Heroes welcome?

After week’s of speculation, Arsenal’s all time record goal scorer Thierry Henry is set to return to the club in which he sealed his reputations as one of the best strikers in the world. In nine years with the Gunners the speedy striker won seven titles, including the European championship with France. So, in the face of both Gervinho & Marouane Chamakh heading off to the African Cup of nations, it’s logical to use the services of the clubs all time record goal scorer?

Shevchenko in action for the Ukraine

But does absence make the heart grow fonder? Henry was at the Emirates a few week’s ago revealing a statue of himself and was reduced to tears. At 34 he returns after two successful years for the New York Redbulls. But will Henry be able to roll back the years and torment defenses like he used to? I decided to look at the history books to look at some players who have returned to clubs after time away.

Andriy Shevchenko - AC Milan.

Milan’s second all time goal scorer Andriey Shevchenko, is recognised as one of the greatest Eastern European footballers of the modern age. In his first spell with Milan he bagged 127 goals in eight seasons. In between his return to the San Siro spent a miserable season at Chelsea where he endured a torrid time, having just scored 9 times in 48 starts. But a lifeline came in a loan deal from his former club who welcomed back the prodigal son with open arms. However it wasn’t the return that many had hoped for. Shevchenko only scored twice in twenty six appearances and only started on 9 occasions. He was promptly shipped back to Chelsea and then out of the club back to Dynamo Kiev.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeKES1F8Gb0

Ian Rush - Liverpool

Liverpool’s record all time goal scorer Ian Rush returned back to England from Juventus, after one disastrous season in Italy. Rush joined a number of English players heading to Italy in the mid to late 80’s with the likes of Luther Blisset, Ray Wilkins & Tony Dorigo. It’s alleged that Rush claimed that living in Italy was ‘just like living in another country’. But the Welshman returned back to Anfield for a record fee of 2.7 million in 1988 and picked up from where he left of scoring a total 90 goals in his second nine year stint with the club.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyXNVZEOkPI

Hernan Crespo - Parma

The Argentine striker is coming towards the end of a formidable career having played for both Inter Milan, AC Milan & Chelsea. However he still has a soft spot for his first European club Parma. Crespo joined from Argentine giants River Plate in 1996, in four seasons he went on to lift the Copa Italia and the Uefa Cup with the The Parmigiani, before being sold to Lazio for a then record transfer fee of £35 million. 

Despite leaving in controversial circumstances Crespo has always had a soft spot for Parma, and after 10 years away from the club retuned in the January transfer window last season. He has continued to score for Parma and is looking to add to his tally as Parma’s top goal scorer with 93 goals for the club so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Q1OK7-Rhk

Produced by Mitch Freely - follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchos

25 Dec

Is Andre Villas-Boas the man to take Chelsea forward?

As the full time whistle blew at Stamford Bridge on Sunday a dejected Chelsea side trudged from the pitch after suffering their third defeat in four Premier League matches, and their second consecutive loss at home, this time against Liverpool. It was the first time that such a thing had happened under the stewardship of Roman Abramovich, and the unfortunate milestone, in addition to this also being the worst start to a season since the Russian took over, has put some early pressure on the shoulders of young manager Andre Villas-Boas.

It may be early days yet, but the demands at Chelsea are high. Athough there has been talk of Abramovich now looking at the long term future of the club, his history of showing little patience with managers has led to much scepticism over just how long he'll give the young Portugese coach if results, and performances, don't improve.

But Abramovich paid over £13m to prise the highly-rated coach from Porto in the Summer, and awarded him with a three-year contract. Sacking him would cost around £13m alone, and if you included the fee it cost to sign him then it's double that – even for someone as rich as the Chelsea owner that is quite a substantial loss, and would surely persuade him to show at least a little patience. Then again, this is the man who paid £50m for Fernando Torres – wasting money is possibly not something that concerns him a great deal!

However, in the past few weeks the football world has shown its appreciation to Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, and if anyone is a prime example of why patience can often pay off with a manager then it's this man. Former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards confessed himself that Ferguson was close to losing his job during the early years at Old Trafford, where it took four years for the Scot to win his first trophy at the club, and seven before a league championship success. 

Speaking with Mirror Sport, Edwards stated;

“My biggest worry was that if success didn’t arrive, the pressure on us from supporters would grow and grow.

“They may have started voting with their feet by not coming to games, because there was a lot of animosity towards Alex at that time.

“We really wanted Alex to survive. But if we’d gone on for another six months or a year without things changing, we’d have been forced to do something."

It's amazing to think now, after all the success Ferguson has enjoyed at the club, that there was a time when his very job was on the line. Although the board maintain that sacking him was never discussed, there is no doubt that for a period of time things were not easy for the Glasgow-born coach. But one thing he did have was experience as a manager, and a number of years at the top level in the UK.

The main problem with the Villas-Boas acquisition for me was that the fact he had little experience outwith his own country. Although he enjoyed a great deal of success with Porto, it's almost expected that the manager of this particular club should win trophies domestically – it's quite similar to taking charge of the Old Firm in Scotland. The Europa League is hardly a prestigious tournament either, so in terms of pedigree there was always a massive question mark over him.

His tactical approach thus far in his Chelsea reign has seemed naïve to say the least, and just completely unsuited to the players at his disposal. His side have been left hopelessly exposed with their high line, with the likes of John Terry appearing very uncomfortable in the new system.

In defence of the rookie manager, he has acquired an ageing squad which really seems to be on its last legs as a group. The spine of the team hasn't changed a great deal since the days of Jose Mourinho, and at their height were successful mainly due to their solidity and defensive strength. Whether or not Villas-Boas is the man to take Chelsea forward there is little doubt that the squad requires a drastic overhaul.

But this group of players are effectively the same team who ran Manchester United reasonably close for the title last season, yet recent performances have raised questions over Chelsea's status as a top four side, let alone their title credentials.

Ultimately I feel that Abramovich really needs to give his new manager at least a season to settle in and try to have an impact on the side, but personally I'd seriously question his appointment in the first place. It would seem that the Russian billionnaire got caught up in the hype surrounding the young Portugese coach, and possibly felt he was signing the next Mourinho – even if the two managers have drastically different tactical approaches.

The sacking of Carlo Ancelotti is also beginning to look more and more ill-advised, but now the decisions have been made there is little point in dwelling on them. Abramovich will continue to call the shots, and although Andre Villas-Boas has publicly stated that his job is safe, the cut throat nature of the position he holds, coupled with the availability of a certain Guus Hiddink, will surely have him feeling more nervous than he'd care to admit.

By Laurie Dunsire