football weekly

Final 16 set for UEFA Champions League

2011-12-08T02:36:00.001-08:00

After the dust settled from Wednesday's shocking UEFA Champions League group results, the final 16 teams have emerged to make it to the knockout stage.

The draw is set for Dec. 16, and teams from the same group or same league cannot meet in the first knockout round. The teams in each pot are:

GROUP WINNERS - Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Benfica, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL Nicosia, Barcelona

RUNNERS-UP - Napoli, CSKA Moscow, FC Basel, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit-St. Petersburg, AC Milan

The eight teams that finished third in their groups and will drop down to the Europa League are: Manchester United, Manchester City, Ajax, Porto, Valencia, Olympiakos, Trabzonspor and Viktoria Plzen.

What Round of 16 matchups are you hoping for? Will you pay more attention to the Europa League considering who is involved in it now?

Share your thoughts below.

Wayne Rooney at risk of a barren 2012 after Manchester United's exit

2011-12-08T02:09:00.001-08:00

If the striker loses his appeal against a three-game Euro 2012 ban, he could face a year without elite European competition

A disconsolate Wayne Rooney walks off the pitch at Basel after Manchester United's Champions League exit. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Reputations are built on the highest stage and it should therefore be a fearful Wayne Rooney, below, who steps into Uefa's headquarters in Nyon on Thursday morning. The Champions League embarrassingly slipped from Manchester United's once assured grasp in Basel and the full three-match suspension from the European Championship may now follow for their England talisman. The continent is a potentially barren landscape for Rooney in 2012 and the torment is entirely self-inflicted.

The United striker's performance mirrored that of Sir Alex Ferguson's team in Switzerland, with plenty of endeavour but little end product, and the ignominy of a first entry into the Europa League awaits both. For a player of Rooney's ability yet miserable record in major international tournaments, confirmation that he must miss the entire group phase in Ukraine and Poland, if that is the verdict of Uefa's disciplinary panel on the banks of Lake Geneva, will be another devastating setback to his hopes of being recognised beyond English shores among the finest talents of his generation. As with United's exit from what appeared a straightforward group, it all seems unnecessary.

Ferguson may not care less about England's prospects at Euro 2012 – and privately the thought of Rooney having an enforced holiday must appeal at club level – but he must be aggrieved at the shadow one loss of self-control on international duty has cast upon United and a season of diminishing returns. The irony of the FA challenging a three-match ban for violent conduct from a player it suspended for two matches for swearing at a television camera last season, excluding him from the FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City at Wembley, will not have been lost on the United manager either.

One red card against Montenegro did not expel United from the Champions League but it has marked a downturn in Rooney's season and poor finishing lay at the heart of their exit. There was greater responsibility on the forward regardless of the disciplinary appeal in Nyon, with Javier Hernández, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen injured plus Danny Welbeck feeling his way back from the hamstring strain suffered with England. Rooney showed no signs of being distracted here, only annoyance at his own occasional poor touch, the referee and the substitute Federico Macheda, but he lacked the composure and finishing of the player Ferguson had labelled Britain's answer to Pelé when the campaign opened in Benfica. Then he had arrived in Lisbon with 11 goals from eight matches. He is currently on three from 12 appearances and the failure to improve that ratio against Basel proved humiliating and costly.

Ferguson had expressed such supreme confidence in Rooney's ability to leave his Euro crisis outside St Jakob-Park and United's impressive away form in Europe to predict that Ashley Young's stoppage-time equaliser against Basel at Old Trafford would be the goal "that rescued us in this section". But this, it soon transpired, was not the performance the United manager could have imagined from a side bidding for a fourth Champions League final appearance in five seasons.

From David de Gea's costly decision to use his feet in an attempt to cut out Xherdan Shaqiri's cross from the left, which only set up Marco Streller for a ninth-minute opener, to the failure of Bjorn Kuipers, the referee, to punish Granit Xhaka for three bookable offences in the first half – the influential midfielder committed a two-footed challenge on Park Ji-sung, deliberately tripped Rooney on a United break and scooped the ball away with his hand from Nani before finally receiving a yellow card for a foul on the Portugal international – the small details were costing United even before Streller accidentally became entangled with Nemanja Vidic's knee and ended the Serb's night after 42 minutes.

Rooney was central to frustration but continued to search for an escape until the final whistle. The United lineup suited their leading man, who was alone in attack but well supported by Park, less so by Young, and received sufficient supply from Nani and Ryan Giggs to have eased the Premier League champions' passage into the knock-out phase.

The England international should have equalised on the half-hour when Nani's cross found him lurking unmarked at Yann Sommer's far post. Rooney appeared perfectly placed, the ball at an inviting pace and height, but a slight deflection off a Basel defender was sufficient to throw the striker off balance and he miscued badly before Park missed a routine follow-up. Another excellent opening fell Rooney's way from Giggs's disguised pass into the Basel area. Again the connection was not as true as a player of Rooney's calibre should produce and Sommer made a comfortable save. A third attempt, curled inches wide from a difficult angle following another astute pass from Giggs in the second half, typified United's night. They have a long and agonising period to stew over the repercussions.

Jury is out on Roberto Mancini's ability to succeed at the very top

2011-12-08T02:00:00.001-08:00

The Italian has failed to make it out of the Champions League group stages in five attempts

Manchester City's manager Roberto Mancini paid a heavy price for a series of strange decisions in the Champions League. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

Trauma for one half of Manchester, mere disappointment for the other. But while Manchester City faced up to the half-expected reality that not even an emphatic win over the winners of Group A was enough to secure their Champions League survival, those with a longer perspective in mind wondered whether Roberto Mancini will turn out to be the man to lead them to glory in the tournament.

The fine goals from David Silva and Yaya Touré that put City 2-0 up against the current leaders of the Bundesliga inside the opening hour were entirely consistent with their more attacking football in a remarkably prolific opening to the season. But the danger was always that the effort would come too late, and a glum silence descended over the ground as the news of Napoli's goals came through, broken only by the full-throated chants of the Bavarian fans.

The 47-year-old Italian knows what it is like to reach the final of the continent's premier club competition. In 1992 he was alongside Gianluca Vialli in the Sampdoria team that lost 1-0 to Johan Cruyff's Barcelona at Wembley, and might well have won had his fellow striker – another future Premier League manager – made the most of a couple of excellent chances.

Since turning to coaching and management, however, Mancini's record in the competition has been one of steadily declining achievement. He brought Internazionale their first Serie A title in almost two decades, going on to make it a personal hat-trick in the next two seasons, but his success would not be reflected in the competition that Massimo Moratti, anxious to repeat his father's triumphs as president with Helenio Herrera as head coach, really wanted him to win.

In 2004-05, at his first attempt in the Champions League with Inter, the squad's considerable resources were enough to take him to the quarter-finals, where they were humiliated in both legs by their fellow tenants of San Siro, Carlo Ancelotti's Milan.

A year later they reached the same stage, only to go out to Villarreal on away goals. Then things got worse. In 2006-07 Inter were again eliminated on away goals in Catalunya, this time by Valencia in the round of 16. And in Mancini's final season they were once more unable to go beyond the first knockout stage, losing at home and away to Liverpool without managing to notch up a single goal. The lack of evidence that the side were making progress in European competition under Mancini – indeed, the evidence to the contrary – persuaded Moratti to dismiss the man who had brought him seven trophies.

No doubt, given Mancini's highly professional approach to the job, his two years out of the game and three out of Europe were filled with contemplation of the methods by which he might persuade a group of gifted and richly rewarded players to fulfil the hopes of an ambitious owner at the highest level. And no doubt City's new regime were hoping that he would take the team all the way to the final in Bayern's Allianz Arena at the first time of asking next May.

Were he merely to win City's first English league championship in 43 years, they would be unlikely to take the Moratti option. But the fact remains that in Mancini's fifth Champions League season as a manager of a club at the very top level of financial support, with a vastly expensive array of talent at his disposal, he has failed even to make it out of the group stage.

There have been occasions during this campaign – in the two games against Napoli, from which they salvaged only a single point, and the 2-0 defeat in Munich – when Mancini appeared to have learnt little from his experiences. Facing Bayern on their home turf, for example, he paid a heavy price for a series of frankly bizarre decisions, picking a pair of attacking full backs – Micah Richards and Gaël Clichy – and left Nigel De Jong, his most efficient midfield shield, on the bench, dropping Joleon Lescott while inviting Kolo Touré to make a first start since his return from suspension. This was the night Carlos Tevez apparently refused to take the field as a substitute, when many believed he should have started a game City wanted to win.

In the return match last night, against a Bayern side stripped of three of their best players by injury and illness and with half a dozen others allowed to sit it out on the bench, City were given the opportunity to improve their European record, and took advantage of Jupp Heynckes' selectorial decisions. Silva's incisive shot and Yaya Touré's strike at the end of a lovely move involving Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko warmed the home fans on a chilly night.

"It takes a team years of development to succeed at this level," Heynckes observed afterwards. "City have had a lot of new players coming into the club. I think Mancini is slowly getting it together. But it will take experience and time."

City's fans have known much, much worse than elimination from the Champions League, and success in turning their present lead in the domestic championship in victory in the spring would dispel even the tiniest cloud from the East Manchester sky. In Europe, however, their manager can consider himself still very much on trial.

Manchester United miss Wayne Rooney – in attack, midfield and defence

2011-11-23T00:19:00.001-08:00

The England player was unfit and without their linchpin the home side looked deficient in key areas against Benfica

Sir Alex Ferguson said he was very disappointed with the two goals Manchester United conceded against Benfica - 'it was almost freakish to lose two goals through an own goal and a bad kick-out'. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

One does not necessarily expect open and entertaining football in Champions League games when group qualification is at stake, even when sides of the pedigree of Manchester United and Benfica are involved. This was a pleasant surprise, indeed it was a night of surprises, with Dimitar Berbatov scoring his first Champions League goal in three years and being trumped by Pablo Aimar's first in seven, the one that not only ensured Portuguese qualification but gave Benfica every chance of topping Group C.

Doubtless the majority of Old Trafford fans took a more severe view, for while gaining the point necessary to go through in their final game in Switzerland ought not to be beyond the capabilities of a team of United's experience, it should never have come to this.

United held a 3-1 lead over Basel in the home fixture but could not hold on to it, and after exciting their home crowd here with the usual comeback after conceding a goal in the fourth minute, Sir Alex Ferguson's players rather spoiled the effect by conceding another one within seconds of taking the lead.

The old United never used to do that, and while pre-match conversations here centred on how much the home side would miss Wayne Rooney in attack, by the end of the game it was easier to understand why Ferguson has lately been deploying him in front of his defence.

With Nemanja Vidic suspended, Rooney's experience missing and Phil Jones unfortunate enough to put through his own goal in a rare outing at centre-half, United were far from solid as a defensive unit. True, Benfica cut them open only twice, but twice was enough. As far as Ferguson was concerned, twice was too many.

"I'm very disappointed with the goals we conceded, it was almost freakish to lose two goals through an own goal and a bad kick-out," the United manager said. "We didn't give ourselves enough time in the lead. Conceding so early took the wind out of our sails but we came back from that. It can be a cruel game at times."

Ferguson was not prepared to be cruel enough to blame Jones for both goals, although it was the young defender's back pass that slightly hurried his own goalkeeper. Putting the ball into his own net so early on could not have done much for Jones' confidence, though to his credit he recovered his poise sufficiently well to join in with a few attacks.

The United manager dismissed the early setback as unfortunate and unexpected, but if nerves possibly got the better of the former Blackburn player in his attempt to cut out Nicolás Gaitán's cross the real worry for United was the way two far more experienced players – Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick – were bypassed in midfield as Maxi Pereira surged smoothly forward to set up the chance.

It was tempting to wonder whether Rooney would have done any better, now he has become so adept at shielding his back four.

One suspected that had Rooney been available at that precise moment he would have been pressed into service in attack, not midfield or defence. As it was Berbatov and Ashley Young began to combine rather well, for such an unfamiliar combination, both making chances for each other.

It was Nani who crossed for the Bulgarian's equaliser, and within seconds Berbatov played Young clean through for a chance from which the England player might have done better than strike Artur's legs. Young then had to watch agonised as Benfica went straight down to the other end of the pitch to force a save from David de Gea.

It was, as Ferguson had predicted, both an open game and a tribute to the attacking traditions of both clubs. Whether the United manager actually meant it to be like that is another matter.

What he would never have been expecting, after Fletcher's goal put his side in front, was Benfica being presented with a route back immediately then Berbatov volleying over the bar from Fábio da Silva's inviting cross with the script demanding a late winner.

Manchester City's talent show keeps the goal factory in business

2011-11-05T15:36:00.001-07:00

Opponents of the league leaders now face a wide, curling wave of talent, as well as game-changing players on the bench

Manchester City's Edin Dzeko (left) and QPR's Anton Ferdinand compete for the ball during the game at Loftus Road. Photograph: Jed Leicester/Action Images

Question to David Platt, Manchester City's assistant manager: "Have you seen a more prolific forward line?" Answer: "Only when I watch Barcelona on TV."

City are a rocket burst of goals: 39 in 11 league fixtures now, with only 10 conceded. In a blistering two-week run in all competitions they have beaten Manchester United 6-1, Wolves 5-2 and 3-1, Villarreal 3-0 (away) and now Queens Park Rangers 3-2 four days after a Champions League trip to Spain. Yet this victory passes into the club's favourite scrapbook not for the goals but the tenacity displayed against a defiant QPR team who will win plenty of matches performing with this kind of joie de vivre.

"The important thing is that when we're not quite at it, passing-wise, and not cutting through teams, we can still win football matches," Platt said.

QPR's defenders will be astonished to hear that this was City "digging out" a win (Platt's phrase). Edin Dzeko tortured them with his centre-forward play, after a slow start, and David Silva's creativity was again a delight.

QPR's problem was: how do you stop a goal factory locating a branch on your turf? The extra incentive for Roberto Mancini's team had been wins earlier in the day for Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea. But the Hoops had an answer. For much of the first half they raced across Loftus Park like ice-skaters, joining attacks with relish and closing City's big names down. Only with Yaya Touré's 73rd-minute header did they finally submit in a scintillating match that had QPR fans recalling their glory days.

Neil Warnock said he had been working on a plan to stop the money monster and it nearly worked. The idea was that his guests might not fancy a test of passion in one of London's most atmospheric grounds. Hyperactivity will not always work against a side of City's calibre because they have so many players who can caress the ball, slow the pace and slip a pass at an unplayable angle.

QPR, though, only needed it to work once. "Are you Chelsea in disguise?" their fans sang, in honour of the recent victory over their neighbours. Chelsea's captain took a slap as well: "John Terry – we know what you said," they chanted, in support of their own Anton Ferdinand.

The oceanic gap between Heidar Helguson, the QPR striker, say, and Sergio Agüero at the other end is bound to tell across a whole season. Nor is there a David Silva at QPR's university training ground under the Heathrow flight path. But if you catch a top team in a fatigued state with the right tactics and the supporters play their part (as QPR's normally do), you can inflict a pained look even on the world's richest club.

Early energy and industry create chances. Those chances must be taken by the lesser side before the rich one wakes and responds. With City, opponents now face a wide, curling wave of talent, The manager of a bottom-half side should probably never let his team see the names of City's game-changers: in this case, Samir Nasri, Adam Johnson (who came on for Agüero) and Mario Balotelli, whose second-half dive would have embarrassed the amateur dramatics society of a small Somerset village (Balotelli was booked).

Dzeko, a leggy type whose touch often deserts him, always presents a problem to centre-backs with his persistence and strength. Agüero is a buzzy, elusive menace who can thrash a shot from anywhere with his short backlift. Silva is the artiste from the all-conquering Spanish school. As City fell behind, this gang went to work.

At the restart Agüero and Silva talked angles of attack, like two geometrists, and Ferdinand and Danny Gabbidon, QPR's two centre-halves hugged each other for comfort. But this QPR side quite fancies itself, and rightly so. The assimilation of new players has been quick. Most encouragingly, discards from bigger clubs (Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips) have arrived not as sulking big-shots but grafters ready to support a cause.

Two points clear of United at the kick-off (and only three ahead of Newcastle), City turned up the heat with a sweeping move that carried Dzeko down QPR's right flank from where he crossed for Silva. When the tapes of Silva's contribution to this campaign are cut City's second goal here ought to feature. Most strikers would have swiped at the ball first time, but Silva guided it to a position where Gabbidon, his nearest pursuer, might have been in another county.

