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Posts Tagged ‘stamford-bridge’

• Manchester United manager leaves decision to full-back
• United and Liverpool meet for first time since FA ban

Sir Alex Ferguson will recommend Patrice Evra does not ignore Luis Suaárez in the pre-match handshake when they come face to face for the first time since the Football Association found the Liverpool striker guilty of racially abusing the Manchester United player and banned him for eight matches.

Ferguson intends to leave the decision to Evra when the two teams meet at Old Trafford next weekend but believes the Frenchman should not prolong the argument. “He should be applauded for what he did [reporting Suárez], standing up to it,” Ferguson said. “There is no shame for him. The matter is over. He can rise above that [ignoring the handshake].”

Evra was booed and subjected to chants branding him a liar when he played at Anfield last weekend and one supporter was arrested afterwards for allegedly making monkey gestures. “Patrice handled it OK,” Ferguson continued. “I don’t think he enjoyed it but he handled it OK. Patrice has already shown the courage to fight it, so he has nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t think it’s a problem shaking hands.”

John Terry’s absence with a knee injury means Ferguson will not have to speak to Rio Ferdinand to ascertain whether he is planning to shun the Chelsea captain in the pre-match handshakes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Ferdinand had told friends he did not want to accept Terry’s hand but Ferguson planned to advise him to go through with it. He said: “Rio has been fighting the racism issue for years. I’ve seen that in all the time I’ve known the lad. But there is a moment when he maybe has to rise above that.”

United’s injury concerns are easing, with Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young, Nani and Tom Cleverley all in the squad, while David de Gea should return in goal after missing the midweek win over Stoke City. Anders Lindegaard has an ankle injury that will rule him out for up to six weeks, meaning Ferguson will persist with a 21-year-old who has looked worryingly vulnerable at times this season. “The boy has got a great talent,” Ferguson said of De Gea. “He has made two or three mistakes but in two or three years we won’t be discussing that at all because he will have matured.

“At the moment he has found it difficult coming into the English game. It is highlighted when you make a mistake at United. It can be exaggerated. But there are mistakes and he wants to address it himself. He will do, through maturity and the understanding of the English game. It is hard when you are replacing someone like Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel because they are probably two of the greatest goalkeepers in European football over the last 40 years.”

Ferguson was less charitable when it came to Alan Hansen’s recent criticisms of United on Match of the Day, once again turning on the former Liverpool player. “He has tried to change it by saying he was talking about our away form but I have read his transcript and he said we were woeful for the last year and a half. He didn’t mention away games. So he’s dug himself into a grave really.

“He’s in a responsible position and it’s obvious to me he has said it the week before we played Liverpool. I can understand it because he’s a former Liverpool player and Kenny [Dalglish] is his pal, so he’s maybe tried to jack it up a little bit but he should be more responsible.

“When you think about it, we’ve played in a European Cup final, the semi-final of the FA Cup and won the league by nine points, so we couldn’t have been that woeful. Jesus Christ! Maybe he’s not got very good grammar.”

Manchester UnitedLuis SuárezLiverpoolAlex FergusonDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk

• No decision whether midfielder will have surgery
• Alberto Aquilani cannot be recalled from Milan

Kenny Dalglish has ruled out a possible return to Liverpool for Alberto Aquilani and insisted there is no pressure to act in the January transfer window as a result of Lucas Leiva’s injury.

The Brazil international will miss the rest of the season having ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Tuesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea. Liverpool and Lucas are now considering whether last season’s player of the year should undergo surgery.

The injury comes at a terrible time for player and club, with the 24-year-old in outstanding form and Liverpool now required to maintain their recent momentum without their key defensive midfielder and their captain, Steven Gerrard, who faces several more weeks on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

Dalglish, however, is philosophical about Lucas’s injury and claims that, in Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Jonjo Shelvey, he has the squad to withstand such a loss. Liverpool also have the £20m Italy international Aquilani on loan at Milan for the season but, under the terms of the arrangement, there is no option for an emergency recall. “If you check the rules, you will see he is not in a position to come back,” said Dalglish.

As for signing a replacement for Lucas when the transfer window reopens, the Liverpool manager said: “We don’t need to make a decision about January at the beginning of December. We have a really strong squad and have to cater for suspensions, injuries, loss of form, fatigue, whatever. That’s why you have a strong squad.

“We’d much rather have Lucas fit and well but we don’t have that. It’s up to us to accommodate that and make sure that we can handle it. That’s one of the tests you get at a football club. Someone’s always going to be missing. We feel sorry for Lucas but not for ourselves.”

Dalglish had condemned the scheduling of Liverpool’s trip to Stamford Bridge in the weeks leading up to the game, prophetically claiming there was a risk of serious injury to players who had drawn 1-1 with Manchester City just 48 hours before. But he said: “It was innocuous. Lucas’s studs stuck in the ground and resulted in his knee going. I don’t think it was as a result of the two games coming quickly. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. He’s just unlucky.”

Dalglish again refused to put a timeframe on Gerrard’s return. “We are delighted with his progress but we don’t have any date for him to come back. It will be sooner rather than later, though,” he said.

LiverpoolKenny DalglishAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Midfielder carried off in Carling Cup win at Chelsea
• Liverpool recall Jonjo Shelvey from Blackpool as cover

Liverpool are anxiously awaiting the outcome of a scan on Lucas Leiva’s knee, amid concerns the influential midfielder could be out for the rest of the season.

The Brazil international was carried off on a stretcher minutes from the end of Liverpool’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea on Tuesday night, following a collision with Ryan Bertrand. His manager, Kenny Dalglish, refused to speculate on the extent of the injury after the 2-0 win, and the 24-year-old is not expected to have the scan until Thursday. However, Lucas, who remains on crutches, fears he has suffered serious damage to the knee and that he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. His season could be over if the scan confirms a ruptured cruciate ligament and a six-month recovery period.

Lucas’s form and reputation has been transformed at Liverpool in the past two seasons and his loss would be a major setback to Dalglish, as his side look to build on two impressive wins at Stamford Bridge in nine days plus the encouraging home performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Far from the maligned figure of Rafael Benítez’s final year in charge at Anfield, Lucas is now recognised as an invaluable member of the Liverpool team and has been virtually ever-present under Dalglish. With Steven Gerrard absent with an ankle problem, and not in line for an imminent return, plus Alberto Aquilani on loan at Milan, the possible long-term absence of Lucas would heighten responsibility on his fellow midfielders Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing to maintain Liverpool’s pursuit of Champions League qualification.

With numbers potentially light in central midfield, Liverpool have taken the precaution of recalling Jonjo Shelvey from his successful loan spell at Blackpool. The 19-year-old scored six goals in nine Championship appearances for Ian Holloway’s side, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 defeat of Leeds United, but has returned to Anfield as a consequence of Lucas’s injury.

The Blackpool manager said: “Obviously this is a setback to us as Jonjo has done ever so well in his short time with us. We knew that Liverpool had the recall option on him and it is only the unfortunate injury to Lucas that has prompted them to take this course of action.”

Holloway has not ruled out re-signing Shelvey on loan when the transfer window reopens. He added: “We will be in regular contact with Liverpool about trying to bring him back in January should Liverpool’s injuries clear up.”

LiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk