Steven Gerrard backing Liverpool to bounce back from F.A cup loss

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Feb 17, 2014

Norwich City chief executive David McNally has admitted that the club are looking for potential replacements in the dugout as Chris Hughton’s job continues to be questioned.

The Canaries are currently involved in an intense relegation scrap and sit just one point above the drop zone after picking up just six points in their last seven outings.

Despite spending big in the Summer and strengthening their squad massively, City haven’t performed as well as they would have imagined, and their major signing Ricky Van Wolfswinkel has been a major let down, scoring just once so far and that came in the first game of the season.

Due to the poor campaign and the recent run of results, McNally has confirmed that a new manager could be the solution to their current on-the-pitch issues.

‘It would be almost delinquent of the football club to not be aware of potential candidates, if for any reason your manager left,’ McNally said.

‘If results are not good enough, you have to be aware of who is out there to help. You look at the market and who might be right for Norwich City.

‘If we needed to make a change – and the average tenure of a Premier League manager is about a year and a half, which puts Chris in the top six or top eight longest serving right now – then if a change was necessary, it wouldn’t be a case of, who are the contenders? It would be a case of reviewing what is required, where are we going and who is best placed to take the club forward.

‘If we believe Chris is the right man to take the club forward, then we stick with that.

‘It is fine margins in our sport and what you have to be sure of is a guaranteed improvement.’

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

We’re the biggest team in Manchester, claims Pellegrini

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Feb 17, 2014

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that he is the manager of the biggest team in Manchester and not David Moyes.

Pellegrini was talking to the press ahead of his side’s glamour tie with Spanish giants FC Barcelona and when asked about a power shift in Manchester, the Chilean admitted that he felt Ciy were the biggest club.

United have had a season to forget under David Moyes as they are left with only the Champions League to win, whereas City are still fightin on all four fronts, and Pellegrini believes that shows there has been a power shift.

‘The biggest team is City now, but we can’t forget the last few years,’ he said.

City thrashed United at the Etihad Stadium earlier on in the season and will have to go to Old Trafford later on in the campaign.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Sergio Aguero will miss Barcelona clash

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Feb 17, 2014

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that striker Sergio Aguero will not be fit in time to face Spanish giants FC Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 on Tuesday night.

The clinical striker, who has been superb so far this season, has missed City’s last three matches and despite taking part in training today with the first-team, Pellegrini has confirmed he won’t be ready for tomorrow’s game.

City host Barcelona in the first leg of the last-16 and Aguero will have to wait a bit longer until he makes his first-team return.

“He is not fit. We will see if he can be fit for Saturday [to play Stoke] but maybe that is difficult.” said City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

The 25-year-old hasn’t featured for City since they thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Oxlade Chamberlain wasn’t concerned about penalty appeal.

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Ben Reardon

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has stated that that he was not worried about a proposed penalty appeal in Sundays FA Cup game against Liverpool.

Chamberlain put in a superb performance in the win, scoring the first, and setting up the second.

However, Chamberlain escaped in a dubious tangle with Luis Suarez, after the Arsenal winger appeared to give away a blatent penalty away, only for Howard Webb to wave away the Liverpool protests.

Chamberlain stated in his post match interview.

“No, I wasn’t worried at all,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain afterwards. “There are penalty shouts in most games, you just need to worry about the ones that get given. Thankfully that one didn’t get given.

“The most important thing was we kept it together. We had penalty shouts as well and I think that’s what made it such a good game. Credit to Liverpool, they made it really tough for us again. They’re a really good side but we’re just delighted to beat them.

“Obviously it [my goal] got us off to a good start and the start that we needed. The boys kept it together after that and we did well in the first half, we looked dangerous.

“In the second half we managed to get another early goal which stood us in good stead. After they pulled one back we did well to hold it together at the back and see the game out.”

Chamberlain also praised keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who put in a superb performance during the victory.

“Lukasz is a quality keeper and you’ve got to give him so much credit because Wojciech’s been unbelievable this season and it can be hard for a second-choice keeper, even though he should be a first-choice keeper, he’s that good,” he said.

“It’s hard to come into big games like this when he hasn’t played for a while and he’s done that brilliantly well. The boys will definitely thank him for his contribution today and the boss can see what a talent he is.”

