All posts by h79snht.top

Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge has praised his coach Andre Villas Boas, and thanked the Portuguese manager for having faith in him.

The England under-21 forward has been suspended after being sent off for Bolton on the last day of last season, but returned to the Stamford Bridge starting line-up against Sunderland on Saturday.

Sturridge was preferred to out of form Fernando Torres, and scored a terrific goal to give the London club a 2-1 victory at the Stadium of Light.

“The competition for places is very tough in the squad and the manager has shown huge faith in me to put me in the team after a three-game ban, because I’ve been training for the last five weeks, including the international break,” the attacker told the club’s official website.

“It was a huge result to come away from Sunderland with three points. It’s a great stadium and their fans sing very loud. Now we need to keep winning and put pressure on the Manchester clubs.”

Sturridge converted a through-ball by new signing Raul Meireles with an audacious back-heel, and was delighted to score on his return to the team.

“It was a great ball from Raul Meireles, great vision from him and I got across the centre-half (Wes Brown) and saw the keeper coming out, so I just went for a little cheeky one.

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“The only way I could have scored was to do that and it paid off. I’ve done it in training a few times but it is completely different in a game. I thought that he (Brown) was going to get to it before it crossed the line and it was a huge moment to see it hit the net,” he concluded.

Chelsea now open their Champions League campaign on Tuesday as they take on Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge.

The higher they climb, the harder they fall. Sadly, with football being as brutal as it is these days, there is simply no time for sentiment. One day you can be flying high with your club, the next you’re old news, and you’re out on your own.

Through a combination of poor performances, long injury lay-offs or simply because they just weren’t as good as everyone thought they were, the following 10 payers have plummeted down through the football leagues, in this country and around the world.

And while some might seem harsh inclusions, it is important think about where they were, how much promise they had and how badly they have failed to achieve that, through their own fault or otherwise.

Football is now a cruel and uncaring game. Let’s exploit that. Have a cheap laugh at the expense of others. Go on…

Click on Alan Smith to unveil the top 10 fall from graces

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Compiled by Tom Close

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Chicago Fire are lining a stunning bid for Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand according to the Daily Mail as they strive to match Major League Soccer rivals LA Galaxy.

The Americans have identified Ferdinand as they man they hope will allow them to compete with Galaxy who have seen their global appeal rise in the last four years after signing David Beckham.

He is out of contract next year and the MLS club are confident they will be able to convince the him to leave the Premier League and finish his career across the pond.

Fire are drawing up plans to make the 32-year-old the highest paid player at the club with the lower US tax rates allowing him to pick up a similar £120,000-a-week deal to the one he is currently on at Old Trafford.

The England defender has struggled with injuries in the last three years and has been left out of the England squad to face Montenegro in the final Euro 2012 qualifier.

Ferdinand still has aspirations of making it into Fabio Capello’s squad for next summers Championships but faces stiff competition from the likes Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka along with club mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.

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It’s thought he is aware of interest from America but could have other options should he choose to leave United with Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp monitoring his situation.

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Ambitious Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala are lining up a sensational swoop for Robin Van Persie and Nicolas Anelka according to the Sun.

Backed by billionaire owner Suleyman Kerimov new player-manager Roberto Carlos is eager to turn the club from mid-table dwellers into a serious outfit capable of competing in the Champions League.

Despite already hitting the headlines by spending £22 million to bring Samuel Eto’o to the club and handing him wages of £345,000-a-week, making him the highest paid player on the planet, Carlos wants to bring the striking duo to Dinamo Stadium.

The Brazilian is desperate to lure Arsenal captain Van Persie and Chelsea forward Anelka to Russia in an attempt to bolster his squad and believes he can tempt them both with big money offer but admitted they weren’t the only players on his list.

He said: “Anelka is not the only player. Nene from PSG and Van Persie from Arsenal are players we are following.

“Neymar? I talked to him. If Real (Madrid), Barcelona or Manchester United cannot pay the transfer fee, we will pay it. Suleyman Kerimov can offer what he wants.”

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Whilst a switch to Russia may not interest Van Persie it could prove to be attractive to Anelka who’s contract at Stamford Bridge ends in the summer with Anzhi set to offer him a lucrative deal.

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Tottenham leapfrogged Newcastle into the Premier League top three after Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice to see off Aston Villa at White Hart Lane.

