Controversy clouded Manchester United’s 1-0 victory in the FA Cup 3rd round that left Liverpool fuming. Dalglish branded the decisions a joke; while Ryan Babel is likely to face disciplinary action after posting an image of Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt, on his twitter account.
In the papers this morning there has been more on the fallout from the match at Old Trafford; Maradona claims he has received an offer from England, while Harry Redknapp believes the Beckham deal is far from dead.
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Maradona claims English offer – Sky Sports
King Kenny kops a defeat and lands in controversy – Mirror
Ancelotti grateful for backing of fans – Daily Telegraph
Thierry helps young Gunners – Sun
Newcastle target Caen’s Youssef El Arabi – IMScouting
Harry – Becks deal not dead – Sky Sports
Mackie condemns Diouf after leg-break taunt – Guardian
Cameron: we were misled over 2018 bid – Daily Telegraph
Grant slams insider critics – Sky Sports
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Babel lampoons referee Webb on Twitter – Guardian
Aston Villa set to offer Reo-Coker in fresh bid to land Barton – Daily Mail
During the history of the Premier League, there have been many famous moments where managers have lost the plot when under severe pressure, and have hit out at rival players and managers. There was of course Kevin Keegan’s “I would love it…” interview, and more recently, Rafa Benitez was at pains to point out some “FACTS” about Manchester United.
However, this week’s feud started by Manchester City boss, Roberto Mancini, with the white half of North London is one of the strangest episodes in recent times.
Mancini’s claim is that without Gareth Bale, Tottenham would be half the side they currently are – a strange statement to say the least. Whilst Bale has put in several high-class performances in a Tottenham shirt over the last twelve months, the main reason for Spurs’ continued success is their ability to rotate their squad, with quality replacements in every position.
The Welshman has excelled this season, however his displays have mainly been in European fixtures – the consistent week in, week out Premier League performances have come from other players – particularly earlier on in the campaign. Rafael Van der Vaart has been a revelation, and the creativity of Luka Modric has been a joy to behold. The scary thing for Mancini is, that could Bale find a greater level of consistency in his league performances, the Lilywhites could be even stronger domestically.
Were Mancini to locate a realistic weak point, he may have looked at the obsession with bringing a 35 year old David Beckham to White Hart Lane, or the poor fitness record of the Tottenham back line, but his attack on Tottenham’s squad depth is laughable, particularly looking at the resources available at Chelsea and Liverpool.
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Mancini’s comments are sure to rile Tottenham fans all over the country, but why do it? Bearing in mind it was this exact Spurs side that forced Manchester City out of the Champions League spots at the end of last season, the Italian tactician is making a rod for his own back should his team slip up in the coming months.
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A bigger concern for the former Inter Milan boss is that his own players have caused enough difficulty over the last few weeks. From Carlos Tevez’s insistence that he would never play for the club again, to training ground bust-ups amongst his expensively assembled squad, you would have thought the Italian would have used the time away from the spotlight to quietly strengthen his hand rather than get involved in a needless squabble.
Throughout the course of a season there are inevitable verbal jousts between rival managers, particularly as we move towards the business end of the campaign. Mancini’s comments may be simply washed over in the coming weeks as the battle for Champions League qualification takes its most significant turn, however if his remarks result in a dramatic backlash when the two sides meet in a couple of months time he will only have himself to blame.
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There is only one clause in your contract when you sign for Liverpool and that is that you remain respectful to your fans and loyal to the club at all times – no matter the cost.
Torres has come out in the past claiming that Atletico Madrid was his Spanish club and Liverpool his English, but as former Liverpool striker John Aldridge put it yesterday, Torres “has been pretty fraudulent with Liverpool fans, who have stuck with him through thick and thin, and he’s been very thin of late.”
The truth remains that the 26-year-old was told the future plans by manager Roy Hodgson during the summer, which we have all seen ultimately fail.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Liverpool had won both the Champions League and the Super Cup in 2005, alongside the FA Cup and the Community Shield in 2006 and were runners-up in the Champions League in 2007, following a 2-1 defeat to AC Milan.
Torres arrived at the club when it was full of confidence, looking to build on winning a league title after 17 odd years and Liverpool were a real force in European football. His tenure at the club was greeted by Spanish manager Rafael Benitez and a handful of players from the national team, notably Pepe Reina, Xavi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa. The Spaniard truly believed that you could never walk alone in a Liverpool jersey.
When Torres left Anfield for Stamford Bridge, goalkeeper Pepe Reina was the only senior Spanish player left in the Liverpool squad, the owners had changed, there had been two managers and they still had not won anything, with Torres only ever experiencing a domestic slot behind rivals Manchester United in the 2008-09 season.
El Nino certainly had time to adapt and make friends at the club during his three year stay on Merseyside, but when you are not winning anything, unhappy and you’re in Liverpool – it must feel like a hell of a long way from home. This is evidently only a small reason for his departure, but most certainly a convincing one – the little nudge needed to convince yourself that Chelsea (yes, you heard me – Chelsea) is the right path to take in your career.
Torres and his agent are clever blokes, and had the £50m buy-out clause written into his contract should the Reds not qualify for the ChampionsLeague for the 2010 season – leaving the Spaniard with a small dash of comfort that he could move to the London outfit should everything go wrong, not move at the right pace or develop to his own liking.
And it didn’t.
Appointing Roy Hodgson as manager was perhaps more of a favour to a coach who had done reasonably well for himself with a mediocre team, rather than Liverpool as a club. However, he convinced Torres to stay, and fair enough – Torres wants to win trophies.
Liverpool experienced their worst start to a domestic season in over 50 years, which not exactly the progress the 26-year-old was looking for.
Six months into the campaign and Torres was convinced that should an offer come his way, he would take his pre-packed bags and venture to his suitor, should it be any Champions League or trophy-winning side such as Manchester United, Barcelona or Chelsea.
It’s fair enough to want to win trophies, and when you’re not from the city you play for, continuing may not seem so much as a battle but as an inconvenience to glory – especially when you’re class like Fernando.
But let’s take a look back at Liverpool’s position in January.
Fenway Sports Group bought the club for £300 million, and intended to do what they did with the Boston Red Sox baseball outfit – invest.
A promise to build a new stadium had been murmured between Gillett and Hicks for years, but with the takeover from FSG and their clean removal of the club’s debt – it was so, so clear in which direction they intended to go with Liverpool.
Damien Comolli was appointed Director of Football in the summer, aka scouting for top players, both youthful and experienced.
According to Guillem Ballague, Torres was not satisfied with where the club were going, as he began to realise that the club was full of empty promises, and that player investment was not to occur under Gillett and Hicks, and by the time the new owners had a chance to splash those lovely $100 bills, the club would not be in a position to challenge for the Champions League.
Liverpool revealed that they rejected summer bids for Fernando from Man City and Chelsea. So he rejected City, wasn’t needed at Barcelona, isolated from Wenger and could never complete a move to Old Trafford due to the Glazer’s financial position, so Chelsea were really the only club left to go to for the level of football triumph he so urgently wanted to challenge for.
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There is no doubt that Liverpool is finally turning a corner here with new American owners and Kenny at the helm, but perhaps at 26 (27 next month) Torres was feeling as if he was arriving at his peak and couldn’t afford another few seasons in search of silverware at a club level, and it remains that he will never be loved the same way at Chelsea as by the Kop.
It is obviously no longer a question of loyalty to one’s club, as he submitted his transfer request on Friday evening after receiving the Chelsea bid and set his sights firmly on London.
Chelsea have paid a domestic league record fee to acquire his services, perhaps a sum that matches the needs of the club – Lampard (32), Drogba (33), Anelka (32), Malouda (30), John Terry (30) and Ashley Cole (30), all edging closer to that expiration date. Has Torres made the right decision in joining a club who are out of the title race this season? Could Chelsea end up fifth in the table and miss out playing against the European elite? It’s all very possible with the current Premier League table.
However, FSG made their intentions clear when acquiring the difficult signature of 24-year-old Luis Suarez. Torres might just come back and regret not staying until the summer, as Liverpool begin to properly rebuild. But with two young attackers, one more experienced than the other, and both stone cold strikers – the Reds have two new potential Kopite legends on their hands.
