Phil Neville is relishing the prospect of facing Everton as coach of Manchester United for the first time, reports the Guardian.
Neville spent eight years with the Toffees, and tonight comes up against them for the first time since leaving Goodison Park as a player in the summer.
Now back at Old Trafford in a coaching capacity alongside his former Everton boss David Moyes, Neville has only fond memories of his time at the club, and claims his spell there made him a better player and a better person.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Neville was able to recall the moment Sir Alex Ferguson invited him to his house to inform him he would be sold.
“Inside – and this is the weird thing – it was probably one of the most magical moments of my career,” Neville says.
“We were in his front room, having a cup of tea and he was plotting my next career move, where I was going, how I would play, everything.
“I went outside and my wife was in tears. But it wasn’t done in a cold office. It was done with warmth, like going round to your Mum and Dad’s for some advice. But don’t get me wrong, I went home and cried my eyes out for 24 hours.”
Despite the tears however, Neville has only positive memories of his time at Goodison Park.
“I didn’t win a trophy with Everton but that time is just as special as my playing career at United,” he added.
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“People leave United and tend to drift out of the game. I actually think I became a better player and a better person. I proved a lot of doubters wrong. I was there on my own. It was a culture shock, being out of the bubble of Manchester United, but I thrived. It was the making of me.”
Patrice Evra is set to return to the Manchester United first-team for Wednesday night’s clash with Galatasaray, according to BBC Sport.
The France international suffered a minor knock whilst away on World Cup qualifying duty with Les Bleus, and as such was rested for the Red Devils’ 4-0 victory over Wigan in the Premier League on Saturday.
Alexander Buttner, who signed from Vitesse Arnhem in the summer as a long-term replacement for the ageing Evra, started against the Latics and impressed on his debut.
Despite the young Dutch full-back even scoring an individual goal in the rout of Roberto Martinez’s men, Evra will be reinstated to Sir Alex Ferguson’s staring XI for the clash with the Turkish giants.
Attackers Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa also did not start the game against the Latics after also picking up injuries on international duty, but both new men have been training with the side and are thought to be fully available for Ferguson to select in midweek if desired.
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According to reliable club insider @ExWHUemployee on Episode 86 of The West Ham Way radio show, West Ham United are considering a move to sign Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure on a free transfer this summer, and Irons fans have been quick to react to the rumour.
It was announced earlier this month that the 34-year-old will be leaving the Etihad when his contract expires at the end of the season, but the Ivory Coast international has expressed a wish to carry on playing in the Premier League with an extraordinary proposal for potential suitors – something which has seemingly caught the east London outfit’s attention.
The midfielder – who turns 35 years of age on Sunday – made his first top flight start of the campaign in the 3-1 win against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday night, and he has scored 59 goals in 230 Premier League games for the champions.
West Ham supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the story, and while one said he “could be a great mentor to Declan Rice”, another said he is “too old and way past his prime”.
With the January transfer window now in full swing, speculation involving the Premier League’s top clubs is rife.
The Express recently reported that Arsenal are leading the way in a pursuit of Chelsea defender David Luiz.
The Brazilian has dropped out of contention at Chelsea since manager Antonio Conte left him out of his squad at the end of October.
The former Paris Saint-Germain star was also struck down with a knee injury, but is closing in on a return.
Arsenal have had problems in defence this season, but according to Wenger, Luiz will not be arriving at the North London outfit this month.
While speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash against Chelsea, the Arsenal boss described the Luiz rumours as “wrong”.
The Frenchman went on to indicate that he is only looking for an “exceptional” player to boost his squad.
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After the manager delivered his thoughts on the speculation involving Luiz, Arsenal fans tweeted their reaction.
We have all heard of Fergie Time, where referees seem to add more minutes than perhaps is necessary waiting for the ‘Red Devils’ to nick that much needed equaliser, or indeed winner.
However, now revelations that referee Mark Halsey used to be on texting terms with Sir Alex, seem to only further emphasise this speculation.
Opposition fans have always felt that referees didn’t do them any favours at Old Trafford, so you can understand the controversy surrounding the revelations that Sir Alex Ferguson used to be so close to Halsey.
The details are revealed in Halsey’s new book in which the ref admits texting Fergie, including to get his support for Mark Clattenburg during the John Obi Mikel racism row.
Halsey wrote: “I took matters in my own hands and rang Sir Alex asking him to speak out.
“He agreed and used his Friday press conference to say he could not conceive of Mark [Clattenburg] saying such things. It helped the situation a great deal.”
