Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi has hit back at claims from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that he wasted time in the recent clash between the teams.
The Latics pulled off a surprise 2-1 win over the Gunners at the Emirates on Monday night, and the French coach had channelled his anger towards the visiting stopper.
However, Al Habsi has claimed that he is not a cheat and backed his professionalism.
“When I play football I do not cheat. I used a tactic to control and contain the game,” he told The Sun.
“It’s normal when you play in big-pressure matches to control the game to take the pressure off your team.
“It’s very important for me as a goalkeeper and my team-mates in defence to do this in order to help our side.
“The ref is there to see everything and if he’s happy then so am I. I have to do it for my team,” he concluded.
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We’ve all heard and seen it before within club football. Players using smaller teams as a stepping-stone to give them regular first team football and put themselves in the big boys shop window. However it seems like this disgusting exploitation of clubs has now stretched over into international football.
Last week Paul Scholes let his opinions be heard and claimed that the England team is full of self-centered players only interested in showing off to bigger clubs or securing a more lucrative contract. The recently retired midfielder quit the England scene in 2004 and many thought it was a combination of being played out of position and a hunger to further his club career that were the main reasons behind his decision to walk away from the three lions. Despite the efforts of Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello, who both tried to coax him out of international retirement, Scholes resisted their overtures.
Only now has this new reasoning behind Scholes’ international exile come to light and his words could prove to be disastrous for an England side already under heaps of pressure to bounce back from last years World Cup horror in South Africa. However what he says does make sense and resonates with a feeling I’ve had for years about new players coming into the England side. There is evidence to prove that players are using England caps for their own personal gain and that reaching the pinnacle of footballing recognition just doesn’t mean as much as it did in the past.
Scholes explained his feelings to the Daily Telegraph: “I always felt when I first started going away with England, players — especially players at clubs like your Aston Villas’s — try to use England as a way to get to a top club. Which, I don’t know, you feel: are they there for the right reason? I think they are very selfish people.
“It happened in my day, I think they are all there to get their bit of glory, their headlines, to think, ‘Oh, I will get a move from this’. That is the biggest problem with English players: that most of them are just too selfish”
Whilst I do partly agree with what Scholes is saying my opinion on the matter is that it’s the fault of the clubs for this sudden surge in one cap wonder signings. Both Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson made their England debut last season in the defeat to France. Carroll was praised for his performance up front alone whilst Henderson slipped by the wayside after his abysmal showing. Despite the two contrasting performances both earned big money moves to two of the leagues top clubs despite their lack of experience at Premier League level. Even the likes of Michael Ricketts, Shaun Wright Phillips and Emile Heskey have made moves to bigger clubs in the wake of international recognition.
I’m 50-50 with Scholes and I am going to dispute his views even though he was actually a part of the England but I do disagree with his opinion that players use the national side as a stepping stone, it’s impossible. I do agree with the sentiment that playing for your country doesn’t mean what it used too. Players do expect the limelight to be on them when they’re thought to be good enough to represent their country. However I think it is the fault of the clubs who seem to want to snap up anyone who gets within a whisker of an England cap never mind trotting out onto the Wembley turf and actually performing.
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I honestly think it’s ridiculous to say that players are using England as a vehicle to a better career. It’s even more ludicrous to blame this as the reason why we’ve failed miserably when it comes to the World Cup and European Championships. I’d like to believe him but the truth is that some of the players that have played and are playing for England aren’t good enough to perform against the worlds best. The last 10 years have shown that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can’t play together for example. The squad never has any consistency unlike the Spainiards, who he mentioned all play for each other, with too many squad changes every game.
Frankly there are times when players in the England team look like they are playing for themselves but I don’t think it’s a deliberate ploy to garner interest from bigger clubs. Scholes’ insinuation that playing for your country isn’t as important as it used to be is 100% correct but to imply that players are stepping out with the three lions on their chest in an attempt to earn more pound coins is absurd. Sorry but those are the words of a bitter man.
An action packed Premier League weekend is in store with some mouth watering fixtures with Arsenal’s trip to Villa and Liverpool’s visit to White Hart Lane the pick of the games. There is also a vital six-pointer at Upton Park, where for West Ham it is something of a must win game already.
In the papers this morning we have a mixed bag of stories from Carlos Tevez attacking money obsessed players; Reina’s fears for Fernando Torres, while David Moyes has revealed that he would love to sign David Beckham in January, plus much more.
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Roma willing to offer Liverpool Philippe Mexes for Dirk Kuyt – IM Scouting
Tevez attacks money-obsessed players – Guardian
Grant set for last stand – Daily Telegraph
Mario can be City’s Cantona – Sun
Reina fears Torres could bolt for the exit door – Mirror
Alex Ferguson contacts Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero to discuss move – IM Scouting
Redknapp in Comolli swipe – Sky Sports
Obi: We must get tough to win title – Sun
Shearer: Carroll can take up my mantle…for club AND country – Mirror
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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has backed Demba Ba to start hitting the net again soon, as his early-season goalscoring form has recently dissipated.
Ba has only scored once since countryman Papiss Cisse joined the club, with his fellow Senegal international hogging all the limelight since the pair returned from the African Cup of Nations.
Despite this, Pardew feels Ba could end the goal-drought against Swansea on Friday.
“Demba isn’t going to be happy if he’s not scoring goals,” the Toon boss told reporters, covered by Sky Sports.
“It’s just the nature of the beast. He’s a goalscorer so Papiss (Cisse) getting all the goals and getting all the credit isn’t going to keep him happy.
“I hope he gets angry on Friday and slaps a couple in himself,” he admitted.
Newcastle can leapfrog Chelsea into fifth place with a win at the Liberty Stadium, but Pardew knows that his men are in for a tough test.
“We’ve managed to beat teams who are on their game and that’s very important.
“We’ve had a couple of upsets here and there in a positive way and upsets in a negative way, but what we have been is consistent.
“It’s a very competitive league. We’ve been competitive every game.
“You play teams in tides really. Sometimes the tide is in and sometimes the tide is out.
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“Swansea have lost a couple and their tide is out a little bit and we’re very much in and that will even that fixture up as Swansea away is a very difficult game,” he concluded.
After a season that failed to match expectations, it’s become well established that there will be a number of players joining and leaving Arsenal this summer. The question of who will be leaving tends to drag up the same names: Denilson, Emmanuel Eboue, Gael Clichy and Nicklas Bendtner. Another name that appears more often than not is that of their little Russian, Andrey Arshavin . Has he really not done enough to justify at least another season with the club?
Arshavin was the Gunner who made the most appearances last season: 51 in total. In that time he contributed 10 goals and a number of assists. In statistical terms, Andrey Arshavin has kept producing even when his performances have appeared to be below the high standard that Arsenal players must meet.
It’s fair to say that his performances have suffered this season. Whilst at the best of times he looks tired, he has on the occasion looked completely unfit. His lack of mobility often means that his fullback is constantly exposed, confounding Arsenal’s defensive problems. His laid-back body language and casual work-ethic have, it seems, finally got to the fans, many of whom are ready to see the back of the Russian international.
With players like Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott already holding down the flanks, would Arsenal really miss him were he to go?
For all his faults, Arshavin can offer Arsenal something many other players simply can’t: a mercurial ability to produce a moment of magic out of nowhere. When Arsenal are struggling to break down a team or simply need to grab a goal, Arshavin is a useful player to have on the bench. He’s the kind of player that can create a goal against the run of play, or find his way through a sturdy, tough to break down defence.
It’s my feeling that it would be foolish for Arsenal to send Arshavin packing this summer. When you consider that they have both Carlos Vela and Tomas Rosicky on the books – two of the most ineffective wingers in world football – I would suggest that given the fact that Arshavin is more than capable of producing the goods, he’s worth keeping hold of.
