As soon as Alan Dzagoev netted his second against a withering Czech Republic side last Friday, you could already hear the cogs of many a Premier League fan clicking away.
Young, clinical and seemingly happy to bang goals in on one of the biggest stages of all. What could possibly go wrong when bringing him to the Premier League?
But whilst the man from Beslan may indeed be the real deal, recent history is full of players who secured a big transfer after a major tournament, only to cause a combination of disappointment, financial loss and untold damage to their respective clubs.
Not every player is quite as good as their hot streak in a tournament and here are ten horror stories to make you think twice before dreaming of chanting ‘Super Dzag’ on the terraces.
Click on Karel Poborsky to unveil the top 10
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Have I missed anyone out in the top ten? Or do you think I’ve been downright unfair on your favourite tournament one hit wonder? Tell me and tweet me, follow @samuel_antrobus
Fulham neared the third qualifying round of the Europa League after a 3-1 win at Crusaders on Thursday.The Cottagers travelled to Belfast to take on the Northern Irish side after defeating Faroe Islands outfit NSI Runavik in the first stage of qualifying, and they made a bright start to the second stage with the away win.
Fulham youngster Matthew Briggs opened the scoring six minutes before half-time with a brilliant goal, but Crusaders managed to grab an equaliser after 55 minutes.
Tim Adamson was the goalscorer, much to the delight of the home crowd as they urged on their heroes for a winner.
But it was not to be as Fulham proved too strong in the final 20 minutes, with a Bobby Zamora header followed by a Danny Murphy penalty as Martin Jol’s side survived a scare.
The two sides will meet for the second leg at Craven Cottage on July 21.
Other notable results included AEK Athens’ 8-0 demolition of Maltese club Floriana, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 3-1 defeat of Azerbaijani outfit Khazar Lenkoran, and Polish hope Slask Wroclaw’s surprise 1-0 home win over Scottish Premier League side Dundee United.
A Christmas No.1 is just what Sir Alex Ferguson wanted and his United squad certainly didn’t let him down. As they enter the second half of the season the title is theirs to lose, not bad for a team that the press claim are struggling to get into gear.
At FFC we have seen a mixed bag of articles which include a Madrid swoop would provide United with a different dimension; why Fergie was right to veto deal, while Welbeck provides United with a welcome dilemma.
We also look at the best Man United articles around the web this week.
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TOP TEN Grand Entrances in Football sponsored by Heineken
Fergie’s ‘greatest’ Manchester United XI of his time?
Fergie’s Worst Manchester United XI of all time?
If I could only sign one player for Man United this January it would be him
Raid on Madrid could provide Manchester United with a different dimension
His loss to Manchester United cannot be underestimated
There’s no power shift in Manchester, the real shift is in London
Why Man United were right to turn down permanent deal
United starlet provides Fergie with a transfer dilemma
Top TEN United starlets who promised much but delivered little
Could United have an invincibles team of their own?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest feature
* The best MANCHESTER UNITED blogs around the web this week. *
Glazers “will sell” but when? – United Rant
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My First United Game… – RoM
The Red Report: An un-Sung hero, the big boss & a Gooner’s nightmare – The Busby Way
Bring back Becks – United Rant
Manchester United: Looking back – The Busby Way
Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Arsenal v Chelsea and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!
After the relegation of clubs such as Blackburn, Wolves and Bolton from the Premier League saw stars from the clubs move into the second division of English football, it has led to great speculation regarding the stars of these clubs.
As a result, Arsenal and Spurs are both looking to raid two relegated clubs in order to strengthen their squad.
The Express has reported that Tottenham Hotspurs boss Harry Redknapp is an admirer of the Wolves duo consisting of winger Matt Jarvis and striker Steven Fletcher. They have reported that Redknapp are looking at the pair as a back up in case the ongoing talks with Adebayor fail. But, with Wolves valuing each individual player at an overvalued £10 million, it is extremely unlikely that Spurs will sign both of the Wolves players.
With Tottenham being linked to players such as Damiao, Remy and Vertonghen, it would be stupid for the club to waste their limited amount of money on players who do not have the experience of football which Tottenham should be looking at in order to strengthen over the summer.
Despite this, Jarvis and Fletcher have both shown how they do have great quality despite the overall failure of Wolves in the past season. Matt Jarvis played every game for Wolves last season in the Premier League including coming on as a substitute and as a result of this scored 8 goals.
Steven Fletcher scored 12 goals in 32 appearances including coming on as a substitution. Furthermore, Jarvis assisted with 4 more goals for Wolves whilst Fletcher assisted with only 2. As a result, both of these Wolves player directly scored or assisted a combined number of 26 goals. This means that these two players were responsible for 65% of Wolves 40 Premier League goals last season.
