Transfer Targets

We take a quick look at some of the clubs, what they need and who they are likely to go after in the summer. These are our own views many of which you may or may not agree with, that is the beauty of football, it's always open for debate. So feel free to comment and get involved.

Last night saw Manchester United comfortably defeat Schalke 04 in the Champions League semi-final, but for the heroics of Manuel Neuer the score line could have been a lot worse.

Having put in a display that has earned rave reviews in the media, does Alex Ferguson have to rethink his plans for United’s new number one goalkeeper for next season to replace the retiring Edwin Van Der Saar?

Manchester United of course are not the only club that need to either replace or strengthen key players in the summer, with many fans and pundits calling for Arsenal to buy a commanding centre back and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich once again getting the cheque book out, it could be the most active and hotly contested summer transfer window in premiership history, expect records to be broken. Again.

Arsenal: Fans have been calling in on radio shows in the UK debating whether Arsene Wenger is still the man to take Arsenal forward. Much has been said about the lack of a leader in the side and weakness at the back. In Szczesny they have a young keeper with potential but do they stick with him or go for an experienced keeper? Last year they had the chance to sign Mark Schwarzer but refused to pay the extra million pounds Fulham were asking, a million pounds is not alot of money in football and could that have made a difference to their season.
We say: Arsenal need strength at the back so don't be surprised if they go for Gary Cahill from Bolton. Will Fabregas stay or venture to Barca, either way they need a leader in the centre of the park and a striker as Van Presie gets injured to easily.

Chelsea: With Torres finally scoring will he push on and repay that 50 million price tag? There is uncertainy as to whether Drogba will be at Stamford Bridge next season, lets not forget that Chelsea brought a class player in David Luiz who has already shown his worth this.
We Say: Chelsea's sqaud is still lacking; the first eleven is really strong but there are too many unexperienced youth players sitting on the bench. Neymar in Brazil is heavily linked but do they need another striker, especially with Daniel Sturridge doing so well at Bolton. Look for the midfield to be strengthened, but then again it could all depend on who the manager is next season.  

Manchester United: I'm amazed that United are on the brink of another premier league title and a possible Champions League Final with what many regard as the worst United team in the premiership era. Edwin Van Dar Saar, Vidic, Giggs have been their standout players but recently with the form of Rooney getting back to something like his best and the outstanding  Javier 'chicharito' Hernandez, United have covered the flaws of a weak centre midfield.
We Say: A new keeper is required with Atletico Madrids David De Gea reported as the number one target, that was until Neuer''s outstanding performance last night. United need a creative midfielder alongside a box to box midfielder, expect a few new faces at Old Trafford.

Liverpool: With King Kenny returning and with wins against Chelsea, Man City and United, Liverpool have seen something of a resurgence, all this without Steven Gerrard as well.
With a possible 19th title for United, fans will be looking for a creditable title challenge next season.
We Say: Rumours suggest that there will be a big clear-out in the summer, with Liverpool investing in new blood and promoting from within their academy. With Andy Carroll and Suarez up front Liverpool will look to bring in wingers who will supply the ammuniation for the strikers. Someone like Ashley Young who is unsettled at Aston Villa would be ideal.

Manchester City: The noisy neighbours as once stated by Alex Ferguson. With deep pockets thanks to the investment of Sheikh Mansoor, City can buy anyone but it will all depend on where they finish as anything less than fourth place with be regarded as a failure regardless of whether they win the FA Cup against Stoke City.
We say: City will finish in the top four and will invest heavily for a premiership and champions league campaign. Expect big names and huge transfer fees to be paid. Tevez will likely depart to either Spain or Italy leaving a gap. Messi to City, remember the Kaka saga.

Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs have played some of the best and most exciting football this season and with the PFA player of the Year in Gareth Bale they've enjoyed some memorable nights in Europe, who could forget Bale's performance against Inter Milan. That said managing both the hectic premership fixtures and Champions League matches has meant that Spurs look likely to miss out on that vital fourth spot, this will have a knock-on effect on the players they can attract, but being based in London and the football they play they should still get quality coming to White Hart Lane.
We Say: We love Harry Redknapp and expect him to come out fighting next season. They need to hold onto players especially Modric, look for Harry to recurit another striker and possibly a defender as well.

Queens Park Rangers: For those who don't know QPR have extremely wealthy owners in Mittal, Briatore, Ecclestone and Bhatia. Whilst no serious money has been invested into the club this could all change with QPR's soon to be promoted to the Premier League.
We Say: We remember the days when QPR played on a plastic pitch and had the likes of Trevor Sinclair and Les Ferdinand playing in the famous blue and white strips. Sponsorsed by Gulf Air, expect funds to be made available and several names to be linked to the West London Club.