Fernando Torres has been a Liverpool star in the past, loved by the fans and could have continued his career to be identified as one of the club’s greats.
He’s not Chelsea’s player, and will never be treated like one.
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After the extraordinary and unexpected sight of Genarro Gattuso head-butting ‘old enough to be his father’ 59-year-old Spurs Assistant Coach, Joe Jordan last week, it’s time to delve into the archive and have a look at some more notorious moments of players losing and using their heads.
From little Ariel Ortega to, bizarrely, German coach Norbert Meier, it seems that no matter who the protagonists, when it comes to football confrontations, a head-to-head battle is often just a square-up away. So here is our Top 5 Famous Football Headbutts.
The most famous butt of them all (except perhaps Kim Kardashian’s). As the 2006 World Cup Final entered extra time, that old master of wind-ups, Marco Materazzi was giving the French maestro an earful of not-so-pleasantries. ‘Zizou’ was not entirely impressed with Materazzi’s trash-talk and so decided to let him know by slamming him in the chest with his baldy head.
Cue Italy winning the World Cup and Zidane retiring in disgrace – quite a departure from 4 years earlier, when the French legend scored 2 goals in his country’s maiden World Cup victory against Brazil. CLIP.
Ortega vs. Van der Sar
While the violence is unacceptable, you can’t help but appreciate Ortega’s innovation in head-butting Van de Sar’s chin during Argentina’s loss to the Netherlands in the 1998 World Cup quarter-final. The 5’7″ ‘Little Donkey’ was giving up a whole foot to the giant Dutch goal-keeper when he decided to take him on in a David vs. Super Goliath situation.
After diving to try and win a penalty, Van der Sar began remonstrating with the little Argentinian, who proceeded to launch himself up from the turf, directly into the Dutch keeper’s chin. Already about to get a yellow for diving, he got a straight red for violent conduct; oh, and Dennis Bergkamp went on to score the winner not long afterwards – all in all not the best game of Ortega’s career. CLIP.
Gattuso vs. Jordan
Tuesday’s game between AC Milan and Spurs produced some extraordinary scenes, and not just on the pitch. Famously belligerent battler Genarro Gattuso, like most of his team-mates, had a poor game, and he couldn’t stop his febrile frustration boiling over.
Unbelievably, the focus of the Growler’s anger was 59-year-old Joe Jordan, Harry Redknapp’s No.2. Gattuso first pushed Jordan away by the throat, a sending-off offence in itself, during the game; he then approached Jordan after the final whistle and, no doubt recalling his time in Scotland, gave ‘Jaws’ a Glasgow kiss. Graeme Souness didn’t fancy the Italian’s chances had Jordan reacted however,
“I just wish now he could have 10 minutes in a room alone with Joe Jordan. Actually, it wouldn’t take that long, make it five minutes.”
CLIP
Meier vs. Streit
The most comedic headbutt (if there can be such a thing) on this list, Norbert Meier’s hilarious head-butt/falling-over double act richly deserves its place in the top 5. Meier, at the time the MSV Duisberg boss, was having strong words up-close with FC Koln’s Albert Streit, when the two leaned towards each other. Meier then made the headbutt and immediately collapsed, feigning injury.
Streit, takes a moment to comprehend quite what has happened, sees Meier falling down and decides he must join him in his collapse, so as to avoid blame for the ridiculous incident. Meier was fooling nobody however, and was banned from management for 3 months as a result – nice try Norbert. CLIP.
Eto’o vs. Cesar
Samuel Eto’o is a fantastic goal-scorer and a great player who many people idolise, and it seems from the following clip that the African hitman has his own football idol – Zinedine Zidane. Unfortunately, the way in which he chose to imitate the Frenchman was with a headbutt to the chest of Bostjan Cesar, the Chievo defender.
A carbon copy of Zidane’s head-based antics, Eto’o avoided punishment at the time as the ref did an Arsene Wenger and missed the incident. Unfortunately for the Cameroonian, he was collared with video evidence after the game and received a three match ban. It was a case of ‘Eto’o Brutal’ for Cesar.CLIP.
