Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has stated that he is confident that his side can still win the Premier League title, despite drawing with Stoke on Saturday.
The dropped points means that Manchester United can go three points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory over Fulham on Monday night; despite this the England international is remaining upbeat.
“We are disappointed because we wanted to win the game but we have got to look at the big picture now and concentrate on the next eight games,” he told The Daily Mail.
“We were a bit deflated in the dressing room but we have gone a goal down here, which is a really tough place to come, and come back to get a point which keeps us in touching distance.
“It is important now we keep it to no more than the three points for when we do play Manchester United.
“We can’t be relying on other teams – we have got to try to win all our games from now until the end of the season.
“That is our target. It is going to be really tough but while it is in our hands it is still possible. We are confident we can do that,” he concluded.
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What has happened to Tottenham Hotspur?! Sitting pretty in third and playing some of the best football seen at White Hart Lane in years. It all looked rosy for Harry Redknapp and his players a few months ago. Then came the North London derby and an incredible comeback from their rivals in red. It knocked the wind out of Spurs and they’ve never recovered since tumbling down to fourth whilst watching their rivals rise above them into the automatic Champions League qualification spot. Defeat at home to Norwich on Monday meant they’d won just one of their last eight. Thankfully they have a distraction from their Premier League tribulations in the form of an FA Cup semi final against fellow capital adversaries Chelsea. They haven’t won the FA Cup since 1991 and a trip down the road is sure to reinvigorate the collective fire in their bellies.
This week on FFC are Spurs in danger of losing one of their prized assets to a La Liga giant and will being too conservative be their biggest downfall?
Best of FFC
Have Tottenham simply paid the price here?
Should Liverpool have taken the hint from Tottenham?
Caption Competition: Someone for Harry to offload his troubles to?
The Luka Modric dilemma
Spurs braced for Barca bid
Chelsea and Tottenham to fight for £10m winger
Fast becoming a dying breed in football?
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Best of WEB
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Fans Trial Their Semi Final Outfits At Maple Leafs Game- Harry Hotspur
Spurs Conform To Type – Tottenham on my Mind
Glory is football – Dear Mr Levy
Nobody got killed – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2
Spurs Favourites To Tempt Ricky Van Wolfswinkel? – Transfer Tavern
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Quote of the Week
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“On our day we can beat Chelsea.
We can beat anybody within reason. In the Premier League we’re capable of beating anybody. Let’s hope it’s our day. There’s not a great deal between the teams.
“In all honesty, they’ve got the medals to show for it with what they’ve done over the recent years. They’ve been there and done it all have Chelsea. Tottenham is a club that has won two trophies since the FA Cup in 1991 and they’re both Carling Cups. It’s about time Tottenham won another trophy and it’d be a great trophy for us.” Harry Redknapp believes his side can beat Chelsea in their FA Cup semi final meeting
West Ham have made it back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, with a 2-1 Play-off victory at Wembley this afternoon.
Sam Allardyce promised at the start of the season to take the Hammers back into the Premier League and he was good as his word, as Ricardo Vaz Te’s last gasp winner sent the West Ham fans into ecstasy and ensured a bumper pay-out for the football club to the tune of an estimated £90m in revenues.
Blackpool certainly played their part in a pulsating game and in the second half looked the most likely to go on and win the game after a sluggish first half. Whatever Holloway said at half time had the desired response and the Tangerines gave it a real go; however it wasn’t to be their day as they failed to take their chances in the final third. It wasn’t too be but Blackpool can take a lot of heart from their performance.
Sam Allardyce was delighted at the final whistle and is glad to be back in the Premier League once again:
“I’m just delighted to be back in the Premier League. It means everything to me, I had been in the Premier League for 10 years or so. It was difficult at the start to turn this club around but we have come good at the end.
“It is great, right up there with the best for me because of the size of West Ham and the pressures,
“Missing promotion would have been devastating, according to the owners who would have had to decimate the wage bill by £10m, off-load players for little or no fee and still achieve what fans want.”
“I’ll look forward to the celebrations first before I start worrying about the Premier League next year.” (BBC)
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Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs has admitted that he is eager to participate for Team GB in the Olympics this summer.
The Welsh midfielder was initially not permitted to be involved by Sir Alex Ferguson, but the Old Trafford outfit have now allowed the player to be part of Stuart Pearce’s squad if selected.
