City entertain Arsenal with a 100% record this season, and as the only side in England yet to concede a goal. If City can come through the next two fixtures with those statistics intact, then many will feel the club are truly set to challenge for trophies. However it underlines the strength of the ‘top four’ that in the eyes of most neutrals City will be going into both games as underdogs.
Much of the focus against Arsenal will be on Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor. Prior to kick off, it will surely feel strange for Toure to be shaking hands with Fabregas as captain of the opposing side, even if he is sure to get a warm reception from the visiting fans. The same cannot be said for Adebayor who they used to boo even when he played for them, but it’s the Togolese they will fear more as he’s started his City career in outstanding form. He’s also got a point to prove.
Emmanuel Adebayor:
“These sort of things stay with you in your heart and it will stay with me not just for the rest of my career but the rest of my life.
“What you can see now is a confident player. I feel loved again and that’s why I’m smiling again.”
Against the Gunners, we can’t rely on poor finishing and Shay Given’s brilliance if we’re to keep another clean sheet. They’ll need to be some improvement in the defending, particularly stopping crosses coming in, better cover in front of the back four, and not letting the game get to stretched.
With the majority of players from both sides having featured for their national sides this week, at least Wright-Phillips, Bridge and Lescott will be fresh after watching England’s destruction of Croatia from the sidelines.
Tevez is definitely out with a tweaked knee, while Robinho’s fitness and form are also questionable. If he plays, this could be just the kind of game to bring out the best in the Brazilian. As was the case last year, he’s a potential match winner, not just with the goals, but also with his ability to unlock a defence.
Hughes on Robinho:
“He had a little bit of swelling on the ankle. We do not think there is a significant injury there but it is best to check to make sure there is no stress fracture. Once we get the results we can decide whether he plays tomorrow or not.”
With Tevez injured, there’s a lot of speculation that Nigel de Jong may get his first start of the season, providing a tough tackling barrier alongside Gareth Barry. This seems eminently sensible as we attempt to hold off Arsenal’s pass and move football, and it would allow Ireland to concentrate on the creative side of his game.
For Arsenal, it was a mixed week for injuries with Arshavin now ruled out, but Fabregas expected to return after playing for Spain. Rosicky also played during the week, but it’s doubtful Wenger will rush him back. Walcott is still working on his fitness.
Despite this, Wenger will still have a strong side at his disposal, and it could be one of the few home games we see this season where the opposition have a greater percentage of possession. As a result, concentration and keeping the team’s shape intact will be paramount. Arsenal are a team that can be frustrated, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Hughes encourage a more physical approach to our tackling.
Mark Hughes:
“Arsenal are an outstanding side and if you allow them to dictate play and get their tails up they have the ability to hurt you.
“They have outstanding individual talents within a way of playing that allows them to create chances, and if they get it right on the day they can really hurt you.
“Ourselves, United and Chelsea are the only British teams to have beaten Arsenal in the past 10 months, which shows the consistency of results they are able to achieve.
“That’s what we’re aiming to do. We have great respect for what they can do when they’re in full flow.
“But they know we will be a test, certainly at home, where we were outstanding against them last season when we won 3-0.”
Arsenal have started the season in excellent form and could well have beaten United in their last match. A draw would be a good result, but as ever I’m hoping for a win.
Possible line-up: Given, Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, De Jong, Barry, Ireland, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor.
Prediction: 2-0 to City
Blue Days
11 September 2009
Arsenal /
Ever since it became clear that Richard Dunne wasn’t going to be an automatic choice this season, there has been intense speculation as to who the new captain might be. It may be a minor surprise to see Kolo Toure, but only due to the strength of the other candidates.
Here, we take a look at the captaincy qualities and leadership experience elsewhere in the current squad:
- Vincent Kompany – Last season Vincent impressed everyone with his maturity and composure off the pitch to go alongside some commanding performances on it. Everyone seemed to agree that he looked like a future captain.
- Pablo Zabaleta – Another who impressed last season, and who had previously captained Argentina to victory at the 2005 Under 20 World Cup in Holland.
- Shay Given – In January, City signed the then captain of Newcastle, who has also led the Republic of Ireland. At the age of 32, Shay also had the experience to go with a famed professionalism. Added to that was the advantage of being an automatic choice in the team.
- Craig Bellamy – The captain of Wales also joined in January. He may not be everybody’s idea of a role model, but his commitment on the pitch has won over the doubters. Hughes clearly trusts his fellow Welshman and has always been able to get the best out of him.