Arsenal will now face Everton in the Quarter Finals.

By Ben Reardon

@BenReardon1

Arsenal to Start £100m Spending Spree With £15m Bid for Premier League Enforcer

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be handed a £100m transfer kitty this summer and his first move will reportedly be for Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin

Wenger is ready to offer £15m for the French midfielder, an offer the south-coast side may find hard to turn down, and is seen by the Gunners manager as a replacement Mikel Arteta, who has had an up and down campaign this season.

Schneiderlin is into his sixth season at St Mary’s and has helped the club to promotions from League One and the Championship and has excelled in the Premier League and must surely be tempted by a move to the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta has not been his usually reliable self in the holding role in the centre of Arsenal’s midfield and could well be sacrificed by Wenger at the end of the season.

Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino may well see his successful side picked apart by prospective suitors with the likes of England international truo Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana sure to be interesting a number of fellow Premier League sides.

Similarly teenager Luke Shaw could be snapped up at the end of the current campaign.

Arsenal have previously raided Southampton to sign Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and may well see Schneiderlin as the third such signing.

Written by Steve Milne @stevenmilnelive

Arsène Wenger says Jose Mourinho has embarrassed both himself and Chelsea

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsène Wenger has escalated his feud with Jose Mourinho by telling the Chelsea manager that he has embarrassed both himself and Chelsea with a “silly, disrespectful” attack on his managerial record.

Mourinho described Wenger as a “specialist in failure” on Friday but Wenger, Arsenal’s most successful ever manager, responded with force on Sunday.

Wenger also stressed that he did not specifically mention Mourinho when he claimed that a “fear to fail” was why so many managers were saying they were not contenders to win the Premier League title. “I do not want to go into those silly, disrespectful remarks,” said Wenger, “I never spoke about him in my press conference and I will not start now. The only thing I know is it is more embarrassing for Chelsea than for me.

“I am embarrassed for him. Honestly. I am more disappointed for Chelsea than for me. I am not interested in the subject at all. If you are interested, and you have nothing better to do in your life, you are free to do it. I love football. What is interesting for me is what happens on the pitch.”

Asked for his final word on Mourinho’s comments, Wenger said: “There is no final word on that, unfortunately.” Wenger is certainly right about that, with Mourinho blaming the Arsenal manager for their latest spat following Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat against Manchester City on Saturday. “I don’t accept that one is always ‘Monsieur polite’ and the other one is always the bad guy,” said Mourinho. “I don’t accept, I’m sorry. The only thing I feel was that I was very quiet in my place and somebody spoke not in a nice way about us.

Written by Steve Milne

Fabianski happy at Arsenal.

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Ben Reardon

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was happy with his overall performance in the FA Cup victory against Liverpool on Sunday.

That win sent the Gunners into the quarter final stage, were they will play Everton, however, the Gunners has keeper Fabianski to thank.

The Polish goalkeeper was superb in the win, denying Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and company on several occasions as Arsenal hung on to advance.

Fabianski stated after the win…

“I’m happy with my performance but especially I’m happy with the team,” he told Arsenal Player. “We managed to win a really difficult game against a really difficult opponent who basically killed us last week. So a response was important and we did that so we’re all happy.

“For sure [there was extra motivation] because it was a short space between the last game and this one, so obviously it’s going to stay in our heads and we needed to respond really well.

“I’m just happy that we won, that I helped the team. It could have been a similar story because we started again a bit slow – in the first few minutes they had two really good chances. I managed to help the team in those situations.

“After I was kind of focused on every single chance that they had or any through balls because I think it’s really important to sweep up all those things where there is a chance. I just try to help the team and luckily enough I think I did OK.”

The popular keeper will now want to try and put in some serious competition for compatriot, and first choice keeper Woijech Szezesny.

The keeper also praised his defenders for coping with in-form Luis Suarez throughout the Cup tie…

You can see that the communication is much better,” he said. “Always when you talk about the defensive back four, but I think you have to look at the whole team.

“What I mean by that is you see players tracking back, you see players putting pressure on right from the top from the strikers. Overall as a team we look more confident when it comes to that, much more organised so you can see when it pays off in home games.”

By Ben Reardon

@BenReardon1

Javier Mascherano reveals reason he left Anfield

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Feb 17, 2014

The defensive midfielder left Merseyside for Barcelona in 2010 after spending three years at the Premier League club.

However, following the departure of Rafael Benitez as Liverpool manager, Mascherano admits he struggled to establish a rapport with his successor Roy Hodgson and managing director Christian Purslow.

The nature of Mascherano’s exit left his reputation among some of the Reds faithful tainted, but claims he was reluctant to share his version of events in the heat of the moment.

“I didn’t want to say anything at the time because of my respect for Liverpool,” he revealed in The Times.

“Maybe that was a mistake because it allowed other people to say bad things about me. But I do not regret it.”

Mascherano acknowledged his admiration for Liverpool but claims life was made difficult for him when the interest of Barcelona became clear.

“Liverpool is a special club and it does not deserve to be treated badly,” he said. “The people who were there at the time – the manager and Christian Purslow – have now gone but they know the truth.

“When I went back to Liverpool for pre-season I had a lot of meetings with them and they were promising a lot of thing to me but never kept their word.”

He added: “I did not wake up one day and refuse to play. In the game before [Manchester] City we played against Arsenal and I gave everything because I was wearing the Liverpool shirt.

“Why would I do that and risk getting injured when I knew that Barcelona were close to signing me and then refuse to play in another game? That doesn’t make any sense.

“We had been talking about completing the transfer for 20 days because the club also wanted to make it happen, but then they started to make things difficult for me.”

Mascherano admits he thoroughly enjoyed his time at Anfield and claims the bitter end to his time in England left a sour taste in his mouth.

“The people treated me really well and I would never want to let them down,” he insisted. “I wanted to leave in another way, but they didn’t give me the chance to.

“That is the truth. It left me with a bad feeling. My time at the club was over and I needed to move on, but I also needed to leave the club in a good way and that wasn’t allowed to happen.”

Mascherano will return to English shores on Tuesday as Barcelona visit the Etihad Stadium for one of the most eagerly-anticipated Champions League clashes of the season.

The Argentina international’s compatriot, Sergio Aguero, is currently plying his trade with the Sky Blues but Mascherano admits his injury could give Barcelona the edge.

Advantage

“Sergio is a key player for them,” he admitted. “He is one of the best strikers in the world and I do not want to say that it’s good that he’s injured, because he’s my friend and I have a really good relationship with him.

“But if he doesn’t play, it is an advantage for us, that is the truth. It will be better for us if he can miss these games and then get fit afterwards.”

At Barcelona, Mascherano pays alongside another international colleague, Lionel Messi, who he claims is the best player he has ever seen.

“There are people who say Leo could not play against Stoke,” he added. “Stoke City? That he cannot play in England? Leo can play anywhere, against anyone. How can anyone doubt that?”

“It’s not because he is my friend. For me he is the best player I’ve seen in my life. I didn’t see [Diego] Maradona, but of the ones I have seen Leo is definitely the best.

“The best player in the world can play anywhere because his talent and his quality are unbelievable, I don’t think he wants to play in England, though.”

Written by Steve Milne @stevenmilnelive

This form drop is testing me, admits Ozil

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has admitted that his recent drop in form has been a real test of his character.

The German superstar has been question in recent weeks due to his poor performances, in particular during the 5-1 thrashing at Anfield last weekend, and the former-Real Madrid has revealed that his character is really being tested through these tough weeks.

After completing his £43million move from Madrid in the Summer, Ozil settled well into the Premier League and made an instant impact, but in recent weeks, he has looked tired and a bit fatigued, and he has admitted that it’s a testing time for him at the moment.

“I’m going through a test of character here,” he told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

“I have so much self-confidence as a player that I am ready now to take the next step.

“But first you have to get used to the intensity of the Premier League.”

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Eden Hazard rejects PSG

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Feb 17, 2014

The 23-year-old has been in scintillating form this season, leading Chelsea to the very top of the Premier League, and reportedly attracting interest from mega-bucks PSG along the way.

Throughout the January window, Hazard was repeatedly linked with a move back to France, with champions PSG said to be very interesting in snatching up the winger.