So there we have the top 5, but who’s missing? Duncan ‘Disorderly’ Ferguson? Cristiano Ronaldo? Let me know in the comments below.
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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has set his Wigan Athletic side a target of 40 points if they are to stay in the Premier League.The Latics face a tough run of matches over the next month, beginning with a visit from league leaders Manchester United on Saturday.Martinez’s side are only one point adrift of safety with 27 from 27 games so far this season, and the manager is eyeing a better return from their remaining 11 matches.”I think everyone has a good amount of points in the bottom eight positions, and that it’s going to go down to the games they are involved in with teams in those positions,” Martinez said.”I just feel that 40 points is probably going to be the tally needed to stay in the Premier League, which is a big one if you compare it to last year.”Wigan will be looking to take their first ever point off United in 12 attempts since being promoted to the top flight in 2005.Despite their horrible run against United, Martinez is confident his side can get something out of Saturday’s encounter.”I think it’s about ourselves. If we are not perfect, if we are not performing as good as we can you haven’t really got a chance against a side like Manchester United,” he said.”But I feel that in the form we are enjoying at the moment and with the support of our fans, we have got a real chance to overcome two big challenges, which is the team we’ve got in front of us and historically it will be the first time we’ve got something out of Man United.”Martinez has almost a clean bill of health ahead of the game, with Emmerson Boyce and Callum McManaman the only doubts.”Emmerson Boyce is the only one we have to assess and then make a decision if he can be involved,” Martinez said.”Apart from him, Callum McManaman suffered a nasty cut against Bolton, but he is going to be joining the group tomorrow, so apart from Boycey and Callum everyone is fit and available.”
Tottenham defender William Gallas is now in the middle of his tenth season as a Premier League defender, a long period of time for any player to consistently perform in the top flight it has to be said, which leaves me with the thought – does Gallas receive the plaudits that he so richly deserves?
Gallas signed for Chelsea back in 2001 for £6.2m from Marseille as a young, pacy centre back with raw potential. Over the years his game has developed and he’s proved to be one of the league’s most consistent defenders of the last decade. When talking about the best defenders to have graced the Premier League over the past decade or so, Gallas is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Ferdinand, Carragher, Vidic, Hyypia and Campbell, which I find somewhat puzzling.
Part of the problem when discussing the merits of William Gallas as a player is that it inevitably leads to questions on Gallas the person, something which has proved to be his downfall over the years. The perceived lack of loyalty he has shown to his former clubs over the years has gone a long way to courting negative headlines, something which live longer in the memory than his exploits on the pitch rather unfortunately do.
He left Chelsea under a cloud back in 2005, with the West London club even issuing a statement saying that Gallas threatened to score own goals unless allowed to depart for Arsenal. It was a sad way to end a 5-year spell at the club, during which he became praised for his versatility, calmness when in possession and pace, as he became a vital ingredient to Chelsea’s back-to-back title winning sides.
His controversial move to Arsenal saw him eventually rewarded with the captain’s armband in 2007 after Thierry Henry’s departure to Barcelona, ahead of the likes of Gilberto Silva and Kolo Toure.
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But yet again, after the horrific leg break suffered by Eduardo away at Birmingham, Gallas was criticised for his petulant behaviour and refusal to leave the pitch at full-time after a late Birmingham equaliser left the player deflated, emotional and lost for words. Most observers thought that this sort of behaviour simply wasn’t befitting of an Arsenal captain and Gallas lost the captaincy the following season after revealing tensions within the Arsenal squad to the media, while also simultaneously criticising the hunger of some of the squad’s younger players.
Gallas was also sighted as a motivating factor behind Kolo Toure’s move to Man City in 2009, with the Ivory Coast defender later divulging that the pair were barely on speaking terms. It appeared that instead of uniting the dressing room, Gallas was playing a pivotal part in dividing it.
Injuries played their part as he wound down his time at Arsenal and amid rumours that the player was thought to be demanding £80,000 a-week in a proposed new two-year deal; a ludicrous sum of money for an injury-prone 32 year old defender, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger allowed him to depart on a free transfer at the end of last season.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp then snapped him up, describing the move as a “no brainer” and during his time at White Hart Lane so far, Gallas has proved to be an astute signing, forming a solid partnership at the heart of the Spurs defence alongside Michael Dawson.
