Manchester United‘s young striker, Danny Welbeck, is feeling confident about his team’s chances in catching Manchester City and eventually winning the league as the player believes that the hunger he and his teammates have would lead United to glory.

Stating to United’s official website, Welbeck revealed how he and fellow young talent, Tom Cleverly is very keen on helping the Red Devils keeping their league title again this season.

Welbeck revealed that winning the league title with Man United would be like a dream come true especially for such a youngster like him who grew up withing the Red Devils’ youth rank before eventually earning his spot in the first team. The England international even revealed to the fans that he will give everything he could to help Sir Alex Ferguson’s team winning the title again this season, ensuring that no one can hold them back.

“I’m so hungry. I was just talking about it before [recently] in the canteen with Tom Cleverley. Clevz was biting his fork as well as his food and growling! We both want it so much. I don’t think anybody understands how hungry we are for this title. We want to fulfil our dreams, win the title and keep winning and keep winning. There’s nothing going to stop us,” Welbeck said.

Still chasing Man City with only two points behind, obviously the chance for Welbeck in fulfilling his dream is wide open, especially with United are already out of the Champions League challenge. However, the title race could very well be decided when both teams meet again this season at Etihad Stadium, by that time, the England international striker must proved his words of wiping out any teams whose blocking their path.

Welbeck’s return to United this season has somewhat brought a rather colorful experience for the player as he definitely has become one of the bright spark from the Red Devils albeit still lack a bit of consistency. However, looking at his potential, there’s a big future lies ahead of the striker as long as he keep on working hard on the training ground and performed with everything he had on the field of play.

photo credit: Catatan Bola Photo Gallery

Newcastle United‘s form this season have been pretty consistent, resulting in their excellent position in the league, sitting at sixth place with an open chance in chasing for the fourth place spot or at least finishing in Europa League zone.

This situation is obviously being acknowledged by Newcastle players, including their Argentinian center back, Fabrio Coloccini, who is excited with the situation but urged everyone to simply take one things at a time and shouldn’t be thinking too far about what European competition the team will play next season.

Coloccini understand that the competition is still far from over and losing focus at the moment could pretty much jeopardize all of the dream that everyone at Newcastle are currently having as the point gap are still pretty tight. That’s why, the Argentinian international urged that they must continue to give 100% in every game and probably start thinking about the possible target when there’s only 4-5 matches left in the league, a time where things might already shape up for most of the premiership teams.

We have to think about each game – not the Champions League or Europa League. We just have to give 100% in every game. And then when there are four or five games left in the league we can weigh up which competition we are going for,” Coloccini said.

Coloccini’s words are pretty much spot on as unlike other big guns that have more quality and depth on the squad, Newcastle despite their surprise performance are rather short of it so being cautious and continue on simply working hard is the key for their success. Getting their mind high on the potential of grabbing one ticket for European football could turned them into rather complacent or even providing unnecessary pressure which could affected their performance on the pitch.

Meanwhile, the club’s current success reportedly has made the management setting up a major project next season as they believe that Newcastle could finally become one of the challengers again in the top. Having already been at the club for quite some time, Coloccini apparently is very excited and looking forward to get involved in the upcoming plan as he really wants to remain with the Toon Army should the club still trusted him.

Of course I want to stay. We’re speaking. It’s a normal process. Everything is okay,” Coloccini added.

photo credit: dollydoug57

Bad news arrived for Aston Villa and potentially England national team as Darren Bent’s injury appeared to be really bad as reports claim that the striker would be out until the rest of season.

Having his left ankle ruptured in the game against Wigan on Saturday, apparently could face up until 12 weeks absence, which would pretty much forced him in race to get match fit ahead of the Euro 2012.

The player himself has voiced out his disappointment with the length of the injury by writing it on his twitter account hoping that the recovery could be quicker than it’s predicted. Bent was pretty much gutted knowing the fact that he could be out for the rest of season and simply couldn’t really help his team in the most important part of the season.

I’m gutted to be out for so long at such a crucial part of the season, hopefully my recovery will be as quick as possible. Thank you to everyone for your messages of support,” Bent wrote.

Although the official length for his absence hasn’t been determined as just yet since there will be further examination being done to confirm whether an operation is needed or not, the striker is surely will miss out on this midweek International clash between England against Netherlands. This situation left Stuart Pearce’s side with fewer options in the front line since Wayne Rooney also won’t be available after Manchester United‘s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, confirmed that the striker is still recovering from illness.

