| Fans Could Have A Say Under New Owners - Liverpool CEO LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool fans could have a voice in the running of their club under their potential new American owners, chief executive Christian Purslow said on Sunday. feeds.nytimes.com |
Giovanni Trapattoni talks up Republic of Ireland positives after loss • Trapattoni says keep the faith after defeat to Russia• Italian says Republic of Ireland were unfortunateAt the postmortem the morning after the night before, Giovanni Trapattoni peered through his green-tinted spectacles and offered a revisionist theory on the Republic of Ireland's 3-2 home defeat to Russia. The manager said Russia's opening goal ought to have been disallowed for offside, he bemoaned the misfortune of their heavily deflected third and said things would have been different had Robbie Keane's cross-cum-shot not bounced back off the crossbar. The little details, Trapattoni's favourite phrase, had simply conspired against him.In many respects, this was vintage Trapattoni. Talk up the positives, skirt around the difficult questions. Keep the faith, was the booming message. He also pointed out that in two years under his charge and methods, this was a first defeat in a qualifying group fixture. Confidence ought not to be shaken ahead of Tuesday's trip to Slovakia, which has assumed tremendous significance.The trouble was that Trapattoni was fooling nobody. There was no disgrace in losing to a Russia team that purred like a high-performance engine and boasted players of far greater technical ability. Indeed, Ireland's spirited late rally, in which they scored twice and hinted at an implausible equaliser, could be admired.Yet it did not conceal the wider issue which was that Trapattoni is no closer to adding sophistication and flexibility to his gameplan. His argument is that with relatively limited means, he has needed to cut his cloth accordingly. He regularly name-drops Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek, his favourite creative players from his days at Juventus, and reminds people he has no such options in his current employment. Hence, the two defensive midfielders in the middle of his 4-4-2 formation, the men behind the ball and the reliance on set pieces for offensive inspiration.It becomes fiendishly difficult for Ireland when they concede the first goal. Like the counterattacking boxer forced to step on to the front foot when behind on points, Trapattoni's team can look uncertain and uncoordinated. The problem is more pronounced in home matches; Ireland's best performances under the Italian have come, almost exclusively, on the road, when opponents are more inclined to bring the game to them. This has offered them hope for the Slovakia tie.Against Russia, Ireland resorted to lumping high balls forward over the midfield, where the visitors had an extra man for most of the game and dominated.The tactic was not without success – it helped to expose Russia's vulnerable underbelly and led to both of the late goals – but the feeling persists that it was more down to luck than judgment. Some of Ireland's players said if they played like that in Slovakia, they would be sure to lose. The defender Richard Dunne articulated the frustration most eloquently."As soon as Shay Given gets it, we all turn our backs and run forward and see if Kevin Doyle can head it or what else Kevin can do," Dunne said. "As a team, we've got to help each other out a bit more and we've got to look to get the ball."At the moment, we are just going forward and defending, going forward and defending. We're never going to control games if we play like that. We've got to try and get our foot on the ball at some stage and string five or six passes together and create chances that way, rather than from set pieces or long balls all the time."We proved we can do it against France in Paris in the World Cup play-off but we've not followed up on it. Whether it was a one-off or a fluke or whether we can do it on a regular basis … we still haven't proved that."Trapattoni did replace Doyle with Keith Fahey, bring Aiden McGeady inside and play a 4-2-3-1 formation for the last 20 minutes. McGeady said that the switch saw Ireland "get a lot more chances and Russia didn't have much time on the ball." Change, though, continues to resemble anathema to Trapattoni. He will stick with his 4-4-2 in Slovakia, having suggested that he could not think about dropping either Keane or Doyle, who are arguably his key players. He seems reluctant to ask Keane to start in a deeper role.Dunne was asked what Trapattoni had said to the players at half-time, when they trailed 2-0; what had he sought to change? "Not a lot," he replied. "We had a gameplan at the start and we tried to continue that. Then, they scored again."Slovakia must also seek to bounce back on Tuesday, having been surprisingly beaten in Armenia on Friday. They will be without three key players — the suspended defender Martin Skrtel and the injured strikers Robert Vittek and Miroslav Stoch. Trapattoni is considering "one or two" changes in response to fatigue but the fundamentals will stay the same. The 71-year-old remains convinced that they are the only way forward. Others have become worried.Euro 2012Republic of IrelandDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Surprise-packet WBA move into fourth West Bromwich Albion maintained their impressive start to the Barclays Premier League season with a 2-1 win over Fulham that lifted them into fourth. foxsports.com.au |
