Pep Guardiola: Which English club will the cap fit?

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola announced on Tuesday that his next destination would be the English Premiership. The 44 year old confirmed last December that he would be leaving Bayern Munich when his contract expires in the summer. The former Barcelona manager came to limelight in his four year stint with the Catalans by winning 14 trophies from 2008-2012 after he made the transition from Barcelona B side to manage the senior team. The trophy haul included a treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa Del Rey in his first season. After leaving Barcelona, he took a one year sabbatical, and he returned to manage the most successful club in German football Bayern Munich, he has two bundesliga titles in his first two seasons, and he is well placed to claim a third straight league title with the Bavarians in his last season as Bayern Munich manager are seven points clear of Borussia Dortmund ahead of the second half of the season. However, the failure to bring a champions league title so far to the Allianz Arena has been a blot on his otherwise unrivalled managerial career, especially when the manner of the semi final defeats to Real Madrid and Barcelona in 2014 and 2015 is put into consideration, where they lost 5-0 and 5-3 on aggregate in both matches.

Whether he can go one step further this season will depend on how they fare against Seria A champions Juventus in the round of 16.

With his declaration that his next destination is the English Premiership, there will be an inevitable scramble for his services. The overwhelming favourite is Manchester City because of the presence of Ferran Soriano who is the club’s chief executive and Txiki Begiristain who is the director of football in the Citizens management set up at the Etihad Stadium, they were Guardiola’s bosses at the Nou Camp during his hugely successful four years in Catalonia. With that structure already in place, he has a ready made platform with which to work on, as well as people he knows very well from his days at Barcelona. This should swing it in the Citizens favour.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Group owners of the club have ambitious plans to turn the fortunes of the club around. That they have done with the two league titles, an FA Cup and League Cup they have won in four years, but it is the dominance of Europe which have eluded them in spite of the turn over of managers and millions spent at the club since Sheikh Mansour took over the club.

It would seem that the club’s hierarchy see Pep Guardiola has the man that can deliver that consistent dominance in Europe that they have craved. To them he is the anointed one that would take them to that European elite club.

The money to mould the squad to his image is there, but the present Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini would have to step aside for Pep to come in. The Chilean still has 18 months in his contract, and with Pep available in the summer, the club is likely to dispense with his services in order to take advantage of Pep’s availability.

However, despite Manchester City’s strong position in the race to win Pep’s signature, Roman Abramovich could have a say or two in the drama. The Russian Oligarch has been a longtime admirer of Pep’s managerial ability. Over the years, he has tried albeit unsuccessfully to bring him to Stamford Bridge, as he has never been enamoured by the Chelsea owner’s plans to bring him to West London.

With the managerial position at Stamford Bridge expected to be vacate this summer when Guus Hiddink’s short stint ends, the Russian would certainly try once again to see whether he can bring him to London.

While it is possible that he might settle for the job at the Bridge, it could be difficult because of the quick fire and hire policy of the Chelsea owner, such an attitude which has recently accounted for several managers could put off the Catalan from considering any offer from the Premiership champions.

Then there is Manchester United. It is no secret that former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson met Pep Guardiola on two occasions while he was on sabbatical in New York to discuss the possibility of his taking over at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson had not decided to retire at the time of those meetings. However, at the time he announced his sudden retirement, Pep had already agreed a deal to take over at Bayern Munich. Something that took Ferguson by surprise. Even with his availability once again, it very unlikely that he would be heading to Old Trafford. As Louis van Gaal could end up seeing out his contract which will have one year to run from this summer.

Like the aforementioned clubs, Pep has also been linked to Arsenal, but this have the least possibility of happening, largely because of Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman still has 18 months in his contract, and there is a real chance that it could be extended if he can get more trophies in the cabinet. There is no sign that Wenger would be ending his almost 20 years association with Arsenal anytime soon.

A couple of years ago few would have thought that Manchester City would be the overwhelming favourite to get Pep Guardiola as manager, but how times have changed in the football landscape in England, that they can now call on some of the best players in the world, and in what would be a coup de grace, the best manager in the world in club football in Pep Guardiola

 

The Conundrum of the Ox

The Ox, Credit: Independent UK

The development of a young player always takes an unknown trajectory. How he develops is a path that is not readily clear to any person even the most sagely of football personality cannot discern how he would turn out.

