EPL, Premiership, English Premier League

Eriksson, the current manager of Manchester City has been informed by City owner Shinawatra that he will be sacked at the end of the season. He met with Benfica to discuss working for them; however, according to Benfica, “No details of the contract, namely salaries and timing, have been discussed”. Eriksson met with the Benfica director of football and the Benfica President Luis Felipe Vieira in Manchester this past Wednesday. The preliminary meetings with Benfica indicate that Eriksson believes that his chance of remaining at the club is slim. But it seems that Eriksson is not inclined to speed into a decision. In the 1980’s Eriksson led Benfica to a domestic cup and 2 championships. Eriksson then worked in Italy for a span before returning to Benfica in 1989; Benfica went to the European Cup final in 1990 (they lost to AC Milan) and won the Portuguese Title in 1991. “I’ve had a meeting with the Benfica people. I’m considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career. Let’s see what happens” said Eriksson.
Benfica is currently 4th in the SuperLiga, 3 points behind Sporting Lisbon; as a result, they may miss qualifying for the next Champions League. Shinawatra refused to state who would be City’s next manager only mentioning who would be considered, “They all - Sven, Scolari, Mourinho - they are great coaches, great managers”. Scolari has supposedly been offered a €3.2 million year deal which is waiting for his signature. 59 year old Scolari is reportedly interested in managing City but wished to wait until after the Euro 2008. He has often been concerned with uprooting his family from Portugal which is why he refused to take over Erikssons job as the England coach in 2006. City fans and players have been behind Eriksson since Shinawatra announced the decision. As a result, Shinawatra would love to have a quick take over with the former Coach of Brazil (Scolari managed Brazil during the 2002 World Cup, which they won). “There will be an evaluation at the end of the season of what needs to be changed, what needs to be added to the success of the club” said Shinawatra.

French International Mathieu Flamini has agreed to sign a contract to stay at AC Milan until 2012. For over 3 seasons Flamini has been drifting in and out of the starting lineup until this season where he started consistently over Gilberto Silva. Arsene Wenger will be disappointed with the loss but isn’t the first manager to be disappointed with Flamini leaving abruptly. Marseille coach Jose Anigo described Flamini as “He’s a traitor - this is a beautiful treason” when Flamini left Marseille for Arsenal despite agreeing to initial terms at Marseille for a contract renewal.

The 24 year old had been playing at Arsenal in midfield with 39 starts this season and 3 goals. The switch is somewhat intriguing since Flamini will have to battle with Kaka, Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini, and Andrea Pirlo for a midfield position. In the meantime Wenger will have to look for a replacement who can work well with Hleb. Why Flamini would leave now that he has finally beat Gilberto out as a starting player is interesting. If Hleb leaves, which is a possibility, since Inter Milan has reportedly been interested in him then Wenger will really be scrambling. Arsenal is really turning into a new team with the old timers disappearing; Jens Lehman made his last appearance at Arsenal against Everton. “I had one or two tears in my eyes at the end. The club and the supporters will always stay in my heart.”

Fernando Torres has once again demonstrated his ability as a striker as Liverpool played Manchester City. Torres had obtained a goal in 15 of the past 17 games with 32 goals in all competitions combined. He has also scored in the 8 consecutive home games equaling a home record. He ran past 2 City defenders and sprinted on diagonally across the box to score with a hard drive.

Benitez made 5 starting lineup changes with Xabi Alonso, Martin Skrtel, Yossi Benayoun, Alvaro Arbeloa and John Arne Riise coming out from the Champions League came game Wednesday and Steve Finnan, Lucas, Sami Hyypia, Ryan Babel and youngster Emiliano coming in. Despite the starting variability between the games Peter Crouch was not played, nor did he make the bench. It makes one wonder if Benitez is almost encouraging him to leave. While Liverpool had little to win from the game except pride, Manchester City fans and players have (from all accounts) been behind their Swedish manager Sven-Goran Eriksson (who has recently been informed by City owner Thaksin Shinawatra that he will be sacked at the end of the season). While Manchester City was in 3rd place in November, they have now fallen to 9th place.

“The support for me was fantastic, of course it is. It makes me stand up from the bench a lot but I can do that, no problem. It was fantastic, of course I am thankful. They have been fantastic all season, incredible. Maybe it will not affect things, I don’t know. But we have one week to go until the season is finished. But I would appreciate it if people would accept that we will start talking after that. We will not be talking tomorrow, more so next month.” said Eriksson.

Eriksson has been informed by Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra that he is “not the right man for the job”. Shinawatra is the former President of Thailand; he was President until 2006 when a military coup ousted him from power. While he is said to have reduced the amount of corruption in Thailand he was still accused of embezzling money and engaging in corruption.

Ever since the turn of the year Manchester City has lost their form; when Eriksson informed his players about the decision the players were outraged. “I think it is crazy that his job is even being talked about as being in danger - he has been good for everyone at City” said City defender Micah Richards. Thai billionaire Shinawatra decided upon the move when City lost to Fulham 3-2 after having a 2 goal lead. After the game Shinawatra told Eriksson who “Reacted calmly, as usual, but he was very surprised and disappointed. He doesn’t want to leave the club and will not resign. He loves working with the players and his work at Manchester City has only just begun.” He will be in charge of the last 2 away games against Liverpool (which they just lost 1-0) and Middlesbrough according to a City spokesman though no comment was made about what would happen during the summer.

Erikson’s assistant Tord Grip said: “We will be here for the two last matches. They probably think that we haven’t done a good enough job. Sven will receive new offers soon I’m sure.” Erickson took over City 5 weeks before the season; in November they held 3rd place; however, since Christmas they have failed to produce results and have fallen to 9th having won only 4 of their past 15 games. “The team has not been playing as well as it should have or getting the right results since Christmas. But overall it has been a good season. Thaksin agreed a five-year plan with Sven in the summer and the target for the first year was to finish in the top 10.”

Thaksin signed 8 new player during the summer for £46m shortly after buying the club. However, he has had little contact with Eriskon. They met several times personally at the start of the season and then nothing. Sven has had a list of players he wants to sign next summer for several weeks, but he hasn’t been able to get the go-ahead to get them. He talks to Alistair Macintosh (City chief executive), but things break down when he then goes to the chairman”. With Eriksson going out the door City will have to get a new manager; as of now, Portugese Luiz Felipe Scolari may in serious consideration. We can expect the new manager to be able to buy a lot of new players with Thaksin determined to have Manchester City playing in the Champions League in the next two years. The Thai billionaire is currently involved in a lawsuit in Thailand with hundreds of millions of pounds currently frozen; however, he expects to be able to use them by the summer.

United decided it was an appropriate time to renew its contracts with Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, and Wes Brown. Brown is 28 years old, Carrick 26, and Ferdinand 29.

“They have agreed to new deals. It continues our policy of lengthening contracts at the right time.” said Ferdinand, “We have a strong squad already and this just keeps it going. And I would imagine there is a good possibility of stocking up again in the summer. The strong squad we have built has aided us this season and this latest bit of business is definitely good news.” The details of the contracts have not been revealed; however, Pini Zahavi (Ferdinand’s agent) said his deal would last 5 years (and is suspected to be worth €130,000 a week).

Wes Brown has become instrumental in the United defense ever since Gary Neville got injured. “There’s no other club for Wes Brown. He’s a Manchester player. We were always quietly confident he would sign.” Wes Brown’s deal would have ended this summer; negotiations over his contract were difficult. “Players of today live in their agents’ pockets - it’s a situation which really depresses me. It’s in his hands. It’s not in our hands. We wouldn’t have made the offer if we hadn’t had faith in him.” Paul Martin (Browns agent), advised him not to settle for less than €50,000 a week. “Wes knows this and the other players have told him. Wes has been with us since he was 12 but I don’t think that matters these days. Their agents live their lives for them and if you are happy to go along with that then you get the situation that you have got just now.”

“We have given him his offer. It’s amazing really, given that he has had such a good season and has had such a good run of games while Gary has been injured.

Carrick seemed enthused with the recent contracts. “Talks have been going on for a while now. Things have been falling into place for me here and it is nice to know the club reward you for that.” He joined United in 2006 for a transfer fee of €18.6 million; Carrick was previously playing with Tottenham who obtained him from West Ham for €2.75 million. “Once I heard United were involved in trying to sign me I wanted to come, simple as that. It’s a terrific club and I just wanted to come and improve my game, achieve things and win trophies. I felt I couldn’t turn it down. This is a football decision, a decision not driven by money.”

“He’s a very, very good passer of the ball,” said Ferguson. “The good thing is he’s been playing English football. He went into a West Ham team very young and most players who come through West Ham get a good education.”

Chelsea could be out of the title race as they recently tied Wigan 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. They needed the win to compete with Manchester United for the League Title. Chelsea should have been ahead in the 5th minute when Salomon Kalou crossed the ball to Nicolas Anelka, who headed the ball wide. Minutes later, Essien provided a great through ball to Anelka but Wigan’s keeper Chris Kirkland quickly picked it up. Wigan fired back in the 19th minute with a back heel pass from Palacios Valencia who shot near post; Cech proved that even with his handicap (he received 50 stitches due to a collision with Tal Ben-Haim during practice and wore a protective mask during the game, Cudicini was out with a hamstring injury) he could produce fine saves.

While Chelsea was unimpressive in their game play they still pressured Wigan consistently until in the 55th minute Cole crossed the ball to Anelka who neatly gave it to Essien who capitalized. Cole’s presence was felt the moment he came in at half-time replacing Malouda. Cole almost scored again minutes later but missed by a few inches on a fierce shot. Unfortunately for Chelsea, Emile Heskey volleyed the ball into Chelsea’s goal in the 90th minute leaving them no time for vengeance.

Avram Grant was optimist that multiple wins could give Chelsea the edge. “Pressure can affect anybody. It can take you forward in a positive way but also you can see that even big players under pressure cannot play like they used to. It can be any team, any player. If we win every game I think we will win the title. But it’s not easy to win all the games. I said a week ago I didn’t believe Man United and Arsenal would do it, it’s not easy. I can’t say we are the best in England but I don’t think there is a team stronger than us. I will not say we are the best in the world, even though we want to be, but I can say when we have all our players I don’t see a team stronger than us.”

“I have told the players it has been a very difficult year and I don’t know if other clubs could have done what we have with all the injuries to big players, with the African Cup of Nations and with all the problems we have had. The atmosphere is good and we come to the last stage of the season with a very good opportunity to do the best things - we don’t want to miss it. The players know it’s a big opportunity and if I may say so, we deserve it after what we had this year.”

With only 4 games left, Chelsea now has 75 points to Uniteds 80. Chelsea’s hopes now remain on the game they will play against United Saturday, April 26th. Hypothetically, if Chelsea won they could have 78 points to Uniteds 80; then Chelsea would have to hope that United would lose a game.

• Manchester United’s last 4 games include Chelsea, Blackburn, West Ham, and Wigan.

• Chelsea’s last 4 games include Everton, Manchester United (at Stamford Bridge), Newcastle, and Bolton

The Derby Rams proved they were the worst team in the EPL this season and deserve, no wait, need to be relegated. Derby was officially relegated from the EPL two weeks ago with only 1 win this entire season. Derby has 8 ties and 25 losses now to add to their incredible record. They played Aston Villa and managed to lose 6-0 and allow Stiliyan Petrov a 50 yard goal while at home.

Derby manager Paul Jewell probably things couldn’t get any worse than being relegated last in the EPL 2 months before the season ended. “We can’t lie down and die like we did today. It’s unacceptable, and as great as the supporters have been, they won’t accept that. As I’ve said before, there is no hiding place in this Premier League. We’re okay when things are not too bad, but when things are going against us, we don’t have enough leaders.”

Mathieu Flamini should be out for about three weeks with an ankle injury which he received during the Champions League match against Liverpool. Flamini was injured in the first half and replaced by Gilberto Silva.

Arsene Wenger described the injury and the situation Arsenal would be put in ahead of their game with Manchester United at Old Trafford this coming Sunday, “I believe Mathieu will be out for three weeks, manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday. It’s a big blow but Gilberto has a lot of quality and experience. He will come in. He can help the team recover and focus. Apart from that we don’t have any other injuries from Tuesday. We have a few bumps and bruises but nothing special. Robin van Persie is available. He had two good sessions yesterday and today. He looks to be OK and we’ll see how we go from here. But Bacary Sagna is out.”

He also said that Arsenal still had a distinct chance of winning the League; and if they did it would be one of his greatest victories. “It will be the greatest achievement of my career to win the Premier League now because we are swimming against the stream at the moment. For us the game on Sunday is the game of the season. If we do not win this game we have no chance. We will fight until the last second of the championship. It depends on what happens on Sunday. If we win then we can win the title and that’s what is important for us to focus on. What is at stake on Sunday is the work of a whole year. If we go there and don’t believe in ourselves then it is over. But do you really think that we will go to Manchester United thinking that our season is over? That would be ridiculous. We have worked extremely hard since the first day of the season against all the odds. We will fight until the last second of the championship, especially on Sunday. If we win on Sunday then realistically we can win the title.”

Sir Alex Ferguson provided his perspective. “Arsenal have had injuries. You can’t win games consistently without your best team. You just can’t do it, not at the level we’re at. You can’t get the best results without your best players. I think it is Arsenal’s injuries in the second half of the season that has made it difficult to rest players. It’s hard to recover from these things. If we beat them, it makes it difficult for them, no question. It’s difficult anyway because they’re six points behind us and three points behind Chelsea. With five games to go there’s not a lot of leeway and they can’t afford to drop anything really. But we have got to look at ourselves and make sure we keep motoring. Every game is a must-win now. We dropped two points last week and we need to win our games, it’s as simple as that.”

Manchester United will be playing Barcelona twice and Chelsea all within 7 days providing an interesting challenge for Ferguson.

In a thrilling semi-final, 2nd leg game, Liverpool once again showed their composure in European competitions. Liverpool had the initial advantage from last weeks game with Arsenal (1-1) where they earned an away goal. Also, Van Persie was unable to play as he had knee problems from last weeks game; Rafael Benitez surprisingly decided to start Peter Crouch (Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt also started). Arsenal started the game with lightning speed, beautifully constructed passes which threatened Liverpool’s defense. Arsenal’s Abou Diaby scored in the 13th minute with a hard near post shot.
Arsenal continued to dominate the midfield and the game until Gerrard took a corner in the 30th minute; Sami Hyypia lost Senderos, and headed the ball in at the top right of the goal leaving Almunia no chance. The goal seemed to give life back to the Anfield crowd. Crouch threatened to dominate Senderos in the air and Kuyt threatened the Arsenal defenders with his speed. Rafael Benitez’s plan to overwhelm the Arsenal defense with Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt and Crouch was working. Momentum shifted away from Arsenal even more when Mathieu Flamini left the field after an ankle injury.

It had been 1-1 for 38 minutes until Almunia kicked the ball long, the ball bounced over Crouch’s head and fell at Torres’ feet; with two Arsenal defenders on him and more nearby he turned and curled the ball around Almunia and into the top left netting (68th minute). Arsenal was getting desperate when Theo Walcott ran furiously across the entire field dribbling straight by 4 players. He dound himself on the right side of the penalty box with 3 Arsenal strikers in the box, he passed it right into the center and Adebayor neatly put it in (84th minute). 1 minute later Babel was running into the penalty box with a decent chance of scoring; Adebayor and Toure were right behind him, Adebayor jostled to get ahead and jumped behind Babels running feet. He barely touched Babel who lost balance and fell, a penalty was awarded which Gerrard put in. Arsenal, devastated by the penalty and seeming to care very little yet trying to press forward allowed Babel to score a goal in the 90th minute.

Arsenal fans will mourn after this one, Arsenal had the aggregate tied up at (3-3) until Babel fell in the penalty box in the 84th minute. The final aggregate was 5-3.
Rafael Benitez described playing at Anfield, “It is easy to say that you do not have any problems with big crowds in away games of this importance. But when you have to face our fans for 90 minutes on top of you then it is not easy for the majority of players. The difference is the Champions League, it’s knockout now and that is the difference.”

He also stated where he thought Liverpool’s weaknesses against Arsenal lay, “It is about small details. We have conceded twice from set pieces in the previous two games. That is a small thing to some but to us it is a big problem. But we have conceded too many crosses and set pieces. We have analyzed and know we must stop them at source. And we also feel that we should defend with greater intensity in such situations. It is not about zone marking - we need to be more aggressive in such situations. And I always try to support Reina and encourage him to try to go to attack the ball in the air. He is confident and knows he can do that. I have talked with him, and I feel he will be okay for this game.”

Tomas Rosicky, the Arsenal midfielder who has been suffering from knee injuries for the past 2 months is not expected to recover in time for the last few games of the league season. The Czech International may not be able to play in the European Cup either; Arsene Wenger described the situation, “It is impossible to say when he will return. It is a frustration for me and him as well. He’s a very genuine guy who wants to play. Tomas has an absolutely genuine attitude and is 100% committed, but he’s just not ready. I want him to be happy and play as quickly as possible and if it is for Arsenal it is even better.”

“Surprisingly, today is the first day where he could run at a little bit higher pace than usual without any pain. We will have to see his evolution. ‘It has been nine weeks now with no significant evolution in his injury.”