Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Tottenham's manager was a 'little bit immature', says Sam Allardyce
Rodgers' transfer policy in question
Hodgson more wary of World Cup venues than opposition
Martínez: Everton must be positive
Manchester City's Samir Nasri warns team to 'mind the gap' with Arsenal
Hodgson unapologetic over Sturridge
England's 2014 World Cup base offers Atlantic, Adele and unlimited golf
Meulensteen expects transfer budget
A-League tactics: Heart’s failure in defence costing them dearly
The Joy of Six: Australia v New Zealand
Rene Meulensteen remembered at Brondby, but not for the right reasons
Everton manager Roberto Martínez looks ahead to Premier League clash with Manchester United – video
Branislav Ivanovic thinks it's Chelsea's best chance of the title since 2010
Cristiano Ronaldo says he is ready to return for Real Madrid after injury
New managers face tall orders after cull of Jol, Coyle, Jones, Flitcroft | Louise Taylor
Would the Bundesliga really be better off without Bayern and Dortmund? | Raphael Honigstein
Newcastle United's Alan Pardew prepares for Swansea match – video
The Fiver | Call of Duty precursor Bugaboo (The Flea)
World Cup 2014 draw: England more concerned with venues than opposition
Barcelona's first league defeat raises deeper issues of football and philosophy | Sid Lowe
Tottenham's André Villas-Boas acted 'immaturely' says Sam Allardyce
Milan cheered by Adriano Galliani's U-turn and a much-needed Serie A win | Paolo Bandini
Football Weekly: Liverpool mauled by Hull City's tigers
The best goals of the weekend
Saido Berahino signs contract extension to stay at West Bromwich Albion

Tottenham's manager was a 'little bit immature', says Sam Allardyce

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 03:02 PM PST

• West Ham manager weighs into André Villas-Boas debate
• Spurs players happier after 2-2 draw with champions

André Villas-Boas has been accused by Sam Allardyce of showing "immaturity" in his reaction to coverage of his difficulties at Tottenham Hotspur but the Spurs defender Kyle Walker believes that the club have turned a corner after their calamitous defeat at Manchester City.

Villas-Boas has suffered under the scrutiny and after Sunday's 2-2 draw with Manchester United he lashed out at some of the critics who he believes have a personal agenda against him. He also took aim at Lord Sugar, the former Spurs chairman, who has criticised him for his tactics.

The Portuguese has not been slow to give vent to his emotions over the past two months or so but Allardyce, his West Ham United counterpart, suggested that Villas-Boas might have been wise to keep quiet.

"You have to use the criticism as a motivational drive to show these people that they are wrong," Allardyce said. "You've got to take it on the chin. You and your players have got to do your talking on the field. I think he's just showed a little bit of immaturity. It can get under your skin but you can't let that happen because you're not going to win."

Walker and some of his team-mates had spoken of the trauma that they suffered in the 6-0 defeat at City on the Sunday before last, with Mousa Dembélé calling what happened a "scandal" and Sandro adding that it made for "the worst week I have had in my career".

But after Thursday's Europa League win at Tromso Tottenham restored a little pride with a positive performance in the 2-2 home draw against Manchester United on Sunday.

Villas-Boas needed a good result, with the Spurs board questioning whether he remains the right manager to guide the club to Champions League football, and he now hopes that the display against United can spark an upturn in fortunes. After four Premier League matches without a win the team travel to an under-new-management Fulham on Wednesday and Sunderland on Saturday.

"I didn't sleep much that night [after City]," Walker said. "As a defender … that's six goals you've conceded after not conceding many throughout the season. I looked around the [team bus] and I thought with the players we have got I would take a 1-0 or 2-0 but not a 6-0.

"Everyone had to have a word with themselves and I think we proved something against United. Was City a wake-up call? Probably. It has come at the right time. Hopefully it kick-starts us and we go to where we want to be."

Walker added that he took heart from Tottenham's recovery from a poor run in November of last season, when they lost three consecutive league matches, and he maintained that the club's summer signings, who have struggled to varying degrees, would show their class.

"They are international players, top-quality players," Walker said. "They are proven, obviously not in the Premier League, but they will prove it in the Premier League. In training they are on fire. Obviously it just doesn't work on a match-day and that is why we have to dig deep, every single one of us."

Dembélé, a former midfielder at Craven Cottage, said: "I like Fulham very much so I hope they do well but I want us to beat them.

"Last weekend was a scandal. We had to man-up [against United] and I think we did. It was not only embarrassing for the manager but for us as well [at City]. People were laughing at us after that performance. It is our profession and we showed that it can't happen again."

David Hytner

Rodgers' transfer policy in question

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

Sunday's dismal display suggests the club's transfer policy has not maximised the prospect of a top-four finish this term

Brendan Rodgers accepted full responsibility for Liverpool's dire performance at Hull City when he reappeared on Monday. "If there's anyone to blame, blame me," he said of the "painful" 3-1 defeat. The delicate issue of responsibility for the strength of Liverpool's squad, however, saw Rodgers at his diplomatic best. With good reason.

The Liverpool manager invited scrutiny at the KC Stadium by claiming his squad could not cope with the loss of two key players in Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho. Given what a side with Champions League aspirations had just served up against Hull, who had scored only four league goals at home to their name before kick-off, it was impossible to disagree. It was also difficult to accept.

Liverpool signed eight players in the summer, two on loan, for almost £50m but only one – the goalkeeper Simon Mignolet – has truly established himself in the first team. The rest may have improved the depth of the squad, a task Rodgers and the owner, Fenway Sports Group, agreed on for the summer, and may yet enhance Liverpool's future.

Overall results in 2013 and a consistent place in the top four this season demonstrate that FSG's strategy of acquiring young potential and the occasional gem such as Coutinho has its merits. The intended path towards a Champions League return has been clear since Rodgers arrived and a transfer "committee" was set up but Sunday's display, and the manager's analysis, suggest the transfer policy has not maximised the prospect of a top-four finish this term.

Rodgers wanted not only depth this summer but proven first-team talent, a request he recently repeated in advance of the January transfer window. The cost of being outside the European elite hit home as Henrikh Mkhitaryan chose Borussia Dortmund over Anfield, Diego Costa secured a better contract from Atlético Madrid and another top target, Willian, opted for the periphery at Chelsea.

Then, having pursued attacking quality all summer, the club spent around £24m on two more central defenders, £18m Mamadou Sakho – the "marquee signing", according to the managing director, Ian Ayre – and £7m Tiago Ilori, having secured Kolo Touré on a free. Ilori has yet to appear for the first team and, when Rodgers dropped Daniel Agger at Hull, he preferred Touré and to switch Martin Skrtel's position instead of a straight swap for the expensive France international.

Another £13m was spent on Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto, more potential and not an obvious improvement on players they effectively replaced in the Liverpool squad, Fabio Borini and Suso. Clearly successes such as Coutinho and Sturridge are difficult to land without the attraction of Champions League football and two creative losses are bound to impact on the performance level. But Liverpool's approach appears scattergun in comparison with, say, Southampton's £36m spend on three players who instantly improved the spine of their first team – Victor Wanyama, Pablo Osvaldo and Dejan Lovren.

"It was about the players who were affordable and available," said Rodgers on Monday. "We tried to get a host of players in and get the types who could improve us. At the same time we knew we had some who were going and had to replace the likes of Jonjo Shelvey, so we needed to bring in ones who would give us cover. We all recognise we wanted to get in one or two more starters, which didn't materialise. A lot of work went into it. What is the case is we are not in a position to spend money for the sake of it. We are trying to build for the future with a sense of the present, which is to strengthen where we can. You can only do that if you can bring in players who will enhance the team, or you just stockpile players."

As for Sunday's comment on the strength of Liverpool's squad, the manager elaborated: "The thing for me is trying to maximise the players we have got. It's more about putting it in context when you compare squads, not on money spent. For example look at Chelsea, and it's hard to agree on what is their A team and their B team, probably with Man City too. The point was made in terms of our expectations, which are the same as those clubs, but we don't have that type of depth. There's no hiding from the fact we spent money to get players in and now they will be getting the chance to perform."

Transfer strategy cannot solely be blamed for Sunday's performance when talents such as Victor Moses and Raheem Sterling wasted their opportunities to impress. But Rodgers' selections, and the contrast between the type of player he wanted to buy and received, suggest a marked difference of opinion with others on Liverpool's transfer "committee".

"Listen, I am privileged to be here and I know the conditions that I have to work in," he said on that subject. "We know where we are at as a club. We are trying to grow something here and develop it. We are not going to be in a position to improve it all ways straight away. But there is no frustration. I am privileged to work here. The only frustration comes after performances and results like against Hull. I will work within the constraints of the club and do the job the best that I can."

Andy Hunter

Hodgson more wary of World Cup venues than opposition

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• England could find themselves playing in 99% humidity
• Manager flies to Brazil for Friday's draw

Roy Hodgson flies out to Brazil on Tuesday for the World Cup draw, admitting he is dreading the possibility of his England team being asked to play in the stifling conditions of Manaus in the Amazon rainforest.

The conditions in the city, where the humidity in June can reach 99%, are so extreme Hodgson says it is more of a concern for him than if England are drawn against Argentina, Brazil or any of the other tournament favourites.

Average daily temperatures in Manaus are around 26.5C, with the pitch-side heat in the Arena Amazônia liable to be much higher, and it would mean a 5,600-mile round trip from the team's base in Rio. "The venues worry me more than the opponents," Hodgson said. "I think there's definitely going to be climatic conditions which will be problematic for [all the] teams but not least the northern European sides.

"The tropical nature of Manaus is the problem. I'm not an expert on the venue but I'm just mouthing what everybody has been saying to me. Manaus is the place ideally to avoid and Porto Alegre is the place ideally to get. Manaus will be a difficult venue for everyone, including the Argentinians, Chileans and Colombians, but for northern European players it will be a little bit harder. You have a better chance if you get one of the venues where the climate is kinder."

Hodgson has previous experience of trying to combat sweltering conditions when he led Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup in the USA and they had to play their final group game in a Californian heatwave, losing 2-0 to Colombia.

"Our first games were difficult enough in Detroit because it was the indoor arena and that was tough but that game in Palo Alto was particularly hard because we kicked off at 11.30am and the sun was right above our heads. It was something like 40-41C and I've got to say our players struggled more than the Colombians. Everyone found it hard but we really did struggle. So you can't deny that problem [in Manaus] but whatever happens it won't be an excuse."

Hodgson will stop off in Rio with the FA's chairman, Greg Dyke, and general secretary, Alex Horne, before the draw, which takes place in Costa do Sauípe on Friday, to visit England's team hotel, the Royal Tulip in front of São Conrado beach in Rio, after abandoning their original base on Copacabana beach because of Fifa's plans to hold a fan-zone directly opposite.

"It's tricky but it's all to do with Fifa," Hodgson said. "We didn't have choices to speak of. We were shown two hotels and the local organising committee tells us: 'Which one do you want?' A lot of the good hotels in Rio are already taken up by Fifa, so there's not much more we can do."

