Edin Dzeko – a refreshing change from the norm by This-Is-Futbol
Footballers appear in news headlines across the world, more often than not for the wrong reasons; therefore losing faith in the modern day player is expected. If the likes of Joey Barton and Andy Carroll appear on our television screens for acts of violence and criminality, then guilty or not, it is going to have a negative effect on what the youth of today believe is right or wrong. However it is not all doom and gloom within our beloved sport, as there are also several unsung heroes of the game. These individuals, whatever role they have within a team, deserve more credit for their contributions to both football and society alike.
A recent addition to the Premier League is a player who seems to follow this moral attitude, Edin Dzeko . The Manchester City forward had a troubled and inconsistent childhood, yet saw an opportunity to increase his quality of life by pursuing a career in football. He began his career in Bosnia , working his way through the FK Željezni?ar youth system, before showing his talent and potential at Wolfsburg . This earned him a big money move to Manchester City in January 2011. However, as an individual it appears he goes deeper than just his 6 foot 4 inch frame, and his reasonable goal scoring record. Edin Dzeko is UNICEF Ambassador for Bosnia , allowing him to visit those affected by events such as the Bosnian war, and do his bit help where possible. Despite the pressures of performing in training and on the pitch each week, Dzeko still finds time to show the unselfish side to some footballers within the game, with UNICEF responsibilities taking high priority in his schedule, something that surely should be encouraged consistently by media and the general public. More recently he opened a ‘UNICEF Early Childhood and Development’ premises in Bosnia , stating:
“Every child deserves the best start possible and we are here today to support this initiative and congratulate the people behind it.”
Personally, I feel this is a refreshing and noteworthy attitude from an individual that could have left his UNICEF and Bosnian responsibilities behind when his move to Manchester City was secured. This path to stardom may well be similar for many players, as they fight hard to become a success in this punishing sport. However, when earning excessive amounts each week, many forget about the struggles in their past, using this money to fund a lifestyle of women and wine. These footballers often use their enhanced popularity and fame for negative reasons, losing gratitude for the opportunities that they have been given. During these footballer’s lowest moments, like prowling hyenas, the media pounce, creating criminals and sinners within flashes. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs become puppets in the media game, taking up pages upon pages of newspaper columns around the world. However, the positive events surrounding specific footballers receive little to no mention in major newspapers, leaving suggestions that it either does not exist or is not worth releasing to the public.
Controversy and scandal sells, and it appears that newspapers must lose whatever moral attitudes they had in order to find column inches for stories about affairs and brutality. This is the way it will be for years to come, with the average footballer not getting the credit they deserve for selfless yet less ‘interesting’ actions that, if correctly broadcasted, could turn footballers into the right role models for the youth of today.
Although not in any way comparable to a profession that saves lives, thousands turn out to watch these players take the field each week, with football arguably the most entertaining sport in the world. However the fact these standard human beings are become generalised by the media to be a villain, with the negative persona of idiocy and greed that so many loathe within a footballer. This leaves many underestimated. Some individuals deserve more credit for the effort they put back in to society as a whole, with the likes of Dzeko, the Neville brothers and Jamie Carragher all doing their bit for specific charities or causes. I would prefer to give these footballers the right media attention, and, in turn, hopefully prevent the future of football becoming driven by arrogance and selfishness.
Sergio Aguero adapting well to life at Manchester City
The Argentine forward is looking forward to a prosperous career in Manchester, but confesses that he has had some car trouble in a tongue-in-cheek interview
Manchester City's new striker Sergio Aguero remains as optimistic as ever about the challenge that awaits him at the Etihad Stadium, despite admitting to lifestyle changes, in an interview on the club's official website.
The 23-year-old tied up a big-money move to the English side from Atletico Madrid in July, and although he is confident of thriving under Roberto Mancini, he admitted to Ole that certain parts of the English culture will take some time to get used to.
"Previously I had begun to learn [English] but without continuity. But now that I take classes four times a week, it's like going back to school," said Aguero in regards to his English.
"But what is good is that I can practice here every day, so let's see how it goes. I think I can get along but I still have a lot to learn."
"With Twitter, the translations are helping me. I still cannot do them alone, but I think it's important to reach everyone," he continued. "Obviously those here have also asked me to write in English."
The ex-Atleti hitman confessed that he has also encountered problems on the road.
"When I arrived I kept trying to get into cars on the wrong side! I had been warned, but it takes years to change. I thought I was going to struggle more, but I have already started to drive and it was not as complicated as it originally seemed."