Despite this, it has been emphasised that when on the pitch, no favours were given to the mighty Scot.
“I may have spoken to him a lot and shared texts but he knew when I crossed that white line there were no favours,” he added.
“Players and managers would not respect you if you gave decisions based on friendship.”
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This can be seen to be apparent when analysing Halsey’s reaction to a late United goal in a Premier League contest against Wolves. The look of disgust on his face in the video below speaks for itself.
When Andre Villas-Boas was appointment as Spurs new Head Coach he assured fans that he had learned from the mistakes he had made at Chelsea and vowed not to change too much, too soon.
The transfer window has now slammed shut with 12 players heading out of the White Hart Lane exit door on either loan or permanent deals and 6 players coming in. The number of players to have left WHL could have been higher still with Spurs willingness to listen to offers for their Team Captain Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas and David Bentley all of which were unable or unwilling to secure moves away from the club. AVB’s man management skills were heavily criticized during his time at Chelsea but he now faces a significant test of his credentials once more. The head coach will need to move quickly to reintegrate and motivate this core group of English players back into his squad in order to avoid what is the all too familiar sound of discontent within the ranks.
AVB claimed he would be making ‘progressive’ rather than the wholesale changes which blighted his time at Chelsea. However history could be in danger of repeating itself with AVB making similar mistakes again during his early tenure at Spurs. He has seemingly ostracized senior players within the squad, sold influential playmakers Modric and VDV and implemeted an immediate change of system and personnel.
Couple these changes of formation and tactics with the introduction of a large number of new first team players and it could be argued that AVB has learned little from his ill-fated experience at Chelsea.
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A few weeks ago, many would have thought that the race for top four in the Premier League was done and dusted.
Chelsea and Arsenal looked set to miss out, but following some surprise results, the boys in blue still have a chance of securing Champions League football for next season.
Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur currently sit third and fourth respectively, but only three points separate third from fifth.
Chelsea need to win both of their final fixtures against Huddersfield and Newcastle United in order to give themselves a chance of sneaking into the top four.
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The task is in the hands of Spurs and Liverpool as the North London outfit require four points from matches against Newcastle and Leicester, while the Reds need to beat Brighton at Anfield on the final day in order to stay in the top echelon.
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Both clubs have a better goal difference than Chelsea, so unless Antonio Conte’s side become very prolific in the next couple of games, then the advantage lies with Tottenham and Liverpool.
It seems that the majority of fans feel the same way, as the results of our recent poll show that Chelsea are expected to miss out.
Manchester United are a big club – one of the biggest in fact – their recent blip but an aberration amongst the glories of the past 20 years. They’ll be back up there soon.
At least, they hope so. But Ed Woodward – ironically, for a man who’s name sounds like a fart in the bath – is making all the right noises. The last two summers have shown that they mean business – big money business, indeed.
It doesn’t matter how far down the table United slip, they’ll still be a big club. And that has nothing to do with their history and their fanbase, it has nothing to do with the facilities they have and the trophy cabinet that gleams with silver. It has nothing to do with the players they have on their books, or the plethora of former stars carrying their huge celebrity-names onto our TV screens each week to analyse games and talk up United. It has to do with their mentality.
United have the stance of a big club. There’s an arrogance and a swagger to how they hold themselves, even their manager has the same aura. It’s how the club does business and how it cultivates the public image.
Again, it’s not about class or success, nor is it even about what they do. More about how they do it.
After losing Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill in an emotional and highly destructive few months, United moved swiftly to bring in ‘Ferguson B’.
The appointment of David Moyes was a desperate attempt to avoid the profound sadness and grief that losing a manager of 25 years brings. But the sad fact is that it should bring grief and sadness. You have to grieve for what you’ve lost if you really cared for it. That’s just human nature. Instead, United were like a desperate and pathetic middle-aged man left stunned and broken by the break-up of his marriage to the one woman in the world he ever loved. It was as if they built shrines to Ferguson, preserved whatever belongings of his they could – perhaps they still kept his smell – and tried to replace him with something exactly the same. But it never works. They may as well have appointed a cardboard cut-out of Fergie. It was sad.
It’s because United have had continuity for years that they wanted continuity again. I can respect that, it’s fair enough. Especially when the club puts such a high value on tradition and heritage. But when you break up, you have to move on. Things don’t last forever, they fall apart.
And United are over it now. They’ve moved on and they’ve remembered that they’re a big club. They’ve gone through their grief period and are now swaggering around the European transfer market once again.
