Barcelona rule out summer swoop for Arsenal striker Van Persie
Barcelona have denied they want to sign Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie.
The Dutchman sent tongues wagging when he was spotted at the same hotel Barcelona were staying at prior to their Champions League clash with Chelsea.
The 28-year-old, who has just been named Footballer of the Year by the PFA and the FWA, is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of next season.
Juventus, Manchester City and Real Madrid are poised to move if he fails to agree a new deal at the Emirates.
But Barcelona club spokesman Toni Freixa denied reports that Spanish giants will move for the Dutchman.
‘For Barça, any good player is of interest – and van Persie is a great player. But [we have] no intention of signing him for now,’ said Freixa, speaking to The Sport Review.
‘He came to our hotel in London because he is Dutch and so is Ibrahim Afellay. They had a coffee together. He didn’t come to see us and there was no conversation.’
John Terry’s act of folly denies him chance of redemption
In the midst of Chelsea’s Champions League ecstasy on Tuesday, one can only wonder at the thoughts going through the mind of their disgraced skipper John Terry.
A gallant 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the Nou Camp gave Chelsea a 3-2 aggregate victory and a place in the final for another crack at Europe’s most prestigious club trophy after the heartbreaking 2008 loss to Manchester United on a rainy night in Moscow when Terry missed a potentially match-winning penalty.
The influential central defender has always vowed to make up for that shattering experience but an act of folly means he will be a mere cheerleader in Munich next month when Chelsea take on either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
His instant red card for a ludicrous knee in the back of Barca striker Alexis Sanchez after 37 minutes, just after Sergio Busquets had put Barca in front and with central defensive partner Gary Cahill off injured, should have been curtains for his side’s hopes.
As it was, a steely rearguard action from the 10 Chelsea players left on the pitch spared Terry from again taking the blame for another night of Chelsea heartache.
“On a personal note, of course I’m disappointed but believe me this football club deserves to be in the Champions League final,” said Terry, who initially tried to excuse himself but later admitted he deserved a red card.
“We’ve had a little bit of luck along the way in the competition and long may it continue, but I hope the incident doesn’t take away from how well the lads played.
“I’ve apologised to (the players)and I want to apologise to all the Chelsea fans as well.”
Such is Terry’s stock at Chelsea, for whom he has made more than 540 appearances, that the fans will not castigate their captain who may have squandered his last chance to play in a second Champions League final.
He has proved many times how well he copes with adversity but this season has tested his mental fortitude to the full.
In October he was accused by Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, brother of England colleague Rio, of racial abuse during a Premier League game.
Terry denies the charge but will go on trial in July and many are questioning his role in England’s Euro 2012 squad.
In February he was stripped of the England captaincy by the FA who said the impending trial so close to the tournament in Poland and Ukraine would make it hard for him to hold down a role that brings such responsibility.
It was the second time Terry had been relieved of the England armband, the other occasion coming in 2010 after allegations of an extra-marital affair with the former girlfriend of a fellow England international.
The controversy over the racism allegations also left England without a manager after Fabio Capello apparently quit because he disagreed with the FA’s stance on the matter.
Terry’s performances on the pitch, despite knee surgery this season and two recent cracked ribs, have stood up well.
Yet, despite his pre-match rallying call for calm heads and discipline in the face of the expected Barcelona onslaught, Terry let himself down in spectacular fashion and will find sympathy for missing the final in short supply.
“At this level of football I don’t think I’ve seen anything as stupid, it’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve seen in my life,” said former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp, who was part of the Sky Sports commentary team.
Wayne Rooney seeks to improve form despite Manchester United scoring run
The Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has admitted he is not happy with his form despite closing in on his best-ever scoring return.
Rooney’s double in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford took his goal tally to 31, just three fewer than his personal best haul from two seasons ago. In addition, the 26-year-old will equal the feat of legendary winger George Best the next time he finds the net for United, which will be his 179th Manchester United goal.
With Sir Alex Ferguson’s men once again five points clear at the Premier League summit, and only four games to go, it would appear everything in Rooney’s garden is rosy. Yet it seems that is not the case.
Immediately after Sunday’s one-sided contest, Ferguson claimed Rooney was guilty of being too casual. And, although the striker did not appear to be impressed at being replaced by Dimitar Berbatov straight after his second goal, Rooney accepts his form is not good.
“It was nice to score two goals but I didn’t think my performance was good enough,” he said. “The rest of my play wasn’t great. I am disappointed with that and I will be working hard to put it right.”
Rooney’s form will be a worry to whoever ends up replacing Fabio Capello as England manager, considering the striker will still be a central figure at Euro 2012 even though he will miss the group games against France and Sweden because of suspension.
United appear to have found a way of coping with any lapses. And, at this stage of the season, results are obviously more important than performances, offering Rooney an additional incentive to match Best’s scoring feats.
“It would be great to equal that record and, hopefully, surpass it,” he said. “I would be proud of that achievement but I can’t really look at it just at the minute.
“If it happens then great but it’s the points that are important at this time of the year and if I can score the goals that get those points then I will be pleased.”
On the back of a surprise defeat at Wigan Athletic last week and with their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to two points by a Manchester City side that has bounced back from their horror show at Arsenal by scoring 10 times in two matches, United could not have had picked better opponents than Villa.
Although the ailing Midlands club were at best a sporadic threat, they failed to apply any meaningful pressure on the home goal, allowing United to saunter home, in the process keeping their sixth clean sheet in seven games as they have hit their best defensive form just when it matters the most. “Obviously, we were disappointed with our performance against Wigan but we had a chance to get that out of our system and keep that distance between us and Manchester City,” Rooney said. “It was a big game for us and we deserved to win.”
The theatrics of Ashley Young may not be winning many friends outside of Old Trafford but – as against Queen’s Park Rangers a week earlier – it could be accurately claimed there was contact with a defender prior to a dive that brought a penalty.
United can only hope increasingly wary officials do not deny them against Rooney’s former club Everton, the visitors to Old Trafford next Sunday, their first game since the gut-wrenching FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool.
Victory then – and Everton have not beaten United away from home since 1992 – would set up a derby-day meeting with City on 30 April that offers the chance to seal a record 20th league title.
Celebrating at the Etihad Stadium would add an additional edge to inter-city rivalries, although Rooney accepts there is some work in front of his team-mates yet.
“A month or six weeks ago, if somebody had told me that we would be five points clear at this stage of the season I would have been delighted,” said Rooney. “Next week against Everton is another massive game for us. We need to get three points there to make it an interesting night against Manchester City.”
Rosicky, Arteta and Yossi show the Arsenal youth how to press | 3rd back in our hands as we take out City
Well everyone, I’m sorry to have to deliver yet another sugar coated post to you, but for me, yesterday’s game totally merits it. The requirements were simple yesterday, we needed to at least match the Spurs result from the day before. That, or better it, which was going to be tough. Arsene Wenger lined up with the standard 2nd half the season team but threw in Yossi into the wide position. Clearly the lack of focus and drive in the last game was playing on his mind. Having a player in there with the class of the Israeli but also his dogged work rate was a good move in my eyes.
I was half relieved when I saw Mancini had omitted Tevez from his starting 11. The team they turned out was still strong. Nasri, Aguerro and Balotelli are all top players. It felt like a game we could win if we set out with the right attitude. Well, we were dominant pretty much from the off. We controlled possession and camped out in their half for most of the opening 20 minutes. We had plenty of corners but not a lot of goalward action. Rosicky was the first player to open up a shot when he struck a half volley that bounced of a City player and wide. From the following corner it looked as though Robin connected with a header which hit Vermaelen on the back and clipped the bar. What a nightmare!
The ball came down our end and the first City corner was in the part of the ground I sit in. Samir wandered over but backed off when he saw the abuse he was getting. It wasn’t particularly nice to see, but that’s the nature of the beast when you’re a greedy little pig with no loyalty. The in-swinging corner saw Mario connect with it, I’m pretty sure it was Theo who made the block and Vermaelen hoofed the ball away. A bit of a fright. The feeling amongst the people I was sitting with was that we had to score first if we were going to win. Chasing against an Italian team is always going to be a massive ask.
