Sir Alex Ferguson scooped the LMA award and then showered praise on Carlo Ancelotti for the dignity he has shown in light of his Chelsea sacking. Elsewhere Jack Wilshere was overlooked for the U21s after Arsenal used GPS science, while Boca Juniors claim they have a good chance to sign Carlos Tevez this summer.
In the papers there has been a mixed bag of stories that include Harry Redknapp aims to play youngsters in the Europa League; Brad Friedel set to move to Liverpool, while Carlton Cole is set to lead the West Ham exodus.
*
Ferguson scoops Manager of the Year award… and then lauds axed Ancelotti – Daily Mail
PL considered CL play-off – Sky Sports
Chelsea confident of tempting Hiddink to replace Ancelotti – Guardian
Cole set to lead Upton Park exodus – Daily Telegraph
Friedel snubs Villa stay to play second fiddle to Reina at Liverpool – Daily Mail
Aguero sparks bidding war – Sun
GPS science sparked Wilshere U-turn – Guardian
O’Hara in plea to stay at Wolves – Sun
Boca Juniors claim: Good chance we’ll sign Tevez – Mirror
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Redknapp to play youngsters in Europe – Guardian
Newcastle keen on ‘the new Drogba’ as talks stall over new Barton deal – Daily Mail
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes common sense prevails after striker Robin van Persie was named in the Netherlands squad for the upcoming friendly match against Turkey.
The forward has only recently returned to fitness after being out of action since the end of August with an ankle injury, but national team coach Bert van Marwijk has called him into the 24-man party for the Amsterdam clash.
However, Wenger is unhappy, especially after his prized asset suffered another ankle problem when on international duty last November and the Frenchman wants to avoid a club-versus-country row this time around.
"At the moment, Robin van Persie is coming back from injury. We are concerned to use him at our club and you can understand we are a bit less concerned that he automatically plays in a friendly," he said.
"Everyone of you has common sense and can completely agree with that. It does not look to me surreal that we wish him to play for us.
"Holland is not my problem at the moment, my problem is to play the game against Newcastle on Sunday. All the rest is down to the rules that are in place in the international game. What can I do about that? Not a lot.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"I am not a big influence on that and I believe the most important thing is that we prepare well for our game on Sunday, try to win the game and let everybody else talk."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has stated that he believes that key striker Robin van Persie will not leave the club in the summer.
The Netherlands international has been in blistering form, and has almost single-handedly at times salvaged The Gunners’ season with excellent displays and prolific goalscoring.
With the marksman’s contract due to expire in the summer of 2013, Van Persie is being linked with a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid, and has not yet shown a willingness to extend his deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite this, Arteta feels that Arsenal fans have little to worry about.
“I do not see Van Persie leaving Arsenal,” Arteta told COM Radio, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“He is completely unaffected by interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona and not thinking about his contract renewal either.
“Now he is very calm and is not nervous about anything.
“I know he has said that in the summer he will consider things, talk it over and take the decision that he will take,” he stated.
Arteta was brought in by Arsene Wenger in the summer following the departure of Cesc Fabregas, but the playmaker has once again admitted that he does not want to be compared to the now Barcelona midfielder.
“I do not want to be Cesc’s substitute and I have no thoughts like that.
“My dream and aim is to win a big trophy for the club and to play for Spain. I would have loved to have had the chance to play for Spain, but I have not yet and I hope that some day that will change,” he concluded.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Arteta and Van Persie will be in action for the north London club against Liverpool at Anfield this weekend.
A star-studded line-up of former international football greats headed by Diego Maradona has played a one-off game in Grozny, Chechnya.The match, played between an all-star side and a team of Russian and Chechen players captained by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was played to open a new 30,000-seat stadium in the war-torn republic.
As well as Argentine captain Maradona, other greats of yesteryear who took to the field included former Liverpool stars Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman, Franco Baresi, Luis Figo and former France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Kadyrov scored twice to lead his side to a 5-2 win over the visiting all-stars, as Chechnya celebrated the opening of the new stadium which was built to replace the one that was destroyed when Kadyrov’s father – former Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov – was killed by a bomb blast in 2004.
Critics have dismissed the game – which began at 11pm local time on Wednesday – as a public relations stunt designed to deflect attention away from the human rights abuses that have taken place under Kadyrov’s rule, which began in 2007.
The stadium will be the home ground for local club Terek Grozny, as football in the republic begins to build a profile.
In January, Dutch legend Ruud Gullit was appointed as Terek’s manager.