- Gareth Barry – The first of the Summer signings was the captain of Aston Villa, and the England midfielder looked to be the favourite for the armband in the new season. Hughes spoke effusively of Barry’s leadership qualities when announcing his signing.
- Stephen Ireland – Captained the side during pre-season following a storming 2008/09 season. Stevie’s found a new level of maturity and Hughes recently commented, “Stevie really enjoyed having the armband … and I am sure in future he will be a Manchester City captain”.
- Emmanuel Adebayor – Following their qualification for the 2006 World Cup, Togo made Adebayor captain of their national side. The way he’s started the new season with City, he looks like leading the goalscoring charts at the very least.
- Micah Richards – Let’s not forget that the former captain of the youth team became City’s youngest ever captain when leading the team against Aston Villa on 16 September 2007.
- Robinho – The Brazilian also had a turn with the armband when City played Hull last season.
It’s a hugely impressive list, and another sign of how far the club has come when we remember that not so long ago Joey Barton was being considered a possible captain!
Toure has clearly made a big impression in a short time with the club. Having been signed following the failure to land John Terry, the Ivorian now finds himself picking up the armband that the England captain was expected to wear. Arsene Wenger had given Toure the captain’s armband at Arsenal in January, but this was only ever going to be temporary while Fabregas was injured.
Toure was considered a good professional at Arsenal and known to be popular within the squad. Despite a dip in form during the past couple of years, he remained a fans favourite, and Wenger always spoke highly of him.
What has been noticeable in his first few games with City, is his willingness to take responsibility and the level of communication with other members of the back four. Micah Richards in particular has been on the receiving end of some advice during games, and this can only be a good thing for the England U-21 right-back as he looks to regain his form this season.
If Kolo maintains the impressive form with which he has started his City career, then hopefully he’ll be the first Manchester City captain to lift some major silverware since Mike Doyle in 1976.
Jeremy Helan is still trying to establish in the French courts that the pre-contract he signed as a 13 year old with Rennes is invalid. According to The Independent, the case has now reached a French labour tribunal after being rejected by the French League commissions and the French Olympic Committee.
The disputed pre-contract stated that a two year contract would be triggered if Helan represented France while at the Clairefontaine academy. He did, skippering the under-16 side. Speaking yesterday, the Rennes technical director, Pierre Dreossi, stated:
“We had a meeting with Manchester United and they made us an offer about this player.
“We discussed the offer once but United [realised the position] and said: ‘It is not possible to make a deal with you as you do not want to sell.’ They said, ‘fair play,’ and it was closed but the player went in secret to Manchester City.
“Our letters to City said it was not possible to sign him as he was our player. City have played him anyway but they can’t. It’s forbidden. He has a contract with us and can’t have a contract with two clubs. We told them that.”
Apparently letters were sent to City’s George Davies (City’s solicitor), Garry Cook, and Khaldoon al Mubarak. However, City are currently sticking to their guns according to The Independent:
City remain confident that they acted entirely within the bounds of football law in the new case. Legal advice was sought on the validity of the original contract, which Hélan signed at the age of 13 before heading for the French Football Federation’s (FFF) famed Clairefontaine academy, and the response is understood to include the conclusion that it was void on at least three grounds.
What these grounds are, remains unknown. As I said yesterday, City would look to be ok if Helan wins his latest legal case, but given he has already lost two, this can hardly be said to be a given.
If he loses the case, then City may be in trouble as FIFA and Platini seem to be cracking down on the big Premier League clubs while they seek to pass new regulations on the movements of young players.
One thing to bear in mind is that the Kakuta case, for which Chelsea have just been found guilty, dates from 2007. Dreossi himself said that the Heron case may take years to resolve. If during this time City looked like losing, could we just use our wealth to come to a financial settlement with Rennes, and get them to drop the charges?
It may not be the most ethical solution, but it would surely be better for City than a transfer ban.
City have become the latest Premier League side to be accused of unlawfully signing a youngster. This time it’s French club Rennes doing the accusing and Jeremy Helan the player in question.
The Independent broke the story, and FIFA have since released a statement to confirm they are investigating it:
“We can confirm that there is a case pending with Fifa’s Player Status Department involving Jeremy Helan, Stade Rennais FC and Manchester City.”