Hodgson intends to give his players a week off at the end of the Premier League season, from 11 May, and has discussed the idea of a training camp somewhere warm in Europe before England's farewell game at Wembley on 28 May. That would be followed by a 10-day trip to the United States, featuring a game in Boston or New York and another in Miami. However, their schedule is complicated by the possibility of English teams reaching the Europa League final on 14 May or the Champions League final 10 days later.

"We are thinking about Florida simply because acclimatisation is going to be a major factor," Hodgson said. "It doesn't matter where we play – Porto Alegre or Manaus – it will be hot, so there is no point going up into the mountains where the air is fresh and clear. That might be more pleasant but it's not going to prepare us."

England will be unseeded in the draw but Hodgson said he had not spent too long looking at the possible opponents. "All the discussion about the different teams and their strengths is based on speculation … but we don't know. We don't know how good Argentina are. We would all think 'Blimey, Argentina are strong', but we don't know that. They might be no stronger than Chile. We will hope for our best but it is like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates. We will open it up, see what we get."

Daniel Taylor

Martínez: Everton must be positive

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Martínez bullish as team face reunion with David Moyes
• Everton also due at Arsenal on Sunday

Roberto Martínez has told Everton to break their "damage-limitation" mentality in the Premier League's toughest away fixtures as they prepare for Wednesday's reunion with David Moyes at Manchester United.

Everton have not won at Old Trafford since 1992 and that dreadful record also continued at Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool under Moyes, who did not win one of 46 away league matches against those four clubs during his 11 years as manager. The Scot's perceived negativity in those fixtures gained substance in the summer when he admitted heading to United with Everton thinking: "You want to get out of Old Trafford alive, that was our saying."

Martínez's only league defeat as Everton manager so far was at Manchester City in October. And he believes Everton have to overcome a mental issue, rather than a technical one, to qualify for the Champions League at the expense of wealthier rivals. "This week will have a huge bearing on our season," said the Everton manager, who follows the United game with a visit to Arsenal on Sunday. "It would be very easy for me to play it down but we are going to go to Old Trafford and the Emirates. They are games that we are not expected to win but, clearly, if we want to achieve something special, we need to be able to break the mentality of going to the big grounds and getting some wins.

"Over the last 10 years we have not beaten Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool at their grounds and we need to address that. We need to make sure we are ourselves. We need to know how we are going to play and who we are. We are excited about going to Old Trafford."

Martínez believes Everton's players will not be burdened on Wednesday by their record and has called on his team to show bravery against the reigning Premier League champions. He added: "We need to be realistic. There are six clubs with six incredible budgets and we need to be different in the way we play. Unless you experiment with that on the pitch you will never be able to beat teams with bigger budgets.

"If you are going to be brave and try to win games rather than just being in a position where you want to keep a clean sheet and get through in damage-limitation situations, then you need to be flexible as a player and as a team and play in different ways in the modern game. That is the attitude we have had from the beginning. We have had one defeat in 13 [league games].

"It is the next test and the next challenge is can we go to the big places like the Old Trafford, the Emirates, Anfield and Stamford Bridge and get wins? That is not going to happen overnight. Probably on Wednesday will be the first step towards achieving that."

Moyes' transformation of Everton from serial relegation candidates to regular European competitors was reflected in the rousing send-off he received from supporters at Goodison Park following his decision to take the United job. That relationship, however, was strained over the summer by Moyes' protracted transfer pursuit of Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines. A joint £28m bid for the players was described as "insulting and derisory" by Everton, although it was arguably Moyes' claim that he would not have stood in the players' way had he still been Everton manager that caused the greater aggravation.

Asked what reception he expected Moyes to receive from Evertonians on Wednesday, Martínez replied: "It is impossible for me to comment. As an Evertonian, when you are a supporter of this magnificent football club you are allowed to make your own assessments and have your own views. As a manager taking over from what David Moyes did at this football club I can only praise his role, what he has done and the state of the club when he left.

"I also think it's fair that every Evertonian should have their own view and opinion about how things did develop. If you are asking me, then it's only praise for what David Moyes did for Everton. To have such a long servant, who always had the good decision for Everton at heart, should not be forgotten."

Andy Hunter

Manchester City's Samir Nasri warns team to 'mind the gap' with Arsenal

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• 'We have to improve and mind the gap with Arsenal'
• Nasri says City must take their home form to away matches

Samir Nasri has warned that Manchester City have to "mind the gap" to Arsenal, who lead Manuel Pellegrini's team by six points with the sides due to meet at the Etihad Stadium a week on Saturday.

Nasri, who scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 home win over Swansea City, knows that City's away form has let them down this season and that they need to win at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening and at Southampton on Saturday to give them the best chance of overhauling Arsenal.

"We have to recover now [following Swansea] and be ready against West Brom, we have to improve our form away from home," the Frenchman said. "We have to improve and mind the gap with Arsenal before we play them here. Now we have two games away – we have to show the same mentality and desire that we have here. We are a good team but we have to prove it away from home."

Yaya Touré echoed Nasri's view regarding the need to claim all three points away from the Etihad, with City having lost four and won only once in six attempts on the road. "We need to start from somewhere to get the win," said the midfielder. "We have two away games, West Brom and then Southampton, which will be quite a hard game. It's a big test for us because we need to change this run, and try to be at the top. These couple of weeks we have shown how strong we are at home, but in this Premier League you have to do the business away as well.

"We have to stay close to the big rivals. Arsenal and Chelsea are doing well and they win away as well as home, that's the difference. I hope the team can do well against West Brom and Southampton and I think it's going to be fine."

Touré, who created Nasri's first goal after Alvaro Negredo had opened the scoring, praised the playmaker's impressive start to the season. He said: "This year we have Samir doing very well. I think we have missed David Silva [who is injured] a bit as well, but Samir is unbelievable, an incredible player. He made a fantastic impact against Swansea and scored two fantastic goals."

Touré believes that Pellegrini's differing approach to his predecessor, Roberto Mancini, has helped Nasri to perform better, the 26-year-old now having scored four times for the club. "This year we play more attacking, the focus of the team is on attack. The team play very well together and Samir has his freedom. When you look at him playing before at Arsenal, he has this same freedom now. Pellegrini allows players like him to attack and enjoy this freedom and it's fantastic for him and the club," the Ivorian said.

"When he signed for City [in summer 2011], the first year was quite difficult for him. You have to understand tactically that first year was quite hard, because he is such an offensive player and when you tell players like that to defend, it affects them, it's not easy. But this year he is doing everything, he's been amazing."

Last week Nasri spoke of how he has matured. Touré agrees. "He's quiet, he's calm and an interesting guy. When you get close to him, you love him because he's such a fantastic guy, always smiling. He's a nice guy, I love him, and I always enjoy playing alongside him," the 30-year-old said.

Jamie Jackson

Hodgson unapologetic over Sturridge

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:29 PM PST

• Manager wanted to test striker's resolve in Germany match
• Liverpool were upset over his condition on return to Anfield

Roy Hodgson has said he has no reason to apologise for gambling with Daniel Sturridge's fitness for England, claiming he had not been unfair on the player and was entitled to "test his resolve a little bit".

Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, has criticised Sturridge for playing in the friendly against Germany on 19 November and then returning to Anfield in a condition that meant the striker was left out of his club's starting line-up for the Merseyside derby the following weekend.

Sturridge, who played for the whole 90 minutes against Germany, admitted having a thigh problem in the build-up to the 1-0 defeat at Wembley but Hodgson said he had no regrets making him play the full match.

"The good thing for me was that he did get out there. Daniel has pulled out of a few matches with us for injury reasons. He has been unlucky. It was important for me, if you like, to test his resolve a little bit.

"I suppose you could argue we did put his resolve to the test. I might have been guilty of that but I don't apologise for it. I am delighted he did get out there, even though he maybe didn't feel 100%, because that means in the future I will know I can trust him in an England team and he is not going to be playing when he feels like it – he is going to be playing when he's fit."

Sturridge is now facing a possible two months on the sidelines after damaging his ankle during a training session with Liverpool last Friday. "They are better [off] getting injured now," Hodgson said of his own priorities, looking ahead to the World Cup next summer.

"The thing is, we played him because medical opinion told us [he could play]. There was nothing on the scans and I believe the [latest] injury was nothing to do with the injury he was complaining about.

"We wanted him out there and I think he wanted to play as well, so it was important. Daniel has burst on to the scene. We think he will be an interesting player but I don't have many months ahead to sort that out. Had he pulled out and taken no part, there would have been one more game [before Hodgson names his provisional World Cup squad] and that would have been a bit strong."

Hodgson, speaking at a Just Play event at Larkspur Rovers in Northolt to announce the renewal of the Football Association's partnership with Mars, was asked whether he had any concerns about Jermain Defoe's proposed move to Major League Soccer with Toronto.

"I would like to think it won't be quite as simple as saying: 'While you are in America you have no chance,' But on the other hand I am not prepared to go down the other route and say: 'If you go and play your football in America, you are still guaranteed a place on the plane.' I just have to keep my powder dry and choose the best squad when it is time to announce it."

The FA and Mars aim to offer one million Just Play opportunities over the next four years – search Just Play or visit www.facebook.com/marsbar

Daniel Taylor

England's 2014 World Cup base offers Atlantic, Adele and unlimited golf

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST

When Roy Hodgson arrives in Brazil for the draw he will also find refurbished hotel rooms, traffic tailbacks and a training pitch that needs some work

When Roy Hodgson flies into Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday night to make the final checks on the hotel where it is expected his charges will stay in the summer, he might make a mental note to have a quiet word with the waiters in the Aquarela Burguer joint.

Tucked away on the ground floor and apparently a favourite with players from Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, it stays open until 1am every night and offers a choice of four hot dogs and six burgers, including the 300g "mega burger". Nothing on the menu looks like a refuelling option likely to go down well with the nutritionists who will arrive as part of a now familiar Club England army that will surround the players in a meticulously planned cocoon for the duration of the tournament.

Of more serious concern will be the huge tailbacks that occur each morning and evening as hooting cars pack the tunnel and the winding mountain road that are the only arteries connecting the Urca military base in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain, where England plan to train, with the Royal Tulip hotel in the Barra district.

The Football Association staff, who arrived on Sunday to continue negotiations with the hotel, are confident the provision of police outriders and lighter holiday traffic in June will result in a journey of 20 to 30 minutes. On a muggy, misty December morning it took more like 50 minutes as traffic crawled along the coast road past joggers, cyclists and Cariocas playing football and volleyball on the beach.

But despite unfavourable headlines, given its proximity to an open sewer and Rio's largest favela, Rocinha, first impressions suggest Hodgson will be satisfied with the base identified by the FA. Following Friday's draw, an FA party will return to Rio to finalise negotiations. The guest-relations manager Tina Lopes, who shows off the function rooms that will be transformed into games rooms, recovery rooms and gyms to cater for every whim of Hodgson's players, is at pains to point out that England's booking has not yet been confirmed by Match, Fifa's hotel partner.

