Manchester City’s Leroy Sane is one of the finest football talents around. Like Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, he can accelerate down the wing, cut inside, beat several defenders and set up a striker or take a shot himself. I have watched him time and again and been thrilled at his skill level. So why has it all gone wrong during the last few months? The answer is that Leroy, at 22 years of age, has been affected by all the positive hype he reads about himself. His body language suddenly seemed all wrong as he sauntered around the training ground. He became arrogant because he knows how good he is. Then his form fell away and suddenly he found himself out of the German World Cup squad which both shocked and disappointed him. Now he is fighting for his place in the City starting eleven. German World Cup winner Tony Kroos of Real Madrid commented that Leroy has to improve his attitude. Now his manager at City, Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Bernard Silva and Raheem Sterling returned from World Cup duties in sparkling shape and form and Leroy was pushed aside. Pep said, “You have to remember that Leroy is still only 22 and he will grow up. He is a very important player for us and he will be back. We will help him improve and regain his form of last season.”
When you are competing with the best players in the world, you have to be totally competitive. To prove the point about the quality of players at City, Pep Guardiola was asked if he would sell Kevin De Bruyne for £250million. That is a quarter of a billion pounds and Pep said No!
Training? Call in the army
Bournemouth’s 4-2 win against Leicester wasn’t just down to good planning and briefing. Manager Eddie Howe decided he wanted his players super focused. So what did he do? He called in the army! The Cherries boss and his team joined the elite military SAS special forces on an orientation programme. The intense workout did the trick and Bournemouth were excellent in beating Leicester. The SAS soldiers took the players into a forest and were joined by members of the training staff. They split into several teams with players and the training staff separated and then they competed against each another. Eddie Howe said, “We had a lot of laughs and built new relationships. It was a challenge with map reading and orienting to test our fitness and awareness levels. The players enjoyed seeing me suffer and we did not like losing to them! My assistant Jason Tindall led his team to last place!” The players won’t let the manager and training staff forget that for a while.
Agents sucking money out of football
The West Ham owner David Gold has been ranting about football agents who are ‘sucking tons of money out of the game.’
Gold, co-chairman of West Ham United went on to say: “They are certainly starting to run football.” It was revealed that 80% of the 541 Premier League deals were handled by agents and paid by both clubs and players. Gold says, “They are doing nothing for football.” It is widely thought that the FA, Uefa and Fifa must act together to bring about an end to the power of the super rich agents who pocket millions of pounds from transfers which makes it very good for them every time a deal is negotiated. Therefore, it is obvious that an agent can unsettle a big star player by starting rumours of a transfer. Paul Pogba’s sale from Manchester United, for instance, would earn his agent Mino Raila many millions of pounds. The majority of clubs do not want to deal with agents but often have no choice as the players send them into negotiations. The more expensive a player, the more the agent earns.
Hammers must perform for Pellegrini
The situation at West Ham was getting worse by the week. Despite bringing in Manuel Pellegrini on a big salary and spending £100m on new players the team is still in the bottom four of the Premier League. New signings include Felipe Anderson, Fabian Balbuena, Carlos Sanchez, Lukasz Fabianski, Jack Wilshere, Ryan Fredericks, Lucas Perez and Andriy Yarmolenko. Only Fabianski has proved any sort of success. Wilshere in particularly was expected to take control of midfield on a salary of £80k and a three-year contract but he has so far proved very disappointing and injury will keep him out of action for up to 4 weeks. The players like Pellegrini’s attacking style of football but the time has come to deliver or the Hammers are going to be in serious trouble.
Coffee from Italy please waiter!
Chelsea’s new manager Mauricio Sarri is enjoying his new life in London and compares it very favourably to Italian football life. He said: “Here in the Premier League it is a pleasure to arrive at the stadiums and see fans wearing different shirts, all drinking and socialising together. There is a good spirit. I sign autographs for the opposing fans on the sidelines before and after every match and they all thank me even if we have beaten their team!” It is the first time Sarri, who started out his working life as a banker, has coached outside Italy. He said that although he missed his homeland he is getting used to English food but he can’t find anyone who makes coffee like his favourite Tommaso, a Napoli coffee maker.
Petr is still the man
There are many who think that Petr Cech’s time at Arsenal is drawing to a close. I am not one of them. His critics say he cannot distribute the ball efficiently with his feet and he is more of an old fashioned goalkeeper who relies on shot stopping and then kicking upfield. I do not agree with that. Having watched him training and performing excellently in countless games for Arsenal and Chelsea, it is my opinion that Petr can distribute the ball better than most goalkeepers. I agree he might not be the best passer of a ball but he can certainly hold his own and it must be remembered that he is also one of the best ball throwers in the game. Petr stands tall at around 1.9m (almost 6ft 3ins) but he is also very quick and agile, even at 36 years of age. Manager Unai Emery has publicly backed Petr as his No1 and he starts most games however there is a growing number of Gunner’s fans who feel that Jan Leno is the rightful heir apparent and his time is almost here.
Juve want Pogba back
I have heard from Manchester that there is more speculation regarding Paul Pogba’s future at United. Having signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, Italian giants Juventus now want to build a Champion’s League winning team. One part of their plan is to bring Pogba back to Juve and they have contacted United about signing him in the new year. It cannot happen until January and United would want a massive profit on the £98million they paid Juve when they signed him. When asked if he thought it might happen, Pogba would only comment that anything is possible.
Following in his father’s footsteps
When your father is one of the most famous footballers on the planet and arguably the most celebrated African footballer of all time, he is a hard act to follow. Liberian George Weah was named Fifa World Player of the Year in 1995 and he also won the coveted Ballon d’Or awarded to the best player in the world. Now of course he is President of Liberia. Yes, a hard act to follow but his18 year-old footballing son Timothy is currently attracting many big clubs including Manchester United and Chelsea who have scouts watching him play for Paris St. Germain where he is close to striker Edinson Cavani who gives him advice and coaching.
Goalkeepers keep their feet on the ground
Following on from my piece last week about the new demands on goalkeepers to play with their hands and their feet, I was reminded of what Ruud Gullit said a few years ago, “a goalkeeper is a goalkeeper because he can’t play football.” That has all changed and Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said that managers now expect to have 11 outfield players, not 10 and the only difference is that one of them is allowed to use his hands!”