Ancelotti: Every player has an ego. Above all strikers

Carlo Ancelotti comes across neither as an incurable gambler desperate for one last throw of the dice, nor an unrealistic dreamer with his head in the clouds, yet the Chelsea manager seems ready to put the club's late charge at the Premier League title back in the hands of Fernando Torres.

The last time he started with Torres and Didier Drogba up front, the pair played 70 minutes and exchanged just five passes, one of which was at kick-off. "Disaster, disaster," was Ancelotti's joking response when asked how the two strikers had combined in training together this week, but he might as well have been describing their total lack of understanding at home to Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. Ancelotti went on to say their relationship "has improved", which, it must be said, would not have been difficult.

It is no coincidence that Chelsea's revival has followed once Ancelotti reduced Torres to a mere supporting role. The £50m Spaniard was substituted at half-time in the return leg at Old Trafford and he has not started in the three games since.

The 4-4-2 formation that Ancelotti had cooked up in a failed bid to accommodate Torres was thrown into the tactical bin, and it was back to the old, faithful, 4-3-3 formation with an indignant Drogba restored to his familiar role at the top of the team.

Torres was given the sort of treatment that, looking back, he probably should have received when he signed, coming off the bench to play 20 minutes here and there to ease him into the side without upsetting things too much, rather than just being thrown into the starting line-up straight away.

Torres's goal against West Ham last Saturday, his first in 14 games for Chelsea, appears to be at the forefront of Ancelotti's mind however. Drogba's form since stepping from the bench at Old Trafford has made him undroppable so the Italian is toying once again with the idea of playing them both against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge today.

Ancelotti is relieved to have rediscovered the old Drogba, who turned 33 recently and is fit again after suffering from malaria at the end of last year. The Chelsea manager said: "Didier was – and is – important for this club and will be in the future. When we have this kind of player we have to try to keep them as long as possible. He could play for longer. His body is strong and fit and hasn't had big injury problems in the past. I would like to have his body."

Ancelotti has Drogba and Torres to worry about, but he also has to accommodate Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda, who has scored three goals in his last two games, somewhere in his front line.

So far there has been little dissent from the squad about not getting enough game time, and Ancelotti is confident the good spirit in the Chelsea dressing room will continue. "Every player has an ego, above all strikers," he said. "When you speak you have to put in their minds that most important thing is the team. The best thing is for every player to use their individual ability for the team. You can fight against the ego for this reason. Players have to understand the most important thing is using ability and skill for the team. That is the difference between a good and a top player – his ability to support the play of the team and all the team."

Chelsea are still thinking of the title, while Tottenham are in danger of missing out on fourth place and another season in the Champions League, but manager Harry Redknapp has ruled out selling any of their big names should the worst happen.

Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart have all been linked with moves away from White Hart Lane, but Redknapp insists they will not depart if Spurs only finish fifth.

"If you do sell them, you may as well accept you're a mid-table team," Redknapp said. "We are trying to be a Champions League team and we will not do that by selling our best players."

Ancelotti, however, can see problems for Tottenham if they do miss out on the Champions League. "When you play in the last eight of the Champions League and are not able to qualify again, next year will be more difficult to manage and attract players to your team," he said. "When you have the smell of the Champions League you would like to play every year."

Wenger: Captaining trophy-less Arsenal weighs on Fabregas

Pressure is too much for Spanish 23-year-old claims manager and frustration has taken its toll this season

Arsene Wenger believes that his 23-year-old captain Cesc Fabregas places himself under "too much" pressure. The Spaniard has been Arsenal captain for over two years, and his manager revealed that leading a team so frustrated in its pursuit of trophies was a "heavy burden" on the young midfielder.

Fabregas assumed the Arsenal captaincy in November 2008, after the armband was taken from William Gallas. Since the departures of Thierry Henry, Gilberto Silva and Jens Lehmann he has been without question Arsenal's senior player and has made more first-team appearances than anyone else currently at the club. Moreover, he is the team's creative mainspring, dynamic force and penalty-taker.

Wenger fears that this accumulation of responsibilities results in the Spaniard demanding more from himself than he ought to. "It is too much for him at his age, I believe so," Wenger said. "Of course, but he is the captain of the team and [Robin] van Persie is vice-captain and they put a lot of pressure on themselves."

This pressure was problematic, according to Wenger, because it led to his assuming responsibility for Arsenal's trophy drought. Their last major honour was the 2005 FA Cup, and the manager suggested that Fabregas's disaffection – as displayed in a recent interview with a Spanish magazine – was a function of his desire for silverware. "Cesc is a winner," Wenger said. "He wants to win, he is desperate to win the games. And of course, when it does not work, he is frustrated."

It was only because Fabregas is yet to lift a trophy as Arsenal captain, Wenger said, that the pressure on him was telling. "It is too much because it doesn't go as well," he suggested. "Once it will go well, he will grow with it as well. Every difficulty in life will make you stronger, especially when you have a strong character. He is a strong character. And it will make him stronger. Maybe this season it is a bit of a heavy burden."

When asked whether the burden was so much that he may take the captaincy away from Fabregas, Wenger said no. But he did admit a desire to help Fabregas by introducing players of similar experience, and said that this was one of the reasons for his re-signing former goalkeeper Lehmann last month. "We certainly try to bring in some more experience. One of the reasons I took Lehmann back as well when we were close to the end was that, you know, because he has done it." He was clear, though, that Lehmann merited his return: "We needed a goalkeeper as well in March. It is not easy to find a goalkeeper with the quality of Jens Lehmann with his experience."

Lehmann brought with him experience of having won the title with Arsenal; he played in the 2003-04 "Invincibles" side. The current generation are yet to win a trophy together, and Wenger expressed his frustration at the squandered opportunity of the Carling Cup final. "It would have taken a little bit of weight from the shoulders of the players," he said of the missed chance. "For me, the Carling Cup in itself is not important, but what it could have given – a little bit of playing with less weight on your shoulders."

Since the Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham, Arsenal have won two of their 10 games; they were swiftly eliminated from the FA and European Cups, and have taken just 8 from the last 21 available Premier League points.

