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MOST FOREIGNERS

England has one of the highest concentration of foreign players amongst the top leagues in Europe. This is hurting the national team according to Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who recently retired from international duty in order to concentrate on his club career. Newly appointed English FA chairman Greg Dykes said recently that England will be a contender to win the World Cup in 2022 but not before that. This has started a lot of opinions from various corners of the pitch. England have not won a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup triumph.

Ferdinand has the privilege of playing along with a number of English players at Manchester United. The likes of Phil Jones, Michael Carrick, and Chris Smalling are in and around Ferdinand during every match. However, it is not the case with other top teams. The 34-year-old defender has cited the example from the recent match between Newcastle United and Manchester city. Only three home-grown players were in the starting line-up in this match, which was a disgrace according to Ferdinand. Clubs can have any number of home-grown players in the squad, but only 17 foreign players above age of 21.

Despite this, club have spent heavily on foreign talent in this transfer window.

“Having so few English players in the Premier League diminishes the English team, of course it does. Look at the Manchester City game recently against Newcastle. There was barely an English player on the pitch, three out of 22 starters. That is a disgrace. If you look at it and ask whether there should be a stipulation that you have a minimum number of players who are English, even just in your squad, I think that should happen,” said Ferdinand in a recent interview.

Ferdinand has made strong start with Manchester United this season.

RIO STAYS

Manchester United recently underwent a major change in the coaching staff after the departure of manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The arrival of David Moyes has also brought a significant amount of coaching staff from Everton, while the club has also decided to hand out coaching roles to 2 of their legends. Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs will be part of the coaching staff in the upcoming season. Neville will be a full-time coach at United, while Giggs is the player coach at the club. Defender Rio

Ferdinand, who is also one of the experienced members of the squad, has said that the intensity of training has increased dramatically under this new management.

Moyes is known for an incredible training regime during his time at Everton, and it seems that he has implemented the same at Old Trafford as well. The Scot has spent the last 11 years at Everton and he has said that the change that has come about has reenergised him as a manager. Moyes will be taking charge of his first United game in a friendly match. The club will be playing in five different countries over the next few weeks as part of their pre-season tour.

Ferdinand still has one year left on his contract.

“It is a bit too early to compare, but I think the intensity of training has gone up. As a new manager comes in, the players want to impress the new coaching staff, but it has been very hard — we have had some double days — but very fair. The lads have enjoyed it and that’s the most important thing. We’re getting into the new things asked of us and we’re really enjoying it. We want to make a good start to the season,” said the defender, who played a key role for the club last season.

MOYES LOOKING FORWARD

New Manchester United manager David Moyes has said that he is already forward to working with defender Rio Ferdinand, who recently signed a new one-year contract with Manchester United. Ferdinand’s future at Old Trafford was under major a cloud of doubt due to the fact that he had only a few months left on his contract. However, United offered him a new deal after the announcement of his international retirement came about. Moyes will be has to be content with the departures in the form of Ferguson and Paul Scholes.

The former England midfielder will be retiring for the second time in his career. Even though he is 38 years old, he continued to have a major influence in the team. Due to these departures, Moyes reckons that it is extremely important that United managed to hold onto Ferdinand. The 34-year-old defender is not expected to continue playing football for a long time, but this one year could be extremely vital in the settling process of Moyes. Moyes has seen Ferdinand form an incredible partnership with Jonny Evans at the back, which was crucial to Manchester United winning the title in the absence of Nemanja Vidic for long periods of the season.

“Rio has had one of his best seasons with the club and even from the outside you can see what a big character he is in the dressing room, so I am delighted he has signed a new contract. I am looking forward to working with him,” said Moyes. Moyes will be replacing Ferguson who has been in charge of Manchester United for the last 26 years. Moyes himself as being a manager at Everton for the last 11 years. This is his first managerial job at the club and he is yet to win a major trophy.

APPLETON SACKED

Blackburn have decided to sack their third manager of the season in yet another shocking decision by the owners. The Indian owners Venky’s have been criticised since their takeover of the club a few years ago. They have overseen relegation for the club, while they have landed in yet more hot water after sacking the manager Michael Appleton. The former Blackpool manager lasted just 57 days in his job. Incidentally, he managed to outlast his predecessor by four more days. As a result, he becomes the third manager to be sacked by the club this season.

Even though results substantially improved after the arrival of Appleton, the team have not managed a victory since the 1-0 defeat of Arsenal in the FA Cup a few weeks ago. Upon joining the club, Appleton was given 15 games to prove that he was the right man for the job. As a result of the club falling way behind the play-offs position, it was thought that Appleton could be sacked. However, there were no indications on the outside about such an event. The former assistant manager Eric Black has criticised the owners at the club by saying that he is clueless to what is going on at the club.

“I am disappointed to be leaving Blackburn Rovers. I would like to thank the players and wish them all the best for the rest of the season. I would also like to say thanks to the fans who have made me feel so welcome over the past few months,” said the former Blackburn manager Appleton through his PR company. Meanwhile, the reserve team manager Gary Bowyer will be taking charge of the team duties for the remainder of the season. Bowyer already had a spell as the interim manager earlier in the season and was quite successful.

Arsenal vs. Newcastle United Preview

Saturday evening’s game in the Premier League sees Arsenal welcome Newcastle United to the Emirates Stadium.

Three straight league wins have catapulted the Gunners right back into contention for a Champions League qualification place and victory here could lift them to fourth if other results fall in their favour.

Olivier Giroud and Tomas Rosicky are set to return to the starting line-up following illness, though the game comes to soon for Andre Santos and Abou Diaby, who are expected to return to full training next week.

Top scorer Theo Walcott is joint favourite with Giroud to get the first goal of the game, with 6.0 (5/1) the best price on offer.

Arsenal are odds on for the victory with Paddy Power offering 1.5 (1/2). Newcastle are generously available at 8.5 (15/2) with Bet Victor, who also offer 4.8 (19/5).

The visitor’s last minute defeat at Old Trafford on Boxing Day was their seventh loss in nine games, and leaves them just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Alan Pardew has to contend with injuries to several key players including Jonas Gutierrez, Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye, though Check Tiote is available after serving a one match ban. Mike Williamson will miss out after collecting a fifth booking of the campaign last time out.

Top scorer Demba Ba, who has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates ahead of the transfer window opening on Tuesday is an 11.0 (10/1) shot to score first, whilst Papiss Cisse is available at 13.0 (12/1) with Bet Victor.