Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Fulham 0-1 Sheffield United (aet)
Matic hails Mourinho masterplan
Fernando ready to sidestep Porto in favour of Manchester City
Manchester City's Jesús Navas: we can return to winning ways quickly
Fulham v Sheffield United – live! | Jacob Steinberg
Joe Kinnear leaves Newcastle United with empty chair and blank windows
Swansea City sack Laudrup after only one win in 10 games
Carroll loses appeal against red card
A closed book or worth another go?
Manchester United US tour could be affected by Europa League
Dimitar Berbatov: my huge challenge to follow Radamel Falcao at Monaco
The Fiver | Harry Pottymouth
Birmingham City chairman Carson Yeung resigns as club director
Don't judge David Beckham (or me) too harshly – Lego is not just child's play | Rupert Myers
Southampton's James Ward-Prowse: why I decided to toughen myself up
Luis Aragonés obituary
Joe Kinnear's eight months at Newcastle: rants, resignations, but no signings | Louise Taylor
Adnan Januzaj | The Gallery
Should pubs be allowed to stay open later for the World Cup?
Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini: midfield changes not to blame for Chelsea defeat – video
José Mourinho and Chelsea's remarkable tactical transformation | Jonathan Wilson
José Mourinho: masseur's team talk helped Chelsea beat Manchester City – video
In need of a signing? An out-of-contract XI who could still be snapped up | Jacob Steinberg
Serie A talking points | Paolo Bandini
Football transfer rumours: Manchester United target William Carvalho?

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:02 PM PST

This could hardly have been a worse night for Rene Meulensteen and Fulham. After 120 minutes of diabolical football, Meulensteen's side went crashing out of the FA Cup to League One Sheffield United with not even a whimper.

Yet while the boos rang out around Craven Cottage as Meulensteen and co trudged across the pitch in the soaking rain, Nigel Clough and United's players were awarded a heroes' reception from the travelling support. How they deserved it, following a display full of guts and endeavour to earn a place in the fifth round against either Nottingham Forest or Preston.

As the substitute Shaun Miller stooped to nod in Harry Maguire's knock-down with just two minutes of extra-time remaining, Fulham fans flooded towards the exit doors. United's support were delirious and they stayed long after the final whistle to applaud their side, who belied their league position to secure a famous evening and ease the pain of a campaign threatened by relegation.

One wonders what Konstantinos Mitroglou thought of all this, Fulham's £11m deadline-day signing sat in the stands wrapped up in a blanket.

Anyone who had the misfortune to sit through this game would not have found it difficult to understand why both of these sides are languishing in the lower reaches of their respective divisions. Neither Fulham nor Sheffield United could muster a goal during 90 dismal minutes of their fourth-round Cup replay here, with the game going into extra-time following a woeful shortage of ideas from the home side and an impressive workrate from Nigel Clough's Blades.

Sheffield United, engulfed in a dogfight of their own at the foot of League One, were certainly the more content to play the extra half-hour and can be pleased that they limited their opponents to so few chances but Meulensteen, under severe pressure following a barren run of results, could have done without it, given that his side face Manchester United in their next game.

Meulensteen made eight changes to the side that lost poorly against Southampton at the weekend, with only Brede Hangeland, Dan Burn and Scott Parker surviving in the starting XI. Clough, meanwhile, made four alterations of his own to a team that also fell to defeat by a three-goal margin in their most recent league match.

It was the League One side who started the game on the front foot and rarely looked troubled in an opening half that exposed Fulham's failings in the attacking third.

Jamie Murphy's shot from 25 yards flashed past David Stockdale's right-hand post after two minutes and, although neither side came closer to a goal in the first half, it was certainly the visitors who left the field having given a better account of themselves.

Indeed, the travelling supporters from south Yorkshire were enjoying themselves to such an extent that the chant "that's why you're going down" emanated from the away end as Patjim Kasami headed tamely wide after 20 minutes following a free-kick down the left from Alexander Kacaniklic.

Shortly afterwards Scott Parker registered Fuham's first meaningful effort on target, striking powerfully at Mark Howard from 25 yards out, but the United goalkeeper saved comfortably, as he did again when Kacaniklic was then forced to shoot from range with few options in front of him.

Fulham fans, having seen their side score only once in their last four games, began to vent their frustration when Hangeland aimlessly lumped a ball forward from deep that sailed over the Blades defence and out for a goal-kick. The home side were beginning to control possession but with little to show for it in terms of scoring opportunities.

Fulham's frustration was compounded as United began to counter well and looked increasingly dangerous on the break. The right-back John Brayford flashed an effort narrowly wide after 35 minutes before Clough's side earned three corners in succession.

The second half began in similar veinbut with United enjoying an arguably stronger foothold in the match. Fulham, lacking ideas and being outworked by their opponents, conceded a free-kick around 25 yards from goal as the rain swept in off the Thames and Bob Harris came close with a swerving and dipping left-footed effort that had Stockdale scrambling across goal.

Harris, the United left-back, caused more problems with a driving run minutes later, Murphy slipping him into the Fulham area with a precise pass before the defender lashed a shot that Stockdale had to palm away smartly. Hugo Rodallega was then withdrawn to a chorus of boos, with the striker visibly upset, seen shielding his face with his hands on the bench.

As Fulham's malaise deepened, United could sense an upset, although the Blades themselves were equally limited in attack. That said, their workrate remained at an exceptional level until the closing stages.

Muama Tankovic was at least attempting to inject some urgency into Fulham's play, driving forward and lashing a left-foot shot a couple of yards wide, before Kasami fired narrowly over a few moments later.At the other end the substitute Jose Baxter almost got on the end of a dangerous cross whipped in from the right flank but could not quite extend his leg to make contact.

United pressed in the closing stages and, when Fernando Amorebieta brought down Brayford the away side had the chance to deliver a telling free-kick, but despite the late pressure neither team ever looked like breaking the deadlock.

James Riach

Matic hails Mourinho masterplan

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

• Film of Manchester City shown to pinpoint weaknesses
• Matic: 'The preparation was very good and a big quality'

Nemanja Matic has revealed how José Mourinho's meticulous preparation enabled Chelsea to beat Manchester City, with the midfielder pointing to the film of Manuel Pellegrini's side the manager showed his players.

"We prepared very good, the coach showed us some videos of Manchester City and of course they were the right videos to show the quality but also where they make mistakes," said the midfielder, who made his full debut in the 1-0 win after his £20.75m move from Benfica. "We cannot say what [exactly] we prepared because it is only for us, but the preparation was very good and a big quality.

"To play in a game like this he [Mourinho] prepared us very good, like you saw on the pitch. Everyone knew what they were meant to do which is why we got the result."

Branislav Ivanovic's first-half winner allowed Chelsea to draw level with City on 53 points, with the leaders, Arsenal, two better off.

"We played good football, we played very well and the team was at the top level. We won and we deserved to win," added the 25-year-old Serb. "It was very important for us, we have more confidence after that because it is not easy to play Manchester City. They are strong and they play quickly, but we can prepare against every team. We scored one goal, but we could have scored more. We had great opportunities, and sometimes one goal is enough to win."

Gary Cahill hailed a performance that allowed Chelsea to complete the league double over City this season. "I think it was a class performance," said the central defender. "I think they started bright – the first 10 to 15 minutes we had to weather the storm a bit. Then we came into the game, and I thought today the work rate of this team was pleasing. We know we've got quality in there. So the work rate was fantastic.

"We managed to get the result we deserved over them. We hit the woodwork three times, we created chances, we had a lot of possession. So, yes, we go away really happy. We came to a very difficult place, they've been on fire here this season – it's so hard to get points here."

Jamie Jackson

Fernando ready to sidestep Porto in favour of Manchester City

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

• Brazilian likely to refuse contract extension in Portugal
• Manuel Pelligrini believes midfielder would increase options

Fernando is set to turn down a new contract at Porto in the hope that he can join Manchester City in the summer.

City had tried to sign the 26-year-old Brazilian for £12m on the final day of the January transfer window but the deal fell through. His contract at Porto is thought to expire at the end of the season and the club had hoped he would sign fresh terms to protect his value.

But Fernando is now unlikely to do so as he tries to ensure the move to City takes place, a decision that has upset Pinto da Costa, the Porto president. Da Costa's disquiet at Fernando's stance is thought to have caused him to suggest that Paulo Fonseca, the head coach, stand him down from the side.

Manuel Pellegrini is keen to have Fernando as a further central midfield option beyond Fernandinho and Yaya Touré. In City's 1-0 defeat by Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Monday evening the manager fielded Martín Demichelis, a central defender, in place of the injured Fernandinho rather than Jack Rodwell or James Milner, who are specialists in the position.

Jamie Jackson

Manchester City's Jesús Navas: we can return to winning ways quickly

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:29 PM PST

• 'The team has the potential to go on another run like we have'
• Pablo Zabaleta urges squad to refocus after defeat by Chelsea

Jesús Navas believes Manchester City will go on another stellar run of form following Monday evening's 1-0 defeat by Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, although Fernandinho's muscle injury means he joins Sergio Agüero and Samir Nasri as long-term injury absentees.

Branislav Ivanovic's first-half strike consigned City to only a second defeat at home this season in 19 games, with Manuel Pellegrini's side having won their previous 11 Premier League matches at the Etihad Stadium.

Navas said: "We were on a really good dynamic run and we were expecting to win but it didn't happen. But let's keep looking forward and winning more matches again. The team has the potential to go on another run like we have. We want to be in the first spot, so we will keep working to get there."

City had already beaten Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur home and away but Chelsea's victory meant Jose Mourinho's side completed the league double over them, after October's 2-1 reverse at Stamford Bridge.