But she insists negative online reviews, already gleefully unearthed by the British media, date from before 2010, when the current owners took over and began a £6.5m refurbishment programme. One unhappy TripAdvisor reviewer labelled it "a good hotel for the Soviet Union in the 70s", while others said it was "dirty" and "appalling". A recent front-page report in the Sun pictured tatty furniture and dodgy light fittings. An incident in 2010, when rival gangs clashed on the road outside, resulting in hostages, injuries and one fatality was, Lopes insisted, a one-off.

But the refurbished rooms on the floors that should house England are perfectly respectable. The lounge, belting out Adele on repeat, presumably in preparation for the arrival of the English, has also been refurbished, while the pool and communal areas are bland but smart enough. From one side of the hotel, England players will get an impressive view across São Conrado beach to the Atlantic and of the adjoining Gavea 18-hole golf course, considered the second best in Rio and presumably a popular leisure option for the players. A nearby upmarket mall will offer home comforts.

Even Rocinha, well known for its colourful houses clinging to the hillside above Rio but also violent gun battles that have become less frequent in recent years following a police clampdown, will provide a handy base for the inevitable photo opportunity at the clutch of sports-development projects based there.

Those billeted on the other side of the building will look out at the intriguing, if bizarre, sight of a huge deserted, cylindrical former hotel in a typically bold Oscar Niemeyer design. Common sense suggests England would take over the top three floors, where the best rooms are situated and where security could be easily arranged. There is a single presidential suite, currently being refurbished, for Hodgson and the FA chairman Greg Dyke to scrap over at a rack rate of £689 per night.

Previous guests include the Guns 'N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, compared to whom Lopes seemed to suggest a squad of footballers would be a piece of cake.

One of the things that appealed to the FA about the Royal Tulip, once it discovered that the initial first-choice in the heart of the Copacabana strip was right outside Fifa's main fan-zone, was the hope it would provide the desired middle ground between privacy and stimulation.

The trigger for a change in approach was the deadening and depressing Rustenburg experience in 2010, when Fabio Capello's squad were sent to the brink of madness by the boredom of their isolated environs. The contrast with the relaxed Holland squad – spotted wandering around upmarket Sandton in flip-flops with their wives as they made their way to the final – was instructive. The FA defended the arrangement at the time but soon afterwards the then chairman David Bernstein resolved they would be "good tourists" in future.

As Hodgson has observed more than once, for all that a World Cup is supposed to be a career pinnacle, going on tour for six weeks away from family and a comforting club routine is a jarring experience for many players. While things were not too much better on the pitch at Euro 2012, the choice of Krakow as a base – in a city centre hotel entirely occupied by the FA – at least allowed the players to experience something of the countries hosting the tournament and they seemed happier as a result.

The difference in Brazil will be the huge distances involved, with the crazy decision not to host the group stages in geographical clusters leading to logistical and planning nightmares.

At least the England players should have no difficulty feeling inspired by their training pitch at a military base, Forte São João, at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain. The area marks the spot where the first Portuguese settlement in Rio was founded in 1565, with a single entrance to the camp controlled by armed guards.

Bar a few seconds for those with keen eyesight ascending to the tourist spot in a cable-car, it offers seclusion and a stunning setting overlooking the Atlantic. As we wandered on to the pitch, a navy ship passed through the bay.

The pitch, flanked by two (but not three) stone lions and surrounded by a running track and an army assault course, needs work. There is also some renovation ongoing on the buildings that surround it.

But just as scare stories about England's accommodation have become as traditional as eve-of-tournament injury panics, so have concerns about the training pitch.

History suggests an advance party of experienced FA groundsmen will ensure it is the envy of others by the time of the tournament. Whether the same will be able to be said of the team itself remains a very-much-more-open question.

Owen Gibson

Meulensteen expects transfer budget

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 01:12 PM PST

• Meulensteen tells club owner, Shahid Khan, 'we must invest'
• Dutchman spoke at length to Martin Jol after he was sacked

Rene Meulensteen expects to be granted funding by the Fulham owner, Shahid Khan, in January to try to avoid relegation as the Dutchman sets about making a success of his first managerial role in English football.

Meulensteen, who was initially recruited as head coach last month, was given sole responsibility for the first-team following the departure of his compatriot, Martin Jol. Meulensteen , has spoken at length with the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and has made no secret of his desire to recruit to bolster a side who have suffered five successive league defeats to drop below the cut-off.

There is an acceptance within the hierarchy at Craven Cottage that additions will have to be made to fire the team's survival attempt, with the implications of relegation to the Championship all too obvious. Jol had operated within a relatively tight budget over the tail-end of Mohamed al-Fayed's stewardship before Khan's takeover last summer, and his net spend over his two-and-a-half-year spell, a period encompassing five transfer windows, had been only around £4m.

While Bryan Ruiz had cost £10.6m from FC Twente, and Dimitar Berbatov had been recruited from Manchester United, Jol's outlay in the summer was limited to the arrival of Sascha Riether, Scott Parker and Elsad Zverotic on permanent deals, while Adel Taarabt and Darren Bent joined on loan.

"Everyone needs to realise we must invest," Meulensteen, 49, told the BBC. "We need to look how we can strengthen this squad to ensure Fulham stay in the Premier League."

The Dutchman, who had spoken at length on the telephone with the departing Jol after the axe fell, oversaw the first-team's training session at Motspur Park on Monday ahead of the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to Craven on Wednesday having already re-jigged his technical staff following his promotion. Jonathan Hill, a former academy youth coach at Manchester United, has been appointed first-team coach.

Hill has since enjoyed a period as technical director with the Jordanian Football Association, overseeing youth teams from under-8s to under-20s, before recent spells at Manchester City and Tromso. Kit Symons, formerly the under-21s development team manager, will also be assisting Meulensteen with the senior coaching alongside his duties with the second-string. Billy McKinlay, Michael Lindeman and the former manager's brother, Cornelis Jol, have all departed the club as part of the shake-up.

Meulensteen will be challenged in his new role regardless of the level of funding he receives in January given his relative lack of managerial experience at the top level, with his appointment greeted with skepticism in some quarters.

"The way they are playing at the moment, they are looking in real trouble," said the former Fulham captain, Danny Murphy, speaking on talkSPORT. "I just hope he has the capability because it doesn't matter how good a coach you are: when you have to manage players it is a different ball game.

"There are plenty of candidates out there with more experience than him, so I'm not sure. He will have learnt a lot from Sir Alex Ferguson, how can you not? But you are talking about dealing with different players. You're not talking about training with some of the best players in Europe day in, day out. You're talking about trying to motivate players that aren't playing so well. It's a different job."

The division's bottom club, Crystal Palace, have confirmed that their captain, Mile Jedinak, has signed a new contract with the club that will extend the Australia international's stay at Selhurst Park to 2017. The new Palace manager, Tony Pulis, had been keen to recruit the 29-year-old midfielder for Stoke City last season having impressed in an FA Cup third round tie between the clubs, but will now work with Australia's player of the year for the foreseeable future in south London.

Dominic Fifield

A-League tactics: Heart’s failure in defence costing them dearly

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 12:53 PM PST

Where Melbourne Heart need to tighten up if they are to relieve the pressure on manager John Aloisi

Kate Cohen

The Joy of Six: Australia v New Zealand

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 12:50 PM PST

From the Chappell brothers' 'act of true cowardice' to John Eales's last-gasp penalty conversion, our selection of the best Trans-Tasman sporting encounters

Paul Connolly

Rene Meulensteen remembered at Brondby, but not for the right reasons

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 12:31 PM PST

Fulham's new manager caused confusion at the Danish club when he told his players to imagine themselves as animals before a Uefa Cup game against Eintracht Frankfurt

The Brondby dressing room, Frankfurt Stadion, 14 September 2006. Rene Meulensteen is about to deliver an intriguing team-talk before a Uefa Cup first-leg match against Eintracht Frankfurt.

To the captain, Per Nielsen, he says: "OK, Per, what animal are you today?"

Nielsen: "Erm, a snake."

Meulensteen: "No. Snakes are slow."

Nielsen: "Then a tiger."

Meulensteen: "Good. Tigers are brave, fast and strong. That is what we need from a captain."

Soren Sorgenfri Frederiksen, the co-author of 4 Per Nielsen – Brondby for evigt? (Brondby for ever?), takes up the story at the point at which foxes, giraffes, a whole zoo have been nominated.

"When Rene has asked all 11 players, he says: 'OK we have pretty good cover – we have tigers, lions: we are clever, we have muscle, we are strong, and so on. We cannot lose today,'" Frederiksen adds. "Then Rene left the dressing room and all the players sat there looking at each other and started laughing, saying: 'Shit. What the hell is this guy all about?" And then they went out and lost 4-0 and got two red cards."

A fly on the wall would be intrigued to see how Dimitar Berbatov, Brede Hangeland, Damian Duff, Steve Sidwell, Aaron Hughes, Adel Taarabt, Darren Bent and company may respond if asked to inhabit their alter egos to take on Tottenham.

Meulensteen had signed a three-year contract at Brondby but left after half a season when he abruptly rejoined Manchester United to become assistant manager in January 2007.

The Dutchman had to leave to care for his ill wife, though he subsequently revealed to a newspaper in his homeland the "disease of Brondby" that was, he claimed, because of the domination of a clique of senior players headed by Nielsen and which also included Marcus Lantz, Thomas Rytter and Thomas Rasmussen.

André Villas-Boas, the manager in the opposing dugout on Wednesday discovered that his attempt to ease the influence of senior players at Chelsea damaged his own status.

The failed power-grab may show up a naivety and inexperience, and Meulensteen was considered a failure in Denmark when he departed a club who had been champions only two seasons before under Michael Laudrup. Yet his assessment that Brondby were a "sick patient" came to be viewed by some as a prescient diagnosis.

A view formed that Per Bjerrergaard, the director who announced his son, Anders, as director of football at the same press conference as Meulensteen's unveiling, was an all-powerful figure who refused the manager's demand to remove Nielsen, Lantz, Rytter and Rasmussen despite asking for his proposals on how to revamp Brondby. Anders Bjerrergaard did not respond to calls from the Guardian on Monday.

If the Fulham fan wants further clues regarding how Meulensteen may fare in the attempt to save the club from relegation, a glance at his CV shows vast experience at junior level or as an assistant but little at the sharp end of football.

There were three seasons as head of NEC Nijmegen's youth set-up in the Netherlands from 1990 to 1993, before he took charge of the Qatar Under-18s for six years. Then, after a season each at Al-Ittihad and Al-Sadd, came 11 years at United – broken only by the six months at Brondby – during which Meulensteen oversaw the club's youth and reserve sides until 2006 before returning the following January as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant.

Meulensteen's only other spell as a manager came last summer when he was given 16 days by Anzhi Makhachkala before being sacked. Precisely why his removal came so quickly has never been explained, the departure coming as the chairman, Konstantin Remchukov, stated the club's budget should be markedly reduced.

All of this makes his time at Brondby the longest Meulensteen has survived in charge at a European club, so he may well draw on that when facing up to a Fulham squad that has serially underperformed and which ultimately cost Martin Jol his job.

