Manchester United saw themselves draw level at the top of the Premier League this afternoon. They made heavy weather of it at Old Trafford against Wigan, but a win is a win and you won’t find any United fans complaining this evening.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of Man United blogs which has included…£220m deal provides more questions than answers; time for United fans to forgive and forget, plus a genuine cause for concern for Sir Alex Ferguson.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Man United stories on the Web this week
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Hola bebé – Carles’ lady puts Premiership WAGS in the shade
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What to make of Man United’s proposed signing Andres Lindegaard?
Time for United fans to forgive and forget?
£220m deal provides more questions than answers for Man United fans
Great Games: Man United 4-3 Man City
Is Fergie’s stand-off merely an exercise in trying to gain a moral victory
Caution advisable over Glazer debt repayment
Fergie should remember ‘he who dares, wins’
A genuine cause for concern for Sir Alex Ferguson?
Pleased But With Complete Displeasure At Manchester United
Mamic confirms Tottenham and Man United interest
Manchester United’s Top TEN moments of the decade
An underrated yet vital asset to Manchester United
VIDEO: Top TEN Audacious Penalties
Does United starlet really warrant an international call up?
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Click here to see the Best MANCHESTER UNITED around the Web this week
PIK debt: 10 unanswered questions – United Rant
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Re-evaluating David Gill – The Busby Way
This Is How It Feels To Be City: XI – RoM
A Financial Fluff Or Secured Safe Haven? – The United Religion
Q1 results – running very hard to pay the going rate – Andersred
New Chelsea boss, Andre Villas-Boas has promised that it is not a one man show at Stamford Bridge and he will operate very much in a democratic manor during his time. I guess that pours a certain amount of cold water over the claims he is the new ‘Special One’ and there doesn’t appear to be any ego or arrogance with him.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include more evidence found against FIFA pair; Manchester City ditch their reserves to play in Euro tournament; Pele tells Neymar to snub Chelsea, while Aston Villa give Liverpool the green light to move for Stewart Downing.
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Villas–Boas arrives without bravado – Guardian
Evidence found against Fifa pair – Daily Telegraph
Man City ditch Reserve League to play against Euro’s elite – Daily Mail
Gerrard fitness race for new season – Daily Telegraph
Brown: Team GB threatens Scotland – Guardian
United close in on Young – Sky Sports
Pele tells Neymar to snub Chelsea and go to Spain instead – Mirror
Arsenal resume their long-term pursuit of Everton defender Jagielka – Daily Mail
Inter rule out Tevez swoop – Sun
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Berbatov wants showdown talks to decide United future – Mirror
It’s an important couple of weeks for Roberto Mancini, as he aims to win silverware in the form of the FA Cup and ensure Manchester City qualify for the Champions League next season. Here’s how the Italian is feeling and where he thinks the club will be in five years time…
How important was your time at Leicester City in giving you an insight into English football so that you understood the culture when you came to manage at Manchester City?
I have very good memories from my time at Leicester but it was a very short period of time because I only stayed there for one month. After a month I had to start my career as a manager in Italy. It was a fantastic month for me as I learnt a lot about different cultures and different games and it was fantastic for me.
What are the main differences that you can identify between managing in England and managing in Italy?
In Italy your job is only with the squad and on the pitch every day. In Italy we have a sporting director and a general director who take care of decisions. Here in England the manager has everything under control for everything regarding the team.
What is the best way to manage the expectations that come from managing a top club?
I am very happy to manage here at Manchester City as it is a big challenge. I think we can become a top team in two or three years. We have improved a lot and this for me is a good squad and I am very proud to be here.
Modern football is very much a squad game. How do you manage a dressing room where you have 20 international players who want to play every game?
It is very difficult when I have to choose a first eleven because I understand the feelings that players gave when players are on the bench, it is very difficult. When you have 20 top players it is more difficult because every player is different but this is my job and when a manager chooses, he chooses the best players in the team. It is not easy when you have 20 different players in your team. You can only win if you have good players.
