Not so silent

A big night for the Commission at the Oscars.

The 84th Academy Awards was a glittering night of stars, glamour, extravagant frocks and, if you looked closely (no, closer than that), the European Commission. T

he Commission’s MEDIA programme, which supports the European film industry, had given money to help seven of the nominated films this year, two of which were big winners on Oscars night. The Iron Lady, a biopic about a renowned supporter of the EU, won two statuettes, thanks in part to €1.5 million in distribution money from the Commission. It was an even better night for The Artist, which received a less generous €17,000 from MEDIA, but still picked up five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. 

Unlike The Artist, the Commission could not stay silent. Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, praised “a great night for the European film industry and the MEDIA programme”.

The Munich-based outfit are eager to agree fresh terms with prominent figures on and off the field, with David Alaba another of those in future talks

Bayern Munich are working on a new deal for interim coach Hansi Flick and extended stays for key men such as Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and David Alaba, says former club president Uli Hoeness.

The reigning Bundesliga champions took the decision to make a change in the dugout back in November 2019.

Niko Kovac was removed from his role at the Allianz Arena amid struggles to establish consistency, with Flick handed the reins and charged with the task of steadying the ship.

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More teams

He has done a fine job of that, with Bayern back at the summit domestically and waiting to discover if they will be given the chance to push through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Such efforts are going to be rewarded, with Flick in line to land a permanent contract.

Hoeness told Sport1: “I can’t say anything about that; the executive board decides that for us.

“I think Hansi Flick has done a super job thus far. At some point, the board will approach the supervisory board with a proposal. That will certainly now happen sometime in the near future.”

While Flick’s future needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, several senior stars in the playing ranks are approaching the final 12 months of their respective terms.

World Cup winners Neuer, Muller and Jerome Boateng fall into that category, along with Alaba, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez, and exit talk has been sparked as contracts run down in Bavaria.

Questions have been asked of Boateng’s future for some time, while Alaba has hinted that he may be tempted to take on a new challenge after spending his entire career to date with Bayern.

Hoeness cannot see the German champions parting with any player that they consider to be key to the cause, with retention discussions having already been held.

He added: “We have four or five important players whose contracts expire next year.

“I know that talks are happening currently with all of them, and I hope very much that everything goes successfully.”

Bayern have plenty of time to focus on contract talks at present as the Bundesliga is among those divisions to have shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Test of nerve for EU over fiscal discipline

Commission to publish assessments of national economies.

The eurozone’s claim that it has improved the surveillance of national budgets and tax policies will be put to the test next week, when the European Commission is to publish individual assessments of the national economies.

What may make or break the reputation of the eurozone’s surveillance will be how critical the Commission chooses to be of France.

Behind the scenes, Commission officials working for Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs and the euro, are discussing the wording of their assessments.

While they want to give France’s newly elected president, Franc¸ois Hollande, some room for manoeuvre before he announces a comprehensive budget plan for 2013, they do not want to leave themselves open to the accusation that they are failing to hold eurozone governments to account.

The Commission acquired powers to intervene over national budgets under rules agreed by the EU last year, but what remains uncertain is how energetically the Commission will exercise those powers. In theory, the Commission has powers to demand that national governments keep their budgets under control.

The recommendations, to be published on Wednesday (30 May), form part of the ‘European Semester’ of economic policy co-ordination. They will specify further budgetary steps, structural reforms and growth-enhancing measures that member states should adopt over the next 12 months.

A senior EU diplomat said that the most significant element of the Commission’s country-specific recommendations would be the “very carefully crafted language about France”.

The diplomat said that those discussions went to the heart of the credibility of eurozone leadership. “It’s not about Greece or Portugal or Spain but about France,” he said.

He added: “The conversation that [the EU is] not having yet, but that will definitely come, is what is going to happen in France.”

France is saddled with huge public debt, nearly 90% of gross domestic product (GDP), and its budget deficit in 2013 is expected to be 4.2% of GDP, significantly above its 3% target.

Hollande has vowed to bring the deficit under control, but his support for France’s 35-hour working week, his refusal to liberalise employment law and his pledge to reverse the plan of Nicolas Sarkozy, his predecessor, to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, clashes head-on with recommendations that the Commission is expected to make.

Leaders of the European Union’s member states were meeting in Brussels last night (23 May) for the first time since the election of Hollande as president, in what has been billed as an opportunity for Hollande to air his views on encouraging economic growth.

But ahead of their dinner diplomats were stressing that the informal discussions were only a prelude to the next formal European Council on 28-29 June.

By the time of that meeting, the political landscape may have shifted. Ireland will hold a referendum on the fiscal compact treaty on 31 May. France will hold parliamentary elections on 10 and 17 June. Greece will hold a second general election on 17 June.

Arsenal star Pablo Mari has hailed the influence of fellow centre-back David Luiz.

