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[h=1]Arsène Wenger feels the heat after Arsenal ship four at Blackburn[/h] • Arsenal throw away 2-1 advantage at Ewood Park
• Defence lacks focus for whole 90 minutes in 4-3 loss




  • Paul Wilson at Ewood Park
  • guardian.co.uk, Saturday 17 September 2011 20.08 BST Article history
    Ars-ne-Wenger-Arsenal-Bla-007.jpg
    Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has seen his team gain four points from five league games. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images

    An embattled Arsène Wenger saw his side fall to a third league defeat in just five games in a topsy-turvy encounter at Blackburn Rovers and repeated he had no intention of quitting, though confessed to being worried by Arsenal's now-chronic defensive frailty.
    "There is nothing to say about my future, my future is at this club focusing on what I do well," the Arsenal manager said. "But having just four points after five games is terrible. It is not good enough, and neither is coming here and conceding four goals. Defensively we are just not solid enough. It was not all negative, the game was frustrating because we did some things very well. We created many chances, for instance, and could have claimed a draw at the end, but I cannot say I am not worried when you see the performance we put in today.
    "There was a lack of concentration at corners and free-kicks, and when you are 2-1 up away from home what you must not do is give away cheap goals. We did that, and let Blackburn back into the game. We no longer appear to have the capability to keep our defensive focus for the whole 90 minutes. Of course I am disappointed by our start to the season, and we need quick results now. Spending too much time talking about it isn't going to help."
    Wenger may be fed up of conducting inquests into his team's various collapses and nonperformances, though this result will only increase the talk surrounding the club's apparent inertia during the transfer window. Per Mertesacker, the somewhat ponderous centre-half signed on the last day, put a header over the bar with a good chance to score an equaliser in the final minute, while his defensive partner Laurent Koscielny scored one of the two own goals that helped the home side turn a 2-1 half-time deficit into a 4-2 second-half lead. All the while Chris Samba, supposedly an Arsenal target in the summer, put in the sort of defensive performance every manager wants from his captain, and would almost certainly have put the Mertesacker chance away had he been wearing a red shirt.
    Perhaps Wenger will have to stiffen his defence again in the January window, though for now Samba and the day's spoils belong to Steve Kean, registering a first win, to lift Rovers off the bottom of the table after facing down a protest march – a rather muted affair in the end – from his own fans. "I was disappointed that people felt the need to demonstrate, but at least in the ground everyone was fully behind the team," the Rovers manager said. "That is as it should be, because I've said all along that we haven't been playing badly. This was the first game where we got anything like what we deserved. I can only reiterate that the backing I have had from both the owners and the players has been rock solid. Some of the criticism has been a little bit unfair, and I think our performance showed that. You don't play like that if there are splits within the club or dressing room."

 
[h=2]Manchester United v Chelsea, 4pm Sunday 18 September[/h] [h=1]Manchester United's Wayne Rooney could yet stand comparison with Pelé[/h] Their playing styles are very different, but the Manchester United striker has many years left to emulate the great Brazilian



  • Wayne-Rooney-celebrates-s-007.jpg
    Wayne Rooney is back playing his best football, a year on from signing a new contract with Manchester United. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

    Wayne Rooney is not the new Pelé, whatever the week's headlines made it appear Sir Alex Ferguson had said. What the Manchester United manager did say was in response to the Benfica coach's suggestion that Rooney was like a South American striker, and Ferguson even disagreed with that. "He's a typical British player," he said, somewhat mystified by Jorge Jesus's remarks. "But if you look at Pelé, for instance, he was a very aggressive attacker who could also look after himself, and so can Rooney. There are similarities in terms of strength, speed and determination."
    Let's hear it, then, for all the other typically British attackers who by virtue of being aggressive and able to look after themselves must also be a bit like Pelé. Alan Shearer, Mark Hughes and Kevin Davies, for starters. All right, perhaps not Davies, though it is hardly the Bolton player's fault that the job of leading most Premier League lines has largely gone to foreign imports.
    That is one reason why Rooney stands out. He is the main man for United and England, as synonymous with this country's brand of football as Bobby Charlton in his pomp. He may not be as jaw-droppingly inventive as Pelé, and he is extremely unlikely to end up with anything like the same World Cup haul, though it is important to remember that the brilliant Brazilian's fame was based almost exclusively on his World Cup performances. Every four years he would come round like a comet, then for the most part disappear from European view.
    Rooney's career to date has been just the opposite. A long list of medals and astounding success at club level interspersed with anticlimactic World Cup campaigns where expectation has far exceeded achievement. However, and this is the area in which Rooney's contribution to the game may eventually stand comparison with Pelé's, the United player may not yet be halfway through his career. At 25, he has been around for what seems longer than nine years, and without even assuming the longevity of Ryan Giggs, it is possible to suppose he can continue at a high level for at least that long again.
    "It's funny," Ferguson says. "In terms of the group Wayne is now a senior player. If you can see a new maturity in him that's probably why. He's older than most of the players around him and much more experienced. But he's only 25. So he's still a young player with a lot ahead of him."
    John Terry, leader of a Chelsea team who mostly have to think hard to recall their mid-20s, was saying exactly the same thing a couple of weeks ago, pointing out that Rooney could have another 10 years with England left in him. If that is true, and it does not seem unreasonable, he could certainly last that long with United.
    Almost exactly a year ago that would have appeared a dangerously large assumption: Rooney's private life was on the front pages, he was at odds with his manager over the extent of an ankle injury, had just been left out of the United side at the cost of dropped points in a 3-3 draw at Everton and was about to tell his club that they could not rely on him signing a new contract. But if United ended up caving in to his wage demands and going out of their way to keep him happy, there is a feeling they are about to be rewarded by one of his most prolific and convincing seasons.
    Two hat-tricks already in a season only four games old is quite a start, and even if the 8-2 result against Arsenal was freakish and the 5-0 rout of Bolton evidence that Owen Coyle may be in for an uncomfortable season at the Reebok, the way Rooney and Javier Hernández tormented the England centre-half Gary Cahill suggested they could do the same to just about anybody.
    Ferguson is likely to start the pair in tandem against Chelsea on Sunday, after only bringing Hernández on in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw in Lisbon in midweek. The United manager claimed he would not mind losing at home to his biggest rivals as long as he could win all the other games and still finish champions, though that is not how he tends to set out his sides.
    Though United are more familiar with Chelsea than any Premier League opponents, they are to some degree an unknown quantity under André Villas-Boas, and Ferguson is not about to gift the new boy an easy start. Everyone at United and Chelsea still remembers the last time a relatively unknown Portuguese coach made a name for himself with an unexpected result at Old Trafford, though what Ferguson remembers most about José Mourinho's Porto knocking the home side out in 2004 is that a legitimate Paul Scholes goal was chalked off for offside.
    Villas-Boas will be greeted by United's strongest side, and while the inclusion of Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung in Lisbon gives Ferguson options other than Ashley Young and Nani for wide midfield, there is little doubt that Rooney and Hernández constitute the first-choice attacking partnership. Or that David de Gea will return in goal, a subject on which Ferguson has been most insistent all week.
    "There is clearly a media agenda over our goalkeeping situation. It is as if everyone is desperate for the boy to fail," he says. "Anders [Lindegaard] was always going to get his chance, he has been patient and he did well. But De Gea has done well, too. I'm happy with both of them. Apart from his goalkeeping ability David's use of the ball on the floor is terrific too. We've almost got a sweeper there and that's a fantastic asset in the modern game. If you look at the stats from the Bolton game, I think his passes started seven attacks that ended up in their penalty box."

