AC Milan captain Alessandro Nesta is confident his team’s defence is in good form ahead of the Supercoppa Italiana clash with rivals Inter.The Serie A champions conceded three goals in two games at the Audi Cup last week as they finished last in the four-team tournament, which also featured Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Internacional.
But Nesta, 35, said he was confident the defensive line was playing well ahead of Saturday’s game at the Beijing National Stadium.
“I think AC Milan’s defence played very well last season, together with the rest of the team. In the second half of the Italian league, our rivals only scored seven times against us and not many teams can say the same,” he said on Wednesday.
“Furthermore, this year we were joined by (Philippe) Mexes, who at the moment is not well but is recovering. We also have (Taye) Taiwo and Thiago Silva, who is a world-class player.”
“Therefore, I think AC Milan’s defence is in good form as it is.”
The fierce rivals have never met in a Supercoppa final, but Inter – having won the Coppa Italia – will be aiming for their sixth title. League title holders Milan are also out for their sixth Supercoppa trophy.
It is the first competitive Milan derby to be played outside of the city’s iconic stadium, the San Siro.
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AC Milan begin their Serie A title defence at Cagliari on August 27, while Inter start their season at home to Lecce a day later.
Whiz, bang, crunch, pop, wow, zing, whoosh, krang, smash, ding. Just some of the sounds that will have gone through the heads of Sky executives when planning the latest installment of their Super dooper mega whacky manic mental Sunday madness.
As usual, their unswerving dedication to ramping up the hyperbole for their televised matches to somewhere between a Fox News military bulletin and the straight to DVD Steven Segal sequel of another straight to DVD Steven Segal movie got the better of them, although at least this time there was the legitimate excuse – and tantalizing prospect – of three passionate local derbies (of which Sky had two) and two of the most attack minded teams in the league going at it in a top of the table mega mental super whammy title clash. Boom!
Introducing us to this pleasatronic spectacle was – as always – waxed handed presenter-droid and Andy Gray’s personal pet Richard Keys and stalwart rent-a-pundit and shirtless Thomas Cook rep Jamie Redknapp, for some reason dressed in a 19th Century gentleman’s low cut tuxedo waistcoat, but unfortunately still in some unavoidably distracting 21st century shiny skinny trousers. Joining this duo, who’d arrived at White Hart Lane a full five hours early to sit uncomfortably on plastic chairs and watch the preceding matches on presumably small monitors, was Dwight Yorke, dressed as a kind of garish curtain and with an orange chocolate liquor wrapper sticking out of his top pocket, in a presumed attempt to look like a sophisticated dapper Englishman about town.
After some precursory promotional whiz banging, we were whisked off to St Andrews where the second City derby was about to commence, before quickly bleeding into the Merseyside one with as little rent-a-punditry as possible. This quick tracked relay approach to football broadcasting does at least come with that blessed upshot, allowing the viewer to relax quite comfortably in front of a days worth of action without being literally-ed to death (but not literally) by Redknapp and whatever vaguely connected former – or possibly injured – player they’ve managed to cajole onto an uncomfortable looking plastic bar stool for five hours. The insight of these guests rarely stretches beyond how “well the lads done there”, and despite the infrequent exception of some surprisingly analytical players (Jamie Carragher and Andy Cole spring to mind) they’re preferably ignored all together, along with Redknapp. Literally.
After a lively Brum derby in which a smoke bomb and a streaker added more neutral enjoyment to a game in which Villa hit the home bar four times -a feat they haven’t achieved since Paul McGrath was in the side – the attention fell on Anfield, where the return of King Kenny was being hyped up to suitably excitable levels.
No whooshing or clanking or zoomed close ups cut in sequence to the theme music from Requiem for a Dream could possibly have made adequate replacement for the real emotive moment of the afternoon however, as Dalglish stood parentally in the dug out being serenaded by his faithful crowd to the tune of their favorite Rogers and Hammerstein number. There are still few spectacles in football better, and all the more poignant for its complete antithesis to Sky’s Americanized whiz pop presentation values.
