Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has stated that the club’s fans who booed Arsene Wenger in the club’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday should remember what he has done for the club.
The French manager replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with out-of-form Andrei Arshavin in the second half of the loss, much to the distain of some of the supporters.
The Poland international is full of respect for Wenger, and has stated that the Emirates Stadium faithful should stand by their coach’s convictions.
“No one will ever forget [what he’s done],” Szczesny told The Telegraph.
“I think he’s still doing a fantastic job and that’s not a question, really, his position at this club. He’s done a magnificent job over the 15 years and he’s still doing it now.
“So I don’t think his position at this club should ever be questioned. Fans have their opinion. They’re entitled to their opinion and they show it in the way they do. That’s fine with me.
“I think this club should be in the Champions League, year in, year out so I understand the manager’s point, absolutely.
“We’ve been there before and we’ve reacted very well. I think we’ll do the same thing again and make sure that this club goes in the right direction and we finish the season where we should.
“There’s a lot of pressure. Obviously, fans expect us to do better than what we’ve been doing. I’m confident we will pick ourselves up, we’ll win games and we’ll get our position in the Champions League.
“I’m not worried. I’m disappointed, obviously, but I’m still confident we can do it. It should be a big confidence boost for us, the likes of Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna coming back, Kieran Gibbs as well. They’re very important players for us.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“Hopefully, we can deal with all the pressure that’s around us at the moment and live up to the expectations because these fans and this club deserve better results than it is has got in the last few weeks,” he concluded.
Leeds United dropped out of the Championship playoff places after drawing 0-0 with Reading on Friday.Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was the hero for the visitors, constantly thwarting the Leeds attack.
The closest the home side came was through a dazzling run from Bradley Johnson.
Johnson did all the hard work to break his way through the Reading defence early in the second half, but he struck the crossbar from just inside the area with McCarthy beaten.
Young substitute Sanchez Watt had a glorious chance in stoppage time after getting past McCarthy, but he poked his shot wide with his back to goal when he had more time than he thought.
While Reading remain fourth, the draw leaves Leeds in seventh place on goal difference after Nottingham Forest recorded a 3-2 win over local rivals Leicester City.
Forest twice gave away the lead but eventually secured all three points after Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale allowed a late effort from Paul McKenna to squirm under his body and make it 3-2 at the final whistle.
The hosts led through a header from forward Marcus Tudgay 15 minutes into the match at the City Ground.
Visitors Leicester equalised five minutes later courtesy of midfielder Matt Oakley’s drive from outside the area.
Forest keeper Lee Camp got a hand to the shot and might have been expected to keep it out.
It took until the 73rd minute for Forest to restore their lead, with striker Robert Earnshaw netting from close range after Weale could only parry Lewis McGugan’s strike.
Again Leicester levelled quickly – this time in less than a minute – when substitute Darius Vassell pounced to make it 2-2 after Camp failed to hold fullback Kyle Naughton’s shot.
Leicester appeared set to take a point and put a serious dent in Forest’s playoff hopes, before the speculative effort from McKenna and Weale’s error six minutes from time combined to hand Billy Davies’ side victory.
In other matches, relegation-threatened Scunthorpe gained a point with a 1-1 draw away to Coventry City.
Ramon Nunez equalised for visitors Scunthorpe after Marlon King put Coventry ahead in the fifth minute at the Ricoh Arena.
A draw leaves Scunthorpe third from bottom, three points behind Crystal Palace, who occupy the safety of 21st place.
Palace also picked up a point in a 0-0 draw away to Doncaster Rovers, who are just two points and one position better off in 20th.
Want-away Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano finally got his wish today as Liverpool have accepted a bid of around £18 million from Barcelona for the Argentina captain. Mascherano’s relationship with the club reached an all time low on Monday when the Argentine withdrew himself from the squad to face Manchester City. Mascherano’s decision to withdraw from the squad came about due to the fact that Barcelona had tabled a bid for his services and both he and manager Roy Hodgson felt that he was “not in the right frame of mind” to play for the club. Mascherano’s refusal to play for the club even though they pay him an exorbitant amount of money to do so is hugely disrespectful and unprofessional.