The finish was a calm, graceful affirmation of Silva's mastery over time and space. QPR's equaliser was less pretty: a Bothroyd header that struck Helguson's crown and went in as he crouched on City's goalline. Then came Yaya Touré's deal-closer. Anything you can do, they can do better.

Sir Alex Ferguson will never really leave Manchester United behind

2011-11-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

As the great Scot celebrates 25 years at Old Trafford, those who followed Matt Busby know how tricky the succession will be

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, does not like talking about retirement. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA

It was not the best of starts. The first match, a quarter of a century ago, was a 2-0 defeat on a bumpy pitch at Oxford United. In the dressing room, Alex Ferguson was finding it hard to disguise his nerves.

"I can remember him naming the team," Peter Davenport says. "He went through the defence and midfield and said: 'Right, up front, Frank and Nigel. OK lads?' There was a pause, then Robbo said: 'Nigel? Who's Nigel?' Fergie points at me and goes: 'Him, Nigel Davenport.' He'd got me confused with the actor from Howards' Way."

What has happened over the following 25 years identifies Ferguson as a man of phenomenal staying power and consistency. Sir Matt Busby was 62 when he closed his reign at Manchester United. Brian Clough left the game at 58. At Liverpool, Bob Paisley lasted until 64. Bill Shankly was 60. Nobody has managed longer than Ferguson at the highest level. Or with greater competitive courage. Never has a manager been so relentless in his ambition and so deeply embedded in the business of winning football matches and forming history.

He turns 70 next month and the mind goes back to 2003, when Sir Bobby Robson reached that age. Ferguson sat behind his desk at United's training ground and blew out his cheeks in disbelief. He was asked whether he could see himself going on so long and his response was delivered like a slap. "No bloody chance."

It has been an epic run. The 25th anniversary arrives on Sunday, and still there is no sign of the system getting the better of him. Retirement, Ferguson once said, is for other people. As long as he has his health, he says, he will continue to work, and he cites the cancer diagnosis of his father, Alexander, within a week of retiring from the Fairfields shipyard in Govan. "There are too many examples of people who retire and are in their box soon after. Because you're taking away the very thing that makes you alive."

But there will come a time when Ferguson has to cut himself free. Retirement isn't something he can file away in a drawer and when it comes to the lessons of history, the Busby handover and the ordeals of the men who replaced him, the critical question is how Ferguson will make his retreat and whether the club can manage the loss without repeating the mistakes made before.

Wilf McGuinness inherited the team from Busby in 1969 and, by his own admission, was never fully accepted by the senior players. Probably because he was not Busby. Now 74, his affection for United still shines brightly but he, better than anybody, understands how difficult it can be to replace the man behind an empire.

"Did I feel I had the full respect of all the players all the time?" he says. "Sadly, the honest answer has to be 'not really'."

He lasted eight months before Busby reappointed himself as manager. Or "four seasons", as McGuinness prefers to describe it: "Summer, autumn, winter and spring – and summer was the most successful."

McGuinness recalls it as "a supremely harrowing period". A mutinous one, too. McGuinness dropped Bobby Charlton and Denis Law and tried to assert some authority. One player went to the Sunday Times with his grievances, complaining on condition of anonymity that Busby's replacement was so bad at his job he would waste £1m if he were given it to spend. The transfer record at the time was £165,000.

It may be that the manager second in line to Ferguson has the more desirable job. The first man in will have to possess unbreakable self-belief, if such a man exists. Every trophy, every memorable achievement, every European campaign will be set against his predecessor's record. Every defeat will be accompanied by sniping that he is not a patch on the last man.

"You're going to need someone very experienced," Ferguson says. "It's not going to be a job for a young manager."

David Gill, the United chief executive, will be in charge of the process, though he says Ferguson will be prominently involved. "It would be a collective body, not a big body, but we would get all the input to make sure we make the appropriate choice. There won't be meltdown. It will clearly be a sea change for the club and we have to be ready."

But United made similar noises in 2002, when Ferguson was supposed to retire, and the man they chose, Sven-Goran Eriksson, is now regarded at Old Trafford as a dodged bullet. Since Eriksson took the call to inform him Ferguson had changed his mind, he has closed out his time with England then hopped between jobs with Manchester City (11 months), Mexico (10 months), Notts County (seven months), Ivory Coast (three months) and Leicester City (12 months). Six jobs on three continents, five of them since 2006.

José Mourinho is the name at the top of every betting-shop board, ahead of Pep Guardiola and David Moyes third, but for now all that can be said with certainty is that whoever comes in will be spared some of the issues that faced Ferguson when he replaced Ron Atkinson in 1986.

Atkinson had let his team grow old, whereas Ferguson has unselfishly hoarded players who may not reach their potential until well after he is gone. His goalkeeper, David de Gea, could be at Old Trafford for a decade. Ditto a back four of Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Fábio da Silva. "These young players are the future of Manchester United," Ferguson says, and there is a stark contrast to be drawn with the club he found 25 years ago.

One of Ferguson's first instructions to United's board was to start clearing out the older players and replace them with younger versions. A friend asked Ferguson what he made of the youth policy Atkinson had left behind. "What youth policy?" he replied. "He's left me a shower of shit."

Frank O'Farrell also inherited an ageing team. He took over from Busby in 1971 and lasted 81 matches. He reflects on it being "a bit like following Lord Olivier on stage".

O'Farrell, like McGuinness, ran into problems with the older, more established players. "I once made Denis Law substitute and he didn't want to sit on the bench to watch the game," he says. "He wanted to stay in the dressing room."

In the words of McGuinness, Busby was "the perfect role model for any aspiring manager, but an extremely difficult act to follow. Matt had so much knowledge, but he was also an immensely mature character with that wonderful deep voice. He had a certain aura, a magnetic presence which exuded calmness and reassurance. In contrast, I was not particularly mature and my voice was not remarkable in any way, except for being loud."

O'Farrell has just put his memories into a book that will make hard reading for anyone who considers Busby to be flawless of character. All Change at Old Trafford depicts Busby as a man who could not let go.

"When I arrived, Matt was still in the manager's office and there were workmen constructing a new small office for the new manager – me – down the corridor," O'Farrell, who is now 84, says. "The alarm bells started ringing. Matt was not manager any more, but he was still going to keep the office."

Busby had taken on the role of "junior director" but, according to O'Farrell, he interfered with team matters to the point where he became "a hindrance". Busby had "a streak of vindictiveness" and at one point berated O'Farrell for leaving out the 34-year-old Charlton and criticised him for playing Martin Buchan, one of the new manager's signings.

"A lot of the senior players had a close relationship with Matt, even playing golf with him, and they'd take their gripes to him," O'Farrell says. "I suspect he would be saying he would have done things differently. Matt questioned my decisions and created discontent. He wasn't the manager, but he couldn't let go."

The point is relevant because Ferguson has said that after he steps down as manager, he will stay at Old Trafford in a new role. What that will be is not clear, but a boardroom position is possible. O'Farrell has said that would be a mistake. "What happened once could happen again. Sir Alex will find it almost impossible to remain a part of the club and resist still being a counsellor and guru to his old players."

This is not a subject the man himself is willing to debate at length. Ferguson does not like to talk about retirement, and tends to greet questions on the subject with one of those stares that can make you feel as though you have sawdust in your mouth. When it is unavoidable, like this week, he will shift awkwardly in his seat, like a pools winner who has forgotten to tick the no-publicity box.

At his press conference this week the first question about his anniversary was met by his stock rebuttal: "I'm nae getting into that." Later, his position relaxed and, as he reminisced on the last quarter of a century, the 37 trophies and some of the lead performers – "Robson, Whiteside, McClair, Hughes, Ince, Keane – God – Cantona. What a collection" – before enthusing about the new generation, we were reminded of the fundamental reason why he does not want to contemplate a future without football.

Football is the thing that makes the most sense of his life. Twenty-five years at Manchester United? "It's a fairytale," Ferguson said.

And retirement? "All I can say is that I'm looking forward to the next 25 years."

