The Merseyside derby has always been hotly contested despite protestations to the contrary from those who instead name it the friendly derby. However, since the inception of the Premier League the game has had more red cards than and any other. As a neutral, I always look forward to this explosive fixture and Sunday will almost certainly be no different given Liverpool’s desperation to share the spoils. It is the longest currently running top-flight derby in England, having been played at that level since 1962 when Liverpool were promoted to the First Division so naturally there have been some classics. Here are my top five:
1) Everton 2-3 Liverpool (Premier League, April 2001)
If you look back 9 years to this fixture, you will be reflecting on one of the most pulsating and tempestuous Merseyside derbies of all time. Liverpool were seeking to close a nine-point gap on third place whilst the Toffees were desperate for three points in order to combat the threat of a relegation battle. It saw 12 yellow cards, two penalties, a red card and five goals in total. Emile Heskey opened the scoring for Liverpool after just four minutes in wake of a claim for handball from Jamie Carragher, who then played it Dietmar Hamman. The German slid a clever pass into Big Emile who shrugged off Steve Watson to crash the ball past Paul Gerrard. Everton’s equaliser came on 42 minutes when Michael Ball crossed into the opposition penalty area and Kevin Campbell gave chase only to be tackled by Carragher. In Carragher’s attempt to prod the ball away from Campbell, he inadvertently prodded it to Everton’s big number nine, Duncan Ferguson for 1-1.
After the break Liverpool hit an Everton side that were dominating proceedings on the counter attack. As Robbie Fowler attempted pick out Smicer, the ball found its way, via a deflection to Markus Babbel who slotted it home. 2-1. Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler then missed a penalty before Everton won one of their own – Jeff Winter pointing to the spot following a lunge on David Unsworth from the already booked Igor Biscan and as Biscan went to run an early bath, Unsworth dusted himself down and smashed it Sander Westerveld. In an already frenetic game, there was to be a final twist. In stoppage time, Niclas Alexandersson fouled Gregory Vignal over 40 yards from goal and Gary McAllister curled the ball majestically past Paul Gerrard to win it for the red half of Liverpool.
2) Everton 4-4 Liverpool (aet, FA Cup 5th Round replay, 1991)
It was a crazy game which produced one of the most exhilarating FA Cup games of all time. Peter Beardsley put Liverpool 1-0 up with a simple half-volley from close range and the men in red looked comfortable until Everton hero Graeme Sharp met Andy Hinchcliffe’s cross at the far post and headed them level. It was Beardsley again to make it 2-1, shimmying his way past Martin Keown and placing his left foot shot past Neville Southall. It was beginning to heat up and Sharp levelled in the 73 minute after an infamous mix up between Grobelaar and defender Nicol to make it 2-2. Everton needed to rescue it in the final minutes after Ian Rush’s goal and Tony Cottee was the man to do so and take it into extra time. In extra time, you’d have thought for all the world Barnes had sealed a famous victory with his curled effort for 4-3 but Cottee nabbed another leveller in minute 114th of this classic. Dalglish bizarrely resigned following the game.
3) Everton 3-0 Liverpool (Premier League, September 2006)
Everton continued their great start to the season with this victory over their Merseyside rivals with Andrew Johnson scoring twice. They showed a ruthless streak in front of goal and stood firm in the face of a Liverpool revival to record the biggest derby win in 42 years. Toffees fans who look back fondly at that day, will have Pepe Reina’s fumble of Lee Carsley’s shot for Andrew Johnson to nod home at the forefront of their minds.
4) Everton 1-0 Liverpool (FA Cup 2009)
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Teenager Dan Gosling fired home the winner in this one with two minutes of extra time remaining to gift Everton bragging rights in this fourth round replay curling home a measured finish past Pepe Reina sparking wild celebrations from the Evertonians in Goodison Park.
5) Liverpool 3-1 Everton (FA Cup Final, May 1986)
Seven days after Liverpool had secured the title, with Everton coming second, the two met at Wembley for this historic FA Cup Final. Everton were appearing in their third successive final whilst Liverpool were bidding to be the third team in the 20th century to do the double. Gary Lineker latched onto Peter Reid’s 40 yard ball to open the scoring for Everton in the 27th minute. But Ian Rush equalised in the 56th minute and then five minutes later Johnston stabbed home for 2-1. There enough time for Rush to complete a brace with another goal late on linking up with Jan Molby. Bobby Mimms thwarted the Welshman in getting his hat-trick.
