TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| A-League round 21 preview Fox Sports football commentator Paul Trimboli offers his thoughts and predictions for round 21 of the 2009-2010 A-League season. foxsports.com.au |
Dimitar Berbatov sees Chelsea as Manchester United's only threat in title race • Berbatov claims Chelsea pose biggest threat to United• Fabio Capello believes United are not as daunting nowDimitar Berbatov believes that Chelsea pose the only credible threat to Manchester United's chances of winning a fourth consecutive Premier League title and is confident that the championship will end up back at Old Trafford.The United striker indicated that he feels Arsenal are not capable of finishing top despite resurgent recent form which has left Arsène Wenger's team seven points behind the leaders, Chelsea, with two matches in hand.The first of those is at Portsmouth tomorrow night, while United, who are two points clear of Arsenal having played a game more, take on Wigan Athletic."I think that we are in a great position," Berbatov said. "There are a lot of games before the end of the season and it will be difficult. I think it will be decided between us and Chelsea but in the end I think we'll end up on top."We have great players so let's see what happens. There are a lot of games this time of year and it's a been a bit of a difficult time with the injuries but the players are coming back now."The boss knows what he's doing and I'm sure at the end of the season we will be on top."Berbatov's remarks came as Fabio Capello, the England manager, said that United were not as daunting a prospect as in the past."Manchester United were a war machine and they have slowed down," he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Chelsea are fine but the other teams are getting better – Arsenal and Aston Villa and then those teams further behind."[Roberto] Mancini's Manchester City and [Alberto] Aquilani's Liverpool will pick up speed."Manchester UnitedChelseaPremier LeagueJon Brodkinguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Vieira deal shows slipping standards Roberto Mancini's first signing for Manchester City could cause problems if the ageing Frenchman cannot justify his placeSir Alex Ferguson reckons the Premier League is getting harder, and cites Birmingham's rise under Alex McLeish as proof that standards throughout the league have improved this season.He would say that though, wouldn't he? Most people think the fact that a modest outfit such as Birmingham are sitting in the top eight and scaring the pants off bigger clubs is evidence that Premier League standards have fallen, and that everyone from the top four down are not as rich or as invincible as they used to be. Well, Manchester City are richer than they used to be and quite possibly on their way to being invincible now they have stopped drawing all their matches, though they will need to beat someone a little more testing than Sunderland, Stoke or Middlesbrough to convince everyone that a revolution has taken place.It is also difficult to argue that the Premier League is better than ever when players who left it thinking their time was up are returning two or three years later. City have just signed Patrick Vieira, Arsenal do not seem to be ruling out the possibility of Sol Campbell playing for them again and, at 31, Barry Ferguson looks a far better player for Birmingham than he did seven years ago in his first spell in England with Blackburn. At this rate Manchester United will soon be turning to David Beckham again. While they may not be able to afford him this time round there is little doubt he would get into the team.Vieira is particularly interesting because he went to Italy in the first place because it was felt he was no longer a force in the Premier League. Arsène Wenger seemed to feel that way, in any case, otherwise he would never have let him go. Lately, even the slower Italian game seemed to be passing Vieira by, so a return to Premier League pell-mell has to be regarded as a gamble, and an expensive one at that. Someone of the calibre of Nigel de Jong or Gareth Barry will have to make way for Vieira at Eastlands and, while it could be argued a driving midfielder who can break up opposing attacks and intelligently launch new ones is exactly what City need, it remains to be seen whether the Frenchman is still that player. This seems like a case of Roberto Mancini wanting to bring a trusted friend into a foreign dressing room, to give him an ally within the team, yet for precisely that reason it could blow up in his face if Vieira struggles to justify his selection.Mancini seems to have enjoyed initial success at City by not having friends or preconceptions and giving everyone the chance of a fresh start, a bit like Sven-Goran Eriksson did when he first came to England. That is not how the Eriksson story ended, however. In the end he was rightly pilloried for hanging on to certain players for too long and having obvious favourites within the camp, and it would be ironic if another import from Italy given a clean slate made life hard for himself in the same way.All that