Fletcher sets sights on psychological edge over Chelsea

November 5, 2009

Darren Fletcher believes Manchester United can claim an important psychological edge over Chelsea with a win in Sunday’s showdown between the Premier League’s top two.

But the Scotland midfielder, who returned to action in Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with CSKA Moscow after a month out with an ankle injury, insists the title race will remain wide open, regardless of the outcome at Stamford Bridge, where United have not won in seven years.

“Sunday is a massive game. Games against Chelsea always are,” Fletcher said.

“It is not going to be make-or-break who wins the league by any means, although it is an important benchmark.

“Maybe psychologically it might have an effect. But Chelsea are a top-class side and we will respect them.”

Fletcher will expect to start at Chelsea given the importance the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, attaches to his defensive qualities, which were badly missed as United went down to a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool last month.

Even once-sceptical fans have come to recognise what Fletcher brings to the United mix although he insists he is not getting carried away with his growing reputation as a player for the big occasion.

“I take the compliments with a pinch of salt,” he said. “I enjoy these matches as much as anyone and I put pressure on myself to perform more than anyone does.

“The challenge of playing against the top-class players that Chelsea have is one I look forward to and I will be doing my best to win the match. But I am not going to make-or-break games like this.”

Fletcher admitted that his latest lay-off had taken its toll on his match sharpness.

“It is nice to get back into the team and get 90 minutes under my belt because I have not played for a while,” he said.

“I felt fine, which was the most important thing, although I was not 100 percent with my touch and awareness on the pitch. But the game will help and, if selected, I should feel the benefit on Sunday.”

United left-back Patrice Evra meanwhile is determined to steer clear of controversy as he seeks to claim bragging rights over Chelsea strike duo, Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, two of his best friends in football.

Evra was banned for four matches after a post-match altercation with a Chelsea groundsman in April 2008 and still feels that he was treated harshly over an incident he insists he did not provoke.

“It is unfortunate that when I play against Chelsea, something always seems to happen,” the France defender said. “First it was the ground-staff, then last year I had a bit of an argument with Michael Ballack. This year I have to make sure nothing happens because we need to get a result.”

Evra regards Chelsea as the main threat to United’s hopes of claiming a fourth consecutive Premier League title, particularly now that Drogba and Anelka are proving they can play together.

“I am not scared of them but I respect them and they are the most dangerous rivals,” he said. “I said it last year and the year before and I think it this season as well.

“Both Drogba and Anelka are good friends of mine. And I know they are both great players.

“All the defenders need to focus because keeping a clean sheet will be the key to winning this game.

“We need to be strong because Drogba and Anelka are two big strikers. They are both so quick and strong, although I do feel we have enough quality to do our jobs.”

Tuesday’s Champions League clash, in which United had to recover from a 3-1 deficit to claim a draw with a stoppage-time equalisier, underlined the defensive shakiness that has characterised the champions’ performances this season, and Evra admits an improvement is required.

“If you concede three goals at home, you can hardly say it has been a good performance from the defenders,” he reflected.

“We did well to come back, as we did against Manchester City. But we need to make sure we don’t concede three goals on Sunday because then it won’t be easy to get back.”

MANCHESTER (AFP)

Tags: alex ferguson, ankle injury, benchmark, CHELSEA, compliments, cska moscow, darren fletcher, game games, Liverpool, massive game, pinch of salt, premier league, psychological edge, seven years, sharpness, stamford bridge

Robinho backs City’s Terry chase

July 19, 2009

Premier League’s big spenders Manchester City’s Robinho has backed the club, in their pursuit of Chelsea defender John Terry.

The England international and Blues captain has become a priority signing for the Eastlands after landing Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor this summer

As City boss Mark Hughes looks to bolster his defence, John Terry has become the perfect player to be signed at Eastlands but Chelsea have made it clear that they have no intention of letting the centre-back leave.

However, former Real Madrid and Brazilian forward Robinho, who joined City for £32.5million, has insisted the need for defensive reinforcements, and feels Terry could make the club ‘unbeatable’.

He said in the Sunday Mirror: “There is no longer a top four.

“We have made it a top five. From this season we have to go in with the mindset we’re one of the very best clubs.

