The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Chelsea’s Villas-Boas heaps praise on Man United Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:29 AM PDT
United have scored 18 goals and conceded three in picking up maximum points from their first four games with local rivals Manchester City having an almost identical record albeit having scored three goals fewer. "It's for all of us to praise when any team in the world starts a league like that," Villas-Boas (picture) told a televised new conference as he prepared to cross swords with United manager Alex Ferguson – who is more than twice his age – for the first time. "It's impressive and the fans are able to enjoy these kind of goals from Man United or Man City or any team in the world who starts a goalscoring spree like this one. It's good for all football," added the 33-year-old Portuguese. Chelsea are two points behind United and City, having dropped points on the first weekend of the season when they were held to a goalless draw at Stoke City, but Villas-Boas said he was pleased with their start under his leadership. "We're confident with what we've been doing so far. Of course we would prefer to be level on points by this date but it didn't happen. We think we had an important point at Stoke. It's early season and the Premiership is so unpredictable." Asked if his reputation was at stake on Sunday he added: "It's the fifth game of the season. I think if any manager is judged on five games... there is not something wrong with the manager there is something wrong with the people who run clubs. "We have made a good strong start in the Premiership. This game comes at a good time for us because both teams feel very motivated and feel strong so hopefully this will be enough for the spectacle to be excellent which all of us should hope for. "Normally when there is this high expectancy for a game sometimes things go the other way round and it is a boring, tactical game. "Hopefully, it won't because that's not the culture of the Premiership. I think it will be a high-intensity game fuelled by emotion," he added at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham near London. Villas-Boas was not even born when 69-year-old Ferguson began his managerial career and the Portuguese admitted he could not remember his appointment as United manager but he praised the way the Scot repeatedly developed young players. "Ferguson promotes talent, young talent, and you have a couple of good quality young players coming through from (Tom) Cleverley to (Phil) Jones to (Danny) Welbeck and Chicharito," he said. "This plays to the importance of the work he does. Sir Alex can take the best out of all his players and choose two strong starting elevens. He has been doing this throughout his life." Striker Didier Drogba will miss out as he is still recovering after a serious head injury and Michael Essien is a long-term injury victim, Both reserve goalkeepers are also struggling with knocks. "One of them will be available but Hilario picked up a big knock yesterday and went for a scan so we are trying to find the extent of the injury to his hip and Ross (Turnbull) is making a steady recovery from an injury he picked up in a reserve team game and is at 80 per cent," said Villas-Boas. – Reuters |
| Mancini eyes goals, goals and more goals Posted: 16 Sep 2011 07:45 AM PDT
It marks a stark change in approach from Mancini, who was criticised last season for being too defensive, as his team have notched 15 goals on their way to four wins out of four in the Premier League this term. Their scintillating start has been eclipsed by neighbours United, who are top on goal difference having scored 18 including last month's 8-2 drubbing of Arsenal, but City's form may well be motivating the champions according to Mancini (picture). "When they (United) played against Arsenal, they continued to try to score, also for us we need to have this mentality," the Italian told a news conference. "If we have a game like in Tottenham when we can score we need to continue to play, play, play, to score always." City came away from Spurs with a 5-1 win on the same day that United beat Arsenal and had striker Edin Dzeko to thank for four goals. Last weekend they hammered Wigan Athletic 3-0 at home with all the goals coming from Argentina forward Sergio Aguero in a game where they squandered many other chances. Sunday's opponents Fulham will not be relishing a more attack-minded City, having lost 4-1 to them in this fixture last year in one of the visitors' most fluent performances of the season. Critics branded Mancini a bit too 'Italian' for his cautious approach to some games last term where a one-goal lead was often defended rather than built upon. His team were booed by their own supporters at times last term, while opposing fans joined in too such as at the Emirates Stadium after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal. At the time, Mancini shrugged off the accusations that his team were boring saying: "I prefer boos in the end and to go home with one point rather than with three goals in our net." Now he seems to want three goals and three points although he is realistic about whether his strikers can continue at their current rate. "I think today they play very well all the strikers," he said. "But it is impossible to score every game." They found out they would not get everything their own way when they made their Champions League debut on Wednesday against a Napoli side who defended in numbers and waited for the opportunity for a counter-attack. City had several chances to score in that game but in the end had to come from behind with an Aleksandar Kolarov free kick to draw 1-1. "We need to improve in the Champions League," Mancini said. "I'm sure in our next game in Munich (against Bayern) we will do much better than on Wednesday." – Reuters |
LONDON, Sept 16 – Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has praised Manchester United's "impressive" start to the season but believes Sunday's clash with the Premier League champions comes at a good time.
MANCHESTER, Sept 16 – Manchester City need to adopt the same merciless mentality as neighbours Manchester United and never stop attacking, coach Roberto Mancini said today.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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