Archive for February, 2007

Mikel: It Was Arsenal’s Fault

In the recent Carling Cup final where Chelsea were victorious against Arsenal, three players were sent off deep in to injury time for a brawl.

John Obi Mikel, who has only been at the club for a few months, and only has a few starts to his name, received his second red card in his time as a blue.

Today, however, he protests his innocence, despite his red card being upheld by the FA, and blames Arsenal for the brawl.

“My red card was very harsh,” he said. “I didn’t touch Toure at all. I kept my hands down completely – he attacked me. I had to defend myself. I am really sorry to have let my team-mates and the fans down by getting sent off. But I feel I didn’t deserve the red card. It’s too bad such an ugly thing happened but it has been blown out of all proportion by the Arsenal players.”

Robben Set For Chelsea Exit

Arjen Robben has had a difficult season at Chelsea, riddled with injuries and few starts. In Chelsea’s recent Carling Cup victory against Arsenal, Robben was again watching most of the game from the bench.

He was then interviewed by Dutch television and was told there was disappointment back home when he did not start. Robben sharply replied, “You can’t be as angry as I was. I was pleased about the assist I gave for the second goal as it showed what I can do. But for me, it’s about time I was starting games.” When asked why did he think he wasn’t being given a regular starting place, he replied, “you’ll have to ask the manager about that.”

This latest statement follows a long string of unhappy comments from the winger, and go further in fueling rumours that he is set to leave at the end of the season.

Debt Could Lead To Chelsea’s Capture of Richards

Manchester City have announced today that in the last six months leading up to November 2006, they have made losses of £7.1 million. For the same period a year prior, they made an astonishing profit of £16.8 million, which was due to the sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips for £21 million to Chelsea.

Since then, City’s turnover has decreased by 9%, whilst their wage bill has increased by 4%, which works out at a rise of £1.8 million.

These figures will lead to further speculation of the sale of City youngster Micah Richards, who recently made his England debut. Chelsea are said to be keen to sign the player, and City might be tempted to sell him on to solve their problems, as they did with SWP.

Alex Ferguson Reveals Retirement Plans

Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, celebrated twenty years in charge of the club just a few months ago. Since then, he has turned 65, and there has been lots of talk surrounding his retirement.

Ferguson has revealed that he has no immediate plans to retire, and that his decission to stay on as boss five years ago has helped him with this.

“I decided to give up in 2002 but I regretted it. Changing that idea gave me a fresh start. My pension can wait. There is nothing doing here for a couple of years.”

Ref Sent Off The Wrong Arsenal Player

During injury time of the Carling Cup final, which Chelsea won 2-1, referee Howard Webb sent off three players. Adebayor, Toure and Mikel were the players to see red, which sees Mikel with his second red card in just twelve starts for Chelsea.

Adebayor showed his unhappiness with the decision as he was forced off the field, and Chelsea left back, Wayne Bridge, says he understands why. “The referee sent the wrong man off,” he said. “I can understand his (Adebayor) frustration at getting sent off. There must have been a mix-up between the ref and his linesman.”

Van der Sar Enjoying Chelsea Distance

Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the table on Saturday to 9 points, with a 2-1 win away to Fulham. Chelsea have a game in hand, but the United keeper says that having the points in the bag is the most important thing.

“These are games that decide if you are going to be champions or let Chelsea back in the game,” said Van der Sar. “We have got individual quality with the players we have and, if you perform as a team that extra quality comes around sooner or later in a game. A nine-point lead is nice. Chelsea have a game in hand but they have to win it. The more points you can get between each other is nice.”

Spurs Appeal Keane’s Red

Robbie Keane was flying high in Spurs win over Bolton at the weekend, scoring twice within the first 22 minutes. However, less than quarter of an hour later, Robbie Keane was given his marching orders after Poll deemed Keane had stopped a goal with his hand. Gary Speed went on to score the following penalty.

Spurs went on to win the game 4-1 regardless, and today have appealed against Keane’s red card.

What Makes Jose Special?

Jose Mourinho caused a stir when he arrived in the Premiership, with his outspoken point of view and little modesty. He called himself “special” which has lead to the nickname “The Special One”.

As the years have gone by, more criticism has mounted. Whilst Mourinho had a successful period with Porto in Portugal, it is clear that the Portugese league isn’t up there with the greatest leagues in the World, with the toughest competition. Whilst people must admire victory in the Champions League, one can’t help but note Porto progressed past the round of 16 after Manchester United were wrongly disallowed a legitimate goal which would have put them 2-0 at Old Trafford, and after that avoided European giants, in playing Lyon, Deportivo and Monaco to be crowned Champions.

Wenger has gone on to enforce these criticisms today, ahead of the Carling Cup final against Chelsea this weekend. “Plenty of managers have won the Champions League who will not be considered great managers,” said Wenger. “What is important is that you look at their careers in 10, 15 or 20 years. What kind of quality have you brought through in your work and on how consistent a level have you done it? If you would like to compare every manager you give each one the same amount of resources and say: ‘you have that for five years’. After five years you see who has done the most. We played a whole season unbeaten in 2004-05 but you did not see me jumping on the tables every week. Winning the Champions League will not change my life.”

Juve Star Snubbed Chelsea

After the disastrous situation in Italy, which forced prestigious Serie A club Juventus down in to the next division, a mass exodus of players took place. Their top stars, such as Vieira, Thuram, Zambrotta and Cannavaro, made moves to Spain and to other Serie A clubs.

Chelsea made a move for Nedved, the 34 year old midfielder, which would have put him on a higher wage. However Nedved chose loyalty, and stuck with Juventus.

“It’s true, I would have earned a lot of money, [but] something didn’t convince me enough,” Nedved told Corriere dello Sport. “I’m not regretting staying. On the contrary, I would never have forgiven myself for escaping.”

Ticket Forgery Not United’s Problem

After the crowd trouble which took place during Manchester United’s 1-0 away win against Lille in the Champions League, the French side have blamed Manchester United’s ticket policy. They claim that instead of dispatching the tickets on the day of kick off, United sent out the tickets a month in advance, giving the fans time to create fake tickets.

Manchester United have been quick to deny these claims, stating: “Tickets were distributed by recorded delivery 11 days before the game or for collection from February 1. We would normally send out tickets for our home games at Old Trafford six weeks before the match and we have no problems with forgeries.”