Sir Alex Ferguson has stuck up for the medical team at Old Trafford, in light of Owen Hargreaves comments about his treatment over the last few years. The Manchester City new boy questioned injections that he received to his tendon that he felt made it feel like glass; despite being assured that it was fine. Fergie said the quotes will be analysed before an official response is made.
Elsewhere in the papers Gomes is set to leave Tottenham; Darren Bent is critical of Villa’s style, while Bellamy is ready to forge partnership with Suarez.
Ferguson defends United’s medics over Hargreaves claims – Guardian
Rodgers: I told Chelsea to sign Torres for £20m back in 2006 – Independent
Wright-Phillips and Sturridge in line to receive England calls – Independent
I need better service: Bent complains about Aston Villa’s style of play – Daily Mail
Rooney: My form is down to barber’s magic powers – Mirror
Coyle expects fresh Cahill bids – Guardian
Cattermole will bounce back from being dropped, insists boss Bruce – Daily Mail
Gomes is likely to leave in January admit Spurs
Pav must wake up and shape up – Sun
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Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy believes his club has no obligation to keep the athletics track if they take over the London Olympic Stadium.
Spurs are competing with rival Premier League club West Ham for control of the stadium after the completion of the 2012 London Games, but have sparked controversy with their proposal to completely rebuild the venue after the Olympics, minus the athletics track.
West Ham intend to retain the multi-purpose original, in keeping with the promise made by the London Olympic organising committee, but Levy insists Tottenham’s proposal is just as valid without the athletics facilities.
“There is no moral argument to retain the running track,” Levy said. “Any bid process sees commitments made and then things change.”
“The original plan was to reduce the stadium to a 25,000-seat stadium just for athletics and nobody wanted it. The minute they went away from that commitment then it all changed.”
“From the viewpoint of the taxpayer and therefore the Government a lot of money has been spent on the Olympics and it is important the taxpayer is not asked to put more money into it in the future.”
The chairman denied demolishing the Olympic Stadium to create a football venue after the Games would be a waste of the 500 million pounds already invested in it, with Levy saying part of the demolished stadium would be used in the redevelopment of the Crystal Palace athletics stadium.
“The 500 million pounds is the total investment for the total site and it was always intended for much of the structure to come down after the Games – at a cost of 80 million pounds,” Levy said.
“Under our proposal the vast majority of the stadium will be reutilised in the new stadium or at Crystal Palace.”
“The notion that the whole thing is being knocked down and wasted is incorrect.”
“In my opinion we would bring a much bigger contribution to athletics at Crystal Palace, the original home of athletics. The only thing we would not do is have it in the Olympic Park.”
While Levy said he could understand fans’ issues with moving from the club from their North London home at White Hart Lane, he is confident the move would be for the best.
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“I understand that (the fans’ concern) because I have been a Spurs fan all my life,” Levy said.
“But our fans travel on average 40 miles to each game from all around London and the south east.”
“If we have to move five miles down the road for the greater good of the club, then that’s what we have to do.”
England manager Fabio Capello has placed Michael Dawson on standby after captain Rio Ferdinand was seen leaving hospital on crutches after picking up a training ground injury on Friday.
The England players had been taking part in their first training session since arriving in South Africa when the Manchester United star sustained a knee injury at their Rustenburg training base.
Ferdinand has endured an injury-plagued campaign with United, largely because of a troublesome back problem.
However, there was some good news for Capello as Gareth Barry was able to return to training, having been sidelined with an ankle injury since 5 May.
Capello said:"Barry has started training with the team today and he is improving every day. He is getting better and better and will train again this afternoon. We know we have to be careful with him.
"Other bad news is that Rio hurt his knee in the last moment of training in a tackle. He has gone to the hospital for a scan and we hope he will be ok.
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We’ve all heard the famous footballing quotes from Jose Mourinho’s ‘Special One’ to Sir Alex Ferguson’s ‘Football. Bloody Hell.’ A good quote can earn you the limelight for some time, indeed Ian Holloway’s reputation is practically based on his ability to deliver a quality press conference with some amusing anecdotes or insane ramblings.
