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[h=2]West Bromwich Albion v Chelsea, 3pm, Saturday 3 March[/h] [h=1]André Villas-Boas says Chelsea's squad inferior to Manchester City's[/h] • City's squad 'a lot better than ours', argues Chelsea manager
• Villas-Boas appears to criticise Roman Abramovich's strategy




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André Villas-Boas at Chelsea's training ground where he said that his squad could not be compared to Manchester City's. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images

André Villas-Boas has risked further alienating the Chelsea hierarchy by publicly claiming his own squad bears no comparison with that of the league leaders, Manchester City, in what will be perceived as a tacit criticism of previous managers and the overall strategy of Roman Abramovich.
The Russian oligarch has ploughed more than £1bn into Chelsea since purchasing the club in 2003, with the successive Premier League titles secured under José Mourinho achieved in the wake of lavish spending in the transfer market. While the recent outlay has been relatively less extravagant, over £73m was sanctioned for the purchases of Fernando Torres and David Luiz in last season's midwinter window, though Villas-Boas believes the squad which now trails City by 17 points has fallen significantly behind.
"Our squad was made for us to try and win four trophies," he said. "At the moment, it's a two-horse race for the league, but one of those two teams is going to be extremely unsuccessful this season. One of them will be out of the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup, and is going to miss out on their objectives. Of the two [Manchester teams], one has a margin of doubt because it is an extremely successful team. The other invested a lot of money and has access to the best players."
Asked if Chelsea did not also have access to world's best players, Villas-Boas said: "Not to the extent City have, with their financial power. Maybe in the past we had it. We like to promote talent, but I don't think you can compare the two squads, to be fair. I think theirs is a lot better. When the top team has access to buy from their title rivals, you can build something extraordinary." City acquired Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy from Arsenal and bought Carlos Tevez after a loan spell at Manchester United.
He added: "We had it in the past and did build something extraordinary. But I don't think you can expect Chelsea to buy from City and United now. When we bought Luiz and Torres, one came from a team in title contention in Portugal, the other from a team competing for the top four in the Premier League.
"I don't know if economic power has a direct influence on [a player's] choice-making. People could have gone to City because of the project that was being built, the super-team being put together. Perhaps that's what drove them. But the numbers being paid are top, are extreme. With financial fair play, maybe everyone will have better chance of access to those players. I don't think it's unfair. We had [that purchasing power] in the past. But City have a better squad, with more depth and with good players now. We have a very competent squad that was put together to go for four trophies. We haven't had the results we should have and, in normal circumstances, we would be ahead of [United and Spurs]. We have been under-performing."
That has left Villas-Boas's side fifth before today's match at West Bromwich Albion, with the manager's future hinging upon demonstrating that his side can secure a place in the top four and progressing beyond Napoli into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Faith in the Portuguese has been eroded by recent results and apparent dissent within the ranks, with the club's hierarchy unimpressed with the brutally honest rhetoric the 34-year-old has used in recent weeks. An interview broadcast on Portuguese radio last week, in which he admitted he did not know if Abramovich still supported his three-year "project", was noted with dismay, with the manager's outburst on Friday likely to cause further consternation.
An emotional Villas-Boas appeared to send out mixed messages, saying that Chelsea potentially enduring a second successive trophy-less season was "not good enough", acknowledging his was "one of the most difficult jobs in the world", but then insisting he would "never resign or give up". Indeed, he added that there remains scope for this two-year period – the final 12 months of Ancelotti's tenure and his first year in charge – to be considered vital if success is subsequently achieved.
"If you look at 2004-11, this club won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and were in three Champions League semi-finals and a final," said Villas-Boas. "If, in the next seven years, we have that may trophies again, we can reflect on these two years of change (more positively). They would have been two years where we rebuilt for a better future. I'm concentrating on building something extreme for next year, when there will be a higher expectancy of Chelsea because of what might have been a two-year gap being trophy-less."
The issue of splits within the dressing room provoked a more prickly response, despite public shows of support from the likes of Daniel Sturridge and David Luiz last week. Villas-Boas assessed his relationship with Frank Lampard as "good, excellent" despite the midfielder having described it as "not ideal".
"Frank feels something is missing, but I don't," he added. "Ask any player who doesn't play every time if he has a good relationship with the manager and he'll say the same. I think it's an unhappy dressing room because we are fifth. If we're first in the league, 17 points ahead, it would be an extremely happy dressing room with any problems put to one side. There are problems when Chelsea are fifth, for sure. But I don't see any problems in my relationships with the players."
 

[h=2]Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League, 12.45pm Saturday 3 March[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger tickled by mutation from liability to flavour of month[/h] • Arsenal coach amused at being named manager of the month
• 'Good result at Liverpool would give us chance against Milan'




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Arsenal's Arsène Wenger said of being named manager of the month: 'It was a complete shock. I thought they were speaking to somebody else behind me.' Photograph: Peter Cziborra/PA

The surprises just keep on coming for Arsène Wenger. The glow from last weekend's startling recovery from 2-0 down to thrash Tottenham Hotspur had not worn off as the Arsenal boss had the manager of the month award thrust at him.
Wenger broke into an embarrassed smile. "It was a complete shock to me. I couldn't understand that at all. If you had read the newspapers in the last two weeks, you must say there is a mistake," he explained, struggling not to laugh. "I thought they were speaking to somebody else behind me."
With Arsenal's cup catastrophes dominating last month, and cranking the pressure on Wenger up to dangerous levels, it almost went unnoticed that the team produced impressively in the Premier League. In addition to the handsome derby win, they beat Blackburn Rovers 7-1 and produced a determined comeback to triumph in the last minute at Sunderland. The old adage about concentrating on the league might not have been Wenger's ideal scenario, but with the chase for fourth place intensifying this weekend at Anfield, Arsenal can at least take encouragement from a sequence of league wins. Heis conscious that a victory at Anfield will virtually put Liverpool out of the equation for a top four finish, another incentive as he looks for his team to keep hold of their position at the head of the challengers for the last Champions League spot.
Usually at this time of year Wenger prioritises European matches and domestic form suffers as he rests his most important players. Not this time. A mission impossible against Milan can wait as it is all fit hands to the pump in Liverpool. "For us it's important to confirm the game we played against Tottenham at Liverpool," Wenger says. "Then we can focus completely on the Champions League and have a real go, because what we did in Milan was just not what we do usually in the Champions League and I'm sure we'll see a different Arsenal on Tuesday. We know after that we have the massive score against us, but if we get a good result at Liverpool I think we have a chance."
Thomas Vermaelen, despite controversially playing while injured for Belgium in midweek, and Robin van Persie are expected to make the squad. Wenger was scathing about the Belgian FA's decision to field Vermaelen in Greece. "It looks like Belgium have made a decision which I still do not understand and will look to see if we can put a complaint in, because firstly they forced the player to travel, then they forced him to play 90 minutes after being injured when they had a centre-back on the bench who did not play at all, in a friendly game knowing they do not even go to the European Championships."
Alex Song is a concern having arrived back late from Cameroon. But on the upside, the Arsenal manager was thrilled that Abou Diaby, who has not started in this campaign, is fit again. He did, though, admit that another setback will end Diaby's season. Despite his alarming injury record, Wenger retains faith: "I will never give up on a player as long as he has the desire. If I felt that in Diaby's head that he had given up, then I would have. But he was always very focused. He's an exceptional guy, Diaby. Such focus to do well is unbelievable."
 