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How important is Carlos Tevez as your captain in delivering your message and your aims on and off the pitch?
Carlos is very important for us because he is a fantastic player. We also have other important players in the dressing room. Having five or six players like Carlos or Yaya this is very important for the team.
It can be a big change for a foreign player when he has to adjust to playing in a new country and new environment. What steps can you take as a manager to help new players?
I think that in other countries it is easy but England it is very difficult for every player because the football in England is different from Italy, Spain and Germany. I think that every foreign player who comes to England needs a minimum two or three months to understand the Barclays Premier League.
Ten years ago you wrote an essay about the Trequartista. Do you think this is a role that David Silva can fulfil for Man City?
Trequartista is an important position in the team. For me David Silva is a fantastic player because his technique is incredible and he understands when is the right time to pass the ball.
What is the idea of the hill you have had built on the training ground?
The hill is important for the players. This year we have not had much time to use the hill because we have been playing every three days, but in pre-season or when we are playing once a week there are some players who like to use the hill.
It is important for any manager to set targets in both the short and long term. What are your aims for Manchester City this year?
This year our target at the start of the season was to finish in the top four and be in the Champions League. I think we deserve to achieve this because we have been at the top most of the season with United and Arsenal, always being between first and fourth position. We now have eight games until the end of the season and we will do everything to be in the Champions League next season.
What are your aims for Manchester City over the next five years?
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It is very difficult to predict, in football the situation can change every five weeks. In my opinion Manchester City will be one of the top clubs in Europe in the next five years.
What would it mean to beat Manchester United in the Semi-Final of the FA Cup to help you achieve your aims?
I don’t know what will happen in the semi-final because it is very difficult to tell over just one game. When you play in such a big game like this against Manchester United anything can happen. We want to go to the final for sure, but of course so do Manchester United.
Is the Barclays Premier League in your opinion the best league in the world?
Yes. In my opinion the Barclays Premier League is the best league in Europe now because during every game the stadium is full. The players in the Premier League are the best in the world because the game is played at such a fast pace and every game is difficult for every team.
Visit the Dugout www.yahoo.co.uk/dugout for new interviews every week with England’s top football managers
Queens Park Rangers were due to be presented with the Football League Championship trophy at Loftus Road on Saturday following their final match of the season against Leeds. But, following the hearing into the seven violations of FA regulations in relation to the signing of midfielder Alejandro Faurlín in July 2009 and the extension of the original deadline, it seems there could be a change of plans for Saturday afternoon.
The club itself faces five charges, whilst Chairman Gianni Paladini faces a further two; with the results and punishments originally scheduled to be announced on Friday afternoon. But, at this late stage in the season with the Championship already won on the pitch, what would be the best punishment for QPR?
Many seem to think QPR will be deducted points thereby stripping them of the Championship title. They currently sit 5 points clear of second-placed Norwich and 9 points ahead of the playoff positions. When Luton Town were charged for similar offences they were docked 10 points. If the FA were to follow this precedent, as former FA chief Mark Palios claimed they should, then QPR would drop into third place, Norwich would be crowned champions and either Cardiff or Swansea would gain the second automatic promotion place.
But QPR have without doubt been the best team in the League this year and have deserved their success. To be punished retrospectively would, in many people’s eyes, be unfair whilst Norwich’s resultant title would feel undervalued and not recognised as a true victory. Surely this would turn the whole season into a sham?
If the FA is to look for precedent then it will undoubtedly examine the case of Carlos Tevez at West Ham in 2007. Despite scoring some crucial goals that ultimately saved the club from relegation, the Premier League refused to dock points and relegate West Ham and instead fined the club a record £5.5 million. A further £26.5 million was later paid to Sheffield United out of court as compensation for their relegation. Whilst a fine would have the least impact on other clubs and would be easiest for the FA to impose, QPR is, in terms of owners, one of the richest clubs in football and surely would be getting off lightly?
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Others have speculated that perhaps QPR should be faced with a points deduction for next season or even a transfer ban. Whilst these two options would ultimately hamper any hopes of Premier League survival next season, they would have much less impact on other teams and league standings than by punishing QPR for this season.