The game itself was all you’d want from a Merseyside derby, except perhaps in terms of actual quality, with Liverpool fans perhaps starting to realize that it might not be all evil uncle Woy’s fault after Everton overturned a their one goal deficit within what seemed like seconds of the second half. Liverpool drew level from the penalty spot but it was Everton who pushed forward for the winner later on, albeit almost entirely in the style of an Allardyce side, with Marouane Fellaini acting as a sort of fuzzy beacon for up field hoofs. The performance of Fernando Torres will have given Dalglish some comfort however, and it was an entertaining spectacle for it’s openness alone.
After some brief reflection from Jammers in which we were reminded helpfully that there were “some positives in there for Liverpool… and some negatives too” which was almost certainly literal, we were whisked off yet again, this time to where we were anyway, and had been all day, back to White Hart Lane.
Unfortunately what was supposed to be the show stopping headline act turned out instead to be a rather damp squib, which are always at least partially enjoyable just to see how Sky attempt to put a positive spin on it.
As little as three games into the season Andy Gray had wasted no time in telling viewers how much better the Premier League (that Sky had) was already than the World Cup (which Sky didn’t) and even during the most lackluster of games he finds it excruciatingly hard to admit they might have picked a duffer, instead relying on admirably stubborn phrases like “fascinating” “delicately poised” or “still anyone’s game”
As it happened this game had started well, which Gray had wasted no time in telling us, but it died down into a bit of a mess by the second half, as both teams forget completely how they’d scored so many goals this season, and so thus it remained ‘delicately poised’ for the duration. Most of the highlights came from United’s mop headed mentalist full back Rafael, who seemed to be playing on far too much caffeine, like an excitable puppy on heat who’s accidentally been given coffee and then pointed in the direction of a group of females. After receiving one booking mid-way through the second half, it was obvious to pretty much everyone watching that he’d eventually go, though few foresaw the second booking being so tame, such was the reckless abandon with which he was approaching both defending and attacking.
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The cliché of the Brazilian fullback is thankfully alive and well. And so is the giant walking, talking, whizzing, popping and banging cliché of Sky Sports television. But hey, it could be worse, it could be iTV!
You can follow Oscar on Twitter here http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary for hot fun late night cha….err….innocent public discourse on a number of topical matters.
It was a frustrating 90 minutes as England spent a lot of time without the ball, camped in their own half against France in their opening Euro 2012 fixture. It is a less than desirable tactic but one that is frequently proven to provide results. In an attempt to encourage the England team to become more forceful in possession Martin Keown suggested in The Daily Mail that Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker should rotate in the midfield in a similar manner to that with Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger did to devastating effect for Germany against Netherlands. But these are very different players and would it really be to England’s advantage to try and replicate this tactic?
Khedira and Schweinsteiger played as the deep-lying midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation for Joachim Low’s side but did not restrict their attacking movements. In fact, the Bayern Munich midfielder supplied the assists for both of Germany’s goals in the 2-1 wins. While it proved to be a success for Low’s team, Gerrard and Parker lack the dynamism of the German duo possessing a combined 11-years more.
Gerrard himself recently admitted in an interview with ITV that his years of bombing forward to join the attack are beyond him. Instead he must make his influence known from a deeper position, aiding the forward momentum with his wide array of passing.
In terms of his midfield partner, while Parker may have added the odd attacking injection during his time at Charlton Athletic, he lacks the finesse in the final third to make a telling contribution to the attack. He should not be encouraged to get forward simply because it worked for Germany. Even Khedira as a typically defensive player is a far better playmaker than the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder. That is not to disparage Parker, he is exceptionally good at what he does, so why change it?
We should not focus on emulating other countries and instead make the most of what he have in abundance: pace. Players such as Theo Walcott, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck all possess terrific acceleration, as does Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. England would benefit most from using this to stretch teams and get in behind. In the current 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 there is too much pressure on Gerrard and Parker to get forward with James Milner on the left it limits the options available when going forward.