The fans were in good spirits… Tevez started warming up and they sang, ‘He plays when he wants, he plays when it wants, Carlos Tevez, he plays when he wants!’
The half finished on two minor scares. Our keeper took time out to make a customary distribution ricket. His kick went straight to them and started an attack. He redeemed himself shortly after when Pizzaro played a route one ball to Mario, the Polish keeper was off his line sharpish and cleared the danger well.
The half finished and it was clear that if we were going to win we’d need to start penetrating in the final third. Too much possession play, not enough killer passing / shooting going on. Someone was going to have to take responsibility and push us on.
Well, the first chance fell to City, Nasri floated a ball into our box, a header was looped over Szecseny but he clambered back to swipe it over the bar.
Down our end, Alex Song found himself about ten yards outside the box. He stopped, waited, floated an angled ball into the run of Robin whose header rattled the base of the post! What a fantastic goal that would have been.
The exciting thing about the second half was the manner in which we pressed. This wasn’t lead by the youth, this was lead by Yossi, Rosicky and Arteta. They were first to everything. If they weren’t, they were snapping away at ankles. They really wanted the win, this pushed the rest of the squad on. It was great to watch from the stands.
The next chance was comical. Sagna crossed to Walcott, he shot across goal, it hit the post, bounced back out to Vermaelen, he duffed his shot towards the goal, Yossi nearly touched it, then it hit the other post and bounced wide. HOW DID IT NOT GO IN! At this point, many of us thought that might be the last great chance we were going to have. Our whole afternoon up until that point had been all about duffed shots. No one had really let a clean one rip.
Well, that was about to change. It looked like Arteta won the ball from Pizarro in the midfield, he pushed forward, unleashed a thundered shot that flew past Joe Hart into the bottom corner. The place erupted! No one could believe we’d had a shot from that far out, no one could believe we were about to destroy City’s title dreams! Shortly after the goal, the Gooner faithful turned their backs to do the Poznan dance. Oh how we mocked the poor old City fans…
Controversy wasn’t over though. Mario Balotelli still needed to make sure some of the attention of the afternoon was on him. He chased down Sagna, chopped him in half and took another read card. It had been coming. It should have happened earlier but the ref didn’t book him for dissent in the opening ten minutes. That man is a liability.
The last chance of the game fell to Ramsey, he ran the length of the pitch, cut inside the City full back, waited, then waited some more, didn’t square it and shanked it horribly wide. Poor old Aaron, nothing is going for him at the moment!
The final whistle blew up and we’d taken the points. Plenty of the home fans stuck around to celebrate after. Third was back in our hands now. All the lads need to do is assess what exactly changed between this week and last, bottle it and make sure we have focus like that for our run in.
Conclusion
Yesterday showed where we should be as a club. We know that on our day, when everybody is focused and we field a decent team, we can beat anyone in the country. We know that with the right additions this summer, we could be up there with City and United next year.
The stand out players yesterday for me were the old boys. Arteta had a fantastic game yesterday, he looked sharp and motivated. He was a beast in the tackle and he fought for every loose ball. Rosicky found his form again. He has pace to burn for someone past 30 and his drive and spark look to have come back. I’ve been a big fan of Yossi all season. I’d like to have seen more of him, he’s a class act. He can pass, he’s not afraid to shoot and he has a great habit for popping up in the right place at the right time. Those three combined yesterday upped our workrate and drive to levels I’ve rarely seen this season. That’s not to take anything away from Alex Song. I thought he was excellent in the main yesterday. People tend to criticise his bad passes more than anyone else. He’s not going to be perfect everytime, but I’d rather he tried than not, as long as it’s in moderation.
Our midfield performance yesterday meant City had no time on the ball and had to resort to parking the bus. When you’ve got £400mill worth of talent on your bench and you have to resort to bringing on Kolorov to save the day, you know the opposition are doing well.