If the FA were to dock QPR points at this stage and relegate them to the playoffs, at least the team would still have a chance to fight for promotion and carry on their fantastic form on the pitch this season. Admittedly it would tarnish this year’s Championship but at least Rangers would have a chance to redeem themselves and it would definitely make for an exciting playoffs.
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Ultimately the main issue is that action is required fast as the Football League comes to a conclusion this weekend and the playoffs are just around the corner. The Football League have notified potential playoff competitors that the calendar might be subject to change so a points deduction is clearly not out of the question. The transfer itself was nearly two years ago and it has been nearly eight months since it first came to light following the player’s contract extension. Therefore, the FA must act now, particularly if QPR feel their punishment unfair and undertake an appeal process.
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Were Manchester City to fail to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive season under the watch of Roberto Mancini, there is every chance that more finances will be made available to strengthen a side that will eventually usurp one of the established big guns in the top four. Mancini himself may well not survive the failure, but finding a new manager would not be the biggest test the City board face at the end of the season.
For all the millions of pounds that could be spent in the summer and the potential search for a new manager, the far more pressing concern would be to convince club captain, Carlos Tevez, that his future lies in Manchester. Such has been the importance of Tevez to the City cause over the last two seasons, that his commitment to the project on a longer term is absolutely fundamental.
Another season without Champions League qualification could realistically give some City players itchy feet over the speed at which the club are moving forward. Further transfer targets could well become increasingly difficult to acquire if a top four place isn’t secured this time around.
Unfortunately for City’s owner Sheikh Mansour, the decision for Tevez is not one based on European football qualification, nor a financial one. One of the highest paid players in the world, the Argentine has been away from home since his deadline day move to West Ham in 2006. In that time he has become of the most respected attacking talents, but his hunger for the game appears to be waning. A bizarre transfer request saga in December betrayed his homesickness, and whilst there are no clubs likely to offer him a similar package to the one he enjoys at City, a return to South America and his native Argentina is fast becoming a likely next move.
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A return home could well spell the end of the former West Ham striker’s career at the top level, a crying shame for a player who has only recently celebrated his 27th birthday. Last season, Tevez expressed a plan to retire from playing after the 2010 World Cup after being dropped from the national side. Whilst no such retirement was forthcoming or even expected, Tevez’s statement was indicative of a troubled mind.
What it would take to retain the diminutive striker is unclear. Whilst other players may demand Champions League football, Tevez’s list is likely to depend on the happiness of his two children – if he can handle spending further time apart from his family then there is every chance he will see out the remainder of his contract in Manchester. If, however, Tevez gets another bout of the feelings that triggered his transfer request before Christmas, I’m not sure any promises or amounts of money will stop him boarding the first plane to Buenos Aires.
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Losing the Argentine would be a major blow for the culture of success that the City hierarchy have spent so much money trying to construct. Few of the club’s expensive imports have performed to the level expected of them, and while Tevez remains at Eastlands the credibility of the City project will remain intact from the viewpoint of the club’s worldwide transfer targets.
For more football news and views, feel free to find me on Twitter. I’ll be trying to convince Tevez to join me on a night out at ‘Club 69’ when he’s next in Buenos Aires.
It’s a simple question and one had I asked at the very beginning of the season, would have seemed like a no-brainer in favour of the Mexican.
Last season Chicharito was arguably the biggest positive in United’s entire campaign bursting onto the scene with a series of memorable and important goals that quickly established him as one of the world’s most lethal young strikers.
While Chicharito was bagging goals with aplomb for United, Danny Welbeck was busy impressing, albeit to a lesser degree at Sunderland. The Mancunian may not have set the scoring charts alight but he did bag some important strikes and proved he could hack it in the Premier League, a lesson United took heed of.
