City's Next Best Thing

Manchester City’s powerful transfer resources at the hands of owner and ex Thailand Prime Minister Taxin Shinawatra have not gone unnoticed this season. However, possibly one of City’s real assets may have.

Javan Vidal, a current Manchester City reserve player has all the talent needed to progress into the first team and cause quite a stir. Now 19 Javan has always been the centre of attention in every team he has played in, from his local club Stretford Victoria to his current side Manchester City.

He has been used in a number of different positions since playing for City but has always maintained an eye for goal, something that his early goal scoring history would clearly suggest. Javan first became noticed as a sensation at his primary school Gorse Hill, he scored an impressive 40 goals in his last year there when he was just 11 years old. This record broke the long standing achievement held by John Sheridan. He scored 32 goals in a season, a former pupil at Gorse Hill and former player at Sheffield Wednesday.

Javan continued to play as a Striker for his secondary school team Knutsford High, he also played primarily as a Striker but occasionally as a Central Midfielder for his first and only Sunday league club Stretford Victoria. Javan spent 7 years at “Vic’s”, starting out at the age of 6 continuing to be an integral part to his team’s success for many years. One of his fondest memories from his time at Vic’s came when we was awarded the golden boot award at “The Umbro Tournament” based in Manchester in 2001. With teams participating from around the globe he scored 7 goals in 5 matches, reaching the final of the tournament against an unknown Romanian team. Unfortunately he and his side were not victorious, however Javan’s immediate future seemed much to celebrate.

Following his personal success at the Umbro tournament Javan received confirmation regarding a scout from Manchester City being interested in offering him a trial at the academy. Having been delighted with the opportunity Javan knew this couldn’t be wasted, preparing for his important trial match he admitted it was impossible to stay completely calm. During his match Javan felt confident in his own ability and maintained focus, capping off his performance with a goal. Although it was not to be for the then 13 year old, he wasn’t kept on and returned to play for Vic’s. This sparked a drive of motivation by Javan, to see his chance disappear to play at the highest level was not an option. Leading by example captaining his Stretford Victoria side it wasn’t long before he caught the eye of Len Davis, another Manchester City scout. This time Javan made an outstanding impression in his second trial game. He was then offered a further 4 week trial before official signing a youth contract, reviewed after a year to determine an extension or not.

13 year old Javan enjoyed playing as Striker for the under 15’s at City. He played in the “Nike Tournament” eventually won by his team beating Manchester United in the final. He also played against the likes of Brazilian team Corinthians and Barcelona of Spain. Having been kept on and approaching 18 Javan was offered a professional contract with a monthly wage, he signed for one year to play in the under 19’s. Instantly impressing he was soon playing in Manchester City’s reserve team, making his debut against Leeds reserves in 2006 when he was 17. International recognition was also on the cards for Javan, he was called up to play in a friendly against France for the under 18’s, starting at Right Back. With his sharp pace, strength and deft control, he has played as a Right Back, Centre Back but predominantly as a Right Winger under City reserves Coach Ian Miller.

Javan has shown to be the epitome of natural talent and hard work, surely one day leading him to achieve his overall goal of earning his chance in the first team. Although in February this season having sustained a major injury with torn knee ligaments Javan is now close to full recovery and can’t wait to be back training. With regular chats for guidance with close friend Micah Richards and first team coach Sven Goren Eriksson, Javan feels he can only continue the good work he has shown since his arrival at City as a raw 13 year old. Putting pressure on the first team players is Javan’s job, with the vast amounts of money available for transfers at Manchester City he will need to prove his worth immediately in finding a place in the first 11. Players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha and Michael Johnson have made the leap from the youth system to the first team, history would suggest Javan can and may just do the same.

City Starlets England Dream

Since breaking into Manchester City’s reserve team at the age of just 17, Javan Vidal hopes to one day wear the 3 lions and represent his country at the highest level.

The youngster has had an impressive 6 year career at City, having raced through the youth academy and now playing in the reserves. A confident Javan has not gone unnoticed by England, having been called up at 17 to play against France for the under 18 national team.

Javan received the call having been watched by England scouts on numerous occasions. He said he was “delighted” to play and was then picked up from his house and taken to Sunderland’s training ground, the venue for the friendly. He described his approach to the game as “apprehensive before the match but calm when on the field”. To fulfil every young players dream and represent his country, it has been Javan’s proudest moment to date in his ever progressive career.

He featured at Right Back against France and received praise from the England coaches. Following his debut Javan has since not been in the England set up, suffering recent lengthy injuries which have limited his football.

However Javan remains optimistic that he will one day receive another call up, and hopes it would some day come from the first team. At City Javan speaks regularly to England international and good friend Micah Richards along with keeper Joe Hart, Javan said he sometimes asks them about the difference between domestic and international level, he said:

“We don’t usually talk about it but when I ask about it Micah tells me about the pressure. He said the level is so high there’s no room for error and the technical ability at international level is really strong”

Regarding his own potential and chances of one day playing for England’s first team he explained:

“I can only continue playing football and hope to progress further. I would love to play for England but with all the young talent England has there’s only a small amount of them special enough to play. Obviously I’ll try to be a part of that.”

Javan's whereabouts

This map outlines Manchester City reserve player Javan Vidal's current and previous footballing locations. It shows the home of his only Sunday league team along with his current home ground with City's reserves and there training facility. Enjoy!


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Map of Stamford Bridge - Chelsea team, experiment

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Tennis Forum sites

This week's post will offer a couple of forum and chat based Tennis websites avaliable to take a look at. Fans can view the website and become members to discuss and share the opinions on a range of Tennis topics.

