Mourinho savages Chelsea flops

LONDON, Dec 31, 2006 (AFP) - Seething Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho tore into his under-performing players in a blistering attack in which he blasted almost every member of his team and then turned the guns on himself.

The furious manager slammed his Blues for falling six points behind Manchester United in the title race going into the New Year and said only the return of talismanic club captain John Terry and goalkeeper Petr Cech could revive their hopes of retaining their English Premiership crown.

Mourinho now wants to spend some of tycoon Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's fortune in the January transfer window and even went so far as to admit he may not be as good a manager as he thinks he is.

The Blues, once rock-solid in defence, have conceded eight goals in their last four Premiership matches, salvaging two late 3-2 wins and slumping to a pair of 2-2 draws at their Stamford Bridge ground, including to west London neighbours Fulham on Saturday.
"Maybe we are not so good as we think. Maybe I'm not such a good manager and the players are not such good players," the Portuguese boss said.

"I'm worried with the moment we are living.

"In attack we have one player performing and scoring goals. Didier Drogba is the only one. All the other players, they are not performing good enough. That's obvious.

"We cannot defend, we concede incredible goals," he spat.

England centre-half Terry is expected to return to the side on January 10 after recovering from back surgery and the Blues have defended poorly without his leadership.

Mourinho said he wanted to buy in new players but added he should be able to cope without Abramovich's riches.

"If the club ask for my opinion (on buying new players) I would say yes but at the same time when I see the eyes of some clubs lighting up and they go for absolutely incredible money for very ordinary players, I would say no.

"For a normal player we cannot pay a fortune. So if it's like that we go with the players we have.
"I need to spend nothing. I need the best goalkeeper and the best central defender in the world back. I don't need millions," he insisted.

He said the Blues' defensive woes came as no surprise.

"If everybody knows Chelsea in this moment cannot defend then I'm first to know that," he said.
"When the opponent sees one mistake and another mistake they smell the chance. It's exactly the opposite of previous periods with us.

"Paulo Ferreira is not a central defender, Henrique Hilario is our third goalkeeper, so they do the best they can.

"You need to have very strong central defenders in the air. In this country everybody has tall and strong strikers.

"We don't dominate the game in the air, that's obvious. What can you do with Ferreira and Geremi? Nothing. The players, they have no qualities adapted to the game opponents are playing against us."

Mourinho offloaded centre-halves William Gallas and Robert Huth following last season's successful title defence but refused to say if he regretted letting them go.

"There is no answer. They are not here any more. And to be fair, they are both injured," he said.

"Arjen Robben is out. Andriy Shevchenko, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Solomon Kalou are not performing."

And he also blasted Joe Cole as an "injury forever" -- the England midfielder has barely featured this season through various injuries and must decide whether to have surgery on a fractured foot.

In the 2-2 draw with Fulham, Moritz Volz gave the visitors a shock lead with the 15,000th Premiership goal. Chelsea equalised when a wide Frank Lampard shot went in off Liam Rosenior. Drogba put the Blues ahead but Carlos Bocanegra hit a late equaliser to stun the hosts.
Chelsea travel to 12th-placed Aston Villa on Tuesday, while Fulham (11th) host rock-bottom Watford on Monday.

"They're just having one of those periods where they're a bit shaky because they are missing certain players," said Fulham boss Chris Coleman following the Chelsea draw.
"All clubs go through it and Chelsea are finding that now.

"It was a great point and it's a great platform for us now. It's not ideal that we're playing again on Monday. Our guys will be physically and mentally tired but this will give us loads of confidence going into the Watford game."

Figo 'agrees' to swap Milan for Saudi Arabia

(Source : http://www.soccernet.com)

Luis Figo is set to join Al Ittihad after the Saudi Arabian club's team manager Hamad Al Sanie confirmed a deal has been agreed.