Up top we kind of lacked a bit of a spark yesterday. Robin can’t do it every game, but I felt the efforts of the midfield were slightly let down by our more attack minded players. Theo Walcott wasn’t at the races yesterday. He really didn’t cause too many problems with his pace or his movement in general. Still, that’s why you have a squad and that’s why other players have to stand up and be counted when others aren’t having their best games. Arteta deserved that goal for the sheer cheek of it. I think Joe Hart was slightly out of position for it and he probably had it in his mind that Arsenal don’t tend to shoot from that range. What a goal!
We also have to give a lot of credit to our back 5. The keeper didn’t have to do much but he commanded his box well when he needed to and he did try and slow play when City were creeping back into the game. Vermaelen and Koscielny were superb. 100% concentration levels all game. I was impressed with Sagna like I always am and I also thought Gibbs was playing well. There weren’t too many moments where I could spy him playing at right back. I’m still not sure whey Santos came on, but he played well. He’s very composed on the ball.
The fans were great as well. We really got into the second half. The stewards let us all stand and the noise levels picked up as the game went on. That’s how it should be at a home game, I’m glad we all finally seem to have worked that out. It feels like we’ve developed more of a community as the season has worn on. I talk to far more people than I used to… I think when you all share in such lows, it makes the highs so much better. It’s good to be a part of that.
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Once again, it has to be reiterated that we haven’t qualified for anything yet. We still have 6 games left. The next one is another potential complacency banana skin. Chelsea is our last really tough game, but we also have Stoke in there. We can taste the finishing line… but rest assured, there will be more dropped points. The key is to remember that it won’t just be us doing that. It’s going to be exciting… let’s hope we make 3rd ours so we can crack on with our summer in peace.
Sagna keen for new deal
Bacary Sagna has insisted he is happy at Arsenal despite seeing a number of his old team-mates move on to Manchester City.
The full-back has made his comments ahead of this afternoon’s Premier League clash between the two sides at the Emirates Stadium.
Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri both quit for City in the summer while Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor have previously made the same trip to Etihad Stadium in recent times.
However, Sagna has no intention of joining the exodus and wants to sign a new contract with the Gunners to help Arsene Wenger’s men to secure silverware in years to come.
“You know, even when I see Gael play now for City, it is strange but I still see him as an Arsenal player!” the France international told the Sunday Mirror. “But they all left and there is no problem for me that they did.
“I mean, they had just one year left on their contracts and they wanted to be part of the project at Manchester City.
“That was their choice. Usually, when someone rich buys a club there is no big ethic. But I think it is different there.
“I am very happy here.
“Everyone is so close. Yes, I would be happy to stay even longer but to be honest I don’t think that far ahead. If it happens, it happens. I just want to stay part of this Arsenal squad.
“We have a great team, a young team. And the spirit here is great. We have shown that recently with the way we got into the top four when we were so far behind.”
Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri both quit for City in the summer while Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor have previously made the same trip to Etihad Stadium in recent times.
However, Sagna has no intention of joining the exodus and wants to sign a new contract with the Gunners to help Arsene Wenger’s men to secure silverware in years to come.
“You know, even when I see Gael play now for City, it is strange but I still see him as an Arsenal player!” the France international told the Sunday Mirror. “But they all left and there is no problem for me that they did.
“I mean, they had just one year left on their contracts and they wanted to be part of the project at Manchester City.
“That was their choice. Usually, when someone rich buys a club there is no big ethic. But I think it is different there.
“I am very happy here.
“Everyone is so close. Yes, I would be happy to stay even longer but to be honest I don’t think that far ahead. If it happens, it happens. I just want to stay part of this Arsenal squad.
“We have a great team, a young team. And the spirit here is great. We have shown that recently with the way we got into the top four when we were so far behind.”
