Arsenal are facing a battle with Real Madrid with both clubs hunting the signature of highly-rated Lille star Eden Hazard, the Mirror understands.
The Gunners have been chasing Hazard for over two years and failed to sign the Belgian schemer during the summer as he strived to replace Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri after they departed the Emirates.
It’s now emerged that Madrid’s director of football, Zinedine Zidane, has singled out the 20-year-old as the next Galactico and even tried to convince Lille to ignore any approaches from North London.
Bernabeu legend Zidane has made Hazard the number one transfer target for Los Merengues and is prepared to go all out to convince the midfielder to make the move to Spain.
That could prove to be a huge blow to Arsene Wenger’s aspirations of bringing Hazard to the club, with the La Liga giants a more attractive proposition than the crisis-stricken Gunners.
The Frenchman has endured a testing few months of late, losing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the summer before overseeing the club’s worst start to a season during his 14 year tenure.
News of Madrid’s interest in Hazard will come as another bitter blow to his future plans and he knows it will be a huge task to convince Hazard to snub La Liga for the Premier League.
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Every season the Arsenal defence is barracked for being diabolical and costing the club every trophy under the sun. Regular comments that come from the terraces at the Emirates single out the need for a world class goalkeeper and central defender to replace the so-called imbeciles currently taking the shirts.
And in some cases it is true. The 2011 League Cup is the most glaring example, when an embarrassing mix-up between Szczesny and Koscielny gifted Birmingham the win and this can be seen as the point that ruined a season where Arsene Wenger’s side were fighting on four different fronts.
But it could also be argued that Arsenal are losing just as many games because of problems much higher up the pitch. Take the same game for instance. In the League Cup final, they had umpteen chances to close out that match, with Ben Foster making some top drawer saves to keep out Bendtner and Arshavin, as well as denying Nasri on three separate occasions. If a third of the chances Arsenal had in the game had gone in then that blunder would have meant nothing to the result.
The same thing has shown itself this season. They wasted far too many goalscoring opportunities on the opening day against Newcastle and failed to score again when Liverpool visited the Emirates, while only scoring one against Swansea who were still finding their Premier League feet at that point and it is just as problematic as the back line for the Gunners.
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Yes, Robin van Persie is fit and on fire recently which means that goals are almost guaranteed. If it wasn’t for him, the win against Stoke on Sunday would have been a draw, the victory over Sunderland a defeat and many more of Arsenal’s 13 points would be relinquished without him. But where do they go when he can’t play? And what can the Dutchman and his fellow strikers do if things start to go wrong? The answer, it seems, is nothing.
When Emmanuel Adebayor left for moneybags Manchester City in 2009, Arsenal lost their plan B attacking style. Not to say that the Togolese striker was only good for an alternative style of play because he had great feet but his height and strength meant that if things weren’t going well there was a target man to aim a long ball to.
Since then there has been no plan B at the Emirates and if Arsenal are going to seriously challenge for titles they need to be able to switch systems when their backs are against the walls in big games.
Take the humiliation they suffered at Old Trafford (the home of hammerings this season) and Arsenal were still trying to play passing, attacking football when they were being torn apart. There was no long ball tactic or striker that could hold the ball up so the waves of red shirts kept coming back at them relentlessly.
The team has been crying out for a no-nonsense centre-forward to come in and make that position their own. Van Persie is a brilliant forward but he is better suited to collecting the ball, having it at his feet and doing something special rather than being confined to an aerial battle and that is the predicament Wenger has with all of his striking options.
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Marouane Chamakh is the person closest to filling that gap but his heading ability is poor. Like Van Persie, deliver the ball into the Moroccan along the floor and his quick feet and pace will cause defenders problems. However, he hasn’t hit the height expected of him when he brought his fantastic Ligue 1 scoring record across the Channel. With players around him showing similar skills but scoring goals while he struggles to adapt he cannot be given a role of leading the line and the rumours of a move back to France may well spell the end of his time at the Emirates.
Another French import is summer signing Gervinho, who has fared better since his move. Although only scoring two goals so far he has fitted into the side quickly and had his best game for the Gunners on Sunday, scoring one and setting up both Van Persie goals in the 3-1 win. He is also a more physical prospect than Chamakh as was proven by him slapping Joey Barton on his Premier League debut. But again he is still a player best suited to football on the ground and has been wasteful of chances which at the highest level can be very expensive.
Fellow new signing Chu Young Park will not be able to fill the glaring hole at Arsenal either. Signed for £3.4 million, the 26-year-old has been dubbed ‘not ready’ for the first team by Arsene Wenger, a worrying admission by a man usually so frugal with money. He averaged one goal every four games for Monaco which is not a bad record, but like many of Wenger’s French imports the pace and brutality of English football see them fall from grace. The player has all the attributes for a top striker but is once again in this mould of player that wants the ball to his feet and will struggle to fight for it.
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And finally there’s the talisman, Robin Van Persie. A prolific goalscorer but all too often injured. He has scored 24 goals in 26 appearances in 2011 and the only player that impressed for the Gunners after the League Cup final debacle. But his injury record speaks for itself. In 2007 Van Persie broke his metatarsal celebrating a goal against Man United, meaning he missed the Carling Cup final which his side subsequently lost 2-1, the following year he was top scorer at the club despite missing most of the season with a knee injury as Arsenal finished just four points off the lead and again last season, missing the first half of the campaign then getting injured again in the infamous final.
While he is on the pitch he is a star, but when he’s injured the cupboard is bare for Arsene Wenger and he needs to change it soon. He has Theo Walcott asking to play up front but his goalscoring record is hardly a shining CV and again he brings nothing to the table that the club doesn’t already have. So who outside the club could they take?
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Although not a likely option, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba fits the bill perfectly. Physical, good in the air and a fantastic finisher, he would be the saviour if he were to arrive at the Emirates. But more realistically, a man such as Roque Santa Cruz, currently not wanted by Manchester City and on loan at Real Betis would be a good addition to lead the line alongside van Persie, or even consistent defender breaker and goal finder Kevin Davies to give Arsenal a dimension so dramatically lacking from their play.
Now for any Gunners fans tearing their hair out at the mention of big bruiser Kevin Davies being the man to save their stylish, sophisticated football club, think of this.
Apart from Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea team, many of the best clubs in the world have had defensive troubles. The famous treble winning Manchester United team weren’t the strongest at the back. They were held together by Peter Schmeichel and maintained the philosophy of scoring one more than their opponents. It is the same with the successful Real Madrid sides at the turn of the century and the Barcelona team of now, there weaknesses are their defence but they score so freely that no-one cares. Even the Newcastle team that nearly made it big had that theory. It’s time Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans stopped bemoaning their defence and asked the strikers around Robin van Persie to do their job.
To talk about anything football, follow me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.
At the time of writing everyone connected with Oldham Athletic are tentative. If Robbie Simpson had missed a last-minute penalty on Saturday to dramatically rescue a point the feeling would be on the verge of panic.
Wycombe, Saturday’s opponents, have been kept at arm’s reach. Oldham are safe, so the majority of Athletic supporters sigh. However stranger things have happened. Only last week did Dean Saunders, the Doncaster Rovers manager, defiantly wander down memory lane – more in comfort than happily – as he reminisced about Bradford City’s sensational escape from relegation, owing to Wimbledon’s disastrous ten-match losing streak. As it happened, Portsmouth nailed the final nail into the Rovers’ coffin as they were relegated. But the point stands: stranger things have happened.
Oldham have three matches to rescue a season that has collapsed since Christmas. From Athletic’s point of view, it is by the saving grace of God that he has made it doubly hard for Gary Waddock’s men, as they face the daunting prospect of staging their amazing survival act on The Valley and Hillsborugh’s fine turf. It isn’t the turf that perhaps makes their task tilt in the direction of impossible, it is the fact they have lost four league games between them this season.
Should Oldham survive, which is highly probable, has this season been a success? The initial mood of this article certainly suggests a resounding no. How has Paul Dickov, with the likes of Shefki Kuqi, Zander Diamond, Kieran Lee, Dean Furman, and Robbie Simpson, come so close to leading Oldham into England’s last professional division?
In truth, there are valid excuses. A calamitous injury curse struck throughout the season, meaning Dickov has been forced to turn to the loan market or call upon unrespecting youth players. The Scot has rarely been able to field his strongest eleven, but their sudden descent after Christmas alludes to Dickov’s weaknesses.
