There was no room for AC Milan star Robinho in Brazil’s 24-man squad to face Scotland in a friendly on March 27 at London’s Emirates Stadium.Brazil coach Mario Menezes has selected four men playing in the English Premier League, with Chelsea pair Ramires and David Luiz getting the nod along with Spurs defensive midfielder Sandro and Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva. Ronaldinho, who completed a move from Milan to Brazilian club Flamengo in January, was another high-profile omission from the squad. But his former teammate at the San Siro, Alexandre Pato, makes the team, as does Inter’s Julio Cesar, Lucio and Maicon.Full squad: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Victor (Gremio), Jefferson (Botafogo), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Inter), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Lucio (Inter), David Luiz (Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Milan), Luizao (Benfica), Lucas (Liverpool), Ramires (Chelsea), Sandro (Tottenham), Elias (Atletico Madrid), Lucas (Sao Paulo), Henrique (Cruzeiro), Renato Augusto (Bayer Leverkusen), Jadson (Shakhtar Donetsk), Elano (Santos), Jonas (Valencia), Pato (Milan), Nilmar (Villarreal), Neymar (Santos).
England’s impressive display in Bulgaria last week has pushed the nation closer towards qualification for Euro 2012, a major tournament that could mark a time for change for our perennial under-performing team. The 3-0 win last week was not only impressive for its score line but also the ages of the players that are finally been given a chance to shine under Capello.
The golden generation’s failure to deliver during a number of frustrating tournaments combined with their ageing legs means that new blood is finally being given the reigns to lead England to face the best across Europe. The main talking points to come out of Bulgaria were not only the result and fresh faces but the fact it looked like the end for one of the main golden generation, Frank Lampard.
But with the Euros only a year away and many of the youngsters’ experience still limited, is there any room for the oldies like Lampard in Capello’s ideal starting line-up come next summer?
Click on Jack Wilshere below to see England’s likely line-up for Euro 2012
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Who do you think should be in the starting line-up for England at Euro 2012? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
During the long summer months, the big four have been going about strengthening their side for the upcoming season but have a quick look at teams outside the top four and you will notice a distinct lack of summer transfers. Are these teams suffering in the transfer market because they cannot get shot of the unwanted players at their club?
A perfect example of a team in this situation is at Tottenham whose only summer capture has been 40-year-old Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Aston Villa. They have numerous players who are unwanted by the club but they have had no success in trying to offload many of them with only one high paid payer Jonathan Woodgate being released in the summer.
They must trim the side in order to fit in with the Premier League’s 25-man squad limit and while Daniel Levy is commanding large transfer fees for these unwanted players it is easy to see why they have not been able to offload them. David Bentley has three years left on his contract at White Hart Lane and Levy is asking for a huge transfer fee or large loan fee for the unwanted winger.
Niko Kranjcar, Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch and Alan Hutton all seem to be unwanted by Redknapp for the new season but until Levy drops his asking price it is unlikely that the club will move these players on especially when large wages are involved. After they are excluded from the 25-man squad announced soon the players may realise their future lies away from White Hart Lane and then Spurs could get rid of them.
Redknapp is anxious before the end of the transfer window to secure a world-class centre-forward who would give him the option of playing either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. However Levy’s wage ceiling of £75,000-a-week is preventing such a transfer occurring as big name players can get more than double that at Manchester City and the like. This ceiling while financially viable is actually preventing Spurs from becoming a genuine top-four club as the quality they require will not arrive for these sort of wages. I think they got very lucky with the Van Der Vaart deal and unless Redknapp can pull a similar deal out it could be a hard battle to reach fourth place.
Redknapp knows he has to get rid of these players before he can bring fresh blood into the team but thus far he has not managed to get any of them off the wage bill, so he has not been able to strengthen his team. Without Levy reducing the asking price of these unwanted players it is unlikely that they create the space for new players who would represent value for the club.
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One option that Harry may look into is to include these players as part of a transfer to bring players into the club as this would kill two birds with one stone by getting them off the wage bill while also bringing in new talent to the club.
It looks today that Robbie Keane will be soon off the wages with striker set to join LA Galaxy but this is just one of the many players the club must clear out before they can strengthen.