"We usually play against great teams and we usually win but we are satisfied with the way we played against Chelsea and hopefully we can win the next games ahead," said the winger. "We are on the right track. When they scored it was hard for us but we worked well, so we are not worried about it. The team worked until the end and had options. We could have won, so we are not worried about this one loss."

While Pellegrini stated that a muscle problem could rule out Fernandinho for a month, but is hopeful that he may return sooner meaning he could yet be available for the Champions League last-16 first leg against Barcelona on 18 February, Pablo Zabaleta urged the team to refocus.

"Sometimes when you lose one game it feels terrible but we must be stronger than ever," said the right-back. "We know we are only two points behind Arsenal and there is a long way to go. We have 14 more games to go and we need to be positive. We were a little bit frustrated by the result but this is football and sometimes you can lose games.

"We can learn about the mistakes and see how difficult the Premier League is at the moment. Every game is difficult. We need to keep calm – the manager is clever enough to work during the week and show to us what we did wrong."

Jamie Jackson

Fulham v Sheffield United – live! | Jacob Steinberg

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:20 PM PST

MBM report: Shaun Miller's late goal sent Sheffield United into the fifth round of the FA Cup after what may well have been the worst match of all time

Jacob Steinberg

Joe Kinnear leaves Newcastle United with empty chair and blank windows

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:05 PM PST

Director of football departs after an often-chaotic tenure during which the club's transfer signing manoeuvres looked a shambles

Joe Kinnear's old office at Newcastle United is likely to remain empty for some time as Mike Ashley, the club's owner, seems in no hurry to appoint a director of football.

With Kinnear resigning from that role on Monday night and Derek Llambias, who stepped down from the more influential managing director's post last summer, having never been replaced, there is a vacuum at the top of one of England's biggest clubs. Significantly a year has passed since Newcastle last signed a new senior player on a permanent contract.

Lee Charnley, the club secretary, will lead transfer negotiations supported by John Irving, the finance director, but both men are administrators rather than strategists. Ashley has a history of hiring only people he knows and trusts and is unlikely to recruit from outside. Moreover if, as is being suggested in some quarters, he is preparing to sell Newcastle, extra executives would be superfluous.

Charnley and Irving may be part of a minimalist hierarchy but at least the two of them are expected to be more effective than Kinnear, whose failure to make a single signing during the last two transfer windows appears the reason why he has lost his job.

When the director of football travelled to Tyneside from his London home on Monday for a meeting with Charnley observers suspected he was trying to sell the Senegal striker Papiss Cissé to a club in either Turkey or Russia where transfer windows remained open.

Instead Charnley offered Kinnear an exit strategy, thereby ending the former Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town and Wimbledon manager's confusing eight-month tenure which had often sunk into chaos.

Kinnear's arrival prompted Llambias's resignation and almost precipitated the departure of Graham Carr, Newcastle's much coveted chief scout. Alan Pardew, the manager, was required to pacify a dressing room appalled by the 67-year-old's installation.

When Kinnear mis-pronounced several players' names – Yohan Cabaye became Yohan "Kebab" – during an excruciating radio interview which should have made his position untenable, Pardew convened a squad meeting intended to quell any revolt.

Having placated Cabaye – who joined Paris Saint-Germain for £20m last week – Newcastle's manager staked out his territory in the club's often awkward "coalition government". Pardew made it clear he did not want Kinnear travelling with the squad or interfering at the training ground. Consequently first-team players rarely saw the director of football.

Many were unsure exactly what he did. The former Tottenham full-back could talk the talk – staff were informed "a big signing" would be arriving in January – but, one by one, a series of key transfer targets escaped Kinnear's net.

When Clément Grenier failed to join from Lyon as Cabaye's replacement Pardew could barely contain his fury. Asked if the club was still capable of purchasing players he said "no comment". The subtext sounded suspiciously like a "him or me" ultimatum to Ashley.

With Newcastle eighth in the Premier League, the sports retailer is probably content not to have re-invested the Cabaye cash but his loyalty to his long-standing friend Kinnear was already stretched by a host of negative feedback allied to fans threatening not to renew season tickets.

Although Loïc Rémy – last summer – and Luuk de Jong – last week – arrived on loan on his watch, Kinnear had little involvement with either acquisition, not even meeting Rémy until after he had signed.

It was all very different from the days when Llambias proved a consummate sealer of deals. The renewal of Ashley's friendship with his former managing director raises the possibility of the latter's return to Tyneside but, for the moment at least, Newcastle remain in limbo.

Louise Taylor

Swansea City sack Laudrup after only one win in 10 games

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 11:52 AM PST

• 'It is a decision we have taken reluctantly,' says Huw Jenkins
• Garry Monk to take over as head coach for timebeing

Swansea City have sacked their manager Michael Laudrup. Garry Monk, the veteran defender, will take over as head coach alongside the current first-team coach Alan Curtis "for the foreseeable future".

Laudrup had been under increasing pressure at the Liberty Stadium with the club winning just one of their last 10 matches and sitting just two points clear of the relegation zone.

"It is a decision we have taken reluctantly,'' said the Swansea City chairman, Huw Jenkins. "But it's a decision made in the best interests of Swansea City Football Club and our supporters.

"It is the first time in nearly 10 years that the club has parted with a manager in this way, but we had to remove the constant uncertainty surrounding the club and Michael's long-term future with us.

"I had a meeting with Michael today in a final attempt to support him and establish a way to improve the work of the backroom team to secure the results we need over the final 14 Premier League games.

"However, after thinking long and hard about the best way forward, I felt it was unlikely we would achieve a stable environment at the club to allow us to get back to basics and produce the performance levels that have served Swansea City so well over the last few years.

"Now we need to put that uncertainty behind us and move forward as a united football club on all fronts, while placing on record our gratitude to Michael for the work he has done over the last 18 months and wish him well for the future.''

Laudrup took over at Swansea in 2012, succeeding Brendan Rodgers who departed to take charge of Liverpool. He is the fifth Premier League manage to leave his job this season. Jenkins added: "I hope all our supporters can fully understand how difficult this period has been for us and I would urge everyone connected to the football club to get behind Garry Monk, the staff and players."

The former Swansea and Wales winger Leighton James said he felt the warning signs had been there. "Having been heavily involved in football for most of my life, I have seen this coming. It doesn't surprise me a great deal," James told BBC Radio Wales. "I am disappointed, but I am not surprised."

Asked if suggestions of a possible rejig to Laudrup's coaching staff might have been a factor, James added: "I wouldn't be surprised. Once you start trying to interfere in coaching staffs, you are undermining the manager. That has to be his domain, whether people like it or not.

"If you start getting non-football people involved in the football side of the game, as we saw up the road in recent months, then you start creating divides, and that is exactly what I feel.

"If that's the case that Michael has been offered, not of his own volition, a change to the coaching staff, then obviously he feels his authority has been undermined. I can understand totally his discontent and dislike of that.

"He has to be given total control of who he appoints on his coaching staff, because they are the football people that he wishes to work with day in, day out. So for anybody to try to impose somebody on the manager, I think that is wrong and is a recipe for disaster."

Carroll loses appeal against red card

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:33 AM PST

• Striker was sent off after clash with Swansea's Chico Flores
• 24-year-old to miss next three Premier League matches

West Ham United have been dealt a major blow in their battle to stay up after it was confirmed that they will be without Andy Carroll for their next three matches after the Football Association rejected an appeal against the striker's red card in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Swansea City.

Carroll was sent off by Howard Webb after a clash with Chico Flores during the second half at Upton Park. However, replays showed that after an aerial tussle Carroll had caught Chico on the top of the head with a stray arm, only for the Swansea defender to fall to the ground clutching his face.

Sam Allardyce announced West Ham's intention to appeal immediately after the match and also criticised Chico's play-acting, with Swansea's manager, Michael Laudrup, agreeing that the sending off looked harsh. But after assessing written evidence from the match officials and West Ham, as well as video footage of the incident, a three-man FA Independent Regulatory Commission rejected the claim for wrongful dismissal, ruling that "no obvious" error had been made.

The decision to uphold the decision drew a furious reaction from Carroll, who tweeted: "DISGRACEFUL!!!" However, West Ham will not pursue the matter further, accepting that there is nothing more that they can do about it now.

"West Ham United's Andy Carroll will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after his claim of wrongful dismissal was rejected by an Independent Regulatory Commission," the FA said in a statement. "Carroll was dismissed for violent conduct during West Ham's game against Swansea City on Saturday (1 February, 2014).

"As stated in the Rules and Regulations of The FA, an Independent Regulatory Commission must apply the test of whether the decision to dismiss a player was 'an obvious error'. The decision of an Independent Regulatory Commission in relation to a claim of wrongful dismissal is final and binding on all parties and is not subject to appeal."

Losing Carroll for Saturday's trip to Aston Villa on Saturday and home matches against Norwich City and Southampon on 11 and 22 February respectively comes as a huge setback for West Ham, whose results had improved after the 25-year-old's return to the first team following a heel injury that had kept him out of action since last May. West Ham had struggled for goals for much of the season in Carroll's absence but have earned seven points in four matches since he regained fitness. Carroll set up both of Kevin Nolan's goals against Swansea and also created Mark Noble's goal in the 2-0 win at Cardiff City last month.

Carroll's suspension means that West Ham, who are 18th and a point behind Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion, will only have two strikers available for the rest of February. Modibo Maïga was allowed to join Queens Park Rangers on loan last week, so Allardyce must choose between Carlton Cole and Marco Borriello, who is yet to feature after his arrival on loan from Roma, to deputise for Carroll.