Ancelotti's options leave rivals trailing Even at half-pace Chelsea can make the kind of adjustments in style and personnel that make another league title likelyNeeded, urgently, by the Premier League's other 19 clubs: a formula to stop Chelsea. Try skill and enterprise and they will reach for their finer attributes. Test them with aggression and they will usually win the grapple.Opponents are bouncing off Carlo Ancelotti's side, even when the champions fail to shine, as they failed to in this 2-0 victory over Wolves. Already five points clear of Manchester City after nine games – and eight ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United – Chelsea advance without obvious weakness.José Mourinho's back-to-back title-winning teams were more dauntingly mechanical but this one has a greater range of styles and more strength in each position.Example: at right-back they now have José Bosingwa restored. Out for a year with knee-ligament damage, Bosingwa made an impressive return to the starting XI in a position Branislav Ivanovic had been looking after with considerable authority. Ivanovic shuffled along the line to join John Terry at centre-back, where Chelsea can also call on Alex. Further over, Ashley Cole is in his pomp.No wonder the defending champions have yet to concede in the league at Stamford Bridge. A two-man screen of Mikel Jon Obi and Michael Essien hangs in front of a dependable back four. On the flank Florent Malouda brings adventure – and goals. A good gauge of managerial talent is how many underachievers are brought in from the cold. Malouda, who scored Chelsea's first, has recovered his gift for fantasy under Ancelotti.This week, before a certain transfer saga was resolved, it was all the rage to query the age of the forward line. Soon Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka would be joining the Chelsea Pensioners. Granted, these two aristocrats sometimes claim the same turf. But Ancelotti is alert to that risk. Half an hour into this match he shifted Anelka out to the left to stretch the Wolves defence. Both are in their 30s now but no defender would want Drogba and Anelka bearing down on him in one afternoon."They're the best team in the league," declared Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager. "They've got loads of ability, loads of pace, they've got one of the best goalkeepers and they're clever. They look like they're going to pass one way, then they slip someone else in. They trust each other with the ball. They know they're going to get someone making a run.""Tomorrow we could have Manchester City two points behind," said Ancelotti, hosing down expectation. "We didn't play so well, we conceded too many shots from distance and should have closed the game down before. We usually have, this season. Our fans have seen us play very good football and when we don't they are impatient."This last point was in answer to a question about the restlessness of the crowd. Watching Chelsea at home confers many pleasures. But there are days that could be called mundane "two-nillers". These are the afternoons when a low-table side induce a kind of ennui in this part of London. Chelsea start out sure they are going to win. They exert themselves only as much as necessary. A glimmer, here, for City, United and Arsenal. Complacency sometimes afflicts Ancelotti's plans. But we always see a correction.When Bosingwa tired, Chelsea sent on Paulo Ferreira, a Champions League-winning deputy. When Yuri Zhirkov's aimlessness required a remedy, Ancelotti dispatched young Josh McEachran to replace him. McEachran's presence is rich in symbolism. To Chelsea fans he arrives on a wave of youth. A craving here is that all Roman Abramovich's investment at academy level will sustain the club when Drogba and Terry have shuffled off. Chelsea were all about the moneyed present. Now they aim to stake out a homegrown future.Frank Lampard, Ancelotti says, will train with the first team this week and return at Blackburn on Saturday. Lampard has been out since the end of August. More trouble for the other top teams. Such is the depth of resource here that Chelsea have hardly missed their midfield goal-getter. When a player comes up short in this side it is immediately conspicuous. Zhirkov scored beautifully at Spartak Moscow in midweek but was Chelsea's least effective player against Wolves. He is neither good enough to displace Cole at left-back nor sufficiently gifted to thrive at outside-left.This was the weekend when United, City and Arsenal were left in doubt, though, about how high the bar is raised. On the evidence so far the sense is that Chelsea will win consecutive Premier League titles for the second time in a decade. But this acts as a provocation to the other contenders.With the Wayne Rooney issue "put to bed" with a cup of Horlicks, United now have a target to chase. City inflicted Chelsea's only defeat thus far partly by matching their physicality. That lapse will not be repeated often on Ancelotti's watch. It was an early warning not to assume power will always work when a more attacking spirit deserts them."The difficult moment will come, and we have to be ready," Ancelotti said.He talks as if he has it all worked out.ChelseaCarlo AncelottiPremier LeaguePaul Haywardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Slumping Cologne fires coach Zvonimir Soldo The move came one day after Cologne fell to its sixth defeat of the season with a 2-1 loss at Hannover that left the club next-to-last in the ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |