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World Cup heat is on for England as they prepare for Amazon rainforest

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

Roy Hodgson has planned his squad's pre-tournament schedule so they are ready for the humid conditions in Manaus, where they play Italy in their first World Cup match on 14 June

There was a time, many years ago, when Manaus was awash with England's influence. A decadent period in Amazonian history coincided with a strong English presence – sterling was the common currency at the end of the 19th century as the rubber barons of northern Brazil basked in splendour and excess. It was only when an Englishman took the plant to Malaysia that the city's opulence soon descended into deep depression.

Manaus today, however, does not hold a grudge. Gone are the times when the aristocracy sent their expensive clothes to Lisbon and back for washing, lighting cigars by burning money. Ninety years on from the end of that affluent era the vast metropolis in the middle of the rainforest is ready for a new dawn. England's World Cup opener against Italy on 14 June represents such a landmark. Yet for Roy Hodgson's England side the reality, rather than the romance, is somewhat daunting. They will be welcomed in Manaus with open arms but England will need to be fully prepared for all extremities if they are going to enjoy a successful summer in the land of la joga bonito.

It is no coincidence that no European side has won the World Cup in South America. Reaching the last eight would be a major achievement for England but, for all teams competing in the tournament, there will be myriad logistical and physical challenges.

The countdown to the World Cup, which kicks off on 12 June when Brazil play Croatia in São Paulo, could yet be fraught with twists and turns. Three stadiums have yet to be finished, transport infrastructure remains a concern while the threat of more protests against the government hangs like an ominous cloud. During the Confederations Cup last year more than one million protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against perceived social injustice and the lack of money spent on public services. Six people died as police used tear gas and rubber bullets to quell the storm.

During that tournament Sepp Blatter and the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, were booed at the first game. Perhaps it is no wonder then that the Fifa president has decided to dispense with an opening speech at the World Cup finals.

For England, though, preparations are going as well as can be expected. The Football Association's decision to stay in Rio de Janeiro, at the Royal Tulip hotel in São Conrado, has paid off even if the team will not be playing at the Maracanã.

England's other group matches, against Uruguay and Costa Rica, will take place in nearby São Paulo and Belo Horizonte respectively, leaving the opening game with the Azzurri in Manaus, a rumble in the jungle that could shape the team's entire World Cup, as the major logistical conundrum. As one local told the Observer: "Here the rivers are our roads. In your country you have car crashes, here we have anacondas and alligators."

England will travel to the Amazonas state capital two days before the match against Italy and fly back to Rio immediately after the game. Hodgson has already stayed at the team hotel – the Blue Tree Premium – during his recent visit to the region, a peace-making expedition as well as a pre-tournament reccy, and has visited the training ground in Manaus, which is located 15 minutes from the hotel.

One area of concern is the pitch at the new Arena da Amazônia, built for the tournament at a cost of £173m, with sections of the surface undernourished and damaged by excessive use of fertiliser. The São Paulo-based company that laid down the turf has been called back to help alleviate the problem, with stadium officials confident the surface will be repaired before England's match with Italy.

Before the draw, the Amazon's tropical climate caused Hodgson to declare that Manaus was "the place to avoid", a comment that incurred the wrath of the city's mayor, Arthur Virgilio, who responded by saying: "We hope to get a better team and a coach who is more sensible and polite. He's one of the few people in the world who is not curious about the Amazon."

Hodgson has since built bridges with locals aggrieved at the comments, and during his recent visit he will have found a region that, despite its geography, is relatively prosperous once again.

Manaus is an urban sprawl that stops abruptly at the Amazon, where rainforest and wild verdant land spreads for miles on end. The confluence of the Amazon and the Rio Negro, known as the meeting of the waters, marks a symbolic location, but despite the wilderness and exposed natural location of the region, the city has a population of two million and houses more than 600 major international companies, including Nokia, Panasonic, Yamaha and Honda due to the state's low tax, regulated by the government at 3.5% to attract business. "We worked a lot to get this chance for the World Cup," says Roberio Braga, the Amazonas secretary of culture, speaking at Manaus's famous Opera House in the centre of town, the centrepiece of the city's cultural cornucopia.

"There is a lot of English history here. We have an old relationship that had strength from 1890 to the 1920s. The younger generations aren't aware of this but we have to keep it alive. Some of the local politicians were annoyed and there was some bad feeling when Hodgson said it was too hot here. We're fine with that now."

The England manager The England manager did have a point, though. Manaus's humidity is renowned in Brazil as the most challenging of conditions to play in. If you stand pitchside at the Arena da Amazônia the intense heat is inescapable in the 44,500-capacity stadium that has an outside membrane aimed at keeping temperatures down. When England play it will be comfortably above 30C.

Mirandinha, the first Brazilian to play in England when he joined Newcastle United in 1987, says playing in the "little Paris of Brazil" will test Europe's elite. Mirandinha, who is now based in the host city of Fortaleza on the north-east coast of the country, said: "Manaus is even harder than here. I lived there for nine years and it's much hotter than here. I think they will struggle. In Manaus it is not like Fortaleza and Recife. You don't have wind, it's not only hot but very, very humid. It makes it more difficult for the players and it is very hard there. When I went there it was difficult to breathe.

"My first game [in Manaus] was when I was playing for Palmeiras and when I went there I felt very, very bad – the beginning of the game was horrible. But then you get the pace. The best way to prepare for any national team coming here is to get there before and acclimatise to the weather. It is very important to come early."

The FA is heeding such advice and has planned England's build-up accordingly. As well as two friendlies in Miami, against Ecuador and Honduras, the players will fly out to Portugal on 19 May for a week of warm-weather training specifically focused on individual fitness. An FA spokesman said: "Temperatures and humidity were key factors in choosing both these locations, matches and kick-off times."

Other than the climate, there is also the issue of security. The chief of the Amazon military, General Ubiratan Poty, admitted that because of an increased terrorist threat, local forces will be on special alert when England and the USA play in Manaus. He said: "One way or the other we will have extra attention for those two teams, where they are training. One hour before and three hours after their games all the air space in the region will be closed."

There are more serious issues across Brazil less than three months before the start of the competition. Construction work at the stadium in Curitiba is not expected to be completed until the beginning of May, while arenas at Cuiabá and São Paulo have not been finished.

Flights into the country and domestic air travel are also worries. The airport at Fortaleza still needs work, the São Paulo international terminal is not finished and Belo Horizonte has had to expand capacity with a temporary terminal. Even the smallest of check-in queues can cause significant delays and the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that at least 16,000 passengers will have their flights cancelled or re-routed during the World Cup. Three thousand England supporters will travel to Manaus through the FA's membership scheme, although many more are expected to attend.

According to the government's deputy sports minister, Luis Fernandes, the problems that have ensued since Brazil were awarded the World Cup have been inevitable, the result of a developing nation being selected to host a major international event without sufficient infrastructure already in place.

He said: "We are a huge country but a developing country so the World Cup and the Olympic Games [to be held in Rio in 2016] are the opportunity to build up the basic infrastructure that we have lacked. They gave us an opportunity to set up investments, but that would take us a long time to put into practice."

Brazil has spent more than £3bn on the tournament, including £2bn on stadia and £1bn on transport. Such vast spending sparked the mass protests across the country last year, with sections of society angered that funds were not distributed more evenly on public services such as education and health.

Fernandes insisted that the authorities would not be heavy-handed if further protests ensue, but warned of minority groups turning to violence.

"The people in our government were brought up fighting for democracy, in a culture of political resistance, fighting against dictatorship," he said.

For England, the Brazilian campaign represents a major challenge, and one that could live long in the memory for the right or wrong reasons. Suspect travel, potential protests and testing conditions aside, Brazil remains a country that eats, sleeps and breathes football. England versus Italy in the middle of the Amazon, what could possibly go wrong?

James Riach's trip to Brazil was paid for by SECOM and the Brazilian Tourism Board

James Riach

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How FA failed to address Astle case

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

12 years after Jeff Astle died of brain trauma, we are still waiting on a promised FA report over the effects of heading the ball

In the ninth minute of West Bromwich Albion's game at Hull City the supporters in the away end at the KC Stadium rose to their feet in memory of Jeff Astle, the man they used to call The King. Banners were held up and, knowing how persistent and strong-minded football fans can be when they sense injustice, we can probably expect this to be a regular theme at West Brom's matches until it shames the people who have ignored this story for too long.

It is 12 years since Astle's inquest ruled he had died from "industrial disease," namely dementia brought on by repeatedly heading the ball, and many people might have forgotten by now that the Football Association and Professional Footballers' Association stated at the time there would be a joint 10-year study to investigate the risks.

