There IS a way for kids to get a game in the Premier League, but not at an elite club... Aaron Mooy is a prime example

  • Aaron Mooy didn't have his best game for Huddersfield against West Ham 
  • But the former Manchester City man was still a cut above the rest of the players  
  • There are very few players who get a chance - only the cream of the crop 

Monday night at the London Stadium was not the best occasion to judge Aaron Mooy. It was comfortably Huddersfield’s poorest performance of the Premier League season to date, and they offered little as an offensive force.

Even so, there were glimpses. Mooy worked hard and was exceptionally comfortable on the ball.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic remarked on it later. He said even with two men around him, Mooy still demanded possession. If he got it, he most often did something with it.  


Aaron Mooy has shone for Huddersfield during the early weeks of the new season

Aaron Mooy has shone for Huddersfield during the early weeks of the new season

Mooy was unable to get games at Manchester City... an experience shared by many others

Mooy was unable to get games at Manchester City... an experience shared by many others

His team may have disappointed but, technically, Mooy looked a class above just about every player on the field. But still two levels below Manchester City.

That is the heart of the matter: the incredible standard Manchester City, and the other elite clubs across Europe, now demand of their players. Mooy came to them from Melbourne City, part of the City Football Group pathway.

Players can emerge from Melbourne and New York, from Girona in Spain and soon points east and west, China and Uruguay, with a move to Manchester the aspirational pinnacle of their careers. 

Mooy made that in June 2016, and six days later was at Huddersfield. He has never played for Manchester City. He probably never will. He’s good; but not quite good enough.

Who is? That is the challenge for those on the brink of the elite. Who is good enough for City, or Chelsea, or any of those teams presuming to rub shoulders with Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid? Did you see City on Wednesday night, or Chelsea on Tuesday?

Setting aside the poor standard of the opposition, the football the very best of the Premier League wish to play will be beyond all but the most exceptional academy graduates.    

Harry Kane is a rare example of a player being considered good enough to cut it at an elite club

Harry Kane is a rare example of a player being considered good enough to cut it at an elite club

Marcus Rashford, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, the cream. We thought Kieran Gibbs would be good enough for Arsenal, but he wasn’t. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathan Ake were short of what Chelsea require, too.

None are bad players. In the case of those like Mooy, they are very good. Yet the elite demand more.

Realistically, given the current standard of the leagues in Australia and America, how many players are Melbourne and New York going to produce that will be good enough for Pep Guardiola?

He barely considers the Premier League, let alone Melbourne.

This summer, Kyle Walker was the only domestic signing in deals worth £212million. A year before, City spent £168m, with John Stones the sole English recruit. How long was it since City took a player from Newcastle, say, or Stoke?

With the exception of Fabian Delph, who rarely starts, the only English players bought into City’s squad of late came from other elite Premier League clubs: Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool.

Raheem Sterling is another player who has made it through youth ranks to a top-six team

Raheem Sterling is another player who has made it through youth ranks to a top-six team

The changes in the last decade are remarkable. When Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea, he embarked on a spending spree.

Players came from abroad, but also the breadth of the Premier League: West Ham, Southampton, Blackburn, Charlton, Middlesbrough, Tottenham, Manchester United. That wouldn’t happen now. Signing Danny Drinkwater — a player with a title-winners’ medal, don’t forget — was viewed as some transfer window goof.

So what hope does a kid from Melbourne, or the academy, have?

If Nathaniel Chalobah cracks it at Watford, Chelsea may buy him back; City have a first option clause on Mooy, too. It would be wrong to say the clubs did not know what they had in the talent pool. They did, but the level of attainment required to compete at the very top has altered. Would any of the rejected players make the teams at PSG, Madrid or Barcelona? Of course not.

Real Madrid have good young players like Asensio coming through, but these are exceptions.

There was not a graduate of the famous La Masia academy waiting to take Neymar’s place at Barcelona when he left, and the transfer statements made by PSG this summer suggest that those currently passing through Camp des Loges will find expectations sharply raised.

Meanwhile, there has been serious discussion at Huddersfield about abandoning their academy programme. It seems a short-term measure, but why do the work yourself when the elite are your feeder club?  

Nathaniel Chalobah moved to Watford after struggling to break through at Chelsea

Nathaniel Chalobah moved to Watford after struggling to break through at Chelsea

 

Klopp can learn from Conte 

After another disappointing result, Jurgen Klopp says that one signing in defence would not have changed Liverpool’s season. 

Perhaps that is true, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt. It remains a mystery why, having missed out on Virgil van Dijk, Klopp did not push for alternatives in that position.

Not least because of the giant impact a single defensive signing had on the champions last year. In Chelsea’s case, the recruitment of David Luiz changed their season. It enabled Antonio Conte to play his preferred formation, solved the issue of the John Terry succession and was the springboard for the winning run that sent Chelsea top.

The difference is, Chelsea had strong players surrounding Luiz.

If one player could not have that impact at Liverpool it is because there are too many flaws in other defensive areas to take command as Chelsea did. If, as Klopp says, it remains too big a job for one man, that’s not an excuse — it’s the problem. 

Jurgen Klopp did not have an alternative centre back option in the transfer market

Jurgen Klopp did not have an alternative centre back option in the transfer market

 

So much arrogance, so little class 

Anthony Ralston is an 18-year-old right back with 14 Celtic appearances to his name. This week he faced Neymar, one of the finest footballers in the world, and certainly the most expensive. 

Time for humility, one might think. Time to drink it all in, to accelerate the learning process.

No — not in this age of entitlement. Despite losing 5-0, Ralston was full of it after the game. ‘I don’t fear the likes of Neymar…I had to play my normal game…I won’t lose any sleep over it…he’s just another man on the pitch…I don’t put him on a pedestal…’

The arrogance was astonishing. If Ralston matures with one 10th of Neymar’s talent he will have a fine career. Here was an opportunity to acquire knowledge, to be tested against one of the greats. 

Ralston was too busy preening, his team having been swept aside, to pay much attention. He asked for Neymar’s shirt at the end but was rebuffed. Maybe one day Ralston’s shirt will be in demand among the elite of European football. Until then, he might consider winding it in.

By the way, after a fan ran on to the pitch and tried to kick Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe — the oaf missed, providing a neat metaphor for the gulf in class — Celtic have again been cited by UEFA. This is their 15th citing in 10 years. Imagine how many they would have racked up if they didn’t keep getting knocked out at the group stage.

Celtic defender Anthony Ralston laughed in the face of Neymar on Tuesday night

Celtic defender Anthony Ralston laughed in the face of Neymar on Tuesday night

 

Why the ladies have lost to the boys at Sunderland 

There are two ways to succeed in football. The first is obvious: cups, titles, trophies. The other is victory in business.

Southampton haven’t won much of late, but are financially sound. The balance sheet, commercial revenue, healthy gate receipts, profitable transfer activity — that is all part of running a club, too.

To win the league and go bankrupt is no more of a success than turning a fabulous profit only to get relegated.

In football terms, Sunderland Ladies have been doing well. They won promotion in 2015, and since then have finished fourth, seventh and fifth. 

The transfer market isn’t yet a dependable source of income in the women’s game but, if it were, Sunderland would thrive there, too — producing England internationals Lucy Bronze (right), Jill Scott, Demi Stokes, Jordan Nobbs and Steph Houghton.

Yet Sunderland Ladies have a problem. Too few care. In 2016, when a spike in interest in the domestic game was predicted after the women’s World Cup, Sunderland’s gates fell by a quarter to just 710. The club’s response was to send the team part-time.

Now, with the change in the Women’s Super League schedule, they have lost their access to the club’s training facilities. There has been criticism but, seriously, what are Sunderland to do?

When the WSL was played in summer, the pressure on the Academy of Light was helpfully balanced. Now, with the switch to winter, all of Sunderland’s teams need the facility at the same time.