Borriello played in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Southend United on Tuesday afternoon as he looks to step up his match fitness. The Italian looked sharp, hitting the post with a free-kick, and there were also appearances for Winston Reid and Ricardo Vaz Tê, who are both on their way back from long-term injuries.

Jacob Steinberg

A closed book or worth another go?

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:18 AM PST

Chelsea's rock proved his quality again at Manchester City, but only he can decide if going to the World Cup is even a possibility

The last time Manchester City failed to beat the opposition goalkeeper on their own ground they finished the match with Roque Santa Cruz in attack. There were angry, mutinous chants during that 0-0 draw against Birmingham protesting about Craig Bellamy being loaned to Cardiff City, and none of the goodwill that Roberto Mancini encountered later in his tenure. "Fans abuse Mancini after Manchester City draw blank," was the Guardian's headline. That was November 2010, 11 months into Mancini's reign and back when a banner at Old Trafford counted the number of years since City won a trophy. It feels like a different era entirely.

The history lesson is important because it puts into context the expertise of Chelsea's defending in Manchester on Monday. No other away side had kept out City in 61 games, and the previous 18 had totted up 72 goals on Manuel Pellegrini's watch. Chelsea had heard all the sneering comments about parking the bus. What they did was far more adventurous, but it did also remind the sport that defending at its highest level is never to be derided. Nobody can doubt Chelsea's competitive courage going into the business end of the season, particularly bearing in mind the ongoing renaissance of the man in the middle of it all, forehead scarred, wearing a seen-it-all-before expression and making it absolutely clear this team does not bend for anyone.

John Terry will always divide opinion. It has not always been easy to embrace him and it will never be straightforward campaigning on his behalf, so perhaps it is best to take personality out of it and just consider Terry the centre-half, the man who heads the ball away, who plays at the back but leads from the front and gives the impression on nights such as Monday that any half-chance for the opposition constitutes a personal affront. The ultimate big-game player, you might say. Or as José Mourinho put it, "the best central defender in the Premier League, 2013-14."

Mourinho loves to discuss this subject, not least because it is another way to identify what he perceives as a flaw in the previous manager, Rafael Benítez. Others might argue on behalf of Per Mertesacker after a season of authority in the heart of Arsenal's defence. Yet Mourinho is not exaggerating the scale of Terry's impact since returning to the team and it is difficult not to marvel bearing in mind a member of England's backroom staff confided during the last European Championship that it was a "miracle" he was capable of performing at any decent level, such was the battering he had taken from playing through injuries and putting his body on the line. Twenty months on, it is an extraordinary feat of endurance that the 33-year-old has not missed a single minute in the league this season.

Inevitably, Roy Hodgson will have to brace himself for more questions about whether it is the time to usher Terry back into the England team. Mourinho certainly thinks his captain deserves to add to his 78 caps. "I think (Phil) Jagielka did a very good job but John is playing amazingly well," the Chelsea manager said. "Now it is up to the FA, to Roy and to John. The decision they make is the decision I accept."

It is a bit more complicated than that, of course. For starters, Terry is officially retired from international football and would need to undo that decision before Hodgson could think about it seriously. Terry let it be known a while back that he wanted another chance, but he then informed Hodgson he did not know where those stories had come from and re-iterated publicly that he was not going back, even with a World Cup on the horizon. Since then, there has been absolutely no indication of another change in direction. Indeed, there are people around him who say there is no chance of it happening.

For his part, Hodgson has frequently stated – to the point of exasperation – that he wants to show loyalty to the players who helped the team through the qualification process. An injury build-up might shift his position, as it did with Rio Ferdinand last year, but a recall for Terry would still represent a considerable volte-face bearing in mind the politics and history behind it. The question was asked in San Marino last March and Hodgson's response was withering. "Maybe while we're talking about John we could talk about Roy McFarland and Colin Todd. How far back do you want us to go? Where do we stop? Should Michael Owen come out of retirement every time we can't score a goal?"

Nobody can say it is ideal, though, that on the back of the Ferdinand issue England will probably be going into a second successive tournament while a player being acclaimed as the best of his type in the country is not in the manager's thoughts. Sir Alex Ferguson makes a relevant point in his latest autobiography. "Centre-backs were the foundation of my Manchester United sides. Always centre-backs." An accomplished partnership provides the stability for any successful team. It also gives the full-backs the encouragement to push forward and double up on the opposition with wide-midfield players. Jagielka and Cahill have done more right than wrong since establishing themselves as Hodgson's first-choice pairing, but there is still a portfolio of evidence that Mourinho is correct – and that an all-Chelsea pairing of Terry and Cahill would be an upgrade.

Chelsea's total of 44 goals scored from 24 league games is three fewer than the leaders Arsenal, 24 inferior to City and 14 worse off than Liverpool in fourth. Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba have 11 between them - to put it into context, the same number as Loïc Rémy has managed for Newcastle. "It is so difficult for us to score a goal now," he lamented before leaving the Etihad.

So much focus has been on these shortcomings, however, it has barely gone noticed that they have conceded only 20 goals, making them the most parsimonious team in the country. Cahill is not flawless, but another warrior alongside Terry on the days when a defence requires its utmost concentration and players who will give everything to get their bodies in front of the ball. César Azpilicueta deserves more acclaim for his performances in what used to be known as Ashley Cole's position while Branislav Ivanovic is always a sturdy opponent and the two holding midfielders, David Luiz and particularly Nemanja Matic, demonstrated an understanding of their positions that was not always evident with their counterparts in light blue, Yaya Touré and Martín Demichelis.

Plainly, Mourinho is willing to accept that his team do not have enough manpower in attack, citing the goals issue again when he interrupted a question about it being a three-horse title race to downplay Chelsea's chances and describe it more like "two big horses and a little horse who needs milk and to learn how to jump".

Instead, he is trying to compensate for an obvious deficiency by making sure his team have the defensive togetherness and know-how that can make them champions in a very different way. That does not mean they are exclusively defence-minded, as City can now testify, but it is their core strength and it is Terry who underpins so much of it for the "little horse" – which is not bad for a player who looked destined for the knacker's yard not so long ago.

Daniel Taylor

Manchester United US tour could be affected by Europa League

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:05 AM PST

• US tour could be truncated by Europa League qualification
• United face Roma, Internazionale and Real Madrid in summer

Manchester United have announced their summer tour will be of the United States and include the 2014 International Champions Cup, although plans would be affected if the club end the season in the third Europa League berth.

While the precise dates of the tour are to be announced, it is expected they will fly out about a week after the World Cup final, with United's opening match of the cup on 26 July, with the final in Miami's Sun Life Stadium on 4 August. The tournament is spread across 12 cities and also features Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Internazionale, Milan, Roma and Olympiakos.

United are currently seventh and if they secure the third Europa League berth – possible if they finish sixth or seventh depending on who wins the FA Cup and League Cup – the tour would be disrupted as Europa League qualification would begin in late July. The club are relaxed about this potential scenario. A spokesperson told the Guardian: "There is a long way to go, 42 points to play for, so it is an issue we'll address at the time, if required to do so."

United did note the possibility for their tour to be affected in its official press release regarding the International Champions Cup. "Please note: teams required to qualify for 2014-15 European competition based on 2013-14 domestic league finishing position may be subject to change," the club said. The tournament will feature two groups of eight with the winners of each phase contesting the final. The tour of the US is United's first in three years.

Richard Arnold, the managing director, said: "I'm delighted to announce that the team will be returning to the USA for our 2014 Tour. Since the club's last visit in 2011, the appeal of football in America has grown rapidly. NBC reported that this season's Premier League opening weekend saw the average viewership rise by 78% from the 2012-13 season, with Manchester United's match against Swansea being the most-watched game. Manchester United has over eight million followers in the United States."

International Champions Cup 2014 schedule

26 July Internazionale v Real Madrid, 4pm ET, Phoenix; Roma v Manchester United, 6pm ET, Denver; Olympiacos v Liverpool, 6pm ET, Chicago

27 July

Manchester City v Milan, 4pm ET, Pittsburg

29 July

Inter v Manchester United, 7:30pm ET, Washington DC

AS Roma v Real Madrid, 9:30pm ET, Dallas

30 July

Milan v Liverpool, 7pm ET, Philadelphia

Manchester City v Olympiacos, 9pm ET, New York

1 August

Roma v Inter, 8pm ET, New York

2 August

Milan vs Olympiakos, 2pm ET, Hartford, Connecticut

Real Madrid v Manchester United, 4pm ET, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Liverpool v Manchester City, 6pm ET, Charlotte, North Carolina

3 August

Semi-finals to be played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami

4 August

Final game and third place at Sun Life Stadium, Miami

Jamie Jackson

Dimitar Berbatov: my huge challenge to follow Radamel Falcao at Monaco

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:46 AM PST

• Striker embraces move from lowly Fulham to title hopefuls
• 'We are second in Ligue 1 and could reach Champions League'

Dimitar Berbatov has admitted he faces a "huge challenge" to replace the injured Radamel Falcao at Monaco, although the Bulgarian is relishing a new start at the top of Ligue 1 after spending the first half of the season embroiled in a relegation scrap with Fulham.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United striker moved to the principality on a loan deal for the rest of the season on transfer deadline day, having been Martin Jol's captain at Craven Cottage earlier in the campaign. Despite a brief flurry of form under René Meulensteen following his appointment as manager in December, Berbatov had cut a rather uninterested figure at times this term and, with Fulham having spent a club record £12m to bring Kostas Mitroglou from Olympiakos, the 33-year-old was allowed to depart.