[h=2]Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League, 12.45pm Saturday 3 March[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger tickled by mutation from liability to flavour of month[/h] • Arsenal coach amused at being named manager of the month
• 'Good result at Liverpool would give us chance against Milan'




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Arsenal's Arsène Wenger said of being named manager of the month: 'It was a complete shock. I thought they were speaking to somebody else behind me.' Photograph: Peter Cziborra/PA

The surprises just keep on coming for Arsène Wenger. The glow from last weekend's startling recovery from 2-0 down to thrash Tottenham Hotspur had not worn off as the Arsenal boss had the manager of the month award thrust at him.
Wenger broke into an embarrassed smile. "It was a complete shock to me. I couldn't understand that at all. If you had read the newspapers in the last two weeks, you must say there is a mistake," he explained, struggling not to laugh. "I thought they were speaking to somebody else behind me."
With Arsenal's cup catastrophes dominating last month, and cranking the pressure on Wenger up to dangerous levels, it almost went unnoticed that the team produced impressively in the Premier League. In addition to the handsome derby win, they beat Blackburn Rovers 7-1 and produced a determined comeback to triumph in the last minute at Sunderland. The old adage about concentrating on the league might not have been Wenger's ideal scenario, but with the chase for fourth place intensifying this weekend at Anfield, Arsenal can at least take encouragement from a sequence of league wins. Heis conscious that a victory at Anfield will virtually put Liverpool out of the equation for a top four finish, another incentive as he looks for his team to keep hold of their position at the head of the challengers for the last Champions League spot.
Usually at this time of year Wenger prioritises European matches and domestic form suffers as he rests his most important players. Not this time. A mission impossible against Milan can wait as it is all fit hands to the pump in Liverpool. "For us it's important to confirm the game we played against Tottenham at Liverpool," Wenger says. "Then we can focus completely on the Champions League and have a real go, because what we did in Milan was just not what we do usually in the Champions League and I'm sure we'll see a different Arsenal on Tuesday. We know after that we have the massive score against us, but if we get a good result at Liverpool I think we have a chance."
Thomas Vermaelen, despite controversially playing while injured for Belgium in midweek, and Robin van Persie are expected to make the squad. Wenger was scathing about the Belgian FA's decision to field Vermaelen in Greece. "It looks like Belgium have made a decision which I still do not understand and will look to see if we can put a complaint in, because firstly they forced the player to travel, then they forced him to play 90 minutes after being injured when they had a centre-back on the bench who did not play at all, in a friendly game knowing they do not even go to the European Championships."
Alex Song is a concern having arrived back late from Cameroon. But on the upside, the Arsenal manager was thrilled that Abou Diaby, who has not started in this campaign, is fit again. He did, though, admit that another setback will end Diaby's season. Despite his alarming injury record, Wenger retains faith: "I will never give up on a player as long as he has the desire. If I felt that in Diaby's head that he had given up, then I would have. But he was always very focused. He's an exceptional guy, Diaby. Such focus to do well is unbelievable."
 
[h=1]Mario Balotelli must improve his behaviour, says Roberto Mancini[/h] • Manchester City manager warns his maverick striker
• Balotelli reportedly pictured outside strip club in early hours




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Mario Balotelli was reportedly pictured outside a strip club less than 48 hours before City's match against Bolton. Photograph: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, admits Mario Balotelli needs to improve his behaviour but hopes his side reap the benefits from the striker's controversial axing by Italy.
The Italy coach, Cesare Prandelli, left the maverick striker out of his squad for the midweek international friendly against the USA. Prandelli cited Balotelli's indiscipline as the reason for his omission.
There were yet more reports of rule breaking after Balotelli was reportedly pictured outside a strip club in the early hours of Friday morning, less than 48 hours before Saturday's clash with Bolton.
Speaking before the incident was revealed, Mancini said: "I think every year he can improve because he is young but, with Mario, in every moment anything can happen.
"But I hope after this week, when he didn't play for the national team, this can put him in a good way for the last two months.
"He should understand when you play you should have concentration about the game, about your team-mates, the ball, movement – not other things. He needs to improve this."
He added: "We know that Mario is a top player but he should improve his behaviour. For the national team it is important. When you go to play in the European Championship and you only play three or five games, you should have good behaviour."
 
[h=1]Roman Abramovich does not need to back me, says André Villas-Boas[/h] • Portuguese manager is unsure of his job
• Villas-Boas says West Brom were 'far superior'




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Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas reacts on the touchline during the Premier League match against West Brom. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

André Villas-Boas admitted he is unsure if he will still be in charge when Chelsea travel to Birmingham City in the FA Cup on Tuesday following his side's 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
After a poor defensive display and Gareth McAuley's 82nd-minute winner, which meant Chelsea have won once in their past seven Premier League matches, Villas-Boas was asked if he will still be the manager in two days time. He said: "You will have to ask the owner."
Neither Roman Abramovich nor any of his executives at Chelsea have publicly backed Villas-Boas. But the manager denied that this would help him and the club now: "I don't think the club need to back me. We just need to get on with our jobs and everyone has to be better, the players and management staff, everyone. For us to demand to be backed we have to improve. It's not for the owner to come and back us when things go like this."
He did accept that the loss to West Brom would increase the focus on his job. "Every defeat that Chelsea suffer piles more pressure on any manager," he said. "Any manager who suffers a defeat at a top club has more pressure on them. It's acceptable that pressure piles. You have to agree that this result puts more pressure on me. We stick to the same position, fifth, but we are now three points behind fourth."
Villas-Boas admitted West Brom were "far superior" as he praised Roy Hogdson's side. "Full credit to West Brom for their magnificent game, but we weren't good enough on the day," he said. "They won every first ball and every second ball and were far, far superior than us. It was a big disappointment that we didn't build on the win against Bolton and we didn't benefit from this weekend's fixtures.
"It was a poor, poor display. We had an edge after 10 minutes when we had a couple of chances, and one goal earlier than them would have given us extra motivation and drive. But to be fair we deserved to lose because West Brom also had their fair share of chances and were superior. They created lots of problems, had a good intensity in their game and we weren't good enough. It's a big, big disappointment."
This admission that West Brom were better and that he had failed to raise his team at half-time when the scores were level may be of most concern for Abramovich and supporters. Yet Villas-Boas is still adamant he is the right man to rebuild Chelsea. "If I didn't believe I was the right person I wouldn't have come. At the moment we have to win games. I'm not worried about the future, the present is more important."
Hodgson offered his support to the 34-year-old. "I sympathise and empathise with André," he said. "The day we football coaches, especially those of us who have some experience, don't stand up for each other and make it clear we identify, empathise and sympathise with other coaches, it's going to be a sad day for football."
Hodgson was sacked by Liverpool in January of last year after half a season, but he said there is no similarity with Villas-Boas. "I don't think you can compare my time at Liverpool to André at Chelsea," he said. "But you can make comparisons if you want about the fact I was constantly vilified, in particular by the Liverpool press, because they wanted someone different in the job."
 
[h=1]Comeback kings Arsenal hope to do same to Milan in Champions League[/h] • Our job is to make impossible possible, says Arsène Wenger
• Arsenal will do 'everything' to keep Robin van Persie




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Robin Van Persie said Arsenal were lucky to beat Liverpool at Anfield. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

Arsenal are the new comeback kings after spectacular second-half recoveries against Tottenham and, on Saturday, Liverpool. Robin van Persie scored both the visitors' goals – the second in added time – to snatch a 2-1 win at Anfield after a game in which they had been outplayed for long periods.
The result leaves Arsène Wenger in better heart than he would ever have expected for Tuesday night's mission impossible: overturning a four-goal, first-leg deficit against Milan in the Champions League. "Our job now is to make the impossible possible on Tuesday," the Arsenal manager said. "Maybe we were a bit lucky in beating Liverpool, but we will take results where we can and we have significantly improved our position in the last week. This result gets us away from Liverpool in a substantial way and we have shown in the last two games that we have the quality to produce something special when we need to win matches."
The something special at Anfield was a sensational 92nd-minute winner from Van Persie, a goal of such sublime elegance that it only emphasised Liverpool's deficiencies in the finishing department.
Wenger and Van Persie accepted that Liverpool dominated the game, yet even though Arsenal produced fewer goal attempts, more of them were on target. "We could have been two or three goals down at half-time," Wenger said. "The second half was more level, but we were lucky not to have been killed off by then. Liverpool are a very good side and it just shows how difficult this league is, how hard it is to even claim fourth place, but when you have a quality striker like Robin van Persie in your side you always have a chance. He is up there with the best players in the world at the moment and I am very proud of the way he has become the leader of the team."
Wenger knows he cannot talk in such a manner without being asked questions about Arsenal's ability to keep hold of a player whose contract runs out next season and who is now admired by all the leading teams in Europe, so he was ready with the standard reply. "You can never afford to lose a player of that quality," he said, diplomatically. "Of course we will do anything possible to keep him, I have said that many times already."
The Arsenal manager said his goalkeeper also made the difference against Liverpool, Wojciech Szczesny saving a first-half penalty, and both players echoed Wenger's view that the visitors had ridden their luck.
"We were getting killed in the first half," Szczesny said. "We enjoyed the second half a lot more." Van Persie was even more self-deprecating. "I don't think we deserved it to be honest," he said. "Liverpool played better than we did but we nicked it at the end."
If that verdict does not do justice to the excellence of Arsenal's winning goal, Van Persie was at least willing to pay tribute to the team-mate who supplied the pass. Alex Song had been the provider for Van Persie's previous goal of the season contender against Everton, and the Holland striker said the midfielder's vision was at least as good as his finish. "It was another unbelievable pass from Alex," Van Persie said. "He's a really good player. He can see it and he can do it as well."
 
