Derbies (!!!!) pre-weekend roundup
In 2014, the English FA tried to kill everyone by scheduling the Merseyside Derby and North London Derby on the same day. Thankfully, they at least scheduled them in different time slots or else there would probably be an actual meltdown.
Is it too early to be excite? Too bad, here is a round up of news about the teams and the derbies.
Liverpool under Uefa Financial Fair Play investigation
The UEFA Club Financial Control Body has opened formal investigations into seven clubs, including Liverpool, regarding "potential break-even breaches."
Liverpool are one of seven clubs being investigated for possible Financial Fair Play breaches, Uefa has confirmed.
Under Uefa rules, clubs competing in Europe must limit their losses to £35.4m over two seasons. Monaco, Inter Milan, Roma, Besiktas, Sporting Lisbon and Krasnodar are the other clubs being investigated.
Manchester City and Paris St-Germain were fined in May and had a limit put on their spending and squad size after breaking FFP rules.
A Uefa statement read: "The Club Financial Control Body has opened formal investigations into seven clubs as they disclosed a break-even deficit on the basis of their financial reporting periods ending in 2012 and 2013."
The clubs must submit "additional monitoring information" in October and November before Uefa decides on any punishment.
Despite losses of £49.8m in 2012-13 and £41m in 2011-12, Liverpool are confident they did not breach FFP regulations, having signed a series of lucrative commercial deals over the past 18 months.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said: "It's obviously something that will be dealt with by the directors.
"It's something we're comfortable with because we're great advocates of Financial Fair Play. It's ongoing with the club."
Money raised commercially can be offset against the £90m losses, which can be reduced further if Liverpool show they have invested in youth development, infrastructure and community projects.
Last season 76 clubs were deemed to be "at risk" of breaching FFP, but only nine were punished.
Manchester City and French champions PSG were fined £49m each by Uefa and handed restrictions on transfer spending and a reduction in their squad size for the Champions League.
Uefa also announced on Friday that five clubs involved in the 2014-15 club competitions have had the payment of their prize money temporarily withheld.
Turkey's Bursaspor, Romania's Cluj and Astra Giurgiu, Montenegro's Buducnost Podgorica and Lithuania's Ekranas for making late payments to other clubs, employees and/or tax authorities."
[x]
I mean regardless of how you feel about foreign groups investing in football, I think we can all agree that UEFA's FFP rules are stupid. What kind of stupid rule makes clubs get fined for being in debt? "Have money issues? Here, we will pile onto them." I don't really understand how their budgeting thing works, but here's to hoping that Suarez and Ha-mez money are going to help out Liverpool and Monaco.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez backs Tim Howard to regain form
Tim Howard has the strength of character to regain his form after a disappointing week, according to Everton manager Roberto Martinez.
The U.S. international goalkeeper was at fault for two goals as the Toffees fell to a surprising 3-2 Premier League defeat at home to Crystal Palace last Sunday.
Howard has been beaten 13 times in five league matches this season, and conceded another three in Tuesday's Capital One Cup defeat at Swansea.
While the 35-year-old could not be held at fault for the bulk of those goals, Martinez acknowledged that his first-choice keeper has not always been at his best since returning from the World Cup.
Howard was outstanding for his country as they reached the last 16 in Brazil, but could still be suffering the after-effects of his efforts during the summer, according to Everton's boss.
"Any player who comes back from a World Cup needs a little bit of an adaptation period," Martinez said.
"Tim is such an experienced footballer, and we know what level he can reach.
"When you get a performance that is a little bit below those standards, it surprises you more than it would with anyone else."
Howard made a string of fine saves for Everton during their 4-1 Europa League victory over Wolfsburg last Thursday, and Martinez is looking for his keeper to return to that level of form against neighbours Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The manager said: "Against Wolfsburg, that was as good as I've seen Tim, not just in terms of what he did in goal, but also with his distribution. I thought he was very bright and sharp.
"Then obviously, he'll be the first one to admit that the second goal against Crystal Palace was something that we don't see in his repertoire.
"That's part of the game. Sometimes when you're defending the goal, you're going to be punished for your mistakes.
"But Tim has been working really well. I see him with a real desire to be as good as he can be, and to be a massive influence to everyone else at the club.
"In general, it's a start to the season that is normal. It's a transitional period. But I see him having the potential to have a very strong season, as he's had during the many years he's been with us."