He’s also gone some way to displaying the leadership qualities that saw Arsene Wenger place so much faith in him during his captaincy spell at Arsenal. With the other centre-halves in the Spurs first-team ravaged by injury for much of the campaign, Gallas has been involved in 20 of the club’s 28 league fixtures, with his fitness proving a valuable asset to Harry Redknapp in times of need.
Controversy always seems to lurk just around the corner with Gallas though, such is the tempestuous nature inherent in his personality, and were it not for these public fallings out, he’d surely be regarded in much higher esteem among his peers than he already is now.
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In 280 league games in the Premier League Gallas has scored an extremely helpful total of 24 goals. He’s quick, decent in the air and fantastic on the recovery, not to mention his reliable distribution skills. Gallas is often overlooked for praise by most, which is a shame; he’s been a fantastic servant to the English game, if not the clubs that he has played for.
He remains a divisive figure, of that there can be no doubt, but the Frenchman is often overlooked when it comes to the debate about the greatest centre-halves to have graced the Premier League over the course of the last decade. A questionable character, most definitely; but a questionable player – not a chance.
Avram Grant said his West Ham players need to let their feet do the talking in their fight for Premier League survival.West Ham visit fifth placed Tottenham on Saturday knowing that a win could propel them out of the relegation zone.But Grant said his side would have to work hard if they wanted to get the rewards.”We are confident but I think you know there is no deserve in football. Football is a game of points and it is the road to those points that is important,” he said.”Even when things got difficult we continued to play football our way.””We are playing football to my philosophy and the way West Ham have played over the years.””We didn’t take points at the beginning of the season even though we were dealing with problems reasonably OK.””It is good that we have made up the difference from when we were at the bottom and now we can change things.””We are happy with what we have been doing in recent games and we want to continue like that.”Tottenham have fought their way through to a Champions League quarter final against Spanish giants Real Madrid, but Grant insists that will not provide a distraction from their league form. Harry Redknapp’s side will be hungry for points as they are currently three points behind fourth place which would guarantee them entry to the Champions League next season.Grant said: “They have done really well in the Champions League but I don’t think they will be distracted.””If this game was in a week when they were playing Real Madrid next Tuesday, that could be a factor but it is not.””Tottenham have a big squad with so many good players and I don’t think it has affected them.”West Ham will be without defender Jack Collison (knee) while midfielder Junior Stanislas (hernia) and forward Demba Ba are doubts.
Steve Bruce hopes Asamoah Gyan can reproduce his performance for Ghana midweek when Sunderland meet Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.Gyan starred for Ghana at Wembley last Tuesday, notching the late equaliser against England and producing a display which City’s England internationals Gareth Barry, Joe Hart and, most of all, centre-half Joleon Lescott, will have duly noted.
“Asa was great for England and if City didn’t know all about him before, they will now,” Bruce said on Friday.
“Obviously the City lads will know all about him, but it’s one thing knowing the danger and another stopping it and if Gyan’s in the same form on Sunday he’ll be a constant threat to them.”
“I’m hoping all three Ghanaians at the club will still be on a high for the game against City.”
“And that extra day’s rest with the game being played on a Sunday could be quite a key factor in terms of them recuperating and we’re hoping to see them at their best.”
Gyan has failed to sparkle in Sunderland’s last three games – matches in which the Black Cats have drawn a blank each time.
But the club’s record signing will at least have reinforcements to play alongside him this weekend.
“We’ve got Danny Welbeck back now and Fraizer Campbell available from the bench this weekend,” Bruce said.
“It’s a great boost, no doubt for Asamoah as much as anyone because he carries out that lone striker role so well but maybe we’ve been putting too much pressure on his shoulders asking him to play it for so long.”
“I’m sure he’ll be delighted to have Danny and Fraizer available to play alongside him.”
Bruce wants his players to produce one more big performance against the last of the Premier League’s leading lights this weekend.
The Sunderland boss reckons a good result against the world’s richest club would set the Wearsiders up perfectly for a run-in which could yield a real points bonus at the tail end of the campaign.
