher than 7th since the turn of the decade – so naturally, fans expected big things from Swiss international Ramon Vega.
He was billed as an intelligent centre-back who could speak five languages and had a degree in banking but with a rough-n-ready side comparable to Tony Adams, according to Gerry Francis.
Unfortunately, neither the savvy Vega nor the thuggish Vega turned up at White Hart Lane. Instead, the Lilywhites fan-base witnessed five arduous years of bumbled, calamitous defending to the point Vega became the benchmark all woeful Tottenham centre-halves have since been judged upon.
He did, however, win the League Cup with Spurs in 1999, and has made £15million as a city trader since retiring. Tottenham fans will argue they’re due nearly a quarter of that in compensation.
Centre Back – Mbulelo Mabizela
In the grand scheme of things, £1.5million, even back in 2003 when a bus ride was just 40p in London, isn’t a huge sum of money. But at the resulting cost of £214k per league appearance and eventually seeing his Spurs contract put through the shredder due to disciplinary problems, there is no doubt the once highly-rated Mbulelo Mabizela was a huge flop at White Hart Lane.
Indeed, Glen Hoddle saw great potential in the former Orlando Pirates prodigy, who had become the youngest ever captain of the South African national team at the age of 20 and produced an apparently incredible Man of the Match display against Spurs during their 2003 pre-season tour. Never mind that he’d never kicked a ball in Europe before. Never mind that he was a centre-back who measured in at just 5 foot 10.
Needless to say, Mabizela’s north London stay didn’t work out as planned. He managed just seven Premier League outings, producing a sensational goal against Leicester City, before deciding to skip several training sessions and resultantly see his contract terminated by ‘mutual’ consent. A few months earlier, he’d also gone AWOL during an international break, ending his Bafana Bafana captaincy.
After an unsuccessful trial at Fulham, Mabizela joined Norwegian outfit Valerenga (who?) before returning to South African football for the remainder of his career.
LEFT-BACK – GILBERTO
A by no means unanimous decision here at Football Fancast. Many Spurs fans hold a particular disliking towards Crazy Gang graduate Ben Thatcher, who joined the club from Wimbledon for £5million in 2000 and spent the next decade committing GBH on a weekly basis in the Premier League, shattering shins and cheekbones for fun and infamously almost severing Pedro Mendez’ head in 2006 whilst at Manchester City.
But Thatcher can at least lay claim to 46 appearances for the Lilywhites. Brazilian Gliberto, on the other hand, despite representing Selecao on 35 occasions, managed just 10; seven in the Premier League, and three of which he was hauled off at half time.
After 18 months at White Hart Lane the £2million signing was shipped back to Brazil, costing Spurs £200k per woeful appearance.
RIGHT MIDFIELD – DAVID BENTLEY
David Bentley’s Tottenham tenure was so terrible it forced him into retirement at the age of 30.
The seven-cap international was billed as the next David Beckham during his time at Blackburn Rovers, sharing Golden Balls’ unique free-kick style and potency from dead ball situations, convincing Spurs to splash out a whopping £15million fee for his services in summer 2008.
Unfortunately, however, Bentley echoed more the Beckham of the socialite modelling world than on the pitch during his lengthy north London stay, and barring one sensational appearance against former club Arsenal spent the rest of the time flicking his admittedly rather luscious parting from side to side for the cameras.
After falling out of favour under Harry Redknapp – probably due to him throwing a water keg over the Spurs gaffer during an end-of-season interview – the midfielder went out on loan to Birmingham, West Ham, FC Rostov and Blackburn Rovers as his Tottenham contract wound down, before calling it quits (and pocketing five years’ worth of wages) last summer.
Most humiliatingly of all, almost half of Bentley’s transfer fee – the eighth largest in Spurs history – went to local rivals and ex-employers Arsenal through a sell-on fee agreement.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD – PAULINHO
The inspiration for this list and the definition of the word ‘fraud’. Half of the continent were linked to Paulinho after his impressive performances for Brazil at the 2013 Confederations Cup, where his robust box-to-box style and knack of hitting the onion bag seemed perfect for European football.
So when he arrived at White Hart Lane for a then-club record £17million in the wake of Gareth Bale’s departure to Real Madrid, Spurs thought they were onto a real winner – beating some of Europe’s top clubs to one of summer 2013’s most sought-after players.
Yet, the Paulinho heralded as a world-beater at Corinthians never truly turned up in north London. Far from an all-action box-to-box, the 26 year-old’s individual style seemed to be based around doing as little as possible before ghosting in for the very, very occasional goal. More passive than Joe Allen in a friendly; less aggressive than a Buddhist peace rally.
After playing a pivotal hand in getting Andre Villas-Boas sacked for his woeful performances and left out in the cold by Tim Sherwood and Mauricio Pochettino, Paulinho has now agreed a move to China – cementing his reputation as one of the biggest disappointments in both Tottenham and Premier League history.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD – Milenko Acimovic
Unlike the rest of the players in this flops XI, free signing Milenko Acimovic didn’t disappoint in price. Rather, the attacking midfielder emphatically failed to live up to his reputation as one of the best talents outside of Europe’s leading top flights at the time.
Indeed, he’d generated quite the hype at Red Star Belgrade, netting 34 times in 102 league appearances, and also impressed at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup with Slovakia, leading to a bosman move to White Hart Lane in summer 2002.
Far from transitioning his goal-scoring displays to the Premier League, however, Acimovic found himself continually overpowered in midfield and disastrously short on confidence – by no means helped by him committing what is regarded as one of the most shocking Tottenham misses of all time.
In total, Acimovic made just 17 league appearances in two years, before being offloaded to Lille.
LEFT WING – ERIK LAMELA
Erik Lamela’s certainly had his moments for Spurs – most particularly, his Europa League Rabona goal against Asteras Tripoli last season.
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But considering the 23 year-old’s prior reputation from his days with Roma as a future Ballon d’Or contender and his status as Tottenham’s most expensive signing of all time – costing the club £30million including potential add-ons – he’s undoubtedly fallen some way short of the mark.
Indeed, the flopped winger has managed just 38 Premier League appearances since his arrival in summer 2013, scoring only twice and providing eight assists; hardly what you’d expect from a player dubbed ‘the Argentine Ronaldo’.
If Lamela still has one thing working in his favour, it’s his youth. He’s still nowhere near his footballing peak and Spurs appear adamant the ten-cap international will eventually fulfil his potential at White Hart Lane.
STRIKER – SERGEI REBROV
Spurs have endured a hilarious amount of flops in the striker department throughout the Premier League era, ranging from infamous loanster Andy Booth to England international Darren Bent, with the likes of Grzegorz Rasiak, Bobby Zamora, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Heider Postiga somewhere in between.
But purely in terms of transfer fees combined with performances on the pitch, ten-in-sixty frontman Sergei Rebrov, who arrived at White Hart Lane for a whopping £11million back in 2000, has to top the list.
They say every great partnership is made of one sensational footballer and another mediocre one in the right place at the right time. Rather tellingly, Rebrov made his name as partner to Andriy Shevchenko at Dynamo Kiev.
And whilst the latter went on to become one of the greatest goalscorers of a generation, the former ended up costing Spurs £1.1million per Premier League goal, before joining bitter rivals West Ham on a free transfer, just to rub in that extra little bit of salt.
Rather incredibly, Rebrov took things a step further in 2008, when he warned Pavlyuchenko about all the ‘dark skinned people’ and ‘high crime rate’ around White Hart Lane. Racist flop.
STRIKER – ROBERTO SOLDADO
We’ve had the third-most expensive signing in Spurs history, the first-most expensive signing in Spurs history and now the second-most expensive signing in Spurs history – Roberto Soldado – completing the trifecta of unforgivably woeful flops from summer 2013.
In the interests of fairness, it’s worth pointing out the Spain international was considered to be one of the best finishers in Europe before arriving in north London, generating 101 goals in 207 appearances throughout his La Liga spells with Real Madrid, Getafe, Osasuna, and Valencia.
There were always doubts over the pintsized striker’s compatibility with the Premier League, however, especially at the age of 28, and they soon proved justified.
In stark contrast to his successes in Spain, the £26million signing has managed just seven goals in 52 league outings for Spurs, four coming from the penalty spot.
Soldado’s performances have transgressed from promising to unfortunate and hardworking to Fernando Torres level hopeless, epitomised best by his harrowing fluff against Fiorentina in the video above.
He’s now being linked with a move to Galatasaray, with Spurs taking a £15million loss in the process.
Arsenal supporters have taken to Twitter to express their thoughts following the Gunners’ highly entertaining 3-3 draw with Liverpool.
One of the main criticisms that have been aimed at Arsene Wenger in recent times has been Arsenal’s inability to perform and dictate in the ‘big fixtures’.
The Gunners’ fans must have thought that they were going to witness another defeat against one of the more accomplished teams in the Premier League, as Philippe Coutinho’s early goal was coupled by Mohamed Salah’s 21st goal of the season.
