England must embrace B-team plans, claims Manchester City's Patrick Vieira
The former midfielder has amicably rejected Greg Dyke's damning of the make-up of the City side that won the title last weekend
Greg Dyke may have expressed "disappointment" at the scarcity of English players in Manchester City's title-winning side but the Premier League champions are emerging as one of the key backers of Dyke's much-derided plan to introduce B teams to English football.
Patrick Vieira, City's Head of Elite Development, believes such a move is crucial if English players are to one day regularly compare with Europe's best. Vieira sees B teams as key to City's development of young players – most of whom are British according to the Frenchman – far more than the other significant proposal made by Dyke's Football Association commission of broadening the loan system.
There has been a sizeable backlash against the commission's proposals, especially among Football League clubs, while there has been a pronounced silence from the Premier League despite Dyke claiming the support of some leading clubs. Public backing from Vieira, a key figure in City's development plans, will be welcomed by the FA.
"You British guys are quite old-fashioned – history is really important but you have to change because the game is changing," said Vieira. "I think for the interests of football the objective is how you can help the England team to be better. So to give the manager a choice of selecting, not maybe 30 but 60 players, I think you have to look at the countries where they're producing a lot of players, Spain, Germany, and they have B teams.
"If they are doing it that means there's a reason. And in England they're not doing it because I think you guys are too much into your tradition, and I respect that. But I think things change and the times change and if you want to catch up with the other nations, you will have to create the B teams because that will have a massive influence on how to develop players."
Vieira amicably rejected Dyke's damning of the make-up of the City side that won the title last weekend.
"I just have to tell him that if he created B teams he will help us to develop more young talent," said Vieira, who will be part of ITV's World Cup coverage this summer. "When you look at the [Under-19] Champions League, the majority of the [City] players are English and from Manchester [Vieira said seven of the 11 that played in the quarter-final against Benfica were English]. I invite him to come to watch us play and he will see that we have talent, British talent, in our football club, and what we need is to give them the right challenges.
"We don't want to send our players on loan. We want to keep them with us, to give them the right education and the challenge that they need. When we send young players on loan, they are going to clubs where managers need to win games and the only focus is to win games. It's really difficult for them to develop because if they make one or two mistakes they are not going to play any more.
"In our football club making a mistake is part of the development. So we need the right challenges to help them develop. That's why I believe the B league will be a massive step up to improve the development of young players."
While Vieira's focus is on City's junior sides, he has also been hugely impressed with the impact Manuel Pellegrini has made in his first season with the senior side.
"It is the way he is as a person," said Vieira. "In a really small time everybody fell in love with him. He gives you his time, he shows you respect and he is a lovely man. Really humble, doesn't take anything for granted, he has been terrific for the club. All the pressure coming from outside, he always keeps his calm, never one note higher than the other, always on the same level, he's been fantastic."
Manchester City's Samir Nasri considering international retirement
• Winger overlooked by France for second World Cup
• Nasri: 'It's a little bit hard to accept'
Samir Nasri is considering international retirement after being overlooked for France's World Cup squad.
The Manchester City playmaker was surprisingly left out of the coach, Didier Deschamps', 23-man squad, and even the seven named replacements, when it was announced on Tuesday.
Nasri enjoyed a superb finish to the season, including goals in the Capital One Cup final against Sunderland and the final-day win over West Ham which made sure of the Barclays Premier League title.
And the 26-year-old, who was also left out of the 2010 World Cup squad by then coach Raymond Domenech, told Sky Sports News: "It's a little bit hard to accept. I need to take some time now to think about the national team because it's been twice now that they take away a World Cup from me.
"You can go around and ask any player if they're happy to be on the bench, nobody's going to say yes. I need to think a little bit during the holiday, what will be my future in the national team, because missing two World Cups is really hard for a player."
While Nasri's absence was greeted with widespread surprise, the player himself said: "I must confess, I knew before. Sometimes you have the feeling, when you call to speak to the manager and he doesn't want to speak to you, you know you're not going to go to the World Cup.
