Steven Pienaar has said speculation surrounding his future will not affect his current form.
The South Africa international has been strongly linked with a move away for weeks, with Tottenham looking the most likely destination for the 28-year-old.
The Toffees are still trying to persuade Pienaar to sign a new contract but time is running out.
Everton have already hinted they would rather sell him in January rather than lose him for nothing when his contract expires.
When asked whether he would still be on Merseyside come the end of the season Pienaar told Sky Sports: "No comment."
The winger did go on to say that he knew nothing of the apparent link with Tottenham, claiming it was all media speculation at this point in time.
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"I was also told this by one of my team-mates, so I don't know what is going on.
"The media in England is quite big and everyone can say what they want. I am just happy at Everton and I want to focus on my game."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Holger Osieck admitted Australia could have lost their Asian Cup match to Bahrain were it not for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.The Socceroos beat the Gulf nation 1-0 in Doha on Tuesday thanks to a long-range effort from Mile Jedinak, but it was a number of clutch saves from the Fulham custodian at the other end which kept Bahrain scoreless and propelled Australia to the top of Group C.
“We know the quality that Mark has to offer to the team and I’m happy to have him there,” Osieck said.
“He had an excellent performance and made some good saves, especially in the second half.”
“He kept us in the game and we must give him credit.”
Australia remain undefeated in the tournament after a 4-0 win over India and a battling 1-1 draw with South Korea earlier in the group stage, and Tuesday’s result means Osieck’s side will face the runners-up from Group D in the quarter finals, with either Iraq or North Korea the likely opponents.
“It was our target to go to the quarter-finals and I’m glad to achieve the target,” Osieck said.
“We have seen in other games that there are quality teams and I’m happy to be still in the competition.”
“All the teams are good and whoever we are going to play against, the match is going to be tough.”
“It doesn’t matter who we play because there is great deal of quality in the group but we must be ready and play our own game.”
Australia do have some personnel issues, with Jason Culina, Luke Wilkshire and David Carney all missing from Tuesday’ match due to injury, while Brett Emerton picked up his second yellow card of the tournament against Bahrain and will miss the quarter-final.
Bahrain coach Salman Sharida was pleased with his side’s performance despite the loss, and said they deserved more out of the match.
“We have had a good performance tonight and we were the better side as we controlled the game and we were organised,” Sharida said.
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“We got into the Australian area a lot but we missed a lot of chances. Missing chances in such a game is not acceptable as we wanted to get the three points but we played against an experienced side who have a lot of good players.”
“Australia and Korea Republic are strong teams and they are in a good position in Asian football.”
“We have had some difficult situations in the team but the players showed a good performance in the matches that we had.”
Having already played more than half of the Premier League season, Football FanCast wants to know who YOU think should win the PFA award.
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney won the award last year due to a stunning season of football, scoring an astonishing 26 goals and assisting 6 times in the Premier League alone – allowing the former Everton striker to scoop both the PFA and Football Writers’ awards last term.
However, this year it is Rooney’s counter-part Dimitar Berbatov who has been in a fine run of form with 19 goals so far this season, scoring 3 hat-tricks and five goals alone in their 7-1 drubbing of Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers. A hat-trick against biggest rivals Liverpool back in September showed the world of his undistinguishable class, knocking in a strong contender for the goal of the season.
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Tottenham’s Gareth Bale has been outstanding since emerging into Redknapp’s starting XI in 2009, and has shown his true ability, adapting fantastically to his newly assigned left wing – scoring 7 goals and providing 3 assists in the domestic league. Bale has emerged into a strong footballer over a short period of time, and has been essential to Tottenham’s success in both the Premier and Champions League – making a fool of Inter’s world class Maicon all at the same time of course. A hat-trick against Inter Milan when losing 4-0 really does show the Welshman’s talent.