But Hazard, speaking on ‘Le Club’ on French channel ‘beIN Sport’, has now ended all speculation, despite claiming that he was once interested in a move to the French capital,

“When I started playing at Lille, it’s true that I fancied playing at the Parc des Princes,” said Hazard,

“But I’m currently happy at Chelsea. For the moment, for PSG, it’s no. I still have a lot to do at Chelsea.”

Following Hazard’s recent hat-trick against Newcastle, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hailed the attacker as ‘the best young player in the world’, and few would disagree with the outspoken Portuguese.

With 12 goals and eight assists in the league already this season, Hazard has improved markedly under Mourinho, with his trademark runs down the flanks, slaloming through challenges at break-neck speed, becoming a real highlight of the current Premier League campaign.

There is a real relationship blossoming between player and manager at present, with Hazard recently returning the praise by claiming that Mourinho is the best coach in world football.

With the World Cup fast approaching, fans across the globe will be hoping for a real show from the young man, and if he can reproduce his displays of late, he could well be one of the stars of the tournament.

Written by Steve Milne

Per Mertesacker calls for ‘two perfect games’ against Bayern Munich

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Feb 17, 2014

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has called upon his team-mates to produce two ‘perfect games’ against German giants Bayern Munich in the last-16 of the Champions League.

The Gunners will play host to the European champions on Wednesday evening before playing the second-leg in Germany in March, and Mertesacker knows that Arsenal will have to be at their best to progress to the Quarters of the Champions League.

Arsene Wenger’s men faced Munich at this stage last season and despite losing 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the first-leg, they managed to produce the performance of the season when they beat Munich 2-0 at the Allianz Arena which mean they were only eliminated on away goals.

Mertesacker, who has been praised by Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger this week, knows that they will have to be at their best to progress in the competition.

Mertesacker said: “We have to go for two perfect games against them. We know we can beat them now, so maybe mentally we are in a better condition that last year.

“We respected them too much in the first leg then, so it was too easy for them.

“Maybe we have learned something from those lessons and will do better this time.

“Now we have another chance – and an opportunity to beat the champions. We want to achieve something exceptional this season, so we have to beat the best.

“That is not only Manchester City and Chelsea. That is Bayern Munich in the Champions League.”

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

David Moyes interested in FC Barcelona duo

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Feb 17, 2014

Manchester United manager David Moyes will turn his attentions to La Liga in the Summer and in particular FC Barcelona as he eyes two of their midfielders.

Alex Song and Cristian Tello are both on Moyes’ radar as he looks set to make drastic changes to his squad in the Summer, and a holding midfielder and a winger are both positions he wants to improve.

Wholesale changes are expected at Old Trafford at the end of this season and Moyes is ready to start spending the cash in order to prevent another campaign like this year, and with several targets in mind from Germany, he is now ready to look into the Spanish league.

Song, who used to play for rivals Arsenal, has never really settled in at the Nou Camp since his move two years ago, and a move back to England could suit him if promised regular first-team football.

As for Tello, he was closely monitored by both Arsenal and Liverpool in January, and due to serious competition in the Barca squad, he may be willing to make the move elsewhere as well.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Arsenal didn’t meet our valuation for Draxler, reveals Sporting Director

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Feb 17, 2014

Schalke 04 Sporting Director Horst Heldt has revealed that a formal bid from Arsenal was made for Julian Draxler, but the money offered was nowhere near their asking price for the German.

Although the Bundesliga outfit were never aiming to sell Draxler in the Winter, it was reported that they would have accepted a bid roughly around €44.5 million, which works out to roughly £36.5million, but Arsene Wenger was only willing to offer a maximum of £30m.

The Gunners were desperate to continue their spending after securing Mesut Ozil in the Summer, but Wenger showed a glimpse of his old self by refusing to budge on his valuation of a player, and Heldt has now revealed that a formal bid was made, but it wasn’t enough to convince them to sell up.

“It was a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough for us,” the Sporting Director told SPORT1, regarding Arsenal’s offer.

Heldt was then asked whether or not rivals Bayern Munich made an offer for Draxler, but denied all reports suggesting that was the situation.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles

Jose Mourinho reveals why big-striker wasn’t signed in Summer

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Feb 17, 2014