Tag Futebol

Arsenal have announced that long-serving manager Arsene Wenger has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the 2013-14 season.

Wenger, who was appointed Gunners boss 14 years ago, is pleased that his long-term future is secure after signing a three-year extension to his current contract.

The Frenchman said after penning the deal:"My heart belongs to Arsenal and my desire is to see this team win silverware.

"My commitment and drive are as strong and fresh as ever. Signing a new deal means that I can see this talented group of players reach their potential. Trust me, they are ready to deliver.

"With my staff and players we are in front of an exciting challenge and we are looking forward to achieving much success."

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood added:"We are thrilled that Arsene has signed an extension to his contract.

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"He has masterfully transformed this football club over the last 14 years and the exciting and compelling football we play under his stewardship is admired the world over.

"Arsene is a very talented man and we believe the young, exciting team he has nurtured over the past five years will reward his and the fans' patience with silverware."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

To Anfield first where we shall reassess,

Pick apart and analyse this weekend’s mess,

Liverpool held, they failed to perform,

The same can’t be said of Michel Vorm,

For all that Dalglish’s side ran and ran,

They were never going to beat the Flying Dutchman,

Newcastle’s Ryan Taylor scored a peach of a goal,

Had the precision of a quarter back in the Super Bowl,

Fergie celebrated 25 years at Manchester United,

Of cheating however they were indicted,

Persuading the referee into another decision,

Correct call made though, so no collision,

Bolton avenged their Wembley demon,

Perhaps this could herald the start of their season,

Tony Pulis’ Stoke had a tough day to endure,

Still no European hangover cure,

Enough with this procrastination,

It’s time to review without deliberation!

Performance of the Weekend

Liverpool may have not been at the best on Saturday but Swansea had to be to deny them at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers side looked well organised and resolute in their 0-0 draw in the North West. The stand out player yet again was Michel Vorm. His best save was an improbable one handed tip over the bar from Glen Johnson’s well hit volley.

The first Welsh side in the Premier League continue to prove they are a forced to be reckoned with. Judging by the way Manchester United have been playing of late, it’s not implausible that the Swans could take points off their illustrious visitors in two weeks time at the Liberty Stadium.

Player of the Weekend

Robin van Persie displayed yet more facets to his game in Arsenal’s 3-0 procession against West Brom. A goal poacher for the first, tapping in the rebound from Theo Walcott’s shot, he turned provider for the second and third goals, laying it on for Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta to lash past Ben Foster. Another world class performance from the Gunners captain and suddenly, Arsenal don’t look a bad shout for the top four.

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Honourable Mentions: Gareth Bale, Gabby Agbonlahor, Michel Vorm, Chris Eagles

Goal of the Weekend

Newcastle United defender Ryan Taylor is renowned for his precision when it comes to dead ball situations. He displayed against Everton how he can place it with equal accuracy when the ball is moving. His looping half volley left Tim Howard dazed as it soared over him, nicking the cross bar on its way into the far corner. Beautiful

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Miss of the Weekend

Poor old Fernando Torres must be wondering what he has to do to score. From nearly under the crossbar, the £50 million man managed to sky the ball into the fans. It’s actually reached the point where his profligacy in front of goal is quite incredible considering the player he was just two years ago. You wonder how much longer Chelsea will persist with their multimillion pound flop. Surely he’ll rediscover his confidence sooner or later or so André Villas Boas will be hoping.

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Sir Alex Ferguson was fined £30,000 and given a five match touchline ban for comments he made about referee Martin Atkinson. Ferguson called for a “fair referee” following the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea on March 1.

Sir Alex Ferguson has a disciplinary advisor in the shape of Graham Bean; Mr Bean is a former FA compliance officer. The suggestion from Graham Bean is the FA has taken a tough line on Manchester United, because of their reputation as the most powerful club in England.

Bean also advises other Premier League football clubs including Liverpool. He suggests that Ferguson has been harshly punished, while other similar offences from Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp and Wigan’s Roberto Martinez have been overlooked.

Bean told Telegraph Sport “Where it goes seriously wrong for the FA is that there have been cases of managers in the Premier League making comments which have been a clear implication of bias against the referee, or questioning the referee, yet virtually nothing has been done. The FA has serious questions to answer in terms of why they have not taken action against other individuals. There are two cases which we referred to in Ferguson’s defence against the Atkinson charge.

“Firstly, Roberto Martínez — three days before Ferguson made his comments at Chelsea — claimed after Wayne Rooney had clashed with James McCarthy that one of his players ‘would have been lucky to stay on the pitch’ had he committed the foul. That was a clear allegation of bias towards Manchester United, but the FA did nothing about it.

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“Harry Redknapp, making comments about the referee and assistant after Nani scored a controversial goal at Old Trafford against Spurs earlier this season, said, ‘They [officials] will go in and come up with a story that will make it all look right, that’s what happens’.