What’s more if his defensive performance against Manchester United in the final weeks of last season is anything to go by, he’s more than capable of working hard when he’s motivated to do so. Perhaps it’s merely a case of Wenger instilling the right mentality into Arshavin? With the right mindset, Arshavin may well turn out to be a key figure in next year’s campaign.
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Tottenham’s hopes of securing a deal for Karim Benzema have been dashed by Real Madrid’s Director General Jorge Valdano.
The North Londoners have been heavily linked in the Spanish Press with a move for the out of favour Frenchman, as Harry Redknapp looks to bolster Tottenham’s attacking options in January.
However Jorge Valdano insists that why it has been tough for the Frenchman to settle in at the Bernabeu, it is far too soon to write him off and move him on:
“He is a very young player and everyone needs some time to mature…we are all trying to give him the necessary framework to show the talent he showed in a very difficult league in France.”
When pressed on Benzema’s immediate future amid speculation over his future:
“This season is too short a time to make a final decision on the player.”
“Last season I remember Higuain had not scored a single goal at this point in the season. And just look at what he has shown the world of football since then.” L’Equipe
Both Harry Redknapp and Pep Guardiola have stated that they will not entertain rumours linking them with the vacant manager’s position at Chelsea.
Andre Villas Boas was sacked from the Stamford Bridge hotseat on Sunday after a 1-0 defeat to West Brom the day before, with the club currently in fifth place in the Premier League.
Tottenham boss Redknapp is currently the frontrunner to become the new England boss, but has laughed off suggestions that he could be the new man in charge at Chelsea.
“That’s all I need,” he joked to Sky Sports.
“It would be difficult; I wouldn’t be able to come back to north London so I’d have to pass on that.
“But it’s a dream job for somebody. It’s a club you can win a championship at because the owner has spared no expense.
“He has built the most incredible training ground, they buy players at the top level, they have got top players so it is a dream job for somebody to go there and make a success of it – whoever they take.
“So many people would love that job and chance to work at a great club with the backing the manager gets there, but you’ve got to make a success of it. That’s the rules.
“If you don’t you are not going to last but if you do well the sky’s the limit,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Guardiola, who is out of contract at the end of the season at Barcelona, also felt that speculation over the Chelsea position had no substance.
“I speak every day with Chelsea,” he quipped sarcastically.
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“Villas-Boas seems like a great coach. The time (managers get) depends on the results, not on our abilities.
“I’m not capable of judging the reasons for his dismissal,” he concluded.
West Ham United was finally relegated at the weekend despite having a number of household names in their squad including Matthew Upson, Carlton Cole, Scott Parker and Robert Green. But a number of their top players will need to be sold because the players will want to remain in the Premier League and their wages will simply not be sustainable in the Championship. However, the spin-off on that is the talented group of young players are sure to get plenty of opportunities next season and could be a key factor for West Ham to make an instant return to the top flight.
The current squad includes player on very lucrative contracts that in some cases are worth up £3m a year. The West Ham owners will probably want to keep hold of their current squad but I would be careful about going down such a road. The money paid to a lot of these players will cripple the club and could cause the situation to spiral out of control and have West Ham heading towards League One. West Ham will be confident of making an immediate return to the Premier League and if they can get their ship in order have a great chance of doing just that. However, they should not gamble the club’s future on that goal.
I feel that the way forward for West Ham is to sell off the most expensive wage earners and put their faith in a young squad full of their most talented youth players. The new look West Ham squad with a younger and hungrier feel to it should be built around players like James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Mark Noble, Freddie Sears, Junior Stanislas, Zavon Hines and Anthony Edgar. The West Ham youth system has a very good reputation and the club may even find one or two more gems before the new season begins.
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The club may need to help these players with some experienced heads alongside them but don’t underestimated what these very talented young players can achaive. Many people still think that you can’t win and be successful purely with players such as these. However, the West Ham youth set-up is something truly special and has produced some great players over the years that played Premier League football for West Ham and then later for other Premier League clubs and at international level. Notable examples include Frank Lampard, Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand; all of these players have played big clubs in the Premier League and have represented England.