 
[h=1]Robbie Fowler: 'Rooney is the best player out there'[/h] Published 22:58 17/09/11 By Simon Mullock

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...pool-legend-Robbie-Fowler-article800887.html#
Robbie-Fowler-cropped


Robbie Fowler recognises divine inspiration when he sees it.
And for the striker who Liverpool supporters called ‘God', one man stands alone when he assesses who is currently the No 1 footballer in the world.
"Wayne Rooney is the best player out there at this moment in time," said Fowler,widely recognised as the most natural finisher of his generation, scoring 230 goals in a *domestic career that included two spells with Liverpool either side of moves to Leeds, Manchester City, Cardiff and Blackburn.
The 26 England caps he won were scant reward for his talent.

He went on: "I know Lionel Messi has been untouchable over the last two or three years, but on current form I don't think there is anyone out there who is such a complete player as Rooney.
"Wayne has redefined the role of a centre-forward. Not only is he scoring goals at a phenomenal rate, he is also dropping deep to dictate games from start to finish.
"Messi isn't that kind of player. He drifts in and out of matches. He wins matches with bursts of individual brilliance.
"Rooney is always in the game. Everything that Manchester United do goes through him. United have had players in the past who you think to yourself ‘how are they ever going to replace him?'
"I'm talking about players like Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo. But looking at what Rooney now does for their team, I'd say he is *absolutely irreplaceable.
"I think Sir Alex Ferguson knows that as well. That's why he worked so hard to keep him at Old Trafford last year when it looked as though Wayne was going to leave.
"I know it's a strange thing to say, given the number of goals that Wayne has already scored for United and England this season, but I wouldn't say he is the most natural finisher.
"He has worked hard to improve that part of his game and has got better at it, but it's his all-round game that puts him in a class of his own at the moment."
Fowler, 36, is still giving defenders in *Thailand nightmares with Muanthong Utd.
And as the Toxteth-born No 9 surveys the Premier League's current strikers he believes clubs are tapping in to a rich seam of the game's most important players.
"I remember when I was trying to break into the England team and it was so tough because I was up against great strikers like Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand and Ian Wright," said Fowler. "When I look at the current crop of strikers in the Premier League I see the same kind of quality.
"United have got Rooney, over at Man City there's Aguero (left), Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli, and *Liverpool's fans have a new hero in Luis Suarez. There's Torres and Drogba at Chelsea. Every team in the league seems to have a top striker at the moment. But, for me, United will be the team to beat again this year – even though it pains me to say it – because they've got Rooney at his peak. City will probably be their closest challengers and, if they are there or thereabouts at the end of the season, they will take some stopping *because of the quality *attackers they've got.
"I'd love to see Liverpool up there as well and I think Kenny Dalglish will get them back in the top four, although it might be a bit too early for them to win the title.
"Suarez has been superb, and Kenny deserves a lot of credit for backing his judgement on the player because the Dutch League isn't one of the strongest.
"I'd love to see Liverpool finish first and City second because they're my two former clubs. But I can't see *beyond United at the moment."
"The only thing missing from *Suarez's game at the moment is goals. He has missed some *chances, but if he can improve on that then he will be the complete player.
"Luis is a team player – that's why the Liverpool fans have really taken to him – but as a forward you have to be selfish. He's perfect for the No.7 shirt that Dalglish used to wear. He can be a legend at Anfield."
Robbie Fowler: Torres regrets leaving Liverpool



​
 
Sunderland v Stoke City, Sunday, 3pm Sunderland's Steve Bruce faces growing pressure ahead of Stoke visit Shake-ups in Sunderland's backroom and boardroom have added to the demands on Steve Bruce to produce results reddit this Comments (22) Louise Taylor Louise Taylor guardian.co.uk, Saturday 17 September 2011 22.58 BST Article history Steve Bruce Sunderland's manager, Steve Bruce, has signed 30 players in a little over two years in charge. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Steve Bruce, Ellis Short and Niall Quinn played golf together last week but, despite this outward show of camaraderie, the trio have still to silence growing speculation about how much longer their triangular bond will endure. Sunderland's manager, owner and chairman have found their relationships coming under increasing scrutiny in the wake of not only Bruce's winless start to the season but the team's record of only one home victory – against Wigan last spring – since New Year's Day. Although the manager feels sufficiently confident to laugh at fevered rumours speculation suggesting he is about to be sacked and Quinn has already, secretly, resigned as chairman, Bruce appreciates Short's patience is finite. Certainly anything less than victory against Stoke at the Stadium of Light will raise awkward questions about his position. Bruce was meant to imbue Sunderland withstability in the wake of Roy Keane's capricious managerial reign but after signing 30 players – several of whom have now departed – during little more than two years in charge it remains among the Premier League's most turbulent clubs. If change has been most pronounced on the pitch, there have also been boardroom upheavals with the departure of Quinn's old allies Steve Walton and Lesley Callaghan, prefacing the recent arrival of two Short appointees, Per Magnus Andersson and Mike Farnan. They are now working with Margaret Byrne, the well regarded, newly promoted 31-year-old chief executive. Byrne's diplomatic skills regularly came to the fore when, as club secretary, she mediated between Keane, Quinn and Short. Yet if the rather more easy going Bruce's installation has eased the tensions that once swirled around the river Wear things are still not exactly serene. When, three years ago, Quinn marched the intensely private Short on to an Irish golf course and persuaded him to buy out Sunderland's financially challenged owners the Drumaville consortium, he pledged that, with the right team and manager, the Stadium of Light would frequently be filled to 48,000 capacity. Despite a deceptively flattering 10th place finish last season, a post-Christmas collapse in formensured that gates struggled to reach 40,000, reputedly disappointing Short. It has not helped that the team have lost four key strikers in the past year. While Bruce could hardly prevent Danny Welbeck's return to Manchester United following a successful loan, his failure to motivate Kenwyne Jones – one of five former Sunderland players in Stoke's squad – or to keep first Darren Bent and then Asamoah Gyan happy have been costly. If Bent's defection to Aston Villa last January proved painful, the £13m Gyan's disappearance on loan to Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates last weekend is surely one of the most bizarre moves in football history. At least as Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-won endeavour to fill the attacking vacuum they can be reassured that even an "old school", technophobe manager such as Bruce is finally embracing 21st century innovation. As he struggles to bond with his new iPad, squad training is now individually calibrated through sophisticated heart monitors, while Steve Staunton has been hired to compile detailed scouting reports on opponents. Following an investigation into the causes of Sunderland's frighteningly high instance of injuries and post-rehabilitation relapses last season, the respected former academy physiotherapist David Binningsley is now responsible for supervising recovering players throughout their entire return journey from surgery to the first team. "We've made big changes," Bruce says. "But managers are judged by results and I know I need to win a match."
 