Unless Redknapp can find a solution to this problem, it is doubtful whether or not he would be able to bring in the players he wants in this transfer window. Wouldn’t it be wise to sell players like Hutton and Jenas at a reduced price to remove their wage bull while generating transfer fees that could be used to sign new players? Until Levy sees this the club may be stuck with unwanted squad players and no new signings.
Let me know your thoughts, is Levy holding back the club or is it the right policy to under-take?
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With just one game left of the regular season Oxford United are still within an outside bet of the playoffs, but look more than likely to spend another year in League Two.
To see United climb into the final playoff spot Crewe need to drop all three points when they welcome Aldershot to the Alexandra Stadium on Saturday and we need to win away at Port Vale.
Our promotion race was effectively ended when the U’s suffered a disappointing defeat to high flying Southend in a game which promised to be such a close encounter, but in reality was very one sided.
The Shrimpers, who had already secured a play-off place, dominated the first half scoring two decent goals and upstaging us in every department. It could have also been three if not for the goal line clearance from Michael Duberry. In the second period Oxford put up a bit more of a fight and started passing the ball around, having some more of the possession. Unfortunately they were unable to get anywhere close to scoring and the lack of striking options was clear to see with Scott Rendell the only fully fit attack-minded player.
However it was encouraging to see both Jon-Paul Pittman and Tommy Craddock play a part in the game as they continue their recovery from their respective injuries.
The trouble is that even if United were to find themselves in the playoffs come Saturday evening, they would be facing such an uphill task with such problems up front.
A brighter note from our last home game was the announcement of both the supporter’s player of the year and the player’s player of the year. It was very pleasing to see Andy Whing pick up the supporter’s award and shows just how much the Oxford faithful have changed their opinion of the inspirational midfielder since the start of the season. Ryan Clarke picked up the player’s accolade and you can see why having had another superb season between the sticks, which was unfortunately hampered by an injury in the Torquay game.
Deputy Wayne Brown came in and did really well but then in training also suffered an injury setback, meaning United had to get in an emergency loan. England under 19 ‘keeper Connor Ripley came in from Middlesbrough and did a decent job, even if the first goal was perhaps stoppable, and looks set to have a bright future in the game.
With just the away trip to Port Vale left in the normal season the rebuilding process can begin soon and it will be interesting to see how quickly manager Chris Wilder gets his business done this time round.
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New Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has made the retention of star players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard his main priority after being confirmed in the Anfield hot-seat.
Hodgson was unveiled as Rafael Benitez's successor on a three-year contract on Thursday to bring to an end a four-week search for a new manager.
During that time the futures of Spain striker Torres and captain Gerrard have been the subject of intense speculation following suggestions that a lack of on-pitch success and off-field uncertainty at boardroom level could lead to one or both moving on this summer.
However, Hodgson is hoping use his first few days at the helm to persuade both players that their futures remain at Anfield.
"I don't think there's anybody here at the club who would welcome losing them. Certainly the fans wouldn't welcome losing them and us as a club I'm sure will do everything we can to make certain they stay with us," he told the club's official website.
"I'll be trying to persuade them that this is the place to be. I'll ask them to give me a chance give us a chance to improve on last season.
"They're all disappointed, I'm sure, after last season's results and I'll be doing my level best.
"It would be foolish to give guarantees that it's going to happen because I can't speak for the players themselves, but I'll be doing my best to keep them."
Asked about his own transfer plans and the type of budget he can expect to receive, the former Fulham boss explained:"One thing they made clear to me is we have to work within whatever restraints are in place at the club.
"But they've also made clear that if we were unfortunate to lose somebody then that money would be made available.
"I'm hoping that won't be the case because I don't want to lose anybody, but we haven't gone much further than that."
Meanwhile, Hodgson has admitted that his main task is to improve the fortunes of a club which lost 19 games in all competitions last season and finished a disappointing seventh in the final Premier League table.
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"For Liverpool the ambition always has to be to try and achieve a Champions League place and that's what we'll be trying to do as soon as possible," he continued.
"There's no point throwing out empty promises. Words are words and actions are actions and we have to show by our actions first of all on the training field and then at Anfield and other stadiums that we're ready and good enough.
"That's my task, to work with the players and ensure we are good enough."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Inter Milan boss Leonardo said his side are still alive in the Serie A title race after their dramatic 2-1 win at Cesena.Inter trailed 1-0 after 90 minutes but an injury-time brace to Giampaolo Pazzini helped them secure a remarkable win and trim AC Milan’s lead to five points, although the league leaders have a game in hand.
