Posts Tagged ‘Statement Of Intent’

Defoe puts rampant start down to fitness

• Off-season gym work is paying dividends, says Defoe
• He holds people off ball well, says Harry Redknapp

Serious competition for your place often tends to concentrate the mind but Jermain Defoe’s impressive early-season form for Tottenham Hotspur is about more than the arrival of Peter Crouch, the England striker has insisted.

Emerging from Hull’s KC Stadium late on Wednesday after giving arguably his most complete performance in a Spurs shirt, the 26-year-old alluded to the signing of Crouch, but said he believed the real explanation for his form was that extra fitness work during the summer had made him fitter and stronger than at any in his career.

The hat-trick against Hull, and the two goals Defoe scored for England in the friendly against Holland two weeks ago, represent a clear statement of intent at the beginning of a season which ends with the World Cup.

“To be honest when I got injured last season I felt maybe it was a blessing in disguise,” Defoe said. “I was out for 12 weeks and just felt I wanted to come back a lot stronger than I was before. During the season it’s difficult to put in so much work in the gym when you are playing week in, week out.

“I do a lot of work with Les Ferdinand in training and I speak to Wrighty [Ian Wright] a lot, I spoke to him the other day and he said to me: ‘You’re playing in a good team, you know you are going to get chances. Just hit the target.’

“He said: ‘During a game, if you hit the target four times, you are going to score two goals.’ And I think it’s true. I’ve always said that when you are playing games and you look like you are going to score, you will score, but if you don’t have that confidence, that’s when you have to start looking at yourself.”

It was Defoe’s first hat-trick since 2004, but his all-round contribution to a team performance characterised by pace and intelligent movement was considerable.

If there was a moment which encapsulated his efforts it came during the second half, when moving away from the City goal, he ran to the left touchline to pick up what was essentially a hopeful clearance rather than a pass. Coming in from a more favourable angle, the City right-back, Bernard Mendy, looked favourite to get there first but Defoe comfortably out-paced a player who is himself no slouch. He controlled the ball with a touch and then held off Mendy’s attempt to take both ball and man with such strength that his opponent bounced off.

Defoe’s overall game has been as impressive as his record in front of goal this season. His first spell at White Hart Lane tailed off when he faded from Juande Ramos’s plans, struggling with confidence and form, and he left for Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth in January 2008. Having joined up with Redknapp for a third time at Tottenham earlier this year, Defoe is thriving.

Redknapp, who has known the striker since he signed him for West Ham as a 16-year-old, has no doubt the hours Defoe has spent pressing weights has made a noticeable difference. “He’s got more power and strength in his upper body, and it’s helped him an awful lot,” Redknapp said. “He holds the ball well and he holds people off better.”

Having picked up only two points from their first eight games last season, Spurs have now won two out of two and will travel to West Ham on Sunday with their confidence understandably high.

“Everyone spoke about getting off to a good start because we didn’t want to go through what happened last season again,” Defoe said. “This time around everyone is on it, everyone looks sharp in training.

“The Liverpool game gave us so much confidence but it was very important to go to Hull and get the three points. Now we have to carry it on in the next game.”

He dismissed suggestions he was in danger of peaking too soon. “When Thierry Henry had his great seasons in the Premier League, scoring 25 goals, he always got off to a good start. It helps you as a forward to get your goals early, it sets you on your way confidence-wise. I don’t want to be relaxed and say, ‘Well, it’s a long season, I just want to take it easy.’”

In the circumstances, it is hard to imagine Defoe will not start against his former club.

“I hope so. The thing is, the competition is good for the club. We’ve got some fantastic players and you can see our strength in depth from the fact that Roman Pavlyuchenko didn’t even come on. He’s been on fire all pre-season, he’s scored for his country. So it’s mad really. In every position at the club people are fighting for places and they are up for it.”

Manchester United confirm Tevez is to leave Old Trafford

• United had agreed to pay £25.5m for Argentina star
• Manchester City now at front of queue to sign striker

Manchester United have confirmed that Carlos Tevez is to leave Old Trafford, leaving the way open for Manchester City to attempt to take the striker to Eastlands.

The United chief executive David Gill had been in discussions with Tevez’s advisor Kia Joorabchian, with the aim of keeping the popular Argentina player. But, despite the offer of a lucrative five-year contract that would have made Tevez one of the highest paid players at the club, the South American has decided to leave.

“Following contact received from Carlos Tevez’s advisers last night, in advance of the deadline the club set for concluding negotiations, Manchester United announces that Carlos will not be signing a new contract with the club,” said a statement released by United this morning. “The club agreed to pay the option price of £25.5m and offered Carlos a five-year contract which would have made him one of its highest-paid players.