The veteran's contract expires in June, with his spell at Monaco, where he has been recruited nominally to replace Falcao after the Colombian suffered cruciate knee ligament damage, offering an opportunity to remind the world of his qualities. "I decided to come here because it's a great team and a coach in Claudio Ranieri who I knew from my time in England," said Berbatov, who trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday morning. "I have never played in France before but the football here is of a good standard and this is a new experience, and a new adventure for me.

"Even from that one training session it's clear to me that Monaco have some really talented players but it's still a huge challenge to follow Falcao. Everyone knows what a great player he is but I'm not here to take anyone's place. I simply want to fit in with the group and help the team achieve its targets, with my assists, my goals and my qualities.

"Am I the same player from my Manchester United days? I don't have as much hair but I'm going to try and show my best. I'm obviously a bit older but you play football with your head. We'll see in the next few matches if I'm still the same Berbatov [from United]. I feel good, anyway."

Berbatov took advice from his former United team-mate Patrice Evra, himself an ex-Monaco player, before moving to the club. "We spoke and he told me lots of good things about Monaco," said the striker. "I know it's a big club, even if they play in front of only small crowds in their stadium, but I was looking for something new, a fresh start. When Monaco contacted me, it was a great option for me. We're second in the division and could qualify for the Champions League.

"I know some of the players, like Ricardo Carvalho, who I've played against when he was at Chelsea, and I sounded out Patrice but said yes pretty quickly. As for staying beyond the end of the season, that depends only on me: how I play, how many goals I score. If I do well and help the team, it's possible but, for now, I'm not thinking about that. That's for another day."

He will be tested from the outset, with second-placed Monaco hosting the leaders, Paris Saint-Germain, at Stade Louis II on Sunday. The clubs are only separated by five points. "It's the best possible way to start, playing against one of the best teams in the world and one of the best players in the world in Zlatan [Ibrahimovic]," said Berbatov. "It's a fantastic match and a great way to start my adventure in France, as well as to show what I can do. They're the favourites to win Ligue 1 but at our stadium it'll be difficult for them. Let's not forget we got a 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes earlier in the season."

Dominic Fifield

The Fiver | Harry Pottymouth

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:03 AM PST

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SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS LATER …

So there was the Fiver spluttering at passers-by about how fitting it was that the contract of Newcastle United's director of football has been terminated, when it was pointed out to us that (a shower would be a good idea and) the guy's name is not John Connor. It is, of course, Jim Spanner. Sorry, Judd Debeers. What? Oh right, it's Joe Kinnear or, as some Newcastle fans took to calling him, Jokin' 'Ere, which was appropriate given that during his time at St James' Park, the man who blends Dubliner and C0ckney better than any brawl has ever done became a two-word punchline.

Joe Kinnear. Just say it and try not to smile. Or else just call him JFK. Or JK Bawling, the creator of the famous press conference character, Harry Pottymouth. Ah but none of those names are the reason that 'Ere resigned seven and a half months after being drafted into Newcastle to reinforce the squad by drawing liberally on his vast knowledge of football and other words beginning with f. Instead, we must consider names such as Bafétimbi Gomis, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Darren Bent, Florian Thauvin, Rémy Cabella and Clément Grenier, all players whom Newcastle tried and failed to lure during 'Ere's signing-shy tenure, which ends just a week after the club lost its best player, Yohan Kebab, to PVC.

'Ere has so far resisted the temptation to explain his decision to the media, even by way of explicit gesture, so the Fiver can only surmise that the frustration at missing out on so many targets has forced 'Ere's hand. Being derided by supporters is unlikely to have bothered him – after all, he has "got far more intelligence than them, that's for sure" – so his decision may also have been motivated by the impression that he seemed to be making Alan Pardew squirm, and even Mike Ashley may have been uncomfortable. Still, given the esteem with which 'Ere claims he is held by even the biggest names in football, it surely won't be long before the former Luton Town and Nepal manager is offered another high-profile job.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"He was screaming so much I didn't understand him. The players were clapping – OK, let's go. Billy was fantastic. I didn't understand" – José Mourinho on how masseur Billy McCulloch's noisy pep-banter made the difference before the win at Manchester City.

FIVER LETTERS

"Re: Wetherspoon's visits (Fiver passim). Unfortunately I have to inform you that the Bristol legend that is DJ Derek has already beaten you in visiting every last Wetherspoons in the country. He has recently retired so he can spend more time visiting them. Apparently he said this about them once: 'I love Wetherspoon's, you know the standard wherever you go and they're always the cheapest place in town.' A fine mantra to live your life by" – Craig Tripney.

"In the tantalising build-up to the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Chelsea, Gary Neville was describing how slow Arsenal were in their approach play against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Somewhat 'pedantic' was his assertion. Being an open-minded Big Paper reader, I, and we, must stand corrected. I expect I will be one of 1,057 pedestrians writing-in" – Dave Cross (and no other pedestrians).

"If Darren Leathley (yesterday's Fiver letters) now considers Huddersfield Town Nasty Leeds' local rivals, then it's gone well past crisis" – Matt Shelton.

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BITS AND BOBS

Dnipro director Andriy Rusol says he's "1,000% sure" Ian Ayre will be back in the summer for an extended sunshine break chasing Yevhen Konoplyanka. "It is not our fault, Liverpool representatives could have arrived a day or two earlier," roared Rusol. "Up to the deadline we were waiting for the transfer of money from Liverpool. But this did not happen."

Manchester United MD Richard Arnold is delighted. "I'm delighted to announce that the team will be returning to the USA for our 2014 Tour, presented by Aon." Unless, of course, they end up in Big Vase qualifying stages instead, presented by despair and recrimination.

Aston Villa are reportedly in talks to extend Paul Lambert's contract.

Nineteenth century bushranger and Nottingham Forest assistant Ned Kelly says Billy Davies's side plan to take Preston to pieces in the FA Cup tomorrow. "The gaffer has a massive desire to win everything … The gaffer's record is second to none."

Mario Balotelli has had a haircut.

And a Leyton Orient fan who died of cancer left the club £150,000 in his will. Chairman Barry Hearn says the club will dedicate Saturday's game to John Burman's memory. "This is a wonderful gesture from John who was by all accounts a remarkable man. The significant money he has left will ensure that his legacy lives on."

STILL WANT MORE?

Southampton prodigy James Ward-Prowse tells Paul Doyle how he toughened himself up on the sly when he was younger. "Dad suggested that I go to train with Havant and Waterlooville and get kicked and beaten and shouted at. That definitely did develop me."

Jonathan Wilson analyses José Mourinho and Chelsea's remarkable tactical transformation.

Missing the transfer window? No? Oh. There are still plenty of transfers to be had: Jacob Steinberg takes his pick of the best free agents. And Titus Bramble, etc and so on.

Louise Taylor takes up JFK's 2013 invitation: "Judge me on my signings".

The Rumour Mill's favourite programme-note writer could be hanging up his pen.

And Adnan Januzaj stars as David Bowie, an Olympic diver and a Nando's chef in The Gallery.

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

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SKI TUESDAY

Paul Doyle

Birmingham City chairman Carson Yeung resigns as club director

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:01 AM PST

• Awaiting verdict following trial for alleged money laundering
• Statement made to Hong Kong stock exchange

The Birmingham City chairman and major shareholder Carson Yeung, who is awaiting the verdict following his trial for alleged money laundering in Hong Kong, has resigned as a director of the club and its parent company Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL). His resignation from "all directorships of the group" was announced in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, on which BIHL, registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven, is listed.

Yeung had remained chairman of the club and BIHL throughout his arrest, charges and trial, in which he pleaded not guilty, beginning last year. The club has suffered serious financial difficulties since, resulting from Yeung, who had lent the club £15m, having his assets frozen, and relegation from the Premier League in 2011. His resignation now appears to be part of BIHL's efforts to raise new money with a placing of new shares and borrowing £24m in a bond.

That depends on the BIHL shares, currently suspended, being accepted for trading again. For that to happen, Yeung has agreed to convert his £15m loan to shares in BIHL and so not have it repaid by Birmingham City. The transactions all require the Hong Kong justice department not to object.

Yeung's brother-in-law, Shui Cheong Ma, 52, a Hong Kong businessman, was made a director both of BIHL and the club, which also appointed another director, Panos Pavlakis, an investment banker. Yeung, who is expecting the verdict in his trial on 28 February, remains the largest shareholder in BIHL with a 26% stake.

Peter Pannu, the former Hong Kong policeman-turned barrister who remains the senior decision-maker at Birmingham City and was paid almost £1m last year, made the announcement of Yeung's resignation. The statement said the reason Yeung resigned was "to devote more time to his other personal commitments".

The statement continued: "Mr Yeung with his foresight, aspiration and clairvoyance has steered the board successfully through landmark projects such as the acquisition of Birmingham City, for which the board is profoundly indebted."

Spearheaded by Yeung, BIHL bought City, then in the Premier League, in 2009 from the former owners David Sullivan and David Gold for £81.5m. Until these new appointments, the club's only directors in recent years have been Yeung, Pannu and Pannu's son Ryan. They have consistently maintained that even if Yeung is found guilty, the Hong Kong authorities will not seek to recover money from the football club itself.

The fans group Blues Trust has launched a campaign calling on the Hong Kong owners to sell up, and raised protest banners at City's 3-3 draw with Derby County at St Andrew's on Saturday.

