Lee-Price-July

The term ‘World XI’ and Watford FC might appear to be as dubious a partnership as Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier, but the newly promoted Premier League outfit are notorious for their global range of players.

Loading up their squad list at the start of Soccer Manager 2016 reveals an astonishing TWENTY THREE different nationalities.

There are more tongues in the dressing room than a youth disco.

Which prompts the obvious challenge – give the Watford squad a homegrown overhaul, while avoiding relegation.

Without wanting to sound like a questionable UKIP campaign, my mission is to transform the Hornets’s line-up to contain players solely from English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh or Northern Irish backgrounds.

It’s something approaching mission impossible – I’m no Tom Cruise, but I am similarly diminutive, which should qualify me for a starring role.

This is my diary as I play through the challenge.

 

JULY

I’ve told the Pozzo family of my masterplan and, frankly, they seem a little baffled – ‘we won’t get relegated, right?’ is their constant refrain.

Beneath the table, I’m sure I see owner Gino scrolling through his phone for Quique Sanchez Flores’s number, to see if it’s not too late for an about-turn.

But, be it through enthusiasm or boring them into submission, I survive the inaugural meeting, which brings the reward of a £10 million transfer budget.

“Just keep us up,” he repeats as I close the boardroom door.

Easier said than done, especially as just four of the current first team squad meet my selection criteria – English duo Ben Watson and captain Troy Deeney, Scot Ikechi Anya, plus Northern Irish defender Craig Cathcart.

Clearly keen to make a good first impression, I immediately transfer list everyone else, while promoting forgotten man Lloyd Dyer (83), Irish defender Tommie Hoban (82), and back up keeper Rene Gilmartin (77) from the reserves.

Lloyd Doyley protests that he’s London-born, and been at Watford his entire career, but this is no time for sentiment – the Jamaican international is made available for transfer, too.

He’s got it easy. Loan trio Alessandro Diamanti, Victor Ibarbo and Nathan Ake have a season of reserve team football to look forward to.

It leaves my first team squad extremely thin on the ground, but at least the first training session can be intensive and personalised – though the three-on-three mini-game we finish with borders on the shambolic.

Clearly, I need reinforcements – and head straight to my office.

There, I look up the latest list of free agents – which makes my squad look high class – and players made available for transfer.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a paucity of superstars available – with enquiries made for anyone rated 85 or above, a lower benchmark than I’d intended.

Approximately twenty bids are tabled, although not with any particular cohesion – at least seven of them are for centre backs.

And, while Ashley Cole is ruled out for being too old, and Seamus Coleman for being too extravagantly priced, offers are made for Steven Gerrard and John Stones.

Cut-price deals are completed for transfer listed duo James McArthur and Callum McManaman (both 85), who go straight into the starting line up for my first match in charge – a friendly with MK Dons.

Even with filling my squad with youth team players, I can’t select an entirely ‘homegrown’ squad – with Allan Nyom starting at right back, and four outsiders on the bench.

I select a 4-2-3-1 formation, though, with three out-and-out wingers, this means playing someone out of position, with Anya given the number ten role.

McManaman marks his debut with the only goal of the game, and Hoban is a surprise man of the match, but we’re well outplayed.

Phil Jagielka arrives to give my squad its first 90-rated player, while Neil Taylor (87) and Adam Matthews (86) are also captured. With only three of the foreign legion dispatched, though, generating just £3 million in sales, I’m out of cash.

I’m in a ‘sell before you can buy’ scenario, despite more than £60 million’s worth of players sitting in the reserves.

But the squad is down to just two non-HG players for a narrow win over League Two side Torquay, with McManaman taking his tally to two in two.

The sale of Nyom (88), to Fleetwood Town incredibly, raises £4 million, which I vow to spend on a goalkeeper, but seemingly none are available.

I’m forced to resort to Paul Robinson (82), aged 35, on a free transfer, though I reassure myself that he’s to be second choice once I’ve cleared out the deadwood.