During that 4-0 defeat at Frankfurt one of the Brondby players sent off was Mark Howard, who alongside his fellow defender Adam Eckersely had been recruited by Meulensteen from United.

The fall-out from Howard's sending-off offers further insight into the 49-year-old's management style at the time. Frederiksen says: "Thomas Rasmussen told the media straight after the game that Howard let the team down with a stupid red card. So later Thomas got the Meulensteen hairdryer treatment: he sat him on a chair in front of the squad, and told him he was disloyal and a bad colleague even though it was Howard who had let the entire team down."

At United Meulensteen's methods were respected enough for David Moyes to want to retain his services when appointing a new backroom staff. He was heralded for being innovative by the senior players. Frederiksen offers an illustration of this approach when at Brondby. "He would jump in front of players and shout "Boo" because he wanted them used to playing in front of 10,000 fans," he said, with Meulensteen possibly unaware that there were hardened international footballers in his new squad.

Now, Fulham host Tottenham as the Premier League's 18th-placed club. Meulensteen, whose long-term future is yet to be clarified as he continues as head coach rather than manager, looks at the table and sees a side with 10 points and a goal difference of minus 13, having scored just 11 times in 13 games.

But as Fulham are only three points from safety Meulensteen has a chance to show he could guide them to survival and convince the chairman, Shahid Khan, to give him the job permanently. How much Meulensteen has soaked up from working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, British football's most successful manager, is about to be revealed.

Jamie Jackson

Everton manager Roberto Martínez looks ahead to Premier League clash with Manchester United – video

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST

Everton manager Roberto Martínez says he will not play down the challenge of meeting Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday

Branislav Ivanovic thinks it's Chelsea's best chance of the title since 2010

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 08:54 AM PST

• Standing in table best since winning Premier League in 2010
• 'We must maintain momentum in congested festive schedule'

Branislav Ivanovic believes Chelsea are in their best position to mount a prolonged assault on the Premier League title since they last clinched the championship three years ago but has urged his team-mates to be "careful" in maintaining high standards over the congested schedule to come.

José Mourinho's side recovered from a conceded goal after 13 seconds to overcome an impressive Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and moved clear into second place, four points off the leaders, Arsenal. The game was the first of 10 in a month in all competitions, a sequence that culminates in a trip to St Mary's on New Year's Day, which will go some way towards determining whether Chelsea can wrest back the title from the Manchester clubs.

"At this stage in the years before [since winning the title in 2010] we would always be trailing by a lot of points but we are up there now and this has given us an opportunity," said Ivanovic. "It's a good thing when you go into each game feeling you are there and right at the top. It's not like last year, where we had to run for the points and it put us under pressure, and made everything much more difficult. We have improved as a team but we have to show it every game. At the moment, this is our best chance since 2010 but we have to be careful and carry on, fighting for every game and every point."

Chelsea's standing in the table is their best at this stage since their last title-winning campaign, in 2009, when they were top and two points clear of Manchester United in the first week of December. They have been 10 points adrift of the summit at this point in the last two years, in third place under Rafael Benítez and fourth under André Villas-Boas. The exception came in 2010 when Carlo Ancelotti's side, while midway through the Italian's infamous "bad moment", were still third at this stage and apparently in contention, two points shy of the top, even if their form was actually still deteriorating. Fast forward to mid-January, however, and that deficit had widened to nine.

Mourinho's team travel to Wearside on Wednesday to confront Sunderland in the first of three matches against teams currently threatened with relegation – Stoke and Crystal Palace follow – before their trip to the leaders, Arsenal, two days before Christmas. "In December, you can definitely see how this league is so hard," added Ivanovic. "It provides one of the main references for how strong your team is and if it's tough enough to win the title. It's important for us during these physical games to win and get the points.

"Before the start, we said the league was going to be very equal and difficult, with a lot of teams having the ability to win it. Five or six teams can win the league and that makes it extremely hard. In seasons before, it was always a battle between two or three teams, who from the beginning would get points and make a gap. Now, it's tight between everyone and there are going to be more and more exciting games and it's going to be a very tough season.

"It was a good sign on Sunday but when we win one game we always start speaking about winning the title. It was a good performance, the second half especially, but we have to go game by game, we have to try to win a couple of matches on the road [Sunderland and Stoke] and that will give us an advantage. Southampton was a really, really hard game and it would have been even if we hadn't conceded after 13 seconds. It was nice to win this kind of game but we also have to be careful because sometimes when you lose concentration like we did at the start, it can hurt you in terms of points.

"This team has the character to do things like that definitely but it's important to show that every game, to be at our top level every match. Even when we don't play at our best, we must take the points and play with good personality. We showed that against Southampton but there is a long way still to go. We have a very busy December and it is important for us to recover and be ready for the next battle, as if nothing happened before."

Dominic Fifield

Cristiano Ronaldo says he is ready to return for Real Madrid after injury

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 08:37 AM PST

• Forward damaged his hamstring at Almería
• 'I have been fine for a couple of days'

Cristiano Ronaldo says he has recovered from a muscle strain and is ready to return to action. Ronaldo damaged a hamstring in Real's La Liga match at Almería on 23 November and missed last week's Champions League win over Galatasaray and Saturday's La Liga success against Real Valladolid.

"I no longer have an injury," Ronaldo said at an awards ceremony in Madrid. "I have been fine for a couple of days. "We preferred not to push things against Valladolid but I will be there for the next game for sure."

Ronaldo scored 14 goals in his last seven appearances for club and country before his injury and is one of the favourites to scoop the Ballon d'Or next month. The former Manchester United man won in 2008; the last player to do so other than Leo Messi, who has won it four times in a row.

"I am on good form," Ronaldo said. "It's possible that it is the best start to the season of my career but the past few years have also been very good."

Real's next match is a King's Cup last 32, first leg at third-tier Olímpic de Xàtiva on Saturday but they may see fit not to risk Ronaldo for that match. They play at Copenhagen in the Champions League the following Tuesday and as they are already through as group winners, it may be that Ronaldo will next feature in Real's next league match at Osasuna on 14 December.

New managers face tall orders after cull of Jol, Coyle, Jones, Flitcroft | Louise Taylor

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 08:26 AM PST

The sacking of Fulham's Jol and three Championship managers leaves one club captain saying 'it's a disgrace'

The King is dead, long live The King. Owen Coyle, Dave Jones, David Flitcroft and Sean O'Driscoll have all fallen and, suddenly, Paolo Di Canio, Stuart Pearce, Ian Holloway et al are willing their phones to ring and wondering if it might be bad luck to start dusting down their interview suits.

Perhaps inspired by O'Driscoll's dismissal from Bristol City last week and Tony Mowbray's Middlesbrough exit in October, there was quite some weekend cull of Championship managers with Coyle, Jones and Flitcroft departing Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley respectively. A division higher, Fulham's desperation to cling on to Premier League status saw Martin Jol replaced by his former sidekick Rene Meulensteen.

When Meulensteen's mobile phone delivered the summons from Craven Cottage he was out shopping for new sofas but now Sir Alex Ferguson's former assistant at Manchester United has the additional task of personalising Jol's old office. New decor aside, there is the pressing question of rearranging the furniture. Should feng shui be involved?

To varying degrees all managers are control freaks but reorganising desk and chair configurations – something Roy Keane and Mark Hughes in past lives at Sunderland and Fulham surprised staff by taking extremely seriously indeed – are the easy bit. Reshaping a football team peopled by players who may well be responsible for ousting the previous boss invariably proves infinitely trickier.

Before Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Blackpool – a reverse which sealed his fate at Wednesday – Jones gave an interview highlighting the pointlessness of persistently making the man at the helm the scapegoat for the club's enduring underachievement. "In the last 10 years this club has had something like 12 or 13 managers," said Jones. "So sacking managers isn't the answer. I'm fighting for my life, my staff are fighting for their lives and players need to take responsibility. If they are presented with an open goal they have to put the ball in the back of the net."

In the immediate aftermath of the reverse at Bloomfield Road, Roger Johnson, Wednesday's captain, endorsed Jones's message in the most uncompromising terms. "The manager is going to get the sack for this," he predicted, quite correctly. "That will be a disgrace because it isn't the manager's fault. The players have to stand up and be counted. People seem to get a bit under pressure and hide away. I'm fuming."

Yet with only one league win all season, standing second bottom, propped up only by Barnsley and possessing the unenviable record of being the sole side in all four divisions not to have kept a clean sheet this season, Wednesday are foundering. It is possible to at least comprehend the logic behind Milan Mandaric's decision to dispense with Jones after 21 months in charge.

The same cannot really be said of Coyle's parting of the ways with Wigan. His reign ended with a 3-1 home defeat against Derby County. Derby are managed by a certain Steve McClaren. McClaren, remember, was turned down by Dave Whelan, Wigan's owner, as he, Meulensteen and Coyle competed for the Wigan job in June.

Maybe Whelan picked the wrong one of the three or perhaps Coyle was merely awfully unlucky. After all, the former Burnley and Bolton manager had the demands of the Europa League to contend with as he attempted to fill Roberto Martínez's supremely elegant shoes at the home of the newly relegated FA Cup holders. True, Coyle won only seven of his 23 games in charge after being allowed to make significant investments in Scott Carson, the former England goalkeeper, Grant Holt, the former Norwich striker and James McClean, the one-time Sunderland left-winger, but it still seems awfully early to pull the plug. Particularly as Wigan are only six points off a play-off place with a game in hand.

With hindsight Coyle may come to see himself as a victim of a Europa League group stage capable of torturing experienced Premier League clubs blessed with big squads – just ask Newcastle United's Alan Pardew about how it nearly cost him his job last season – but destroying less-well-equipped Championship entrants facing even more relentlessly congested League programmes.

Like Wednesday, Barnsley are six points from safety but it is still difficult to pin too much blame on Flitcroft. Six months ago he was Oakwell's messiah after not only leading Barnsley to an FA Cup quarter-final defeat against Manchester City, but also rescuing them from relegation. On replacing Keith Hill last season Flitcroft presided over nine wins in 21 games.

His devotion to the cause could not be questioned. "I don't sleep much," Flitcroft said last spring. "I get about four hours, then I'll wake up and start thinking about football. Then I get up, start writing things down and crack on again."

It worked for a while but, ultimately, a likeable, impressive man ended up effectively banging his head against a brick wall. So, too, did O'Driscoll. Recently praised by Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers as a stellar coach and purveyor of stylish football, O'Driscoll earned a reputation as "the Football League's answer to Arsène Wenger" during stints at Bournemouth and Doncaster Rovers. Since then he has quickly found himself out on his ear at Nottingham Forest and now Bristol City. Was it really him – or them? Were the behind-the-scenes politics toxic?

Sometimes it is about a manager's face fitting with the right people. At Middlesbrough, Mowbray, a cult hero, succeeded up to a point but has now given way to Aitor Karanka, José Mourinho's former assistant at Real Madrid and a man well known to Peter Kenyon and Jorges Mendes, two of the Boro owner Steve Gibson's key advisers.