David Conn

Don't judge David Beckham (or me) too harshly – Lego is not just child's play | Rupert Myers

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 06:59 AM PST

Lego may have been designed for children, but it's the perfect toy for artists and storytellers throughout the life cycle

With David Beckham revealing this week that he enjoys playing with Lego because it calms him down, it's time for more of us to admit that just like computer games, adults play with the Danish children's toy, too. It may not be up there with woodsmanship, cage fighting, or offshore fishing in the manliness stakes, but I'm unabashed fan of Lego, and I'm far from being alone. When a friend recently texted me a photo of his complete set of constructed Star Wars Planets it came with the description: "Complete set. I need a girlfriend." But for any ladies who may be lucky enough to get up close to his Tatooine, I ask you not to judge too harshly. Grown men play with Lego too.

Perhaps the novelty of returning to a much-loved toy in adulthood is that you can finally spend the sort of money that as a child you rarely got to blow on plastic figures; the realisation of long-held desires to build bigger, better, and to fulfil boyhood aspirations. Winning a Toymaster Lego-building competition as a child is still the achievement of which I am most proud, living as I do in the shadow of that red vertical takeoff spaceship, the apogee of my creative endeavours. For the young, the attraction is complexity, but as an adult it is the visual and creative simplicity of the toy which has seen its popularity grow.

I may only pick up Lego once every couple of months, but I cannot walk past the store without checking out their latest models. The prospect of the Lego Movie is embarrassingly thrilling, and I have spent too much time looking at custom-made kits online. It is horrifying and yet compelling to know that you could recreate wars of the 20th century in bespoke models if you were in the mood.

Just as computer games provide escapism, so does the building of structures with coloured bricks provide a platform for imagination, for instant visual and creative gratification. The assuredness with which blocks click together, the quality of the toy, the clean lines and bright colours all coalesce to provide a pure and aesthetically satisfying form of escapism. Intrinsically you are still playing with a plastic toy, but then Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja are hardly like reading a book on Vermeer with Chopin playing in the background.

Lego is a toy for tinkerers, for designers, artists and storytellers. The Polish artist Zbigniew Libera used the blocks to portray the concentration camps. Some Canadian guys sent a Lego man into space and Nathan Sawaya has made a career from being a "brick artist". The Guardian has a wildly successful series of videos in which they recreate sporting moments with blocks and YouTube is full of films in which people have painstakingly recreated movies with reductive, charming plastic figures. It isn't just men – one of the most impressive models out there, a giant 400,000-piece recreation of Hogwarts – was built by Alice Finch.

The Danes seem to have cottoned on to the adult appeal, having released an architecture range of cool, stylised brick copies of famous landmarks. Constructing the Sydney Opera House was by far the highlight of a recent Christmas. There's no shame in playing with Lego as an adult, and us fans should proudly stick together.

Rupert Myers

Southampton's James Ward-Prowse: why I decided to toughen myself up

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 06:11 AM PST

A jewel from Southampton's academy, who may prove a surprise name in England's World Cup plans this summer, explains how moonlighting with a non-league club gave him added steel

The excellence of Southampton's academy has been rightly praised for years but James Ward-Prowse is proof that extracurricular fine-tuning can help. Although "fine-tuning" may not be the right word for sneaking off in search of brutality.

If Ward-Prowse, just 19, has looked at home in the hurlyburly world of the Premier League midfield battle this season, it is partially because when he was 13 he went to unusual lengths to steel himself. Those lengths may just help him become a surprise name in England's World Cup plans this summer.

His talent had been obvious since he was even younger, so much so that at the age of eight he was on the books of Southampton and Portsmouth, the club he and his family supported. But the player came to realise that he needed to strengthen his mentality if he were ever to make the most of his ability. The academy was great but he needed to venture off the beaten track to get, well, beaten. So unbeknown to Southampton he began moonlighting for an older team at a non-league club.

"I was a bit afraid of a tackle and wasn't really ready for the men's game so my dad suggested that I go to train with Havant & Waterlooville in the Blue Square South and get kicked and have that sort of feeling," recalls Ward-Prowse. "I was going there wanting to be kicked and beaten and shouted at. That definitely did develop me, more as a person than a player. It gave me the right kind of mindset and maturity to go and handle myself against older boys. I started to toughen up and after that when I was 14 I was playing for the under-16s, when I was 16 I was playing for the under-18s and when I was 18 I was playing for England Under-21s and the [Southampton] first team. So it made me stand up and be counted against men. I don't think Southampton knew about it but even if they did they shouldn't care because it's helped me get to where I am today."

Southampton, and indeed England, should be grateful that Ward-Prowse chose to follow his dad's advice rather than in his dad's footsteps. His dad is a barrister. "I'm not interested in that stuff at all, I find it all boring," says Ward-Prowse. "The amount of paperwork and reading he has to do. I watched him in court once as part of work experience when I was at school and that put me off it even more! I'm all about sport."

Although his academic grades were lawyerly good, Ward-Prowse's football prowess was the reason that he was voted Southampton's scholar of the year last season ahead of the much-coveted left-back, Luke Shaw.

The fearlessness that Ward-Prowse has taught himself makes him, like Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne and an ever-lengthening list of others, a delightful ambassador for the Southampton style, which, since the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as manager last year, recognises no superior and no reason to moderate ambition. "He's instilled a lot of aggression into every one," says Ward-Prowse speaking after coaching children at an exclusive Barclays training session in Southampton as part of the title sponsors' thanking community heroes campaign. "The way we play without the ball, going to press and get the ball back. He's given us a belief that no matter who the team is in front of us, whether it's Manchester City or a lower-league team, we can go out and beat them as long as we concentrate on what we do."

What Ward-Prowse does better than almost anyone else is cross the ball. Despite only starting half of his club's league games (and coming off the bench in all the others bar one), he has delivered more crosses than any other Premier League player this season. It is certainly not the only thing he does – he has made more tackles than midfielders as tigerish as Arsenal's Jack Wilshere, for example, despite starting fewer matches - but crossing is what makes him stand out most.

"The manager's quite keen that when you get in the final third you should cause a bit of havoc and I like to think I've done that," he says. "When you've got players like Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez, you want to put balls in the box for them to go and attack. And set pieces are a massive thing for me. I do a bit in training and it's great when it comes off in a match so it's something I work on regularly and am looking to keep improving."

He has such fizz and accuracy with his right foot that it is difficult to avoid comparison with his chief idol, David Beckham, even if he acknowledges he still needs to add goal-scoring to his repertoire. "Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, all the top English players are who I strive to be like," says Ward-Prowse. Everyone is inspired by David Beckham, no matter if you're involved in football or not, he's a fantastic guy." Although Roy Hodgson has said there are unlikely to be any surprises in England's World Cup squad, Ward-Prowse is among those believed to have an outside chance of being called up, especially if team-mates such as Lambert, Rodriguez and Adam Lallana get the go-ahead. He is not as heavily fancied as Everton's Ross Barkley, whom he played alongside at last summer's Under-20 World Cup, but, true to the spirit of Southampton, he is not ashamed of declaring his ambition.

"Every young English footballer wants to play at a World Cup for England, it's always in the back of my mind," he says. "But I'm just concentrating on what I'm doing at Southampton. If I train hard and improve as a player and produce in games, then that will come calling. But at my stage of development where I am at the moment is right for me. If a World Cup place comes calling, then so be it."

James Ward-Prowse was speaking at a Barclays event, delivered by the LifeSkills created with Barclays initiative, where a community group was rewarded with an exclusive training session at a Barclays Spaces for Sports site. This season, Barclays is thanking fans and community heroes. Join the conversation with #YouAreFootball.

Paul Doyle

Luis Aragonés obituary

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 05:55 AM PST

Irrepressible manager of the Spanish national side that won a European championship trophy after a 44-year wait

A gifted, inventive footballer and a controversial manager, both at club and international levels, Luis Aragonés, who has died aged 75 of leukaemia, was also a plain speaker with a sometimes explosive temper. However, he helped raise Spanish spirits to new heights in the summer of 2008 when he led the national side to their first title in 44 years as they lifted the European championship trophy.

Aragonés was already aged 70 when the Spaniards beat Germany 1-0 to win the cup in Vienna – making him the oldest coach to win the contest – having taken over four years earlier after the constantly underachieving side had again failed to distinguish themselves in the 2004 European Championship finals in Portugal. Further disappointment followed two years later in the World Cup finals in Germany, but Aragonés left the team well placed to consolidate their position as a major force in the international game under his successor Vicente del Bosque, winning both the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Cup.

Born in Hortaleza, on the northern fringes of Madrid – and later nicknamed the Wise Man of Hortaleza – Aragonés was 14 when his father died, and the family made a living from having the only van in the area. Luis began playing for a Jesuit college team, and then Getafe, to the south of the capital, signing for Real Madrid in 1958. But he never got a game for them, and was lent to Real Oviedo, where in December 1960 he made his first-division debut. At the end of that season he went to the Seville club Real Betis, where he truly established himself, scoring 33 goals in 86 games.

Although no prodigy, Aragonés was an inside-right of high skill, intelligence and quality. In 1964, he joined Atlético Madrid, where he stayed for a decade in which the club won three championships and two cups, growing famous for his insidious free kicks and precise penalty kicks. In the 1969-70 season he was one of three top scorers in the Spanish league, with 16 goals. Between 1965 and 1972, he was capped 11 times by Spain.

Aragonés did much to get Atlético as far as the European Cup final in Brussels in 1974, not least in Belgrade against Red Star, conquerors in the second round of Liverpool: he scored Atlético's first goal in a 2-0 win. The final – or to be precise, both finals, for there was a replay – was a strange affair. There were just six minutes left of extra time during the first encounter when Aragonés cleverly curled a free kick into Bayern Munich's goal. That seemed to be that, but almost with the last kick of the game the big Bayern centre-forward, George Schwarzenbeck, thundered upfield to score from 30 yards. In the replay, Atlético collapsed and lost 4-0.

