Pep Guardiola – CaughtOffside

Decision on 115 charges facing Man City is years away with club “very confident” they’ll be cleared

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:49:10 +0000

Everton’s 10-point deduction appears to have sent shockwaves through football, however, Man City remain supremely confident that they’ll be found not guilty of the 115 charges levelled against them.

The scale of charges against the current Premier League and European champions means that it’ll likely be at least a couple of years before the club are brought to book, even though Football Insider have noted that Liverpool are at least one club that would prefer everything is resolved before the start of the 2024/25 season.

It’s surely in the interests of the wider football family and not just the Premier League that City are either punished or absolved of any wrongdoing as quickly as possible.

The amount of paperwork to be gone through appears to be what’s holding the entire process up, and all the while, City can try their level best to hoover up as many titles as are available. In the last few years they’ve made a good go of doing so too.

Football Insider also quote a well-placed source as suggesting the club are “very confident” of being found not guilty because of their heavily-manned legal team.

It can’t be forgotten that City have some of the wealthiest owners in world football, and to that end, they should be able to afford best-in-class legal representation.

More Stories / Latest News

Arsenal will prioritise a move for 25-year-old PL star in January

Nov 24 2023, 11:35

Carlton Palmer expects Leicester City player to leave the club in summer

Nov 24 2023, 11:30

Major Leicester player to move on after his contract expires next summer

Nov 24 2023, 11:26

There seems little that anyone can do at this point other than to let the saga take its course.

Ultimately, whether they’re found guilty or not, questions will surely be asked over the time it’s taken for this matter to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

The post Decision on 115 charges facing Man City is years away with club “very confident” they’ll be cleared appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Legendary Barcelona ace that played alongside Messi could be jailed for nine years

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 20:32:43 +0000

When Lionel Messi was in his Barcelona pomp they were, unquestionably, the best team in the world.

They’ve long since been that of course with manager, Pep Guardiola, now ensuring his Man City side have taken on that particular mantle.

That Barca side, from 2008/09 to 2014/15, have to also be in the conversation for the best ever sides, and though Messi was the King of Camp Nou, he didn’t do it all on his own.

Neymar, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, David Villa, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and many, many more, all played their part.

One player who dovetailed brilliantly with Messi and, in fact, provided the second most assists (42) to him during his time at the club, per Planet Football, was marauding right-back, Dani Alves.

Only Luis Suarez with 47 assists tops that particular list, evidencing just how important Alves was to Messi’s earlier years at Barcelona.

Unfortunately, their trajectories have gone in opposite directions now.

Messi was, finally, victorious at a World Cup with Argentina in 2022 and is now seeing out his playing days at Inter Miami.

Alves also played at the last World Cup, however, he was then arrested in January for alleged sexual assault in December in Barcelona, after the tournament in Qatar had finished.

BBC Sport report that he’s been in jail since January with no possibility of bail, and that the Spanish Public Prosecutor is recommending a term of nine years in jail for the Brazilian who has also seen his marriage fail as a result of the allegations.

The post Legendary Barcelona ace that played alongside Messi could be jailed for nine years appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester City vs Liverpool team news

Connor Holden — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Manchester City (1st in the Premier League) take on Liverpool (2nd in the Premier League) on Saturday 25th of November, at the Etihad Stadium, at 12:30 PM (GMT).

The last time these two sides faced, Manchester City beat Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad. Goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish for City, and a goal from Mohamed Salah for Liverpool.

Manchester City drew their last Premier League game, drawing 4-4 with Chelsea in an eight goal thriller. Goals were scored by Erling Haaland (x2), Manuel Akanji and Rodri for City, whilst Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer scored for Chelsea.

Liverpool won their last Premier League game, beating Brentford 3-0 at Anfield. Goals from Mohamed Salah (x2) and Diogo Jota secured the victory and three points for Liverpool.

