Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has stated that his side are looking to progress to the latter stages of the FA Cup and Champions League, as he tries to defer criticism away from the club’s poor league form.
The Stamford Bridge outfit were beaten 2-0 by Everton on Saturday to see them slip down to fifth place in the standings, in what has been a poor season for the London side.
However, the Portuguese coach is eager to make amends by excelling in other competitions.
“There are two different competitions now ahead of us and two competitions where we want to show a different quality,” he stated to The Daily Mail.
“We have one week to prepare for Birmingham and then Napoli. They are two competitions where we are in a very good position and we have to rebuild confidence.
“We are in the last 16 of the FA Cup and we hope to continue to progress. That shows the spirit and resilience in a different competition,” he stated.
Villas Boas also took responsibility for his team’s defeat at Goodison Park, with preparation and selection issues to consider.
“I will reflect hard on my preparation and I will take full responsibility for the defeat.
“I think the players did everything they could to try to affect the result. Maybe I will have some retrospective of what I did and think about the preparation.
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“I will reflect hard with my technical staff on my decision-making,” he concluded.
Alex McLeish insists he is capable of leading Birmingham straight back to the English Premier League after they were relegated on Sunday.McLeish’s men were beaten 2-1 by Spurs at White Hart Lane, with a Roman Pavlyuchenko brace doing the damage for the Londoners and meaning Birmingham finished one point short of safety behind Wolves.
It was a season of contrasting fortunes for Birmingham, with their Carling Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley in February the undisputed high point.
But their league form dropped off badly after that triumph to see them become the first side since Norwich in 1985 to be relegated in the same season in which they lifted the league cup.
Nevertheless, McLeish insists he is the right man for the job and said he will rise to the challenge of life in the Championship when asked if he plans on staying at St Andrew’s.
“I don’t see why not,” McLeish told Sky Sports.
“I’ve been knocked down today but it’s not fatal and I’m going to rise to it again and pick myself up.”
“It’s going to be a pretty horrible few days – and whole summer I suppose – but I’ve got to get down to work to try and get Birmingham back into the Barclays Premier League.”
“I’ll chat with the chairman (Carsen Yeung) in midweek and see where we go from there. We know to get back (into the Premier League) we have to maintain the quality factor.”
“The players have got to fight on and rise to the next challenge. It’s not fatal. They’ve got to pick themselves up again; we as a club and a team have to do that as well.”
Spurs boss Redknapp, meanwhile, has hailed a terrific campaign from his men that saw them finish fifth in the league and enjoy a fantastic debut in the Champions League, progressing to the quarter-finals.
“It’s been an incredible season – the European adventure, beating Arsenal (away) for the first time (since 1993), going to Liverpool and winning.”
“We’ve had great games and this has been far and away the best season in the Premier League that Tottenham has had.”
“We have had an amazing season – it won’t get any better, enjoy it. This is good as it can get.”
“We have got to try again next year. We have got to improve the squad and go again next time but no one can complain at what they’ve seen.”
“Anyone who has got any brains will know it’s been an amazing season at Tottenham and that we’ve played great football. Anyone that does not enjoy it should go and support someone else.”
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has left both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres out of his squad for Thursday's Europa League clash against Napoli.
The former Fulham manager has also decided to omit Raul Meireles and Lucas from his 20-man squad as he attempts to juggle his team with Sunday's Premier League clash with Blackburn Rovers in mind.
Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger are not available for selection, but Christian Poulsen returns to the squad after missing Sunday's Merseyside derby defeat to Everton.
Meanwhile, Hodgson insists his players are in a good frame of mind despite their desperate start to the campaign, saying:"The players are very upbeat.
"The training session was very good – the intensity and concentration was as good as one would wish to see at any stage in the season. That, in itself, is very commendable when you are down.
"You can't deny that we are down. We are down because we aren't doing what we want to do, because the fans are angry and disappointed in us. We are down because we are at a great club and should be doing better.
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"Unfortunately the reason we aren't doing better is down to a number of factors. But it was great that we all rose above it and got out there and started playing again. Now we badly need that result or run of results that will at least take us into a safer position."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Australian international Jamie Maclaren would love a return to Hibs this summer, after a successful period on loan at Easter Road last season.
What’s the story?
Maclaren plays for German second-tier side SV Darmstadt but moved to Hibs on loan in January, impressing supporters with a series of strong performances, banging in enough goals to help the Leith side qualify for European competition.
Now it appears he wants to leave Germany behind for good.
The Scottish Sun say he has made it clear he wants to reunite with Neil Lennon at Hibs.
The paper say that a few would be required to make his switch to the Scottish Premiership permanent.
The player is currently rated as worth £900k by Transfermarkt.
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Should Hibs spend money on him?
Maclaren showed enough on loan last season to be worth a healthy bid from the Easter Road side this summer, especially given his desire to play for the club.
He scored eight goals in 15 appearances on loan, including a goal against champions Celtic, one against arch rivals Hearts and an incredible hat-trick in a 5-5 draw with Rangers in the final game of the season.
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Still just 24 years of age, he not only already has the ability to shine in the Scottish top-flight but also excellent long-term potential and resale value should Hibs take the plunge and pay the money to get him.
With Florian Kamberi already signed up ahead of next term, adding Maclaren is something the club should be prioritising this pre-season.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255571″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five outrageous World Cup stats you won’t believe are true”]
According to a from The Guardian published earlier this month, Steve Walsh’s tenure as Everton’s Director of Football could come to an end after just four transfer windows at the helm.
The last two have seen Everton shell out an incredible £200million, described by The Guardian as the costliest recruitment drive in the club’s history and the sixth-biggest spend of any team in Europe during that period, but the Toffees have suffered from an imbalanced squad – which many would argue was the underlying factor behind a torrid start to the campaign that saw Ronald Koeman dismissed in October.
Successor Sam Allardyce has weighed in as well, questioning the mental strength of the club’s signings and claiming they haven’t gelled as such an expensively assembled collection of high quality footballers should. Accordingly, Walsh’s position is said to be under review as criticism continues to grow.
But how many of Everton’s signings under Walsh have been complete disasters, and how many have actually proved to be good additions for the Mersyside club? We’re giving Toffees fans the chance to have their say on each acquisition by rating them as a transfer hit or a transfer miss…
Idrissa Gueye
The tough-tackling midfielder was snapped up from Aston Villa for just £7.1million following their relegation and has only rarely been left out of the starting XI when fit, particularly in the Premier League. But he hasn’t always protected Everton’s defence as well as expected and poor discipline has cost the Toffees dearly at times.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Arguably Steve Walsh’s best value-for-money purchase, Dominic Calvert-Lewin looks set for an incredibly bright future having already lifted the U20 World Cup with England and enjoyed runs in the starting XI under Ronald Koeman, David Unsworth and Sam Allardyce. He’s still lacking consistency though and has struggled to lead the line on his own at times.
Jordan Pickford
He’s been the undisputed No.1 since arriving at Goodison Park but Jordan Pickford’s performances have divided opinion. Even when bearing in mind the paltry efforts of those in front of him, the England international has conceded a staggering amount of goals, only keeping clean sheets in eight games. £25million is a heck of a sum to pay for a goalkeeper, especially one who appears perpetually hindered by his modest 6 foot 1 stature.
Ademola Lookman
Certainly an exciting asset but Ademola Lookman hasn’t quite made his way into the starting XI since arriving from Charlton Athletic in January 2017. Seemingly not content with a bit-part role on Merseyside, the promising winger is now on loan at Red Bull Leipzig for the remainder of the season.
Morgan Schneiderlin
A key player during Koeman’s time at Southampton, Morgan Schneiderlin had all the makings of a smart addition when he reunited with the Dutchman at Goodison Park. But the French enforcer has struggled for form – and even a place in the starting XI – and looks a shadow of the player who once earned a big-money move to Manchester United.
Davy Klaassen
Probably Everton’s biggest disappointment from the summer window. Davy Klaassen arrived with a preceding reputation from his time in the Eredivisie but has hardly made a mark on Merseyside, managing just 13 appearances across all competitions. Perhaps the Dutchman can fight his way back into the starting XI in time for next season, but it’s going to be a challenge.