In defence of Luis Suárez

2011-11-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Liverpool striker has become a pariah in the Premier League thanks to little English football's strange kind of logic

Is the rest of the Premier League suffering from Suarez envy? Photograph: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Having showcased his Hand of God tribute act at the last World Cup, andsunk his gnashers into a fellow pro while at Ajax, Luis Suárez was a ready-formed cartoon villain when he washed up on these shores last January. All that was missing was the stovepipe hat, cape, cane and elaborate moustache. Nyahh nyahh nyahh. Yet even so, it's still something of a shock – a shameful, sorry shock – how quickly the Uruguayan has found himself to be the biggest pariah in English football.

Last weekend, in the early exchanges of Liverpool's visit to West Bromwich Albion, Jerome Thomas needlessly stuck out a leg to impede the progress of Suárez. Progress being used there in its loosest sense; Suárez was scampering nowhere fast, out of the area, away from danger. Knocked to his knees, skittering across the turf like a distressed toddler who had just fallen off his bike, the Liverpool striker didn't even claim for the penalty. But a foul is a foul, no matter how soft, and the spot kick was duly awarded. Suárez spent the rest of a brilliant display getting pelters from the Hawthorns faithful, and was loudly and signally booed off as he was substituted near the end.

All of which is fair enough. Fans are under no obligation to be even-handed; Thomas could have bowled into view behind the wheel of a 4x4, knocking Suárez 15 feet into the air off the bonnet, and some supporters would have still insisted Suárez deserved to be booked for jaywalking. But you expect a little bit of reason from the professionals and the media.

"I think the 25,000 people watching, even the Liverpool supporters, will probably agree with me that it looked like a very, very harsh decision, and there was certainly no intention to foul the player or give away a penalty," opined West Brom boss Roy Hodgson after the game. Top marks to Roy for chutzpah, in attempting to corral moral support from a fanbase he'd systematically alienated with a series of self-serving statements during his time at Anfield, but otherwise the comment missed the point spectacularly. Benign intent does not cancel out clumsiness. And seeing Hodgson was in the mood to make assumptions on behalf of others, Liverpool supporters will probably agree with me that his complaint smacked of bandwagon jumping, Suárez's sullied reputation a convenient out for his team's piss-poor display, one grabbed eagerly with both hands.

For some reason – surreal, yet paradoxically predictable – a controversy over this most basic and clear-cut decision ran for most of the week. "It was a nice dive for the penalty," suggested West Brom midfielder Paul Scharner a couple of days ago. "Suárez is very good at winning penalties. He's one of the best on the planet, in fact. There was a general feeling among all the players that it was a soft penalty." Soft it may have been, but a penalty it was nonetheless, and Scharner's accusation of diving was at best myopic and befuddled. More uncharitably, seeing Scharner is in the business of shooting from the hip without a second's thought for reputation, his claim was a flat-out lie. That such a statement has been left hanging, reported unchallenged in the press, his words reprinted in headline-point size, borders on the weird.

Many of football's controversies are initially fuelled by television, the papers turning up 24 hours later with a couple of cans of petrol and a box of Swan, tittering excitedly. But to be fair this time round, ESPN attempted to nip this strange business in the bud. The co-commentator Chris Waddle was quick to call Thomas's foul, as were his colleagues in the studio, though you do wonder whether Waddle was feeling some guilt for his dubious performance during Liverpool's game the previous week against Norwich City, when almost every compliment given to Suárez was prefaced with a totally needless: "I don't like the way he goes to ground sometimes, but..." It's a strange state of affairs when a player's contributions are constantly framed by their misdemeanours – Steven Gerrard's finer moments have rarely been counterbalanced with his habit of starfishing himself to the floor, while Wayne Rooney has yet to be admonished upon Mark Hughesing one home for any previous arse-kicking red mists that may have occasionally befallen him – but this is the way of life for Suárez.

At one point during that Norwich game, Suárez was blocked off on the edge of the area. It probably wasn't a foul, though you've seen them given. Play went on, Craig Bellamy within nanoseconds running the ball out of play down the left. At which point Suárez was loudly berated by the ESPN commentator Jon Champion for not springing immediately back up and joining in the move again. Denis Law, who could defy gravity like few others, would have struggled to raise as much as a wry eyebrow in a similarly allotted time. Nothing, sure enough, was said when Suárez stayed teetering on his toes a few minutes later, dragging a shot wide left of goal, despite having been nudged in the area and well within his rights to send the nipples turfward looking for the penalty. Michael Owen, England's penalty-winning hero against Argentina in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, would have had no compunction.

A few days later, in a Carling Cup game transmitted on the BBC, Suárez was standing in the penalty area at Stoke waiting for the dispatch of a corner, with his hands conspicuously in the air to demonstrate that he wasn't grappling with any defenders. "He's making sure the referee knows he's fouling no one," announced Guy Mowbray, before pausing and proudly quipping: "He's fooling no one." Lovely linguistic gymnastics, and what comedy, though hardly Reithian reporting; if Suárez displayed similar balance in the penalty area, he'd have an instant 10-match ban for simulation.

Thing is, nobody's fooling themselves, and it would be hard to paint Suárez as an angel. This latest slew of accusations have come in the wake of Jack Rodwell's disgraceful sending off in the Merseyside derby, for a tackle which saw the Everton youngster barely clipping Suárez. The Liverpool striker certainly made the most of Rodwell's challenge, and you can berate him for patrolling the outer boundaries of the game's laws – simulation is illegal, but exaggeration of a foul is only covered by the vague and highly subjective theory of gamesmanship – but then Rodwell was playing with fire having momentarily shown his studs as he thundered in for the tackle, surely the crucial factor in referee Martin Atkinson's mistake. Suárez had done nothing technically wrong; indeed, Atkinson had whipped the card out with Suárez having barely hit the turf, suggesting the player's reaction had little or nothing to do with what was unquestionably a dismal decision. Either way, it's not much evidence with which to condemn a man. And given pretty much everyone in the league is at it anyway, singling Suárez out for opprobrium does make one wonder.

There's a very large elephant in the room, of course, and it's parping the sort of elaborate freestyle jazz solo that makes Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity sound like the theme tune to Hancock's Half Hour: the allegations of racist abuse levelled at Suárez by the Manchester United captain Patrice Evra. Should Evra's claims be made to stand, Suárez will have some serious talking to do, and quickly. Sympathy for his plight would suddenly be in extremely short supply, both outside and inside Anfield. But at the time of writing, that's a mighty big if: he's currently an innocent man, and must be treated as such.

Evra's accusations do throw light on a certain irony, however, and lead us to what is the crux of the problem. English football is rightly proud of its efforts to kick out racism. The game has come a long way since the unreconstructed days of the 1970s and 1980s. Arguably even more of an achievement lies in the fact that nobody involved with the sport has since got complacent: the recent accusations involving Suárez and John Terry have been addressed swiftly and seriously, across the board by professionals, administrators, media and fans.

But while there's a healthy zero-tolerance attitude to the overt stuff, a strain of unspoken, casual xenophobia remains. English football puffs out its chest in pride at its modern cosmopolitan nature, but despite the international roll call there's still a bit of work to be done. In more than one quarter, Suárez has been advised to tone down the theatrics in order to get the crowds – and the media – off his back. Given that making the most of challenges, providing there's no drift into simulation, isn't against the laws of the game, and that such a grift is more widely accepted in other countries, there's an unsettling undertone here: you can work in the country, but you have to do things our way. Extend that argument into any other walk of life, and you're on very dodgy political ground. Exactly why football should be treated any differently isn't made clear.

The pious demands aren't, of course, directed at homegrown players partial to a wee dive: the aforementioned Gerrard or Owen, for example. When Arsenal's record-breaking 49-game unbeaten run was ended, it was thanks to a brilliantly disguised but shameful tumble by Wayne Rooney, as British a bulldog as you're likely to see. Francis Lee, also of these shores, practically invented the concept of going to ground in the mid 1960s.

There's also a strange (and very British) kind of logic on display here: if we're so annoyed by the over-reaction of certain players to being fouled, all quadruple salchow and pike, then instead of heaping abuse on the poor saps rolling about, would it not be better to ask the other players to stop kicking them? The last time we ended up here, in the summer of 2006, one of the best players in the world was nearly hounded out of the country for winking, while the man who perambulated up and down a man's front tail was treated as the victim of the piece.

A desperately sad state of affairs, all told, and one which leaves poor old Suárez hanging out to dry. He is, sadly, unlikely to be cut much slack; you know how these things pan out. In many respects, while Liverpool's player is within his rights to bemoan his lot, the club's fans can't complain too loudly, as all this is nothing new. Allegiances being what they are, Kopites didn't man the barricades alongside their comrades at Chelsea when Didier Drogba was getting pelters for being regularly kicked around like an old sock. Nor did they fight the good fight side by side with those from Manchester United, when Cristiano Ronaldo was constantly berated for being repeatedly sent flying across Old Trafford on his shiny teeth.

Still, it would be nice to think this is where we all finally come together and draw a line under this nonsense, though the suspicion is that we haven't quite matured enough. We're getting the overt stuff down pat. The rest? Not so much. But let's not be too harsh on ourselves. Much of this, you have to hope, is less true xenophobia, and simply the projection of jealousy and frustration at watching truly brilliant players going about their business. If Liverpool's No7 wasn't any good, few people would care. Cristiano Ronaldo, let's remember, was vilified for doing stepovers.Stepovers. A skill. Thanks, Britain! Well done, us! Luis Suárez must wonder what he's let himself in for.

Arsenal show fighting spirit but lack firepower against Marseille

2011-11-02T03:19:00.001-07:00

Arsenal's Park Ju-young, left, and Marseille's André Ayew leap for the same ball. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Arsenal's euphoria was short-lived. Marseille removed the joy from a side that had lately beaten Chelsea 5-3. While a draw was hardly a shameful outcome, the result allows the reservations to surface once more. In retrospect, it would have been wiser to let Robin van Persie start, instead of sending him on from the bench when the search for a goal had become anxious.

The side remain at the head of their Champions League group, with the next match at home to Borussia Dortmund, who have taken their first win by beating Olympiakos. Arsenal's situation in the competition continues to be encouraging but the line-up preferred by Arsène Wenger could not sustain the club's recent momentum.

There was not even the questionable comfort that managers sometimes claim to feel when opportunities are created and then wasted. That sort of exasperation was rare. Instead onlookers will have found confirmation that far too much rests with Van Persie. Other attackers were lively enough in their own fashion yet did not suggest that they were going to confound the Marseille goalkeeper.

Although Thomas Vermaelen tried to turn in a header from Per Mertesacker and was denied by Steve Mandanda at the start of the second-half, there was no onslaught. Nothing is meant to be simple in this tournament. The crowd tensed and anticipated that Van Persie was about to break the deadlock, having been put through by fellow substitute Tomas Rosicky, but he lifted his shot into the goalkeeper's arms.

Van Persie would probably have made a greater impact if he had started the match and then been rested through an early substitution. These are early days but Park Chu-young mostly proved that he is not to be taken yet as any sort of alternative to him.

Perhaps, all the same, it ought to have been anticipated that the opposition would shed the blandness that afflicted them at the Stade Vélodrome. At this stage in a Champions League group urgency is on the rise. Marseille, beaten at home by Wenger's men, were bound to display an attacking spirit.

The tempo was high from kick-off, as if there were not a moment to lose. Didier Deschamps's decision to put two forwards in the Marseille line-up verged on a romantic gesture. There were openings before the interval but not the need for many impressive saves. That was down to indifferent finishing. Gervinho was full of intent and menace, yet neither he nor any of his team-mates could find the precision needed in a promising situation.

Deschamps's men also made Arsenal worry at times and thus prevented the hosts from achieving slick and carefree football. Marseille had opened with a show of conviction. Loïc Rémy was close to flicking home a ball from André Ayew in the first minute.

The outlook and style of Deschamps's side had been transformed since the earlier meeting, but the inconsequentiality of their work when the moment had come to shoot or to attempt a menacing pass was still on view. While Arsenal had less to concern them in this eventual stalemate they should still have been in hot pursuit of a win that would sustain the rise in the expectations of the squad and the players alike.

While Van Persie sat on the bench there was a reminder that there is no real replacement to the Dutchman. It is odd that the Champions League can be treated as a moment of respite for such an attacker since, in principle, it should have a greater concentration of elite footballers than a domestic tournament, but that is not how it appears.

It is likely that Wenger will once more guide his men beyond the group phase. He will have been heartened by the recent return, for instance, of Thomas Vermaelen. The centre-half continues to be the key to efficient defending. That stress on his value underlines a relative lack of depth in the squad.

In some respects, Wenger's challenge never alters. He may have more money than many managers but that does not allow him to pay the prices some of the elite clubs meet with scarcely a thought. The dependence on Van Persie is a consequence of the circumstances at Arsenal.

Regardless of that, no fan of the club can have departed in despair. It is uncanny that the advance to the knockout stage should virtually be taken for granted. Marseille themselves are not to be treated lightly yet the prospects remain good that Arsenal will win this group.

Lionel Messi hits three as Barcelona thrash Viktoria Plzen

2011-11-02T03:17:00.001-07:00

Lionel Messi, left, celebrating with Adriano, was in sparkling form for Barcelona against Plzen. Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA

Lionel Messi scored his 200th goal for Barcelona when he netted a penalty in the 24th minute at Viktoria Plzen before completing a second consecutive hat-trick.

The referee pointed to the spot after the 24-year-old Argentinian was brought down by the defender Marian Cisovsky and he struck the ball into the net to the goalkeeper's right to become only the second Barça player to reach the mark.

Messi, top scorer in the Champions League for the past three seasons, then added a second and third in stoppage time in each half to complete a 14th career hat-trick. Cesc Fábregas scored Barcelona's third.

Messi hit three in the 5-0 La Liga win at home to Real Mallorca on Saturday and the goals here on Tuesday night helped to put the holders Barça through to the Champions League last 16 with two games to spare.

"I am happy but more than anything for the result," Messi said, adding that he was not thinking about catching the Catalan club's record marksman, César Rodríguez, who scored 235.

"It's not my goal, far from it. The important thing was to win tonight and get through to the last 16. My aim is simply to keep going in the same way, to keep helping the team with my goals and together we will achieve some great things."

Messi took second spot on the list of Barcelona's record goalscorers from Hungarian Ladislau Kubala last month and is fast closing in on Rodríguez, who has held the record since the 1950s.

The Barça goalkeeper Víctor Valdés also wrote his name into the record books on Tuesday when he set a new club best for minutes unbeaten.

The 29-year-old has not conceded a goal in 877 minutes, beating a mark of 824 set in the 1972-73 season by Miguel Reina, father of the Liverpool keeper and Valdés's Spain team‑mate Pepe Reina.

It is also the first time Barça have gone nine games without conceding. The last team to score against them were Valencia in La Liga on 21 September.

Chelsea's defensive sloppiness exposed by resurgent Genk

2011-11-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

Chelsea's Ramires, left, celebrates scoring his first-half goal against Genk by grooving with David Luiz before his side's defensive laxness was exposed after the break. Photograph: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea's recent stutter has spread over into Europe. André Villas-Boas was always likely to contest that a draw secured away from home in this competition should ever constitute the extension of a blip, but his side suffered the same lapses of concentration and outbreaks of sloppiness in Belgium that have afflicted them domestically. After what the manager had described as "a disastrous week", there was to be no real respite inGenk.

The visitors could be thankful that the home side proved considerably less ruthless than Arsenal had on Saturday but there will be realisation, too, that better sides than the Belgians would have prospered when confronted with this performance. Chelsea's are familiar problems: they can be open defensively, while too many chances are being fluffed at the other end. David Luiz missed a penalty, maintaining the trend set last week by Nicolas Anelka at Everton. Yet, even from the top of Group E, this whole occasion felt like an opportunity missed.

Genk were more organised here than they had been in succumbing 5-0 at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, with Daniel Tozser restored to defensive midfield and more resolve instilled across their back line. But they still should have been comfortably beaten. Chelsea's lax start had been salvaged by a fine Ramires goal, the Brazilian exchanging passes with Fernando Torres before shooting through Laszlo Koteles's grasp from a tight angle, and they should have built an unassailable lead thereafter. Yet conviction waned as chances were spurned and, after the interval, the hosts made their own impression.