How they’ve spent money in the last few years has been ballsy and in some ways it’s been reckless – Luke Shaw cost £30m, for example. I’m not saying he’s not worth it, that remains to be seen, but it’s a lot of money to spend on a full back, let alone one who is still a rough diamond.
But that’s the point. United are a big club, and they’re proving it by going all-out to sign these players. It doesn’t really matter if they don’t quite work out. Angel Di Maria, up until this point at least, should be considered a bit of a flop for the money paid for him. I still think he’s a wonderful player and that he’ll come good, but he hasn’t done what you’d expect from a player who cost so much. But that doesn’t matter to United. They signed prestige and power, and in the process gained prestige and power back for themselves.
United’s spending spree was retail therapy. Sure, they needed some of those players, the squad as it stood wasn’t good enough and the key players – Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Robin van Persie – were ageing. But they didn’t need Radamel Falcao and Di Maria, they just wanted them. And they got them. Because they’re Manchester United.
The signings this summer are potentially similar. Matteo Darmian fills a gap in United’s squad. Memphis Depay adds another dimension up front, and United needed that badly – they relied too much on Fellaini’s height and in successive games against Everton, Chelsea and West Brom they failed to score, even though they dominated overwhelmingly. Depay will add a directness that they didn’t possess last season.
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But the others, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, they’ll battle out for the same holding midfield place, even though Fellaini can do that job, and if United are going to keep possession for the whole game, Daley Blind and Ander Herrera could probably do that job, too. Of course, Schweinsteiger is much better at it.
But that’s the point. United are signing players who will improve what they have, but they’re doing it for esteem as much as amelioration. They’re a giant putting his foot down, a man of status throwing his jacket over his shoulder and strutting around the city. Like Cristiano Ronaldo launching an underwear range with a 30ft high poster of himself in his pants, they’re showing off their power and doing it because they can.
And that’s why United will always be a big club. After a season wallowing in self-pity, watching re-runs of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ on Comedy Central and eating Super Noodles from the saucepan, this divorcee has finally come out of grief and is once again strutting his stuff on the singles scene.
West Ham’s hopes of concluding a summer deal for Alvaro Negredo have received a blow, with news that Atletico Madrid are considering a move for his signature, according to reports from talkSPORT.
The Hammers have been linked with the Spanish international for some time, and with manager Sam Allardyce said to have a sizable transfer budget at his disposal, it has been speculated that they could make a move for the Sevilla star.
However, their hopes of pulling off a deal have suffered a set-back, with Atletico preparing their own offer.
The Vicente Calderon-based side have identified the 27-year-old as a direct replacement for the departed Radamel Falcao.
The prolific Colombian recently completed a £53million switch to Monaco, which has left Atletico rather short of striking options.
With the cash burning a hole in their pocket, they are keen to take advantage of Sevilla’s mid-table finish and lure Negredo to the capital.
With Atletico having secured Champions League football for next season, it’s likely that the transfer would appeal to the powerful front-man, which could scupper West Ham’s hopes of completing a deal.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Andy Carroll and the Londoners are still underway, with a reported fee of £15.5m having been agreed with Liverpool.
West Ham fans, would Alvaro Negredo be a better option than Andy Carroll?
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It’s always dangerous to indulge in a transfer fantasy. Hope for the best, expect they worst, is what they say. But like a hopeless romantic building themselves up for a massive fall, there has been one name mentioned recently that has caught the imagination of supporters more than any other. If Tottenham signed Fernando Llorente, it would be represent a signal of intent like no other.
Now before the boo-boys attempt to bring this down like a lead balloon, this article is at a disclaimer to say this talk is purely hypothetical. Although the seeds of this transfer speculation aren’t quite akin to Torquay putting in a deadline day bid for Lionel Messi. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the big Spanish international could trade in Athletic Bilbao for the pastures new of White Hart Lane.
A flurry of ITK-driven gossip has driven Tottenham supporters to absolute frustration this summer, but this isn’t a reactive piece to the scribbling’s of some 14-year-old hiding behind a suit and briefcase avatar on Twitter. Several sources have suggested that a Llorente move to N17 could be on the cards and when Guillem Balague speaks, people in football listen.
The Sky Sports favourite announced on his Twitter page in recent days that not only were Tottenham Hotspur after Fernando Llorente, but that the Spanish star would be happy to make the switch to North London. The stumbling block? A potential €36million transfer fee. Balague is a journalist and consequently, nothing he says can be or ever should be taken as gospel.
