2013年5月9日星期四

Sir Alex retires



The most successful manager in English football history will bow out after the West Bromwich Albion game on 19 May and join the football club board.

Announcing his decision to retire, Sir Alex Ferguson said:

“The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.

“It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one.

“Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world.

“Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both Director and Ambassador for the club. With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future.

“I must pay tribute to my family, their love and support has been essential. My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement. Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me.



“As for my players and staff, past and present, I would like to thank them all for a staggering level of professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so many memorable triumphs. Without their contribution the history of this great club would not be as rich.

“In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team.

“Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy Chief Executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.

“To the fans, thank you. The support you have provided over the years has been truly humbling. It has been an honour and an enormous privilege to have had the opportunity to lead your club and I have treasured my time as manager of Manchester United.”

Joel Glazer said:

“Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he’s also a wonderful person. His determination to succeed and dedication to the Club have been truly remarkable. I will always cherish the wonderful memories he has given us, like that magical night in Moscow."

Avie Glazer said:“I am delighted to announce that Alex has agreed to stay with the Club as a director. His contributions to Manchester United over the last 26 years have been extraordinary and, like all United fans, I want him to be a part of its future.”

David Gill said:

“I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of working very closely with Alex for 16 unforgettable years – through the Treble, the double, countless trophy wins and numerous signings.

“We knew that his retirement would come one day and we both have been planning for it by ensuring the quality of the squad and club structures are in first class condition.

“Alex’s vision, energy and ability have built teams – both on and off the pitch – that his successor can count on as among the best and most loyal in world sport.

“The way he cares for this club, his staff and for the football family in general is something that I admire. It is a side to him that is often hidden from public view but it is something that I have been privileged to witness in the last 16 years.

“What he has done for this club and for the game in general will never be forgotten. It has been the greatest experience of my working life being alongside Alex and a great honour to be able to call him a friend.”

2013年5月6日星期一

Koperation: Steven Gerrard could miss end of Liverpool's season AND England friendlies after shoulder surgery



Steven Gerrard seems certain to miss the end of the season AND England’s summer campaign, as Liverpool prepare to bring forward surgery on his problem shoulder.

The Anfield skipper has played through an injury in the past few weeks, after admitting to a minor problem with the shoulder that has caused discomfort, but not stopped him leading the Reds on their quest for a European place.

But now boss Brendan Rodgers is seriously considering moving the operation forward, after conceding there is no chance of his side claiming a spot in the top five to guarantee a berth in Europe.

It is a huge blow for England boss Roy Hodgson, who will now be forced to plan without his captain for the two end of season friendly games, scheduled against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on May 29, and the mouth-watering visit to Rio on June 2 to face Brazil.

Gerrard too, will be disappointed, after putting together his best run of fitness for more than five seasons, after starting every single league game for Liverpool this season.


Rodgers had confirmed within the last week that the midfielder has been playing with strapping on the shoulder, and would undergo surgery after the season ended, but suggested it would be some time in June.

Yet there is concern within the Anfield medical staff that the rehabilitation process could take longer than first anticipated, and now they are preparing to get the procedure out of the way, to ensure the iconic leader is back in time for pre-season training.

Coach Mike Marsh confirmed as much recently when he said: “It’s not ideal timing, it’s going to take quite a while for him to heal”, and after consultation with the England staff, the decision is likely to be made to get Gerrard into hospital before the end of the week.

Gerrard had played every minute of every league game before finally coming off at Newcastle a week ago, 20 minutes before the end of the game.

Liverpool have a trip to Fulham this Sunday before they entertain QPR on the final weekend of the season, and clearly the medical staff feel their captain can miss those matches to ensure his fitness for next season.




Man of the moment: Get to know Europe's latest managerial favourite Jurgen Klopp



He may be the man of the moment, but for many Jurgen Klopp still remains an unknown.

So who exactly is the man who has put Jose Mourinho in the shade, and is being linked with all the top jobs in Europe?

Klopp's story really started in 2001 after retiring from playing, rather than take time out of the game he was immediately brought in as caretaker at Mainz 05 - the club at which he spent the majority of his playing career with. After first avoiding relegation to the third tier Klopp would be installed permanently and build over the next few years,

The highlights of his time there included guiding the unfashionable club to their first Bundesliga promotion, and rather than stopping there a UEFA Cup place was then secured by the ambitious Klopp.

In the following season relegation came about however as the team slumped to 8 wins and 10 draws from 34 games, but rather than jump ship the German remained at the helm in an attempt to take the team back to the top.

The 2007-2008 campaign would not prove successful however, and instead it spelled the end for Klopp as he handed in his resignation.



The young coach wasn't out of the game long though, with Borussia Dortmund taking a chance after being impressed by his building from the bottom at Mainz. It was to be an inspired decision by the astute board at Dortmund, as Klopp repaid their faith with a trophy win over Bayern Munich in the DFB-Supercup then followed it up with a 6th place finish - a major improvement on the 13th place finish in the previous season. More careful building would follow the next season with a 5th place finish, but it would be the subsequent years that Klopp really lit up the Bundesliga.

Part of that was igniting a rivalry with Bayern as bright, intelligent and most of all young Dortmund achieved successive titles. Klopp's football was high-octane and attacking but with intense defensive pressure smothering any team that came their way, the coach had always been forward thinking and it was literal in his style of football. In the second title win Dortmund amassed a record points total of 81, as any challengers were swiftly blown away.

As well as Klopp's own name, the brand of football he believed in pushed his players into the limelight. Shinji Kagawa, Lukasz Piszczek and Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze (more on him here) and Nuri Sahin all became household names under the guidance of Klopp, as Dortmund's story began to travel around Europe.


Even those who had the idea to bring in Klopp were stunned at his impact, with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke declaring the face lift the club received constructed by the coach was ahead of time. "It was clear to us pretty quickly that Klopp and BVB just fit together. But it was not to be expected that the coach would get a hold of the team so quickly and fundamentally change the game style of Borussia within one year".

That he did with aplomb, and it must be remembered how Dortmund were before his arrival. Rigid, narrow and predictable Dortmund were no dissimilar from many teams - Klopp saw this and given the time and space by the board he created a system although with clear influences had a unique niche to it.

The free-flowing, dynamic and above all pressing aspects of the system had rarely been seen in Germany; Klopp took the German model and gave it a seasoning of flair and vigor, adding aspects that had held football in the country back.

Klopp's a man for the present and future, always looking to make forward steps. The clubs forming a queue for him must be ready to match his huge ambitions or fall behind.




Claim to frame: Robin van Persie admits clearing space on his wall for Manchester United title winning picture



Robin van Persie will fulfil a dream he has chased his whole career when he gets his hands on the Premier League trophy.

The striker has been desperate to win a title ever since he started out at Feyenoord as a starry-eyed 16-year-old.

He missed out on the Eredivisie with Feyenoord and his eight seasons at Arsenal also failed to deliver the league.

Finally, after 13 years of trying, his moment will come on Sunday at Old Trafford when Manchester United are presented with the Premier League trophy.

Van Persie, 29, has cleared a space on his wall at home and says the picture of him with English football’s most-coveted piece of silverware will take pride of place.

“I’ve had to wait a long time to be a champion and it’s even nicer than I thought, it tastes lovely,” said Van Persie.

“I feel like I’m floating on a cloud. This is the feeling you dream of. ­Everything is about lifting the trophy.

“There were some great pictures taken after the Aston Villa game, on the pitch and in the dressing room, but there was one thing missing from them all – the trophy. That’s the picture that will be framed in my house – me lifting the Premier League trophy. I can’t wait for that moment.

“With Feyenoord, I was close, but never a champion. As a youth player though, I was used to winning trophies, right through from Under-12s to U18s.

“We won the UEFA Cup at Feyenoord three months after I started and I remember thinking, ‘OK this will happen every year, winning trophies is part of being a footballer’.

“I won the Dutch Cup the next year, but I’ve ­realised since then it’s not that simple.”



Van Persie’s 25 goals in 33 Premier League ­appearances have been decisive in landing United a record 20th title.

But only one goal has come at the Stretford End and he is determined to improve on that tally in the final home game of the season against Swansea on Sunday. “I don’t know why that is,” said the Dutch star.

“I’ve scored quite a few goals in the second half at Old Trafford, but it just so happened that we’d changed ends after we had been attacking the ­Stretford End in the first half.

“I don’t understand it. I promise I will score more goals at the Stretford End. I’m aware of the statistic and it’s time to change it.”

Van Persie will crown a memorable first season at United by claiming the Premier League’s Golden Boot and he says he will feel a bit of a fraud when he is presented with the award.