Aguero also displayed positivity about the long-term impact of his move to City, where he feels it will enable him to improve as a human being, as well as succeeding in his football career.
"I live my life with great joy," said the forward. "Adapting to another culture and be part of it will help me grow as a person. Certainly it's not easy, but I have a great opportunity ahead of me and I will make every effort not to waste it."
"I came to a new country, a different league, another language, but I'm sure is the right choice," he concluded.
"The Premier League is very competitive and has a high level of excellence. City are club with a very serious project that will allow me to continue my progress in football. I am only 23 years old and have a lot to learn yet."
Aguero is in line to make his debut on Monday, in his side's league opener against Swansea City.
Messi: Aguero will be exceptional at City
Lionel Messi is convinced Sergio Aguero will spark Manchester City’s title charge this season.
City paid Atletico Madrid £38million to sign the 23-year-old striker.
And Messi has no doubts his Argentina team-mate will be a big success in the Premier League.
The Barcelona wizard would have loved Aguero to join him at the Nou Camp.
But even the Spanish giants weren’t prepared to compete with City’s financial muscle in the market.
Messi said: “I have no doubt that he will be successful at City.
“He will give them a real cutting edge. He’s unique – he has immense power, strength and an incredible work ethic. He will certainly stand out in terms of what he will bring to City.
“Defenders will find him so difficult to play against.
“There is no doubt in my mind that City have signed a very exceptional player.”
Aguero, who is still gaining match sharpness, is set to start on the bench tomorrow. But Messi is convinced his mate will have no problems adapting to life in the Premier League.
Messi explained: “He’s flexible and can play in a number of positions. Adapting to the pace of the Premier League won’t be a problem.
“Carlos Tevez has been a huge success in England and Aguero will be no different.
“I think it shows the serious intent of Manchester City when they are signing a player of his quality.
“Personally I would have loved to have seen him stay in Spain and preferably move to Barcelona.
“But he was excited by the challenge and ambition of City. Money isn’t a motivating factor for him. He loves a challenge.
“More importantly, he wants to win trophies and obviously feels the move offers him that opportunity in England.”
Messi also feels City are building a team that will strike fear into opponents at home and abroad.
“They have the vast financial power to compete and therefore they will become a real threat if they are managed properly,” he said.
“It takes time to make your mark but every season you see them improving. And they will continue to improve when they are signing players like Aguero.”
Messi maintains it’s City’s neighbours United who carry the greatest threat this season.
“They remain the team everyone needs to beat. They have the vast experience and success behind them,” addd Messi.
“You can’t buy that. Like Barcelona, they seem to get better every season. They are hungry for more success.
“I expect United to carry the greatest threat to our defence of the European crown.”
Mancini: Mancheser City 'not 100 percent ready'
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said that he is not underestimating the challenge posed by Swansea City in their first game of the season.
The Swans travel to Eastlands for their first-ever Premier League fixture, and will be buoyed by the impact that last season’s promoted clubs made in their first 10 games, a factor that gives Mancini concern.
He told The Guardian: "When you start the season and you play against a team that comes from the Championship, it is really difficult."
"Last year, with all the teams that came from the Championship, it was very hard to play against them in the first 10 games and it will be the same this year."
"But this is why the Premier League is difficult - every game is hard."
Mancini also believes that his expensively-assembled squad, including record 38-million-pound signing Sergio Aguero, is still not completely prepared for the new season, particularly with negotiations to sign Samir Nasri being at an early stage.
"I think the first 10 games are very difficult for us – the squad is not 100 percent ready," Mancini said.
"It needs four or five games to find good form for the players. If we complete our squad, we can fight for the title this year."
"But that is a problem at the moment because we play our first match in three days."
However, Mancini has also been impressed by the dynamic brand of football played by Swansea, and feels that their manager Brendan Rodgers has been key to helping them achieve promotion.
"I have watched many of their games," Mancini said. "Swansea play good football. They don't play long ball and they have good players."
"The manager (Brendan Rodgers) is good – last year, he played really good football and got promoted."
Kompany the players' choice to replace Tevez as Man City captain
Vincent Kompany will launch a new era at Manchester City on Monday when he leads Roberto Mancini's team out against Swansea.
Last season's skipper Carlos Tevez has impressed in training since returning to the club last week after the Copa America but
Mancini has been unimpressed with the Argentine's desire to leave the club and will not consider him for the armband any longer.
