Archive for November, 2007

Evra: Davies Doesn’t Like Me

Manchester United lost their second game of the season this weekend at the Reebok stadium. Bolton played an extremely tough game, with strong tackles and several fouls.

Patrice Evra was on the receiving end of the main bulk of the tackles, particularly from Kevin Davies, who was lucky not to have been red carded for his numerous tackles on the French full back.

Evra has today spoken out about the rough treatment from Davies, claiming that he experienced the same last season.

“It was the same last year when Davies kicked me as well,” Evra said. “I said to him (in last year’s game), ‘Why do you do a tackle like that?’ And he said, ‘Because I don’t like you’. I didn’t understand it.

“Today he did it again. His first tackle on me should have been a red card. I don’t know why he does it. I just play my game. I don’t know what the problem is with Davies because I don’t know him.

“Last year he said, ‘You can’t take the ball because I don’t like you’. It’s bizarre. It was a big fight. But his first tackle deserved a red card and I was very angry.

“The captain and the other players said to me, ‘You need to concentrate on the game, you must not react to a bad tackle like that’.

“I also spoke to the referee. I said, ‘You can’t play football like that – this is not a football game’.

“When I play football I do it to play the ball, not to kick somebody. It was a very hard game. I received more tackles in this game than I’ve had in my entire career.

“I could have been booked for a tackle on Davies, but if you look at the replay I did touch the ball first.”

Ashley Cole Still Loves Arsenal

Chelsea’s Ashley Cole joined the club under a cloud, after a tapping up scandal to leave his boyhood team. When returning to play his former club he is on the receiving end of a lot of foul chants and criticism.

After being subjected to boos from the England fans this weekend, Cole has acknowledged the reception he will get from Arsenal fans will be much worse.

“Compared to what happened to the England guys, I am sure I will get much worse when I go back to Arsenal,” Cole said.

“But I am used to it, and I am looking forward to the game. I want to go there and play them because I did not get to play there earlier this year.

“I will go there and front up. I am a grown man. They (the Arsenal fans) threw money at me at Stamford Bridge, and that was bad, but I get that every game. I love it.

“It would be nice to go there and shut some people up. It’s going to be tough though.

“To be honest, I am really not bothered about the reception I will get, even though I know the crowd will get on my back.

“I don’t think I have anything to prove to them. They know how good I was when I was with them and what I did for the club. It is not about that.

“Of course Arsenal still means something to me. I don’t hate the club or the players.

“I love the club, but it has finished for me there now. I need to look at myself and Chelsea and do as well as I can and win as many things as I can here.”

Beckham Prepared for Backlash

England’s hopes of competing in Euro 2008 were over as they suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Croatia this week. The players were booed off the field at half time by England fans, with suggestion that the players just were not trying hard enough.

David Beckham was brought on as a sub in the second half and had a very positive effect on the game. It was his ball which set up Crouch to bring the score to 2-2 before Croatia scored the winner.

The former England captain has spoken out on behalf of the team about how they are feeling.

“Without a doubt there will be a backlash. It is about how we deal with it. If you are going to play and perform at this level, then you’ve got to take the good with the bad,” he said.

“We’ve had good times and I’ve known the bad times, but it is all about coming back from that. When things go bad, the amount of money players earn always gets thrown at them. Of course it does.

“When people are seeing the amount of money in football, and the amount players earn, people want results and we’ve not got the results and not qualified.

“There is going to be a backlash and it’s about how we handle it.

“Do the England players want success enough? Without a doubt. Everyone of those players in the dressing room have all played in big games. I’ve captained many of those players and I know how much it hurts them when things go badly.

“I know how much it hurts them to lose a tackle, let alone lose a game and be knocked out of a tournament, so there will be a lot of players hurting.

“Is it a mental thing? Certain parts of playing for your country is a mental thing, playing in front of so many people at Wembley.

“But the players we’ve got in our changing room, the characters we’ve got, are players used to playing in big games. They are used to playing for big teams, so I don’t think that is part of that.”

Ronaldo Dreams Of Being The Best

Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo has been tipped as one of the greatest players currently in the World. Last season he received a clean sweep of the individual prizes in England, and hopes to go on to officially be named the best player in the World.

“My ambition has always to be the best,” Ronaldo said.

“I have always said that I don’t have a job, I have a blessing from God because this is what I love best. And if this is what I love best then what I want most is to be the best.

“I dream of it often, I want to leave my mark on football history and if I can keep things up, if I am humble and always willing to learn, then one day I could do it.”

Reina Targets Top Four

Liverpool had high hopes at the start of the season, with captain Steven Gerrard claiming they were aiming to win the Premiership. Liverpool last won the league seventeen years ago, which has left many fans frustrated.

Today, Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina has claimed that a good league campaign is more important than trophies, but has only set their target as a top four finish.

“For us our target is to be in the top four first and then to win a trophy, as many as we can but obviously after 18 years our big target is the Premiership,” Reina said.

“But knowing big sides are involved like Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea – mainly it is going to be tough and it will be a long race and this is just the beginning.”

Berbatov No Fighter

Former Tottenham Hotspurs manager, Martin Jol, has today lifted the lid on his relationship with striker Dimitar Berbatov. The media have suggested the manager and player had a rocky relationship, with an incident at St James’ Park suggesting Jol had lost control of the striker.

“At St James’ Park (when Berbatov appeared reluctant to come on as a substitute), a lot had been made in the media about Berbatov’s attitude, that he didn’t want to come on because he was sulking at being on the bench,” explained Jol.

“Normally Chris Hughton would tell the players to warm up, but not this time. However, he didn’t seem that keen to do it.

“I turned my shoulder again and this time looked him in the eye and told him ‘come on, warm up’ and he began to warm up.

“He never said he didn’t want to come on, but that’s how it has been perceived. But that’s Berbatov, he always seems reluctant to do anything.

“Gifted, yes. But he is not a fighter. Perhaps you need others who are fighters to balance out the team.”

Carragher: Defeat Is Not Disaster

Liverpool could be facing further Champions League humiliation tonight if they fail to beat Besiktas. The North West club are dangerously close to crashing out of the competition at the group stages, needing to win their final three games to stand a chance of going through to the next round.

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher claims that it would not be a disaster for the club if they do not make it past the group stages as their history in the competition speaks for itself.

“We aim to win all three, but let’s concentrate on beating Besiktas first before we start thinking about what we do in the last game in Marseille,” said Carragher.

“We must win this one, then move on to beat Porto. That’s two home games and our crowd will play a big part, then we will think about what we must do in Marseille.

“We are not worrying too much about what happens if we do not qualify, and I don’t even see that as a disaster. It’s just football, but if we don’t get through we could qualify for the UEFA Cup and we would be confident going into that.

“Obviously we want to be in the Champions League, we want to play against the best and show we can compete against them. But we have done that anyway in the last couple of years or so with two final appearances.

“If it happens we have to get on with it. It would be a disappointment, not a disaster, and it would still be a massive season ahead for us with genuine targets.”