Sunderland v Stoke City, Sunday, 3pm Sunderland's Steve Bruce faces growing pressure ahead of Stoke visit Shake-ups in Sunderland's backroom and boardroom have added to the demands on Steve Bruce to produce results reddit this Comments (22) Louise Taylor Louise Taylor guardian.co.uk, Saturday 17 September 2011 22.58 BST Article history Steve Bruce Sunderland's manager, Steve Bruce, has signed 30 players in a little over two years in charge. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Steve Bruce, Ellis Short and Niall Quinn played golf together last week but, despite this outward show of camaraderie, the trio have still to silence growing speculation about how much longer their triangular bond will endure. Sunderland's manager, owner and chairman have found their relationships coming under increasing scrutiny in the wake of not only Bruce's winless start to the season but the team's record of only one home victory – against Wigan last spring – since New Year's Day. Although the manager feels sufficiently confident to laugh at fevered rumours speculation suggesting he is about to be sacked and Quinn has already, secretly, resigned as chairman, Bruce appreciates Short's patience is finite. Certainly anything less than victory against Stoke at the Stadium of Light will raise awkward questions about his position. Bruce was meant to imbue Sunderland withstability in the wake of Roy Keane's capricious managerial reign but after signing 30 players – several of whom have now departed – during little more than two years in charge it remains among the Premier League's most turbulent clubs. If change has been most pronounced on the pitch, there have also been boardroom upheavals with the departure of Quinn's old allies Steve Walton and Lesley Callaghan, prefacing the recent arrival of two Short appointees, Per Magnus Andersson and Mike Farnan. They are now working with Margaret Byrne, the well regarded, newly promoted 31-year-old chief executive. Byrne's diplomatic skills regularly came to the fore when, as club secretary, she mediated between Keane, Quinn and Short. Yet if the rather more easy going Bruce's installation has eased the tensions that once swirled around the river Wear things are still not exactly serene. When, three years ago, Quinn marched the intensely private Short on to an Irish golf course and persuaded him to buy out Sunderland's financially challenged owners the Drumaville consortium, he pledged that, with the right team and manager, the Stadium of Light would frequently be filled to 48,000 capacity. Despite a deceptively flattering 10th place finish last season, a post-Christmas collapse in formensured that gates struggled to reach 40,000, reputedly disappointing Short. It has not helped that the team have lost four key strikers in the past year. While Bruce could hardly prevent Danny Welbeck's return to Manchester United following a successful loan, his failure to motivate Kenwyne Jones – one of five former Sunderland players in Stoke's squad – or to keep first Darren Bent and then Asamoah Gyan happy have been costly. If Bent's defection to Aston Villa last January proved painful, the £13m Gyan's disappearance on loan to Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates last weekend is surely one of the most bizarre moves in football history. At least as Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-won endeavour to fill the attacking vacuum they can be reassured that even an "old school", technophobe manager such as Bruce is finally embracing 21st century innovation. As he struggles to bond with his new iPad, squad training is now individually calibrated through sophisticated heart monitors, while Steve Staunton has been hired to compile detailed scouting reports on opponents. Following an investigation into the causes of Sunderland's frighteningly high instance of injuries and post-rehabilitation relapses last season, the respected former academy physiotherapist David Binningsley is now responsible for supervising recovering players throughout their entire return journey from surgery to the first team. "We've made big changes," Bruce says. "But managers are judged by results and I know I need to win a match."
 
[h=1]Arsenal will not sack Arsène Wenger, insists chief executive Gazidis[/h] • Ivan Gazidis attacks criticism of Wenger as 'nonsense'
• Arsenal have made worst start to a season since 1953




  • Paul Doyle
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 September 2011 12.05 BST Article history
    Ars-ne-Wenger-007.jpg
    Arsenal will not sack Arsène Wenger, says the club's chief executive Ivan Gazidis. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images

    Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has delivered a rousing defence of the club's manager, Arsène Wenger, insisting suggestions that the Frenchman's methods no longer suit the modern game and that his position is under threat are "nonsense".
    Following last season's dismal conclusion Arsenal have made their worst start to a campaign in over half a century but Gazidis said criticism of the club and the manager is a result of dangerous "short-termism" and that in the long run Arsenal are on course to thrive.
    "[The criticism of Wenger] is part of this black and white perception: that you're either flying high or a broken failure," said Gazidis. "He didn't suddenly become a bad manager. To have him portrayed as some kind of idiot who is out of touch is profoundly damaging, not simply for Arsenal nor particularly for Arsène, but for football. It's nonsense based on the need to always create a mini-crisis … we are incredibly fortunate to have a manager who has a vision of what the game can be. To have a manager that thinks about the future is relatively rare.
    "There is genuine unity of purpose at Arsenal. We are fully supportive of each other. I think the lack of division [between the board and the manager] sometimes infuriates people."
    Gazidis rubbished suggestions that Wenger has become disillusioned by the criticism, saying the manager remains "passionately engaged" to the club. He acknowledged that the team have had some "horrible" results in recent months and fallen below expectations but said it is to Wenger's credit that expectations are so high in the first place.
    "The potential is very high at the club but self-inflicted problems have prevented us from achieving that potential. We have to correct that – that is the frustration that Arsène is wrestling with."
    The purchase of Mikel Arteta, Per Mertersacker and Yossi Benayoun in the final days of the recent transfer window, in the wake of the 8-2 defeat by Manchester United, led many to deduce that Wenger has abandoned his faith in youth but Gazidis insisted the club's approach has merely been tweaked.
    "We have made a tactical adjustment but the strategy remains the same," he said. "We still strive to develop young players but in the last transfer window we sprinkled the squad with some experience too. However, bearing in mind what we did earlier in the window [with the recruitment of players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson] the squad is younger than it was before the window."
    Gazidis said that for Arsenal to attempt to match the spending of teams such as Manchester City and Chelsea would be counterproductive. "Firstly it would simply drive prices to another level so it wouldn't achieve anything. Secondly it would not be sustainable."
    He said Arsenal should be congratulated for not trying to keep up with the extravagant spending of rivals and that to do so would be to jeopardise the future of the club and of football. He said in this regard Arsenal are "role models" because other clubs are striving to become as carefully run as the Emirates club. "I don't think clubs are moving away from Arsenal, I think the opposite is true … we are ahead of the game. We are where other clubs want to be."

 
[h=2]Arsenal v Shrewsbury Town, Carling Cup third round, Tuesday 20 September 7.45pm[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger to keep faith with Arsenal's coaching staff[/h] • Wenger puts trust in Rice and Primorac to boost defence
• Arsenal manager criticises players' 'lack of concentration'




  • Matt Scott
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 September 2011 20.52 BST Article history
    Pat-Rice-005.jpg
    The Arsenal assistant manager, Pat Rice, is among those trusted by Arsène Wenger to strengthen their leaky defence. Photograph: Alex Morton/Action Images