This defence, with John Terry an unused substitute, felt exposed too often. Kevin de Bruyne, a long-standing Chelsea target, revelled in the space behind José Bosingwa while Fabien Camus, more than once, bulldozed through the gap between Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz. Kennedy Nwanganga might have restored parity only for Cech to block his close-range attempt with his legs. Jelle Vossen duly did, converting Camus's pull-back through a cluttered six-yard box.

That was Genk's first goal in this group, and reward for their refusal to be left demoralised by their chastening experience in London last month. "We played even better than Chelsea in that second half," said their coach, Mario Been. "I know how people spoke about us in England after that first game. Maybe we'll buy the papers tomorrow and see that people talk about us a little bit better."

The side who sit sixth in the Belgian league might still have been finished off in the frantic last half-hour, with Chelsea's cavalry – Frank Lampard, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge – summoned from the bench, but the Londoners continue to flounder where they would expect to flourish. This team are capable of running up cricket scores but they are contriving to choke in front of goal.

David Luiz's penalty attempt had rather summed that up. The Brazil defender had taken the responsibility after Thomas Buffel's handball, with Anelka accepting the decision following his own miss at Goodison Park last Wedneday, only for Koteles to dive to his right and paw the ball away. That miss felt wasteful but not critical at the time, yet the flurry of late opportunities that also went begging reflected greater anxiety. Lampard from a yard out could not contort his body to convert Sturridge's centre, while Raul Meireles – who had earlier struck the angle of post and bar from distance – planted a header straight at Koteles.

When Anele Ngongca comically battered a clearance from the goalline into Nadson, the ball dribbling just wide of the post, Chelsea knew this would not be their night. "We created enough opportunities to win the game, but it's just not happening for us in terms of efficiency," said Villas-Boas. "We hit the post, missed a penalty, had chances in front of the posts. It seems we need to focus in terms of that efficiency. It's not a bad result away from home, but it's a game we expected to win."

This group feels trickier as a result, with Valencia sensing a reprieve and Chelsea facing an awkward trip to Bayer Leverkusen in a fortnight. Even so, four points in their last two games would be enough to win the section. "It gets a little bit tighter, but our responsibilities do not change," added the Portuguese. "Our job is to qualify first and that's what we'd like to do. When you get a bad run of results you have to get a win straight away to take you out of that run, but we're playing difficult games. At the moment, we're still trying to chase that win."

Their pursuit will be carried to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday with improvement clearly still required. At the moment, there is angst and anxiety where Chelsea would hope to be cruising.

Andrey Arshavin Wants Arsenal To Secure Qualification Against Marseille

2011-11-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Andrey Arshavin sees tonight as a great opportunity for Arsenal to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League.

The Gunners host French club Marseille with a win likely to put them four points clear of the rest of the group providing Borussia Dortmund beat Olympiakos in Germany.

The Russian international believes that it is a great chance for Arsenal to qualify early and ease some pressure that has built in the formative stages of this season.

“We have to build on our result from two weeks ago. We were disciplined in France and very solid defensively, which meant we could take our chance to win when it came,” he said in the official matchday programme

“Now we top the group, and have a good opportunity to qualify for the knockout rounds today.

“I’m sure that Borussia Dortmund will beat Olympiacos at home, so if we win tonight we’ll be through – let’s take the opportunity we have.”

Liga - Spain dominate World Player of the Year shortlist

2011-11-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

World and European champions Spain dominated the shortlist for the Player of the Year award with seven players among the 23 nominees.

Argentina's Lionel Messi will attempt to win the award for the third year in a row, having surprisingly beaten his Barcelona team matesXavi and Andres Iniesta last year.

The trio were among eight Barcelona players to make the shortlist for this year while Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid have five.

Frenchman Eric Abidal, who had surgery to remove a liver tumour earlier this year before making a triumphant return to lift the Champions League trophy with Barcelona, was also among the nominees.

Daniel Alves and Neymar were the only Brazilians named while Sergio Aguero was the only other Argentine apart from Messi.

Uruguay strikers Luis Suaraz and Diego Forlan were nominated after helping their team win the Copa America in July and Oscar Tabarez was on the 10-man shortlist for the Coach of the Year award.

Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o was the only African player to be included. The list will be whittled down to three on Dec. 5 with the winner being announced in Zurich on January 9.

The award is organised jointly by FIFA and France Football magazine, the two having merged their previously separate awards last year.

Nominees:

Eric Abidal (Barcelona, France)

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)

Daniel Alves (Barcelona, Brazil)

Samuel Eto'o (Anzhi Makhachkala, Cameroon)

Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona, Spain)

Diego Forlan (Inter Milan, Uruguay)

Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)

Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich, Germany)

Nani (Manchester United, Portugal)

Neymar (Santos, Brazil)

Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid, Germany)

Gerard Pique (Barcelona, Spain)

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England)

Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, Germany)

Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan, Netherlands)

Luis Suarez (Liverpool, Uruguay)

David Villa (Barcelona, Spain)

Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid, Spain)

Xavi (Barcelona, Spain)

Reuters

Roberto Mancini offers Carlos Tevez another chance at Manchester City

2011-11-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

• 'If he apologises … then everything will be as before'
• Mancini blames bad advice for Tevez's poor attitude

Carlos Tevez will be allowed to play for Manchester City again if he apologises to Roberto Mancini and his team-mates. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Roberto Mancini will allow Carlos Tevez to return to the Manchester Cityteam if he apologises for refusing to warm up.

The Argentina striker is threatening to sue Mancini after he accused him of refusing to play at Bayern Munich earlier this season but in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Mancini said: "Everything depends on Carlos. If he apologises to the squad and to me then everything will be as before. If he doesn't then Tevez has a value that everyone knows and something will happen in January.

"He is totally unprepared and being badly advised. I don't want it to be like this and I would be the first to forgive him."

Mancini also denied Tevez would be offered to Napoli, who sit one point and one place above City in Group A of the Champions League, as part-exchange for his fellow Argentinian striker Ezequiel Lavezzi. He said: "No one from City will be given away."

Tevez's adviser, Kia Joorabchian, has already admitted that the 27-year-old would welcome a move to another Premier League club. "His family are now living in England, so he's quite happy and settled," Joorabchian said.

"What a player he would be on loan but I think his wages are going to be a problem for anyone to take him. It's going to be a massive club only that can pay him £200,000 a week."

2011-10-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott isn't hitting panic button

Former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott has urged fans not to panic following Saturday's 5-3 defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Despite taking the lead twice through goals from Frank Lampard and John Terry, the Blues were undone by a Robin Van Persie hat-trick, along with strikes from Andre Santos and Theo Walcott. Juan Mata had leveled proceedings at 3-3 with ten minutes remaining.

The result leaves Andre Villas-Boas' side nine points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City and four behind last season's champions Manchester United. Newcastle can leapfrog the west London outfit into third with a point against Stoke tonight (Monday).

But Elliott insists it isn't time to start asking questions of the manager and his attacking style-of-play, and that things can turnaround quickly, as they did negatively last season following Ray Wilkins' departure from the club.

"I don’t start throwing the toys out of the pram because they’ve had a couple of defeats. If you look back to this time last year they started off like a house on fire but then Ray Wilkins’ dismissal was a catalyst and from there things became quite difficult," Elliott told talkSPORT.

"I’ve always said that the Premier League is a marathon not a sprint. Chelsea have too much firepower and too much offensive quality and I’m pleased with Villas-Boas because of the offensive manner in which the team have played.

“They’re playing attacking, open football which is very watchable and as a consequence of that you leave yourself vulnerable in your rearguard. I think there is an element of concern but I don’t think there are panic stations yet.”

Gareth Bale's double helps Tottenham to sparkling victory over QPR

2011-10-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale celebrates scoring against Queen Park Rangers. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

After the week Queens Park Rangers have had it might have felt like a relief for them to have 90 minutes of Premier League football to divert them. The saga of Anton Ferdinand's race row confrontation with Chelsea's John Terry has been testing and frustrating.

Solace, though, came only in the 20-minute period after the interval when Neil Warnock's team threatened, rather abruptly, to take something from this derby. If Tottenham Hotspur had been lulled into a sense of security, it was understandable, given how they had dominated. Rangers' last away fixture had brought the 6-0 thumping at Fulham and at half-time they looked to be heading for a rerun.

