City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from Yaya Toure but had to wait until the 73rd before putting the game to bed when Toure's shot struck the post before hitting Green and nestlising into the back of the net.
Adam Johnson made it 3-0 before James Tomkins grabbed a late consolation goal for the Hammers with a powerfull header.
Meanwhile, Alan Pardew's reign as Newcastle manager got off to the perfect start as the Magpies beat Liverpool 3-1 in the late kick off at St James' Park.
Kevein Nolan put Newcastle in front after 15 minutes before Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot levelled matters just after the break. However goals in the last 10 minutes from Joey Barton and Andy Carroll wrapped up the win.
Elsewhere Blackpool continued their fine season with a 1-0 win away at Stoke with DJ Campbell getting the only goal in an entertaining game.
Aston Villa eased their relegation fears with a 2-1 win over Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey put Villa 2-0 in front before Paul Scharner pulled one back for the visitors at the death to set up a tense finale.
Everton and Wigan both remain in relegation trouble after fighting out a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park and so do Fulham who also had to settle for a goalless encounter at home to Sunderland.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Everton’s Leighton Baines is believed to have the option to move to Manchester United or Bayern Munich in the summer, after admitting an interest in leaving Goodison Park, according to Metro.
The left-back has been a solid performer for the Toffees over the last number of seasons, and as such has broken into the England international fold, with inclusion in the Three Lions’ Euro 2012 squad likely.
However, it is believed that the defender is ready for a new challenge, and is drawing a raft of suitors with his combative defending and excellent delivery going forward.
United are in the market for a long-term successor to Patrice Evra, whilst left-back has been a position of difficulty for Bayern this season, who have had to play versatile midfielder David Alaba there to fill a gap.
It is thought that the cash-strapped Merseysiders would accept an offer in the region of £15 million for the defender, but are in no rush to sell as he has three years left on his contract at the club.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Corinthians recovered from an early shock to defeat Vasco da Gama 2-1 on Wednesday, holding on to their three-point lead in Brazil Serie A.Veteran midfielder Juninho Pernambucano turned back the clock in his first appearance for Vasco in 10 years, scoring from a free-kick in the second minute to the delight of the away fans.
But their joy would be short-lived as Corinthians midfielder Ralf found the net in the 22nd minute, blasting a long-range effort from a rebound for his first goal since May 2010.
Corinthians were in no mood to take an evenly balanced game into the break and kept pressing for a second goal, which they eventually found in the 42nd minute off the boot of Paulinho.
The midfielder gathered the ball at the edge of the area, dribbled around a defender and shot inside the far post to put the hosts ahead.
They were lucky to hold that margin at half-time, though, as Corinthians goalkeeper Julio Cesar pulled out a magnificent save to deny another trademark free kick from former Lyon and Brazil midfielder Juninho.
In spite of their best efforts, the Copa do Brasil winners could not find an equaliser and slumped to back-to-back losses for the first time this campaign.
They fall to 10th on the Serie A table with 11 points from eight matches. Corinthians, meanwhile, have a new challenger to their throne as Sao Paulo fell 1-0 at Flamengo.
Dario Bottinelli was the hero, with the Flamengo midfielder finding the net in the 71st minute to ensure his club would replace Sao Paulo in second.
Flamengo have taken full points in their last three matches and are yet to lose this campaign, a feat only seconded by Corinthians.
After a promising start, Sao Paulo have now lost their past three to fall four points behind Corinthians in third place.
Fourth-placed Internacional have drawn level on points with Sao Paulo following their third win in a row, this time with a 1-0 result over bottom-placed Atletico Paranaense.
Continuing their winning run, 19-year-old midfielder Oscar scored for his third-straight game to hand Inter the win over Paranaense, who are anchored to the bottom of the table with seven losses from eight games.
Second-bottom Avai continued their slow crawl towards safety with a 2-2 draw at home to Bahia, while Gremio’s up-and-down fortunes continued with a 2-0 loss at Cruzeiro and Ceara toppled Atletico Mineiro 3-0.
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"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
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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.
Two weeks later, with the stardust having settled and the rush of excitement having subsided, I can say it with a clear mind. Barcelona’s performance against Manchester United at Wembley last month was the single greatest footballing display I have witnessed in more than half a century of playing and watching the game. I know us former pros are supposed to tell you that things were better in our day – but no old cynic could have been unmoved by the shimmering brilliance of that Champions League final display. In fact, it was almost a shame that United did score their own, wonderfully-executed goal through Wayne Rooney, otherwise we really might have been talking about perfection from Barca.
As a young pro with Chelsea, I watched Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park in what I’d always regarded as the best game of football I’d ever seen. Until last weekend. That Real side, including greats like Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Gento, were winning their fifth successive European Cup, while Eintracht, of whom we’d heard little, played their full part in an epic match. I am privileged to say I played in two genuinely great teams – England’s 1966 team and the Tottenham side of the early 1960s, which won the Double just before I arrived and then became the first British side to win a European trophy.
[divider]
I also played against the great Benfica side of Eusebio and twice against Brazil at their finest. First, in the 1962 World Cup quarter-final in Chile, in the year when the great Garrincha – the Lionel Messi of his day – won the World Cup almost single-handed. Seriously talented players such as Didi and Vava would do nothing more than get the ball and give it to Garrincha, he really was that good. Then two years later, when Pele inspired them to a 5-1 victory over England in the Maracana. That day I made the huge mistake of scoring, thus making the Brazilians angry!
I also ‘enjoyed’ many encounters with the Manchester United side of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, then witnessed the wonderful Ajax and Netherlands teams of the 1970s.So you understand where I’m coming from – I’ve seen a fair bit of damned good football down the years. And yet Barcelona were better than any of those great sides. Their passing and movement was from another planet. It is phenomenal to think that Messi should produce one of THE great individual displays, in the middle of one of THE great team performances. You could not even say that United had got their tactics wrong or made any glaring individual errors. They were simply outclassed.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
[divider]
Comparing individual players from different eras is impossible. So all I can say is that Messi ranks alongside the very best – Pele, Best, Garrincha, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, the man who set this great Barcelona era in motion. Barca’s third goal, with Messi’s mesmerising skill and David Villa’s magnificent finish, brought the house down. But for me the image of about 40 Barcelona players and backroom staff performing a ring-a-roses around the Wembley centre circle was just as striking.
As an ex-pro, these are the sort of things you look out for. It looked like this was such an incredibly united bunch of people, with an unbreakable team spirit, and no matter how gifted you are, you don’t reach the sort of level Barcelona have without that kind of unity. I don’t tend to watch football with starry eyes and I’m too long in the tooth to indulge in hype and hyperbole. So please understand that you were privileged to witness Barcelona last month. I don’t believe you will ever see anything better.
With the error in judgement Jose Reina made last night against Wigan costing Liverpool a fifth straight victory, this may seem a fairly inappropriate time to say this; but the Anfield outfit cannot afford to let the 28 year-old Spaniard leave. It has been suggested in recent weeks that although Reina is not for sale in the January transfer window, he may be allowed to leave the club in the summer if he is unhappy with life at Anfield, with both Manchester United and Arsenal seeming very interested in the goalkeeper. With Reina himself reportedly unwilling to commit himself to Liverpool beyond the end of the season;
‘I will stay at Liverpool at least until the end of the season… I know there are rumours about me leaving but I want to make it clear that I have no intention of going back to Spain… Rafael Benitez was an essential person for this club and the reason I came to Liverpool.’
And Roy Hodgson reluctant to refute rumours regarding the Spanish goalkeeper’s exit, it seems it may be quite possible that Reina could walk out of Anfield in the summer. Allowing this to happen would be a complete disaster for the club in several ways;
First, Reina is a world-class goalkeeper, and barring the notable mistake against Arsenal on the opening weekend of the season, the 28 year-old has been magnificent for the Anfield outfit during his 5 years at the club. Winning the coveted ‘Premier League Golden Glove’, for the most clean sheets in a season in 3 of his 5 seasons at the club, and, in fact, keeping as many clean sheets as Petr Cech last season, missing out on the award purely on a clean sheet to games played ratio.
Second, there is a genuine paucity of world-class keepers at the moment, and if Liverpool have one, they would do well to keep hold of him. After a dismal start to the season both on and off the pitch, the club are on the up, and through the retention of the services of Reina, the club can push on, on both the domestic front and in Europe, and with their new investors, they should be looking to hang on to their prize assets. Along with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, Reina is one of them. Letting the 28 year-old go would mean looking for a new, quality goalkeeper, and the ones that aren’t already tied down to big clubs are sparse in number to say the least.