"It was a shock but I was prepared mentally. I'm okay. I respect his choice. He wanted to not pick me … good on him. I wish good luck to the French national team."
The Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, was asked about the matter at a press conference in Abu Dhabi before his side's post-season friendly against Al Ain.
Pellegrini said: "I was talking with all of the players, with Samir of course, it's not good news for him. He's a very good player and deserves to be in the national squad but all teams have managers and it's up to them to decide."
Nasri's exclusion might make it more likely that he plays against Al Ain in City's first match since securing the title on Sunday. Pellegrini had previously said that players involved in the World Cup would not feature.
The trip has caused some consternation, with the England manager, Roy Hodgson, expressing reservations about its timing so close to the beginning of his final preparations for Brazil.
Asked about the issue again, Pellegrini said: "All of the players who are going to the World Cup – we'll see if they play tomorrow. It is a risk. We are very happy to come here with the whole squad.
"Tomorrow I will ask all of them if they want to but it will be difficult for them to play."
Pellegrini will soon turn his attention to next season and one of his prime objectives will be to make further progress in the Champions League. City qualified for the last-16 stage for the first time after two previous failures to get out of their group.
Pellegrini said: "I think that during next week we are celebrating here in Abu Dhabi what we did last season. It was very important to win the league. Next week we will start working on how we can improve.
"It's important to improve every year on what we did in the last season. We also want to have a better performance in the Champions League.
"To win the Champions League you have to fight with very important teams. This year we were very unlucky because we played with one player less against Barcelona [after Pablo Zabaleta was sent off].
"I don't know if we are going to win it next year but we will try to get at least one stage further. We must improve in all senses."
Jason Manford rings John Bishop with song
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Manchester City's Vincent Kompany setting sights on football's biggest prizes
Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany is hoping to get his hands on the UEFA Champions League and World Cup.
Fresh from lifting the Premier League title for a second time, and with FA Cup and League Cup successes toasted during his six years with City, Kompany is now looking to land the biggest prizes football has to offer.
He will go in pursuit of global glory with Belgium this summer, with a star-studded outfit considered to be dark horses in Brazil.
Kompany will then turn his attention back to club matters in 2014/15, and conquering Europe will be top of his agenda.
He said in The Sun: "Those are the two I want, but all in good time.
"I have to be honest, the World Cup is a top priority in my career. And then the Champions League.
"This club is going in the right direction and that's why I'm confident."
While continental honours will be a top target next season, Kompany concedes that the battle for domestic supremacy is likely to intensify - with Liverpool having emerged as serious contenders and Manchester United expected to spend big in an effort to put themselves back in the frame.
He added: "It's hard to say (who will be strongest) because every year the other teams continue to invest and grow stronger. No team says, 'We accept this'.
"Therefore, the Premier League will be very competitive and therefore there is no guarantee of success."
City have, however, proved by taking the title in two of the last three seasons that they have the stomach for a fight.
It was only on the final day of the 2013/14 campaign that Premier League glory was wrapped up, but Kompany claims that Manuel Pellegrini's side always believed that would eventually come out on top.
He said on a race which went down to the wire: "Because we had to play in four competitions until March we were always behind.
"We never thought, 'It's in the bag'. But what was there all along was belief.
"At no time did it seem as if the title was out of reach.
"Two years ago it did. When we lost to Arsenal, we did have the feeling we had lost it. This time we never had that feeling."
Rio Ferdinand and Sergio Aguero take their Manchester rivalry to a new level with a series of challenges in Singapore
Rio Ferdinand may have left Manchester United this week – but he seems to have lost none of his competitive spirit when it comes to derby rivalries.
The former England captain was in Singapore on a promotional tour with Manchester City and Argentina star Sergio Aguero.
City may have had the upper hand over their cross-town rivals this season, but there was no lack of competitive spirit when the pair went head to head in Singapore.