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Continue to the NEXT PAGE for more contenders…
Bale’s team-mate Rafael van der Vaart has also largely impressed, and has been a pivotal factor alongside Bale in pushing Tottenham to properly challenge for the domestic title in over 53 years. Since joining from Real Madrid for a reduced fee of £8million in the summer, VDV has been a revelation to the club, leading the attack with 9 goals and six assists and could prove to be one of Tottenham’s most impactful signings of all time. The Dutchman has already gained both heart and support from the Spurs fans, but will eye to finish high on what has already been a fantastic season for the 27-year-old. A two-goal tally against Aston Villa in both October and December are probably his best displays.
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Arsenal’s Samir Nasri has been on prolific form all season, with 9 goals and a single assist. However it is not only the figures which count for the Gunners, as he has provided the creative spark that Arsenal have so desperately needed in Cesc Fabregas’s absence. Nasri continued his form on nicely for his country, playing a central role in France’s 2-1 victory over England at Wembley last year.
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Continue to the NEXT PAGE for more contenders…
Blackpool’s Charlie Adam has recently been of intense media speculation since the winter transfer window opened, with the Seasiders receiving bids from both Liverpool and Aston Villa. Adam has been without a doubt Blackpool’s player of the season so far, providing sensational performances and acting as Holloway’s Xabi Alonso – central to set-pieces and the general assister of the side. The former Rangers midfielder helped the Blackpool to promotion last season and remains the club’s best asset, but may have set his sights on Anfield after handing a transfer request this week.
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Manchester City’s controversial captain Carlos Tevez has been nominated for the award, due to his prolific goal-scoring form all season. With 14 goals and 5 assists in the Premier League, Tevez has notoriously lead City into seriously challenging for the title and bringing silverware to Eastlands. Despite a mid-season wobble, declaring that he wanted to leave Manchester because he missed his family and was homesick – Tevez answered his critics the way every footballer should: with a leading performance on the pitch. Despite not scoring a hat-trick yet this season, the Argentine has scored twice on five separate occasions.
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Vote in the poll below for the player YOU think should take home the Player of the Year award.
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It is a refreshing change to see a pretty full Premier League calendar this Saturday. Manchester United and Arsenal appear to have home bankers in which both can strengthen their position at the top of the Premier League table. Elsewhere Manchester City and Tottenham both face tough away trips to test their title credentials; while West Ham won’t welcome the tough trip to Goodison Park as they look to drag themselves away from the bottom of the table.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Arsene Wenger eyes the quadruple; Liverpool continue to attract top players, while Gerard Houllier hits back at Sunderland critics.
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Spurs and West Ham make final bids for Olympic Stadium – Guardian
Uefa considers calendar overhaul – Daily Telegraph
Liverpool attract top players – Comolli- Independent
Arsene tells stars: Go and win the lot – Sun
Houllier hits back at Bent criticisms – Guardian
Giggs: I’ll play on next season – Sun
Spurs target Rossi is available for £16.5m – Independent
Grant ready to take Joe Cole ‘home’ on loan – Mirror
Brady: Grant chaos made us stronger – Guardian
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Giggs plans to extend Manchester United contract – Independent
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits his team have very little chance of winning the Premier League title as they prepare to face Fulham on Monday.
The defending champions are rocking after losing to Liverpool last week in Fernando Torres’ first match for the club and now Ancelotti is having to reset his targets with Chelsea 10 points behind leaders Manchester United.
“It’s difficult to think we can come back to fight for the title, it’s better to think game by game,” he said.
“We have to reach minimum fourth place. To close the gap is very difficult; we have to be honest about this. But the most important step is to be fourth in the table and fight with the other teams.”
Ancelotti admitted he was shocked at the way his side, seemingly back in form, lost to Liverpool last week.
“I think it was a surprise the defeat against Liverpool because I saw in the days before the game that the team trained well with motivation and power,” he said.
“But now we have to look forward to Fulham and maintain high our confidence; you have to have confidence when you play above all the Champions League.”
“Our aims now are very clear, we have Champions League, we have FA Cup and we have to close the gap. It’s difficult to close the gap but we have to reach fourth to keep Chelsea in the Champions League.”