Warnock could take pride from the character his players showed in the second half but the difference in class was all to apparent and it was symbolised by Gareth Bale. The Tottenham winger had opened the scoring but it was his second goal, which made the points safe, that took the breath away. Tottenham fans will not tire of rewatching the build-up nor the ruthless finish. "I even found myself clapping at the third goal," Warnock said.

It is now 19 points from an available 21 for Tottenham and, although Manchester City might argue otherwise, Harry Redknapp's team can claim to be the division's form club. Momentum is building here. The race for the Champions League places looks set to captivate and Tottenham will have a loud say.

"It's wide open," Redknapp said. "I said not to write Arsenal off and I wouldn't write Liverpool off. No disrespect to Newcastle … if they can get into the top six, it will be a fantastic achievement but I think there are six other good teams up there. There are six teams for four places."

Warnock had said that the match had been "the main issue this week" at the club, which rather overlooked the scandal involving Ferdinand and the England captain. Warnock's centre-half was followed to White Hart Lane by a bright spotlight but Tottenham's football in the first half quickly took it over.

The home team's movement was slick and dangerous; Rangers struggled to keep pace and Bale's opening goal came as no surprise. The all-action Rafael van der Vaart had forced Paddy Kenny into a smart save and Emmanuel Adebayor had missed a glaring headed opportunity before Tottenham pulled Rangers apart to present the opening for Bale.

Adebayor headed down for Van der Vaart and his intelligent pass invited Aaron Lennon to play the next one out left to Bale, who had tip-toed into space. His driven finish was underpinned by fine technique.

The first half was a Tottenham exhibition. Scott Parker called the tune in midfield and the players in front of him turned on the style. Luka Modric sparkled and his chested touch and first-time volley from Van der Vaart's corner whistled only narrowly wide.

By then Bale had lifted over the crossbar from close range and Van der Vaart had scored, after Ledley King's miscued shot had fallen kindly for him. The Rangers defence was at sixes and sevens. It was Van der Vaart's sixth goal in five league matches. Warnock's only consolation was that the half-time deficit could have been heavier.

He made an attacking change at the interval, replacing Shaun Derry and the frustratingly peripheral Adel Taarabt and bringing on Jamie Mackie and Jay Bothroyd, and he enjoyed a reaction. His team pressed on to the front foot, there was increased tempo and urgency and Heidar Helguson had a shot deflected over the crossbar by King.

Tottenham seemed content to contain and, although they had chances, Rangers' transformation was confirmed when they plundered a goal following Joey Barton's corner, Helguson heading on and Bothroyd flicking home. It had hardly seemed likely but there was a game on and Rangers even went close to an equaliser through Alejandro Faurlín. Brad Friedel needed to get down and across to save.

Tottenham, though, reasserted themselves. Paddy Kenny, who had saved from Van der Vaart and Bale, demonstrated his reflexes to deny Benoît Assou-Ekotto but he was fixed to the spot when Bale scored the clinching goal. The build-up was mesmeric, all finesse and first touches. Having received the ball from Lennon, Bale then played a one-two with him and dispatched the finish into the roof of the net. In the blink of an eye the game was over.

Adebayor missed another golden chance and Rangers did go close to reducing the arrears but this was Tottenham's day. "You have to take your hat off to them, don't you?" Warnock said. "Bale's a great player. It's just a pity he's Welsh."

Edin Dzeko cautions against title talk for Manchester City

2011-10-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

• 'We are not even favourites,' says City forward
• Manchester United are the team to beat

Edin Dzeko pumps his fist in celebration after scoring Manchester City's first goal against Wolves. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

All the statistics bar one suggest that Manchester City will win the title. No team have scored more than the 36 goals Roberto Mancini's side have put away after 10 fixtures.

It is almost 11 months since any team won at Eastlands and 12 since Birmingham City kept a clean sheet here. The side Mancini cobbled together for the Carling Cup tie at Molineux last Wednesday cost £121m.

And yet in horse-racing terms, you would ask whether this is a squad that has done course and distance. Of the 11 men Mancini selected for a surprisingly hard-fought victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers, only three have ever won a league championship.

It was this kind of inexperience that ultimately dragged down Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United – who managed a mere 26 goals in the first 10 games – in the frantic spring of 1996. The Everton side of 1894‑95, whose record of goals after 10 games Manchester City have now surpassed, lost the title to Sunderland. Curiously, all three of these teams won one of their opening fixtures 6-1.

"I still don't think we are favourites," said Edin Dzeko, who finally broke through a rugged Wolves defence after Sergio Agüero had charged down Wayne Hennessey's clearance. "There are still a lot of games to play. We have played 10 matches and are five points clear of Manchester United but for me they are still favourites for the title. We are first and want to stay there but United are United, although we are growing up with every game."

Dzeko is one of Mancini's players who know what it takes to win a championship and had celebrated Wolfsburg's triumph in the Bundesliga by lighting a vast cigar on the pitch of the Volkswagen Arena. He said he would be happy to repeat the feat only to be reminded that Manchester City run a no-smoking stadium.

However, it is the Bosnian's experiences in the Champions League that might appear more relevant as City travel to Villarreal this week for a contest that Mancini believes will go a long way towards deciding whether they qualify or are consigned to the thankless slog of the Europa League.

Wolfsburg may have been German champions but they lost their last two group games, including one at home to a Manchester United side so wrecked by injury that Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher played at centre-half. Michael Owen scored a hat-trick and Thursday nights beckoned.

Dzeko is hoping for more luck with City but he has already courted controversy in the competition this season. Thankfully for him, Carlos Tevez's alleged refusal to play against Bayern Munich meant that Dzeko's touchline row with Mancini at the Allianz Arena was rather lost in the wash.

"I apologised afterwards," he said. "Sometimes, it is hard when you play badly and don't score goals. Sometimes, you are angry and that is normal. I played for two and a half years in Germany. I wanted to win and maybe score a goal. In Munich we played well for the first 30 minutes and then nothing."

It was largely with Wednesday night at Villarreal in mind that Mario Balotelli, who had been suspended for Manchester City's first three group fixtures, started on the bench against Wolves. His last Champions League fixture – Internazionale's semi-final against Barcelona in April 2010 – saw him throw his shirt at José Mourinho's feet and stalk down the tunnel for a confrontation with Marco Materazzi.

Mancini will need his strikers to show the same kind of patience in the tight confines of El Madrigal as they did amid the wider spaces of the Etihad Stadium. At half‑time the Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, thought he could smell the frustration. Most of it was directed at the referee, Stuart Attwell, but some of it was unquestionably because City were encountering rather stiffer resistance than they had met at Old Trafford the previous weekend.

In January, when City briefly and breathlessly clambered to the top of the Premier League, Wolves had fought back from 4-1 to lose narrowly 4-3 in a game remembered for Tevez's stunning contribution.

On Saturday, once Vincent Kompany had been dismissed for hauling back Kevin Doyle, McCarthy nursed hopes that his team might be able to stage a similar recovery. However, 10 months on, there is more maturity and more firepower at Mancini's disposal and Balotelli's breakout was beautifully converted by Adam Johnson.

It may not have possessed quite the epic scale of the crushing of the great enemy at Old Trafford but, as Mancini reflected afterwards, it was another three points and a further step towards the distant, faintly glittering prize.

Robin van Persie is on fire for Arsenal, says Arsène Wenger

2011-10-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

• Wenger praises prolific Dutchman Robin van Persie
• Manager also lauds Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger praised Robin Van Persie after the Dutchman scored a hat-trick against Chelsea. Photograph: Jed Leicester/Action Images

Two months ago Arsenal felt the trauma of being on the receiving end of a catastrophic result. They have come a considerable way since they were defeated 8-2 by Manchester United, and in this most capricious of seasons, they experienced the other side of the coin after a 5-3 spectacle won at Chelsea's expense at Stamford Bridge.

On a day to forget for John Terry, whose blunder helped Arsenal on their way, Robin van Persie again proved instrumental in maintaining his team's renewed zest for winning football. Arsène Wenger praised his talisman, who took his incredible goalscoring statistics to 28 goals from 27 Premier League games in 2011 with a beautifully polished hat-trick.

"He is, of course, on fire," the Frenchman said. "He takes advantage with class of the fact we attack a lot, that we create chances. The intelligence of his movement around the box and the accuracy of his finishing is exceptional."

His was not the only expert performance on the day. Wenger also had praise for the "outstanding" Laurent Koscielny, who marshalled Arsenal's resistance with impressive composure, and Aaron Ramsey in midfield, whose imaginative prompting ensured his team created numerous chances. Another who deserves to feel proud of himself is Theo Walcott, who delivered his most rounded performance of the season and crowned it with an audacious strike.

The difference between this performance and the anxious and inhibited displays at the start of the season is stark. "What has changed is we got half of the team in on 31 August," Wenger said. "We had to rebuild complete unity in the way we want to play football. Every win makes you stronger. Now the players get used to the way we want to play so we get stronger. We have still some ground to make up in the league, and the teams in front of us do not drop many points. The quality we have shown today should make us more confident.

"We showed great spirit because when you are 2-1 down just before half time… we came out straight away with a complete desire to go forward. We looked dangerous for the whole game and I hope the team continues to focus on getting stronger and stronger."

From a position of peering above the relegation zone, Arsenal are now within three points of a Chelsea team whose status in the top-four establishment has never been questioned. André Villas-Boas was at pains to write this off as a freakish result. "Regarding the 5-3, I have nothing to say because we were three minutes on the clock, trying to get 4-4 and we were completely outbalanced. Arsenal made the most of it."

He refused to be critical of his creaking back four, adding: "You have to take two goals out of the situation. One is a slip from a player, which is nothing to do with defensive organisation, and the other is when you are trying to do something with three minutes on the clock. We committed mistakes, we will try to improve."

Even though Chelsea have played an open style in their games against top four rivals, they have lost to both Manchester United and Arsenal. But Villas-Boas has no intention of changing their approach. "Because the philosophy is a personal value and a club value," he said. "You should never sell it cheap. We will stick to this philosophy."

Wenger wondered whether the goalfests in the Premier League are more down to attacking quality or defensive vulnerability. Amazingly, in matches between England's Champions League teams, there is an average of 6.8 goals scored. It brings to mind José Mourinho's comment after Arsenal beat Tottenham 5-4 at White Hart Lane a few years ago. "It was a hockey score," he sneered. Nothing wrong with this kind of hockey.

Reds seek end to Suarez case

2011-10-29T02:48:00.000-07:00

Dalglish adamant racism is not prevalent in English football

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish claims racism is not a problem in English football and hopes a dispute involving Luis Suarez will soon be settled.

Mario Balotelli: why always him?

2011-10-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

Mario Balotelli, Manchester City's flamboyant Italian striker, is the Premiership's most talked about player. Photograph: Tom Jenkins

Last Saturday it was reported that Manchester City footballer Mario Balotelli had set his house alight with fireworks. On Sunday, he celebrated the first of his two goals in the 6-1 thrashing of ManchesterUnited by lifting his shirt to reveal a vest that said 'Why always me?'

Levante bring breath of fresh air to La Liga

2011-10-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

The blue and claret shirts of the current La Liga leaders have a familiar look about them but, rather than belonging to Spanish giants Barcelona - champions for the last three seasons - the apparel is that of modest Levante.

With seven wins and two draws, the Valencia-based side are one point ahead of Real Madrid - having inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Jose Mourinho's men at home last month - and another point clear of third-placed Barca.

Shock and surprise are just two of the words that have been regularly used in the last week at this unprecedented state of affairs, with Levante topping La Liga for the first time in their 102-year history.

How did they get there? Where have they come from? And can they stay there?

Not a galactico in sight, but Levante have lit up La Liga this season. Photo: Getty

Levante have built their success on an unlikely combination of factors.

Firstly, few people expected the new coach Juan Ignacio Martinez to be a miracle worker.

The 47-year-old, described in one pre-season guide as a "globe trotter around the Mediterranean", with a CV that mainly included lower league clubs on the coast, had never before coached in the Spanish first division.

However, he has managed to create a never-say-die team spirit within his motley collection of journeymen professionals.

Arguably the biggest name in his squad is the 33-year-old former Inter Milan midfielderFrancisco Farinos, who earned a couple of Spanish caps over a decade ago.

"What this team has achieved seems impossible. At the start of the season all that I was looking for was to avoid relegation" said Martinez on Monday, seemingly unable to comprehend his team's place at the top of the league.

"It's very easy to look at the table when you are first," added the Levante captain Sergio Ballesteros, who admitted that there had been times in previous seasons when he couldn't bring himself to open a newspaper on Monday mornings.

Never before in Levante's chequered league history, whether the club has been in the first or fourth tier of Spanish football, had they strung together six consecutive wins, let alone the seventh they notched up against Real Sociedad on Wednesday.

That 3-2 victory also made Martinez only the second La Liga novice coach to put together such a winning streak.

In addition to Martinez's influence, nearly every player has also been performing far beyond his expected ability.

Uruguay goalkeeper Gustavo Munua has been in outstanding form, at least until they faced Real Sociedad, when things didn't go quite so well and it required a Ruben goal three minutes into injury time to maintain their pole position.

Up front, Valdo, Arouna Kone and Juanlu have combined to form a great strike threat, asReal Madrid found out.

Ivory Coast international Kone, the scorer against Real, has been revitalised since joining Levante on loan, as part of a house-clearing exercise by Sevilla during the summer.

Sevilla club president Jose Maria del Nido hailed Kone as "one of the best strikers in the world" when he arrived from PSV Eindhoven in 2007 for 12m euros.

But he never settled, his form fell apart, his confidence tumbled and he was also bedevilled by injuries.

In four years at Sevilla, he scored just one league goal. At Levante, he has already found the net three times in nine games.

In addition his goals, Kone has also been creating opportunities every game for his colleagues to capitalise on.

Manager Juan Ignacio Martinez has fostered a never-say-die team spirit. Photo: Getty

Levante's current situation is all the more remarkable as they were on the brink of bankruptcy barely three years.

Astonishing mismanagement saw the club owing around 18m euros to creditors, and players went through almost all of the 2007-08 season without being paid. The financial crisis at the club was one of the main incidents behind the La Liga players' strike at the start of this season.

After substantial help from local councils - their shirts bear the words "Comunitat Valenciana" with the regional government as a sponsor - and many debts being written off, the club is still run on a shoestring.

Total signings this summer came to less than 300,000 euros. Levante's total wage bill is around 5m euros, less than half of the individual salaries of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

After two seasons in the second division, Levante finished 14th on their return to the top flight, which most people considered a major feat. At the start of the season, they were many peoples' tip for relegation.

To be fair, not a single well-known pundit has put his or her neck on the line and said that they expect Levante still to be on top in May. They have yet to face any of the four clubs behind them - Real Madrid, Barcelona, local rivals Valencia and Sevilla - away from home and they have only played host to Real so far.

Nevertheless, their appearance at the top of the table has captured the imagination of the public and the media.

"A wind has blown through La Liga and it's called Levante," said the daily sports newspaper Marca on Monday.

It remains to be seen whether this is a wind that will blow itself out shortly but for the moment it has certainly provided a welcome breath of fresh air.

Man City 'disappointed' after being forced to cut Carlos Tevez fine

2011-10-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

City fined the Argentine striker four weeks’ wages – thought to be as much as £1million – after manager Roberto Mancini claimed Tevez refused to play against the German side.
But after PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor attended Tevez's hearing last week, the organisation said it rejected Mancini's claim and that there was no justification for a fine above the agreed limit of two weeks' wages.
'The club acknowledges that the Players' Union is the sole organisation empowered with granting the ability for clubs to levy fines greater than the two weeks provided for in player contracts,' said a statement on the City website.
'However, Manchester City is disappointed by the apparent PFA conflict of interest evident in this process.

'Carlos Tevez has been personally represented throughout by the PFA chief executive, on whose considerations the club has been informed that the PFA has made its decision.
'Manchester City has been in constant dialogue with the PFA since September 28. Today's PFA decision is a departure from the club's understanding of that dialogue.
'Without recourse to the PFA decision available, the maximum two-week fine provided for in standard player contracts will now be applied in relation to the misconduct of Carlos Tevez.'
Tevez seems certain to appeal against City's decision. He is adamant he only refused to warm up at the Allianz Arena and it has been widely reported he is considering suit Mancini for defamation over the matter.
There are also suggestions City could counter-sue the player due to his diminishing value. Tevez has trained with the youth team and seems certain to leave in the January window.