Cesc Fabregas took over as the Arsenal captain two and a half years ago

They go into tomorrow's match with Manchester United nine points behind the league leaders. Wenger remains positive about his team, though, and their potential for success. "I believe that this team has been educated, grown together," he said. "They are very young. The biggest achievement for them will be to win together. I think they will have learnt their job the hard way. They will have learnt their job when expectation is very high. They have been criticised a lot and they do not get the credit they deserve. Once they win, they will be stronger."

Abou Diaby is out of tomorrow's game with a calf injury and it comes too soon for Thomas Vermaelen, who played for the reserves on Thursday.

Anderson: 'I have the qualities to be player of the year next season'

Anderson has been at Manchester United for four years but, the determined Brazilian informs Sam Wallace, his best is still to come

The Manchester United midfielder Anderson has a story about the beginnings of his professional career that tells you everything you need to know about why this talented Brazil international believes that he will be a success in England.

It begins in the canteen that served the youth-team players at his first club Gremio in his hometown of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil. Anderson was approached by the first-team manager who demanded to know why he had two mobile phones on that table in front of him. "I said 'Why do you want to know? I'm the one who pays the bills'," Anderson recalls. "He was surprised with my reaction because I was very young. He asked me if I played as much as I spoke. I said: 'I'm better than some of the players you have in your team'."

The Gremio manager was intrigued and rang the former Brazil international Branco, then in charge of the junior national teams, for a reference. "Apparently Branco said about me, 'He's a very good player but he's a bit crazy'," Anderson says. "We had a derby coming up against Internacional. It's like United v City. The Gremio manager told me to go to the hotel and join the first team. I had never even trained with them. I played and scored a goal. We lost 2-1. I was 15 years old."

It is the last detail that stops you in your tracks. Since coming from Porto in 2007 for £18m Anderson has had some ups and downs at United – a point he illustrates with a roller-coaster motion of his arm during the course of our interview – but he is still only 23. There is, Anderson says, still a lot to come.

Tomorrow he faces Arsenal, against whom he had one of the best performances of his United career in the 2009 Champions League semi-final first leg, in yet another pivotal game at the end of the season. For Anderson, the prospect of a glittering end to the season is nothing new: in his four years at the club he has already featured in two Champions League finals and won two Premier League medals.

You might think that you know Anderson: a stroppy expression made worse by a general aversion to being substituted but the character who presented himself at United's training ground yesterday was very different. He has that well-disposed Brazilian attitude to life, was delighted at the rare Mancunian sunshine and joked that he could not possibly have his photograph taken with his hair out of the usual plaits.

It was his performances against Arsenal that inspired the song Old Trafford sings about Anderson – unrepeatable in full – which compares him favourably to Cesc Fabregas. Given how Arsenal's season has tailed off as United have gotten stronger, does he agree with the view that the general lack of experience in Arsène Wenger's team has proved their undoing?

"Arsenal are a great team, everybody knows that," he says. "In the last three years they have been competing with United. They have great players: Fabregas, [Robin] van Persie and [Alex] Song. It will be a tough game for us.

"They have a lot of young players but it is also important to have Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Edwin van der Sar and, in the past, Gary Neville. They have the knowledge and experience and they can transmit that easily to the younger players and that helps a lot.

"Now the Arsenal team doesn't have [Thierry] Henry, [Patrick] Vieira, [Sol] Campbell, [Freddie] Ljungberg – players like that. United has those kind of players, it is important for them to pass their experience to us. I have learned a lot from Scholes. Those players are important.

"They are the type of players who are keen to help and give a word of advice, on and off the pitch. They are like part of the furniture of the club. They are part of the club's history. They helped me adapt to this club and I am thankful for that."

Anderson has a new deal until 2015, signed in December after his return from a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained in February last year. That kept him out until September, a seven-month period that he admits was one of the most frustrating of his career. During that time he was involved in a car accident in Portugal in the summer that he dismisses as unimportant but there was the growing feeling that he needed to prove himself to Sir Alex Ferguson on his return.

He came back with some notable performances and played 22 games before he suffered another knee injury in February that threatened to end his season for the second straight year. Back this month, he was the outstanding player against Everton last Saturday. He may have had some contrasting fortunes over the last 12 months but he is on the brink of a third league title and a third Champions League final appearance.

It is not hard to see that confidence in Anderson and while he admits that United are not at Wembley yet, the possibility of another final against Barcelona is a tantalising prospect. "I think we can do it [beat them]," he says. "Barcelona has a great team and good players like [Lionel] Messi and Xavi... we beat them once and we lost that final [2009] to them. United is one of the top clubs. We are close to them and – if we get there – it will be close again.

"I think United is the only team that Barcelona respect a lot. They are always careful with us because we also have a great team. We have great players who can stop Messi, in defence, midfield and attack. We can face Barcelona and cope. They are well aware of that and they have a lot of respect for us. It will not be easy for them to beat us. It will be 50-50.

"Messi is an out-of-this-world player but we cannot just worry about Messi, we have to worry about other players too. Nowadays football is a lot about details and if you make a mistake you can lose a trophy or a championship."

That self-belief comes from a childhood that, by his own admission, was deprived. You get the impression that if Anderson had not stood his ground in that canteen in Gremio, he might never have made it. He is no different when it comes to his own career at United during which, he points out, he has never had the benefit of a proper pre-season preparation.

He came to United, signed in May 2007, still recovering from a broken leg. The following summer he played for Brazil at the Beijing Olympics and the last two summers have been interrupted by injury. "This year I will do a pre-season," he says, "I will maintain 100 per cent performance in every match and there will be matches I hope I will be able to be the decisive players."

It is delivered in a matter-of-fact way in the manner of someone who has no reason to doubt himself. Are we, I enquire, talking player of the year material? "Definitely," he says. "I have the qualities for that. I know that. I know that I have qualities to be a great player. I am still young, if I am physically well, and if I want to, I can be a great player."

He wants to go back to Brazil one day but sees a long-term future for himself at United – "I want to be a part of United's history like Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, at least a little part of the club's history." He joined, he said, mainly because of the influence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Queiroz, and admitted that he did not know much about United before he signed.

