‘Seedorf is probably the best player I’ve ever played against’

January 26, 2010

Wayne Rooney has warned his teammates to keep an eye on Clarence Seedorf when Manchester United faces Milan for the Champions League in February. The England striker said that he fears Seedorf more than any other Milan player.

“He’s probably the best player I’ve ever played against,” Rooney told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Rarely have I seen a player do what he does on the field. You can’t leave him out.”

Milan knocked Man United out of the competition in the 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 campaigns.

Rooney added that he was looking forward to taking on his England team mate David Beckham on the former United player’s return to Old Trafford.

“David is a champion and he represents United’s history,” he said. “I hope he gets a great welcome. It’ll be exciting to play against him.”

Tags: best player, campaigns, champion, clarence seedorf, David, David Beckham, England, england team, la gazzetta dello, la gazzetta dello sport, Manchester, manchester united, Milan, old trafford, striker, team mate, teammates, wayne rooney

What if “ludicrous” Premier League ends with same top four?

January 21, 2010

We’ve had some knockabout fun in the Premier League this season, no question, but for all those eager for a change to the established order the table is taking on an all too familiar look.

Best Premier league season ever? It looked like we were heading that way, thanks to Liverpool’s flabbergastingly bad form, United’s post-Portuguese predicament, Chelsea’s baffling inconsistency and Arsenal’s eerie ability to conjure defeats and draws from matches they should have walked. William Hill even announced that the series of upsets involving the Big Four had helped them restore their profit margins at the expense of punters.

But with 16 or 17 matches left to go, look at the table now. For all their ragged performances, Arsenal, Chelsea and United have pulled away at the top, and even Liverpool, desperate, woeful Liverpool, are a point off fourth place having won three and drawn one of their last four. Arsene Wenger says it’s ludicrous that his team are back at the top, but really it’s anything but.

The problem, I think, is that in their eagerness to sell the story of financial woe at Manchester United and Liverpool, the media have exaggerated the decline of the two teams on the field.

Liverpool have had a terrible season so far, everyone agrees, yet they are only three points down from where they were after 22 games in both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns. The domestic blip, in fact, was last season’s abnormally strong challenge for the title.

Meanwhile, the Guardian screams in a headline of Manchester United’s decline, yet third place, a point off the top, and easy qualification for the Champions League knock-out phase shows the situation is not so dire.

So will it matter if the top four at the end of the season is, say, Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool? Will the few heady months of surprises have been enough for those desperate for a new twist to the all too familiar tale?

Or does English football need City, Villa, Spurs et al to actually challenge for the title? There’s no evidence of that sort of shift happening just yet.

PHOTO: Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky celebrates his goal against Bolton during their Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium in London, Jan. 20, 2010. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

Source

Tags: arsene wenger, campaigns, champions league, CHELSEA, CITY, decline, eagerness, Eddie Keogh, Emirates Stadium, english football, inconsistency, knock out, Liverpool, london, Manchester, manchester united, new twist, predicament, premier league, profit margins, punters, surprises, tomas rosicky, United, William Hill, woe

Michel joins Birmingham´s Yeung generation

January 12, 2010

Miguel Marcos Michel has become the first major signing of Carson Yeung’s reign as Birmingham City owner after the Blues announced Monday they’d signed him from Spanish side Sporting Gijon.

The 24-year-old has joined in a deal worth a reported three million pounds.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish almost signed the midfielder in August but the clubs were unable to agree on the structure of payments for the player.

Hong Kong tycoon Yeung, who took over Birmingham in October, has promised to back McLeish in the transfer market.

“Michel is in a great age group and has got good legs and a lovely touch on the ball as you would imagine from a Spanish player performing at La Liga level,” McLeish told the club’s official website on Monday.

Michel scored seven goals in 138 appearances for Sporting Gijon since making his debut in the 2005/06 season and had been the club’s player of the season during each of the last two campaigns.

Former Scotland manager McLeish, who could have at least 20 million pounds to spend on new signings, said he was still “interested in one or two players”.

But he said each potential acquisition would be judged on its own merits.

“If there’s 20 million pounds to spend then I’m sure Carson means that but whether I spend that remains to be seen,” he said.

“I would probably need to bring four or five players in to get through that money. I’m certainly not going to spend it on one player because I don’t think we’re ready for that step.

“There are a few clubs that are desperate for cash and we’re aware of that as well,” McLeish added.

“So prices can be inflated at the beginning of the month and they start to see sense towards the end of January.”

Last weekend’s 1-1 draw with champions Manchester United saw Birmingham extend their club record of successive unbeaten top-flight games to 12 matches and left them an impressive eighth in the table.

BIRMINGHAM (AFP)

Tags: acquisition, age group, alex mcleish, Birmingham, birmingham city, campaigns, CARSON, carson yeung, debut, flight games, Hong Kong, legs, Manchester, manchester united, merits, Michel, midfielder, Miguel Marcos Michel, new signings, scotland, spanish side, sporting gijon, top flight, tycoon

We’ve got nothing to fear-Kuyt

November 4, 2009

Although Wednesday night’s match against Olympique Lyon promises to be a game of life-and-death, Liverpool is yet to panic. During earlier Champions League campaigns, Rafa Benitez’s squad revealed their real strenght when they had to seal the deal in the last three group matches-just like this year. “We’ve got nothing to fear,” according to Dirk Kuyt ahead of the crucial clash with Lyon.

“If we want revanche,” the Dutch international reflects at the previous game against the French at Anfield (1-2 loss). “Of course. We definitely need to win this match,” Kuyt told The Daily Star.