“I’m delighted we’ve signed Tevez. He is a world-class player and it would be fantastic for me to play alongside him.

“It was a shame the Samuel Eto’o deal couldn’t happen for whatever reason, because he is another world-class player and the sort this club is looking to sign at the moment. But we have already signed Santa Cruz and now there is the possibility of Adebayor as well.

“While I’ve always urged the club to sign players like Tevez and Kaka when there has been a chance, I also know you have to build from the back.

“You can have the best attacking six players in the world, but unless the defence compliments it then you will not win anything.

“I don’t know anything about the John Terry deal apart from what I have read, but he is the sort of world-class leader we need at the back.

“I have said before when you build a house you start from the bottom.

“If John does not happen then there are plenty of quality defenders in Europe.

“If the players we have signed and the players we may sign all work well together then on our day we can become unbeatable – and not just in England, but in Europe as well.”

He added: “We will be looking to win all the competitions we are in and that means having a squad of world class players.

“All the top clubs have players competing for places, and we now have to look at ourselves as a top club.

“People will need to start taking us very seriously.”

By: Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: big spenders, carlos tevez, CHELSEA, city boss, compliments, Eastlands, emmanuel adebayor, England, england international, Europe, Gareth Barry, intention, John, john terry, MADRID, manchester city, Mark Hughes, mindset, premier league, reinforcements, Robinho, roque santa cruz, samuel eto, samuel eto o, santa cruz, sunday mirror, Terry, world class leader

Bitter medicine a valuable cure for Utd: Ferguson

March 20, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Alex Ferguson claims his Manchester United stars will prove they have learned a painful lesson when they attempt to recover from the humiliating home defeat to Liverpool.

The veteran United manager was stunned by the 4-1 capitulation at Old Trafford which has given both Liverpool and Chelsea a glimmer of hope in the title race.

Ferguson has admitted that the result could be explained by complacency creeping into his squad after their remarkable run and defensive performances that looked to have as good as secured the league title for the defending champions.

Liverpool shattered the myth about United?s invincibility in emphatic fashion and Ferguson insists that, starting with the game against Fulham on Saturday, they will be back to the ruthless best that gave them such an impressive lead at the top of the Premiership.

"For weeks we had to listen to a lot of eulogies and compliments about how great this team of ours was," he said. "I never got carried away with it and the point I was trying to get across was, it’s not affecting me, I hope it’s not affecting anyone else!

"Everybody likes to read good things about themselves in the papers, especially young players, they like to think they’re the bees’ knees all the time.

"I kept deflecting that, saying how tough this league was and this is a reminder. Football can come back and bite you, we’ve had that many times.

"The thing about it is it is hard to defend a 4-1 defeat. You have to be absolutely clear about the reasons why, and we are quite clear about it. I think it was self-inflicted and the point has been made about that. There were mistakes we don?t expect our players to make.

"In a way that defeat can help us. They realise there is a lot of work to be done to win the league, as has been shown time and time again.

"We’ve had to go to the last game on three or four occasions to win the league so now we’re in the position of saying, let’s put the show back on the road again."

Much has been made of the psychological boost that Chelsea and, especially, Liverpool will have enjoyed in the wake of one of the most extraordinary results in recent Premiership history.

But Ferguson, with the experience of two decades in charge of one of the world?s leading clubs, is interested only in how his own team responds in the wake of the upset.

"We will work on our own games, try and win all our own remaining games, that?s the better way to do it," he said. "We can?t do anything about Chelsea?s and Liverpool?s performances, that?s in their own hands.

"But we can do something about our own performances and, hopefully, we will do that.

"This is one of those situations you get in football but the good thing is, I?m used to it, quite a few of the players are used to it.

"It doesn?t make the job any easier but there are a lot of ways of using a defeat like that, taking advantage of it. The important thing is having players you trust and players with the capabilities to do something about it. I?m happy we have that."

Gary Neville is back in the Manchester United squad after recovering from injury while Brazilian full-back Rafael Da Silva will return to training next week. Nemanja Vidic misses the trip to Fulham as a result of the red card he received against Liverpool. Young centreback Jonny Evans is expected to deputise.

Written by: AFP