Monthly Archives: July 2010

Spain hoping to go Dutch

Posted on by
Reply

The Netherlands are 21/10 favourites for the World Cup after knocking Brazil out of the competition.

The South Americans took the lead through Robinho in the first half but a Felipe Melo own goal and a Wesley Sneijder header turned the tables in the second half as the Dutch ran out 2-1 winners.

Things went from bad to worse for Melo, who was deservedly sent off for stamping on Arjen Robben with 17 minutes to go.

Spain are the 9/4 second favourites to lift the World Cup but they face a tricky test against Paraguay on Saturday evening (Paraguay 7/1, draw 11/4, Spain 1/2).

Paraguay scraped into the last-eight by beating Japan on penalties in the last round after a lifeless 0-0 draw. Their success has been built on a solid defence, which has only conceded one goal in the competition so far.

Paraguay have only scored three goals in the World Cup but coach Gerardo Martino insists that his side will pose a significant threat to Spain.

“In three of the four World Cup matches we had to take the game to our opponents and that’s difficult for a team like ours,” said Martino.

“Our future rivals will let us play. Spain will give us more space.”

However, goalkeeper Justo Villar has warned the Spanish that his side will not return the favour and let their star names play.

“Our football has always been about a lot of hard work and tactics,” said Villar.

“It’s going to be a good match where you will see two types of football.

“One side trying to attack skilfully while we try to stop them and then try to take advantage of our chances.”

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque is set to keep faith with misfiring striker Fernando Torres, who has failed to score in Spain’s four games in the World Cup to date.

Del Bosque has expressed his “full confidence” in the Liverpool striker despite Torres clearly struggling for form. In mitigating circumstances, he went into the tournament on the back of knee surgery in April and is clearly struggling for fitness.

In the last-16 clash against Portugal, del Bosque replaced Torres with Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente with the score at 0-0. Llorente twice went close to breaking the deadlock and was involved in David Villa’s winning goal.

This earned him plaudits in the Spanish media and the pressure is now on Torres to deliver with the Bilbao man breathing down his neck. However, he will receive confidence from the backing of his coach and will be hoping to reward this faith with a goal against Paraguay (Torres 4/1 to score first goal).

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Capello to remain England boss

Posted on by
Reply

The Football Association has confirmed that Fabio Capello will remain as England manager, despite the national side’s poor run in the World Cup.

England were knocked out of the tournament at the last-16 stage by Germany in their worst ever World Cup finals defeat.

However, they failed to convince throughout the tournament, finishing second in their group behind the USA on goals scored. Their lacklustre showing against Algeria drew particular criticism.

The lethargic and uninspired performances led many in the media to question Capello’s suitability, with some blasting his team selections and tactics in South Africa.

On Monday, he was told that he would learn his fate within two weeks but since then, he has received public backing from various members of the FA board.

David Sheepshanks, the former Ipswich Town chairman, stated on Thursday that Capello was “one of the world’s best managers” and that “knee-jerk reactions never work.”

Meanwhile, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, who is also on the FA board, also expressed his support for the Italian.

The unanimous decision to stick with Capello was made by the four-man Club England board on Friday.

The recommendation was ratified by the full Football Association board soon after and means that Capello will stay in the role until after the European Championships in 2012 (England 8/1 to win Euro 2012).

Speaking after the decision to keep Capello, Sir Dave Richards, Club England chairman, said: “After fully discussing our performance we remain convinced that Fabio is the best man for the job.

“He went into the World Cup with a reputation as one of World football’s finest managers and we are confident Fabio will benefit from his first international tournament experience and this will undoubtedly make us all stronger for the Euro 2012 campaign.”

Immediately after England’s 4-1 demolition by Germany, the feeling was that Capello had to go but within 24 hours, he had expressed his interest to remain at the England helm.

As the week progressed, the media turned their ire towards the players rather than the manager and this may have given him a little breathing space.

However, a key reason behind Capello staying may have been the FA’s baffling decision to remove the break clause in his contract.

With the Italian expressing his interest to stay in his post, sacking him would have led to a costly compensation exercise which could have cost the FA dearly.

Roy Hodgson’s decision to join Liverpool rather than hold out for a potential offer from the FA to coach England may also have been a contributory factor in persuading the FA to stand by their man.