This season, Welbeck has stepped it up a gear, scoring freely and linking up with the likes of Cleverley, Anderson, Nani and Rooney to give United the sort of football that’s often been missing these past couple of seasons. Meanwhile Chicharito, recovering from a head injury picked up in pre-season, hasn’t been able to enjoy a real run in the side yet, although he’s still managed to bag a brace of goals at the Reebok.
Welbeck’s actually played one less league game than Chicharito- mainly due to a hamstring picked up against Arsenal, but has shone since his return bagging two goals against Basel and a late nerve calmer in the last league game versus Norwich.
The question then is who should start against Liverpool at Anfield a week on Saturday? Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez , who took the Premier League by storm last season or Danny Welbeck, who’s done something not too dissimilar this season?
Personally, I think you should start the form player in a game that should United win, would give us the boost to make our start to the season almost unreal. Welbeck couldn’t have done much better this season and while Chicharito is definitely a big game player, I feel he’d be more useful coming off the bench should he be needed than Welbeck would.
It’s a great problem for Sir Alex to have to wrestle and either way there’s no real wrong answer, tell us which young striker you’d start against Liverpool?
Read more of Justin’s articles at Red Flag Flying High
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It’s almost a year since Chelsea broke the British transfer record to bring Fernando Torres to Stamford Bridge and by way of an anniversary present the forlorn Spaniard has recently repaid the Blues backing by breaking a longstanding goalscoring record.
Unfortunately though, another blank at the weekend against Norwich means Torres’s haul of no goals in his last fourteen club appearances represents his worst trot as a professional and even aside from the paucity of goals, the former Liverpool hitman remains a pale imitation of the player that once terrorised Europe.
Statistics have long stopped being kind to Torres, so much so in fact that Chelsea fans have taken to consoling themselves with the number of assists their number nine has conjured up as a faux-replacement for his lack of finishing things off.
Without the presence of Didier Drogba looming over his shoulder Torres has been granted a sustained opportunity to find his feet, but even against the fertile opposition of Portsmouth, Sunderland and most recently a Norwich side previously without a clean sheet all season, the ailing assassin has again failed to register.
The Canaries were roundly lauded by their faithful and the press for earning a rare shut out but in truth – one fine John Ruddy save from Torres apart – Paul Lambert’s men had to do nothing more than defend studiously and with concentration to keep an insipid Chelsea at bay.
Quite whether Torres is the problem or the service to him is the route of the strikers travails really is chicken or the egg and to be brutally honest both are contributory factors merging to cause a conundrum with no obvious solution.
There is no doubt that a fit and firing Torres has the capability to alleviate some of the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas but with every next heavy touch, sluggish slalom and convictionless strike both parties struggles become more exasperated.
With Drogba away at the African Nations for the next couple of weeks, Torres theoretically has another window of opportunity to try to begin to right some of the year long wrongs, but with his performances in part impeding Chelsea’s form, is it time for AVB to swing the axe.
Drogba’s absence should not mean an automatic inclusion for Torres, especially given that the opportunity so far has hardly been seized upon. Instead, would the mini-me Drogba-esque Romelu Lukaku be a better bet to try to imitate the big Ivorian’s muscular presence?
Lukaku has barely figured since being procured for the princely sum of £18m from Anderlecht in the summer despite his prolific form in the Jupiler League. The Belgian international has averaged a goal every other game since making his debut for Anderlecht shortly after his 16th birthday yet this goalscoring prowess has been given few opportunities to flourish at the Bridge aside from a trio of Carling Cup starts and a few substitute appearances in the league.
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For anybody that has watched Lukaku at close quarters, the word ‘raw’ would be a suitable adjective to describe the hulking teenager. Indeed, shortly after signing him, Villas-Boas stressed that the purchase centred around the players potential rather than having an instant impact but perhaps inadvertently the 18-year-old’s unknown quantity and quality could stir things up for the Blues.
Lukaku is far from the finished article. His touch lacks finesse and his leggy style is uneasy on the eye but armed with pace, power and a desire to run the channels, Lukaku could in some way replicate unsettling style that Drogba has long since brought to the Chelsea ranks.
His phenomenal goalscoring record albeit in Belgium must also be taken into consideration. Plenty of players have come to these shores with impressive returns in the lowlands but few have flourished. However, Lukaku’s goals at such a tender age suggest a natural ability to find the back of the net and at the sake of losing all credibility, if you chose to peruse youtube to see his collection of strikes with Anderlecht, Lukaku does seem to possess an innate penalty box prowess and coolness in-front of goal which few can be taught.
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Given that Fernando Torres is approaching a half-century of Chelsea appearances but has notched in just four of those games, Lukaku would do well to do worse. Whether Villas-Boas opts to throw in the unproven and largely untried talent ahead of his expensive but misfiring star-turn depends on his motives for the remainder of the season.
All at Chelsea are clutching to the hope that a few goals will bring the old Fernando back again but with that notion drifting further away with every passing chance, the best way for them to win games immediately may lie with going with the lad with little to lose.
This weekend’s action in the Premier League was brought to life by Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney. He lit up the Manchester derby and won all three points for Man United with a stunning overhead kick that came from absolutely nowhere. There is no doubting that this was a brilliant finish and some people have been saying it’s the goal of the season in the Premier League, but is it even the best overhead kick scored by a Manchester United player?
If you cast your minds back to earlier in the season, Rooney’s Man United striker partner Dimitar Berbatov also scored a great overhead kick, this time against Liverpool. The Bulgarian’s strike even went in off the crossbar to give it that extra bit of wow factor! But which goal do you think is better? Here they are below so that you can take your pick.
Here’s Rooney’s effort…
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Here’s Berbatov’s effort…
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AC Milan and Rubin Kazan are set to battle Tottenham for the signature of Sevilla hit man Alvaro Negredo in January talkSPORT understands.
The Spaniard has had storming start to the season at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán scoring three goals in five games with his form alerting Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri who is in the market for a new striker.
According to reports coming from Italy the Rossoneri are prepared to submit a £12 million bid for the 26-year-old when the transfer window reopens in January.
That could thwart Spurs boss Harry Redknapp’s plans to sign the in-form frontman after failing to secure his services in the summer eventually loaning Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.
Redknapp is still keen to bolster his frontline with Adebayor unlikely to remain at White Hart Lane beyond the length of his temporary deal and will move for the former Real Madrid man in the summer.
Sevilla aren’t keen on selling Negredo during the current campaign which will give Spurs hope of signing him at the end of the season and thwart Milan’s plans to capture him in the new year.
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Is it actually possible to feel sorry for Chelsea? We’re not entirely sure but the usual mix of jealousy and begrudging hatred has been absent of late. That surplus of ill-feeling isn’t going to waste as Harry Redknapp and his Spurs side are doing irritatingly well.
They have as much chance of winning the Premier League or Champions League as Redknapp does of winning Rear of the Year but they’ll still hang in there long enough for him to get the England manager’s job once Capello gets sick of trying to turn a pig’s ear into a silk purse.
The form guides, Spurs unbeaten in five, Chelsea without a win in four, tell us to back the home side in this one but the odds favour Chelsea at 8/5, if only slightly. Ancelotti’s side are going through the club’s worst run in ten years but with players of their quality it has to come to an end soon. The same can be said for Spurs’ good run. Five games is far too consistent for them and you should back them to come unstuck against Chelsea.
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Top Odds:
Chelsea at 8/5 to win Drogba at 5/1 to score the first goal has to be a great shout. He is the only likely candidate these days who is likely to find the back of the net for Chelsea. With Defoe finding his scoring boots again, he is not a bad price either for the first goal at 11/2 Over 3.5 goals is 11/5.
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With Terry back in the side these days, it will be a tall order to keep a clean sheet at White Hart lane, but this match has got goals written all over it which makes this week’s Money Back Special a tasty prospect:
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“If there are more than four goals in this game, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st / last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match”
Let’s hope it is the exciting encounter that Paddy Power envisages, and if you fancy backing the goals market as well, then over 3.5 goals is 11/5.
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