Our regular rinse through the soundbites and post-match press conferences is rolled out again this afternoon. This week, Robin Van Persie voices his frustrations, Brendan Rodgers talks tactics, Manuel Pellegrini reassures his misfiring frontline and Felix Magath tips a differential midfielder. We also hear from Steve Bruce, Wilfried Bony, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce on the goal scorers within their ranks:
Robin Van Persie laid his frustrations bare in an in interview with Dutch tv last night. Speaking in the aftermath of United’s dismal Champions League defeat at the hands of Olympiacos, the forward reckons a lack of understanding between his team-mates is proving detrimental to his goal prospects in David Moyes’ first season at the helm:
“Our fellow players are sometimes occupying the spaces I want to play in. And when I see that it makes it difficult for me to come to those spaces as well. So that forces me to adjust my runs, based on the position of my fellow players. And unfortunately, they’re often playing in my zones. I think that’s a shame.”
Robin Van Persie criticises some of his team-mates after United manage a single shot on target against Olympiacos
Another thrilling win for Liverpool raised questions over Brendan Rodgers’ defence last weekend. The Reds error prone backline have leaked five goals in two games against relegation threatened sides, but their manager remained adamant that the attacking philosophy is here to stay. Great news for all attackers involved in games with Liverpool:
“I always worry about playing good football; I’m not one that is totally satisfied with just grinding out results. It’s the point of the season where it is about winning, that’s what professional sport is about at this level – winning games. Especially when you’re up there challenging. I will always concentrate on performance because I ultimately think that the consequence of performing well consistently is good results. This season, we have showed that… I’m not overly happy with our defending today, to be honest. It’s not coaching; some of the things that we have conceded goals in, you can’t coach that…The balance in our training is very much equal in relation to our pressing, our defensive mentality and also our offensive side. Today our offensive side was very, very good. It’s got us the points.”
Brendan Rogers on Liverpool’s attacking philosophy.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger quickly praised Olivier Giroud following his Gameweek 27 joint high-scoring performance in a 4-1 win against Sunderland. Giroud had been central to some negative headlines and Wenger’s decision to drop him for the inexperienced Yaya Sanogo against Bayern Munich in the Champions League faced heavy criticism, but with two goals and an assist on his return, Giroud vindicated his manager’s decision to afford him a brief rest:
“I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals. One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well.”
Arsene Wenger discussing Olivier Giroud’s return to first-team action.
A shocking miss from Eden Dzeko in Manchester City’s narrow 1-0 win over Stoke at the Etihad seemed to sum up the Citizens drastic change in fortunes in front of goal but Manuel Pellegrini remained relaxed over his striker’s form. With Alvaro Negredo struggling to reach full fitness, Stevan Jovetic struggling with yet another injury and Dzeko fluffing his lines, City have managed a single strike in their last three league games – Yaya Toure’s winner against the Potters:
“I think it is normal during the season for strikers to lose their scoring touch. But I trust in all of them so I am sure they will recover their normal performances. I think that every player can have a bad day. Maybe he [Dzeko] was nervous, but I have complete trust in him. Negredo is coming through an injury so things happen sometimes in a match.”
Manuel Pellegrini on his forwards’ lack of form and fitness.
New Fulham manager, Felix Magath reintroduced Ashkan Dejagah to the first team ahead of his side’s away draw at West Brom and was rewarded with the Iran international’s second goal of the season. Magath indicated afterwards that Dejagah, who won the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg under his new manager in 2009, was a player that he felt he could rely on given their previous successes, perhaps earmarking him as a key figure in his plans for the struggling side. Dejagah comes in at just £5.1m in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and is owned by little more than 1,000 managers in the entire game – with fixtures against six relegation rivals in the final 10 Gameweeks, he’s staking a claim as a cheap fifth midfielder:
“I know him very well so I trust him. I know what he can do so I was not surprised at his goal today. It was good for him. He is a very good player, he can score and he can make very good crosses.”
Felix Magath recalls earlier working relationship with Ashkan Dejagah.
Hull’s 4-0 hammering of Cardiff City had Steve Bruce purring over the form of his January signings Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic. Hull had previously been struggling to find the net but after just five league games together, Long sits on two goals and an assist, while Jelavic notched his second and third strikes against the Bluebirds to highlight their flourishing strike partnership:
“I didn’t think we played particularly well in the first half. I thought we gave the ball away too cheaply, but what’s got us the win is the little bit of quality we’ve invested in up the top end of the pitch. When you’re not playing particularly well and you’ve got two like we’ve got, you’re a threat. That, for me, was the big difference in the whole game – that ability to score a goal and with these two in the team; we’ve all of a sudden got it.”
Hull City manager Steve Bruce on his deadly duo, Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic.
Nobody could begrudge Sam Allardyce for revelling in Kevin Nolan’s recent form. The midfielder had been subject to heavy criticism following his indiscipline earlier in the season, but with another match-winning display, Nolan has gone some way to repaying his manager’s faith. After the Hammers won for the fourth match in a row, Big Sam heaped praise on his captain:
“I can believe the turnaround because I know Kevin’s qualities. What I like about it is that he has gone about his job and made sure he repays everybody at the club for what happened. It was the lowest point of his career, I think, because it was not just one sending off but two in a short period of time. The contribution now is massive and it is not just the goals, but the pass he made for the first goal – a top quality pass at this level, which split open a very resilient Southampton defence. Long may it continue.”
Sam Allardyce celebrates a remarkable turnaround in prestige from Kevin Nolan.
Wilfried Bony set his sights on scoring more goals for the Swans after notching his 18th and 19th of the season in Swansea’s narrow defeat at Liverpool. The Ivorian is now one goal shy of his earlier target of 20 with 11 games to play and, with six goals in his last eight, is in strong form ahead of a run-in that sees Swansea face just three of the top seven sides in their final 11 games:
“I missed the pre-season, and that is an important part of your season, but I’ve caught up throughout the season and I feel really good now. I’m linking up really well with my team-mates and I think we now have a good understanding. I’ve got 19 goals now and that’s a good amount, but there are a lot of games to come, so I’ll have to set a new goal target. But the most important thing is the team and winning games, not my goals.”
Swansea striker Wilfried Bony’s personal goals and focus on team results.
After subbing off Oscar at the break against Everton last weekend, Jose Mourinho has hinted that the youngster’s lack of game time and form is down to fitness issues. The Blue boss also reckons the British weather is affecting his playmaker’s recent lack of impact, with just a single goal in the last 15 Gameweeks highlighting his slump:
“Maybe in the last couple of matches he was not the same, because in the beginning of the season he was the best player in the team. He was the player that was really making the difference in the first three, four months of competition. In this moment he’s not being a match-winner, he’s not scoring goals, but he’s not playing bad. Not real problems. The talent is there all the time, but the physical top condition to express the quality he has is not always there. We have to take care of him. He’s a young boy. He’s not a natural physically strong man, suffers with the accumulation of matches, suffers with the difficult weather we had.”
Jose Mourinho discusses Oscar’s lack of form
Charlie Adam has hailed the impact of Mark Hughes on his recent goal scoring displays. Shifted to a deep-lying role in front of the back-four, the Scot has notched three times in the last seven league games to arrive on Fantasy radars ahead of a kind run of fixtures for the Potters:
“The manager has given me a freedom to play my game, which I appreciate. He has let me do what I am good at. He has helped me in terms of what I should and shouldn’t be doing on the pitch. I have respected every manager I have played under but if you can’t learn from someone like Mark Hughes, it is going to be hard for you.”
Charlie Adam praises Mark Hughes’ tactical approach
