Posts Tagged ‘Goalkeeper’

Neville criticises stand-in United forwards

• ‘The play in the last third wasn’t decisive enough,’ says Neville
• ‘For our pride we want to finish top of the group’

Gary Neville has blamed Manchester United’s forwards for the club’s Champions League defeat against Besiktas, criticising the team for not taking their chances. The defender believes his side did not create enough opportunities to score, and failed to make use of those they did forge.

“We didn’t convert our chances, the goalkeeper made a few good saves, some of our decision-making was poor, the last pass often wasn’t good, some of the crossing wasn’t up to scratch,” he said. “The play in the last third wasn’t decisive enough and we didn’t take our chances.”

• Daniel Taylor’s match report from Old Trafford
• Paul Wilson: United’s kids still have plenty to prove
• Barney Ronay’s minute-by-minute report
• In pictures: The best images from last night’s games

Besiktas’s surprise 1-0 win came courtesy of a deflected Rodrigo Tello strike, but Neville believes United should have managed to carve out an equaliser.

“Usually we’d expect to score a goal in 96 minutes of football at Old Trafford but we didn’t do that,” he said. “In general, I thought we were good – [Federico] Macheda and [Danny] Welbeck did very well with their link-up play in the first half and we should have created more from that. We just didn’t do enough to score that goal.”

With qualification for the next round of the Champions League assured, Manchester United were hoping to secure top spot in their group. The defeat against Besiktas, though, has hampered their cause.

“We need to go to Wolfsburg and get a result,” Neville said of their tie on 8 December. “Is top spot important? It depends. You can finish second and get a favourable draw or you can finish top and get a disastrous draw – that’s what can happen in the Champions League, and this year the competition seems particularly topsy-turvy.

“I think it will be difficult whoever we get drawn against in the next round, but for our pride and the way we like to do things we want to finish top.”

Real Salt Lake beat LA Galaxy to win MLS Cup

Real Salt Lake 1-1 LA Galaxy (Real Salt Lake win 5-4 on penalties)

In the end, the MLS Cup ended up in the hands of Becks – just not the one everyone was expecting. Rather than LA Galaxy’s David Beckham, it was Real Salt Lake’s captain Kyle Beckerman who led his side to the championship after only a topsy-turvy penalty shoot-out could separate the two sides following a tense 1-1 draw. Real Salt Lake were the underdogs going into the season’s decisive match, but Robbie Russell’s nerveless penalty sealed the match in their favour and sparked wild celebrations.

For LA Galaxy, there was only a feeling of disappointment. Missed penalties by Jovan Kirovski, Landon Donovan and then Edson Buddle in sudden death made theirs a futile task. Real Salt Lake will toast their goalkeeper Nick Rimando for two saves from the spot, while Donovan, one of the most feared players in the American league, skied his effort miles over the bar. It conjured memories of Jaap Stam’s miss for Holland against Italy during Euro 2000.

Real Salt Lake have only been in existence for five years. Unlike LA Galaxy, who have two MLS Cups to their name, they have never been champions. They fully deserved their win, made all the more impressive by the manner in which they fought back in the second half after they had trailed to Mike Magee’s goal. After the break, they were the more purposeful side, fashioning several chances and generally ensuring their more fancied opponents had to rely on aimless counter-attacks.

• Beckham says Galaxy can be proud after defeat
• ‘Beckham could play in 2014 World Cup’
• Test your knowledge on the MLS in Monday’s quiz
• Look back at the story of the MLS season

Yet in the first half, it was they who lacked conviction and LA Galaxy merited their half-time lead. As in most finals, the match began in bitty style, both sides playing within themselves with sloppy errors the order of the day initially. Openings were few and far between, the best coming from the right foot of Beckham after 27 minutes, when his corner was met with a poke by Omar Gonzalez which drifted high and wide.

Despite the lack of quality on show however, the match was played at a decent pace, with both midfields leaving vast spaces for the other to exploit. As it was, LA Galaxy took advantage of this. They threatened when Magee pulled a shot wide, but led shortly after. Beckham and Donovan, the two classiest players on show, have not always seen eye to eye, but they put their differences aside to create the opener after 41 minutes. Fed by Beckham’s cute pass, Donovan had time and space to pick out Magee at the far post, and his finish was easy.

That ought to have been the cue for Bruce Arena’s side to turn the screw, but their start to the second half was slack. Real Salt Lake only just scraped into the play-offs and would surely have wilted under more concerted pressure. Instead they were immediately given encouragement when Robbie Findlay burst through and forced a good save from Donovan Ricketts. The LA Galaxy goalkeeper hurt his hand in the collision though, and he would not last much longer.

It seemed only a matter of time before Real Salt Lake equalised. All that was barring them was the inspired performance of Ricketts, who again had to save from Yura Movsisyan as the LA Galaxy defence became an irrelevance. Eventually, in the 63rd minute, the persistence of Findley and Movsisyan paid off, the two attackers bundling through. A goalmouth scramble ensued before the Movsisyan’s shot was deflected into Findley’s path. He couldn’t miss.

To compound LA Galaxy’s misery, in the melée, Ricketts hurt his hand again and had to be replaced by Josh Saunders. That swap was not fatal; Saunders performed well, and twice saved in the shoot-out, but the chaos was symptomatic of LA Galaxy’s often haphazard display. Equally wayward was Movsisyan’s finishing. He should have completed the turnaround when a lobbed pass sent him through, but composure eluded him and he blazed his volley over.

There was little let-up in extra time, with Real Salt Lake continuing to probe for an elusive winner. Findley, a real livewire, was their main threat, his pace a constant concern. First A.J. DeLaGarza produced a vital block on his shot. Then he had the net billowing with a strike at the near post. It fooled the crowd, but the ball had merely been directed into the side netting.

Such profligacy in front of goal might have come back to haunt Real Salt Lake, but in a shoot-out that no one looked like they wanted to win, it was they who had the final say. Beckham, who had taken a painkilling injection to play due to a bruised right ankle, faded as the match progressed and limped and grimaced his way through extra time. Russell’s decisive penalty will have done little to sooth the former England captain’s pain.

James adamant he will pass fitness test

• Portsmouth goalkeeper should be fine for March friendly
• ‘There is no knife-edge situation regarding my fitness’

David James says he will be fit for England’s World Cup campaign in South Africa next year, despite missing the friendly against Brazil on Saturday. Fabio Capello had warned that he would not consider the Portsmouth goalkeeper for the finals if he continued to be dogged by a knee problem.

However, James told the Guardian tonight: “I’m confident that I will be right for the World Cup. There is no ‘knife-edge’ situation regarding my fitness.”

James has been struggling with “irritation” of the knee following surgery on his posterior cruciate ligament at the end of last season. With Capello’s strict selection criteria emphasising full fitness as essential, there has been speculation over whether James has slipped down the pecking order, having missed the last England squad as well as the game against Belarus last month. But James is adamant that his knee will not prove a barrier to his England chances. “My knee won’t stop me being fit for 2010. I’ve got four months now before the next England game and I will be fit and available for selection.”

If picked for the next friendly, the 39-year-old would earn his 50th cap for England and be in a good position to boost his claim on the No1 spot in South Africa. He is England’s most experienced keeper and Capello would probably be reluctant to travel to South Africa without him.

James believes that is not an option. “It’s not a serious injury, it’s just a niggle that we’re managing. I know the England manager is concerned about training after games, he has a very strict policy and, if you can’t do his training before a game, he won’t pick you. That’s fair enough.”

He said the perception he is unable to train after games is not quite true. “I don’t miss any training sessions at Portsmouth. These days I’m in every Monday and Tuesday after a match on the weekend. For the last three years at Portsmouth I’ve just done gym work on a Monday.

“In the old days, under Harry Redknapp, he was happy for me to do my gym work at home because of the long commute to the training ground from Devon – and the team were only doing 45 minutes on the pitch anyway – Harry’s view was so long as I was performing in matches he was happy. These days I do come into training on a Monday but we still mostly do gym work so there is really very little difference.”

“I could do the England sessions but the priority for me had to be to rest and recovery. Having last week off was a good opportunity for me because I hadn’t had any time off – other than missing the Man City and England games back in August, my knee hasn’t prevented me from preparing for or playing in any of my Portsmouth games since.”

James believes that an over eagerness to return to training in pre-season has been the cause of his prolonged rehabilitation. “I wasn’t able to get it right in pre-season after rushing back to training too quickly following the operation. The doctors felt I recovered well from the surgery, I thought I was back to normal but in my first training session I was doing 60-yard kicks which I hadn’t done in months and it caused irritation.”

The keeper, who turns 40 next summer, says he would not risk either his own career, or the success of his country if he was not up to the job. “I wouldn’t risk jeopardising myself or England if I wasn’t right. This last week off has been a positive for me, and I’m looking forward to getting back on track now.”

Fans flock to memorial for Robert Enke

• Robert Enke, ‘an ideal role model’, remembered in tributes
• Around 45,000 attend service at the Niedersachsen Stadion

A crowd of around 45,000 have paid their respects to the goalkeeper Robert Enke at a memorial service at Hannover 96’s Niedersachsen Stadion.

Enke, who took his life last week, was remembered in the silence at the stadium he played in, celebrating the finest moments as a goalkeeper for Hannover.

“Enke will never come into this stadium again, in this place where he stole our hearts as a sportsman, as a lead figure and captain of our team,” said the club’s president Martin Kind in a moving tribute to a man who “only had friends”.

“Robert, you were the No1 in the real meaning of the word. That is why 50,000 people want to honour you, in your city, in your stadium. Enke was one of the outstanding personalities of German sport and the only consolation for me is that I had the fortune of working with him. It was a gift that Robert Enke was one of us, but sadly he was taken away far too early.”

A common theme expressed by those who spoke was that Enke’s death should serve as the catalyst to remove the stigma from depression, an illness that accounts for thousands of deaths each year. “You can all do so much when you are prepared to stand up against evil, to speak out against injustice, and when you are prepared to break a taboo in society,” said the German Football Association president Theo Zwanziger.

The mayor of Hanover, Stephan Weil, added: “Many young fans are suffering from the death of their biggest role model and Enke would love for you to maintain your love of sport while at the same time knowing that sport is not the most important thing in life. We all have fear, all of us. Not only did Enke have to fight with his own fear, he also had to fight the fear of the public finding out, and that hurts in particular. Whoever shows their fear is not weak, they are strong.”

Enke’s wife Teresa fought back tears during an emotional service that lasted an hour and ended after his coffin was carried out of the stadium by several of his former team-mates, with a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Tributes to Teresa, who lost her biological daughter Lara with a rare heart condition at the age two in 2006 and is left with Leila – the girl she and Robert adopted last May – received standing ovations from the congregation.

The Catholic priest Heinrich Plochge added: “Everything which has been said so positively about Enke is 100% honest. I don’t think anybody would not have wished him all the best. He was not only an idol, but an ideal, an ideal role model.”

Enke’s father reveals history of his son’s depression

• Keeper suffered from fear of failure throughout career
• ‘He was scared he would not be able to keep up’

The father of Robert Enke has spoken in depth about the depression that cost his son his life.

Enke took his own life last Tuesday after a six-year battle against depression and his father Dirk revealed that a fear of failure had haunted him from an early age.

Due to his ability, Robert was often required to play in teams with older players and Dirk Enke says his son struggled to cope. “There were always crises back then because he was scared that he would not be able to keep up with the older ones,” he said. “He did not have faith in himself. He was trapped within his own ambition.”

Dirk Enke is a sports psychologist, but he was unable to treat his son officially because of their relationship. He was, however, one of the few people who knew about the goalkeeper’s depression and, in an interview with the Spiegel magazine, gave an insight into what kind of problems had been plaguing his son.

“During the most critical phases, Robert would have fear of the ball being shot at his goal,” he explained. “He had attacks, he didn’t want to go to training, he couldn’t imagine standing in goal. He asked if I would be angry if he quit football and I told him: ‘Robert, that is not the most important thing, heaven forbid.’ “

Enke’s agent and close friend Jorg Neblung explained how the illness started to emerge in 2002.

“Robert’s illness was diagnosed, with the help of his father, as a depressive disturbance when it looked like he was not going to make it at Barcelona,” he told the Bild newspaper.

Enke was then sent out on loan to Tenerife, which Neblung admitted had done the goalkeeper good and, since then and following his return to Germany, he seemed to have put the worst of his illness behind him. That was until an injury in October 2008 prompted a relapse.

“The first disturbance came after he broke his jaw with the national team in October 2008,” explained Neblung. “Robert pulled himself out of that one and then got back to being Germany’s number one. He had a great first half of 2009, which makes it even more surprising that, eight weeks ago with the national team, he had another relapse.

“He had similar symptoms in the morning that he had in Barcelona; the fear of getting up, fear of failure, panic, and they all got stronger. We started therapy again then.”

A mystery illness ruled Enke out of Germany’s past four international matches as he struggled for six weeks to regain his fitness while at the same time battling, in secret, against depression. During the last two months, Enke came ever closer to being admitted to an institute for psychiatric care, but constantly refused to take that step out of fear of ruining his football career.

“He was always very close to taking this step, to be admitted, but then he would always say if I went into a psychiatric clinic, then that would be the end of football for me,” revealed his father. “That is the only thing I am good at and enjoy doing.”

Enke’s funeral will be held tomorrow with 45,000 mourners expected for a service at Hannover’s Niedersachsen Stadion, with a similar number expected to follow the events live on screens erected outside the stadium. The service will be screened live on Germany’s state-run television station ARD.