The Spaniard joined the Gunners from Flamengo in January but had to wait until the beginning of March to make his debut, keeping two clean sheets in two appearances.

Mari played alongside Luiz on both occasions and the new signing lauded the Brazilian who is “easy” to play with.

“We know that David is an unbelievable player,” Mari said.”He’s had a good career and is a good football player, and also playing with him is so easy.

 

 

“These two games with him in the starting XI were nice because I only focused on my job and I didn’t need to focus on other jobs.

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“This is easy when you want to have a big game. We know he’s an experienced player and sometimes when you need to do different things in the last minutes, like when you need to make calls or something like this, he can do it. For us, it’s easy to play with him.”

 

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More ways to finish the season
So I’ve been waiting quite patiently for someone else to suggest this, because I didn’t want to be the one to write in and say it, but there is an elegant and fair solution to resolving the current Premier League predicament – one that no one can really dispute the fairness of. It’s a solution which doesn’t overly congest the fixture calendar, allows the current league season to be finished properly, doesn’t delay the start of next season, and doesn’t require the cancellation of any competitions.

Before I go ahead and say it, I’ll acknowledge that there is some bias here as I am a Liverpool fan. So obviously I’m sensitive to the injustice of voiding Liverpool’s incredible achievement this season. I’ll also point out that a lot of the people proposing to void the Premier League this season are also sensitive to this – the ones who are delighted about the prospect of cancellation are delighted precisely because they recognise that to all intents and purposes it was a done deal. What brings them so much joy is that what their proposing as the only fair thing to do is also gobsmackingly unfair to Liverpool. I’m not saying this applies to all people proposing cancellation, just the ones who are delighting in it.

All the same, I do see people’s perspective that simply awarding Liverpool the title might feel a bit unsatisying as a solution, even though obviously I think that would be justified (hey, I’m acknowledging bias here). And besides, it doesn’t give you a really fair way to resolve champions league places etc, because it’s not like we have a top 4 that are 25 points ahead of the rest of the pack (in which case this wouldn’t really be an issue).

So the solution is this. Assuming football can go ahead again in August or hopefully a while before that, you play the remaining fixtures of the current Premier league season from the same time that the next Premier league season would have started, and those games all count towards the 2019/2020 season.

But – here’s the twist – those 9 or 10 games also count towards the 2020/2021 season, and the new season simply continues from there.

Just to make sure I’m being clear, suppose for the first two or three months of next season Liverpool win only 3 points and Manchester City only blemish their record with one defeat. Liverpool would be crowned Champions for 2020 at that point, with a points total of 85 to Manchester City’s 84, but would be (presumably) bottom of the table for the new season, with City probably leading the title race on 27 points with 10 games played.

So you don’t have to play any additional games and you don’t need to delay the start of the next season, but you also have a completely fair way to resolve all of the final positions for this season’s Premier league. Nobody needs to feel cheated in any way and nobody can dispute any trophies won or squandered. Yes, it’s very counterintuitive that a game of football could count towards two seasons at once, but it isn’t at all unfair, which is the point.

Now, this obviously means you have to play the 2020/2021 Premier league with the same teams as in the current season, which is the only actual downside of the plan. So you give all of the teams that would have been promoted financial compensation equivalent to what they would have earned. Yes, it’s not as good as actual promotion, but it’s still very fair to everyone and it gives these teams an equivalent advantage as far as their long term trajectory is concerned.

As for Europe, you resume the 2019/2020 Champions League season in September and crown the 2020 European Champions by the end of the year. For the 2020/2021 Champions League, the clubs who end up qualifying for Europe in the current season get to participate in a truncated competition with the same number of teams but fewer games – for example avoiding a group stage and possibly even holding one-off games in neutral venues instead of two-legged knockout ties. This runs from February 2021 to May 2021.

So basically you can still resolve all competitions with the same number of games happening in the period from August 2020 to May 2021. Can anyone see an actual flaw in this plan? I’ve been thinking about it for three days and haven’t been able to find one so far, but maybe others can.
Matt, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

 

…To be fair to all concerned and ease fixture congestion, why not start next season with the same schedule as the remaining fixtures for this season and have then as 6 pointers i.e. the result of the game serves as the result for the fixture in both seasons.

The season is played out in full and the new one is not delayed.

The promoted or relegated clubs would have a bit of a backlog but could be mitigated in a number of ways. If their fate is confirmed with games to spare and the opposing team has nothing to play for in the current season they could agree a 0-0 draw and save a game. If one side is confirmed as promoted and another relegated and all remaining opponents agree, they could swap fixtures and get a head start on the new season.

