It’s all gone rather quiet at Arsenal in the past seven days wouldn’t you say? The flurry of transfer activity that expected to follow the acquisition of German international Lukas Podolski has failed to transpire whilst Robin Van Persie’s contract situation has yet to be resolved. You could forgive the Gunners support for being slightly anxious as they enter a crucial period of the summer. Having lost out on Belgian duo Eden Hazard and Jan Vertonghen to their London rivals the need for Arsene Wenger to nail his primary targets has become all the more imperative. His pursuit of French midfielder Yann M’Vila will certainly be affected by the imminent European Championships with the fear that interest will soar in conjuncture with his price tag should he perform well in Poland and Ukraine. It will certainly be a testing time for Wenger as he sweats over Van Persie’s future remains unclear whilst aiming to avoid a repeat of last years last ditch scraping of the recruitment barrel. Who’d be a football manager?
This week on FFC does the Wenger need to merciless in the trimming of his squad and which French midfielder are Arsenal facing a transfer battle for this summer?
Best of FFC
Time for Wenger to display ruthlessness and show them the door
Could Arsenal do with a similar ambassador at the club?
Jumping the gun with his Champions League dream?
A wage balance that Arsenal need to finally strike
Fast becoming a ‘must have transfer’ within the Premier League
The Top 15 Premier League players in desperate ‘need of a move’
Time for English football to break away from tradition?
Arsenal’s £12.8m bid to release clause on hold as Giroud delays decision
Tottenham and Arsenal set to compete for French ace
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Best of WEB
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Djourou: The Modern Squad Problem – A Cultured Left Foot
£28M worth spending? – Gunnersphere
A lasting legacy – Online Gooner
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Is this man really a ‘liability’? – Gunnersphere
Someone said something I disagreed with – Arseblog
Time to put Arsenal first Arsenal – Le Grove
Johan Djourou deserves better – should he leave Arsenal this summer? – Highbury House
Why Llorente Should Seize The Opportunity & Join The Arsenal – Transfer Tavern
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Quote of the Week “To ask me to play to a high standard week in, week out, in the Premier League when you think of the pace that goes with it, was very physically demanding.””People do forget how long I was out of the game and what happened. It’s been my first full season. Overall, I am happy with the way things have gone. From where I was with the injury I think I’ve done pretty well” Aaron Ramsey reflects on his first full season back at Arsenal following the double leg break he suffered in February 2010[divider]Arsenal chase Fernando Llorente
It’s been a tale of two strikers at Anfield this week. Firstly, Andy Carroll has been the name on the lips of the football fraternity over the last seven days following Brendan Rodgers’ admission that he could let the club’s £35-million record signing. Word on the street is a return to this native Tyneside is on the cards whilst Big Sam Allardyce wants to offer him a temporary home at Upton Park. Rumours of Carroll’s departure were greatly enhanced upon the arrival of Italy international Fabio Borini – the man touted to bring the best out of Luis Suarez – on Friday in a deal mooted to be worth £10.5m. The 21-year-old is well known to Rodgers having coached and managed him at previous in their respective careers and he’ll know better than most how to get the best out of Borini. But theres also the lingering feeling that the money could have been invested in a higher calibre of striker. It’s a large sum to spend on a player with limited Premier League experience and one fairly good season in Serie A. Irresponsible spending proved to be the undoing of Kenny Dalglish. Plus, where does this leave Carroll? It’s evident that Borini will be Suarez’s partner next season and it’s unlikely the England forward will be content to kick his heels on the sidelines. How Rodgers manages his first real dilemma as manager on Merseyside will make for stimulating viewing.
This week on FFC is the Reds’ youth system something Rodgers needs to pay attention to and could Andy Carroll really be set for a temporary move to London?
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Best of FFC
Any way back for Rafa?
Was a change in style really what Liverpool need?
Why Brendan Rodgers needs to keep one eye on the future
Liverpool set to be offered player-exchange for Carroll
Why Brendan Rodgers would be making a huge mistake here
A Smart move for Liverpool in LGBT March
Should UEFA step in and take control of the transfer market?
Liverpool’s transfer hopes dashed by Madrid
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Best of WEB
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Jose Enrique: Good Enough Or ‘False’ Starter? – Live 4 Liverpool
‘I’m proud to be here!’ – Fabio Borini’s first LFC interview – Full transcript… – Liverpool Kop
The realistic signings Liverpool fans want at Anfield – This is Anfield
“I’m obviously very sad” – Is this the reason for LFC flop’s poor season…? – Liverpool Kop
Borini – The Type of Player the Reds Need – The Tomkins Times
Carroll Has Potential That Deserves More Patience – Live 4 Liverpool
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Why signing Dempsey for LFC makes perfect sense – This is Anfield
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Quote of the Week
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“I felt really good because I wanted to come back to England one day. I knew sooner or later I would be back. Being back with Liverpool is even better because I can show the people what I can do – we’ve got the Europa League and lots of things to play for.
“I hope to achieve the maximum I can, by scoring goals, getting into the Champions League and all of the things the club also wants – and all the other players.” Liverpool new boy Fabio Borini sets his sights high after signing from Roma
It’s been a busy week for Coventry City Football Club as they continue to prepare for the new season.
Richard Keogh’s departure was confirmed as two new faces arrive on loan, with two more starting a trial and another close to being signed.
All of this whilst the squad we already had completed a pre season tour of Scotland which resulted in mixed results but more importantly will have given the squad a good base fitness to build upon in the remaining weeks leading up to the new season.
With Keogh gone it means the captaincy is an issue which needs to be decided. This is going to be a difficult decision to get right as we don’t really have any natural leaders left in the squad.
There are a few contenders which have already been mentioned by Andy Thorn including Gary McSheffery, Kevin Kilbane, and even young Conor Thomas.
Looking at Gary McSheffery, it’s obvious why he would be in the manager’s thoughts for the captaincy. He has had long spells with the club and being a Coventry lad himself should have the passion and desire required to be a good captain. There is however the issue of last season where I felt at times he lacked commitment and often let the team down despite being one of the more senior players in the squad.
Looking back is a negative way to do things though and I’m sure Thorn and the players will be starting this new campaign with a clean slate and I hope that McSheffery can once again become one of the stars of the squad.
Another contender is that of Kevin Kilbane who arrived at the club this summer. He clearly has bags of experience and knows the game inside out at multiple levels of English football as well as internationally with the Republic of Ireland. This clearly stands him in good stead and makes him one of the clear favourites to be given the captaincy.
A third name that has been mentioned by Thorn and used on a couple of occasions in pre season is that of young midfielder Conor Thomas. There is clear talent within him but watching him play in the past I have always thought that he plays within himself and isn’t quite confident enough to show what he can really do. I think it is this lack of confidence that meant his loan spell at Liverpool ended with him returning to Coventry. For this reason I don’t think he will make a good captain at least until he has the upmost confidence in his own abilities.
This does bring into question whether youth or experience makes a better captain. Personally I do think experience is the better option but young captains have been shown to work in the past and maybe Thorn will take a gamble on Thomas and who knows, it could end up being the making of him.
Other contenders which I personally think would be worth considering include Richard Wood and Goalkeeper Joe Murphy.
Richard Wood has had the captaincy in the past and would be an obvious choice to be captain again. However there are rumours circulating that Wood could be chopped and so he may not even be an option for Thorn.
Another issue with him if he is to stay is his injury problems which have continued to plague him over his time at Coventry and picking someone that could be in and out of the team may not be the best option.
The idea of a captain being a constant in the first team is the first reason why Joe Murphy should be considered because being the number one he is the first name on the team sheet every week. He also seems to be passionate and very vocal on the pitch as on numerous occasions in the season just gone I have heard him from in the stands getting frustrated at what he is seeing in front of him and shouting out orders to his teammates.
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There are many differing opinions out there as to whether goalkeepers make good captains but many top teams around the world have their goalkeepers as captains and based on the evidence of Euro 2012 it does seem to work with both the finalists Italy and Spain choosing their goalkeepers as their captains. For these reasons Murphy should not only be considered but should be thought of as one of the strongest options.