Third, with Reina’s explicit wish not to return to Spain, it must surely signal either a move to Italy, or remaining where he is settled, in England. Behind every title winning side there is, generally, a great goalkeeper, and it can be argued that one of the only things missing at Arsenal is precisely that. Selling Reina to either Manchester United or Arsenal would give an enormous boost to potential rivals not only for the European places, but eventually also the title.
Reina is a top goalkeeper and has been an excellent servant of Liverpool FC. To allow him to walk out the door would lack foresight and could be detrimental to the club for years to come in more ways than one.
If you liked this and would like to read more, then why not check out my blogs, or follow me on Twitter.
Click on image below to see a gallery of Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest lady
The Marcelo Bielsa revolution is well underway at Leeds and fans in the Tavern should be excited by some of the rumours coming in.
There are going to be a few new faces at Leeds next year. Marco Bielsa is looking to work quickly to rejuvenate his squad and one of the positions that he needs to strengthen is a goalkeeper. Part of an Aston Villa side that reached the play-off final, Sam Johnstone was one of the better goalkeepers in the Championship last season and he should be a top target for Leeds if their move for Angus Gunn fails to materialise.
Bielsa has quickly identified that Leeds need a new number one and has been linked with Manchester City Angus Gunn. The Yorkshire club, however, will face stiff competition from Southampton who are looking to find a new goalie to replace Fraser Forster.
If Leeds fail to finalise a move for Gunn, Johnstone should be the next on the list. Manchester United are apparently looking to bring in another goalkeeper to the club and have identified Lee Grant as the man to take the spot. With that in mind, a move to Leeds for Johnstone may be a wise one.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
At only 25-years-old, Johnstone has not even reached his prime and could be an excellent addition to the Leeds squad. Money may be an issue in a permanent move but if Leeds can tempt the ‘keeper to Yorkshire, it’d be a great start to the transfer window for Bielsa, even if it’s only a loan move for the season.
Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi has been linked with a move to Arsenal in recent months, and with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger splashing out on strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the last two transfer windows, fans of the club could barely be happier about their side’s pursuit of the holding midfielder – who is rated at £27m by transfermarkt.com.
In our poll yesterday, a massive 80% of Arsenal fans thought that the Gunners should swoop for the Frenchman, and it’s easy to see why they come down so heavily on one side of the argument.
The north London side are currently struggling to find an answer to their leaky defence, but a more solid defensive midfield presence could be just what they’re looking for.
[ad_pod ]
Current central midfielders Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are both attack-minded midfielders, and besides, both have been struggling with injuries this season.
N’Zonzi also has Premier League experience with Blackburn Rovers and Stoke, so would adapt quickly to the physical English style of play.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Manchester United supporters are ready to protest against the Glazer family if the club fail to sign world-class players before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, Daily Mail reports.
The Red Devils are facing a threat from their own fans who have become extremely angry at the Glazer family’s lack of investment in the rebuilding the squad.
WANT MORE? >> Manchester United Transfer News | Latest Transfer News
After the appointment of new boss Louis van Gaal supporters were expecting an influx of players this summer, especially after executive chairman Ed Woodward claimed they are willing to break the bank for star names.
However with only 10 days left in the transfer market, United’s only main signings have been £28million midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao and £30million Southampton left-back Luke Shaw.
The supporters are therefore furious that heading into the new campaign, United have still yet to resolve their transfers when they were led to believe that most of the key targets would have been brought to the club before the season kicked off last weekend.
And after another dismal performance in the Premier League – losing 2-1 to Swansea at Old Trafford – social media has been swarmed by #GlazerOut messages.
“United supporters worldwide have hit out in huge numbers against the Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United via Twitter and Facebook,” said Sean Bones, member of the Man United Supporters’ Trust.
“It’s obviously something that will be a huge concern to the current sponsors who have invested a lot of money in Manchester United as a brand.
“There will be a lot of attention to see how the New York Stock Exchange views the negative reaction by supporters in terms of the Glazers’ handling of United.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Man United are currently linked with moves for Argentine duo Marcos Rojo and Angel Di Maria, who they are hoping to sign before September 1st.