Background Check: Iago Falque

In the second instalment of the recently added Background Check section of the blog, Southampton's new loan signing Iago Falque comes under the spotlight. The aim of this section is to look a little closer at Saints' new arrivals under Nigel Adkins for the sake of those who may not have a great understanding of St. Marys' newest imports.


Falque, 21, certainly is a young midfielder with enormous pedigree who already boasts a host of top European clubs amongst his former employers for one so young. Born in Vigo, the North-Western city of Spain, Falque began his youth career within the Real Madrid youth team ranks at the tender age of 10 before moving a year later to the world famous Barcelona academy, La Masia. 


Whilst at Barca, Falque was regarded as one of the brightest prospects of the academy alongside Bojan Krkic and fellow Spurs man Giovanni Dos Santos and made his debut for the Barcelona B side at 18 following a successful U17 European Championships Campaign with Spain. During that competition Falque was pivotal in the Spanish side that overcame England in the final and his displays strengthened the attention of his admirers. 


The following year was shaping up to be Falque's breakthrough campaign with Barcelona as he gained a place in the "B" team and scoring in his only appearance for the side. It wasn't to be for Falque and Barca, however, as the midfielder's head was turned by an offer from Juventus for the young prospects' services. The offer proved too good for either party to turn down and in August 2008 Falque headed for Italy in the search of playing time with another of European football's biggest clubs.


Falque struggled for opportunities with the Serie A giants, however, as the Italians continued to stick with their experienced options as is too often the case within the Italian game. A loan deal to fellow Serie A side Bari then materialised but, after failing to appear for them in his five month stint, he returned to the Old Lady in January 2010. Falque continued to impress for the Juve youth team, helping them to successive Viareggio Cups in 2009 and 2010 but still hadn't featured for Juve's first-team.


A return to Spain followed in the summer of 2010 as Falque moved on loan to Villareall B who compete in the Segunda Division, the 2nd tier of Spanish football. Falque rediscovered his form and blossomed under the guidance of the Yellow Submarines. While on loan the Spanish U21 player scored 11 times in his 36 appearances for the club and would have been surprised when the Spaniards decided against taking up the option of signing him permanently.


Not long after his return to Juve in June it was clear that his future lay away from the Serie A club as he moved just two months later to Tottenham Hotspur on loan with a view to a permanent deal. Falque featured 6 times in total for Spurs in FA Cup and Europa League competition before sealing a permanent switch to the North-London side yesterday. As part of that deal it was announced that Falque would be joining Championship leaders Southampton to gain vital first-team experience with the South Coast side as they push for promotion back to the Premiership.

Falque seems to be a natural fit for Saints as an attacking midfielder who is comfortable on the ball and can play in a variety of positions, an attribute noted by Nigel Adkins as key to his reasoning behind signing the youngster. Speaking to the club's official website the pair seemed equally pleased with the deal. 

Adkins said, "He's a very exciting player and I'm pleased that we've got him on board and I think the supporters will be excited by what he can do on the pitch. Like many of our  players he's a player who can play on the left, on the right and in the number 10 position behind the striker, so he's a talented footballer and one who I'm sure is going to excite everybody."

Falque was just as complimentary of  his new team-mates, adding; "I'm very happy to be here at Southampton, and I am looking forward to training with my new team-mates who have proved this season that they are very talented. I hope that I can help the team to great things this season."

Background Check: Tadanari Lee

Championship leaders Southampton have today received clearance to sign Japanese international Tadanari Lee from J-League side Sanfreece Hiroshima.

Saints announced that they were in talks with Lee whilst he trained with the South Coast club on the 4th January and, after failing in their initial attempts at obtaining a work permit for Lee, were successful on appeal after the FA decided that Lee was "an exceptional talent that would enhance the game in this country". Lee, capped nine times for his country, was initially refused a work permit due to his limited number of appearances for Japan.

Manager Nigel Adkins has made no secret of his desire to strengthen a Southampton side that sit top of the Championship on goal difference and he will be delighted to move a step closer to finalising a deal for one of Japanese football's most dangerous forwards. The 6ft, left-footed striker, nicknamed Chunson, finished joint third top-scorer in the Japanese top flight last season with 15 goals in 32 games and was Hiroshima's top-scorer in all competitions as Sanfreece finished 7th in the table.