Such a player could blossom as a teenager, and then later suffer a dip in form in his early twenties before he manages to pick up later in his mid to late twenties.

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Arsenal in the summer of 2011 from Southampton in a fee in the region of £15 million as a raw 17 year old, very few persons even Arsene Wenger that has a reputation with young players could have ascertain how is transition from league one to the Premier League would be. He made his debut in the 8-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in August, 2011.

Despite going on to make over a 100 appearances for Arsenal, he has not lived up to the hype that greeted his arrival almost five years ago. If anything his development has stunted for the past few seasons. Some of his best performances came when he was still a teenager, but he has struggled to maintain any semblance of consistency.

Arguably his best and most complete performance for the club came in the Champions League round of 16 second leg tie against AC Milan at the Emirates in March, 2012. He was deployed in central midfield where he orchestrated and dictated play. His solid performance that night earned Arsenal a 3-0 win, but they crashed out 4-3 on aggregate after they lost 4-0 in the first leg at the San Siro.

If a player's best performance since he joined a club is nearly four years ago, then it is easy to see that such a player is struggling.

Another moment that showed his ability was when he was deployed again in central midfield against Crystal Palace at the Emirates in February, 2014, after Arsenal suffered several injuries in that position; he scored two goals to earn Arsenal all three points on the day.

His bright side has been fleeting, but his poor display has become a common feature. It is clear that he is not developing to match his talent which is not in doubt.

He showed great promise in the first half of the 2014/2015 season where he did not miss a game for five months as the signing of Alexis Sanchez galvanised and had a positive influence on him, something he spoke repeatedly of at the time. His performances meant he was Arsene Wenger's preferred choice in the right side of midfield, he capped what was a bright few months that season with the equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates in November, 2014 in a match that ended 1-1, his growing influence was depicted when he got injured, and several Arsenal fans were distraught at his injury. After returning from injury that season, he failed to match the height he had set for himself, but he still got an assist in the FA Cup final after he came on as substitute.

As a result of his bright sparkles which were dimmed by injury last season, it was natural that he was earmarked as one of the players that would have a breakthrough season this time around.

And he seemed to leave up to that billing when he scored a brilliant goal to win Arsenal the Community Shield at the expense of Chelsea at Wembley in August, 2015.

He was rewarded with a start against West Ham in the opening weekend of the Premier League, but he was culpable for the second goal the Hammers scored in a 2-0 defeat.

His knack for losing possession in dangerous areas is a weakness in his game that has continued to plague him. And most of his give away have led to goals for the opposition. (The third goal Monaco scored at the Emirates is a key example)

So far this season, he has not showed any sign that he is about to recapture any sort of form. He was disappointing when he started against Bournemouth and Newcastle United. His start against Bournemouth was understandable because of Arsene Wenger's needed to rotate as the match came 48 hours after the defeat to Southampton. But his start against Newcastle did not go down well with some of Arsenal persuasion, as several preferred Joe Campbell to him. And yet again he had a poor match with most of his crosses failing to find a teammate, and others ended up as throw in for the Magpies. It was no surprise that Joe Campbell did more in 25 minutes to affect the match positively than the 65 minutes he had going by the present form of both players.

Now that there is a sudden preference for Joe Campbell over Oxlade-Chamberlain by some Arsenal faithful, it only shows how far he has fallen in the estimation of many because of his poor displays.

By July 2016, he would have spent five years at Arsenal, and he would be 23 in August. He cannot claim to be a young player anymore, even though technically he is still young in football terms.

The time has come for him to start leaving up to the expectations and early promise he showed. His end product needs to improve and his record in front of goal is very poor, as his finishing could do with more polishing.

The contrast with the aforementioned Joe Campbell cannot be more stack, the Costa Rican has risen from the ashes to become an important player at the club after seizing his chance following the injuries that has affected key players. It can easily be said that he is now ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain in the pecking order at the club.

However despite his struggles, what he has going for him is that he has a manager in Arsene Wenger that has a record of standing by players irrespective of the situation they are going through whether its injuries or lack of form.

Yet several players that Arsene Wenger has stood by over the years have showed glimpses of their abilities to give observers that they may be returning to form, but so far the Ox has not showed such in his performances this season.

For a player that was first choice in the first half of last season, now when everybody is fit he might not make the squad, which shows how far he has fallen.

The onus is on him to rediscover his form back, and it can only come through hard work on the training ground. He can borrow a leave from Joe Campbell who has turned his form around to force himself into Arsene Wenger's plans after being on the verge of leaving the club in the summer.

The ball is in the Ox court.

Mohammed Elneny: To Join Arsenal in Coming days

Mohammed Elneny

Swiss champions Basel have confirmed through its website that Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Elneny missed training on Tuesday because of his imminent transfer to Arsenal which they expect to happen in the coming days.

The English media have been awashed with reports linking the 23 year old to the Emirates in the last couple of weeks, and with Basel all but confirming the transfer, it could go through before the weekend.

Arsene Wenger has been his usual cryptic self when asked about the club's transfer plans for this January, the usual line of nothing to confirm yet has been what he has told the media when pressed on transfers.

The transfer fee of Elneny is reported to be in the region of £7.5million, the midfielder has 40 international caps for the Egyptian Pharaoh’s national team since he made his debut in 2011. He has over a 100 appearances for Basel, and boasts three Swiss league titles since joining over three years ago.

The 23 year old's 5ft 10in midfielder is not new to English teams, in the last couple of seasons, he featured prominently in the Basel team that defeated Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham in the Champions League and Europa league respectively.

A player that is blessed with technical ability and a wide range of passing that has endeared him to fans of the Swiss champions. He is more a deep lying play maker than an archetypal defensive midfielder.

His signing would serve as a boost for Arsenal's title push as the North Londoners are short of numbers in midfield following the injuries to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla in November. Although the former has started running, while the latter is expected back in February according to Arsene Wenger, while Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky have returned to training.

Mohammed Elneny is a breed between Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta because of his running and passing ability.

Zidane replaces Benitez as Real Madrid manager

  

Real Madrid have this Monday sacked Rafael Benitez after just six months in charge. Speculation have been rife for months now that he would not last the first year of his three year contract, following the 2-2 draw with Valencia on Sunday where they led twice, the club scheduled a press conference Monday evening, where his dismissal was announced.

The former Liverpool, Inter, Valencia and Napoli manager's appointment was never a popular one amongst the Madrid fans and some players. He was reported to have ostracised James Rodriguez and Isco from the squad, as they did not feature regularly while his stay lasted.

Despite starting his stint at Madrid with several unbeaten games, he was accused by the fans and media of being too defensive, but he had the positive of being unbeaten and sturdy at the back as his strong points. However, the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first el-Classico of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu did not help his cause, and this further increased the pressure on him, with fans booing his name at the beginning of matches in Madrid anytime it was announced.

Just last week, he accused the media of  targeting him and the club, but in the end the fans ultimately got their way as he has now being shown the way out of the club.

It is another of several managers that Florentino Perez has sacked over the years as president of the club, many had argued that Rafael Benitez was not an improvement on Carlo Ancelotti judging by his style and tactics, little wonder he has lasted just six months at the helm.

He leaves Real Madrid just four points behind league leaders, Atletico Madrid.

With Zidane as the new manager having been promoted from the B team of the club, it remains to be seen whether Florentino Perez got ride of Benitez to assuage the fans, or whether it was a purely sporting decision.

In the end, it is a premature end for yet another manager at the Santiago Bernabeu, with coaches like Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and now Benitez being coaching casualties at the club.

Can Chelsea still make top Four?

Chelsea's display in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace must have left many of its fans scratching their head as to why the team never produced such football when Jose Mourinho was still at the club. Though Alan Pardew's team was missing key players like Bolasie, Bakary Kone and Yohan Cabaye, it was still a complete performance by the team from West London. Despite the toxic atmosphere that was ripe at the club when the Portuguese was still at the helm, it was only Willian that stood out from the rest. Since Mourinho’s departure, Diego Costa now has three goals in two league matches whereas it was just one goal in 12 matches prior to that, Oscar has suddenly rediscovered his mojo back, and Cesc Fabregas now remembers how to play through balls and key passes.