Liverpool manager has stated that he is happy to have Luis Suarez back in contention for the game against Tottenham on Monday night, and is relishing the opportunity to partner the South American with Steven Gerrard and Andy Carroll.
The Uruguay international will return to the Premier League fray against Harry Redknapp’s men, after serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra in a clash against Manchester United.
Dalglish is glad to have his first-choice attacking trident available, and feels the trio can aid the Merseysiders’ continued progression.
“I’ve been told the three of them have only played 60 minutes together,” he said at a pre-match press conference, covered by Sky Sports.
“For various reasons I don’t think they’ve had a great deal of time to play together on the pitch, but the West Brom game away in October comes to mind that Luis and Andy did well.
“Luis played Andy in for a goal that day and so we hope to see more of them together. I am happy we’ve got all the strikers fit and available at the moment. Within the team partnerships will develop,” he stated.
The Scottish coach went on to hail the improvement within the club over the last 12 months, as The Reds look to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since they finished second in 2008-09.
“We’re excited with what’s happening here lately and I think everybody can say they have moved the club on a little bit,” the trainer continued.
“We’ve made good progress. And I don’t think we need to look so much at the results against the two Manchester clubs to justify it.
“There was progress all along. The squad’s much stronger now than it was last year – which is progress.
“We can’t look back on ifs, buts and maybes in terms of dropped points at home, but we’ve still a lot of football to play,” he admitted.
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With Arsenal and Newcastle both winning over the weekend, the emphasis is on the Anfield team to match their rivals’ results to keep up to speed in the battle for fourth.
It could be assumed, that the majority of those living outside of central Africa would name Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s heavyweight title fight as the most significant sports news to emanate from Zaire in 1974. The now legendary bout, mostly referred to as the ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’ was held in Kinshasa in October of that year, resulting in Ali’s reinstatement as world champion following an eighth round knockout.
But for those actually living in the capital, and the rest of what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1974 is meaningful for an altogether different sporting occasion. That summer, Zaire became the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the World Cup, but their players and fans recall the tournament in West Germany with mixed feelings, despite the achievement of being the first black African representatives on global football’s grandest stage. “I was very proud, and still am, to have represented Black and Central Africa at the World Cup,” says former defender, Mwepu Ilunga. “But we had the erroneous belief that we would be returning from the World Cup as millionaires. We got back home without a penny in our pockets. Look at me now, I’m living like a tramp,” an incensed Ilunga told BBC Sport.
The retired right full-back remains bitter about several aspects of the ‘Leopards’’ campaign, most notably the fact that Zairean officials are alleged to have pocketed his and his team-mates’ wages for the tournament, something Ilunga would only discover mid-way through the group stages. The opening game saw Zaire defeated 2-0 by Scotland, but Ilunga claims that the players were told that they wouldn’t be paid at all, prior to the next match against Yugoslavia. “Before the Yugoslavia match we learnt that we were not going to be paid, so we refused to play,” claims the defender, who has since become a cult footballing icon for running out of the defensive wall to kick a Brazilian free-kick away in Zaire’s final first-round fixture. Unfortunately, the Leopards were thrashed 9-0 by Yugoslavia, having been persuaded at the last moment to attend the encounter, a result that did immense damage to the image of African football.
Following the humiliating defeat at the hands of Yugoslavia, the late Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire’s leader at the time, intervened directly in the team’s affairs. “After the match, he sent his presidential guards to threaten us,” remembers Ilunga. “They closed the hotel to all journalists and said that if we lost 4-0 to Brazil, none of us would be able to return home.” The unforgivable treatment of Zaire’s players at the World Cup was in stark contrast to the way they had been received following qualification, when Mobutu is said to have gifted each team member a car and a house. “Mobutu’s generals were so jealous of the gifts we were given that he had to buy them a car each, to keep them quiet,” Ilunga said. In their last game, Zaire lost 3-nil to Brazil, which allowed the team to return home free from the fear of retribution, but Africa’s first World Cup showing saw the Leopards record an unenviable statistic of conceding 14 goals without scoring a single one.