can be safely said at this stage is that Mancini has made an odd choice of keynote signing, and that if Vieira succeeds it will be the best indication yet that the Premier League is nowhere near as quick and energetic as it thinks it is. It is probably not as good as it used to be either, judging by some of the FA Cup games last weekend. Maybe it is just a top-four decline, but it would be hard to imagine the Manchester United of a couple of years ago being slapped around the chops so publicly by a team from two divisions below, or Liverpool being pathetically grateful to escape with a draw from Reading, two places above the Championship relegation zone.None of the traditional top four have been as convincing this season as they have seemed in the past. Only Chelsea have looked genuinely menacing, though they appear to have lost the ability to do it to order and remain a fairly elderly squad growing old together. United now look as if they are not the same team without Carlos Tevez, never mind Cristiano Ronaldo, and the deterioration evident in their FA Cup performance could soon be writ larger if they are as uncompetitive when the Champions League resumes. Liverpool, already out of that competition, are entering a new contest called How Long Can They Keep Hold of Torres and Gerrard? while Arsenal, though ticking along fairly well at the moment, have a long game called Life After Fábregas.Perhaps this is no more than a crisis of confidence, and perhaps we ought to be reassured that if the set-in-stone top four finally crumbles, young thrusters such as Aston Villa, City and Spurs are ready to take their place. We should be excited. Change at last! But can we really rely on Villa, City and Spurs to kill the old king? When City signed Vieira Harry Redknapp came out and admitted he had been on the same trail himself. That's progress? This is a 33-year-old midfielder shown the door by Arsenal five years ago, when everyone agreed Wenger had seen the best of him. Small wonder Rafael BenÃtez can "guarantee" a top-four finish for Liverpool.Why Coyle's move makes sense for an ambitious managerWhy all the fuss about Owen Coyle leaving Burnley for Bolton? While many have a soft spot for the Clarets and hope their success story will somehow continue, football managers cannot be expected to go along with that sort of woolly optimism. Managers don't do sentiment or romance, they do staying in a job and trying to move upwards.Are Bolton so far above Burnley? Of course they are. Had the Clarets been in the Premier League for nine successive seasons it might be different but they are still a novelty, quite likely to find life as hard as Hull did in the second part of last season, while Bolton are hardy perennials.Bolton's ground is bigger and better than Burnley's, and while money may be tight – did Gary Megson ever mention that? – Bolton have a bigger budget than Burnley and a blueprint for continued Premier League existence. It's not romantic, but Coyle (pictured right) has just taken a sensible step to try to ensure he too does not become a one-season wonder.Bolton have potential, and if you don't believe that, just look at where some of their ex-managers have ended up. Jimmy Armfield took Leeds to a European Cup final. Phil Neal joined up with England. Bruce Rioch went to Arsenal. Sam Allardyce was summoned by Newcastle. Not all of those moves worked out as well as the managers might have hoped – in fact, with the arguable exception of Armfield, they all ended in laughter or tears. But you get the idea. Bolton can get you noticed. Spectators at the Reebok could show Burnley supporters a big book about how it feels to lose a good manager when he is only halfway through the job.Manchester CityRoberto ManciniPremier LeaguePaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Carver snubs Laws to stay at Plymouth • Argyle offer improved contract to Paul Mariner's assistant• Loyalty to Mariner cited as reason for rejecting BurnleyJohn Carver has decided against joining new Burnley manager Brian Laws's backroom staff. Instead the former Newcastle coach will remain at Plymouth, where he is assistant to Paul Mariner.Carver is understood to have agreed an improved contract at the Championship club, who are fighting a relegation battle. He said he had rejected Burnley's offer out of loyalty to Mariner."The club's board has a five-year plan and I want to be part of that. I felt I had to be loyal to Paul for giving me this opportunity. In the short term we have a lot of hard work to keep Plymouth in the Championship," Carver told BBC radio.Laws was yesterday appointed by Burnley as Owen Coyle's successor on a two-and-a-half-year deal. His backroom staff includes the former Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday assistant Russ Wilcox. The club's 38-year-old captain Graham Alexander will take up a new role as player-coach.Plymouth ArgyleBurnleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
1st round key to World Cup glory How big an indicator of success is a team's group stage record at the World Cup, beyond the obvious need to advance? It's pretty big, actually. cbc.ca |