Sandro Ramirez
He was one of the best strikers in La Liga last season but now finds himself loaned out to Sevilla after failing to fill Romelu Lukaku’s almighty void. Sandro Ramirez never looked like the right fit for the Premier League or Everton and there are understandable doubts over whether he has any future on Merseyside. On the other hand, the club will surely make a profit on his original transfer fee which was sourced through a cheap release clause.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has been arguably Everton’s best player this season, albeit struggling to truly influence games at times, but his preference for the No.10 role has created an endless selection headache also involving Gylfi Sigurdsson and has been key to the imbalance within the squad. Aged 32 and certainly past his best, Everton’s short-term gain in signing Rooney as part of the Lukaku deal has created more significant long-term issues.
Cuco Martina
It’s pretty obvious Cuco Martina will never be the greatest full-back to grace Goodison Park but capable of playing on either side of the defence and picked up without a transfer fee, he’s proved a useful acquisition at times this season. Then again, the former Southampton man’s lack of quality has been painfully evident and clearly had an impact on Everton’s modest defensive record this term.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
We’re still waiting for Everton’s club-record signing to reproduce the level of form he showed at Swansea City, where his dead ball deliveries and finishes from long range kept the Welsh outfit in the top flight. That’s no doubt a consequence of how poorly assembled this Everton squad is though, rather than a question of the Iceland international’s ability, and most Toffees fans will be optimistic of seeing more from Gylfi Sigurdsson next season.
Nikola Vlasic
A relative unknown before Everton snapped him up from Hadjuk Split but Nikola Vlasic has shown real promise during his early outings for the Toffees, the 20-year-old impressing as part of both the midfield and the attack in different systems and under different managers. There’s still a long way to go but £10million is a modest investment for a promising young player in this day and age.
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Ashley Williams
It’s safe to say Everton fans haven’t exactly warmed to Ashley Williams and his performances at times have been nothing short of catastrophic, with the Toffees often paying the price for the Welshman’s individual errors. But he wasn’t a particularly costly acquisition and has been involved in the most clean sheets of any signing under Steve Walsh – 24 from 71 appearances.
Cenk Tosun
Cenk Tosun was billed as the Romelu Lukaku replacement Everton failed to find during the summer but he’s endured a difficult start to life under Sam Allardyce, not being used in three of the six games he’s been available for since arriving at Goodison in January. The Toffees gaffer already appears unconvinced by the former Besiktas star.
Theo Walcott
A signing that appeared more Allardyce than Walsh-inspired, Theo Walcott’s enjoyed a strong start to his Everton career and has already given them some much-needed penetrative threat in attack. Toffees fans will be expecting a good end to the season too, with the England international’s place at the World Cup hanging delicately in the balance.
Michael Keane
Rated as one of the best defenders in the Premier League this time last season, Everton spent big on Michael Keane but are yet to truly reap the rewards. Injuries have been a factor too but the England international just hasn’t quite looked himself in Toffees colours and the form he produced for Burnley remains some way off. Nonetheless, Keane’s shown what he can do in the top flight and can still improve at 25 years of age.
In what is clearly a PR stunt to show the world how Manchester City plan to use their New York City franchise in the coming years, Frank Lampard was officially announced as a City player today.
Chelsea’s all-time top goal scorer once insisted that he would never play for another Premier League club once he eventually left the Blues. But, in an inevitable but extremely weird twist in his career, he’s joined the Premier League champions on loan until the new MLS season in the New Year.
This has prompted an expected reaction of sadness amongst the Chelsea fans who adored him and excitement amongst the City fans who are basking in the knowledge that their club can literally tempt whoever they want to sign up to their money-fuelled success story.
Here are some of the best tweets as the news initially broke and the first images of him wearing City training gear emerged this afternoon…
One of the all time classic Premier League fixtures takes place on Sunday, as Liverpool take on Newcastle United at Anfield.