After the first six games of the 1974-75 season, Atlético offered Aragonés their managership, and he promptly retired as a player. He had scored 160 goals in 360 league games.

After six years managing Atlético, he left to take over Real Betis in 1981-82, but lasted only briefly before returning to Atlético for another five years. In 1987 he moved to Barcelona, succeeding the sacked Terry Venables, but lasted barely a single season, despite reviving the team.

In 1990 he moved across Barcelona to take charge of the Espanyol club. Thereafter his career was unsettled: two seasons back with Atlético (1991-93), two at Seville, two at Valencia, two at Betis, one at Oviedo (1999-2000), two one-year spells at Real Mallorca, sandwiching a couple of seasons back with Atlético (2001-03), during the first of which he brought them back from the second division. As a manager he won just one championship, with Valencia in 1977, but won the cup four times, in 1976, 1985, 1988 and 1992.

His initial task as national manager was to take Spain to the finals of the 2006 World Cup, a task he accomplished with some difficulty, needing victory in a play-off against Slovakia in November 2005. A crushing first leg 5-1 win in Madrid was followed by a 1-1 draw in Bratislava.

However, when it came to the finals in Germany, Thierry Henry had the chance of getting his own back for a racist jibe that Aragonés had made to another player, apparently in the cause of motivation. This had happened two years earlier, and the manager was heavily criticised. After cruising through the first round with wins over Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, Spain then confronted France in the second round in Hanover. With the score at 1-1, Henry collapsed dramatically under a challenge from Carles Puyol. The resulting free kick from Zinédine Zidane reached Patrick Vieira, who scored, with Zidane himself making it 3-1 in injury time.

When the 2008 European finals arrived, Aragonés, whose team had qualified without panache and were seeded 12th, dropped the captain Raúl (Raúl González Blanco, also the captain of Real Madrid), preferring two younger strikers, Fernando Torres, then Liverpool's newest star striker, and David Villa, both of whom were destined to shine. With first-round victories over Russia (4-1), Sweden (2-1) and Greece (2-1), Spain went on to eliminate the reigning world champions Italy deservedly on penalties (4-2) in the quarter-final — the first time that they had beaten Italy in a competitive match since 1920, also breaking Spain's long record of defeats in penalty shoot-outs. They then beat Russia again (3-0) in the semi-final (Russia had progressed as runners-up in the initial group stage), and Germany in the final, thanks to a superb 33rd minute individual goal by the dynamic Torres. After lifting the trophy, they were further rewarded a few days later by being seeded number one in the Fifa world rankings, the first team never to have won a World Cup to achieve this.

Puyol remarked: "Aragonés taught us to believe it was possible. He was the first to be convinced that we, as a team playing with a clear style, could win." Aragonés himself said: "The criticism has taught me a lot, except when I am insulted. It has stimulated me and encouraged me to do things better." At the end of his 54-match tenure as national coach, his record stood at won 38, drawn 12, and lost only four – a Spanish record.

For most men of that age, having reached such a pinnacle, summer 2008 would have seemed a good moment to retire. But not the irrepressible Aragonés: he had a cussed, even eccentric, streak. He was once caught on camera cutting a television cable that he considered to be "suspiciously close" to the dug-out; he accused a fan of being "uglier than two horses"; and he once told a player to get on with the game because there was "nothing bloody wrong with you"; the player had a broken jaw.

So for the first time in his career he left Spain, to take over as manager of the Turkish club Fenerbahçe. However, the following summer they finished fourth in the league, and he was dismissed.

Aragonés is survived by his wife, Pepa, five children and 11 grandchildren.

• José Luis Aragonés Suárez, footballer and football manager, born 28 July 1938; died 1 February 2014

Brian Glanville

Joe Kinnear's eight months at Newcastle: rants, resignations, but no signings | Louise Taylor

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 05:15 AM PST

There is relief all round at St James' Park, and especially from Alan Pardew, that the much-maligned director of football's time at the club is over after a disastrous eight months

Shortly after becoming Newcastle United's director of football last June, Joe Kinnear lost his mobile phone.

Perhaps it explains why a man who boasted of being able to call up any manager, any time, anywhere in the world with Arsène Wenger a particularly good pal, failed to make a single permanent player signing during his St James' Park tenure. Or maybe his replacement handset was constantly engaged and the contacts that mattered simply could not get through.

"Judge me on my signings," declared Kinnear eight months ago. Late on Monday night he resigned with just two loan deals – for Loïc Rémy last summer and Luuk de Jong last month – completed on his watch. Or sort of on his watch. The 67-year-old former Wimbledon and Newcastle manager did not actually meet Rémy until after the striker had joined from QPR.

Indeed Kinnear did not seem to do a great deal. Although Newcastle built him a lavish office he was rarely seen at the club and, despite much talk of the former Tottenham full-back undertaking scouting missions he tended to remain in north London, making the occasional trip to France, Belgium or Tyneside.

When he went to watch a game at Birmingham, he was reported to praise the left-sided performance of Shane Ferguson. It was then pointed out to Kinnear that Ferguson was a Newcastle player on loan with Lee Clark's side. That story has not been denied.

Asked if the club were capable of making permanent signings following Saturday's 3-0 home defeat to Sunderland, Pardew replied, eventually: "I've got no comment to make on that one."

Privately furious with Kinnear's failure to sign a replacement for Yohan Cabaye, who joined Paris Saint-Germain for £20m last week, a thoroughly fed-up looking Newcastle manager sent a not so subtle message to Mike Ashley, the club's owner.

"I'm a professional manager," said Pardew, who had been hoping to welcome Lyon's midfielder Clément Grenier, aka "the New Cabaye", to Tyneside. "If I was in charge, solely, of transfers things might be different. I think I've made my opinions very clear this week and all the rest is confidential."

Whether or not Pardew issued Ashley with a "him or me" ultimatum; whether the sports retailer reluctantly decided the friend he loved drinking with in Totteridge's Orange Tree pub in north London had become too much of a liability or whether, in a rare moment of self-awareness, Kinnear fell on his sword remains unclear.

Upset as Ashley will doubtless be over the Sunderland defeat, Newcastle stand eighth – not a bad achievement on the part of a manager who has not seen his squad refreshed by a new permanent signing in either of the last two transfer windows.

Or maybe the owner is less concerned about keeping Pardew onside than stemming an impending drop in season-ticket sales. Or even getting the club into the best possible shape for a sale. After all if he had really wanted to recruit Grenier rather than count the £20m Cabaye money, Ashley would surely not have been content to sit back and watch a key executive mess things up.

If the offer was right, there can surely be little doubt that he would sell Newcastle. Maybe Kinnear had come to be seen as an impediment to this ambition, his farcical presence turning a famous, widely loved club into an international laughing stock.

When the man who was forced to resign as Newcastle's manager due to ill health four years ago travelled to Tyneside on Monday for a meeting with Lee Charnley, the club's football secretary, the suspicion was that Kinnear was aiming to force through the sale of Papiss Cissé, the Senegal striker, to a club in either Turkey or Russia before those countries' transfer windows closed. Pardew had been vehemently opposed to the idea of selling Cissé but, clearly, the conversation quickly turned to the director of football's future at St James' Park. Not long before midnight he was gone.

In truth Kinnear's position had been untenable right from the moment in which he announced, unilaterally, the news of his appointment ahead of an official statement from St James' Park. And then gave a quite remarkable radio interview.

During a cringing on-air chat he mispronounced the names of several players – Cabaye was called Yohan Kebab – and claimed credit for signing the goalkeeper Tim Krul, who had been recruited by Graeme Souness.

Kinnear also called Derek Llambias, Newcastle's former managing director and a key Pardew ally, Derek "Lambezee". Moreover he claimed to be "more intelligent" than Newcastle fans and said he regarded criticism as "water off a duck's arse". Llambias resigned with immediate effect, leaving the always vulnerable Pardew to cut an isolated figure heavily tipped for the sack and seemingly on borrowed time.

Critics perhaps underestimated the streetwise Newcastle manager's ability to see Kinnear off. Crucially fans disillusioned by last season's relegation flirtation redirected their anger from the home dug-out to the directors' box, while Pardew also had the media and dressing room behind him.

Acutely conscious that a rare unguarded moment last May in which he had said Ashley "made mistakes" during the 2012-13 campaign possibly explains why the owner imposed Kinnear on him as a form of bizarre punishment, Pardew largely kept his own counsel, remaining circumspect when questioned about "Joe".

Meanwhile he watched bids for Bafétimbi Gomis, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Darren Bent, Florian Thauvin, Rémy Cabella and Grenier, among others, flounder and fail as Kinnear struggled to navigate his way around the intricacies of the modern global transfer market.

His performance compared woefully to that of Llambias, an accomplished deal sealer but although Llambais and Ashley are said to be back on good terms, it is thought unlikely that, for the moment at least, he will return. Instead Charnley and John Irving, the finance director, will continue to shoulder much of the managing director's old workload, leaving a vacuum at the top of the club.

If it adds credence to the feeling that Newcastle could shortly be under new ownership – although Ashley is impossible to second guess – Pardew will simply be relieved Kinnear is not around to put any prospective signings off. Or phone him up in the middle of a League Cup tie at Morecambe on a night when the former director of football had forgotten the first team were playing …

Louise Taylor

Adnan Januzaj | The Gallery

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:01 AM PST

The Gallery: The Manchester United youngster stars as David Bowie, an Olympic diver and a Nando's chef

Should pubs be allowed to stay open later for the World Cup?