If Gibson's desire to see his club returned to the gold-plated, diamond-studded Premier League nirvana as soon as possible is entirely understandable, the problem is that promotion is a flame that only three teams can hold come May.

"The Championship is a ruthless and relentless division," reflected Blackburn's Gary Bowyer, who, last season, became the fifth manager at Ewood Park in six turbulent months. "You've got to stay calm and level-headed because there's not a lot between the teams, it's very competitive and three wins or three defeats can send you flying up or down the table. It's a brutal place."

Louise Taylor

Would the Bundesliga really be better off without Bayern and Dortmund? | Raphael Honigstein

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 08:26 AM PST

Serious observers have suggested Germany's top two clubs leave the league, but that would do more harm than good

Two club teams that can hold their own against the best in Europe, full stadiums, a renaissance for the Bundesliga brand abroad and a Nationalmannschaft that will go into next year's World Cup as one of the favourites: 2013 has been the best year for German football since Sky invented the game in the early 90s. But all this positivity isn't to the taste of everybody. It was only a matter of time before the Bedenkenträger crew – a group of professional doubters who excel at reading the writing on the wall – started worrying again. They serve up good old Angst, albeit with a twist: after a decade of bemoaning the Bundesliga's poor showings in Europe, the complaint is now that a couple of clubs have become too good.

Felix Magath fired the opening salvo in an interview with Hamburger Morgenpost 10 days ago in which he suggested Germany's top two clubs should play in a European super league. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were so dominant that "they would have to be excluded from the national competition," he said. "A Europa-Liga would be more honest." First spot in the Bundesliga was "pre-awarded to Bayern", added the 60-year-old, and he worried that "clubs that continuously play in the Champions League have huge advantages". The former Bayern Munich keeper Oliver Kahn took up that baton and ran a bit further. While he acknowledged that there was no objective indication that the hegemony of Bayern and Dortmund was hurting the Bundesliga, he felt that Sepp Herberger's old mantra ("people go to the stadium because they don't know how the match will end") might not ring as true when Pep Guardiola's team go through 39 games without defeat. "In view of that and in recognition of the increasing convergence of Europe, it would be a logical consequence to introduce a Europa-Liga with 34 match days, on which the best 18 teams in Europe would meet," Kahn wrote in Bild.

Banning teams for being too good would be a novel idea. A Bundesliga without the big two would certainly be incredibly competitive and open up the title race to the likes of Gladbach, Hertha BSC, Schalke, while Leverkusen would probably finish second. But at what cost? "The Bundesliga would be the second division, they can't want that," said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. As the head of the European Club Association, he was firmly against the idea, despite some pressure from foreign colleagues, he added. The Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told ZDF Sportstudio on Saturday night that he "despaired about the nonsense that is being suggested". Even if Bayern and Dortmund were allowed to play both domestically and in a new super league, matches in the former would be automatically diminished. "The reserves would play there," he said. "We don't want to destroy our football culture".

Thankfully, Magath's and Kahn's harebrained ideas seem to have little backing. Most people understand that a lack of money cannot be helped by killing off your two golden geese or sending them into European exile. But there's an alternative, less radical proposal. The Eintracht Frankfurt boss Heribert Bruchhagen wants a more equitable distribution of the Champions League money. "The spread has become too big. In Europe, the championships are exclusively contested by those who regularly play in the Champions League," he said in an interview with Sportstudio. By way of explanation, he mentioned that Bayern's wage bill was about 50% higher than Hamburg's in 1992 but was now "400% higher" than that of the (sleeping) northern giants.

Bruchhagen has a point. The millions from Uefa do create an imbalance. The Bundesliga distributes domestic TV income by roughly employing a "factor 2" formula. The top team earn €33m (£27.3m), approximately double that of the last one, who earn €16m (£13.3m). Those relatively modest sums are put into the shade by the €65m and €54m Bayern and Dortmund respectively earned from doing well in Europe last season.

Watzke, however, thinks Bruchhagen's analysis is too simplistic. "If he was right, it would have been impossible for us to win the championship in 2011 after not competing in the Champions League for nine years," he said. "Frankfurt were relegated two years ago, now they're in the Europa League. That shows that there is permeability [at the top of the league]."

Watzke added that he wasn't averse to the debate but argued that the "weak don't get strong by making the strong weaker". He argued that making Bayern and Dortmund less competitive by reducing their revenues would make them less competitive internationally and do more harm than good. Everyone benefitted from strong showings in Europe, he explained, due to the increase of the value of foreign TV rights. A perceived lack of domestic competitiveness has certainly not harmed the "product": the German Football League are on course to double international income from €70m to €150m-per-year after 2015. These numbers provide an interesting lesson. Globally, there's more interest in seeing two very strong teams than a more balanced league without sides that can realistically challenge in Europe. In other words, the appeal of a league is largely determined by the excellence of its elite.

This is a particularly strong argument in light of the restricted opportunities for growth domestically. The value of live rights continues to be depressed by the competition commission's ruling that highlights should be freely available and by there being no credible pay TV alternative to Sky Germany. (This season, the 36 teams in the top two divisions will make €560m, that figure will rise to €673m by 2016/17.)

The biggest argument in favour of the status quo is Dortmund's comeback though. They seemed to have blown their chance by squandering €150m from their IPO on players and teetered on the brink of bankruptcy eight years ago. In their absence, other teams won titles – Stuttgart, Wolfsburg – but other heavyweights like Schalke and Werder Bremen regressed while gross underachievement continued at clubs like Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hertha and Köln who should all benefit from a competitive advantage (size and wealth of city) in relation to the Black and Yellows but don't. Instead of dreaming up new ways to cut the top two down in size, Bruchhagen and his ilk would be better served analysing what Dortmund and Bayern have done right in recent years. Hiring the right managers would be a start.

Talking points

• Eight converted penalties marked a new record number for a single match day. Lovers of German stereotypes ("nerves of steel, great technique") will be disappointed to hear that only two of these Elfer were scored by a native and the reputation of Bundesliga keepers, much battered by the increasing proliferation of highlights on international screens, will not have been enhanced by this 100% success rate either. For those who just love knee-jerk over-reactions to essentially meaningless statistical quirks, this column might further offer another simplistic explanation: the flood of penalties could be a direct consequence of the increased level of technical proficiency. The fact that two of the pens were won by players in the process of executing a "Zidane-Pirouette" in the opposition box (Julian Draxler, Kevin Volland) will have to suffice as proof of this shaky thesis.

• "We are not the underdog, we are the lap dog", the Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht said before the 2-0 defeat at Bayern. Unlike their manager, the 5,000 supporters who came down south on a special train underestimated their own abilities: seven 30 litre barrels of beer on board didn't last every long. "Shock! The beer was finished on the inbound journey," wrote Abendzeitung. Luckily, Bayern asked their sponsors Paulaner to deliver additional provisions, just in time to make the trip to Lower Saxony more bearable.

• The game itself was effectively over after Arjen Robben's first goal inside 111 seconds. The Dutchman scored again before the break and afterwards the league leaders were happy to do next to nothing on their way to yet another win. "We are only humans, not machines," said the keeper Manuel Neuer. Robben, the man in tights, was the star of the show, naturally, despite a less than perfect goal celebration that left him with two holes in his red Strumpfhosen. "Knock on wood, he still hasn't been injured this season," said Pep Guardiola, somewhat incredulously about the 29-year-old's excellent form. The Bayern president Uli Hoeness duly promised that "a solution" would be found in due course in relation to Robben's contract, which expires in 2015. The left-back David Alaba, the club announced on Monday, will stick around until 2018.

• While Dortmund managed a tricky 3-1 win at Mainz and lost Sven Bender, Marco Reus and Nuri Sahin ("We are so nice that we injure ourselves down to Saarbrücken's level," Jürgen Klopp said before the DFB Cup game at the third division side on Tuesday), second-place Leverkusen successfully proved that "Nürnberg is not Manchester," as Gonzalo Castro put it: their 3-0 win over FCN was seen as tiny bit of redemption for the 5-0 defeat by United. "People will still talk about in a few months, if not years," feared the CEO Michael Schade.

• The most entertaining match of the weekend happened at Sinsheim, where Hoffenheim and Werder played out a silly but thrilling 4-4 draw. Hoffenheim have now conceded 34 goals – five more than second-worst Nürnberg – and scored 32; as many as Bayern and only three less than Dortmund, who are the most prolific side. It's the kind of game that will have gone a long way to satisfy their billionaire benefactor Dietmar Hopp's taste for footballing extravagance. But the players and officials would prefer different outcomes. "We are all fed up with such spectacle", said the keeper Koen Casteels. "This kind of game hurts my balls," said the Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol. "If we were to score seven, we would concede seven, too". Werder should be even more worried, however, since Robin Dutt seems to be pulling off an impossible trick: he's made a team that was formerly coached by Thomas Schaaf even less dependable at the back.

Results: Wolfsburg 1-1 Hamburg, Bayern Munich 2-0 Braunschweig, Hoffenheim 4-4 Werder, Mainz 1-3 Dortmund, Bayer 3-0 Nürnberg, Hertha 0-0 Augsburg, Schalke 3-0 Stuttgart, Hannover 2-0 Eintracht, Mönchengladbach 1-0 Freiburg

• Latest Bundesliga table

Raphael Honigstein

Newcastle United's Alan Pardew prepares for Swansea match – video

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 07:51 AM PST

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew gives his reaction to Fulham's sacking of Martin Jol and looks ahead to his team's Premier League clash against Swansea

The Fiver | Call of Duty precursor Bugaboo (The Flea)

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 07:39 AM PST

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

ALL THAT JAZZ

Never in a million, zillion years would the Fiver dream of using hyperbole to jazz up a story, so when we read that André Villas-Boas had launched "a stunning attack" during his post-match press conference yesterday, we at the very least expected to him to be wearing a Rambo-style headband while pounding the table in front of him and shouting down the nay-sayers in a fit of incoherent spittle-flecked rage.

Instead, we got a mildly miffed Portuguese man occasionally brushing his hand through his hair as, without so much as raising his voice, he very calmly took two journalists to task over articles he considered misrepresentative and unfair. As attacks go, it was about as stunning as an admonishment from a disappointed village policeman who's just caught somebody cycling without a light on their bike. AVB also lined up former Tottenham chairman Lord Sugar in his cross-hairs, waspishly dismissing criticism from the innovative genius behind the Amstrad CBC664, on which a young Fiver misspent much of its youth playing Call of Duty precursor Bugaboo (The Flea).

It is a sad but unsurprising state of affairs that a fairly petty and inconsequential squabble between a Premier League manager and his detractors has grabbed the lion's share of the headlines in a football world where Stranraer captain and fire-fighter Frank McKeown heroically played a Scottish Cup match just a couple of hours after enduring the trauma of helping in the rescue effort at the site of a horrible helicopter crash in Glasgow city centre. But the fact of the matter is that everyone enjoys good football-related bickering, without which most editions of the Fiver would consist of some readers' letters on an otherwise empty page.