Not his family, though. His widow, Laraine, was among West Brom's travelling fans, like she is most weeks. Two of their three daughters, Dawn and Claire, were there, along with one of his five grandchildren, 16-year-old Matt. In the weeks to follow, the family hope the club will flash messages of support on the electronic scoreboard at The Hawthorns. Yet they know it is complicated.

Astle was 59 when he died, and for part of the previous four years he was in such a bad way he could not even remember which clubs he had played for, never mind the fact he had won five caps with England and played against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.

Younger generations will probably remember him for his television appearances with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel on Fantasy Football, closing out the show with a different song each week, and the minute's silence in the episode after his death. At West Brom, though, he will always be remembered as an icon – strong, fearless, ruggedly handsome and, to his cost, exceptional in the air. "Astle is the King" was the graffiti painted on Primrose Bridge in Netherton, in the heart of the Black Country, around the same time he scored the winning goal in the 1968 FA Cup final. Even when the council scrubbed it off, the same words re-appeared within days.

The slogan at Hull on Saturday was "Justice for Jeff" although in fairness to the FA, it is not the current regime that is to blame here. It is their predecessors, going back to the Soho Square era, bearing in mind the promises that were made, after the inquest, when the Astle family were visited at home and assured it would be treated as a priority.

What actually happened was the family received two letters and then never heard from the FA again. The first was from the FA's solicitors and advised against considering legal action. The next was from a leading FA official asking if the family would like tickets for the next England friendly, with the rider that it would be impossible to squeeze them all in. The offer was for two tickets .

Understandably, there is a certain amount of bitterness. "This was not a Mickey Mouse pathologist," Dawn says. "It was one of the world's leading pathologists and his report was that dad's brain had suffered catastrophic trauma and resembled that of a boxer. It wasn't a bruised toe or a sore back. My dad is dead, and the FA have ignored it for 12 years. In the meantime, how many former players have lost their lives because of degenerative brain disease and how many are living with its consequences?"

That is the crux of it. When Fabrice Muamba's heart stopped at White Hart Lane in March 2012 the FA quickly put in place a review of medical practices before teaming up with the British Heart Foundation to make 900 defibrillators available to clubs. Yet there has not been a single piece of data published by the FA on possible links between repeatedly heading the ball and endangering the brain. Instead, it transpires the FA identified some young apprentice footballers to analyse, then closed the file when those players never made the grade. The FA now points out that Fifa has ultimate responsibility for safety in the sport. "It's a good job the people looking at cancer and Alzheimer's don't just give up like that," is Dawn's take.

The FA's new regime, with a strong West Brom theme running through the organisation, do seem to be taking the complaints seriously and the chairman, Greg Dyke, has written to the family this weekend with a long apology. Dyke and his colleagues intend to travel to the Midlands to meet Astle's relatives and establish what should happen next.

There are wider implications to this story. This newspaper's information is that Reading's old-player association has also contacted the relevant authorities over the past few years about the same issue but, again, without getting very far. Astle was far from the only aerial specialist in an era of heavy and often soaked footballs and it is difficult to estimate how many others might have been affected. It is also fairly astounding that the PFA has not taken up the Astle case more strongly – the family say they have not heard from them since the 10-year study was announced.

Research at Turin University, looking at the medical records of 7,000 ex-footballers from 1970 to 2001, has shown the risk of motor neurone disease is six times higher than the norm. Another study by Albert Einstein's Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center in New York found that players in their 30s who headed the ball 885-1,550 times a year had significantly lower water movement in three areas of the brain. The players with more than 1,800 a year tended to do notably worse in memory tests.

A few weeks ago, the death of the 29-year-old Patrick Grange, from the Chicago semi-professional leagues, was posthumously linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head. Grange was renowned for his heading ability and the damage was all at the front of his brain. "We can't say for certain that heading the ball caused his condition," the neuropathologist Dr Ann McKee told the New York Times. "But it is noteworthy that he was a frequent header of the ball, and he did develop this disease."

It is a complex, difficult issue, and it is difficult to know where it leads when heading is such an essential part of the sport. To clarify, nobody is asking for it to be outlawed, and it clearly reduces the risk that balls are so much lighter these days. Grange's story, nonetheless, does show why the Astles talk about the possibility of there being many more "ticking time-bombs". Post-Muamba, footballers are now checked regularly for heart issues. Nobody seems to think brain scans might be necessary. Or that restrictions should be imposed on academy players.