Is he a manager who can only work when he has his best squad available? It might sound a little silly to say such a thing. Of course managers should only be analysed after working with the best that they have. Or should they? In a league dominated by five or six large budgets, it has separated the best clubs the league has accommodated for years and the rest. The rest are more or less on equal footing, so why then have Oldham been unable to beat Scunthorpe, Yeovil, Leyton Orient and Wycombe in recent weeks? Or Exeter, Colchester, and Rochdale before that?
The injuries to key players, particularly Dean Furman, Oldham’s captain, and James Wesolowski, ripped the heart out of the midfield, that much must be acknowledged. However, what has frustrated sections on the crowd this season is the manner in which teams have beaten Athletic with relative ease. Teams have arrived at Boundary Park, been met with a home side with no confidence, and more worryingly no fight. When boys had an opportunity to become men, to grip games, to show character, they wilted and faded,
It hasn’t been a season littered with gloom, and there have been moments of sheer joy. Dickov battled on three fronts for the initial stages of the season, contesting the Johnstone Paint Trophy (JPT) and the FA Cup whilst attempting to guide his side up into the top half of League One. For much of this season (owing to another winter of postponements) Athletic have mirrored that of a Champions League side playing twice a week.
The players’ hard work was rewarded with a dream cup date at Anfield, in which Robbie Simpson scored a brilliant goal in front of a disbelieving Kop. Sadly, with the help of some bad luck, Latics were defeated 5-1, but it is a game few fans will be in a hurry to forget.
Then there was a run to the Northern Area Final of the JPT. After recording a ridiculous 44 shots over the course of the two-legged affair with John Sheridan’s Chesterfield, Dickov saw his side lose both legs and fail just a step before a trip to Wembley.
This leads onto two fundamental issues that have arisen from this bizarre season. How could a side have over forty attempts on an opposition’s goal and only score a single goal? Shefki Kuqi arrived at Boundary Park amidst genuine excitement, but after a purple patch the Finn’s goal scoring form has fizzled to a point where it is non-existent. The 36-year old last scored a goal inside the opposition’s box, that wasn’t a penalty, on 19th November.
During the second-leg against Chesterfield was an example of Oldham’s other woe this season. A calamitous mix-up between keeper Alex Cisak and defender Jean-Yves M’voto, Jack Lester was able to end the contest by scoring a 90th minute goal to stretch the Spireites aggregate lead to two goals.
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Oldham’s defending, overseen by assistant manager and former defender Gerry Taggart, has been error-strewn and at a standard that even the struggling sides in League One have not been made to fight for their goals, and so Paul Dickov’s task is difficult and could prove troublesome.
What is needed for next season? What must be done to improve on this season’s woes? That will all be in a future article.
As the Premier League reaches its quarter stage, many players have excelled and impressed in the opening nine games with some high score demolitions and last gasp winners. However, some players have not been up to expectations and this is a chance to name and shame.
The Champions of last year have been embarrassed by their rivals; however they have inflicted similar defeats of their other rivals. Some teams have underachieved so far and some the complete opposite but there is no denying that some players have just been poor. Whether it be missed chances, lack of effort, goalkeeping howlers or defensive mistakes, plenty of performances have raised eyebrows this season for good and bad reasons and here is a list of the top 10 players that have disappointed so far this season.
Click on Roger Johnson to unveil the top 10 players to have disappointed this season
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List compiled by Brad Pinard
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Great footballers have the ability to step up to the plate and produce moments of absolute brilliance that come to define them and their careers. Whether they produce a few seconds of magic that kick starts their career, or a passage of play so glorious that it is what they are forever judged by, it is these moments that we instantly think of when we think of these players.
Of course not all career defining moments are good ones and it is just as likely-despite all you may have achieved within the game-that you will be remembered for one of your more infamous moments. These incidents don’t make them any less of a player, or their achievements any less amazing, it is just that that it is the moment that will always be imprinted on people’s minds and will perhaps overshadow everything else they have achieved in the game.
There have been so many memorable career defining moments but click on Gazza below to view the top 10:
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It’s almost like we are waiting for the inevitable, this 12 game unbeaten run to stop or this remarkable run of form that has yielded just four defeats from 25 games since Steve Davis took charge in November, to finally cease and for the play-off dream to die.
Yet, it shows no sign of coming to a stop, the Railwayman are living up to their name and storming through the back-end of the fixture list like a steaming locomotive, there appears to be no limit to this awesome run of form that has occurred just at the right time of the season to lie us second in the form table and more importantly, so close to the play-offs that the nerves of that particular lottery can be felt already.
A tricky trip to Crawley loomed for the Alex on Good Friday and with the opposition ingrained in the automatic promotion places, to come away with a point and a performance that earned high appraisals lead by Crawley manager Steve Evans that reached a zenith with his “best team in the league” description, it was a job well done for the Alex who were denied all three points after a late penalty from Gary Alexander, gifted by a Lee Bell hand-ball.
Such surrender of a win was hard to take after a one-sided performance that saw Crawley keeper Michael Kuipers named man of the match for his continuous denial of Byron Moore. It was Moore’s first half strike that gave the Alex the lead and he, in tandem with Ajay Leitch-Smith, had numerous chances to extend the lead and put the game to bed, which would have been a deserved reflection of a superb footballing performance that Crawley were fortunate to escape with a point from facing. As it were, that second half “lull” that Steve Davis raised concerns over in his analysis post-Northampton, raised its ugly head again and a decision to fall gradually back to protect a slender lead cost the Alex after Lee Bell’s error.
After the disappointment and anger over that penalty concession had been ebbed away, there was the satisfaction of an eleventh successive unbeaten game and of course, the standard of performance which gives greater optimism than anything else that this run can continue, to take comfort from on the long journey home to South Cheshire from Sussex.
Compounded with Oxford’s defeat at Northampton in the late kick-off, it capped a decent day for the Alex who, after having to travel to the Broadfield Stadium where Crawley had only lost three times beforehand, ended proceedings a point closer to the play-offs rather than two points further away.
But however, the draw heaped more importance on the home game with Bristol Rovers on Easter Monday and the emphasis was put on the must win to keep up with the chasing pack for that elusive top seven spot. Big pressure then. “What pressure?” seemed to be the emphatic answer as the deadlock was broken within a minute by Ajay Leitch Smith, a welcome notch for him after going six games without a goal, and if there was any tension remaining after that, Kelvin Mellor duly swept it away with a header four minutes later.
It was an archetypal end of season performance by Rovers as they seemed to have more than one eye on the summer break and Crewe had done enough in the opening six minutes to routinely see the game out. Elliot Richards curled an effort wide for the visitors and Steve Phillips reacted superbly to deny Gary Sawyer’s strike, but that was the limit of Rover’s threat before Cian Bolger hauled down Nick Powell in the box and Harry Davis, back on duty after Crewe’s penalty woes of last week, thrashed it home for 3-0.
What followed was a non-eventful forty minutes of football as Crewe existed just to close the game out in the face of some sporadic Rovers attacking. Joe Anyinsah endeavoured to pull one back but was frustrated by some poor finishing while ex-Alex academy starlet Matthew Lund was denied some celebration on his return when his header rebounded off the cross bar.
Ultimately, eyes and ears were veering off to check on the results of Oxford and Cheltenham as a top seven place seemed a prevalent possibility. And the footballing fates turned in our favour again as Oxford were denied a win late on as Torquay snatched a last-gasp equaliser, while Steve Evans, Crawley’s manager on Friday, helped the Alex out in his new capacity as Rotherham boss as he watched a final minute strike from Ryan Cresswell earn the Millers a 1-0 win over Cheltenham. It was excellent news, filtering through that the Alex would move level on points with Oxford, two points off Cheltenham, and on the periphery of the top seven solely by the commodity of goal-difference.
It is a far cry from a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Wycombe in the corresponding Easter Monday fixture of this stage last year that consolidated Crewe in 13th position, and the excitement will exhume from South Cheshire as the Alex look ahead to the local derby with Macclesfield on Saturday.
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It is Crewe with no defeats in 12 and just four in 25, visiting 23rd placed Macclesfield who have just one win in 27 games, so the logic of the form book dictates an away win. However, matches are not decided by the form book and the nerves are surely due to set in as the Alex embark on the short trip across Cheshire to face their local rivals, but the quality of performance has not slowed down and with just four games to go, optimism is rife in the red corner of Cheshire. Only 9 points are needed from 12.