I’m sure there are lots of holes in this proposal and people would disagree, but even as a United fan ( yes there is only one) and as much as I would love it, voiding the season would be a travesty for all affected.
JD (cant believe I saying this as both Liverpool and Leeds would benefit)

 

…This season cannot be voided under any circumstances, Liverpool must have the chance to wrap up their well deserved title (hurts to say that) and Champions League and Relegation issues must be decided on the pitch. With the current suspension of play likely to continue beyond the current date of April the 3rd and with the European Championships probably being moved to next summer, I just don’t see how all league fixtures survive for both this season and next. What if next season we do something similar to Scotland and do a split? It isn’t ideal but I think the integrity of the league will still stand up if it is done this way and could actually be really exciting. Here is a rough idea of how to implement it:

1. Each team plays each other once, the home and away aspect is partly random but with some sort of protection so that you don’t end up playing every top 10 team away from home.- 19 games

2. After the 19 games are completed, the top 8 play each other once at neutral venues around the UK- Wembley, Cardiff etc- 7 Games, The bottom 5 can play each other twice, 8 games with bottom 3 getting relegated.

3. There is a two legged final- home and away to decide the league Champions- 2 games, taken from the mini league- and positions 3 and 4 from the mini league get the remaining Champions League spots.

This would cut the number of league games down next season and allow the remaining games of this season to be finished plus cup competitions can survive next season.
Mason Wild

 

…Going to attempt to be the latest person to come up with a solution to the coronavirus/football issue. If Euro2020 is moved to December-ish, then can’t the last 3 months of the season go September-November, giving a few weeks at the end of the season to rest before the Euros start?

It’d mean the European and domestic competitions can continue, just with a pause, and 6 months is very likely to be long enough for the virus to calm down. Likewise, it’ll mean a Calendar Year season can become the norm in preparation for the winter 2022 World Cup, and can either be continued like that afterwards, or else gently brought back to normal by shifting the season back.

There’s still an issue with player contracts expiring, I’m not sure if there could be a mutual agreement between player and club to extend the contract for 6 months, as I don’t think it’ll be massively beneficial for either for the contract to expire in most circumstances. Likewise, transfers would probably have to be banned for this summer, and an extended window November – February or something.

I imagine there are some issues with this, but it’ll mean that everything can actually be finished, and there won’t be a season without football etc, (just the period March-August/September 2020)

Be interested in others thoughts on this,

Thanks!
Mark, Ireland

 

…The more we learn about Covid-19, the clearer the situation has become, namely:

1: Many people never experience serious symptoms, or, like Mikel Arteta, just need a paracetamol and a rest.

2: Young, healthy people are at very low risk.

3: We will all catch it eventually, the government’s strategy is explicitly now to manage the outbreak until at least 60% of the population have been infected.

The answer to me is obvious. The Premier league should hire a luxury hotel or two large enough for all players, coaches training staff etc. and kit it out with the latest in high-tech medical equipment that only, say, a multi-billion pound organisation can afford. Make sure all the currently infected players are invited. Over the next few weeks every single person involved in premier league football will catch the virus and recover. Most will have nothing more than a mild cough, for the unlucky, there’ll be the best ventilator money can buy.

When everyone is recovered in two weeks, the season goes on. Perhaps they’ll be behind closed doors or with reduced crowds, but the players will have nothing to fear and the season can roll to an end maybe over running by a week but no more.

If this sounds fanciful to you, remember point 3 above and ask how long it will take for all those players to catch it by natural transmission.
Barry, Chippenham.

 

…Of course Karen Brady would think this season should be voided , LIverpool not winning the title should not be a reason to not conclude actually very competitive European , competitions or a decent FA Cup .Here are my suggestion as much as possible compress everything including next season if necessary .(playoffs etc ) here is how it would work .

Premiership

Depending on time available

1 Play all the remaining games across Sat -Midweek Saturday .If necessary next season should have fewer games after the first 19 games the top ten should only play each other same with the bottom 10 with the highest team in the bottom half only able to finish 11th .

Where there is not enough time, round the league up to 30 games at least and have playoffs for what can’t be determined hand the title to Liverpool have a playoff between those teams within 4th and 7th and another playoff for 16 to 18th with the loser relegated . Similar would apply to lower leagues.

European Competitions play out the remaining round of 16 clashes , The games involving Spanish and Italian teams are played in a neutral venue . Quarters to final are all played in one week over one leg in the location of the final.

FA CUP play everything within a week as well the week before the European competitions get done this is achievable as no non premiership club is involved.