Speaking after the decision, Fabio Capello said: “Sir Dave Richards has called me to tell me everyone at The FA wants me to continue.

“I explained it is very important we use the disappointment as a motivation in the future.

“I can assure the fans I am now fully focused on our European qualifying fixtures, starting with the friendly against Hungary in August.

“I am more determined than ever to succeed with the England team.”

Capello’s reputation was enhanced by England’s impressive qualifying record for the World Cup and the Italian will need to repeat this form in order to replace the gloss which has been removed by England’s dismal World Cup.

England are 2/7 favourites to win their qualifying group

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Dalglish backs Hodgson

Posted on by
Reply

Liverpool (8/1 to win the Premier League) legend Kenny Dalglish has backed the appointment of Roy Hodgson as the former Fulham boss signs a three-year-deal at the Anfield club.

Hodgson was unveiled as the new manager on Thursday after Rafa Benitez was given a £6m compensation deal to leave the club.

The Spaniard has now moved to Italian giants Inter Milan and now Hodgson has stepped in to the role as he looks to restore Liverpool to their top four status in the Premier League.

Despite applying for the job himself, Dalglish supported the new signing, stating that he was more than happy with the appointment.

He said: “I look very favourably on the appointment.

“I have known Roy a long time and have a great respect for him.

“We’ve not had detailed conversations yet but my interests are in Liverpool,” he added.

Dalglish failed to secure the position as the new manager of Liverpool as Martin Broughton decided it was not in the best interest for the club despite the Scot leading the Merseyside club to their last league title.

Hodgson believes that he and Dalglish will be able to work together at the club despite the former Liverpool boss being looked over for the job.

He said: “I don’t feel at all awkward about the situation.

“Kenny was entitled to suggest to the board that he wanted to be considered. The board made it clear to me that they didn’t want that to happen, as the chairman (Martin Broughton) has outlined.

“As far as I’m concerned, it shouldn’t affect my relationship with Kenny in any way,” he added.

Hodgson’s first task is to try and keep hold of Liverpool’s top players before the start of the Premier League season.

The club won’t be playing Champions League football this campaign after finishing in seventh place in the top flight last season.

There are fears that the likes of Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and captain Steven Gerrard could be on their way out of Anfield and Hodgson will be trying his best to secure the services of these players.

Liverpool will take on Arsenal in the pick of the opening day matches at Anfield (Liverpool 5/4, draw 9/4, Arsenal 7/4) before they take on Manchester City at Eastlands.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Hodgson relishing ‘biggest job’

Posted on by
Reply

Roy Hodgson claims being Liverpool manager ‘is the biggest job in football’ as he looks to bring the glory days back to the Merseysiders (Liverpool 8/1 Premier League 2010-11 Outright) having signed a three-year contract at Anfield.

The 62-year-old has opted to quit Fulham, whom he guided to last season’s Europa League final against the odds, and will take the first day of pre-season training with the Reds on Thursday before being officially unveiled as Rafael Benitez’s successor.

Hodgson’s good work at Fulham last season, where he was manager since December 2007, saw him guide the unfashionable Londoners to wins against top European sides such as Juventus and Wolfsburg and earned him the League Managers Association manager of the year award.

And it appears that his other work with the Cottagers over the past two-and-a-half-years, where he dragged the club from being relegation certainties to a top-seven outfit, has attracted the Liverpool hierarchy to his managerial credentials.

On taking the job, Hodgson, who has vast management experience having coached clubs sides such as Blackburn and Inter Milan, while enjoying fairly successful stints in charge of the Switzerland and Finland national teams, said on the Reds’ website: “This is the biggest job in club football and I’m honoured to be taking on Britain’s most successful football club.”

The confirmation of Hodgson’s appointment ends a summer of speculation about who would replace Inter Milan-bound Benitez, who quit after a disappointing campaign in which Liverpool finished in seventh spot in the Premier League and missed out on the Champions League.

The hard work now starts for Hodgson as he will look to ensure star players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are not tempted to jump ship for pastures new ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser against Arsenal at Anfield (Liverpool 5/4, Arsenal 7/4, draw 9/4 90 Minutes) on August 14.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Fabregas keeps options open

Posted on by
Reply

Cesc Fabregas insists it is by no means certain he will swap Arsenal for hometown club Barcelona this summer (Arsenal 7/1 – 2010/11 Premier League Outright).