Liverpool’s self-confidence remains high despite the poor recent results. “Sure, Lyon a good team with some quality players but we have beaten we have beaten good teams away from home before.

“We’ve beaten Olympique Marseille, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona in away games. I don’t think we have anything to fear.”

Kuyt is confident The Reds can pull off a succesful final sprint.

“People may have written us off but it doesn’t matter what people are saying.

“We need to win our last three games. We will try to win every one. We’ll never give up.”

Paul Haring

Tags: anfield, Barcelona, campaigns, champions league, clash, daily star, dirk kuyt, dutch international, game of life, inter milan, life and death, Liverpool, Lyon, MADRID, Marseille, Milan, olympique lyon, Paul Haring, real madrid, reds, self confidence, sprint, strenght, three games, wednesday night

France and Ireland face off for potential group decider

October 24, 2009

The Women’s World Cup qualifier between France and Iceland, to be played this Saturday, may well shape the way Group 1 of the European zone looks until the end of the campaign.

Although only a few games have been played in the European qualifiers, it is clear that France and Iceland are the main contenders in this group.

The French started convincingly with a 0-7 victory in and against Croatia, which should allow them to recover from the slightly disappointing UEFA Euro 2009 campaign, where France lost to the Netherlands in the quarter finals.

The French squad is relatively young as only five players have an age of 26 or above. Team veteran is without a doubt Sandrine Soubeyrand, who despite her 36 years begins yet another qualification cycle for her country.

Iceland beat Serbia 5-0 in their opening qualifier, and went on to trash Estonia 12-0 last month. The Icelandic ladies aim to once again prove themselves as one of Europe’s powers. Things didn’t quite go so well at this summer’s European championships though, as the group games with France, Norway and Germany were all lost.

The match with France was also the last time the two met, but there have been several other meetings in recent years. The nations shared groups in both of the last two qualifying campaigns for European championships, with France winning three times and Iceland once.

The match between France and Iceland will be played at Lyon’s Stade de Gerland and starts at 16:30 local time.

Jonathan Roorda

Tags: campaigns, croatia, doubt, Estonia, Europe, european zone, face off, France, french squad, Germany, group games, Iceland, Ireland, jonathan, last time, local time, Lyon, match, Norway, roorda, stade de gerland, the Netherlands, three times, veteran, world cup qualifier

San Lorenzo lead after Argentinian opening day

August 23, 2009

The Argentinian Apertura season has opened with wins to San Lorenzo, Estudiantes and Godoy Cruz, while the big guns get ready to start their campaigns on Sunday.

San Lorenzo are the first leaders of the season following a 3-1 win over Atletico Tucuman. Gonzalo Bergessio put the hosts ahead after less than two minutes, followed by a ninth-minute equaliser from Deivis Barone. Second-half goals from Juan Carlos Menseguez and Pablo Pintos eventually handed the hosts their first three points of the season.

Estudiantes beat Arsenal 0-2 with goals from Mauro Boselli and Christian Cellay, while Matias Jara and Federico Higuain helped Godoy Cruz to a 0-2 win at Gimnasia La Plata.

Defending champions Velez Sarsfield face Colon late on Sunday, while Boca Juniors host Argentinos Juniors at the Bombonera. River Plate open their season at Banfield.

Jonathan Roorda

Tags: argentinian apertura, arsenal, banfield, big guns, boca juniors, campaigns, Christian Cellay, colon, equaliser, face colon, federico higuain, godoy cruz, Gonzalo, Jonathan Roorda, Juan Carlos, Juan Carlos Menseguez, La Plata, matias, mauro boselli, opening day, Pablo Pintos, pintos, roorda, San, san lorenzo, two minutes

Birmingham sign Ecuador star Benitez

June 4, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Birmingham have agreed a deal to bring exciting young Ecuador striker Christian Benitez to the Premier League.

The newly-promoted club announced on Wednesday that they have agreed a fee with Benitez’s Mexican club Santos Laguna and finalised personal terms with the 23-year-old, who will travel to England next week for a medical.

Birmingham would not disclose how much they have agreed to pay for the striker but the fee is reported to be in the region of nine million pounds, which would surpass the previous club record of 6.25 million paid for Emile Heskey in 2004.

Benitez – son of Ecuador’s all-time leading goalscorer, Ermen – played for his country at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany and has scored 31 goals in 58 games in Mexico’s Primera Division over the last two campaigns.

He recently underwent surgery on a shoulder injury.

Tags: Birmingham, campaigns, christian benitez, Ecuador, Emile Heskey, England, English Premier League, games, Germany, london, Mexico, personal terms, premier league, previous club, Primera Division, Santos, shoulder injury, striker, world cup finals

Wenger told he can stay for life at Arsenal

March 22, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger has been promised a job for life at Arsenal by the Premier League club’s new chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

Wenger has been in charge of the Gunners since September 1996 and has led the north London team to three league titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League final appearance.

Arsenal’s relatively disappointing form this season – on the back of three previous campaigns without silverware – has raised questions about Wenger’s future for the first time.

But Gazidis has no intention of putting pressure on Wenger and he insists the 59-year-old can continue working for Arsenal for as long as he wants.

"I’d like Arsene to stay for as long as he has the motivation to do the job – and I don’t see any dimming on his part," Gazidis told The People.

"He believes in the project. He’s built a superb team of young players with great characters and real quality. I think that he will want to see that through.

"Arsene is one of the best managers in the world and I cannot imagine a situation where he would want to walk away from Arsenal.

"It is difficult for me to imagine him not being the manager. Arsene’s identity and the identity of the club are intertwined."

Written by: AFP