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David Luiz Will Miss The Next Two Weeks
Interim Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo has confirmed that centre half David Luiz will miss the Barcelona match with a hamstring problem sustained during the FA Cup semifinal win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, and he’s not expecting the Brazilian back for another two weeks. That’s obviously bad news for the Blues – the partnership between David Luiz and John Terry has been by far the strongest we’ve fielded in this calendar year, and although Gary Cahill is good enough to be a rotational defender at Chelsea he doesn’t provide the sort of raw ability that David Luiz does.
On top of that, both John Terry and Gary Cahill are carrying knocks, with Terry’s broken ribs particularly worrisome and fourth-choice centre back Branislav Ivanovic is in the middle of a three-match suspension. We should be very, very worried about a selection crisis at this point, because we’re one minor injury away from fielding the likes of Oriol Romeu at centre back. Get well soon, David!
Arsenal fearful after Van Persie spotted at Barcelona hotel
ARSENAL fans are over the moon that Robin van Persie looks set to take the ‘Player of the Year’ award this season, but their faces may drop when they realise how much interest their star striker is attracting in the transfer market. Indeed, the cream of European football might already be buttering him up.The Daily Mail has spotted Van Persie at the hotel where Barcelona are currently staying ahead of their Champions League clash with Chelsea tomorrow – and the paper has been speculating as to why a talented international footballer with one year left on his contract might be hanging out with the best team in the world. Those of a less suspicious bent might assume he was catching up with fellow Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay at the Marriott hotel on Park Lane. Others appear to believe Van Persie wants to move up in the world.If the Arsenal captain were to move to Spain, he would be only the latest in a long line of former Gunners – Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor, Toure, Clichy – to be lured away from the Emirates with the promise of big bucks.There’s bad news elsewhere for the north London club, as Inter Milan intend to beat Arsenal to the signing of Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, according to the Metro.The Italian club, who last month sacked coach Claudio Ranieri, will appoint Laurent Blanc as his successor once the former World Cup winner has overseen France’s Euro 2012 campaign. And that’s not all: according to the Metro, Inter are about to make an audacious bid for M’Vila, despite the fact Arsenal have long been linked to the 21-year-old playmaker.Taking its information from French sports daily L’Equipe, the Metro says that Inter will first hire Blanc as their coach and then use him as bait to lure M’Vila to the San Siro.Apparently Inter will offer Rennes £10m for M’Vila in the summer and are confident he will agree to the move because of the prospect of working under Blanc, a coach he knows well from his time in the France side, not to mention the fact that Arsenal can’t even beat a team like Wigan these days.That’s also the reason that Ajax central defender Jan Vertonghen might opt for Newcastle rather than the Gunners.It had seemed a racing certainty that the 24-year-old would join Arsenal in the summer but The Daily Telegraph reports that Newcastle now fancy their chances of snaring the Belgian international. Magpies’ manager Alan Pardew watched Vertonghen in action for Ajax at the weekend and the Telegraph says it’s a sign that Newcastle are increasingly confident of pipping Arsenal to third spot, thereby qualifying automatically for next season’s Champion League.Meanwhile AC Milan are preparing to make another attempt to persuade Manchester City to part with Carlos Tevez. The argumentative Argentine, who scored a hat-trick for the Sky Blues at the weekend in his first start since falling out with Roberto Mancini in September, has long been a matter of interest for Milan.Italian rag Corriere dello Sport reports that Tevez almost made a loan move to Milan in January, only for the deal to fall through when City told the Italian outfit they would only offload the striker in a permanent transfer. Now it appears AC Milan will accept the proposition, paying City upwards of £30m in the summer.And he won’t be the only new player heading to Italy in the close season, says Talksport, which reports that AC Milan are favourites to land Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa when June’s transfer window opens.The 23-year-old has been in sparkling form this season for the German club and is out of contract at the end of next season. That’s alerted Milan, as well as Chelsea, and the pair are both vying for the services of the Japanese ace. But if the Blues want to sign Kagawa they’ll have to qualify for next season’s Champions League otherwise he’ll go with AC Milan who are guaranteed qualification for Europe’s premier competition.In other news Russian website Tden has reported that Fulham striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has moved into Jose Mourinho’s old gaff in Chelsea, prompting speculation that the on-loan marksman will be turning his temporary residence at the Cottage into a more permanent stay.Pogrebnyak joined Fulham on loan from Stuttgart in January and becomes a free agent in June. But speaking to Tden, the Russian said: “I like my life in London very much”, and hinted that he’ll be staying put at Fulham
The Daily Mail has spotted Van Persie at the hotel where Barcelona are currently staying ahead of their Champions League clash with Chelsea tomorrow – and the paper has been speculating as to why a talented international footballer with one year left on his contract might be hanging out with the best team in the world. Those of a less suspicious bent might assume he was catching up with fellow Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay at the Marriott hotel on Park Lane. Others appear to believe Van Persie wants to move up in the world.