The captaincy is often a no brainer with clubs often having clear leaders within the squad but with the current squad it looks like Thorn has got a really difficult decision to make. I think Thorn has chosen wrongly in the past when he gave the captaincy to Sammy Clingan but I think he will have learnt from that and I trust him to make the right decision and I hope whoever he does choose can lead us on a journey back to where we belong.
Liverpool are closely monitoring Reading centre back Alex Pearce, who they see as a long-term replacement for club legend Jamie Carragher. Pearce, who was voted Reading’s player of the season last year, is in the last year of his contract and will available at a reduced price in January, or a free agent next Summer.
Pearce played every minute of league football in 2012 to secure Readings promotion to the Premiership, but hasn’t featured in McDermott’s side since September, in which time they have conceded 18 goals. It is believed Pearce is unhappy with his new deal that Reading have offered and has been dropped from the team until he agrees to sign it. This has invited speculation from Liverpool who are expected to come in with an offer in January.
Rodgers is well aware of the 23 year olds talents from his time at Reading and believes he would make an excellent replacement for the long serving Carragher, whose time at Liverpool seems to be nearing an end. Aside from first choice regulars Skrtel and Agger they are short on defensive reinforcements and Rodgers feels his existing options aren’t up to scratch. His former captain at Reading would be an ideal choice who has impressed both on the pitch and off it.
It seems like Liverpool are being linked with anyone and everyone for a move in January, most crucially a striker. But this is a transfer that is very likely to materialise and to turn a few heads. With Agger’s consistent injuries and Skrtel’s basic mistakes, Pearce would get his fair share of football and he looks a quality young defender. It’s to early to say yet but he has the potential to be an Anfield legend to put it mildly.
We’re reaching the time of year in the Barclays Premier League, where blueprints begin getting devised and exit routes enter the planning phase. As the season rattles on into December, despite the utter model of inconsistency the top flight has seemed to become this year, players will begin to gauge a fair idea of where their club will be looking to finish.
And for those that don’t like what they see, the cogs of forward thinking will already be in motion – primarily in the guise of engineering a move away from the club. Or at the very least, clamouring to a decent excuse to find a get-out clause.
Some, are certainly a little more up front about it. Indeed, although he appeared to ambiguously backtrack on his original statements, Everton’s Marouane Fellaini certainly didn’t muck around earlier on in the season.
“I am just starting my fifth season at Everton, this will be one of my last,” said the Belgian.
“I have seen everything. In January or at the end of the season I will turn to another club or championship.”
Well that’s certainly one way of doing it. Regardless of whether Fellaini does or doesn’t leave Goodison Park in the near future, you certainly had to admire his honestly; no rubbish, no feeding the fans lies and no mindless posturing.
But the truth is that clear-cut, ballsy like statements of intent a la Fellaini, aren’t par for the course. In fact, they’re a damn right rarity. This is of course, the age of the 21st century Premier League footballer. Where the wages dwarf the GDP of a small island in the Pacific and the players seemingly have a divine right to success.
Indeed, where as once the term success and the relentless quest for silverware was once an ideal fought for the club and supporters, it now appears to be hijacked by the one man crusade that is the singular footballer. And it’s a term that we’re all too unfamiliar with.
Classics along the lines of “The club have to match my ambition,” or “I demand success this season,” are now well-wielded weapons in the professional’s vocal armoury. Immortalised by William “I did not join Arsenal to finish third,” Gallas, it’s a notion that we’ve become all too familiar with over the last few years.
Some of you may be wondering what the fuss is about here, let alone the relevance it has in the current day. If a club has a half decent player and the team is underperforming, does he not have a right to kick off? Isn’t it only natural that he seeks to elevate himself onto bigger and better things?
In one respect, yes, of course he does. For unless you happen to support a club that is challenging for titles week in week out, the rest of us are all too begrudgingly aware of the cliché depicting the cream rising to the top. If a player is good enough, naturally, nine times out of then he will always find his way to one of the continent’s best. The author has recently endured this experience with Luka Modric and has a similar one penned in with Gareth Bale later on next year.