Leonardo said he would be focusing on Inter’s own game as the season draws to a close, and would concentrate on securing maximum points from their three remaining fixtures.
“We are only focusing on ourselves,” Leonardo said.
“We want to maintain second place and enter the Champions League directly, without forgetting we also have the Coppa Italia semi-final (against Roma). As for the title, anything can happen and we’re still up there.”
Leonardo said he was still haunted by a three-day period in early April, when his side were humiliated by AC Milan 3-0 in the league before being routed 5-2 at home by Schalke in the Champions League, a defeat that led to them being eliminated from the tournament.
“It was tough today (against Cesena), above all psychologically, but the lads were great. I just have regrets over that cursed week, as going out of the Champions League really hurt us after a strange game with Schalke,” Leonardo said.
“This squad won the treble last season, but despite it all, we were still close to winning it all again. Unfortunately, that week ruined everything.”
The Brazilian was full of praise for Cesena, and joked that the late goals to Pazzini had been part of his plan.
“Oh that was all carefully planned out,” he said of the comeback.
“The truth is Cesena defended well and we were too slow, especially in attack. Nobody can deny we are a little fatigued after playing so many games. We conceded during a good spell of Cesena pressure, then everything changed when Pazzini came on.”
Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini has again warned winger Adam Johnson to ignore the hype that has surrounded him in recent months.
The 23-year-old has sprung to prominence after breaking into the England set-up, but Mancini has concerns over Johnson's focus on the job in hand.
He told reporters:"England is like Italy. When a young player plays five games very well all the newspapers say 'oh this Adam Johnson is a fantastic player'.
"When you are young you read the newspapers and think 'I am the top, I am the top'.
"But Adam Johnson is a young player and doesn't understand the game very well. I think he can improve a lot more if he thinks more when he plays.
"He's a good player, but he's just 23 years old, he's played 20 games in the Premier League and it's impossible to think of him now as a top player.
"For this, he must work, he must think, he must work for the team – not two dribbles, two crosses. In a top team you need more.
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"If you're only doing two dribbles you can't be the best player on the pitch. You must do dribbling, score a goal, you must defend, you must help your team-mates.
"There is more expected of him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that Manchester United do not need to spend big this summer to try and win back the Premier League title as the club’s youngsters have gained another years experience making the squad stronger as a whole.
Does the Old Trafford chief really have that much faith in his youngster, or is it just a case of having no money to spend on big name players?
Wesley Sneijder was just one of the world’s stars to be linked with a move to the Red Devils this summer, but Ferguson was quick to quash the rumours of such a deal taking place:
“I don’t know where those reports about Sneijder came from. How can anybody turn me down when I haven’t even made a bid?”
“I believe the squad is stronger than last season with the younger players having another year under their belts.” (Daily Mail)
The Old Trafford outfit certainly do have some promising young players amongst their ranks such as Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda, Chris Smalling, Javier Hernandez, Gabriel Obertan, Fabio da Silva and Rafael da Silva.
Rafael has already established himself in the Manchester United first team to an extent after making 28 appearances for the club last season and did a fantastic job against Franck Ribery during the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich at Old Trafford (although everyone defended well against him during France’s dismal World Cup campaign), but Rafa was eventually sent off in that game albeit is slightly unfairly as the Bayern players were guilty fair amount of imaginary card waving to the referee throughout the game.
Gibson also impressed over last season and scored five goals in his 23 appearances from midfield and many Manchester United fans wanted to see more of the likes of Federico Macheda last season, particularly when Wayne Rooney was injured and Dimitar Berbatov continued to frustrate.
However, would a slight improvement on a handful of players be enough for Manchester United to try and reclaim the Premier League title?
Rooney did a lot to shoulder the burden after the departures of both Crisitano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez last season and it would be a huge ask for him to repeat that feat again next season. Even if he does manage to be as prolific the club still don’t have that goal scoring midfielder like Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have with Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas and Steven Gerrard respectively. These sorts of players are vital to share some of the burden, which a team like Chelsea have done quite successfully in previous seasons.
Even though Manchester United received a world-record £80m fee the Glazer family have run up debts at the club which BBC’s Panorama claimed last month to be around £1.1b after borrowing extensively against their shopping mall business, so I think the fact that United have no money to spend (despite what they claim) is more of a reason they cannot spend this summer than there young players being that much better after one more year’s experience.