“Disappointingly, however, his advisers informed the club that, despite the success he has enjoyed during one of the club’s most successful periods, he does not wish to continue playing for Manchester United. The club would like to thank Carlos for his services over the last two seasons and wishes him good luck for the future.”

Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been linked with the striker, with City thought to be at the front of the queue. As the Eastlands club are on the verge of confirming Roque Santa Cruz’s £16.5m arrival from Blackburn, it would represent a major statement of intent for a club also hoping to tie up the signing of the Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o.

The news will be greeted with dismay by United fans, who have warmed to Tevez’s all-action style during a two-year “loan” spell that has included successive Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008. They had hoped some of the £80m about to be pocketed from Real Madrid for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo would be used to keep Tevez.

However, after declaring earlier this season he was deeply unhappy at a perceived lack of match action – even though he made more appearances than either Wayne Rooney or Dimitar Berbatov, it was always likely the South American would move on.

It leaves Sir Alex Ferguson with a major rebuilding job to do in attack given he is still to secure a replacement for Ronaldo. The youngsters Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck impressed last term and may be expected to have more involvement as United chase an unprecedented fourth successive title.

But Ferguson needs experience as well to compliment Rooney and Berbatov, who endured a patchy debut season at Old Trafford following his club-record £30.75m arrival from Tottenham.

Karim Benzema and Franck Ribéry have both been spoken of as potential targets, although there is no guarantee either will come. And while Antonio Valencia’s £18m arrival from Wigan should eventually go through, his lack of goalscoring prowess is a worry.

With Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Edwin van der Sar about to embark on what many think will be their final seasons in top-flight football and memories of a comprehensive Champions League final defeat to Barcelona last month still fresh, Ferguson clearly has some unwanted headaches seven weeks ahead of the opening Premier League game against Birmingham.

Real land their €65m man as Kaka swaps Milan for Madrid

• Midfielder leaves Milan for €65m on six-year deal
• Club say the man will be harder to replace than the player

Real Madrid have signed the Brazilian midfielder Kaka from Milan, the La Liga club confirmed today. The 27-year-old international has agreed a six-year contract to become the first player to join Real since Florentino Pérez returned to the presidency this month.

Reports said the transfer fee was around €65m (£56m). Pérez has vowed to recreate the policy of signing the world’s best in his second spell in charge – he brought Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham to the Bernabéu in his first term – and snaring the Brazil playmaker is another statement of intent.

The official unveiling in Madrid is likely to take place at the end of the month, after the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Kaka, who is in Brazil on international duty, called Pérez’s strategy “an interesting sports project.” He said: “He’s trying to buy other players, and I think he can make a very offensive team. That’s behind my decision to go to this team.”

Kaka said he talked with his former Milan team-mate David Beckham about the transfer, and the England midfielder, who played for Real, said it would be the best step for his career. “I hope to be part of this new project and help to win titles, both European and Spanish,” Kaka said.

“Now the soap opera is over,” he added after a practice session in the build-up to Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay qualifier in Recife. “The only leftover details were the medical exams, and I’ve done them. The negotiations are closed and I have sealed my transfer to Real Madrid.

“Everything I’ve always done for Milan has been by mutual agreement, from the moment I arrived until my departure today. I’m leaving by the front door. “I’ve won everything that I wanted as a player and this is a new motivation for me.”

Milan thanked Kaka for his contribution. “AC Milan thanks the man Kaka and the champion Kaka for his decisive contributions to so many victories obtained in the last six years,” the Serie A club said.

“His loss on the field, though serious, can be filled. It will, however, be very difficult to fill the void left by Kaka the man.”

Pérez confirmed that Kaka would be just the first of several summer signings. His targets also include Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso. “Kaka is one of the players that every team would like to have and Madrid had the chance to get him,” Pérez said. “We are working on building a good team, an important team, and this has only just begun.”

Chelsea turn to Ribéry and Villa after giving up chase for Kaka

• Real Madrid set to confirm £56m Kaka signing on Monday
• Bayern warn they will not listen to offers for French winger

Chelsea have conceded defeat in their pursuit of Kaka with the Brazilian due to be confirmed as a Real Madrid player for a world record £56.2m on Monday, leaving the Premier League club’s attention fixed on Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribéry and David Villa of Valencia as they attempt a marquee summer signing of their own.

Kaka, who is in Brazil preparing for his country’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers, is understood to have agreed terms with Real and, just as significantly, the Spanish club have agreed a commission fee with the player’s father and agent, Bosco Leite. There were reports that Chelsea had formalised their long-standing interest with a £73.5m bid but the London club issued a statement denying any offer had been made.