[h=1]Comeback kings Arsenal hope to do same to Milan in Champions League[/h] • Our job is to make impossible possible, says Arsène Wenger
• Arsenal will do 'everything' to keep Robin van Persie




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Robin Van Persie said Arsenal were lucky to beat Liverpool at Anfield. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

Arsenal are the new comeback kings after spectacular second-half recoveries against Tottenham and, on Saturday, Liverpool. Robin van Persie scored both the visitors' goals – the second in added time – to snatch a 2-1 win at Anfield after a game in which they had been outplayed for long periods.
The result leaves Arsène Wenger in better heart than he would ever have expected for Tuesday night's mission impossible: overturning a four-goal, first-leg deficit against Milan in the Champions League. "Our job now is to make the impossible possible on Tuesday," the Arsenal manager said. "Maybe we were a bit lucky in beating Liverpool, but we will take results where we can and we have significantly improved our position in the last week. This result gets us away from Liverpool in a substantial way and we have shown in the last two games that we have the quality to produce something special when we need to win matches."
The something special at Anfield was a sensational 92nd-minute winner from Van Persie, a goal of such sublime elegance that it only emphasised Liverpool's deficiencies in the finishing department.
Wenger and Van Persie accepted that Liverpool dominated the game, yet even though Arsenal produced fewer goal attempts, more of them were on target. "We could have been two or three goals down at half-time," Wenger said. "The second half was more level, but we were lucky not to have been killed off by then. Liverpool are a very good side and it just shows how difficult this league is, how hard it is to even claim fourth place, but when you have a quality striker like Robin van Persie in your side you always have a chance. He is up there with the best players in the world at the moment and I am very proud of the way he has become the leader of the team."
Wenger knows he cannot talk in such a manner without being asked questions about Arsenal's ability to keep hold of a player whose contract runs out next season and who is now admired by all the leading teams in Europe, so he was ready with the standard reply. "You can never afford to lose a player of that quality," he said, diplomatically. "Of course we will do anything possible to keep him, I have said that many times already."
The Arsenal manager said his goalkeeper also made the difference against Liverpool, Wojciech Szczesny saving a first-half penalty, and both players echoed Wenger's view that the visitors had ridden their luck.
"We were getting killed in the first half," Szczesny said. "We enjoyed the second half a lot more." Van Persie was even more self-deprecating. "I don't think we deserved it to be honest," he said. "Liverpool played better than we did but we nicked it at the end."
If that verdict does not do justice to the excellence of Arsenal's winning goal, Van Persie was at least willing to pay tribute to the team-mate who supplied the pass. Alex Song had been the provider for Van Persie's previous goal of the season contender against Everton, and the Holland striker said the midfielder's vision was at least as good as his finish. "It was another unbelievable pass from Alex," Van Persie said. "He's a really good player. He can see it and he can do it as well."
 
[h=1]José Mourinho's London visit shows a manager in control of his destiny[/h] José Mourinho did not want to hide when he visited London this week. Quite the contrary, he wanted the capital's Premier League clubs - and Real Madrid - to take notice


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The Real Madrid manager, José Mourinho, was apparently house hunting in London on Wednesday. He also bought doughnuts. Photograph: Harry Engels/Getty Images

It is a good job that José Mourinho travelled to London incognito. Imagine if he had actually wanted people to know that he was there.
Pictures have appeared all over the media both in Spain and in England – some of them from fans who encountered the Real Madrid coach on his travels, some of them from press photographers. The snappers were not exactly hiding in the bushes and Mourinho was not exactly sneaking about in a false moustache, cap pulled down over his face. As the caption in the Spanish newspaper AS put it: "He didn't hide."
No, AS, he didn't. And certainly not from you. Or indeed from others. The front-page headline in the Mirror read: "The Special One secretly visits Britain." Secretly?
Perhaps he did not hide because he had nothing to hide. After all, rich man travels to London, goes to Harrods and buys a huge bag of doughnuts would not normally be much of a story. Especially not on his day off; Mourinho lived in London before and still has friends there. It is even tempting to conclude that everyone has gone a little crazy over something that really does not matter. But with Mourinho, things are rarely normal. And least of all now. His arena has always been the public arena.
Besides, we are told it was not only doughnuts he was buying, it was a house. A house to live in next season. A house in London. London: home of Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea.
The story is not only significant for what it reveals – and it does reveal something important – but for who reveals it. The question is why. Not long ago, stories were broken suggesting that Mourinho wanted to leave Real Madrid and return to the Premier League next season. It came out because Mourinho's camp wanted it to come out: it was cheaper and more effective than taking out adverts saying: SPECIAL ONE, 49, GSOH, WLTM BIG CLUB IN ENGLAND, changing his Facebook status to "single", or posting a CV online. But that was essentially what it was. Quite a catch and catchable. Britain's clubs had been alerted. So too had Madrid.
This feels similar, albeit things have moved on. The simplest and most logical interpretation of all: Mourinho is buying a house because he is going back. Perhaps he has been caught out, but it seems unlikely. At the very least, it does Mourinho no harm to have been seen in London – not least because he can so easily brush it off. Who says I was buying a house? And why shouldn't I? He has revealed nothing; others have done it for him. The pressure on Madrid is maintained, his seriousness about returning to London reinforced. So long as they do not call his bluff before he has an alternative sorted out, he remains in control.
That is unlikely to be a problem. For a start, they will not. For another thing, he will have alternatives. Mourinho's options are multiple. Given his extraordinary record, there will be plenty trying to seduce him every bit as much as he allows himself to be seduced. In so far as any coach can guarantee success, Mourinho can; few fans would say no. Fewer owners too. Even beyond the club he chooses, there will be plenty who relish his return. Life won't be dull, that's for sure.
Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea may well all be looking for a new coach in the summer and there have been discreet inquiries. The time is not right for Manchester United; if we are to read much into the house hunting – and the risk of over-analysis always lingers – then Manchester City also appear to have been out. Liverpool too? It is hard to see him fitting at Arsenal. His relationship with Roman Abramovich has been largely mended – and those closest to him have taken great glee in attacking Villas-Boas, partly out of hatred but perhaps also out of strategy. Daniel Levy will need to replace Harry Redknapp if he gets the England job. Whoever turns to Mourinho must find €20m (£16.8m) to release him from a contract that has two years left to run.
That Mourinho is considering leaving Madrid is clear, his discomfort has long been apparent. Spain is different: this has not been an experience that he has enjoyed. Although he has been granted greater autonomy than any Madrid coach before he has had to battle to control all areas of the club. There have been conflicts, both within and without. He believes that the media has treated him badly and there has been friction with some players. Spanish footballers are not the same as English ones; the Spanish media is not the same either. And then there's Barcelona.
Mourinho has beaten them only once in 10 games. Yet his team is 10 points clear and on the verge of taking the league title off Barcelona for the first time in four years. So why leave now, just when it's starting to work? The answer is simple: because Mourinho is a collector, because that is what Mourinho always does. Those saying "he'll leave if he doesn't win anything" could not be more wrong; Mourinho leaves when he does win. Besides, look at the evidence: yesterday he was buying a house in London, ready to return to the Premier League.
Either that or he had a hell of a hankering for a doughnut.
 
[h=2]Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United, Premier League, 4.10pm Sunday 4 March[/h] [h=1]Golden oldies Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are still a smash hit[/h] Manchester United veterans show little sign of fading as they use the latest sports science to extend their careers