    Arsène Wenger will rely on his coaching staff to erase Arsenal's defensive frailties, refusing to opt for a specialist to improve the Premier League's leakiest defence.
    Arsenal have conceded 14 goals in five league matches this season in their worst start for 58 years, leading to calls for intensive training sessions to inject more steel into the back four.
    Martin Keown occupied a temporary role of specialist defence coach in 2005, whereupon Wenger's team made history by putting together a 10-game run to the Champions League final without conceding a goal.
    One of Keown's more recent roles has been to act as a defence coach for a Premier League sponsor. Yet having taken steps to strengthen his back four with the recruitment of three new players in that area during the summer, Wenger is understood to have resolved to maintain his methods and manpower. That will mean Pat Rice, the former Double-winning full-back, and Wenger's long-term lieutenant, Boro Primorac, leading coaching sessions for the newly assembled backline.
    Wenger is expecting a huge improvement from his players, starting against League Two Shrewsbury Town in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. He wants a swift reaction to Saturday's 4-3 defeat at Blackburn Rovers. "Our season depends on how well we respond to this disappointment and how quickly we cut out the mistakes on Saturday by giving away goals we should never give away," he said.
    Asked what was to blame for the defensive problems, he said bluntly: "A lack of concentration, a lack of communication, a lack of co-ordination and individual urgency." Arsenal conceded two own goals at Blackburn through Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny and Wenger wants those players to accept responsibility.
    "When you score an own goal you have to look at yourself," he said. "It is never completely out of your reach where you have no chance at all ... We feel that we have given this game away, not that we have lost the game. There is nothing worse in our job than having that feeling."
    With two new defenders in the squad in Per Mertesacker and André Santos, Wenger argued that "maybe as a unit we need more time to work" but he is confident Arsenal can recover impressively. "I believe we can bounce back and be very strong this season," he said.
    Against Shrewsbury he is set to give first starts to the Japanese forward Ryo Miyaichi and another 18-year-old, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
    Wenger said: "I will be faithful to our policy but I will try to find a good mixture between youth and experience. You will see the likes of Ryo and Oxlade-Chamberlain. You should be excited about Oxlade-Chamberlain because he is a great talent. My target is to develop him so he confirms the expectation I have for him."
    The players with greater experience likely to feature at the Emirates include Santos and Marouane Chamakh, while Emmanuel Frimpong, Carl Jenkinson and Francis Coquelin may also play.
    The captain, Robin van Persie, admits Arsenal still have time to turn their season around. "There is lots of time but at some point you need to pick yourself up and prove what you are capable of. We are not doing that at the moment and are not consistent enough. It just frustrates me and it is happening too often. Every time we start positively we just keep making the same mistakes and that is surprising. Even before the game on Saturday I said to the boys, 'Today is a big, big day'. We have to get back-to-back wins and we just cannot do that.
    "That is our aim for the next couple of games, we have to win them after each other. We just need a couple of good weeks in the Premier League where we get a lot of points. Hopefully we can start next week against Bolton."


 
[h=1]Fernando Torres backed by Chelsea team-mates despite glaring miss[/h] Petr Cech believes the striker's critics should ignore his blunder against Manchester United and focus on his overall displays




  • Sachin Nakrani
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 September 2011 22.01 BST Article history
    Fernando-Torres-007.jpg
    Fernando Torres somehow puts the ball wide of an open goal during Chelsea's defeat at Manchester United. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

    Fernando Torres doubled his goal tally for Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday yet the striker cannot escape from the one that got away. That miss continues to dominate the fallout from Manchester United's 3-1 win, with the champions' own official website even getting in on the act. "I packed my son off to school this morning with instructions to recreate the moment in the playground as soon as possible!" wrote Stewart Gardner on manutd.com on Monday.
    There is no snickering in the Chelsea camp, only support for Torres and a determination to make sure the Premier League's most expensive, and scrutinised, striker is not judged much longer for his 83rd-minute rounding of David de Gea and subsequent slicing of the ball as an empty net awaited.
    "I keep saying the same thing; I can see every time the guy is improving," said the Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech. "At Stoke he had a brilliant game. He didn't score but was unlucky. Against [Bayer] Leverkusen he didn't score but created both [goals]. At United he created a huge chance for Ramires. Then he scored a great goal, got himself another opportunity. I don't know what happened but he didn't score that. But he created a lot and his movement was there. You can see it."
    Torres's performance at Old Trafford was certainly encouraging, with the 27-year-old displaying strength, sharpness and a surge of pace that has generally been lacking since his £50m transfer from Liverpool in January. His goal in the 46th minute was also expertly taken, with the Spaniard lifting the ball over De Gea from an acute angle having perfectly read Nicolas Anelka's through-ball.
    But it is the failures which linger in the mind – Torres failed to convert another relatively straightforward effort prior to his late miss – and a feeling that they better represent his form.
    Statistics would bear that out. Compared with six of the league's other leading forwards (Robin van Persie, Luis Suárez, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko and Emmanuel Adebayor), Torres has produced the fewest shots on target this season (four), has the lowest shooting accuracy rate (40%), made the fewest amount of key passes (three) and maintains the worst final-third pass-completion rate (67%).
    "I'm not worried at all. He will score goals," Cech said. "What everybody needs to remember is just how well he played for the whole game and also the great goal he did score."
    Cech is also upbeat about Chelsea's prospects in general despite the team, who face Fulham in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, being five points behind United in third place having now suffered their first loss of the season.
    "The score doesn't reflect how we played. You might look at 3-1 and say it was an easy game for them. But the difference was they took their chances and we didn't. In the second half, from the way we played, we did enough to get something out of the game. We have to be positive. Every game we're improving."
    André Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager, is unlikely to face any disciplinary action from the Football Association in regards to comments he made in defence of Ashley Cole's second-half challenge on Javier Hernández, which Sir Alex Ferguson described as "shocking".
    Villas-Boas claimed Cole, who was booked by the referee Phil Dowd and will not face any further action from the FA, would not have been so rash had he received greater protection during the game from the assistant referees, Glenn Turner and Adam Watts. "Maybe he wouldn't get sent off [sic] if the linesman does his work," said the manager. "He would have been less emotionally drained."
    The FA has confirmed Cole will not face further action for the challenge and are understood to also be relaxed about Villas-Boas's comments.

 
[h=1]Manchester United striker Javier Hernández given all-clear after scans[/h] • Striker hurt in challenge by Chelsea's Ashley Cole
• Agent says scans reveal no serious damage was done




  • Press Association
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 September 2011 09.33 BST Article history
    Javier-Hernandez-007.jpg
    Manchester United's Javier Hernández is set to resume training after scans on his leg revealed no serious injury. Photograph: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

    The Manchester United striker Javier Hernández is set to resume training after scans on his leg revealed no serious damage was done by Ashley Cole's challenge in the Premier League game against Chelsea on Sunday.
    The Mexican was hurt by the late tackle in the 3-1 victory, prompting his manager Sir Alex Ferguson to rule him out of action for at least two weeks.
    There were fears the striker could be sidelined for much longer, but, according to the striker's agent, the injury was nothing worse than a "bump".
    Eduardo Hernández said: "It's just a bump, nothing more. It looked like [his absence] would be longer. They were looking for a fracture, that's why they ran those tests on him. [But] I expect him to be training without incident on Wednesday."

 
[h=1]Manchester City's £100m plan to be the Barcelona of the Premier League[/h] Brian Marwood wants the 80-acre Etihad Campus to produce homegrown players like the Spanish club's famed academy




  • Manchester-Citys-proposed-007.jpg
    Manchester City's proposed training academy in east Manchester. Photograph: Manchester City/PA