The former FIFA World Player of the Year will put pen to paper over the next couple of days on a 17-month contract, according to Al Sanie, after deciding to leave Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

'It's official now,' Al Sanie said. 'Figo will sign Friday or Saturday and he'll arrive in Jeddah on January 5 when he'll join the team.'

Snaring a player of Figo's calibre will be an enormous coup for Middle Eastern football.

'We chose Figo because he's a big star and the coach of the team (Dmitri Davidovic) asked us to look for a midfielder and, after we suggested Figo to the coach, he welcomed the idea.

'The contract of Figo will be for 17 months but the fee is not disclosed.'

Al Ittihad are historically one of the most successful teams in Saudi Arabia and are based in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

English Match Preview…

Boxing day today & yet another busy day for the punters…

2 match preview today…hope that can help some of my readers to make win some money.

1st Match : Cardiff vs Plymouth AsianHandicap : 0 :1/2

Cardiff had not been playing too well recently, Stephen McPhail, full-back Kerrea Gilbert are in doubt. Frenchman Luigi Glombard, the former Nantes striker will mostly be missing out with a problematic hamstring. Riccardo Scimeca was taken to hospital after complaining about chest pains and coughing up blood.

On the visitor side, they manages to grab 1 point from WBA last weekend. Today, Bojan Djordjic is an injury doubt. Paul Wotton will be out for the rest of the season. Right-back Paul Connolly is down with hamstring injury, while left-back Lee Hodges knee and striker Nick Chadwick are all on the road to recovery but might not be featuring on tonight match.

Cardiff played well on their home ground, losing only 1 out of the 11games played at home. A draw game might happened here, but I am willing to take the risk of betting on Cardiff as they had not been clearing the asianhandicap hurdle for past few matches.

2nd Match : West Ham vs Portsmouth 0 :1/4

West Ham managed only a draw with Fulham on last weekend. But it’s a good start after changing of new boss. Tonight, they will welcome Pompey from South Coast, who come from behind and beat Sheffield Utd 3-1 in their last match.

Hammers are missing suspended captain Nigel Reo-Coker. Danny Gabbidon could be out with a groin problem, Argentinians Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano could feature for the first time under Alan Curbishley with the West Ham boss confirming they will play during the Christmas schedule.

Pompey, who are now on the 6th spot of the table, will be without Lua Lua and Benjani is in doubt. Kanu has been carrying a slight knee injury, while Andy Cole is recovering from an Achilles injury.

Pompey had not been beaten for the past 5 weeks, and it was really very strange for West Ham to offer a ¼ handicap to them. West Ham had been attracting lots of attention after they beat Man Utd, and by offering a ¼ handicap to Pompey, showed that the bookies had confidence in them too. But in my own view, I still think that Pompey is a class higher than them. Go for Pompey and take the handicap tonight.

Good Luck

Pardew takes over at crisis club Charlton

LONDON (AFP) - Former West Ham manager Alan Pardew was named as the new manager of struggling Premiership side Charlton replacing Les Reed who had only been in charge since November.

Pardew, who was sacked by West Ham earlier this month, signed a three-and-a-half-year deal and becomes the south London club's third manager this season.
Reed was promoted from the role of assistant manager in mid-November when Iain Dowie lost his job with the Addicks bottom of the Premiership but has failed to turn their fortunes around during his month at the helm.

Dowie had taken over from Alan Curbishley who has since replaced Pardew at West Ham.
"Les Reed has left his position as Charlton's head coach by mutual consent," the club announced in a statement.

"Alan Pardew will take charge of the Addicks, and has signed a three-and-a-half year contract.

"The club is making no further comment at this time, but will be holding a press conference at its Sparrows Lane training ground at 1.30pm on Boxing Day (Tuesday)."

Reed, a former Football Association technical director, watched his side slip to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Middlesbrough on Saturday and that was the final straw for the Charlton board.

The loss left the club second from bottom of the table and seven points from safety.

Reed said after Saturday's defeat, their fourth home defeat this season, that he was determined to restore the club's fortunes.

"We have just got to be determined and we will be straight back on the training ground on Sunday morning. We have got to put this one to bed then move on," he said.

"There is time left and there are others under pressure as well so I am sure things will change around. I am aware each time I say that there is another game gone - but we just have to keep believing."

Pardew will take charge of his first match at The Valley on Wednesday against Fulham.

EPL Match Preview

2 Match Preview...

1st Match : Fulham vs West Ham AsianHandicap : 0 : 0

West Ham will be travelling to Fulham on this Saturday, with a superb win against Man Utd last week, hoping to maintain their form and get out of the bottom 3.

Curbishley is capable to make miracle and to wake up all the talent in West Ham team. He may be lucky last week against United, but he have also been brave enough to make neccessery changes and West Ham looked like serious team.

They have been great last year, and all he have to do is to find their lost winning spirit. There is no better way for it then beating Manchester United.

On the other hand, hosts Fulham have injury problems. Fulham midfielder Claus Jensen will miss out because of a tight hamstring. Collins John (hamstring), Luis Boa Morte (hamstring), Papa Bouba Diop (thigh) and Ian Pearce (back) are also out with Moritz Volz set to continue in midfield.

Academy defender Elliot Omozusi, 18, will be included among substitutes alongside fellow rookies Gabriel Zakuani and Bjorn Runstrom as injuries continue to cause problems at Craven Cottage.

Based on all the above, West Ham is good choice.

2nd Match : Man City vs Bolton AsianHandicap 0 :1/4

After 3 games without a win,Man City fans are definetlyexpecting much more from their teams.

They had been great at home, conceeding just three goals, two of them against Tottenham in last home match. Their defence is great at home, however they are a bit out of form in last few weeks.

Claudio Reyna could come into contention following a hamstring injury while Dietmar Hamann remains sidelined with a back problem. Bernardo Corradi is ruled out through suspension but Ben Thatcher returns to the squad following a ban.

As for the visitor, Bolton won their last 2 match and they will try make it a triple.Diouf will be back in the team after one week of suspension, but Nolan will be out. Both teams are hard to beat and both have great defences.

However, I will go for Man City tonight as home ground team will always have a advantage.

Good Luck

English Championship Preview : Crystal Palace vs Sunderland

Crystal Palace, now at the 17th spot of the table will welcome Sunderland tonight after 2 deafet.

The former Scotland forward, Dougie Freedman might be available after missing the last 2 matches due to groin injury. Centre-back Leon Cort (hamstring) remains sidelined, while young defender Rhoys Wiggins is a long-term casualty with a knee injury, and midfielder Tommy Black has a cracked rib.

On the other hand, in form Sunderland who had not been losing the past 7 matches, could be boosted by the return of defender Nyron Nosworthy for the trip.Kenny Cunningham (knee) and Stephen Wright (ankle) remain sidelined but are expected to return early in the New Year to further boost Roy Keane's resurgent side.Midfielder Graham Kavanagh remains troubled with niggling knee problems but has stated his determination to continue playing

Based on all the facts and figures, it seems like taking Sunderland is a good choice tonight. If the asianhandicap odds tonight is level ball, then I will not hesitate to take Sunderland. But the strange thing is, after 7 match being undefeated, and lying on the 11 spot on the table, it was Crystal Palace who was offering 1/4 ball to their opponent. Thus based on this, I would recommend to place your bet on Crystal Palace tonight, as it will be a heavy boat side on Sunderland.

Good Luck...

(Source : www.soccerway.com)
Written by: Michiel van BlommesteinMANCHESTER, Dec 20 (AFP) -

Henrik Larsson has admitted the prospect of joining Manchester United at a crucial stage of the season was too good a chance to turn down.The Swede, 35, trained with his new team-mates for the first time this week after United manager Sir Alex Ferguson struck a shock, short-term deal with Helsingborgs for the striker to spend the Swedish winter break at Old Trafford.