Martinez described Everton's defeat against Palace last Sunday as "spooky" -- as they lost by the same score at home to the same team last season.
But he is hoping that history repeats itself in a more positive way in the Merseyside derby on Saturday.
The match will be played on the 15th anniversary of Everton's last Anfield victory, which came when Kevin Campbell scored the only goal of their Premier League meeting on Sept. 27, 1999.
Last season, Martinez guided the Toffees to their first away win over Manchester United since 1992, and is looking to end another barren sequence this weekend.
He said: "I said that the defeat against Crystal Palace was something spooky. The last time we beat Liverpool at Anfield was Sept. 27, so I hope that spookiness carries on into the weekend.
"The stats are there to be broken. That's something we need to make sure we embrace. We look forward to it.
"We know it's a difficult place to visit. But there are many difficult places in this league where we've gone and changed the stats and the history.
"I see it as a positive. It's something you look forward to. I'm sure we can change those stats. That's an extra bit of motivation."
[x]
>:C Leave Timmy Howard alone.
Arsenal.com's title was stupid so...
Ozil lets press criticism roll off him, praises Arsenal's family club atmosphere
Mesut Ozil says that he is unfazed by criticism in the press or the stands.
The World Cup winner was outstanding at Aston Villa on Saturday, scoring one goal and setting up another for Danny Welbeck in a 3-0 win for the Gunners.
Ozil has been questioned at times but the Arsenal fans have been vocal in their support for him while Arsène Wenger believes that the playmaker's own form is linked to that of his team.
Either way, Ozil takes it in his stride. "You can’t forget that people don’t know you away from football," Ozil told Arsenal.com.
"You can’t really see what a person is really like when they are on the pitch. Sometimes a player will come across as arrogant and another as being a nice guy when in reality it could be the other way round.
"At the club you always have to be respectful towards one another. It doesn’t matter if one player is a world star and the other is a newcomer. Everyone should be treated in the same way and that’s why I’m so happy at Arsenal, because that’s really the case here.
"Everyone is treated the same way and has respect for one another. That’s a big help on the route to reaching your targets - when you’re like a family who make each other feel welcome and at home. That’s how it is here."
[x]
:')
West Ham will not share Olympic Stadium with Tottenham
Karren Brady has indicated that West Ham would prevent Tottenham Hotspur from sharing the Olympic Stadium with them during Spurs’ season away from White Hart Lane.
Tottenham have announced that they will need to find a temporary home for the 2017-18 season because of delays to their new 58,000-seat stadium, with the Olympic Stadium believed to be on a list of temporary solutions.
However, West Ham have been awarded a 99-year lease by the London Legacy Development Committee to become anchor tenants of the Olympic site from August 2016 and, although Brady admitted it would be possible for another club to play in their new 54,000-seat stadium, she rejected suggestions that the club would agree to any request from Tottenham. Although the final decision rests with the LLDC, any deal would depend on West Ham’s approval.
“In reality they probably could - but only with our permission,” West Ham’s vice-chairman said at the launch of their Club London hospitality packages for the new stadium. “No one has asked us for our permission and, if they did, we would probably say no, depending on who it is - if you get my drift. We are the anchor tenant for the winter matches and nothing else can happen in that time without our permission and our football matches take priority over everything else.”
The chair of the London assembly budget and performance committee, John Biggs, has previously said that a temporary groundshare with Tottenham would be beneficial to the LLDC. Yet the agreement with West Ham means that they have primacy of use and it is understood that they effectively have the power of veto over who uses the stadium.
West Ham have not received an approach and ultimately it is more likely that Tottenham will look elsewhere. Spurs have said that they are looking at “four or five options”. Wembley remains an option, as does stadium:mk, the home of MK Dons.
The Rugby World Cup is set to be held at the Olympic Stadium next year and Brady said that West Ham would not receive any revenue from such events. “If there are events at the stadium we have approved we do not see any of the revenue from that,” she said.
[x]
haha dare not even mention Emirates' name as a contender
The rest of the news is pretty much the same as always; big weekend for all four clubs as they try to ~prove themselves~ because they've had slow starts blah blah blah. Whatever sports journalists.
