Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has hailed the team's battling qualities following their 2-1 Premier League victory over Blackburn Rovers.
The reigning champions fell behind to Benjani's opener at Ewood Park, but stormed back and claimed another three points to maintain their grip at the top of the pile.
Efforts from striker Nicolas Anelka and defender Branislav Ivanovic ensured the spoils went to the Londoners and the Czech Republic shot-stopper was delighted with the turnaround in Lancashire to ensure their five-point lead at the summit remained intact.
"It's important when you don't play well that you pick up points," said Cech.
"That makes the difference. It was a positive performance in terms of showing the character and determination to win.
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"Everything didn't go well but we still won, and this was a massive three points. Manchester City lost, the gap is still five points which is good and we have put pressure on the other teams."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
When NESV finalised their take-over of Liverpool, sighs of relief were audible across Merseyside as the black cloud that was the ownership of George Gillett and Tom Hicks passed over, and Anfield was once again bathed in sunlight. But new Liverpool owner John W Henry is not one to paper over cracks and has announced that it is very unlikely Liverpool will spend big money come January.
Speaking to fan website Red and White Kop, Henry said;
“The club has gone through a very difficult period and the period has not ended. We saw a certain team on the field against Chelsea last week that showed what they can do. We also know how competitive the EPL is this year. There are no guaranteed matches any longer for any club. This club can be better. Blaming the manager or any one particular player is simply wrong. This club needs to play up to their potential every match. If they don’t, they won’t win.
“That said, we have work to do and must invest in this club to improve it on the field. Can that be successfully done in January? A number of people I’ve talked with doubt it. Most people seem to think it will be the summer before we can really begin to improve. So the players – all 11 each week – have to be on the same page every match and have to live up to the history and respect this club has engendered – no matter what.”
But is Henry right not to seek an immediate overhaul? In my opinion, yes. NESV have the long term interests of the club in mind when they make statements and take decisions like John Henry has here. There is no quick fix to the problems at Liverpool football club and NESV have spent most of their time in charge putting out fires. For every one that is seemingly put out (victory against Chelsea) another springs up from nowhere (defeat at Stoke), and Henry and his cohorts have to get these problems under control first, both on and off the pitch.
The rebuilding of a football club takes time and as Henry himself notes;
“…Our philosophy in football will be based on the long-term”
So while it seems this season Liverpool won’t be mounting a late surge for the title, or even the Champions League places, by retaining their key assets and looking to build a legacy at the club, NESV and John Henry may well begin to aid Liverpool in sustained silverware challenges in the not-too-distant future.
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Chelsea’s statement that they will consult Carlo Ancelotti if and when a replacement for Frank Arnesen is needed, seems to me like a case of piecemeal lip-service from the Stamford Bridge board after what appears to be a case of blatant disregard for the 51 year-old Italian.
Having guided Chelsea to their first ever domestic double in his first season in charge, Ancelotti achieved even more than the ‘Special One’ did in his opening season at the club. For this fact alone, the Italian should be lauded in west London, not treated the way he has been over the past few weeks.
Chelsea’s poor run of form has been as a result of many different factors, most notably on the pitch, where the absence of several key players, including captain John Terry and midfield duo Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, has been paramount to a dip in performances.
However, off the pitch life has been anything but settled, and with his right hand man, Ray Wilkins, having been acrimoniously dismissed of his duties, one could sympathise with Ancelotti being more than a little disgruntled with the way he has been treated by the upper echelons at Chelsea.
In addition to this, not only has Ancelotti lost Wilkins, but he has also had the services of Michael Emenalo thrust upon him, all of which is enough to unsettle anyone, and with the news the Frank Arnesen will also be leaving the club, the structure Ancelotti has been used to at Chelsea is fast falling away from him. But the question remains, have the actions of Chelsea football club showed disrespect towards Carlo Ancelotti?
The answer must simply be yes. How can a man who wrestled the Premier League trophy back from Old Trafford after 3 years at Manchester United be treated with such contempt? With the miraculous start to the season Chelsea had made, how could he have the carpet pulled from underneath him in such a disrespectful manner? Yes the absence of players has hit Chelsea hard, but through treating their staff in the way they have, the board has disrupted a fully functioning background team as well.
Offering Ancelotti a say on Frank Arnesen’s replacement is about the least Chelsea can do considering the happenings of the last few weeks, and the way Ancelotti has been treated may well see him making an exit well before his time at Chelsea.
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All 12 Scottish Premier League clubs have reached an agreement to cut the sides in next year’s top-flight to 10.In a meeting at Hampden Park, it was agreed by the clubs that a 10-team top division would be better than the current format.