On the other side of North London, Arsenal are looking to rummage through Blackburn’s squad by launching a £6 million for Steven N’Zonzi according to The Mirror.
The Paris born star is looking for a move away from Ewood Park after Blackburn were relegated due to a below-par season. However, the newspaper is also reporting that West Ham are also looking to swoop N’Zonzi to Upton Park, away from the hands of their London rivals.
A player of N’Zonzi’s ability would certainly not be a miss at the the Emirates with his flexibility in positions being a main feature for his upcoming status. From central defence to the centre of midfield, N’Zonzi shows off his quick pace and accurate pass rate which has helped to alert the North London club of his ability.
Being directly involved in 7 goals for Blackburn this season in only 31 games, the 23 year old player has shown his main attributes this season, which he hopes might get him a chance to play in the elitest competition in Europe, the Champions League.
Whilst it is unknown if either one of these clubs will be responsible for the departure of players such as Jarvis, Fletcher and N’Zonzi, it is unlikely that these players will belong to their club when the summer window closes next season.
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New signing Charlie Adam played the second half as Liverpool began their pre-season tour of Asia by beating Guangdong Sunray Cave 4-3.Liverpool’s team featured a mixture of first-team and reserve players, with Adam a welcome site for the fans inside the stadium.
Christian Poulsen scored Liverpool’s first, calmly slotted in a cross from Joe Cole.
David Ngog got the second just two minutes later as Liverpool took control.
The Chinese side responded well in the second half, with Ricardo Steer heading in a reply.
Liverpool regained their hold on the match and teenager Conor Coady made it 3-1 after being set up by Andy Carroll.
Adam managed an assist on his debut, passing for Carroll to make it four.
Guangdong Sunray Cave were only formed in 2007, but have quickie risen up the leagues in China.
They finished the game the stronger side. Lu Lin reduced the deficit with a neat finish.
And Lu set up Jin Hongbo to fire the ball past goalkeeper Martin Hansen to make it 4-3.
Liverpool held out for the win, they continue their Asia tour with a game against a Malaysia XI on Saturday.
Think you know fantasy football? Think again! We’ve all played fantasy football before and if you’re one of the thousands of football fans who have become a bit tired of the same old format, then there’s a brand new game that you’ll love playing.
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First things first you need to sign up here and take advantage of the free trial for Football FanCast readers. Choose your team name and get ready to take on football fans from across the world. Then take a look at the schedule of matches that are running on the Picklive website, if a match is live on TV then you can be sure that Picklive is running a live fantasy football game alongside it.
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When the match is live you can join the game room and pick your players to do battle with. There are then two types of game for you to play. The Big Game lasts for the whole match and requires you to pick five players, as you compete with an unlimited number of players. The Live Game lasts for just 7.5 minutes and you get to pick three players before kickoff, although you can make up to three substitutes per game. There will be between six and twenty five players in the game room and you’ll need to come in the top three to finish in the prize pot.
Once you’ve selected your game and bet £1 to play you will join the Picklive Live Game Room with the rest of your opponents. Then as the game is taking place you will accumulate points in real-time, with 20 points for a goal, 10 points for an assist, 1 point for a pass and so on. However, you’ll lose 20 points for a red card, 10 points for a yellow, 3 points for a foul and more.
At the end of the match the top three players win the prize pot and you’ll gave fallen in love with this addictive game. You can ensure that no matter what the result is, you will be glued for the whole 90 minutes by playing this hugely entertaining live fantasy football game. You can play Picklive for free and it spices up any game, with the top players bagging the booty!
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Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has stated that his side’s experience should stand them in good stead as they face fellow Champions League qualification hopefuls Newcastle on Wednesday.
The Stamford Bridge club are currently a point behind Alan Pardew’s men, as fifth and sixth in the standings meet in west London.
The Czech Republic international is eager to get three points, and is in confident mood ahead of the fixture.
“I think experience will be really important on Wednesday. Newcastle are in a position they have not been in before – or maybe once, a long time ago – we have been there many times,” he told Mirror Football.
“That could be the decisive factor. There is everything to play for. The experience could help.”
Cech also looked ahead to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on May 19th, but is hoping to have secured a top four place before then.
“We would like to go to Munich and have a week with the sense of having a job done, that would be ideal, but we have to fight for that.
“Bayern can’t win their title so all they have to concentrate on is a game at home against us in the Champions League final.
