Bayern hunt eighth straight win at Wolves
February 6, 2010
Bayern Munich are expected to be without French midfielder Franck Ribery when they hunt their eighth straight Bundesliga win against defending champions Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Bayern’s winning run has bolted them up to second in the table, just two points behind league leaders Leverkusen, and an eighth win at Wolfsburg would keep the pressure on with the leaders at strugglers Bochum on Saturday.
With Munich’s Dutch play-maker Arjen Robben chasing his third consecutive league goal after curling in free-kicks against both Werder Bremen and Mainz in recent weeks, Ribery should be on the bench.
With his contract set to expire in June 2011, Ribery is expected to announce whether he will stay at Bayern in the next few weeks, but coach Louis van Gaal is trying to return him to the side after recovering from a knee injury.
“Ribery is getting ever more fitter, you can see it in training,” said van Gaal.
“I must integrate him back into the team, but that is difficult, because I must do that in a league game.”
Ribery’s agent has said his client is being chased by European giants Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
“He would love to play alongside (Barcelona star Lionel) Messi, that would be phenomenal,” Ribery’s agent Alain Migliaccio told Spanish radio.
“There is no door closed, neither to Real Madrid nor to Barca or to Manchester.
“With Bayern we will see how things go up to the beginning of March.”
Van Gaal insists his side have put last season’s 5-1 hammering at home to Wolfsburg out of their heads and Wolves, who sacked coach Armin Veh nearly a fortnight ago, are chasing their first win for 10 games.
Germany striker Mario Gomez has scored six goals in his last eight league games and is relishing facing Wolfsburg.
“For me personally, this is the best it?s ever been in my career,” the 24-year-old said after scoring in last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Mainz.
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg are desperately trying to keep hold of their striker Edin Dzeko with their hot-shot striker being chased by a number of top European clubs, including Manchester United.
Wolfsburg’s caretaker coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner is undefeated after his side drew 1-1 at Hamburg, but morale is rock bottom at the defending champions.
Leverkusen, the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga, are at Bochum with the league’s top-scorer Steffan Kiessling back to scoring ways having netted in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Freiburg.
Schalke are at Freiburg and are defending a six-game unbeaten record which has put them amidst the title contenders and just three points off Leverkusen.
Saturday
VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich, Cologne v Hamburg, Freiburg v Schalke 04, VfL Bochum v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hanover 96, Nuremberg v VfB Stuttgart
Sunday
Mainz 05 v Borussia M’gladbach, Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt
BERLIN (AFP)
Tags: alain migliaccio, Armin Veh, Bremen, cologne, fortnight, franck ribery, FRANKFURT, free kicks, Germany, Hanover, knee injury, league game, league games, league goal, league leaders, Lionel, lionel messi, Lorenz, louis van gaal, MADRID, mainz, Manchester, manchester united, Munich, nuremberg, spanish radio, stuttgart, Van Gaal, werder bremenRelated posts
Ancelotti admits set pieces troubling Chelsea
February 3, 2010
The storm centred on John Terry’s future as England captain is not the only headache that Carlo Ancelotti has to deal with at the moment.
The Chelsea boss is also grappling with his team’s tendency to leak goals from set pieces amid fears it could cost them dear at the business end of the season.
The depth of Chelsea’s squad has seen them installed as favourites to reclaim the Premier League title from Manchester United.
But with United starting to hit form, Chelsea’s problems in defending corners and free-kicks have once again been put in the spotlight by the ease with which Steven Mouyokolo headed Hull into the lead in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at the KC Stadium.
Didier Drogba cancelled out Mouyokolo’s strike but Hull might easily have claimed all three points if Anthony Gardner had not missed an excellent chance from Tom Cairney’s free-kick.
“I know very well how many goals we have conceded from set pieces,” said Ancelotti. “Every team here in England has a very good jumper and a very good striker and it can happen that you concede a goal.