Brendan Rodgers will have to pick his team up quickly, not for the first time this season, following a bitterly disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Swansea in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday.
Rodgers openly admitted his team were outplayed after the game, despite bringing on big guns Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez at half time.
Their last league outing also ended in disappointment, being denied a 3-2 derby win over Everton thanks to a wrong decision by the linesman. Luis Suarez was on target that day and in midweek, taking his goals tally this season to 9 in all competitons.
Newcastle go into the game on the back of a win, beating West Brom 2-1 last time out thanks to a late deflected Papiss Cisse goal.
Top scorer Demba Ba is a doubt, currently nursing a shin injury, with veteran Shola Ameobi hoping to deputise.
Liverpool may welcome back Pepe Reina, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury.
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Tottenham Hotspur’s link to Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish seems to be growing by the day.The 22-year-old’s future has become a talking point due to his club’s failure to beat Fulham in the Championship playoff final in May.Grealish’s controversial off-the-pitch moments seem to be behind him as he had a positive season in Steve Bruce’s team.In 31 appearances in all competitions for the Midlands outfit, the midfielder scored three goals and created eight assists.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255797″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Are Russia the worst World Cup host team of all time”]Tottenham swiftly emerged as leading contenders for Grealish’s signature and the latest reports coming from Sky Sports NewsÂclaim that the North London outfit have tabled a £15m offer.The report states that Villa value their midfielder at closer to £30m and would prefer to strike a deal with Chelsea as they believe that he will be loaned back to the club for next season.The Championship club are going through some financial difficulties, but it is believed that they do not feel pressure to sell their top star.Tottenham fans have been tweeting their thoughts on the latest development.
Everton found themselves in defensive chaos against Arsenal on Saturday, defeated 5-1 at the Emirates in the English Premier League.
Sam Allardyce’s team were no match for a resurgent Gunners side, undone by their new signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang, alongside hat-trick hero Aaron Ramsey.
Toffees supporters were left fuming by the performance and had harsh words for the debuting Eliaquim Mangala, who looked lost in the Everton defensive line across the 90 minutes.
On loan from Manchester City, Mangala was theoretically brought in to improve the Everton defence but will need rapid improvement if he is to win over his new fans in the weeks and months to come.
It’s unlikely they’ll have to worry about relegation, but supporters expect them to compete with most of the teams in the top-flight given their transfer outlay over the last 12 months.
Can Mangala start to turn things around at home to Crystal Palace next week?
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Openly criticising players in public has become a Premier League taboo, but following a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Chelsea two weekends ago, Tim Sherwood unleashed a ferocious analysis of his Tottenham squad on live television that left little room for the feint-hearted.
In a surprisingly emotional display, the Spurs gaffer told the Sky Sports studio; “(It happens) too often, too often and again today against the big sides. It’s disappointing to see.You’re 2-0 down with 10 men at Chelsea, you’re not going to win the game. But I expect to see a little more gut, a little bit more pride, a little bit more feather rustling.I don’t want to be the only one who ever shouts at them. I think they need to dig each other out every now and again and get the best out of each other.”
In this modern era of soft gloves and foreign players with big egos, many have backed Sherwood for the bold, refreshing and aggressive approach he took two weekends ago. A lot of what he said will certainly ring true with the White Hart Lane faithful, who have seen their side capitulate against big clubs they’re supposed to be competing with numerous times already this season. Their 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool in December cost Andre Villas-Boas his job.
But as refreshingly passionate as Sherwood’s speech may have been, let’s not kid ourselves that it was sourced from anything else than managerial naivety. It’s the type of unbalanced, unchecked and poorly-thought outburst you’d expect from a gaffer that’s been in the management game for a matter of months, unable to keep his cool after what was Tottenham’s worst performance under his leadership.
Perhaps, considering the intensity of the situation, that can be forgiven. But it was the timing of this public slamming that spoke volumes about the Spurs boss’s disturbing inexperience.
Let’s reconstruct that disappointing four-goal thumping at Stamford Bridge. Tottenham’s backline can be held at fault for all four goals, as Jamie Redknapp was quick to point out in the Sky Sports studio.