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Paul Scholes rushes to congratulate Ryan Giggs after his late winner for Manchester United against Norwich. Photograph: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Like Lennon and McCartney, the hits keep coming for Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. The two masters of Old Trafford scored the goals in Manchester United's 2-1 win at Norwich City last Sunday and their genius will be thrust to the fore at Tottenham Hotspur.
In the Premier League match that Sir Alex Ferguson has marked as one to "survive", the United manager will trust the pair with 1,587 senior appearances between them to steer his title-chasing side in the cauldron of a Sunday afternoon at White Hart Lane.
How Giggs and Scholes have kept on running for so long is a small miracle, and may spawn countless sport science theses in future years. Diet, yoga, a recalibration of their games – United's ambition is that their players should emulate Milan's for longevity. Other factors such as leaving international football early and the shock of premature retirement – in Scholes's case – are additional factors keeping their distinguished veterans in peak condition.
Primarily, the Premier League's longest-running show speaks of Giggs's and his younger sidekick's adoration for the buzz of competition. "Without a doubt the biggest thing is a love of football – that's what kept them going so long," says Eric Harrison, the United youth-team coach who brought through the fabled group of Giggs, Scholes, David Beckham, the Neville brothers and Nicky Butt. "They just love training and playing football. Even though they're getting on a bit they are still important for Manchester United – it's unbelievable."
Giggs will be 39 in November and has already signed on for another season, which will be his 22nd at Old Trafford. Scholes has not yet decided whether he will follow his decision in January to take his boots out of storage by playing on into next term, which would be a 19th campaign. While both United and Scholes have made no commitment beyond this season, Harrison offers a clue that the 37-year-old may not consider this his valedictory tour. "I talk to Paul reasonably often and I said to him when he started again: 'Paul, you can play another season.' He said: "Do you think so?" I said: 'Yeah, I'm absolutely certain.' Because there's an old saying in football, 'You can't move as fast as the ball', and he makes the ball do the work."
A telling insight into a man famously camera and notebook shy, the humble appreciation of his good fortune in being able to continue playing professional football at the highest level into his late 30s is a trait Scholes shares with Giggs. It has also been key in their ability to move on to the next training session, the next game, the next challenge.
Harrison adds: "What happens with Paul, I think he likes somebody to tell him – not how good he is, because he's been told that a million times – but for somebody to tell him he can go on longer."
Each has benefited from focusing on United. Scholes has 66 caps and last played for England at Euro 2004. Giggs wore the Welsh dragon 64 times before retiring five years ago. A willingness to adapt and accept their careers have turned to autumn has also added further years to their time on the pitch.
Of Giggs, Ferguson says: "He's changed his position to more central and that's created a different aspect to his game. What Ryan was always famous for was going up and down that touchline. Today it's a different Giggs. He probably looks at his game in a different way."
Harrison says of Scholes's reinvention: "He has changed. Not into a defensive midfield player – he'll never be a defensive midfield player – but to one who completely runs the game for Manchester United. When Xavi and [Andrés] Iniesta [of Barcelona] say he is as good as any midfield player in the world that is a compliment because they're not bad either."
Giggs and Scholes have benefited from being at a forward-thinking club, where there has been a willingness to embrace the latest moves in sport science. According to the recently retired Gary Neville, in 2007 a presentation was given about MilanLab, the famed sport science department of the Rossoneri, and the club's medical staff visited the facility two years later. Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, who both retired at 41, were held up as the ideals by United who hoped their players might age like fine wine.
Jean-Pierre Meersseman founded MilanLab in the early noughties and explains how careers can be extended: "Genetic factors, first of all, are important. I don't know Giggs or Scholes but I would imagine they would live an athletic life. You can have the best body in the world but if you don't take care of it properly and you don't live like an athlete should you're going to be worn out before the others, that's for sure."
Harrison confirms: "They had to sacrifice – they couldn't live the life that their pals did. I could trust them 100%, they'd always turn up for training on time, they were fit, they looked after themselves, they lived their lives like professional footballers should.
"It just shows how their diet has been important for them, really, and they've basically just made sure that every day they come into training they're ready for whatever Sir Alex Ferguson puts in front of them and for games."
Yoga, introduced to Giggs by Roy Keane, stopped his perennial hamstring problems. "It did Ryan an awful lot of good," Harrison says. "I can't remember the last time he had a hamstring [issue] so there must be something in it."
Yoga constitutes a pre-emptive strike against injury, the approach which United will have also noted from their studies of Milan Lab. "We play the role of prevention," Meersseman adds. "Trying to figure out possible injuries before they actually happen and taking care of them in a slightly different way – essentially it's a chiropractor approach [as] I'm a chiropractor. So what we do is pay particular attention to the spine, we pay a lot of attention to other structures, for instance the feet, the way of walking, their shoes, their feet.
"Basically, it's nothing more than that: a lot of attention to metabolic factors, molecular factors and psychological factors and that's what it's all about. That was the information given to Manchester United."
Expert information was what Scholes imparted to the reserve team he helped coach for the first half of the season before playing with them made him realise that he had retired too early.
When Scholes told Ferguson he had made a mistake, it was an easy decision for the manager to offer him back his place in the first-team squad. "Warren Joyce, the reserve-team coach, would encourage him to join in with the players," Harrison says. "So the boss knew he was fairly fit when he made that decision that he wanted to come back."
Now Scholes has joined Giggs again as the manager's on-field lieutenants. "They're very important players for Sir Alex Ferguson because they virtually run the dressing room at Carrington for training. All the players have to do is look – they were role models, they give the young players a lot of help."
Tom Cleverley, the young midfielder who is a member of the next group of United graduates making an impact, confirms: "Giggsy does give you tips, especially when you're playing at certain grounds, which is helpful. If you asked which of their qualities I most admire I would say Giggsy's awareness and Scholesy's passing range."
How much longer, then, for the still dynamic duo? "Ryan's a football nut, you could ask him questions about foreign teams and players and he seems to have the answers," Harrison says. "If he finishes it will be a [shock] because he gets bored after 10 minutes apart from when he's playing football."
So, too, Scholes, it seems.
 
[h=2]Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United, Premier League, 4.10pm Sunday 4 March[/h] [h=1]Golden oldies Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are still a smash hit[/h] Manchester United veterans show little sign of fading as they use the latest sports science to extend their careers




Norwich-City-v-Manchester-007.jpg
Paul Scholes rushes to congratulate Ryan Giggs after his late winner for Manchester United against Norwich. Photograph: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Like Lennon and McCartney, the hits keep coming for Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. The two masters of Old Trafford scored the goals in Manchester United's 2-1 win at Norwich City last Sunday and their genius will be thrust to the fore at Tottenham Hotspur.
In the Premier League match that Sir Alex Ferguson has marked as one to "survive", the United manager will trust the pair with 1,587 senior appearances between them to steer his title-chasing side in the cauldron of a Sunday afternoon at White Hart Lane.
How Giggs and Scholes have kept on running for so long is a small miracle, and may spawn countless sport science theses in future years. Diet, yoga, a recalibration of their games – United's ambition is that their players should emulate Milan's for longevity. Other factors such as leaving international football early and the shock of premature retirement – in Scholes's case – are additional factors keeping their distinguished veterans in peak condition.
Primarily, the Premier League's longest-running show speaks of Giggs's and his younger sidekick's adoration for the buzz of competition. "Without a doubt the biggest thing is a love of football – that's what kept them going so long," says Eric Harrison, the United youth-team coach who brought through the fabled group of Giggs, Scholes, David Beckham, the Neville brothers and Nicky Butt. "They just love training and playing football. Even though they're getting on a bit they are still important for Manchester United – it's unbelievable."
Giggs will be 39 in November and has already signed on for another season, which will be his 22nd at Old Trafford. Scholes has not yet decided whether he will follow his decision in January to take his boots out of storage by playing on into next term, which would be a 19th campaign. While both United and Scholes have made no commitment beyond this season, Harrison offers a clue that the 37-year-old may not consider this his valedictory tour. "I talk to Paul reasonably often and I said to him when he started again: 'Paul, you can play another season.' He said: "Do you think so?" I said: 'Yeah, I'm absolutely certain.' Because there's an old saying in football, 'You can't move as fast as the ball', and he makes the ball do the work."
A telling insight into a man famously camera and notebook shy, the humble appreciation of his good fortune in being able to continue playing professional football at the highest level into his late 30s is a trait Scholes shares with Giggs. It has also been key in their ability to move on to the next training session, the next game, the next challenge.
Harrison adds: "What happens with Paul, I think he likes somebody to tell him – not how good he is, because he's been told that a million times – but for somebody to tell him he can go on longer."
Each has benefited from focusing on United. Scholes has 66 caps and last played for England at Euro 2004. Giggs wore the Welsh dragon 64 times before retiring five years ago. A willingness to adapt and accept their careers have turned to autumn has also added further years to their time on the pitch.
Of Giggs, Ferguson says: "He's changed his position to more central and that's created a different aspect to his game. What Ryan was always famous for was going up and down that touchline. Today it's a different Giggs. He probably looks at his game in a different way."
Harrison says of Scholes's reinvention: "He has changed. Not into a defensive midfield player – he'll never be a defensive midfield player – but to one who completely runs the game for Manchester United. When Xavi and [Andrés] Iniesta [of Barcelona] say he is as good as any midfield player in the world that is a compliment because they're not bad either."
Giggs and Scholes have benefited from being at a forward-thinking club, where there has been a willingness to embrace the latest moves in sport science. According to the recently retired Gary Neville, in 2007 a presentation was given about MilanLab, the famed sport science department of the Rossoneri, and the club's medical staff visited the facility two years later. Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, who both retired at 41, were held up as the ideals by United who hoped their players might age like fine wine.
Jean-Pierre Meersseman founded MilanLab in the early noughties and explains how careers can be extended: "Genetic factors, first of all, are important. I don't know Giggs or Scholes but I would imagine they would live an athletic life. You can have the best body in the world but if you don't take care of it properly and you don't live like an athlete should you're going to be worn out before the others, that's for sure."
Harrison confirms: "They had to sacrifice – they couldn't live the life that their pals did. I could trust them 100%, they'd always turn up for training on time, they were fit, they looked after themselves, they lived their lives like professional footballers should.
"It just shows how their diet has been important for them, really, and they've basically just made sure that every day they come into training they're ready for whatever Sir Alex Ferguson puts in front of them and for games."
Yoga, introduced to Giggs by Roy Keane, stopped his perennial hamstring problems. "It did Ryan an awful lot of good," Harrison says. "I can't remember the last time he had a hamstring [issue] so there must be something in it."
Yoga constitutes a pre-emptive strike against injury, the approach which United will have also noted from their studies of Milan Lab. "We play the role of prevention," Meersseman adds. "Trying to figure out possible injuries before they actually happen and taking care of them in a slightly different way – essentially it's a chiropractor approach [as] I'm a chiropractor. So what we do is pay particular attention to the spine, we pay a lot of attention to other structures, for instance the feet, the way of walking, their shoes, their feet.
"Basically, it's nothing more than that: a lot of attention to metabolic factors, molecular factors and psychological factors and that's what it's all about. That was the information given to Manchester United."
Expert information was what Scholes imparted to the reserve team he helped coach for the first half of the season before playing with them made him realise that he had retired too early.
When Scholes told Ferguson he had made a mistake, it was an easy decision for the manager to offer him back his place in the first-team squad. "Warren Joyce, the reserve-team coach, would encourage him to join in with the players," Harrison says. "So the boss knew he was fairly fit when he made that decision that he wanted to come back."
Now Scholes has joined Giggs again as the manager's on-field lieutenants. "They're very important players for Sir Alex Ferguson because they virtually run the dressing room at Carrington for training. All the players have to do is look – they were role models, they give the young players a lot of help."
Tom Cleverley, the young midfielder who is a member of the next group of United graduates making an impact, confirms: "Giggsy does give you tips, especially when you're playing at certain grounds, which is helpful. If you asked which of their qualities I most admire I would say Giggsy's awareness and Scholesy's passing range."
How much longer, then, for the still dynamic duo? "Ryan's a football nut, you could ask him questions about foreign teams and players and he seems to have the answers," Harrison says. "If he finishes it will be a [shock] because he gets bored after 10 minutes apart from when he's playing football."
So, too, Scholes, it seems.
 