If the Arsenal captain were to move to Spain, he would be only the latest in a long line of former Gunners – Fabregas, Nasri, Adebayor, Toure, Clichy – to be lured away from the Emirates with the promise of big bucks.
There’s bad news elsewhere for the north London club, as Inter Milan intend to beat Arsenal to the signing of Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, according to the Metro.
The Italian club, who last month sacked coach Claudio Ranieri, will appoint Laurent Blanc as his successor once the former World Cup winner has overseen France’s Euro 2012 campaign. And that’s not all: according to the Metro, Inter are about to make an audacious bid for M’Vila, despite the fact Arsenal have long been linked to the 21-year-old playmaker.
Taking its information from French sports daily L’Equipe, the Metro says that Inter will first hire Blanc as their coach and then use him as bait to lure M’Vila to the San Siro.
Apparently Inter will offer Rennes £10m for M’Vila in the summer and are confident he will agree to the move because of the prospect of working under Blanc, a coach he knows well from his time in the France side, not to mention the fact that Arsenal can’t even beat a team like Wigan these days.
That’s also the reason that Ajax central defender Jan Vertonghen might opt for Newcastle rather than the Gunners.
It had seemed a racing certainty that the 24-year-old would join Arsenal in the summer but The Daily Telegraph reports that Newcastle now fancy their chances of snaring the Belgian international. Magpies’ manager Alan Pardew watched Vertonghen in action for Ajax at the weekend and the Telegraph says it’s a sign that Newcastle are increasingly confident of pipping Arsenal to third spot, thereby qualifying automatically for next season’s Champion League.
Meanwhile AC Milan are preparing to make another attempt to persuade Manchester City to part with Carlos Tevez. The argumentative Argentine, who scored a hat-trick for the Sky Blues at the weekend in his first start since falling out with Roberto Mancini in September, has long been a matter of interest for Milan.
Italian rag Corriere dello Sport reports that Tevez almost made a loan move to Milan in January, only for the deal to fall through when City told the Italian outfit they would only offload the striker in a permanent transfer. Now it appears AC Milan will accept the proposition, paying City upwards of £30m in the summer.
And he won’t be the only new player heading to Italy in the close season, says Talksport, which reports that AC Milan are favourites to land Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa when June’s transfer window opens.
The 23-year-old has been in sparkling form this season for the German club and is out of contract at the end of next season. That’s alerted Milan, as well as Chelsea, and the pair are both vying for the services of the Japanese ace. But if the Blues want to sign Kagawa they’ll have to qualify for next season’s Champions League otherwise he’ll go with AC Milan who are guaranteed qualification for Europe’s premier competition.
In other news Russian website Tden has reported that Fulham striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has moved into Jose Mourinho’s old gaff in Chelsea, prompting speculation that the on-loan marksman will be turning his temporary residence at the Cottage into a more permanent stay.
Pogrebnyak joined Fulham on loan from Stuttgart in January and becomes a free agent in June. But speaking to Tden, the Russian said: “I like my life in London very much”, and hinted that he’ll be staying put at Fulham
Lampard reveals his biggest-ever challenge
FRANK Lampard says Chelsea's Champions League semi final against Barcelona poses the biggest challenge of his illustrious career.