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“We play so many games with pressure so we will be used to be playing with it. Let’s see how it goes. You can never say what will happen, but hopefully it will be a day to remember,” he concluded.
With the transfer story that keeps on giving showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, Cesc Fabregas’s laborious and protracted move back to his boyhood club Barcelona finally looks like happening in the foreseeable future. But just how much is the Arsenal captain really worth?
Arsenal are thought to have rejected an offer in the region of £27m for Fabregas within the last week or so, which is a serious devaluation of the supposed £35m that the Catalan club had bid for him last summer.
Barcelona President Sandro Rosell said as much arguing: “If last summer we offered £35m, and since then he has a year less on his contract, it is evident that this year he is worth less.” It’s clear that Barcelona’s need for the player is not great and that they are perfectly willing to bide their time with the move, for it is one that is as inevitable as the day is long.
Fabregas, to his credit at least, has never hidden his desire for the move. Nor, it is worth mentioning has he acted disrespectfully to Arsenal or Arsene Wenger despite the constant haranguing over the issue.
But, Rosell’s words seem to hint that should Arsenal continue to hold onto their man, then Fabregas will be reluctant to sign a new deal, meaning that Arsenal are playing a dangerous game and time is not on their hands. Whereas last summer Arsenal were the club holding all the cards, the tables have since turned and Barcelona now appear in control of the matter.
Arsenal have wistfully been rumoured to be looking for roughly £60m for Fabregas – a bargaining tactic at most it has to be said. They are apparently willing to accept in the region of £45m for Fabregas, but is he really even worth that?
Fabregas is a fantastic player. There, I’ve said it. You can quote me verbatim on that one if you like. So, the ‘you’re biased’ brigade that will inevitably treat whatever I write from hereon as nonsensical bile can at least pipe down for a bit. Please. No? Okay then.
Despite obviously being a hugely saleable asset at the club’s disposal it’s worth noting just how injury-prone Fabregas has become in the past few seasons. Just what do Arsenal do to these players that makes them so injury-prone? Fabregas has failed to start 30 league games or more in the past three Premier League seasons. To put it another way, how can they deem a player worthy of a £45m transfer fee when it is inevitable that he will miss large portions of the seasons through injury?
A player is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them. In essence, all transfer fees are now are prospective clubs buying players out of their long-term contracts, so the approach and reasoning behind Rosell’s valuation of the player would appear to hold up.
It’s become a pub debate for the ages – just where does Fabregas fit into Barcelona’s plans? He has been seen as the heir apparent for both potential club and his country to the immeasurably brilliant Xavi Hernandez for nearly half a decade now.
However, whenever tasked with fulfilling a slightly deeper role at Arsenal, Fabregas’s performances have always been somewhat subdued. In reality, he is more of a like-for-like copy of Andres Iniesta, with arguably more end product to his game.
His estimated value to Arsenal is quite rightfully high, for he is one of their only two genuine world-class players – the other being Robin Van Persie. His worth to them is around the £45m mark, but this is a market completely distorted by Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid in 2009.
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Ronaldo is a freak of nature. A one-man team wherever he goes it appears. A colossal talent only surpassed in the last 20 years or so by Lionel Messi and possibly even his Brazilian namesake. In short, he may have cost £80m, but could you honestly argue that he isn’t worth it? Of course you couldn’t. Fabregas being worth £45m and upwards though is another question entirely.
The fact that a preposterously rich President was willing to pay such an astronomical sum of money for him does not mean that this is the barometer by which all future transfer activity should be conducted by. It appears that the current market now measures all future transfers of world-class players by the fee paid for Ronaldo and this is simply the wrong way to judge things.
Xabi Alonso moved to Real Madrid for £30m in 2009 and you could argue that Fabregas is a player of similar quality and should therefore command a similar fee to that of the former Liverpool man. Of course that is not quite how the market works, but that seems to be the way that things are done these days since the Ronaldo deal.
Arsenal are well within their rights to drive a hard bargain for a player that they wish to keep. However, it has become clear that Fabregas’s heart is not completely attuned to the Arsenal cause anymore. His head has been turned. Barcelona will be perfectly willing to play the waiting game for another season and with it drive the potential price down even further.
The time to sell Fabregas for a huge sum has passed – his stock has fallen somewhat and if Arsenal truly wanted to cash in on their prized asset, then the time was last summer, not this one.
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Barcelona have no pressing need for Fabregas, despite his undoubted quality. They are supremely well-stocked in the areas where he is most comfortable and a move for Alexis Sanchez makes more sense at the moment for them. They seem to revive their interest out of nothing more than routine these days.
Barcelona and Arsenal have been dancing this dance for one summer too many. As a result, Fabregas’s market value simply isn’t as much as either it was last year or Arsenal hope it is now. Until Arsenal realise that the ship to cash in on their skipper has rather unfortunately sailed, they’ll simply have an unhappy player on their hands whose value continues to fall every passing year he spend at the club.
A deal around the £30-35 mark would appear to be a fair price for all those concerned; if Arsenal continue to rather unrealistically ask for more though, then they’ll only be hurting themselves in the long-run in the century’s most inevitable transfer.
http://twitter.com/#!/JamesMcManus1
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26th November 2010: The Only Way is Essex stars Mark Wright and Lucy Mecklenburgh brought football chic to Chelmsford City yesterday in preparation for the club’s 2nd round FA Cup battle with Wycombe Wanderers this Saturday.
Mark Wright, 23, a former Tottenham youth team captain, knows what a battle Wanderers face this weekend having frequently come out on the losing side against City during spells with both Crawley Town and Rushden & Diamonds.
Mark said: “This weekend’s clash with Wycombe is like a cup final for Chelmsford. It’s great to see one of my local Essex sides doing so well in this season’s competition and I just hope the boys can pull off a shock. I’d love to see them in the hat for the 3rd round draw on Sunday, it would be a dream to see them take on Scunthorpe United, the team my brother Josh plays for. Come on the Clarets!”
The 2nd Round of The FA Cup kicks off this evening with non-league Crawley Town taking on Swindon Town live on ESPN (KO 7:45). The weekend’s TV coverage continues on Saturday with all the live action from Kingsmeadow as League 2 Stevenage travel to AFC Wimbledon (ITV 1, KO 12:50).
The weekend’s FA Cup action culminates in the 3rd Round draw on Sunday at 6pm (live on ITV 1) with special guests Noel Gallagher, an avid Manchester City fan, and Leicester City supporter Serge from the multi million selling band Kasabian.
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The 2nd Round FA Cup draw in full
Sheffield Wednesday v Northampton Town
Burton Albion v Chesterfield
Huddersfield Town v Macclesfield Town
AFC Wimbledon v Stevenage
Hartlepool United v Yeovil Town
Bury v Peterborough United
Notts County v Bournemouth
Droylsden v Leyton Orient
Crawley Town v Swindon Town
Brighton & Hove Albion v FC United of Manchester
Southampton v Cheltenham Town
Torquay United v Walsall
Charlton Athletic v Luton Town
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Quite a few long range strikes were enjoyed by Premier League fans on Easter weekend. Clint Dempsey, Paul Scholes, Mohamed Diamé and Mikel Arteta were the men providing the moments of fine technical skill. However, let’s appreciate something altogether more subtle – Papiss Demba Cissé’s impudent dink over Michel Vorm was majestic.
The Senegalese striker has made an excellent start since moving over from Germany in January. Cissé’s fantastic finish on Good Friday ensured he now has nine goals from his first eight games in the Premier League. Should he score on Monday against Bolton, he’ll become the second quickest man to 10 goals in Premier League history, a further indication of how quickly he’s adapted to the Premier League.
Player of the Weekend
Like Cissé, Clint Dempsey is enjoying a fine season in the Premier League. He netted twice in Fulham’s away win over Bolton on Saturday. The American powered in a 30-yard free-kick (although the positioning of the wall by Adam Bogdan was questionable). His second demonstrated good anticipation as he stole into the six yard box unnoticed before planting a header past Bogdan for Fulham’s second. Dempsey may have missed his chance for a hat-trick in the second half but it was nevertheless, a terrific performance from the attacking midfielder, ensuring Martin Jol’s side picked up only their third away win of the season.
Miss of the Weekend
This weekend, there was a Flemish flavour to the scarcely believable missed opportunities. Belgian international Thomas Vermaelen failed to slide in from two yards after the ball ricocheted off the post from Walcott although Yossi Benayoun was equally culpable. However, Liverpool’s Dutch winger Dirk Kuyt chipped in with a contender for Miss of the Season. As Captain Steven Gerrard rifled the ball across the box, Kuyt was no more than a yard out from goal when he managed to fire over the crossbar. No wonder the Reds are struggling to win at the moment.
Quote of the Weekend
Staying with Liverpool where manager Kenny Dalglish hasn’t been a happy bunny (had to get an Easter reference in somewhere). After Referee Michael Oliver didn’t award a penalty to Liverpool on Saturday, Dalglish said in his post-match interview:
“Somebody needs to be assassinated for us to get a penalty”
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Just a slight over exaggeration there…
For more Premier League musings, follow @archiert1 on Twitter