It was 50 years ago last week that I signed for Tottenham Hotspur from AC Milan. Most Spurs fans will be able to tell you how many titles the club have won since Danny Blanchflower’s heroes in April 1961 – and pretty much every Arsenal fan has the answer too. A big fat zero. In half a century. Nowhere near good enough.
Not for the first time, people have recently started whispering that Tottenham could finally be genuine title challengers again this term. The jury is very much out for me, especially with Manchester City – who won 5-1 at White Hart Lane in August – having set such a blistering pace.
I certainly fancy Spurs for a Champions League spot. Who would bet against a top-four finish for a midfield that consists of the two reigning Footballers of the Year, Scott Parker and Gareth Bale, as well as Tottenham’s own in-house player of the year, Luka Modric and a wonderful talent in Rafa van der Vaart?
But it is not so much the individual ability that has got people talking so glowingly about this side – it is the fact Tottenham are blessed with an outstanding professionalism, a desire to do the simple stuff right as well as the brilliant things. In the 50 years since I signed for Spurs, six months after they completed the Double, the club have had many great players – but never 11 players with the right attitude.
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After that Double-winning team broke up, we still had a side with enough talent to win further titles. But while we had seven or eight players with extremely professional attitudes, there were also two or three poseurs – great when things were flying but who went missing when the chips were down. And the great teams, the title-winning teams, never carry poseurs.
Danny’s Double-winning side, for instance, did not just possess immense talent, it contained phenomenal character as well.Blanchflower was a great intellect and a towering figure, bigger than the chairman, bigger even than the manager Bill Nicholson or the magnificent Dave Mackay. Characters like Blanchflower turn talented teams into title-winners.
When Harry Redknapp signed Parker and Brad Friedel, it was not rocket science. These were two proven year-in, year-out Premier League performers who were never going to let the manager down. It’s funny to recall that Spurs have made some weird and wonderful managerial appointments down the years – the likes of Christian Gross, Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos – when all the while they had the perfect candidate pretty much on their doorstep in Harry.
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For me, the wonderful thing about Redknapp is that he doesn’t have an ego, at least not in the destructive way in which many managers insist it has always got to be about them. He’s happy to take on a Van der Vaart or an Emmanuel Adebayor and let them take the limelight.
Adebayor seemed like a gamble too far. I didn’t like Harry’s decision to sign him to replace Peter Crouch, but so far I’ve been proved wrong. Adebayor’s work-rate has been exemplary and that’s a credit to Harry because while his talent has never been in doubt, his attitude has been questioned.
It remains to be seen whether Spurs possess enough ruthless professionalism over the course of a season – but the signs are good. They are punching above their weight in a stadium and with a wage bill far smaller than most of their major rivals. But if they want to put the history boys of 1960-61 to bed, winning a cup and making the Champions League won’t be enough. Only the title will do.
Manchester United have taken control of their Europa League last 32 tie with Ajax, as a 2-0 win in the away leg sees them set to qualify for the next stage barring any shocks in the return fixture.
Second half goals from Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez sealed a comfortable victory, as Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a strong team at the Amsterdam Arena.
The Scottish coach was pleased to record the win, but was not overly impressed by his side’s performance.
“I’m delighted by the scoreline, but I thought it was a very ordinary performance by us,” Ferguson told Channel Five.
“We didn’t reach any great heights in the game, but we did improve in the second half and we probably deserved to win it.
“I didn’t think we played well at all. There was no rhythm to our game.
“Ajax can make it difficult with the way they play when they close their midfield up. They pressed the ball really well.
“We didn’t get any tempo to our game at all in the first half. In the second half, we did improve a lot, we missed some good chances.
“Not a brilliant performance in the second half, but good enough I think,” the trainer concluded.
The only downside to the victory is an injury to in-form winger Antonio Valencia, who has picked up a hamstring knock and will be out of action for up to a month.
“He has a hamstring injury unfortunately. It will be four weeks. It is a bad blow for us,” Ferguson concluded.
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United don’t play this weekend, with their next game the return fixture against Ajax at Old Trafford next Thursday.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that his side are out of the running to win the Premier League title, after The Gunners were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City on Sunday.
A solitary second half David Silva goal sealed the win for the home side at the Etihad Stadium, and means that City move to 12 points clear of the North London outfit.
Wenger conceded that Arsenal needed to win to be in the hunt for top spot, and feels the gap to the frontrunners is too much to claw back.