[h=1]Chelsea part company with manager André Villas-Boas[/h] • Roberto Di Matteo to take temporary charge
• Villas-Boas leaves after the 1-0 loss at West Brom
• Five moments when Villas-Boas's luck turned against him
• Poll: where Chelsea right to part ways with him?




Andre-Villas-Boas-007.jpg
Chelsea have parted company with their manager, André Villas-Boas. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Chelsea have parted company with André Villas-Boas. The manager has left the club following a string of poor results that culminated in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion which left the club fifth in the table.
Villas-Boas's assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, has been appointed the new first-team coach until the end of the season.
Villas-Boas joined the club eight months ago after the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich paid Porto £13.3m to make him Carlo Ancelotti's successor.
A club statement read: "The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early.
"Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season.
"The club is still competing in the latter stages of the Uefa Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts. With that in mind we felt our only option was to make a change at this time."
There was speculation that Rafael Benítez might be parachuted into Stamford Bridge but Di Matteo's appointment has ended such a possibility.
Villas-Boas had been under mounting pressure after overseeing what was threatening to be Chelsea's worst season since Abramovich bought the club almost nine years ago.
A run of just five wins from the last 16 games saw the side slide out of the top four, while they remain in real danger of crashing out of both the Champions League and the FA Cup in the next week and a half.
Brought in to revamp an ageing squad after winning an incredible quadruple at Porto last season, Villas-Boas's reign was dogged by reports of the kind of dressing-room unrest that previous Chelsea managers have said led to their own downfall.
Abramovich, who reportedly hand-picked Villas-Boas last summer when Guus Hiddink had been the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Carlo Ancelotti, appeared prepared to be more patient with the 34-year-old than previous bosses.
The Russian seemingly recognised the difficulties in overhauling the squad and the playing style at Stamford Bridge.
But, as when Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked three years ago, it was fear of not qualifying for the Champions League that prompted Abramovich to act.
Having repeatedly insisted he had the owner's full backing during the recent run, Villas-Boas appeared to acknowledge the writing might be on the wall during the past week and a half.
An interview with a Portuguese radio station saw him admit for the first time he could lose his job, a possibility he refused to shy away from after yesterday's defeat at the Hawthorns.
He said: "Will this result increase pressure on me? You have to agree with it. We are in the same position, fifth, but we are now three points behind Arsenal. It is a big, big disappointment. Every defeat Chelsea suffers piles more pressure on any manager."
Villas-Boas insisted it would not help his position to be given public backing from Abramovich. He said: "I don't think so. There is no need for the owner to back us after such a poor display."
Villas-Boas, who on Friday insisted he would "never" quit Chelsea, added: "Am I the right man for the job? Yes. I wouldn't have taken it if I didn't think that."
Di Matteo's first game in charge will be Tuesday night's FA Cup fifth-round replay at Birmingham.
 
[h=1]Chelsea part company with manager André Villas-Boas[/h] • Roberto Di Matteo to take temporary charge
• Villas-Boas leaves after the 1-0 loss at West Brom
• Five moments when Villas-Boas's luck turned against him
• Poll: where Chelsea right to part ways with him?




Andre-Villas-Boas-007.jpg
Chelsea have parted company with their manager, André Villas-Boas. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Chelsea have parted company with André Villas-Boas. The manager has left the club following a string of poor results that culminated in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion which left the club fifth in the table.
Villas-Boas's assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, has been appointed the new first-team coach until the end of the season.
Villas-Boas joined the club eight months ago after the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich paid Porto £13.3m to make him Carlo Ancelotti's successor.
A club statement read: "The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early.
"Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season.
"The club is still competing in the latter stages of the Uefa Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts. With that in mind we felt our only option was to make a change at this time."
There was speculation that Rafael Benítez might be parachuted into Stamford Bridge but Di Matteo's appointment has ended such a possibility.
Villas-Boas had been under mounting pressure after overseeing what was threatening to be Chelsea's worst season since Abramovich bought the club almost nine years ago.
A run of just five wins from the last 16 games saw the side slide out of the top four, while they remain in real danger of crashing out of both the Champions League and the FA Cup in the next week and a half.
Brought in to revamp an ageing squad after winning an incredible quadruple at Porto last season, Villas-Boas's reign was dogged by reports of the kind of dressing-room unrest that previous Chelsea managers have said led to their own downfall.
Abramovich, who reportedly hand-picked Villas-Boas last summer when Guus Hiddink had been the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Carlo Ancelotti, appeared prepared to be more patient with the 34-year-old than previous bosses.
The Russian seemingly recognised the difficulties in overhauling the squad and the playing style at Stamford Bridge.
But, as when Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked three years ago, it was fear of not qualifying for the Champions League that prompted Abramovich to act.
Having repeatedly insisted he had the owner's full backing during the recent run, Villas-Boas appeared to acknowledge the writing might be on the wall during the past week and a half.
An interview with a Portuguese radio station saw him admit for the first time he could lose his job, a possibility he refused to shy away from after yesterday's defeat at the Hawthorns.
He said: "Will this result increase pressure on me? You have to agree with it. We are in the same position, fifth, but we are now three points behind Arsenal. It is a big, big disappointment. Every defeat Chelsea suffers piles more pressure on any manager."
Villas-Boas insisted it would not help his position to be given public backing from Abramovich. He said: "I don't think so. There is no need for the owner to back us after such a poor display."
Villas-Boas, who on Friday insisted he would "never" quit Chelsea, added: "Am I the right man for the job? Yes. I wouldn't have taken it if I didn't think that."
Di Matteo's first game in charge will be Tuesday night's FA Cup fifth-round replay at Birmingham.
 