So excite for derby-palooza!!!1!
eta omg wait apparently I did not look at the fixtures closely because Dortmund is also playing Schalke this weekend? So much derby-palooza indeed. I don't have any news for these, so if you do, stick it in the comments
Is it too early to be excite? Too bad, here is a round up of news about the teams and the derbies.
Liverpool under Uefa Financial Fair Play investigation
The UEFA Club Financial Control Body has opened formal investigations into seven clubs, including Liverpool, regarding "potential break-even breaches."
Liverpool are one of seven clubs being investigated for possible Financial Fair Play breaches, Uefa has confirmed.
Under Uefa rules, clubs competing in Europe must limit their losses to £35.4m over two seasons. Monaco, Inter Milan, Roma, Besiktas, Sporting Lisbon and Krasnodar are the other clubs being investigated.
Manchester City and Paris St-Germain were fined in May and had a limit put on their spending and squad size after breaking FFP rules.
A Uefa statement read: "The Club Financial Control Body has opened formal investigations into seven clubs as they disclosed a break-even deficit on the basis of their financial reporting periods ending in 2012 and 2013."
The clubs must submit "additional monitoring information" in October and November before Uefa decides on any punishment.
Despite losses of £49.8m in 2012-13 and £41m in 2011-12, Liverpool are confident they did not breach FFP regulations, having signed a series of lucrative commercial deals over the past 18 months.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said: "It's obviously something that will be dealt with by the directors.
"It's something we're comfortable with because we're great advocates of Financial Fair Play. It's ongoing with the club."
Money raised commercially can be offset against the £90m losses, which can be reduced further if Liverpool show they have invested in youth development, infrastructure and community projects.
Last season 76 clubs were deemed to be "at risk" of breaching FFP, but only nine were punished.
Manchester City and French champions PSG were fined £49m each by Uefa and handed restrictions on transfer spending and a reduction in their squad size for the Champions League.
Uefa also announced on Friday that five clubs involved in the 2014-15 club competitions have had the payment of their prize money temporarily withheld.
Turkey's Bursaspor, Romania's Cluj and Astra Giurgiu, Montenegro's Buducnost Podgorica and Lithuania's Ekranas for making late payments to other clubs, employees and/or tax authorities."
[x]
I mean regardless of how you feel about foreign groups investing in football, I think we can all agree that UEFA's FFP rules are stupid. What kind of stupid rule makes clubs get fined for being in debt? "Have money issues? Here, we will pile onto them." I don't really understand how their budgeting thing works, but here's to hoping that Suarez and Ha-mez money are going to help out Liverpool and Monaco.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez backs Tim Howard to regain form
Tim Howard has the strength of character to regain his form after a disappointing week, according to Everton manager Roberto Martinez.
The U.S. international goalkeeper was at fault for two goals as the Toffees fell to a surprising 3-2 Premier League defeat at home to Crystal Palace last Sunday.
Howard has been beaten 13 times in five league matches this season, and conceded another three in Tuesday's Capital One Cup defeat at Swansea.
While the 35-year-old could not be held at fault for the bulk of those goals, Martinez acknowledged that his first-choice keeper has not always been at his best since returning from the World Cup.
Howard was outstanding for his country as they reached the last 16 in Brazil, but could still be suffering the after-effects of his efforts during the summer, according to Everton's boss.
"Any player who comes back from a World Cup needs a little bit of an adaptation period," Martinez said.
"Tim is such an experienced footballer, and we know what level he can reach.
"When you get a performance that is a little bit below those standards, it surprises you more than it would with anyone else."
Howard made a string of fine saves for Everton during their 4-1 Europa League victory over Wolfsburg last Thursday, and Martinez is looking for his keeper to return to that level of form against neighbours Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The manager said: "Against Wolfsburg, that was as good as I've seen Tim, not just in terms of what he did in goal, but also with his distribution. I thought he was very bright and sharp.
"Then obviously, he'll be the first one to admit that the second goal against Crystal Palace was something that we don't see in his repertoire.
"That's part of the game. Sometimes when you're defending the goal, you're going to be punished for your mistakes.
"But Tim has been working really well. I see him with a real desire to be as good as he can be, and to be a massive influence to everyone else at the club.
"In general, it's a start to the season that is normal. It's a transitional period. But I see him having the potential to have a very strong season, as he's had during the many years he's been with us."
Martinez described Everton's defeat against Palace last Sunday as "spooky" -- as they lost by the same score at home to the same team last season.