“Unfortunately for us it was a game that we couldn’t afford to lose because it puts us too much [behind City],” he told the club’s official website.
“If we had won the game we would have come back to six points and with players coming back like our full-backs and [Jack] Wilshere and [Abou] Diaby – we will have a better squad in the second half of the season.
“At the moment we are too far behind.
“I think it was a game that could have gone both ways. It was very intense with both teams going for it and I feel as well that we were a bit unlucky.
“Their goalkeeper had a good game and we were a bit unlucky with the fact that we had to reshuffle completely at the back in a position where we are already short – we paid too much for that.
“Overall I did feel at half-time that we would win the game if we stayed stable at the back.
“We lacked a bit of accuracy with our final ball in the final third as well because we had a few opportunities where we didn’t pass the ball well.
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“But overall we had a very positive performance, great spirit, quality, but we lacked a little bit of what is vital in the big games,” he stated.
A common line that has begun to tag itself to any transfer conducted by Manchester City is that whoever they are signing is ‘going there for the money.’ Now I’m not disputing that players are attracted to the riches that come with pulling on the sky blue of City but I honestly don’t think that money is the primary motivation for the players who have decided to join City in the window.
Watching City splash HUGE amounts of cash on individuals has become common practice in the transfer window ever since the Abu Dhabi group bought the club in 2008. Fans, managers, players and agents have come to accept that they will never be able to compete with City’s financial muscle. But one term that always seems to linger at the end of every big transfer made by the club is that the player they are signing is only interested in the money going into his bank account at the end of each month. Like I said, I’m not going to disagree with the fact players are interested in earning the highest wage possible. A football career lasts for 15-20 years at best and it’s no shock that players will make a move to better themselves financially in the future. But to suggest that money is the primary motive to make a move to Man City is foolish and naïve.
In the window just gone Samir Nasri and Sergio Agüero both signed for City in a double deal that cost the club almost £70 million in transfer fees not to mention they’ll both be earning just under £200,000-a-week at the Etihad Stadium. Nasri was instantly labelled as ‘greedy’ and a ‘sell-out’ and was only joining City because they were offering to treble the wage he was on at Arsenal. The manner of his departure stung Gunners fans and many others in the country. The same wasn’t said for Agüero though who was glorified by both the press and fans. Why?
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Probably because he didn’t leave Atletico Madrid in acrimonious circumstances. But surely he is after the riches City are offering? In my opinion both moved to City for the money but also to be given the chance to actually challenge for trophies. It’s not like either of them are bursting at the seams with medals. In fact Nasri has NEVER picked up a winners’ medal during his time in England whilst Agüero only has the Europa League and Super Cup to show after five years playing for Atletico. Despite both being labelled world class they’ve won hardly anything in their short careers. Therein lies my point. Both players see City as a viable avenue to triumphing in cup competitions.
The duo left clubs who are in a state of decline and firmly out of the Champions League picture. Players of their undoubted calibre need to be testing themselves against the best players in the world. If someone came to me and said Nasri and Agüero lacked ambition I’d laugh straight back in their face. Any world class player that looks at City at this current time will will see a club who are prepared to spend the money necessary to make them capable of holding their own against the best. That is something they both see and who can blame them for wanting to join a club brimming with aspirations like that? Whilst there a few players at Manchester City who’s sole purpose is to earn money I’m not afraid to say that a vast majority of the current crop see this club as a sleeping giant ready to win leagues and cups. David Silva, Edin Dzeko, Vincent Kompany and even Joleon Lescott joined the Citizens to win trophies. Obviously I don’t condone what clubs are paying players these days but to say that Nasri and Agüero are joining City solely because of the number of zero’s on their monthly cheque is absurd. Even Gael Clichy, who left Arsenal on a free to join City, has an eagerness to win trophies, improve himself as a player and pick up a tasty wage, which is something he’ll do at the club.
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Many fans hold a grudge against City, which is driven by jealously. The same old lines of ‘they’re trying to buy the title’ or ‘there should be a cap on their spending’ are continually bandied about. However would you complain if your club had resources like that? I’m guessing no. Players see City as a means to both money and silverware – not one or the other. Lets just accept it, move on and enjoy watching the football they play. Admittedly it is delicious at the moment, don’t you agree?