[h=1]José Mourinho favourite to replace sacked André Villas-Boas at Chelsea[/h] • Mourinho in frame to make shock return to Stamford Bridge
• André Villas-Boas sacked after eight months and 40 games




Chelseas-Andr--Villas-Boa-007.jpg
André Villas-Boas carried the can but Chelsea's hierarchy also blamed the players for the manager's short-lived reign. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Chelsea will approach José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola about taking over at Stamford Bridge in the summer as the club begin their search for a replacement for André Villas-Boas, who was sacked yesterday after 256 days in charge.
Villas-Boas was dismissed within 24 hours of his side's Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion after being summoned to a meeting at the club's training ground by Roman Abramovich, the director Eugene Tenenbaum and the chief executive, Ron Gourlay.
The 34-year-old took training in the morning with a shadow squad of those who had not featured at The Hawthorns, and was left bitterly disappointed by the news, having believed until recently that he would be allowed to see through a three-year "project" aimed at overhauling the club.
He departs eight months and 40 games into a £4.5m-a-year contract and is now technically on gardening leave, with Internazionale expected to sound him out as a successor to Claudio Ranieri at San Siro. The first-team fitness coach, José Mário Rocha, and Daniel Sousa, the head opposition scout, are also expected to leave. The assistant first-team coach, Roberto Di Matteo, will oversee the side for the rest of the season. The former West Bromwich manager's first game in charge will be against Birmingham City on Tuesday in an FA Cup fifth-round replay at St Andrew's.
The Italian, who is out of contract in the summer, could yet be joined on the coaching staff by his compatriot, Gianfranco Zola, on a short-term basis with Chelsea having opted against offering Rafael Benítez an 18-month contract to take up the reins. Instead, Di Matteo's involvement will now buy the Chelsea hierarchy time to identify a sixth permanent manager in five years, a process that will include exploring the possible availability of either Guardiola or Mourinho, who could both depart Spain in the summer.
Guardiola has yet to agree a contract extension at Barça and remains Abramovich's dream appointment, though whether he would be prepared to move to London and work at a club who have proved so trigger-happy with its coaching staff remains to be seen.
The possibility of Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge, where he claimed two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup during a glittering if fractious three-season spell, would galvanise the support. The Real Madrid manager, who has led his team clear at the top of La Liga this term, has declared his intention to return to the Premier League and was photographed last week looking at properties in London. However, while his relationship with Abramovich has improved in recent years, he is likely to seek assurances he would be granted complete control on footballing matters, including transfer policy, if he is to return.
Whether the owner would grant him that leeway is open to question, with Chelsea now left to count the cost of another failed regime. A fee of £13.3m had been paid to Porto to secure Villas-Boas's services last summer, an amount that took the compensation outlay on managers fired or hired to a staggering £64m in a little over four years. While recent results had made Villas-Boas's departure inevitable, with Chelsea fifth in the league and three points outside the Champions League qualification places, there is intense frustration among the hierarchy at the part the players appeared to play in the manager's downfall.
Abramovich, Tenenbaum and Gourlay were joined by the technical director, Michael Emenalo, in addressing the first-team squad in one of the changing rooms on Sunday, when their dissatisfaction with the squad's performances were made clear. Those present were warned in no uncertain terms to step up their efforts to rescue the current campaign after mustering only five wins in 16 matches, with the owner – who had personally recruited Villas-Boas last summer – indicating he holds them as responsible as the manager for a disappointing season. The recognition that the squad needs to be overhauled remains, with senior players, many of whom were resistant to Villas-Boas's attempts to reduce their involvement in the side, still expected to depart in the summer.
The midfielder Juan Mata posted a message on his Facebook page, saying: "It hasn't been an easy day for those who, like me, are part of Chelsea. I would like to thank the manager and wish him luck. We have to keep working hard and better days will come. Thanks for your support!"
Villas-Boas did not attend that meeting but did linger at the training ground to bid farewell to staff and some of the players. The anaemic manner of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at The Hawthorns convinced the hierarchy that radical action was required now if fourth place was still to be claimed.
"The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early," read a Chelsea statement. "Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season."
 
[h=1]Five moments when André Villas-Boas's luck turned against him[/h] From Liverpool's late winner to his own admission that the squad can't compete, key moments that decided Villas-Boas's fate


Glen-Johnson-007.jpg
Glen Johnson's winning goal against Chelsea in November was one of a series of events that led to André Villas-Boas's departure. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

[h=2]20 November 2011: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool[/h]Glen Johnson's late goal condemns the hosts to a third defeat in four Premier League matches, and successive home losses for the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, to slip 12 points from Manchester City at the top. The manager claims he retains the hierarchy's support in the aftermath. "The owner didn't pay 15m [euros in compensation] to get me out of Porto only to pay me another fortune just to let me go again," says Villas-Boas.
[h=2]12 February 2012 – The fallout from Everton 2-0 Chelsea[/h]An anaemic performance on Merseyside prompts Villas-Boas to call in his squad on their day off, with emotions boiling over in the team meeting. Some senior players, most notably Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, respond by telling him exactly what they think of his tactics. Abramovich is also present at the training ground that day and, while the manager subsequently admits some of his squad are not buying into his ideas, he reiterates that he enjoys the owner's support.
[h=2]21 February 2012 – Napoli 3-1 Chelsea[/h]Chelsea are undone at the Stadio San Paolo despite taking a first-half lead, with the decision to leave Lampard, Michael Essien and Cole on the bench at the start, prompting the technical director, Michael Emenalo, to seek an explanation of the team selection on behalf of the owner. "[Abramovich] just wanted to know the thought process," explains Villas-Boas. At the time, the bold selection has the feel of a suicide note.
[h=2]27 February 2012 – Interview with Portuguese radio[/h]A lengthy interview, conducted the previous Thursday, is broadcast on the Portuguese radio station TSF in which Villas-Boas admits for the first time that he fears he may suffer the same fate as Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti. There is an unhelpful comparison of Fernando Torres's impact with that of Mateja Kezman and Andriy Shevchenko, with the comments unappreciated by the club's hierarchy.
[h=2]2 March 2012 – Brutally honest press conference[/h]Again, Villas-Boas is a victim of his own honesty. A public admission that Chelsea's squad bears no comparison with that of Manchester City, despite Abramovich's £1bn investment in the club, is politically perilous and hardly a fillip for the players he is preparing to send out against West Bromwich Albion. The game is duly lost to leave the Londoners three points behind Arsenal in fifth place.
 

[h=1]Ashley Young underlines Manchester United's superiority at Tottenham[/h]




[h=2]Premier League 2011-12[/h]
Tottenham Hotspur 1
  • Defoe 87
Manchester United 3
  • Rooney 45,
  • Young 60,
  • Young 69




Ashley-Young-Manchester-U-007.jpg
Ashley Young scores his second goal, and Manchester United's third, against Tottenham Hotspur. Photograph: Kerim Okten/EPA

When the story is told of this season's title race, Manchester United may look back on this victory and cherish it as one of the key assignments they completed. Sir Alex Ferguson's team have reminded Manchester City of their staying power and now have an obliging run of fixtures before the top two meet on 30 April in a coming together that may determine the final location of the Premier League trophy.
Seven of United's eight games before then are against teams from the bottom half of the league and Ferguson's men increasingly offer the sense of a side who have been here before, are building momentum and know exactly what has to be done.
They have played more cohesively at times this season, have passed the ball better and operated with a greater sense of control, but there was still something to admire about the way they could dismantle the team in third position, while always giving the impression they were a good notch or two below their best.
For long spells, particularly in the first half, they were actually pinned back and United were fortunate to be ahead at half-time. And when the lead stretched to 3-0 it was totally out of keeping with how much of the game had gone. Yet it is no fluke that this team are able to soak up so much pressure and then go to other end of the pitch and punish opponents for not making the most of their possession.
These are the qualities – perseverance, know-how, longevity – of serial champions. "We dominated them, we were better than them," Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, said. "I've never seen Alex on his feet so much, out of the dugout, for years." Yet it was a familiar smile on Ferguson's face by the end, reflecting on a satisfying way to overtake Sir Matt Busby with his 986th league game in charge.
The game turned a minute before half-time, when Wayne Rooney headed in Ashley Young's corner. Until then Spurs had been pressing forward, with Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor elusive opponents. Jake Livermore and Sandro were not letting Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick dictate the tempo in midfield, and there were few signs the home side were missing the suspended Scott Parker, the injured Rafael van der Vaart and the ill Gareth Bale.
Yet Kyle Walker, marking Rooney, let him go and at this level those lapses can be so telling. United made the most of their good fortune, David de Gea saved brilliantly when Livermore's 52nd-minute shot took a deflection off Adebayor and when they had their first spell of concerted pressure it was devastating, Young scoring with two right-foot finishes in the space of nine minutes.
The first was clinical, struck diagonally across the face of goal, left to right, after Walker had taken a chance off Rooney's toe. The second was even better, struck from almost 30 yards, curling, dipping and swerving into the top corner. Young had endured a poor half and his form for United has been erratic, but this should give him a new wave of confidence.
Once his second effort had arrowed beyond Brad Friedel there was never any real possibility that Spurs could prevent their winless sequence against United stretching to a 26th game. It is some run since that last victory, dating back to May 2001 when Willem Khorsten and Les Ferdinand were the scorers. Of greater importance to Redknapp, they have now taken only eight points from their last seven games. Arsenal, in fourth position, are now only four points below them.
Spurs will reflect on that moment, after 37 minutes, when Adebayor flicked the ball into an exposed net only for the referee, Martin Atkinson, to rule it out for handball. It was a marginal decision, but probably the correct one. Adebayor had been on the goal-line when Saha's effort struck him in the stomach and bounced into his left arm. Redknapp described it as "harsh" but did not dwell on it too long, talking more about the individual mistakes for United's goals. As well as Walker's culpability for the Rooney header, the Spurs manager felt Luka Modric had "gone to sleep" in the build-up to Young's first.
Ferguson will not be entirely satisfied when a careless pass from Ryan Giggs allowed Jermain Defoe to score with a powerful right-foot drive two minutes before the end. Yet, by then, the champions had already demonstrated how difficult it is going to be for City to shake them off.
Man of the match Jonny Evans (Manchester United)
 