But he is hoping that history repeats itself in a more positive way in the Merseyside derby on Saturday.
The match will be played on the 15th anniversary of Everton's last Anfield victory, which came when Kevin Campbell scored the only goal of their Premier League meeting on Sept. 27, 1999.
Last season, Martinez guided the Toffees to their first away win over Manchester United since 1992, and is looking to end another barren sequence this weekend.
He said: "I said that the defeat against Crystal Palace was something spooky. The last time we beat Liverpool at Anfield was Sept. 27, so I hope that spookiness carries on into the weekend.
"The stats are there to be broken. That's something we need to make sure we embrace. We look forward to it.
"We know it's a difficult place to visit. But there are many difficult places in this league where we've gone and changed the stats and the history.
"I see it as a positive. It's something you look forward to. I'm sure we can change those stats. That's an extra bit of motivation."
[x]
>:C Leave Timmy Howard alone.
Arsenal.com's title was stupid so...
Ozil lets press criticism roll off him, praises Arsenal's family club atmosphere
Mesut Ozil says that he is unfazed by criticism in the press or the stands.
The World Cup winner was outstanding at Aston Villa on Saturday, scoring one goal and setting up another for Danny Welbeck in a 3-0 win for the Gunners.
Ozil has been questioned at times but the Arsenal fans have been vocal in their support for him while Arsène Wenger believes that the playmaker's own form is linked to that of his team.
Either way, Ozil takes it in his stride. "You can’t forget that people don’t know you away from football," Ozil told Arsenal.com.
"You can’t really see what a person is really like when they are on the pitch. Sometimes a player will come across as arrogant and another as being a nice guy when in reality it could be the other way round.
"At the club you always have to be respectful towards one another. It doesn’t matter if one player is a world star and the other is a newcomer. Everyone should be treated in the same way and that’s why I’m so happy at Arsenal, because that’s really the case here.
"Everyone is treated the same way and has respect for one another. That’s a big help on the route to reaching your targets - when you’re like a family who make each other feel welcome and at home. That’s how it is here."
[x]
:')
West Ham will not share Olympic Stadium with Tottenham
Karren Brady has indicated that West Ham would prevent Tottenham Hotspur from sharing the Olympic Stadium with them during Spurs’ season away from White Hart Lane.
Tottenham have announced that they will need to find a temporary home for the 2017-18 season because of delays to their new 58,000-seat stadium, with the Olympic Stadium believed to be on a list of temporary solutions.
However, West Ham have been awarded a 99-year lease by the London Legacy Development Committee to become anchor tenants of the Olympic site from August 2016 and, although Brady admitted it would be possible for another club to play in their new 54,000-seat stadium, she rejected suggestions that the club would agree to any request from Tottenham. Although the final decision rests with the LLDC, any deal would depend on West Ham’s approval.
“In reality they probably could - but only with our permission,” West Ham’s vice-chairman said at the launch of their Club London hospitality packages for the new stadium. “No one has asked us for our permission and, if they did, we would probably say no, depending on who it is - if you get my drift. We are the anchor tenant for the winter matches and nothing else can happen in that time without our permission and our football matches take priority over everything else.”
The chair of the London assembly budget and performance committee, John Biggs, has previously said that a temporary groundshare with Tottenham would be beneficial to the LLDC. Yet the agreement with West Ham means that they have primacy of use and it is understood that they effectively have the power of veto over who uses the stadium.
West Ham have not received an approach and ultimately it is more likely that Tottenham will look elsewhere. Spurs have said that they are looking at “four or five options”. Wembley remains an option, as does stadium:mk, the home of MK Dons.
The Rugby World Cup is set to be held at the Olympic Stadium next year and Brady said that West Ham would not receive any revenue from such events. “If there are events at the stadium we have approved we do not see any of the revenue from that,” she said.
[x]
haha dare not even mention Emirates' name as a contender
The rest of the news is pretty much the same as always; big weekend for all four clubs as they try to ~prove themselves~ because they've had slow starts blah blah blah. Whatever sports journalists.
So excite for derby-palooza!!!1!
eta omg wait apparently I did not look at the fixtures closely because Dortmund is also playing Schalke this weekend? So much derby-palooza indeed. I don't have any news for these, so if you do, stick it in the comments