Helan, now 17, joined City in February and was captain of the French U-16 side. He was a product of the Clairefontaine academy and touted as the “new Patrice Evra”, which translates as he’s young, a left-back, and French. Inevitably he was being watched by numberous clubs and Sky Sports reported in May 2008, that United had bid for him ahead of of Inter, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Newcastle and Everton.
Helan’s mother was then quoted as being happy with him moving to Manchester:
“I don’t see the difference between him being at Rennes or in Manchester as long as he is in a good environment.
“Internazionale, Newcastle, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Everton also contacted him. Money will not make his choice.
“To him, Manchester offers the best career path.”
However, she did acknowledge a dispute over the pre-contract agreement that Jeremy had signed with Rennes when he was 13.
“My son has signed a pre-contract with Rennes and we called for a specialist to look at it.”
Rennes appear to argue that if Helan played for the French youth team, which he did, then he would be tied to them. Helan disagrees, and believes he was free to sign for City (who he subsequently chose ahead of all the other clubs) after serving a period of not playing for anyone. The view from Rennes was stated by their technical director, Pierre Dreossi:
“Manchester City must now realise the consequences of their attitude in the Hélan case as it is even more illegal than Kakuta.
“We have referred this to Fifa. For us it was strange to have no discussion from City and now, in the week after the Fifa declaration on Chelsea, I would hope that it will be the same thing for Manchester City. Kakuta signed up for just a possibility of a full contract. For Hélan there was definitely one there, under the terms of the pre-contract agreement, because he had played for his country. Manchester United said it was not possible to negotiate with us but for City now this is dangerous, though we are not expecting a decision from Fifa for perhaps several years.”
Interestingly, one of the key things for the move to be considered above board seems to be an International Transfer Certificate (ITC), which apparently has been given, but Rennes claim was done so by mistake.
City have now announced:
“Manchester City is aware of the ongoing contractual dispute in the French Labour Courts between Jeremy Helan and Stade Rennais. The dispute between the player and the Club pre-dates any interest from Manchester City.
“Manchester City obviously cannot comment on the case until the French Judicial Process has run its course, however we are comfortable that we have acted within the rules throughout the process and in no way induced any breach of contract by Jeremy Helan.”
If the Court case finds in favour of Helan, and the ITC is legitimate, then City could be in the clear. If the court case were to go againsts Helan, then it looks like it could get messy. Given the severity of Chelsea’s punishment, and both FIFA and Michel Platini’s apparent desire to crack down on the power of the big clubs, particularly in the Premier League, then there could be the risk of similar sanctions.
A transfer ban at the moment would hurt City in particular as our squad is still evolving. While we won’t be making the same number of deals in coming transfer windows, the squad is likely to need some tweaking. If we qualify for the Champions League, then it’s almost certain that ADUG would be looking to bring in additional quality.
It’s quite possible that Chelsea will have their ban reduced, and Dreossi said Rennes were not expecting a decision from FIFA for several years. This would seem to lessen the danger of any punishment. Being banned for a single January transfer window would be a lot more manageable than a ban that included a Summer window.
The Chelsea ban came out of the blue, and the big clubs will doubtless be taking extra care in their dealings with young players from now on. The concern is that aggrieved clubs can smell money and a host of old gripes will now be taken to FIFA. Whether FIFA has deliberately instigated such a rush is intriguing.
The movement of young players has always been a dubious business and I doubt few clubs are wholly innocent. The laws vary from country to country, and the amount of money in the game encourages unscrupulous agents, who will always be looking to ‘make the deal’.
Given the extent of global scouting nowadays, there is clearly a need to tighten up the rules and make them transparent to everyone. FIFA and Platini want to do this. That’s ok as long as the rules are equal and not overly restrictive. In England a player can currently sign professional terms at 16, while there have also been requests for transfers of under 18’s to be banned. This would result in youngsters like Helan receiving some mighty 18th birthday presents, but a club like City could afford that.
Maybe the ban handed out to Chelsea is FIFA’s way of pushing the big clubs down the road of accepting their proposed changes. Others may now be willing to accept a few restrictions if they can avoid a similar draconian punishment.
Manchester City is aware of the ongoing contractual dispute in the French Labour Courts between Jeremy Helan and Stade Rennais. The dispute between the player and the Club pre-dates any interest from Manchester City.
Manchester City obviously cannot comment on the case until the French Judicial Process has run its course, however we are comfortable that we have acted within the rules throughout the process and in no way induced any breach of contract by Jeremy Helan.