But more often than not, it doesn’t feel as if it’s the mercurial talents that have single handedly carried a team for a season, are the ones coming out and kicking off. Naturally, the ones that bestow the most talent, don’t’ always have to go looking for attention. That usually tends to find them.
And past that rare percentage of players, this is where the gripes with players demanding success really kicks in.
The last time we checked, football is a game played by a team. It takes a squad of men to lift a trophy, to gain a shot at glory and harvest silverware. Success is earned as a collective – not handed to you with a silver spoon as an individual. There is a wonderful irony in the player demanding more from the clubs – in no small part due to the rather prominent part that he plays in achieving it.
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While there are a selection of bandit owners and murky chairman that exist within British football, are all clubs not striving for a common goal in success? What gives the right for a player to deride a club for not matching their ambition? Ambition is bred within the hearts of all supporters, you know, the ones who go a long way to actually paying these players’ wages.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. But do these players making these quotes not remember the journey that got them there in the first place? Football is fluid, things change quickly and fortunes can fade often for the worse. But when they arrived at the club, at some point, they shared a common goal. There is a painful absurdity to them asking the club to match their ambitions.
The phrase ‘no player is bigger than the club’ is batted around with such regularity that to many, it must ring hollow. But in many ways, it still rankles as one of the truest sentiments football has to offer. As a collective, it is the club, the supporters and the players whom can demand success and set ambitions. Not one solitary individual.
Players will come and go and motivations will always fluctuate. If a player has naturally outgrown his club, the scope for understanding – no matter how hard that may be – will always be there. But in demanding the club match his ambition and desire for success, maybe he always will get his move. Because the delusions and misconceptions of his own ambition, are never going to be particularly conducive with that of whose really matter – the club’s.
Newcastle have drawn 1-1 in their Europa League play-off fixture against Atromitos in Athens.
The hosts made it difficult for their Premier League rivals, and took the lead when Denis Epstein found the back of the net on 24 minutes.
However, Ryan Taylor guided home a deftly-taken free-kick to spare the Tyneside outfit’s blushes and ensure spoils were shared.
Alan Pardew has stated that he is confident of progressing with a victory in the home leg.
“If we are taking an away goal into the home leg, we would be favourites – but we are the favourites when we play at home whoever we are playing, in my opinion, so we have got to win the game,” he told reporters.
“In the second half, I was a little bit disappointed we didn’t get the win – I thought there were good opportunities – but overall, I was very, very pleased with the performance.
“They [Atromitos] have shown us tonight that it’s not going to be a pushover and it’s not going to be a foregone conclusion, so we have got to be right and we have got to make sure that the team is strong enough,” he concluded.
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Captain Darren Bent admits the time has come for Aston Villa to bring Premier League victories back to Villa Park ahead of tomorrow’s home clash against Swansea.
Villa’s previous league win – and last in front of their own fans – was six months ago in the last-gasp 1-0 success against Fulham on March 10. That is their only top-flight victory in the past 14 attempts at Villa Park and the claret and blues picked up three points at home just four times last season. Before Fulham, the previous home league win was against Paul Lambert’s Norwich on November 5 last year.
A depressing defeat to Everton during Lambert’s introduction to Villa fans last month suggested the home hangover has been carried over to this campaign. And Bent, who scored in the Capital Cup win over Tranmere at Villa Park, admits the club must rediscover a winning habit in the league, especially on home territory. He told the Birmingham Mail:
“Our home form hasn’t been good enough and we need to start putting that right. We need to be having better performances and results to give the fans something to cheer about. They have shown they will get behind us even when we are not doing well. It’s been hard for them, but they still come and support us. They have been brilliant in the time that I have been here, to be fair. So if we can get them going by playing well then that can only be good for the team and the fans.”
Aston Villa face a tough home fixture against Swansea City on Saturday.
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There was a need for calm after the storm last week at Coventry City however this hasn’t really been the case.
Fans have remained divided over the sacking of Andy Thorn, have experienced renewed optimism after a derby cup win, seen the club bring in another new arrival, witness the first defeat of the season, all that along with a not so friendly exchange between fans and players. All in all it’s been a pretty eventful week for Coventry City.