“That was clearly worse, one of the major comments of the season, yet the FA did absolutely nothing about it other than send him a letter. That comment in itself suggested collusion between the match officials. The FA says it treats each case on its merits, but in effect they have bottled it on many occasions in terms of dealing with post-match comments by managers. That’s because they move the goalposts to suit themselves.”

In response, an FA spokesman said: “Consideration is given to any comments reported to us and all comments are reviewed in their entirety, taking into account the full context in which they were delivered.”

Ferguson imposed a nine-day media blackout following the charge, but Bean insists the reason for this was the belief by Ferguson that the media are the driving force behind the FA’s disciplinary process.

Ferguson does have previous problems regarding referees after a charge in October 2009. In that case he labelled Alan Wiley as “unfit” to referee, he was suspended for two games, with a further two suspended (now activated due to the Atkinson charge). The FA warned Ferguson that his increased profile bought with it increased responsibility (a bit like that great Spiderman line on a similar vein).

Bean argues that Ferguson and United shouldn’t be judged based on their profile. “The FA reacts to media pressure and Alex believes that,”

Bean said. “In all of his disciplinary issues we have made a point of noting that the media coverage of Manchester United is out of comparison to every other club in the country — it’s twentyfold bigger and that causes problems in itself. They are being punished because of their profile and not because of what they have done. In the Atkinson case, the penalty did not fit the crime. While the FA might say that Sir Alex or the club should know better, that’s not the way it should be.”

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The Verdict

Does the aforementioned Mr Bean have a point? Rules are rules and no manager should break them – but surely when the rules are broken all managers/clubs should be treated in the same way. Bean may have a point but the FA is hardly likely to back down or admit they got it wrong, are they?

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Spain coach Vicente del Bosque does not know whether he will name Fernando Torres in his starting line-up for Sunday's World Cup final.

The Liverpool striker was dropped to the bench for Wednesday's 1-0 semi-final victory over Germany.

Barcelona youngster Pedro was preferred to the mis-firing Liverpool striker and del Bosque is undecided over whether to recalled Torres to face Netherlands in Johannesburg.

Torres has struggled to recapture his best form at the World Cup following knee surgery which forced him to miss the closing weeks of the domestic season.

The 26-year-old striker is yet to find the net in South Africa despite making six appearances during Spain's march to the final.

"I don't know if he will be in the line-up," said del Bosque when asked about Torres.

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"It was a difficult choice. Torres has been helping us all along. His work is important even if it is not noticed. He is good at occupying the centre-backs.

"I didn't talk to him before I announced the line-up (against Germany). But he is a very important part of the team. He is one of the key members of the squad and a lovely guy."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has remained in Argentina without permission from the club, despite the fact that the Etihad Stadium outfit requested the attacker return to England by Monday.

The South American forward decided to return to Argentina last week regardless of the fact that a request for leave was rejected twice, and has refused to return to the Premier League club.

A representative of Tevez’s camp has revealed that discussions are ongoing regarding the player’s future, and a potential return to training.

“Over the weekend there have been a series of meetings and conference calls,” a spokesman for Tevez stated.

“Carlos is still in Argentina. However, both sides are in agreement that they want a resolution as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

“Discussions will probably be ongoing for the foreseeable future,” he concluded.

Tevez’s behaviour has been damned by PFA chief Gordon Taylor, as the latest scandal looks sure to ensure a transfer for the wantaway forward come January.

City have as yet refused to comment on the latest event in the Tevez saga.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed his UEFA improper conduct charge following their 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League.The Londoners were level 1-1 with the Catalan giants, and ahead 3-2 on aggregate at the Camp Nou on Wednesday when star Robin van Persie was given a second yellow card for time-wasting following an offside flag.The French boss was furious with the decision, approaching referee Massimo Busacca after Arsenal were eventually ousted from the competition courtesy of a 3-1 loss following van Persie’s sending off.Wenger has followed up his outburst by denying he was at fault to protest the decision.”I deny completely any charge. I do not understand where that comes from,” he said.”It is a shame for me that the referee took the decision to send Robin van Persie off. It was the wrong decision.””The first leg was a fantastic advert for football and the second game has been destroyed. People now will only remember the sending off.””It would be good for UEFA to show some humility, to apologise for what has happened, not charge people who have done nothing wrong.”Midfielder Samir Nasri has also been charged by the European football body for inappropriate behaviour at the final whistle, with punishments yet to be decided upon for the pair.

West Ham have now reached a crossroads in what direction they head in next season when it comes to signing players. Do they go for big names in the hope that it can lift the team and at the same raise the club’s profile? Or do they go for players who could potentially be big players in the future? Both methods have their ups and downs and it’s going to be difficult for them to decide what do.

The Hammers have recently been knocked back in their attempts to sign young Barcelona defender Andreu Fontas. The Spaniard has a release clause of just £2.5m in his contract, and with West Ham offering that amount Barcelona had to allow them to discuss terms with the player and they were set to conclude a deal for him. However it now appears that Barcelona have persuaded the 20-year-old to stay at the Nou Camp as he is set to sign a new deal in the coming days.