With Larsson apparently set on winding down his career in his home country after turning his back on former club Barcelona last summer, the player's arrival in England has come as a major surprise.

But the player - who will be available from January 2nd until his return to Sweden on March 12th - insisted he couldn't resist the opportunity to join United's double assault on the Premiership and the Champions League.

"It's a great club with a big history and traditions so it feels really good to be here," Larsson said Wednesday.

"Obviously I had to have a discussion with the family as well because I moved back to Sweden in the summer so I had to have a chat with them and see how they felt about coming over and as soon as that was clear with the family then there was no problem."

"I saw it as a great challenge to come over here to play for a great club and a big club."When I was in Scotland with Celtic me and my family were very settled and that was part of the reason we didn't come down here at the time."

"Also we had a good team at Celtic as well. But now when I heard about this loan deal with Manchester United this was a chance I couldn't say no to."I'm 35 years old and I don't think I'll get another chance to join such a big club."

"But I'm not just here to enjoy myself. I obviously understand how important all of this is so there's no question it's an important time and I'm fully aware of that."Larsson, who will wear the number 17 shirt, will make his debut in the FA Cup third round against Aston Villa on January 7 but is confident he will slot in quickly to his new surroundings.

The Swede was in the stands at Upton Park last Sunday when United lost at West Ham United, allowing Premiership title rivals Chelsea to close the gap at the head of the table to just two points, and insists he has not demanded any assurances about the role he will play during his stay.

"The manager decides where and when he is going to play me so that has never been problem," he added."I know what I'm here for so hopefully I can do that. I trained on Monday with the guys who didn't play on Sunday and I felt okay. I know all of them, I've played against a few of them in the past and I've watched them on television."

"I'm obviously very excited because I have been seeing the players like Wayne Rooney on television and played against them in World Cup and I am looking forward to playing with them."

Both Ferguson and Larsson made it clear there was no possibility of the deal being extended beyond mid-March and while the manager admitted he will be disappointed to see his new player return to Sweden, he is adamant the striker will have a major say in the club's bid for honours.

"It will be difficult when he leaves but I think the reality is the job will have been done in terms of keeping us at the sharp end of all the competitions," Ferguson said."His arrival has already lifted the dressing room. When we announced it, a few players came up to me and said 'that was a good one, where did that one come from?'."

EPL : West Ham vs Man Utd

Its been a long time, since I post a match preview. Busy with all my works,family problem and business. Hopefully, I can find more time to post more frequently from now on.

My match preview for this Super Sunday match -> West Ham vs Man Utd.

Man Utd with a 5 point leading from Chelsea will be travelling to West Ham tonight.

West Ham after 3 defeats in a row finally had got their ex-boss-Alan Pardew-being replaced on Wednesday by Alan Curbishley,the man who hopefully will save Hammers from relegation. Every match to the Hammers now is a fight for relegation. Despite missing centre-back Danny Gabbidon, Anton Ferdinand is expected to be fit while Mascherano is back from injury and should be able to be fielded tonight

Manchester United on the other hand has a fantastic away record coming into this match and they top the away form among all sides as they have a 7wins, 1 draw and never lost on their travels. scoring the highest number of goals that is 18 and conceded 5, something not even Champions Chelsea could match. The only game that Manchester United failed to win was against Reading on their travels which prevented a 100% record. The last three away games Manchester United have recorded wins over the following sides: beat Middlesbrough 2-1, beat Sheffield United 2-1 and beat Blackburn 1-0. Prior to those slim one goal margin wins, they did recorded huge wins against Bolton 4-0 and Wigan 3-1 away from home.

Everything seems to be going against West Ham and Man Utd seems to be right choice to take tonight. But like I said, every match to the Hammers is a fight for relegation now, and I believed that they should be at least able to hold a draw tonight. Final verdict : West Ham +1. Good Luck