This morning, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce took to the airwaves with Alan Brazil and Neil Warnock, adding his two cents to the furore by suggesting AVB had acted immaturely by voicing his disgruntlement at certain gentlemen of the press in a room full of gentlemen of the press. "You, and your players, have got to do your talking on the field," said Big Sam. "I think he's just showed a little bit of immaturity. It can get under your skin, but you can't let that happen because you're not going to win." Unless of course you take on the pathetically craven and spineless Fiver, in which case you cannot lose.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I was speaking to my uncle Ben on Saturday and said that Aaron Ramsey was almost certain to be the unanimous choice for footballer of the year. He took the glass of champagne out of my hand and said: 'You mean Wayne Rooney, don't you?' I told him that he had made a very good point and promptly went home" – Garth Crooks, man of mystery, ladies and gentlemen.

CALLING ALL SUPERSTARS …

25 November: "It's easy to let the manager go. Then what do you do? There aren't too many superstars around waiting for the job … I still believe there's room for patience and being brave and working together" – Sheffield Wednesday chairman Milan Mandaric plans to give manager Dave Jones more time.

1 December: Jones is sacked.

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

"I read with interest the Fiver writing about hairdressers and their bogus small chat about where sir is going on holiday next year (Friday's Fiver). I've had an idea stored up for ages that I'd like to let loose that would save a lot of us who lack erudite, sociable and friendly personalities from all this bother. With my new fantastic system, when you phone up to make an appointment with the snippers, they ask you what time you want your chop and who you'd like to do the chop as normal, but they also ask if you'd like chat? Say yes and you can witter on to your heart's content. Say no, and you're free from all that 'been anywhere nice on your holiday?' and 'have you had a busy day?' nonsense. I mean, it's probably not much fun for the scissor wielders themselves. Granted, once this new system is in place it would feel a bit rude saying no thanks to chat at first but if we all held our nerve, within a few years it would be the norm. Who's with me?" – Simon Lea.

"If, as in the case of André Villas-Boas's Tromso tormentor, people can be excluded from football grounds for being self-indulgent, petty, repetitive and unfunny (Friday's Fiver), can I suggest that the name and image of Mark Lawrenson be circulated to all clubs' heads of security for inclusion on their 'Do not admit' list?" – Gavin Barber.

"This is recycled (I'm nowhere near creative enough to think of it myself), but I did chortle heartily this morning when I heard that AVB's current nickname is Advent, on account of his days being numbered. Christmassy too, see – killing two turkeys with one stone" – Martin Foster.

"After reading Ian Martin's brilliant piece 'Scotland, take us northerners with you', I hit on a plan so fiendish Sepp Blatter would be outraged. Rather than ask whether the Queen's Celtic and Pope's O'Rangers should join the Premier League, shouldn't we be asking whether Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool et al should join the SPL? Hey presto, two competitive leagues and eight Big Cup places for The Sceptred Isle. I think genius might be too strong a word, but thanks" – Paul Reaney.

"So squirrels were in ready (or grey-y?) supply at Glanford Park on Saturday after all (Fivers passim). It seems a bit late in the season, I imagine it's time they high-tailed it up to Easter Road to rest, once more, during their period of annual Hibernianation" – Adam McArthur.

"So, Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni has 'more consonants in its name than pupils in its classes' (Friday's Still Want More)? As Y and W are both counted as vowels in the Welsh language, the name has a perfectly respectable vowel to consonant ratio of 7:12. Please keep the lazy linguistic stereotyping to your side of Offa's Dyke. We've been repressed enough! Cymru am byth! (Although, thanks for letting us play in your league. Makes up for the constant borrowing of our stadium in the early 2000s)" – Matt Dony.

"Re: Friday's Still Want More – Paul Doyle (do I win a game now?)! A report at the time of the Dublin University AFC v Dublin AFC game decsribes how 'ere halftime Dublin had succeeded in putting the leather through the University posts'. Trinity (University) apparently played 'pluckily', only 'the fine form of the opposing backs' keeping them out, though in the end the reporter saw 'Dublin finally winning a pleasant game by four goals to love'. Who needs a football journalism masterclass when the lingo hasn't changed in 130 years?" – Keith Hennigan.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our letter o'the day is: Simon Lea, who wins a copy of Football Manager 2014, courtesy of the very kind people at Football Manager Towers. We've got more copies to give away this week, so if you haven't been lucky thus far, keep trying.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Hull City manager Bernard Cribbins will wear the 3-1 win over Liverpool like a bulletproof vest and take club owner Assem Allam to task over his proposed name change to Hull City Tigers. "I don't think he quite understands what it means in terms of history and tradition," roared Cribbins, who was far less vociferous on the subject while Hull were suffering defeats.

Didn't see it coming dept: Fulham have sacked Martin Jol and replaced him with René Meulensteen.

Owen Coyle has mutually agreed with Wigan that he will walk through the door he was shown after the home defeat to Derby.

Saido Berahino has signed a new contract with West Brom until 2017. "To be able to reward one of our proteges, who has worked his way up through the ranks from the age of 11, is a great moment for the club," whooped Baggies sporting director Richard Garlick.

And Newcastle's Alan Pardew has won a few games and got way ahead of himself. "[Big Vase] needs to change for clubs in the Premier League. League games need to go to Monday night. If they are going to insist we play Thursday, then we have to play the subsequent Premier League game on a Monday. That would be fair."

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Goals of the weekend, starring Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Glen Little.

STILL WANT MORE?

Behold: the Big Website World Cup 2014 interactive draw. Create your own and then whinge about the algorithm.

Get your fill of the latest Football Weekly podcast with AC Jimbo and co.

Are Barcelona facing an identity crisis? Sid Lowe focuses on their first league defeat of the season in his La Liga blog.

Ten talking points from the weekend's Premier League action.

Is English football's dismal marriage to the long ball heading towards divorce? Sean Ingle and his illustrated catapult have the answer.

Michael Cox explains how José Mourinho managed to outwit Southampton with some tactical flexibility.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? Click here to sign up.

WELCOME THOM SAMUEL WINKWORTH. CONGRATULATIONS KATY AND DAVE

Barry Glendenning

World Cup 2014 draw: England more concerned with venues than opposition

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 07:18 AM PST

• Roy Hodgson says location of games is biggest worry
• Draw to held in Rio de Janeiro on Friday

England's manager Roy Hodgson insists location rather than opposition is the biggest concern for him as he awaits Friday's 2014 World Cup draw.

Hodgson will learn when and where the group stage matches will be played when the draw takes place in Salvador, Brazil.

His team are unseeded, so they are guaranteed to face one of the teams in the top pot of seeds which includes Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay.

But Hodgson believes in a country as vast as Brazil that where games take place will be just as vital as who they will be against. "I think [the draw] is a time when speculation is rife and people have a lot of fun looking at the potential possibilities," he said. "It is a nice game to play but I have got to say that I have not involved myself too much in that – we will get what we get really, the most important thing is to be there.

"Then you always hope that the draw is going to be kind to you in terms of where you are going to be asked to play. There are venues in Brazil that will be harder to play in than others.

"Maybe in terms of the teams you are drawn against some on paper look harder than others, but I'm more concerned if anything by the venues than by the teams we draw.

"All discussion about teams and their strengths is based not on speculation, but we don't know. We don't know how good Argentina are, we would all think 'Blimey, Argentina are strong', but we don't know that.

"They might be no stronger than Chile. The good thing is that if we get Argentina, for example, we will be there and have a chance to play them and believe we can go out and beat them."

The World Cup will be Hodgson's second tournament with England following on from Euro 2012, where the former Liverpool, Fulham and West Brom manager guided them to the quarter-finals despite only being appointed six weeks prior to the start of the competition.

The 66-year-old revealed plans are already afoot to make Brazil as comfortable a tournament as possible, with only minor details to be adjusted following Friday's draw.

When asked if England will be prepared, Hodgson said: "We will be, without a doubt.

"The great thing about working with he FA is that they are incredibly well prepared. I came in at late notice with the Euros and a lot of preparation had already been done and it was first-class and it will be first-class again.

"We have got a lot of experience of tournaments, of World Cups and European Championships. We canvassed the players and there is a lot of experience among the players, things they thought worked well and things they thought didn't work as well.

"We have been occupying our time thinking about a lot of things we can do. But, of course, until we get the draw and we know where we are and when our first game is we have got to leave the actual detail – but in general we have got it all organised."

Hodgson had previously experienced international tournament football as Switzerland's head coach as he took the unfancied nation to the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

"My last World Cup experience was in the USA which was very interesting," he added. "It was at a time, in 1994, where their interest in our football was a lot less developed than it is today.

"I can't deny that taking part in Brazil has an extra clang to it and I understand to supporters all over the world that Brazil is the country we associate with football, as well with England. We will hope for our best but it is like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates. We will open it up and see what we get."

Barcelona's first league defeat raises deeper issues of football and philosophy | Sid Lowe

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 06:55 AM PST

Questions are being asked and criticism is being aired as the entorno builds around Tata Martino after two defeats in a week

When the final whistle went on week 15, FC Barcelona were top of the table in Spain. They have now been there for 53 weeks, as long as anyone else ever. On Sunday night they officially equalled Real Madrid's record, set by the Emilio Butragueño-led 'Vulture Squad' a quarter of a century ago. But there was no celebration; instead there was sadness, a sense of loss and bewilderment. "That's not our Barça!" wailed the cover of the Catalan daily Sport. Sure, Barcelona have been on top for 53 weeks but will they be there at the end? Some were left wondering if they will even make it to 54: in a fortnight's time they face Villarreal and even a win might not be enough.

At the end of Sunday night's match, a huge roar went round San Mamés and the cheers carried to the capital. Iker Muniain, the goalscorer, was beaming. Barcelona had lost 1-0 to Athletic Club, the first time they had failed to score in 17 visits to Bilbao and only the second time in 71 league games that they had finished goalless. They were doomed from the start. For the first time, they played in their away kit at San Mamés. Referee Juan Martínez Munuera saw a clash, so Barça played in yellow and red and in short sleeves – the red on the long sleeved version clashed too. It's a kit inspired by the Senyera, the Catalan flag; it's also a kit in which Barcelona haven't yet won: against Atlético, Osasuna, Milan, Bayern Munich and now Athletic Club.

La Razón, whose masthead declares "we like Spain," was getting giddy. "Barcelona totter over the abyss," they jeered.

Not quite, but this result was costly; and if they were already taking a tin opener to the top, that can of worms is well and truly open now, hundreds of them wriggling out over the sides and across the floor. Although Barcelona are still top, Atlético Madrid are now level on points, trailing by two goals, and Real Madrid lie just three points behind. "Barça fade, Madrid rise," as Marca's cover gleefully put it, while AS declared San Mamés the patron saint of Madrid, the capital's clubs closing in. Since the clásico, Real have played five, won five and scored 24, while Atlético have won five of their last six, scoring 19. They've lost just once all season – and that was a fluke. Barcelona have lost twice in five days.

In the press room at San Mamés, the Barcelona manager, Tata Martino, took up his seat. "You lot only talk about results," he said.