It is disrespectful to the fans who have paid their hard earned money to support the club and watch their players play, only for one of their best to mock their loyal stupidity by refusing to play and leaving the team severely depleted. It is a huge disrespect to a club of the stature of Liverpool for a player to openly demand a move from such an exalted club; a club which rescued Mascherano from his West Ham nightmare and helped to establish his reputation as one of the world’s premier defensive midfielders.
His selfish actions have threatened to disrupt the harmony of the team. Following his withdrawal from Monday’s squad, reports surfaced that a number of senior players confronted Mascherano in training about his decision to omit himself from the team. I’m pretty sure that if he was available, Hodgson would have played Mascherano on Monday evening. Therefore, Mascherano’s decision to leave himself out would have seriously comprised Hodgson’s tactics and formation for the game- and so it proved as Manchester City ran out convincing 3-0 winners against a disjointed Liverpool team which lacked the steel and intensity that Mascherano would have undoubtedly brought.
Macherano’s decision to effectively go on strike until he gets his move points to how player power is increasingly getting out of hand. This offseason has seen a number of players refuse to play for their clubs in an attempt to engineer a move elsewhere. We have seen it at Stoke City where goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has not featured following interest from league leaders Chelsea. We have also seen it at Fulham where another coveted goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has found himself out of the team after handing in a transfer request.
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson deserves huge credit in standing up to the pressures of player power. He refused to be bullied and only agreed to sell Mascherano on the club’s term and not on the player’s.
Mascherano should be ashamed of his actions. He refused to play for the club but still colleceted a sizeable wage packet for his disloyalty. The PFA and FA should step in to curb this problem before player power threatens to spiral out of control.
For more football chat, follow me on Twitter.
*
Click on image below to see the gallery of Mario Balotelli’s stunning girlfriend
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Christmas can be a stressful and tense time for everybody, not just those involved in football. How you react under these conditions depends on your character. For example, Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath threatened to cancel his squad’s Christmas if they failed to overcome Stuttgart at home on the Saturday. You’ll be glad to know (unless you’re a sadist) that there’ll be celebrations in Lower Saxony after they edged out Bruno Labbadia’s side 1-0 at the VW Arena. One man though didn’t seem to coping so well with added pressure.
Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery would have been angered by events earlier on Friday where he was ordered to pay €2.66 million to his former agent. The former Marseille man appeared to let his frustration spill onto the pitch. After a fairly innocuous tangle with Cologne’s Henrique Sereno, Ribery earned himself a pair of yellow cards in under a minute as the Frenchman failed to control his emotions.
The Bavarians needn’t have worried as Stale Solbakken’s Cologne were insipid despite being handed a fantastic opportunity at the Allianz Arena. The game was goalless but the Billy Goats seemed content enough with the score line.
In hindsight, a big mistake as Heynckes side effortlessly cruised past the visitors with three second half goals. This epitomised Bayern’s season to date. At times, there have been some shaky moments both at home (Dortmund and Gladbach) and away (Hannover and Mainz). However, otherwise they’ve been ruthless as their impressive goal difference suggests. Mario Gomez’ remarkable knack of being in the right place at the right time has helped contribute to this significantly.
Nevertheless, just three points behind the leaders are fierce Ruhr rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke who both grabbed convincing victories on the weekend. The Black and Yellows made the long trip south to Freiburg who were dispatched 4-1. Despite being beaten in the derby three weeks ago, Schalke had the upper hand result wise this time round. The Royal Blues thrashed a hapless Werder Bremen 5-0 including a hat trick from Raul. Both Jurgen Klopp and Huub Stevens will be confident of challenging their Bavarian rivals in the new year.
Will either be able to catch Germany’s most successful club in 2012? The statistics would argue against it. This is the 17th time Bayern have been top at the halfway stage of the season. Only twice before have they failed to go on to become champions. It would certainly be a major shock should they not win with the players they have available to them.
Their mettle will be tested immediately in January with a trip to old adversaries Borussia Monchengladbach. The Foals ensured they’re still in the title shake-up sneaking past Mainz. Marco Reus, a man who will move to either Dortmund or Munich come the end of the season, returned from injury. He broke his toe in their derby victory against Cologne but Reus limped off towards the end after catching his foot in the turf.
