Mourinho At It Again With FA
Jose Mourinho said he
was willing to risk a suspension for the Capital One Cup final as he continued
his complaints over Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Burnley and labelled Ashley Barnes’
challenge on Nemanja Matic “criminal”. Mourinho had made clear
his dissatisfaction with “four moments” during Saturday’s match, as
Burnley rescued a point at Stamford Bridge after Nemanja Matic was sent off. Mourinho
had said after the game that he was unhappy with incidents in the 30th, 33rd,
43rd and 69th minutes, suggesting Barnes should have been punished for a
challenge on Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea should have had two penalties, and
that the failure to punish Barnes for his first challenge led to the tackle on
Matic that prompted the Serbian to react. He had refused to discuss the
incidents in too much detail on Saturday, saying: “I’m punished when I
refer to these situations. I don’t want to be punished.” However, he was
willing to elaborate during an appearance on Sky Sports’ “Goals on
Sunday” programme. “At half-time, Burnley should be playing with 10
men and Chelsea should have two penalties,” he said. “Normally, we
win 3-0 or let’s put in the possibility of missing one of the penalties – we
win 2-0 and play against 10 men. The reality is that in the end, we play with
10 men and lost two points.” While Mourinho felt Barnes deserved to be
dismissed for the challenge on Ivanovic, he felt the Burnley forward deserved
far greater criticism for the tackle on Matic. Referring to the reaction to
Chelsea striker Diego Costa’s stamps on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel, which Sky
pundits had labelled “crimes,” Mourinho said: “When I finished
at the game against Liverpool, I went to the dressing room and the first thing
I saw on the big screen, reading non-stop — ‘Diego Costa crimes.’ “I
would like to know how do you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of the Burnley
player yesterday? My English is not good enough to find a word. When you think
‘Diego crimes’ after he puts his boot on a hand, when this is ‘Diego crimes,’
the minimum you have to say is ‘criminal tackle.’ “Did you apologise to
Chelsea, to Diego or myself? You didn’t. As an institution, Sky is so important
in the Premier League, you never apologise. When Diego Costa has a three-match
ban, probably three matches to Matic… tell me how many matches this player
deserves?”
Burnley manager Sean
Dyche has suggested Ashley Barnes’ controversial tackle on Chelsea’s Nemanja
Matic was an unavoidable accident. The 25-year-old striker’s challenge in
Saturday’s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge prompted an angry reaction
from Matic that earned the Serbia midfielder a red card. However, Dyche is
adamant that the incident was a result of the ‘pendulum motion’ of a pass and
highlighted the lack of reaction from the Chelsea dugout at the time. The Clarets boss said: “No one reacts.
Live time, no one reacts apart from Matic. My point is about live time – live
speed. The referee has a chance. No one reacts. When the camera pans back to
Jose Mourinho and his assistant, they’re calmly talking about what they should
do. After the event, with hindsight and camera views and slow-motion, now it’s
been called a criminal tackle and the like. I find that hard to adjust to when
live at that moment, 15,000 people and expert staff and most of the players on
the football pitch – it’s rare there’s not a reaction in the stadium. After the
event, with slow-motion, of course it looks an ugly challenge but the ball is
made contact with and the motion of the player is at high speed, the pendulum
motion of the player. I don’t know the biomechanics. I’m not an expert. But I’d
say that once you’re in that pendulum motion of playing a pass, it’s very
difficult to stop your leg going through the ball and rising. We all know it
doesn’t look a pleasant challenge but, at live speed, these are expert people
who’ve been in the game a long time who don’t even flinch at that moment. It’s
a real tough one. I find it hard that the manager is using very strong phrases
about that moment when he didn’t have any reaction at all at the live moment. I
find that one hard to accept. Things often look different afterwards with all
the technology you’ve got.” Dyche also addressed two first-half incidents
which Chelsea boss Mourinho said should have resulted in penalties for his
side. The Burnley manager conceded that an apparent Michael Kightly handball in
the box would “usually” have been penalised. But he thinks a possible Jason
Shackell push on Diego Costa was not so clear-cut. “Jason Shackell
definitely gets a mild hand on him,” said Dyche. “Is that enough for him to go
down? It’s a real debating point. That’s a close one. The first one usually
gets given but that one is a real tough one for referees. He (Costa) is off
balance anyway, he gets a slight nudge and he goes down. I’m not remotely
saying he went down easily or is trying to simulate. I just mean it’s a mild
contact, which inevitably means he ends up on the floor. I think that’s a tough
one, particularly when you consider the referee’s actual angle to see that
incident.” Chelsea were also aggrieved that Burnley were not reduced to 10
men after half an hour when Barnes jumped into Ivanovic, felling the Blues
defender, but escaped sanction. However, Dyche said: “He bundles into the player,
it’s fair to say, but I can’t imagine that to be deemed anything more than, at
most, a yellow card. Worst-case scenario in my opinion would be a yellow,
almost impossible to be a red.”
Chelsea’s Thorgan Hazard has agreed to make his loan move to
Borussia Mönchengladbach permanent. Hazard, the 21-year-old younger
brother of Blues star Eden, moved to the Bundesliga side at the start of the
season and, with his Chelsea deal expiring in the summer, he will now stay
until 2020. Chelsea have retained a buy-back option on the Belgian, who also
spent two seasons on loan with Zulte Waregem.
Algerian club ES
Setif were crowned CAF Super Cup champions after beating Egpytian giants Al
Ahly 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. With the game between the CAF
Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup winners ending all square at Stade
Mustapha Tchaker in Blida on Saturday, it took spot-kicks to determine a
winner. Abdelmalek Ziaya opened the scoring for Setif with 20 minutes of the
match remaining but a last-gasp equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time
from Emad Meteb restored parity. Bassem
Ali missed the only penalty in the shootout. Setif get their hands on the CAF
Super Cup for the first time. Al Ahly have won in six times, more than any
other African club.
Chelsea boss Jose
Mourinho has spoken out on the club’s fans accused of racism in France, saying
he is ‘disappointed’ and ‘ashamed’. Three of the club’s supporters have
been handed lifelong bans after being filmed denying a black man entrance to a
train while singing, “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like
it”. Chelsea have come out and apologized to the victim, saying they are
appalled by the behavior, and now Mourinho has also condemned the trio. “The
dressing-room reacted as I did – with disappointment. They condemn the
situation and support the gentleman involved. They feel ashamed, but maybe we
shouldn’t because these people involved do not belong to Chelsea Football
Club.”
Real Madrid superstar
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 290th goal for his club on Sunday night to take
him to third in the Galacticos’ all-time highest goal-scorer charts. Los
Blancos were 2-0 victors at Elche, with Karim Benzema opening the scoring with
an easy tap-in before Ronaldo doubled the advantage with a thunderous header on
70 minutes to secure all three points, and rewrite the history books of the La
Liga giants. Ronaldo’s goal, his 290th in 281 appearances, saw him overtake
Carlos Santillana as the club’s third-highest all-time goal-scorer, honing in
fast on first-placed Raul, who scored 323 goals for the Spanish club between
1994 and 2010. The Portuguese forward’s goal was his 28th goal in 35
appearances this season, and all-time record holder Raul, who now plays for New
York Cosmos in the MLS, feels his record will be broken soon. “I’m certain
he’ll break my record, just like he broke the Champions League record,”
Raul said. “The way he’s playing at Real Madrid right now, it’s just a
question of time. Whether it’s one year, two years, three or four, surely he’ll
do it. We’re talking about one of the best players in the history of football.
There’s a big difference between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and everyone else in
the world.”
Top five goal-scorers
for Real Madrid:
Raul (1994-2010) – 323 goals, 741 appearances
Alfredo Di Stefano (1953-1964) – 305 goals, 392 appearances
Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-present) – 290 goals, 281
appearances
Carlos Santillana (1971-1988) – 289 goals, 645 appearances
Ferenc Puskas (1958-1966) – 242 goals, 262 appearances
Arsenal icon Thierry
Henry has returned to the club to begin his coaching role with one of the
club’s youth sides. The Gunners’
all-time leading goal-scorer with 228 goals in 377 matches has taken up a
coaching position with the club’s U16 side, as confirmed by head coach Arsene
Wenger in a press conference last Friday. “Thierry Henry is making his
first steps as a coach,” Wenger told reporters ahead of Saturday’s League
match-up against Crystal Palace. “It’s good for our youngsters to be
coached by him. He’s been here once or twice. All our former players are
welcome to come back here and get their coaching badges. We’re happy to have
him.” The former France international spent eight successful years playing
for Arsenal, winning two Premier league titles and three FA Cups.
Barcelona star Lionel
Messi has admitted his performance last year was affected by problems “on
and off the pitch”. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner plundered 41
goals in 46 games in all competitions last term, but still endured criticism as
Barca failed to win a trophy. Messi acknowledged his battle with injuries and
his tax case took its toll in 2014. “The truth is that this year I tried
to get to my best form as quickly as possible. I knew I was coming off the back
of a not very good year, during which I went through a lot of problems on and
off the field,” the Argentina international told Mundo Leo. “It was a
challenge to change the image that I had given out last season and to be the
player I had been in previous seasons again. That was my objective and that’s
how I came out at the start of this season, really up for it.”
FIFA presidential candidate Luis Figo has proposed a 48-team
World Cup should he be given the role. The former Portuguese winger
is challenging Sepp Blatter, Dutch football chief Michael van Praag and FIFA
vice-president for Asia Prince Ali bin Al Hussein for the presidency, and has unveiled
his manifesto in London. His plans includes more non-European teams and two
tournaments of 24 played simultaneously in two different countries, with the
top 12 in each playing a final knockout stage. Figo also wants changes made to
the current offside rule, and plans to donate half of FIFA’s wealth on
grassroots football in member associations. The FIFA presidential election
takes place on May 29.
Manchester United
icon Paul Scholes has taken a dig at Premier League leaders Chelsea, insisting
they are “a long way off” from being great. The Blues currently top the EPL
table by five points and are in the final of this season’s Capital One Cup, yet
were held to a 1-1 draw against French outfit Paris Saint-Germain in their
Champions League last 16 tie this week. Following the away draw, Chelsea boss
Jose Mourinho lauded his team as “great”, yet former Red Devils rival Paul
Scholes disagrees. “Working as one of the ITV pundits on Tuesday night I
was surprised to hear Jose Mourinho talking about Chelsea as a ‘great team’,”
Scholes wrote in The Independent. “Great teams have to win trophies first,
which means that Chelsea have had a great team when they won back-to-back
league titles but they are still a long way off it now.” Scholes added
that he was unimpressed with Chelsea’s display in the French capital, and would
not be surprised if PSG shocked their English rivals in London. “I
recognise that Paris Saint-Germain have an excellent home record in Europe,” he
continued. Even so, I expected Chelsea to create more chances against them this
week. They had one attempt on goal, Branislav Ivanovic’s header that went in.
Barcelona or Real Madrid might not have beaten PSG but they would have had more
than one shot on goal. I wouldn’t rule PSG out for the second leg, especially
if Zlatan Ibrahimovic decides he fancies it. I think they will score at least
one at Stamford Bridge.”
Welsh winger Gareth
Bale maintains he has not adjusted his game following accusations of selfish
play by some Real Madrid fans. Bale was jeered during Real’s 3-0 win over
Espanyol at the Bernabeu after going for goal instead of teeing up Cristiano
Ronaldo. However, the 25-year-old made it clear he was not influenced in to
passing the ball more in their 2-0 victory at Schalke in the Uefa Champions
League. “I haven’t really adapted my style of play,” Bale told Sky
Sports. “In certain games, if a sight of goal has opened up I’ll take it.
But [against Schalke] I think my team-mates were in better positions and I
tried to play the ball around.”
A Fifa taskforce has
recommended that the 2022 World Cup, to be hosted in Qatar, should take place
in November and December. Officials met in Doha to discuss the
possibilities of when the continental showpiece should be held, considering the
excessive heat experienced in the region over June and July. Tuesday’s
recommendation are expected to be given the go-ahead after a Fifa executive
committee meeting in Zurich on 19 and 20 March. A number of aspects were
discussed at the meeting in Doha on Tuesday to consider moving the world
showpiece, with the heat, and the April fast of Ramadan, the main reasons
behind the move to shift the tournament to later in the year. “The only
remaining effective option is the November/December window,” a statement
read. Taskforce chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa hopes the decision
will be accepted, as he feels it is beneficial to all parties concerned.
“We are very pleased that, after careful consideration of the various
opinions and detailed discussions with all stakeholders, we have identified
what we believe to be the best solution for the 2018-2024 international match
calendar and football in general,” he said. It was a challenging task and I
want to thank all members of the football community for their productive input
and constructiveness in helping to find a solution that we believe can work for
everyone.”
Brooklyn Beckham, the
son of former England star David, will not be retained by the Arsenal academy
next season. The 15-year-old, who only signed on in November last year, has
failed to secure a scholarship with the London club, and it is understood that
the teenage will not be retained by the Gunners next season. This comes as a
surprise as Brooklyn was earlier this month enrolled into Arsenal’s U-18 side,
with reports only later revealing that his promotion only came at a time when
the rest of the U-16 and -17 players were away at a tournament in Qatar.
Brooklyn, who plays on the right side of midfield like his father did, is still
highly rated by the Gunners’ coaches, yet having started at a later stage
compared to the other youngsters, was always said to be playing catch-up. It is
still unclear whether or not Brooklyn will try look for another club. Beckham’s
younger sons Romeo and Cruz are also enrolled in Arsenal’s Hale End academy,
with 10-year-old Cruz said to be the most promising of the three brothers.