England captain Rio Ferdinand accused German official Manuel Grafe of falling below the standards expected of an international referee following the goalless European Championship qualifier against Montenegro.
Grafe turned down two second-half penalty appeals from England during Tuesday's Wembley stalemate.
He first booked Ashley Young for diving in the box before earning the wrath of the home fans and the England players when he waved play on after defender Milan Jovanovic clearly handled the ball in the penalty area.
"It was just disappointing really," said Ferdinand.
"You expect the referees to be able to be up with play and performing at the highest level. Today, we just didn't get that.
"When you're playing at international level, you've got to deal with situations that come about.
"Today we had two really good shouts for a penalty and we didn't get them."
Vice-captain Steven Gerrard, who Ferdinand replaced as skipper following his return to fitness, was similarly scathing of the match official.
"I saw the handball incident very clearly and the referee was really close," he explained.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"I was very surprised that he never saw it but even more surprised that the linesman hasn't seen it because it's on his side.
"At this level you need that little bit of luck, especially when things are difficult and you're finding it hard to break the opposition down."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Tottenham defender Ledley King has stated that his team are keeping their feet on the ground, despite challenging for the Premier League title.
The White Hart Lane outfit have surpassed all expectations this season, and are in third place in the standings.
Despite the excellent form that Harry Redknapp’s men are showing, King feels that it is important his side do not get carried away.
“We are in a great position at the moment and have probably surprised a few people,” the centre-back told talkSPORT.
“At this stage of the season, to be talked about as still capable of winning the title is great for us.
“We are not getting too carried away at the moment, though. We are just getting our heads down and grinding out results.
“We look at the league table and we can see we are in amongst it.
“That is new to us and maybe people would expect us to fall away in the second half of the season but, as players, we believe in our ability and we believe we can keep getting results.
“We have lost just one in the last 19 and that is great form. If we keep it up then we are in with a chance,” he concluded.
Spurs take on leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, in what will be a real test to their title aspirations.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Birmingham City’s joint first-team coach, Peter Grant, has told his side they cannot be worried about Sunday’s crunch clash with Fulham.Birmingham are 16th, just three points above the relegation zone, although both Blackpool and Wolves could make their position even more perilous by winning on Saturday.
And Grant admits the game with Fulham is absolutely vital, but he believes his side deserve to stay up due to their performances this season.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, we’d rather be sitting nicely in seventh or eighth, safe and comfortable, but we’re not,” he said.
“The players are more than disappointed at some of the points we have not picked up.”
“We should have had more, and we’ve let points drop for silly reasons.”
“That’s a big thing. That shows the level we are. Some teams are happy to just survive, we’re not, we’ve wanted more than that.”
“I’m sure the guys will be ready on Sunday. You can sense it with them.”
“They’re desperate to do well, they’ve got the bit between their teeth and are desperate to remain Premier League players.”
“It’s a massive game and you can’t go into them with any fear.”
“There’s nervous energy, for sure, and excitement about the game, but you can’t go in with any fear. You have to look forward to the challenge.
“They will do their utmost so that Birmingham stay in the league. Over the piece, I think we’ve deserved to, but you’ve got to do that, prove it.”
“You can deserve something without actually grabbing it – and we’ve got to grab it Sunday.”
But Birmingham will have to do without top scorer Craig Gardner and defender Liam Ridgewell, both of whom are suspended.
Nikola Zigic is also unlikely to play as he battles hip and groin injuries.
Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville’s latest public outburst will have done little to enhance the defender’s reputation amongst Manchester City and Liverpool supporters. Speaking to MUTV, Neville expressed his “hatred” for Liverpool while condemning neighbours Manchester City for “throwing a load of money at it” in an attempt to gain success. Neville’s views on Manchester United’s rivals are well-known through a number of controversial high-profile incidents.
He found himself in hot water with the FA and the police in 2006 following his provocative celebration of Manchester United’s winning goal against Liverpool where he ran the length of the Old Trafford pitch to celebrate wildly in front of the travelling support. He was charged with improper conduct by the FA but Neville didn’t seem to have learnt his lesson. Last season saw Neville repeat his inflammatory celebrations by doing exactly the same thing in front of the Manchester City fans after Michael Owen sealed a last-gasp winner for United.
However, Neville’s most recent comments, coming at a time when there is no need to stir up any controversy are an indication that Neville’s United career is on the wane.
