FA Cup Quarter-Final Draw Serves Up Man United Arsenal Tie
FA Cup holders Arsenal will travel to Manchester United in
the quarter-finals on 7 or 8 March. United confirmed their place in
the last eight after coming from behind to win 3-1 at Preston North End.
Liverpool host Blackburn, League One survivors Bradford City face Reading while
West Midlands rivals Aston Villa and West Brom will meet at Villa Park. Arsenal
and United met in the 2004-05 FA Cup final in Cardiff with the north London
side winning 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw. Liverpool’s last-eight
draw will give Steven Gerrard hope of reaching Wembley in his final season at
the Reds, although they will have to overcome a Blackburn side who have knocked
out Premier League opposition in Swansea and Stoke already this season. League
One side Bradford are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time
since 1976, and will be confident of progressing further against Reading after
beating Premier League sides Chelsea and Sunderland in the previous rounds. The
quarter-final draw was made by England boss Roy Hodgson and Brian Finney, son
of Preston legend Tom Finney, at Deepdale on Monday before the
Preston-Manchester United game.
Tim Sherwood admits
it was a “no brainer” when asked to replace Paul Lambert as Aston
Villa manager. Sherwood, 46, was appointed on Saturday and watched from the
stands as Villa beat Leicester 2-1 in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday at Villa
Park. He said: “When I got the call it was a no brainer. I said ‘yes, I’ll
take the job’ then negotiate afterwards.” The Birmingham club are third
from bottom on 22 points, just five more than basement club Leicester. Sherwood
added: “Everyone is surprised to see where they are. But they are not here
for no reason. “They are a giant club with a lot of history. I will do
whatever I can to take us over the line.” And one of Sherwood’s first
tasks is to help striker Christian Benteke to recapture his form of the last
two seasons to help Villa start climbing the table. The Belgium striker has
scored only three goals in 19 Villa appearances this term after netting 34 in
62 games in the previous two seasons. He was left out of the side for both the
home defeat by Chelsea and Tuesday’s loss away to Hull City – Lambert’s last
game in charge. Sherwood was the clear frontrunner to take over at Queens Park
Rangers following the resignation of Harry Redknapp, but negotiations came to a
halt last week. His new club have won only two home league games all season and
their last league win was a 2-1 success against Leicester City on 7 December. He
said: “When I came here as a player I found it a difficult place to get a
result. I want to turn it into a fortress. I’ve got a way of playing. It has
been a success with the Spurs development side and in the first team. I know
how to galvanise and get the best out of players and that is what I intend to
do with this squad.”
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus could have doubled
his wages by leaving the club, according to Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.Reus
penned a new deal with the Bundesliga strugglers which expires in June 2019 –
snubbing interest from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United
and Manchester City. “Reus’s renewal is a crazy story. It really is
remarkable. He could have earned twice as much elsewhere. On one hand you have
some of the biggest clubs in the world chasing you and then there’s the
relegation battle with Dortmund – and no Champions League football next season.
But he is committed to Dortmund. It would have been very difficult for Marco to
leave the city and club. That was decisive in the end. He really is a special
guy.” Reus said of his decision: “This is a decision for life, that’s
clear. That is also why I thought about it for such a long time. When I
returned to this club, I said that I have plans with Dortmund. And I stand by
what I said then. You win together and you struggle together.” The
25-year-old has scored seven goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this
season.
Filippo Inzaghi’s
woes continued as he watched his Milan side give away their lead in a 1-1 draw
with Empoli in their Serie A encounter on Sunday afternoon. New Signing
Mattia Destro, who joined from rivals AS Roma, tapped in from close range on 40
minutes to give the hosts the lead, before Massimo Maccarone headed home midway
through the second half to claim a point for the visitors. The result left
Inzaghi lamenting the numerous injuries in his squad, especially after
Brazilian centre-back Alex had to leave the field after just eight minutes with
a broken nose. “It is a difficult period for Milan, we have many
injuries,” the Rossoneri coach said. “We are also very unlucky,
losing Alex a few minutes in with a broken nose is exceptionally unlucky. It
was a balanced game, we were good value for our lead. My biggest regret is the
goal we conceded. Empoli are a great team, you see the work Maurizio Sarri has
done with them. We are growing. I read criticism that I change the starting XI
a lot, but I cannot play injured players. At this time we have to work on our
mentality, my players need to find some belief.” Milan are now eleventh in the
Italian standings with just seven wins from their 23 matches, and the former
striker knows his side have to improve as their discontent supporters jeered
them off the field after the game. Milan next face Cesena in their next League
fixture on 22 February.
Manchester United
manager Louis van Gaal has defended Wayne Rooney’s club role in midfield to
that of his role under Roy Hodgson at the England national team. Van Gaal
has used Rooney in a deeper role in midfield as opposed to his accustomed role
up front in recent fixtures. Hodgson has been quizzed on whether he would
change Rooney’s England role, but the former Liverpool manager rejected any
such possibilities, with Van Gaal admitting he would do the same if he was
England manager. “In the composition for Mr Hodgson, Rooney is probably giving
more contribution to the English team in the striker’s position, then I would
put him there too if I was the English manager,” Van Gaal said. The former
Netherlands mentor defended Rooney’s role, explaining that United have too many
quality options in the striking positions. “He has to compare Rooney with
other strikers in his line-up and that is another consideration I have to make.
I have to choose between Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie and all the other
strikers I have, then it is my consideration that is a different way. It is not
that anybody isn’t a good player in my selection. I have to look at where each
player can make the biggest contribution. It’s the composition, which is more
important than the individual player,” he added.
Brendan Rodgers is pleased to see Daniel Sturridge fit and
firing again for Liverpool, but the same can’t be said for Alberto Moreno’s
attempted celebration. Sturridge made his second consecutive start
for the first time in five and a half months as the Reds progressed to the
quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the expense of Crystal Palace. The England
striker bagged in the second-half at Selhurst Park to cancel out Fraizer
Campbell’s early opener and was joined by Moreno in his trademark dance
celebration. Adam Lallana completed the comeback nine minutes later, and
Rodgers was pleased with his side’s second-half performance. “After we
scored I thought we were very good. We had 15 efforts on goal in the first half
but we weren’t aggressive enough. I wanted us to keep the width on the pitch, we
changed it around at half-time and it worked well for us. Daniel Sturridge is a
natural goalscorer. The worry is that his team-mates are joining in with his
dancing!”
Ivory Coast defender
Kolo Toure has officially announced his retirement from international football.
The Liverpool centre-back’s announcement comes just a week after helping
his national side to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. “It is with great emotion
that I inform you that I am going to step back. It is a very difficult decision
to take as I love my country and especially love football. But at some point,
there comes a time to stop,” Kolo said. The 33-year old also took the
opportunity to divert the attention to what he has labelled his “successor”. “I
am going to introduce my successor at the heart of the defence to you. He is
tough. This is Ousmane Viera Diarrassouba, the new boss of the defence. He is
my successor,” he added. Kolo, the older brother to Manchester City midfielder
and Ivory Coast captain Yaya, served The Elephants for almost 15 years ago and
featured in seven Afcon tournaments and three World Cup finals, winning over
110 caps in the process.
Manchester United
manager Louis van Gaal has brushed off criticism from retired midfielder Paul
Scholes. Scholes recently criticised United’s playing style of play under
the Dutch mentor, arguing that they were way more attacking under Sir Alex
Ferguson. United have won just 13 of their 25 league matches this season, which
may suggest the reason for Scholes’ criticism, however, Van Gaal has brushed
aside the Old Trafford legend’s harsh words, labelling him just another “fan”. “I
don’t worry about it, it’s not so interesting I think because he is one of the
fans, I hope, and fans can criticise,” said Van Gaal. “That’s what I
have to say about that. I am used to it and I think all the players are used to
it because they are not first time professional football players. Maybe some
players are not affected, most of the time it does not affect me or the
players.”
Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Southampton boss Ronald
Koeman have been named the Premier League’s player and manager of the month
respectively for January.Kane scored five times in as many matches
for Spurs last month, including a brace in a 5-3 defeat of Premier League
leaders Chelsea on New Year’s Day. The 21-year-old Englishman has bagged an
impressive 23 goals in 35 matches this season. Koeman was recognised for
steering the Saints to three wins in the voting period – over Arsenal,
Manchester United and Newcastle – to maintain the club’s charge for a top-four
finish. “It’s a great feeling and it’s a big compliment to the whole
team,” Koeman told Southampton’s official website on receiving his award.
“We are working hard. The win against Arsenal gave the players confidence.
It was then an unbelievable feeling to win at Old Trafford. Then to keep the
spirit to win against Newcastle as well was great. It was a tough week but the
players were fantastic.”
Kabuscorp president
Benedict Kangamba has claimed the Angolan club are on the brink of signing
Brazilian legend Ronaldinho. The two-time World Player of the Year is
currently contracted to Queretaro until the end of the 2015-16 season, having
surprisingly joined the Mexican outfit in September. “It’s a certainty. We
are negotiating, but Ronaldinho has to terminate the contract with his current
club, and then be able to join us in June,” Kangamba told Public
Television Angola. “You may ask why I picked Ronaldinho… Well, I want
quality in my squad,” he added of the 34-year-old, who has played for
Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and AC Milan and earned 97 caps for the Samba
Boys. Ronaldinho’s former teammate Rivaldo joined Kabuscorp on a one-year deal
in 2012.
Real Madrid
midfielder Luka Modric is expected to resume full training within three weeks
following a lengthy spell out through injury. The Croatian has been
sidelined since rupturing a thigh muscle in his country’s Euro 2016 qualifier
against Italy on November 18. Modric said: “My rehabilitation is going
according to plan, it is going very well. I am happy and I will soon be back on
the pitch! I have been aware just how serious this injury is ever since it
happened, and we all agreed we have to be patient because a rupture is very
complicated. Yes, I miss playing very much but I am disciplined and I don’t
want to rush things. I know it could end very badly, with a new injury, if I
return too soon.” Croatia FA’s head of medical services Boris Nemec added:
“He will begin to run now and in three weeks he should make full training
sessions with the team.
Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard has signed a new
five-and-a-half-year contract with the Premier League leaders.Hazard
had been in negotiations with the Blues for several months amid reported interest
from French big-spenders Paris Saint-Germain. “I am very happy to sign a
new contract with Chelsea,” he told the club’s official website.
“Since I came here in 2012 I have always felt good and the club has been
very supportive to me. The manager has helped me improve a lot, the fans have
been fantastic and I have an amazing understanding with my team-mates. I always
try to give pleasure to the supporters with my style of play and it is nice to
know they appreciate my work. “I hope we can repay that support by winning
lots of trophies, beginning with the League Cup at Wembley, and after that, we
can push hard towards the end of the season.” Blues manager Jose Mourinho
added: “I am very happy that Eden has signed a new contract. It shows he
believes in the club’s coaching staff and players to help him become the best
player in the world. He is already a top player and his evolution has been
fantastic. He is still very young and he can become the best.” Hazard has
netted 13 goals in 36 appearances for the Londoners this season.