"Ronaldo is an exceptional person and fantastic player," he says. "He was able to win everything at United. He was attracted to Real Madrid but this doesn't mean that one day he will not be able to return. He likes the football in the Premier League. He likes this football club and you never know, he might come back one day." I exchange a surprised glance with our interpreter. "I think so," says Anderson. "He loved United and still loves them. Anything can happen. You never know."

Finally we move on to his childhood in Porto Alegre. The father of two daughters, Anderson is well accustomed to being the breadwinner, a role he took on, on behalf of his parents and three siblings at 11 as a schoolboy player at Gremio. His father died at 41 when Anderson was just 14. When I ask what his father did for a living, Anderson makes a drinking motion with his hand.

"I come from a background where I suffered a lot of deprivation," he says. "Not only me but my family also suffered a lot and now they are happy for me because they have everything that they need. I have been able to support my whole family. They have apartments, houses, cars – they are sorted out for life.

"I had to leave home when I was 12 to fulfil my dream of being a footballer and thank God I was able to do that. I put my belongings in a bin bag and moved to a friend's house. Then I moved to the Gremio academy. I was earning the equivalent of £300 a month. I kept £100 and gave the rest to my mother.

"I lost my father when I was 14 years old. My father lived next door to me in an apartment with my grandmother. I was sad because no one knocked on my door to ask for help because me and my brother would have taken him to hospital even though he didn't want to go. He thought his life was finished. He didn't want to live anymore. That is my only regret."

He tells the story with a philosophical shrug. I put it to him that some people are too quick to judge wealthy young footballers. He agrees. "People see a young footballer buy a car or a house and say, 'He's moody, he's not nice'. But maybe they don't know what this player suffered in the past. Maybe he starved, maybe he missed out on a lot of things that a 12-year-old shouldn't miss out on.

"People don't think about this. Nowadays if I need to buy something I will do. The people who judge me never put food in my fridge [when I was young]. I have my own money and I worked for it and as long as I don't tread on anyone else – that's fine."

As we go to leave, I ask him if he is in the team for tomorrow. He replies that he cannot tell me that kind of information. Ferguson would nod in approval. Anderson might have had his ups and downs but if he delivers as he says he will over the next months, there will be no looking back.

Ferguson shares recipe for success: Philosophy, history and mentality

Manager hails club's unique qualities knowing victory over Arsenal tomorrow will all but seal the title

Of all the barbs aimed at Arsène Wenger amid the wreckage of another imploded campaign, the one that struck hardest was Paul Merson's remark that Arsenal did not understand that the final five games were entirely different to the previous 33.

Once, not long after Merson had left Highbury, they did understand it. In 1998 and 2002, a different, tougher, older Arsenal reeled off a string of 10 and 13 straight victories respectively to push past Manchester United in the final furlongs. The first remains one of only two occasions in which Sir Alex Ferguson has lost a significant lead in the final weeks of the season.

When Manchester United lose a championship, it is generally from a long way out – between 2003 and 2006 they could not live with the early pace set by first Arsenal and then Chelsea. But in the final weeks, in the hard yards of football's marathon, they rarely falter.

"We have the strong spirit, the strong mentality," said Patrice Evra after the marvellously controlled Champions League performance that strangled the life from Schalke in their own arena. "Every time we pull on the shirt, you know we respect the history of the club. It doesn't matter if we play well or badly, we have to keep it at 100 per cent.

"That is what Manchester United are doing every year. I don't say it because I am playing for them but it is amazing, completely amazing. When you arrive there, they tell you the story; you watch it on a DVD and you learn.

"I think every young lad has to do that because when you know the story of the club, you play with more respect. You know that every time you have to do your job because the people who have played before you did."

If you mention any aspect of football to Ferguson, the conversation will eventually come down to one word: "experience". In 1968 he was part of a Glasgow Rangers side that froze when the Scottish title was not just in their hands but clutched to their chests. They had yet to lose a match but were deeply and improbably unnerved by comments from Celtic's great manager, Jock Stein, that the title was "theirs to lose".

They were words Ferguson never forgot. He has written six books about his life in football but the one with the most apt title was named A Will to Win.

"It is a natural thing," he said when asked about resilience at the end of a campaign yesterday. "The personality of a manager is the most important thing at a football club. Personality is very important for anyone who leads a unit, whether it be a football team or a business. That personality can inspire the players to be better, to believe and to trust – and these are the qualities we are seeing in the team at the moment."

Significantly, when Les Ferdinand recalled Newcastle's failure to win the title in 1996, the year of the 12-point lead, he said that nerves stalked the corridors of St James' Park and that they came from the top.

Alan Hansen would forever be mocked for his observation that Manchester United "would win nothing with kids" but the men who snatched the title from Tyneside were Peter Schmeichel, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, the hardened veterans who kept six clean sheets in the final eight games, and Eric Cantona, who scored in seven of the last 10 matches.

"The longer players are here, it becomes a natural progression of the way the club has been over the last 15 years," Ferguson said. "It has its qualities. It has a fantastic profile, history and a good philosophy in the way they play the game. They have had winning qualities going back all these years and that is why they are dominant now.

"We had that resilience at Aberdeen also," said Ferguson, who captured his first Scottish title in 1980 by coming from behind to overhaul Celtic, using the same "the title is theirs to throw away" speech he remembered Stein giving. "We always did well in the springtime. We looked forward to these games. They are hard but the more experience you get the better you can handle them.

"I have been a bit surprised by what has happened to Arsenal," he said before preparing for a journey to the Emirates Stadium that two weeks ago would have been billed as a title decider. "Chelsea are the dark horses in the sense that some people seemed to think they were out of it but I looked at their programme and thought they had the easier run-in and now they are on our coat-tails."

Nevertheless, Manchester United will only feel the breath of Stamford Bridge on their necks if they fail to beat both Arsenal and Chelsea in their two upcoming fixtures. If they win both, they are champions at Old Trafford on 8 May.

There will be those who would say that the team that won Manchester United's 19th title was one that lacked fantasy. They have not won an away game against a side in the top half of the table. Ferguson argued that United were more of a team than in the days when their play revolved around Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo; Tuesday night's triumph in Gelsenkirchen was proof of the power of Manchester United's collective will, he said.