However, some quotes can be funny, some can be a slip of the tongue or some can be simply inappropriate. Often though, players, managers, officials or even commentators can offer musings on the game in a very philosophical manner, be it about how the game should be played or certain incidents in football. Collected below are some fine examples of when individuals in the beautiful game have given their taken on certain aspects of football with either hilarious or baffling consequences. Try and make some sense out of 25 of football’s best philosophical quotes:
25. Terry Venables – “As a manager you learn with your ears and not with your tongue”.
24. Mark Lawrenson – “If you’re a goalkeeper, it doesn’t matter what you save the ball with; if you keep it out, it’s not a goal.”
23. Johan Cruyff – “Football is simple. You are in time or too late. When you are too late, you should start sooner.”
22. Ian Holloway (describing a win over Chesterfield) – “To put it in gentleman’s terms if you’ve been out for a night and you’re looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they’re good looking and some weeks they’re not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She wasn’t the best looking lady we ended up taking home but she was very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much, let’s have a coffee.”
21. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – “There are no good saves, there are only weak shots.”
20. Sir Bobby Robson – “If we start counting our chickens before they hatch, they won’t lay any eggs in the basket.”
19. Sir Alf Ramsey – “The missing of chances is one of the mysteries of life.”
18. Gordon Strachan – “The world looks a totally different place after two wins.”
17. Stuart Murdoch (on his position in charge at Wimbledon) – “I am in a good position at the moment because no-one is running the club. I am hoping there is nobody out there to sack me.”
16. Bill Shankly – “Train the right way. Help each other. It’s a form of Socialism without the Politics.”
15. Graeme Le Saux (on competition for places) – “When you’re walking onto a bus and trying to get there before the person in front of you, that’s a different level of competition than playing in front of 80,000 people.”
14. George Hamilton (commentating on Real Madrid) – “Real Madrid are like a rabbit in the glare of the headlights in the face of Manchester United’s attacks. But this rabbit comes with a suit of armour in the shape of two precious away goals.”
13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (The anti-philosopher) – “Then Guardiola started his philosopher thing. I was barely listening. Why would I? It was advanced bulls**t about blood, sweat and tears, that kind of stuff.”
12. Howard Wilkinson – “I’m a firm believer that if the other side scores first you have to score twice to win.”
11. Dennis Bergkamp – “Behind every kick of the ball, there has to be a thought.”
10. Glenn Hoddle (on Paul Gascoigne) – “75% of what happens to Paul Gascoigne in his life is fiction.”
9. Fabian Barthez – “Unconsciously, I fell in love with the small round sphere, with its amusing and capricious rebounds which sometimes play with me.”
8. Graeme Souness (on the return of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke) – “It was only a matter of time before they got fit and after that it’s like riding a bike or making love to a beautiful woman; you never forget.”
7. Mark Viduka – “I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.”
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6. Sam Allardyce (on team spirit) – “There are scientists who will tell you that spirit, because it can’t be measured, doesn’t exist. Bollocks. It does exist”
5. Ian Holloway (on the January transfer window) – “It’s been an absolute living nightmare, to be honest. It is just ludicrous, I don’t see who it benefits at all. When my wife’s shopping, we need some milk and bread on a regular basis. We can’t buy it all at the start and then wait until January because it would have all gone off.”
4. Jose Mourinho (on pressure) – “For me, pressure is bird flu. I’m feeling a lot of pressure with the problem in Scotland. It’s not fun and I’m more scared of it than football.”
3. Brian Clough – “If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there”
2. George Best – “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered”
1. Eric Cantona (on the English press) – “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
Arsenal attacker Andrey Arshavin has stated that he is displeased with the London club’s sale of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, and is unsure whether The Gunners can challenge for the title this season.
Arsene Wenger was forced to sell the duo as they both stated that their future was away from the Emirates, and the Russia international feels this has weakened the team.
“The loss of Fabregas and Nasri is very significant,” the forward told Sport.