“How we score, sometimes we can concede. I think we did our best but it was a tough game and Hull played well and put a lot of pressure on us.”
Hull boss Phil Brown admitted he had identified Chelsea’s weakness on set pieces as a potential key to the outcome of the match.
“It’s my job to investigate how to score goals against Chelsea and they’ve conceded something like nine out of 10 of their goals, or something like that, from set pieces,” Brown said.
“If that’s the Achilles heel for Chelsea then we have to exploit it.”
LONDON (AFP)
Tags: achilles heel, Anthony Gardner, Brown, business end, carlo ancelotti, CHELSEA, didier, England, england captain, fears, free kick, free kicks, headache, HULL, john terry, jumper, kc stadium, london, Manchester, match, phil brown, premier league, Steven Mouyokolo, striker, tendency, Tom CairneyRelated posts
Toni sends out reminder to Lippi
January 18, 2010
Italy’s forgotten man Luca Toni scored a brace in AS Roma’s 3-0 defeat of Genoa to send out a timely reminder to national team boss Marcello Lippi.
Toni has hardly featured since Lippi returned to the Italy helm 18 months ago after Roberto Donadoni was fired as his team crashed out in the quarter-finals of the European Championships.
This season has been particularly poor for Toni who failed to impress Bayern Munich coach Luis van Gaal and found himself out of favour.
But a loan move to the Italian capital has transformed him.
And two goals from Mirko Vucinic crosses will surely have made Lippi sit up and take notice.
“Lippi knows what I can do for the national team, I’ve already had a lot of satisfaction from wearing that shirt,” said the World Cup winner from 2006 under Lippi.
“I know that the better I do with Roma the more chance I’ll have of returning to the national team.
“For me right now it’s important to score many goals to keep Roma heading upwards.”
His new coach Claudio Ranieri, who wasted no time in starting him despite his lack of recent match-time, paid tribute to the forward’s strength in the air.
“He was a player we needed, he’s good with his head,” said Ranieri.
Brazilian midfielder Rodrigo Taddei has also been impressed with the team’s new acquisition.
“He’s a great centre forward who scores important goals. He’s a target up front for everyone on the team.
“He wins all the high balls and earns many free-kicks.”
ROME (AFP)
Tags: Bayern, bayern munich, Claudio Ranieri, coach claudio, crosses, favour, free kicks, genoa, helm, italian capital, Italy, Luis van Gaal, marcello lippi, midfielder, Mirko Vucinic, quarter finals, Roberto Donadoni, rodrigo taddei, Roma, ROME, target, team boss, timely reminder, Toni, Van Gaal, world cup winnerRelated posts
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 challengeRelated posts
Birmingham come back to beat Wigan
December 5, 2009
Birmingham City stretched their unbeaten run in the Premier League to six games by coming from a goal behind to beat Wigan Athletic 3-2 at the DW Stadium here on Saturday.
Charles N’Zogbia’s 33rd minute curler put Wigan in front before three goals in 11 minutes after the half hour mark, two free-kicks from Sebastian Larsson separated by Christian Benitez’s effort, saw Birmingham in front.
Wigan substitute Jordi Gomez pulled a goal back with a late free-kick but it was not enough to deny the Blues all three points.
The Latics dominated the opening 45 minutes and deservedly went ahead when Jason Scotland’s cut-back found N’Zogbia and the Frenchman curled the ball high into the top corner.
By that stage Wigan had already seen goalkeeper Chris Kirkland go off with a back injury and replacement Mike Pollitt made a fine save to deny Benitez.
Birmingham though were level when Larsson’s free-kick from deep on the left evaded everyone in a crowded penalty area and somehow crept past Pollitt.
But there was no denying the quality of his second free-kick goal, a sharply curling strike from just outside the box that left Pollitt helpless.
By then Birmingham were already in front after Ecuador international Benitez latched onto Lee Bowyer’s pass, beat Titus Bramble and fired past Pollitt.