Lee made his full debut for Japan in last January's Asia Cup tournament where he scored a most memorable first goal for his country as a substitute in the final against Australia. Brought on as a 98th minute sub in extra-time, Lee scored the only goal of the game to give Japan a 1-0 victory in Qatar thanks to his sublime 109th minute strike. Showing immense technical ability, Lee watched the ball on to his left-foot before volleying it back across goal into the far corner. This spectacular and most dramatic of finishes brought Lee's tremendous potential to the world's attention and Southampton have moved quickly to snap up a player that has moved from strength to strength following that tournament.

Lee will now fly back to England in the next few days to finalise a deal that will ensure that he becomes the first Japanese player to represent Southampton in their 126 year history. Known for his cultured left-foot and ability to score both the special and the mundane, Lee should prove a perfect foil for Championship top scorer Rickie Lambert as the Saints aim for the back to back promotion that will ensure their return to England's top-flight for the first time since their relegation in 2005.

Caf to honour African legends

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will host their annual award ceremony in Accra, Ghana next week and the continents football governing body will be awarding their Legends Award to two former Premier League stars.

Jay Jay Okocha, whose flair and technical ability brought pleasure to Premier League fans up and down the country with spells at Bolton and Hull was nominated alongside former Coventry and Aston Villa winger Mustapha Hadji for the prestigious award. Okocha, 38, will long be remembered by English fans for his amazing skill and the way that he enjoyed every minute of his time on the football pitch.

The former Nigerian captain moved to Bolton from Paris St. Germain in 2002 and was the creative force behind Sam Allardyce's side. After 3 years as captain and 124 appearances for the Wanderers Okocha moved to Qatar for a season before returning to England with Hull in 2007. He featured 18 times for the Tigers in their promotion winning season but failed to do enough to earn a contract to feature for the side in the Premiership. Okocha then announced his retirement following his release from the club.

Okocha played at three World Cups during his career and five African Cup of Nations tournaments, winning it once in 1994. The Nigerian playmaker also won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics for his nation and was named the best African player by the BBC in both 2003 and 2004.

Moroccan midfielder Hadji's career saw him play in seven different countries and representing his country 64 times and at two World Cups in 1994 and 1998 and at two African Cup of Nations tournaments (1998 and 2000). Hadji was named African player of the year in 1998, beating Okocha to the prize in second place by just two points and moved to Coventry a year later. Gordon Strachan was in charge at the time and Hadji remained with the Sky Blues for two years before moving to Aston Villa in 2001 where he remained until 2004. Hadji was playing up until last season in Luxembourg's BGL League with Fola Esch before retiring in July 2010.

For two players who battled it out in 1998 to be recognised as the best players of their continent it will be a fitting tribute on December 22 when they stand as equals and are rewarded for their successes in the sport.

Ellison released by Burton

Former Liverpool youngster James Ellison has had his contract terminated by League Two side Burton Albion with player and club reaching a financial agreement over the seven months left on his deal with the club.

Ellison moved to Albion following the mutual termination of his contract with hometown club Liverpool in 2010 and the young striker had high hopes of establishing himself as a key member of Paul Pescholido's side. It wasn't to be however and after failing to impress the Albion boss he was sent out on a series of loans to Stafford Rangers, Hednesford Town, Alfreton Town and, most recently, Chester.

20 year-old Ellison was the victim of a stabbing outside a bar in Water Street, Liverpool last year and following his recovery had aimed to make a name for himself at Burton. It wasn't to be, however, and the former Liverpool reserve team player went on to make only three substitute appearances for the League Two outfit and will now look to continue his career elsewhere.

Speaking on the news, Albion's boss Peschisolido said: "It was sensible to agree a deal to release James because it just hasn't worked out for him here."

Champions League - Wednesday 24th November (Matchday 5) round-up

After slumping to a 2-1 loss in Leverkusen last night, Chelsea now need to avoid defeat when they host Valencia at Stamford Bridge in two weeks' time to ensure qualification from Group E of the Champions League.

