Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Mourinho bites back at Pellegrini
Martin Skrtel's emergence as Liverpool leader delights Brendan Rodgers
Bellamy charged but Touré escapes
Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers awaits news on managerial contract
Derby County 1-0 Queens Park Rangers | Championship match report
Alan Pardew sets Newcastle's sights on overtaking Manchester United
A-League tactics: why Wanderers' rotation policy works
José Mourinho claims he is sorry about Manchester United's plight
David Moyes needs to rethink Manchester United's simplistic tactics | Jamie Jackson
Ribéry ruled out of Arsenal trip
The best goals of the week
Justifiably patronised by the manager of Fulham | The Fiver
Gilberto Silva on football in Brazil
Football Weekly: Liverpool demolish Arsenal as Chelsea got top
Manuel Pellegrini needs a calculator, says Chelsea's José Mourinho
United played like a Conference team, says Fulham's Burn
Manchester United 2-2 Fulham: 'We deserved to win', says David Moyes – video
Fulham's youngsters hit the road to success the Huw Jennings way | Jacob Steinberg
Atlético Madrid stunned by Almería, and the refereeing Texeira brothers
Casey Stoney hopes to help others come out
West Ham agree to sell Upton Park
Backstage at Victoria Beckham's New York fashion week show - in pictures
Hamburg locked in indecision over future of manager Bert van Marwijk | Raphael Honigstein
Football transfer rumours: Seamus Coleman to Manchester United?

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:03 PM PST

• Chelsea and Manchester City managers battle on
• Mourinho rules out move for Falcao or Cavani

José Mourinho has maintained his tit-for-tat with Manuel Pellegrini by suggesting the Manchester City manager is in need of a calculator for asserting Chelsea remain comparable heavyweights in the transfer market, with the Portuguese offering an insight into how his club intend to comply with Uefa's financial fair-play regulations.

Pellegrini said last week that Chelsea are "the team that spends the most money in the last 10 years, the team that spends the most money this year, so a little bit rich" in the wake of their 1-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium last week. Yet Mourinho pointed to Chelsea's net profit during the midwinter transfer window as evidence of a desire to comply with the new guidelines – he remains sceptical rivals, and City in particular, will follow suit – and revealed he was not in the market for premium players such as Radamel Falcao or Edinson Cavani.

Indeed, while conceding the days of spending record fees, such as the £50m on Fernando Torres, have gone, Mourinho believes Chelsea's stockpiling of young talent over recent seasons has offered them leeway within FFP. Asked about Cavani and Falcao, about whom the Premier League leaders inquired last summer before their lucrative moves to Monaco and Paris St-Germain respectively, he said: "No, we didn't go for them because of transfer fees and salaries. Players are not just about fees but also big wages. Of course there's a certain profile of player we don't go near."

Yet while the other contenders may still pursue that calibre of player, Mourinho said Chelsea could still compete for honours within FFP, having already recruited potential which, as it was with Kevin de Bruyne in January, could then be sold on at substantial profit. The Belgium forward had been bought for £6.7m and, despite making only two Premier League starts in two years contracted to the club, moved on to Wolfsburg last month for £18m. Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois, the young goalkeeper who has spent the last two seasons at Atlético Madrid and whose contract runs to 2016, have likewise clearly seen their values soar while away from the club who technically owns them.

"Chelsea made great investment in the past and were also criticised because we did so much but things change," said Mourinho. "The club adapted well to the situation. You see De Bruyne gave us a big profit and there are other players who – maybe – won't play a single match for Chelsea and we sell them at a profit. We had to organise ourselves in a different way and, before I came here, Chelsea did fantastic work in this level: Lukaku, De Bruyne, Courtois, [Lucas] Piazon … not all of them will have a career at Chelsea but all of them are important in this new financial organisation.

"So Chelsea worked very, very well and probably started doing that before other clubs. Because of that, even if FFP is put into practice, the club are advanced in dealing with that new situation." They currently have 30 players on loan at clubs around Europe, youngsters who will either go on to make their mark back at their parent club or whose future sales will help the current Premier League leaders comply with Uefa's regulations.

Mourinho, who has Torres back in the squad for match at West Bromwich Albion but again will be without John Terry, denied Pellegrini's assertion that Chelsea and City remain comparable spenders in the marke, suggesting the Chilean was employing of mindgames. "The message he wanted to pass out is that we are also big spenders like them but that's not true," said Mourinho, whose own figures did not take into account the £12m arrival of another youngster, Kurt Zouma from St Etienne.

"When someone says Chelsea bought Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah, you have to say they sold Juan Mata and De Bruyne, and had a profit of £23m. So instead of saying we're the big spenders in the January market, it's probably better to say we are the ones who made the most money. Us and maybe Newcastle, with [Yohan] Cabaye leaving for £19m.

"Pellegrini is a fantastic coach and, on top of that, he's an engineer by qualification. I don't think an engineer needs a calculator to do Mata £37m and De Bruyne £18m, so that's £55m. [ Nemanja] Matic is £21m and [Mohamed] Salah is £11m. That's £32m, and 55 minus 32 is 23. So Chelsea, in this transfer window, generated £23m. It's easy to understand that this is working with fair financial fair play. We are building a team for the next decade. City have a team to win now: experience, potential, power, not worried about FFP because, in the summer, they just spend … We don't need a calculator for this. It's easy: +23."

Dominic Fifield

Martin Skrtel's emergence as Liverpool leader delights Brendan Rodgers

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:51 PM PST

Slovakia defender is thriving on an increase in responsibility at Anfield after losing his place in the side last season

Brendan Rodgers never identified names or positions when accusing Liverpool of lacking leaders last season but the demotion of Martin Skrtel from central defence suggested one candidate. The Slovakia international considered leaving Anfield as a consequence but chose instead to confront his manager's criticism. There are no question marks over his authority now.

Two early goals from a centre-half in the 5-1 rout of Arsenal on Saturday naturally drew attention to Skrtel but it was his latest composed, unruffled defensive performance that increased the satisfaction for Rodgers. Skrtel has been the most consistent performer in a Liverpool defence that has endured frequent disruption this season, although it is a campaign he almost did not stick around to see.

The 29-year-old was a peripheral figure in the second half of Rodgers' first season at Liverpool, losing his place to Jamie Carragher and struggling for an opportunity to make amends for the dismal FA Cup exit at League One Oldham Athletic. Liverpool's desire for new central defenders was no secret throughout last summer and ultimately three were acquired – Kolo Touré, Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori – and Skrtel found himself behind the Ivory Coast international Touré as well as Daniel Agger when this campaign began. The Napoli coach, Rafael Benítez, the man who brought the defender to Liverpool from Zenit St Petersburg in January 2008, was among those who sensed an opportunity to prise Skrtel away from Anfield.

"I wouldn't be lying if I said that after last season I was thinking about leaving Liverpool," Skrtel said. "But it is not an easy decision to leave a club like this. I have been here for six years and Liverpool is, for me, one of the biggest in the world. I decided to stay and fight for my place. After games like Arsenal I am just happy I did and proud to be here. There was a lot of talk and rumours that I would go but I was happy to stay. Arsenal was one of those games why you play football. It was a great atmosphere, just a perfect performance and a perfect day."

Rodgers may have harboured doubts over the Slovakian in August but before Wednesday's visit to Fulham he heralded Skrtel as one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. Liverpool, added the manager, have also gained another leader.

The Liverpool manager said; "He looks a class act. It's a big credit to him that he's been able to prove me right. Obviously I want a certain way on the training field and in games and he didn't feature so much in the second half of last season. A player has the chance to either kick up a fuss or sit down with his manager and see what areas he can improve. All credit to Martin; he has taken the responsibility to be a better player. His use of the ball is more composed, he's taken on a real leadership role with the young players and his consistency has been at a really high level.

"He is up there with the top centre-halves in the league. I'm really pleased for Martin. He's a good man and has shown that even an international player can learn if he is willing to. But I wouldn't have let him take a penalty for his hat-trick on Saturday if we had got one."

The issue of leadership, of taking responsibility in defence and adding a voice on and off the pitch has clearly been embraced by Skrtel this season. "I am trying to become a leader here," he said when asked what has changed. "After the second half of last season when I was on the bench, it wasn't easy for me. Before the season I wanted to start the games and show people I could play. I just try and work hard every day in training and when I get a chance try do my best and help the team. It was great to get one goal on Saturday, never mind two, and I am just happy to help the team and get the three points. I have never scored more than one goal in a game before. It was something special. I wasn't thinking about a hat-trick. To get two – I am very happy for that."

Arsenal were the seventh team this season to concede four or more goals at Anfield but Liverpool have not always found the same ruthlessness away from home. Skrtel said: "We have showed some perfect performances at Anfield and we must try and do it away as well. Fulham is going to be a tough game because they are fighting against relegation but we just need to go there and play with the same intensity that we did against Arsenal."

Andy Hunter

Bellamy charged but Touré escapes

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:37 PM PST

• Manchester City player 'has no case to answer'
• Cardiff City striker faces potential three-game ban

Yaya Touré has escaped a violent conduct charge from the Football Association for appearing to kick out at Norwich City's Ricky van Wolfswinkel. José Mourinho is dismayed at the decision, Chelsea's manager having stated that if the Manchester City midfielder was not suspended then it would offer a licence to everyone to "do what they want".