However, much to the sheer amazement of everyone watching, the Gunners responded in style. The FA Cup winners scored three goals in the space of four minutes and 45 seconds to take a surprising lead.
Nonetheless, the North London side were unable to secure all three points as Roberto Firmino scored Liverpool’s third goal of the evening.
Here’s how the Arsenal supporters responded to the draw on Twitter…
The West Ham owners, former manager Slaven Bilic and the club’s supporters were understandably delighted when they brought Javier Hernandez to the London Stadium in a £16m deal from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer, and he was arguably their best signing on paper since the arrival of Dimitri Payet two years earlier.
The Mexico international, who has 49 goals in 99 caps for his country, arrived in east London having scored 39 goals in 76 matches for Bayer Leverkusen following a spell with Manchester United in which he netted 59 times in 158 appearances in total for the Red Devils.
The Hammers finally looked to have the goalscorer they had been craving for many years, and a successful campaign looked to be on the cards.
However, it hasn’t turned out that way for West Ham, or for Hernandez.
The Irons’ tough start to the season under Bilic saw them lose their opening three Premier League matches, and the 29-year-old was given little to work with up top alone in the 4-0 and 3-0 defeats against Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively, although he did score a brace in the 3-2 defeat against Southampton at St Mary’s – with the second goal coming when he moved to a wider role.
However, Hernandez has only scored two goals in 15 top flight matches since that encounter on the south coast, and he hasn’t found the net in his last seven Premier League games.
In fact, the Mexican has fallen way out of favour under new boss David Moyes – whom he also worked with during his spell at Old Trafford – only coming off of the substitutes’ in five of the last six league games.
The situation certainly won’t have impressed the former Red Devil, who has sometimes seen Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio – neither of which are natural strikers – start in the position even when he has been available.
Basically, West Ham are struggling to find a role in the team for Chicharito, and it has been a problem ever since the start of the season.
While the 29-year-old started up top at the beginning of the campaign, the return of Andy Carroll from injury saw him revert to a position on the left flank and even as a central attacking midfielder – two roles that he didn’t look particularly comfortable playing in.
And that is the problem. Hernandez is a penalty box poacher and needs balls to be fed to him in the box – ideally along the ground unless he is unmarked for a cross in the air.
As a lone striker, he struggles from an aerial point of view and to hold the ball up to allow his attacking teammates to get up the pitch and support him, and he has already become something of a luxury player that can’t be risked by Moyes as West Ham look to avoid being involved in a relegation battle in the second-half of the campaign.
The 29-year-old’s limitations and his inability to play alone up top were highlighted even further in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last week and the goalless draw against League One Shrewsbury Town in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Hernandez struggled to have any impact at all and was substituted off in the 64th minute against Spurs – being replaced by Andre Ayew who went on to play a big part in Pedro Obiang’s goal – while he came off in the 71st minute against the Shrews.
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While the general situation, lack of form and confidence may not be solely down to Hernandez as he had little to work with during his time on the pitch, sometimes you have to work that little bit harder to make something happen and he often doesn’t seem to be willing to do that graft.
Nearly six months after the Mexico international signed for West Ham it is already looking like a move that won’t work out for the club or the player in the long-term, and the Irons should consider cashing in on the 29-year-old before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.
Despite his disappointing season his stock will still be relatively high tight now and the Irons should be able to recoup most of the £16m they spent on him in the summer, which would then allow Moyes to bring in a new striker that is likely to fit more into his and the east London outfit’s style of play.
As reported by The Sun, Manchester United are lining up a move for Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann during this summer’s transfer window.
What’s the story?
Griezmann has been in a sensational form for the Spanish side for years now, the envy of most big clubs in European football and Manchester United are no different.
The Sun report the Red Devils are ‘desperate to sign’ the French international and are lining up an £89m move at the end of the season.
However, United have been told he is looking for a staggering £400,000-a-week to make the move to Manchester and snub Barcelona, who are also interested in his services, according to the paper.
Is that too expensive, even for the Old Trafford side?
Worth the outlay?
In an ever expanding transfer market, to secure the best talents available that win you major honours you have to shell out for it and if United can possibly afford his reported wage demands then it’s something they have to pursue.
The French player has scored over 20 goals for Atletico Madrid in every season since moving there in 2014, also contributing plenty of assists, the kind of direct goal contribution that could transform Jose Mourinho’s attack.
He could be the ideal player to deploy on either the left hand side or through the middle of support of Lukaku, also possessing great versatility without compromise to performance.
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At 26 years of age he’s entering his prime and is one of the few talents in world football worth stretching their resources for, especially when he can inspire a return to winning the major honours the Old Trafford side crave so badly.