Although as sources go, he is as reliable as you are ever going to get in football and you sometimes wonder that short of taking the likes of Florentino Perez and Sandro Rosell out for a slap up meal, how he managers to attain such reliable information. There is no smoke without fire and there is a feeing that the Llorente whispers have some legs.
Arguing about the credibility of the speculation is one thing, but let’s take a minute to consider the ramifications of a possible switch. For starters, the moody naysayers who have, in some respects quite rightly, had enough with Daniel Levy’s brinkmanship, would remain firmly silenced. Tottenham might have just signed Emmanuel Adebayor, but the acquisition of Llorente would blow supporters expectations out of the water. There’s been a lot of waiting for all parties this summer, but there can be doubt that signing the Bilbao man would have made all those hours clicking refresh on
But more than anything, this is a striker of serious pedigree. The man known as El Rey León (The Lion King in English), is almost the perfect fit for Villas-Boas’ new system and he comes ready made with no need for assembly.. At the age of 27, he’s about to hit the peak years of his career and there is no need to harness the worries about development and changing his game. You can never guarantee a foreign player will adapt to the Premier League, but if there was ever a potential banker, it has to be Llorente.
Tall, powerful and mobile, Llorente has the skillset to prosper amongst the fast and furious trappings of English football. Whilst their relationship may have soured recently, esteemed Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa has developed the 27-year-olds game. Whilst his power and physicality have always been his key traits, Bielsa rounded Llorente into a far more complete player able to play deeper and bring his teammates into play. His skillset and technique have never been in doubt but there is a feeling that the Pamplona born star has finally evolved into player everyone knew he could become.
English football fans have seen first hand just how deadly Llorente can be. He was a talismanic figure in the 5-3 aggregate victory that sent Manchester United crashing out of the Europa League last March and few will forget his scorching volley past David de Gea at the Estadio San Mamés, His two against Sir Alex Ferguson’s team contributed to a 29 goal haul in 53 appearances during the 2011-12 term. Don’t let the notion that he doesn’t play for a top Spanish team leave you in any doubt of his abilities. Llorente is a superb striker and he can fire Spurs to the next level.
It’s not hard to him succeeding in Villas-Boas’ side, either. Emmanuel Adebayor had a superb term last season although as well as the Togolese hitman did to strike 17 times in the league, he should have had more. It’s grossly unfair to negate too much of Spurs’ failure to kill off teams on his shoulders, but he still should have scored more. You can argue that it’s not the ones you miss, but the ones you put away, that count. Although thee is still capacity for improvement at White Hart Lane.
Llorente has all the traits that Villas-Boas could wish for as a figurehead in his 4-2-3-1 set-up. He can link up fluidly with the attacking trio behind and work seamlessly laying balls off to the channels and playing in the teammates. But as potent as his finish maybe, he also offers the trump card of being something of a Plan B himself. Spurs struggled for an alternate outlet last term. The focus is going to be on attacking football played on the deck at White Hart Lane this season, but if they wish to knock it up to the big man, they’re more than able to with Llorente.
The Spaniard isn’t quite an archetypal English number nine, but if needs must, then AVB would have the option. He won’t get bullied by the Stoke City’s of this world and he certainly isn’t going to fear going toe-to-toe with the touted hard men of English football. He’s 6ft 5 of Mediterranean footballer and certainly no shrinking violet either. If you thought the horror cliché ‘good touch for a big man’ was wheeled out enough with Crouch, then you’ve not seen anything yet. Technical excellence comes as standard when purchasing from La Liga and Fernando Llorente is no different.
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Whether Spurs can realistically pull this off, however, is a different story. The notion of the player wanting to come to the Lane is outstanding but agreeing personal terms means diddly squat without negotiating a transfer fee. The strength of the Spanish economy would strengthen Tottenham’s hand but quite how much they can knock off a €36million transfer clause remains to be seen. Daniel Levy is a shrewd negotiator and the thought of splashing out those sort of figures on a 27-year-old isn’t particularly in the mould of the Spurs supremo’s usual spending patterns.
But the chance is there for Levy and Tottenham Hotspur. The club have been run astutely and events during this transfer window are a microcosm of such business acumen. The singing of Llorente, however, could be a potential gamechanger for the club. It wouldn’t just capture the imagination of the fans but it would send a real message of intent out to silence the doubters. Levy won’t care about what anyone else has to say. But he does care about success and Champions League qualification in particular. Signing Llorente could go a long way to securing both.
How do you rate the chances of Fernando Llorente going to Tottenham? Can you see him swapping the bars of Bilbao for the Chick King of the High Road? Let me know what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and tell me what you think.
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