Fast forward almost exactly 36 years and 120 minutes, and Africa’s sixth and longest-surviving representative at the 2010 edition of FIFA’s esteemed international tournament are simply a 12-yard spot-kick from reaching the semi-final stage, a watershed moment in the continent’s history. By this point, the global audience had thrown their full support behind Ghana’s ‘Black Stars’ following Luis Suarez’s deplorable goal-line hand-ball, which prevented the West Africans’ justified progression. Their talisman, Asamoah Gyan, who had scored in three of the previous four games, struck the cross-bar with the game’s final kick, and despite redeeming himself by converting in the subsequent penalty-shootout, Ghana were eliminated following a 4-2 reverse.
The country’s desolate onlookers were at least able to assess their players’ performances with a considerable element of pride, despite Ghana just failing to erode the semi-final barrier which no African side has yet been able to. But what are the factors which have contributed to the vastly altered assessment of African national teams? Previously, one or two representatives at international level would be perceived, by the European media at least, as negligible whipping-boys, with less than technically-adept playing staff. This is clearly no longer a widely-held view, evidenced by the number of African players not only competing in Europe at club level, but also at the very highest echelons of European competition.
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It is worth mentioning that Africa’s footballing development coincided with the continent’s increased representation at World Cups. It wasn’t until the 1998 tournament in France, when the competitions’ format was adjusted to include eight more nations totaling 32 teams, that Africa was granted as many as five positions in the group phase. Of those five, only Nigeria progressed to the knockout stages where they were emphatically beaten 4-1 by Denmark, but one particular feature of the ‘Super Eagles’’ composition may explain the relative success enjoyed by several African countries since the 1998 World Cup. Although FIFA’s casual regulations pertaining to nationality requirements in international football allowed nine countries to benefit from foreign management in 1998, Nigeria’s performance under the stewardship of Serbian coach, Bora Milutinovic, encouraged future African World Cup contestants to acquire overseas direction.
The succeeding tournament hosted by Korea and Japan was remembered as much for Senegal’s impressive maiden appearance at a World Cup as for Ronaldo’s relentless form, as Frenchman, Bruno Metsu, led the ‘Lions of Teranga’ to the quarter-finals and a heroes welcome in the capital, Dakar, upon their post-elimination arrival. The acceleration of this trend reached a potentially damaging juncture last summer, when five out of Africa’s six attending nations elected foreign supervision prior to the continent’s first hosting of a World Cup in South Africa. Algeria were the only African representative with a home-grown head coach, – Rabah Saadane – but Nigeria’s conduct in releasing manager, Shaibu Amodu, three months before the tournament highlights a much broader concern within African football. “A lot of people [in Africa] still have the mentality that the European knows more,” said Thomas Mlambo, a distinguished television presenter and analyst on the South Africa-based sports network, SuperSport. The fact that Amodu was sacked following not only the remarkable achievement in qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup, but also in leading them to a third placed finish at the African Cup of Nations last year, emphasizes this confusing ‘mentality’ which inspired the Nigerian Football Federation to replace the 52 year-old with Lars Lagerback, who was only available to take the helm having failed to guide Sweden to the finals tournament.
Many will have questioned the decision to remove a coach who had spent two years conditioning the team, and succeeded in meeting his short-term objectives, with a manager who had recently failed to accomplish a similar target and with almost no knowledge of the country’s footballing traditions and philosophy. Amodu was actually sacked in a replica scenario prior to the 2002 World Cup and is unlikely to accept a fifth stint as Nigerian head coach should the opportunity arise. An Ivory Coast fan described the unusual racial barrier most African coaches face, and perhaps goes some way to explaining the seemingly irrational choices many African football federations have made recently: “The players have more respect for whites,” says Bienvenue Kehedi, a 26 year-old student in Abidjan. “An Ivorian can’t assert their will against the players because he tries to keep on the side of all the players and is scared of taking tough decisions.” Although European leadership may have assisted a few African nations in achieving their World Cup aspirations before last summer, the continent’s relatively poor showing at the 2010 tournament was interpreted by many as a sign of African football’s static development based on the dependence on foreign coaches.