"I don't think it matters if this team is not given enough credit," he said. "We have had enough criticism about our away form and some of it was justified. I wasn't happy myself with some of the away form but our form at Old Trafford has been magnificent [two points dropped all season]. We have had some great performances and scored most goals in the league.

"These players have always had the bit between their teeth. They always try, even in the bad days. They have always had the will to win – we have scored too many late goals to deny that. It is inherent in them."

Ferguson's Titles: Top of the table

1992/93

The Premier League begins and United win their first title in 26 years inspired by new signing Eric Cantona.

1993/94

Last success of the old guard as Hughes, Bruce, Ince et al help United become only the fourth team to win the Double in the 20th century.

1995/96

Beckham & Co prove you can win things with kids as the team win a second domestic Double, beating rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup final.

1996/97

Achieve the season's longest unbeaten run of 16 games without defeat.

1998/99

With over £28m invested in players, including Dwight Yorke, United's league title is part of a momentous treble.

1999/2000

Fortified by a sunshine break in Brazil, where they played in the World Club Championship instead of defending the FA Cup, United accrue a record 91 points.

2000/01

Ferguson becomes the first manager to win three successive English league titles, helped by the club record signing of striker Ruud van Nistelrooy for £19m.

2002/03

Unbeaten after the turn of the year United chase down Arsenal's eight-point lead with Van Nistelrooy scoring 25 goals.

2006/07

Cristiano Ronaldo reaches 20 goals for the first time as United reclaim title.

2007/08

Goal difference of +58 is the highest in a Premier League season.

2008/09

Finished four clear of Liverpool. Ferguson Manager of the Year for a 10th time.

Ancelotti’s title taunt at United

CARLO ANCELOTTI has cranked up the pressure on Manchester United and questioned whether they have the bottle to win the title.

His rejuvenated Chelsea team have stormed back into the race for the Premier League after looking dead and buried not so long ago.
And victory at home to Spurs tomorrow will leave them three points behind leaders United - and breathing right down Alex Ferguson's neck.
It was Fergie who famously coined the phrase 'squeaky bum time' but it is Chelsea chief Ancelotti who has started the mind games.
He said: "When we were losing at home to United last month, we were looking at an 18- point gap at the top.
"But if we can beat Tottenham we will only be three points behind them and that would be fantastic.
"That will be good motivation for us because we need to put pressure on United before their game at Arsenal on Sunday.
"The closer we can get to them, the more pressure we will put on them. United have the experience, tradition and the history to manage that pressure.
"But we want to keep the Premier League title open until the very last minute.

"To do that we have to beat Tottenham and then win at Old Trafford next weekend."
And Ancelotti hopes rivals Arsenal can do him a favour, despite last week's crushing defeat at Bolton which ended the Gunners' own title ambitions.
He added: "I'm sure Arsenal will do their best to win. They are a good team."

The Italian also revealed he has been working with Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba in a bid to build a successful strike partnership.
Torres finally broke his Chelsea duck in Saturday's 3-0 win over West Ham.
Ancelotti added: "We have worked with them in training. It's too early to decide yet but it won't be a surprise if they start together on Saturday."

Drogba and Torres 'can play together'

Carlo Ancelotti yesterday denied that it would be a risk to return to a 4-4-2 formation for Chelsea's remaining games. Ancelotti played 4-4-2 after the arrival of Fernando Torres but recently reverted to 4-3-3, with some success. He said yesterday, though, that he was confident about pairing Torres and Didier Drogba together in future and may do so against Tottenham tomorrow. Chelsea need a win to maintain any hopes of a serious title challenge.

The Italian has not given up on integrating Torres into his side and believes that a potential partnership with Drogba is worth pursuing. "When you have good players," he said yesterday, "you have to try to put them together. Maybe they can sacrifice something of their ability, of their skills, but they can play together. If you are able to do this, I think it is good for the team, to get good results. Obviously, today it's too early to take a decision about this because we have another training session tomorrow. But I think it will not be a surprise if they can start on Saturday together."

While Ancelotti suggested a preference for the pairing of Torres and Drogba rather than a single-striker system, he also argued that formations were less important than the application of the players. "The best solution would be to play 4-4-2 if they play together," he said. "I think that we don't have a problem to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. The result doesn't depend on the shape that you use. The result depends on the motivation that the players have, on the spirit that the players use on the pitch during the game."

Arsenal v Manchester United match preview

Manchester United travel to the Emirates on Sunday with the possibility of doing the double over Arsenal for the second season running. Two Arsenal own goals helped United towards home and away wins last term.

This season’s first league clash in December saw Ji-Sung Park fire United to a 1-0 win at Old Trafford. United leapfrogged the Gunners to go two points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. Arsenal have since taken a nosedive in form and now trail United by nine points with four games to play.

Arsenal will welcome the home advantage this weekend: they have failed to score at Old Trafford in both games between the clubs this season. United claimed a 2-0 FA Cup win in March, inspired by some world class goalkeeping by Edwin van der Sar.

Dimitar Berbatov has never scored against Arsenal in a United shirt, but has only ever played one full game against them. Ji-Sung Park has managed the feat in each of the last three seasons and even both of the Da Silva twins have netted against the Gunners.

The partnership between Rooney and Hernandez has blossomed in recent weeks and, judging by the substitutions made earlier this week against Schalke, it seems likely that Ferguson will use them to slice through the Arsenal defence. Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs is likely to be rested as Ferguson seeks to keep him fresh for the second-leg of United’ Champions League semi-final next week.

United were victorious in the same fixture last year. They took the lead in little over half an hour as Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia hooked a Nani cross into his own net. Goals from Wayne Rooney and Ji-Sung Park finished off a wholly bad day at the office for the Spaniard. Thomas Vermaelen pulled one back for Arsenal, but they were unable to capitalise as United ran out 3-1 winners.

Wenger: it has been my most frustrating season

Arsenal manager says his side were closer to winning a trophy this year than at any time since 2005

Arsene Wenger confessed yesterday that this season was the most frustrating of the last six trophy-less years. Having seen his team lose the Carling Cup final and squander a strong position in the title race, the Arsenal manager described himself as "more frustrated than ever", due to his team's proximity to their first trophy since 2005.