    They are planning more calculated risks in east Manchester today. Where once new Labour proposed to meet the area's regeneration needs with a Super Casino, Manchester City envisage the solution to sustained success in the Premier League and Champions League without recourse to the riches of Abu Dhabi in every transfer window. "This will be the most important investment this club has ever made," City's chief football operations officer, Brian Marwood, said.
    Marwood was describing City's proposed youth development and first-team training centre, part of the stunning Etihad Campus facility for which, after three years' research and six weeks of public consultation, the planning application was submitted on Monday. The scale and attention to detail are astounding. Eighty acres of brown field land opposite the Etihad Stadium have been earmarked for a project that will cost at least £100m and, City hope, deliver a production line of homegrown talent able to compete in the Champions League and a convincing riposte to accusations of paying lip-service to Uefa's financial fair play rules.
    Visualisation-of-the-prop-002.jpg
    A visualisation of the pitches at the proposed Manchester City training academy. Photograph: Manchester City/PA "It is part of our 10-year strategy for long-term, sustainable success," said Marwood, sensitive to the criticism that City's 10-year, £400m sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways attracted from Arsène Wenger and Liverpool, among others, and which Uefa has pledged to scrutinise.
    "Everyone has seen we have accelerated the recruitment process in terms of where the first team is now, which is three years into the owner's tenure of this football club. We are fully aware of the commitment that we face but, equally, we talk about sustainability and that [paying large transfer fees] can't be sustained, so we have to develop within. That is something that is paramount to the future of the club. Financial fair play gets talked about every week now, and everyone is looking to Manchester City to see whether we are going to conform to that. This is an element that will help us achieve the criteria people are looking at."
    City's project team visited 30 elite sports development centres in nine countries across four continents in the course of their research. The end result is a proposed home for 400 young players to train alongside the senior squad, 15 full-size pitches, on-site sleeping accommodation for 40 youngsters plus 32 members of the first team, a rehab centre and a 7,000-capacity stadium for youth-team games. The stadium is situated between the training hub and the Etihad Stadium so as to motivate academy players towards fulfilling their potential. The first-team training pitches will have different grass that match the varying types used across the Premier League. Whatever type City are playing on that weekend will dictate where the squad trains during the week.
    The grand tour included the Australian Institute of Sport, the LA Lakers, the Nike laboratories in Oregon, the New York Giants and Barcelona. "They are the benchmark for developing young talent," said Marwood of the Spanish champions. "You talk about the DNA, the philosophy and the culture, and it is there at every level in terms of how they play.
    "Our under-19s played against them last week. You could close your eyes and see a young Iniesta or a young Xavi and that is something on which we need to work very hard here. What the coaching team has tried to do is develop a philosophy but also a consistency in terms of the way we play at every level right up to the first team. In the last Champions League final Barcelona had eight players that were home-grown, which is an incredible statistic. They have their youth stadium adjacent to the Camp Nou, and they also have their training complex close by as well. It gives players that aspiration and inspiration to go from the academy all the way through.
    "We have a proud history of bringing through players from our academy and that is something we want to enhance. What we have tried to do at every level is make it better, and develop it in a different way. We are trying to bring through young players that can play in the Champions League. That is what we are aiming for."
    Micah-Richards-at-the-pro-004.jpg
    Manchester City's Micah Richards at the proposed site for the new academy. Photograph: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images A decision on City's planning application is expected in late December, with construction expected to take three to four years. City have purchased most of the 80-acre site but negotiations remain ongoing over the relocation of several businesses, while the club have allocated 5.5 acres for community facilities, including a sixth-form college, and will help fund a new swimming pool.
    Patrick Vieira, football development executive at City, insists the benefits will be widespread. "I don't think England produces enough talent, certainly in relation to the number of people who love the game and play football," he said. "I don't know why, maybe it is the facilities, but it is disappointing England has not produced more. This football club wants to give people the opportunity to play for the first team and for the national team."
    Marwood believes the facilities will ensure the next Ryan Giggs has no reason to leave City's academy for Manchester United. He also claimed another loss to City was Garry Cook, the former chief executive who was forced to resign over an email he sent to Marwood ridiculing Nedum Onuoha's mother's cancer, and had overseen the Etihad Campus proposals.
    "It's not a good time to lose your chief executive but we are all moving on," he said. "As the chairman said last week Garry has done a tremendous amount for this football club in the three years he was chief executive and he will always be welcome at this club. I'm personally saddened because I think everyone is aware of the relationship I had with him but we have to move on. He was a big player in this project."

 
[h=1]Fernando Torres's miss against United was not the worst ever[/h] A guide to open-goal bloopers not even the Chelsea striker would dare miss … and yes Ronny Rosenthal is included



  • Fernando-Torres-waits-for-007.jpg
    Fernando Torres waits for the ground to swallow him up after that miss for Chelsea against Manchester United. Photograph: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

    With Chelsea 3-1 down at Old Trafford on Sunday, Fernando Torres missed a very good chance. For a player of his class such a slip is horribly embarrassing but for the rest of us it brings two key benefits: an immediate, instinctive giggle, followed by a million pub discussions about where it ranks in all‑time miss misery.
    So here, if you have recently had such a discussion, or possibly might have one in the near future, is some ammunition. And it seems pretty clear that not only is Torres's effort not the worst of all time, is isn't even very close to being the worst of the last year. Indeed, it is quite possibly not even the worst open-goal miss by a Spanish international striker in 2011.
    For those who missed the weekend action and cannot get on YouTube, Torres danced his way around David de Gea and then, with the goal gaping, spanked his left-foot shot inexplicably wide. But when it comes to going round the goalkeeper and then missing inexplicably there can be no beating Rocky Baptiste, back in 2009. In mitigation, the Harrow Borough ace scored an absolute screamer later in the same game, against Waltham Abbey, which his side won 5-3. Baptiste's effort is pretty hard to beat, though some Brazilian called Macaca certainly gave it a good go, and this John Fashanu disaster would probably count if it had happened on a pitch, rather than on a computer. OK, if you insist, here is Ronny Rosenthal.
    To really make the grade a miss must not only be utterly humiliating, it must also be decisive, and it must occur in a match of significant import. Off, then, to the 2010 Asian Games, played last November in Korea, where Qatar's Fahad Khalfan earned a starring role in this hall of infamy with this abject howler. There seems little explanation for his decision to curl the ball towards the far post with the outside of his left boot when he was about a yard away from the goalline, but he could perhaps blame the inexperience of youth – he was just 18 at the time. Worst of all, though, it was decisive – his side went on to lose that game, against Uzbekistan in the first knockout round, by a single goal after extra time.
    If a miss is judged by the distance the ball was from goal at the time then Kei Kamara has a decent claim to all‑time greatness. The ball was actually on the goalline as the Kansas City Wizards striker prepared to convert, but then he totally missed his kick, fell over and knocked the ball in with his arm. Obviously he tried to claim the goal anyway, but an eagle-eyed official had spotted the offence. "It was one of the most unbelievable things I've seen in soccer," said Gregg Berhalter, whose LA Galaxy side were the lucky beneficiaries. "I can't really explain it well," deadpanned Kamara. But Kamara can't be singled out over Ilija Sivonjic, the Dinamo Zagreb player somehow failing to score from a similar distance against Cibalia Vinkovci in a match that ended 1-1.
    The Real Betis striker Dani certainly cannot win the competition despite this dismal effort against Salamanca last season, but that's only because this – from Rangers' Peter van Vossen a few years back – was almost exactly the same but even worse. And Diego Forlán's embarrassment at this hideous effort for Manchester United against Juventus is alleviated by the fact that it was in a friendly.
    Kanu's back-post blooper for West Bromwich Albion against Middlesbrough in 2004 was certainly a classic of its type. "I don't know how he missed that. I couldn't believe it," said Steve McClaren, whose Boro side were extremely fortunate to win said game 2-1. Come the end of the season the Baggies avoided relegation by a single point – had they gone down by that margin Kanu would have been, basically, single-handedly responsible. The fluffed pull-back department also features this Freddie Ljungberg effort for Arsenal against Bolton in that season's FA Cup – we'll excuse that because the Swede had already scored what turned out to be the winner, and Arsenal went on to lift the trophy – and similar ugly efforts from Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Chris Iwelumo.
    So cheer up Fernando, even great players miss open goals sometimes. If he goes on to score 25 goals this season, it will certainly be forgotten. But if he doesn't …

 

[h=1] [/h]


[h=1]Football Weekly Extra: A tale of two Owens and the Tinkerman returns[/h] Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves turn on the style in the Carling Cup. Plus, Claudio Ranieri takes over at Inter, and updates from La Liga and the Bundesliga




 
Rutashubanyuma said:

[h=1] [/h]


[h=1]Football Weekly Extra: A tale of two Owens and the Tinkerman returns[/h] Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves turn on the style in the Carling Cup. Plus, Claudio Ranieri takes over at Inter, and updates from La Liga and the Bundesliga




Click to expand...

i real appreciate the last night game city against birmingham..
 
[h=1]The anniversary Michael Owen would rather forget, and goals can't hide[/h] As the occasional Manchester United striker, who got a double at Leeds in the Carling Cup, nears the unwanted landmark of a year without a league start, could this season be his last?



  • Michael-Owen-007.jpg
    Michael Owen, who scored twice against Leeds in the Carling Cup, has grown wearily accustomed to the 'benchwarmer' jibes. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

    As anniversaries go, it is not one Michael Owen will wish to celebrate. Deep down, he may feel aggrieved, maybe a little embarrassed, though it is not always easy to tell. With Owen, if there are occasional moments of insecurity, he is as talented at hiding them as he was, in his pomp, at eluding centre-halves.
    The date will be 2 October. Two weekends, in other words, until we reach a full year since Owen last started a league game in Manchester United's colours: a goalless draw at Sunderland he would probably rather forget. Owen made only one pass that day in the final third of the pitch, and it was a five-yard pass backwards. He did not have a single shot and was substituted at half-time.
    What Owen demonstrated at Elland Road on Tuesday was a poke in the ribs to those who had been lulled into thinking of him in the past tense. His second goal in particular was a moment that invited memories of those glory times when we were all that bit more accustomed to that triumphant smile, the right arm aloft.
    Except Owen talked afterwards of knowing it would not change anything. "You don't get many chances," he said. "When you do, you have to perform because it's going to be a couple of months before you see a pitch again."
    It is a strange existence. Owen qualified for a Premier League winner's medal last season but it was a close-run thing. Ten of his 11 appearances were as a substitute and his one meaningful contribution was the equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Bolton Wanderers. In total, Owen has started 16 games since his free transfer from Newcastle United in July 2009. A further 33 appearances have come as a substitute and there have been 16 goals.
    Ferguson talked of a player whose "goals-per-game ratio is fantastic" but continues to overlook him for the matches that really matter. Of Owen's 16 starts, only six have come in the league, at an average of one every four and a half months. Almost a third of his goals have been in the Carling Cup, against Scunthorpe United, Barnsley and, finally, a Leeds United team that did not seem to comprehend even the basics of what it meant to invite Manchester United into Elland Road.
    Ferguson cited the presence of Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernández and Dimitar Berbatov but the cold, harsh reality for Owen is that he has also fallen behind Danny Welbeck and is, at best, fifth-choice striker now. At other times, Federico Macheda's presence has meant the man who collected the Ballon d'Or in 2001 having to watch matches in a suit. Owen did make it on to the bench for the Champions League final against Barcelona in May but was not used and his presence, ahead of Berbatov, became one of the great team-selection controversies of Ferguson's quarter of a century in charge.
    On the face of it, there is nothing particularly unusual about seeing a once-feared striker who has reached the point when he will admit he is in decline. Football is littered with men who reach their 30s and can understand what the old baseball pitcher Vernon Gomez meant when he talked of "throwing the ball just as hard as I ever did – it's just not getting there as fast".
    For Owen, once reliant on speed and having been afflicted by long-term injuries, it is probably only inevitable that, at 31, there was so much surprise when United offered him another contract at the end of last season. The curiosity of Owen's story, however, is that he would rather stay in the background at Old Trafford than play regularly at another club, and has been quite happy to advertise it, saying: "I prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. I've been there and didn't enjoy it."
    By that he means Newcastle's relegation and at least he is being honest, even if it does jar with those who believe a footballer should get his job satisfaction from being under the floodlights.
    The Daily Post – admittedly a newspaper with Merseyside leanings – has described him as "a fare dodger riding on Manchester United's open-top bus parade". But the scepticism has also been evident in Manchester at times. Owen, once of Anfield, has a strange relationship with United's supporters. Among the messages sent to his Twitter account after the 3-0 defeat of Leeds, one read: "Good 1-0 win tonight. Your goals don't count."
    Owen has had to grow wearily accustomed to the "bench-warmer" Twitter jibes, as anyone who has seen his tennis-like exchanges with Piers Morgan can testify. It does raise the question, though, of what happens after Manchester United and whether he has the appetite to start again if the club decide not to renew next summer.
    This, quite conceivably, could be Owen's last season, given that he has said: "I won't drop down the leagues and whether I would even want to drop down to a poorer Premier League team … I don't know. Yes, I could score goals, but I would probably get less opportunities and less enjoyment. I'd rather play less and train with top players, rather than playing every minute of every game, getting three or four touches and not enjoying it."
    He does, after all, have another sport to consider. Owen's stables now have more than 100 horses and offer a new life beyond football. This is where Owen gets most of his happiness these days, crying tears of elation and hoarse with emotion when Brown Panther won the King George V Stakes at Ascot in June. The celebrations were nothing like as raucous in a Carling Cup third-round tie. Owen, though, is entitled to think he has demonstrated his case for more minutes on the pitch.
    Except we have been here before. Last season, in the same stage of the competition, he scored twice in a 5-2 victory at Scunthorpe. In the next game, at Bolton Wanderers, he was on the bench and scored three minutes after coming on. Then United played Valencia in the Champions League. Owen was not even in the squad.

 
[h=1]Claudio Ranieri confirmed as new Internazionale coach[/h] • Former Chelsea manager vows to 'wake up' struggling Inter
• Gian Piero Gasperini sacked after three months in charge




  • Press Association
  • guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 September 2011 09.33 BST Article history
    Claudio-Ranieri-007.jpg
    Claudio Ranieri has been confirmed as the new coach of Internazionale. Photograph: Scott Heavey/Getty Images

    Claudio Ranieri has been confirmed as the new coach of Internazionale and has vowed to "wake up the team".
    The former Valencia, Chelsea and Roma manager has signed a contract to June 2013 to replace Gian Piero Gasperini, who was sacked on Wednesday after three months in charge.
    Ranieri told Domenica Sportiva: "Inter are a great team. They have had a bad start to the season and I will have to talk to the team to understand why that was.
    "I will have to bring enthusiasm and a change of gear in order to wake up the team. I cannot promise that we will win this or that but I believe this team has a lot to give and we must prove it."
    Tuesday's humiliating 3-1 defeat at newly promoted Novara – Inter's fourth defeat in five games – proved to be Gasperini's final act in charge. But Ranieri praised Gasperini's efforts despite his short tenure at the club.
    "Gasperini wanted to bring his ideas and make them work at all costs but he didn't manage to do it," the 59-year-old said. "I will try to make this team play as it knows how, with all of its strength.
    "Gasperini didn't make a mistake and we have to say well done because he tried everything to make his ideas work."
    Ranieri's first game in charge will be at Bologna on Saturday before a trip to Russia to face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
    A statement from Inter said: "All of Inter has the pleasure of welcoming Claudio Ranieri and his staff. Ranieri will guide today's training session and will be unveiled tomorrow to the press."
    Ranieri had been out of a job since leaving Roma in February.

 
i real appreciate the last night game city against birmingham..
Click to expand...

be blessed.........................

