Daily News Roundup: 04 April 2007
A cracking quarter-final, a mismatch and plenty more on today’s football roundup.
Because this has to be mentioned - Milan vs Bayern was a great game. Milan were very obviously the better side but Bayern’s resilience shone through at the end and they equalised late into injury time to take home a drawn away leg but more importantly, two away goals.
Bayern will be unhappy with the penalty that went against them, but then again Milan had a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside (which would have put them up 2-0 and killed the tie) so I don’t think they have much to complain about.
Liverpool beat PSV comfortably, and once again Pool look much stronger in Europe than they do in the Premiership. Steve Finnan is dreaming of a final in Athens against Manchester United (presumably to avenge the two league defeats), Benitez looked a bit smug when he talked of guarding against complacency and Koeman has all but given up on the tie.
Fabio Aurelio’s injury will worry Liverpool, but at the moment 3rd place in the Prem and a CL semi-final is much better than what they were looking at when they lost to Arsenal in the cups a few months back.
3. Mourinho vs Valencia
Mourinho is under the impression that players in the Premiership are ‘pure’ and dont resort to dirty tricks, as opposed to Spanish players. Yet another cute soundbite from our friendly Portuguese 
He’s used the Inter v Valencia game to point out how Valencia play mind games and try to intimidate their opponents…pot and kettle and a whole lot of black, I’m afraid.
Mourinho:
“We have played against Spanish and Portuguese teams a lot of times, and the mentality is different. The pure English mentality we have in the Premiership, where nobody cheats, well almost nobody, where people try to be correct and respect opponents, is sometimes a bit different when you play in UEFA competitions.
You have to be ready to be intelligent. I showed my players one image in a video from the Valencia versus Inter Milan game, where in minute five there was a duel with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Santiago Canizares sprints 50 metres and Ayala sprints 50 metres to try and make a mess around Ibrahimovic. So it is the kind of situation where we have to be intelligent.
But I see Valencia as a team that likes to play good football. I think what happened at the end of the game against Inter happens once in a while.
I am not afraid of it but I think they come here to play their game and not to make a fight. I look at them as a good football team.”
Mourinho also said (in the same article) that Chelsea are not prepared to spend silly money for players any more. To be fair he was talking about the 50m or 80m price tag quoted by Valencia for David Villa. You have to remember though, that ’silly’ is relative. 30m for a 29-year old striker is not silly. Who’s to say that 40m for a 24-year old is not silly either?
4. Mourinho’s successor at Chelsea
Sticking to Chelsea, the rate at which the Guardian makes news up is astonishing. Now they’re reporting that Mark Hughes is being considered as Mourinho’s replacement.
If you add this up to the earlier rumours about Guus Hiddink coming in and more than one coach being in charge of the Chelsea squad, it points to a whole lot of madness and no substance.
Will Mourinho leave? He might, but there is so much speculation that you don’t even know what to believe anymore. It’s like Torres and Manchester United last summer - it didn’t happen, did it?
For my money Mourinho will stay because Abramovich knows that a replacement will put the club backwards. Lippi and Hiddink are the only two names I’d consider as potential replacements for Mourinho, but both will not be able to provide the same mental toughness (at least at the start) that characterises Mourinho’s teams, and as a result Chelsea will probably not win the Premiership under new management in the first season.
5. Platini’s plans for Europe are flawed
Martin Samuels in the Times gets it spot on when he says that the Champions League is for the best teams in Europe, not the champions from each league. It is far more entertaining to see Manchester United and Roma go at it than Solvan Liberic and … Lille, for example. Last night’s quarterfinals were a case in point. Bayern vs Milan was far more interesting than Liverpool vs PSV.
6. Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa
Where are Aston Villa now, and what has Martin O’Neill achieved this season?
7. Phillip Lahm
Bayern’s Phillip Lahm talks to Guardian’s Small Talk.
8. Arsenal’s self-pity
Shouldn’t Arsenal be looking forward instead of moaning about the season?
9. Sam Allardyce to dump Pedersen because he’s not good enough
Bolton’s Henrik Pedersen is an idiot. Seriously.
10. Brazil vs England friendly
Brazil vs England, in Wembley, probably next month. Crappy time, but hey, money’s money.
11. Maradona in the hospital
Rumours that Maradona attempted suicide are dismissed. Seriously, where do people come up with this stuff? Then again, overindulgence in smoking, drinking and eating may be considered suicide by some. Oops…
12. Blackburn’s Benni McCarthy loves Manchester United
Benni McCarthy tells us that Manchester United is the most popular club in South Africa, and that he dreams of playing for them.
13. Chelsea vs Anders Frisk
It’s water under the bridge now, but Chelsea’s reaction to Frisk shaking hands with Rijkaard was shameful and embarrassing for football. The Sun gives us a soundbite from Frisk’s side of the story (an interview with TalkSport) but I think that Mourinho and the club were very, very irresponsible in their actions. They’re not naive little children who have no clue what their statements will do in terms of public opinion.
Chelsea lose the first leg, Mourinho blames it on the ref, and idiotic fans jump on the bandwagon. Worse, this allegation caused a brawl in the tunnel because Mourinho couldn’t keep things under control.
