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Pre-season tours a win-win: Keown

SINGAPORE — Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho may be outspoken critics of pre-season tours, but former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has made no apologies for it, insisting such events serve a specific purpose.

SINGAPORE — Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho may be outspoken critics of pre-season tours, but former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has made no apologies for it, insisting such events serve a specific purpose.

Later this month, Singapore will stage the Barclays Asia Trophy, which will see English Premier League clubs Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City as well as a Singapore Selection, compete in a quadrangular tournament on July 15 and 18 at the Sports Hub’s National Stadium.

But while the likes of Manchester United manager Van Gaal and his Chelsea counterpart Mourinho have voiced their concerns over fatigue caused by the additional travelling and commercial commitments that the players have to fulfil, Keown, speaking to TODAY in a phone interview from London yesterday, said these tours are vital to building the Premier League brand.

“I totally disagree (with criticisms of the relevance of pre-season tours),” said Keown, 48, now a football analyst.

“If you are an Asian fan who doesn’t get the opportunity to go visit and watch these teams, then this is the first-class opportunity to do that to experience that.

“The way the Premier League is played, the pace and energy, is something that I feel that is quite unique. To bring that to Asia and with the atmosphere the fans in Asia create, it will make quite the cocktail.”

Keown’s comments come a day after Van Gaal successfully managed to convince United to relocate their pre-season friendly against the San Jose Earthquakes on July 21 from the University of California Berkeley to the Earthquakes’ home ground in San Jose, thus saving the team an exhausting 145km round trip.

But Keown, who also had a spell with Everton, disagreed with Van Gaal’s concerns about the travelling causing unnecessary fatigue to the players, and pointed out that many clubs now fly their squads in comfortable conditions.

“I remember flying off with Everton, sat in the economy seat in 1989 but it’s nothing like that anymore,” said Keown.

“Players are well looked after. They will sleep for most of the flight and enjoy their on-board entertainment. They will enjoy the change (in environment) from the training ground, wear recovery suits and will also probably stay on English time.”

Singapore will stage the Barclays Asia Trophy, which is now in its seventh edition, for the first time. It could also be where goalkeeper Petr Cech makes his debut for Arsenal since completing a move from London rivals Chelsea in a four-year deal worth £10 million (S$21.2 million) earlier this week.

But while the veteran 33-year-old Czech is expected to make a difference to Arsene Wenger’s side’s chances of lifting their first Premier League title since 2004, Keown said more signings are still needed at the Emirates.

“If you look progressively, Arsenal has spent £40 million on (Chilean forward Alexis) Sanchez (from Barcelona) and £42 million for (German playmaker Mesut) Ozil (from Real Madrid),” he said.

“Arsenal are now spending big money ... (but) I feel a top quality centre-forward has to come into the club. They need a very mobile centre-forward. They may want to buy a midfield player. The transfer window opened on Wednesday and I expect Arsenal to spend big.”

 

BARCLAYS ASIA TROPHY 2015:

July 15: Everton v Stoke City (6pm), Singapore Select v Arsenal (8.30pm)

July 18: Third/Fourth place playoff (6pm), Final (8.30pm)

Tickets, which are priced from S$25 to S$155, are available at www.sportshubtix.sg.

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