The FA will severely reprimand Manchester United's Wayne Rooney after the striker was caught swearing into a television camera against West Ham on Saturday. FA bosses insist Rooney's behavior was completely unacceptable, but plan to stop short of a ban due to the importance of United's upcoming fixtures. -- (Daily Telegraph)
Gareth Bale has insisted he would have "no qualms" about moving abroad in the future, should interest from top European clubs persist. Bale thinks his growth as a player could be aided if he played for a club with a real history of success. -- (Press Association)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has blamed fixture congestion for his side's slumping form in recent weeks, despite being knocked out early of both domestic cups and the Champions League. The Frenchman believes his players are still overworked and shouldn't be forced to play every week. -- (Daily Mirror)
AC Milan supremo Silvio Berlusconi has claimed Mario Balotelli's off-field antics will prevent him from pulling on the Rossoneri shirt in the future. The fiery Italian Prime Minister, under investigation for questionable ethics in his own right, said Milan fan Balotelli should use him as an example of how those at AC Milan behave off the field. -- (Press Association)
Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed he cut all ties with Manchester City because fans refused to show him enough love. Adebayor insists the relationship is over, despite his being forced to return to Manchester in the summer. -- (The Sun)
Sven-Goran Eriksson's Leicester City will make a summer move for injured Manchester United striker Michael Owen should they gain promotion to the Premier League. Former England manager Eriksson believes Owen would be the perfect addition to his overrated, aging squad of players. -- (Daily Mirror)
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has contended the midweek Champions League trip to Madrid was not weighing on his players' minds as they played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Wigan. Redknapp reportedly told reporters that an away match at Wigan holds relatively the same importance as any old Champions League quarterfinal with Real Madrid. -- (Daily Mirror)
BIRMINGHAM (DF) -- On a day where Arsenal had hoped to celebrate the return of Jens Lehmann by going level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League, it was Anglo-Spanish keeper Manuel Almunia who stole the next morning's headlines during the 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns with a world-class demonstration of bush-league goalkeeping.
Newly-restored number one Almunia, starting in goal due to long term injuries to accident-prone Polish duo Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny, was at fault for both West Brom goals, staying on his line to give Steven Reid a free header two minutes in, and later tripping over Sebastien Squillaci to gift a goal to Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie.
"I don't know why, but Arsene now seems to prefer eccentric keepers," said former Arsenal and England goalkeeping legend David Seaman in a television interview after the match. "Maybe they enjoy mirroring their manager's personality, maybe they just get bored with their side having so much possession, I don't know, but they all seem to have a screw loose."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been roundly criticized by supporters for his refusal to sign an experienced replacement for stalwart Lehmann, who left the club after the 2008 season. Seaman believes Wenger's stubborn belief in his own innate ability to develop talent has left the club without a leader at the back.
"When I left the club 2003, Arsene made a smart move by bringing in Jens Lehmann. He was a rock and provided the experience in goal that the team needed. When he left, his backup Almunia was thrust into the spotlight and he wasn't capable. When Almunia failed, young Fabianski came in and did the same, and, obviously, Szczesny played his part at Wembley last month. Now we're back to Almunia. I really think he wants to be a backup again."
Seaman held nothing back when describing the state of his former club. "They attack like men and defend like schoolgirls. This inept defending, starting in goal, has cost us the League Cup, a shot at the Champions League, and now it might cost us the Premier League."
"I'm glad Arsene brought Jens back. He might be old, German, and a little off his head, but you won't see him doing stuff like what Almunia, Fabianski, and Szczesny did without getting away with it."
LONDON (DF) -- Defeated Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has cried foul to the Football League over Birmingham's team selection in the Carling Cup Final, believing the 6'8" frame of Serbian-born striker Nikola Zigic gave the West Midlands club an unfair advantage in their 2-1 triumph at Wembley Stadium.
Despite dominating possession throughout the match, Arsenal were undone in the dying embers of the tie after Zigic, Laurent Koscielny, and Wojciech Szczesny combined brilliantly to hand on loan striker Obafemi Martins his second, and arguably biggest, goal for the Blues. The last minute defeat means Arsenal will be forced to continue their agonizing five-and-a-half year search for a major trophy.
"It's hard to swallow," admitted Billy Simon of the Arsenal Football Supporters Club. "We've gone this long believing in Arsene's plan, and we've come up with nothing, again. All the talking heads on television told us the trophy was ours. How can we not feel duped? I thought these guys were supposed to be experts."
A spokesman for the Football League confirmed they had taken a call late Tuesday evening from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood, on behalf of Arsene Wenger.
"Arsene has asked us for a replay," said the spokesman. "After spending the past couple of days considering it from all angles, he believes Birmingham should have to replay the game without Nikola Zigic in the squad. We will of course consider his grievance, but as with all things Wenger, we're going to take it with a grain of salt."
Arsenal's calamitous defending for Birmingham's second goal has been roundly lampooned in the media, but one member of the second place side was steadfast in his defense of his side's lack of defense.
"How are we supposed to compete with someone that tall?" asked the unnamed Arsenal defender. "We're not used to having to jump or concentrate, or even defend at all, really. It's not like we can just turn on at the flick of a switch."
"Sure, we've had to play against Peter Crouch before, but that's completely different. He's English and obviously not a real footballer."
STOKE-ON-TRENT (DF) -- On the back of recent criticism for their heavy-handed tactics in Wednesday's 1-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium, Tony Pulis has hit back at the media for portraying his players in an openly negative light, assuring them Stoke City is a football, not rugby, club.
Arsenal gave Stoke the run around during the first half of their Premier League encounter and were unlucky to go into the break ahead by only a solitary goal. Stoke turned up the heat immediately after the interval, with Arsenal manager branding their second half tactics as "thuggish" and "Welsh." Referee Peter Walton had his hands full as Stoke went about looking for anything but an equaliser.
"We don't play rugby," said an agitated Pulis after the game. "We're not anti-football as some have unfairly branded us. We don't play the game any differently than Arsenal, Manchester City, or Barcelona."
A recent comprehensive study of English league games conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University found that over the past season and a half, Stoke City games had, by far, the highest percentage of time spent with the ball off of the ground-- more than games for any other club in the Football League.
Alan Donovan-Woods, Assistant Professor of Sporting Statistics and Analysis at MMU, said the results were conclusive. "If there were a club in English football that played rugby, it would certainly be Stoke City. Most of their ball possession seems to be off the pitch, when it's in the hands of Rory Delap."
A Stoke City spokesman disagreed with the study, citing the club's depth of talent. "Technically, Glenn Whelan is world-class. He's a world-class player. We have at least a dozen players on our books who could walk into any passing side in the world."
Despite the pitch at the Brittania Stadium often looking like it's home to a rugby league side, Pulis maintains his side are proponents of the beautiful game. "Bring Barcelona to the Brittania in the dead of winter and we'll see who plays attractive, winning football."