Giggs has reiterated that he would relish the opportunity to play alongside former team-mate David Beckham and to represent Great Britain would be a major honour.
“I’ve put myself forward to be involved,” Giggs confirmed to The Guardian.
“Whether I get picked we’ll have to see. Everybody is excited about the Olympics coming to London and different parts of Britain.
“I want to be involved in the tournament atmosphere. If it happens it happens, if it doesn’t so be it.
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“Becks is obviously a friend and he remains a great player. If it was to be, it’d be great. I started my playing career with Becks in the United youth team. Twenty years later, to be still doing that would be great,” he concluded.
Captain Giorgos Karagounis missed a second half penalty to deny Greece victory against co-hosts Poland after both teams had a man sent off in an eventful opening to Euro 2012.
Robert Lewandowski had given Poland a deserved lead in the 17th minute before Sokratis Papastathopoulos was harshly given his marching orders by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo just before the break to compound a miserable first half for the Greeks.
The introduction of Dimitris Salpingidis from the substitutes bench proved to be the turning point for Fernando Santos’ side. The striker equalised within six minutes of his introduction before winning a penalty after being brought down by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who was handed a straight red, card only for Karagounis to see his spot kick saved by Przemyslaw Tyton.
Pre-match predictions for a dour goalless draw were dispelled as both sides served up a fascinating encounter backed by the vociferous support of the 56,826 supporters packed into the National Stadium in Warsaw. Surprisingly it was the Poles who burst out of the traps first and could have scored twice before Lewandowski broke the deadlock just after the quarter hour. First Rafal Murawski saw his stinging strike tipped over by Kostas Chalkias before Maciej Rybus struck wide from the resulting corner as Franciszek Smuda’s side looked to claim their first ever win in the European Championships.
The Greeks, who had lost just once in their last 21, looked a shadow of the organised unit they’ve forged their hard-to-beat reputation on and struggled contain their energetic opponents in the early exchanges and it was no surprise when Lewandowski put Poland ahead. The Borussia Dortmund striker had missed a glorious opportunity just moments earlier but was at his lethal best to head home Jakub Blaszczykowski’s cross with Chalkias in no-mans land.
It went from bad to worse for Greece when Papastathopoulos, who’d earlier become the first man to be booked in the tournament, was sent off after tussling with Murawski although he will be deemed unlucky as the Polish attacker looked to have to slipped before going down.
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With the Greeks luck appearing to have deserted them during the first 45 minutes they were handed an unexpected lifeline just five minutes into the second period. Santos’ decision to haul off the ineffective Sotiris Ninis and replace him with Salpingidis proved to be inspired as the PAOK star pulled Greece level tapping home from close range after Szczesny horribly misjudged Vassilis Torosidis’ cross from the right side.
Disaster would striker again for the Poland keeper 18 minutes as he tripped tripping the on-rushing Salpingidis with referee Carballo having no other option but to brandish a straight red. However his blushes were spared by substitute Tyton as he flung himself to the left to kept out Karagounis’ tame penalty and keep his side level before game fizzled out in the remaining 19 minutes with both teams happy to settle for a point they can both build on in their remaining two Group A fixtures.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he wants to add another one or two players to his squad before the start of the 2012-13 season.
The Red Devils have already signed Nick Powell from Crewe and Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund this summer, but are eager to add more quality before the season starts.
“We could possibly bring one, maybe two, more in,” the legendary Scottish coach stated at a press conference covered by Sky Sports.
“When there’s a major international tournament on, there’s a delay in the transfer market. But now the European Championships are over, we’re trying to bring someone in.
“We’ve always done well in terms of getting players at the end of season, instead of waiting all summer.
“In Kagawa’s case, there was a fair bit of negotiating and that kept going for weeks. As for Powell, we knew Dario Gradiwould help us do the deal quickly,” he confessed.
Meanwhile Ferguson is pleased with his two additions and feels that they could have a big impact at Old Trafford this campaign.
“I asked Dario if Nick could be a central midfielder. Dario thinks that’s his position and Nick does too so we’re all in accord. We hope he’ll be a central midfield player and that’s where we’ll develop him.
“Kagawa will play further forward [than Powell]. We shouldn’t be looking at one player changing the way we play but he could make a difference,” said Ferguson.
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“He can give us that extra in the final third of the field. If his goalscoring record continues he could be a very good player for us,” the manager concluded.