The Cardiff City forward Craig Bellamy will, though, have to answer a violent conduct charge for allegedly hitting Swansea City's Jonathan de Guzman during Saturday's 3-0 derby defeat.

Regarding Touré, a three-man FA panel of former elite referees decided the Manchester City midfielder had no case to answer for the incident that occurred during the goalless draw at the weekend.

Before the verdict, Mourinho dismissed any notion that Touré would not face a charge. "I don't understand why it would be an if," he said. "If he's not suspended, the message is clear: players can do what they want as long as the referee doesn't see it. Of course I would be [disappointed if he was not sanctioned].

"But if he is not, it has to be the same for everyone: if the referee doesn't see, a player can do whatever he wants. It doesn't matter about cameras or others seeing. I can do whatever I want."

The decision, though, was well received by Van Wolfswinkel, who tweeted: "Good to see Toure not getting suspended. Players like him belong on the pitch!"

Bellamy faces a potential three-match ban after he was unanimously adjudged by the referees' panel of having committed a sending-off offence, the criteria by which the Welshman could be charged. Touré did not receive a unanimous vote from the panel, so has escaped a hearing.

Bellamy has until 6pm on Tuesday to respond to the charge. If he accepts it he will miss Tuesday night's game at home to Aston Villa and further home matches against Wigan in the FA Cup and Hull City in the league. Cardiff's manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, said before the charge was announced that the incident was "absolutely nothing".

The FA said: "Under a new pilot project in Premier League matches this season, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees will be asked by the FA to review it and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

"For an FA charge to follow, all three panel members must agree it is a sending-off offence. In this instance, the panel were of the unanimous decision that it was an act of violent conduct.

"The panel were also asked to review an incident involving Manchester City's Yaya Touré during the game against Norwich City on Saturday 8 February 2014. In this instance, the panel were not of the unanimous decision that it was an act of violent conduct."

Jamie Jackson

Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers awaits news on managerial contract

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

• Fenway Sports Group yet to confirm extension of deal
• 'I have always said I am very happy here at Anfield'

Brendan Rodgers has yet to hear whether Liverpool's owner, Fenway Sports Group, want to extend his Anfield reign into a fourth season having entered the final 18 months of his contract.

The Liverpool manager signed a three-year deal with the option of a fourth when he joined the club from Swansea City in 2012, albeit with the option belonging to FSG. Rodgers' Anfield overhaul was illustrated emphatically on Saturday when Liverpool enhanced their Champions League qualification prospects with a 5-1 destruction of Arsenal and FSG are expected to offer a contract extension this summer.But there have been no discussions so far as Rodgers concentrates on returning Liverpool to the European elite for the first time since 2009–10.

Asked if there had been any developments on his contract, the Liverpool manager said on Monday: "Nothing whatsoever. I have, after this year, one more year to go. I have always said I am very happy here and we're just over halfway through that contract and it is not something that comes into my thinking. If I was to never get offered one, I would give my life to the last day of that contract. In the meantime, until anyone says otherwise or wants to reward the staff or myself for our work, then we keep working as normal and see where it takes us." Rodgers does not anticipate talks soon and confirmed he is unable to trigger the option of a fourth year as manager. "The option is for the club for the fourth year, but in all fairness there is a point next year where the club has to let me know whether they want to keep me on or not," he added.

"I have regular contact with the owners and it is never mentioned. I talk more about players. My ambition is more for the club so I want the players tied up so we can keep the best players and get players in. The club knows my feelings in that I love it here and hopefully – if I can progress and be good and everyone is happy – stay here. If it's not to be for the owners and they want a different direction at the end of it, I will have done my best."

Jordan Henderson is one of the players Liverpool will look to reward with a new contract when his current deal reaches its final two years in the summer, Rodgers confirmed. "He will certainly be one," the manager said. "The way he is working we would want to secure his services. He still has his best years ahead of him and you can see his growth and development. He will want to get better and I'm sure it is in the interests of the club to tie him down."

The Liverpool manager also claimed Henderson, who will play with a cast on a wrist he fractured against Arsenal, should be part of Roy Hodgson's first-choice midfield for England at this summer's World Cup. "For me you had England's midfield three on the pitch on Saturday with Jordan, Stevie controlling and Jack Wilshere," Rodgers explained. "Stevie playmaking from behind and two attacking players who can run, get forward, get into the box and can press. Wilshere is a wonderful player. He is probably not to his fitness level yet but he is a big talent who can play either side and between lines. Jordan, tactically, is improving so much, and Stevie is in the zone just behind. It would be hard to pick a better three than that."

Andy Hunter

Derby County 1-0 Queens Park Rangers | Championship match report

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:10 PM PST

The Derby manager, Steve McClaren, said his jubilant players had only enough energy left to muster a satisfied smile of success, such were their exertions in victory against QPR.

McClaren's side were 'out on their feet' in the dressing room after John Eustace's first-half header gave them a 1-0 win over their Championship promotion rivals. It was the first time this season that the Rams had beaten another team in the division's top seven and the former England manager felt it was his best result since taking over at Pride Park at the end of September.

"It's probably the most satisfactory, yes, as it's against a top-three team," said McClaren, who spent three months as a coach at QPR prior to his appointment as Nigel Clough's successor at Derby.

"Results like this can only be good for belief," he continued. "Generally when you win a big game the players are flat out on their feet, flat on the floor in the dressing room. And it was like that. All I got was smiles.

"When we first came in all we wanted to do was provide excitement for the crowd and get to the play-offs, and we've done that. But that is still our goal. We've gone from 14th place in the table to fourth.

"The top three have been there all season. Burnley have been up there all season and the target for Leicester and QPR was always to get promotion. We need to keep collecting points and see where we end up."

The game's decisive moment came after 20 minutes when Rob Green came to punch away Will Hughes' inswinging corner but the ball merely brushed his fist and was diverted into the vicinity of Eustace, who looped his header back into the far top corner of the net.

"Gary O'Neil said he was fouled," said the QPR manager, Harry Redknapp. "I haven't seen it again yet though, so I could be talking rubbish, I don't know. But the ref has given (the goal) now, hasn't he?

"We didn't create nearly enough chances, that was the problem," Redknapp continued. "We didn't press them in the first half and we seemed more worried about them. We were better in the second half but we didn't created enough."

QPR lack firepower with their leading scorer, Charlie Austin, and the winger Matt Phillips both out injured for the remainder of the season. Redknapp may pin his hopes on Manchester United youngster Will Keane to fire his side back to the Barclays Premier League. The 21-year-old forward has yet to feature since arriving on loan at the end of January but Redknapp thinks he is an exciting prospect.

"Charlie was our goalscorer wasn't he, really?" he said. He's a big loss, and Matty Phillips is out for the rest of the season too.

"I may look at it [the loan market] but we've got Kevin Doyle, although he's been out of the goals at Wolves," said Redknapp.

"But I'm looking forward to seeing young Will now, he's a good player and he will get a chance. It's an area we might be a bit short in but I still feel we have a big chance (of promotion)."

Asked about his interest in signing Ravel Morrison on loan from West Ham, Redknapp added: "I saw that story earlier. If they want to loan him he'd be of interest, that's for sure."

Alan Pardew sets Newcastle's sights on overtaking Manchester United

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST

• Manager celebrated Fulham's equaliser at Old Trafford
• 'Finishing above United would be a hell of an achievement'

Alan Pardew celebrated in front of his TV when Darren Bent scored Fulham's injury-time equaliser at Old Trafford on Sunday. "Manchester United's result cheered me up," said Newcastle United's manager as he prepared for his game against Tottenham at St James' Park on Wednesday night.

"It gives us a chance to try and catch them and, if we finish above Manchester United that would be a hell of an achievement for this club, regardless of anything else. That's the immediate incentive for us and then we'll see where that takes us."

Pardew's side currently stand eighth, one place and four points behind David Moyes' team, although their hopes of beating Spurs have been dented by a lengthy injury list. "I haven't picked Manchester United out because of David, who is a big pal of mine and handling that situation very well," said Pardew who is annoyed by the notion that Newcastle are simply content to tread water. "It's because they happen to be the team directly in front of us.

"But of course it would be quite a scalp to finish above them. People are saying we have no incentive [for the rest of the season] but they are insulting our professionalism. I don't like that. As manager of Newcastle United, it irritates me. There's always an incentive in football."

Tottenham's visit is his 150th game in charge since succeeding Chris Hughton and not for the first time, in Pardew's tenure the match takes place against a backdrop of recent turmoil which has seen Yohan Cabaye leave for Paris St-Germain, Joe Kinnear removed as director of football and Willie Donachie resign as reserve team manager following allegations he had hit a player.

"It was an unfortunate situation and it was out of the personality trait of Willie Donachie, who is a fantastic coach," said Pardew, who will once again name one of Donachie's protégés, the 17-year-old England youth international Adam Armstrong, on the bench.

