Premier League - Anelka: City must buy clever

Eurosport - Thu, 25 Sep 16:31:00 2008

In his latest blog for Eurosport-Yahoo!, Chelsea and France striker Nicolas Anelka gives his view on two very differently-run clubs - Manchester City and Newcastle United.

FOOTBALL Chelsea Anelka - 0

"Everyone has been talking about the new billionaires, my old club Manchester City.

They have always been a big club, for sure, but even their strongest supporters will tell you that they have under-achieved for a long time.

But now they will be very dangerous because they have the money to recruit the best.

And Chelsea and Manchester United, certainly, cannot criticise this because we also spend lots of money to bring top players in!

City could be like us, challenging for trophies. It isn't about how much they spend, though, but who they spend it on.

It is all very well buying lots of players, but they have to buy clever and make sure they bring in the right people for the team.

We must wait and see if they do this.

On the other hand, Newcastle United have quite a strange situation.

They are a massive club with passionate fans but they have been in trouble for several years now, and I think you have to look at the lack of stability as the reason.

They have had some really good players there, that cannot be questioned, and still now they have a strong team.

But the problem is that, since Bobby Robson left, they have been terribly unstable, both in coaching terms and with the other issues surrounding the club.

How can a team play if they have no idea who their coach is going to be, or even who is going to pay their wages? How can a coach manage if he does not know what his role is?

Newcastle must sort this out and they have to make their decisions quickly if they are going to move forward at all.

It is an urgent thing now. While it is early in the season, things are slipping and - after they lost to Hull City - they could get pulled into the relegation fight.

The owner needs to decide if he is going to stay or if he is going to sell, and he needs to decide now, so they can get a good manager.

Because, if they go down, they will never get the coach or the backing they need to bring silverware to St. James' Park."

Nicolas Anelka / Eurosport

Comment 26 - 45 of 45

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  1. every club is anelkas old club lol . score a couple­ goals mate

    From henryflaig, on Thu 2 Oct 7:02PM
  2. In reference to domc882000. Yes ManU had a very good­ structure, manager, and a good marketing strategy. they­ also had a great crop of youngsters come through at a­ crucial time which allowed them to succeed and attract­ money as you say. But, the simple fact is that they­ have for a long time been big spenders, and untill­ Abramovich came around they had more money than any1­ else and were able to spend more than their title­ rivals.
    They also would snap up any new talent coming­ through smaller english clubs buy outbidding every1­ else. think ferdinand, cantonna, rooney, tevez, and­ berbatov in recent times. ferdinands transfer was a­ record for a defender by the way, and i think rooney­ was a record as well.
    You are right that chelsea's­ and man city's wealth is luck and ManU's has­ been more gradually built, but you cannot deny that­ ManU have in the past decades been the biggest­ spenders, and in more recent times have American money­ to keep up with chelsea.

    From Pete, on Tue 30 Sep 10:20AM
  3. buy buy Anelka go back to manchester us chelsea fans­ dont want you you have always been money money money

    From gary, on Sat 27 Sep 1:41PM
  4. SB is a d*** idiot, what does he know

    From omar.fahmy24, on Sat 27 Sep 11:34AM
  5. i just read SB comment and what a idiot person but then­ again he could be 10 years old

    From mickyboy, on Sat 27 Sep 7:33AM
  6. he know every thing about football clubs as he played­ for enough and no boubt he be looking to go to man city­ at christmas time if the money is there because he no­ good at chelsea

    From mickyboy, on Sat 27 Sep 7:30AM
  7. It's because of a ex Man City player that United­ are where they are today "Sir Matt"..

    From Omser, on Thu 25 Sep 5:52PM
  8. ANELKA IS A WASTER

    From MACA, on Thu 25 Sep 5:34PM
  9. HE IS A WASTER! TOTAL @#$% SINCE HE LEFT ARSENAL WAY­ BACK WHEN

    From MACA, on Thu 25 Sep 5:32PM
  10. Saw The comment about Chelsea only being great since­ the Russian money arrived. I remember Peter Osgood­ ,Charlie Cooke David Webb, Ian Hudson plus all the­ other great footballers that wore the Chelsea colours.­ It was the good old days when you could actually afford­ to go to the matches, see a great game of football and­ winning the League was just something that happened if­ you were lucky. The players were motified by playing­ football not by the money, and enjoying the game.