He reckons his 25 goals belong to his team-mates as much as him because of all their
hard work in creating the opportunities for him.

“Even if I’d scored half the number of goals and we’d won the league, I’d have been happy,” he said. “But the Golden Boot would be like a bonus.

“In a way it’s not an honest award, even if you end up with the most goals in a season, because those goals are the team’s goals and many will have been made possible by other players.

“They should make a Golden Boot for the whole team.”

2013年5月2日星期四

Mourinho is heading for Stamford Bridge to find the love he has always craved

For someone of such conspicuous self-confidence and pragmatic certainty, Jose Mourinho seems to have a contrary desire to be loved.
Had he been on the Avenida de Concha Espina, which hugs one end of the Bernabeu, two hours before Tuesday's semi-final second leg against Dortmund, the Real Madrid manager would have been taken with the affection on display from thousands of hardcore fans. Mourinho's name was chanted long and loud.
Yet after Real's narrow failure to overturn a three-goal deficit, Mourinho spoke, apparently of Chelsea, when he said he wanted to be somewhere he is 'loved'.






This must have been a reference to the Spanish media rather than the public, and perhaps to the Real boardroom.
Mourinho, 50, has a relationship with a chunk of the Spanish press that reached the mutual-loathing stage some time ago.
El Pais wrote on Wednesday of Mourinho using Tuesday's post-match press conference as an 'opportunity for personal aggrandisement, self-promotion and the construction of alternative stories'.
Some of those reporters may view themselves as one of those alternative stories - Mourinho using them as a lever to extract himself from Madrid.
Because the evidence on the streets was not of a public wanting a manager out, and even during the second half, when Real faded for a while and Dortmund broke upfield dangerously, the masses did not turn on their manager or his team.
Mourinho dismayed many across Spain and Europe - and some high within Real - when he poked then-Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye in 2011.
But one can imagine that did not dilute appreciation for him among Madrid's hardcore keen to take the fight to Barca, the darlings of planet football.
Of course it matters how any manager is perceived by the press but Mourinho sets disproportionate emphasis on it.
At least when he wants to.



Unquestionably, media perception is a factor for a club hierarchy to consider - Chelsea have been stressed this season by the unpopularity of Rafa Benitez - and fans' opinions, so often overlooked, do count when it comes to selling seats.
Mourinho would sell tickets at Stamford Bridge and that boxoffice impact is not to be sniffed at in any boardroom - though it will be recalled that there were fewer than 25,000 at Mourinho's last game in charge at Stamford Bridge in September 2007, a Champions League group game against Rosenborg.
But then, if they can set aside media criticism and personal misgivings, Real Madrid also know the commercial benefits of having arguably the most famous manager on the planet in their dugout.
Club president Florentino Perez, the man who initiated the Galactico era at Real, understands the meaning of populism.
However, those who inhabit the boardroom - along with the players - are those who deal with managers on a daily basis. As such they come to know the real man, not the Real manager of public appeal.
At boardroom level at Chelsea they gradually grew tired of Mourinho and his antics, despite the success he brought to the club and the successful domestic challenge his side provided for Manchester United.

At Madrid there have been a series of tales about Mourinho's discordant interaction with some players, mainly those who pre-date him at the club. Perez was filmed giving them all a hearty greeting on Tuesday and is said to get on agreeably with his manager.
But yesterday and tomorrow Perez may be reflecting on the harsh fact mentioned by El Pais that Mourinho has not achieved his principal task at the Bernabeu: the return of the European Cup.
Real will soon be into a 12th season without the cup they have won more than any other club - though they should know about patience, having gone from 1966 to 1998 without winning it. In that context, Mourinho's record of three Champions League semi-finals in three years, and a Spanish title, is no all-out failure.
The thing is that after he marshalled Porto and Inter Milan to the Champions League crown, Real thought they were acquiring certainty when Mourinho took over three years ago.


But the timing has coincided with the beautiful obstacle known as Lionel Messi and Barcelona, while the rise of the German Bundesliga can be seen in Real's last two semi-finals - lost to Bayern Munich and Dortmund.
Certainty gave way to uncertainty, which is where we are now. Real have six matches between here and June 1, including a Copa del Rey final against neighbours Atletico.
Win that and Mourinho will have some silverware to show for the season.
It could matter.
Overshadowed by his comments about English football on Tuesday were those about staying at Real.
His team are not far off being Champions League finalists, whereas Chelsea are in the Europa League; Real are nine points behind Barcelona, whereas Chelsea are 20 behind Manchester United.
So there are reasons to stay as well as to go. Pragmatism is one, and as the crowds on Avenida de Concha Espina showed, love is another.








Barcelona 0 Bayern Munich 3 (agg 0-7): No Messi, no comeback as Wembley gets set for all-German Champions League final


No surprises here. It will be an all-German Champions League final at Wembley three weeks on Saturday.
In emphatic, persuasive fashion, Bayern Munich sealed the deal begun by Borussia Dortmund in Madrid on Tuesday as all of last week’s claims about the baton passing from La Liga and the Premier League to the Bundesliga had their credibility enhanced.
Barcelona had needed some sorcery to overcome the 4-0 lead Bayern raced to in the first leg but for magic you need a magician, and Lionel Messi was on the bench.





Without Messi any team would be inferior and it is no different for Barcelona, even if they still had Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
But those two were substituted shortly after Arjen Robben had made the aggregate scoreline 5-0 in the 48th minute.
Gerard Pique then scored an own goal and Thomas Muller’s header made it 3-0 on the night with 15 minutes left. The Nou Camp has witnessed teams being outplayed many times — just not Barca. Indeed, it is the first time their side have lost both legs of a European tie since 1987, when the opponents were Dundee United.
Bayern looked a good team last season in reaching the Champions League final on their own turf. Now they look very good. Strong and skilful, quick but patient, Bastian Schweinsteiger personifies the Jupp Heynckes team soon to be taken over by Pep Guardiola. Schweinsteiger was immense.
This will be their third final in four years and after defeats by Inter Milan and Chelsea, there will surely be belief that this is their year. They last won the European Cup 12 years ago, beating Valencia on penalties.



The warm Catalan day began with optimism: Barca had to cancel out a four-goal lead just to take the game to extra-time, but the statistics said that on 84 occasions in the last four seasons Barcelona had scored four. Moreover, 59 of those had been at the Nou Camp and 14 in the Champions League.
Against that was the ominous record of Bayern: it was over a year since they last failed to score on the road. And that was before the Messi news. If as Pique said on Tuesday, ‘football is very psychological’, it was advantage Bavaria before a ball was kicked.


The absence of Messi from the starting XI meant Heynckes could leave three of the six players he had on yellow cards on the bench — Dante, Luis Gustavo and Mario Gomez. Messi’s omission also meant that Fabregas was Barca’s No 9, or ‘false 9’.
There was one authentic striker, David Villa. But when he was robbed of the ball in the seventh minute by David Alaba, Bayern went on an 80-yard move featuring Philipp Lahm and Schweinsteiger that revealed the confidence of the visitors, not the menace of the hosts.


The effect was that Barca had to go forward looking over their shoulder; they were also confronted by massed defence when they did. And the man for that situation was on the bench.
That is where Messi stayed after half-time. Within three minutes of the restart, the point of him coming off it was all but gone.
Robben’s left foot may not be Messi’s but it is pretty deft and when he cut inside in that  trademark fashion two Barca defenders, balanced perfectly, it was clear Robben was going to bend the ball towards the far  corner. He did so, and Valdes was beaten.
All that morning Catalan optimism was buried and now there was a question as to whether the new German champions would ram home their superiority. 
Robben and Muller promptly fluffed promising openings. They were just about the only two mistakes Bayern made across two legs.





Earliest the Premier League won?


Although Manchester United have wrapped up the title before the end of April, it is by no means the earliest the Premier League has been won.
This is the sixth occasion the league has been secured before May, with the earliest coming in 2001 when United were mathematically out of sight on April 14, with five rounds left to play.
They beat Coventry City 4-2 at Old Trafford on the Saturday lunchtime and then nearest challengers Arsenal surprisingly lost 3-0 at home to Middlesbrough.






After tonight, there are four rounds of fixtures remaining, making this the third time the League has been sewn up at this point.
In 2000, United beat Southampton 3-1 at The Dell to cross the line with four matches left and they went on to win by a record 18-point margin from Arsenal.
And in 2004, Arsenal's 'Invincibles' gained the point they needed at Tottenham in a 2-2 draw with a quartet of games still to come. They eventually finished 11 points ahead of Chelsea.