The 1995 World, European and African Player of the Year, and Liberian legend, George Weah, has claimed that overseas influences are only serving to harm the progression of the sport in Africa. “In 1999, I addressed international coaches at FIFA and I said it; they come to Africa to coach but they are not the right people for the African team because they are not developing our players, they are just making the money, come for vacation and that’s it,” the former AC Milan forward stated. Weah implied that the Ivory Coast’s, Cameroon’s, Algeria’s, Nigeria’s and hosts South Africa’s premature elimination should act as a wake-up call to provoke a change to the continent’s process of pursuing European management. “The European coaches are not the best for Africa. Some agree with me, some they don’t. Look at the statistics of the World Cup, since Africa started hiring European coaches, only the Africans coaches have done well,” Weah concluded.
The three-time African Player of the Year (1989, 1994 and 1995) may be right in some respects, but the continual appointment of foreign coaches embodies a natural corollary to African players’ increased presence in the European leagues. The employment of European coaches makes sense considering a large number of modern African national teams consist of mainly European-based players, evinced by a Sven Goran-Eriksson selected Ivory Coast squad containing just one Ivorian-based player out of 23 – the third-choice goalkeeper. There is certainly a growing feeling amongst many Africans that a change in organizational structure at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is required to assist the development of the presently insufficient, and future, African coaches. With a campaign being led by Weah, arguably the continent’s most recognized footballing and political exemplar, it is not inconceivable to imagine prospective World Cups being contested by African nations guided by African managers. “We have to believe in ourselves, believe in our people. Give them the support to be trained and to develop our teams,” pleads Weah. “The CAF needs to wake-up, we need an institution for coaching in Africa. Our people don’t need to go to Europe, they need to stay in Africa and train.” Weah is certainly fighting a valid cause, because in spite of Africa’s varying successes under foreign managers, it would be catastrophic to witness a repeat of Ghana’s Serbian coach, Milovan Rajevac’s, inexcusable despair following the Black Stars’ 1-0 victory over Serbia in last years’ tournament. Africa’s sudden and meteoric ascension to the top of European football’s consciousness must not halt now, and with a burgeoning pool of talent swarming every region on the continent, it is time for the national federations to cultivate the hidden coaching talent to avoid future disappointment, and maintain the extraordinary progression.
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Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle has admitted that he will soon start contract talks with in-form striker Johan Elmander.
After making the move to the Reebok Stadium from French side Toulouse in a club-record transfer deal in 2008, the Swede struggled to make an impact under former boss Gary Megson.
But after notching four times in seven outings this term, Coyle believes he is seeing the best in Elmander alongside recent England debutant Kevin Davies.
"I have had a chat with the chairman and the owner as you do and, when the time is right, which shouldn't be too far away, I'm pretty sure we'll get round to trying to sort something out on that," Coyle said.
"Johan knows that he has a manager that believes in him and wants him at the football club.
"He is playing ever so well, he is showing what a good player he is and he looks like he is enjoying his football, which is important for him. Long may that continue.
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"I believe I have a quality striker on my hands in Johan Elmander and it is for me as a manager to try and nurture that and bring the best out of him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
There’s nothing quite like seeing a player progress through the youth system and do the business on the main stage. Emerging from the wilderness of grass roots football to compete with the best in the world in the Premier League. The inclusion of young Anthony Forde over the last month or so has once again helped whet the appetite of Wolves fans, who keenly wait the arrival of the next ‘wolf’ off the production line.
Although there may be plenty of talent in our youth set-up, very rarely has it shined through in recent years. Wayne Hennessey is the latest to be classed as first team, after he was thrown in at the deep end back in 2007. Covering for an injured Matt Murray, the young Welshman was handed his debut in the play-off semi-final against West Brom – a game Wolves lost 3-2. Since then, bar a few spells where he found himself out of the team to the likes of Marcus Hahnemann, Hennessey has become a regular name on the team-sheet.
Since Hennessey, there has been little to talk about down at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground in terms of gems. Although there has been plenty of talk of international appearances and youth tournaments, none of it has been transferred onto the Molineux turf.
There was once a time when we heavily relied on our youth system as a way of putting together a team every Saturday, and many of those players have gone on to experience hugely successful careers. I’ve had a look around and picked out some of the best ‘cubs’ to have mixed it with the best.
Robbie Keane – Arguably the best product of our youth system, it is no secret that most Wolves fans would love to see the Irishman back in old gold and black. With combined transfer fees pushing past the £70 million mark, captaining his country, and a career spanning the globe, Keane has become a very recognisable name in football and done his Wolverhampton roots proud. That said, it might be difficult for Wolves fans to see him donning the Aston Villa shirt for the next couple of months.