The women’s evening training schedule clashes with youth and academy commitments, and Sunderland have gone with the boys. Sunderland Ladies now train at Northumbria University and will play at Mariners Park in Jarrow, home of South Shields. These are decent alternatives. It is more the stigma of being ranked below the Under 11s that hurts.

Yet Sunderland have to prioritise. The academy and youth feed directly into the men’s first team — watched by an average of 29,113 this season, even performing poorly in the Championship.

Sunderland’s latest figures — from season 2015-16 — show earnings of £476,190 per home game on gate receipts alone, and a turnover of £108million. Sunderland Ladies account for roughly £6,000 per match.

The club cannot risk jeopardising its production line for a good deed. The onus being placed on clubs to make a success of the women’s game are unrealistic. Sunderland Ladies are watched by 300 fewer people than attend Spennymoor Town. What are they to do if people just won’t come? 

Lucy Bronze is one of several England internationals to come through Sunderland's ranks

Lucy Bronze is one of several England internationals to come through Sunderland's ranks

 

China's costly Tevez mistake 

Carlos Tevez has scored twice in 15 matches for Shanghai Shenhua this season. The club are 32 points off the top and manager Gus Poyet has resigned. Tevez’s new coach, Wu Jingui, says Tevez, 33, is unfit and overweight and will not play until this improves.

Tevez is paid £650,000 a week to play in an inferior league so, like so many of China’s newest recruits, we know why he signed. Contrast this with current league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande. They have three Brazilians on their staff, with a single cap between them.

Ricardo Goulart won the title and a Player of the Year award with Cruzeiro in 2013, and came on as a substitute for his country against Ecuador. When he left for China in 2015, he was the Super League’s most expensive signing — at around £12million.

He has been joined by Alan, who had a few good years at Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg before leaving for £10m, while Muriqui is the definition of the journeyman player. Now in his second spell at Guangzhou, they are his 13th club, including loan spells.

All of these players will be a significant upgrade on the local talent but they are not superstars motivated only by a final payday.

Alan and Goulart are at peak ages, Muriqui a little older. All will be driven to succeed, rather than merely dig for a last pot of gold.

At Shanghai, and across much of China, this will have been a harsh and expensive lesson to learn. 

Carlos Tevez has found life difficult during his time in China with Shanghai Shenhua

Carlos Tevez has found life difficult during his time in China with Shanghai Shenhua

 

Bach is off key in this blame game

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, is refusing to accept collective responsibility over the latest scandal to affect his organisation.

He says individuals alone are to blame for the evidence of vote-buying around the award of the 2016 Games to Rio de Janeiro.

He has a point. There should be more individuals held to account at the top of sport. For instance, Bach — and not the many affiliated sports federations — is to blame for letting the cheating Russians into the Rio Games.

Meaning Bach is to blame for the contempt most now hold for the Olympic movement.

So Bach is the one responsible for only having two host bids for the next two Olympic Games. He is right, it’s so much better when we just name the guilty man.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach speaks in Lima on Wednesday

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach speaks in Lima on Wednesday

 

Barca prove there's life after Neymar 

England’s clubs were largely excellent, but the performance of the week in the Champions League was surely that of Barcelona, defeating last season’s finalists and Serie A winners Juventus 3-0. 

They top La Liga, too. 

Despite losing Neymar, and enduring what was widely considered a calamitous summer, it does seem that with only Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Ousmane Dembele and Ivan Rakitic to rely on, they might just get by. 

Barcelona's players celebrate Ivan Rakitic's goal against Juventus in the Champions League

Barcelona's players celebrate Ivan Rakitic's goal against Juventus in the Champions League

 

It is somewhat ironic that the Football Association fear Russian hackers stealing secrets from England’s World Cup training camp. 

How long do you think it would take the Fancy Bears to work out we haven’t got a central midfielder with a world-class range of passing? 

Malta cracked that code in about four minutes.