The clubs came to an agreement that would see the second tier involve 12 clubs and the SPL will now speak to the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Football League about the idea.
“The Scottish Premier League clubs today reaffirmed their commitment to the work of the Strategic Review Group to develop a structure for the whole of Scottish football,” an SPL statement read.
“Broad support was given to progressing a 10 team Premiership and a 12 team Championship at the top of a pyramid for Scottish football as the preferred option.”
“The SPL clubs have asked the executive team to further develop aspects of these proposals and to update the Strategic Review Group’s report.”
“The SPL will now consult with the Scottish FA and the Scottish Football League and its clubs before a final decision by the SPL clubs.”
The 10-team format was preferred to a 14-team top-tier that had also been mooted and it is believed that other Scottish football clubs will vote on the proposal in the next few months.
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“All 12 clubs have agreed to the statement today so hopefully this gives us a mandate to move forward,” SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said.
The decision for the clubs to agree on a 10-team Scottish Premier League is somewhat surprising, given the fact that a recent Supporters Direct poll showed 90 percent of respondents did not want a top division with only 10 teams.
Tottenham put in a high quality away performance in the Premier League this evening to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and move within touching distance of the top four. Spurs’ class was typified yet again by Rafael van der Vaart, who is proving to be a real steal for Harry Redknapp this season.
It was van der Vaart who opened the scoring after a frantic start to the match, with Luka Modric’s raking cross field pass finding Alan Hutton, who crossed to the Dutchman who in turn neatly finished in the corner. Tottenham were then harshly reduced to ten men as Jermain Defoe was sent off for an alleged elbow on James Collins, but Spurs continued to expertly keep hold of the ball. Tottenham’s second goal was a thing of beauty, with a break that involved Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon coolly finished by van der Vaart again. Spurs had to withstand some late pressure as Villa pulled a goal back, but were well worth the three points that extends their fantastic run in the Premier League.
So what five things did we learn about Tottenham today?
Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has followed David Villa’s lead in warning of Almeria’s threat in their Copa del Rey clash on Wednesday.
Barca crushed Almeria 8-0 when the two sides met in La Liga in November, but the former has since improved their results in a bid to avoid relegation and have won four of their last six games in all competitions.
David Villa sounded a warning on Monday that Barca would not have it so easy when Almeria visit Camp Nou for the first leg of the tie, with his manager Guardiola echoing his comments a day later.
“In the cup, they’ve won six games out of six (games) and they’ve scored 10 goals in their last three away games,” he said.
“Probably it is the most important draw of their history and they are the same as us in that they are just one step from a Spanish Cup final. (Albert) Crusat and (Pablo) Piatti are very dangerous when they have some space. (Leonardo) Ulloa is in excellent striking form and he’s a really dangerous player when (the ball) reaches the goal area and he heads the ball well.”
“On a defensive side, they play differently from how they played with their previous coach. We’ll see. We’ll see if we’re able to grab a good result that will allow us to travel to Almeria with options of qualifying for the final.”
The heavy loss to Barca spelled the end of Juan Manuel Lillo’s tenure at the club, with Jose Luis Oltra ushering in a far more positive run since his appointment.
“It’s been a while now since the club decided to change coaches,” Guardiola said.
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“What was valid is therefore no longer valid. Now we must just look into what they’ve done since Jose Luis Oltra started coaching them.”
The second leg takes place on February 2, with the winner set to face either Real Madrid or Sevilla in the final.
Newcastle United lost 1-0 to struggling Fulham at Craven Cottage in a performance which got life after Andy Carroll off to a gloomy start.
A 67th-minute strike from former Newcastle player Damien Duff was enough to condemn the Tyne and Wear side to their first defeat of 2011.
Alan Pardew’s team shocked their own fans and the wider football world by selling prize asset Carroll to Liverpool for an astonishing 35 million pounds on Monday.
And the performance of Carroll’s former cohorts in the Newcastle attack hardly pointed towards a bright future.
His replacement target man Shola Ameobi was forced off the pitch after just thirteen minutes with a fractured cheekbone after connecting with Steve Sidwell’s elbow as they jumped for a high ball.
And this proved to be the only incident of note in an uneventful first half.
But the home side seized the initiative after the break and attacked with more verve.
The first clear chance of the game fell their way five minutes after the restart. Clint Dempsey scuttled down the left wing and fired a low drive at Steve Harper’s legs but Damien Duff skewed the rebound wide.
Newcastle soon fashioned a decent response in the form of a teasing cross swung in from the left by Danny Guthrie, but Leon Best headed just over Mark Schwarzer’s bar.