Who despises immortal phrases and seasoned clichés? If the answer is yes, then you may want to make a swift navigation away. But as the new Premier League season dawns upon us, we’re about to wheel out one of our favourites, but with more than a few good reasons to. “It’s there for the taking,” or so someone once said. But in terms of qualification for the Uefa Champions League, it really is.
As Tottenham Hotspur unfortunately found out last term, five into four doesn’t really fit. Finishing fourth should have all but guaranteed a ticket into Europe’s elite cup competition, but Chelsea’s continental marvels but paid to that. The competition for a place in the Champions League has never been fiercer. Although a look at the Premier League table at the end of last season makes for some interesting reading. And it may not be quite the fluky one off many have perceived it to be.
A mere six points separated the third placed Arsenal from the sixth placed Chelsea at the end of last season. Whilst many believe Chelsea had something of a one-off nightmare of a term, some have labeled Newcastle United’s effort of fifth placed as a similar freak event.
But those expecting there to be some kind of swift change back to the traditional days of the ‘big four’ could be sorely mistaken.
Last season threw up quite the interesting statistic. Arsenal, the team who finished third in the Premier League, lost over a quarter of their games last season. Think about that for a moment. The team deemed to be the third best in the land, behind only the two Manchester clubs who tied on 89 points, were able to loose 10 games out of their 38.
This isn’t a veiled dig at the Gunners. But the playing field of the Barclays Premier League is in some ways, closer than it ever has been. Yes, there was something of a chastising gap between second and third, almost to the tune of 20 points. But beneath that, there wasn’t really much in between the teams.
Because whilst you can argue that Arsenal and Spurs had more quality in their ranks than Newcastle United, it was consistency that the Magpies had which proved as big a commodity as anything. Even then, palming off the likes of Cabaye, Cisse and Ba et al as inferior is doing them more than a touch of disservice- both North London teams could have done with a few of Alan Pardew’s men during the course of the season.
But what it shows is that nothing is impossible. We have moved out of this era of domination where reputations stand before reality. Despite the managerial fragility at Stamford Bridge, you would have been hard pushed to float the notion that a team with such a galaxy of stars could finish sixth. But they did.
Third place is up for grabs in the Premier League. If either Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham can find a little consistency and maybe if Newcastle United can dig up another gem of a signing, then any could push on in the league next year. And that’s what makes it so exciting.
It’s difficult to tell what last season suggests about the strength of the Premier League as a whole. You can argue that the improvement in teams such as Newcastle United, and in the longer term Tottenham Hotspur, signify a league which has collectively grown stronger.
But the aforementioned gap between the top two and the chasing pack most definitely wasn’t a fluke. If anyone is looking to make the step-up next season, they’re going to have to seriously raise their game. The second wave of investment at Stamford Bridge has left many feeling a strong hunch for Roberto Di Matteo’s men next season. But as Abramovich overloads on young attacking talent, the Italian is now under something he’s previously evaded during his Chelsea tenure- and that’s pressure.
Spurs and Arsenal both have the capacity to put some daylight between each other. Even if they loose the keep the likes of Luka Modric and Robin van Persie, it’s not going to be enough to make the difference. Solidity and defensive organization, especially away from home, is what both North London clubs need to acquire for next season. If either can start turning losses into draws and draws into wins from last season’s results list, who knows how far they can go. It doesn’t seem like much, but if they can just eek out a bit more steel from their defenses, then the rewards could be richer than they could possibly imagine.
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Although ifs, buts and maybes are the sort of words that will always season these pre-season analyses. Any of the four teams who finished beneath the two Manchester clubs will believe that they can make a charge for third next season and if they don’t, then they must start believing it. The Premier League is a tough nut to crack, but Champions League qualification isn’t quite the gauntlet that maybe it once was.
How do you see the battle for Champions League football playing out? Will the status quo remain, will run of them drop out the running or maybe even make a title tilt? Tell me how you see it on Twitter, follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me your views.
After the frankly disastrous start to the league season by Real Madrid, Spurs were lucky enough to hike the Modric price up by at least a couple of million not to mention throwing a ‘partnership agreement’ into the equation. Whether Luka Modric will become the saviour for Los Blancos remains to be seen, but Spurs have certainly done well for themselves, getting rid of a want-away player not to mention the aforementioned agreement with the club.
The deal has been described as a ‘ground breaking’ one by more than a couple of people and is certainly something that looks like being one almighty masterstroke by Daniel Levy – not to mention one that is attracting more than a couple of envious glances from other Premier League clubs.
Not only will Spurs benefit commercially from being linked up with one of – if not the – biggest clubs in the world, they will be able to have options on loaning players, coaching tie ups and vitally first refusal on certain players, not to mention the obligatory and extremely financially lucrative pre-season friendlies.
For Spurs to be linked in such a way with any club is pretty decent work, but when you consider the calibre of player Real Madrid will be looking to send out on loan and not to mention sell, they seem to have struck gold and made other Premier League clubs look more than a little silly.
Had the agreement been in place this summer, Sahin, Kaka, Granero and a host of others could have ended up at the Lane to play their football – even if only for a little while. Although it is clearly disappointing for Spurs to have missed the boat here, there are plenty more players in the Castilla and Real Madrid first team looking for moves away from the club, and now it seems that Spurs will have first pick on the majority of these.
While the concept of a partnership between clubs is not a new thing – Spurs are already partnered with a host of sides throughout the world – none quite have the pull of Real Madrid, and the potential this deal has could far outstrip the benefits of doubling their money on Modric and one that more than a couple of top Premier League sides will be wishing they were savvy enough to have snapped up. Arsenal did not seem interested in setting up such a deal with Barcelona after selling whomever City rejected to them, although one explanation is they may feel that they are more feeder than partner.
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Of course the deal between Spurs and Real will work both ways, and while the Special One may not be clearing his calendar to get coaching tips from former apprentice turned world class squatter AVB, they may well be looking to use their new found ‘partnership’ to lure Gareth Bale to La Liga – though of course Spurs have thus far denied such a thing could happen. But as we all know in football, you just never know.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is looking to sign Wolves keeper Dorus De Vries as an understudy to Pepe Reina, according to The Mirror.
The Liverpool boss is understood to be preparing a £700,000 bid for the Dutchman, who played under Rodgers during his successful Championship promotion campaign with Swansea.
Rodgers is looking for a long-term replacement for Pepe Reina, who struggled for form last season, and was partially to blame for Manchester City’s first goal during Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Anfield.
Birmingham keeper Jack Butland has also been linked with a move to Merseyside this summer, having impressed for Team GB at the Olympics.
However, it appears 31-year-old De Vries is viewed as a cheaper alternative, and Rodgers is hopeful a deal can be agreed with Wolves before Friday’s deadline.
Meanwhile, one player who looks to be heading out of Anfield is midfielder Jay Spearing, with Bolton understood to be preparing a £2.5 million bid. Promotion rivals Wolves are also in the hunt for his signature and are thought to be prepared to offer a higher transfer fee for the 23-year-old.
Owen Coyle has held talks with Liverpool’s home-grown midfielder, who is tempted by the opportunity of first team football at the Reebok.
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Spearing is deemed surplus to requirements at Anfield following the summer arrivals of Joe Allen and Nuri Sahin.
Aston Villa welcome Swansea to Villa Park on Saturday, without the pressure of searching for their first point under Paul Lambert.
The Scot eased the pressure by picking up a 1-1 draw at Newcastle last time out, having previously endured poor defeats to West Ham (1-0) and a 3-1 home drubbing to Everton.
The result at the Sports Direct Arena has brightened the mood at Villa Park, and given the fans optimism due to the fact the result halted a run of three consecutive defeats on Tyneside, including a 6-0 drubbing in August 2010.
Lambert’s surprise decision to drop Shay Given for Brad Guzan proved to be a masterstroke, with the American making a string of stunning saves.
He is expected to keep his place between the sticks for the visit of Swansea.
Villa have no new injury concerns, but remain without Marc Albrighton and defender Richard Dunne, who are both still a couple of weeks off making their first appearances of the season.
Swansea arrive at Villa Park in superb form, currently sitting second in the table with seven points out of a possible nine.
Michael Laudrup’s side have been in fine form in front of goal, hammering QPR 5-0 on the opening day, then West Ham 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium before playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Sunderland last time out.
Laudrup will be without full back Neil Taylor for the remainder of the season following the broken ankle he sustained in that game, whilst Chico Flores begins his three game ban for the the dismissal he received against Martin O’Neil’s side.
Swansea drew 0-0 with Villa at the Liberty last season, before picking up a 2-0 win at Villa Park earlier in the year.
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Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Swansea City
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