“We have never made an offer to Milan for Kaka and, therefore, not one at this extraordinary level,” said a spokesman. “As a consequence we have not discussed a salary with the player either. Any reports to the contrary are totally untrue.” Indeed it is understood that Kaka, despite his public utterances, had actually informed team-mates at Milan by late on Tuesday night that he is to leave the club for Madrid to become the returning president Florentino Pérez’s first eye-catching signing of his second spell in charge.

The prospect of missing out on the former world player of the year will come as a blow for the new Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, who worked with Kaka at San Siro, but also to the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich. Yet their interest serves as a statement of intent that the oligarch is prepared to spend heavily this summer in a throwback to the lavish first few years at Stamford Bridge.

There is interest in Milan’s young Brazilian striker, Alexandre Pato, though the Rossoneri will be resistant to selling another of their younger attacking players. Pato himself said today that he wished to remain at Milan.

Instead, Chelsea are likely to focus their attentions on Villa and Ribéry, who had been expected to favour a move to Real should he leave Bayern Munich. Now that the Spanish club have secured Kaka, and with interest in Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo maintained, the France international appears less of an obvious option. Ancelotti expressed his admiration for the 26-year-old in his autobiography, published last week, and has been in regular contact with Chelsea’s head of youth development and scouting, Frank Arnesen, in recent days. The new manager is believed to have visited Cobham for the first time today.

Bayern, too, will be resistant to losing their creative inspiration. Their general manager, Uli Hoeness, has discussed Ribéry’s future with the club’s new coach, Louis van Gaal, and stressed today that the player is not for sale. “Van Gaal really wants to keep him,” he said. “We will not let Ribéry go. There will be inquiries for Ribéry in the next four to six weeks, I’m sure. We will be polite but we will not negotiate. We are not going to celebrate on the telephone when somebody offers a certain amount.”

The pursuit of Villa is just as complicated. The striker is likely to be made available by Valencia, who are heavily in debt and failed to qualify for the Champions League, yet he has made no secret of his desire to remain in Spain. Much may depend upon whether Barcelona lodge a bid for his services. Chelsea are pursuing other targets just as wholeheartedly, with the teenage Manchester City striker Daniel Sturridge, a free agent having failed to agree a new contract at Eastlands, expected to join along with the CSKA Moscow midfielder Yuri Zhirkov, who can also play at left-back. The club’s interest in Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor is unlikely to be followed up, however, after they offered Didier Drogba a new three-year contract to remain at Stamford Bridge.

Another of Chelsea’s stalwart players, Ricardo Carvalho, is expected to rejoin Jose Mourinho at Internazionale after confirming that he is “open to offers” to leave London after five years. The prospects of Ancelotti being accompanied by his assistant at San Siro, Filippo Galli, appeared to be receding tonight with the Italian considering a proposal to remain at Milan on improved terms.

The key challenges facing the FA’s new chief executive

Ian Watmore must focus on 10 pressing areas when he takes up his role at Soho Square

When Ian Watmore arrives at Soho Square today for his first day as FA chief executive, he will not immediately be packing his bags for Kazakhstan to accompany the England team for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier. Instead, he will spend his first week in the job meeting key staff and trying to set out his priorities.

The decision to stay behind is not intended as a snub to England’s Kazakh hosts, but can be interpreted as a clear statement of intent that he will not let the glamorous side of the job – the England circus and all the baggage it entails – interfere with the important business of running the FA and re-establishing it as the voice and regulator of English football at all levels.

Here are 10 of the most pressing challenges that Watmore, an Arsenal fan with a reputation as a quietly effective operator with little desire to use the job to project his own ego, will face as Brian Barwick’s successor.

1 Burton

Decision time is looming on the National Football Centre in Burton. The FA has spent an estimated £25m buying and developing the land and may need at least another £35m to complete the project. Despite a firm commitment to go ahead, the likely opening has slipped to 2011 from 2010. And there is still a range of dissenting voices about the location and purpose of the centre. Envisaged as a centre of excellence for coaches, sports scientists, nutritionists and more, as well as providing a training base for the England team, Watmore will have to remake a compelling case that ties into a long-term vision for the FA’s wider role in youth development.

2 Youth development

A long-running impasse between the professional game and the FA concerning the best way to structure youth development is crying out for Watmore to break the logjam. Amid speculation about his future, the FA’s director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, had a public war of words with the Football League chairman, Lord Mawhinney, late last year over how youth development should best be funded. The professional game believes that development money is best channelled through them, leaving the FA to “coach the coaches”. But FA insiders point out that they also have grassroots football to consider and the infrastructure for the entire amateur game to worry about. Watmore has made the issue one of his top priorities.