European Cup Playoffs – Those involved can play them while other teams are tuning up with meaningless friendlies
Roode, MUFC

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…After driving to work and actually giving up on listening to the radio due to Corona fatigue, (there was actually less discussion of Brexit than this farce) and listening to the tripe that Mark Saggers was spouting in Shoutsport, I got to thinking about the fairest way to decide the season’s outcomes, as plainly the most unsatisfactory outcome is for the season to be voided, especially for the Leaders and the bottom teams of every division.
I reckon that if the results of every teams first games of every month from the start of the season up to March are added up and the points total is then divided by the number of games, a mean figure is achieved which can then be multiplied by the number of that team’s remaining games to give them a points achieved to be added to their total which would give final standings.
The beauty of this idea is that if teams have played fewer games they will receive extra points, but, not only that, any teams who have had upturns in form will benefit from an improved average points total due to results taken throughout the season.
Of course, for any club that has been shite throughout the season so far, it won’t matter as they’ll earn the points they deserve, but for the teams that are improving, Everton, Burnley etc. It should accurately reflect that.
Just my tuppence worth.
Mike Swords, LFC, Wigan.

 

…Might have been suggested already.

But could we just go off the point as the halfway mark after everyone has played each other once?

Seems as fair as all the other terrible suggestions.

It was suggested scrapping relegations but keeping promotions. This seems like the least fair system going and screams of someone who’s team are in the relegation zone. And that’s from a Swindon fan who are second (or top in my system I think). Either way, needs to be all or nothing.
James STFC

 

…In the event of an abandoned season, if people are so desperate for Liverpool to win two more games to prove they’re 2019/20 champions, why not award the title if Liverpool win two of the first nine games of the following season (or if City lose two over the same period)? Those results would still count anew for that season, but they’d effectively count double for the sake of clearing up this mess. They’d still be the next 9 games the club play in the league? If people were concerned it were against different clubs, just start next season with the remaining fixtures of this? While it wouldn’t solve the relegation issue it could at least decide the champions.
CG, LA

 

…I propose each club nominates a player to take part in a 20 team blink-off competition. Commentary from Barry Davies of course.
@rubym83

 

I’ve put some thought into the fairest way to end the season. I was thinking a good old fashioned dance off could work. But then i figured Pogba and Lingard have been practising for the last few seasons for this scenario so that wouldnt be fair.
Next I thought we could settle it with a Bake Off but most footballers probably dont know where the kitchen is in their own house, let alone know how to bake a sourdough loaf of bread or whip up a sponge cake. So it’d be like an even shittier version of celebrity bake off, which no one will want to watch. Also if things keep escalating it might be difficult to source the ingredients in Tescos.
So I’ve concluded that the fairest way to settle all the leagues has to be a WWE style Royal Rumble. I’m going to assume most people get the concept of how the Royal Rumble works. Every team gets to pick one player to fight for them. Obviously the later you enter the ring the better chance you have of winning so fighters enter based on their current league position, so Norwich and Villa will get the contest underway and Liverpool being the last to enter.
So long as Man CIty haven’t got the Undertaker on their books through some shady sponsorship arrangement I reckon this is the fairest way.
John Bunt, Dublin

 

…Why not settle the football season using Pro Evo Soccer or Fifa.

The manager of each team picks an 11 who are randomly assigned an opponent.

The teams play as themselves in the game.

Add all the scores up at the end to see who won and if you want to get a
normal style score for the records, take the median or average.

I’m sure most players are more than familiar with the xbox or PlayStation.
Andrew, Cambridge

 

Maths is fun
Liverpool has 82 points with 9 matches remaining while Man City has 57 with 10 remaining. What is the chance of Man City catching Liverpool, by finishing with more or equal points, assuming they will have better goal difference? Here are my results under several scenarios:

Use current win percentages from league table ( LFC – W 93% D 3% L 3%; MCFC – W 64% D 11% L 25%) – the chance is 1 in 118,081,690,789.
MCFC current percentages; LFC lose form with W D L as 33%, i.e. random – 1 in 1,440
MCFC current percentages; LFC lose all 9 matches – 1 in 6
MCFC wins all 10 matches; LFC current percentages – 1 in 4,834,662,414
MCFC wins all 10 matches; LFC random – 1 in 28
I hope a mathematician can calculate to see if I am correct. It is clear Man City cannot catch Liverpool for all intents and purposes.
S Ma

 

Karma a century on
You may know the story.

The first division was expanded from 20 to 22 clubs at the end of the 1915-1916 season, with the plan that no team would be relegated and, as usual, the top two in Division Two would be promoted. A corrupt Arsenal director (who was later banned from football) was instead able to arrange it so that the bottom club in Division One (Tottenham) was relegated and Arsenal, who had finished sixth in Division 2, were promoted. He was assisted in this by the Chairman of Liverpool FC.

It may have taken 104 years, but if Liverpool is denied the title this season, the club will finally have received its karma.
Mike

 

You’ve got to laugh
Bobby, mate, please just try to lighten up, if you can. In these dark times, people need a good dose of gallows humour to get them through life and if the only thing that amuses them about the CO-VID 19 outbreak is that Liverpool may be deprived of a first league title for 30 long years, you can’t seriously be all that surprised or saddened.