Joleon Lescott – There was always an agreement in the stand that Lescott was destined for great things – and he has not disappointed. After leaving to join Everton, he went on to join mega-bucks Manchester City for a transfer fee that only we could dream about spending on a player. Now a regular member of the England squad, what we wouldn’t give to have Lescott back at the heart of our defence to help bring a bit of structure back to our infrastructure.
Matt Murray – Regarded by fans and the media alike as ‘the best goalkeeper England never had’, the giant goalkeeper was one of the best to ever hold the number one jersey at Molineux. Despite having his career cut short by injury, there is no doubt that the play-off final hero would have gone on to achieve great things at Wolves, and maybe beyond. Happily, Matt has put his injury problems behind him and is carving out a successful career both in the media with Sky Sports, and at Wolves as a Community ambassador.
Lee Naylor – An example of ‘local lad done good’. Although only spending one year in the English top flight with Wolves, Naylor picked up plenty of silverware during his time in the SPL with Celtic. Two SPL titles, a Scottish Cup, and an SPL Player of the Year award – Naylor definitely made an impact. Naylor is also one of very few graduates, along with the likes of Keane and Lescott, to have competed against Europe’s elite, having played in the Champions League .
While we have been quite lucky in producing players such as this, Wolves fans must be wondering when the next superstar will come out of Compton. The internationally-capped Jonny Gorman is yet to make a league appearance for the club, while Zeli Ismael was once predicted to be the ‘first £100 million player’. Yes, it may be much harder to break into the first team in the Premier League with such a high level expected of players.
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But why not give a player a chance? Forde has shown over the last few games that he is in no way out of his depth and has not looked out of place in the first team. This is a promising start and I for one hope we see more youngsters given the opportunity to shine. Ten minutes here and there, the odd cup game, a couple of loan spells all of it can help. Just remember, every superstar has to start somewhere, and that next superstar could be cleaning Roger Johnson’s boots as we speak.
Tottenham Hotspur outcast Niko Kranjcar is almost certainly going to leave White Hart Lane this summer, after opportunities for the Croatian International have become almost nonexistent this season. The player himself has made his feelings clear on his desire to leave and it looks a nailed on certainty the former Portsmouth man will be heading for pastures new. He was quoted in the Sun yesterday morning as saying “Is there a point of beginning next season as a bit-part player? None whatsoever.” With this in mind, the player would be an excellent addition to the Newcastle United squad, and is an option I would hope Alan Pardew would consider.
Regardless of his evident ability, Kranjcar has failed to break into Harry Redknapp’s starting line up playing second fiddle to a number of quality players. Redknapp has preferred to play either Modric, Huddlestone, Jeans, Sandro or Van der Vaart ahead of him in the central midfield role. Kranjcar has only completed 90 minutes once in the league this season and only made two starts, incidentally during one of which he scored a stunning goal against Sunderland. Whether the Croatian would be interested in a move to Newcastle or not is unknown, but he would definitely bring a creativity to the Newcastle midfield that was missing in yesterday’s game with Liverpool.
The article in The Sun quotes Kranjcar as stating he would be interested in a move to Italy, “I would definitely be interested in moving to Italy. I think I would adapt quickly to Italian football.” If Newcastle were to show an interest in the player he may well be interested in prolonging his Premiership career, however this is all assumption.
Newcastle’s current midfield is blessed with talented players, Nolan, Barton and Tiote all of who bring significant qualities, but there does still appear to be a spark missing at times. Newcastle need a player who can unleash rasping shots from 25 yards, a player with quick feet who can spot a through ball and I see Kranjcar as that man. Usually when a player becomes unwanted, as it appears Kranjcar is at Tottenham, the opportunity to secure a bargain can arise and I can’t see Spurs wanting much more than £5-6 million for the player. Unfortunately I don’t make the transfer decisions at Newcastle and I’m sure Alan Pardew has his eye on a selection of players already. However, I feel the chance to buy a player of Kranjcar’s class would be a great acquisition for the Toon Army and not seizing upon Kranjcar’s availability would be a mistake in my book.
