Manchester United struggling to offload flop signing

Brazilian midfielder Anderson may have to remain at Manchester United due to lack of interest from other clubs.

The 26-year-old who signed in 2007 for £26 million has not made a single first-team appearance under Louis van Gaal, other than a substitute appearance against Burnley last August.

The Red Devils have not received a single offer or have not had a single enquiry made about the former Porto midfielder since the beginning of this transfer window.

Manchester United have stated they may terminate Anderson’s contract at the end of this current season, to help him find a new club and move on from Old Trafford.

Injuries, form and fitness

Injuries, loss of form and failure to prove his fitness have truly ruined his Old Trafford career, with the Brazilian only making 105 appearances since signing in 2007, and scoring only 5 goals.

The 2008 Champions League winner was described as being ‘better than Wayne Rooney’ by Martin Ferguson, Sir Alex Ferguson’s brother and United’s European Scout.

Ferguson scouted Anderson after seeing him impress at Porto as a teenager, and then he was signed during the 2006-2007 season along with Nani from Sporting Lisbon.

Unsuccessful spells elsewhere

Anderson joined Fiorentina last season on loan, and made 7 appearances for the Italian side, but did not impress enough for them to take him on permanently.

Flamengo also showed slight interest in the misfit signing last year, but Anderson turned down a loan move after the Brazilian club picked up a reputation for not paying wages on time to their players.

Newcastle United in race with Arsenal to sign young Ipswich defender

Newcastle United have declared their interest in signing highly rated Ipswich Town defender Tyrone Mings this January transfer window.

The 21-year-old is one name on a list of players that Newcastle are looking to bring in halfway through this Premier League season.

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy is aiming to keep Mings for the rest of this season at least, but interest from Arsenal and now Newcastle could see the full-back moving on.

The Magpies would like to sign the player now as they know they will face much more competition to sign the player during the summer.

Huge potential profit

Ipswich Town have been having a fantastic season in the Championship so far, as they currently sit in third place, one point off of first place Bournemouth.

McCarthy’s men have been given huge amounts of praise this season, as they are challenging for the league title with a team of free signings and loanees.

Only £10,000 has been spent on the current Ipswich side, with that being spent on in-demand Tyrone Mings, as the Tractor Boys signed young Mings from Chippenham Town in 2013.

There have been rumours of Arsene Wenger’s side being willing to spend £10 million make Mings one of their own this transfer window.

Other stars in demand?

Mings is not the only Ipswich player that Arsenal have their eyes on at the moment though, as there is speculation that Arsenal could also want to sign 18-year-old midfielder Teddy Bishop for a similar fee.

Bishop and Mings have both been influential in Town’s great season so far, so will McCarthy decide to let go of his two most prized assets?

Borussia Dortmund striker Aubameyang aiming to become an African great

Gabon captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has stated his intent on becoming the next superstar of African football.

The forward scored in Gabon’s 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the African Cup of Nations this past Saturday, and after the game said: “I try to do the maximum to become one of the greats like Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.

“I don’t feel any pressure to be like them, but there is maybe a level of expectation around me.”

Is he Dortmund’s saviour?

The 25 year old, best known for his blistering acceleration and speed currently leads the way for his club in terms of goals, yet has only scored 5, as his side Dortmund have surprisingly struggled this year.

Borussia Dortmund currently sit second-bottom in the Bundesliga, and need big performances from star players such as Aubameyang to save their season.

The skipper of the Gabonese national side is finding international football much less of a struggle at the moment.

In Gabon’s first game of Africa’s biggest football tournament, Aubameyang scored one and set up the other in his sides 2-0 win, and looks to push on from the result.

Learning from past mistakes

His most recent Cup of Nations performance was hugely different to his last contribution in the 2012 tournament, as he missed the decisive penalty in a quarter-final shootout defeat to Mali.

He said: “That penalty I missed against Mali in the quarter-final, even if I missed it, remains a good memory for me because it made me grow up.

“I hope we reach the quarter-finals again this time, and if we get another penalty then I will score it.”

Gabon find themselves in Group A of the African Cup of Nations this year, alongside Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea and Congo, who they face next with a win certainly qualifying them for the next stage.

Coach Jorge Costa described Burkina Faso as the toughest side in the group, and believes Aubameyang is vital to Gabon’s tournament.

Germany forward Miroslav Klose is close to breaking the World Cup goals record

Miroslav Klose becomes level with former Brazilian striker Ronaldo on goals scored at World Cups after scoring in 2-2 draw with Ghana

Klose sticks out a leg to convert Howedes’ flick on for his 15th World Cup finals goal

Both Group G hopefuls Germany and Ghana met at Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza on 21st June, which did prove to be a very even affair. Ghana did boast the statistic of more shots and shots on target, but unsurprisingly Germany did seem to dictate the game more with higher possession. It was Germany who took the lead in the second half through Bayern Munich star Mario Gotze, but the lead did not last long as 3 minutes later Ghana were level through an Andre Ayew goal. Ghana then went on to take the lead through striker Asamoah Gyan on the 63rd minute, but Germany fought back and found the equaliser through goal-machine Miroslav Klose, which turned out to be Klose’s 15th goal at World Cup finals, equalling the record set by former Brazilian star Ronaldo.

The 36 year old Lazio forward has scored 70 goals in 133 matches for Germany, which makes him Germany’s all time top-goal scorer, a record he took from former Germany forward Gerd Muller, and now it looks like he will soon be the holder of another record.

Klose’s first World Cup finals goal for Germany came in 2002 in Japan, during a group match against Saudi Arabia, which proved to be an emphatic performance for the striker as he then went on to score another 2, earning his first hat-trick for Germany.