New boy David Luiz, signed from Benfica for 21 million pounds, will make his full debut for the Blues in Monday’s game at Fulham.
The Brazilian defender has been told he will face Mark Hughes’ side as Chelsea bid to recover from their loss to the Reds last week.
“He will start. David Luiz is a very good defender because he has ability and skills to play all the positions in the back four. He can play centre-back, right-back, he hasn’t played left-back but he has the ability to play there,” Ancelotti said.
“He’s Brazilian so he has very good technique. He can help us to build our play better from the back. I think he will be one of the best defenders in the world in the future.”
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“He’s young but he already has fantastic experience because he played in Benfica, he played in the Champions. Sadly he cannot play in the Champions League for us but he can show his quality in the Premier League and FA Cup.”
Chelsea expect to go into the match at Craven Cottage with no new injury problems after the international break.
“The players came back yesterday, they don’t have a problem. Everything is ok. Just (Jose) Bosingwa has a little problem and we hope to recover him in time. Some players played 90 minutes but we have time to prepare them.”
A brief look at Crawley’s journey towards this encounter told us pretty much all we needed to know with regards to expectations for today’s game.. a tight-knit unit prepared to stick at it for 90 minutes and a side not prepared to leave Old Trafford as mere tourists, content to just be passive particpants.
On the 7 December 2010, Crawley pulled off a giant killing feat by beating Football League One side Swindon Town 3-2 in the FA Cup 2nd round replay match at Swindon’s County Ground, taking them into the third round of the competition for the second time in their history.This was followed by an exciting home tie against Championship side Derby County which was played on the 10th January 2011. Goals from Craig McAllister in the first half and Sergio Torres in injury time guided Crawley to a 2-1 win, to set up a 4th round tie with Torquay United. On 29 Jan 2011 Crawley beat Torquay 1-0 to reach the last sixteen of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. Their only goal of the match happened to be scored by Matt Tubbs after 39 minutes, and thankfully despite going on to miss two second half penalties and having a player sent off they held on for a memorable win. This also happened to be the first time that a non-league side had reached the fifth round since Kidderminster Harriers F.C. in the 1993–94 competition.
So a fantastic run and they were pretty close to extending it tonight. Anyway on we go to the 5 Things I Noticed during tonights game…
1. Blundering Bebe
4 – Bebé completed just four passes in the opening 45 minutes of this match, attempting just eight overall (excluding crosses).
Must admit, one simply couldn’t fathom why on earth we brought this non-league player from Portugal for the money we’ve supposedly paid in order to acquire his services. Not to mention the fact that apparently Sir Alex hadn’t even attempted to watch the player in action, a practice nearly unheard of in all his lengthy managierial career at United. So despite being a guy who is always excited about us signing new unheard of talent and watching them grow with our club, the fact he was so unproven, and the fee we paid for him… made me unsure of whether this deal was going to be a success rather than another botched deal Manucho Stylee.
Anyway as to his first few games as a Red Devil, what became apparent was that whilst this lad is quite a physical package in terms of Pace and Power, the rest of his game was incredibly raw and in need of serious fine-tuning. So we waited for a while to see if there were any immediate signs of progression, and there were.. an immense goal in the reserves against Wigan, one which provided hope to supporters who had retained faith in the mantra Fergie ‘Cannae do nay Wrong’ and that this lad was a diamond of extreme promise, waiting to be refined. Since that goal, the detractors had largely been silenced, biding their time, waiting for the latest glimpse of Bebe for the First XI to assess whether or not.. they had been quick to judge and that once again Sir Alex had dumbfounded his critics, like he so often does and then today’s game happened …
Hard to know where to begin when assessing his performance, well I’ll attempt to begin with his delivery from wide positions, which arguably had progressed from his last performance for the seniors, where he wildly overhit his crosses on numerous occasions. Today whilst he wasn’t too occupied with locating a team mate, he at least seemed to understand the value of the penalty box and landing the ball within the confines of the white lines. A sign of genuine progress, though when you take a moment to reflect and realise we’re discussing the ability of professional footballers at a World Class club here, it hits you.. just how much we’re clutching at straws. Another attribute of Bebe’s which impresses me ever so slightly is his vision when running with the ball. I know it sounds laughable, but whilst his execution is not there and may never be there depending on how quickly he can progress, you get the sense when watching him he can spot the runs of players, but he just doesn’t have the tools to find them.