Chelsea were given the run-around last night by former Blue Michael Ballack and his new team-mates and looked particularly lacklustre as their poor form of late continued in Gemany. Ballack almost gave the home side the lead with an excellent header that rattled Petr Cech's cross-bar in a first half that provided little goalmouth action. Didier Drogba, played in superbly by Daniel Sturridge starting ahead of Fernando Torres, had Chelsea's best chance to take the lead as he rounded the 'keeper but lost his balance with the ball heading away from Leverkusen's empty goal and fired the ball over the cross-bar.

Drogba did eventually give Chelsea the lead just after the break when he was once again found well by Sturridge in the Leverkusen box. Drogba controlled the ball expertly and with his back to goal managed to roll two Leverkusen defenders before excellently curling the ball into the far corner on the turn.

Ballack was then denied twice in quick succession by his former team-mate and, apparently, fellow Phantom of the Opera fan Petr Cech. First Ballack's acrobatic overhead kick was turned over the bar by Cech and then, from the resulting corner, Ballack turned and shot only to be denied bravely by the advancing Cech.

Leverkusen finally got the leveller that they deserved after Eren Derdiyok's missed touch from Gonzalo Castro's pass found it's way through to Sidney Sam. Sam was left free on the left-wing due to Branislav Ivanovic's poor positioning and he cleverly crossed over Cech to Derdiyok to head home with 17 minutes to play.

Leverkusen completed the win in the 91st minute as Castro's header was powered home by Manuel Friedrich who managed to get the better of Brazillian defender Alex. The win ensures Leverkusen's qualification and sets up a decider for the other qualification spot between Chelsea and Valencia on Tuesday 6th December.

Valencia will head in to that game with their tails up following their 7-0 demolition of Genk which owed much to captain Roberto Soldado's hat-trick and the creative play of Brazillian forward Jonas. Jonas opened the scoring for Valencia in the 10th minute and set up Soldado's first two goals with perfectly timed through balls which the Spanish striker calmly slotted home. Soldado had three and Valencia four after 35 minutes of the game and ensured that the game was wrapped up by half-time. Jonas then set up Pablo Hernandez for 5-0 before Aritz Aduriz's superb solo goal made it 6-0 to Valencia. Tino Costa completed the rout as he tucked in the rebound from Jonas' stinging effort.

Arsenal had a far better night than their London rivals and became the first Premier League team to qualify from their group thanks to a 2-1 win at the Emirates over Borussia Dortmund. Robin Van Persie extended his fine run of form for the Gunners by heading home his 16th goal of the season in the 49th minute following an excellent run from Alex Song down the left.

Van Persie made it 2-0 from two yards out when he was found unmarked in the Dortmund area with an open goal following Thomas Vermaelen's flick-on from Mikel Arteta's corner. Dortmund managed to pull one back late on thanks to Shinji Kagawa's effort but it was too little too late and the manner of the victory, as well as Song's excellent performance, will encourage Arsenal fans everywhere.

In the other game of Group F Marseille hosted Olympiakos with the Greek side coming out as winners by a goal to nil thanks to Giannis Fetfatzidis' superb strike in the 82nd minute. Arsenal now qualify as winners of the group with Marseille (second with 7 points) heading to Dortmund (bottom on 4 points) on the last matchday and Olympiakos (3rd with 6 points) hoping to overcome Arsenal at home in a fortnight's time and hope that results go their way in France.

The big game of the night and probably the round was held at the San Siro where AC Milan welcomed Barcelona. The game didn't disappoint with Barcelona coming out as eventual winners by 3 goals to 2. The combination of Mark Van Bommel and Xavi put the Spaniards ahead in the 14th minute with the former likely to be attributed an own goal for his efforts.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic restored balance just 6 minutes later as he scored against his former club by sweeping the ball beyond Victor Valdes after being found by Clarence Seedorf. Barca regained the lead in the 31st minute thanks to Lionel Messi's twice taken penalty following a tug from Alberto Aquillani on Xavi in the AC Milan area. Messi's first, staggered effort was ordered to be re-taken and the Argentine master confidently breezed his second attempt past Christian Abbiati in the AC Milan goal.

The goal of the night was then scored by former Portsmouth and Spurs midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng whose acrobatic touch plucked the ball out of the sky before his sublime flick on the run took him past his helpless Barcelona marker before he smashed the ball past Valdes and into the near post.

