Say What – Gameweek 29

We tilt our ears towards this week’s press conferences and hear Brendan Rodgers, Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini all discuss their attackers’ fitness levels. Louis Van Gaal backs Angel Di Maria to rediscover his touch, Gus Poyet praises the impact of his substitutes in helping Sunderland earn a point at Hull, whilst Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend are in high spirits after their midweek goal scoring displays.

Rodgers discusses Sturridge’s fitness…

Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Burnley this Gameweek marked only the second occasion in their last six matches that manager Brendan Rodgers has afforded Daniel Sturridge a starting role. In light of the 25-year-old’s persistent thigh injury that kept him sidelined for five months, Rodgers has been wary of bringing him back too fast but, prior to the Clarets match, revealed he was optimistic that his star striker should be up to speed over the next few days:

“Daniel is not fully fit yet and it is difficult for him because these are not training games for him to get fit. He’s excited by the new system. Put a fully fit Daniel Sturridge into that system and it lights it up again. Come the end of this week Daniel will be on a great run and able to play every game and be able to train. He wasn’t quite ready for the Premier League so then we were trying to fit him in in games. The Europa League was a great chance to get some game time into him, but after five months out and with his history here that was something we had to think of. The last thing we wanted to do was break him. He felt good on Sunday on the back of playing Thursday. He’s very determined to play and when you see a fully fit Daniel, he will be brilliant.

Rodgers on Henderson’s improvement….

The Reds boss also took time out to praise the recent displays of Jordan Henderson. The midfielder has bagged goals in back-to-back league outings and also supplied the pass for Sturridge’s strike in the 2-0 win over the Clarets and, according to his manager, is becoming increasingly influential for the Merseysiders:

“It was great – the strike for his goal and the feed into Daniel Sturridge for the second. He is up there with the top assist makers in the league, he has very good technique. He is developing well as a player, he still has work to go but he knows that. It’s great to see….As he matures even more tactically, he’ll become even better. He’s always had athleticism and tactically he’s improving all the time.”

Wenger pleased with Sanchez’ resilience….

Alexis Sanchez overcame his recent slump in form by scoring Arsenal’s second goal against Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday evening. The Chilean ended a seven-match goal drought in all competitions when he caught Robert Green out at his near post with a precise finish – crucially for Fantasy managers, his strike was the first time he’d found the net since Mesut Ozil recovered from injury. Arsene Wenger praised Sanchez for showing the mental fortitude to bounce back from an earlier spurned chance:

“It’s good because when you don’t score for seven or eight games it is on your mind, even if you don’t say so. He took his chance well, he’s tricky, had a short back lift and scored a good goal. He never gives up and that’s the strength of a good striker as well. He’s resilient and I don’t know what happened before because it looked like, for someone who was desperate to score, he could have taken the chance and he waited for somebody. After that, the fact that he could still score shows that he has the mental strength to respond.”

Wenger surprised with Ozil’s fitness levels….

Earlier today, the Arsenal manager also discussed the recent displays of Mesut Ozil. Since returning to action in Gameweek 23 against Villa, the German has covered more distance than any team-mate and played the full 90 minutes in all but one of the subsequent six fixtures. Whilst the likes of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck struggle to earn pitch time, Ozil has immediately nailed down a starting berth and his conditioning has been a factor in ensuring he rarely gets subbed off:

“I knew he had a good physical potential, but I did not know how good he was physically. He has a huge physical potential. We are all in a job where in every single game we have to prove a point. I believe he has the quality, he puts a lot of effort in to help the team and he works much harder than his style shows. You can be cheated a little bit by his style of play, because he is fluent, easy, subtle and he does not look like he puts the effort in, but he does.”

Benteke still haunted by Achilles surgery…

A converted spot-kick and assist against West Brom finally brought Christian Benteke’s goal drought to an end earlier this week. The Villa forward’s late penalty was his first league goal in 11 outings and only his third of a troubled campaign. However, the 24-year-old is confident it will be the catalyst for greater returns in the upcoming weeks, as he attributes his lack of impact up front down to a long-term spell on the sidelines:

“I don’t know why it hasn’t gone so well for me. I haven’t changed anything but people have to remember I had a bad injury and it has taken quite some time to get back from that. I was out for six months so I needed to get some games in to get back to my level. I’m not feeling any effects of the injury now. People have to remember that being injured was a bad time for me. I missed the World Cup. I wanted to show the world that I am a good player but that’s gone now so I have to move on. Hopefully I will be scoring quite a few more goals now.”

Pellegrini concerns over Bony and Toure fitness…

As part of the winning Ivory Coast squad at the African Cup of Nations, Wilfried Bony and Yaye Toure featured in six matches during a three-week period. Consequently, Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has been monitoring the pair’s fitness levels closely, only just handing Bony his first start in the Sky Blues’ midweek win over Leicester as Edin Dzeko dropped out despite scoring in each of his last two appearances. Pellegrini stressed the importance of the former Swansea striker clocking substantial minutes against Leicester City and suggested that the pair have yet to find their match sharpness since returning to these shores:

“It was important for [Bony] to start the game from the beginning. He only played a couple of minutes in the last few games and he only just arrived from the African Cup of Nations, where they played a lot of games. I think Yaya is also feeling the pace of the games. It would have been better for [Bony] to score, but it was more important to start a game, it was also important for him to have some chances and I think he worked very well.”

Martinez blames Toffees problems on schedule…

In the past two weeks, Everton – by virtue of their involvement in the Europa League – have competed in five matches. Two comprehensive victories against BSC Young Boys in the Round of 32 have been sullied by consecutive 2-0 league defeats to Arsenal and Stoke City, and a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester. Toffees boss Roberto Martinez bemoaned the busy schedule and the effect it has had on team energy levels, yet remained optimistic that a number of upcoming home matches would spark their recovery:

“We’ve played five games in two weeks and I’ve seen us give everything and nothing go in our favour. We didn’t show a cutting edge tonight. I did feel our performance showed a little bit of the tired legs that are normal with the number of games we’ve had in this period and now is the moment to be stronger than ever, to be together and have a good period now where we can recover the players and regenerate them and get ready for the next games.  We’ve got 10 games to go in the league and six of them at Goodison Park and we need to be strong together.

Poyet lauds impact of subs….

Prior to the 75th minute in Sunderland’s visit to Hull City, the Black Cats had only created five chances and fashioned an equal number of shots. Past that mark – following Gus Poyet’s three substitutions – the Wearsiders created a further four chances, ultimately leading to Jack Rodwell’s equaliser. The Uruguayan reckons that his earlier dismissal, which forced him to sit in the stands, helped shape his tactical tinkering – after throwing on Connor Wickham, Ricardo Alvarez and Patrick van Aanholt, he was rewarded when the Dutchman provided the assist for Rodwell’s leveler:

“We started the second half well and the substitutions changed the game. Being in the stands gave me the opportunity to see things from a different point of view and we made different decisions because of that. Ricky, Connor and Patrick all did extremely well when they came on.”

Van Gaal backs Di Maria to come good…

Having got off to a flyer in his debut Premier League season –  tallying three goals and assists in his first five outings – Angel Di Maria has struggled to influence matches in recent months. In fact, the £60 million man has been hauled off prematurely in his last two appearances after failing to make an impact. Nonetheless, Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal is unconcerned by Di Maria’s lack of form, suggesting that foreign players need at least a year to acclimatise to all facets of life in England:

“Every player can have that kind of match – Di Maria is not the only player who has suffered a bad day. He can be the best player in the world in the next match so I think everything is going well. He has trained very well and I don’t think there is any problem. I have already explained that the higher rhythm of the Premier League is one of the most important aspects. But he also has to adapt to a new culture, new environment and that is not always easy. It counts for all the players that we bought, the first season is always difficult. You can see it with every player we have bought. Shaw, Blind, Herrera and Falcao and Di Maria – so it is not a big surprise. It is more a surprise if you adapt quickly. When I was in German, Dutch and Spain I had the same experience with players. We need to give him and all the players time and wait and see. You have to manage so many aspects. Not just the game, but the culture. The general answer is one year.”

Ramsey looking for more support for Austin…

QPR striker Charlie Austin bagged his 15th goal of the season in the R’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. That thunderous strike now means that Austin’s efforts account for more than half of QPR’s total output (28) in the league this term. Hoops boss Chris Ramsey is keen to change that, insisting that they’ve become too dependent on the 25-year-old and need to start engineering chances for other players:

“We can’t keep relying on Charlie Austin. It is fantastic that he had a few shots, and he worked tirelessly for the team but we need to start creating opportunities for a few other people. Overall the performance was good and I am sick we could not at least get something out of the game.

Townsend on his growing self-belief…

Andros Townsend netted his first goal from open play this campaign in Tottenham’s 3-2 victory over Swansea City. The Spurs winger capitalised on a great advantage call from referee Michael Oliver, sprinting from inside his own half and outfoxing Neil Taylor before powering a right-footed strike past Lukasz Fabianski. Townsend has notched a handful of goals from the penalty spot in all competitions but insists that goals from open play generate the biggest confidence boost:

“I think down the years that’s kind of been my trademark goal and lately I’ve not really scored as many as I would like to, but I’m really pleased with my goal and hopefully I can get a few more. I’ve scored five goals from the penalty spot this season but I’m an attacking player and I need to be scoring from open play for the confidence boost. That’s given me a good confidence boost and hopefully I can go on a run now…I’ll play anywhere for this club. My preferred position is on the right where I can come inside or go down the line, but if the manager wants me to play on the left, that’s where I’ll play.”