News is slowly starting to filter through today as players return to their clubs after the midweek internationals. Harry Redknapp has a few concerns ahead of Spurs’ trip to Newcastle, while Man City’s two Argentine forwards are proving problematic, though for entirely different reasons…
Roberto Mancini has spoken this morning on the fitness of his forwards ahead of the weekend game with Aston Villa. The Italian has confirmed Mario Balotelli has recovered from a back problem and while Sergio Aguero will be 100% for the midweek game with Villarreal, it’s unlikely he will be risked against Alex McLeish’s side.
After an internal investigation, City have officially announced Carlos Tevez has a case to answer for after breaching terms of his contract in the debacle at Bayern Munich a fortnight ago. Tevez is due to return to training today but is expected to be told to train with the reserves at the insistence of Roberto Mancini. The striker refutes Mancini’s claims that he refused to enter the fray at the Allianz Arena and is said to be demanding an apology from the Italian as the saga rolls on.
Matthew Etherington, subject of our recent Members post, is to receive injections on a back problem in order to be fit for Saturday’s home clash with Fulham.
Harry Redknapp has a number of injury concerns ahead of Spurs’ trip to Newcastle. Niko Krancjar and Vedran Corluka picked up knocks while playing for Croatia on Tuesday evening and will receive scans, while Sandro has a calf problem and is to be assessed. Redknapp also has issues with both Rafael Van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor. The Dutchman’s long-term hamstring problem reared its head in Holland’s 3-2 defeat in Sweden and Adebayor is also nursing a hamstring strain, picked up in the north London derby with Arsenal.Redknapp spoke of the latter’s problem yesterday:
He has got a bit of a hamstring. He played on with it last week. He did it in the first half against Arsenal and he played on, which is not easy. He did have a tear. It’s touch and go for him really. It’s a dangerous one. If he tears it badly, he has got a grade one tear if he makes a real mess of it and he could be out for six or seven weeks. It’s a difficult one to risk him, but we will see how he feels. We will give him a couple of days yet, keep treating him and hopefully he could be okay. If he is a doubt, I wouldn’t want to risk him. I wouldn’t want to lose him long term.
Adam Johnson has admitted he’s accepted life at Man City will be all about rotation. The winger made only his third start of the season in the game at Blackburn and opened the scoring in his side’s 4-0 romp but acknowledges there’s no guarantee of him cementing a slot in Roberto Mancini’s first XI on a regular basis:
We know more than ever before that this is a squad game and you have to accept that you can’t play in every game. We are aware that there are plenty of games coming up and we want to win every competition we’re in, so there will be a lot of chopping and changing as the season goes on. You just have to make sure that when you are selected, you give it your best shot.
Andrei Arshavin accepts his form for Arsenal has been well below-par. The Russian excelled for his country in midweek but a series of inconsistent displays has seen him appear only briefly as a sub in the Gunners last two games. Speaking to Arsenal Player, he admitted he’s been letting the fans down:
They should expect more from me, of course. They should expect some more tricks, goals and unbelievable passes. To be honest I am still expecting more from me as well. But believe me, I do everything I can do. I just have to give everything I can at the moment, just on the pitch. I want to score more goals and bring my team to the title.
Ahead of Everton’s trip to Chelsea, Phil Jagielka has also been more than a little self-critical. The Toffees are unbeaten in their last five trips to Stamford Bridge but arrive on the back of two straight defeats and the centre half admitted:
Am I happy with my form? No, not really. We’ve only kept one clean sheet so far. I’ve given away a couple of penalties, which is very frustrating, but I suppose that’s what happens if you’re a defender. I’d love to be standing here and saying, ‘Yes, I’m really, really happy’, but I analyse my own game and set pretty high standards. Hopefully in a month’s time we’ll have kept a few clean sheets and if you ask me the same question I’ll be a lot happier.
Sunderland assistant boss Eric Black has been praising the recent displays of Stephane Sessegnon and suggests a change in formation is helping to bring out the best in the Benin international. Despite excelling in pre-season, Sessegnon has been a major disappointment for the Black Cats so far and has picked up just one assist this season. Black reckons a move from 4-4-1-1 to a more conventional 4-4-2 should improve the player’s fortunes, with Sessegnon set for a place up front:
Stephane is a player of such quality that we started the season with a system designed around him. The 4-4-1-1 formation with Stephane playing behind the main striker should have brought the best out of him, but for whatever reason it hasn’t worked as we would have liked. After the Norwich game a few weeks ago, we realised we had to look at it again. For the West Brom game we looked to push him forward into a more orthodox position so that not everything had to go through him and he looked more comfortable and far more like his natural self in that role.
Sessegnon has lamented the loss of Nicklas Bendtner for this Sunday’s game at Arsenal. The Dane is unable to participate in the Emirates showdown due to the agreement of his loan deal and Sessegnon feels the pair have struck up a fine understanding up front for the Black Cats.
Despite suffering an ankle knock in France’s win over Albania last week, Yohan Cabaye has returned to Newcastle training injury-free. Demba Ba is also available for selection for Alan Pardew, having also recovered from an ankle problem. Hatem Ben Arfa has returned to full training but may have to be patient for a starting role, according to assistant boss John Carver, with Newcastle likely to keep faith in the players that have started the season with a seven-match unbeaten run:
He’s fine and he’s back. Obviously he will be a bit frustrated because he’s not playing but it is healthy competition. He understands that and he knows that if he wants to come into the team he has to do better than the guy who is in that position.
Neil Warnock has put Adel Taarabt’s Craven Cottage walkout behind him as QPR prepare for a crucial home clash with Blackburn. Having been subbed at half-time in the 6-0 defeat at Fulham, the Moroccan left the ground and was pictured at a bus stop as his side received a pasting, but Warnock is in a forgiving mood and accepts it’s simply part of Taarabt’s character:
I just think the lads here know what Adel is. I don’t think anybody else can be like that. Adel is Adel and we’ll accept what he is. Sometimes you don’t realise what you’ve got until you lose it and you should be careful what you wish for.