Fantastic manager, shame about everything else.
14. Roma vs Manchester United (part 1)
Romans (Roma management and Rome’s city officials) are pissed off at Manchester United’s safety precautions. It’s a pity that they’ve turned this into a matter of pride instead of acknowledging that the city (and Italy in general) have a genuine security problem. On the other hand, United’s security bulletin should have been coordinated with Roma and Rome officials, and perhaps done a bit more diplomatically.
15. Roma vs Manchester United (part 2)
Roberto Maida, columnist for Italian newspaper Correire Dello Sport, talks about Roma vs Manchester United and how Roma can win the tie. Continuing on this topic, Philippe Mexes reveals that he was approached twice by Manchester United but he turned them down so he could get more playing time on the pitch. Smart choice, although it would have been interesting to see him get a shot at Old Trafford.
Soccerlens Latest News
- Can Liverpool’s Stanley Park match Manchester United’s Old Trafford in 2010?
- PSV Eindhoven 0-3 Liverpool - Liverpool all but through to the semis
- AC Milan 2-2 Bayern Munich - Bayern with the upper hand
- Manchester United 4-3 Arsenal - the kids notch season’s first United win over Arsenal
- Benitez to take Liverpool spending to 120m in his 4th year?
- Much work needed at Newcastle to justify the planned $300M St. James Park expansion
- Does Flamini realise that he’s being disloyal to Arsenal?
- When will Alan Shearer manage Newcastle United?
Champions League quarter final coverage
Tuesday 3rd April and Wednesday 11th April
AC Milan vs Bayern Munich (First leg score: Milan 2-2 Bayern)
PSV Eindhoven vs Liverpool (First leg score: PSV 0-3 Liverpool)
Match reports and goal videos up for these matches, do check them out.
Wednesday 4th April and Tuesday 10th April
Chelsea vs Valencia
Roma vs Manchester United
All the latest football headlines.
“Bayern v ac milan was far more interesting than Liverpool v psv???” . Not to liverpool fans it wasnt ahmed. I found it very interesting indeed. What point are ypu trying to make ahmed. You suggesting that liverpool or psv are not amongst the best teams in europe?? Haha, you just could’t help yourself could you mate? yer dirty manc.
for the neutral, you fracking troll
As a dirty manc, I am strictly a neutral for these 2 games.
Stop making a nuisance of yourself and actually start contributing to the site
All in good time.
Ahmed - why is Henrik Pedersen an idiot? This is yet another case (see the harangue you doled out to Flamini yesterday) of clubs not appreciating the hard work and flexibility of certain players. Pedersen has stood by Bolton despite being played out of position more often that not over the last couple of years, so it seems to me that he has the right to be upset at Allardyce’s decision to renege on this contract offer. Pedersen is NOT Ashley Cole in disguise (no matter how much they may look alike ;))
Hugo, fair enough, I was hoping someone would point that one out…
1) Flamini is a good player (he’s better than I thought he would be at the start of last season) and he should be playing for Arsenal. However, I don’t think he should use the media to fight his case for Arsenal, and talking to the media about buying your contract out and leaving the club is not professional. It is disloyal in my books. You should treat your club with a certain level of respect, just as the club should treat the players with some respect.
A breach of respect does not give you license to go bleat about your problems to the press. Yes, I realise that L’Equipe approached him and not the other way around, but that doesn’t change the fact that this should not have come out, ESPECIALLY at this time when Arsenal are fracked beyond anything they’ve experienced under Wenger. Some class, some loyalty, that’s all I asked for.
Other than that, Flamini is more deserving (at the moment) than Denilson or Diaby or Baptista or Hleb of playing in the Arsenal team, and Wenger is wrong to not pick him.
2) Pedersen - The way the ‘rant’ has been put to the press shows that Pedersen is reacting out of anger and hasn’t thought things through. Does he really think that matters would be helped if he told the press that Sam Allardyce reneged on a contract offer?
I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to blindly trust one person’s word over the other just because I heard it first. If Big Sam comes and says that he never promised anything, or if Sam says something else that contradicts Pedersen, who will you believe?
But that’s a side issue. Pedersen’s pissed at not getting a contract on his terms. He’s pissed because Sam thinks he’s not good enough to get that contract. I wouldn’t blame Sam for backing out on a player he deems is not good enough, however if Sam has made a verbal agreement then he should own up to it.
Why is Pedersen an idiot? Because he took a club issue to the media when it should have been dealt with internally. Bring such matters to the press makes things worse for the club and for the player. It draws unnecessary attention and forces both sides to become more entrenched in their positions.
Pedersen could have said - ok, I’ll play for the rest of the season and we can decide then. He’s leaving for free in the summer, right? I’d be interested in seeing his wage demands, and what Sam’s offering.
It’s not a case of Sam not offering a contract, it’s a case of Sam not offering a contract Pedersen wants. Boo hoo. It’s childish and unprofessional to bleat to the press while you’re at the club.
I have nothing against either Flamini or Pedersen, but maybe more honor and professionalism from both of them off the pitch? Or is it asking too much for the footballers to be intelligent as well?
Ahmed, ive pulled my finger out and mailed you something.