Under Sherwood’s tactical guidance however, Spurs started the match with Kyle Walker on the right wing and Aaron Lennon as a shadow striker. For the first 45 minutes it did the job, yet at no point in the first half did Chelsea’s goal come under any considerable threat, and with that in mind, it was always a case of how many goals the Blues would eventually win by rather than the result ever being in doubt. From Jose Mourinho’s perspective, he was always waiting for the Lilywhites to make the first mistake, although he probably didn’t anticipate they’d make four so costly.
The Lane gaffer didn’t instigate the defensive implosion, and in that regard, he has a right to be annoyed at the long list of individual errors you wouldn’t expect from a side challenging for Champions League qualification. But he sent Tottenham out working to a tactical formula that would never have resulted in a win – a scoreless draw was the best the Lilywhites could have hoped from that starting line-up – yet Sherwood failed to mention any of his own misgivings in an almost taboo post-match outburst.
Rather, everything was directed at the players. Usually, managers use the term ‘we’, as if to imply mistakes were made as a group, even if that may not be the case. Even this custom was bypassed by Sherwood, instead accusing his roster of a ‘lack of characters’ and his players of not showing enough gut and pride.
But when it comes to psychological baiting, especially of your own players, timing is everything. And rather naively, Sherwood’s was some way off the mark. If this public name and shame had come following a poor defeat to one of the Premier League’s more rank and file sides, or Liverpool for example, it would be completely understandable.
Rather, it came against a Chelsea outfit who currently don pole position in the English top flight, overseen by a manager who has never lost a league game in 67 outings at Stamford Bridge, in an away fixture that Tottenham haven’t won since Gary Lineker was their star striker. The result was disappointing and the performance disturbing, but a wealth of factors suggested the Blues had three points in the bag from the opening whistle. As Sherwood himself subliminally suggested, perhaps Tottenham as a club expect far too much.
Furthermore, the outcry came ahead of what was undoubtedly the most defining week of Tottenham’s season. The following Thursday, Spurs took on Benfica in Europe, and the home leg result would have vital significance to Tottenham’s continuation in the Europa League, whilst on Sunday they took on Arsenal in the second North London derby of their Premiership campaign after losing the first bragging rights clash in September.
Sherwood clearly thought that publicly announcing the entire squad were now ‘playing for their futures’, further remarking that he was ‘singing from the heart, not from the script’, would give them the kick up the backside required to turn their form around.
But in fact, the reverse has taken place. Against Benfica, Tottenham were outclassed by a Champions League standard defence in a 3-1 defeat, in turn highlighting the inadequacies of their own from the weekend previous, and facing their local rivals, Arsenal’s better quality on the ball told as the Lilywhites were reduced to a hit-and-hope, route one strategy going forward, before eventually losing 1-0.
It’s easy to criticise a manager when his plans, or in this case, his attempts at motivation, have backfired in terms of results. It’s worth reminding that Spurs were probably the better side against Arsenal at the weekend, controlling the game and the ball for a good eighty minutes.
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But Jose Mourinho has never entered a press conference without meticulously planning every detail and every controversial remark first. Sherwood on the other hand, in his own words, ‘sings from the heart’.
Had the Tottenham novice held his tongue, stepped back and considered the larger picture, perhaps he would have realised that adding to the scrutiny of a Spurs roster already absent in confidence after an incredibly heavy defeat of their own doing, would only further hinder the situation. It’s certainly increased the limelight on the Lilywhites over the last week, which can’t have made attempted revivals in form particularly easier.
Until recently, Sherwood was making a decent case for himself to continue his Tottenham tenure for at least another season. But with his naivety in the dug-out becoming more noticeable with every heavyweight contest the Lilywhites are involved in, Daniel Levy will surely feel compelled to turn his attentions to the far more experienced Louis Van Gaal this summer.
It’s not Sherwood’s fault – he never asked to be appointed Spurs boss when Villas-Boas got the axe. But the fact remains, in the grand scheme of Premier League management, he is still nothing more than a rank amateur.