"We have now had to lose Willie, and that's a bit of a blow to us, but we have good coaches here and we like to think we put down the right foundations for success. All the players that have come here have improved – I can't think of one who hasn't."

While Donachie will not be replaced until the summer at the earliest, Pardew is also being forced to reshuffle his playing resources. With Loïc Rémy suspended and Fabricio Coloccini, Cheik Tioté, Mathieu Debuchy, Papiss Cissé and Yoan Gouffran all struggling with injuries, Newcastle's manager is expected to continue with Davide Santon in a deep lying central midfield role.

"Davide was terrific," said Pardew, who is counting the days until Coloccini's return from a knee injury. Newcastle's best centre-half is likely to be fit to return for the home game against Aston Villa on Sunday week and his manager believes his presence can be transformative. "It's not just Colo's ability but everything about him," said a manager anxious to compensate for the recent 3-0 defeat to Sunderland. "We've missed his nonchalance and the security he gives us and that calmness. You can't put a price on that."

Louise Taylor

A-League tactics: why Wanderers' rotation policy works

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 12:48 PM PST

Kate Cohen: Tony Popovic chops and changes his players, allowing them to be fit to execute his high pressure plans

Kate Cohen

José Mourinho claims he is sorry about Manchester United's plight

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:18 AM PST

• United are nine points shy of fourth place in Premier League
• Mourinho says it is possible for David Moyes to close the gap

José Mourinho has stated he feels sorry for Manchester United and their manager, David Moyes, as the Premier League champions continue to labour this term. Sunday's draw with Fulham left United a distant nine points off fourth place as they prepare for Wednesday's tomorrow's trip to Arsenal, with the prospect of failing to qualify for the Champions League looming large.

"I feel sorry for them," said Mourinho. "I never enjoy it when somebody is having some problems, like they're having. But United are United. David is experienced enough to cope with the situation, and the future will be better for them. Yes, he's the right man for the job. They can still make the top four. It won't be easy, they know that. They know they are in the limit for the top four, and they also know that teams like us, Liverpool and Arsenal are doing OK. So it won't be easy for them to close such a big gap. But it's possible."

Dominic Fifield

David Moyes needs to rethink Manchester United's simplistic tactics | Jamie Jackson

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 10:27 AM PST

The lack of goals from midfield and the reliance on crosses have left a Champions League spot out of reach

Steve Sidwell may like to offer Manchester United's midfield finishing classes. The Fulham captain's first-half goal in the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford was Sidwell's sixth in the league which is double the total returned by United's starting quartet of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ashley Young and Juan Mata.

For a journeyman midfielder single-handedly to outscore the champions' engine room two to one is the latest damning statistic in this season of ever deepening woe for United and their manager, David Moyes.

Until Carrick gave United a 2-1 lead on Sunday, the 32-year-old had yet to register in the campaign. Mata, who managed 20 goals in all competitions last season, has zero in three league games since joining and did not score for Chelsea in the league either, the same number as Fletcher (who has missed most of the season through illness), while Young has two.

Darren Bent's 94th-minute equaliser at Old Trafford means United have dropped 18 points on their home patch and they are 21 worse off than last season after 25 games, which is hardly Champions League qualification form.

Defending the title is a pipe dream as United are 15 points behind the leaders, Chelsea. The big issue is whether making next season's European Cup is also fast becoming fantasy as Moyes takes United to Arsenal on Wednesday night, with 13 matches remaining and the gap to Liverpool in fourth nine points. No team have ever made the Champions League with such a deficit at the same stage of the season.

If United lose at the Emirates and Brendan Rodgers' fast-improving side win at Fulham, then United will need Liverpool to drop 13 points, assuming superior goal difference, while also winning all their last 12 matches.

Deep down Moyes seems to have accepted that next season he could be leading United round the outposts of the continental game in the Europa League.

When quizzed on whether Champions League qualification remains possible, bullishness is absent. After the Fulham debacle he said: "We will do our best." Do United have to win at the Emirates to keep alive hopes of European Cup football next season? "We have to win all the games so you can ask me as many times as you like, I'll keep saying we have to win the games that are coming up and we should have won that one and we needed to as well," said Moyes.

The defensive nature of the response points to a manager braced for the tough questions as his side's predicament worsens with each outing.

There was another moment in his post-Fulham briefing when Moyes bridled. A record 81 crosses failed to claim the victory he was adamant United deserved. Yet, when asked if a change from the ploy Fulham's René Meulensteen branded "straightforward" could have yielded a win, Moyes insisted his approach was not one-dimensional. "It was never one way," he said.

Yet Fulham's Dan Burn, who played non-league football for Darlington, begged to differ. He offered a humbling assessment of the tactic. "I've never headed that many balls since the Conference," the 21-year-old said. "I'm happy for them to play like that. We knew that we were going to defend our box well. We were going to keep our back four quite narrow so that we were between the goal, and the wingers were going to look after the wide men. We've been working on that in training. I thought it worked well. They've had plenty of crosses, loads of chances and stuff but the second goal was quite lucky. I always felt we had something left.

"We knew that was going to happen – once we were dropping further back that we were going to get more compact and make them play around us because we thought we had the strength in numbers."

Despite Moyes' denial there is little question that the high ball into the area from out wide is a key plank of his strategy. The match against Fulham offers a microcosm of United's season. Adnan Januzaj was given 28 minutes as a substitute during which he put 12 high balls into Fulham's area, the joint-highest along with Young's contribution. Wayne Rooney, who as the side's playmaker might be expected to do most work in and around central areas, was forced out to the left and right to make 10 crosses.

These numbers are from open play, with United's overall crosses from their starting midfield quartet ending on 23. This compares with the paltry two made by Fulham, who, having arrived as the bottom club fighting for survival, were expected to be the less sophisticated side on show.

For Carrick the result remains a puzzle. "It's a tough one to take. It's hard to explain how we've only come away with a point. It was an incredible game, so one-sided," he said. "We played well for most of the game. We created opportunities but just couldn't score. We certainly had chances to go further ahead but, even so, we were so in control that letting it slip like that is criminal.

"I haven't been involved in a game like that in my career," he added. "It's so frustrating because we should have scored more. We're very disappointed to concede twice, considering the amount of time they spent in our half, never mind our box. It's one of those seasons – setback after setback – and we have just got to pick ourselves up. We have to believe that with performances, things are going to change."

The lack of goals from midfield and the United cross-fest offer two answers to the conundrum and that of the other poor results this season.

Jamie Jackson

Ribéry ruled out of Arsenal trip

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:37 AM PST

• Winger ruled out of Champions League match
• Ribéry sidelined by operation on blood vessels

Franck Ribéry will miss the Champions League tie at Arsenal following a minor operation to repair a burst blood vessel in his buttock.

The Bayern Munich winger had the operation last Thursday, with tests on Monday showing the procedure had been successful in removing bruising that had been affecting a nerve.

The holders confirmed that the 30-year-old would return to training next week and will miss the first leg of their last-16 Champions League meeting at the Emirates Stadium on 19 February.

A statement on Bayern's website said: "An examination on Monday revealed that the bruise, which had pressed on a nerve, was completely removed by surgery. Ribéry is scheduled to begin exercise therapy later this week and, a week later, he will return to running training.

"Therefore Ribéry will miss the next games for the champions, among them the last-16 tie at Arsenal."

Ribéry is Bayern's most influential player and made the three-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or earlier this year.

The best goals of the week

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 09:22 AM PST

Featuring volleys, half-volleys, piledrivers, free-kicks, a beautiful team goal from Barnsley and a strange header from Brazil

Paul Campbell

Justifiably patronised by the manager of Fulham | The Fiver

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST

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

HOW TO MAKE EVERYONE CROSS

The Fiver has seen the future. Sadly there were no Little Fivers running around but we always thought that might be the case, so WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT BOTHERED, OK, SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET OFF THE FIVER'S BACK AND LET IT GET ON WITH PLAYING WORLD OF WARCRAFT. There were also no jetpacks or a boy who could swim faster than a shark. All things told, the future wasn't much to write home about, but there was one surprising development and Liverpool fans aren't going to like it one bit. Sure, they end this season in fourth place, apparently qualifying for Big Cup for the first time since 2009. But wait! There's a twist! For while Manchester United finish 12th, 27 points behind Liverpool, David Moyes expertly leads them to Big Cup glory, the trophy proudly sitting alongside the Community Shield he won by beating Wigan Athletic. So, United fans, the situation might seem gloomy now, but happy days are on the horizon again. And this definitely had nothing to do with all that mouldy cheese The Fiver ate before bedtime.

Or does it? Maybe it does. Because United really are rather bad at football at the moment, yesterday's limp 2-2 draw with fellow relegation strugglers Fulham the latest embarrassment in an ever-expanding line. Even Darren Bent scored and Sandra Redknapp has more goals than him in the last three years. "Today was as bad as it gets," Moyes wept, though we're not so sure – there are definitely still some depths to plunge into and explore. "How we didn't win, I have no idea." Well, it might just have had something to do with the repetitive, grinding, soulless, predictable, tedious nature of United's attacks, Moyes deciding to chuck the law of averages rather than the kitchen sink at Fulham in order to break them down. They sent in 81 crosses in total, enough to make one wonder if Moyes sold United to Juan Mata by telling him that he just wanted him to hit the non-existent big man whenever he got the ball. This wasn't the Juan Mata we were promised, this was Juan Mata as Stewart Downing, Juan Mata without Andy Carroll.

All of which allowed René Meulensteen to pretend that he had masterminded a point for Fulham, when all they had done was sit on their six-yard box and head the ball clear. "When I saw Manchester United today I thought the game plan was quite straightforward – get it wide, get it in, whether it was from the full-back pushing on or the supporting wide man and midfielder," he self-congratulated. Poor Moyesie. It's really come to something when you can be justifiably patronised by the manager of Fulham. And to make matters worse, Lord Ferg was in the stands again, his presence making it impossible for Moyes to even contemplate winning a match, the presence of Mick Hucknall sitting beside him suggesting that United already have a new manager in mind if this goes on much longer.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The deal demonstrates that we have been true to our word by securing the regeneration of two areas of east London through our move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016" – West Ham vice chairman Karren Brady points out that the club have the local community at heart in selling Upton Park to a developer, without mentioning that the £600m their new stadium has cost the taxpayer would also have done the local community some good too.

FIVER LETTERS

"'I must say that some people are very patient with us because they expect us to fall apart since August,' said Mr Wenger on Friday. Touché, that socks it to those cynics who have no faith. What? Oh …" – Noble Francis.

"I'm quite appalled at The Fiver's scant regard of Brazilian naming customs, with the World Cup Fiver being touted as 'The Big Fiver' when it only has 91.15% of the content of the corresponding day's regular tea-timely(ish) email. Therefore, I, as the latest of 1,057 pedants demand its name be changed to O Fiverinho immediately" – Ross Pestana (and no others).

"May I be the first of just the one pedant to point out that the 19-year-old punching bag Newcastle defender you mentioned in today's Fiver is in fact Remie Streete, not Remie Street, as you have it. The extra 'e' really does make all the difference" – Shane Street (and no other pedantic Street(e)s).

• 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 prizeless letter o' the day is: Ross Pestana.

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BIT AND BOB

Yaya Touré faces a three-match ban for kicking Ricky van Wolfwinkel so hard that his dignity came loose and he was forced to roll around on the floor looking for it.

Cardiff City's Craig Bellamy also faces a period on the naughty step after he appeared to catch the attention of Swansea's Jonathan de Guzman with his elbow.

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Low pay, bad pitches and threats from ultras: why Brazilian footballers might strike. By Gilberto Silva. Yes, that Gilberto Silva.

Fans of conversations on methods of gesturing will be upset to learn that our Talking Points blog is on the weekend's Premier League games.

Now that Fulham are decent again, here's Jacob Steinberg on why their academy director Huw Jennings is good at his job.

Sid Lowe. Spanish football. Click.

Paolo Bandini. Italian football. Click.

Raphael Honigstein. German football. Click.

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Jacob Steinberg

Gilberto Silva on football in Brazil

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:03 AM PST

Low pay, threats from ultras and terrible pitches have prompted many players to join the union I set up, Common Sense FC

For a lot of people outside the country, the main problem concerning Brazilian football is the delays in construction for the World Cup. However, I would like to bring to your attention a situation that should not be deemed unimportant in comparison: since last year, Brazilian professional footballers have united to demand better conditions, and the weak response we have received from the Brazilian Football Confederation, our ruling body, has increased the possibility of an all-out strike in the first week of the Brazilian championship, on 19 April.

It is possible that it could happen sooner; in the past 10 days two clubs in Sao Paulo state, Corinthians and Ponte Preta, have been victims of co-ordinated actions from groups of ultras who invaded their respective training grounds and threatened players. That has shed a lot of light on the problems we, the players, are facing in this country, a proud football country about to host the World Cup.

Our movement is called Common Sense FC and we are proud of the way things have evolved quite organically. It all started last September, when two players who returned to Brazil after years playing in Europe – the former Fenerbahce midfielder Alex and the former Roma defender Juan – were exchanging shirts at the end of a game and talked about how disappointed they were with how little the situation had changed in Brazilian football.

While new stadiums have been built for the World Cup, professional players in Brazil still have to endure conditions that at times are far from ideal: bad pitches, shabby dressing rooms, and as we have seen lately, security issues. Since September, more than a thousand footballers have joined Common Sense, which has made possible actions such as the massive sit-down with crossed arms we performed before the start of every game in the 34th week of last year's Brazilian championship.

This, however, is not a movement for players who have experienced the exemplary organisation of some European leagues and are now "too good to compromise" after coming back home. We are all aware of the differences in infrastructure and financial situation on both sides of the Atlantic. But that should not be an argument for us to ignore problems that can be solved.

Brazilian football faces serious issues, starting with a calendar that is too congested. Unlike in Europe, Brazilian clubs have to play state championships, if only not to create huge problems for smaller sides without the means to enter the four national divisions. The big clubs also are involved in continental tournaments, which could result in a team playing about 80 matches in a season. "But in Europe players are also sometimes playing 70 games in a season," I was once told by a Brazilian journalist; but none of them has to travel as much as we do in Brazil and they certainly don't play on pitches that sometimes have potholes and shabby lighting for night matches.

I sometimes laugh when I hear the media complaining that we don't play a passing game as smooth as is seen in Europe, because sometimes it is impossible to pass the ball properly on a bad pitch. Also, I don't think players who have played abroad should immediately be perceived as spoiled. I lived away from Brazil for nine years and it did shock me, for example, to come back and see that some grounds had not had any improvements in all that time I'd been in Europe.

It is not only pitches and the fixture programme, though. I see problems with the approach towards things. At Arsenal, for example, Arsène Wenger knows everything that is happening at the club, he is always aware of developments in the academy, and players are stimulated to learn from the guys in the first team. At one club in Brazil I was once horrified to learn that the young players were barred from watching the pros practice. I have to refer to Arsenal again: David Dein always impressed me when he came to the dressing room and complimented every player by name, even the ones who were from the academy. Then I think of a situation with the Brazilian national team in which the CBF president didn't even remember the name of a player who had won his first cap …

Although we are pretty satisfied with the reception the movement has received so far, the players have been criticised by some members of the public and the media. I have heard claims that we should not be whingeing because footballers make much more money than most people. This is not totally true. In fact, most professional footballers in Brazil make around twice the minimum wage a month (about £350), but people prefer to focus on the high-earners.

Even players in the first division often experience delays in payments, and no worker should go through that. That is why Common Sense is also pressing for a set of financial fair play rules that clubs would have to obey so that we could avoid problems in payments and nudge clubs into more careful planning.

This demand is an example of how Common Sense is not self-centred. More organisation will undeniably lead to a better game in Brazil, and everybody can profit from that, including supporters and clubs. That's why we are also interested in securing the presence of players in the decision-making process within ruling bodies. It is fundamental that our views are taken into account.

The ultra question has now become important. We are fully aware that not every supporter is a thug and not every club ignores their activities. We know there are clubs who use ultras for political reasons and even subsidise them with tickets and travel expenses but, while this is not illegal, we can't accept intimidation by these groups and it is crucial to give a robust response to the events of the past 10 days.

Brazilian football needs to sort itself out before things get really difficult. We already have low attendances at league games, and the lack of planning is likely to affect the national team sooner rather than later. Brazil have won five world titles, but that doesn't mean things don't have to improve and that mistakes have not been made. The world has caught up as we have seen in the international game.

Sometimes I have the impression the decision-makers in Brazil are hiding behind our accolades. Even with all the money the CBF makes with its sponsors, in the long-term the quality of our national team will be affected if most clubs remain in tatters. There are some good examples of good practices but they are still in a minority, and this needs to be addressed for the sake of our game. And this is why a strike to paralyse the Brazilian championship in April is very likely – I'd say there's an 80% chance.

Since I started with the Common Sense movement, I have been released by the club I played for in 2013, Atlético Mineiro, and so far I haven't managed to secure a team to play for in 2014. I am 37 but even after knee surgery last year I still managed to finish the year playing.

It has crossed my mind that my activism might be closing doors for me but if that's the price to pay for these issues to become public, I will happily pay it. The players know our movement will add up to negative news linked to the World Cup but it is important we get our message across. People abroad need to know what is going on.

Gilberto Silva, the former Arsenal midfielder, was talking to Fernando Duarte

Football Weekly: Liverpool demolish Arsenal as Chelsea got top

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:02 AM PST

On today's Football Weekly, a rare opportunity to revel in Arsenal's misery, as AC Jimbo is joined by Gregg Bakowski, Philippe Auclair and Michael Cox for a postmortem on Liverpool's five star dissection of the wannabe champions. The Gunners' next three games will make or break their season – and this being Arsenal and this being February, it's possible that things might go downhill quickly in North London. Boo and indeed hoo.

A magnificent hat-trick for Eden Hazard in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Newcastle means that José Mourinho's men replaced Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, while at the bottom, Fulham became the latest team to leave Old Trafford with more than they anticipated after they drew 2-2 with Manchester United. Next up for United, a trip to the Emirates.