Now that the relics of Mourinho’s era is gradually fading away, the damage done still remains, one of which is the position the league's defending champions finds itself.

It is still languishing in 14th position with 23 points after the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, and more importantly 13 points behind fourth place Tottenham Hotspur.

The statistics reads two wins and two draws in the league since Mourinho was sacked, and Guus Hiddink has superintended over three of those matches.

Although they were on the back foot more most of the match against Manchester United, they still had at least two big chances to clinch all three points against Van Gaal's side.

Over the last couple of seasons, the top four race has been restricted to no more than two clubs, Arsenal have had to fight off Tottenham Hotspur several times, including clinching it over their North London rivals on three occasions on the last day of the season. In 2006, (win over Wigan 4-2, while Tottenham lost 2-1 at West Ham) 2012 (win over West Brom 3-2, while Tottenham overcame Aston Villa 2-0) and in 2013 (win over Newcastle United 1-0, while Tottenham defeated Sunderland 1-0) On these occasions it was the last day of the season, but of more significance, it was a battle between two clubs, there have been the odd battle for a fourth place finish between Everton and Liverpool in 2005, and Everton and Arsenal in 2014.

However, what makes this season intriguing is that there are as many as four to five clubs in the race to finish in the top four. Tottenham Hotspur currently occupies the last champions league spot. While Manchester United are in fifth position. While the likes of Crystal Palace, West Ham and Liverpool are currently closer to the fourth position than Chelsea.

Chelsea will have to make up 13 points over current fourth place team Tottenham, which is four matches, then there is Manchester United who are 5th, but 10 points over Chelsea.

First Eight after 20 matches

1. Arsenal-----------42pts

2. Leicester----------40pts

3. Man City-----------39pts

4. Spurs---------------36pts

5. Man Utd------------33pts

6. West Ham----------32pts

7. C.Palace------------31pts

8. Liverpool-----------30pts

---------------------------------

14. Chelsea------------23pts

There are 18 league matches left for every team. With the inconsistent nature of the league this season, any team is capable of putting a long run of consecutive wins together to prop up the table. Yet for Chelsea, it is not whether they can put a run of wins together, which they are certainly capable off judging by the quality of the players at their disposal, but it is the number of teams that they have to overcome to the current top four position.

Manchester United in spite of their bad spell in the last two months, are still 10 points over Chelsea in 5th place, while Tottenham Hotspur have been consistent all season with just two defeats in the league, they are a team that are hard to beat.

However, even with the permutations; the possibility of finishing in the top four is a task Guus Hiddink believes is still achievable after the win over Crystal Palace.

It will take more than just positive talk though to rewrite the wrongs of this season, the road to redemption might not include a top four finish after all, but the time between now and May will tell. 

Martial Marches Manchester United On

Manchester United returned to winning ways after nine matches following a hard fought win over Swansea at Old Trafford.

Louis van Gaal's side hold their victory to summer signing Martial as he once again scored and assisted Wayne Rooney to get the all important winner.

It was the Red Devils first win since November after what has been a chastising period for the under pressure Louis van Gaal.

Although the performance would not be up there with those served up at the Theatre of Dreams over the years, the win was all that matters for Manchester United.

They started the match very slowly, a start that was in sharp contrast to the verve they showed in the opening 45 minutes against Chelsea on Monday. Instead there was a return to the now popular snooze feast that has become customary from Van Gaal's side this season.

But the second half served up more excitement than Manchester United last five matches at home.

It was Martial that rose to the occasion as he has done several times this season when he opened the scoring. The question of where Manchester United would be without the young French striker is very apt. He has been the only bright spark in attack in what has been an uneventful season so far for the English giants.

However, the joy of that goal was short lived as Swansea's midfielder, Sigurdsson got the equaliser. Memories of the comeback win over Manchester United by the same opponents in August must have flashed the minds of the fans at Old Trafford, as the Welsh side stood toe-to-toe with their more illustrious host.