Players choice: Vincent Kompany will captain Manchester City on Monday
Kompany, 25, has been the most successful of Mark Hughes's signings and is the dressing-room choice as skipper.
Tevez's work-rate in training might make him a surprise contender for the bench against Swansea, where he would sit alongside £38million Sergio Aguero, but the unforgiving Mancini may still decide to teach him a lesson
Are City fans ready to bury the past and welcome him back?
The Carlos Tevez saga has dragged on for much of the summer, and is currently showing no signs of abating. It is unclear whether Tevez will be at Manchester City by the end of the transfer window, but there are not a lot of clubs currently showing an interest in him. After the player distinctly expressed that he wanted to leave Man City at the start of the summer, it appears that he could now be left in transfer limbo. If he remains at Man City, should they welcome him back with open arms?
Tevez announced his desire to return to South America and one of his former clubs Corinthians at the beginning of the summer, stating that he was unsettled in Manchester and that he wanted to be closer to his family, a valuable and honourable reason to seek out a move-if that is really the case. Tevez then went on to make rather disparaging remarks about Manchester, which have probably riled quite a few City fans who would be happy to see the back of him. Unfortunately for Tevez, his proposed move to Corinthians fell through at the final hour. After stating that he never wanted to go to Manchester again, he could end up spending a considerable period in the city-well at least until January, when he will probably seek out a move again. So what should City do with him?
There are no doubts that Tevez is absolutely world class, and from a purely on the field perspective-regardless of comments or behaviour off the field-City would be mad to leave him out of their side. He was joint top scorer in the Premier League last season, and his goal scoring record at Man City speaks for itself-44 goals in 66 games over two seasons. He helped City to their first trophy under their new regime, as well as bringing Champions League football to the club. He may be unsettled, but if he were to stay and play at City he would give 110% as he always has done wherever he has played. He is such a hard worker, and will chase down every ball, and put in a huge effort for the team.
The one thing Man City have to be careful with is that he doesn’t cause upset within the camp. No player is bigger than the club, and they wouldn’t want Tevez to unsettle the dressing room. Tension may now exist between Tevez and his team-mates, as he may have lost their respect. There is a lot of clearing the air to do, if he remains at the club. It is also unclear where he will fit with Sergio Aguero now at the club. They played together at the Copa America, but it didnt really work, as they are similar kind of players. Fans may also have been pushed too far by his want-away antics, seeing him as disrespecting the club and the city, and if the club welcome him back, it could cause anger amongst the supporters.
One thing you can’t argue with and have to respect is what Tevez has done on the pitch. If he remains at City, he will no doubt get his head down and his hard work and efforts on the pitch should win the fans back around eventually. Last year Wayne Rooney managed to win back the affections of the Man Unitedfans after his similar want-away behaviour. Fans should be willing to forgive Tevez if he does the business on the field.
Unless a deal can be struck in the next few weeks-possibly with Inter-then Tevez will remain a Manchester City player. For a player of his quality, and the skills and talent he possesses it would be silly for City not to welcome him back. If he does remain at the club then fans should be willing to forgive and forget. After all the hard work he put in for them last season, he deserves that much.
Written by Lauren Rutter for FootballFancast.com
City have to pay to send striker to Spurs
Spurs have told Manchester City they will have to continue to pay Emmanuel Adebayor £100,000 a week if they want to send the £25million striker on loan to White Hart Lane.
The Londoners are unwilling to break their wage structure to land the former Arsenal hitman and are only prepared to pay £60,000 of Adebayor’s £160,000-a-week salary.
It is a nightmare scenario for City, with Roberto Mancini insisting he will never pick the Togo forward again.
City hoped Real Madrid would pay the £14m asking price for Adebayor after he went there on loan in January last season.
Even then, City paid a huge chunk of the striker’s wages – and Madrid have not taken him on a permanent deal.
If they can’t shift him, City may be forced to take up Tottenham’s outrageous offer just to get him out of the club.
Craig Bellamy is in a similar situation. City’s unwillingness to subsidise the Welshman’s £90,000-a-week wages is holding up a possible switch back to Celtic.
Mancini also wants Wayne Bridge and Roque Santa Cruz out of the club but their high earnings have put clubs off.
WAG OF THE DAY BOLLOX
MAN CITY new boy Sergio Aguero scored a corker off the pitch with a dazzling chat-up line.
The £38million Man City striker hit the back of the net with a busty model in a nightspot after saying Argentina had qualified for the World Cup finals because of his amazing legs.