Now on to the negatives of which there are quite a few… firstly, I’ve read alot of rubbish with regards to fans citing the likes of Ronaldo/Nani as players who struggled to mature when first breaking through at United, can I just say categorically that Ronaldo’s debut was the most electrifying non-scoring Man.Utd. debut I’ve ever seen, we all knew we were in the presence of a serious talent and whilst it took a while for everyone to get to grip with Nani, what was clear to see for the ones in the know, was that Nani possessed arguably even more natural technique on the ball than his predecessor.. not to mention physically both were extremely fit (run all day, extremely supple, pacy). What the coaching staff had to do with these kids was rein in their talent, mould it into a way in which it remains entertaining but effective in terms of winning matches. Furthermore especially in the case of Nani, they had to instil basic football fundamentals of pass and move, knowing when to run at players and when to release to a team mate when put in an uncompromising position. With regards to Bebe.. its like there isn’t no outstanding natural talent to hone, his footwork on his admittedly limited showings thus far has been rather average, his agility is decent but nothing spectacular and his ball striking technique isn’t good enough to compensate for those shortcomings… another feature of his performance which caught the eye for the wrong reasons was his lack of effort off the ball resulting from his lack of endurance. You can forgive a player for poor fitness when that lad is evidently talented, but if you’re not really providing the fans with flair, the least you can do to compensate is run yourself into the ground and make up for your lack of penetration going forwards in other ways.
Continued on Page TWO
2. Ober & Ober Again
I’ve been a stauch supporter of Obertan, praying this lad converts that blessed combination of pace and trickery into something more substantial, adding elements to his game and becoming a complete wideplayer, one capable of breaking through into the first team. Before we go into tonights performance, can I just say from a tactical viewpoint… I don’t think this lad can play on the left, his best performances for me have come down the right where he looks more comfortable and dangerous when taking on players, taking advantage of his pace and running his fullback down the line, rather than having to cut in where he comes across rather predictable and is knocked off the ball. Today’s performance was a re-run of what I was subjected to when I watched him down at the Hawthorns, where he enjoyed a miserable first half on the left, making no impact and unable to take a player on let alone deliver a decent ball to his strikers.
If we are to get the best out of Obertan, its going to be in an attacking midfield role… utilsing his ability to get past players through pace, rather than isolating him on the wing, where he just doesn’t have the wits and strength about him, to constantly get past a man… in the centre he is alot less predictable and instead of being subjected to the sight of him attempting to cross a ball, we could have a look at whether his through balls are better and if its the position to best unlock this kids undoubted talent.
At the moment, he looks haunted. Out of his depth, running into blind alleys and losing possession at an alarming rate. He seems to have regressed during his time here and there are still zero signs of him having worked on his ball-striking technique, a fundamental flaw in his game. I’m fast losing faith…
3. Contrasting Fortunes Off The Bench
I was happy to see Wayne being introduced at half time, not so much when I found out it was for Anderson (one of our stronger performers in the first half). Nonetheless after that ‘Goal That Shalt Be Named At Every Given Opportunity’ last weekend, one was hoping that this would a second half cameo reminscent of his strolls against Portsmouth in the FA Cup, or his terrorising of Middlesborough all those years ago.. basically a demonstration of why he’s one of the worlds elite and how much these non-league footballers still have to do to merit being on the pitch with such illustrious opponents. Sadly this wasn’t to be and Rooney if anything added to the slight malaise which was evident in the first half.. instead of bring Hernandez into the game and servicing his team mate, such was Rooneys utter inability to bring the ball down neatly and his lack of execution when delivering killer passes, that Hernandez was driven to roaming on the wings in order to seek possession and make something out of nothing, the story of his game tonight.