[h=1]Experienced Manchester United will not panic in run-in – Ferguson[/h] • Manager hails performance in 'hardest away game of season'
• Harry Redknapp denies England speculation affecting Spurs




Wayne-Rooney-Manchester-U-007.jpg
Wayne Rooney, far right, heads Manchester United's opening goal against Tottenham Hotspur. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images

Sir Alex Ferguson identified Manchester United's title-winning experience as vital after the defeat of Tottenham Hotspur and pledged they would "not get nervous" at the point of the season that, courtesy of the Old Trafford manager, is known as squeaky-bum time.
Ferguson admitted his side had "carried a bit of luck" in the 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane but he also described it as United's most satisfying result away from Old Trafford this season. The gap to Manchester City at the top has been brought back to two points, and United's manager believes his players have the championship knowhow to catch and overhaul a club chasing their first title since 1968.
"You can drop points, surprise points, and I think it will happen, but the important thing for us now is not to drop as many as they do," Ferguson said. "We've got experience. We won't get nervous, we're enjoying it, and the battling performance today against a very, very good team tells you that we're up for it. To come here and get that result is really first class.
"I would say that was our hardest away game of the season. If you look at their home record this season and their percentage of possession in home games, it's 58% on average. That tells you how difficult it was to come to Spurs and win. They'd lost one other home game – their first one, against City, when they had a few injury problems. So that was the magnitude of our challenge today."
The defeat means Tottenham have taken only eight points from their last seven games and, for the first time, Harry Redknapp was asked whether the speculation about him becoming the next England manager was affecting the team.
He denied it, emphatically. "My focus is completely on Spurs. I don't take days off, I'm here every day and I don't think anybody could have seen that game and come away not thinking we were unlucky. We just didn't get a break but you couldn't fault our effort.
"I'm suicidal when we lose usually. I'm the worst person in the world when it comes to dealing with losing but I really can't be disappointed with that performance. I came in at half-time and I really couldn't believe we were losing. We'd dominated them."
Ferguson sympathised with the Spurs manager, admitting United had been pinned back for long periods. "Scoring right on half-time was a killer for Tottenham. They were probably sitting in that dressing room wondering how it was 1-0 because they had played ever so well."
Tottenham scored a consolation through the substitute Jermain Defoe and also had an Emmanuel Adebayor goal controversially ruled out when the game was still 0-0. Ferguson said: "The ball was going in and he stopped it from going in the net. I don't know why he's done that. But he definitely handballed it."
Ferguson added: "We dug in, defended fantastically well, the goalkeeper [David de Gea] made a fantastic save in the second half [from Jake Livermore's deflected shot]. In the first half, we were never at the races. The smoothness in our game didn't come until the second goal."
United now embark on a run of eight games that has them playing West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, QPR, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Everton before meeting City at the Etihad Stadium on 30 April. "We're in a really good position now," Ferguson said.
"We've got players coming back. [Tom]Cleverley will be fit next week, [Chris]Smalling will be fit for Thursday's game [against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League]. Players are coming back, and if we've got a full squad we've got a better chance. We've shown this before, and we know exactly what we have to do."
 
[h=1]Experienced Manchester United will not panic in run-in – Ferguson[/h] • Manager hails performance in 'hardest away game of season'
• Harry Redknapp denies England speculation affecting Spurs




Wayne-Rooney-Manchester-U-007.jpg
Wayne Rooney, far right, heads Manchester United's opening goal against Tottenham Hotspur. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images

Sir Alex Ferguson identified Manchester United's title-winning experience as vital after the defeat of Tottenham Hotspur and pledged they would "not get nervous" at the point of the season that, courtesy of the Old Trafford manager, is known as squeaky-bum time.
Ferguson admitted his side had "carried a bit of luck" in the 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane but he also described it as United's most satisfying result away from Old Trafford this season. The gap to Manchester City at the top has been brought back to two points, and United's manager believes his players have the championship knowhow to catch and overhaul a club chasing their first title since 1968.
"You can drop points, surprise points, and I think it will happen, but the important thing for us now is not to drop as many as they do," Ferguson said. "We've got experience. We won't get nervous, we're enjoying it, and the battling performance today against a very, very good team tells you that we're up for it. To come here and get that result is really first class.
"I would say that was our hardest away game of the season. If you look at their home record this season and their percentage of possession in home games, it's 58% on average. That tells you how difficult it was to come to Spurs and win. They'd lost one other home game – their first one, against City, when they had a few injury problems. So that was the magnitude of our challenge today."
The defeat means Tottenham have taken only eight points from their last seven games and, for the first time, Harry Redknapp was asked whether the speculation about him becoming the next England manager was affecting the team.
He denied it, emphatically. "My focus is completely on Spurs. I don't take days off, I'm here every day and I don't think anybody could have seen that game and come away not thinking we were unlucky. We just didn't get a break but you couldn't fault our effort.
"I'm suicidal when we lose usually. I'm the worst person in the world when it comes to dealing with losing but I really can't be disappointed with that performance. I came in at half-time and I really couldn't believe we were losing. We'd dominated them."
Ferguson sympathised with the Spurs manager, admitting United had been pinned back for long periods. "Scoring right on half-time was a killer for Tottenham. They were probably sitting in that dressing room wondering how it was 1-0 because they had played ever so well."
Tottenham scored a consolation through the substitute Jermain Defoe and also had an Emmanuel Adebayor goal controversially ruled out when the game was still 0-0. Ferguson said: "The ball was going in and he stopped it from going in the net. I don't know why he's done that. But he definitely handballed it."
Ferguson added: "We dug in, defended fantastically well, the goalkeeper [David de Gea] made a fantastic save in the second half [from Jake Livermore's deflected shot]. In the first half, we were never at the races. The smoothness in our game didn't come until the second goal."
United now embark on a run of eight games that has them playing West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, QPR, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Everton before meeting City at the Etihad Stadium on 30 April. "We're in a really good position now," Ferguson said.
"We've got players coming back. [Tom]Cleverley will be fit next week, [Chris]Smalling will be fit for Thursday's game [against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League]. Players are coming back, and if we've got a full squad we've got a better chance. We've shown this before, and we know exactly what we have to do."
 
[h=1]André Villas-Boas's callowness was no match for Chelsea's veterans[/h] André Villas-Boas never convinced at Chelsea but the bigger mistakes have been made by an owner who has made the next manager's job even harder



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André Villas-Boas always had something of the nerdy schoolboy in him during his spell at Chelsea. Photograph: Jon Super/AP