Steven Davis (88) arrives from Southampton to mean that, by the end of July, I finally have a matchday squad that is entirely homegrown.

As July comes to an end, with just a week until the Premier League season kicks off, Watford still have 15 players remaining on the transfer list.

And shifting them will be key to my mission having any remote chance of success.

See what further signing s I make, and how Watford take to life in the Premier League shorn of their stars, in the next installment, August.

 

About the author – Lee Price

Lee Price is a journalist and author with a passion for football, and crucially, virtual football management.

twitter: @Lee_Price

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Premier-League-Clubs-Failing-in-Europe

As the final whistle sounds at the Emirates 10 blue shirts streak across the immaculate pitch to a hoard of fans jumping in sync. Olympiakos have just felled English giants Arsenal on their home turf, a David vs. Goliath triumph. On the same night Chelsea were slayed in the Dragon Stadium by FC Porto and a man who is so good they named him twice. Andre Andre scored both goals for Porto as José Mourinho’s nightmare continued. Huge Premier League clubs are being torn down by their smaller European cousins on a fortnightly basis in the Champions League, as their hugely assembled squads are put to shame.

Imagine the Premier League swaggering into a room; adorned in the best clothes, shoes and the most expensive watch only to be shown up by their Marks and Spencer suit wearing cousin. Arsenal, Chelsea and the rest of the Premier League spent over £1bn this summer on players from across Europe in a bid to bring success to the shores of England. For all their TV money, overseas pre-season tournaments and bit kit launches it seems that English football has forgotten how to build a winning team.

So many of the English teams that were successful in the past were built on solid foundations, the treble winning Manchester United team had the same core for many years – Keane, Stam, Schmeichel. Chelsea’s Champions League winning squad also had fine skeleton of Cech, Terry, Lampard, Drogba. In only three years, English teams have switched away from structure to short-term success. Arsenal are as good a example as any when talking about structure, it is almost as if they are too structured up front, but have none in defence. Despite their insistence on dominating possession, they look tentative when trying to launch an attack – as if they have to follow a set passing pattern. But all the more concerning is their anxiousness. As soon as Olympiakos went one goal ahead it was almost as if Arsenal had a panic attack, trying to force play from unrealistic areas of the pitch with a series of unnecessary mistakes.

One trend that is constant throughout the English teams is their lack of assertiveness in Europe, their drive to score as many as possible. The Premier League is end-to-end, something where the lack of structure in every team does lead to good ‘entertainment’, and most teams are more than capable of posing a threat offensively. However, as soon as a Premier League side enters a European competition their distinct lack of style rears it’s ugly head. Standardised formations lead to English teams playing the same way regardless of squad members, meaning that opposition teams can steam attacks and break down with little effort. The approach is blinkered, out-dated and down right ignorant.

One thing that was incredibly prominent on that night at the Emirates is Arsenal’s inability to get in behind a defence. The ball is shifted from side to side, through the same two players – Cazorla and Ramsey – in the most predictable fashion. There are no risks taken. On the other hand, Olympiakos streamed forward whenever possible using width and pace to get in behind Arsenal’s full-backs.

Up in Manchester, things are starting to change. Especially in the sky blue of Manchester City, who have taken their inept performances in the Champions League and domestic competition to adapt this year. A switch from the traditional 4-4-2 has been replaced by a flexible 4-2-3-1 system, that now means that their creativity can come from the middle. Unsurprisingly, the influence of David Silva has been massive in the infancy of this season and City have been in fine form. Their dynamism outwide is something that football audiences have not seen from England in a long time. Similarly, Manchester United have revamped their squad, but have remained in a 4-3-3 formation with Juan Mata playing the role of advanced playmaker. Their ability to hold possession and stretch teams in with the pace of Memphis, Martial and Young is something that Chelsea and Arsenal in particular are lacking.

Until the Premier League sides learn to adapt to European football and change their ignorant stance that they can be successful purely by spending the most money, then they will continue to fail in Europe. More emphasis needs to be put on team structure, and building of a team that has cohesion from front to back which suits squad members, rather than crow-barring players into unnatural positions.

About the Author – Ben Jarman

Freelance football writer with a penchant for Spanish and European football. Work published by Fulham FC, Italian FA and the Evening Standard.

Twitter: @sonikkicks

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Yannick-Bolasie

The nature of social media and 24-hour rolling sports news channels makes it hard to distinguish between genuine and fabricated transfer rumours.

One such story in this summer’s window related to the Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie, who was reportedly attracting interest from Tottenham Hotspur. It remains unclear whether or not Spurs were genuinely trailing the DR Congo international, but no bid was ever made and when Bolasie took to the field at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon, he did so wearing the red-and-blue stripes of Palace.

Bolasie has massively exceeded expectations since the Eagles were promoted to the Premier League in 2013. The 26-year-old – who was born in Lyon, raised in London and now represents the country of his parents’ birth – has had an interesting career so far: after spending a year with Rushden and Diamonds at youth level, Bolasie moved to Malta to play for Floriana for a season, before being signed by Plymouth Argyle and, in 2011, moving to Bristol City.

Bolasie was one of four players – another, centre-back Damien Delaney, has also excelled against the odds in the top flight – signed by Palace in the final week of the summer window in 2012. He was excellent for much of the campaign as the south Londoners qualified for and subsequently won the play-offs under Ian Holloway, his speed and trickery leaving numerous Championship full-backs with twisted blood.

Many felt that Bolasie was simply too raw and erratic to succeed in the Premier League, but he has emphatically proven such doubters wrong with his displays in the two years subsequently. Nevertheless, it is probably a positive thing for Bolasie that his proposed move to Tottenham did not materialise.

For all his undoubted qualities, the winger lacks the consistency and end product to be a top-class Premier League player. At White Hart Lane, Bolasie would have been under increased pressure and scrutiny, and it is likely that his weaknesses would have been shown up and criticised to a greater extent: his return of seven goals and 10 assists in 68 Premier League appearances, for example, would have had to significantly improve had he joined Tottenham for upwards of £15 million.

Moreover, Bolasie’s own game is perfectly suited to the tactics Palace employ under Alan Pardew. The former Newcastle boss has encouraged the Eagles to become more bold and daring under his stewardship, allowing his players to take more risks with the ball as they seek to outscore the opposition.

Bolasie, with his direct running and skilful wing play, is the embodiment of Palace’s thrilling, counter-attacking style. Given that he is most effective with plenty of space in front of him, it is likely that he would not have been as good a fit at Tottenham, where Mauricio Pochettino’s side regularly dominate possession and look to win back the ball as close to the opposition’s goal as possible.

None of which is to dismiss Bolasie’s qualities or underestimate the impact he is capable of making once more in 2015/16. There are, however, countless examples of players failing to replicate the success they enjoyed at one club upon moving to another, and it is likely that Bolasie’s career will benefit from remaining at Palace, where he is virtually guaranteed a starting spot, suits the team’s style of play and is adored by the club’s fans.

Tottenham may never have been interested in the 26-year-old, and perhaps that was for the best for all parties concerned.

About the Author – Greg Lea

Freelance football writer. Work published by FourFourTwo, The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal, The National, Squawka, Eurosport, The Blizzard + others.

Twitter @GregLeaFootball

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Jordan-Henderson

Jordan Henderson just can’t win over the majority it seems. To some, he can’t pass, can’t dribble and doesn’t have a fixed position. He has underwhelmed for England, doesn’t really offer much in defence and was captain of the national under-21 side that was comprehensively dismantled at the European Championships in 2013. How could he ever be worth £20 million?

The armchair fan lives to fight another day. With Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson in his sights and a disdain for modern football, his argument rages on. Except this is no theoretical debate; this is the raging debate between most Liverpool fans and their counterparts that don’t watch the Anfield club on a regular basis.

It seems to be a running theme among opposition fans that the young midfielder isn’t worthy of a place in Liverpool and England’s team. It’s yet another example of English football’s insanity and some fans’ desire to write off young talent before it has had a chance to fully mature.

It’s pointless going into the argument of why countless England fans seem to want to shoot down the nation’s best young players – that’s another article in itself – but let’s focus on why Hendo is in fact one of the Premier League’s most effective midfielders and most underrated team men.

To understand the numerous facets to the Sunderland-born midfielder’s game, it’s perhaps wise to look into his past. Henderson was captain of every Sunderland side – whose academy he joined aged 11 – from under-14 up. It offers a telling insight into the maturity of a player who was so widely misunderstood when he made his breakthrough at the Black Cats.

At academy level he was an all-action central midfielder, capable of bursting into the box and one of the younger proponents of a dying art: the box-to-box midfielder. As Yaya Toure and Aaron Ramsey revitalize a position that had declined for a period time in English football, Jordan Henderson is brilliantly regressing back to his natural role at Anfield.

Rewind back to Sunderland and it was with a tremendous fanfare that the midfielder, who was operating behind a lone striker or off the right flank, was called up by England manager Fabio Capello. He was the new light in attacking midfield, and for many fans that hadn’t seen him play the praise among the tabloids, chat forums and social media was enough.

Therefore it was a surprise when they did. The Ozil-esque, technically perfect attacking midfielder was nowhere to be seen. Instead a shy workman with simple ideas and a laidback mentality was on show. For many, it was the moment Jordan Henderson was written off.

Like many on their England debut, he had a quiet game. The hype surrounding his inclusion was disproportionate to his performances in the North East and while Sunderland were playing good football at times under Steve Bruce, he wasn’t even their main man. He was the club’s Young Player of the Season for two years running (2009 and 2010), but what does that really mean?

The boo-boys and the choir that supported them truly stepped out from behind the sofa when Henderson made his long-awaited move away from the Stadium of Light.

Anfield was his next destination, in June 2011, as he sought to further his career at the Merseyside giants. It’s strange to think that Henderson signed for Liverpool over four years ago – it certainly doesn’t feel that long. Perhaps it’s testament to how he’s settled into the ethos of the club and the work he’s put in to become a vital cog in the Brendan Rodgers era.

The reported fee was £20 million as Liverpool fought off competition from Manchester United and Tottenham to secure pen-to-paper. Unfortunately for Henderson, the fee, and Damien Comolli’s British Revolution at Anfield, was to weigh heavy early on.

He came in at the same time as Stewart Downing, Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam – players who have since left the club after failing to deliver on a consistent basis.

Without knowing much about the midfielder’s strengths, fans expected a number of things that he couldn’t deliver. Much like Lucas before him, some sections of the home support grew tired with the outlay on Henderson and the all-too simplistic performances. It was these very fans that have been turned as the 25-year-old continues to swim against the tide in wider scope of English football.

It takes time to settle at Anfield, much like any big club. Jordan Henderson is an example above all else.

In the case of Lucas Leiva, it was more an issue of football’s pace in England that forced him to struggle in his first 18 months. There was little question about his ability once he picked up the speed of the game in England and settled into the holding role.

For Henderson, pace was never an issue. It was merely adjusting to the quality of talent around him. Luis Suarez’s runs couldn’t be compared to Kenwyne Jones’. Playing with Steven Gerrard was a world-away from sitting alongside Lee Cattermole. And working on Philippe Coutinho’s wavelength took some learning, unlike Stephane Sessegnon’s.

Make no mistake, this isn’t a slight on the aforementioned players; they all offer a variety of skills, particularly Cattermole, but comparisons between them and Liverpool’s top players are redundant. As a result Henderson began his learning process again. It’s a process that was conducted under difficult circumstances. Let’s not forget he was in an underachieving Liverpool team that showed little signs of progression, and a leaky back line.