Tennis forum website http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com is a very useful yet informal source for up to date information regarding recent happenings in the world of Tennis. There are also discussion forums about past players, matches and Tennis equipment. The website also offers a section for relevant or maybe not so relevant questions to be asked and responded to in a thread called "TW Questions/Comments" another thread called "Odds & Ends" allows further questions to be asked if they do not seem to fit any particular area of chat on the site.

It is not essential to be a memeber to view the website as you can browse it freely at your lesiure.


Website :http://www.tennisw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1 is also similar to tt.tennis-warehouse as it discuss's general Tennis issues along with forum threads advertising Tennis opportunities for things such as scholarships as well as selling equipment. Another advantage the website has is that one of the forum leaders is ex tennis star Oscar Wegner. He offers his own individual thread devoted to his personal Tennis training methods and styles he used himself as a player.

This website again is membership free and can be viewed without restriction.

Roger Federer Feature

Leading the way at the forefront of modern Tennis, universal superstar Roger Federer is widely regarded as the most natural Tennis player ever to grace the court.
His 5th successive Wimbledon victory over main rival Rafael Nadal meant that Federer has now equalled the record set by Tennis legend Bjorn Borg. In a statement on what Roger would remember from the match he said:
“It was a huge occasion for me, huge pressure. Bjorn Borg sitting there, Jimmy
Connors sitting there, John McEnroe sitting there, Boris Becker sitting there. You know, for me it's a big moment for me”. Roger has dealt with pressure throughout his whole career and has admitted that when he started out in Switzerland the pressure was much greater than that of today when his girlfriend and father used to watch. However its Rogers ability to relax and concentrate which make him the player he is, and regards it as a “boost” if someone special is watching.
His victory at Wimbledon yesterday came as no surprise to many, however a resilient Rafael Nadal made it tough for the reigning champion unlike last years dominant victory by Federer facing the same opponent in the final. The rivalry between the two players has been broadly commented on however the young Spaniard has a long way to go in terms of title wins, on the comparison between he and Federer, Nadal explained: “right now is not possible yet because he has 11 Grand Slams, me three. But, well, I am young. I am improving every season and try continuing improving every day”. With the up most respect for Federer, regarding him Nadal also stated: “Well, the best player of the history have 14. He has 11. So he's very close. He's still playing unbelievable.”
Having won 5 Wimbledon titles the 27 year old feels confident enough in his own ability that he can someday reach the level set by his idol Pete Sampras with the view to maybe one day surpass Sampras’ current record of 7 Wimbledon titles. Federer regards Sampras as: “maybe the greatest player we've ever had.” This template of success set by Sampras however does not affect Roger to the point of utter disappointment if he is not successful in a particular tournament or match. Roger hasn’t won the Paris Masters, the Davis Cup or the Olympic Games but these competitions that he has not won don’t play a role in the hunger that Federer has for the sport. He admits that he’s on a great run at the moment and of course would love to win all tournaments but has his feet firmly on the ground. Roger doesn’t believe that he “won’t sleep at night” if he doesn’t win the remaining competitions there are to win. With his run of form leading up to then final a joy to behold for the spectators it’s no wonder why Roger Federer regards Wimbledon as the most important tournament in his life. He now seems to have a strong affirmation with the Wimbledon fans as there is now an air of anticipation and expectance when he steps out onto centre court. The audience is ready to be entertained by a master at his art with visions of his almost perfect technique allowing him to make shots like no other. Whether it be baseline tennis or a serve and volley approach Federer seems to be a cut above the rest in terms of natural technique and finesse in putting his own style on a stroke. For example his back hand shot is often wondered about how it is physically possible to put the ball where he wants it nearly every shot from very difficult angles.
Roger is one of the few sportsmen in the world that can unanimously be declared as the number one in his sport. A similar comparison to Golf’s Tiger Woods, Federer remains the modern day bench mark for any aspiring young Tennis player. The emotion in triumph is undoubtedly obvious in Roger, however his affection for the sport shows his overriding passion purely to play and enjoy what he does. With past greats such as Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe now finding it hard to find superlatives to describe what Federer is bringing to the world of Tennis it is safe to say the Swiss will remain at the top for many years to come. With 2 year Wimbledon finalist Rafael Nadal the closest to challenging Federer at the top, this building rivalry should leave the future open for some titanic battles between the two. However yesterday’s final was yet another example of the willingness and ability to overcome a challenge and be victorious, key to Roger fulfilling his potential of greatness. The love the Tennis world has with Roger Federer seems to grow by the year and without any uncertainty to admit, the likelihood that Roger will be in the final next year is overwhelming as he continues to lead the race for Tennis supremacy.

Michael Lee

Marseille Open

British star Andy Murray has had a positive week this week winning both of his matches in the Marseille open. Firstly he saw past Jesse Huta Galung by beating the dutchman in straight sets. However his second round match against the highly rated Stanislas Wawrinka proved tricky, the Swiss player broke Murray's serve numerous times as the Brit struggled to gain a foothold in the match. Murray turned things around and fought back to a tie break, forcing a decider which was won 6-1 by the world number 11.

In other news world number 3 Novak Djokovic took a shock exit from Marseille, the current Australian Open winner was beaten by unseeded opponent, Frenchman Gilles Simon. After the match Djokovic said: "I was not 100 per cent fit"

Introduction

Welcome Tennis fans!

From around the Tennis world I aim to bring you weekly feedback focusing on the topics of:

• Relevant Competition results
• Relevant player stories
• Any other newsworthy article or text of Tennis interest

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