Carvalho wants Chelsea stars to stick together

December 16, 2009

Ricardo Carvalho has told his Chelsea team-mates they must stick together in Wednesday’s clash against Portsmouth to avoid any more of the costly blunders that threaten to derail their title challenge.

After moving five points clear at the top of the Premier League on the back of five successive cleansheets, culminating in a ruthless 3-0 win at Arsenal late last month, the previously impenetrable Chelsea defence has been leaking goals at an alarming rate.

Carlo Ancelotti’s rearguard has been breached 10 times in four games in all competitions, with Everton taking advantage of more sloppy play by Carvalho, John Terry, Petr Cech and company in Saturday’s 3-3 draw.

While Manchester United’s defeat against Aston Villa allowed Chelsea to extend their lead over the champions to three points, there is a growing sense of unease over the chaotic nature of the league leaders’ defending in recent weeks.

Those goals were the first conceded by Chelsea at home in the league since the opening day of the season, but the jeers that echoed around Stamford Bridge stands at the weekend reflected a fear that Ancelotti’s men could blow a golden chance to win the title through a careless lack of concentration.

Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech has come in for the most criticism and his nervous displays have undoubtedly forced the back-four to defend too deep of late, giving opposition attackers the chance to force more mistakes.

But Portugal centre-back Carvalho, who should make his 200th appearance for Chelsea at the Bridge on Wednesday, insists the team are just going through the kind of freakish patch of bad luck where every error is punished by a goal.

“Right now every mistake we make, we concede a goal,” he said. “We are playing well but we have to be more compact, especially at free-kicks and corners.

“When someone makes a mistake you have to be there to help him. Against Everton one goal came from a throw-in and the other two from free-kicks.

“I think I am playing well, however I can’t enjoy it because we’re drawing or losing. I’m a little bit frustrated.”

If Chelsea could have hand-picked the opposition for a game they desperately need to win to steady the nerves, then rock bottom Portsmouth would surely be top of the list.

Pompey boss Avram Grant brings a team to Chelsea for the first time since being sacked by the Blues in the aftermath of the 2008 Champions League final defeat to United in Russia.

But for Terry’s penalty shoot-out slip in the the Moscow rain, Grant would be a European champion and likely still Chelsea’s coach.

Instead he is facing up to the prospect of a five-month struggle to keep Portsmouth in the top-flight against a background of financial uncertainty that has already seen the club fail to pay their players’ wages twice this season.

Portsmouth fans issued a vote of no confidence in the club’s board this week, but Grant can at least take heart from the determined way his side ground out a 1-1 draw at Sunderland on Saturday thanks to Younes Kaboul’s stoppage time equaliser.

Grant believes surviving with Portsmouth is a far greater challenge than his task of steadying the ship when he succeeded Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

“At Chelsea I took over a team that was on the way down and the challenge was to bring them back to winning ways and we did it,” Grant said. “This is a different challenge, first to take the team away from the bottom and then for the future to make them an exciting team.

“The challenge is bigger here because there are so many problems. Everybody said to me when I was offered it not to take the job, but for me it made me even more ambitious to take it.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: alarming rate, aston villa, blunders, carlo ancelotti, chaotic nature, CHELSEA, cleansheets, czech republic, five points, four games, free kicks, Goalkeeper, golden chance, jeers, john terry, Jose, lack of concentration, league leaders, london, Manchester, Moscow, Petr Cech, Portsmouth, portugal, premier league, ricardo carvalho, stamford bridge, team mates, Terry, title challenge

Beckenbauer criticizes Van Bommel

November 5, 2009

The dramatic loss against Bordeaux (0-2) meant a huge blow to Bayern Munich’s self-confidence. President Franz Beckenbauer was disappointed with the way Bayern played and especially with Mark van Bommel’s performance.

“Of course it’s nice to play well and be dominant on the pitch,” said Der Kaiser in Bild. “But what’s the use of 70 per cent possession if the ball doesn’t move forward? You’ve got ninety minutes to claim the win, but then you can’t afford making blunders like Mark van Bommel did for 1-0.”

“Only Arjen Robben, who came on in the second half, brought a bit more pace in Bayern’s play. He’s fast and capable of beating his direct opponent 1 on 1. That causes confusion with the opponent. Another player who’s able to do that, is Bastian Schweinsteiger. He proved that in earlier games. Unfortunately, only in the German team.”