Whilst Rooney faltered, one man who entered the fray and immediately went about his game like an effortless virtuoso was Chris Smalling. I’ve mentioned on previous blogs on how much I hope this kid does well (good vibe about him), and he didnt disappoint again today, adding to his growing catalogue of composed displays in heated atmospheres.. most recently the small matter of the Manchester Derby. He just didn’t seem fazed, put himself about, outmuscled the Crawley players on a number of occasions and even had the time to make powerful surges going forwards in an effort to provide some spark to the malfunctioning forward line.
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4. What To Do With Gibson…
He had a good game today Darron and despite being chuffed for him.. again it struck me the level of opposition and Trappotoni’s comments with regards to Gibson leaving in search of regular top level football. He’s a great midfielder to have for games like these, where he is a genuine goal threat and also has enough quality about him to not look out of place defensively against Championship/League 1 games. The problem is.. is it fair to him for us to utilise him in such a manner when there is a distinct possibility his game could be elevated to a higher level by playing for lesser opposition than ourselves but getting more regular action. Not to mention that can we free up a space in midfield for youngsters who can perform just as well against sides of Crawley’s calibre but may also demonstrate the potential to be influential against top opposition.
Its a question I have a feeling that will be resolved if not this summer, than the year beyond that minimum.
5. Opposition One2Watch: Tubbs
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To be honest Tubbs wasn’t the player who impressed me most, it was in fact one of the Crawley midfielders but its getting rather late and I’m not sure if it was Sergio Torres or one of his more fleet-footed partners. Anyway as I can remember Tubbs quite vividly and we all can agree he was rather unlucky not to come away with a goal at the Theater of Dreams, he’ll be the subject of my One2Watch.
Having scored the goal which lead to this tie, expectations were high on Tubbs as the player out of any that Crawley possessed who was going to write the headlines and leading the Giant-Killing. As it was the pair of O’Shea and Brown were pretty resilient and kept him rather subdued… despite this he was a constant livewire, always looking to provide the midfield with an option and looking to exploit the spaces in the backline. His first touch was pretty accomplished and whilst he didn’t get off any regular efforts on goal, he nearly got the one that mattered… a bicycle kick near the end which was deflected behind by the Omnipresent Wes Brown.
Conclusion:
At times a rather worrying display on an individual note for some players, but overall a crucial win and the backline especially deserve some credit for keeping a clean sheet and I expect them to feature quite a bit in our upcoming fixtures from hell. Well done to Crawley, I wish them well in all their endeavours and a draw would’ve been a fair result.
Written By Raees Mahmood (Follow me @ www.twitter.com/redrae7 or check out www.thebusbyway.com)
It was a case of what could have been for Aston Villa today, as Gerard Houllier’s men twice forfeited the lead and in addition missed a penalty as they lost 3-2 to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
Darren Bent fluffed a great chance to put Aston Villa ahead, before he did just that after 15 minutes. They were then pegged back by a goal by former Villa player Gary Cahill on the stroke of half-time. After hitting the woodwork, Villa retook the lead through Marc Albrighton, before they missed the opportunity to put the game to bed as Ashley Young’s penalty was saved. They would live to regret that, as Cahill scored his second equaliser of the match, and then with five minutes to go Ivan Klasnic sealed all three points for the Trotters.
So what FIVE things did we learn about Aston Villa today?
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish says key duo Steven Gerrard and Andy Carroll will not be rushed back from injury.Gerrard is returning from groin surgery while record Carroll is on his way back from a thigh injury ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Brom.
Dalglish said: “We’ll be patient and Andy will be ready when he’s ready.
“His 60 minutes for England [when he scored in Wednesday’s friendly draw with Ghana] was useful and it would not have been as good to play him for more than that.”
“We’ll have a look at Gerrard because he’s recovered really well from surgery. We’ll see how he is but certainly he’s done a lot of training this week.”
“It was a great milestone for Andy Carroll to score his first England goal in midweek. He’s got a bit to go until he gets to match fitness but he’s here for five and a half years not a few months.”
The West Brom trip will see Dalglish’s side come up against former manager Roy Hodgson for the first time since he left Liverpool in January.
Hodgson has enjoyed relative success since taking over at The Hawthorns after a tricky spell in charge of Liverpool.
Dalglish said: “Roy’s brought his own style to West Brom like I have done here.”
“Everybody knows what we can expect and they have played games that have shown the way they play and it is up to us to be better than them on the day.”
“They were tough to beat when we played them at home. They played very well and I think we beat them 1-0 but it was a difficult game.”
Luis Suarez (groin) and Jonjo Shelvey (knee) are also in doubt for the clash.
Defender Fabio Aurelio (hamstring) is definitely out.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish lamented his side’s luck and lack of creativity after their European campaign ended on Thursday.After losing 1-0 to Sporting Braga in the first leg in Portugal one week ago, Dalglish’s side were uninspiring in a dull 0-0 second-leg draw which sent them packing out of the Europa League.The Portuguese side were well organised and limited chances for the Reds, who could not find the back of the net despite a first start for 35-million-pound club record transfer Andy Carroll.”Over the two legs, a penalty has separated the two teams,” Dalglish said. “There wasn’t much between either side. They were very well organised and we knew the responsibility was on us to break them down and score a goal. If Andy’s header had gone in, in the first half it could have been a different outcome, but we never put anything past the goalkeeper.””You need to be really strong creatively if you are going to break down a very organised side or you need a bit of luck and we certainly have not had much fortune over two legs – but I guess everyone says they should have more luck then they get.””Like every other team in the world we could do with a bit more creativity but we are no different than anyone else.”Dalglish was pleased with Carroll’s performance but admitted he did not expect him to play the full 90 minutes and it was only the necessity for a goal that kept him on the pitch.”Carroll stayed on longer than we hoped he would have to stay on but necessity meant he had to stay on the pitch because we were looking for a goal,” he said.”Overall we are pleased to see him back on the pitch and we were not disappointed with his contribution in any way. It was a bit unfortunate he did not score a goal; he put one header wide in the first half and then had one stopped by Dirk Kuyt in the second.”Considering it was his first start I think he can be very pleased with how he played.”Dalglish said he was unsure whether it would help his side in the latter stages of the season to avoid playing European football, something his side won’t do next year unless they finish fifth or higher in the Premier League.Despite very excitable celebrations from his team after the match, Braga manager Domingos Paciencia did not apologise, preferring to explain the significance of the aggregate win for his side as they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League for the first time.”We have reasons to be proud tonight,” Paciencia said.”We achieved a different level that we have never achieved before. I ask Liverpool supporters to appreciate the way we celebrated the way we did because this is a different level. Don’t take things the wrong way for the way we celebrated. We are proud.”
Blackburn boss Steve Kean lamented a missed opportunity after his side fought out a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham.Junior Hoilett capitalised on a defensive blunder from Liam Ridgewell to help Kean’s side claim a share of the spoils at Ewood Park, after Lee Bowyer gave the visitors the lead.
But with both sides just three points clear of the relegation zone, Kean conceded a win would have been handy to better their survival prospects.
“I wanted to take a big leap today but we’re taking little steps and we just have to keep chipping away,” Kean said.
“If all the teams around you pick up wins and you only get a point you’re massively disappointed.”
“But today we’re probably a little bit better off than when we started.”
“The atmosphere in the dressing room is really down but we will soon come to realise that this is a good point today.”
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was also disappointed not to come away with three points, and the Scot was disappointed with Ridgewell’s error.
“We can’t afford to give those sorts of gifts away but we came back in the second half,” McLeish said.
“We really could have crumbled after that but we had our backs to the wall.”
“It was a bad moment for Liam but the next challenge for him was to see if he could recover from it and that’s what he did.”
McLeish’s side also had injury woes to contend with during the match, with centre back Roger Johnson forced off with concussion.
“Roger was a little bit groggy. He was desperate to go back on but I wasn’t going to compromise his health,” McLeish said.