What about the rest? Well depending on who goes down and who survives, look for possible transfers involving Scott Parker, Matt Jarvis, Phil Jones, Rob Green and Charlie Adams. Don't be surprised to see moves for Joe Cole, Peter Odemwingie, Phil Jagielka, Jack Rodwell and James Milner.

Wiel Coerver RIP 22 April 2011

A Tribute by Alfred Galustian & Charlie Cooke

(Co-founders Coerver Coaching)

Wiel Coerver R.I.P (3 December 1924 - 22 April 2011)

Wiel Coerver was a Football Genius and was nicknamed “the Albert Einstein of Football”.

He died 22 April in his birthplace Kerkrade.

A History

In the late 1970s, Dutch European Championship winning coach Wiel Coerver led a revolution in football coaching. He was dissatisfied with the lack of individual skills and emphasis on defensive play in the professional game. An emphasis that many thought, was stifling the more exciting, attacking style of play necessary to score goals and attract fans.

Up to that point, little attention had been given to individual skill development, because no one knew quite how to teach these skills. It was also widely assumed that the great players of the game were innately gifted far beyond the capabilities of the average player.

Wiel Coerver challenged the widely held belief that talent was innate and could not be produced or improved by correct coaching methods. He then set up establishing such programs.

Coerver's early focus was on teaching ball mastery and 1 v 1 skills by encouraging players to emulate the “moves” of football’s all-time greats, such as Sir Stanley Matthews, Cryuff, Beckenbauer and Pele.

Part of Wiel’s legacy is that over one million players and thousands of Coaches have attended Coerver Programs all over the World since 1984, and the way Football has been taught around the World has changed because of Wiel.

  

What Wiel meant to us by Alfred Galustian, Coerver Coaching co-founder

In 1983, a football conference in Philadelphia changed everything for us. We happened to walk past a room where Wiel Coerver was showing four kids some turns with the ball. We went and sat down to watch and he kept us captivated. I had never seen anybody teaching 1v1 skills before, neither had Charlie.

The concept was something we were really excited about. Focusing on teaching individual skills to young players as a priority before any team or tactical concept.  It just made sense. Wiel agreed that Charlie and I could use his name, and in 1984 Charlie and I began what is now Coerver Coaching.

Wiel was a tough teacher over these 30 years, and constantly pushed us to add and improve our Coerver programs. Even two weeks ago when I was with him in the hospital, he took out his note pad and drew some new drills! We experienced this passion and energy for almost 30 years, and it made Charlie and I more determined to continually improve Coerver Coaching.

For all of us involved in Coerver Coaching in more than 22 countries for almost 30 years, Wiel Coerver changed our lives and inspired us to expand his philosophy all over the world.

Go to www.coerveruae.com to keep up to date with latest news

Summer Coaching

Hello all,

After a good 3 months of plyer development we've seen some massive improvements in technique and I'm very proud to say in attitude as well.

Our Technical Theme for last term was 'Fast Break Attack' in which we concentrated on speed, running with the ball, 1 v 1 feints, the 'killer' pass and one-touch finishing.  Our Personal Theme was 'Respect'.  To us, using football as a vehicle to develop young people's personality is a massive part of the work we do.  It is made all the more difficult by famous players such as Ashley Cole and Gattuso showing no respect for referee's or opposition coach's!  However, we start and end every session with hand shakes and jump on any opportunity we see during our session to highlight issues with respect.  Some examples we eradicated were a little bit of bad language(!), calling each other names, mocking each others abilities and personal attributes such as accents as well as being able to step into interactions between players and their parents where  disrespect was shown.

All our staff have taken a huge amount of self-satisfaction from the development we've seen, parent and player feedback and the very high levels of player retention for the upcoming term.

We're now heading into summer and for those of you who've never experienced the heat in the UAE during these months, let me just tell you now....it's HOT!  As such we've been battling to secure indoor venues to protect our players, parents and coaches.  Both Regents International School in The Greens, Dubai and Al Ain Men's College have great indoor facilities for us to run our summer themes.

Our Technical Theme is 'Creating and Exploiting Space' and our Personal Theme is 'Teamwork'.  We're start these sessions on Sunday 24th April 2011 in Al Ain and Monday 25th April in Dubai.  We have a few places left in each age group and as always are offering free taster sessions for players and parents to experience the Coerver method and to see what really does make us different.

If you or anyone else would like to take up this open invitation logo on to www.coerveruae.com and sign up for our academy programme.

Until then....Dream, Believe, Achieve