Friday, April 21, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Arsenal on worst Premier League run under Wenger
Another difficult day for the Gunners at West Brom has been highlighted by a statistic that will certainly not have pleased their manager
Arsene Wenger’s future at Arsenal grew even more uncertain on Saturday as he watched his side slump to a 3-1 defeat against West Brom at the Hawthorns – meaning he is on his worst league run since taking charge in 1996.
Although Alexis Sanchez scored after 15 minutes for the visitors, they already trailed by a Craig Dawson goal. The centre-back would later add the hosts’ third after Hal Robson-Kanu found the target shortly after the restart.
It proved to be Arsenal’s sixth defeat in their last nine matches – a spell that has seen them fall off the top-four pace in the Premier League and crash out of the Champions League in an embarrassing manner against Bayern Munich.
Among this spell of wretched form, the Gunners’ only victories have come against non-league opponents Sutton United and Lincoln City in the FA Cup, as well as relegation-threatened Hull City in the Premier League.
Conte: Chelsea need 21 points to clinch Premier League title
The Blues beat Stoke to open up a 13-point lead at the Premier League summit on Saturday, and the coach wants seven wins before the season ends
Antonio Conte has set Chelsea a 21-point target to be sure of clinching the Premier League title.
After a 3-1 win over Swansea City last month, Conte said he thought 29 points were required in order for the Blues to guarantee the return of the top-flight trophy to Stamford Bridge.
A hard-fought 2-1 victory against Stoke City on Saturday, secured by Gary Cahill's 87th-minute strike, sent Chelsea 13 points clear at the summit.
Although their advantage could be cut on Sunday with Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool in action, the Italian has revised his goal for the final 10 matches.
"This win is important, honestly. We played two games away, West Ham and Stoke, and to win both games is very important in this part of the season," said Conte.
"There are 10 games to go. I like to think that now we need to take 21 points to be sure to win the league.
"But today it is important against a strong team and in a stadium with a great atmosphere."
Conte confirmed that Eden Hazard was left out of the matchday 18 after sustaining a calf injury during a training session.
"In the last training he felt a bit of a problem in his calf, for this reason I decided not to risk him. That is why he didn't play," the Italian said.
With 20 minutes remaining Conte replaced Victor Moses with Cesc Fabregas, switching formation from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1.
The Chelsea boss knew his side risked conceding as a result, but wanted to actively search out an important win in the title race.
He said: "This is not the first time [the system was changed mid-game]. This happened against Burnley.
"When you want to take more risks, to try to take three points and not only one, to try to change. For sure there is the great possibility to score the goal, but also to concede a goal.
"You must know this, but then I prefer to decide and risk to take three points. In other situations, I decide to keep the result."
'I know what I will do in my future' - Arsenal boss Wenger to make decision public very soon
Pressure on the Frenchman has increased after a 3-1 loss to West Brom and the long-serving manager says he knows what he is going to do
Under-fire Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he has made a decision on his future that he will announce soon.
Wenger was subjected to more vocal criticism from Arsenal supporters during Saturday's 3-1 defeat at West Brom, while a plane sporting a banner calling for him to stand down flew over The Hawthorns at kick-off.
In a bizarre spectacle, another light aircraft trailed a message of support for the 67-year-old but there were few other sources of encouragement as his side slipped to a fourth defeat in five Premier League outings.
West Brom defender Craig Dawson twice benefitted from abysmal set-piece defending either side of Hal Robson-Kanu punishing poor goalkeeping by David Ospina - on as a substitute for injured Arsenal number one Petr Cech.
Wenger is out of contract at the end of the season and, although he has attempted to play down speculation over his future in recent weeks, he told a post-match news conference his mind was made up.
"I know what I will do in my future. You will soon know, very soon," he said.
"We do not necessarily worry about that. We are in a unique bad patch that we have not had for 20 years and that is more important for my future."
Arsenal are now five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, who face Manchester City on Sunday, while Manchester United can go above them by beating Middlesbrough and a victory for Everton over lowly Hull City would bring them level with the Gunners on 50 points.
"We take all responsibility. It's obviously a big disappointment when you lose a game like that. We all have to take responsibility and prepare for our next games," Wenger said in an interview with Sky Sports.
"It's very worrying because we are not used to that [four defeats in five] and overall we have a hell of a task now to fight back.
"We need to regroup and of course focus on the games coming up because there are many big games.
"Everybody goes away now [for the international break] and we have to recover and prepare for our end of season.
"We focus on analysing where we are not good at the moment and correct what didn't work."
Friday, March 17, 2017
Quarter-final draw
The two Spanish giants have been given tough tests, while Leicester City face Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund take on Ligue 1 side Monaco
Reigning champions Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich while Barcelona have drawn Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final draw.
Leicester City, meanwhile, will face Atletico Madrid in a daunting tie for Craig Shakespeare's Premier League champions, while Borussia Dortmund will take on Manchester City's conquerors AS Monaco.
Real progressed to the quarter-finals by virtue of a straightforward aggregate victory over Napoli, but they will have their work cut out against the German giants, who thumped Arsenal 10-2 on aggregate, winning each game 5-1.
Barca may feel that this is their year after a quite staggering victory over PSG; the Catalan club recovered from a 4-0 defeat in the first leg, prior to their amazing 6-1 win at Camp Nou.
Juventus, meanwhile, beat FC Porto 3-0 on aggregate to progress, while Leicester defeated Sevilla over two legs in one of the most historic victories in the Foxes' history.
Juventus and Barcelona faced off in the 2015 Champions League final, with Barca running out comfortable 3-1 winners, but former winger Pavel Nedved believes Juve have improved since then.
"It's a fascinating challenge, against one of the most famous clubs in the world," he told Sky Sport Italia. "It's really beautiful but we must now look to the past but the present, knowing that they are strong. The best team will win.
"In my opinion, we have definitely grown (since 2015 final). I believe that maybe this game is coming at the right moment for us. We have to respect Barcleona but not too much because that leads to fear and that's not good. I believe that our team is at the same level as Barcelona.
"Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala wanted Barca, but Dani Alves wanted to avoid them. We can be content because to be here as the only Italian team in the Champions League quarter finals makes me proud. But I would prefer if there were others. Italy needs that."
Atletico, though, present a quite different threat, as they look to again reach the Champions League final. Diego SImeone's men reached the showpiece game in both 2014 and 2016, and defeated Bayer Leverkusen to reach this stage.
Monaco produced a stunning result to beat Manchester City, winning 3-1 at home after falling to a 5-3 away defeat, meaning they progressed on away goals at the expense of Pep Guardiola's side, and they will face a free-scoring Dortmund.
Following a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in the first leg, Thomas Tuchel's men won 4-0 at home to seal their progression, and they will hope to outwit the Principality-based outfit.
'He wanted to go to Marseille' - Kante favoured France stay over Premier League move
The midfielder may be chasing down back-to-back titles at Chelsea, but Alexandre Raineau claims a switch to Leicester City was not his first choice
N’Golo Kante was prepared to snub interest from Leicester City and head to Marseille in the summer of 2015, according to former Caen team-mate Alexandre Raineau.
The 25-year-old is currently chasing down back-to-back Premier League titles, but his career path could have been markedly different.
Kante was a relative unknown outside of his homeland when Claudio Ranieri moved to bring him to England.
With Leicester looking for added steel in the middle of the park, a £5.6 million deal was put in place for a man who would help to guide them to a remarkable top-flight crown.
A year on from that agreement and Kante was off to Chelsea for £30m, having become a full international with France and graced a home European Championship.
He was, however, hoping to link up with Marseille and remain in Ligue 1 when interest in his services first started to mount - with those dreams dashed when Leicester put more money on the table.
Raineau told SFR Sport 1’s show Le Vestiaire: "He wanted to go to Marseille, but the club did not make the same financial proposal as Leicester, so Caen said no.
“He wanted to stay in France.”
Kante may have preferred to avoid English football prior to his arrival, but he is now revelling on a Premier League stage.
On the back of his inspirational efforts at Leicester, he has made a further 31 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season to keep them in contention for a league and FA Cup double.
He was also recently named Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards.