The Gunners captain is away with Spain at the World Cup finals but the Catalan giants’ pursuit of his signature is well documented, with incoming Barca president Sandro Rosell looking to bring in a marquee player.

Fabregas appears to be keeping his options well and truly open, however, as he instead concentrates on Spain’s bid to add the world crown to the Euro 2008 title (Spain 11/4 Outright).

The 23-year-old told The Mirror: “I haven’t said that I will definitely leave Arsenal.

“Everything is possible. Now I have my head and my focus on the World Cup.

“I am very proud to be captain of Arsenal and I love the club and have respect for them. It gave me much pride to be made captain.”

Fabregas joined Arsenal as a 16-year-old and has gone on to make almost 200 career appearances for the north Londoners.

But Vilassar de Mar-born central midfielder has found it harder to establish himself in La Roja’s XI since his debut in 2006, with strong competition from the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and Marcos Senna over the years.

Spain have made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup where they face Paraguay in Johannesburg on Saturday (Paraguay 7/1, draw 11/4, Spain 1/2 – 90 Minutes).

And Barcelona star Xavi reckons Vicente del Bosque’s men are finding form at just the right time after losing their opening group game to Switzerland despite dominating over 90 minutes.

Speaking after the win over Iberian peninsula neighbours Portugal in the second round, the 30-year-old said: ?We played a great game. It was a great collective effort.

“We maintained possession and we wanted to play our style of football.

“Portugal basically gave us the ball. They tried to regain possession for counter-attacks but we dealt with it.

“We really enjoyed our football. It was the best match we’ve played in this World Cup so far.

“We controlled the ball in both halves but maybe attacked more in the second.

“We scored the goal and then we could enjoy it more.”

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Spain to stick with Torres

Posted on by
Reply

Fernando Torres may not have been at his best this World Cup but Spain are set to keep faith with the striker when they take on Paraguay in the quarter-finals on Saturday (Spain 1/2 to win).

Despite struggling with injury in the lead up to the tournament, Torres was expected to be in the running to land the golden boot, but he has failed to hit the back of the net in any of Spain’s games so far and has been scratching around for form and full fitness.

The Liverpool marksman, who could leave Anfield later this summer, looked rusty in the group games and even though he was sharper against Portugal in the second round win, it was again left to David Villa to wrap up the victory.

In fact Spain only looked a real threat to the resolute Portuguese defence when Torres was replaced by Fernando Llorente midway through the second half.

There had been suggestions that Llorente could be in line to start in attack against Paraguay but that has been ruled out by Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, who has every confidence in the player and will keep the faith.

“Our striker right now is Fernando Torres,” said Del Bosque. “He’s played four games, a lot of minutes and will play more. We’ve got full confidence in him.”

Spain have goals throughout the team so they do not have to rely on Torres but if the striker can find his shooting boots in the remaining matches World Cup glory will be on the cards for the Spanish.

Torres is 4/1 to grab the first goal against Paraguay but once again Villa, who has been the star of the show for Spain so far this tournament, is 3/1 favourite.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

How do you replace a man like Roy?

Posted on by
Reply

Fulham have set about the task of replacing Roy Hodgson in time for the big Premier League kick-off at Bolton (Fulham 9/5 to win) but have placed Ray Lewington in caretaker charge in the meantime.

As expected, Hodgson has left Craven Cottage for Liverpool officially on Thursday and Fulham now have the almost impossible task of trying to replace the man who turned them from Premier League strugglers to Europa League finalists.

Hodgson worked wonders during his time at the club with one of the smallest squads in the Premier League and they are huge shoes to fill.

The Liverpool fans may not be over-excited at the appointment, but the Fulham fans will be gutted to have lost their leader and will now be wondering who is capable of replacing him.

It is the million dollar question and in a way you have to feel sorry for Hodgson’s replacement in the same way you did when Sammy Lee took over from Sam Allardyce at Bolton and when Ian Dowie replaced Alan Curbishley at Charlton.

Can Fulham get any higher than last season? Probably not so the new manager can only go one way and that is probably another reason Hodgson left for the bright lights of Liverpool as he no doubt felt he had taken them as far as he could.

Lewington has been handed the job in the meantime but no doubt the Cottagers will be seaking a more high-profile appointment to build on the great work that Hodgson achieved.

A statement from Fulham read: “Fulham confirm that at 9.20am this morning, Roy Hodgson resigned from his position of first-team manager, effective immediately.

“The club would like to wish Roy the very best for the future and thanks him for all that was achieved during his tenure.  Ray Lewington will take temporary charge of team matters until a successor is announced in due course.”

A shortlist will be drawn up in the coming days, expected to include the likes of Sven Goran Eriksson, Mark Hughes and possibly Curbishley, with Fulham fans praying a return to scrapping for survival is not looming again next season.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

How do you replace a man like Roy?

Posted on by
Reply

Fulham have set about the task of replacing Roy Hodgson in time for the big Premier League kick-off at Bolton (Fulham 9/5 to win) but have placed Ray Lewington in caretaker charge in the meantime.

As expected, Hodgson has left Craven Cottage for Liverpool officially on Thursday and Fulham now have the almost impossible task of trying to replace the man who turned them from Premier League strugglers to Europa League finalists.

Hodgson worked wonders during his time at the club with one of the smallest squads in the Premier League and they are huge shoes to fill.

The Liverpool fans may not be over-excited at the appointment, but the Fulham fans will be gutted to have lost their leader and will now be wondering who is capable of replacing him.

It is the million dollar question and in a way you have to feel sorry for Hodgson’s replacement in the same way you did when Sammy Lee took over from Sam Allardyce at Bolton and when Ian Dowie replaced Alan Curbishley at Charlton.

Can Fulham get any higher than last season? Probably not so the new manager can only go one way and that is probably another reason Hodgson left for the bright lights of Liverpool as he no doubt felt he had taken them as far as he could.

Lewington has been handed the job in the meantime but no doubt the Cottagers will be seaking a more high-profile appointment to build on the great work that Hodgson achieved.

A statement from Fulham read: “Fulham confirm that at 9.20am this morning, Roy Hodgson resigned from his position of first-team manager, effective immediately.

“The club would like to wish Roy the very best for the future and thanks him for all that was achieved during his tenure.  Ray Lewington will take temporary charge of team matters until a successor is announced in due course.”

A shortlist will be drawn up in the coming days, expected to include the likes of Sven Goran Eriksson, Mark Hughes and possibly Curbishley, with Fulham fans praying a return to scrapping for survival is not looming again next season.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Dutch boss eyes upset

Posted on by
Reply

Holland boss Bert van Marwijk has been quick to try to use a psychological edge ahead of his side’s World Cup quarter-final tie with Brazil (Holland 16/5, draw 11/5, Brazil 20/21).

Van Marwijk says that although his side will generally be seen as the underdogs for the last-eight clash, it is vital that the players believe that they can win (7/1 to win the World Cup outright).

Holland have won all four of their games so far, the latest coming in Monday’s 2-1 success against Slovakia.

“I’m looking forward to this match,” said Van Marwijk.

“Against Brazil, perhaps we might be the underdogs for the first time in South Africa.

“But we are here for one reason, to get the big prize. We have to believe in it.

“People might have laughed at us when we said we were capable of winning the World Cup.

“But you have to show a real mentality, a constant focus. I think we are showing that.”

The Dutch have shown plenty of flair in attack, coupled with strong defensive displays.

“In all of the matches we have played so far, we have shown that we can control a match,” added Van Marwijk.

“We have scored seven times. We have been able to show how good we play.

“I think that our defence has done a wonderful job so far. We have conceded just two goals.

“(John) Heitinga, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and our goalkeeper (Maarten Stekelenburg) have done a great job.

“I think we are improving in every aspect but I would like to see everything converge into one match.

“We simply want to win and I don’t think we are doing such a bad job.”

The return of Holland’s talisman, Arjen Robben, against Slovakia was key for van Marwijk’s side as he showed after scoring his team’s opener against the Slovakians.

“It was important that he played for 70 minutes,” said Van Marwijk.

“I think he has just passed that fear factor, having recently returned from injury.

“It’s great news to have Robben fit.”

“Brazil is a very mature team,” van Marwijk said.

“They have stability. That is what they convey.

“I have talked about our positive form but we shouldn’t get too big-headed.

“The Brazilians also convey this confidence, it is almost like they are invincible.”

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.