Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez has claimed that his fall-out with boss Roberto Mancini last season has been good for him.
The Argentina international was guilty of refusing to come off the bench for the Citizens in their Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich, and after a bust-up with the Italian coach went AWOL back in his homeland.
However, the pair have mended their shaky relationship and Tevez returned to the Etihad Stadium to play a part in City’s dramatic last-day clinching of the Premier League title in 2011-12.
The South American has been a first-choice for Mancini this season and Tevez feels that he is focussed on playing football once more.
“For better or worse, the fight with Mancini was good for me. I am enjoying football again, which is what I wanted, to feel this hunger for glory and to be happy,” The Daily Mail report Tevez as saying.
Tevez scored City’s third goal in their most-recent 3-1 win over QPR on Saturday.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis wants to see the Premier League clamp down on simulation.
Pulis was left disappointed after his side’s 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon but he was more upset by the ‘diving’ of some opposition players. Having criticised referee Michael Oliver for failing to dismiss Chelsea defender David Luiz for a wild, late lunge on Jon Walters, the Stoke boss also praised the match official for not being swayed by alleged playacting from Oscar and Branislav Ivanovic earlier in the game. He told Sky Sports:
“He has done well today, because he has not given Chelsea any penalties. There were three or four incidents that we have watched on the telly and people have just thrown themselves to the ground. That is a bugbear with me. When players do that, they should be highlighted. There are one or two players in the Premiership now who people know will go down very easily.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
We have got to do that (highlight players). Forget what they are doing in Europe, this is England. This is our game and people like that should be highlighted. Ivanovic’s fall – he is a great player – Oscar went over a couple of times, it just puts enormous pressure and I thought Michael did well in not submitting to the pressure of those decisions.”
Charlie Adam has stated that he wants to end his personal feud with Gareth Bale ahead of the World Cup qualifying match-up between Scotland and Wales.
The Stoke midfielder has been guilty of injuring the Tottenham winger on two separate occasions, with the latest a nasty tackle in a pre-match friendly in the United States.
Despite the animosity between the players, Adam is eager to draw a line under what has happened previously.
“Bale is good, quick but I don’t think they are a one-man team,” Adam is quoted as saying in The Guardian.
“They have a number of players, like we have, who can win the game on their day. Aaron Ramsey is a top player, there is Ashley Williams, and Joe Allen at Liverpool. I wouldn’t just single out Gareth Bale. But he is a top player and if we can stop him it will probably enhance our performance and probably our chances of winning the game.”
Adam believes that he will most likely not come into direct contact with Bale however.
“Nope – because he will not be playing on my side. Whoever plays at right-back or left-back will deal with him. What has happened in the past has happened in the past, the most important thing is playing for Scotland and getting a result,” he concluded.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
With the Ivory Coast holding a commanding lead, Senegal’s hopes of reaching the 2013 African Cup of Nations had all but diminished before scenes of violence and rioting sealed their unsavoury exit. However, news of their disqualification would have been music to the ears of the Toon Army, who may now dream of going one better than their excellent fifth-placed finish last season.
Manager Alan Pardew would have allowed himself a wry smile at the prospect of retaining his frontline duo for the notoriously difficult New Year period. Senegal’s omission should be a blessing disguise for the club’s leading goalscorer Demba Ba, who only managed one goal in 15 appearances upon his return from the competition last year. His confidence crisis was disguised by the arrival of compatriot Papiss Cisse, who would bag 13 goals as the Magpies secured their Europa League spot.
However, if Newcastle are to establish themselves as members of the Premier League elite, they must fashion a playing style that suits both strikers. This season has prompted the ‘demise’ of Papiss Cisse, who is yet to find the net in the league although he has scored twice in other competitions. The 4-4-2 formation is almost extinct at the pinnacle of English football, so it is up to Pardew to create an effective rotation policy or redefine the role of one of his prolific front men.
The Magpies’ success last term was thanks largely to Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew striving to create a sense of stability at the club. The recent announcement of the unprecedented eight-year deals for Pardew and his head scout Tony Carr have helped lay down the foundations for a prosperous future. Tyneside now emits the perception of security and self-assurance, which should act as an appealing aspect for any potential incoming transfers.
The new season has got off to a stuttering start for Pardew and co, who are perhaps suffering as a result of their European excursions. Their recent 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester United was a complete contrast to the score line from last season and highlighted the fragile nature of their defence. The intermittent absence of core trio Tim Krul, Steven Taylor and Fabio Coloccini has exposed a real lack of competent rearguard options.
Recent printouts from the transfer rumour mill suggest Pardew has at least seven potential centre-back targets on his January shopping list. And despite a somewhat sedated summer transfer window, Pardew believes he will continue to receive the full support and backing of those above him.
‘“There have been times when Derek (Llambias) has said, it’s out of the budget or it doesn’t work’. But Mike has said ‘Do it’.
“Don’t think that might not happen again.” (Chronicle Live)
Pardew also insists it’s his job to “tease him [Ashley] in on signings” but he may also have to convince the Newcastle owner to block any unwanted departures from the club, especially with stories of a clause in Demba Ba’s contract refusing to go away.
This weekend marks the highly anticipated derby encounter against neighbours Sunderland, with the aforementioned core trio once again available for selection. The return of Taylor, Coloccini and Krul will be a timely boost for the Magpies who share their opponent’s restricted source of goals. It’s common knowledge that only Steven Fletcher (5) has found the net for Sunderland (in the league) this season but did you know only Ba (6) and Hatem Ben Arfa (2) have done so for Newcastle?
If Newcastle are to break into the top four then they need to continue their penchant for unearthing transfer gems. The likes of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote are fast becoming indispensible members of the squad, although both have failed to reach the same performance levels that they showed last season.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Until they can bolster their ranks, they must reaffirm the recently re-titled St. James’ Park as a fortress while also rediscovering that elusive formula for away victories. They must also be wary of Everton and West Brom, whose performances this season suggest they are more than capable of matching Newcastle’s tag as the ‘surprise package’ in the Premier League.
If Tottenham and Arsenal get caught up in another battle for fourth place then Newcastle will hope to be perfectly placed in order to take advantage. If they do, their odds of 33/1 might be the most appealing long shot in betting history.
Just when you thought the footballing world was perhaps running out of moral crusades of which to embark on, Newcastle United’s well publicized sponsorship deal with payday loans company Wonga, gave us all a timely bandwagon to jump upon.
Indeed, as the Magpies announced the four-year deal – worth a reported £24million – the footballing world was seemingly overcome with scathing disdain for owner Mike Ashley and his bunch of merry men. But although observers are right to condemn the palpable immorality of Wonga’s interest rates and the wider context of their business model, the current uproar smacks of inconsistency and hypocrisy.
The recent critique of Newcastle’s latest commercial deal, has seemed to spread far and wide throughout the footballing fraternity. Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle City council, called the deal, “disgraceful.” Michael Martin, editor of the True Faith fanzine, described the imminent sponsorship as “tarnishing the club’s name, image and reputation.” A whole raft of blogs, column inches and editorials have come out deriding the club for having the audacity to accept such a tainted source of commercial partnership.
Slamming the Newcastle Wonga deal has appeared almost fashionable, in some circles. And why not? It’s certainly got a lot of the MP’s that have come out and slammed the sponsorship, some good, positive PR. It’s just that when you cast your minds back to the July of 2010, it’s difficult to find such a raft of similar, attributable quotes deriding Wonga’s sponsorship of Blackpool.
Indeed, when Heart of Midlothian agreed to plan Wonga over their shirts in the April of 2011, it wasn’t given anywhere near as much exposure as the NUFC deal. Granted, controversy is never usually too far away from their owner Vladimir Romanov and Hearts aren’t a club anywhere near the size of the men from St. James’ Park. But there are certainly some who appear to be picking and choosing their time to wield arms against footballing morality. This topic isn’t something new and it can’t be used as some political pawn when it suits people.
But this is Newcastle United. Club of the people and guardian of the community. They’ve already voiced their grievances against Mike Ashley’s pesky ‘Cockney Mafia’ and the prospect of getting involved with a bunch of perceived, sneering city types that appear to prosper out of bending over the working classes, probably doesn’t appeal at all.
Yet there is an underliyng hypocrisy from supporters, including Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery, who said that he’d “not step foot in the stadium again” while the deal was in place, lampooning their club’s latest sponsorship deal.
Although fans were more than happy to step out wearing their Northern Rock sponsored shirts for nine years. Of course, Northern Rock were a lot more ethical, being a strong presence in the community and employing hundreds of local people within Newcastle upon Tyne, weren’t they? Not quite. As Julian Knight highlighted in The Independent, there certainly doesn’t seem anything that much more moral in a company that sold folks 125% mortgage deals and helped start the first British banking run in over a hundred years, that we are all still paying out for.
If we take Mr. Lavery’s viewpoint on face value, surely none of us would even be attending any top-flight games in the first place. Let’s not forget, Newcastle United play their games in the Barclays Premier League. A bank that was recently fined £290million for lying about a key banking interest rate that influences the cost of loans and mortgages, allowing them to try and make a profit during a financial crisis in which so many of us have made a loss.
You can take it further than Barclays, as well. If we look at some previous Newcastle United sponsorships, you’d hazard a guess that the damage Newcastle Brown Ale and alcoholism can bestow upon vulnerable people, is hardly in a different universe to Wonga’s interest rates.
Furthermore, online gambling companies sponsor a quarter of Premier League teams. Is the risk of gambling addiction potentially not as much of a hazard to the vulnerable than payday loans? Across the channel in France they seem to think so anyway, with a ban on the advertising of online gambling services in grounds.
No can deny that in the age of austerity and economic downturn that we’ve currently been living in, a company like Wonga has made an awful lot of money out of the misfortune of others. With the country seemingly permanently locked in economic gloom, financial institutions are hardly likely to garner positive PR.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
But in the Wild West world of immorality that is the Premier League, the debacle surrounding Newcastle’s Wonga deal has given it far too much credence than it’s actually worth. There is a phrase that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. It’d be interesting to see how many more hits the Wonga website has had since this whole thing kicked off in the first place.
There’s been too much white knight journalism and hypocritical public figures throwing their right behind the Wonga argument for it to feel like quite the apocalyptic degradation in public standards, that they feel it represents. Wonga isn’t a company that deserves the time of day, but it’s not much more morally contemptible than the other multi million pound companies that are involved in football – or the people that run it, for that matter.
So maybe the next time we read an article lambasting a payday loan company getting exposure on a football shirt, we should think what else threatens the vulnerable person? Should we ignore alcohol companies, gambling companies and unscrupulous international financial institutions that have put us in the hole we’re in at the moment? Or the company that will charge you £266 if you took out £200 tomorrow? If you’re going to embark on a moral crusade, Wonga won’t be far off your list of targets, but there are far bigger fish to fry. Let’s get some perspective.
How do you feel about Wonga’s sponsorship deal with Newcastle United? Morally despicable or a deckchair off the Premier League titanic of immorality? Let me know on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and tell me how you feel.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admitted that the better team won following his side’s 3-1 Capital One Cup defeat to Swansea.
The Reds boss was facing the club he left in the summer for the first time and would have been hoping for a positive result before kick-off.
The likes of Joe Cole, Stuart Downing and Jamie Carragher were all handed starting spots as Rodgers shuffled his pack following last weekend’s 2-2- draw with Everton.
The Anfield chief’s decision to rest a number of key players came back to haunt him as his former side snatched the victory to eliminate the league cup holders.
However, Rodgers was gracious in defeat:
“I thought the best team won. I thought we were slow in the first half. It took the introduction of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez.” He told SkySports after the match.
“Obviously we made a lot of changes but I just felt the tempo and the intensity of our game was way too low.
“It is no surprise, I know Swansea inside out, so I know the brightness and quality they have.”
The Swans took the lead mid way through the first-half, as centre-half Chico headed in his first for the club.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The Welshmen continued their dominance in the second period and doubled their lead courtesy of a Nathan Dyer tap in after 72 minutes.
Luis Suarez, pulled one back for the hosts after coming off of the bench, but Jonathan de Guzman put the game to bed with a late goal.
‘s Rio Ferdinand has revealed how manager Sir Alex Ferguson gave them a shock when he showed them the Premier League table before their game against Newcastle last month.
United were sixth in the top flight after six games before their 3-0 win at St. James’s Park and were seven points behind leaders Chelsea.
And veteran defender Ferdinand has described how Ferguson’s decision to show them the league table before the game game gave them a much needed wake up call.
He told the Daily Mirror: “Before kick-off, the manager showed us the league table to emphasise that point and it didn’t make pretty reading.
“I don’t really look at the league table until Christmas normally. When we saw it that day, it hit home. We thought, ‘Wow, we need to shake ourselves up.’
“Thankfully, it turned out to be a good day for us.”
And Ferdinand admitted that, despite now being two points clear of rivals Manchester City at the top of the league, United’s faltering start to the season was a lot down to taking their eye off the ball and expecting to win games.
“I think we had got in to a position this season, a bit like we did at the start of last season, where we were just playing open, expansive football and expecting to score three or four goals and no really concentrating as we should on our defending,” he explained.
“This league is unforgiving in that sense. If you’re not on your game in all areas you’ll get punished.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“But I think the performance against Newcastle signalled a bit of a change in mentality from us and hopefully that’s a taste of things to come for the rest of the season.”
In an era when football matches are a constant part of life, cup fixtures still bring that little extra sparkle to the minds of players and fans alike. In the Capital One Cup this season, that sparkle has often translated into goal-scoring frenzies, and on the odd, special occasions, it produces a memorable solo performance from a player who may not always be the centre of attention. In this series, FFC takes a look at some stellar one-man displays…
Jermaine Jenas will be watching the Capital One Cup quarter-finals from the sofa as both his current club, Nottingham Forest, and his parent club, Tottenham, are out of the competition. Perhaps, as he sits and watches the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa in action, the box-to-box midfielder will have time to reflect on the road his career has taken in recent seasons – and think back to the year he made the League Cup his personal showcase event.
When Tottenham reached the semi-finals of the 2007-08 League Cup, seeing off Middlesbrough, Blackpool and Manchester City in identical 2-0 wins to set up a semi-final against arch-rivals Arsenal, the occasion represented a prime opportunity for Spurs to get their hands on what would be their first silverware since their last League Cup triumph, in 1999.
Spurs’ squad that year was one of their strongest in recent memory, following heavy investment the previous summer which resulted in the additions of Gareth Bale, Darren Bent, Younes Kaboul, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Jonathan Woodgate among others. With the likes of Jenas, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Ledley King and Aaron Lennon already at the club, and Paul Robinson at the height of his powers between the sticks, the stage seemed set for a successful campaign.
The reality, though, could hardly have been more different. A dismally inconsistent Spurs suffered a turbulent season, including the firing of Martin Jol in October and the arrival of Juande Ramos, and finished 11th in the Premier League. Maybe this doesn’t sound that disastrous, but it represents Spurs’ worst final position of any season since the 2003-4 campaign, when David Pleat’s comparatively short-handed squad had bumbled to 14th.
The League Cup, however, was to be a different story. That two-legged tie with Arsenal in the semi-finals began inauspiciously, with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium setting up a tense second leg. Jenas scored Tottenham’s goal in the first half, and was tireless in creating chances for the likes of Steed Malbranque and Berbatov which went unfulfilled. But even after Theo Walcott’s fortuitous equaliser, more was to come from Jenas in the return leg.
The midfielder once again opened the scoring back at White Hart Lane, this time inside three minutes, surging forward into the box and lashing a shot beyond Lukasz Fabianski. He remained a force throughout the game, forcing an own-goal from Nicklas Bendtner with a sublime free-kick and setting up Berbatov only to see the Bulgarian’s finish clatter back off the post. The entire Tottenham side put in a class display, destroying Arsenal 5-1 to advance to the finals.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Jenas’ personal hot streak in the competition would continue when Spurs met Chelsea in the final. It was another of his free-kicks from which Woodgate would score the winner early in the extra-time period, and although the defender was named man of the match, Jenas’ impact had been profound.
In the years since that trophy, Jenas’ fortunes at White Hart Lane have changed and he no longer appears to have a future at the club where he was once made vice-captain. Last season’s injury-ruined loan spell at Aston Villa got him nowhere, and thus far back at childhood club Nottingham Forest he has been limited to substitute appearances as he works back towards full match fitness following a torn Achilles’ tendon. But who knows? Maybe watching the latter stages of the Capital One Cup will give the former England international something to aim for. Still only 29, he has a few years in him yet.
For a manager who is on the cusp of a supposed legacy-ending season, Arsene Wenger will probably be able to afford himself a wry smile at the headlines Fleet Street’s finest conjured up for his Arsenal side this morning.
After a week in which the world and his wife were seemingly putting the finishing touches upon the Frenchman’s managerial obituary, following the now infamous League Cup defeat to Bradford, last night’s stirring 5-2 victory over Reading proved a fitting retort.
The old story that begins with Arsene Wenger under almost unscrupulous pressure from all angles following a torrid run of form, has an ending that we’re all too familiar with. Whether or not the Gunners do eventually attain a fourth placed finish remains to be seen, but more often or not, Wenger always seems to overcome the odds in North London.
Yet of course, while one humiliating cup upset doesn’t spell the doomsday scenario for Wenger, neither does a convincing win over serious relegation candidates, right all of the side’s wrongs. The fickle finger of the English football will ensure that despite many of real issues that continue to reside at the Emirates, both club and manager will be afforded a relative amount of reprieve. All of which can just as quickly change, with an unfavourable result away to Wigan this Saturday.
But even within the reactivity of some of this morning’s press, you can sense a common theme in the emotiveness that one notion in particular, continues to evoke more than any other.
Such are the emotions stirred within the Arsenal support upon a hypothetical discussion upon an Arsene Wenger departure from the club, it’s become one of the most toxically divisive subjects within the Premier League. And it’s a topic that appears to have become increasingly partisan in that divisiveness.
In recent weeks, it’s seemed very much you’re either ‘Wenger Out’, armed with seven years of trophy-less frustration and counting, or you’re ‘Wenger In’, preferring to focus your current disdain towards boardroom level. There are many of course, who focus a more collective blame towards the club’s regression away from anything resembling a title challenge. And then you have the realists bemoaning the shifting plateau of ambition that petromillion fuelled foreign owners have cultivated.
Although the most fervent flashpoint amongst the club’s current plight, has undoubtedly surrounded Wenger and the perceived direction that the Frenchman is seeking to carve out for his side. And after 16 years in North London, during which time he’s become the club’s longest serving and most successful manager, a touted departure is never going to catalyze anything less than a surge of contention amongst the Emirates support.
Yet between the polarizing opinions of those who sit either side of the Wenger debate, there is perhaps a less fervent and consequently less contemplated middle ground. Is the Frenchman simply just coming to the end of his cycle?
Barcelona’s Dani Alves is hardly going to do gown as the Friedrich Nietzsche of his time, but there was something wonderfully fitting in his sentiments during the penultimate year of Pep Guardiola’s reign at the Camp Nou.
Alves, like the rest of the Barca team, were desperate for Guardiola to stay ahead of the 2011 Champions League final, amidst rumours that the Spaniard was growing increasingly weary in the managerial hotsteat. Yet while the full-back was hopeful of a stay, he wasn’t detached from reality:
“Everyone has their cycle and one day his will come to an end,” he said, before suggesting that he couldn’t imagine a Barca without Guardiola.
And one year later, that cycle did end for Guaridola at Barcelona. Yes, his four years comes some way short of the longetivity that Wenger’s remarkable reign has encapsulated over a decade and a half. But be it two years, four years or 16 years – every cycle must eventually come to its conclusion.
Be it the need for a new direction, a change of circumstance or extrinsic forces that one simply cannot control, no managerial reign lasts forever – but that doesn’t mean the potential end of Wenger’s needs to be portrayed so negatively.
Like Guaridola, Arrigo Sacchi and Vicente Del Bosque cultivated two of the most successful club sides in the last 25 years at Milan and Real Madrid respectively. Their cycles combined don’t even touch Wenger’s reign at Arsenal. And some will point to the mixed fortunes of those two European superpowers when they let go of their managers. But would they necessarily have enjoyed sustained success had they stayed for 16 years a la Wenger? History suggests perhaps that might not be the case.
Wenger, alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, are anomalies. Managerial cycles either on these shores or abroad, simply do not last as long as what we’ve seen at Manchester United and Arsenal. Yet even then, it’s only been Ferguson who’s managed to really repeat the trick of winning trophies over that timespan. Has Wenger had the sort of resources available to Fergie? No, and the economic difficulties the Frenchman has had to endure shouldn’t be underestimated.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
But equally, do the successes of over seven years ago, leave Arsene Wenger bulletproof and immune from a potential remit for change?
Wenger’s time isn’t up just yet. They’ve advanced in the Champions League, they’re still on course to finish fourth and besides, who would replace him? Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp might improve the club but seem unlikely to arrive, in which case, why would the club settle for a downgrade?
Yet either way, sometimes in football, a club does just simply need a change of direction, a fresh way of looking at things and ultimately, the beginning of a new cycle. Whether we are or aren’t looking at the end of Arsene Wenger’s at Arsenal, his time will eventually come to an end. Because for all the issue affecting the Frenchman’s quest to push the club on, as in all walks of life, sometimes things simply run their natural course. Wenger’s Arsenal career isn’t any different.
Kolo Toure has urged Manchester City to offer him a new contract, by insisting that he wants to stay at the club.
The Ivorian defender joined the Sky Blues from Premier League rivals Arsenal as one of the first stars to arrive under the reign of Sheikh Mansour three-and-a-half years ago.
After captaining the club in his first season, Toure has struggled for game time of late, with Vincent Kompany and Matija Nastasic appearing to be Roberto Mancini’s first choice centre-back pairing.
Despite this, the 31-year-old hinted that he wants to stay, and extend his contract which expires at the end of the season:
“I like it in England. I have been here for all my career and it’s great to play in England.” He told SkySports.
“I really enjoy it, that is why I brought my brother (Yaya) here!
“There are challenges coming and there are changes in life, and I will deal with that if it happened. I wish to stay, but you never know.”
Toure received a six-month ban for doping last season, and believes that he owes City for their decision to stick by him:
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“The club has been here for me. Even through my tough time, everyone was behind me – the people and the staff at the club, everybody, the chairman, everybody.
“To have this support is great and that is why it would be much more difficult to leave.”