Stunning Luisana Varacalli, 24, claims the Argentina hotshot streaked through her defences in a packed nightclub before winning her affections behind the back of his lover.
The babe said she was dancing in Buenos Aires nightclub Kika when 23-year-old Aguero – known as Kun – made a beeline for her.
She said: “Kun approached me, asked to dance, he paid for a few drinks and told me that, with his legs, Argentina had entered the World Cup.
“There was kissing but he was very quiet because he said he had separated from Giannina, his girlfriend.”
Sports journalist Luisana said the encounter sparked a string of dates with Aguero, who has left Spanish club Atletico Madrid for a five-year deal with City.
And she added: “Besides being cute, he is a good person, very friendly and humble.
“Any girl that is with Kun would like him. The kissing in the bed is ten – without any doubt.”
The beautiful blonde spilled the beans in Argentinean mag Paparazzi and even went on TV to profess her love for the star, who has his name tattooed on his arm in Tengwar, a language invented by Lord Of The Rings author JRR Tolkien.
But she then went to ground after receiving death threat calls on her mobile phone.
Meanwhile, Aguero’s fiancée, 21-year-old Giannina – daughter of football legend Diego Maradona, 50 – went on the attack to defend her fella. They have a two-year-old son, Benjamin.
She said: “I made my family with Sergio and my son and I will defend my family.
“I knew he went to the nightclub to dance and he came home to me. I trust him.”
And to make sure she can keep an eye on him at Manchester City, she will be joining him in England with their son.
OTHER BOLLOX
Arsenal are expected to make a renewed bid for Everton centre-half Phil Jagielka this week, with the club set to lose both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively. Mail on Sunday
The Gunners could also move for Sochaux midfielder Marvin Martin and Marseille winger Andre Ayew as soon as they receive the first payment from the sale of Fabregas. Metro
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp and chairman Daniel Levy are split over whether to let star midfielder Luka Modric join Chelsea. Redknapp is prepared to let the Croatian move while Levy wants to finance new signings by selling other players. Mail on Sunday
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish may return to Bolton with a higher offer for Gary Cahill if, as expected, his pursuit of Stoke's Ryan Shawcross fails. Metro
Dutch defender Erik Pieters believes Newcastle United will struggle to buy him from PSV Eindhoven because his current club are keen to keep him in the Netherlands. Inside Futbol
Businessman Tony Fernandes could be announced as the new owner of Queens Park Rangers on Monday in a deal which would mean him taking control of the club from Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, in partnership with Lakshmi Mittal, who already owns a 33% stake in the club. the Observer
LONG WELSH BUT INTERESTING BOLLOX
Brendan Rodgers is ready to climb another mountain with Swansea City
Manager had come down Kilimanjaro when he found out his first Premier League match would be against Manchester City
In addition to making history, Swansea City will make a statement on behalf of Welsh football just by turning up at Manchester City on Monday evening, but the first non-English side to compete in the Premier League have resisted the temptation to bring along a statement signing.
Brendan Rodgers had one lined up – the Swansea manager talked terms with Villarreal veteran and former Spain captain Marcos Senna, no less – only to decide at the last minute that a marquee name was not what the situation required. "I can't speak highly enough of Marcos's professionalism, he was first class to deal with and I'm sure he would have brought a lot to the club," Rodgers says. "But when I thought about the money we'd have to give him, the package we were proposing, I just felt it wouldn't be right. The other players would have been blown away by what he would have been earning, and those players are the ones who got us this promotion, the ones I have to believe in. The fit wasn't right. To give a new player such a lot more than everyone else didn't seem fair, no matter what his experience and ability. So I called it off and immediately felt much more comfortable. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling."
Swansea will be doing that quite a lot this season, sticking to their core beliefs and hoping Rodgers' inspirational knack will stand them in good stead again, though that is not to suggest the 38-year-old Irishman will be flying by the seat of his pants. While Rodgers may be in charge of a team of top-level ingénues he has plenty of experience and first-hand knowledge of how the big clubs work.
The Swans manager was at Chelsea as a coaching assistant during José Mourinho's successful years and came close to joining Manchester City in a similar capacity before an offer to manage a club in his own right came along at the same time. Incredibly, that was only a year ago and, after brief cameos at Reading and Watford, he can now boast to have taken a club into the promised land in his first full season in management.