Richard Shaw has been the man tasked with the job of calming the ship and his first challenge was a Capital One second round match against local rivals Birmingham City. Every Coventry fan went into this game worried about what they were about to witness and when Birmingham took the lead early on we all feared the worse. The crossbar then came to our rescue moments later as Birmingham continued to press. Then all of sudden Coventry began to get themselves into the game and two quick goals from McDonald and Kilbane turned the tie on its head and gave Coventry a 2-1 lead.
The lead didn’t last long though as an enthralling match continued to deliver with Birmingham leveling just before half time. Sadly the second half didn’t quite live up to the first and the score remained 2-2 and extra time was needed to settle the match. Whilst there was a lack of goals and chances in the second half , the hard work and endeavor from the Coventry players was second to none. Extra time began with the same high work rate it paid off as Baker who was easily man of the match for his performance gave the Skyblues the lead for the second time in the match.
This is the way the score line stayed as Coventry managed to keep Birmingham at bay to set up a third round tie away at Arsenal. There was a real feeling of elation around Coventry following what was not only a great result but a fantastic wholehearted performance. The players showed passion, they showed they cared and as fans that is exactly what we all want to see.
That performance led me to believe that just maybe we could have serious promotion ambitions and that the sacking of Andy Thorn may have been justified. I did however then remember that this is Coventry City and how often do we put in that sort of performance on a consistent basis and everyone knows the answer to that is never.
The weekend came and Coventry returned to League One action away at newly promoted Crewe. Fans and players alike went there full of confidence, buoyed by the performance against Birmingham a few days before. This confidence and excitement amongst fans and players quickly disappeared though and was replaced with frustration. A flat lacklustre performance is the only way to describe what we all witnessed and it resulted in our first defeat of the season.
We as fans were left bemused and frustrated with what we were seeing and that we were unable once again to build on a good performance and instead allowed our standards to drop dramatically. The frustration eventually boiled over as harsh words were exchanged between fans and club captain Kilbane.
Kilbane has been slated for this and has since apoligised. Some fans have called for the captaincy to be taken from him and I understand that, as a player of his experience should know better. I do however believe that players should be allowed to respond to the abuse and criticism that is often thrown at them by certain members of the crowd. I personally saw the situation as Kilbane defending himself and his teammates which if it was the case is something we surely want from our captain. It’s a sign that he cares and that he was frustrated with what was happening and a lot of the time players don’t show that at all whilst out on the pitch.
I hope that any individuals that have been left unimpressed and annoyed by Kilbane’s actions can forgive and forget. The club is still very much in a transitional phase as it tries to get itself out of the turmoil it finds itself in. Relationship between the fans and the club are at an all time low but we can’t let the relationship between the fans and the players break down. If this happens then we are in real trouble.
For Coventry City to move forward the club, the council, ACL, the players and the fans need to come together. I know it’s an old cliché but it is true that united we will rise and divided we will fall. It is hard to imagine at this moment that all these will come together and push in the same direction but something has to change.
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We have changed the manager or are in the process of, but for me at our club the manger is only a very small part of a puzzle that needs to be put back together. If things remain as they are off the field then no matter who is brought in to manage the club, things will not change for the better and in another twelve to eighteen months we will be looking for the next manager willing to gamble their career on what I can only guess is empty promises that they must be being told when they join the club.
We have now changed the squad and changed the management so on the football side of things the club has played its cards, now it is time for change off the field and until that happens it is going to be extremely difficult for the club to progress and get back to where it belongs.
Southampton are yet to pick up a Premier League point so far this season since their promotion from the Championship but it seems winger Jason Puncheon isn’t concerned by what the media categorise them as.
Puncheon was out of favour at St Mary’s after problems with manager Nigel Adkins but that seems to be in the past and he is relishing a new chance in the Premier League.
“We’re always going to be the underdogs as people would say,” he told The Sun.
“If you’re totally honest, if you look at the Man United and Man City games we didn’t let them get in their stride.
“We held our own and the good thing is we can only get better.
