Carlos Tevez denies he refused to play for Man City last night, while Sir Alex Ferguson pans his back-four after shipping three goals at home to Basel. Andre Villas-Boas assures Frank Lampard he has a big part to play for Chelsea as Alex Song looks set to fill in at centre half for Arsenal this evening. Tim Cahill and Darren Bent give their respective managers a fitness boost by declaring themselves fit ahead of the weekend. Here’s some morning Scribbles, folks:
Carlos Tevez has already denied Roberto Mancini’s claims that he refused to play for Man City last night. The while situation, according to the Argentine, was nothing more than an apparent misunderstanding.
There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood. Going forward I am ready to play when required and to fulfil my obligations.
Despite both Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra playing in the back-four last night, a dire defensive performance from Man United saw Basel score three times at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson was far from happy. The United boss slammed his players after the game:
It is not a problem for us because of the quality we have in the forward positions guarantees us goals. I thought there was a carelessness about us throughout the game. It’s a wake-up call in many ways.
Andre Villas-Boas has claimed Frank Lampard’s career at Chelsea is far from over. While Lampard’s continued lack of game time under the new boss means he’s anything like the nailed-on starter of seasons gone by, Villas-Boas claims is for the benefit of the team
It’s about choices for the team. Nothing wrong with it — the fact that players are changing, out-in, how they will react to changed situations. We all see things as team objectives. Frank is an established, top-quality player and one of the most important at the club and will continue to be.
Tim Cahill has given David Moyes some good news ahead of Saturday’s derby with Liverpool. The Australian was taken off after a heavy challenge from Vincent Kompany in last week’s defeat at Man City but has nothing more than a heavily bruised shin and is expected to lead the line in the first Merseyside derby of the season.
Alex Song looks likely to step in as a centre half this evening against Olympiacos. Arsenal’s injury worries continued to rack up yesterday, with Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott and Gervinho ruled out of the Champions League clash. With every other centre-half in the Gunners first-team squad out injured, Emmanuel Frimpong will come into central midfield as Song moves into the back-four. With a trip to Spurs on Sunday, Arsene Wenger now has ten players sidelined through injury.
Darren Bent has confirmed he’s recovered from injury and has been passed fit to play in Saturday’s home match with Wigan. The Aston Villa forward missed last week’s game at QPR but has had a poor start to the season, scoring just once in his five appearances. Bent also stated that he’s Villa’s number one choice for spot-kicks, despite Barry Bannan converting in his Loftus Road absence.
Wolves are set to enter contract discussions with James McFadden. The Scotsman is a free agent after leaving Birmingham in the summer and Mick McCarthy has admitted a deal could be struck soon- the player is currently training at Molineux as he fights his way back from the cruciate ligament damage that has sidelined him for almost a year.