Arsenal lost the League Cup final in February to Birmingham City, conceding the deciding goal in the final minute. Over the following 10 days they were eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League and they have won one of seven Premier League games since the final, allowing Manchester United, whom they play on Sunday, to stride nine points clear of them.

When asked yesterday whether this made it his most frustrating season since 2005, Wenger agreed. "Yes, because if you look at all the numbers, it is the closest we have been," he said. "Just look at the last week, we could have had nine points quite easily against Liverpool, Tottenham and Bolton and in the end we finished with two points. We feel more frustrated than ever because we are closer than ever to win this league. Of the two trophies, the most important above all for me is the league; and this year we had the quality to win it."

Wenger has been noticeably more animated on the touchline in recent weeks, and admitted that disappointing results was "of course the main reason" for his pitch-side actions.

Wenger suggested that the last-minute League Cup final defeat undermined the players' belief, precipitating the subsequent run of poor results. "In the last two months since we lost in the Carling Cup everything has turned a little big against us," Wenger said.

"When we were on all fronts this team had fought very well and has a fantastic attitude. I just feel that after the Carling Cup we continued to be absolutely spot on with our attitude but we missed a little bit of that subconscious belief that makes you win and that frustrates you because you know that it is there and you want to fight against it."

Despite his disappointment at the season's likely yield, Wenger was clear that he did not blame his players for the lack of trophies. "The players gave everything and I am responsible for the results so if there is one to blame, it's me," he said. "I have to stand up for the results and the way that we play and the way that we behave, and that has not changed since last Sunday."

The Arsenal manager maintained, however, the confident belief that the margins between his team and a trophy-winning one were narrowing. "If you look at the numbers of the season you will see that we created as many chances as almost everybody else," he said. "The team that had the most shots on bars is Arsenal, the team that had the most penalties against is Arsenal and when you analyse you have to take a distance from that and analyse as it is really."

Mourinho faces ban for Barça rant

Uefa launches an investigation into semi-final trouble as fall-out also turns ugly

Jose Mourinho was last night facing the possibility of a lengthy Champions League ban following his comments in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's "Battle of the Bernabeu".

Uefa yesterday charged both Barcelona and Real Madrid for the behaviour of their players during and after the first-leg of their semi-final in Madrid. Among the charges for Real was one for Mourinho's "inappropriate statement" and it is his comments that are most likely to bring about severe disciplinary action.

Barcelona last night accused the Real manager of “overstepping the limits of acceptable comment” with remarks that “could incite violence” as they filed an official complaint over Mourinho. In response, as relations between the clubs soured further, Real posted a two-minute video on their website which they claimed showed Pepe made no contact with Dani Alves in the challenge for which the Real player received a red card. The video cuts together a series of incidents that portrays Barcelona’s players in a poor light, committing a series of fouls, diving and surrounding the referee.

In all, Uefa will investigate the tunnel bust-up at half-time that ended with Barcelona's reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto being sent off; Pepe's red card; Mourinho's sending-off for disputing it; and the throwing of missiles and the encroachment on the playing surface by several spectators at the final whistle.

This is not the first time Mourinho has been in trouble with Uefa. He was banned for two games in 2007 for bringing the game into disrepute and making false allegations. The then Chelsea manager had said after Barcelona's 2-1 defeat of his team that he saw Barça coach Frank Rijkaard enter the referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time. Frisk retired shortly after the incident.

This time there will be no charge of making false allegations when Uefa's disciplinary panel sits on 6 May but if it feels Mourinho has called into question the integrity of the competition then the disrepute charge could be heftier.

Barcelona were last night doing everything they could to increase the pressure on Uefa by issuing a statement condemning Mourinho's post-match comments. A spokesman for the Barcelona board, Antoni Freixa, said: "Barcelona is filing an official complaint against Mourinho to Uefa's disciplinary committee for questioning the history, titles and links with Unicef of the club."

He said that Mourinho had "over-stepped the limits of acceptable comment" with remarks that "could incite violence". Freixa added: "It is completely impossible that a coach of Barcelona would act in this way. We will now wait to see what sanctions Uefa decide."

In his post-match outburst on Wednesday night, Mourinho said: "I don't know if it is to give publicity to Unicef or if it's the friendship of Villar [Angel Maria Villar, head of the Spanish football association] at Uefa or if it's because they are very nice, but why does it always happen? It seems they have to finish in the final.

"Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but he's won one Champions League which I would be ashamed to win after the scandal at Stamford Bridge and this year, if he wins it again, it will be after the scandal at the Bernabeu. I hope that one day he will win a clean Champions League," he added.

The club itself could also be in trouble for failing to keep supporters off the pitch at the end of the game and for the missiles that meant referee Wolfgang Stark had to be given a riot-police escort from the pitch. There could also be action taken against former player and current matchday delegate Miguel Chendo, who grabbed Pinto around the neck in the brawl in front of the tunnel at half-time. Mourinho will miss Tuesday's return leg as will defenders Pepe and Sergio Ramos and Barcelona keeper Pinto.

Mourinho's chances of leniency are slim in view of his troubled past with European football's governing body. Uefa called him an "enemy of football" after his comments about Frisk in 2007 led to the referee's retirement from the game.

Uefa communications director William Gaillard said at the time: "We can't accept that one of our best referees has been forced to quit because of this. People like Mourinho are the enemy of football."

Frisk quit after officiating for 16 years despite Uefa's attempts to make him change his mind.

Wednesday night's ill-tempered affair attracted a peak audience of 7.8m on ITV1, a remarkable figure for a club game involving two non-English sides.

Real coach pays penalty for refusing to play fair

If they were in school they would be made to sit apart until the end of term. Barcelona and Real Madrid bring out the worst in each other. Barça, anticipating the opposition's over-physical approach, exaggerate the theatrics. Madrid – and more specifically Jose Mourinho – believe the opposition cannot be beaten at football and so do everything in their powers to stifle the beautiful game.

Mourinho quoted Albert Einstein before the game, citing willpower as the only force greater than atomic power. Another pearl of wisdom from the same genius came to mind as for the fifth game running his side finished a match against Barcelona with 10 men – "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

Barcelona were not blameless. Just as Sergio Busquets exaggerated Thiago Motta's foul in last season's semi-final against Internazionale so Dani Alves helped make sure Pepe walked for a challenge that while a little wild barely made contact with the full-back.

The spectacle as a whole suffered. The watching world had tuned in to see the greatest players on the planet but – Messi's sublime goal aside – the enduring images are of the referee being shielded by riot police as he left the pitch, Victor Valdes having a laser shone in his face, a brawl on the touchline at the half-time whistle and Pep Guardiola urging his players to get off the pitch on full-time as the missiles rained down.

Then there was Mourinho's post-match rant, extreme even by his standards although the topic was wearingly familiar; referees and sinister plans to favour Barça.

"I would be ashamed to have won that Champions League," Mourinho famously said of Barcelona's 2009 victory after knocking Chelsea out in the semi-finals. There was no time to ask him on Wednesday night if he felt Porto's success in 2004 had been stained by Markus Merk's decision to show Deportivo defender Andrade a direct red for a playful kick at his close pal Deco in the final minutes of the first leg, ruling him out of the second game.

'I adapt to what I am told to do,' said Cristiano Ronaldo after the defeat by Barcelona

Mourinho's record against Barcelona is dreadful. In 15 games his sides have suffered seven sendings-off. His teams have failed to finish their last five games against them with 11 men.

But while Pepe's dismissal might have been harsh and Sergi Busquets' theatrics earned Motta his marching orders in last season's semi-final, the three reds in between were all deserved.

"If you play with fire you get burned," said Gerard Pique after the first leg. "It's no coincidence that this always seems to happen to him." Mourinho has admitted that the battle begins in the press room before the game and this assertion seems to underpin another belief that Barça can't be beaten with just 90 minutes of football.

He creates the hostile environment in which reckless challenges and sometimes reckless refereeing decisions are more likely. His tactics also tend to strangle the possibility of an open football match where the referee might pass relatively unnoticed.

Asked about Real's reluctance to play the attacking football that would have put Barcelona under pressure, one Spanish commentator said: "After Pepe got sent off, Real Madrid couldn't, and before the red card they didn't want to."

Guardiola's side were potentially there for the taking on Wednesday night. The Spanish Cup final had been won by a powerful, positive Madrid too strong for the ever-diminishing resources of their eternal rivals. After that win at the Mestalla, Barcelona lost two more defenders to injury and then had to make do without Andres Iniesta – surely Mourinho would go on the attack in the first leg?

Even Cristiano Ronaldo seemed frustrated by the tactic of letting the opposition have the ball until they approached Madrid's final third. Barça's possession was 82 per cent in the first 15 minutes and before he was substituted at half-time, Real's most naturally gifted player Mesut Özil had made two passes.

Do you like playing this way, Ronaldo was asked after the first leg. "No, I don't, but I have to adapt to what I am told to do," was his revealing response. He was back on-message immediately afterwards echoing his manager's conspiracy theory: "These boys [Barcelona players] have a lot of power off the pitch."

Uefa will deal with that particular accusation over the coming days.

TOUCHLINES

ARSENAL are ready to reluctantly sell captain Cesc Fabregas for £35m(RM185m) – with boyhood club Barcelona his likely destination – despite having four years of his £12,000 (RM600,000)-a-week contract to run.

ANOTHER player who could of Arsenal is Andrey Arshavin, with Zenit St Petersburg confirming they would happily take the striker if the gunners decide to sell.

REAL MADRID boss Jose Mourinho is weighing up a move for Chelsea captain John Terry as he looks to strengthen his defence.

INTER MILAN’S Dutch star Wesley Sneijder has called Manchester United a “ beautiful club” in an interview which will gave United manager Sir Alex Ferguson encouragement to attempt a £25m summer swoop for the 26-year-old.

MANCHESTER UNITED are also on the verge of signing 18-year-old French defender Raphael Varane for £3.7m (RM18.5m) from Lens in order to head off interest from Arsenal.

BUT Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina claims he would never join Manchester United, giving the clearest indication yet that he will start next season at Anfield.

LIVERPOLL boss Kenny Dalglish is ready to go head-to-head with Manchester United counterpart Ferguson for £15m (RM75m)-rated Blackburn defender Phil Jones.

WEST BROM striker Peter Odemwingie is likely to be a Tottenham target this summer after admitting his desire to play European football.

REAL MADRID look ready to turn their back on striker Emmanuel Adebayor when his loan move from Manchester City ends in May.

JUVENTUS are growing increasingly confident that they can lure Roberto Mancini away from Manchester City this summer with boss Luigi Del Neri expected to leave at the end of the campaign after the Italian side failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Barcelona considering action against Jose Mourinho

Barcelona have confirmed a board meeting will be held later today as the club consider action against Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho last night implied the Catalan giants receive favourable treatment from referees and claimed the club had yet to win a "clean" Champions League title under Pep Guardiola.

The outburst came shortly after Guardiola's side won 2-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with the Portuguese particularly angry at the dismissal of makeshift midfielder Pepe for a challenge on Dani Alves.

Mourinho was sent off during the match

A statement on www.fcbarcelona.com this morning read: "There will be an 'extraordinary' meeting of the board at 1700 to discuss the action to be taken after the events of the Bernabeu.

"Later there will be a press conference at 1900.

"At the press conference after the game, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho harshly criticised referee Wolfgang Stark and suggested Barcelona receive favourable treatment.

"The Legal Services of FC Barcelona are considering reporting the Real Madrid coach to the Disciplinary Commission of UEFA."

Last night, Mourinho said: "Today it's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance.

"I don't understand why. I don't know if it's the publicity of UNICEF (the club's shirt sponsor), I don't know if it's the friendship of (Spanish football federation president Angel Maria) Villar at UEFA, where he is vice-president, I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they have got this power. The rest of us have no chance."

He added: "Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but he has won one Champions League which I would be ashamed to win after the scandal at Stamford Bridge and this year, if he wins it again, it will be after the scandal at the Bernabeu.

"I hope that one day he will win a clean Champions League, with no incidents behind it."

Source : The Independent 28 April 2011

Messi's moment of beauty seals Barça victory on an ugly night

Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 2

Lionel Messi scored one of the best goals in Champions League history last night to settle one of the competition's ugliest matches.