Spurs had manager Harry Redknapp back in the dugout for the first time since he underwent heart surgery and he proved the perfect inspiration for his side as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against an colourless Aston Villa. Adebayor had gone six league games without scoring but took only 14 minutes to end his barren spell converting Gareth Bale’s cross in spectacular fashion before bundling home a second delivery from the Welshman five minutes before half time. The on-loan Manchester City striker had chances to complete his hat trick after the restart as the hosts comfortably strolled to a seventh win in eight games against Alex McLeish’s side. The Villans failed to mount a serious challenge and managed to test former goalkeeper Brad Friedel in the Spurs goal as the home side wasted a host of chances to extend their lead. The omens certainly sat in Tottenham’s favour before kick off as Redknapp returned to the White Hart Lane bench just three weeks after a minor heart operation to extend his personal record against the Midland side to 11 games.

The last five meetings between the two sides had ended in Spurs’ favour and they looked intent on making a sixth taking hold of the game from the first whistle. McLeish deployed former Spurs man Alan Hutton in a right midfield role ahead of Carlos Cuellar to counteract the threat of Bale and although the duo doubled up on the Welshman for most of the evening the winger couldn’t be stopped. Redknapp was able to name an unchanged lineup for the third game running as Rafael Van Der Vaart shook off a hamstring injury to continue his prolific partnership with Adebayor and it was the latter who gave Spurs the lead on the quarter hour. After squandering a headed chance just minutes earlier he produced a moment of divine brilliance as he acrobatically overhead kicked Bale’s cross past Shay Given after Steven Warnock failed to sufficiently clear Van Der Vaarts corner. It was the striker first goal since scoring twice against Liverpool on September 18th and that knocked the wind out of Villa’s sails as the North Londoners continued to press forward. Their the Dutch master was clearly intent on getting his name on the scoresheet but could only smash an effort into the side netting before seeing his audacious lob sail over Given’s cross bar.

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It was no surprise when the hosts doubled their lead just before the break with Bale once again the architect teasing Cuellar on the left before picking out Adebayor who made no mistake at the back post for his fifth goal in a Spurs shirt. Villa tried to mount a comeback in the second half but any chance of salvaging anything from the game were shot after Darren Bent could only head Chris Herd’s cross tamely into the hands of Friedel. In fact it was the home side who looked more likely to score next and they should have increased their lead with Adebayor shooting straight at Given from 18-yards after collecting Luka Modric’s through ball. The Togo striker then curled wide from distance later on after Kyle Walker had fired wide on 58 minutes. He was presented with another chance to complete his hat trick 13 minutes from time but was denied by Given once again as he pounced on the ball during an almighty goal mouth scramble. However despite the missed opportunities Spurs ran out comfortable winners as Villa once again failed to win on their traveue. McLeish and his side face a tough set of fixtures leading into the festive period with games against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all on the horizon.

PSG are set to challenge AC Milan over the January signing of Carlos Tevez, according to the Daily Mail.

Milan confirmed talks with Manchester City had begun after it was clear Tevez would never play for Mancini again although it appears the Italian club are only interested in a loan deal. PSG appear to have failed with attempts to sign Hulk and Edinson Cavani, but the mega rich French club are desperate to bring in a world class striker in the New Year.

AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is still hopeful of a deal to bring the Argentinean forward to Italy but has confirmed that no deal is complete yet.

“Yes it’s true, PSG are also in the running, although I haven’t heard from (their sporting director) Leonardo,” Galliani was quoted as telling Sky Italia.

“We know City’s desire is to the sell the player, our proposal is to loan him and hope City say yes.

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“I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I can certainly say the player would prefer to be at Milan but you have to convince City to send him out on loan and that’s not easy.”

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Everyone regained their breath? What a Super Sunday that was, with arguably the best game of the day being saved till last. Manchester City narrowly edged out a valiant Arsenal attempt to take at least a point away from the Etihad Stadium, but what did we learn from that enthralling ninety minutes?

Arsenal are involved in the best games of the season – They’ve lost 8-2, won 5-3 at Stamford Bridge and lost 2-1 in a very entertaining North London derby. The Gunners inability to defend but ability to attack have allowed neutrals to enjoy some of the best Premier League games ever and this campaign isn’t even half a season old.