Slowly, journalists scraped their jaws off the floor. This time Martino could not be more wrong. When Barcelona lost to Ajax in midweek, it was him who said, not unreasonably: "I'd sign up to 20 wins in the next 21 games", and it was him who said that the trip to San Mamés would reveal Barcelona's real level. They, on the other hand, had kept on keeping on, even when Martino was a solitary win away from the best start a Barcelona manager had ever had, even though Sunday night was Barcelona's first league defeat of the season. This had been about something deeper, something less tangible – the football. The philosophy.

That there was a debate at all was revealing in itself, a reflection of the fact that Barcelona are different. That, on one level at least, the talk of something beyond the result was not empty posturing. Or at least not only that. The debate had been bubbling away for weeks; defeat merely confirmed the positions taken on. "The lights went out," wrote Ramón Besa in El País. Over the last four or five years, few have articulated Barcelona's footballing identity like Besa. And even those focused mainly on results had been concerned: after all, but for Víctor Valdés, this first defeat might have come sooner. It is not, Pep Guardiola was fond of insisting a question of play well or win; playing well is the best way to win. "Defeats happen for a reason," Andrés Iniesta admitted on Sunday night. And this one was coming. All it took was a real test. Santi Giménez's match report in AS is headlined: "You can't con San Mamés." Athletic had, said one headline, "stripped Barcelona bare".

Freeze the image on 90 minutes and it tells a story. It's not just that the scoreboard says Athletic Club 1-0 FC Barcelona; it is that Barcelona's shots on target count reads: two. That it's Athletic who are attacking; that Gerard Piqué is up front; Iniesta and Xavi are not on the pitch, Valdés is not in the ground, nor is Dani Alves, and that Leo Messi is not in the country. The fact that Iniesta and Xavi were taken off, replaced by Sergi Roberto and Pedro respectively, feels particularly symbolic. "I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw them go," Athletic's captain, Carlos Gurpegui, admitted. "I knew we would lose control but I thought we needed more incisiveness," Martino said. His words were immediately thrown back at him, with a decisiveness that said: "I rest my case, your honour."

With Iniesta and Xavi went Barcelona's identity. That, at least, is the accusation levelled at Martino. He arrived declaring himself "enamoured" of Barcelona's style, a disciple of all they had done. At first, he was presented as the man who recovered and reinstated their essence, applying a chamois leather to the bonnet, not tinkering around beneath it, spanner in hand. Now, though, he stands accused of undoing the legacy.

The results may be good but this is not the Barcelona fans and critics had got used to. They're not controlling games as they once did – against Rayo they had less than 50% of the possession for the first time in five years – and the intensity is largely gone. They're not pressuring high; the glimpses of just that in the opening weeks have gone. They're more direct now, Valdés hitting long goal-kicks more than ever before, while 30-plus diagonal passes have become part of their approach. If some wanted a Plan B, here it is … at the cost of the Plan A that served them so well, that defined them. They are "more anarchic" in Cesc Fábregas's words; less Barcelona, in others' words.

On one level the debate is so very Barcelona. Johan Cruyff famously decried the entorno that surrounds the Camp Nou, the swirl of noise and hidden interests, the pressure and the politics. The president, Sandro Rosell, has had four directors of communications in under a year and that alone says much; the latest has been a pointed and public critic of Guardiola. His appointment is no coincidence. Sides are taken and the more Rosell's grip on power appears to loosen the more he tightens it. Many supporters are unimpressed, others are outright concerned; it is not just Martino who some think fails to grasp what Barcelona is. Or what it aspires to be. And the tension between competing visions of Barcelona is manifest, at least subconsciously, in some of the footballing debates.

Asked about the entorno, Martino noted: "I'm getting to know the nooks and crannies of the Camp Nou." More revealing yet was his remark that the attacks on him were greater than they would have been had he been "Dutch or from within". On Monday morning El Mundo Deportivo, close to the president and quick to lay into the former regime, seemingly desperate to undermine Guardiola, is playing the "slip up" card. This was an accident. Barcelona need to isolate themselves from a 'toxic entorno' says the editor Santi Nolla, somehow keeping a straight face.

At times, though, the attacks on Martino have been as ferocious as they have been unfair. As if Martino has willingly torn down the edifice of a great team because he felt like it. His self-defence has not always convinced, his football less, and they have a point of course. But it was always likely to prove impossible to match Guardiola, just as Bobby Robson found that following Cruyff was far from easy. And the additional, political baggage is, as it was for Robson, largely out of his control. But that does not stop him being drawn into it.

The question might be: is even the football not entirely within his control? The change in style is not always as radical as it is sometimes portrayed. And what if the legacy was not so great? What if the shift of style is not caprice but necessary? A points record in the league last season was impressive, for sure, but the 4-0 hammering in Munich was a glimpse that something was amiss. Guardiola's decision to leave was not taken in a vacuum. Dependence on Messi, certainly when it comes to converting dominance into results, is nothing new. Pre-season was a shambles, spent hopping between time zones and barely training. Their lack of fitness is startling and the failure to sign a centre-back continues to baffle: Javier Mascherano has been particularly poor.

What if Barcelona can't press like they could? At least, not yet? Or maybe not at all, not any more? What if the tools at his disposal are not what they were?

If Guardiola was the philosopher, the ideologue was Xavi. He is coming up to 34. Carles Puyol is two years older. That too may be symptomatic. Piqué told World Soccer: "In the last 10 or 15 years, a great generation has come from the youth system and helped us compete. Without this unique generation that would be impossible. We've been able to compete with them recently and people get used to that but we have to realise that the reality is that there are all these people who've not cost a euro – Andrés, Leo, Xavi, Víctor, Puyi … that's unique, that might not happen again." What if he is right? What if there is no one like Xavi now, not even Xavi?

On Sunday night, Martino was right to insist that Barcelona had played reasonably well, even if they had done so for more like 30 minutes than the 70 he claimed. "They were good to start with; they pushed us right back," Athletic's coach, Ernesto Valverde, admitted. Martino might have pointed at the absence of Messi and Valdés or to Neymar slipping over constantly. He might also have pointed at the presence of Barcelona's opponents, largely forgotten in the analyses this morning. Athletic Bilbao are now fourth and are getting better: intense, attacking, ambitious, they are a genuinely good side. Valverde, was Barcelona's original choice to take over after Tito Vilanova. And San Mamés is a huge success: a new ground that feels a little like the old one.

As of now, Athletic Bilbao occupy a Champions League place. If they can stay there it would be their best finish in 15 years. On Sunday night, the club put out a tweet. It said: "List of teams who have won at the new San Mamés: ".

Talking points

• Gareth Bale departed the Santiago Bernabéu with the match ball and woke up the next morning to headlines declaring him the Prince of Wales. He has now scored nine times and provided six assists.

• Bale was not the only man getting a hat-trick this weekend: Jonas scored three times, all of them with a single touch, to lead Valencia to a 3-0 win over Osasuna and coach Miroslav Djukic to safety. For now.

• Apologies if you've heard this one before … Diego Costa scored and Atlético, who are now joint top, defeated Elche 2-0. That's 15 now for Costa this season – in 12 different matches. The assist was gorgeous from Adrián.

• Real Betis came on to the pitch to banners against racism, following last week's Seville derby. They were also a single minute away from victory when Alberto Bueno got an equaliser for Rayo Vallecano. Four points separate Málaga, who got a draw with the last touch of the game, in 15th and Betis at the bottom.

• Blimey. Sevilla won away … again.

• … And Celta won at home – for the first time.

Results: Getafe 1-0 Levante, Villarreal 1-1 Málaga, Elche 0-2 Atlético, Celta 3-1 Almería, Real Madrid 4-0 Valladolid, Espanyol 1-2 Real Sociedad, Betis 2-2 Rayo, Athletic 1-0 Barcelona, Granada 1-2 Sevilla, Valencia 3-0 Osasuna.

• Latest La Liga standings

Sid Lowe

Tottenham's André Villas-Boas acted 'immaturely' says Sam Allardyce

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 06:15 AM PST

• 'You've got to take criticism on the chin'
• Tottenham manager demanded more respect from press

The West Ham manager, Sam Allardyce, has suggested that André Villas-Boas acted "immaturely" by criticising the press coverage of his management of Spurs.

"You have to use the criticism as a motivational drive to show these people that they are wrong,' Allardyce told Talksport. "You've got to take it on the chin.

"You, and your players, have got to do your talking on the field. I think he's just showed a little bit of immaturity. It can get under your skin, but you've can't let that happen because you're not going to win."

The Tottenham manager had demanded more respect from the media following the 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.

"A couple of people insult my integrity, my human values, my professionalism … insult the success that I have achieved in other clubs and I don't think it's fair. I think it's a lack of respect and an attack on a person's integrity," he said.

Villas-Boas had gone into the United match with questions being asked among the club hierarchy over whether he remained the right man for the job.

The pressure seemed to be telling when he asked for a Tromso supporter who chanted that he would be "sacked in the morning" to be removed from his seat behind the dug-out during Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 Europa League victory in Norway on Thursday evening.

Villa-Boas had also hit out at the former Tottenham chairman Lord Sugar who criticised his tactics last week and said that he would like to see Sir Alex Ferguson manage the club.

Villas-Boas said it was the fans' team, "their passion and they don't trade it for anything else, not like Alan Sugar, who trades it for money," Villas-Boas said, in reference to Sugar's sale of his shares to the club's current owner, Enic.

Later, speaking ahead of Tuesday night's visit to Crystal Palace, Allardyce said: "I've haven't read about Andre Villas-Boas' comments, but I've obviously heard about them.

"However disappointed you may feel about what people say in media terms, it's still much better keeping your powder dry.

"I admire him for having a go, but I don't think it will do you any favours in the end unfortunately.

"But I'd admire him for sticking up for himself and having a go for what he believes in. In all honesty, he's probably right."

The Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembélé insisted that the players were behind their manager. "Everyone likes him," the Brazilian said. "We have to play for him and I think everyone is doing that on the pitch.

"Criticism happens to any coach if you do not win games. He knows we are here and we showed him what are going to do.

"I play for him every game. And for the club."

Milan cheered by Adriano Galliani's U-turn and a much-needed Serie A win | Paolo Bandini

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 05:49 AM PST

Within a day of saying he would leave, Milan's chief executive was persuaded to stay and saw an immediate result

Sometimes, you need to go through hard times to find out who your friends are. That has certainly been Adriano Galliani's experience of late. On Friday, the Milan chief executive and acting vice-president announced that he would leave the club before the end of this month, bringing down the curtain on nearly 28 years of service. He felt that his position had been fatally undermined by criticisms from the owner's daughter, Barbara Berlusconi.

Galliani was soon inundated with sympathetic messages from the many footballing directors and dignitaries he has befriended over the years. Among others, he was reported to have received phone calls from both the Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez and Barcelona's Sandro Rosell.

One conversation, in particular, made Galliani's week. It was with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the striker whom he had not heard from since selling him to Paris Saint-Germain in 2012. "He told me that he was sorry about my situation and that he wished me well," said Galliani. "He had stopped speaking to me after we sold him, because he was so angry at me for breaking my promise that he could stay. So his call really made me happy."