When he turned in Ibrahim Afellay's cross at the near post to put Barcelona 1-0 it was in keeping with a scrappy eyesore of a match, but when he slalomed through the home team's defence to double the lead he restored the watching world's faith in football.

Jose Mourinho was sent off and will not take his place in the dugout next Tuesday for a game he has already written off. He risked a lengthy Uefa ban by suggesting that Pep Guardiola had never won a Champions League cleanly, calling Barça's win a scandal. In truth the real scandal was that such an eagerly anticipated match was largely devoid of football until Messi delivered twice at the end to leave his team 90 minutes from the final.

After the cantankerous press conferences with their spiteful recriminations and expletive-filled retaliations perhaps such an ill-tempered affair was par for the course. Teams so often end up resembling their coaches and this was as niggly as the tit-for-tat from Guardiola and Mourinho beforehand.

Rarely has so much talent been brought together in just two teams and never has it been so wasted on stifling tactics, time-wasting, late challenges and off-the-ball incidents, with both teams guilty.

Barcelona's reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto was sent off at half-time after he and Alvaro Arbeloa hit out at each other en route to the tunnel. Pepe was then shown a red card for a wild challenge on Dani Alves after the break with the theatrical reaction to the foul ensuring the card was red and not yellow, as it should have been.

But worse than the cards, and worse than the fact that Mourinho has now finished his last five games against Barcelona with 10 men, was the complete lack of sparkling football. Before the red cards, Messi was swamped, Cristiano Ronaldo smothered, and football the loser.

Both sets of fans had reacted to the fiery pre-match exchanges between their respective coaches. A huge banner was draped over one end of the Bernabeu bearing the slogan: "We live for you, beat them for us", and at the other end 2,000 travelling Barcelona fans did their best to respond.

After their rants 24 hours earlier – directed at each other – Mourinho and Guardiola shook hands in the tunnel with the Real Madrid manager waiting for his Barça counterpart before battle began. But that was the beginning and end of cordial relations.

Barcelona's first real chance came when Messi somehow wriggled into space just in front of Real's back four and sent a teasing pass through to Xavi who had only the advancing Iker Casillas to beat. Casillas got down smartly to his left to block the shot.

Lionel Messi turns in his second goal at the Bernabeu

Lionel Messi celebrates one of his goals in Barcelona's 2-0 win at the Bernabeu last night

Barça had enjoyed 82 per cent of possession in the first 15 minutes but as they advanced so they left more space behind and Real looked increasingly dangerous when they broke. But still the game resembled Internazionale's tortuous second-leg performance last season at the Nou Camp far more than their impressive 3-1 first-leg win.

Sergio Ramos had a half-chance from a free-kick but in open play only Marcelo's energy down the left gave Barcelona a problem and when he was up-ended by David Villa, Xabi Alonso had the chance to send over a testing free-kick but failed to clear the first man. Cristiano Ronaldo took over free-kick duties but struck Messi in the wall as the quality remained poor and then the tempers began to flare. Arbeloa flattened Pedro off the ball and the Barcelona bench swarmed to the touchline.

The referee consulted both the fourth official and his linesman and the former Liverpool man was booked. Alves was then cautioned for bringing down Angel di Maria a minute before the break and the trouble continued when the half-time whistle was blown.

As the two sets of players headed down the tunnel Seydou Keita sought out Arbeloa. There was pushing and shoving between the two and as Pinto intervened, Arbeloa lashed out at him and was lucky to escape punishment from referee Wolfgang Stark, who did spot Pinto's retaliation and sent him off.

Stark had remained on the touchline as Arbeloa, Keita and Pinto clashed and his non-involvement allowed the situation to escalate with several members of each bench wading in to join an unsightly melee that Mourinho said afterwards he had not seen, having already arrived in the dressing room to make plans for the second period.

His reaction to the lack of first-half entertainment was to take off Real's greatest entertainer, Mesut Ozil, and bring on Emmanuel Adebayor to join Ronaldo up front. The Portuguese came into the game having scored three times in Champions League semi-finals and twice in his last two games against Barcelona but the return of Carles Puyol made life more difficult for him and it was the Barcelona captain who blocked his first chance in the second half .

Messi then raced away from Ramos who pulled him down to earn a booking that rules him out of the second leg. In the spirit of giving and receiving Mascherano then went through Pepe and joined Ramos in the book.

And Pepe himself was the next player in trouble as he went in high on Alves. The Brazilian full-back lay motionless on the turf as players from both sides surrounded the referee. Alves was carried off and Pepe sent off as Mourinho fumed on the sidelines and earned himself a red too.

It took Barça 16 minutes to take full advantage of their extra man when substitute Afellay beat Marcelo for pace and crossed for Messi to scored his 51st goal of the season.

And there were four minutes left when the Argentine picked the ball up midway inside Real's half, jinked his way through the heart of the home side's defence before curling a shot past Casillas to make it 2-0.

Man of the match Messi.

Match rating 5/10.

Referee W Stark (Germany).

Attendance 78,000.

Second-leg dates

Tuesday 3 May Barcelona (2) v Real Madrid (0)

Wednesday 4 May Manchester United (2) v Schalke (0)

Saturday 28 May Final, Wembley Stadium

Source : The Independent 28 April 2011

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Real Madrid v Barcelona: 'El Clasico' preview

Tonight will see the third of four meetings in quick succession to take place between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
So far, it's honours even. A 1-1 draw in La Liga effectively handed Barcelona the league title while a 1-0 extra-time win saw Real Madrid clinch the Copa del Rey.

Clubs warned of Champions League income drop

UEFA have announced a new three-year deal for Champions League rights with Sky and ITV - but England's top clubs face a major drop in their income from the competition if a European ruling goes against them.

The deal for 2012-2015 is understood to be worth £400million, similar to the current agreement.

But William Gaillard, adviser to UEFA president Michel Platini, said a European Court of Justice (ECJ) case could force a major shake-up in the sale of TV rights across the continent.

Gaillard told Press Association Sport: "This may force us to sell the rights on a Europe-wide basis, which would prevent us from identifying individual national TV pools.

"That will be bad news for clubs in big TV markets such as England."