OK, I get from a Liverpool fan’s perspective, it’s not ideal, to put it mildly. But surely you can at least see why rival fans are chuckling to themselves at the prospect of this season being voided. For all the This Means More-ing, the This Year Is Our Year-ing and Back-On-Our-Perch-ing, and with Liverpool sailing towards the league title, something absolutely unprecedented like this comes along to potentially blow them off course. You just could not make this shit up! For rival fans, of course the prospect is delicious.

Consider how you’d feel if United or City were in Liverpool’s position right now. Could you honestly say, hand-on-heart that you would not like to see the season voided? Face it, you’d be laughing like a drain and understandably so. Such is the nature of football fandom and rivalry.

For what it’s worth, I, as a United fan would like to see this season completed eventually, and I hope it will. It’s like a game of Jumanji: if you start it, you damn well better complete it. Even if professional football cannot recommence until 26 years from now and all the surviving footballers from this season return from their self-imposed exile, in advanced middle-age, with overgrown hair and bushy beards, to complete the 2019-2020 season in the year 2046. But hopefully it won’t come to that. Hopefully it will return a lot sooner. Voiding it all is an unsatisfactory outcome for everyone.

Nobody wants this delay and disruption, least of all, Liverpool fans. And it goes without saying that we all hope this thing passes quickly with no further disruption and minimal loss of life. But if the worst that will happen is football being voided for the year, surely it could be so much worse? And if that does come to pass, let’s just admit it: Next year will be your year, in all honesty!
Lee, CO-VID free, for now…

 

16 (imaginary) Conclusions
I like the idea of writing ’16 Conclusions’ about a match that never took place. (Incidentally, why sixteen and not some other more obvious number?) However, as a Spurs fan – and before reading the article – I can tell you that you are mistaken in at least two things.
1. There is no way in hell that Spurs would have scored three goals; and
2. We would have lost.

Regards,
Mike (Canada expat)

 

…I’m not sure what is worse.

A.) you did a fake 16 conclusions article
B.) I read it
C.) I’ve now written an email to you about it.

Still, a decent point there for Spurs after being 3-0 down.

Yours in tedious, non mask wearing, where is all the fucking toilet roll, I hope this is a bad dream- ness.
Andy Mac, Spurs, Vancouver.

 

Passing the time
Since this season is over now and we’ll never know if Liverpool were going to win the league, I’m looking for something else to scratch my football itch.

I’ve decided to start watching Italia 90 re-runs in real time – I was too young to remember the tournament and everyone has told me what a great tournament it was. Fortunately I never listened to them closely enough to have any idea what happened or who won etc. so COME ON ENGLAND!!

How is everyone else going to pass the time?
Rob S

 

We need the Mailbox
First things first. Speaking as a Liverpool fan, I genuinely don’t care what happens with the league. Finish the season, award Liverpool the title or scrap it all, I really am not worried about it. I’m worried about whats coming. I’m worried about 300 deaths a day in Italy and rising. I’m worried about my parents, my in-laws and my extended family who are all over 70. Who wins a football tournament is pretty far down my list of concerns.

That being said, amongst the gloom and the worry, what we need are distractions. Something to read that isn’t about Corona. Sport is my normal distraction when times are tough, and we have no sport now. It may be small and it may be silly but having mails to read in the mailbox helps. 10 minutes out of the day, reading peoples thoughts, opinions and ideas is something I’m sure we will all appreciate.

So this is my plea. Keep the mailbox going, even when there is nothing to write about. I don’t care if it’s all time best Dave XI, musings on your favourite tournament of profiles of a journeyman, let’s have something to read.
Mike, LFC, London (If you’re still saying it’s just the flu, you are a danger to others and need to actually watch or read the news).

 

Football will be back and better than ever
​Ah Johnny is back with one of “those” articles. A part of me suspect this is all some crazy scheme clicks and interactions but I’ll bite.

First, the title implies that we at all “addicted” to football and we need to kick out forever, which frankly as a football writer on a football site I find udicrous. Addicted to football is NEVER bad thing in our context, regardless of your opinion on the modern game.

Which is strange cos I remember him mentioning before that very little people watch football on TV and that he thinks prices are high cos Sky were hiding the losses? How can someone be addicted to a sport that (he claimed before) nobody watches on TV I wonder? Unless of course he is making all this up as he goes along…..

Then he claims that we are making a small group of people rich. He is correct on this, and some of them are high ranking executives and super agents. But a majority of them are footballers, who came from poor working class families, who worked hard to be some of the best in a popular lucrative profession. Yes they use their bargaining power to achieve as best salaries as they could, which most people do in reality – whether they are a union factory worker or a high flying professional.

He also writes that a lot of football talk on social media is toxic. Yes and so are 99.999% of other topics discussed on the internet, so nothing new here.

Also, the last thing he forgets is…we have been without football before: its called the summer break and it happens every year. We could have broke the so called “addiction” many.times but we did not. Sure we have transfer news but having visiting this website for 10 years plus now, the new season always comes with excitement that “actual football” is returning in the mails.