The Blues midfielder, third all-time highest goalscorer for Chelsea, says nothing he has come up against has proved more challenging than what lies ahead.
"It is probably the biggest challenge,” said the man with a personal medals haul including three Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, two League Cups and two FA Community Shields.
"To play them in the semi-final stage now, there are not many teams that you'd fancy over two legs against Barca, the way they've played.”
Barcelona ended Chelsea's Champions League hopes in 2009 – when an injury-time goal from Andres Iniesta saw the Catalans advance to the final on away goals.
They went on to win the trophy that year - just one of three Champions Leagues they have claimed in the last six years.
Lampard added: “They've shown it over the last few years how well they've played. It's a huge, huge challenge, as big as anyone could probably take on.
"And if we win it, it'll be one of the biggest victories. But it'll only put us in the final and not winning the final. So, then the next (challenge) comes."
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Robin van Persie leading race for PFA award
Robin van Persie drew a blank against Wigan last night but is expected to be celebrating winning the PFA’s top award by the end of the week.
The prolific Arsenal striker was immediately installed as the odds-on favourite for the Players’ Player of the Year prize by bookmakers after being named among the nominees by the Professional Footballers’ Association yesterday.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker and the Manchester City trio of Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero and David Silva made up a six-man shortlist, but it would be a surprise if Van Persie is not named the winner on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Dutchman has struck 34 times in all competitions for the Gunners this season having shrugged off some of the injury problems that have hampered him in the past.
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor said: “He has been amazing.
“You could pick half a dozen of his goals out for goal of the season.
“Arsenal were struggling for some time but he was a real talisman for them.
“He seems to have lifted the team and got them back believing in themselves again and looking to qualify for the Champions League, giving all the Arsenal fans some hope.”
The huge impact made by Aguero since his club record £38million move to City from Atletico Madrid last summer is recognised by the fact he is also shortlisted for the Young Player of the Year prize.
The 23-year-old Argentinian has scored 28 goals for Roberto Mancini’s side.
Taylor said: “We have been really fortunate to have a player like Sergio Aguero here.
“He has been a major player for Manchester City and I am not surprised there is talk of Real Madrid wanting him.
“I think Manchester City should work hard to keep him because he is a joy to watch.”
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, who won the senior award last season, is this year nominated only in the young player category.
The 22-year-old Welshman is now regarded as one of the best left-sided players in the world and Taylor would love to see him play for Great Britain at this summer’s Olympics.
He said: “That would be brilliant. If he wants to play, and I hope he does, I think he should be given the opportunity.
“He fully deserves to be in a Great Britain team.”
Bale’s Spurs team-mate Kyle Walker, Arsenal prodigy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck and Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge are the other young players in contention.
Fulham v Chelsea ~ Player Ratings
Firstly let me apologise for the delay in these player ratings; however, they are being written under tragic circumstances. No-one likes to be awake before 7 am without their consent, much less a Uni student. Apologies if this comes through in my writing. But it presents me an extra hour in the day I wouldn’t otherwise have to write these up so, silver linings etc.
The time between the game and now hasn’t dulled the exhilerating feeling of experiencing last Monday’s SW6 derby either. A fairly open game where both sides, in stages, demonstrated their quality but I think it’s fair to say that we showed it more than them over the 90 and if it weren’t for a hugely dodgy penalty then we could have seen that reflected in the result.
Schwarzer – 6, againm another quiet game for Mark in goal! And that is huge testament to our defence. Thought his kicking could have been better but I can’t really remember him being forced into a real save or Chelsea bombarding him with crosses.
Hangeland – 7, another solid contribution from the lanky Norwegian. Blocks, solid marking, reliable as always when balls came into the box. Played a majestic ball down the left for Riise too.
Hughes – 7.5, I thought Hughes outshone Hangeland for the simple fact that he had the job (whether by choice or by demand) of looking after Torres, and the Spaniard barely had a kick. A few times he tried to peel off Hughes for the long diagonal but the defender covered him perfectly. Not to mention his vital tradmark interceptions from other incisive Chelsea passes. Also, it’s notable just how much Hughes has improved on the ball. We used to expect long balls down the channel; not any more, as he’s gathered a composure and confidence which enables the simple ball to be played effectively.