Better yet would be the chat that Galliani had with Silvio Berlusconi over dinner on Friday night. The pair met in the presence of a mediator at the club owner's residence in Arcore, where they were expected to thrash out a golden handshake that could run to tens of millions of Euros. Instead Silvio quickly made it clear that he did not want Galliani to leave, persuading his old friend to work in tandem with Barbara.

A new agreement on how the club should be structured was confirmed in a statement from the owner. "Milan's situation is serene once more," said Silvio. "I am happy to report that full agreement has been reached on a new club set-up in which there will be two chief executives: Adriano Galliani with responsibility for the sporting sector, and Barbara Berlusconi with responsibility for other sectors relating to the club's social activity."

In effect, Galliani had retained control of the club's footballing operations, while Barbara had been charged with strengthening its commercial and marketing efforts. How satisfied she will be with that arrangement is unclear; her greatest criticisms of the incumbent had been that he was spending the club's money poorly by relying too heavily on certain agents (Mino Raiola and Ernesto Bronzetti) and failing to construct a good enough scouting network to unearth cheap, young talents abroad.

One way or another, she will have to lump it for now. Expelled from the Italian senate on Wednesday, her father once more has time to focus on his football club. He had planned to drop in on the players at training on Saturday, but his helicopter was grounded due to snow.

A day later, there was Galliani at the Stadio Angelo Massimino, taking up his seat for the team's game away to Catania. If he was content with his new working arrangement, then he could be even more pleased with Milan's performance. After falling behind early on, they rallied to beat the Sicilians 3-1. It was their first league victory since 19 October, and their first all season away from home.

Galliani was especially delighted to see Kaká· score the team's third goal. His decision to sign the Brazilian this summer was portrayed by many people as a decadent act, inspired more by nostalgia than any level-headed assessment of what the player could contribute. And yet here was Kaká's third strike in nine days – having opened the scoring in both Milan's draw with Genoa on 23 November and their Champions League win over Celtic on Tuesday night.

"He is a phenomenon," glowed Galliani on Sunday. "On the goal, he told me that he was expecting Mario [Balotelli] to arrive in the middle for a cross. He didn't get there, so [Kaká] shot instead."

A fine effort it was too, clipped into the roof of the net at the near post. Milan's other two goals – a volley from Riccardo Montolivo and a low drive from Balotelli – were not too shabby either.

The match was marred, however, by allegations of racial abuse. Balotelli reacted angrily after a challenge from Nicolás Spolli, claiming that the Catania defender had called him "negro di merda" - "black piece of shit". Spolli could be banned for 10 games if found guilty of such an offence, but nobody else was close enough to hear their initial exchange. Without fresh video evidence, it seems unlikely that disciplinary action will be taken.

Balotelli was withdrawn by Massimiliano Allegri soon afterwards, although the Milan manager insisted that he was resting the player rather than guarding against any retaliation. Allegri, meanwhile, might be grateful for the recent boardroom shenanigans, which helped to deflect attention away from Milan's recent seven-game winless streak.

He continues to enjoy the support of Galliani, and indeed Barbara Berlusconi. Both parties recognise his achievement in qualifying for the Champions League last season despite the departures of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Alessandro Nesta, Mark van Bommel, Alberto Aquilani, Gennaro Gattuso and Antonio Cassano – to name just a few.

But performances this season have not been up to scratch. Galliani must share the blame, having failed to address the team's defensive shortcomings during the summer transfer window. His plans to appoint a new sporting director – Fiorentina's Daniele Pradé and Verona's Sean Sogliano are the reported favourites – could be read as a tacit admission that Barbara Berlusconi's criticisms were not entirely unfounded.

For now he and the owner's daughter will continue their uneasy partnership. Time will tell if two heads can really be better than one.

Talking points

• Erick Thohir attended his first game as the owner of Inter on Sunday, watching his team concede an 89th minute equaliser in their 1-1 draw at home to Sampdoria. The Indonesian businessman received a warm welcome from the fans, but also got a realistic insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a team that has improved significantly under Walter Mazzarri, but remains far too passive at times. "[Mazzarri] has given back the alphabet to a group who no longer knew how to read or write," notes Sebastiano Vernazza in Monday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But now comes the hard bit – composing an essay, coming up with ideas and never surrendering to the panic of a blank page."

• Roma, too, dropped points this weekend, although they were the ones who needed to come up with a last-gasp equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to Atalanta. Kevin Strootman's alert finish in the 90th minute was enough to preserve the Giallorossi's unbeaten record, but questions will be asked of their manager Rudi Garcia, who chose to start without a true striker up front - leaving Marco Borriello and Mattia Destro on the bench. The manager himself was more upset with the referee, Antonio Damato, for not awarding his team a penalty when Michele Canini appeared to handle in the box. "You can get rid of the 'appeared to'," said Garcia afterwards. "The whole stadium saw it … But it's best not to say anything. We will not seek alibis."

• Tensions were high for that Atalanta-Roma game, with 500 police and 400 stewards deployed in and around the stadium to prevent the two teams' fans from clashing. A long-standing rivalry exists between the clubs, and was stoked further over the summer when the Atalanta midfielder Giulio Migliaccio helped to drive a military tank over a car bearing Roma's colours (as well as another one, painted in the colours of Brescia). Atalanta's fans goaded the Giallorossi with a giant banner showing a picture of a tank on Sunday, but police managed to keep order.

• Antonio Cassano scored either the 100th or the 101st goal of his Serie A career against Bologna, depending on who is counting. The discrepancy relates to a goal scored by Sampdoria against Juventus in May 2008, which the striker considers his own, but which was officially listed as an own goal by the defender Cristian Molinaro. Either way, this latest strike was a peach, volleyed across goal and into the top corner with the inside of his foot (and Panagiotis Kone's effort for Bologna was not half-bad, either). Sadly, Fantantonio did not get to celebrate his achievement in the ideal manner, breaking his nose in the second-half of Parma's 1-1 draw.

• Fernando Llorente's injury-time winner against Udinese moved Juventus three points clear at the top of Serie A, but the coolest story in Turin on Sunday was to be found in the stands. After being ordered to close two stands to punish fans who had sung derogatory chants about people from Naples, Juventus instead sought permission to fill those parts of their stadium by giving free tickets to children under the age of 13. They were allowed to do so, and subsequently gave out more than 12,000 tickets to kids from local schools and football teams, as well as their own Soccer School.

Results: Parma 1-1 Bologna, Genoa 1-1 Torino, Catania 1-3 Milan, Chievo 3-0 Livorno, Atalanta 1-1 Roma, Inter 1-1 Sampdoria, Cagliari 2-2 Sassuolo, Juventus 1-0 Udinese. Fiorentina play Verona and Lazio host Napoli on Monday night

• Serie A table

Paolo Bandini

Football Weekly: Liverpool mauled by Hull City's tigers

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 05:48 AM PST

On today's Football Weekly, the right and very reverend AC Jimbo is joined by his favourite choirboys Barry Glendenning, Gregg Bakowski and James Horncastle to look back on the winners and sinners over the weekend in the Premier League.

We start with the action in the UK's 2017 city of culture, where Hull ran rampant against a sub-par Liverpool before moving on to Aaron Ramsey's spectacular return to Cardiff with table-topping Arsenal, and giving a fair bit of love to Everton who tore Stoke to shreds.

Like the most thorough of proctologists, we also get up to speed with goings on at the bottom, where Martin Jol was finally given the heave-ho by Fulham, before hearing from Sid Lowe about Gareth Bale's stunning showing for Real Madrid.

That's about it, and if you're wondering about our Football Manager 2014 iPad competition, we'll be drawing the winner out of our magic hat – and telling you the answer to the question – on Thursday's show. Join us then.

The best goals of the weekend

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 05:41 AM PST

From a delicious chip in Dulwich to a Panenka penalty by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Paris, via a 35-yard screamer in Kuwait and a lob from the halfway line by Paul Scholes

Paul Campbell

Saido Berahino signs contract extension to stay at West Bromwich Albion

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 05:35 AM PST

• Berahino commits himself to club until 2017
• 20-year-old has scored six goals in 10 games this term

West Brom's rising star Saido Berahino has signed a new contract that commits him to the club until 2017.

Berahino,who has burst on to the scene this season with six goals in 10 matches for Albion, put pen to paper on the contract at the club's training ground on Monday, putting to an end months of speculation.

The 20-year-old striker, who grabbed the winner in a 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in September, has also bagged six goals in four games for the England Under-21s.

West Brom head coach Steve Clarke announced last Thursday Berahino was due to commit himself to Albion "within the next 24 hours". Clarke conceded to being hopeless at making predictions, but there has been only a slightly extended wait for the confirmation that should end rumours regarding Berahino's future.

Although he has been with the club since the age of 11 after being spotted by academy staff, Berahino burst on to the scene at the start of the season and has not looked back. Sporting and technical director Richard Garlick said: "It was always our intention to reward Saido for the huge strides he has made over the past few months.

"To be able to reward one of our proteges, who has worked his way up through the ranks from the age of 11, is a great moment for the club.

"It's a fantastic story for us and especially for our hard-working academy staff, who have played a fundamental role in his development over the years. Producing one or two players who can supplement the first team is something we want to achieve every year. We hope this is the start of that process as we feel we have a number of other young, exciting players coming through."

Garlick is hoping Berahino will serve as "an inspiration" to those players involved in the club's youth set-up. Berahino has been warned, however, not to get carried away with the limelight he has suddenly found himself under this season.

Speaking to the club's official website, Garlick added: "It's difficult for any 20-year-old to get into a Premier League side and there are going to be times when Saido may not be playing as much as he would like to. He's not the finished article and he has to remain patient, as we do with him. But he has done exceptionally well to get where he is and he now has to focus on what got him here - hard work and keeping his feet on the ground."

Browse More Articles

Written by TBMU Admin

We are Manchester United Fan located around the World which provides user friendly, effective and easy to browse info regarding our Team. Each support/info is free. Support us by clicking the ads located in this site. Thanks

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:27

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Talking points

ALL THAT JAZZ

QUOTE OF THE DAY

CALLING ALL SUPERSTARS …

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

BITS AND BOBS

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

STILL WANT MORE?

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

WELCOME THOM SAMUEL WINKWORTH. CONGRATULATIONS KATY AND DAVE

Talking points

Talking points

Written by TBMU Admin

0 comments :

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Follow TBMU FBook/Twitter

Popular on TBMU

About TBMU

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:27

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Talking points

ALL THAT JAZZ

QUOTE OF THE DAY

CALLING ALL SUPERSTARS …

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

BITS AND BOBS

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

STILL WANT MORE?

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

WELCOME THOM SAMUEL WINKWORTH. CONGRATULATIONS KATY AND DAVE

Talking points

Talking points

Written by TBMU Admin

0 comments :

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Follow TBMU FBook/Twitter

Popular on TBMU

About TBMU

Subscribe TBMU