Football Comment: Mourinho pays for risky selection but I still back Chelsea for the title September 19, 2013 JOSE Mourinho’s face looked unusually ashen as his Chelsea side slipped to their first home Champions League group stage defeat for a decade against Basel on Wednesday night. It was their fourth match in a row without winning and compounds their worst start to a Premier League season for 10 years. This isn’t what we [...]
Cahill not panicked by poor start September 19, 2013 CHELSEA defender Gary Cahill revealed the Stamford Bridge dressing room was left in a state of shock by their 2-1 defeat to Basel in Wednesday night’s Champions League opener, but is targeting a west London derby win over Fulham tomorrow to kick-start their form. Second-half strikes from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller cancelled out Oscar’s [...]
Manchester clubs difficult to split in Sunday’s battle September 19, 2013 BEN CLEMINSON AND BILL ESDAILE WITH THE BEST FOOTBALL AND RACING BETS THIS WEEKEND THE Premier League season hasn’t really caught fire yet with last year’s top four all suffering one defeat. Manchester City will probably be the most disappointed as they would really have expected at least 10 points, rather than the seven they [...]
Champions League: Blues beaten as Mourinho cites squad’s immaturity September 18, 2013 CHELSEA 1 FC BASEL 2 CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho blamed mental weakness for his team’s indifferent start to the season, which continued with a shock home defeat to Basel in the Champions League last night. Playmaker Oscar gave the Blues the lead on the stroke of half-time, but second-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco [...]
Football League has put players’ careers at risk, says Villas-Boas September 18, 2013 TOTTENHAM manager Andre Villas-Boas has slammed the Football League for inducing fixture congestion, which he fears could endanger his players’ careers. Spurs play Tromso of Norway in the Europa League tonight, which begins a run of three games in six days with a trip to Cardiff City in the Premier League on Sunday followed by [...]
Manchester United sets revenue goalposts at £420-430m for 2014 as global brand grows September 18, 2013 Football club Manchester United has posted record annual revenues of £363.2m, up 13.4 per cent on the last full year (release). Commercial revenues are up 29.7 per cent to £152.5m, 42 per cent of the club's total revenues. During the year the club announced seven global sponsorship partnership, four regional spartnership and nine financial services [...]
Champions League: Perfect start but no priority for Pellegrini September 17, 2013 VIKTORIA PLZEN 0 MANCHESTER CITY 3 MANCHESTER City boss Manuel Pellegrini was delighted with the start his side made to their Champions League campaign, but insists their pursuit of the trophy will not take priority over winning the Premier League title this season. Second half goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero earned [...]
Ledley King: English coaches must learn to embrace the little guys or risk missing out on our own Lionel Messi September 17, 2013 Exclusive: Ex-Spurs captain on trouble with our academies, Bale and managing. HAD Lionel Messi been born in England the football world could have been robbed of one of its greatest ever stars. That is the belief of former Tottenham defender Ledley King, who fears the 5ft 7in Argentina forward, hailed by some as the best [...]
Premier League: Liverpool back on top of the Premier League September 16, 2013 SWANSEA CITY 2 vs LIVERPOOL 2 LIVERPOOL returned to the top of the Premier League last night, but a second-half equaliser from Michu ended their perfect start to the season. Coming into the game on the back of three victories, the Reds fell behind in the second minute when former midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who inadvertently [...]
Pellegrini won’t take Kompany fitness gamble September 16, 2013 MANCHESTER City captain Vincent Kompany could make his return from injury in the Champions League tonight against Viktoria Plzen, but only if he is 100 per cent fit, manager Manuel Pellegrini insists. The imposing central defender has been sidelined with a groin injury since City beat Newcastle 4-0 on the opening weekend of the season. [...]