How to watch Manchester City vs Liverpool

Date: Saturday, November 25th, 2023
Kickoff: 12:30 PM (GMT)
TV Network: Sky Sports
Venue: Etihad Stadium

Team News:

Manchester City will be without John Stones, Sergio Gomez, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Kevin De Bruyne through injury, whilst Erling Haaland, Nathan Ake and Ederson will undergo further medical checks before determining their fitness ahead of the Liverpool clash.

Liverpool will be without Andrew Robertson, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, whilst Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones will undergo further fitness testing ahead of the City game on Saturday.

Predicted XI:

Manchester City: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Dias, Walker, Rodri, Silva, Doku, Alvarez, Foden, Haaland.

Liverpool: Alisson, Tsimikas, van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold, Mac Allister, Endo, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Nunez, Salah.

The post Manchester City vs Liverpool team news appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive: Player welfare must be paramount after Man City pay £1.2m for a 15-year-old

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:26:11 +0000

News that Man City have spent £1.2m to buy a promising 15-year-old talent will likely have been met with shock and disgust in some quarters.

Some 44 years after Trevor Francis became the first £1m player, that ceiling has now been breached by a player in his mid-teens.

How the game has moved on… or not.

Such transfers appear to be beyond the wildest dreams of most clubs, though with City’s obvious wealth, nothing appears to be off limits.

Former super agent and co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, has sounded a note of caution, however.

“After signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported,” he said for his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“[…] There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.”

The other issue of course remains the financial disparity between the biggest clubs and the rest.

Game after game, week after week, month after month and season after season, the status quo remains the same. The same clubs winning the trophies or getting into the top European competitions every year.

Smith believes that the Premier League should be keen to avoid such a scenario.

“Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees?” he added.

“Rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

“Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

“Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time.

“I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players.”

What will be very interesting is just how far clubs will go in the future in order to secure young talent before any of their competitors have managed to get their hands on said player.

After all, how many people thought that they’d ever see the day where a 15-year-old’s registration would change hands for over £1m….

The post Exclusive: Player welfare must be paramount after Man City pay £1.2m for a 15-year-old appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Man City should be punished if guilty and regulators must show backbone says EPL co-creator

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 15:45:17 +0000

The news of Everton’s 10-point deduction has sent shockwaves through football, with the co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, suggesting that champions, Man City, must also be punished – but only if they’re found guilty.

It’s clear that Smith is taking a considered view of City’s alleged misdemeanours, and prefers to sit on the side of the fence that believes everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

In order for the club to be given a fair hearing, that is the viewpoint that everyone should adopt of course.

Sadly, in the social media age, trial by the mob seems to be something that many like to get on board with, without even bothering to digest a shred of evidence.

“With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group,” Smith said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either.

“If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.”

The point Smith makes about the regulators baring their teeth is a salient one.

On far too many occasions in the past, clubs that have done wrong in some way, get a token punishment by the authorities, be that the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA or whomever, and it really isn’t a deterrent to them.

Perhaps that’s why the 10 points metered out to Everton feels different. Is different.

Even so, Smith still feels that points deductions aren’t enough of a deterrent for the punishments to be worthwhile.

“Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership,” he added.

“So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.”

The post Man City should be punished if guilty and regulators must show backbone says EPL co-creator appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more

Jon Smith — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:34:02 +0000

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses Everton’s 10-point deduction, why VAR has to stay, why Mikel Arteta was wrong – and more!

—

£1.2m for a 15-year-old is vulgar but if all teams can choose from the same selection pool, what’s the problem?

Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees?

I am one of the people that helped to start the Premier League. It’s all about the competition, and it has been enormously successful because it’s the best footballing competition in the world.

I mean, people around the world didn’t know what Reading was, they thought it was a book you read. They never knew where Wigan was until it was in the Premier League. There were even people arriving on trips from Asia to see Wigan.

So, rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time.

I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players.

However, after signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported.

Some of the biggest, saddest moments in my 40 years in football have come when that lovely young kid who’s an Arsenal fan actually gets signed by Arsenal and he’s a hero at school because he’s an Arsenal lad… but he gets to 15 and he’s just not what they want or he’s not good enough…

There’s no real mental support for kids who suddenly find that their life has been devastated. It’s scary. You’re grappling with coming to terms with exams, your own sexuality, and suddenly you’re a failure at 15.

You’re not of course, because you did really brilliantly by being where you are and there’s absolutely life outside of Arsenal Football Club, but that’s where I’m coming from.

There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.

Football could learn a lot from the way rugby conducts itself

I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example.

I even see it when watching kids play football on a Saturday. It’s not just the kids arguing with the referee, it’s the parents too, and in one case I saw a referee being pushed a few weeks ago. I thought that was beyond belief – and he wasn’t sent off. The parents are encouraging it, shouting abusive language at the referee.

I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.

You cannot let the violent society we live in translate onto a football pitch. I’ve never known my country to be so violent in all my 70 years. It’s a ridiculous world we live in now and it’s not going to get any better any time soon.

Our football leagues need to lead from the front. It’s the most watched, entertaining and enjoyed physical activity on the planet other than sex, so time to lead by emotional example here.

I do think an orange card or sin-binning would be a great idea too because the game has to keep evolving and it would hopefully calm things down a bit more. I believe that there should be some penalty, so maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be – especially if it’s the last 20 minutes.

I think that’s something that I would absolutely encourage the Premier League to look at.

I like VAR, it’s here to stay, but vast improvements must be made

I like VAR but I know that a lot of people don’t.

In the past I’ve been working with nation states at World Cup tournaments when the ball has definitely crossed the line. I’ve seen it cross the line but the referee was 30 yards behind play and didn’t see it, nor did the assistant referee.

They’ve gone out of the competition at that stage and probably lost millions of potential income for their Federation because of a poor decision.

So I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand.

The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way.

There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement.

That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now.

There were a few space disasters before man landed on the moon. I think we’ve got to be cognisant that it may take a year or two, but I think they’ll get it right.

It’s important they do and I absolutely believe the crowd should be involved in the engagement of the process.

Multi-club ownership isn’t wrong but has to be policed properly

In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful.

If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds.

So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay. Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them.

Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.

Everton should absolutely be punished… as should every other club if they’ve broken the rules

Let’s talk Everton for a moment. The rules are there for a reason and they should be obeyed.

There’s been some unfortunate circumstances around Everton but it’s not the most heinous crime of the lot by comparison to what’s alleged at Man City.

I think the 10 point deduction is a salutary moment because it will make make clubs sit up and take notice and think about what they might have done in the past.

For example, we’ve had Paris Saint-Germain allegedly skirting merrily around certain regulations and financial fair play, and apparently having no sanctions at all.

With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group .

However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either.

If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.

I am concerned that the governing bodies are becoming relatively benevolent for obvious reasons of requiring the financial support from some of the sizeable sovereign funds that are around, less so to the big hedge fund owners – but even they get a doff of the cap occasionally.

So, I am concerned that if Qatar, Saudi Arabia or whomever want to change the rules, they’ve got more access to people at the top of the game than others.

It needs to be literally a level playing field for everyone to have access to the lawmakers or else the supporters will start to drift away – and at that point, you lose the heartbeat of the game.

Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership.

So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.

The post Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive: Manchester City have “plan” for wonderkid transfer, Barcelona not in talks now – expert

Mark Brus — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 09:16:00 +0000

Manchester City have a plan in place for the future potential transfer of Brazilian wonderkid Savio from another City Group club Girona.

This is according to Fabrizio Romano, who told CaughtOffside about City’s long-term plan for Savio and who ruled out talks with Barcelona for the moment in today’s edition of his exclusive Daily Briefing column.

Savio has done really well for Girona in La Liga this season, so one imagines City won’t be in too much of a hurry to bring him to the Etihad Stadium just yet while there’s the risk of disrupting the progress he’s making in Spain.

Still, Pep Guardiola might do well to bring the 19-year-old forward in at some point, perhaps as an eventual successor to Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland.