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Newcastle made a last ditch attempt to buy back Charles N’Zogbia in the January window for a reported £10 million pounds. If they are willing to part with that sort of money for the Frenchman, buying Kranjcar for possibly half the price is a no brainer! If it transpires that Kranjcar heads to Italy, not only would the Premiership lose a talented player but someone with proven Premier League calibre will have been overlooked by Newcastle.
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Dimitar Berbatov fired in a sublime hat-trick to inspire Manchester United to a deserved 3-2 victory over arch enemies Liverpool on Sunday. Roy Hodgson’s side were completely overwhelmed by United and their rejuvenated Bulgarian, who scored an 84th minute winner to dash any Liverpool hopes of grabbing a point after the unlikeliest of comebacks. So what did we learn about Liverpool after this defeat?
The jury remains out on Hodgson
After a dismal seventh placed finish last term, Liverpool have started this season under the guidance of new manager Roy Hodgson in similarly poor form. There was certainly no traditional honeymoon period for Hodgson who has faced Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United in the opening five league games of the season. The former Fulham man has failed to beat any of these sides and has faced criticism for his selection and tactics.
The decision to take off the increasingly influential Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles for Milan Jovanovic immediately back-fired with Berbatov scoring the winner within five minutes of the change. Despite Meireles struggling with fitness towards the end, the former Porto playmaker was causing United problems with his pin-point passing and substituting the largely anonymous Joe Cole may have been a better option.
Hodgson also came under fire for changing from Rafael Benitez’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system to a 4-4-2 at Manchester City earlier in the season, where they were comprehensively beaten 3-0. Liverpool were completely outnumbered in midfield that day and Hodgson will know that every decision and tactic will be under the spotlight during his tenure at Anfield. The Reds have managed just five points in five games; however Hodgson will be positive of improved results after navigating a difficult run of games.
Torres remains frustrated up front on his own
Fernando Torres struggled to make an impact on the game over the first 45 minutes and was well marshalled by the centre-back pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans. After receiving initial support from Meireles, Hodgson changed the badly faltering system by bringing on Frenchman David N’Gog for the ineffectual Argentine Maxi Rodriguez on the hour mark.
N’Gog was the perfect foil for Spaniard Torres, with the youngster running in behind United’s defence and allowing Torres to isolate one of either Vidic or Evans. This paid dividends and helped bring Liverpool back into the game when Torres was fouled to win the penalty and free-kick, incidents which helped bring Hodgson’s side level. Torres has previously profited from the playmaking abilities of Xabi Alonso and the support of Steven Gerrard and will receive more service once Hodgson has adapted his preferred system and a settled side.
Liverpool look fragile defending set-pieces
Despite having a solid defensive record at Liverpool, Rafael Benitez was repeatedly criticised for his insistence on zonal marking. Hodgson is also a fan of zonal marking and is credited with introducing the system to Scandinavian football during spells at Halmstad and Malmo FF.
Hodgson has yet to fine tune his new side in defending set-pieces and they looked unclear on their responsibilities against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who took full advantage. Torres was the culprit, foolishly left man-marking (if you can call it that) Berbatov as the evergreen Giggs floated in a corner just before half-time. The Bulgarian didn’t even have to jump to direct a deft header past Pepe Reina for the opener. Hodgson will know extra practice on the training ground is needed to alleviate such mistakes.
Hodgson has yet to find the right system
Roy Hodgson’s preferred system is the 4-4-2 tactic he used to phenomenal success in guiding Fulham to the Europa League final last season. Under Benitez Liverpool played with a fluent 4-2-3-1 system and Hodgson has continued to use this during the opening months of the season. While a brief change to a 4-4-2 system at Eastlands ended in a 3-0 defeat.
New signings, Joe Cole’s suspension and Dirk Kuyt’s injury means Hodgson has yet to name an unchanged line-up in the league. Cole, Gerrard and Meireles have all been deployed in the second striker role, while the central midfield axis has rotated between Lucas/Christian Poulsen and Lucas/Gerrard. The Reds do not have the right personnel to successfully deploy a 4-4-2 and it may take a few games for Hodgson to find the right formula in the final third.
A tough season ahead for Liverpool
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This season was always going to be a tough one for new manager Hodgson, given the arduous task to rebuild a Liverpool side short on confidence and with a minimal budget at his disposal.
