The winter weather has taken a huge bite in the Premier League programme this weekend, with only the clashes at the Stadium of Light and Ewood Park given the go ahead. Hopefully tonight’s clash at Eastlands will make up for the loss of action as both sides are desperate for the win.
In the papers today there has been a mixed bag of stories which includes Cesc Fabregas airs title fear; Mancini calls on City fans to back Carlos Tevez, while Roy Hodgson eyes new faces at Anfield.
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Fabregas airs title fear – Sky Sports
Nelsen lambasts Blackburn owners – Guardian
Now Houllier orders his Aston Villa commuters to get moving – Daily Mail
Hammers chase Ade on loan – Sun
Mancini expects City fans to back Tevez against Everton – Guardian
Hodgson eyes fresh faces – Sky Sports
Everton fans can be forgiven an envious glance tonight – Independent
Tottenham offer contract to Juventus striker Vincenzo Iaquinta – IM Scouting
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Arsenal ready to sanction £2m sale of Nordtveit to Moenchengladbach – Daily Mail
McCarthy has board backing – Sky Sports
Bayern join race for Glen Johnson – IM Scouting
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Two of the surprise movers of the Premier League season face off on Saturday when Blackpool host Sunderland at Bloomfield Road.
But the Black Cats will have to make do without leading goal-scorer Darren Bent, who completed a shock move to Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Sunderland have enjoyed an unbeaten start to January with wins over Blackburn (3-0) and Aston Villa (1-0) and a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United last Saturday.
The impressive run has seen Steve Bruce’s men carve out a seat at sixth on the table, with Bolton four points adrift in seventh and fifth-placed Tottenham three points ahead.
Blackpool, meanwhile, continue to confound pre-season expectations of an early trip back to the Championship.
The Tangerines are 10th on the table with 28 points, despite a torrid start to the New Year with three losses from four games.
Most recently, Ian Holloway’s men went down 3-2 at West Bromwich Albion, conceding a heartbreaking late winner to Peter Odemwingie after Gary Taylor-Fletcher brought the visitors level in the 80th minute.
But there is still plenty for Blackpool for be positive about, not the least that they defeated Sunderland 2-0 in their away fixture last month.
DJ Campbell was the hero in that meeting with a match-winning brace, and the former Leicester City striker has been among Blackpool’s best in January with goals against Liverpool and Birmingham City.
Sunderland carry one of the longest injury lists in the league, with Danny Welbeck (hamstring), David Meyler (knee), Lee Cattermole (back), John Mensah (ankle), Frazier Campbell (knee) and Michael Turner (knee) all on the sidelines.
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Add to that Bent’s defection and Bruce certainly has a number of headaches at the selection table.
Blackpool have their share of injury concerns, with Marlon Harewood (hamstring), Matthew Gilks (knee), Billy Clarke (knee), Malaury Martin (knee) and Chris Basham (broken leg) all unavailable.
Saturday’s encounter could be a swan song for Blackpool skipper Charlie Adam, who has been linked to Liverpool, Aston Villa and Birmingham City in the January transfer window.
South Korean manager Cho Kwang-rae was thrilled his side was able to break down Iran’s stoic defence in their 1-0 Asian Cup quarter-final victory.
The South Koreans advanced to the semi-finals of Asia’s premier national soccer tournament – where they will meet Japan – courtesy of a Yoon Bit-garam’s extra-time goal.
Cho said his side’s patience paid dividends, as evidenced when Iran’s defence failed to shut down the space around Yoon, allowing the 20-year-old to fire the Koreans into the final four.
“The Iranian team’s defensive organisation was very strong, especially in the middle where they were very compact and highly organised,” Cho said.
“I believe not many teams can score goals against them and if you see figures of their previous matches this is proven.”
“To win this game with a clean sheet is the greatest thing a coach can get. In general, the defence was successful tonight and in that respect I was satisfied.”
“Regarding the tiredness of the players, it can happen in these tournaments but the most important thing is that the players held on until the end of the game and that was the key factor for me.”
The loss marked Iran manager Afshin Ghotbi’s last match in charge of the side before he departs to take the reins of J-League club Shimizu S-Pulse.