[h=1]Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham[/h]
Page last updated at 20:41 GMT, Wednesday, 21 September 2011 21:41 UK


By Sam Lyon
BBC Sport
_55512540_hargreaves2.jpg
Hargreaves marks his return to action with a 22-yard piledriver Owen Hargreaves put his injury problems behind him with a fabulous goal on his debut as Manchester City beat holders Birmingham City to reach the fourth round of the Carling Cup.
Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring.
Mario Balotelli sealed an easy win from Pablo Zabaleta's cross on 38 minutes.
Birmingham rarely looked like troubling the hosts, with Curtis Davies seeing their best chance cleared off the line.
It was a tame way for the visitors' hold on the Carling Cup to come to an end, with Chris Hughton's side surrendering the trophy with a toothless display.
But in truth this match was all about Hargreaves' return, even overshadowing Kolo Toure's comeback after serving a six-month ban for a failed drugs test.
The 30-year-old midfielder was excellent during his 57-minute return.
Eyebrows were raised when Hargreaves was signed on a free transfer by City after his release by United given his injury problems over the past three years, but over the course of nearly an hour in this match he cast many of those doubts aside.
[h=2]DID YOU KNOW?[/h] Continue reading the main story Owen Hargreaves made 54 passes against Birmingham, eight more than he completed in the Premier League during his last three seasons at Manchester United
Courtesy of Opta
By surviving the first six minutes Hargreaves matched the total amount of playing time he had managed previously in virtually three years - and by scoring his first goal since April 2008 he set the hosts on their way to a fifth win of the season in all competitions.
It was a terrific strike, too, latching on to a loose ball and lashing his shot like an arrow into the top corner from 22 yards out.
And that was not all Hargreaves contributed. He was busy, accurate with his passing and a constant menace to Birmingham at both ends of the pitch. Many more performances like this and calls for him to be not only a regular for Manchester City but also England will not be too far away.
He has much to prove before that, though, and this win was not all down to the former England international's return.
Despite 11 changes from the side that drew with Fulham at the weekend, the hosts were always in control.


Balotelli, supported from a deeper-lying attacking position by Carlos Tevez, was lively, and it was he who grabbed the hosts' second, applying a neat finish to Zabaleta's cross on 38 minutes.
And Toure made his mark too, the Ivorian clearing off the line after Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon had dropped Jean Beausejour's free-kick, offering Curtis Davies the chance to send an overhead kick towards City's otherwise empty goal.
It was Birmingham's only attack in the first half of their first game in this competition since they stunned Arsenal in last season's final - and despite a slightly improved second-half performance, it was by far the closest the visitors came to breaching the hosts' defences.
In contrast, Manchester City continued to threaten and only two fine saves from Colin Doyle in the Birmingham goal, from Tevez and then Toure, kept the scoreline respectable.
And so it was that a Manchester City side containing Nedum Onuoha, appearing for City for the first time since April 2010, coasted home.
 
<div id="article-header">



[h=1]Ten-man Chelsea beat Fulham in Carling Cup shoot-out[/h]




[h=2]Carling Cup 2011-12[/h]

Chelsea 0
Fulham 0




  • Jamie Jackson at Stamford Bridge
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 September 2011 22.34 BST Article history
    Philippe-Senderos-and-Rom-007.jpg
    Fulham's Swiss defender Philippe Senderos vies with Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea in a close-fought Carling Cup tie. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

    André Villas-Boas's selection may suggest the Carling Cup is of minor importance but after his 10-man team won this entertaining tie on the penalty shoot-out, courtesy of Bryan Ruiz's missed fifth kick that smacked the crossbar and bounced close to the goalline, he will be content.
    The 33-year-old knows that the greater his collection of silverware the more enhanced his prospects of stalling Roman Abramovich, the club's owner, from the moment that eventually comes to all Chelsea managers.
    Regarding the result, the beaming Portuguese said: "I am very happy with the display. It was a super-human effort and very gratifying as Fulham just didn't lump it forward, and to be with 10 men for 70 minutes and to create the most and best chances is, for me, out of this world."
    In a match that gradually caught fire Villa-Boas's team dominated as it moved into extra-time, but continued their frustrating dance of normal play when chances could not be finished. Then, after Frank Lampard and Moussa Dembélé had their penalties saved, the count finished at 4-3 to Chelsea, following Ruiz's skewed attempt, and despite the visitors' claim that this had crossed the line (it appeared not), Villas-Boas had a invaluable win.
    This was achieved after Alex was sent off just after the break, when the Brazilian central defender was judged by Chris Foy to have fouled Kerim Frei, and Daniel Sturridge and Petr Cech were replaced because of injuries.
    Regarding Alex, after the referee pointed to the spot and Pajtim Kasami crashed the first of the evening's penalties against Ross Turnbull's bar, Villas-Boas said: "He got a bit of the ball but most of the player," before giving the medical bulletin on Sturridge and Cech.
    Sturridge, injured before the break after scoring a goal disallowed for offside, has a "strain in the knee ligaments but no pain", and could be available for selection on Saturday against Swansea. Cech, who brought back unwanted memories of the serious head injury he suffered when playing at Reading in October 2006, was taken off at half-time. "He went to the hospital for a scan and feels alright &#8211; he felt some dizziness but should be OK for Saturday," Villas-Boas said.
    From the side that were beaten 3-1 at Manchester United on Sunday, the Portuguese had retained only Cech and Sturridge. Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku and Ryan Bertrand were handed full debuts, with Cech asked to lead a team that had Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and Juan Mata on the bench in case the tie veered off-message.
    In the 18-year-old Lukaku Chelsea have acquired a 6ft 3in chunk of a young man who Villas-Boas admits is as an £18m "gamble". The hope is that he will show an ability to batter defences a la Drogba while powering home 15 to 20 league goals a season to continue the Ivorian's work when he finally leaves west London.
    Lukaku suggested he can certainly do the first part with nonchalance in an appearance in which he barged over Matthew Briggs down the left, moved forward, then unloaded shot that Mark Schwarzer did well to save low down.
    Preceding this had been a quiet opening in which the Belgian received scant service from colleagues who dominated but were only gradually stuttering into gear.
    The first real opportunity fell to Florent Malouda, who surged from his midfield role into the area, where on controlling a high ball he fell to the grass under a challenge by Stephen Kelly, the visiting right-back. Foy, though, failed to be tempted by the Chelsea penalty claims.
    After Cech did not emerge for the second half Turnbull was able to add a sixth Chelsea appearance to his CV, and the 26-year-old had barely drifted into position when he was welcomed to the game by having to face Kasami's penalty.
    In his own weakened XI, Martin Jol selected Bobby Zamora, Steve Sidwell, John Arne Riise and Dembélé, of his usual starters, as replacements, probably minded that Europa League commitments mean there is only energy enough at the club for one cup run. And with Fulham third-bottom in the league, probably not even this.
    The Dutchman introduced the first of these, Dembélé, on the hour, perhaps sensing that he might yet steal the win that would go down a treat with the Fulham support, from whom he requires goodwill.
    He said: "A couple of months ago I didn't think a second XI could play a game like this." But Chelsea's second string still prevailed.



