The Premier League also fear the case - their legal battle against Portsmouth pub landlady Karen Murphy who has used a Greek satellite decoder to screen live matches - could affect their TV income.

The European Union's advocate general Juliane Kokott has already advised that the case means that selling TV rights in separate countries within the EU goes against European law.

The case is now being dealt with by the ECJ with a decision expected in the late summer.

At the moment, UEFA splits Champions League payments among the 32 clubs in the group stage, half depending on far they progress and half on the value of their country's TV deals.

The current £400million deal with Sky and ITV for the UK rights is the biggest in Europe and has seen English clubs earn between £20million and £35million annually from the Champions League alone. Beyond 2015, the future is uncertain.

Under the new deal, ITV will have first pick of the match to show live on Tuesday night and highlights, while Sky Sports have the rights to broadcast live all Champions League matches except for the games on ITV. Sky also has the rights for delayed broadcasts and highlights on both nights.

Gaillard fears that those who say the ECJ often do not follow the advocate general's advice may be burying their head in the sand.

He said: "Most of the time the ECJ follow what the advocate general has said, and the rest of the time partially follow that advice."

In Scotland, where television income from the Champions League is around £10million, and other smaller TV markets, the court case could have a positive effect.

If the case goes against the Premier League it could mean the clubs having to have one single TV deal covering the whole of Europe, rather than domestic TV rights and rights for other individual countries being sold separately.

It could also mean that no matches kicking off at 3pm on Saturday could be shown anywhere in Europe. Currently broadcasts of matches at that time are only blocked for British television, which is why some pub landlords used foreign satellite decoders.

The other alternative would be for the Premier League to throw every single match open to live TV coverage across the whole of Europe.

That would lead to opposition from those who want to keep the Saturday 3pm slot as a closed window in order to protect attendances at games.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson said the Government is putting pressure on the European Commission to maintain the current system.

Robertson said: "I have taken the issue up directly with the European Commissioner responsible for this."

The Premier League said in February any change resulting from the case "would damage the interests of broadcasters and viewers of Premier League football across the EU".

Source : The Independent 27 April 2011

Rio Ferdinand desperate to keep winning medals

Rio Ferdinand has warned Manchester United's rivals he will not be satisfied even if the Red Devils go on to complete their second Premier League-Champions League double in four years.

Although all United's players were saying the right things after last night's 2-0 win over Schalke at the Veltins-Arena, few expect next week's second leg at Old Trafford to be anything other than a formality.

A place in the final at Wembley against either Real Madrid or Barcelona awaits on May 28, before which United expect to have wrapped up a record 19th league championship.

For Ferdinand personally, it would be his fifth such triumph since arriving at Old Trafford for a then club record £29.1million in 2002.

It would be more than England team-mates John Terry and Frank Lampard have managed and would put him alongside legendary figures such as Graeme Souness.

But would Ferdinand be happy with that? Not a chance.

"If I finish in two years' time with what I have now, I wouldn't be satisfied. No chance. I would be having nightmares," he said.

"There is so much to be won. If we didn't win the league this year I would be devastated.

"I want to win the league this year, next year and every year I am playing.

"This is our fourth Champions League semi-final in five years. And we have only won it once. There is a lot of disappointment in those four years."

For all the glory they have enjoyed down the years, it could be argued this present five-year spell is the best era United have ever had.

At no other point have they been able to combine domestic supremacy with sustained European success.

It is a quite phenomenal achievement, made all the more remarkable given that this present team have been written off by so many people so often this season.

"It is wishful thinking on a lot of people's behalf," laughed Ferdinand.

"People want us to lose because we have won the league three out of the last four years and they probably want to see a little bit of variation.

"But they can have those opinions and keep talking like that. We just try to win games. If we win games and end up winning titles we won't be thinking about what people have said about us."

There is a lot of head scratching even now about how United have ended up in this situation.

"What sets us apart from other teams is that the hunger never dies," said Ferdinand.

"It stems from the manager and filters down through the squad.

"We have players in this squad who want to win things.

"There are still players in this squad who have not won the league. There are others who have won it a few times who want more. That is the basis on which we do our work every single day."

Even yesterday, there was a temptation not to give United their due rewards for a performance, to concentrate on the individual brilliance of Manuel Neuer and the collective failure of the Schalke outfield players to offer their goalkeeper any kind of protection.

Ferdinand believes such an assessment is unfair.

"There are not many teams in the world that could have dealt with us in the first half," he said.

"We had people going long, we had people going short and dictating the play. We were snappy in the tackle and picking up second balls.

"If you are playing like that you are going to be a handful for anyone.

"We took the game by the scruff of the neck from minute one and the only sense of frustration was at half-time, when we still had not scored.

"In the end, we got there but it wasn't down to whether they froze. Our attacking play would have opened up anyone in the world."

Source : The Independent 27 April 2011

 

TOUCHLINES

CHELSEA are poised to make a £40m (RM200m) bid for Spurs winger Gareth Bale in the summer.

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has finally concede that his team lack a ‘commanding’ presence at the back, a flaw which will force him into the transfer market this summer. And former Gunner star Ray Parlour says Bolton defender Gary Cahill would be the perfect signing.

ITALIAN giants Juventus are set to make a double swoop on Manchester City this summer for manager Roberto Macini and defender Micah Richards.

JOSE MOURINHO wants to be reunited with his former Chelsea captain John Terry at Real Madrid, according to reports in Italy.

ZENIT ST PETERSBURG have opened the door for Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin to return to Russia.

MANCHESTER UNITED look to have beaten Arsenal to £3m (RM15m)-rated Lens youngster Raphael Varene, who can play center-back or central midfield.

UNITED are planning an ambitious summer move to lure Bayern Munich playmaker Frank Ribery to Old Trafford.

UNITED goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who is retiring at the end of the season, has been offered a coaching role at former club Ajax by boss Frank de Boer.

MANCHESTER CITY will embark on their smallest summer spending spree since Sheikh Mansour’s September 2008 takeover if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League This season.

CNN presenter and former tabloid newspaper editor Piers Morgan has used his own account to call for United striker Wayne Rooney to be chucked off the social networking site because of his poor spelling and grammar.