The Welsh side who are still without a substantive manager was buoyed by the equaliser. Yet, Martial had other ideas, when he set up Wayne Rooney for the winner 13 minutes from time. The Captain still had work to do when he got the ball, as it was behind him, but he had the awareness to flick the ball into the net, to show his critics that he still possess the class to lead Manchester United after a largely disappointing spell in front of goal for the Three Lions record goal scorer.

Louis van Gaal still had to endure some nervous moments as Swansea came close to getting an equaliser after goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski's header went just wide off the post following a frantic closing minutes of the match.

Pressure easing on Van Gaal

If the English tabloids were the only barometer of measuring truth, the former Dutch manager should have been long gone. He was under enormous pressure a couple of weeks ago, and there was intense speculation that he would be sacked if he failed to win against Stoke City, he walked out of his pre match press conference before the Stoke match demanding an apology from the assembled media for the claims that he had lost his job, despite the defeat to Stoke, it is now four points from a possible six for Manchester United, and Van Gaal would be hoping for a run of results that would fetch more wins in the coming weeks as that is what would keep the fans on side after a difficult last two months.

Cech's Gloves saves Arsenal's Lethargy

“He made two big saves, one in the first half and one in the second half and on top of that he gives calm dynamics. Today we needed that”

-Arsene Wenger on Petr Cech

Arsenal had Petr Cech to thank as they claimed a gritty win over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Arsene Wenger made three changes to the line up that got the maximum points against Bournemouth on Monday with Mathieu Flamini, Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny coming in for Calum Chambers, Gabriel and Kieran Gibbs respectively.

The Premier League leaders whose lead over Leicester is now two points started brightly in the soggy conditions in North London with Hector Bellerin getting in some crosses from the right, but none of the players could connect with it, as Oxlade Chamberlain missed early on.

It was as good as it got for Arsenal after that as the Magpies seized the initiative at the Emirates with Dutch international Wijnaldum forcing a save from Petr Cech midway into the first half, the Czech goalkeeper also kept out Perez follow up on the shot.

Arsenal’s struggles was typified by the displays of Oxlade Chamberlain and Theo Walcott who were largely anonymous for most of the game with both players accounting for just 33% and 36% of successful duels while they lasted on the pitch. McClaren’s side carried the greater threat throughout the match as Arsenal huffed and puffed with Jack Colback, Janmaat and Sissoko all impressing for Newcastle United.

With a largely lethargic first half, those of Arsenal persuasion would have hoped for an improved second half, instead it was Newcastle United that started on the front foot with Wijnaldum forcing another excellent save from Petr Cech after he ran through on goal.

The display by the gunners was reminiscent of what they served up against Southampton on Boxing Day; the only difference was that the match stayed goalless, before Laurent Koscielny scored the winner in the 72 minute off a Giroud header after a corner from Mesut Ozil.
Newcastle United had six shots on target and 15 attempts on goal, in contrast to Arsenal's three shots on target and a lesser attempt on goal after full time.

Aaron Ramsey could have added gloss to the score line late on, but he contrived to shot wide with just the keeper to beat.

In the end, it was the saves made by Arsenal’s only signing of the season that gave them the maximum points, and not for the first time this season.

Why the Team Needs Help

Although Arsenal are top of the league, their soft under belly was still obvious on Saturday. But for Petr Cech who is a veteran of four Premier League titles during his time at Chelsea, it would have been a case of the same old Arsenal.

The inability of Arsene Wenger to rotate his squad has not been helped by the now seasonal injury crisis that has ravaged the club. That he has prosecuted the matches played in December and today’s match with just about 14 players with about eleven of those playing throughout against Sunderland, Olympiakos, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Southampton, Bournemouth and Newcastle United shows why some of the players were leggy today after a grueling festive football programme.

The January transfer window would come in handy for Arsenal as Wenger cannot continue to call on the same players for every fixture. As such is a recipe for further breakdown and injuries from players. It is no surprise that the club is close to finalising a deal of £7 million for Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Elneny.

With the likes of Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin not expected back until at least February, a body or two from the transfer window could be important to the club’s title push. Alexis Sanchez returns from his injury lay off next week would also serve as a welcome boost for Wenger.

For now Arsenal can celebrate being on top of the league for another week. Next up is the FA Cup third round match against Sunderland at the Emirates, before the tasty league match up against Liverpool at Anfield in eleven days time.