When football comes back, whenever that is, I would wager it will be MORE popular than it is now because at the core of the matter is, people love football and missing something you love will make you be glad of its return.
Yaru, Malaysia

 

The F365 Show has so far escaped the wrath of coronavirus. So we’ll be back every Thursday (probably) with more irreverent nonsense intriguing insight. Subscribe here.

Owen Hargreaves has named the Manchester United starting XI Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should pick when the whole squad is fit.

The former United midfielder favours a 3-5-2 formation, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial up front.

In midfield, Pogba and January signing Bruno Fernandes sit ahead of Nemanja Matic.

Which means youth product Scott McTominay and resurgent midfielder Fred miss out.

OPINION: 16 Conclusions: Tottenham 3-3 Manchester United

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams line up in the wing-back positions for Hargreaves, with Luke Shaw at left centre-back – a role he has impressed in of late – alongside Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

“It’s a difficult one because obviously you’ve got to build around Bruno,” Hargreaves said on The Analysis Show.

“And I think if Bruno’s in there you can only have one sitter.

“So that could easily be Pogba and that could be Bruno Fernandes but [Matic] needs to always sit.

“In the end I think you’ve got to build around your best players and your best players are Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

“So you get them in the team and that means rather than these guys getting box to box, Fred and Matic, you just need a sitter.

 

 

“The reason Man United are so far behind Man City, defensively the goals conceded are almost the same, the big difference is in terms of goals scored.

“I think they’re 20-plus behind Man City. If you can get Pogba into your side with Bruno Fernandes, with Rashford and Martial, then all of a sudden that attack is very, very good.

“You’ve got one of the best goalkeepers in the division, De Gea, one of the best defences in the Premier League outside of Liverpool and Sheffield United.

“So that’s not an issue, can you address issues further up the pitch?

“I think if you get a sitter plus Fernandes, Pogba, Rashford and Martial, that’s a great attacking line up.”

 

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UNITED WAIT FOR VAN DE BEEK OPPORTUNITY
Following Scott McTominay’s abduction in the 3-3 draw with Tottenham which took place in the murky depths of Matt Stead’s imagination on Sunday, it seems Manchester United are looking for another midfielder…

Marca reckons the Red Devils haven’t given up on Donny van de Beek. The Ajax star has had a deal lined up with Real Madrid for the best part of a year yet still he remains in Amsterdam with the transfer some way from being complete.

Apparently, Real had the agreement in place last summer but they failed to sell any of the players who they hoped would provide them with the funds to land Van de Beek. No one wanted James Rodriguez at that price and Gareth Bale stubbornly refused to be dragged off the Madrid golf courses.

That deal is still on the table for the upcoming transfer window – whenever that might open – but we know Real are easily distracted. So if they won’t give Van de Beek his big move then United are first in line to step in.

 

BELLINGHAM UNDECIDED BETWEEN FOUR CLUBS
United were hoping that they might have another midfielder in the bag after last week. Jude Bellingham was at Carrington on Friday where he apparently met Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ed Woodward, Matt Judge and Sir Alex Ferguson. Reports have suggested that Mick Hucknall, the spirit of George Best and an actual red devil were also there to greet the teenager but we haven’t yet been able to verify those claims.

But The Sun says Bellingham is still undecided over where his future lies. United have agreed a fee with Birmingham of £15million up front with another £15million in add-ons potentially taking the deal up towards £30million. Quick maths.

But so too have Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, while Chelsea also have skin in the game. Whichever club wins the race to give the youngster his first professional contract, Bellingham can expect his salary to increase 700-fold from his current terms of £145 a week.

 

ARSENAL EYE WEST HAM DEFENDER
United are also said to be interested in Issa Diop but the talk this morning around the West Ham defender is all focused on Arsenal.

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The Metro seems to think that Mikel Arteta is looking for a centre-back comfortable defending one-versus-one to allow the rest of the Arsenal team to charge forward with gay abandon, and Diop could be that guy.

Diop has been linked with United since the dark days of Jose Mourinho but they were quoted silly money last summer and Arsenal’s interest will likely strengthen the Hammers’ resolve to make a packet on the defender they signed from Toulouse in 2018 for £22million.

F365’s club-by-club season reviews: We start with Arsenal

 

AND THE REST
Harry Kane could turn down offers fro Man Utd and City to join Juventus… Juve are also planning a new deal to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at the club until 2024… Dean Henderson is expected to return to Man Utd this summer… Odion Ighalo will take a pay cut of £6million to stay at Old Trafford… Juve are also plannng a new deal to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at the club until 2024… Barcelona, Man Utd and Real Madrid will fight for 16-year-old Fenerbahce midfielder Omer Beyaz… Tottenham are keen on QPR midfielder Eberechi Eze.