This could be what decides the destination of the title – injuries. Three of the top four have certainly had key players missing recently and strength in depth is not abundant amongst the top teams in the Bundesliga. Of the title chasers though, Bayern Munich look best set, especially with Bastian Schweinsteiger returning. The winter break will ease any stress and tension amongst Jupp Heynckes’ ranks however, they should be warned. This is the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich have looked susceptible to the occasional implosion, even if it looks unlikely in 2012.
If you’d like to read more Bundesliga musings, then why not follow me on Twitter – @arhindtutt
Matchday 17 Results:
Bayern Munich 3-0 Cologne
Bayer Leverkusen 0-3 Nuremberg
Freiburg 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
Hamburg 1-1 Augsburg
Hoffenheim 1-1 Hertha Berlin
Wolfsburg 1-0 Stuttgart
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
In a follow up to the TOP TEN Best moments of the season earlier this week, today I focus on the worst moments of the season, so far. These moments are the worst in the sense that I could not really believe what had happened – for negative reasons. These moments are sensational but are not good for the game. They are more lowlights than highlights that football as a whole could have done without.
I am not going to focus on the worst decisions, I will leave that for later in the year. I am sure everyone will want to have a say on which decisions were the worst and which were most influential. The worst moments for me are ones that have made the Premier League a worse division. I am not intending to criticise the league at all, instead I just want to pick out moments of the season that have been bad for the game.
Of course these will not be every team's worst moments. Arsenal fans will probably think the League Cup final or home defeats to Tottenham and Newcastle were the worst moments of the domestic season. Likewise a Tottenham fan will rue picking up only 1 point from 4 games against the bottom 4 sides in the League. Every side will have their own 'worse moment'.
[divider]
Click on Rooney below to see the TEN Worst Moments of the season
[divider]
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
[divider]
[divider]
Listen to the first episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O'Reilly and Toploader's Dan Hipgrave makes a special appearance!
Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has reacted calmly to reports suggesting that his club could be in line for a big-money takeover.
Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed is reported to be heading up a consortium aiming to take charge at Ewood Park, with a potential transfer pot worth up to £100million being mooted.
However, Allardyce is aware that even if a deal goes through, the money will not be available to spend in the current transfer window.
He told reporters:"Chairman John Williams tells me we can't get the deal done any sooner than maybe even as far as the end of September.
"This transfer window will be well and truly shut at the end of August, so that will not allow us to do anything between now and then.
"If it becomes a reality, that would be obviously very, very exciting, but at the moment it is still in the process of negotiation.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"The chairman says to me it would be almost impossible to think that any of that money might be available before the end of this window.
"So we continue down the same line as we have all summer and bring in another frontman if we can find him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
QPR and West Brom meet for the first time in the Premier League with both teams desperate to maintain their mid-table position after suffering disappointing defeats last week.
Neil Warnock’s Rangers men were beaten in a close game with fellow promoted side Norwich at Carrow Road last Saturday failing to build on their impressive win over Stoke seven days prior. It’s been a good start to life back in the Premier League for the R’s who sit pretty in 11th after being tipped to struggle after spending 15-years out of the top flight. The late recruitment drive from Warnock at the end of the transfer window bolstered the squad with some much needed experience from the likes of Joey Barton and Luke Young. Their influence and knowledge has proved invaluable in such a short space of time with the West Londoners already picking up some memorable results with the win in the Potteries and their victory over Chelsea ones that stick in the memory. However that win over the Blues stands as their only home success of the season with their form at Loftus Road a constant worry for Warnock with performances on their own turf proving to be drab. It’s a mystery as to why Rangers perform so poorly on their own turf with with three draws and two defeats from their six games at home not good enough if you want to stay in the top flight. Goals have been hard to come by at Loftus Road with a measly return of five goals at Loftus Road giving supporters hardly anything to celebrate. Summer signing Jay Bothroyd has struggled to make the step up to the Premier League despite scoring goals for fun in the Championship with Cardiff last season. It’s a problem that will need to be addressed with games against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal on the horizon.
West Brom have a similar problem to their hosts with goals coming in short supply this season despite possessing a strike force of Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie. The latter has been out injured for most of the season and when he has stepped out for the Baggies he’s looked a shadow of the player that took the Premier League by storm last season. Long, on the other hands, has weighed in with his fair share of goals scoring four times as he continues his top flight education following his record breaking move from Reading in the summer. However boss Roy Hodgson will be unhappy with his side after they threw their lead away at home to Tottenham last week before going onto lose 3-1 dropping to 14th in the table having started the day in 10th. The Baggies have been frustratingly inconsistent this season losing or drawing very winnable games despite easily beating Aston Villa away and Bolton at home in the last month. Scoring goals is the main issue at the moment with Albion finding the net just 12 times in 13 games this season. Creating chances has never been a problem for them with James Morison, Jerome Thomas and Chris Brunt in midfield although the latter was the main culprit blazing a glorious opportunity over the bar against Spurs. The old adage of ‘goals win games’ comes into play and if West Brom could take half of the chances they create then they wouldn’t be sitting just five points above the drop zone. Despite that their form on the road is one of the big positives of their season so far and they’ll be confident of getting something out of QPR having won two and drawn three of their games away from the Hawthorns.
QPR – 11th
Last Five: Lost 2-1 v Norwich (A), Won 3-2 v Stoke (A), Lost 3-2 v Man City (H), Lost 3-1 v Tottenham (A), Won 1-0 v Chelsea (H)
Potential Starting X11: 24. R. Cerny 18. L. Young 35. A. Ferdinand 6. D. Gabbidon 3. C. Hill 11. A. Faurlin 4. S. Derry 7. J. Barton[C] 10. J. Mackie 32. S. Wright-Phillips* 10. J. Bothroyd
Injury News: Warnock has been dealt a serious injury blow with key players Paddy Kenny and Heidar Helguson joining Matt Connolly, DJ Campbell, Kieron Dyer and Rob Hulse in the Loftus Road treatment room.
Key Player: Shaun Wright-Phillips
The former Manchester City winger has become an essential part of the QPR side in such a short space of time since moving to Loftus Road at the end of August. His pace and directness gives the R’s an outlet every time they go forward whether it’s chasing a ball over the top or beating a man one-on-one. He’ll be expected to get at West Brom at every opportunity when they meet on Saturday.
Match Fact: Despite meeting each other 31 times in over 60 years QPR and West Brom have never contested a Premier League fixture. Their last encounter came in March 2010 with the R’s coming out on top with a 2-1 victory against the Baggies who finished runners-up in the Championship a few months later.
West Brom – 14th
Last Five: Lost 3-1 v Tottenham (H), Won 2-0 v Bolton (H), Lost 3-0 v Arsenal (A), Lost 2-0 v Liverpool (H), Won 2-1 v Aston Villa (A)
Potential Starting X11: 1. B. Foster 12. S. Reid 3. J. Olsson 33. P. Scharner 20. N. Shorey 14. J. Thomas 21. Y. Mulumbu 7. J. Morrison 11. C. Brunt[C] 5. S. Tchoyi 9. S. Long*
Injury News: Albion lost Zoltan Gera to a serious knee injury last week and it looks likely that the Hungarian playmaker could be out for the rest of the season.
Key Player: Shane Long
Despite scoring just two goals in his last nine games the Republic of Ireland striker has become a key player for the Baggies since his move from Reading. His tendency to play on the shoulder of the last defender and intelligent movement give West Brom’s creative midfield something to aim at which will come in handy against a relatively sturdy QPR defence.
Match Fact: The Baggies were victorious on their first ever trip to Loftus Road in 1948 winning 2-0. However their last 10 visits to West London have yielded just three wins, one draw and six defeats and with their last victory coming in 2008.
Last Time at Loftus Road
Championship
QPR 3-1 West Brom
Simpson, 13 Connolly, 18 Buszaky, 67
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Brunt, 36
Attendance: 14,578
Referee: Stuart Attwell
PREDICTION
Both teams are frighteningly inconsistent and struggling to score goals on a consistent basis which is alarming going into the hectic festive schedule. QPR have struggled to get going at home this season and will need to start wining games at Loftus Road if they are to maintain their lofty mid-table position. West Brom have similar problems although their form on the road has kept them well away from the relegation zone. A win for either side could spur them onto better things although a draw is the likely outcome.
Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger believes the gap between Europe’s top nations and its minnows is narrowing.Germany continue their qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championships when they play host to Group A cellar dwellers Kazakhstan on Saturday.