Wigan substitute Gomez’s 88th minute free-kick gave the home side hope of a draw but Birmingham held out.
WIGAN, England (AFP)
Tags: back injury, birmingham city, chris kirkland, christian benitez, Ecuador, free kick, free kicks, frenchman, gomez, half hour, latics, Lee Bowyer, mike pollitt, premier league, scotland, sebastian, six games, Titus BrambleRelated posts
“We’re only halfway there”
November 16, 2009
After the first legs of the European play-offs, France find themselves on the verge of claiming a World Cup ticket. They won the first match against Ireland (0-1), but Patrice Evra and Thierry Henry insist they still have a lot of work to do. “There are still ninety minutes to play.”
France enters the second leg with a lead, caused by Nicolas Anelka’s lucky goal. “I’m very happy, but I know we’re not there yet,” Henry said. “We still have a match to go and we know Ireland can be a difficult opponent. They’re capable of scoring but I’m glad they haven’t done that on Saturday.”
Evra also knows it could be a difficult game on Wednesday. “They are very dangerous from free kicks,” the Manchester United full-back said. “They had never lost in qualification, that says enough about their strength.”
“It’s going to be big game on Wednesday, but I’m ready. I really want to go to the World Cup, but I know we’re not there yet.”
Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni insists things can turn out differently for them. “I’ve seen enough surprises in my career,” the Italian said. “We played well and I won’t change my line-up for the return match.
“We just need to try to put more pressure on their defence. It is 50/50. It is only halfway. Anything can happen.”
Paul Haring
Tags: big game, coach, free kicks, giovanni trapattoni, legs, manchester united, match, Nicolas Anelka, opponent, patrice evra, play offs, surprises, thierry henry, verge, world cup ticketRelated posts
Ireland may come to regret Reid freeze-out
November 14, 2009
Giovanni Trapattoni may have cause to regret his decision to leave Sunderland playmaker Andy Reid out in the cold when Ireland face France on Saturday and next Wednesday in their two-legged World Cup play-off.
Reid has been in sparkling form for his club this season in the Premier League, notching some fantastic goals, notably from free-kicks — an area Ireland need to improve on with the exception of Glenn Whelan’s thunderbolts from long range.
He has a range of passing that can unlock the best defences in the world and Ireland will need somebody with that capability against the more-fancied French at Croke Park and Stade de France over the next week.
But the Dubliner has been overlooked by Trapattoni ever since he fell out with the wily, no-nonsense Italian a year ago in the team’s hotel bar in the German city of Wiesbaden after Ireland’s qualifier with Georgia.
Reid has apologised profusely for failing to go to bed before a 2am curfew and, unlike, say, Manchester City’s Stephen Ireland, he has reiterated on many occasions his commitment to play for his country.
But while Trapattoni and his backroom team continue to court Ireland, Reid remains in exile. Of course with a lack of creativity in Ireland’s central midfield, Ireland would be a welcome addition, but surely his absence only reinforces the need for Reid’s recall?
The former Tottenham player has knuckled down since his move to the north east of England, lost lots of weight, looks fitter than ever, and has become one of the most improved players in the best league in the world.
Is it time Trapattoni swallowed his pride?
PHOTO: Fans of Ireland’s soccer team attend France national soccer team’s training session at Clairefontaine south of Paris on November 11, 2009. France will face Ireland in Dublin on November 14, 2009 in a World Cup 2010 play off qualifying soccer match . REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Tags: andy reid, central midfield, Charles Platiau, clairefontaine, Croke Park, defences, dubliner, face france, France, free kicks, Georgia, german city, giovanni trapattoni, hotel bar, manchester city, national soccer team, north east of england, PARIS, Reid, s central, Stade, stade de france, Stephen Ireland, thunderbolts, whelanRelated posts
Faithless Ferguson sounds a familiar tone (Updates with ban)
November 13, 2009
Thursday update: Nothing to do with this incident, of course, but worth noting that Ferguson has been banished to the stands, receiving a two-match ban and a fine of 20,000 quid for the comments he made about Alan Wiley in October.
