Author: Liam_Richner

Carlos Tevez’s departure from Manchester to Turin has been new Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini’s first major decision. Was it the right one though? The Argentine striker has no doubt been a revolutionist in English football since making the move to West Ham in 2006, and after further spells at both Manchester sides, the 29 year old has decided to move on, with current Italian champions Juventus signing him for just £12 million.  Where though does this leave Manchester City?

The strike force has become very limited now that Tevez has moved on, with just Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko the two prolific strikers in the squad.  Question marks have surrounded Edin Dzeko since he came to England from Wolfsburg in January 2010; he has a decent goal to game record although many of those appearances have been off the bench. Many would therefore claim that Dzeko is an impact player and not one who can perform at the highest level for the full 90 minutes.

Sergio Aguero is a world class striker. He has the ability to terrorise defences as proved last season when he came on in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford last season and changed the game. The striker however has had consistent problems with his groins and hamstrings which restrict him playing as much as he could. If Aguero was to pick up another injury this season, then City will find themselves in a real mess.

That is unless they don’t spend in the next few weeks ahead of the new campaign. City have already splashed over £50 million pounds on the capturing of Fernandinho from Shaktar and Jesus Navas form Sevilla. City, like many clubs, have been linked with Edison Cavani, perhaps the most wanted player in the world right now. The Napoli and Uruguay talisman has a £50 Million buy-out clause in his contract which makes him too overpriced in City’s eyes. But perhaps this player is needed for City to mount a serious title challenge next season.  Other possible strikers that the side could bring in are Real Madrid outcast Gonzalo Higuian and Bayern striker Mario Gomez.

Overall, this move in my eyes has hindered City’s chances to retake the Premier League this coming season unless they spend big. A top club like City needs a world class squad and they haven’t got the depth to mount a challenge if they don’t spend and bring in world class players. Say a player gets suspended and injured, the team needs a player with the same attributes and ability to come on and replace that player and City do not have that up front at the moment.

Manuel, get your cheque book out….

Lionel Messi, the worlds’ greatest footballer, has been summoned to Court on 17^th September over tax allegations. The four time world footballer of the year has been accused over not paying up around £3.4m to the Spanish authorities along with his father.

Currently, the Argentine’s average net salary at Barcelona is around £16m a year, making him one of the highest paid footballers on the globe as well as gaining cash from advertisement, most noticeably Adidas.

If the 25 year old is found guilty of these accusations along with his dad Jorge, then the superstar could face a lengthy 6 years imprisonment and a hefty fine according to the judge.

The pair has been given their full backing by FC Barcelona, claiming that they believe their most prized possession is innocent of these allegations and will continue to dominate on the football field.

Adidas have also come out to support their advertising idol, and claim that they will continue to work with the best footballer on the planet.

Although these allegations will no doubt be a blow to Messi’s reputation, as he will now not be seen as one of the games most humble figures.

For the past five years, Spain have been the unstoppable force in the footballing world, conquering the European championships in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010. The question on everyone’s lips heading into the Confederations cup in Brazil this summer is who can end this somewhat Spanish rule?

One of those teams will be the hosts, Brazil. Having not played much competitive football of late, the team have fallen down the FIFA world rankings- however this isn’t a team to rule out of any competition, with young talent like Neymar and Lucas and more experienced leaders in Luis Fabino and Julio Caesar, the team has a good mix of players. The captain, Thiago Silva, is a leader and still young. Playing in the PSG side that won their domestic league last season only adds to his experience and leadership ability.

Another side to watch out for is Italy. Since their embarrassing attempts to defend the World Cup (that they won in Germany in 2006) in South Africa 3 years ago, the side has regrouped and reformed under the management of Cesare Prandelli. They were surprising finalists at the European Championships last summer and with players like Mario Ballotelli the Italians can certainly turn up and win this competition.

Uruguay are another team that have been successful of late, Semi finalists at the World cup followed by a Copa America triumph a year later, the south Americans will be trying to win the competition for the first time. The destructive strike force that this side has (Edison Cavani, Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez) will be a handful for any defence and they could lead this side to further glory in Brazil this summer.

Obviously to win this competition, the three above nations as well as the other 4 competing nations (Japan, Tahiti, Mexico and Nigeria) must beat Spain. The team have steamrolled their way to win three of the last four competitions they have entered (they didn’t win the Confederations cup in 2009). The Spanish squad is strong throughout, as many of the players could make the starting eleven in any other national side, and the other competitors must play to the best of their ability to knock this powerhouse off the top of the footballing ladder.

England U21s crashed out of the 2013 UEFA U21 European Championships tonight after losing to their Norwegian counterparts 3-1.  After this disappointing performance in the tournament, does the future look bleak for England as a nation going into future competitions?

Well, the answer is no. The majority of the players are still only 21 or under, meaning they are still to mature. They can only get better and players such as Wilfred Zaha, who will join up with his new Manchester United team mates in the summer, will develop their skills as they progress on in their careers. Other players who were on loan last season such as Danny Rose and Nathaniel Chalobah will be returning to their parent clubs hoping to break their way through into the respective first teams.  Future Captains like Jordan Henderson need to gain more experience at both Liverpool and the England seniors in order to progress in his career but he will no doubt be the “Steven Gerrard” of the future.

Perhaps a managerial change is needed. Stuart Pearce has failed to really push the U21s to European success in the last two championships- and maybe a change at the helm would be beneficial, but who would take over? Perhaps a Neil Warnock or a more iconic figure in the International game… Glenn Hoddle?

Anyway, these players will be one day be given the chance to represent us, the general public in world cups and European Championships in the near future (Russia 2018 and Euro 2020); and by then these players will hopefully be the ones taking the Premier League by storm and make us successful once again.

Chelsea have reappointed the “Special One” as Jose Mourinho was unveiled the clubs new manager today on a four-year contract. This will be the Portuguese’s second venture into the Chelsea dugout having previously managed the club between 2004 and 2007.

Having won the UEFA Champions League in 2004 with Porto, Mourinho moved to Stamford Bridge with high optimism, and declared himself the “Special One” at his first press conference as the manager of the Blues. Mourniho won his first game in charge as his side beat Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho won five major trophies in his first tenure, including two league titles in his first two seasons at the helm, with the best win percentage of premier league matches to date (71%). He also managed to win two league cups and a community shield before getting the sack in 2007 after a falling out with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Before his reappointment, he was the longest serving boss under the Russian since he took over the club.

Since his sacking, Jose Mourinho has won the Italian and Spanish domestic titles with Inter Milan and Real Madrid respectively. He also won the Champions League again with Inter in 2010. However the Portuguese wasn’t happy in Madrid and wanted to return to where he was loved- which in his mind is Chelsea and Inter.

In order to be a success once again at Chelsea- he must win trophies. His main target will be to regain the Premier League and snatch back the dominance that the two Manchester clubs have in England. The two previous seasons, Chelsea haven’t had a sniff in the title race as the two Manchester clubs ran away with the league. It will be down to Mourinho to bring back domestic success to the Bridge.

His other main aim will be to bring the Champions League back to Chelsea, and win it for a third time as a manager (and a first time with Chelsea).  This was the one trophy that eluded the previous Mourinho era at Chelsea. However, this resurgence of German football, the big money spending PSG and obviously the teams from Spain and Italy will make the competition even harder to win- which only makes it better for the neutrals.

Many say never go back…. Let’s see how Mourinho: Part 2 plays out, and if the success comes like it did first time around.