The 2008 European runners-up are five points clear on the group’s table with straight wins over Belgium, Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as a 3-0 win at Kazakhstan.
But Schweinsteiger cautioned his team-mates not to expect an easy victory when Kazakhstan visit Kaiserslautern, saying minnow nations no longer feel fear at the thought of taking on top sides like Germany.
“It is not easy to scare those teams out of the stadium anymore,” Schweinsteiger said.
“They improve and they learn more these days. Maybe in the past you could go there and devastate them.”
“Today you have to show a good performance in order to achieve a good result.”
“If you look at the match against Azerbaijan last year, we could have only won 2-0 there (Germany won 6-1).”
A visit from Kazakhstan will also serve as preparation of sorts for Germany’s friendly with Asian Cup finalists Australia on Tuesday, though Schweinsteiger said Joachim Loew’s side are more concerned with clinching their berth in the Euro 2012 finals.
“The next three qualifiers (against Kazakhstan and at Austria and Azerbaijan) are very important for us.”
“If we win we can achieve a lead against Austria, Turkey and Belgium. The others will steal points off each other. Therefore it is even more important to win the game on Saturday.”
Schweinsteiger also took the time to defend national team-mate Mirslav Klose, who has not scored a goal for Germany or at club level in almost two months and has fallen behind Mario Gomez in coach Louis van Gaal’s pecking order at club side Bayern Munich.
“He is a very experienced player, who also shows cleverness and knows how to handle certain situations,” Schweinsteiger said.
“Even if it is not very easy for him at the moment, you can see his engagement in the training sessions in Munich.”
“We should be happy to have a striker like him in the background behind Mario Gomez. Gomez and him, they are both quality players.”
Harry Redknapp has committed his long-term future to Tottenham Hotspur by penning a new contract that will keep him at White Hart Lane until the end of the 2012-13 campaign.
The veteran former Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth and Southampton boss replaced Juande Ramos as manager in October 2008 when the club were in danger of being relegated.
He successfully guided Spurs into mid-table that season before presiding over a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
A brief statement on the club's official website read:"The club is delighted to announce that we have extended the contract of manager, Harry Redknapp, until 2013.
"Harry guided the side to fourth place in his first full season with the club, our highest league finish since the Premier League's inception, with the prospect of competing in the Champions League for the first time this coming campaign.
"The achievement earned him the Barclay's Premier League Manager of the Season award."
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
At the weekend it was reported that the 63-year-old had turned down the chance to manage Dubai side Al Ahli in order to stay with Spurs.
Redknapp's side face a two-legged play-off next month as they attempt to win through to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Arsenal got a confidence boosting victory at the Bridge this afternoon in an absolute thriller in West London. While the Gunners have only lost one game in eight, an away win against the Blues could be the kind of result that could give supporters and the players the belief they can challenge this season.
At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Gunners blogs that include a grave oversight by Arsenal; a long time coming for supporters, while Arshavin has been badly treated at the Emirates.
We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week
Slowly becoming a scratched record at Arsenal?
Vermaelen and Mertesacker the ideal combination for O’Leary
A long time coming for Arsenal fans
A significant oversight by Manchester United and Arsenal
The lack of Plan B is hurting Arsenal most
Arsenal and Van Persie – What Could have been?
Bad player or badly treated at Arsenal?
Double deals suggest Arsenal have finally woken up and smelt the Coffee?
In defence of Theo Walcott
Why Dunk should think twice before being tempted by Arsenal and City’s advances
[divider]
Best of WEB
[divider]
PHW puts in a poor AGM performance, Wenger puts in a solid one + some exclusive tidbits! – Le Grove
Face like a Chamakh-ed arse – Online Gooner
Transparency Or Board Stupid? – A Cultured Left Foot
Wenger’s S.O.S – same old story? – Gunnersphere
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Meet The €9M Man At The Center Of Arsene’s Midfield Merry-Go-Round – Transfer Tavern
Thank Goodness Wenger isn’t English……. – Highbury House
Arsenal’s Transfer Radar Locks On To £3M Spanish Eye Catcher -Transfer Tavern
[divider]
Click on Mrs Van der Vaart to unveil the Premier League Wag XI