While Iran beat bitter rivals Iraq in the group stages, Ghotbi was disappointed he could not appease the country’s football-mad supporters with a trophy.
“This championship was very important to our players and our team,” Ghotbi said.
“When we reached the second phase we started believing we could be champion and make the people of Iran happy.”
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“When these two sides meet anything can happen. We tried very hard to get the players to relax and play football, but the Koreans did very well in the midfield and closing down space.”
“At half-time we talked about it and I think in the second half we improved but not as we would have liked. Again, it comes to the importance of winning and I think it got to the players.”
“They are tired of not coming home with the trophy for 35 years and they wanted to do this for the people.”
Chelsea gained revenge for their loss to Sunderland in November by defeating the Black Cats 4-2 at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.
The rejuvenated Blues produced their third league win in a row to go six points clear of fifth-place Tottenham and just a point behind third-place Manchester City.
Sunderland, fielding new signing Stephane Sessegnon on the left of midfield were excellent in the first half, stunning the Premier League champions with a goal in the fourth minute – Phil Bardsley cutting in from the left to drill a low shot across the flat-footed Petr Cech and into the far corner.
It gave Sunderland fans hopes of another shock result but Chelsea matched the home side’s quality and gradually reeled them in.
They were given a helping hand on the quarter-hour when Ahmed Elmohamady needlessly felled Ashley Cole in the area before Frank Lampard strode up to send Craig Gordon the wrong way from the spot.
Gordon was superb throughout the game and made a string of eye-catching saves, but the Sunderland gloveman made a crucial error in the 23rd minute when he raced out of his box after Nicholas Anelka had produced a defence-splitting pass for Salomon Kalou to run on to.
The Ivory Coast international rolled the ball around the goalkeeper’s star-shaped dive to give the visitors the lead.
The Blues’ advantage lasted only three minutes though as Kieran Richardson netted his third goal in two games when his free-kick traversed under the Chelsea wall and past the stranded Cech.
The equaliser saw the two teams going into the break on level terms but Chelsea were a different class in the second-half as Gordon found his goal under siege in the first 15 minutes with Kalou, Didier Drogba, Anelka and Lampard all going close.
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It looked as though Sunderland’s mean defence might thwart Chelsea’s clear superiority but the key goal came on the hour when, from a disputed corner, Lampard produced a magnificent save from Gordon but the ball dropped to John Terry who dug the ball out of the turf and just under the crossbar.
The scoreline was given a look which reflected the balance of power over the 90 minutes when Florent Malouda waltzed by a string of tired challenges to set up man-of-the-match Anelka who side-footed home from five yards.
[LEGACY: Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.]
Liverpool have experienced a rocky voyage from leading and competing against Europe’s finest clubs and battling for the domestic cup, to hovering just above the relegation and playing teams such as FC Utrecht in the Europa league.
Just where has this sudden change come from?
Well, Rafael Benitez joined the club in the summer of 2004 and firstly convinced Steven Gerrard not to join rivals Chelsea, then managed to reach the Carling Cup final and recover from a poor start to win the Champions League.
There was no doubt that Benitez’s decline from 2009 onwards and their failure to win silverware was because of his inefficient and bad spending in the transfer market.
Benitez spent £240 million throughout his reign at Anfield, during which he captured over 80 players and the majority were simply not good enough for the squad.
The club suffered after the Spaniard’s relationship with American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks collapsed after reports revealed that Jurgen Klinsmann had been offered the post before Rafa but had rejected it for Bayern Munich.
Financial backing had always been a problem for Benitez during his time on Merseyside as numerous expensive signings such as Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani and Ryan Babel all failed to deliver at Anfield.
An abundance of transfers for under £10 million saw Liverpool cross names off their squad-sheets faster than they could keep up with. From the 60+ transfers that Benitez made during his helm, only four can be recognised as substantial – Reina, Mascherano, Alonso and Torres, all for multi-million pound deals and perhaps the most obvious signings for any top club, but nevertheless quality additions to Liverpool.