Finally, we get up to speed with everything around Europe, where three teams sit at the top of La Liga; Monaco held PSG; Bayern continued their indomitable run; and Mario Balotelli had a bit of a cry – possibly because Adel Taarabt scored the fastest debut goal for Milan since George Weah.

Rumours abound that Jonathan Wilson will be joining us on Thursday. Let's make it happen

Manuel Pellegrini needs a calculator, says Chelsea's José Mourinho

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:27 AM PST

• Manchester City manager in Mourinho's sights again
• Chelsea manager expects three-match ban for Yaya Touré

José Mourinho has rejected Manuel Pellegrini's claims that Chelsea must still be considered heavyweights in the transfer market and suggested the Manchester City manager, despite being a qualified engineer, might be in need of a calculator.

The Portuguese, who welcomes Fernando Torres back to his squad after a knee injury for Tuesday's trip to West Bromwich Albion, was unimpressed by Pellegrini's assertion last Friday that Chelsea are "the team that spends the most money in the last 10 years, the team that spends the most money this year, so a little bit rich". Mourinho was not questioned specifically about the City manager's comments, but offered his thoughts regardless.

Asked why he considered the other title contenders to be in a better position to challenge for the Premier League this term, Mourinho replied: "I don't have to repeat myself a lot, but everybody knows what Manchester City are. What I would like to say is that, for example, Pellegrini was talking about the money we've spent. I think he's a fantastic coach, and I respect that a lot, and on top of that, outside his football career, he's an engineer by qualification. I don't think an engineer needs a calculator to do Mata £37m and De Bruyne £18m, so that's £55m. Matic is £21m and Salah is £11m. That's £32m, and 55 minus 32 is 23.

"So Chelsea, in this transfer window, generated £23m. It's easy to understand that this is working with financial fair play, 'fair' financial fair play. There are no arguments against that. This is what we're doing. Others aren't doing the same. We are building a team for the next decade, if possible. [City] have a team to win now because they don't have a team for 10 years. They have a team for now, for the next three or four. So experience, potential, power, not worried about financial fair player because, in the summer, they just spend ... We don't need a calculator for this. It's easy: +23.

"Pellegrini has a fantastic team, fantastic players, and is a good manager. He has lots of experience, so it's not a problem for him. There are 13 matches left and 39 points available, and that's an eternity in a league. He's been speaking about winning four competitions, so there's no reason to change the speech. But the only thing that is funny that he keeps saying he never responds to Mourinho, he never comments about Mourinho. He said that in Spain, too. So, he's changed."

Mourinho, who had chosen not to factor in Kurt Zouma's £12m arrival from St Etienne into his run down of Chelsea's spending, anticipates the Football Association handing City's influential midfielder, Yaya Touré, a three-match ban. The midfielder had appeared to kick the Norwich forward Ricky van Wolfswinkel off the ball during Saturday's goalless draw at Carrow Road. The FA are expected to announce on Monday whether the Ivorian has been charged with violent conduct.

"I don't understand why it would be an if?" added Mourinho. "If he's not suspended, the message is clear: players can do what they want as long as the referee doesn't see it. Of course I would be [disappointed if he was not sanctioned]. But if he is not, it has to be the same for everyone: if the referee doesn't see, a player can do whatever he wants. It doesn't matter about cameras or others seeing. I can do whatever I want."

Dominic Fifield

United played like a Conference team, says Fulham's Burn

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:17 AM PST

• Dan Burn says Fulham prepared for high balls in training
• 'I haven't headed that many balls since the Conference'

The Fulham defender Dan Burn has compared Manchester United's playing style to Conference football in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Fulham at Old Trafford.

David Moyes's team made a record 81 crosses yet still failed to win and following the match Burn, 21, who began his career at Darlington, where he played non-league football, said: "I was just saying to the lads that I've never headed that many balls since the Conference. At the end of the day I'm happy for them to play like that.

"We knew that we were going to defend our box well. We were going to keep our back four quite narrow so that we were between the goal and the wingers were going to look after the wide men. They've had plenty of crosses, loads of chances and stuff, but the second goal was quite lucky. I always felt we had something left."

Burn stated that René Meulensteen, the Fulham manager, had prepared the side for United to pepper them with high balls into the area. "We've been working on that in training. I thought it worked well. We knew that was going to happen – once we were dropping further back, that we were going to get more compact and make them play around us because we thought we had the strength in numbers. I'm 6ft 7in. It helps when dealing with those sort of balls."

Of preventing United's vaunted attacking trio of Juan Mata, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney from playing through his side, Burn added: "That shows you how well we've defended. They didn't have many chances. They're still amazing players – on another day they could have had however many, but we defended really well."

Jamie Jackson

Manchester United 2-2 Fulham: 'We deserved to win', says David Moyes – video

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST

Manchester United manager David Moyes says his team deserved to win against Fulham. United saw Fulham's Darren Brent score an equaliser just before the whistle

Fulham's youngsters hit the road to success the Huw Jennings way | Jacob Steinberg

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:25 AM PST

While the first team are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, the club's academy players head the under-21 table

"I'm spinning plates," Huw Jennings says. "I don't trust people who say they aren't busy." We are sitting in his office at Fulham's training ground in Motspur Park and he is talking about his typical day; it does not quite last 12 hours but it is close.

Jennings, Fulham's academy director, is not complaining, though. Far from it. Not many people look out of their office window and see a football pitch. There are worse places to be. Laughter can be heard in the room next door. "Probably something I should suppress," he jokes. This does seem like a happy, welcoming place to work – and an increasingly successful one too.

While Fulham are in danger of relegation from the Premier League, at least their youth system gives cause for optimism. Fulham are top of the Under-21 Premier League, three points ahead of Chelsea, and their under-18s have won three successive titles, explaining why many supporters have been calling for their youngsters to be integrated into an ageing first team.

That never seemed possible when Martin Jol was in charge but there has been a shift since René Meulensteen took over in December and Sunday's 2-2 draw at Manchester United featured an excellent performance by Dan Burn, a 21-year-old defender. Muamer Tankovic, an 18-year-old Swedish forward, also impressed on his first league start.

Fulham do not have a great record of producing players but that is starting to change. Jennings was formerly Southampton's academy director and helped establish one of the finest production lines in the country, finding Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Adam Lallana. Jennings has been joined at Fulham by two of his colleagues from those days, Malcolm Elias and Steve Wigley, and Southampton's current success can be partially attributed to them all.

Jennings, who spent 12 years as a teacher in a comprehensive school, left Southampton in 2006 because he was unsure about their long-term future and joined the Premier League, before being tempted to Fulham by Alistair Mackintosh, the club's chief executive. Mackintosh had been praised for his emphasis on youth when he was at Manchester City.

"At Man City, with very little resources because they slumped through the divisions, they re-emerged on the back of a really vibrant youth policy," Jennings says. "He [Alistair] made it clear to me that at Fulham he'd like to give youth an opportunity because perhaps in the past that's not been the case. The excitement for me was to go into a club where there hadn't been a DNA for youth and hoping to create one.

"One of the best things is I inherited a terrific group of staff who just needed to be liberated by a vision. I found a little bit that the academy was viewed as the thing that we had to have and it better be quiet and stay in the corner, otherwise if it caused any mischief we might not have to have it.

"Now maybe that's being a bit harsh on the way the club was set up but that was the feeling amongst some of the staff, so what I tried to do was set about trying to develop our infrastructure and programme, and be a place where young players would want to come. Hopefully we're on that road."

So what's the secret? "You've got to have quality recruitment," Jennings says. "There's a saying: it's not just about the players you recruit that matter, it's also about the players you don't."

He accepts that young players may be dazzled by the glamour of Chelsea but Fulham are quietly excited about their youngsters. Moussa Dembélé, the French forward who was signed from Paris Saint-Germain, and Patrick Roberts, a tricky English winger, who are both 17, have caught the eye. Jennings is reluctant to place unnecessary pressure on these kids. Instead he mentions "pathways" a lot and stresses the importance of being patient and dealing with disappointment. Special players like Walcott whizz straight into the first team and others need time. Jennings cites the case of Burn, who was excellent at United.

"You can't force it," he says. "There's got to be the right stepping stones. If we take Dan Burn, who's played two games for the first team, his stepping stone started at Darlington, where we identified his potential. We then developed him in our way, then he plays for Yeovil in League One. Then he goes to Birmingham, a club that's a bit bigger. Now he's back at Fulham for a few games. It's fascinating to see the way he's progressed. At club level people want players in a team before they're ready for it.

"If I reflect back on the period with Kerim Frei, he got into the team a bit early as a 17-year-old and instantly the crowd took to him because he's a dribbler and he's exciting to watch. But things didn't go as well for Kerim as people hoped and, reflecting back, we forced him into the team a bit too early. As a result he missed out on some of those steps."

Jennings does not yearn for the days when youngsters cleaned the senior pros' boots. "We've got to take the best principles and use them in a modern context," he says. "On the subject of cleaning boots, I actually think an affinity with senior players helps. We invite players to come in and do Q&As with the young players. It's good education both ways actually, the senior players quite enjoy it. We have a lot of mentoring between the senior players and the youngsters. It's informal but it helps in a way that actually is about learning about football. Develop a link and an appreciation between the players. It's about football, not whether the studs look shiny."