The need to express such animosity in such a public arena is a cry for attention from a player who has ceased to become relevant at Manchester United. Neville’s loyalty and service to Manchester United should be applauded but this does little to hide the fact that Neville is way past his prime and is simply not up to the calibre of a team that has aspirations on regaining the title that they lost to Chelsea last season.
Neville was hopelessly out of his depth on Saturday against Everton as United surrendered a two-goal cushion to draw with Everton 3-3 in injury time. He looked sluggish against Everton’s effervescent duo of Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman and found himself out of position on many occasions as Everton looked to attack down United’s right. Their tactics paid off as both of Everton’s injury time goals came from crosses from Everton’s left against Neville who failed to stop the ball being delivered into the United penalty box.
Unlike Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes who have blossomed in their advancing years, Neville has seemingly stagnated. Since the beginning of the season, John O’Shea has played at right-back for Manchester United and he has done an excellent job. Off the back of Neville’s indifferent performance on Saturday, there is little evidence to suggest that Neville would be a better bet than O’Shea to play at right-back now that Neville has recovered from injury. To rub further salt in the wound, Neville was denied the captain’s armband on Saturday despite being club captain. The honour was given to Nemanja Vidic who was the one bright spot in a defence that was uncharacteristically porous.
Neville’s decline presents an opportunity for the younger players at Old Trafford to push for a starting berth. Players such as Rafael and Richie De Laet are hot prospects at United and will be eager for a chance to prove themselves worthy of playing for the club.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
To be fair, Neville has indicated that he is aware that this season could possibly be his last in United colours:
“Two years ago I thought it would be my last season. Last year I felt the same. I recognise this one could be as well. I am on a one-year contract. If I don’t perform or the club don’t want me anymore, I will be gone. That is life. In the 19 years I have been here, it has happened to better players.”
If this season does prove to be his last, Neville will want to go out with a bang rather than a whimper. He needs to make sure he finds the headlines for his performances on the pitch rather than his words off it.
As reported by The Daily Mail, Steven Gerrard believes Alfredo Morelos has a key role to play at Rangers next season, despite recent speculation that clubs around the world are interested in his services.
What’s the story?
Gerrard is currently preparing his side for crucial UEFA Europa League qualifiers next month, on a pre-season training camp in Spain. Having already made a number of signings ahead of the new season, his squad has quickly been assembled ahead of the competitive action.
Just as important this summer though is retaining the players that can still play a big part at Ibrox, despite the club’s failed season last term.
It appears that one of those players Gerrard has decided he wants to keep is Alfredo Morelos, despite reported interest from France, Turkey and China.
As quoted by The Daily Mail, Gerrard said of Morelos:
We love the player. The fans love the player. He’s a goal scorer. We know what he can add to this team and squad.
If you’re asking me if his head has been turned that’s a question you’d have to ask the player himself. But where we stand right now he’s a Rangers player and I’m delighted to have him.
I take it is a positive, in terms of the interest that is coming his way. It shows we have a good player here. A player capable of scoring heavy numbers, which is what we need.
[ad_pod ]
Can Morelos shine under Gerrard?
Morelos’ reputation at Rangers took a massive hit towards the end of the season after he missed a number of golden chances against rivals Celtic, but his return of 18 goals was actually very decent for a debut campaign at Ibrox.
If he stays at the Light Blues and keeps himself fit, he should be aiming to score at least 20 goals next term, which would be a vital goal contribution for Steven Gerrard’s side. The fact the new boss has so much faith in the Colombian youngster could be huge for the player and bring his game onto new heights.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
There’s no doubt that Morelos isn’t the finished product, but Rangers shouldn’t be considering offers for him this summer, unless the money involved would be trans-formative to Gerrard’s squad budget.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257236″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five things we learned from England 21 Tunisia”]
Manchester United will feel they conducted the smartest business of any Premier League side during the January transfer window, improving the quality of Jose Mourinho’s starting XI through a swoop for Arsenal attacker Alexis Sanchez without spending a penny.
Indeed, the Red Devils swapped the Chile international for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who never convinced after arriving from Borussia Dortmund and was always a rather marginal figure in Mourinho’s first-team plans.
In United’s other two pieces of business last month, youngsters Axel Tuanzebe and James Wilson were allowed to leave on loan for Aston Villa and Sheffield United respectively.
But could United have done more last month? They’ve certainly got the capacity to spend and they’re certainly a long way off Manchester City right now, so a few more mid-season additions to the first-team squad wouldn’t have gone amiss.
It’s all a matter of perspective though, so we have a simple question for United supporters – are you happy with your club’s efforts during the January transfer window? Let us know by voting below…
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.