That is some achievement, though, as Rodgers will tell you, his is no overnight success. "I started coaching at age 20, so I've already done 18 years and that's more than some established Premier League managers," he explains. "I didn't come in at the top, with a great playing career behind me, I had to start at the bottom and take the long road, though it did mean I started early. It already feels like I have been in the game ages, but I plan to stick around. I want to be in the game for as long as possible, especially now I have been to my first Premier League Managers' meeting. Up till that point, I had spent the summer not really feeling like a Premier League manager, but now I have sat around a table with Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger I have started to hope a bit of their genius might rub off on me."
Rodgers is putting together the sort of CV that suggests it might, though the immediate question is how long his Swansea side will stick around in the top flight. Perceptions about promoted sides, especially romantic risers such as Swansea, have subtly shifted in the past few seasons. Where once we heard a lot about the unbridgeable gulf between the top two divisions, and the feeling existed that only the most well-equipped or dourly tenacious scrappers could hope to come up and cling on to the Premier League's lower slopes, the experiences of Blackpool, Burnley and Hull in recent seasons, and Reading and Wigan before that, have suggested confident Championship teams with a spirit of adventure need fear little from the broad band of generally timid top-flight clubs below the European positions. That said, Blackpool and Burnley were both relegated after one season and Hull only lasted two.
"Our shirts were still wet from sweating at Wembley when the bookmakers installed us as favourites to go down," Rodgers says. "We are under no illusions, life is going to be hard and we are bound to lose a few games. We will probably be unsure of ourselves until we win our first match. There are three distinct levels within the Premier League and, in terms of money, we constitute a fourth, a bit like Blackpool last season. We've come a long way in a short time. It is only a few years since we couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill here.
"I had to laugh when I discovered our first opponents would be Manchester City. I had just come down Kilimanjaro on a charity walk and I felt like going back up again. City are looking to be one of the superpowers of European football and, knowing a little about the people they have behind the scenes, I think they will probably make it, but it is important to remember they are not representative of the entire Premier League. If you thought too much about how much money some clubs have, you would never get out of bed in the morning.
"Financially we are a million miles behind some of the clubs in this league, but that won't stop us fighting. We know where we are at and we are comfortable with it. We will have a passionate crowd rooting for us at home and, if we produce our A game, we have a chance against any opponents. Of course, if all of our opponents bring along their A game too we might struggle, but we can cope with being underdogs. People seem to forget that we were underdogs in a lot of the games we played last season. When I came here, we were among the clubs being tipped to be relegated. We ended up keeping more than 20 clean sheets and you don't do that without strength of character."
Rodgers is bound to talk up his own team, but Roberto Martínez, last Swansea manager but two and whose Wigan side provide the opposition for the first Premier League game to be played in Wales next week, believes the Swans have a chance. "Even when I was there Swansea always did their work with the Premier League in mind," Martínez says. "The club is about going forward and looking upwards, and although I will be happy to see the Liberty Stadium when it welcomes the Premier League for the first time, I must admit I could think of better times to be playing Swansea. I think the fans will be up for it in the same way Burnley supporters were when they played Manchester United a couple of years ago. It will be a very tough game for us, it would be for anybody."
Danny Graham, a £3.5m goalscorer from Watford, the already well-travelled Wayne Routledge for £1.8m from Newcastle and £1.75m back-up striker Leroy Lita from Reading are the most prominent of Swansea's somewhat cautious summer signings, though, as with the Senna business, money alone is not always a reliable indicator of what a club is about. Rodgers also picked up Michel Vorm, Holland's No2 goalkeeper, for £1.5m, though the price had little to do with why he signed him.
"I knew I had to get a goalkeeper with good feet," he explains. "The way we play, it is vital that the goalkeeper is comfortable on the ball and most Dutch keepers are. Of course you want him to stop shots as well, that's a given, but we feel distribution from the back is also important, and Michel should be perfect for our style of football."
It's not every day you hear that from the manager of a promoted club, is it? And Rodgers has an equally refreshing answer to the question of whether Swansea have signed enough players with Premier League experience. "No, I don't think we have," he admits. "We could have gone down that route, but that's how you end up chasing the dream and turning your Premier League heaven into the hell of insolvency a few seasons down the line. We are happy to be sticking a toe into the Premier League, but we can't afford to jump in with both feet.
"I have already talked to a couple of players who were concerned that we weren't near enough to an airport. I don't want players worrying about airports, I want players who are keen to make a name for themselves in this city. This is a great time to be in Swansea. We are about to step into the unknown. Nobody knows what will happen, but, now the new season is here, we are all going to find out."
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