The problem that comes with relying on speed however is that most teams defend against it by setting their defensive line deep, reducing the room for players to make the piercing run in behind. With the main complaint of England that they sit back too much and do not control the ball, the use of fast players in the wide areas could help over turn this.
By forcing the opposition to defend deep Steven Gerrard would be more readily able to help join the attack, adding an extra bit of class on the ball that is so frequently needed to forge the best of openings. In a 4-3-3 formation Scott Parker could sit and hold while the hard-working James Milner and Gerrard rotate in the responsibility of joining the attack.
In a 4-2-3-1 England could really make the most of their pace. When Wayne Rooney returns for the final fixture against Ukraine he could be used behind the striker as he so frequently likes to drop behind the play and pick up the ball. He could be supported from deep by Gerrard who would be required to attack less, enabling him to use his experience to pick the most opportune moments to venture forward.
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While the excellent displays of Germany and Spain in the this round of fixtures have been particularly inspirational, England should not pretend to be something they are not. It is unwise of Keown to suggest so and instead we should make use of what is so readily available to us.. When you are trying to loosen a bolt you pick up the spanner, not the hammer.
Schalke won the German Super Cup 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.Kevin Grosskreutz and Ivan Perisic had penalties saved for Bundesliga champions Dortmund, with goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann, brought in to replace Manuel Neuer, the man to deny them for Schalke.
Lewis Holtby, Edu and Benedikt Howedes all netted their spot kicks for Schalke, before Jurado sealed it for last season’s German Cup winners.
The game got off to an exciting start as Dortmund created their first real chance after five minutes.
Ilkay Gundogan took a corner kick on the right and his cross found Robert Lewandowski in the penalty box, who in turn hit the post with a header from seven yards out.
Schalke’s answer came 10 minutes later when Benedikt Howedes headed over the bar from close range after managing to squeeze past Mats Hummels and Felipe Santana.
Dortmund slowly began to take control of the game, creating two great chances just before the half-hour mark.
First, Chris Lowe went close with a fine shot from the left side of the box, following a delightful one-two with Shinji Kagawa, and then Gundogan tried his luck from 15 yards out, but Fahrmann stood strong to parry his shot.
Jurgen Klopp’s men enjoyed their best chance of the first period moments before the half-time whistle when Robert Lewandowski was denied by Fahrmann in a one-on-one.
The second half picked up where the first ended with Lewandowski culpable again for a glaring miss.
The Polish striker was released by Mario Gotze with a delightful through-ball, but shot just wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Schalke were forced to defend deep in the following minutes, and had Howedes to thank in the 57th minute when the centre-half somehow managed to clear Kagawa’s cross, narrowly denying Lewandowski.
Gotze missed a glorious chance shortly afterwards when he failed to beat Fahrmann with a low finish from outside the box.
Schalke were not without opportunities and did threaten through Holtby, while substitute Jan Moravek also failed to beat Roman Weidenfeller.
But despite the teams’ best efforts, the scoreline remained unchanged, forcing the contest to be settled on penalties.
Hamburg Sporting Director Bastian Reinhardt will fight Real Madrid to retain the services of striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.Van Nistelrooy, 34, has been linked with a surprise return to Spanish giants Real, who are down to just one fit striker after Gonzalo Higuain was ruled out through injury.
Dutchman Van Nistelrooy left the La Liga outfit for Hamburg in January 2010 after a three-and-a-half years in Spain, but manager Jose Mourinho wants to bring the former Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven striker back to the club as a short-term solution to the injury crisis.
Van Nistelrooy is said to be keen on the move, but Hamburg are not prepared to let one of their prized assets leave without a fight.
“I can understand him, but in my opinion, HSV is bigger than Real Madrid,” Reinhardt said.
“I am responsible for HSV and have the responsibility to look after the interests of HSV and not Real Madrid or any particular player. We have no interest in letting him go.”
The proposed departure of Van Nistelrooy is not the only cause for unrest at the Bundesliga club, with former Germany international Matthias Sammer and retired Hamburg favourite Horst Hrubesch rumoured to be in line to replace under-fire manager Armin Veh.
Veh remains the subject of speculation surrounding his future, despite easing the pressure with a 1-0 win away to Schalke on Saturday.
Hamburg lie in seventh on the Bundesliga table, but are 19 points from league-leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Central defender Joris Mathijsen credited the victory over Schalke with lifting the mood at the club.
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“It’s much better here, better than before the winter break,” Mathijsen said.
“Back then, you never felt secure, but that has changed since last Saturday, we were very good.”
Manchester City have identified Montpellier attacker Younes Belhanda as a possible summer transfer target, according to The Daily Mail.
The Etihad Stadium outfit have their hearts set on signing Lille’s prodigious talent Eden Hazard, but will face competition from some of Europe’s top teams for his signature.
It is believed that Belhanda is a fall-back option for the current Premier League leaders should a move for Hazard not materialise.
The Morocco international has been pivotal in unexpectedly leading Montpellier to the top of Ligue 1 title this term, chipping in with 12 goals and being shortlisted for the Young Player of the Year award in France.
Belhanda has also been tracked by a number of other leading European sides, and has a transfer value of around £10 million.
The African is adept on either flank or as a second striker, and will be considered by City should Hazard chose to sign for another club.
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Liverpool have announced the signing of Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni for an undisclosed fee.The 31-year-old will put pressure on the English Premier League club’s number one Pepe Reina, who has been a regular at the club since signing from Villarreal in 2005 and has been rumoured to be a target for other teams in the past.
Fringe Brazil international Doni follows midfielders Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam as off-season arrivals to Anfield, with Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing set to join them.
Liverpool director of football, Damien Comolli told Liverpoolfc.tv: “We are delighted to sign Doni. It’s a position we felt we had to strengthen because it will allow our young goalkeepers to go on loan and get some experience at some point during the season, which is crucial in their development.”
“We are getting a very experienced goalkeeper who is used to handling the pressure of big games and international matches with Brazil. He had a very good end of last season with Roma, so we are very pleased.”
Doni spent time at Botafogo, Corinthians, Santos, Cruzeiro and Juventude in his homeland before signing for Serie A club Roma in 2005.
He made 179 appearances for the capital city club during his six-year stint in Italy, twice winning the Coppa Italia alongside a SuperCoppa Italiana title.
Doni has represented his country on 10 occasions and was part of the squad which won the 2007 Copa America.
His arrival at Anfield is tipped to spell the end of Brad Jones’ stint at the club.
Another trip to the San Siro for Tottenham in their quest for Champions League success. The North Londoners will recall the last time they faced AC Milan in European competition that they defeated the Italian giants on their way to UEFA Cup success, and although the chances of Harry’s men going all the way this time is unlikely, they certainly have enough ability to defeat the current leaders of Serie A.
At FFC we have seen a mixed bag of articles which includes Tottenham facing €4m battle; five things fans want in their stocking and variety needs to be the spice of life for Spurs.
We also look at the best Tottenham articles around the web this week.
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A Champions League guide to Milan for Tottenham fans
Tottenham on transfer alert as January sale likely
Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs – what is the best move for City ace?
The Top TEN Premier League prospects for 2011
Spurs swoop highlights Liverpool’s plight
Tottenham face €4 million battle for Serb
TEN players at a career crossroad
Tottenham Christmas Stocking Fillers
FIVE things Spurs fans want to see in their stocking…Harry take note
Variety needs to be the spice of life for Tottenham
Top TEN most wanted PL transfers in January
THREE Spurs players I would be happy to see leave in January
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Click here to see the best TOTTENHAM blogs around the web this week.
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Daniel Levy, stripped bare and naked – Dear Mr Levy
The ‘Glass More Than Half Full Society’ – Spurs Musings From Jimmy G2
Pienaar, Gomes and All The Cranberry Stuffing You Can Eat – Who Framed Ruel Fox?
Spurs 1-1 Chelsea: Make Sense of That If You Will – All Action, No Plot
Spurs Are Good At Impressions – Harry Hotspur
This is what it’s going to be like now…all the time – Dear Mr Levy
Luke Shaw is dominating the newspaper columns at the moment due to his relationship with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.