<div id="main-article-info">



<h1>Claudio Ranieri confirmed as new Internazionale coach</h1>

<p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone">&#8226; Former Chelsea manager vows to 'wake up' struggling Inter<br>&#8226; Gian Piero Gasperini sacked after three months in charge</p>


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<time datetime="2011-09-22T09:33BST" pubdate="">Thursday 22 September 2011 09.33 BST
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<div class="caption">Claudio Ranieri has been confirmed as the new coach of Internazionale. Photograph: Scott Heavey/Getty Images</div>
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<p>Claudio Ranieri has been confirmed as the new coach of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/internazionale" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Internazionale">Internazionale</a> and has vowed to "wake up the team".</p><p>The
former Valencia, Chelsea and Roma manager has signed a contract to June
2013 to replace Gian Piero Gasperini, who was sacked on Wednesday after
three months in charge.</p><p>Ranieri told Domenica Sportiva: "Inter
are a great team. They have had a bad start to the season and I will
have to talk to the team to understand why that was.</p><p>"I will have
to bring enthusiasm and a change of gear in order to wake up the team. I
cannot promise that we will win this or that but I believe this team
has a lot to give and we must prove it."</p><p>Tuesday's humiliating 3-1
defeat at newly promoted Novara &#8211; Inter's fourth defeat in five games &#8211;
proved to be Gasperini's final act in charge. But Ranieri praised
Gasperini's efforts despite his short tenure at the club.</p><p>"Gasperini
wanted to bring his ideas and make them work at all costs but he didn't
manage to do it," the 59-year-old said. "I will try to make this team
play as it knows how, with all of its strength.</p><p>"Gasperini didn't make a mistake and we have to say well done because he tried everything to make his ideas work."</p><p>Ranieri's
first game in charge will be at Bologna on Saturday before a trip to
Russia to face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.</p><p>A statement
from Inter said: "All of Inter has the pleasure of welcoming Claudio
Ranieri and his staff. Ranieri will guide today's training session and
will be unveiled tomorrow to the press."</p><p>Ranieri had been out of a job since leaving Roma in February.</p>
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[h=1]Friday's gossip column - transfers and rumours[/h]
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TRANSFER GOSSIP

Bolton manager Owen Coyle has warned Arsenal they will have rival bidders for defender Gary Cahill when the January transfer window opens - with Chelsea also being linked with a move for the England centre-back.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Manchester United and Chelsea have been told to drop their interest in Juventus midfielder Milos Krasic.
Full story: talkSPORT
Inter Milan are set to go head-to-head with Tottenham to sign Brazil international Leandro Damiao in the January transfer window.
Full story: talkSPORT
Newcastle transfer target Scott Allan has rejected a new contract at Dundee United.
Full story: Daily Mail
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has confirmed goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes is likely to leave the club in January after dropping to third choice.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Russian sides Spartak Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow are ready to launch a January transfer battle for Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Full story: talkSPORT
OTHER GOSSIP
Owen Hargreaves has blamed Manchester United for his three years of injury problems after making his Manchester City debut.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists Joey Barton's claims that he could have joined the Gunners had it not been for his clash with Gervinho are not true.
Full story: Metro
QPR midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips and Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge could be in the frame for an England call-up before the end of the year.
Full story: Daily Mail
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce believes it will be difficult for striker Asamoah Gyan to return to the Stadium of Light once his loan finishes at United Arab Emirates side Al Ain.
Full story: talkSPORT
Injured Aston Villa defender Carlos Cuellar is on the brink of a return to full training after missing the start of the season.
Full story: the Sun
Newcastle playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa says sitting out almost a year with a broken leg has made him a stronger person.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew insists Liverpool and England striker Andy Carroll needs a confidence boost if he is to achieve the form he showed at St James' Park.
Full story: talkSPORT
AND FINALLY
A post-hair transplant Wayne Rooney credits his red hot Manchester United form to his barber's "magical powers".
Full story: Daily Mirror
 
[h=1]Rooney: My form is down to barber's magic powers[/h] Published 23:00 22/09/11 By Clemmie Moodie

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...of-Manchester-United-form-article802878.html#
wayne-rooney-manchester-united-cropped


He's the, er, mane man in football right now &#8211; and Wayne Rooney reckons his superb ball skills are all down to his barber...
The Manchester United and England striker seems to have regained his form ever since that £30,000 hair transplant a few months ago left him sprouting a head of surprisingly luscious locks.
In fact, the Samson of soccer has such an abundance of hair he gets it trimmed before EVERY match.
Rooney, 25, believes the "magical powers" of hair-whisperer Mr Daniel J have helped him score two consecutive hat-tricks.

"Daniel J always keeps me looking sharp," he said. "And when I look sharp, I feel sharp. I don't know what it is but it's like his haircuts have magical powers because every time he gives me a trim I seem to go and score."
Rooney has even got United teammate Rio Ferdinand and Spurs' Jermain Defoe using his lucky celeb crimper, too.
"All the lads have been asking me for Daniel's number," he added. "Of course I'm not giving it out to the [Manchester] City boys."
Back in June, Rooney posted a picture of his bloody bonce on Twitter , and admitted: "I've had a hair transplant. I'm delighted. It will take a few months to grow."
Three months later and while he's still not quite got a Leo Sayer-esque mop of curls, there is definitely a lot more up top than there was.



​
 
Fergie: Champions League is now better than the World Cup Published 16:43 26/09/11 By MirrorFootball (3) Recommend Manchester-United-Alex-Ferguson cropped Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United cannot look back at the last four years as a golden period for the club in the Champions League - because they were beaten by Barcelona in two of the three finals they reached. The record books may show the current spell to be United's most successful ever in Europe, but Ferguson insists they need to take that final step and win the Champions League trophy outright again in order to make such a claim. United will resume their European campaign at home to Basle tomorrow night - when they will be without leading strikers Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez due to injury - with Ferguson insisting his players need to strive for even better. Rooney and Hernandez to miss Champions League match Ferguson told a news conference at Old Trafford: "The Champions League is the best competition in the world now, better than the World Cup, better than the European Championships, it's a fantastic tournament. "But it's not a golden period for us because we have lost two finals, so I don't think it can be called a golden period. "We have been consistent in the Champions League, our form away from home has been outstanding and we hope we can do better this year and win it, that's the aim of this club all the time." Ferguson confirmed that Rooney would miss tomorrow's match with a hamstring injury and said that it was difficult to know when the England striker would be back in action. "He's not playing tomorrow. It's difficult to assess with hamstrings but we hope we have him back quickly. He did a bit of jogging this morning but that's all," said the United boss. Ferguson also said that Hernandez's dead leg would keep him out against Basle but that the Mexican should be back for when Norwich visit on Saturday. Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov are likely to lead the attack against the Swiss club, though the fit-again Danny Welbeck could also feature - with Rio Ferdinand partnering Phil Jones in central defence. Basle won their opening fixture in Group C 2-1 against Romanian side Otelul Galati and Ferguson said United would respect their opponents tomorrow. He added: "We played Basle a few years ago and they have always been the premier team in Switzerland. Switzerland have started to produce good young players - in fact they got to final of the European Under-21s this year. "The national team has always been reasonably good and always seemed to represent themselves quite well and of course the Basle team have good experience of being in Europe quite a few times so we will respect that." Nemanja Vidic is also missing for United - Ferguson hopes he will have recovered from his calf injury by the time the international break is over - while Jonny Evans (ankle) and Chris Smalling (groin) are also missing. Antonio Valencia is likely to again be pressed into service as an emergency right-back with Rafael's injury set to keep him out for the long-term. Ashley Young is expected to make his Champions League debut tomorrow night and the England winger admitted it would be the fulfillment of a dream. Young said: "I'm very excited by it. Coming to a club like Manchester United and playing in these big competitions is any boy's dream. "I'm looking forward to being able to say I have played in the Champions League. "I have been delighted with the performances I have put in so far but the matches are coming thick and fast and you have to be on your toes and ready every time you pull on the shirt." Read more: Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson: Champions League is now better than the World Cup - News - MirrorFootball.co.uk Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here
 
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