The Latin quarter had been added to Melwood, which sparked a Spanish revolution within the camp. However this all changed very quickly when Xabi Alonso, Liverpool’s pivotal playmaker and the only Premier League player to reach 1,000 completed passes in a single season, left the club for Real Madrid on a £30 million deal in 2009.
Alonso’s departure signalled not only the decline of Liverpool in the years to come, but the eventual demise of the Rafa Regime on Merseyside.
Despite reports suggesting that Alonso was happy to say, he left the club following a disagreement with the manager. It was a combination of Alonso’s departure and Benitez’s failure to competently replace him with suitable quality which pushed Liverpool to its limits in the 2009-10 season – finishing 7th in the league, crashing out in the FA Cup 3rd round to Reading and finishing bottom of their Champions League group.
Perhaps just a poor season? No.
When you sell Alonso for £30m you expect to buy a player of equal or potential talent, to not suffer a loss of quality within the squad. Looking back, Benitez’s replacement, injured Alberto Aquilani, comes to no surprise when analysing the Spaniard’s previous transfer list. He halved the Alonso funds on the Italian and on bringing Glen Johnson in from Portsmouth, and played Brazilian Lucas Leiva in his place whilst Aquilani recovered.
Rafa defended his legacy after leaving the club saying that:
“When I left the club, (Javier) Mascherano, (Yossi) Benayoun and (Albert) Riera were there, along with Carra (Jamie Carragher), (Steven) Gerrard, (Jay) Spearing, (Stephen) Darby, (Emiliano) Insua, (Diego) Cavalieri and (Jonjo) Shelvey.”
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Despite starting the season with Liverpool, Mascherano left the club in destination of Barcelona for an alleged £23 million, reducing Rafa’s era to just Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina, as Yossi Benayoun left for Stamford Bridge on a reported £4m deal in the summer.
When Benitez left the club “by mutual consent” (aka sacked) in June, so did his tactics.
Man marking was abolished by Hodgson as early as the first pre-season games, and players which Benitez signed and failed were either sold or sent out on loan: Insua (Galatasary), Aquilani (Juventus), El Zhar (PAOK), Degen (VfB Stuttgart), Riera (Olympiakos), Dalla Valle (Fulham) and Plessis (Panathonaikos) all left on loan, whilst Ryan Babel completed his recent move to Hoffenheim in January.
Fernando Torres’ £50m deadline day transfer to Chelsea, and the club’s acquisition of two young forwards in Andy Carroll (English, 22) and Luis Suarez (24) marks the end of the Benitez era at Anfield (Pepe Reina is still there, but he is expected to leave in the summer as he has no mates left), and it was very much a case of poor scouting and lack of support and communication from both parties which eventually pushed the Spanish era out of Merseyside.
It only took 6 months, two managers, a double-defeat to Blackpool, and another Europa League campaign, but the Reds are finally grating the last of the Benitez cheese, and with Kop-legend Kenny Dalglish back at the helm alongside a proper scout like Damien Comolli and some proper American businessmen, Liverpool are set to remerge themselves with Europe’s elite, or are they?
Both sides will be looking to bounce back from their desperately disappointing league performances in their last respective league fixtures and this could be a lively affair as a result.
Chelsea’s form remains stuttering though and they go into the game with four wins in their last seven matches across all competitions. They are without the cup-tied Fernando Torres and other new signing David Luiz, who is ineligible.
Everton are without injured front man Louis Saha and the injured Jack Rodwell. They should take heart from their recent record against the current Premier League champions though, as they remain undefeated against them in their previous last four meetings (won 1, drawn 4) and haven’t lost to the reigning Premier League champions since the 2009 FA Cup Final.
Without Louis Saha up top to trouble the home team‘s back four though, I can see only one winner in this contest. A Chelsea side minus the presence of Fernando Torres should see Didier Drogba restored to the starting eleven, with the Ivorian hoping to point to prove to his manager after he was left on the bench in their last game against Fulham. I’m backing Chelsea to put to bed their recent Everton jinx with a strong performance, as they seek to keep alive any hopes that they may have of winning a domestic piece of silverware this season.
Prediction: 3-1 – you can get odds of 12/1 with bet365!
