Aston Villa will look to move further away from the relegation zone when Wolverhampton visit in the Midlands derby on Saturday.Sitting in 13th on the English Premier League table, Villa are only two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United.A 3-2 loss at Bolton on March 5 out did not help their cause but memories of their last home game, a 4-1 thrashing of Blackburn, will be fresh.A win would only see them move mid-table but would be a serious aid to ensuring they remain in the top flight next season.Emile Heskey’s late winner gave Villa the points at the Molineux when the teams last met in September.It is the beginning of a season-defining run for Gerard Houllier’s side, which includes games against teams around them on the table before finishing the season with a trip to Arsenal and a home clash against Liverpool.Everton, Newcastle, West Ham, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic beckon in six crucial games.They will again be without defender Richard Dunne, who is out with a shoulder injury but has been the subject of an off-field investigation during the week. Visitors Wolves have been poor on the road this season, losing 11 of 14 trips and collecting only five of a possible 42 points.Wolverhampton face a similar run home but points are a must as they begin to drift away from the safety zone.An 87th-minute equaliser from Steven Fletcher gave them an unlikely point at home to Tottenham in their last league game on March 6.Although they are unbeaten in their last three home games, they have not won away from Molineux this year, with their last win on the road a shock 1-0 defeat of Liverpool on December 29.Winger Michael Kightly has declared himself fit to play after an injury-ravaged 15 months, but he is likely to be used off the bench against Villa.
Ajax striker Luis Suarez has been mooted as a target for big name Premier League clubs Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, but has been linked most prevalently with Manchester United.
The Uruguayan has become hot property this summer after his performances for both his club and his country in the World Cup.
The 23-year-old enjoyed a great 2009/10 season for Eredivisie club Ajax scoring an astonishing 49 in 48 games. Because of his goal record he has naturally caught the eye of Europe’s elite, but his stock could rise even further as his native Uruguay are having a great World Cup campaign and are due to meet South Korea in the second round.
Suarez comes with a hefty price tag, which is believed to be around £30+ million and some are critical of the Dutch top flight and some of its stars (remember Mateja Kezman?).
Now that Wayne Rooney is the main man in the Red Devils’ setup I am not sure where Suarez could fit into a side where the former Everton man has been so prolific as a lone striker. However, Suarez has a great relationship with Uruguay and Atletico Madrid’s ex-United forward Diego Forlan at international level.
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On the other hand, Manchester United seemed to struggle at times last season when Rooney was absent through injury. Some of the Old Trafford faithful may blame the indifferent form near the end of season (suring Rooney’s layoff) which ended up relinquishing their run as Premier League champions.
The one criticism I would have of Suarez at times would be the fact that his final product (when playing as a supporting striker) can seem hurried, wasteful or not good enough as he showed in his opening World Cup game against France.
Suarez is reportedly happy in Amsterdam, but says if it’s a United or Barcelona in contact with you then you take notice:
“Those are the elite teams of Europe. When they are on the phone you listen.
“But for a club in a category below that, I will not leave. I am having too much of a good time at this club. I feel loved and appreciated and that feels good.”
The Old Trafford outfit will have to be careful with their money though as Dimitar Berbatov is already regarded as a big money flop (a little unfairly in my opinion) that cost in the excess of £30m.
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With United’s £1.1 billion debt as revealed by Sir Alex Ferguson’s favourite TV show Panorama, who suggest that the debt the Glazer family has run up may be catching up with them, the price may be too high. However, judging from his performances for club and country he would surely be a great buy for any of the clubs linked with him.
Would the Manchester United fans like to see their club break the bank for Luis Suarez, or is there enough striking talent at the club already?
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has praised his team after they won the North London derby 2-1 on Saturday, and has stated the win was deserved, despite Arsenal having more possession.
Goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Kyle Walker gave Spurs the three points, with Aaron Ramsey scoring for the visitors.
Despite The Gunners’ having the lion’s share of the ball, especially in the first half, Redknapp feels the win was justified.
“They had a lot of possession in the first half. It was difficult. They played three in midfield,” he told Sky Sports after the game.
“So they were always going to hold the sway in terms of possession. We had the two (players) in there. But we got the goal before half-time. To be honest, I nearly changed it (Spurs’ formation) at half-time. I nearly made the change and thickened us up in there.
“But I thought, ‘well, let’s see how we go’. They (Arsenal) got off to a better start in the second half, got the goal, and watching the game you would have thought, ‘they are in the ascendency. We could be in trouble’.
“But we upped it. We got better and stronger and we took over. We deserved the win in the second half, I thought we were excellent. We had all the good chances,” he stated.
Walker’s long distance strike proved to be the winner, and despite a mistake by Wojciech Szczesny, Redknapp was full of praise for the young defender.
“He is a great attacking full-back, he loves to get forward. It was a good strike from Kyle. He has done ever so well, he has had a good start to the season,” he concluded.
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Spurs have a week off now for international duty, and travel to take on Newcastle at St James’ Park in their next game.
Every year the club v country row reignites, particularly when there are international friendlies as England had the other week. Fans and members of the press regularly sympathise with managers having to loan out their top players for five days, for what is essentially a learning expedition.
Increasingly we are seeing more and more Premier League players dropping out of squads with minor illnesses and injuries. Only to play for their club days later.
It is obvious an international manager would want access to that country’s best players but injuries sustained on international duty are so often the cause of bigger issues to their club. So are managers such as Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini wrong to forge a sick note in order to safeguard their star men? And what exactly can be done to halt this increasing trend?
Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21s were badly affected with 11 players being withdrawn from their squad to face Italy. Although the former England defender put this down to the number of games played in the Premier League stating: “The amount of games in England is a problem to us.” Concluding that: “We have to get a balance between club and country.”
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He has a point; with last season’s top four teams playing an average of six games each in all competitions during the month of February. Each club plays four games in the tightest Premier League race in years, so is it any wonder these clubs want to protect their first team players? Not forgetting that Arsenal have the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City four days after their league match against Stoke City.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie of Arsenal; Peter Crouch of Tottenham Hotspur; Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa and Ben Foster of Birmingham City were all players unavailable for their countries but able to play for their club within the next seven days. They are merely a few of many.
In England these withdrawals are sometimes cited as the reason for the country’s lack of international success with many England managers over the years complaining about the lack of understanding and support from club bosses. But it is hard to feel sorry for the FA when it is the clubs that are paying these stars’ wages and often end up with injuries to key players, with many spending months in recovery before making another appearance for their club.
It is natural that managers may fret about the number of injuries players collect while on international duty; in the four years following 2002, 5 different players broke bones in their feet while playing for England. This is nothing new, Bryan Robson was a big miss for England in the 1986 World Cup after dislocating his shoulder in a warm up game. The most recent and notable injury to an Englishman sustained while away with his country would be Dean Ashton; after breaking his ankle in 2006 he missed the whole of the season for his club West Ham United. And although he did return for his club a year and a half later, he was never the same player and retired at the age of 26. As it stands West Ham are still awaiting their financial compensation from the FA regarding the incident.
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This is not a sequence of events confined to England; Djibril Cisse of France, Phillipe Senderos of Switzerland, Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium and Stuart Holden of the USA have all returned to their clubs will long-term injuries following international duty.
Of course you cannot wrap the players in cotton wool but when it comes to a choice between club and country, a way needs to be found for the two to work in unison. Otherwise one will have to come first and who knows which one that will be?
England captain Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of the World Cup finals after sustaining a knee injury in training on Friday.
The Manchester United defender was taken to a local hospital for medical tests after sustaining the knock and left the establishment on crutches.
National team coach Fabio Capello was coy over Ferdinand's chances of making the Group C opener against USA on Saturday June 12 in his daily press conference but this was before the results of the scan and the outcome has since determined the extent of the problem.
With the experienced 31-year-old now out of the picture, the captain's armband will be handed to Liverpool talisman Steven Gerrard while Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson will step into the 23-man squad in Ferdinand's place after he was placed on standby when the news broke.
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Dawson, who excelled during Spurs' fourth-placed Premier League finish last term, was initially cut from Capello's initial 30-man squad but has earned an instant recall.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Roy Hodgson has named his England squad for their friendly with Italy next week and it seems he is more than willing at giving the youngsters an opportunity to show their worth.
Hodgson, naming his first squad since England’s European Championships campaign, has decided the trip to Switzerland is the perfect opportunity to give the next generation of England squads a chance with Tottenham duo Steven Caulker and Jake Livermore joined in the squad by Jack Rodwell, Jack Butland, Ryan Bertrand, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge.
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is also recalled to the international stage after rejecting the chance to be on the standby list for this summer Euros, a list that included Adam Johnson who has also made the squad.
Very much an experimental squad, Frank Lampard is given a chance to show Hodgson that he still has a lot to offer after missing the bulk of the Euros with injury along with Kyle Walker and Gary Cahill who are also recalled.
The likes of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have all been left out along with regulars Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson. It seems Rio Ferdinand’s England career is over after he is once again not included.
Squad for friendly v Italy:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Jack Butland (Birmingham City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).
Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Jake Livermore (Tottenham Hotspur), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Ashley Young (Manchester United).
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Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).
You can probably name every manager in the Premier League – but what about their trusty right-hand man who stays in the background despite playing a vital role in the club’s success.
An assistant’s role is a complex and challenging one. He has to be the manager’s right-hand man, and yet he’s got to be the players’ trusted confidante. A good assistant can form the bridge between the team and the manager and they tend to be closer to the players normally after having a successful career in the game.
They tend to be ex pros who performed at the highest level of the game – often in contrast to the manager – for example Pat Rice and Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, Joe Jordan and Harry Redknapp, or the former impressive partnership of José Mourinho and Steve Clarke at Chelsea.
Some of these assistants have had a fling at management but it hasn’t quite worked out. Perhaps they didn’t get along with the intense media scrutiny that being a manager has, or perhaps they weren’t good at making the unpopular decisions. Whatever it is, here is their moment of fame as we show our appreciation for the top henchmen in the Premier League.
Click on Pat Rice to see the selections
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Inter Milan climbed to third place in Serie A on Thursday with a 3-0 win over bottom side Bari at the Stadio San Nicola.
The result makes it six wins from seven league games for Inter under new boss Leonardo, and after an indifferent start to the season the defending champions are now just seven points behind league leaders AC Milan with a game in hand.
Inter would have been expecting a victory against lowly Bari, but had to wait until the 70th minute to break the deadlock, when Moroccan midfielder Houssine Kharja played a neat one-two with Samuel Eto’o before beating Bari goalkeeper Jean Francis Gillet with a low shot from an acute angle.
That was where the scoreline stayed until the fourth minute of injury time when a through ball from Thiago Motta played Giampaolo Pazzini into space and the striker cut inside his marker before firing a low shot past Gillet.
A minute later it was 3-0 when a Javier Zanetti cross was chested down by Thiago Motta into the path of Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder who blasted home from close range with the last kick of the game.
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The loss leaves Bari five points adrift of Brescia – their next opponents – at the bottom of the table, while Inter welcome fifth-placed Roma to the San Siro on Sunday.
Manchester City defender Gael Clichy is thought to have been the subject of racism in a pre-season friendly in Ireland, The Telegraph report.
The Premier League champions were playing against Limerick on Sunday, and the France international has since claimed that he was targeted, with a banana thrown onto the pitch.
“How sad to see bananas thrown on the pitch … knowing people around the world need food,” Clichy commented on his Twitter page.
The Irish authorities have pledged to check CCTV cameras to try and ascertain the identity of the guilty parties.
“The Gardai and stadium officials are reviewing the CCTV recordings to attempt to identify an individual involved in the throwing of an offensive object onto the playing field,” a statement reads.
“Any individual identified as being involved in an incident of this nature will be banned from future attendance and the matter will be handed over to the Gardai. All those involved with the friendly game fully condemn all forms of unacceptable behaviour of this nature.”
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Paul Lake was the biggest “what if” in Manchester City’s recent history. What if he had stayed fit for most of his career? What if he had continued his progress as a player? What if he had become an England regular? What if City could have had him in their defence or midfield for a good ten years? What if? What if? What if?
We will never know. Serious injuries treated badly ensured that. What we fans who prayed for the day he might return did not know was the turmoil that the injuries had caused, and the effects that having your career extinguished can have on a young man’s life.
In his new autobiography, I’m Not Really Here: A Life of Two Halves, written with his wide Joanne, Lake describes the enormous highs and lows of playing for his beloved club.
Lake was born in 1968, just after Manchester City’s last league title. His love of Manchester City was almost instant, and he grew up obsessed with football. At a young age, he realised he had a natural talent for football – he didn’t know why, but things came easily. He made his way from the Denton Youth U12 side (aged just 8), through City’s youth sides, under the tutelage of the legendary Tony Book, to a YTS traineeship in 1985, and glory with the youth team, winning the FA Youth Cup against Manchester United in 1986. Inevitably, he was soon in the senior squad, making his first team debut in January 1987. This being City, relegation followed soon after, and Lake was to experience the first of many bitter disappointments. The versatile Lake was soon holding down a permanent 1st team place though, his proficiency across the pitch seeing him wear 8 different shirt numbers in one season.
Soon, Malcolm Allison was calling him “the big talent at Maine Road”. And later after a call up to an England training session, Bobby Robson reported back to Lake’s favourite manager Howard Kendall that he had earmarked Lake as a future England captain. Naturally fans love a home-grown player, a local lad, and Lake was no different, idolised by all City supporters.
But having missed out on the Italia ‘90 England squad, it wasn’t long into his career the following season as City captain that it all started to go wrong, against Aston Villa. One false move, and his cruciate ligament had snapped.
Not that he knew for some time. City’s treatment involved an ice pack for days until the swelling reduced, an X-ray, and running up and down the concrete steps of the Kippax stand. Only when he collapsed in his first proper training session did he see a specialist and learn the truth. The damage had been done.
The following years were painful on many levels, a depressing cycle of rehabilitation, hope, and false dawns as he went on to rupture the ligament a further two times as soon as he returned to competitive football. He spent more time recuperating at Lilleshall than any other player in history. All this changed Lake as a man – the young lively, eager player that lived life to the full spiralled into depression, and withdrew from public life, going to extreme lengths to shun contact with others. As Daniel Taylor’s review in the Guardian described it, he was a tormented soul.
It is commendable that Lake came out the other side intact, and rebuilt his life. It is even more commendable that he retained the love for his football club despite the way some at the club treated him – mostly Peter Swales, the only person Lake shows bitterness towards in the book, after he shunned him throughout his fight for fitness and fought sending Lake to America for superior treatment.
That treatment was too late, and at the age of 27, Lake was forced to accept that there was no way back, and retired.
For City fans the book is an eye opener, shedding light on the way the club was run under Peter Swales’ stewardship. This was a club that allowed drunks to shout abuse from behind a wire fence during training every morning. That had players doing comedy routines at Junior Blues meetings, and had Eddie Large delivering half-time team talks using a variety of celebrity impressions when City were on the cusp of promotion.
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This is not just a book for City fans though. Whilst it also beautifully illustrates the life of a footballer, and such things growing up as Manchester ruled the music world, it is less about playing in football matches and more about what the game means to us all, and the despair and multiple lows when your dreams are snatched from your grasp. It also provides an insight into many other people in the game at that time, such as Bobby Robson, John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne and others.
Paul Lake is 42 now. After retirement he studied physiotherapy and worked on the medical staff of various clubs, even running his own practice too, until in March 2010, when he was appointed Ambassador for Manchester City in the Community.
There will always be curiosity over what could have been, what Lake could have achieved if he had avoided injury, and Lake had plenty of time to mull such things over during those fraught years on the treatment table. He came out the other side, and his account is one of the great sporting books of recent years. The final word can go to The Metro newspaper, who said: “The greatest football autobiography ever written? Unquestionably.”