Wenger never ceases to amaze – In the Frenchman’s post match interview he concluded that “We are now out of the title race” Err sorry Arsene, but were you ever in it?

RVP’s record affected his game – No one even knew such a record existed but a few weeks ago the media went crazy as the Dutchman closed in on Alan Shearer’s 36 Premier League goals in a calender year. Yesterday for the first time, I saw RVP seem fixated on this possible achievement and several occasions take the selfish option instead of sliding in one of his team mates much to the frustration of them and no doubt, the fans.

Micah Richards is a shocking defender – *and jump * Sorry, that was me getting off the ‘Micah Richards for England’ bandwagon. The Manchester City right back was terrible yesterday, I mean we’ve always known he was clumsy (probably should have been a penalty against Ramsey) but the Englishman took his inability to defend to all new levels. If Arsenal had utilised the left wing at all they would have found copious amounts of space for Gervinho, Walcott and Arshavin, on so many occasions Richards was tucked inside Vincent Kompany or Kolo Toure highlighting his lack of positioning and tactical understanding. This performance comes after a terrific attacking and defending performance from Glen Johnson earlier in the afternoon.

The Arsenal Utopia is over – For many years Arsene Wenger’s side have been deemed the second greatest passing team on the planet behind Barcelona, however at the Etihad yesterday that myth died. The Gunners passing was far from slick and in the opening twenty minutes it was nothing short of suicidal far from the crisp passing days of Pires, Bergkamp and even more recent such as Hleb and Fabregas, if anything City played the ‘Arsenal way’.

Mancini can’t help but revert to type – This season the Man City manager seemed to cave in and gave the media and the fans what they wanted, free flowing attacking football with all of their striking superstars on the pitch at once. However yesterday the ice cool Mancini went back to his old stereotypical Italian ways; with the score at 1-0 and the game far from won the Italian took off Mario Balotelli and replaced him the versatile but defensive James Milner. The substitution surprised many but worked as Mancini’s side grounded at an Italian scoreline of 1-0.

Gary Neville is a terrible pundit – Oh wait we already knew that.

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Let me know what you learnt about today or what half time snack you had by popping over to www.danieltblazer.com

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Fulham and West Brom had to settle for a point each on Wednesday night, as they played out a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

The hosts went into the lead midway through the second half, as Clint Dempsey opened the scoring on 69 minutes, but a Somen Tchoyi equaliser eight minutes from the end ensured spoils were shared.

Home boss Martin Jol was slightly disappointed to concede in the last ten minutes, but all in all was happy with a point.

“To concede a goal in the last eight minutes was disappointing but I was happy,” the Dutch manager told Sky Sports.

“You always have to make a difference against teams like this, they played very well, were well organised and you need patience and still play in a good tempo.

“And I think in the second half we did that. In the first half we didn’t.

“So the extra quality came from Bryan Ruiz and of Clint Dempsey, you know that he’s a goal scorer,” Jol concluded.

West Brom host Swansea next on Saturday, whilst the Cottagers travel to take on league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

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By Gareth McKnight

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For the vast majority of players a career isn’t a career unless you’re actively taking part in the playing side of your club’s exploits. However there are exceptions to every rule. There are not many, but a few players in the Premier League who have, for whatever reason, decided that the hunt for pastures new where they can be guaranteed playing time has simply ceased to interest them. Whether they have achieved all they had hoped to in their career already, they enjoy a comfortable life consisting purely of training and sitting on the bench or they just don’t want to give up their plump little pay-cheque some players are happy to purely be a backup. For some the opportunity to move to a big club is the opportunity of a lifetime, for others it is simply a financial opportunity.

Click on Stuart Taylor to unveil the top 10 leeches

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Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has stated that his recovery is going well, and that he hopes to be back to action with the Premier League champions next season.

The Scotland international continues to battle a debilitating bowel condition and has been absent for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men for the bulk of the season due to the illness.

However Fletcher feels that he is making progress and wants to be fit and available for selection for next term.

“I’m OK. I’m taking all my medication and listening to the doctor,” he told Manchester Evening News.

“It’s a week by week situation so I’ve not got any timescale on recovery, but the target for me is next season now. If I can come back then that would be great for me.

“It’s something that will never leave me, but you have to find somehow a way to manage it so that I can still play my football.

“I’m trying everything under the sun at the moment, diet, hypnotherapy,” he admitted.

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By Gareth McKnight

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