Operating on the right also stunted his early progress. The traditional view is that Anfield has long missed a byline winger. Even Dirk Kuyt – for me one of football’s most underrated players – was much maligned for his inability to beat the man and play with directness and pace.

Isn’t it funny then that Henderson, now with some of the most impressive stats in the Premier League and captain of the club at just 25, still operates off the right side, albeit tucked-in slightly more than previously.

The Brendan Rodgers system has changed everything for England man and highlights the difficulty, and conversely the ease, some players have in adapting to specific formations. It’s often not the manager or the player’s fault that they can’t perform; it’s just not a compatible match.

Fortunately for Henderson, his role on the inside right of the midfield has helped him play his natural game. Along the way he’s highlighted the indispensible quality that his energy has given the team, while also forging a career at Anfield that looks like it will continue for a numbers of years. His stats last season back that up.

As a midfielder he’ll be looked at for his passing and distribution above all else, so what better place to start? In spite of completing 1.8 key passes per game and 3.1 long balls, his pass success rate stands at an excellent 84%. Factor in the crowded midfields in the Premier League and his often-advanced position in the attack, and the numbers take on a higher significance. Nine assists are nothing to be scoffed at either.

Furthermore, he’s averaging 1.4 shots per game, a solid return for a midfielder who covers as much ground as he does. With the added responsibility as captain, he’ll need to add goals to his game as the close proximity of teams at the top of the league can be widened by a few telling goals from unlikely sources. Henderson can provide them.

Perhaps his most telling contribution, aside from his distribution, comes in the defensive phase. He averages a outstanding 2.5 tackles per game. That’s more than Michael Carrick (1.4), Ramires (1.2), James McCarthy (2.3), Yaya Toure (1), Nabil Bentaleb (2.3), Cesc Fabregas (2.4) and Aaron Ramsey (2).

In the case of Toure, Fabregas and Ramsey, we’re talking about midfielders who are seasoned internationals and widely considered to be the best box-to-box midfielders in English football. His offensive stats stand up against most of the aforementioned too; only Yaya Toure is ahead, although he’s streets ahead of most players let alone Henderson.

Further to his tackles per game, he averages 1.7 clearances and one interception. Stats, it goes without saying, aren’t everything, and the intangible factors like ground covered and areas pressed are hard to acquire information on. Suffice to say, he’s always pushing forward in Rodgers high-pressing game yet providing ample cover to the central midfielders and right-sided full-back.

Attitude is a huge part of ‘The Liverpool Way’. Dirk Kuyt was often revered by those who attend Anfield far more than those who don’t. It was his attitude, hunger and unwavering desire to leave the pitch having contributed something that endeared him to the Kop. He wasn’t flashy, silky or even typically Dutch but he was more than just a footballer.

It’s this sense of belonging and wanting to impact on a game that is the greatest improvement in Jordan Henderson’s game, above even the stats. The shy, quiet lad from the North East has been replaced with a decisive, mature England international who finally believes in his considerable ability.

Liverpool now boast a player who is quickly beginning to repay the initial outlay. Next up for Liverpool’s number 14 is a fight for his place as a regular in the heart of England’s midfielder at Euro 2016. He will need to take his Anfield form to Wembley on a consistent basis, scoring goals and laying on a few to be considered worthy of a regular place in midfield – especially with the likes of Ross Barkley and Fabian Delph in the mix.

He’s arguably the most improved midfielder in the English game, alongside the aforementioned Delph, and his stats back that up. Some have more assists, others more goals, but few can lay claim to a greater all-round impact. Barring one strong season, he has also been riddled with mediocre performances around him, particularly in defence.