In Vietnam, they called it "fragging": the deliberate killing of a commanding officer by his own men. It happens in all wars when experienced foot soldiers lose respect for their leader and put their own survival before loyalty. And now it has happened at Chelsea. Twice.
No wonder the club's ground shares its name with a famous battle in which an English army defeated invading forces. Three years ago the sergeant-majors in the dressing room were able to exert enough influence on the high command to have Luiz Felipe Scolari, a World Cup-winning coach, removed after six months in the job, having concluded that his insufficiently rigorous training sessions imperilled their chance of winning trophies.
Scolari was an older figure, aged 61 at the time, with medals on his chest. Now the same forces appear to have done for a much younger commander, the 34-year-old Dom Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas. Having taken the job on a wave of fresh-faced confidence, the man familiarly known as AVB rapidly came to resemble a young captain, trained on the playing fields of Eton, arriving to command a battle-weary platoon at Passchendaele. Another victim of friendly fire, he lasted only a month longer than the Brazilian.
This is an astonishing degree of influence for players to wield, particularly when their employer is one of the world's richest men. Evidently Roman Abramovich, who can do whatever he likes with his £11bn fortune, prefers to listen to the whispers of his workers rather than put his long-term faith in the coach he hired to turn them back into a winning team. The Russian is either a firm believer in player power or a man whose own judgment and that of his closest lieutenants at Stamford Bridge – the club chairman, Bruce Buck, the chief executive, Ron Gourlay, the director Eugene Tenenbaum and close friend Eugene Shvidler, the chairman of Millhouse, Abramovich's investment company – is so faulty as to disqualify them from the stewardship of a leading football club.
The Chelsea dressing room is certainly no respecter of age or class. Scolari, like his father a former professional player, was a product of football. And if José Mourinho was that rarity in English football, a middle-class manager, then AVB was in all probability unique in its modern history: an aristocrat in the dugout, his family tree including barons, viscounts and a grandmother from Cheadle, a posh Manchester suburb. She taught him English at an early age, and his near-perfect command of the language gives the lie to the belief that the only thing standing between foreign managers and Premier League success is an inability to communicate with their players and the outside world.
Villas-Boas communicated all too well. His excellent manners and willingness to answer any question in considerable detail gave him the sympathetic ear of football reporters long accustomed to gnomic responses delivered with a Clydeside sneer. But the terms in which he analysed his side's performances soon came to seem technocratic and academic. Until the very end, when his honesty was equally painful, his pronouncements contradicted the evidence of the reporters' eyes, and the players came to share their scepticism. Those who came out with a public defence of AVB during the last days of his regime were not English players grateful for his fluency in their native tongue but the sizeable contingent of his fellow Portuguese speakers, led by David Luiz, the Brazilian defender.
There was something of the nerdy schoolboy about him, and not just in the nervous way he constantly tightened the belt of his black raincoat, a less stylish trademark than Mourinho's grey cashmere overcoat. Despite starting his Premier League campaign with three consecutive wins, not once during his 40 competitive matches in charge did he convince observers that there was substance to his strategy and tactics. Where Mourinho had gone through three seasons without losing a league match at Stamford Bridge, October and November saw AVB's Chelsea losing successive home games 3-5 to Arsenal and 1-2 to Liverpool.
His brief record with Académica de Coimbra and Porto may have looked promising, but at Chelsea he made so many mistakes that it is hard to know where to start. Hired with a brief to revitalise the playing staff and, if necessary, consign the older generation to history, he promoted only one of the younger players, Daniel Sturridge, while alienating the seniors, who disliked the way he sent Nicolas Anelka and Alex to train with the reserves while awaiting a transfer to other clubs.
Whereas Manchester United and Juventus have brilliantly exploited the experience of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Andrea Pirlo this season, Villas-Boas could not find an accommodation with Frank Lampard, whose resentment became a focal point for disaffection. A stronger manager would have shipped out Fernando Torres in January, rather than allowing his wounded presence on the bench to remain as a symbol that all was not well. His unconditional support for John Terry when the club captain was charged with racially abusing an opponent was poorly judged, only a notch or two below the advocacy on behalf of Luis Suárez that brought Kenny Dalglish into disrepute.
Sturridge apart, younger players were marginalised. Once upon a time the Stamford Bridge faithful would have been able to enjoy the development of the extravagantly gifted 18-year-old Josh McEachran, as they once feasted on the sight of the teenaged Alan Hudson and Ray Wilkins, but Villas-Boas sent the England Under-21 player to Swansea City on loan. Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt, Romelu Lukaku and Oriel Romeu were removed from first-team contention after brief consideration. Fabio Borini was sold to Roma, where he quickly earned himself a place in Italy's senior team against France last week, still only 20 years old.
That is to say nothing of Villas-Boas's inability to demonstrate a talent for imbuing a team with any semblance of originality on the pitch. His 4-3-3 looked like anyone else's – very much like Mourinho's, in fact, but without the flame of authority or the spark of inventiveness. Sometimes it seemed that senior figures were included against his real wishes, simply because their omission would lead to an inconvenient amount of trouble. There was no hint of the strength of will or purpose that might have led to the forging of a new Chelsea, had he and the owner backed their beliefs and kept their nerve through what was always going to be a difficult season.
The bigger mistakes, however, have been made by Abramovich, £64m of them on managers alone, and who is to say that the most consequential of all was not the appointment of Villas-Boas but a dismissal that prefaced it: that of Ray Wilkins, Carlo Ancelotti's assistant, sacked without notice and apparently on a whim at the Stoke d'Abernon training ground one fateful morning in November 2010. It was a move that instantly destabilised the playing and coaching staff, leading – via the subsequent departure of Ancelotti – to the decision to hire a promising young Portuguese coach at least a year, and perhaps several, before it would have been possible to form a serious view of his ability to do a job that now looks harder than ever.
 
[h=1]José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola make intriguing contenders for Chelsea[/h] Chelsea will find the two giant rivals of Spanish football offering great managerial acumen and presence



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José Mourinho, the Real Madrid coach, has spoken of his affection for England and the Premier League. Photograph: Harry Engels/Getty Images

Could the man who never really went away be about to come back? Or could it be the only man to have succeeded in overshadowing him who touches down in London? As if captured by the Spanish game, by the two giants forever condemned to confrontation, Chelsea may be about to take José Mourinho versus Pep Guardiola to another sphere.
André Villas-Boas succeeded in following Mourinho into Porto but he could not succeed in following his legacy at Stamford Bridge. Picking up where Mourinho has left off has rarely been easy, so dominant has his presence been. So powerful is Mourinho's identification with success, so close his relationship with the dressing room, so complete his communion with fans, that a part of him always remained. He never forgot and nor did they. Rafa Benítez found that at Internazionale; now Villas-Boas has found it at Chelsea.
The man who is now Chelsea's ex-manager, their fifth in four and a half years spoke of the Special One this week. "His is a presence ever felt in the club. The most successful part of this club's history is related to José," he said. "But the only place where José's shadow is not lurking is Barcelona. It is everywhere else in the world. If you can train a manager to be the best in the world, everyone wants him."
He had a point: Barcelona chose Pep Guardiola over Mourinho. Guardiola won everything. The following season Mourinho, by then at Inter, did the same. Two trebles in a row. Guardiola has failed to win just three of 16 trophies available to his team. Two of those three were denied him by Mourinho.
He, meanwhile, denied Mourinho two of three trophies in his first season at Madrid and he has faced him 10 times, losing just once. Along the way, the conflict grew so great that a reconciliation in Catalonia is now impossible for the Portuguese. Even in times of success, there was something missing after Mourinho's departure from Chelsea and in some ways this remains his club. In part, because the nucleus of his team remains: that core that Villas-Boas found so difficult to circumvent.
Grant, Scolari, Hiddink, Ancelotti. All came, none truly conquered. Not only have Chelsea missed him; he has missed them. On those occasions that he has spoken about foreign fields, he has spoken with warmth and affection about England. It has not always been about Stamford Bridge specifically; rather, his horizons have been broader. "The Premier League," he said, "is my passion." Put simply: he has not enjoyed Spain as much as he enjoyed England.
Chelsea spoke to Benítez's camp about him taking over, but the offer on the table would only have been to the end of the season, at which point they would think again and other managers would be on the market. Benítez was not convinced. Nor, indeed, were Chelsea's supporters. Those European clashes weigh heavily; trenches previously occupied are not easily vacated.
Timing is everything and it could prove propitious for Mourinho. La Liga is likely to be Madrid's now, wrested from Barcelona for the first time in four years. Mourinho can depart a winner, another record notched up – league title winner in Spain as he was in Portugal, England and Italy. There is still the European Cup to come too: Mourinho is acutely aware that lifting the trophy with a third club would be unique, his place in history assured. Achieve that and his work here will be done. If Guardiola was to do so, it would be three in five years, Barcelona would become the only club to retain the Champions League in its expanded form.
Mourinho has consistently refused to comment on his future. Others have sent messages for him. The message has been clear: José wants to come "home". Chelsea are not the only club that offer an English return, but there is attraction in sorting out the superficial mess left by his former friend and now rival. Few others will have the ability to handle the generational change needed – among those who must have their careers prolonged or brought to a close are some of Mourinho's most loyal players.
From Chelsea's point of view, there are few apparent candidates. If Benítez was a serious long-term option, he would already be in place. Guus Hiddink took up employment elsewhere. Fabio Capello has hardly seen his reputation enhanced with England, although his support of John Terry would make his landing smoother. If he was an option, though, why not now?
As for Guardiola, Roman Abramovich has tried before to import Barcelona, while the Spaniard's delay in signing a contract extension at the Camp Nou gives Chelsea some hope. Guardiola's messages have been very different from Mourinho's, though: his actions have felt more like those of a man withdrawing from the spotlight not leaping back into it.
Spanish football has boasted of the greatest rivalry in sport, often reduced to its key players, handy representatives of differing identities and different approaches: Madrid v Barça, Ronaldo v Messi, Mourinho v Guardiola.
Abramovich can be forgiven for being seduced by their different charms. They may not be seduced by his.
 
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