“We have got no points on the board, being ’rubbish’ if everyone wants to say that. In football, there are always thin margins.
“People always say ’they could have done this’, ’they could have done that’, but now we have got to put things into action ourselves.
“We have a big game on Saturday and three points are needed.
“The season starts now so you take the positives from those games we’ve played into Saturday.”
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It might be something of a ripe old cliché, but they simply don’t make footballers like they used to anymore. But although the current breed of Premier League footballer may lack the charm and affability of players from yesteryear, even then, few can claim to have had quite the career of ex-Aston Villa frontman turned Sky Sports pundit, Alan McInally.
In an era these days were some players can’t move above the Watford Gap without feeling homesick, ‘Big Mac’ went from serving an apprenticeship fitting airframes in Prestwick, to lifting silverware in the Olympiastadion with Bayern Munich.
Now plying his trade as one of the much loved members of the Soccer Saturday panel on Sky Sports every Saturday, Football FanCast’s Sam Antrobus caught up with the ex-Scotland international at the launch of EA Sports’ Fifa 13, to chat all things Villa, playing abroad and sinking a few beers at Oktoberfest.
Can could you possibly tell us a bit about today’s event and what you’re doing up in Manchester today?
I’m here for the launch of Fifa 13 this evening, where they’ve got a few celebs and players in to play the game and play against each other. I’m actually on the game myself this year – they’ve obviously got a commentator and a co-commentator, but within the game, they’ll be a part which will interrupt the game you’re currently playing to put you through to another fixture, where they’ll be me to tell you what’s happened.
So for example, if you’re second in your division and you need a victory to win the league but your rivals are playing at the same time, it will be me giving you updates about what’s happening and who’s scored etc. It’s a great idea by EA Sports to be honest and it seems to be pretty well received, so that’s why I’m here and I’m going to be interviewing a few of the boys this evening.
How’s it been going so far?
I can say without fear of getting things right and wrong, I’ve been beaten by a 10 year old, an 11 year old and a 12 year old.
Are you not much of a Fifa player yourself then Alan?
No I love it, it’s really, really good. I’m just hopeless at it, that’s all. I played my neighbours nephew the other day and some of the things he was doing, I didn’t actually realize that was a part of the game. If you’re a gamer at all and you want to play a football game, then there is absolutely no question you’ve got to have Fifa, because it’s superb and I’m saying that genuinely.
From virtual football to real football now, what’s been your take on your old club Aston Villa’s difficult start to the season?
Well it wasn’t the greatest of starts obviously, but after that point at Newcastle you were thinking that’s a brilliant result, because Newcastle so far have obviously been beating everybody and you wouldn’t expect a lot of teams to come away with something.
Then you think Paul Lambert’s finally got a little bit of luck, a rub of the green and that the penny’s finally started to drop with a few of the players. He introduced a couple of the new, younger players in Westwood that he got in from Crewe and Benteke aswell who managed to grab a goal and ok, everything seemed on the up.
So the Southampton game must have felt like a real kick in the teeth?
I said at the time after the Newcastle game, you can’t be too euphoric yet, it’s very early in the season and still a work in progress that Paul is striving to create. They needed to give Southampton a bit of respect, because they’re still a Premier League team and of course, they went there and lost the game. The biggest problem was in the way they lost the game in the manner that they conceded four goals and that was the biggest disappointment.
But listen, they’ll be loads of highs and lows at Aston Villa this season. I think Paul Lambert is absolutely the right appointment to be given the managers job at Villa and I don’t think there is any problem, but it’s a tough job. Aston Villa is not a club where you can say; “I’ll get three or four games where it doesn’t really matter what happens.” I don’t think that’s the case at a team like Villa and its down to him to turn it around and turn it around quickly.
You say Paul Lambert is absolutely the right appointment, but do you think fans at Villa Park will remain patient with him?
Well it’s a toughie isn’t it? Because lets face it everything nowadays is “I want it now and I wanted it 20 minutes ago.” That’s what kind of society we’re like and football’s no different to be honest with you. They want a solution, they want a fix and they want to be watching winning football.