“Manchester City are the last of the big hitters, so to speak, that we face this season,” he said.
“What we need is a performance like the one we had against Arsenal recently where we went down to the Emirates and came away with a good draw.”
“If we go down there and play well and have a go then we’re more than capable of getting a good result.”
“We are looking forward to the challenge this weekend brings because we do have players coming back from injury and we are looking in increasingly better shape.”
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City have injuries and suspension and Bruce knows that might benefit his team but he is pinning his hopes on a good Sunderland display rather than a poor City one.
“Manchester City have four or five players out and that disrupts even their squad,” he accepted.
“But we know how difficult opposition they’ll be at the weekend.”
“Everywhere you look on the pitch they’ve got quality players. So we know we have to be at our best if we are to get something out of it.”
“However, there’s no point in worrying about City’s strengths or weaknesses too much. We’ve just got to get out there and give a really good account of ourselves.”
Manchester United’s failure to see off Newcastle United has given Arsenal a hint of an opening in the title race. Arsene Wenger said that his players will have to give every last ounce of sweat and blood for tonight’s game at White Hart Lane if they want to stop the Red Devils from landing a record 19th title. It promises to be a classic, especially given Tottenham’s own need for the points to aid their push for a top four finish.
In the paper this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that includes Ancelotti conceding that he left the Chelsea squad thin last summer; Michael Owen hits out at the Toon fans boos, while David Moyes calls upon Tim Cahill to take a break.
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Liverpool’s new deal for Clarke boosts Dalglish – Guardian
Ferguson: Hernandez is no cheat – Daily Telegraph
England and Chelsea captain Terry’s cash donation saves childhood club Senrab – Daily Mail
Maniac bomber targets Lennon as Celtic manager is sent deadly bombs – Daily Mail
Chelsea squad was thin, says Ancelotti – Guardian
Tevez battling for final fling – Sun
QPR plot £2m raid on Tottenham – Mirror
Wenger critics baffle Harry – Sky Sports
Owen hits out at Toon fans over ‘greedy’ chants – Mirror
‘Blues can play football,’ says McLeish – Guardian
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Moyes: Take a break, Tim – Sun
Liverpool considering summer swoop for Birmingham defender Johnson – Daily Mail
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy was content with taking a 1-1 draw against Fulham on Saturday, despite being within minutes of a win.Steven Fletcher had given Wolves a 22nd-minute lead before substitute Andy Johnson equalised 10 minutes from time.
A win would have moved McCarthy’s side out of the relegation zone, but he said he was satisfied with a point.
“On the balance of play I can’t say that we dominated the game, but having got our noses in front we’ve got to learn to keep that clean sheet, which unfortunately we didn’t,” he told Sky Sports.
“It was a bit nervy, but hard working as ever and fully committed.”
“It is difficult to play free-flowing football when you are bottom of the league and up against a good side, so I’ll take the point because every one is precious and it might be the point that keeps us in this league.”
The manager also praised the performance of captain Karl Henry, who worked hard in the middle of the park.
“He has been terrific and that is Karl. He leads from the front and is never lacking in effort and drive,” McCarthy said.
“He has had a great performance today and I’m delighted with him.”
Fulham manager Mark Hughes said his team showed character in coming from behind to secure a point at the Molineux Stadium.
“We were scratching our heads because we’d made a number of clear chances and were playing well,” Hughes told Sky Sports.
“But we had to show character today and we got back on level terms and could have won it.”
A frustrated Hughes was sent to the stands during the encounter after kicking a water bottle on the sidelines.
He said referee Michael Oliver made a couple of decisions that left he and McCarthy mystified.
“It was for abuse of a water bottle, which is a new one on me, and maybe because I missed my kick three times before I made contact,” Hughes said.
“But it was a little bit petty I felt. I was a little bit upset because I thought Brede Hangeland made a fair challenge and won the ball, and the referee saw fit to book him.”
“It was a little bit frustrating for myself and Mick (McCarthy) today I think. On a couple of occasions the official has made decisions that mystified both of us.”
Hughes said he was still confident his team would finish in the top half of the table.