Kelly – 7.5, Kelly again continues his impressive vein of form. Kalou, despite being much parodied by the footballing world, can be fairly tricky on his day but his attacking contribution was nullified other than two fairly big moments; the first being the pen for a foul by Kelly which never was and the second a free header when he stole in between the centre halves but contrived to miss spectacuarly. Always willing to go forward too, Kelly was present in our offensive, as well as defensive, play.
Riise – 8.5, the most impressive aspect of our play was undoubtably the domination we had down our left hand side. The first half of our armoury on that flank was the full back Riise who had an absolute field day. Russ Goldman actually picked him out as a candidate for suprise performer of the match and that foresight turned out to be accurate as Riise surged forward with impressive resolve and quality. Pushing up so far as to break the Chelsea offside trap several times, firing in crosses too, but also defending well; my favourite Riise moment of the game was when he was injured and despite being way out of position chased back and performed a diving salmon leap to clear a pass out for a throw in. In a sense his defensive duties were helped by Ramires being played out wide, who despite possessing great athleticism isn’t a winger really at all. However, if Ramires was played there to neutralise Riise as an attacking threat then there was only one winner in that battle.
Murphy – 7, our captain was afforded extra space and freedom in the three man midfield and as usual he used it wisely. Spreading passes around for fun and knitting our defensive and offensive unit together neatly, along with snappy tackles and good defensive covering. Not sure why he came off early.
Diarra – 8, a masterclass in anticipation and interception. Diarra read the game beautifully from a defensive point of view and I lost count of the number of times he cut out Chelsea passes and broke up attacks with those interceptions and tackles, as well as covering runners from midfield. A couple of slack passes but his possession game was fairly sweet as we are beginning to expect from him; collecting the ball and moving it on swiftly and with intelligence.
Dembele – 7, a return to form of sorts. Dembele definately had more influence in the middle of the pitch than he had done in previous couple of games, perhaps aided with the relative staticness of Mikel and Lampard who Dembele can just drift pass effortlessly, and did. Joined attacks, but I am concerned with this apparent drop off in form after what initially appeared to be a masterstroke.
Frei – 8.5, part two of our left flank domination. Frei was exceptional against Chelsea last Monday. I cannot remember the last time I went to a game and expected something exciting to happen when a specific player recieved the ball. He tore Ivanovic to shreds, one of the premier right backs in the league. In a sense, he possibly should have done more with the opportunities he created for himself, but what a talent. My favourite thing about Frei is that he looks like he’s losing the ball every time he runs with it but it’s still totally under his control! (see: his run when he took on four Chelsea players and forced Cech into a save). He also suits Riise more than Kacaniklic. However I really would like to see him go down the outside, just once! Very impressive.
Duff – 7, not as dynamic as Frei but still had his part to play in the game. He covered Cole well, and when attacking was wise with the ball and didn’t lose it rashly, although we didn’t see him do too much damage to the defence. Nice corner taking though. We could have scored 3 in the 20 minutes he was taking them.
Dempsey – 8, you can’t stop this man. Even if he’s outnumbered with a defensive midfielder shielding balls into him he still played the forward role well, dropping off, turning at goal and doing damage (however it would have been interesting to see how we would have played with Pogrebnyak), playing a key role in our performance. And with his first, and only, solid attempt at goal, he scores. It took a deflection, that was obvious watching it live, which could get it taken away from him but let’s give it to him for now and marvel at the achievement of scoring 22 goals in a season.
~Subs~
Etuhu – 6.5, came on for Murphy and I was worried because I thought it’d disrupt our attacking patterns, and to be fair it did to an extent. However we needed him when Chelsea really pushed in the last few minutes and he did well.
Sa – N/A, nice to see Sa return after so long out but it will be interesting to see what happens to him come the end of the season. Did ok in his few minutes on the pitch and offered a bit of an outlet
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