Jennings praises Meulensteen for the way he has integrated youngsters into his training sessions. While doubts remain about Meulensteen's managerial credentials, given that Fulham have dropped to the bottom of the Premier League under him, the Dutchman has an excellent record of working with young players and has not been afraid to use them.

There have been regular games between the first team and the youth team in training. The youngsters have won a few but Jennings is more interested in how they play. "What's it like in a practice match against Brede Hangeland?" he says. "You have to demonstrate that you're not thinking it's Brede Hangeland."

Equally, Jennings recognises that a winning mentality is crucial and believes that England must learn how to handle tournament play. "We've just taken our under-18s to an indoor tournament in Germany for the fifth year in a row," he says. "It's five v five, 30 minutes a game, you're right in the industrial heartland of Germany playing against teams like Schalke, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg.

"What you notice about the Germans is they know how to win at that age. Now we finished fourth out of 28 teams and we don't play indoor football on a regular basis. But you work it out and what it's done for our youngsters is it's opened their eyes on how to get the competitive nature right because we beat Mönchengladbach on penalties in the quarter-final. You certainly realise in that situation how you give young players the preparation they may need for later. England national teams need to know how to play at tournament level.

"You can't succeed at this level if you're not a winner. Losing sometimes is good. You learn a lot but if you haven't got a winning mentality, you don't come here. I take that from a very young age. Results don't matter – a winning mentality does." Perhaps Fulham will find one with Jennings around.

Jacob Steinberg

Atlético Madrid stunned by Almería, and the refereeing Texeira brothers

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:05 AM PST

Contentious red card sees Atlético beaten and deadlock at the top of La Liga after Real Madrid and Barcelona both win

There was a double bill on this weekend. On Saturday night they were showing Texeira I and on Sunday night it was Texeira II. From the howling wind to the driving rain, the dark plot unfolded, a story of tension and intrigue. You could almost hear the deep, gravelly voice of the cinema announcer: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the field ... Texeira II: Return of the Referee." Here was the sequel and the stakes were high. They thought they had seen the back of him but no. Another day, another victim, thanks to a dramatic twist: there are two of them. Get this: the bad guy is the bad guy's brother.

Yes, Spain really does have two referees with the same name. Yes, they are brothers. And yes, they really do call them Texeira Vitienes I and Texeira Vitienes II, Texeira for short. This weekend they really did take charge of the round's two most important games and in order too, first Texeira I and then 23 hours later Texeira II. José Antonio Texeira Vitienes and Fernando Texeira Vitienes were born a year apart, in July 1970 and July 1971 respectively; this weekend they blew a day apart and, never mind Leo Messi or José Antonio Verza, Dani Aranzubía or Andrés Iniesta, they blew the title race wide open too.

Or so you'd think. The week had started with days of hysterical coverage of Madrid's fight over Cristiano Ronaldo's red card against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés, a fight that totally eclipsed the game itself - which, in case you hadn't read, and you probably hadn't, was superb - and it had ended with Ayza Gámez, the referee who sent him off and then wrote up his report all wrong, being dumped in the "freezer". Now it was the Texeiras' turn.

Now there's nothing new about that of course. Referees have long been promoted to centre stage. The country's best-selling newspaper put the head of one inside a target and called him Madrid's executioner. There are furious mass debates and decisions get replayed over and over - more than the goals ever are - while every show, every paper, has a refereeing "expert", the most famous of whom is a linesman famous for cocking it up, and the media invariably cries foul … when the foul is against them and sometimes even when it's not a foul at all. Mistakes are not mistakes but conspiracies; they're also decisive.

But then, this was something else. It took Atlético Madrid 18 years to climb up to the top of the table and it took just six days for them to climb down again. Defeated once all season, they were defeated twice in a week: first by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, then by Almería in the league on Saturday night. By Almería and Texeira I, that is: the referee overlooked two possible penalties for Atlético (and one against them); ignored a spine-chilling and potentially leg breaking two-footed lunge from Hélder Barbosa on Tiago, carried off injured having just come back from a month's lay-off; didn't send off Fernando Soriano despite him committing eight fouls in 58 minutes; and did send off Atlético's goalkeeper Dani Aranzubía for having the temerity to make a save.

"There are no excuses," Diego Simeone insisted, but others made them for him. Atlético had not had a single shot on target until 15 minutes before the end and that was not exactly dangerous. Almería confronted Atlético the way teams are increasingly confronting Atlético: rarely stepping forward, determined not to let them counter-attack, not worried about attacking themselves. Diego Costa found little space; the early runs from Manquillo, attacking from right-back, had dried up; and the player most likely to find a way through, Diego Ribas, had been withdrawn just before. The wind swirled and the ball floated all over the place. Atlético were without David Villa, Felipe Luis and Koke. They were also without goalkeeper Thibault Courtois. In his place was Dani Aranzubía. The last time Aranzubía had played at Almería in the first division, he scored a 95th-minute header, becoming the first keeper ever to score a La Liga goal from open play. This time, it ended differently.

It all happened in a few minutes. Aleix Vidal broke away and hit both posts; then Verza took a short corner with Suso and curled a cross towards the far post that became a brilliant shot, swinging over Aranzubía and into the corner; next Vidal was through, only to scuff his shot; and finally Aranzubía was given a back pass. First he controlled it, then he lost control. Jonathan Zongo got on top of him and challenged. The ball rebounded off him and ran across towards the empty goal, keeper and striker giving chase, a desperate three-yard dash. Aranzubía got ahead and dived onto the ball, grabbing it to his chest, relieved.

Until, that is, Texeira Vitienes I blew his whistle, pointed to the spot and pulled out the red card. Atlético's captain, midfielder Gabri, put on the gloves but could not stop the penalty. Six minutes had passed from the first goal to the second, from being top to being third. Even a draw would have been bad news; a defeat was a disaster. Real Madrid, 4-2 winners over Villarreal just before, had climbed above their neighbours and Barcelona would too. The two Madrid teams were level on points but Real's goal difference, the deciding factor until everyone has played everyone twice, is +41 to Atlético's +40. At the end of the season, head-to-head records will decide. And so far Atlético lead that 1-0.

If Simeone was saying little, Tiago complained that "strange things are happening: there were things that could have changed the result." He continued: "I'm not talking about a black hand, but there are episodes ..." Others went further. "Texeira I and Aranzubía defeated Atlético," ran the cover of AS, its match report running under the headline: "Bad Atlético, worse referee". El Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan newspaper with the Atlético Madrid supplement to help it sell in the capital, was more explicit: "Hands up!", its front page ran. "The dictionary does not have enough words to define what happened in Almería ... Atlético were top for as long as Texeira wanted them to be."

In AS, Iñako Díaz Guerra described the refereeing as "demented", describing Texeira Vitienes I as "embarked upon a battle to the death with his brother to see who can be the worst referee in the family. We've not seen a fight so savage since Ali vs Frazier."

The second round came 24 hours later, in the swirling rain of the Sánchez Pizjuán as Sevilla faced Barcelona. It was time for Texeira Vitienes II. It was also, the Barcelona manager Tata Martino had warned, the hardest trip Barcelona had left this season. Barcelona had won just one in four league games, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fábregas were left out, and Messi hadn't scored from open play since September.

For a while it looked like Martino was right. Sevilla were a goal up inside quarter of an hour, scored by Alberto Moreno and made, as so often, by Ivan Rakitic. Six minutes later they hit the post, this time from Carlos Bacca's header. And just after the half hour, Martín Montoya was blown for a foul throw, which seemed to say it all about Barcelona's unease. This threatened to be a defeat and a heavy one. Sevilla continued to make, and miss, good chances and Víctor Valdés made a vital save on 42 minutes. At that point, the shots on target count read: Sevilla 4-1 Barcelona.

The score, though, was 1-1. Barcelona had equalised in the 33rd minute and it all started with a free kick for a challenge by Nico Pareja on Messi, in which although he had gone flying through the water, sliding across the pitch and taking Messi with him, he had won the ball. Messi took the free kick and Alexis Sánchez scored a "header" with his back and from an offside position. Ten minutes later, Messi scored a brilliantly taken second, created with an incisive counter, and five minutes into the second half he got the third. Cesc Fabregas made it 4-1 in the dying minutes. 4-1. It had seemed impossible not long before.

Ultimately, Barcelona played extremely well in the second half. Xavi got control back. While others slid, Iniesta glided. And then, there was Messi. In midweek the Argentinian coach Ángel Cappa had suggested that Messi looked like he had lost a bit of the joy for football, a touch of the "madness". He had appeared apathetic of late, slow, uninterested and playing deeper, as if keeping out of the way. He had appeared apathetic here too, but then suddenly, with two flashes of his left boot, there he was again. The celebration didn't exactly say apathy either. Suddenly, he was in the middle of everything.

But, as Martino admitted: "I'm aware of the fact that we could have been 2-0 down." And the opening question for Unai Emery started: "was the referee decisive?" Emery's response was interesting and could prompt a worthwhile debate, if anyone can be bothered to have it: he talked less about concrete decisions, more about concepts. Yet he also admitted: "it is all born there, with Nico's challenge."