Savio celebrates a goal for Girona

Barca have also been linked with Savio in recent times, but it seems Romano isn’t convinced by those stories, and he suggests City would perhaps have some advantage in this transfer battle anyway.

West Ham enquire about signing £150k-a-week England playmaker

Jason Pettigrove — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:13:35 +0000

As the January transfer window comes into view, West Ham need to seriously consider how much they want to spend and who they need to buy in order to push them forward in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.

The east Londoners, after a decent start to the season, seem to have gone a little off the boil of late, though the upcoming fixtures and festive programme does hand them a chance to claw themselves back up the table before any new additions are added.

One area where they’ve struggled is up front, with centre-forward, Michail Antonio, managing just two goals so far per WhoScored.

Whether the Jamaican international remains at the club beyond the next window is a moot point, but he was quite vocal on The Footballer’s Football Podcast about an “unreal” player that he’d love the Hammers to sign.

Antonio name checked Man City’s £150,000 per week (Capology) midfielder, Kalvin Phillips, and, as Tutto Juve now note, the Hammers appear to be in for him.

Kalvin Phillips in action

Given that it’s believed that the likes of Juventus and Newcastle are interested in the player’s services too, it would be a real coup if David Moyes could land Phillips in January.

From the player’s point of view, a move away from City has to appeal given the close proximity of the European Championship and the need for him to be visible and playing in order to get a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad.

The post West Ham enquire about signing £150k-a-week England playmaker appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester City may have a replacement for Pep Guardiola already lined up

Mehdi Gokal — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 22:04:56 +0000

Manchester City may have a ready-made replacement for Pep Guardiola already lined up in Girona boss Michel Sanchez.

Girona who are owned by the City Football Group have been the surprise team in the La Liga this season as they currently sit on top of the league, two points above Real Madrid and 4 points above Barcelona.

They have won 11 games in the league, drawing one and losing one, and have won 5 games in a row now.

The stunning form has garnered praise for the young manager with the club sporting director Quique Carcel claiming that his manager has all the qualities to take over the reigns from Pep at City one day.

He said (via Mundo Deportivo):

“[Sanchez] has the talent to lead a big club like Manchester City [but] still needs time to get there to this type of benches.

“City plays football that Míchel, with a smaller club, is being able to do. Although for him to train them, a lot of coordination has to happen, like Pep making the decision to leave.

“[He’s] happy in the team, with a contract and with the desire to continue making the project great. The pressures in Girona are different from those he may have on a bigger bench.”

Man City in race against time to change terms of Erling Haaland’s contract

Jason Pettigrove — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 10:59:01 +0000

Erling Haaland’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons this week regarding her client’s future at Man City.

“Erling is the master of own destiny, always,” she said to Relevo (h/t Fabrizio Romano on X).

“He will always do what’s good for him and for Man City. When they all are open to make a change, it will happen. Erling will always be respectful.

“For sure respect has to be on both club and player side. I’ve no doubts, Man City will respect him.

“If something has to happen one day, we will agree on every step together with the club. It’s always about respect”

The Norwegian striker’s current deal ends in 2025, and as 90Min report, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still interested in bringing him to Spain.

Furthermore, though there doesn’t to be any panic at this point, it’s clear that Man City are in a bit of a race against time to get any new terms or a higher release clause sorted, making it more difficult for potential buyers to acquire him.

With Kylian Mbappe expected to move to Los Blancos next summer, a switch to Barcelona 12 months later would ignite a battle that would be comparable to the Messi v Ronaldo clashes of the past decade.

Were Madrid able to afford Haaland, seeing him play alongside the French World Cup winner, assisted by the likes of Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler et al would surely place Los Blancos back at the pinnacle of world football.

For now, City will need to work hard and fast to persuade Haaland that, in fact, his future remains on the blue side of Manchester.

If he can come out and put any rumours to bed, then there’s no story here, however, all the while he remains silent, those rumours will continue.

The post Man City in race against time to change terms of Erling Haaland’s contract appeared first on CaughtOffside.