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:30 AM PST

David Cameron wants to allow pubs to be open for England's World Cup match against Italy. The game kicks off at 11pm, but originally the Home Office had turned down a request for an extension of licensing hours for pubs across the UK. The prime Minister has now pledged to intervene in the matter. Should pubs be allowed to stay open later for the occasion?

Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini: midfield changes not to blame for Chelsea defeat – video

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:12 AM PST

Manuel Pellegrini refuses to criticise his midfield after reporters suggest that Manchester City were overran in their loss to Chelsea

José Mourinho and Chelsea's remarkable tactical transformation | Jonathan Wilson

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:07 AM PST

In an era when possession is prized above all else, José Mourinho's tactics proved there are always different ways to win

It is one of football's great beauties that it can be played in such a variety of ways. There may be a consensus at the moment among the elite that favours pressing and possession, exploring modern interpretations of total football and proactivity and nudging up goals per game ratios across the major leagues, but there is also an alternative strand of thought, one that does not engage high up the pitch but prefers to sit deep and thwart the opposition, looking to play reactively, and at that José Mourinho remains a master.

A slight gloss, perhaps, is needed. To say a team plays reactively is not a criticism. It is not to say that they are negative or defensive or that they park the bus – not that there is any shame in that, whatever Mourinho himself may have suggested after last week's draw against West Ham. Reactive teams – Germany at the last World Cup, for instance – can still play thrilling and aesthetically pleasing football. Bayern Munich, in their Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona last season, were reactive, allowing their opponents long spells with the ball before picking them off. And Chelsea were reactive in beating Manchester City on Monday night.

Again and again City attacks broke down and Chelsea stormed forward on the break, awesome in their pace and muscularity. Watching Willian and, particularly, Eden Hazard, surging into space, creating angles for each other, always driving, it was easy to see why Mourinho felt Juan Mata had no place in his side: wonderful talent that he is, this is not Mata's type of football. What was striking as well was how bad City were at countering the counter: when was the last time, at Premier League level, other than in the final minutes as one team gave in to desperation in chasing the game, that you saw a team have a four-on-two break as Chelsea did after 27 minutes?

John Terry suggested that his side's victory was significant not merely for the three points it brought, drawing Chelsea within two points of the top of the table and preventing City moving six points clear of them, but also for the encouragement it might offer other sides going to the Etihad, "showing they can be beaten".

Perhaps that is the case – it seems, after all, fairly well attested that once a team develops an aura opponents seem almost unconsciously to accept a narrow defeat rather than risk humiliation. Manchester United's current travails are at least in part a result of the dissipation of their aura and it is certainly worth reminding teams that, for all their attacking prowess, there is a soft centre to this City – but it is hard to imagine many other sides being able to hold City at arm's length as well as Chelsea did.

What Mourinho has done over the past month and a half has been remarkable. The defeat at Sunderland in the Capital One Cup on 17 December was a Rubicon. His side had been on top for much of the game at the Stadium of Light, but then conceded a sloppy late equaliser and ended up being pummelled in extra time. Mourinho afterwards seemed drained and you wondered what toll all the battles at Real Madrid had taken on him. But in his weariness, there was a resolve: he would go back to basics, he said, for, he claimed, there is nothing easier in football than winning 1-0.

He had six days to work with his side before the league game at Arsenal and it seems most of it was spent on refocusing minds and getting the defensive shape right. At the Emirates he played a 4-3-3, closed down an Arsenal midfield that at the time seemed rampant, and came away with a 0-0 draw. Moreover, Mourinho seemed much cheerier, back to his mischievous best, as though the Sunderland defeat had resolved a dilemma, turning him to a course of action on which in his heart of hearts he had always been set.

The 4-2-3-1 has returned since then –although you wonder whether it might have been 4-3-3 again on Monday had City's Fernandinho been fit – but Chelsea have stopped conceding: in 10 games since Sunderland they have let in just two. The weird laxity at set plays has gone, the shape is better, the cover is better – and, worryingly for opponents, their transitions are getting better and better.

City had 65% of possession on Monday, but managed only three shots on target. West Ham had one; Stoke had one; Manchester United had four; Hull had two. Chelsea have become supremely adept again at shutting down what Ottmar Hitzfeld terms "the red zone", the central area just outside the D from which most shots or decisive passes come.

Sides such as Bayern Munich and Barcelona deny opponents access to that key sector by pressing high up the pitch, squeezing them back in their own half and then denying them possession. Chelsea do it with guards, stationing Terry and Gary Cahill within the zone – one of the reasons Terry suddenly looks so good again is that he is defending deep, playing with with the game in front of him so his lack of pace and consequent vulnerability to balls played behind him is no longer an issue. At City, Nemanja Matic and David Luiz were just in front.

Although City had plenty of the ball, they were unable to play through that area. It is true they were hampered in that by the absence of the injured Sergio Agüero but, at the same time, had he been able to find pockets of space, Chelsea could always have reverted to a 4-3-3 and brought Ramires back to add an extra body to plug up that zone.

It is not a particularly modern way of defending or a fashionable one, but it is an effective one. And, in a world in which possession and proactivity are dominant, Mourinho's difference should be celebrated.

Jonathan Wilson

José Mourinho: masseur's team talk helped Chelsea beat Manchester City – video

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:42 AM PST

José Mourinho says the team's Scottish masseur Billy McCulloch inspired Chelsea to a 1-0 victory against Manchester City

In need of a signing? An out-of-contract XI who could still be snapped up | Jacob Steinberg

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST

It's not too late to add players. Here are 11 who could still join (although we can't guarantee they are not injured, Arsène)

Craig Gordon (goalkeeper)

Roy Keane made Gordon the most expensive goalkeeper in Britain when he brought him to Sunderland from Hearts for £9m in 2007 but Gordon's career has not gone to plan since then. The former Scotland No1 has been ravaged with injuries in the past few years and has been unable to find a new club since being released by Sunderland at the end of the 2011-12 season. He has been working to regain his fitness during that time and at the age of 31 he surely still has something to offer if he can convince any interested parties that his body can take the strain.

Jean-Alain Boumsong (right-back)

Remember him? Newcastle fans will probably shudder at the memory of a defender whose excellent recovery pace was no match for his unfortunate knack of extreme clumsiness. Signed from Rangers in January 2005, Boumsong spent 18 months flattering to deceive on Tyneside – 27 caps for France suggests that he had something, but his defending was too often characterised by a complacent streak and his departure in the summer of 2006 was not mourned. He went on to have spells at Juventus and Lyon before turning up at Panathinaikos in 2010. The 34-year-old was released by the Greek side at the end of last season.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (centre-back)

One of Rafael Benítez's final signings for Liverpool, the Greek defender arrived at Anfield from AEK Athens in 2009 and his height made him a moderately useful option, although he was a bit on the slow side. He left Liverpool in 2011, joining Wolfsburg, and then had a brief loan spell at Sunderland before being released by the German club last summer. The 34-year-old could interest anyone who happens to be after a big scary Greek bloke in their defence, which is, admittedly, a niche market.

Titus Bramble (centre-back)

Still available after being released by Sunderland last summer. No, we couldn't believe it either.

Razvan Rat (left-back)

The Romanian arrived at West Ham from Shakhtar Donetsk with a big reputation and wasn't shy of speaking about how his Champions League and international experience had prepared him for anything the Premier League had to offer. But while his effort could not be faulted, Rat, a bright and engaging individual, was unable to hold down a place in Sam Allardyce's back four and the Romania captain agreed to end his contract by mutual consent on deadline day, even though it ran until June. A Championship club in need of a seasoned left-back could do much worse, though.

Jermaine Pennant (right midfield)

Pennant's turbulent career took another odd turn last summer when he was shown the door by Stoke City shortly after Mark Hughes had replaced Tony Pulis, only to be given a new deal 12 days later. The former Arsenal and Liverpool winger then rewarded Hughes's faith in him by scoring a brilliant late free-kick to earn Stoke a 1-0 win at West Ham last August after coming on as a substitute. "I've always admired his talents," Hughes said. "When I came in there was a possibility of him leaving the club but I didn't want the possibility of him turning up at Stoke in a different shirt." Pennant also sensed a fresh start, talking about how it would be different under Hughes, but his last meaningful contribution in a Stoke shirt was the foul on Leon Osman that allowed Everton to nab a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium on New Year's Day. He was then released on 24 January.

David Bentley (central midfield)

Where did it all go wrong? Once hailed, somewhat optimistically it must be said, as the new David Beckham, Bentley has not had a club since being released by Tottenham last summer. It is a sad waste of talent for a player who, lest we forget, was tipped for great things when he broke into the Arsenal first team in 2004. Yet swapping Blackburn for Tottenham in 2008 was a mistake – he found competition for places too fierce and doubts were raised by various managers over his attitude and professionalism off the pitch. Four clubs signed him on loan during his time at White Hart Lane but none of them have wanted him on a permanent basis, while a bad knee injury suffered during a short spell at West Ham in 2011 hardly helped his cause.

Mahamadou Diarra (central midfield)

Injuries have stalled the Malian's career to the extent that he has been without a club since leaving Fulham last summer, with talk of him being given a new deal in September eventually amounting to nothing. Having played for Real Madrid, his pedigree is not in doubt, but signing the 32-year-old would be a gamble.

Vicente (left midfield)

When he was good, he was very good. The winger was a key player in Valencia's title-winning campaigns in the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons under Rafael Benítez but countless injuries meant he was never able to reach his full potential. He signed for Brighton on a free in 2011 but fell out of favour with Gus Poyet last season and left under a cloud in the summer, calling the Uruguayan "the worst person I've come across in football". To be brutally honest, this is just a nostalgic selection. When he was good, he was very good. He really was.