“When sitting on the bench during the Udinese game, I told [Nicklas] Bendtner that we have no players who can feed [Robin] van Persie or use the strong sides of other forwards. Bendtner said that only Xavi could have replaced Cesc.
“I’m glad I had the opportunity to play with such a great footballer. Some are irreplaceable,” he continued.
Wenger has worked hard to replace the outgoing players, with the capture of Mikel Arteta from Everton on deadline day a ploy to add creativity to the Arsenal midfield, but Arshavin feels this may change the side’s style of play.
“With Arteta and other players in his position, we will play different football from that of the Cesc and Samir period,” he stated.
Arsenal have had a slow start to the season, picking up only one point from their first three games, and Arshavin is unsure whether his team can push for honours this term.
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“It’s difficult to say whether Arsenal can fight with the Manchester clubs and Chelsea, but those teams look very intimidating,” he concluded.
Arsenal host Swansea at the Emirates on Saturday, and then start their Champions League campaign with a tricky away fixture against German champions Borussia Dortmund next week.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said his side would have won had his players not been urged to over-attack in the final stages against Tottenham.
Spurs equalized in injury time at St. James Park via Aaron Lennon, with the goal cancelling out defender Fabricio Coloccini’s opener for the home side.
Pardew said if it was not for the eager support of the home faithful – and a natural tendency to entertain by pushing for a second goal – his side may have clinched the three points.
“We’ve come up against a Spurs side that in the first half looked like they were going to give us a really tough afternoon. They knocked the belief out of us with their movement and passing,” Pardew told Sky Sports.
“And it wasn’t til half-time when we sat them down and adjusted a couple of things and put a bit more belief in the players that we looked like what we can do, caused them all sorts of problems.”
“We took the lead and if it wasn’t for exuberance at the end, trying to get a second and the crowd urging us on and all getting a little bit carried away, we would have a really big victory today. Unfortunately for us, it’s only a draw.”
Coloccini, who scored a rare goal on his 29th birthday and in his 100th match for United, earned man-of-the-match honours from his manager.
“I thought he was the stand-out player today. He was brilliant in everything he did,” Pardew said.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said the substitution of Gareth Bale due to a back injury was a concern, and admitted the star winger had been carrying a complaint for some time.
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“It’s been dragging on and we need to get a cure for it. I think we need to get him looked at now and make sure that we get somebody who can sort it out for him. It’s probably not something too serious I don’t think but he’s important to us,” Redknapp said.
Redknapp added that he believed a draw was a fair result.
“I felt it would have been hard on us getting beat. I felt first half we played some great stuff, passed the ball well, had some good opportunities. Jermain (Defoe) had a great chance right on half-time to put us one up,” he said.
Paolo Di Canio has stated that Mario Balotelli was selfish during Italy’s Euro 2012 campaign and needs a slap.
The Manchester City forward played the majority of the Azzurri’s games in Ukraine and Poland, and scored a decisive brace against Germany in the competition semi-finals.
However, the temperamental attacker marched down the tunnel straight away after Italy’s 4-0 final defeat to Spain and the Swindon boss feels that Balotelli’s attitude needs to improve.
“Balotelli is just selfish. He deserves a lot of slaps,” Di Canio told The Sun.
“Against Germany he did two good things but in the end I saw a player who was just waiting to celebrate.
“Balotelli does not play for the team, only for himself.
“He is an egotist, who thinks the world revolves around him.
“Guys like Balotelli deserve lots of slaps rather than pats on the shoulder. Antonio Cassano led the team to the final,” he stated.
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I’d like to pretend the ‘United should sell De Gea’ comment was an isolated one from a disgruntled fan following the Spanish keeper’s poor showing against West Brom but unfortunately it wasn’t.
The wonderful interweb was awash with silly dramatic statements calling for a 20 year-old making his Premier League debut to be ‘dropped’ ‘sold’ or even ‘released’ by so-called Reds who know more about footballers than Sir Alex Ferguson.
Don’t get me wrong I was as disappointed as any United fan at the ease with which Shane Long scored West Brom’s equaliser and felt De Gea seemed to look a severe liablity for most of the game, but it’s time -as so often is the case after a United game- for a bit of rational perspective.
De Gea made a mistake for the goal and was extremely indecisive at times but that doesnt mean the most sought after young ‘keeper in world football is suddenly bereft of ability. Keepers make mistakes, and it seems some people can’t help but try and appear witty and knowledgable by spouting drivel such as “he’s another Taibi” without realising they appear niether witty or knowledgable merely ungrateful and unoriginal.
I said in an article on this very site when we signed De Gea that the fans may have to exercise a little patience with him and we could well prove why we are the best in the world by not getting on his case if he does take time to adjust.
Although I wasn’t at the Hawthorns friends that were there tell me the travelling United contigent didn’t give the Spaniard any more reason to feel anxious than he already had. There was no booing or chants of “Edwin Van Der Sar” and rightly so.
The next test comes against Spurs at Old Trafford a week on Monday where we’ll see not only if De Gea’s nerves have settled somewhat but how 70 odd thousand United fans treat him should he show signs that he’s still struggling to adapt to life at the biggest club in the world.
I was at the Southampton game when Massimo Taibi allowed Matt Le Tissier’s daisy cutter through his legs and you knew immediately his United career was over. Taibi wasn’t a 20 year-old £20 million signing that had been touted as the best young goalkeeper on the planet.
De Gea’s not had the best start to his United career but I fully expect him to be at Old Trafford for many years to come, winning lots of trophies and keeping many clean sheets. Let’s not forget, the likes of Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic had United debuts to forget.
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Given time De Gea will no doubt show why Sir Alex forked out such a large amount for a young player who had no experience of the Premiership. It may be difficult for some of us to stomach and I’m sure there’ll be times when we feel like screaming at the poor lad, but in the words of the great Gary Barlow “we need a little patience.”
Article courtesy of Justin Mottershead at Red Flag Flying High
Manchester United will host non-league Crawley Town, while Leyton Orient welcome London rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup Round of 16.
Crawley Town’s 1-0 win over Torquay on Saturday gave them the distinction of being the first non-league side to reach the last 16 of the cup in 17 years.
League One outfit Orient welcome Arsenal to Brisbane Road, while Aston Villa will play the winner of the replay between Notts County and Manchester City, who drew 1-1 on Sunday.
League One pacesetters Brighton will play Stoke at the Britannia Stadium and Reading will meet either Everton or Chelsea after they drew 1-1 on Saturday.
Fulham or Tottenham – who play on Sunday – will meet either Bolton or Wigan, who drew 0-0 at Reebok Stadium on Saturday, in what could be the only all-English Premier League showdown of the round should Notts County knock out Manchester City.
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The full draw: Notts County or Manchester City v Aston Villa, Stoke City v Brighton, Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday, Leyton Orient v Arsenal, Everton or Chelsea v Reading, Manchester United v Crawley Town, Fulham or Tottenham v Bolton or Wigan.
Portugal have become the first team to make the Euro 2012 semi-finals, after a 1-0 win over Czech Republic guaranteed their place in the last four.
In a cagey match a late Cristiano Ronaldo header was the difference between the teams in a relatively even encounter.
The Real Madrid superstar has admitted that it was a tough game against Michal Bilek’s men, and that his nation are looking forward to facing either France or Spain in the next round.
“We are happy for that and we know it’s going to be difficult in our next match but we are ready, we are confident, the team is very mature, so we are ready for the fight,” Sky Sports report Ronaldo as saying.
“I remember the last game (against Holland) when I also hit the post, so it happened again today.
“But the most important thing was that I scored and the team won. The side played very well and we are in the semi-finals, so we are very happy for that,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Manchester United winger Nani is in confident mood after the victory.
“It was a very difficult game but we did very well. I think everyone was fantastic on the pitch, so we’re satisfied with the result.
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“Now it’s going to be more difficult every game. But all the team are very confident and I am very confident in the next game and now we have to rest and prepare,” Nani stated.