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Valencia manager Unai Emery wants his team to quickly put their Champions League loss to Schalke behind them and focus on the league.The third-placed La Liga outfit went down 3-1 to the Bundesliga club in Germany on Wednesday (4-2 on aggregate), exiting the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage, but Emery was quick to readjust the club’s focus on a top-four finish in the Spanish top flight when Valencia face the lowly Real Zaragoza on Saturday.”After Wednesday’s game we are hurting. But we are aware that our route now is very clear. We want to return to the Champions League next season,” Emery said. “The league is the way to get that, and we have never left it by the wayside. We are very consistent and have our objective set at returning to where we left off on Wednesday.”Valencia’s trip to the Romareda will test their squad depth, with Emery confirming some of his players were worse for wear after their Champions League outing.”We will look at the fitness of the players who played the other day, and also their mental state. We have to make ourselves prepared and up for the game, and ready to give 100 percent at the Romareda. This is the first step,” he said. “We have to look for this from yesterday’s training session onwards. Some were recovering inside, whilst others had an outdoor session. Today we were all together and looking for those who were ready. This is the intense preparation for tomorrow’s game.”Valencia striker Roberto Soldado is in his first season at the Mestalla, and Emery said the 25-year-old has the potential to develop into the mould of Barcelona striker and former Valencia player David Villa.”Roberto Soldado has to grow as a player, and Valencia gives him that chance. He knows, because we’ve spoken about it,” Emery said. “He is intelligent, and he can take on challenges. There are maybe parallels to when Villa came here. We don’t know yet, but maybe. But he has to work.”
Lokomotiv Moscow continued their dominance of Group A in the Beach Soccer Club World Cup with a 5-4 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.An early header from Egor Shaykov and a brace to Brazilian Daniel Lima put Lokomotiv ahead 3-0 and in sight of a big victory, but a penalty to Boguslaw Saganowski sparked a revival for Sporting.
A superb effort from Alan tied the scores at 4-4, but Shaykov returned to win the game off his own boot with a brilliant individual goal.
The Russian side stay top of Group A with eight points, while Sporting remain anchored to the bottom of the table without a single point.
Barcelona continued to impress in Group B with a 6-3 thumping of AC Milan.
The Catalan side took the lead when Fred converted in audacious fashion, and they continued to give the Italians problems in the early stages.
When Dimitri Shishin finished off a direct move with a neat goal Barca were up 4-0, before Stephan Meier netted a first-time volley to temporarily put Milan back in the contest.
Shishin finished with four goals for the match as Barca kept in the lead in Group B with eight points.
A late winner for Levan Kobiashvili helped Georgia defeat Croatia 1-0 in Euro 2012 qualifying on Saturday, while Israel beat Latvia.Group F leaders Croatia controlled the first half at the Lokomotivi Stadium in Tbilisi and might have taken the lead through a Dejan Lovren header 26 minutes in.
Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic had a shot saved by Georgia goalkeeper Nukri Revishvili, who also denied Nikola Kalinic.
Out-of-favour Tottenham man Niko Kranjcar went close early in the second half, before Kobiashvili had Georgia’s first real chance of the match.
Visitors Croatia continued to dominate, with Ivan Perisic the next man to threaten.
But the breakthrough never arrived.
Volga Nizhny Novgorod forward Otar Martsvaladze enjoyed a rare chance for the hosts but saw his shot saved by Croatia goalkeeper Vedran Runje.
The match appeared destined for a draw before Martsvaladze played in Kobiashvili in the 90th minute, and the Hertha Berlin midfielder smashed home a shot from just inside the area.
Georgia, who are now unbeaten in 10 matches under manager Temuri Ketsbaia, move into third place with six points.
Croatia remain top with 10 points, ahead of Greece.
Elsewhere in Group F, Israel defeated Latvia 2-1 at home.
Racing Genk forward Elyaniv Barda put Israel ahead after 16 minutes at the Ramat Gan Stadium.
Defender Kaspars Gorkss of Queens Park Rangers levelled for Latvia just after the hour mark, but Celtic midfielder Baram Kayal restored Israel’s lead with what proved to be the winner nine minutes from time.
Israel are now fourth, level on points with fifth-placed Latvia but ahead courtesy of a superior goal difference.
Chelsea are 1-0 down at home to Manchester United in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final, and with twenty minutes to go, Carlo Ancelotti decides to substitute 33 year-old Didier Drogba, who has scored one goal in his last eleven games for the Blues. A hum of disappointment quickly surrounds Stamford Bridge, not because the home supporters are uninspired by Nicolas Anelka’s introduction (although the Frenchman hasn’t scored since February), but because their new £50million ‘hero’ remains on the pitch for the remainder of the match, eventually completing 617 minutes without a goal for his new club.
Chelsea fans are not known for their patience, and their chairman is always quick to point out when something is wrong, but is it now time for Fernando Torres to realise he made a big mistake in forcing through his Liverpool exit, especially considering the different directions both clubs are now heading in?
Allow me to start by clearing up one issue – Fernando Torres is not a similar case to that of Andriy Shevchenko. Torres’ Chelsea displays are not a result of failing to adapt to the style or rigours of the Premier League – the Spaniard scored 75 goals in 126 games for Liverpool during his first full three seasons in England, and spearheaded Spain’s attack during successful European Championship and World Cup campaigns whilst a Liverpool player.
However, almost exactly 12 months ago, Torres revealed that he felt daunted by the prospect of an extended career in England based on the continual demands of Premier League football. “This is my third season and I’m still amazed to see Gerrard, Rooney and Lampard, players who have been here a long time, still playing at such a high level and with such impressive rhythm because the English league really wears down a player. I just can’t imagine what state I’ll be in within five or six years if I continue to play here – it could easily give me problems when I stop playing. The physical level is superior to all other countries.”
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Torres announced these concerns following a knee operation which he never fully recovered from before joining his Spanish team-mates in South Africa last summer. He had actually scored 18 goals in 22 League games for Liverpool before the operation, but his performances and evident fitness concerns at the World Cup delayed his move to Stamford Bridge until January. It was thought that Torres would leave Anfield last August following Liverpool’s failed bid to qualify for the Champions League, but the striker committed to Roy Hodgson’s vision, which in hindsight was an egregious decision.
Torres then faced a fitness struggle in the midst of a rancorous ownership and managerial transition and was not the only high-profile Liverpool player to express doubts about the future of the Merseyside club. Pepe Reina has been broadcasting almost monthly updates on his contract situation since the start of the season, and it looks more than likely that he will depart this summer given that Liverpool have yet again failed to infiltrate the top 4.
In January of this year, Liverpool sacked their second manager in 6 months and Torres was only starting to regain his form sporadically between injury spells. Meanwhile, Chelsea had been two months in to a sequence that saw them drop down the Premier League table after their worst run of results for 15 years. These factors, in addition to Torres’ two goals against the Blues in November, convinced Roman Abramovich to renew his interest in the forward and he spent £50million to secure his services. Although he has yet to convert for his new club, Torres is beginning to demonstrate his class gradually and was unfortunate not to score against United in last week’s first leg.
Torres does not legitimately fit in to the categories of Michael Owen, who began his career exceptionally and struggled to improve over time, or Andriy Shevchenko, who dominated Europe until the age of 29 when he should have been hitting his prime but instead rapidly regressed. Torres is of the same mould as Samuel Eto’o, a striker who has delivered explosive goal-scoring form consistently throughout his career.
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The Cameroonian is almost exactly three years older than Torres, and three years ago found himself in a similar position to the Spaniard. He had scored 19 goals for Barcelona during an injury-plagued season and was unsettled by a change of manager at the Nou Camp, as Pep Guardiola had announced his intentions to neglect the striker. He stayed, and in fact scored 39 goals in Guardiola’s first season as Barca completed a European treble, but was sold that summer to Inter. Apparently not good enough to remain with the European champions, Eto’o led Inter to Champions League glory the following season, which is something Abramovich might have considered when signing the cheque for Torres. Abramovich’s craving for Champions League supremacy is well known, and Torres could conceivably be the man to lead Chelsea to a European Final, if not this season, then next.
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