Archive for April 14th, 2008
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April 14th, 2008
Sir Alex Ferguson hailed his Manchester United side’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford as a decisive moment in this season’s Premier League title race.
Victory moved United six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, who can reduce that gap to three points with a home win over Wigan on Monday. But with just four league games remaining, Ferguson is convinced his men have now taken a massive step towards the successful defence of their title.
Next up for United are Blackburn and victory at Ewood Park will mean United can all but take the title if they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on April 26.
“I said if we win our next three games we would be champions,” said Ferguson after seeing United come from 1-0 down to win thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s coolly-taken penalty and Owen Hargreaves’s superbly struck free-kick. “We have got over a nervous day today (Sunday),” Ferguson added. “We’ve got a week’s rest now, get them freshened up before Blackburn away.
“The players knew this was a massive game today. Arsenal and ourselves have been competing for trophies for 15 or 16 years and the games are always so emotionally tight and this was another one.”
Ferguson agreed his team had been fortunate to beat an Arsenal side who had gone ahead in the 48th minute through Emmanuel Adebayor as they tried to keep their season alive after last week’s Champions League exit against Liverpool. “The quality of this game was outstanding,” Ferguson said as he reflected on another compelling United-Arsenal clash .
“There won’t be a better game this year. They were the better team in the first-half. I thought we were very nervous and our passing was poor and I couldn’t wait to get to half-time. “When Arsenal scored they forced my hand, and I had to bring on Anderson and Carlos Tevez. That was a pivotal moment and we were fantastic after that, played some good football, and it was just an incredible game.”
Victory would have hauled Arsenal back into the title race, moving them to within three points of United. Instead, Arsene Wenger and his players were forced to admit that, at nine points adrift of top spot, they were out of the race having been five points in front as recently as February. Arsenal have been criticised for an inability to turn impressive performances into wins but their French manager insisted there would be no compromising when it came to the Gunners’ approach next season.
“I believe the gap between success and failure is very thin and I didn’t feel that today we were inferior technically speaking and in terms of quality,” he said. “I feel we have done a lot to promote the Premier League all over the world this season. I’m not an idealist, I want to win trophies and I am sad we haven’t won a trophy,” Wenger insisted. “We want to win trophies by playing the way we do but we want to do it better. That will come.
“But we have to go beyond the situation we have now where the praise given to winners is beyond reason while those who don’t win are slaughtered beyond reason,” he added. “We feel there is not a big difference between ourselves and the other teams. We play quality football because we think that is the way to win trophies. We have lacked maturity defensively at times this season but that will come.”
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April 14th, 2008
Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard says Barcelona need to start killing teams off if they are to have any chance of lifting the Spanish title this season.
Barcelona twice threw away the lead in a 2-2 draw with Recreativo Huelva on Saturday and trail leaders Real Madrid by nine points after the champions defeated Real Murcia 1-0 on Sunday.
“The team always fights but sometimes we fail to kill off the game at key stages,” said Rijkaard. “We have to analyse the goals. The second goal was our fault as we allowed the cross to come in too easily. We let two points get away. We started well but then let our guard down. “I expected us to win it at 2-1 as we had the chances. It is a blow.”
With six games left it is asking a lot for Barca to catch Real but Rijkaard – whose job is under real threat – refuses to wave the white flag. “It is still mathematically possible to win the league but we have to start collecting more points to do it,” said Rijkaard.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, who scored both Barca’s goals against Recreatico, backed his manager’s words. “We will continue fighting because there are games left and because the teams ahead of us are not mathematic champions,” Eto’o said. “I don’t think we dropped our rhythm. They scored an invalid goal and the second goal was a team mistake. We have games to fight for in the league and the Champions League where we want to reach the final.”
Barcelona face Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Champions League – with the first leg on April 23 – and one positive from the Recreativo match was the return of Argentine winger Lionel Messi. Messi, 20, had been sidelined since tearing a muscle in his left leg on March 5 but returned to action coming on a substitute on 64 minutes.
“It’s his first game back after injury and he’s worked hard to get ready to play again,” Rijkaard added. “We hope he’ll get up to speed soon and get back to performing like he can.” Consistency is Barcelona’s problem at the moment and Barcelona defender Carles Puyol admits it is a concern. “We can’t give up but it is getting tougher all the time. We’re finding it increasingly hard to win,” explained Puyol. “We are unlikely to win the League if we can’t win two games in a row. “We do need to think hard about this. We do the hard part, getting a lead, and then we stop creating chances. We have to get better in this respect because when we take the lead our opponents ought to open up. “There are a lot of experienced players in the dressing room and we have to improve.”
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April 14th, 2008
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has demanded showdown talks with the club’s warring American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett following weekend revelations.
It has been claimed by Hicks that Anfield chief executive Rick Parry played a part in attempts to offer the Spaniard’s job to Jurgen Klinsmann. Benitez, speaking after Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield on Sunday, claimed he felt ‘undermined’ by Hicks’s allegations in several British Sunday newspapers which related to talks with former Germany striker and manager Klinsmann in California in November. Hicks last week called for Parry to resign as chief executive as the bitter boardroom war at Anfield escalated. And the chances of Liverpool’s co-owners, Benitez and Parry all being involved at Anfield come the start of next season appear slim, judging by the manager’s latest comments.
“It was a surprise to read about some meetings (with Klinsmann),” Benitez said. “I need to talk with the board and clarify the situation and I want to do that as soon as possible. I was surprised with the people that were in the meeting,” the Spanish boss added.
“It’s not the first time I knew about the meeting, but about the people that were in the meeting. I feel my position is being undermined by it and that is why I want to clarify the situation. I need to speak to all of them, preferably all at the same time. They were in a meeting together, so I need to know something more. I will ask some questions. I will talk about the meeting (before Christmas) and clarify it. It’s important to stop all the talking and concentrate on the games. We are professionals and we know we need to be focused on the football.
“We will try to do this,” the former Valencia manager, who has again led Liverpool into the semi-finals of the Champions League, added. “The situation is not getting to the players, though. They know we need to finish in the top four and go forward in the Champions League. We must stay focused on the football.”
Victory against Blackburn, earned by goals from Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin, with Roque Santa Cruz scoring late on for Rovers, moved Liverpool five points clear of Everton in the race for fourth spot in the Premier League and the Champions League spot that goes with it.
Benitez admitted his team must now quickly seal their position in order to boost their chances of winning this season’s Champions League. “The Champions League is always a distraction so it’s important to win the league games as soon as possible,” Benitez explained. “We have a five-point lead over Everton and that’s really important. “Our job is to go to Fulham on Saturday and get the three points because that will mean it is almost done for us.”
Blackburn posed Liverpool little threat and manager Mark Hughes, previously in charge of Wales, conceded his team were beaten by the better side. “I was impressed by Liverpool’s work-rate and the amount of work that individuals put in for the team cause,” said the former Manchester United and Wales striker. “We didn’t quite have enough but Liverpool at this moment in time are a very good team, working hard for each other and playing with confidence so it was always a big ask.”
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April 14th, 2008