 

The F365 Show has so far escaped the wrath of coronavirus. So we’ll be back every Thursday (probably) with more irreverent nonsense intriguing insight. Subscribe here.

Terminé le bling bling et la vie de château. Victimes de la crise, les têtes couronnées aussi font des économies. Etat des lieux de leurs finances…

Les voilà princes de la dèche, rois du crédit crunch, imperators des fins de mois difficiles… Car oui, sous les tiares et les bibis, là aussi c’est la crise. En première ligne? Les membres de la famille régnante de Belgique, dont les rentes (qui leur permettent, entre autres, de financer leur personnel) devraient fondre dès l’an prochain comme beurre mou au soleil. Philippe et Mathilde, les héritiers du trône, verront ainsi leur dotation amputée de 85 000 euros et «chuter» à 935 000 euros.

Le roi Albert II – qui se croyait pourtant à l’abri des mauvaises surprises – aurait, quant à lui, appris en lisant la presse que son gouvernement projetait d’alléger sa propre liste civile de 148 000 euros. Furax, le monarque, qui, il y a peu, avait déjà accepté de piocher quelque 600 000 euros dans sa cagnotte personnelle pour contribuer aux travaux du palais de Bruxelles, pourrait avoir décidé, selon le quotidien Le Soir, de «ne pas se laisser faire»… Ambiance.

Parmi les stars du gotha qui pourraient bientôt figurer à leur tour dans le cancan des altesses (limite) sans le sou: Beatrix des Pays-Bas, dont 90 % des sujets, ainsi qu’un nombre croissant de politiciens néerlandais, voudraient diminuer les revenus (40 millions d’euros l’an prochain) de 20 %. Rien que d’y penser, les Orange-Nassau voient rouge? Ils ne perdent rien pour attendre… Une partie des parlementaires souhaite en effet placer leur trésorerie sous le contrôle des autorités et leur rabioter au passage quelques avantages en nature – comme l’entretien du yacht royal, le De Groene Draeck, assuré jusqu’ici par les contribuables pour plus de 100 000 euros par an.

A en croire le très sérieux magazine Quote, auteur chaque année d’un classement des cinq cents familles les plus riches du pays, la souveraine et ses proches auraient perdu des sommes considérables depuis le début de la débâcle économique et seraient désormais exclus du club des milliardaires avec un patrimoine ramené à 800 millions d’euros. Vous avez dit (presque) fauchés? Au début de l’été, le magazine Forbes estimait qu’en douze mois, les têtes couronnées les plus prospères de la planète avaient «fondu» collectivement plus de 15,5 milliards d’euros – dont 3,5 milliards pour le seul roi de Thaïlande. En 2008, les très dépensiers Mary et Frederik de Danemark ont ainsi licencié du personnel, explosé le budget de 2,2 millions d’euros qui leur avait été alloué par l’Etat et comblé les quelque 280 000 euros de dépassement… avec leurs économies.

Par solidarité avec ses sujets, durement frappés par la récession, Juan

d’Espagne a demandé à ne pas toucher un centime de plus en 2010 que cette année (soit 8,6 millions d’euros)? Une mauvaise nouvelle pour Felipe et Letizia, qui ne perçoivent aucun revenu et dépendent entièrement du monarque sur le plan financier (le couple aurait en outre perdu une partie de son patrimoine dans l’escroquerie montée par l’ex-président du Nasdaq Bernard Madoff). A l’automne 2008, la presse suédoise s’interrogeait sur l’état des finances du roi Carl XVI Gustav, dont le portefeuille boursier avait alors déjà «rétréci» de plus de 930 000 euros. Toujours à la recherche des 49 millions d’euros qui lui manquent pour sauver ses palais du délabrement, Elisabeth II, elle, a dû, l’an dernier encore, puiser plus de 6 millions d’euros dans son bas de laine pour assurer les salaires de son staff et boucler ses fins de mois. Au train où vont les choses, Sa Majesté, dit-on, se retrouvera à court de cash en 2011. Alors, euh… A vot’ bon cœur?

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Olivier

Ce mercredi, c’est le coup d’envoi des soldes. Mais pas seulement…

Si les fashionistas se bousculent dans les grands magasins et s’arrachent, dès la première démarque, tenues et accessoires griffés. Certaines stars ont d’autres priorités. L’ancienne première dame

, la chanteuse

et l’ex-top-model devenue comédienne

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ont inauguré ce matin, la 21e édition des Pièces Jaunes.

Point de David Douillet, retenu par ses fonctions de député, mais une énorme poupée gonflable, les flashes des photographes et quelques flocons de neige ont rythmé l’événement.

Il s’agit une nouvelle fois de faire appel, jusqu’au 13 février, à la générosité des Français pour améliorer le séjour des enfants et adolescents hospitalisés.

Emmitouflées, nos dames de cœur ont donc lancé l’opération place de la Bastille à Paris. Parmi les nouveautés, de nouvelles tirelires «pile-et-face» représentant des enfants, que Mme Chirac a jugées «plus ludiques» que les anciens modèles. «Il fallait que les enfants soient plus au centre de la campagne», a dit l’épouse de l’ancien président Jacques Chirac devant la presse.

«Les hôpitaux et les équipes hospitalières comptent sur vous», a-t-elle ajouté à l’adresse des donateurs, en prenant la pose. Trois millions de tirelires seront distribuées pour récolter les dons.

Si l’opération mobilise 17 000 bureaux de poste français, elle est également présente cette année sur les réseaux sociaux Facebook et Twitter, et il sera possible, pour la première fois, de faire des dons en ligne sur le site www.piecesjaunes.fr.

La First Lady retraitée a rappelé que 4,1 millions d’euros avaient été collectés l’an dernier et que 480 projets étaient prévus en 2010. A vos porte-monnaies!

Mercredi 6 janvier 2010

Dans Mr Nobody, incarne Nemo, dans plusieurs vies qui découlent des choix différents qu’il a faits. Un thème qui trouve un écho dans la biographie de cet homme aux multiples vies.

On le connaît surtout pour son rôle dans Requiem For A Dream de Darren Aronofsky, dans lequel il incarne un junkie en quête d’une vie meilleure. Et aussi pour avoir été le petit ami de Cameron Diaz… Jared Leto a plusieurs casquettes.

Entre sa carrière de comédien et celle de musicien, son coeur a toujours balancé. Il a d’ailleurs récemment déclaré: «J’ai choisi deux voies: la musique et le cinéma. Même si c’est difficile de trouver le temps de tout faire en même temps, ça en vaut vraiment la peine» confie-t-il à L’Express.

C’est par la musique que tout commence: Jared et son frère Shannon sont bercés par la musique de Led Zeppelin et The Cure pendant leur jeunesse. Pour sortir de leur condition de «jeunes paumés», ils décident de se mettre à jouer.

Jared entre ensuite à l’University of the Arts de Philadelphie, où il peint, et apprendra la comédie au New York City School of Visual Arts.

Il fait ses premiers pas dans la série Angela, 15 ans, (My Socalled Life), où il joue Jordan, un garçon séduisant et presque illettré. Le beau gosse typique de toute série pour ados. Il devient bien sûr l’amoureux d’Angela…

La série est vite annulée, mais elle servira la popularité de Jared pendant de longues années.

En 1998, le groupe que Jared a entre-temps fondé avec son frère, 30 Seconds To Mars, sort son premier album, éponyme. Lors de la promo, Jared a davantage le look de Robert Smith de The Cure que du garçon propre sur lui qu’il jouait dans la série.

Et même si par la suite, Jared joue aux côtés des plus grands, dans La Ligne Rouge de Terrence Malick, dans Fight Club avec

, et

, dans Alexandre d’Oliver Stone aux côtés de Colin Farrell… Jared n’abandonne jamais son groupe. Il va même jusqu’à refuser un rôle dans Mémoires de Nos Pères de Clint Eastwood parce qu’il est trop pris par son groupe.

Il continue à composer et à chanter dans 30 Seconds To Mars: en 2005 sort l’album A Beautiful Lie, suivi l’année dernière par This Is War..

Pendant les années 2000, le comédien à la gueule d’ange semble parfois avoir pris la grosse tête. Il tourne moins, accepte peu de rôles: «Les gens savent que je suis très regardant sur les scénarios que l’on m’envoie et que je commence généralement par dire non avant de dire oui.»

La rencontre avec Jaco Van Dormael a donc dû être particulièrement exceptionnelle pour que l’on voie Jared débarquer à nouveau dans Mr Nobody, aux côtés d’une surprenante Diane Kruger. «Je savais qu’un réalisateur voulait me voir mais j’étais tellement occupé par ma musique que ce n’est qu’en lui parlant que je me suis rappelé de ce scénario phénoménal que j’avais lu des mois plus tôt. Et de cette sensation d’avoir quelque chose d’unique entre les mains.»

Il incarne Nemo, dans 4 vies. Des personnages qui ne sont ni tout à fait les mêmes, ni tout à fait différents, vu qu’ils découlent tous des choix différents que Nemo pouvait faire à 8 ans.

Un éloge du «non-choix», puisque le réalisateur belge Jaco Van Dormael rappelle que «tant que l’on a pas choisi, tout est possible». Pour Jared Leto, c’est parce qu’il a un «boulot à plein temps» avec son groupe qu’il peut se permettre d’être très exigeant sur les rôles qu’il incarne. Pour lui, le non-choix sert donc juste à mieux choisir…

Découvrez la bande-annonce de Mr Nobody

C.C.

Jeudi 14 janvier 2010

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