So, the FA has decided to get tough with the United boss. Are they right to do it? Read the full story here.
You might think Alex Ferguson would have realised, after half a century in the professional game, that the view from the manager’s dug-out is rarely objective or entirely accurate.
And if a referee does happen to make a mistake, which he is bound to do in the high-speed hurly-burly of a Premier League match, the Scot might also have come to the conclusion that venting your spleen at the powerless fourth official is a waste of everybody’s time.
But no, it seems not. Week after week, month after month, season after season, barely a match passes without Ferguson complaining about something that didn’t go United’s way.
On Sunday, when he might have been questioning his decision to play only one striker in a cautious approach to the showdown with Chelsea or berating his walkabout defence for failing to defend the key free kick, he found three reasons why John Terry’s goal should not have stood.
The initial foul on Ashley Cole by Darren Fletcher should not have been given, he said. Wes Brown was impeded in trying to defend the subsequent Frank Lampard free kick and Didier Drogba was offside and obscuring Edwin van der Sar’s view of the ball when it went in.
Of the hat-trick, the initial one appeared to have the most merit but any number of aggressive tackles are deemed fouls these days and Cristiano Ronaldo used to benefit as much if not more than anyone else in that regard.
The marginal contact between Drogba and Brown is also small beer in the current climate where wrestling in the box ahead of free kicks and corners has become an established part of the game. Rest assured that when Steve Bruce was patrolling the centre of United’s defence he would not have allowed himself to so easily be taken out of the game at a vital moment.
TV replays were inconclusive over Drogba’s position and, even if all three moans were justified, people have surely just stopped listening.
“You lose faith in refereeing sometimes, that’s the way the players are talking in there — it was a bad one,” he said, with Wayne Rooney chipping in by apparently mouthing “12 men” at a TV camera as he trudged off at the end.
PHOTO: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson reacts during their English Premier League soccer match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London November 8, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
Tags: alan wiley, alex ferguson, ashley cole, cautious approach, CHELSEA, Cole, darren fletcher, didier drogba, Eddie Keogh, Edwin van der, edwin van der sar, frank lampard, free kick, free kicks, half a century, hat trick, john terry, Manchester, offside, premier league, professional game, rest assured that, ronaldo, Scot, small beer, spleen, Steve Bruce, van der sar, wayne rooney, wes brownRelated posts
Monaco out to topple French champions Bordeaux
October 31, 2009
In-form Monaco go into their game at Bordeaux on Saturday knowing that victory will allow them to finish the weekend at the top of the French first division for the first time since September 2004.
Guy Lacombe’s side are on a run of three straight league wins and head to the Stade Chaban-Delmas a point behind the defending champions in second place.
Monaco’s recent form has seen them move ahead of Lyon and Marseille in the race to wrestle the crown from Bordeaux, whose 3-0 victory at home to Le Mans last weekend came after back-to-back defeats in the league.
“We have to take the three points, particularly as it’s Monaco,” said Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso.
“We can’t drop points against our nearest rivals. They won at Marseille (a 2-1 victory on October 4) so we’ve been warned. We know they’re a strong team, and they’re chasing three points. But so are we.”
Monaco were grateful to league top scorer Nene for their 3-1 win at Boulogne-sur-Mer last time out, after the Brazilian forward struck two sublime free-kicks late on to take his personal tally for the season to nine.
The principality side are likely to be without South Korean striker Chu-Young Park, who scored the opener against Boulogne, as well as midfielder Cedric Mongongu, with both players struggling to overcome foot injuries.
“I’m hoping both will be fit in time, but I’m more optimistic for Cedric than I am for Chu,” said Lacombe.
The last time Monaco were top of the table their coach was Didier Deschamps, who made his return to French football when he joined former club Marseille in July.
A sizeable summer outlay on new players prompted some observers to install the Mediterranean outfit as title favourites, but they are currently five points behind leaders Bordeaux in fifth place – albeit with a game in hand after their match with Paris Saint-Germain last Sunday was postponed.
Marseille will now confront PSG on November 20 but their opponents on Saturday are 11th-placed Toulouse, who have struggled to recapture the form that saw them to a fourth-placed finish last term.
Andre-Pierre Gignac, the league’s top scorer last season, is yet to fire for Toulouse but he notched his second goal of the campaign in the 2-0 win at Lens last weekend and is looking forward to returning to a ground where he has enjoyed success in the past.
“The Velodrome is a magnificent stadium,” he said.
“Last season I scored twice there and I also scored the winning goal there for Lorient three years ago.
“I’ve never lost against OM and I don’t think it’ll happen this weekend. The pressure is on them, we have nothing to lose.”
Saturday’s late game is the local derby between Saint-Etienne and Lyon, who are seeing to bounce back from a shock 4-1 defeat at Nice that knocked them off top spot.
“The derby is a special match in the league schedule,” said Lyon captain Jeremy Toulalan.
“I was able to take part in a number of Nantes-Rennes derbies, but the intensity of the Saint-Etienne-Lyon derby is multiplied by two or three.
“This match looks complicated because Saint-Etienne are also on a poor run of results, but in difficulty we have always stood up to be counted.
“We are aware that this week will be important on a points level. We mustn?t get too far behind.”
PSG travel to Sochaux on Sunday, with Mamadou Sakho, Ludovic Giuly and Jeremy Clement having all returned to training following the swine flu outbreak that prompted the postponement of their match at Marseille.
Fixtures
Saturday (1700GMT unless otherwise stated)
Auxerre v Montpellier, Bordeaux v Monaco, Boulogne-sur-Mer v Nancy, Grenoble v Lille, Lens v Lorient, Marseille v Toulouse, Saint-Etienne v Lyon (1900GMT)
Sunday (1500GMT unless otherwise stated)
Nice v Le Mans, Rennes v Valenciennes, Sochaux v Paris Saint-Germain (1900GMT)
PARIS (AFP)
Tags: Bordeaux, cedric, chaban delmas, club marseille, didier deschamps, five points, foot injuries, free kicks, french football, Goalkeeper, Guy Lacombe, last sunday, nene, outlay, paris saint germain, principality, south korean, straight league, striker, young parkRelated posts
Ibrahimovic: “Mihajlovic teached me how to score from free kicks”
October 27, 2009
Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired a rocket to score Barcelona’s second goal against Zaragoza (6-1 win) on Sunday. The laser shot was the first goal of the evening for the Swedsih striker who’s succesfully silencing his critics. “I feel very fine at Barcelona.”
Due to a hand injury Ibrahimovic missed an important part of the pre-season. “Just a week before the start of the Championship I was able to return to group training,” Zlatan told Marca. “It didn’t helped my integration at Barcelona but I was fortunate to score a goal every match I played.”
“With each match I feel much better physically. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to score a goal during a couple of matches but I’m glad we still won those matches.”
The Camp Nou Stadium witnessed one of Zlatan’s trademarks on Sunday night: the free kick.
“I used to train with Sinisa Mihajlovic at Internazionale. He’s a free kick specialist. I had him for one or two years and when you see him take free kicks the only thing you can do is learn from him,” added ‘Ibra’.
So far, Ibrahimovic managed to score seven goals in La Liga and he tops the goal scoring ranks together with Valencia striker David Villa.
Paul Haring
Tags: Barcelona, camp nou stadium, DAVID VILLA, free kick, free kicks, group training, internazionale, match, Mihajlovic, Paul Haring, Valencia, Zaragoza, Zlatan, zlatan ibrahimovicRelated posts
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