Meanwhile, Bayern boss Louis van Gaal prepares for the next, important match against Schalke 04, on Saturday. The Dutch coach has consequently decided to cancel training on Thursday, â??so that he players freshen up mentally and turn their attention to Schalke.”

“It’s another important game,” acknowledged Van Gaal, “and itâ??s another one we have to win.”

Paul Haring

Tags: arjen robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern, bayern munich, blunders, Bordeaux, boss, confusion, dramatic loss, franz beckenbauer, german team, kaiser, louis van gaal, Mark van Bommel, opponent, pace, Paul Haring, pitch, possession, President Franz Beckenbauer, schalke 04, schweinsteiger, second half, self confidence, Van Bommel, Van Gaal

U better believe it, Germany are the kings

June 30, 2009

“U” is an interesting letter in German. One of the first things that springs to mind is “U-Boot” (submarine) and then there is the “U-Bahn” (underground train) as well as “U-Haft” (jail).

But after Germany’s U21 team won the European championship, thrashing England 4-0 in Sweden on Monday to give the country all three “U” titles (U17, U19 and U21), there’s another
“U” word that comes to mind: “Ueber alles” — as in “Deutschland Ueber Alles”.

“U-nglaublich (unbelievable), U-nfassbar (unreal) and U-nwiderstehlich (irresistable),” wrote Germany’s best-selling daily Bild, clearly caught up in the U-fever.

In May, they beat the Netherlands in the final to win the U17 championship it hosted with a national televison audience watching. Last July, Germany won the U19 championship, beating Italy 3-1 in the final. And Monday’s win over England was watched by a record 8.2 million, making it by far the most popular TV show in Germany all week.

England came under heavy fire in their home media for their “pathetic capitulation”, as the Daily Mirror called it or for “suffering yet more agony at the hands of the Germans”.

The Guardian noted that “Goalkeeping blunders are not the sole preserve of the England senior team”.

But in Germany the U21 team were feted as conquering heroes. Stern.de breathlessly predicted this was the team that would win the 2014 World Cup.

“It was great the way they beat England down at first and then played them into the ground,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew, who was in Sweden for the final.

The German DFB (FA) claimed credit for the three titles, with DFB President Theo Zwanziger saying the “good structures” put into place in recent years and the “good work” done by DFB sporting director Matthias Sammer was the reason for the success.

The Bundesliga also took credit, saying they had trained the players. “What I’m especially pleased with is that all the players are from Bundesliga clubs,” said Bundesliga president Reinhard Rauball.

And the German clubs, predictably, said they were responsible with officials from Hertha Berlin and Mainz arguing their good training, investment and talent development programmes had made the difference.

But the big question U have to ask is: Does it all matter? Does winning any or even all of the “Under-” tournaments mean U will later win the Euros or the World Cup?

PHOTO: German players celebrate celebrating after beating England 4-0 in the U21 European Championship final in Malmo June 29, 2009. REUTERS/Bob Strong

Go to Source

Tags: agony, berlin, blunders, Bob Strong, Bundesliga, capitulation, daily mirror, DFB, England, fever, germans, Germany, haft, Italy, joachim loew, mainz, Malmo, matthias sammer, national televison, popular tv show, President Theo Zwanziger, Reinhard Rauball, submarine, Sweden, the Netherlands, theo zwanziger, u bahn, u boot, u19 championship, u21 team, underground train, World Cup

Kameni regrets clash with fan

January 7, 2009

MADRID (AFP) – Espanyol’s Cameroon international Carlos Kameni said on Tuesday he regrets tussling with a fan who told him not to bother renewing his contract with the Spanish club after recent blunders by the goalkeeper."I regret what happened. I neither wanted, nor tried to, attack anyone or create any kind of problem with my behaviour but it was very hard for me to hear certain comments while I was training," he told the club’s website."I always give my all in training and matches. I am very self-critical and that meant I did not accept the comment I heard because it upset me a lot, both because of my personal situation and that of the team."I know I should have ignored those words," the 24-year-old added.Kameni, whose contract expires at the end of the season, approached the fan earlier on Tuesday on the sidelines of a training session and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck before team mates pulled him away, images on Spanish television showed."I’m a professional. You should respect my work, respect me," he shouted at the fan according to the online edition of daily newspaper El Pais.Espanyol are just one point above last place Osasuna in the Spanish league after their 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Written by: AFP