Barca sealed the win when Xavi was found delightfully by Messi's slide-rule through ball and the Spaniard comfortably stroked the ball past Abbiatti. The win means that Barca finish as Group H leaders and AC Milan qualify in second place whilst BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen fight it out for a place in the Europa League. Plzen beat BATE 1-0 away in Belarus last night to gain their first Champions League victory and put them in pole position to qualify for the Europa League.

In Group G Porto secured a vital victory over Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to two late goals for the Portuguese side that keeps their hopes of progression alive. Hulk gave Porto the lead in the 79th minute before a 90th minute Razvan Rat own goal ensured the victory for the away side.

In the group's other game APOEL secured unlikely progression to the last 16 with a brave 0-0 draw in St. Petersburg against Zenit. The home side dominated possession (63%) and had 23 shots on goal compared to APOEL's 1 but they couldn't find a goal despite their control. In qualifying APOEL become the first Cypriot team to advance to the knockout phases of the competition and it means that Zenit must beat Porto on matchday 6 to progress or the Portuguese side will go through.

Champions League - Tuesday 23rd November (Matchday 5) round-up

Manchester City were left on the brink of a Champions League exit last night as they were beaten 2-1 by Napoli in Group A. Meanwhile, their red neighbours were put under immense pressure themselves as their wastefulness in a 2-2 draw with Benfica means that they must avoid defeat away to Basel when the sides meet in a fortnight's time.

City began the night knowing that a win in Naples would ensure qualification from their group and a chance to top the table on the final matchday when they host Bayern Munich. It wasn't to be, however, and Roberto Mancini's men fell behind in the 17th minute due to some sloppy City defending and a clever near post header from Edinson Cavani, a reported City target.

Cavani got to the ball at the near post in front of Yaya Toure, who's marking was light to say the least, to meet the Napoli corner and, with Aleksandor Kolarov absent at the near post, both the Russian full-back and Joe Hart watched the ball nip into the Man City goal.

Mario Balotelli gave Mancini's side a vital equaliser to take into the break although, based on the run of play, the leveller was barely deserved. Salvatore Aronica's terrible clearance fell in the path of David Silva and the Spaniard found rare space in the Napoli box to fire a stinging shot at the home sides goal. Morgan De Sanctis could only parry Silva's shot into the path of a grateful Balotelli who made no mistake from four yards out to score his ninth of the season.

Man City were soon behind again after the restart thanks to Cavani's 2nd goal of the game which killed the game off. The Argentine striker played a neat one-two with former Liverpool player Andrea Dossena and, whilst on the run, he confidently volleyed home his fellow Argentinian's cut-back past Joe Hart for his fourth Champions League goal of the campaign.

City rarely threatened after that, apart from a Balotelli effort that was well saved by Sanctis, and they were lucky to escape with just the one goal deficit. Qualification is now taken out of City's hands and they must hope that they can beat Bayern at home on Matchday 6 and that Villarreal avoid defeat at home to Napoli.

Villarreal remain bottom of the group with no pints to show from their five games of the competition following Bayern's 3-1 victory at home over their Spanish opposition. Bayern ensured qualification as winners of Group A thanks to two goals from Franck Ribery and one from Mario Gomez. Jonathan De Guzman was Villarreal's scorer.

United remain much more likely to progress despite a disappointing evening at Old Trafford which saw them draw 2-2 with Benfica who have now qualified from Group C. The Portugese side took the lead in the third-minute thanks to Phil Jones' own-goal. Nicolas Gaitan, much talked off as a potential future United signing, broke down the right and his cross hit Patrice Evra before Jones deflected it past David De Gea in the Red Devils' goal.

Dimitar Berbatov restored parity with his first Champions League goal since 2008 when headed home Nani's cross in the 30th minute. It was a welcome goal for the Bulgarian and only his second of the season, his other coming against Aldershot in the League Cup.

United then took the lead in the 59th minute thanks to Darren Fletcher's goal but the lead was short-lived as Pablo Aimar equalised just a minute later to make sure that the sides shared the points. Both teams had chances to win the game in the dying minutes but failed to do so and now United must avoid defeat against Swiss side Basel on Matchday 6 to ensure progression.