Ferdinand jetted off to Singapore hours after being told in the dressing room at St Mary's that his Manchester United career was over, while Aguero did not travel to Abu Dhabi with the rest of his City team-mates for their end of season friendly with Al Ain in order to take part in the promotional tour.
The pair are taking part in a number of challenges for a telecommunications company SingTel.
Challenges will range from a crash-course in Singlish, Colloquial Singaporean English, to showing off their best football tricks.
Ferdinand and Aguero have been tasked to capture selfies while engaging in the series of activities and encouraging fans to re-tweet them.
The footballer with the most number of re-tweets wins the challenge.
Both Ferdinand and Aguero seemed to be getting in the spirit of things with their Twitter profiles filled with pictures of their various challenges.
It had been a mixed week for the pair, as Aguero helped City lift their second Premier League title in three years with a win over West Ham on Sunday, while Ferdinand’s 12-year career at Manchester United came to an end after their 1-1 draw with Southampton
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[/spoiler]Arsenal are set to make a £30m bid for Karim Benzema - who has one year of his contract remaining at Real Madrid - having failed to sign him on two previous occasions. Daily Telegraph
One player who could be returning to the Emirates is Carlos Vela, 25, after the Gunners reportedly activated a buy-back option in his Real Sociedad contract. Metro
Liverpool are reportedly planning a club-record £60m move for Edinson Cavani, 27, if his Uruguay team-mate Luis Suarez does leave Anfield. Caught Offside
The Reds fear they could miss out on England international Adam Lallana, 26, this summer if Tottenham are successful in their attempts to poach Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino. Daily Star
German champions Bayern Munich are poised to launch a £25m bid for Chelsea defender David Luiz, 27. DSSC
The Blues will consider allowing goalkeeper Petr Cech, 31, to leave if the Czech international does not want to be understudy to Belgium international Thibaut Courtois, 21, who is expected to return from his loan at Atletico Madrid to become first choice. Daily Telegraph
Tottenham are set to make an £8m offer for Real Betis winger Alvaro Vadillo, 19, after chairman Daniel Levy gave the green light to the transfer. Metro
Chelsea have joined Liverpool and Arsenal in the chase for MK Dons midfielder Dele Alli, 18, who has been dubbed the 'new Steven Gerrard'. Daily Express
Former England midfielder Joe Cole, 32, is being eyed by Major League Soccer chiefs after leaving boyhood club West Ham for a second time. Daily Mirror
Everton are keen on Hannover striker Didier Ya Konan, 29, as a replacement for Belgian Romelu Lukaku, 21, who has returned to Chelsea after a season-long loan at Goodison Park. Daily Express
Chelsea are set to offer striker Lukaku a new contract. Independent
Billy Jones, 27, is set to leave West Brom on a free transfer after rejecting a new contract at The Hawthorns. Birmingham Mail
Liverpool hope to sign Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno, 21, this summer for a fee in excess of £15m. Liverpool Echo
Ryan Giggs, 40, has been offered the chance to become Louis van Gaal's assistant manager at Manchester United after talks with the Dutchman. Manchester Evening News
Southampton boss Pochettino, 42, will have to personally pay £2m if he wants a move to Tottenham because of a clause in his contract at St Mary's, which has one year remaining. DSSC
Hull owner Assem Allam insists he will continue with his attempt to change the club's name to Hull Tigers. Daily Telegraph
Fulham boss Felix Magath ordered his players back in for training, at least until the end of the week, following their relegation to the Championship. DSSC
Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar, 29, says the squad are unsure what is happening over manager Paul Lambert's future at the club. Birmingham Mail
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes England captain Steven Gerrard, 33, faces a club-versus-country decision after the World Cup because of the "big demands" of next season. Daily Mirror
FA Cup finalists Hull will offer manager Steve Bruce a new £2.5m-a-year contract this summer. Daily Mirror
France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, 29, has suffered another setback in his hopes of returning to fitness, after he injured himself while taking his dog for a walk. DSSC
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