In addition to the current crop at West Ham the Hammers academy has also produced Premier League defenders Anton Ferdinand and Elliott Ward. Therefore, West Ham should have no reservations in putting their faith in their current youth stars and know they could well be top level players in the Premier League and at international level in the future.
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Join the conversation on Twitter and tell me if you agree that West Ham should put their faith in their youth.
Federico Macheda has denied calling Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney 'working-class and vulgar'.
Macheda has moved quickly to diffuse a possible conflict with the England striker following comments attributed to him while away on international duty with the Italian Under-21 side.
The 19-year-old striker's comments to the Italian press have been seized upon by their British colleagues and he claims the terms he used have been exaggerated.
Macheda used the term 'coatto' which he claims is far from the 'chav' and 'vulgar' translations used by some tabloid papers.
"I said 'coatto' in the Roman way, but with the minimum intention to offend Rooney," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I like him and I have maximum respect for him.
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"What I wanted to say is that for me he is a free spirit and genuine.
"I sent a message to Rio Ferdinand to clarify everything with Wayne and Rio told me not to worry, everything is fine."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
After Sunday’s Carling Cup victory, Liverpool’s director of football Damien Comolli was quick to state that big signings were a real possibility for the Merseysiders this summer. This talk has prompted fans of the club to begin speculating just where there side needs strengthening, and which players could step in.
With some poor statistics this term, it’s clear that the Reds need a clinical striker, to finish the abundant chances being created. Liverpool have been one of the most ineffective sides this season, in terms of turning chances into goals. This has been reflected by a meagre tally of 29 in 25 games, equal to second from bottom Bolton, and fewer than relegation threatened Blackburn. The Red’s have, arguably, one of the most talented forwards in the league with Luis Suarez, but even his goal return has been poor so far this term, albeit he has missed nine games through suspension. A striker then must be considered a must for Kenny Dalglish, if he is to turn his side into title contenders. The likes of Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain would be the fans choices, but if Champions League football cannot be secured acquisitions of such talented players may prove to be a bit far-fetched. Darren Bent was rumoured to be on the verge of a move to Anfield during January, but nothing materialised, besides his arrival would not be one to get the fans pulses racing.
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As well as a clinical frontman, the Reds could benefit from greater reinforcements in a wide position, as well as through the centre in a playmaker role. Young Belgian Eden Hazard could fill both of these roles and is believed to be a player who would be available at the right price this summer, however, as is the case with Cavani and Higuain, a place at Europe’s top table would be high on his list of requirements. Liverpool do however have one trump card, in the fact that Lille are rumoured to be interested in keeping the on-loan Joe Cole, who could be used as a bargaining tool in a deal for the 21-year-old. Hazard would be virtually guaranteed a regular spot in the Liverpool starting-11, which would be another tempting factor, and if Comolli could convince one of Europe’s hottest properties that the club are moving in the right direction a deal may be achievable.
Scott Sinclair is another man who could fill the role on the right-hand side of the Reds midfield, and is, perhaps, a more realistic target. The Swansea man has been a key component in the attractive brand of football being produced in the south of Wales, and would surely be interested in a move to a big club in a bid to up his chances on the international scene. The ex-Chelsea youth star fits the Fenway Sports Group’s policy of young home-grown talent and would not cost the earth, making him a prospect to be considered.
As well as Sinclair and Hazard, Gaston Ramirez of Italian outfit Bologna could be an option for injecting some creativity into the Anfield side. The 21-year-old is an international colleague of both Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates, who could convince the creative midfielder to switch from the Serie A to the Premier League this summer.
It’s clear that Liverpool need reinforcements in a variety of positions this summer to keep the side moving in the right direction. However, convincing big players to move to the club with no guarantee of Champions League football could be a major factor, the reds must step up during the end of this campaign if they are to be a desirable prospect this summer.
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