The Reds have been disappointing so far this season, but could have easily been three more points better off and up to fourth had they held their lead for another minute against Arsenal and grabbed an undeserved point at Old Trafford. Liverpool have had a difficult start and will improve, but will struggle to break back into the top four this season.
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Liverpool old boy taking the Championship by storm
Mario Balotelli came off the bench to score an injury time penalty give Manchester City’s title ambitions a major boost as they beat Tottenham in a pulsating encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
A drab and goalless first half came to life after the break as City raced into the lead with two goal lead courtesy of quick fire strikes from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott only for Spurs to peg them back almost immediately. Jermaine Defoe halved the deficit within 90 seconds before Gareth Bale levelled proceedings to complete an astonishing turnaround in 10 frantic second half minutes. With the game poised on a knife edge the visitors sat back as Roberto Mancini’s men poured forward in search of a winner. It was left to Balotelli to provide it in the fifth minute of added on time stroking home from the spot after he’d been fouled by Ledley King. Harry Redknapp was incensed that the Italian was still on the pitch after his innocuous stamp on Scott Parker went unnoticed by referee Howard Webb as Spurs’ title challenge took a massive hit. The league leaders, on the other hand, stretched their lead over rivals United to six-points ahead of the Red Devil’s trip to Arsenal later in the day.
It was an important win for City and in particular Mancini who was under pressure following Redknapp’s comments earlier in the week stating the Italian boss could face the sack if the title wasn’t delivered to the Etihad in May. He certainly won’t be happy with the way his side played in the first half as Tottenham tried to make the most of their early dominance. The speed of Bale down the left and he would have been celebrating an assist if his low whipped cross had been converted by Defoe at the back post. Still, the hosts were always dangerous whenever they managed to attack and Sergio Aguero should have given them the lead but could only fire wide from six-yard before Scott Paker scuffed a 20-yard stroll wide at the other end. Silva then fizzed a low strike wide of Brad Friedel’s post after good work from Aguero before the Argentinean saw an effort of his own saved well by Spurs’ veteran keeper. That was as good as it got in a cagey first forty five minutes with no one anticipating the storm that was brewing as both teams came out after the break.
Nasri was the man to finally break the deadlock 10 minutes after the restart blasting home after being found by a precision pass from Silva in the games first real moment of quality. Within three minutes the advantage was doubled as Edin Dzeko flicked a Nasri corner on to Lescott who pounced to bundle the ball past Friedel and put City in control. It looked as if the Spurs supporters were in for a repeat of the 5-1 thrashing they suffered at White Hart Lane back in September but to their credit Redknapp’s men showed incredible resolve to haul themselves back into the game. Barely 90 seconds after the hosts’ second goal the North Londoners were back in it as Defoe seized upon a mistake from from Stefan Savic to latch onto Younes Kaboul’s long ball, round Joe Hart and roll into an empty net. It got even better just after the hour as Bale bent a delicious first time effort into the top corner after being teed up by Aaron Lennon who has skipped inside Micah Richards far too easily. The visitors then opted to sit back as the league leaders attacked with vigour in search of a winner with Mancini throwing Balotelli into the mix with just minutes after the equaliser. It didn’t take the Italian long to court controversy as Parker blocked his 20-yard striker before appearing to catch the midfielder with his boot in the aftermath as Spurs appealed vehemently. Defoe then narrowly missed out on connecting with Bales fizzing cross before Balotelli tumbled in the box under a challenge from King to fire home from 12-yards to bring the contest to an exhilarating conclusion.
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Hearts gave up a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League Championship group play-offs on Saturday.Jim Jefferies’ side had a three-goal buffer after 52 minutes but gave up the lead after John Sutton’s second, either side of a goal from Tom Hateley, clinched Motherwell an unlikely point.
Full-back Craig Thomson put Hearts ahead from the penalty spot in the 26th minute after Steven Saunders fouled Ryan Stevenson.
Midfielder Rudolf Skacel doubled their advantage 10 minutes later after playing a one-two with Irish striker Stephen Elliott.
When Stevenson scored their third seven minutes after the interval it looked as though Hearts would romp home.
But a Sutton goal was followed by a free-kick from 21-year-old Hateley to bring the score back to 3-2 with half an hour to play.
A cross from Gavin Gunning was met by the head of Sutton to score a dramatic 88th minute equaliser.