In the group's other game Basel came out eventual winners over Romanian side Otelul Galati in a thriller that ended 3-2 in the Swiss side's favour, to ensure that their qualification dreams were kept alive. Galati were 3-0 down thanks to two Basel goals from Alexander Frei and a Marco Strellar effort but ensured a tense last ten minutes by scoring twice in six minutes. Gabriel Girgui pulled one back on 75 minutes and Liviu Antal made it 3-2 but the Romanian's couldn't complete an historic comeback and remain bottom of the group without a point.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid continued their onslaught on this year's competition as they hammered Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb 6-2 at the Bernabeau. Real were 4-0 up by the 20th minute thanks to goals from Karim Benzema, Jose Callejon, Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil. Callejon got his second of the game just after the break and Benzema also completed his brace to make it 6-0 to the home side in the 65th minute.

Real made it 5 wins out of 5 with the victory over Zagreb and have scored 16 goals in that period but Zagreb will take from the game the fact that they scored the first goals past Real in this year's tournament. Montenegran Fatos Berqiraj (81) and Coratian Ivan Tomecak (90) with the Zagreb goals.

The other tie in Group D saw Lyon draw with Ajax which means that Ajax remain 3 points clear of Lyon with just the single game to play and with a seven goal swing needed for Lyon to progress if the French side win and the Dutch side lose in two weeks' time, Ajax are most likely to progress. With Ajax facing Real Madrid and Lyon travelling to Zagreb, however, the unlikely may well be possible.

Inter Milan travelled to Turkey to face Trabzonspor in Group B and ensured qualification after a 1-1 draw with the home side. Trabzonspor gained an unlikely victory over their Italian counterparts on the opening game of the group stage in September and were looking for a repeat performance at home. This proved unlikely after Ricardo Alvarez's excellent goal gave Inter the lead after 18 minutes but the home side pegged the Italian giants back just 5 minutes later. Halil Altintop's long-range effort took a huge deflection off of an Inter defender and gave Julio Cesar no chance in the Inter goal.

Lille kept their chances of qualification alive with a win away to CSKA Moscow thanks to two second half goals. Lille took the lead after an excellent own goal from Vasili Berezutski who lobbed his 'keeper from the edge of the area with the ball kissing the bar on it's way into the Russian side's net. The French side's second was far more impressive as Eden Hazard's superb reverse ball gave Joe Cole the freedom of the Moscow penalty area and his chipped effort past the advancing 'keeper was unlucky to only hit the post. Luckily, for Lille, Senegalese forward Moussa Sow was on hand to tap in from just two yards out.

With Inter through it is now down to the last round of fixtures to decide who joins them in the last 16 of the competition, who enters the Europa League and who's European adventure comes to an end. Trabzonspor currently lie 2nd with six points and travel to Lille on Matchday 6 with the French side 3rd just a point adrift and ahead of bottom side CSKA Moscow on goal difference. The Russians travel to Italy to take on Inter with it all to do and will be hoping that the battle in Lyon ends in a draw and that they can gain an unlikely win over the 2009 champions.

Beattie training with Bournemouth in search of next move

Former England striker James Beattie is training with League One side Bournemouth following his release from SPL side Rangers at the end of last season.

Beattie, 33, has been given the chance to regain some fitness and train with the side and manager Lee Bradbury has revealed that he is interested in signing the former Southampton striker but will not be rushed into a decision as, at the moment, it is an arrangement through convenience for both parties.

"Obviously it would be a massive plus for us if we could sign someone of James' Calibre", said Bradbury. "We will see where it goes, there's nothing too concrete in it and he's really come to get some time under his belt".

A former Saints icon, under the successful stewardship of Gordon Strachan that resulted in an FA Cup Final, a place in Europe and al 5 of his England caps, Beattie is back living in the city and a move may well materialise if he proves himself in training and both him and the club are a fit.

Beattie, 33, revealed after his first training session with the Cherries, ahead of their FA Cup tie with Gillingham today, that he was in need of the training and remained coy over any potential move.

Beattie said; "I've been training on my own which is quite difficult so I'm just here to get a bit of sharpness really. I'm very grateful to the club and to Lee and it's essential I get some training in and some match time between now and January."