3 Wembley

The new national stadium, the final bill for which approached almost £1bn and the legal fallout from which is still rumbling, continues to cast a shadow. Despite widespread praise for the stadium, the pitch continues to create headlines. More seriously, Watmore must oversee the financial viability of the subsidiary that runs the stadium. It is confident the recession will not affect its business plan, which relies heavily on corporate debentures, but it must also negotiate the refinancing of loan repayments that fall due every year until 2016. Watmore also faces the internal challenge of maintaining staff morale as he manages the move of hundreds of staff from their existing West End location to new offices at Wembley. Along with a round of redundancies, the prospect of trading in the restaurants of Soho for the kebab shops of the North Circular has done little for morale.

4 Reforming the FA

This falls more squarely in his chairman’s lap, but their fates will be intertwined. Since the Burns review delivered its conclusions in 2005, progress has been painfully slow. An independent chairman, in the shape of Lord Triesman, is in place and represents some progress. But the overhaul of the FA’s structure that the review so urgently highlighted, including widening the membership of the FA Council to better represent the game’s stakeholders and introducing non-executive directors to the main board, appears to have ground to a halt. Triesman got the job on a reform ticket but appears now to believe he must tread more carefully. Perhaps he has been waiting for Watmore’s arrival to act.

5 Drug testing

On 1 July new rules requiring a pool of the top 20 footballers in England to make their whereabouts known for an hour of every day are due to be introduced under the new World Anti-Doping Agency code. But an ongoing spat between Fifa and Wada, and criticism from some athletes, has clouded the implementation of the new rules. UK Sport, responsible for administering the tests, is adamant the new rules will be introduced, even if it takes two or three months. The FA has hitherto been more equivocal, and clubs, the players’ union and agents are far from convinced. It will fall to Watmore to defuse a potentially volatile situation.

6 Political landscape

The FA has decided upon, but has yet to deliver, its answers to Andy Burnham’s seven questions on the future of the game. While reasonably arguing that it has a far wider base of opinion to consult, the seven-month delay left the organisation looking leaden-footed against the Premier League and the Football League. Triesman found himself frustrated at only being able to follow the consensus of the earlier proposals from the professional game, after the board blocked his more radical ideas; hardly the ideal basis on which to launch a bid to re-establish the FA as the game’s authoritative voice. Watmore must also hit the ground running in making his way around the boardrooms of England and the backwaters of the county game in an effort to win a broad base of support. In this, he may be helped by the fact he does not come from a Premier League background, unlike his main rival for the job, the former Arsenal chief executive Keith Edelman. Yet he must also heal the lasting wounds caused by his chairman’s attack on the lack of accountability and financial management among top-flight clubs last year. But diplomacy is said to be among his strengths and he has already met the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore.

7 TV rights/commercial deals

Given that he is succeeding a former ITV and BBC head of sport and is just one year into a new four-year broadcast deal, Watmore may have hoped that would be one thing he did not have to worry about. But the uncertainty surrounding Setanta’s future and ITV’s attempt to “smooth” its payment schedules on their joint £425m deal for the FA Cup and England internationals will give him pause for thought. Whichever way things go for Setanta, the FA is confident that a combination of money already banked and the possibility of reselling the rights will not force it to take a hit. But the real challenge will come when the sale process begins again in two years’ time. With little competition in the market, it may be hard to maintain value. Watmore will also want to mull the hardy perennial of how to maintain the profile and allure of the FA Cup in an ever more crowded football calendar.

8 World Cup 2018

Although the bid for the World Cup is run by a separate company and led by Andy Anson, the FA and the bid vehicle share a chairman in Lord Triesman. Watmore will not be directly involved but the two are umbilically linked and the successes and failures of each will impact on the other, as seen with the furore over the lack of representation for black and ethnic minority groups at the launch. A successful bid would create a feelgood factor that could not help but benefit Watmore’s tenure.

9 Discipline/Respect

The first season of the FA’s high-profile Respect campaign has delivered mixed results. How the initial findings are communicated and how the campaign is taken forward will be crucial to re-establishing the FA’s image as a body that is able to take a lead on issues that affect all levels of the game.

10 England

It is one of the delights and the frustrations of the job that Watmore could be an unalloyed success in all of the above and still come under pressure if England fail to deliver on the field. He has some leeway from the fact that he comes into the job with England well placed to qualify for South Africa 2010 and with a manager who is not his appointment but looks every inch the man for the job. Establishing a good working relationship at an early stage with Fabio Capello and his staff will, of course, be crucial.