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Publication date: Monday, September 21, 2020 12:06 PM
Dele Alli is ‘upset and confused’ upon being frozen by José Mourinho, whom he had apparently never heard of. A loan move draws attention, but Tottenham would not be the first team to choose a coach rather than a star player. Even Liverpool have done it …
Newcastle (Keegan over Cole)
The ultimate shot was offered by Seb Stafford-Bloor, but it is worth reiterating how risky the path Newcastle followed in January 1995 was. Nine points separated them from Manchester United, with the Magpies singing a game in hand over their rivals, on the day they sent Andy. Cole to Old Trafford in exchange for around £ 6 million and a full Keith Gillespie.
It went against all accepted wisdom about how an elite team should behave, not least because Newcastle never directly reinvested the funds. Les Ferdinand and David Ginola teamed up that summer, but never as a direct result of Cole’s sale.
The show of faith in Kevin Keegan was amazing. Cole scored more than 40 goals, the only Newcastle player to reach that mark in a single season, in his only full season, but was carried over midseason with no replacement. The coach’s explanation on the steps of St James’ Park in front of the howling fans that “I made a decision” and “I did it for the benefit of this football club” was moving.
As the Daily mail He would later write: “Keegan won a heated exchange with reluctant Newcastle directors.” There was certainly something about him that inspired belief.
Manchester United (Stam over Ferguson)
Both parties have discarded the idea that Jaap Stam and Sir Alex Ferguson clashed over the former’s incendiary autobiographical claim that the latter “wants us to copy other sides that we face in European competitions and go down to win a penalty.” But the timing suggests otherwise: Stam was sold to Lazio less than two weeks after those particular thoughts were published in a national newspaper.
Manchester United thus chose the legendary coach instead of a central midfielder whose life in the Premier League was fleeting but absolutely dominant. Stam won three consecutive titles, the Champions League and an FA Cup, but that was never a battle he would win.
Liverpool (Benítez over Alonso)
It remains one of the most peculiar chapters in Premier League history, Rafael Benítez’s persistent pursuit of Gareth Barry despite having Xabi Alonso in his title-defying Liverpool midfield. Sometimes it felt artificial, a forced attempt to challenge preconceptions. But this went beyond a Spanish manager wanting to go against expectations by sidelining a cultured contemporary for full English. It surrounded the obsession.
A series of offers were made for Barry in May 2008, which Aston Villa quickly rejected. Alonso, the hub around which Benítez built a team that reigned in Europe three years earlier, spoke frankly that October about “how they treated me.”
“It was a new situation for me,” he said, “something that I had never experienced before. It is a fact that any player can be really happy where he is, but if the club does not want it, they have to accept it. There’s not much you can do. “
Liverpool enjoyed an excellent campaign with Alonso impressing in a secretive role. But the relationship between player and coach was irretrievably broken. A transfer request in July 2009 was the prelude to a signing by Real Madrid and “a new challenge” a week later. Barry moved to Manchester City and Liverpool completed the single biggest degradation before the 2020 A-Level results.
Arsenal (Wenger over Adebayor)
“I fight for players to get the maximum salary, but you have to respect that we have a salary structure,” said Arsene Wenger in July 2008. Two months earlier, he spoke of his belief that “in each club you have to respect what you can spend and you shouldn’t promise what you can’t afford, ”like the boss who keeps telling you he’s doing everything he can to get a raise, but the suits don’t listen to you.
In August, Emmanuel Adebayor would double his earnings to £ 80,000 per week on a four-year contract that would only be honored for a quarter of the time. Manchester City got on board, capitalized on the value of the Mark Hughes name and brought in the Togo international for £ 25 million. Wenger, meanwhile, boasted of “our board’s full and unequivocal support.”
Chelsea (Conte on Costa)
Antonio Conte was not the first nor will he be the last to end a relationship by text. But get rid of Diego Costa with a quick ‘I hope you’re okay. Thanks for the season we spent together. Good luck for next year, but you’re not in my plan, ” it was like grabbing his discarded jeans and blouse from the bedroom floor and digging before waking up.
The pair had quarreled the previous January, Conte dropping Costa after the forward ‘had his head turned’ for the riches offered in China. They persuaded him to stick around and become the rarest player in the Premier League – 20 goals or more in at least two title-winning seasons. But who needs that when you could have Álvaro Morata?
Matt stead
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