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Just after the hour mark Harper was forced into a one-handed save at his near post, as Dempsey dribbled into the area and unleashed a testing shot on target from 12 yards.
Damien Duff was the man on hand to torment his former club on 67 minutes, latching onto Danny Murphy’s long ball over the top and calmly slotting past the onrushing Harper.
Gael Kakuta came close to sealing the victory on his debut for the west London team, but his shot from 10 yards sailed straight into the chest of Harper.
Manchester United are renowned in the Premier League and the world over for bringing through a whole host of excellent young players and have a never-ending production line at Old Trafford, but they also scour Europe for the finest talent around and Paul Pogba is one youngster the Red Devils have managed to bring in.
The 17-year old Frenchman was signed from Le Harve in 2009 and has impressed so much for Manchester United’s youth team that Sir Alex Ferguson has included him in some senior squads this season. He’s said to play in a similar style to French World Cup winner Patrick Vieira, and like current Man United midfielder Paul Scholes, have a penchant for scoring a screamer or two.
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Check out the video below to see just what all the fuss is about Manchester United starlet Paul Pogba…
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Arsenal missed out on the opportunity to cut the gap between them and Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table to just one point, as they were held to a goalless draw by Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal were largely off the pace in the first half, but Arsene Wenger will feel that in the second half his team had more than enough chances to earn all three points. Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh were both denied by the woodwork as Arsenal pressed for the winner, but Sunderland held firm at the back and could have even won it, but for a fine save from Wojciech Szczesny. It was one of those days for Arsenal, and one they might look back come the end of the season as a telling one in the Premier League title race.
So what FIVE things did we learn about Arsenal today?
Following Manchester United’s defeat at Stamford Bridge last week in the Premier League match, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a different stance on referees from the Wigan game. Ferguson was livid over the penalty decision and the red card for Nemanja Vidic whilst David Luiz was able to escape punishment.
Ferguson said “It was a major game for both clubs and you want a fair referee, you know … You want a strong referee, anyway, and we didn’t get that. I don’t know why he’s got the game. I must say that, when I saw who was refereeing it, I feared the worst.”
The referee in question was Martin Atkinson and Fergie’s comments over the referee’s ability prompted a response from Alan Leighton whose union Prospect represents match officials.
Leighton said “The ball is in Sir Alex’s court. I’m less interested in whether he’s charged than removing this stigma from the referee at Stamford Bridge. The referees are saying that if one is questioned then it questions them all. None of them want their integrity impaired. So the best way would be a retraction.”
In other said news, Manchester City defender Kolo Toure failed a drugs test that could see him face a lengthy ban but the Ivorian defender claims it was because he took his wife’s diet pills. Former manager of Toure, Arsene Wenger spoke on the matter: “He wants to control his weight a little bit because that’s where he has some problems and he took the product of his wife.”
And Toure’s advisor Valer Gourizo explained more on the defenders apparent mistake… “He blames himself. You can’t blame anyone but yourself in this situation. He can’t blame his wife, can he? He didn’t know there was anything in the pills. Sometimes you do things but he didn’t realise the consequences. He does now.”
Also players who favoured the ‘snood’ AKA neckwarmers will no longer be able to wear the accessory on the pitch after FIFA banned it starting from next season.
Sepp Blatter said “A snood is not part of the equipment and it can be dangerous, even like hanging somebody. The decision was unanimous. There was not even a discussion because this is not part of the uniform.”
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Since the comments after the Chelsea game, Sir Alex Ferguson has not spoken to the media and the bookies have created odds on Fergie not speaking to the media for the rest of the season. Especially since Ferguson has held a grudge against the BBC for as long as I can remember, could the same be said for the likes of Sky Sports?
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Liverpool record a 3-1 victory over rivals Manchester United at Anfield with a Dirk Kuyt hat-trick and Andy Carroll coming off the bench to make his first appearance for the Reds. Kenny Dalglish has certainly made an impressive start to his return to football management and it will be interesting to see how Liverpool can finish the season.
Arsenal’s League Cup final hangover hasn’t been helped with the 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland last Saturday and knocked out of the Champions League last night against Barcelona. Despite the sending off of Robin van Persie and the referee’s bizarre performance in general, Arsenal fans may want to look at their captain Cesc Fabregas, whose back heel outside his own area gifted Barcelona the ball that led Lionel Messi to score.
Fabregas was also seen greeting and hugging the Barcelona players when the teams lined up in the tunnel before the game. Would it of made a difference if Fabregas took the approach of such captains like Gary Neville? Who despite being friends with opposition players, would be seen focused leading his team out for an important match.
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