Only time will tell whether he can kick on again and contribute goals in a Liverpool team struggling at both ends of the pitch. Until then, Henderson’s journey is only just beginning in a season that promises much for his employers – and even more in the white of England. The key now is consistency at the highest level and remaining fit. If he manages that, England may well boast one of the game’s most effective midfielders in the heart of their central three come the Euros.

About the author – Omar Saleen

Based in London, Omar is the editor-in-chief at These Football Times. A professional coach by day having worked at clubs including Fulham, QPR and Red Bull New York, he also writes freelance for a number of outlets.

twitter: @omar_saleem

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Bundesglia-benefits-from-EPL

This Tuesday the Transfer window closed in England, home to Europe’s richest league – the English Premier League (EPL). Fuelled by a new television deal EPL, clubs went on a spending spree this summer, and according to the German homepage transfermarkt.de, English clubs have spent €1.178.360.000 for new players.

About a fifth of the €1.17 billion spent flowed towards Bundesliga clubs, which according to the German football magazine Kicker, earned €217 million from selling 16 players to England—in comparison the Bundesliga only earned €15 million from player sales to the Premier League in 2014. The biggest earners were VfL Wolfsburg, which sold the Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne to Manchester City for €75 million, TSG Hoffenheim, which sold the Brazilian playmaker Roberto Firmino to Liverpool for €41 million, and Bayer Leverkusen, which sold the Korean winger Heung-Min Son to Tottenham Hotspur for €30 million.  Smaller clubs also benefited:  two examples are FC Augsburg, which sold Abdul Rahman Baba to Chelsea for €20 million; and 1. FSV Mainz which were able to transfer the Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki to Leicester City for €10 million.

The major reason for the discrepancy in financial wealth between the two leagues is television money. Currently, the Bundesliga’s €579 million a year in television revenue is peanuts compared to the €2.2 billion that the Premier League receives. The difference in television revenue can be explained by the fact that Germany does not have the same kind of television culture as England. In the United Kingdom the Pay-TV stations BT Sport, and SKY UK together have 15 million customers, whereas Germany’s only Pay-TV station SKY Deutschland has only  4.5 million customers.

This means that Premier League clubs on average can spend far more than Bundesliga teams on the transfer market. Last season, for example, Queens Park Rangers, which finished last in the Premier League, received more television money (€90.8 million) than Germany’s biggest club Bayern Munich (€50.6 million)—and with the new EPL television deal kicking in next season, English teams will have even more spending power. Many fans and observers of the Bundesliga have, therefore, been critical of the Premier League’s spending power, with some fearing that the Bundesliga could be bought empty by English clubs.

Yet, some Bundesliga managers do not feel that the newfound riches of the EPL can threaten German football. Bayern’s manager Matthias Sammer told Kicker Magazine “we have to think about the new situation, and we will have to find constructive solutions, but one thing is for certain, we will remain competitive, and we won’t capitulate”. Furthermore, Mainz manager Christian Heidel pointed out that money from England could actually be a huge benefit for German football. When speaking to an academic sports forum, he said “it is now up to us to bring English money to the Bundesliga. The solution is simple, when an English club wants a player from us, we right away set our demands way above the actual market value. We should simply say thank you, take the money, and reinvest it into our scouting network, and youth development infrastructure. It will pay off.”

In truth, the financial discrepancy between German and English football has been in existence for more than a decade, and recent results suggest that despite having smaller budgets, Bundesliga clubs are actually more successful in European club competitions (Germany ranks second behind Spain in the UEFA 5-Year coefficient ranking). Furthermore, Bundesliga clubs have been very successful in producing young exciting talented players—a major reason for the country’s success at last year’s World Cup in Brazil. With more money coming in from England, German clubs will be able to put even greater focus on developing young players,  and this will benefit German football in the long run, or as Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke put it “even with all their money England won’t win a World Cup in the next 50 years…”

About the author – Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and Editor in Chief @FutbolgradLive and writes about the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football. You can find his work at Futbolgrad.com.

twitter: @homosovieticus

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