His fourth goal came only four days later in a group match against Republic of Ireland, and his fifth and final goal of the 2002 World Cup came in their final group game against Cameroon, as Klose scores from close range in Shizuoka.

Klose’s sixth World Cup finals goal came on home soil in the 2006 World Cup in Munich, in a group stage match against Costa Rica, and his seventh came later on in the same match against Costa Rica. 11 days later, Klose scored his eight against Ecuador in Berlin, and later on in the same game scored his ninth, which left him so far with 4 goals in 2 games at the 2006 World Cup. His tenth goal for Germany at World Cup finals is considered one of his most important, as it came in the quarter finals against Argentina, this proves to be his final goal at that World Cup.

4 years on in 2010, Klose at his 3rd World Cup tournament in South Africa, scored his eleventh goal for Germany at World Cup finals, which featured in a group match against Australia. His twelfth goal at World Cup finals came on 27th June against England in Germany’s 4-1 win, and then scored his thirteenth 6 days later on 3rd July against Argentina, and his fourteenth came later on in the same game as Germany thrashed Argentina 4-0.

And as we all know, Klose’s 15th goal at World Cup finals came against Ghana on 21st June in the sides 2-2 draw in the group stages. Klose is now level on goals with Ronaldo, and has the opportunity to score his record-breaking sixteenth goal at World Cup finals in Germany’s final group game against USA in Recife.

Not only has Klose levelled with Ronaldo on goals scored at World Cup finals, but he has now joined with Pele and Uwe Seeler as one of the only players to score at 4 different World Cup tournaments.

Miroslav Klose has been hailed by some as one of the greatest goal-scorers of the 21st century and in footballing history, he has been said to have an instinct for scoring which makes him superior to his rival forwards. Even so at the moment it does seem slightly tougher to score at the same rate that he used to as he now features less for his national side due to the recently used false 9 formation, which does appear to be similar to Barcelona’s, as instead of using an out-and-out striker, they will use other talents such as Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze who are both proven goal-scorers, playing in a centre-forward role, with two wide-men either side, who will appear to advance further than the centre-forward.

This has proven to be effective as Germany have made a good start to this World Cup campaign, with a resounding 4-0 win against Portugal in their first game, with Thomas Muller grabbing the first hat-trick of this World Cup, and after picking up another point in a tough game against Ghana, they look fairly certain qualifying for the knock-out stages. They will look to sign off from the group stages in style though as they face USA and their coach, former player Jurgen Klinsmann in their final group match tomorrow, who have impressed this year as they too are currently on 4 points and could also make the knock-out stages.

Player review: Craig Westcarr

Portsmouth sign 29 year old forward Craig Westcarr on a free transfer on a 2 year deal

Craig Westcarr has become Portsmouth manager Andy Awford’s third signing this summer, following Paul Jones and Danny Hollands. Westcarr was brought to Fratton Park on a free transfer after he was released at the end of last season by Walsall, and many fans hope to see him shine at the south-coast club.

Craig Westcarr made his professional debut for Nottingham Forest in 2001 at the young age of 16, and then carried on to make another 23 appearances, scoring on the 1 occasion. During his time at Nottingham Forest he had loan spells at Lincoln City, where he scored 1 goal in 6 appearances, and Milton Keynes Dons, where he made 4 appearances in which he did not find the back of the net. After returning to Nottingham Forest from MK Dons, he left the Football League by joining Cambridge United, where he was more of a regular, making 31 appearances and scoring 8 goals in the process.

After spending a year at Cambridge United Westcarr then moved onto Kettering Town where he spent 3 years at. During his 3 year spell he found himself as a regular starter, by making 102 appearances and scoring 23 goals, which helped Kettering Town win the conference north title.

Westcarr then returned to the Football league by signing for Notts County, and helped them also find success, as they won the League 2 title in the 2009-10 season, with Westcarr playing a part by scoring 21 goals in 87 games during his time at The Magpies.

After spending 3 years at Notts County, he joined Chesterfield in 2011 for an undisclosed fee which was reported to be around £70,000. During his time at Chesterfield Westcarr scored 10 goals in 53 games, and also helped them win the Football League Trophy, beating Swindon Town 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium by scoring Chesterfield’s second goal with effectively the last kick of the game.

During his time as a Chesterfield player, he played 8 games on loan at League 1 club Walsall, who he then later ended up joining in 2013. At Walsall, Westcarr managed to score 19 goals in 59 games, also finishing as Walsall’s top scorer last season, with 11 goals in League 1.

Westcarr has represented England at U15, U16, U17, U18 and U21 level, and Pompey manager Andy Awford has stated; “I’m looking forward to working with him when the squad return for pre-season training”.

Awford also told the club website; “Craig brings something different to our attack, he’s a welcome addition to the squad”.

Westcarr also talked about his move to the south-coast club on his Twitter, saying; ‘Delighted to have signed for Portsmouth, looking forward to a big adventure with the club, good times ahead, good challenge’.

I as a Pompey fan really hope that Craig really provides his experience of winning the League 2 title to the rest of the squad, hopefully leading to us celebrating promotion by the end of the season.

I asked some Portsmouth fans on Twitter what they made of Awford’s third signing of the summer, and it was a pretty positive response.

“Seems a good signing! Scored goals at a higher level last year. Suits the system and should be at his peak”.

“Class signing”.

“Fingers crossed he’s more affective than what we had last season. Still need 1 more striker at least though”.

These Portsmouth fans have reacted well to Westcarr’s arrival and are looking forward to seeing him in a Pompey shirt in the near future, as am I! He has scored goals at this level and at slightly higher levels lately in his career, he has tasted success with trophies and promotions during his career, and at 29 years of age, we should expect a good showing from him!

PUP