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Posts Tagged ‘champions’

Kenny Dalglish’s five men in the middle of the park worked hard to snuff out the threat of City’s main threat, David Silva

Manchester City started brightly, with the Champions League defeat to Napoli last week a distant memory but Liverpool were powerful opponents, who slowly wrestled control with a thoroughly organised, hard‑running and skilful performance.

By smothering the passing opportunities for City’s midfielders, Liverpool’s five-man midfield gradually negated the visitors’ rhythm. Crucially they prevented David Silva from dictating the clever passing movements

• FA may drop investigation unless further evidence is found
• Liverpool may ask FA to act in face of ‘malicious allegation’

Luis Suárez increasingly looks like he will not face any charges from the Football Association unless Patrice Evra can produce witness statements to support his allegation that he was racially abused during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool last weekend.

The FA is planning to send a delegate to Manchester to interview Evra, possibly on Thursday, now that he is back in the country following the Champions League tie against Otelul Galati.

However, the case may rest on whether any of Evra’s team-mates can corroborate his accusation that Suárez repeatedly racially abused him. The Uruguayan has vehemently denied the allegation, with the support of his club, and the FA needs to determine whether it is simply one man’s word against another’s. If that is the case, there may be nowhere further for the investigation to go.

The FA can also study television pictures but it would be highly unusual if it were to bring in lip-readers, and the inquiry will instead focus initially on what precisely the Senegal-born Frenchman claims was said, and whether his allegations can be backed up.

Evra had claimed on French TV that it happened “at least 10 times”, but his case is undermined by the fact he did not bring the allegation to the attention of the referee, Andre Marriner, during the match.

The first Marriner knew of it was afterwards when Evra, accompanied by Sir Alex Ferguson, went to the referee’s room to ask him to include it in his match report. Marriner then told the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, who spoke to Suárez and established that the Uruguayan denied the allegation.

Liverpool’s belief is that if the case cannot be proved the FA should consider taking action against Evra on the grounds that it was a malicious allegation. This is unlikely to happen, however, unless there is categorical evidence that Suárez did not do what Evra claims.

A more likely outcome is that the case will be dropped if there are no other United players to support Evra’s story. If that is the case, the FA may not even interview Suárez, having already been made aware from the Liverpool end that the allegation is denied. The FA is particularly sensitive to the rivalry between the clubs and eager not to be seen to be making any rash judgments.

However, anti-racism campaign groups such as Kick It Out believe Evra should have approached the referee during the game. Kick It Out launched its three-week ‘One Game, One Community’ action programme last weekend, and the row between Evra and Suárez came on the same day that both players wore T-shirts to promote the campaign.

LiverpoolManchester UnitedDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

• The real big clubs would have done it already, Moyes said
• Everton manager says proposal will alienate Liverpool FC

David Moyes has dismissed Liverpool’s proposal to sell overseas broadcasting rights on an individual basis arguing that “the real big clubs” would have already pursued that option if it was viable.

Manchester United and Chelsea have distanced themselves from the Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre’s call for an end to collective bargaining. Now the Everton manager has questioned whether Liverpool, having failed to qualify for the Champions League for the past two seasons, are in a position to lead a break-up.

“My feeling is that it will never happen, because if it was going to happen the real big clubs would have done it,” the Everton manager said. “Why would Manchester United not have done it? They’ve not done it because it would never get through, it would never get passed and I think all it’s going to do is alienate Liverpool even further away from everyone else.

“Those sides who have been in the Champions League for the last three or four years would have done it long ago. I’m using Manchester United as an example; Manchester City are maybe slightly different because of their owner; Chelsea, maybe. Tottenham have been in there. They’ve done it and they’ve not had to try and get more money than anyone else. They’ve done it on the same money as everyone else.”

David MoyesEvertonLiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk