Man. Utd.: RVP doing fine - Ferguson
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is "quite happy" with Robin van Persie despite claims from the player he must do more.Van Persie took his goal tally since joining the club to seven in as many games with a double in the midweek Champions League win at Cluj but then said he needed to contribute more assists.But Ferguson said: "I think he is a good passer of the ball and has good vision in his passing too. I think the goal he made last week for (Shinji) Kagawa against Tottenham is evidence of his passing ability. I am quite happy with what he is doing now."He added: "The refreshing thing for me is, he has actually not had any pre-season games, which is quite remarkable, having seven goals from seven games. I am quite pleased about that and I think his fitness will improve even more."Van Persie scored 37 goals and was named player of the year in his final season at Arsenal before moving to Old Trafford in a £24million deal in the summer. The Dutchman has settled quickly at his new club and Ferguson would be delighted if he could emulate what he did last term."I would love that to happen," the Scot said. "In my experience of where we are the moment I think you need two strikers who will get you 20 goals. You get that, then you definitely have a live chance."United have strong attacking options with Van Persie, fit-again Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez - all three of whom started in Cluj - and Danny Welbeck, a substitute in Romania.England forward Rooney, who returned to action from a badly-gashed leg last week, played deeper than the leading frontman Hernandez in a difficult game in which United need to come from behind.Ferguson said: "In the last couple of years he has played that position a lot. We tried to avoid the counter-attack as much as we could. Their goal was from a counter-attack."We saw that and the difficulties they created and we tried to force them onto us so we could counter-attack. It didn't quite work like that but, with Chicharito occupying the two main central defenders, it gave a bit more space for Rooney and Van Persie." Source: PA
2012-10-06 13:49:00
Leeds Utd.: Bates- Dont blame me
Leeds chairman Ken Bates has told fans not to place the blame for the drawn-out takeover of the Championship club at his door.Bates opened negotiations with Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) in June but, despite a series of statements and counter-statements from both parties, a deal remains unsigned. According to Bates, the delay is nothing to do with him, with the former Chelsea owner claiming he is ready to sign over a club he took control of seven years ago."I'd like to be able to say something but there is a confidentiality agreement which seems to be a bit one sided," he said. "By GFH's standards this is not a big deal, so I say to Leeds fans, don't blame me."He added: "It makes it difficult to say anything. "The real problem is their lawyers because this is a straightforward deal, by anyone's standards. I don't know what the delay is, they appear to try and make complications when there is no need to do so."I understand the share purchase is 171 pages long and I question if they are acting in their client's best interests. "GFH want to complete a deal and we are happy to do a deal with them, but when last-minute things are slipped in, it makes things very difficult." Source: PA
2012-10-06 14:27:00
Blackburn R.: Shearer interested in Rovers role
Alan Shearer has admitted he is open to the possibility of taking up the vacant manager's role at Blackburn.The former Rovers striker, who had a short spell in management with Newcastle, spent four years at Ewood Park as a player.When asked about his interest in the job, the 42-year-old told BBC's Football Focus: "I've not spoken to the Blackburn owners. If they approached me I would speak to them."The npower Championship outfit have been without a manager since Steve Kean's decision to resign at the end of September, saying in a statement that his position had become "untenable".Owners Venky's have attracted criticism for their running of the club but Rovers are among the early pace-setters in the Championship, occupying a play-off place ahead of Saturday's home match against Wolves.Shearer's spell in charge of Newcastle ended in relegation from the Barclays Premier League after they took just five points from his eight games at the helm. Source: PA
2012-10-06 14:27:00
Chelsea: FA charge for Cole
Ashley Cole appears likely to face a Football Association charge over his foul-mouthed Twitter rant at the game's governing body.Chelsea and England defender Cole called the FA a "bunch of t***s" on Friday after he was accused of "evolving" his statement supporting John Terry's defence against the charge he racially abused Anton Ferdinand.The 31-year-old later apologised "unreservedly" for his outburst, insisting he posted in "the heat of the moment".The FA refused to comment on whether action would be taken against Cole but their own 'charging guidelines' in media comments and social networking cases are clear.A breach of the rules includes: "Comments which are improper, which bring the game into disrepute, which are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting."Cole deleted the tweet but the FA guidelines add: "Deleting an inappropriate posting, whilst advisable, does not necessarily prevent disciplinary action being taken."Several players have been punished for offensive tweets in recent times, including Rio Ferdinand for retweeting a comment describing Cole as a "choc-ice".Chelsea refused to comment on what action they had taken against Cole although indicated manager Roberto Di Matteo might do so after the Barclays Premier League game against Norwich. Source: PA
2012-10-06 14:47:00
Man. City: City fire three past Black Cats
Champions Manchester City recovered some of their swagger as Aleksandar Kolarov, Sergio Aguero and James Milner fired them to a convincing 3-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Sunderland.The scoreline barely reflected the hosts' dominance as they comfortably recorded their first clean sheet of the season in a one-sided contest at the Etihad Stadium.There may have been some nerves with only Kolarov's fifth-minute free-kick to show for their first-half efforts, but the Black Cats were then overrun as they slipped to their first loss of the season. Aguero came off the bench to add the second on the hour and Milner fired a free-kick through Simon Mignolet after 89 minutes.Just as pleasing for City will have been their defensive solidity, which they rediscovered without their backline linchpin and captain Vincent Kompany, who was ruled out with a calf injury.Micah Richards made a surprise return from an ankle injury in his place while Joleon Lescott was also restored to the defence. Yaya Toure took over as skipper, playing alongside Gareth Barry in midfield, while Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli started up front.City took the lead after Tevez was crudely brought down by Carlos Cuellar on their first attack.The Argentinian had broken clear but was felled by a late tackle on the edge of the box and referee Lee Probert brandished the yellow card.The City supporters felt it should have been red but they did not complain for long as Kolarov stepped up to curl a superb free-kick past Mignolet at the near post.The second goal finally came as Aguero raced to the near post to turn in a vicious Kolarov ball from six yards.Yet they would not settle for two and Milner whipped in a free-kick from the left of the box which took a slight deflection off the head of Craig Gardner to evade Mignolet's grasp. Source: PA
2012-10-06 15:18:00
Borussia Dortmund - Borussia Monchengladbach Preview: Reus set to face old club from the bench
Jurgen Klopp's side have been in poor form of late, but will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes when they entertain Lucien Favre's side on Saturday
Germany
2012-09-28 11:00:00
Parma - AC Milan preview: Allegri's men look to make it two wins on the trot to relieve the pressure
The Rossoneri recorded a much needed victory over Cagliari on Wednesday evening and they will hope to buy their under-pressure coach some more time with another three points
Italy
2012-09-28 11:00:00
Paris Saint-Germain - Sochaux Preview: Ancelotti's side aiming to continue good run of form
The capital club are hitting form after a poor start to the season, and will hope to emulate their 6-1 result of 2011-12 against the visitors, who themselves have a point to prove
France
2012-09-28 11:00:00
Sevilla – Barcelona Preview: High-flying Blaugrana target sixth straight Liga win
Tito Vilanova’s side will look to maintain their eight-point lead over arch-rivals Real Madrid heading into next weekend’s Clasico showdown at Camp Nou
Spain
2012-09-28 11:00:00
Serie A Team of the Midweek: Five-star Cavani leads the way
Goal.com looks at the star performers from the latest round of Italian league action, as Napoli, AC Milan and Inter secured good victories