    From webisan1, on Thu 25 Sep 4:16PM
  11. but why

    From funlaw2002, on Thu 25 Sep 3:44PM
  12. leave the man alone.he is good and has made a­ reasonable comment. man city better buy wisely,its not­ a bad comment.but I know they will cos they have­ already started by buying Robinho and co.

    From ikemefula4life, on Thu 25 Sep 3:08PM
  13. Ur name is Anarchy, which squarely describe your harsh­ comments on Anelka. But Men, take it easy, it's no­ war. What'z actually wrong with his advice 4 a club­ I feel he loves? Don't turn this site into a battle­ field of harsh verbal punches to those u don't­ like. come on. In ref. 2 comment 32.

    From joe, on Thu 25 Sep 2:57PM
  14. There is nothing wrong with Anelka airing his opinion.­ What gives the rest of u the right to talk on the issue­ and not Anelka; just becos he plays football? It is­ true he isnt the most loyal player, but heck he still­ scores goals and he has being doing this in clubs that­ werent contenders. Nothing wrong with Nic speaking his­ mind. Afterall u'd have to be an... to care what­ his ipinion are.

    From douglas, on Thu 25 Sep 2:46PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Anelka is the worst type of person, nearly every­ player, even those who move for big money eventually­ find a club they love and settle down, he could have­ been a legend with all the clubs he has played for, but­ he is a soccer mercenary, he is probably hoping he can­ use this interview to make another few million by­ resigning for Man City! MONEY DRIVEN IDIOT!

    I hope­ the banks collapse, he loses all his money has to get a­ real job, in the real world or even better has to­ beg!

    Anarchy in the UK

    From S B, on Thu 25 Sep 2:31PM
  16. I may be half retarded Eamon, but you may possibly be­ totally for reacting to my words with such hostility,­ and still missing the point. I take back saying that­ Chelsea were nothing before the money, but they were­ hardly the team with the ambition they are now -­ someone mentioned they once one a cup and the odd­ title, well so did Nottingham Forest - would you care­ to tell me which division they are playing in now and­ tell me what your point is?
    God Machine - If we are to­ go waaaaaay back to the early days of the league, i­ don't think we'll find out a foriegn­ billionaire pumped money overnight into the clubs­ coffers. The international interest that Man U­ attracted was because of their innovative playing and­ the fact that the managers at the club were better than­ the competition and therefore attracted more exotic­ players.
    Chelsea, and now Man City are LUCKY to have­ been bought up and given a bottemless pit to spend -­ they havn't earned it, it is luck. So Anelka has no­ business acting like Man U and Chelsea are in the same­ boat.

    From Dominic, on Thu 25 Sep 2:19PM
  17. hey nic why not you stop wasting the striker position­ at chelsea and move to nufc on loan. and do not forget­ to tell the caretaker coach to PUT STEVE HARPER IN GOAL­ . thank you for your attention

    From manojthiyagarajan, on Thu 25 Sep 2:15PM
  18. eh, tale Anelka naj bo rajsi tiho, koliko je on klubov­ zamenjal, kje vse ni igral, tud pomoje ne ve kdo ga­ plačuje..večni nezadovoljnež kr neki­ pametuje, ko bo šlo zares bo pa spet jokcu in­ stokcu...uživite-enjoy

    From dragan_m, on Thu 25 Sep 2:10PM
  19. Rykadia, I don't care what it is for. Nevermind­ what other clubs are doing. He needs to keep focus on­ Chelsea end of.

    From breathalyse, on Thu 25 Sep 1:58PM
  20. everyone is entitled to his opinion.Anelka has spoken­ well and I want to believe he is sincere about the­ opinion. It is going to be very interesting as from­ January in the premiership. I want to believe City will­ buy wisely.If there's anytime Newcastle need to act­ it is now that they have not gone on relegation because­ should they go it might as well be bon voyage

    From remi, on Thu 25 Sep 1:45PM
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