Although it may come as blow to West Ham fans it may not be the worst thing in the world that this deal didn’t happen, remember Savio Nsrenko? The German midfielder was signed by the East London club for a record fee of £9m from Brescia. However he failed to settle at the club and looked off the pace in the Premiership, just six months later he was sold to Fiorentina. You could argue that West Ham didn’t give him a fair chance as at the time he was just 19-years-old and had only just moved to London. He would have taken a lot of time to settle not just on the pitch but off it as well and even experienced players can take a year to settle, but whether West Ham made a mistake in getting rid of him or not will only be proven in years to come.

The other route for West Ham to go down is trying to make some marquee signings like David Beckham and Thierry Henry who the club have previously been linked with. Players like Beckham and Henry despite their advancing years still have a lot left in them, and because of their quality are still capable of producing moments of magic. Having players like them around would give a massive lift to the dressing room and could have a big effect on the whole team as well. From a commercial point of view marquee signings would also generate more income for the club due to shirt and ticket sales. But signing big name players doesn’t always work and West Ham know this all too well after they decided to sign Freddie Ljungberg from Arsenal. The Swedish winger was a great player for Arsenal but couldn’t replicate the form at West Ham, after just one season at the club they paid him £6m to terminate his four-year contract early.

Whatever approach West Ham decide to take they will need to weigh it up carefully as both have positives and negatives, and the last thing they want to do is spend a fortune again on players who don’t make an impact like Savio and Ljungberg. David Gold and David Sullivan surely won’t let the same mistakes happen again; and they should be able to come up with an effective transfer strategy alongside new manager Avram Grant to take the club forward.

What type of signings do you think West Ham need to make?

Message me on Twitter with your thoughts

Get the latest West Ham news on Twitter

**

Click image below to see a gallery of the German babes at the World Cup:

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It must be difficult when your brother is a multi-millionaire footballer who all the fame and fortune in the world when you are a run-of-the-mill footballer just trying to get by in the lower leagues.

There are many brothers in football who have had equal amounts of success as each other and have made it to the top of their game but what about the players whose brother has dwarfed their own success. These footballers remain forever in the shadow of their famous brother and some struggle to make a career for themselves.

This is a list of players who had to take a back seat while their more famous brother developed into a household name. We’re sure that their parents love them just the same…

Click on Stephen Jagielka to unveil the top 10

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Tottenham will not die wondering in the Champions League with manager Harry Redknapp pledging an attacking mindset against AC Milan.

Spurs face the Italian giants at the San Siro on Tuesday in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash as they look to secure a place in the quarter finals of Europe’s premier club competition for just the second time.

The north Londoners were the joint-top scorers during the group stage this season, and Redknapp said they would continue to attack against Milan.

“Attacking football is what got us here in the first place,” said Redknapp.

“We have had a go all through this competition so we will have a right go again at San Siro.”

“We can score here. I don’t want to concede bags of goals for sure. We can’t afford to make the same mistakes (as we made against Inter) and can’t start like that again.”

“But as far as shutting up shop goes it’s a non-starter because we don’t have the players here.”

It will be an injury-hit Spurs side which lines up at the San Siro following the news winger Gareth Bale would be unavailable because of a back injury.

Central midfielder Luka Modric is also missing, as are Jermaine Jenas, Younes Kaboul, Tom Huddlestone and Ledley King.

In better news for Redknapp, striker Peter Crouch (back) and forward Rafael van der Vaart (calf) have been deemed fit to play.

“We can’t come out and be completely gung-ho but what I’m saying is that I do have a problem setting a team up to defend,” explained Redknapp.

“Rafael van der Vaart plays the way he plays. Niko Kranjcar and (Aaron) Lennon – we haven’t got defensive players to play with five across midfield and soak it up.”

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“If I had two wide men who could do a job and sit there and just be solid, I might think about it. But those type of players are not at this club.”

“The only two midfielders we have who are fit are Sandro and (Wilson) Palacios for the middle of the park. There is no one else.”

“Sandro is not a Luka Modric, he plays differently. He has hardly been in my team all year. It’s a big ask but he is up for it.”

Manchester United have decided against signing a replacement for reserve goalkeeper Ben Foster, who was sold last month to Birmingham City last month, choosing instead to use Tomasz Kuszczak as Edwin van der Sar's understudy and 20-year-old prospect Ben Amos as their third-choice shot-stopper.

Former West Brom keeper Kuszczak was arguably the number two in the season just gone, playing 14 games to Foster's 13, but the announcement that Amos is to be his back-up puts extra pressure on the Poland international and will have United fans monitoring van der Sar's fitness intently.

United's goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, has backed Amos to progress next season, telling the official club website:"We'vethrown the gauntlet down, so it's up to him now to fulfil his potential.

"The challenge is for us to continue his development, but also for him to take the opportunity and make the most of it.

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"Hopefully he might gain some experience and exposure in matches like the pre-season friendlies and the Carling Cup. That's probably a realistic target for 2010-11."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email