The England international has often been publicly criticised by the Portuguese coach, who has questioned the left-back’s fitness and dedication over the last two seasons.
At the weekend, the 22-year-old came under fire again as Mourinho criticised the player’s performance against Brighton.
United ended up winning the FA Cup quarter-final tie 2-0, but Shaw only played the first 45 minutes as he was hauled off after the half-time break.
This latest outburst from Mourinho has led to reports that the left-back could be on his way out of Old Trafford this summer.
Everton fans are one particular group that have been debating whether Shaw would boost their team.
Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has suggested that it would make sense for the Englishman to join Tottenham Hotspur to reunite with manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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Shaw played under the Argentine at St Mary’s before making a £30m switch to Old Trafford in 2014.
While speaking to Sky Sports News, Le Tissier said:
“Having worked with Pochettino before and spoken highly of him, it would seem obvious for him to go to Tottenham with Danny Rose potentially going the opposite way as he is obviously desperate to get back up north.”
It’s coming up to one of the most congested times in the English footballing calendar where clubs either reap the rewards or slide down the table as the new year approaches.
The abundance of fixtures can test teams in a variety of ways as the games approach thick and fast. One of the greatest challenges the schedule brings is the physical demand it can have on an entire squad. For example, if a team has a thin squad but are forced to play three games in eight days, they will become very tired and the risk of injuries will increase. The current goalkeeping situation at Newcastle United is occurring at the worst time for the club, who will be forced to rely on an emergency loan throughout the winter period.
The games are stacking up for Newcastle after they played their fourth game this month against Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup. Their run of games against Sunderland, Manchester United and Everton are not the easiest and they will certainly be targeting whatever goalkeeper starts for Newcastle.
Another crucially important aspect of the winter fixture list is form. If a team puts a couple of wins together, momentum gathers and a serious amount of points can be gained over December. It brings a fresh impetus into the New Year and can really turn a club’s season around. Looking at Manchester United, three wins against Aston Villa, Newcastle and Tottenham could see them seriously mounting a title push after their poor start to the season. December plays a key part in teams’ confidence due to the fact that over the years, many have looked towards Christmas as a point of clarification.
For example, the phrase ‘bottom by Christmas’ is used a lot by pundits and fans to determine what the table will look like at the end of the season. Over the years, the table hasn’t changed dramatically in a positional sense from the end of December to May, which is why many see the winter schedule as one of the most important times of the year. By the time December is over, all Premier League teams would have played everyone at least once, meaning that teams will set realistic targets based on how well they have done in the first half of the season.
If results do not go as planned, teams will suddenly start to panic and will try to avoid terrible runs of form. This is why the January transfer window is perfectly placed for clubs to do business immediately after a packed fixture list. Clubs can identify where they need strengthening but getting hold of the ideal player in January is never an easy task. This is where ‘panic buying’ can really cripple teams, especially the ones struggling at the bottom. Forcing new players to immediately gel with a squad in the winter window can create more problems than solutions.
In fact, the current players will lose confidence in their own ability as the manager has looked to other new players to turn the season around. Although the window can help clubs fighting at the bottom, it can also create bigger problems that can cause teams to sink to the bottom of the league. The other side of the debate surrounding the January window is the fact that clubs with talented individuals will attract the interest of bigger clubs. Although it has become more commonplace for big names to stay put in January, the appeal of a bigger club and a higher wage packet can lead to players leaving which puts a lot of pressure on teams to find a replacement in a very short period of time.
Overall, a team’s season is shaped by what happens in December. Southampton need to make sure that they have a good winter schedule as they need to stop a run of five defeats in a row increasing. West Ham could cement their challenge for European places as points against Chelsea and Arsenal would be a bonus at this stage. Looking at the bottom, Leicester are in danger of slipping away as they are five points off safety already so Nigel Pearson’s men need one big turn-around to get out of trouble.
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December is a hectic time for every Premier League club but one thing’s for certain, it really does make or break a club’s season.