New deals for United duo
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Manchester United are set to offer new contracts to Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
The veteran duo have become part of the furniture at Old Trafford over the years, having spent their entire careers to date with the Red Devils.
They are now set to be offered the opportunity to prolong their association with the club even further by penning fresh terms.
Giggs, the reigning PFA Player of the Year and latest member of the Premier League 100-goals club, will be rewarded for a number of performances which belie his years.
Scholes, who is also entering the twilight of his distinguished career, will also be awarded a new deal despite passing his 35th birthday.
Ferguson is convinced that the pair can still do a job at the highest level and is determined to tie them down for a further 12 months.
“Ryan will be offered a new contract for next season, which is an indication of what we think of him coming up to 37 next season, and Paul knows he will be offered one as well,” Ferguson said.
Both Giggs and Scholes have seen their first-team opportunities limited of late in an effort to save their ageing legs for the games that matter most.
Ferguson, though, continues to be amazed by the level of performance they put in and believes they are capable of going on for some time yet.
Humility
“Ryan is an example to young people,” said Ferguson.
“He has humility and he has never changed and I think he is having his best years now.
“He has retained that amazing quality in his game and also an enthusiasm to play.”
He added: “I spoke to Paul and he said he didn’t actually say he was thinking of his future.
“When you get to that age every player starts to think about what the future holds for him.
“But when you see Paul’s performances at West Ham and in Wolfsburg last week there is no reason to think he can’t do it again next year again.
“Maybe he thinks he should be playing every game. That’s fine, but I know that’s not fair.
“We want the quality. We want to see Scholes perform like he did on Tuesday and the best way of doing that is to gauge the games we know he is going to dominate.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: 12 Months, 35th Birthday, Alex Ferguson, Contracts, Humility, Legs, Manchester United, New Contract, New Deal, Old Trafford, Paul Scholes, Pfa Player Of The Year, Premier League, Red Devils, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson, Team Opportunities, Twilight, Veteran, West Ham
Rooney slept through draw
Wayne Rooney has revealed he did not find out the World Cup draw for next summer’s finals until five hours after it had been made.
The draw for South Africa was made on Friday evening, although the Manchester United ace had spent the afternoon travelling to London ahead of their match at West Ham.
Rooney, who is sure to spearhead England’s attack next summer, missed Fabio Capello’s men being paired with Algeria, Slovenia and the United States.
The 24-year-old was only looking to rest upon arriving in the capital, but nodded off at the crucial time and had to be informed of England’s opponents by friends later in the night.
Asleep
“I was asleep until 10pm,” explained Rooney.
“We got the train down to London and got to the hotel about 5pm.
“I lay down on my bed to watch television.
“I fell asleep and didn’t find out what the draw was until five hours later.”
Draw
When Rooney did eventually catch up on the news he, like most of the country, was happy England had avoided the big guns.
However, he is taking nothing for granted having seen the ever-improving USA topple Spain in last summer’s Confederations Cup.
“It was a good draw. I saw USA beat Spain in the Confederations Cup. That will be the difficult game,” he continued.
“I don’t know too much about Algeria but I’m sure the manager will have loads of information for us before the game.”
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Big Guns, Capello, Confederations Cup, Friday Evening, Wayne Rooney, West Ham
Ancelotti – Don’t panic
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has urged his side not to push the panic button after having their advantage at the top of the Premier League cut to just two points.
The Blues threw away the lead to lose 2-1 at Manchester City on Saturday evening as Emmanuel Adebayor cancelled out his early own goal and Carlo Tevez won the game with a free-kick.
Defeat at Eastlands ended Ancelotti’s side’s five-game winning run and allowed Manchester United, who hammered West Ham earlier in the day, to close the gap at the top.
But the Italian is not overly concerned, saying: “We don’t have any reason to be worried.
“We are doing well at the moment but today it was difficult because Manchester City played very well.
Disappointed
“But we are still top of the league and we have two more points than Manchester United so we do not need anything extra.”
Chelsea, who saw Frank Lampard fail to earn a 2-2 draw when his late penalty was saved, were clearly unhappy at what they felt was a handball by Micah Richards immediately before Adebayor’s equaliser.
“We were disappointed with the referee,” Ancelotti said. “I am surprised because I consider Howard Webb to be a fantastic referee but we felt it was a handball by Richards.
“I did feel we deserved to draw, but we lost.”
Ancelotti confirmed skipper John Terry – who limped off with a knee injury near the end and left Eastlands on crutches – will be fit for next weekend, although he will almost certainly miss Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League tie with Apoel Nicosia.
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Carlo Ancelotti, Crutches, Emmanuel, Free Kick, Handball, John Terry, Knee Injury, League Tie, Manchester City, Manchester United, Micah Richards, Nicosia, Panic Button, Premier League, Referee, Saturday Evening, Skipper, Tevez, Uefa Champions League, West Ham
Capello tells James to prove fitness to win World Cup place
• James’s knee problem hampering ability to train
• Back-up Ben Foster ‘disheartened’ by club situation
Fabio Capello’s concerns over who will be his first-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup have been further exposed after the England head coach admitted he would not consider David James, his regular No1, for the tournament if the veteran continues to be dogged by a knee problem.
James was not included in the squad for Saturday’s friendly against Brazil with the 39-year-old unable to train for at least two days after every first-team appearance for Portsmouth. Instead, Capello handed Ben Foster a fourth cap in Qatar and a chance to stake his own claim, though the Manchester United goalkeeper is only third choice at his club and admitted in the aftermath to being “disheartened” by his inability to make a real impression at Old Trafford.
The England coach’s instinct would be to select a fully fit James as first choice, with West Ham’s Robert Green challenging Foster as No2, though Capello will need to see evidence of improvement in the Portsmouth goalkeeper’s condition. “He has to be fit to be selected,” said Capello. “We spoke with him and he needs more time to be really fit. Every time he plays he cannot train for two days after a game.We thought it would be best for him to stay home and train rather than come to Qatar. If he is fit, he will be with us. Probably.”
However, the demands of tournament football – with a number of games played within a relatively short period of time – are already shaping Capello’s decision-making. Asked whether he would consider James if his knee, which was flushed out in the summer but swells up after matches, continues to hamper his ability to train, the Italian added: “No, no, we can’t. It has to be sorted out before then. I don’t know if he needs an operation but I do know he has some problems with his knee. If he is in the same situation in May, we will have to choose players who are all fit.”
While James struggles with his fitness, Foster has been displaced at Old Trafford by the return of Holland’s Edwin van der Sar from a wrist injury, with the Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak having squeezed the Englishman from the bench in recent weeks. “It’s very, very disheartening not even being on the bench,” said Foster. “It was a bit out of the blue to be picked [against Brazil], to be honest. I’m third choice for Manchester United and yet I’m playing for my country. It’s a weird one.
Ideally, I’d like to be playing for my club. That’s not happening, but the England boss is giving me a few chances I’m really grateful for that. It’s just difficult at United with Edwin. He’s one of the best keepers in the world. It’s as simple as that. You can’t go knocking on the manager’s door and say he’s not doing his job, because he is.”
Foster had enjoyed a spell in the United team while Van der Sar was injured but, having endured the odd mistake in the spotlight, has not featured in the Premier League since the 2-2 draw with Sunderland early in October. He was subsequently selected for England’s final qualifying fixture against Belarus, with Green suspended and James resting his knee but his only other appearance in the last six weeks had come in a Carling Cup tie at Barnsley.
The 26-year-old’s frustration at a bit-part role with his club has merely been heightened by the realisation that he will need to be playing regularly if he is to gain selection for South Africa. Even so, Foster appears reluctant at present to confront the prospect of seeking out a loan movefrom United in search of the first-team football he requires.
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Aftermath, Ben Foster, Club Situation, Disheartened, England Coach, Fabio Capello, First Choice, Head Coach, Instinct, Knee Problem, Manchester United Goalkeeper, No1, No2, Old Trafford, Portsmouth, Robert Green, Short Period, Third Choice, West Ham, World Cup Place
Tevez considers retiring after World Cup
• ‘When the team needed goals I couldn’t provide them’
• ‘I’m a bit tired of so much football, so much football’
Carlos Tevez says he may retire from football after the World Cup. Disappointment at losing his first-choice place for Argentina as well as exhaustion have led the Manchester City forward, currently 25, to consider his future in the game.
“My chance passed. I had my possibility and I couldn’t take advantage of it. When the team needed goals I couldn’t provide them,” Tevez said. “So it’s logical that other lads should be in front of me,” he added of players such as Gonzalo Higuain, now the coach Diego Maradona’s first choice as central striker.
Tevez, speaking in Madrid where Maradona’s team face Spain in a friendly tomorrow, said retirement had crossed his mind. “It’s complicated, there’s my family, the desire to return to Boca Juniors, but I think about it. It crosses my mind to hang up my boots if we win the World Cup, although I have a contract [with Manchester City] until 2014,” he said.
“I’m a bit tired of so much football, so much football. I want to enjoy my family a bit. I’m very keen to stop and get a bit of calm. I’ve already won a lot. Living for football has saturated me.”
Tevez has been voted South American footballer of the year three times in a row, winning the Libertadores Cup and the world club title with Boca in 2003, the Brazilian league title with Corinthians in 2005 and an Olympic gold medal with Argentina in 2004.
He helped West Ham avoid relegation in 2007 and Manchester United lift two Premier League titles and be crowned European and world club champions.
Tevez, who last month said he sometimes wanted to quit the national team, added that he got fed up with criticism of Maradona’s side as they struggled in the World Cup qualifiers. “We were criticised a lot, sometimes rightly so, but to have people say we didn’t play well because of the money or we don’t love the [Argentina] shirt, don’t sing the national anthem, there’s a lot of ill will,” Tevez said.
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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Boca Juniors, Carlos Tevez, Choice Place, Corinthians, Diego Maradona, Exhaustion, First Choice, Footballer, Lads, League Titles, Libertadores Cup, Manchester City, Manchester United, National Anthe, Olympic Gold Medal, Team Face, West Ham, World Club Champions, World Cup Disappointment, World Cup Qualifiers