The reaction was predictable. Neither Sport nor El Mundo Deportivo shouted, but Marca ran a poll, asking its readers: was Texeira II decisive in Barcelona's win? So far, just over 50% say yes. As for the Seville-based newspaper Estadio Deportivo, it screamed: "Another robbery." It continued: "Texeira II put Barcelona back in the game when Sevilla were far superior." AS's headline claimed: "Texeira II takes Barcelona top."

Only just. The league has not been this close this late in the season for 21 years; with 15 matches left, all three teams are on 57 points. On Saturday morning, Atlético were top. On Saturday night, Real Madrid were top. And on Sunday night Barcelona were top. Top of the bill though were Texeira I and Texeira II: The Referee Returns.

Talking points

* Bale Watch. Not so much the name of a section as a piece of advice that the Villarreal defender Dorado suicidally ignored. The game was only six minutes old when Bale robed him, raced into the area and clipped a lovely finish over Sergio Asenjo. Twenty minutes later, he provided a right footed ball for Karim Benzema to make it 2-0. That's eleven goals and nine assists for the Welshman so far this season. Bale was superb and so too were Jesé - again - and Luka Modric, as Madrid won 4-2. Modric is arguably this season's best player, even if he didn't score and thus ruined a potential ex-Spurs hat-trick after Bale got the opener and Gio Dos Santos curled in a lovely free kick in the second half to make it 3-2.

Villarreal's first had been a beauty too, thumped in by Mario. At 2-1 and 3-2 it looked, briefly, like Villarreal might have a chance and they were the first goals Madrid had conceded at home this year. Not that the coach Marcelino was impressed. The opening question in the press conference ran: "satisfied with the performance...". Marcelino simply stared down his man and, as the tumbleweed blew past, replied: "No."

* "We're a pain, not a nice team to play against," said Levante's coach, Joaquín Caparrós. Another 0-0, another brilliant performance from the goalkeeper Keylor Navas. This time at Real Sociedad.

* Maybe there's hope for Rayo Vallecano yet. They beat Málaga 4-1 on Saturday night, only their second win in 10, and are now four points away from safety. And two of the four goals were absolutely wonderful: the first and the fourth, both scored by Iago Falqué.

* Suits you, sir. Has Juan Antonio Pizzi finally got a suit, and a team, that fits? Valencia still don't have a new owner and one of their signings, Otamendi, didn't get concluded in time so has had to go off on loan until the summer, but no one was busier in the winter window than them and there are tentative signs of a recovery. They hammered Betis 5-0 and have now gone four unbeaten, including that 3-2 win at Camp Nou.

* Slipin' and a slidin', the most fun was at Valladolid, which isn't something you can say often. Mud and blood and four goals.

Results: Espanyol 1-0 Granada, Valencia 5-0 Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano 4-1 Málaga, Real Madrid 4-2 Villarreal, Almería 2-0 Atlético Madrid, Osasuna 2-0 Getafe, Sevilla 1-4 Barcelona, Valladolid 2-2 Elche, Real Sociedad 0-0 Levante. Monday: Celta-Athletic Bilbao.

Latest La Liga table

Sid Lowe

Casey Stoney hopes to help others come out

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 04:48 AM PST

• England Women's captain speaks out over sexuality
• 'I'm in a loving relationship where I feel strong'

The England Women's captain Casey Stoney is hoping to make it easier for more people to come out after speaking at length for the first time about being gay.

The Arsenal defender is the latest sportsperson to speak openly about their sexuality after the former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger came out as gay and the Olympic diver Tom Daley revealed he was in a relationship with a man.

Stoney, who has 116 caps for England, was delighted by the positive response Daley got to his announcement, and is hoping that revelations about sexuality will eventually not be seen as important.

"I feel it's really important for me to speak out as a gay player because there are so many young people struggling with being gay," she told BBC Sport. "You hear about people taking their own lives because they're homosexual, now that should never happen. They should never feel those pressures. How can I expect other people to come out and speak about themselves if I'm not willing to do that myself?

"Now is the time because I'm in a loving relationship where I feel strong, I feel safe and I don't care what other people think any more."

Stoney's sexuality was not a secret within the game, and she has spoken to the Guardian about the subject before, but she is now hoping that the wider world will become more accepting of gay athletes.

"I've never hidden it within football circles because it is accepted," she said. "But to the outside world where I've been employed or I've gone to meals and I've gone and met people, I've never spoken about my sexuality.

"If I can help other people in some way shape or form feel more comfortable or feel at ease with themselves then this is what this is all about, this is the bigger picture.

"It's not about me. I'm comfortable now, it's about making sure we live in a world where it's accepted, we live in a world where it's not news anymore.

"I looked at the response that Tom Daley got and the incredible positive response that he got and I thought 'wow, the world is changing' and it's time for me to stand up and tell my side of the story."

The 31-year-old has also expressed sympathy with gay athletes in Sochi for the Winter Olympics where a controversy has been caused over Russian anti-gay legislation.

Russia will also host the World Cup in 2018 and Stoney admits she will not be going to the tournament if current attitudes towards sexuality there persist.

"I won't be going to Russia or Qatar to watch a World Cup because I wouldn't be accepted there," she said. "I think it's incredible that these countries get World Cups and Olympics when they don't accept everybody to go there and be part of it.

"There will be[Olympic] athletes competing out [in Russia] who are gay. I can't imagine how frightened they must feel going out there and competing. When Russian President Vladimir Putin says that gay people can come over but please don't go near the children, what sort of message is that sending if he is that uneducated and he's ruling that country? It seriously worries me. It's about educating the people at the top, all the way down."

West Ham agree to sell Upton Park

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 04:15 AM PST

• Upton Park will be redeveloped after 2016 move
• New homes and shops planned for site

West Ham have agreed a deal to sell Upton Park to a developer once the club have completed their move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

The Galliard Group has been named as the successful bidder for the site, with West Ham saying they had chosen a developer with close links to the community and a plan to honour the history of the club as part of its development on the site.

The West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said: "We opted to reach an agreement with Galliard because they are a local London developer and employer with origins in east London.

"We know they are committed to working closely with the local community and Newham council on proposals to transform the site into a residential and retail village, which will benefit the local community and east London's regional economy.

"The deal demonstrates that we have been true to our word by securing the regeneration of two areas of east London through our move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

"In addition, and most importantly for us, we can see that Galliard are passionate about working with West Ham United to engage their supporters to help deliver a fitting legacy that will honour the tradition of the famous ground.

"We are confident that West Ham United fans will be excited about their vision and the way they plan to respect more than 100 years of West Ham history at Upton Park."

The Galliard Group plans to build new homes on the site as well as retail and leisure facilities with underground parking which would be completed by 2018. The group has also been in talks with the family of the former Bobby Moore about the possibility of placing a landscaped garden named in the West Ham and England captain's honour at the centre of the site.

There are also plans for a statue of Moore and further artwork to commemorate the history of West Ham.

Roberta Moore, Moore's daughter, said: "I have always believed that there should be some form of permanent West Ham United presence at the Boleyn Ground site after the team leave and I'm really pleased that the centre point of the development is planned to be named in honour of my father.

"Hopefully the new sculptures and buildings being proposed will also help ensure that a lasting legacy to the club, my father and his team-mates is left at Upton Park."

Backstage at Victoria Beckham's New York fashion week show - in pictures

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:57 AM PST

The entire Beckham clan were front row for Victoria's latest collection, and backstage the Observer's Jo Jones took these exclusive pictures of the preparations beforehand, where Harper and David almost stole the show

Jo Jones

Hamburg locked in indecision over future of manager Bert van Marwijk | Raphael Honigstein

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:55 AM PST

With Felix Magath waiting in the wings, Hamburg are yet to decide whether to give Van Marwijk the sack

"Journalism", a wise man once told this column,"is 90% waiting". Said truism was devastatingly reinforced for the 30 or so reporters who gathered at Hamburg's Grand Elysée hotel at 3pm on Sunday to cover the meeting of the Hamburger SV supervisory board, with the cruelest of all possible twists on deadline.

But let's start at the beginning of the end, in Hamburg's Imtech-Arena on Saturday. HSV were playing Hertha, and 14 minutes into the match, Bert van Marwijk felt that this was the moment when everything would work out. "You sensed that we could do it, the whole stadium felt it," the Dutchman reflected on HSV keeper René Adler saving Adrián Ramos's penalty. Heiko Westermann had fouled Hajime Hosogai with a tackle that scaled the heights of brainlessness and bad-timing.

Van Marwijk and the rest of the 49,000-strong crowd were mistaken. This was not the moment when everything changed, when HSV got their act together after five league defeats in a row. Instead, they managed to find a way to concede from the corner. Sami Allagui made it 1-0 while the HSV defence were looking on in bewilderment. And that was that.

"We were dead, we came close to giving up," Westermann said. A quarter of an hour into a must-win game, his side simply threw in the towel. Gripped by fear, they stopped playing football altogether; for Hertha, they simply needed to show up in order to notch two more goals via Ramos and escape with three points.