I think they’re going to have to be patient though and that’s why I’m saying that they will be highs and low during the season. Newcastle away was a high. Swansea at home was a definite high so early in the season considering Swansea had started so well.
But of course, there was a bit of a low at Southampton and it’s down to the players to dust themselves off and get of with it.
The other thing of course is, he hasn’t had a massive amount of money to spend.
Will he already be looking to the January window then?
Well I think you’ve got to give him a bit of time till at least the transfer window has reopened and he can obviously then say to coaches and pinpoint players he wants to bring into the football club. Give him the time to do exactly that and then judge him at the end of the season and I think that’s only fair and right.
I don’t think for a minute that Paul won’t already be thinking, “right, I think that’s part of the team I need to be strengthening,” and he’ll try and do so when he has the opportunity.
Any chance they might be going down?
I don’t think they’ll be candidates for relegation or anything but I just think the whole situation at Aston Villa is maybe going to take certainly a couple of years to sort.
What about Darren Bent this season? He obviously struggled with injury last season, but after opening his account during the weekend, how do you think he’s going to get on this season?
Well hopefully all right. Darren Bent needs somebody to share the load with him because really, Villa have relied on Darren far too much and hopefully Benteke can share that load. But there has got to be more coming from the middle of the park as well. Stephen Ireland came with a big reputation from Manchester City and I think he’s got to, along with some of the senior players, be chipping in with a few aswell.
On a slightly different note, as someone who played abroad in Germany with Bayern Munich, why do you think British players currently seem so reluctant to ply their trade in another country?
Well I think there is a couple of easy answers there in that firstly, the money is very good in the Premier League. You don’t necessarily have to go abroad to get it.
And the other scenario is that there are a lot of players that have actually come to this country and players now have the opportunity to play with foreign players that they might not have the opportunity maybe when I was playing.
It wasn’t till I went abroad that I had the opportunity to play with foreign players. You don’t necessarily have to go abroad now to make your game better or learn a different style etc. because those people are coming to our shores and then you have the opportunity to play with them in this country.
What about your time in Bayern Munich, what do you think that did for your career?
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Oh it was massive. I had a big decision to make when I left Aston Villa at the time. Apart from Chris Waddle at Marseille, I was about the only other player doing it – at the time there wasn’t really people going abroad like that.
I mean, when you go and speak to Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeness – Jupp Heynckes was the coach at the time – and they say to you that you’ll love Munich, we want you to be a Munich player and we want to win the European cup, it’s very difficult to say to them: “No it’s ok, I’ll stay at Aston Villa.”
Maybe I should have done another year at Villa and probably won the title but to be honest, the time was just right for me to go abroad.
What were the differences both as a player and as a person?
I was an absolute eye opener, in terms of preparation, the way they trained, the preparation factor – right down to the medicine factor. In Germany at that time in 1988, they were doing stuff then, that all the teams are doing now- they were absolutely miles ahead.
For me as a footballer, learning was a great thing for me to go but also learning a new language was fantastic you know, I can speak German now. I would have never previously contemplated the prospect of going abroad, learning another language and integrating myself into a new society. Plus, I have the added advantage that I can go to Oktoberfest every year and order myself a couple of beers. That’s always a plus.
Any plans to sink a few beers in Germany soon then?
I haven’t been to Germany since the Champions League final but the Oktoberfest is still on, so I’m trying to convince the boys at Sky to let me do a Champions League Bayern home game, so with a bit of luck, I’ll get the call!
Count Football FanCast in on that one. Finally, as you’re launching the new Fifa 13, who do you reckon would win a tournament out of you and all the Soccer Saturday boys?
I’d probably have to say me for the simple reason I’ve been practicing in case I might be asked to play tonight. But trust me, anyone could beat me at Fifa, I’ve been put in my place many a time! But let’s just say Jeff Stelling because nobody ever says Jeff can win at anything. So ill put him forward and put him under a bit of pressure incase anyone says he has to play it.
Alan McInally presented the #FIFA13CelebCup trophy. EA SPORTS FIFA 13 is out now on all formats including PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360 and iOS.