The draw leaves Motherwell in sixth, two points behind Kilmarnock, while Hearts are seven points clear of Dundee United with Celtic and Rangers well clear at the top.
Dundee made the perfect start to the play-offs with a 4-2 win over Kilmarnock.
Striker David Goodwillie struck a brace either side of half-time to help United open up a 4-0 lead before Kilmarnock hit back twice late on.
After a lively start to the contest, it took 25 minutes for Dundee to find the opener through Scott Severin.
He rose highest to head in a corner from Craig Conway for his first goal of the season.
Goodwillie doubled the lead seven minutes before the break when he headed home a cross from Conway.
In the space of three second-half minutes the game was over when Goodwillie headed in another Conway cross from the right and the provider of the first three goals struck from long-range to cap off a fine performance.
Portuguese substitute David Silva pulled a goal back with a low strike in the 70th minute and midfielder Manuel Pascali headed in another three minutes from time to make it 4-2.
Kilmarnock are left eight points from United after the loss.
Having witnessed Karl Henry and Joey Barton go toe to toe, although boot to face might be a more appropriate term, it made me think of great personal feuds that the Premier League has played host to. When Wolves rock up at St James Park are we in line for another midfield battle as the two players lock horns again? Here are some of the Premier League’s best. Let us know of the others.
5. Nemanja Vidic v Fernando Torres
Not all battles have to be physical. Nemanja Vidic can be a colossal player for Man Utd, dominating teams at times and putting up a near unreachable barrier, but no player gets under his skin more than the electric Spaniard. Not being able to cope with Torres is by no means a shameful thing, but Vidic is excellent and yet Torres is like kryptonite to the Serbian. As good as Vidic is, he much prefers an aerial battle, or a grittier match up, rather than being made to run on the turn. Having been sent off three times against Liverpool, Vidic is definitely on the losing side when it comes to this head-to-head, and all eyes will be on the personal battle when the two teams meet at Old Trafford in less than two weeks’ time.
4. Peter Schmeichel v Ian Wright
A battle between two hot-heads that boiled over during the two meetings of the 1996/97 season. Old Trafford in November saw allegations of racist remarks aimed at Wright by the Great Dane, although these were never proved and the case was dropped. It did however add spice to the return fixture in North London the following February. In one fifty-fifty challenge, Wright apparently lunged in two-footed, which caused one of a number of altercations during the match, as well as being pulled apart in the tunnel after the final whistle. Still, they managed to make up enough to share a BBC sofa and agree a pact of neither man being able to offer anything close to an opinion……about anything.
3. Sir Alex Ferguson v Arsene Wenger
From 1998 to 2004, Arsenal and Manchester United were the only real contenders to the Premiership crown. Throughout that period the two men hurled insults at each other, led their teams to brawls on the pitch, and were of course responsible, for the now infamous ‘pizzagate’. Although during the period, things began to get a little petty, the bitterness has now gradually morphed into mutual respect. The relationship that Fergie had with Wenger, and then Mourinho afterwards, is a loss to the league. Maybe Fergie should make fun of Ancelotti’s eyebrow?
2. Cristiano Ronaldo v Ashley Cole
Ronaldo has publicly said Cole is the best opponent he has ever faced. Cole says he misses Ronaldo being in the league. A rivalry at the highest level of pace and skill that graced both the domestic and international stage. Cole was embarrassed by Ronaldo early on and vowed never to be so again, even having the gall to show United fans the pocket he was keeping him in on an Old Trafford night. Cole’s performance in Euro 2004 against Ronaldo is one of the best full-back performances of all time.
Watch their battle here.
1.Roy Keane v Patrick Vieira
Although not intentionally featuring so many United players, there was never going to be another contender for the top spot. Like Wenger and Ferguson above them, the two captains and talismen were at their best when they faced each other. Both capable of creativity and destruction, arguably the two greatest central midfielders the Premiership has ever bore witness to, were cut from the same cloth. Of all their meetings, a particular pre-match tunnel confrontation springs to mind. Even the referee told them to “save it for the pitch lads!” Better than all of that, is the pathetic attempt by Gary Neville to stare down Vieira during the handshakes at the end of the clip.
The two in the tunnel
Who have we missed out? Let me know by commenting or following me on twitter where you can get updates on my articles.
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A welcome addition to the Premier League’s Wag arena – Click on image below to view gallery