Back on Bent’s situation, his long injury is really a bad blow for Villa considering he has pretty much been the club’s main striker, although this season hasn’t really been the best one for the England international. Obviously it’s a bad time also to pick up an injury especially with the Euro closing in as the chance of missing the major tournament is always pretty huge since a long absence would also mean that the player needed time to get his shape back before being match fit again.

photo credit: Bog Gallery

Chelsea coach Andres Villas-Boas has for the first time revealed his uncertainty over his long term career with the club. Of course, this comes as no surprise considering their poor run of form in the past couple of days.

What makes it worse for AVB is that his track record is much worse than those of his predecessors. Despite guiding Chelsea to a second place finish last season, Ancelotti was sacked. This was even after winning the EPL, the FA Cup and the Community Shield in his first season!

It’s really hard to figure out what Abramovich wants because the way i see it, he is just as much as responsible for Chelsea’ s current predicament as AVB is. Unlike Mourinho and Ancelotti who are more tactically and technically conversant with the game, AVB does not have much experience outside his native Portugal.

Speaking TSF Radio, Villas-Boas revealed that his current situation with Chelsea resembles that of his predecessor Ancelotti.

“We are now in the exact same moment as last year, it is an exact copy.

“I think I have felt the confidence from Abramovich but … the pattern of behaviour of the owner has led to a downfall [of coaches] in similar situations or even ‘better’ situations. What will be the reaction? It will be one of the two, a continuation of the project and full support or just the cultural pattern that has happened before. We don’t know.”

Should Abramovich do the obvious and fire Villas-Boas, it would only further deteriorate the problem. It appears as if Chelsea lack clear goals. Judging by their current performance, Villas-Boas should only be interested in finishing in a top four spot. Anything else would be pushing his luck.

However, unless Abramovich and the club execs stopping interfering with Villas-Boas work, next season could be worse than this. Personally, i fell that if Villas-Boas is able to guide Chelsea to a top 4 finish and add a few more younger players to his aging squad (build for the future) then maybe a Barcelona replica in London is possible.

Photo Credit © thesportreview

Arsenal striker Andrei Arshavin yesterday revealed that the lack of regular playing time was a major factor that influenced his  decision to leave the club. Having made only a handful of appearances for the Gunners this season (most of them from the bench), Arshavin said that he was happy with his return to his old club.

At 30, it looks highly unlikely that Arshavin will return to Arsenal despite the club loaning him to Zenit. In fact, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is on record saying that Arshavin, who’s current contract expires next summer.

Speaking to Sport-Express, Arshavin said that the deal was the best move considering the situation at the club.

“When they made an official offer I thought hard about it and realised it would be the right move.

“Coming back to my home team and city would be beneficial to both sides. I haven’t been playing regularly for the Gunners lately and it didn’t seem like things would change soon, so the offer came at the right time and place.

“I think that at the moment a loan is more important to me than to the clubs. I hope to play more football in St. Petersburg. You have to earn your right for a first-team spot. Hopefully I can prove my worth to our head coach.”

Now, i know i will get a lot of flack for saying this, but just to give my two cents worth here, Arshavin is not a bad player. Sure, i mean his statistics are not the best, but you can’t forget his epic display against Liverpool in 09′ when he scored all 4 goals in the 4-4 draw at Anfield.

May be if he remain consistent, then he would probably be still at Arsenal, however, him leaving makes way for more additions at the club. That said,  Arsenal are back in 4th spot on 46 points courtesy of their 5-2 win over Tottenham on Saturday. They however, remain level with Chelsea although they have a better goal difference.

With only a handful of matches left to play, it will be interesting to see how both teams fight it out for that final Champions League qualifying spot. Both coaches are under immense pressure from fans and their clubs to ensure qualification for Europe’s premier club tournament.

It would be a shame for Europe if either failed to make it through as the pedigree of the tournament is bound to decrease, however, it would be great for English football as it would show competitiveness increasing within the league.

Photo Credit © toksuede

Tottenham Hotspurs’ Dutch star, Rafael Van der Vaart admitted there’s bitterness after the club’s heavy defeat against city rival Arsenal on Sunday but the Dutchman believes that his teammates can immediately bounce back from it.

Van der Vaart also claim that the defeat didn’t instantly gave them something to fear about regarding their position in the table since they are pretty comfortably enough in third place at the moment.

”This is football and we had a bad day, that’s all, it’s just a game and we lost. ‘For the fans and for us as players, losing against Arsenal always hurts – but we are still third. We’re still seven points ahead so we’re not worried,” Van der Vaart stated.

Moreover, ahead of another difficult tie against Manchester United on the upcoming week, Van der Vaart remain confident that his team can already get their act back again despite the potential physical trouble due to midweek international football schedule. However, the Dutch international believes that playing at home will easily lift their spirit once again and provide a good game against United especially since aside from the battering against Manchester City in the early part of season, Spurs have been playing well at home.

It won’t be difficult to lift ourselves. Do we have the mental strength to put this behind us? Of course. Now we have a big week coming up against Manchester United,” Van der Vaart added. It’s always difficult after the international break but the confidence is there and we showed in the first half that we are still a top team. Manchester United are a strong team and always difficult to beat but we’re playing at home and we always play well at home.’

Despite revealing that they will easily bounce back from the 5-2 defeat against Arsenal, Van der Vaart admitted that Spurs’ title challenge might eventually ended because of the result against Gunners. The former Real Madrid player explained that with Man City doesn’t seem to stop winning their matches, chasing Roberto Mancini’s side are not looking to be possible at the moment.

“Of course, you always hope but Manchester City are winning their games so easily, especially now we have lost, so maybe the title is over. Third is our main goal now and I’m really confident we can finish there,” the Dutchman revealed.

photo credit: wonker

Frank Lampard might be feeling that he has some issues going on with his current manager, Andre Villas-Boas, but the tactician apparently isn’t feeling the same way as the ex-Porto’s coach revealed that he still wants Lampard to stay with the club next season.

Despite recent confession from Lampard about his imperfect relationship with the manager, Villas-Boas doesn’t seem to be troubled as he revealed that the 33-years-old remains an important part of his squad.

However, despite admitting that he still keen on Lampard staying, Villas-Boas  reminded everyone that the final decision is not really all on him as there’s also the club and the player himself that needs to confirm about what will happen in the future. Still, the Portuguese coach stated that the ex-West Ham United man is one of his main option this season, explaining that the reason that Lampard didn’t play as regularly as previous seasons mainly because there’s more options at the moment in Chelsea.

I hope so. It does not depend on me. It depends on three parts – I want him, the person wants to stay and the club wants him. Frank goes on and on breaking the club’s records and that is important for him. I congratulate him for that. He is a player who has been involved with all managers before and played in most of the games,” Villas Boas said. “The only difference this year from the years before is that we have more competition in midfield and things become more difficult for everybody. But Frank is now in the top five of players most used so he is up there with the best.”

This statement pretty much a diplomatic answer over Lampard’s previous statement saying that there’s actually some issues that happened between him and Villas-Boas, merely about tactical stuffs on the pitch. Still remain to be seen on what would the England international do with his future, although staying with the Blues is pretty much the highest probability at the moment considering his strong attachment with the club.

Meanwhile, aside from talking about Lampard’s future, Villas-Boas also admitted his interest in bringing in FC Porto’s star, Hulk, who has been continuously linked with the Blues since last season. The Portuguese tactician looked to be very keen on reuniting with his former player, as AVB stated that Chelsea could really used a player with the Brazilian international’s characteristic up front.

“As such, there will surely be a place to fill and I see room for an explosive player on the wing, someone who is strong in one-on-one situations and Hulk fits that profile,” Villas-Boas revealed.

photo credit: wonker

While most of the numbers were leaked last week, Arsenal‘s financial results make interesting reading.

Here are some of the highliights:

• Group profit before tax was £49.5 million (2010 – loss of £6.1 million)
• Profit on sale of player registrations amounted to £63.0 million (2010 – £4.0 million)
• £74.7 million of investment in new players and extended contracts pushed amortisation charges up to £17.3 million (2010 – £10.1 million)
• The resulting profit from player trading was £46.1 million (2010 – loss of £5.9 million)
• Turnover from football rose to £113.5 million (2010 – £97.6 million) with increases from match-day (four additional games played) and commercial income streams
• Operating profits (before depreciation and player trading) from football increased to £15.2 million (2010 – £9.4 million)
• Period of minimal activity, as expected, in the property business with turnover of £3.2 million (2010 – £22.5 million) and operating profits of £0.5 million (2010 – £3.3 million)
• Group has no short-term debt and continues to have a solid financial platform from cash reserves of £115.2 million (2010 – £110.4 million).

The Arsenal spin on the result from Peter Hill-Wood, non-executive Chairman:

“We are proud of Arsenal’s record and consistency over many seasons and have the foundations in place, at every level of the Club, to ensure we remain a force in the seasons ahead.”

The areas of concern:

• Arsenal made a pre-tax profit of £49.5 million. That profit was generated from the sale of Fabregas and Nasri as Arsenal’s profit from the sale of players was £46.1 million. So without the selling players, Arsenal’s would have broken even/made a small profit
• Arsenal’s debt somehow grew by £39 million to £137 million in the six months to Nov. 30. I cannot see any notation in the financial results as to why the debt increased almost 40%. Is it as a result of the Kroenke takeover?
• The cash balance of £115.2 million is an amount that is being banded about in the media as cash available for Arsene Wenger to buy new players. Not true, as not qualifying for the Champions League will cost the club £45-50 million.
• Player wages increased by £8.4 million in the six months due to the summer signings plus new contracts for current players. That is about a 10% increase. Sizeable but doable as Arsenal’s revenues increased by around 19% during the same time period.

Overall not bad numbers, but the profit in player trading covers a business that is dependent on Champions League football to survive. Without it, Arsenal will have to continue to sell players each year to generate cash as the board seems reluctant to invest outside funds in the club.

This post originally appeared on our Arsenal blog

Failing to find a club in the January transfer window, Carlos Tevez eventually opted to stay at Manchester City and after reconciliation with manager, Roberto Mancini, the Argentinian could soon make a return with the first team squad.

This situation will obviously increase the competition in Man City‘s front line that have already been buzzing since the current three forwards, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko all have proved their rights on acquiring first team place with their excellent goal scoring record.

However, one of those three forwards, Dzeko, claimed that Tevez’s return won’t be considered as competition as the Argentinian have already been City’s main man for quite a while and his qualities would only increase the team’s quality. The Bosnian international believes that having more quality players will give more benefits for the team, that’s why having the ex-Manchester United man’s return to the squad is welcomed by everyone at the club including Dzeko himself.

It’s not pressure, it’s just that he (Tevez) can bring quality to the team. We are all one team trying to play together and it’s good that we scored three because in the end goal difference could be the key,” Dzeko revealed.

Tevez’s arrival for sure would possibly reduces Dzeko’s starting chances even more especially with Aguero and Balotelli are also performing well at the moment. Although he acknowledged the possibilities, still the Bosnian isn’t feeling threatened with the situation as the striker even considered it a normal thing that in a good club one can’t always plays regularly because the competition is tight.

However, Dzeko does admitted that not playing regularly as starter can really be frustrating especially for him who in previous club, Wolfsburg, has always been considered as the most important player. Still, his frustration isn’t affecting his performance on the pitch because the Bosnian claimed that he is happy at the club, mainly because he managed to give lots of contribution especially with his goals this season.

“Of course [it is frustrating to be on the bench], when you have scored so many goals. That is normal but it’s good you have so many quality players around you, and that they are all getting better. in the end it’s the decision of the manager and I respect that. My goals are talking for me, so I’m happy,” Dzeko added.

photo credit: Blog Gallery

Having already end their six years title drought, Craig Bellamy now has a new target for his club, Liverpool, which is finishing in the top four place and eventually playing in the Champions League again.

Bellamy believes that after finally winning something again, it’s eventually time for the Reds to get themselves back into the height of European club competition and that’s obviously the UEFA Champions League.

Although reaching the fourth place won’t be easy at the moment considering the tight competition as several clubs are chasing it, Bellamy believes that Liverpool’s chance in reaching it is still open. The Welshman believes that the team continuously improving so competing with the best in Europe would be something worthy for the Reds, who are one of the most successful club in the Champions League as they already won it five times.

“It’s not the end of the season for us, this club is pushing the players day in day out to perform to the highest level. That’s what we have to continue to try and do. The Champions League is the place where this club deserves to be but we’ve got to go and prove that on a weekly basis and hopefully we’re able to do it,” Bellamy said.

Still sitting in seventh place with around seven points behind current fourth place Arsenal, Liverpool’s chance in acquiring that last Champions League spot is pretty possible, especially since they do have a game in hand. However, in order to join the race along with the Gunners, Chelsea and even Newcastle, the Reds must start to be more consistent especially in getting results against lower sides, as those teams have been more troubling for Kenny Dalglish team rather than the big guns.

Should Liverpool managed to pick up their consistency, than it would definitely make the chase for that final Champions League spot becomes much more intense as ever especially with many teams are involved on the race. The Reds have been improving under Dalglish’s reign but apparently their inconsistency remain the issues which currently held them static in mid-top table and yet to challenge the top four regularly this season.

photo credit: joncandy