With Manchester City continuing to spend and Chelsea looking to build on their title winning campaign should Manchester United fans be concerned that their club is not seeking to bolster their squad, or is their current squad good enough to win major honours?
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Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer
The FA have announced that Mario Balotelli will not face any further disciplinary action after a number of reckless challenges in Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
The Italy international was sent off in the last minute after a rash challenge on Bacary Sagna, but escaped punishment for a high tackle on Alex Song in the first half.
The FA, despite calls from the media for Balotelli to be punished, have decided that no action will be taken against the City forward.
“Retrospective action in relation to the incident involving Mario Balotelli of Manchester City and Alex Song of Arsenal, which occurred in the 20th minute of Sunday’s game, will not be taken,” an FA statement confirmed.
“Where at least one of the officials has seen the coming together of players retrospective action is not taken, regardless of whether they have seen the full extent of the challenge.
“Retrospective action can only be taken in scenarios where none of the match officials saw the players coming together. The normal scenarios in which retrospective action is taken are for ‘off the ball’ incidents.
“Retrospective action was introduced for off the ball incidents where there was no contest for possession and could not be deemed to be re-refereeing an incident.
“In agreement with FIFA, this is how ‘not seen’ incidents are dealt with retrospectively in England. It is a policy that is agreed with all football stakeholders,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Mirror Football have reported that AC Milan and Inter are ready to battle it out to bring Balotelli back to Italy in the summer.
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The troubled forward has been identified as the man to lead an Inter revival, whilst the current Serie A champions are eager to freshen up their attacking options due to Alexandre Pato’s drop in fitness and form; both are ready to splash £20 million on Balotelli.
AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato has stated his intention to remain with the Rossoneri for the foreseeable future and insists that he will not be joining his former manager Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea.
Have the Stamford Bridge outfit missed out on a great striking talent here?
Pato had this to say regarding his future:
“I have a contract with AC Milan until 2014 and I have every intention of respecting it.
“And in 10 years, I will return to Brazil to end my career at Internacional, the club which belongs to my heart.
“Pato progressed through the ranks at Internacional but only spent a year in the senior team before Milan snapped him up for 22million euros.” (The Daily Mail)
The Brazilian forward has been linked with a move to Chelsea ever since Ancelotti left the San Siro for west London, but the Blues have been fairly quiet over recent seasons regarding their transfers and list Jose Bosingwa and Yuri Zhirkov as their biggest signings over the past few seasons.
At 20-years-old Pato is one of the most talented young players in world football and many Chelsea fans were originally excited by a potential move for him when the rumours were strong last summer. However, now that the club are being linked with names such as Kaka, Fernando Torres and Sergio Aguero many have forgotten the diminutive Brazilian forward. It would appear that he was also forgotten at an international level along with team-mate Ronaldinho as neither featured for Dunga’s pragmatic Brazil side during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
It would seem that the player’s future lies in Serie A, but I cannot help feel that perhaps Ancelotti should have pushed the club to acquire the young forward’s talent.
Pato certainly has a prolific record in front of goal scoring 41 goals in 87 for his current club Serie A, with 14 goals in 28 appearances during his time at Internacional in Brazil which gives him a career total of 55 goals in 115 first team appearances.
Some would argue that Pato would struggle in a physical Premier League and be knocked about quite easily by the defenders over here. It would also probably take a while to adapt his game as he is used to the pace and style of Serie A, but time is something he has on his side as he is so young. There are also many small skilful players who have managed to make an impact in the English top flight such as Gianfranco Zola, Cesc Fabregas and Luka Modric to name a few.
The 20-year-old could have been a more viable option than somebody like Torres, who Chelsea were linked to strongly before his injury in the World Cup final. The Blues already have a prolific centre-forward in Didier Drogba and I’m unsure whether or not the Spanish striker would complement the Ivorian’s talents. So, surely signing a supporting striker like Pato or Sergio Aguero would be a wiser move.
Do the fans think they have missed a trick by not signing Alexandre Pato, or do you agree with his critics who say he isn’t right for a physical Premier League?
Pato “The Duck”:
[youtube XpBIbKmOOho]
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Click on image below to see the Argentinean babes at the World Cup