The third 3-0 defeat since the winter break was not just another result. "HSV are begging for relegation," wrote MoPo in light of the dismal no-show that left the club in 17th place, on course for the first drop into the second flight in their history.

There were no real answers. As the players lined up to explained that they themselves found it all inexplicable, manager Van Marwijk looked cool to the point of being slightly detached and the sporting director Oliver Kreuzer was a less than pretty picture of muddled thought and syntax. "We don't have a managerial problem, we have a defensive problem," insisted the former Bayern defender; "the atmospheric disturbances, err, the feeling is that we are terribly disappointed," he told ZDF Sportstudio later on.

The loyalty and faith the majority of supporters had shown throughout the week soon turned into anger. A few hundred fans blocked the players' path outside the ground, demanding that they should come and talk to them. The whole team as well as the chairman Carl-Edgar Jarchow obliged but the dialogue soon descended into "we are Hamburg, you're not" shouting. A few missiles were thrown, a few of the players' cars were attacked. Striker Jacques Zoua left the stadium in tears.

Then the situation got progressively more chaotic. Jarchow insisted that Van Marwijk, dubbed "Van Mar-weg" (Mar-away) by Bild, would stay in charge on Sunday morning but Bild reported that the 58-year-old's hand might be forced by the supervisory board. The 11-strong, democratically-elected body appoints the HSV executive board. It's a set-up that allows for a degree of transparency and control by the club's members but it's also been the source of countless leaks and half-baked decisions, taken by people with little relevant experience. The advisory board could not fire Van Marwijk but they could fire Kreuzer and Jarchow if they did not agree with firing the manager, the story went.

Those two turned up at the hotel to report to the advisory board on Sunday afternoon and left 90 minutes later. Kreuzer said he had "felt the backing" but when the advisory board continued debating behind closed doors long after the duo's departure, rumours started to circulate.

Felix Magath, it was eventually confirmed, was being spoken to on the telephone. The former HSV midfielder and general manager had unashamedly handed in a job-application thinly disguised as an appeal for unity earlier in the day on his social network page.

"Dear facebook friends and fans, dear HSV supporters," wrote the 60-year-old, "thank you for your unlimited faith, the tireless support, and the enduring wave of posts and comments. I share your worries ... football has to be at forefront again ... a solution is needed for the benefit of the club ... the club has to show unity, internally and externally."

The power of Magath's manifesto was only ever so slightly diminished by an unfortunate typing error. Instead of "Es geht jetzt nur noch um den Klassenerhalt" [It's all about staying up] he had written "Es geht jetzt nur noch um den Kassenerhalt", which could be translated as "it's all about keeping the cash".

Whatever the reason, a majority of the advisory board could not agree to install the former Wolfsburg and Schalke manager, who has developed a reputation for over-enthusiastic dealings in the transfer-market, as a "strong man" with almost dictatorial powers.

It took a while to get there. Almost eight hours after the meeting had begun, after many fake false rumours about an imminent announcement and even more inglorious, Ron Butler like live takes from reporters who kept reporting that there was nothing to report yet, the advisory board members escaped through the underground car park club and spokesman Jörn Wolf finally turned up to deliver the verdict. "Carl-Edgar Jarchow and Oliver Kreuzer have informed the advisory board about the sporting situation," he said. "The advisory board went on debating after that. But there is no decision".

For the Hamburg journalists, no news was obviously the worst possible news but sometimes, making no decision can be better than adopting radical, potentially self-destructive measures in a hurry. Van Marwjik will thus still be in charge when HSV travel to Bayern for a DFB Cup quarter-final on Wednesday, a game that's seen as lost already.

Unless the northerners go down with double figures in the Allianz Arena, the Dutchman will then be allowed to take on bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig next Saturday. The relegation six-pointer will be his personal final and maybe one for the club as well. Another defeat there, and the populist calls to hand the reins to Magath, the self-styled strong man who enjoys the support of investor Klaus-Michael Kühne, would probably be impossible to resist.

Talking Points

• The third defeat in a row after the winter saw Mönchengladbach lose further ground in the race for the Champions League places – going down 1-0 to Leverkusen. Maybe they are best described as a little horse who still needs milk and to learn to jump? Swiss coach Lucien Favre took a different line. "We lost our patience by wanting too much," he said. Most observers thought that his team had actually shown far too little ambition against Sami Hyypia's clever counterattacking side.

• Werder's heavy defeat provided some solace for the fans of the northern rivals Hamburg: under manager Robin Dutt's guidance, Bremen are emerging as a team who have at least the theoretical potential of being even worse. Dutt's already amassed the least amount of points of all Werder coaches after 20 games in charge and looked puzzled by the ease with which Dortmund played them off the park. "We were as strong as bears," Klopp said, "there are few reasons to complain". A couple were sadly found the next day, when Sven Bender and Marco Reus were ruled out (for one week and two weeks, respectively) with hamstring injuries

• Neither "a very difficult pitch" (Pep Guardiola) nor one of football's more unusual injuries (Franck Ribéry had surgery to have a haematoma in his gluteal removed) could stop Bayern notching up another win and going through their 45th Bundesliga game unbeaten. Guardiola's mood was only soured by questions about Toni Kroos, who was once again left on the bench. "As a Bayern manager, you have to get used to getting rarely asked about the ointment but always about the fly," Süddeutsche Zeitung summed up the state of play in Bavaria poetically.

Results

Borussia Monchengladbach 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen; Nürnberg 0-2 Bayern Munich; Frankfurt 3-0 Eintracht Braunschweig; Freiburg 1-1 Hoffenheim; Werder Bremen 1-5 Borussia Dortmund; Wolfsburg 3-0 Mainz; Hamburg 0-3 Hertha Berlin; Stuttgart 1-4 Augsburg; Schalke 2-0 Hannover.

Raphael Honigstein

Football transfer rumours: Seamus Coleman to Manchester United?

Posted: 10 Feb 2014 02:42 AM PST

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, you know you make today's gossip want to (shout!) kick its heels up and (shout!) throw its hands up and (shout!) throw its head back and (shout!) come on now (shout!). Don't forget to say you will, there's a love.

It started as a slight tremor underfoot. Then the lightshades began to sway a little, as if picked up by a breeze. Now the Mill will be sending José Mourinho a bill for the three – three! – porcelain animals that fell from the windowsill and shattered on the floor as a stampeding mass of Football League managers passed, on their way to try and persuade the Chelsea manager to let them have a loan of Thorgan Hazard. Apparently Eden's younger brother is to be recalled from a spell in Belgium and given time in English football, to hasten his readiness for a spot in Mourinho's humble wee underdog side. It's exciting news all right, José, but that hand-painted okapi won't be easy to replace. Six weeks, we collected those tokens.

Those of you who take the Sunday papers will have spotted a theme in yesterday's transfer talk: Manchester United were signing everybody. "Buy all the things!" David Moyes appeared to have shouted, frantically pointing at Everton's Seamus Coleman, Southampton's Luke Shaw, the Juventus midfielders Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba (yep), and Atlético's free-scoring Diego Costa. With United having snatched a draw from the jaws of victory in the intervening period, this morning's papers look a bit different. There's Wee Davey, rubbing his face as if he means to have his eyebrows off. There he is, staring hard at the collar of his coat. That's him trying to get his hand to his itchy nose without stuffing his fist into his mouth and clamping down hard. Today, Manchester United are going to be beaten to Porto's Fernando by Manchester City, and are probably not going to sign Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb. Still, neither are Spurs or Barcelona, it says here.

Once he's finished being all sorts of grateful to United for taking the heat off, Arsenal's Arsène Wenger will concentrate on the job of shoring up his "feeble" side by talking Porto's Eliaquim Mangala and the Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry in to joining in the summer. According to the Star, though, he'll be losing the services of Bacary Sagna and Lukasz Fabianski, who both want out when their contracts are up in a few months' time. Liverpool, meanwhile, are being linked with Ashley Cole, a free agent at the season's end, and the Nottingham Forest defender Jamaal Lascelles.

While we're at the City Ground (where your totally topical tasting Rumour Mill can tell you it's not mist but the swollen Trent that's threatening to roll in), there's talk of a loan move for West Brom's Graham Dorrans. Sheffield Wednesday, too, are looking at loan deals, with Sunderland's Conor Wickham top of the list. Hull City, though, want a proper sale on the Bolton Wanderers midfielder Lee Chung-yong , and they're prepared to stump up £3m to make it happen.

According to the Daily Mail, Mauricio Pochettino will be called upon to replace Carlo Ancelotti if he doesn't secure enough loot for Real Madrid. Remember what your mother told you about sentences that begin 'According to the Daily Mail', mind. And finally, Britain's tabloid sub-editors journeyed to work this morning wearing paper hats and blowing enthusiastically into party horns after getting word that Fulham will finally get their hands on Schalke's Christian Fuchs this summer. Calamitous own goal? FUCHS SAKE! Groin knack? FUCHS ACHE. The possibilities are ~~quite limited but amusing nonetheless~~ endless.

Georgina Turner

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:51

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:51

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

HOW TO MAKE EVERYONE CROSS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

FIVER LETTERS

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

BIT AND BOB

STILL WANT MORE

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

TOOLS

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Talking Points

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