Ivan Klasnic (striker)

The former Bolton Wanderers striker has had to overcome greater challenges than not having a club – forget about his career being over, in 2007 it looked like his life might be over when he suffered kidney failure. However, he returned to playing after his father donated a kidney – his body having previously rejected one donated by his mother – and even went to Euro 2008 with Croatia, scoring in a 1-0 win over Poland in the group stage. After leaving Bolton in 2012, he joined Mainz but was allowed to leave by the German club when his contract ran out last summer.

Vincenzo Iaquinta (striker)

The striker was a part of the Italy squad that won the World Cup in 2006, scoring in the 2-0 win over Ghana in their opening match. His final appearance for the Azzurri was less memorable, however, coming in the 3-2 defeat against Slovakia that saw Italy eliminated in the first round of the 2010 World Cup. The 34-year-old has not found a new club since being released by Juventus.

Jacob Steinberg

Serie A talking points | Paolo Bandini

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:00 AM PST

Juventus expose Internazionale's frailties; Napoli's freakishly bad day at the office; and an embarrassing dad turns cool

As some of you may already have noticed, I have been on Super Bowl duty for the Guardian this week. Frustratingly, that coincided not only with the Derby d'Italia, but also plenty more interest around the end of the transfer window. As with the last few years on this weekend, I've put together a few talking points instead of the usual blog. Apologies for the reduced service, but rest assured that we will be back to full coverage next week.

Talking points

• Juventus thumped Internazionale 3-1, just as they were always likely to do. It was hard to imagine any other outcome given the recent disparity in each team's performances – with the Bianconeri unbeaten in the league since October, and the Nerazzurri yet to win a game in any competition this year. Indeed, given that Inter had managed one goal so far in 2014, it was almost a surprise just to see them score. And yet, it remains true that Walter Mazzarri's side are one of only three teams to take points off Juventus so far this season, drawing with them at home in September. For all their frailties – from Andrea Ranocchia's repeated mental absences at the back right through to the enduring reliance on a declining Diego Milito up front – it is still hard to grasp quite how they have fallen so far. This team, after all, had only lost a single league game before mid-December. The arrival of Hernanes may help, and addresses a need in creative terms, but it is hard to shake the sense that the problems here run deeper.

• The gap between first and second has widened, at least temporarily, to nine points, after Roma's game against Parma was abandoned due to a torrential downpour at the Stadio Olimpico. The game may not get made up for some time now, either, since the venue is already heavily booked up with additional Coppa Italia games, as well as Lazio's Europa League fixtures and Italy's Six Nations home games. For now it has been provisionally scheduled for 12 March, but if Lazio were to make it through to the last 16 of the Europa League, it could get bumped back into April.

• Easily the most shocking result of the weekend arrived at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, where Atalanta demolished Napoli 3-0. Rafael Benítez engaged in some heavy squad rotation, presumably with one eye on Wednesday's Coppa Italia semi-final first leg away to Roma, leaving out the likes of Gonzalo Higuaín and Marek Hamsik, but their absence cannot explain the shambolic nature of all three goals Napoli conceded, from Pepe Reina letting Germán Denis's tame effort squirm under his body for the opener to Gokhan Inler hooking the ball awkwardly back into the same striker's path for the second. It would be tempting to just dismiss the game as one freakishly bad day at the office, but while that is undoubtedly the case, Napoli have not won any of their last three league games. They, too, are slipping.

• The coolest image of the weekend, for me, was that of Denis celebrating with his son, a youth team player and ball-boy, after scoring his first goal. The striker was being an embarrassing dad before the game, ruffling his son's hair as he walked out on to the pitch, but must have seemed a whole lot cooler after connecting ball with net against such high-profile opponents.

• If the season ended today (which, you will be shocked to learn, it doesn't), then Verona would claim Italy's last Europa League spot. The "little, big club", as Gazzetta dello Sport referred to them this Monday, climbed above Inter into fifth place by virtue of a 2-1 win away to Sassuolo. Their first goal was a gift, Thomas Manfredini sliding the ball into his own net as he tried to cut out a cross at the near post, but the second, a chip from Luca Toni, was a peach. It was also his 10th goal of the campaign.

• Clarence Seedorf's perfect start in the league with Milan was ended by a 1-1 draw against Torino, but Adriano Galliani did not seem too disappointed with his new manager's start. "With Seedorf, Milan have changed their mentality and formation," he said. "Now the players are applying themselves much more."

• The sale of Hernanes might not have had any immediate impact on Lazio's form – the Biancocelesti winning 2-0 away to Chievo this weekend – but it has certainly not gone down well with the club's fans. The owner Claudio Lotito's phone number was circulated on message boards and social media this week, and he has since been inundated with abusive phone calls attacking him over his transfer policy. He even received one such call while in the middle of an interview with reporters outside the league's offices in Milan. "Yesterday evening I received about 60 calls from pseudo-fans, in which they either asked me to leave Lazio or threatened me with death," said Lotito. "I am living under protection, you have to understand that writing stupid things is an incitement to violence."

Results

Atalanta 3-0 Napoli, Bologna 0-2 Udinese, Cagliari 1-0 Fiorentina, Catania 3-3 Livorno, Chievo 0-2 Lazio, Genoa 0-1 Sampdoria, Juventus 3-1 Inter, Milan 1-1 Torino, Sassuolo 1-2 Verona, (Roma v Parma was postponed).

Latest Serie A standings.

Paolo Bandini

Football transfer rumours: Manchester United target William Carvalho?

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 12:54 AM PST

Today's fluff is struggling to launch

Whenever the Mill reads Arsenal's match-day programme, it finds itself praising the fortitude of Thomas Vermaelen. For Arsenal's club captain always manages to put a brave face on his ordeal, and that's not a phenomeon to be taken for granted. Heroically, Vermaelen's programme notes betray no trace of the torment he is enduring since being downgraded from all-action warrior to embedded journalist. Sure, when he writes – week after week after week after week – that he is diligently keeping himself primed for battles ahead and is beside himself on the bench with joy at how well the team is performing without him, you can almost hear the sentence end with a sigh. But at least the print is not blurred by tears, and the evenness of the ink belies suspicions that the keypad is systematically headbanged whenever mention is made of the names Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. And that is why most scholars now agree that Zeno of Citium, Cato the Younger and Thomas Vermaelen are the three foremost exponents of stoicism.

All of which has aroused the interest of Zenit St Petersburg. The Russian transfer window has not closed and Zenit want Vermaelen to climb through it. They will seek to entice him with an offer of regular football and enough money to buy a modest-sized space station with good access to local amenties such as space. Though sick of being in suspended animation at Arsenal, Vermaelen is not expected to accept the offer.

Meanwhile, like bodyguards hurling themselves in front of the bullet-ridden corpse of the person they have sworn to protect, Manchester United's transfer scouts have sprung into action. Within just hours of the western European transfer window closing, a crack squad of United spies watched William Carvalho boss Sporting Lisbon's midfield in a way unfamilar to regular United watchers. A summer transfer bid could be on the cards, possibly for Carvalho or possibly for a player that United don't need.

Despite Tim Sherwood publicly insisting that Tottenham Hotspur did not need any reinforcements, least of all in midfield, word from France is that Spurs made a desperate deadline-day bid to sign Marseille's 20-year-old wideman Florian Thauvin, offering cash and Etienne Capoue in exchange. OM said non. Meanwhile, OM are going to duke it out with Newcastle this summer for the services of the Lyon striker Bafétimbi Gomis.

Meanwhile, the Montpellier midfielder Rémy Cabella is not ruling out a summer switch to St James' Park despite the advice of his current manager. "Rolland Courbis keeps telling me not to go to Newcastle," Cabella said in an interview on RMC. "He thinks I can aim for a higher team. We'll see. Yohan Cabaye is an example, he went there, made his mark and now he's at PSG."

Elsewhere, Cardiff are to pay Getafe £1m for Cala, even though the defender never played for the Spanish side after buying himself out of his Sevilla contract.

Finally, Aston Villa have begun negotiations with Paul Lambert over an extension to the manager's contract, which expires in 18 months. The talks are expected to begin woefully, then go through a highly encouraging spell before plateauing in a kind of prolonged meh.

Paul Doyle

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Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:08

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

International Champions Cup 2014 schedule

SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS LATER …

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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SKI TUESDAY

Craig Gordon (goalkeeper)

Jean-Alain Boumsong (right-back)

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (centre-back)

Titus Bramble (centre-back)

Razvan Rat (left-back)

Jermaine Pennant (right midfield)

David Bentley (central midfield)

Mahamadou Diarra (central midfield)

Vicente (left midfield)

Ivan Klasnic (striker)

Vincenzo Iaquinta (striker)

Talking points

Results

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Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:08

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

International Champions Cup 2014 schedule

SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS LATER …

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

QUOTE OF THE DAY

FIVER LETTERS

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

BITS AND BOBS

STILL WANT MORE?

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

SKI TUESDAY

Craig Gordon (goalkeeper)

Jean-Alain Boumsong (right-back)

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (centre-back)

Titus Bramble (centre-back)

Razvan Rat (left-back)

Jermaine Pennant (right midfield)

David Bentley (central midfield)

Mahamadou Diarra (central midfield)

Vicente (left midfield)

Ivan Klasnic (striker)

Vincenzo Iaquinta (striker)

Talking points

Results

Written by TBMU Admin

0 comments :

Post a Comment

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