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Posts Tagged ‘europa’

• ‘Fair play’ league offers Spurs alternative route into Europe
• But early qualification games would threaten pre-season tour

Harry Redknapp has an answer for anyone who fears that Tottenham Hotspur’s ambivalence towards the Europa League could give Birmingham City, who play at White Hart Lane on Sunday, a vital edge in the relegation battle. The answer is that Tottenham will be determined to win and secure fifth place because failure to do so risks sabotaging their plans for the summer and beyond.

Redknapp’s worry is that if Tottenham do not finish fifth they will end up in the Europa League anyway, and with a much more onerous schedule. That is because England has been awarded an additional place in the tournament due to English clubs’ good disciplinary record this season and the place will be assigned to the team that tops the Premier League ‘fair play’ table. Given that Chelsea occupy that spot and are already in the Champions League, the next best, either Tottenham or Fulham, will inherit the spot.

Whichever team qualifies by that route must begin their campaign in the first preliminary round, which kicks off in late June, a month before the campaign of the team that qualifies by finishing fifth. Erring against Birmingham could therefore disrupt Tottenham’s pre-season plans and jeopardise a tour to South Africa. “Our preparations for next season are all up in the air at the moment,” said Redknapp. “We don’t want to be in the fair play thing because we’d be back playing in June, so even our pre-season would get messed up. We’re off to South Africa in the summer and I don’t know what would happen with that.”

Redknapp also wants as much time as possible this summer to recruit players. His priority is at least one striker plus “one or two strong characters” with experience of the Premier League. Many Tottenham supporters would also like him to buy a new goalkeeper in light of Heurelho Gomes’s many costly errors this season but, publicly at least, the manager insists he retains full confidence in the Brazilian. “I think he’s made saves that he’s had no right to make, some incredible saves that only a keeper of his quality could make,” said Redknapp. “Sometimes things happen with goalkeepers. Look at the Schalke goalkeeper [Manuel Neuer], who everyone in the world is trying to buy – he made mistakes against Manchester United [in the Champions League semi-final second leg] that you would not have seen in lower league football. It happens to all ‘keepers.”

Rumours persist, nevertheless, that Redknapp has been looking for replacements and he was vague when asked about reported interest in Birmingham’s Ben Foster and Manchester City’s Shay Given. His reply to suggestions that he was keen on signing Brad Friedel, whose contract at Aston Villa expires in the summer, was intriguing. “He’s a very good keeper, but there are a few clubs in for him. Liverpool are in for him, West Brom too. It’s interesting. We’ll have to see where we go.”

Only Liverpool can deny Tottenham a place in the Europa League and their manager, Kenny Dalglish, is already focusing on improvements he can make to the team over the summer.

“I don’t think we need to reflect, I think we need to sit down and have conversations with people we trust both for their integrity and judgment in football,” he said. “We could sit and reflect but we know most of the answers now.”

Dalglish joked that signing a three-year-contract last week had not done him any favours in terms of results, having lost to Tottenham last Sunday.

And he said it was not evenmuch benefit in terms of helping the club move forward as plans had already been put in place for next season before his position was confirmed. “The planning was going on anyway, irrespective of who was coming in because you can’t leave it until the last minute,” he added.

“For training and some of the pre-season matches, planning had to be done. “If you’re sitting in this chair you’ve got to make the decision about what you want to do and when you want to train.But regarding players, there’s only one person who can decide that, and that’s the manager.

“That’s something we need to come to terms with and get our skates on with to make sure we get to the right players.”

Tottenham HotspurBirmingham CityPremier LeagueEuropa LeagueHarry RedknappLiverpoolKenny DalglishPaul Doyleguardian.co.uk

• A club like Liverpool must aim to win it, says Uruguayan
• ‘We’ve just been hoping Tottenham drop points’ for fifth spot

Luis Suárez is anxious to ensure Liverpool will not be exiled from continental competition for the first time in 12 years.

To avoid that fate, Kenny Dalglish’s team need to win their battle with Tottenham Hotspur for fifth place in the Premier League. The prize is Europa League involvement but Suárez has an answer for those Anfield regulars who believe the former Champions League winners are beneath what many regard as a distinctly second string contest.

Told that the Europa League was seen as unimportant in certain quarters, the Uruguay striker said: “For me it’s not. For me it’s important, it’s the sort of competition you want to play in. A club like Liverpool must aim to win it. We have to do everything to win as many competitions as we can,” said Suárez.

“The Europa League is our objective. When I came I wanted to help Liverpool get there. When the second half of the season started, it looked really difficult but we have kept winning games and we’ve just been hoping Tottenham drop points.”

Liverpool’s European ambitions almost certainly hinge on the outcome of their match with Spurs at Anfield on Sunday week. Dalglish’s side are in fifth place, level on points with Harry Redknapp’s team but having played a game more. “That is going to be a great game,” said Suárez. “That will be the most important game of our season if we want to dream about going to the Europa League.”

His sentiments were endorsed by Jamie Carragher. “It’s nice to have the Europa League to aim for,” said the veteran defender. “I know there’s a lot of talk about whether people want us to finish fifth or not but, for me, Liverpool is European football. That’s what the club is about and I’m desperate for us to get it. Tottenham will probably feel the same; it will be a great game against them now.”

Not that Carragher is naive about the prospect of another season spent as Channel Five’s Thursday night “stars”. “The problem of playing Thursday and then Sunday is that it doesn’t give players much time to recover,” he said.

“But it’s another trophy to go for. I’d have loved to have been in Dublin [for this year's final] in a couple of weeks; that would have been fantastic.”

He even believes participation in next season’s unwieldy pre-Christmas group stage could contain hidden benefits, particularly for more junior squad members. “I wouldn’t expect us to play our full team – especially in the group stages – but it’s great experience for young players to be involved in that kind of game,” said Carragher.

“Sometimes, if you are playing only League games, you don’t need to change the team too much, so you have 10 or 12 disappointed players. Having more games makes it easier to keep everyone happy.”

Liverpool has been an increasingly sunny place since Roy Hodgson stepped down, Dalglish returned and Suárez arrived on the English stage.

“The manager is always the main man and takes the most plaudits but Suárez has been outstanding,” said Carragher. “He has made a big difference to us. Maybe not as much as the manager but a big difference.”

LiverpoolJamie CarragherEuropa LeagueLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool manager surprised Braga defender escaped sanction
• Record signing Carroll unlikely to start in Europa return leg

The Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is surprised that Uefa has not taken retrospective action against the Braga defender Kaká for elbowing Andy Carroll last week.

The Reds’ record signing was caught full on the nose by the Brazilian late in the second half of their Europa League last-16 first-leg defeat in Portugal.

Dalglish was asked what impact the £35million striker had made on his European debut for the club he joined in January, having come on as a substitute.

“Regards Andy Carroll and impact, the biggest impact was what I was asked about after the game about him getting caught with the elbow from Kaká,” he told a press conference ahead of Thursday’s second leg at Anfield.

“That will probably be what Andy remembers from the game. I never saw it in the game but I’ve seen it since and if there is no retribution from Uefa it will be a real surprise for me.”

Carroll has made two substitute appearances since recovering from a thigh injury which has sidelined him since 28 December.

Liverpool need to win to progress and there is a clamour for Carroll to start at Anfield, but Dalglish said he was not sure whether that would happen.

“The fitter he gets the more tempting it will be but when that day comes I don’t know,” he added. “He is fit and well but what we do with him remains to be seen.

“Whether we will start with him or he comes on in the second half will be decided by how he does in training and what we think is best for us tomorrow night.”

Dalglish also said the captain Steven Gerrard had begun recovery work after a groin operation last week which is expected to keep him out for a month.

“Steven has had his operation and he feels good,” added the Scot. “He has started his rehabilitation already.”

Kenny DalglishLiverpoolAndy CarrollEuropa Leagueguardian.co.uk