One thing to clear up here: the Astle family are not in this for compensation. There has to be a concern, however – and, admittedly, it is a cynical view – that football has pulled down the shutters because the alternative would be to open itself to claims for damages.

What the Astles want is an acknowledgement from the FA that repeatedly heading the ball can have long-term ramifications, a proper study and new guidelines put in place if necessary. They are also supporting calls for a parliamentary inquiry into concussion in sport. In the meantime, it comes back to the first of what could be many ninth-minute tributes from West Brom's supporters for their old No9.

There are gates outside the Hawthorns dedicated to Astle and the crowd still sing his name to the tune of Camptown Races: "Astle is The King, Astle is The King, the Brummie Roaders sing this song, Astle is The King."

He scored 174 goals for the club, to go with the 31 he managed as a protege of Tommy Lawton at Notts County. It is just a terrible shame that, by the end, he could not remember a single one, and that it has taken so long for promises to be kept.

Rooney's golden chance to show he's worth the money

Wayne Rooney's new contract, bonuses and all, has widely been depicted as £300,000 a week, this being one of the few industries where salaries are measured every seven days. Rooney, to put it another way, earns roughly £42,850 a day, £1,785 every hour or just under £30 a minute. Or, as the comedian Jon Richardson put it on 8 Out of 10 Cats, every time Rooney drops a 50p coin he has made just that amount in the time it takes to pick it back up.

Rooney is certainly going to have to earn his corn if United are to stand any chance of overhauling Bayern Munich in their next Champions League assignment. Der Spiegel's reaction to the draw is that Bayern will be facing "many stars, but no team". Bild has described Bayern as "lucky" and Kicker magazine says the European and Bundesliga champions can "relax".

"Typical Germans," it is easy to imagine Sir Alex Ferguson thinking. Yet United's hopes were already faint even before Robin van Persie twanged his knee ligaments and the idea of Alexander Büttner deputising for the suspended Patrice Evra against Arjen Robben is quite something.

These are the moments, surely, why United threw their gold at Rooney. It is a superstar's salary, and the onus is on Rooney to show he actually deserves that label, in the sense that he can still influence the most significant club games. If he can prove that he does, at least United will have a player capable of menacing the Bayern centre-halves. Though they have to get the ball first.

Screen test would have helped Marriner

Believe it or not, Andre Marriner's unfortunate case of mistaken identity during the Chelsea-Arsenal game, sending off Kieran Gibbs for an offence committed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, is not the first time it has happened this season.

On the previous occasion, when Preston North End played Port Vale in November, the consequences were even worse. Joe Garner, the Preston striker, should have been dismissed after clashing with one of the opposition players. Instead, the referee, Andy Madley, got him confused with Neil Kilkenny and showed the red card to the wrong player. And guess who went on to score the goals in a 2-0 win for Preston? Garner was an unlikely hero that day. For the record, the FA did eventually pass the ban his way.

At Stamford Bridge, José Mourinho's assessment of Marriner's mistake was that "the sending-off is big ammunition for people like me who think that one little screen in front of the fourth official is a big help". He's right. A television monitor, for the fourth official, would surely make sure this does not happen again.

Daniel Taylor

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Droylsden and Hyde: life at the bottom with two of England's worst teams

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

Dire finances and form have crippled two clubs in very similar positions. Why have they suffered and will anything change?

Ten miles separate Droylsden FC and Hyde FC, two of English football's poorest teams. Both suffered relegation before spring officially arrived – and until yesterday Droylsden had not won a league match. By beating Witton Albion 4-3 they doubled their points tally from three to six. Even so, David Pace has a nice line in gallows humour considering the club he owns and manages went down from the Evo-Stik Premier in February and has a £250,000 VAT bill plus a further £350,000 debt he is struggling to pay off.

"It would make a great TV series, right from the days from when I had my floodlights pinched. That was when I said to my dad: 'I'm going to pack it in' and he said: 'You've never jacked in anything in your life'." Pace can only laugh at a club that is located three miles east of the Premier League billionaires of Manchester City. "It's just soul-destroying, like getting tortured week-in week-out."

Pace, a builder by trade, constructed the William Pace stand at Droylsden's 3,500-capacity Butchers Arms ground in his father's honour. It was through William that the 53-year-old, who is from nearby Openshaw, began a near-lifelong association with the club. "I played for the youth team against Manchester United and City and my dad used to watch," Pace said. "My dad was a supporter, he wasn't involved, I just took it from there."

After playing abroad, including a stint at Dallas Tornado in the 1980s, Pace returned to Droylsden in 1992. "The club was advertising in the paper that they needed players. But there was no stands, nothing. I tried to do the club up a bit but it burnt down, and I didn't get any insurance. I managed to soldier through. I built it from the bottom up, became chairman, then took over as manager in 1996, took the club all the way to the Conference Premier."

The single season in the top division of the non-league game came in 2007‑08 and was a shining achievement from Pace, whose secret has been to unearth gems and draw performances from them before bigger clubs get wise. "Fans are great [though] the newer ones have only known success. We were live on telly about three or four times, playing against Chesterfield, Leyton Orient [in the FA Cup], but the older people realise what I've done. They know I'm not a multi-millionaire, I'm just a working chap that basically earns £100 and spends £99, but at the moment I'm earning £100 and spending £150."

Chesterfield were beaten 2-1 in a second-round tie in 2008 but Droylsden were subsequently expelled for fielding Sean Newton, who scored both goals but was suspended for the game.

Another tale in the compelling Drolysden story involved Pace's partner, Stella, replacing him as manager before going on to to claim the Manchester Senior Cup. "I fell out with the Manchester FA and Stella ran the team and won the Cup in 2000 – she picked her own side all the way through," he says.

When an large VAT bill initiated Droyslden's financial free-fall, Pace decided against putting the club into administration. "It's like being punished from both sides. You don't get help from the FA, from anywhere. You're getting punished week in week out [on the pitch]. Whereas if you go into admin, you'd start again in a lower division but start from day one. I thought long and hard about it. I didn't want to start up as an FC Droylsden – starting a new football club means losing its history.

"I kept on as manager this year because it would have been terrible for someone to take over – I knew the situation we were in, I can't afford to pay the bills and pay for a team that can compete at this level. That's the story behind why we're getting beat each week. I've signed over 100 players this year, anyone who shows any potential has gone to other clubs. This year has just been a nightmare, I've just got to get on with it."

At Hyde, finances are not the problem, but form is as dire. There has been one win in 39 league outings for Scott McNiven's team and a goal difference of minus 68, after home defeat to Dartford on Saturday. Located to the east of Stockport, Hyde were saved from bankruptcy due to investment from Manchester City three years ago. In the 2010-11 season, Hyde wore their colours as part of a sponsorship deal, though the team again plays in red, with its 4,000-capacity Ewan Fields ground also used by City's elite development and academy squads.

Pete Ainger, the chief executive, said: "The relationship with Manchester City is very good. The contract is that they pay rent for the ground. We're not bankrolled by them, even though we'd like players from them - that hasn't materialised. This myth perpetuated that when we won the Conference North championship [in 2011-12] we were bankrolled by City: I can categorically say that's not true.

"We've found going into this league is that there is a bit of a tiered system with the monies. When you're playing the likes of Luton Town – when we went down there this season there was a 7,000 gate. We're lucky if we get 700. We're one of the few teams that train part-time," he said.

"At the start of the season we thought we had a pretty good squad, I didn't hear any complaints from fans. Like a lot of things in football it didn't quite work out. Results haven't been there even though the form has. That's been one of the bizarre things."

Jamie Jackson

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Ancelotti looks to winning el clásico

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 02:59 PM PDT

The Madrid manager has found the balance he needs as his side attempt to assert their dominance over Barcelona

Eventually even Carlo Ancelotti tired of repeating the word balance. Equilibrio, equilibrio, equilibrio, he said over and over again until it had become almost a running joke; until January arrived and he announced that it was time to talk about something else. Winning things, for a start. Phase one had been completed and Real Madrid's manager admitted that people were bored of balance. "We've built the house; now we have to decorate it," Ancelotti said. "It's time to talk about titles."

Real Madrid are in the final of the Copa del Rey against Barcelona next month, the Champions League quarter-final draw has been favourable and on Sunday night they face Barcelona in the league in a game that most see as an opportunity not an obligation. Madrid lead the Catalans by four points and Atlético Madrid by three; victory would effectively end Barça's chances of catching them, and victory appears the most probable outcome. It's over 30 matches since Madrid lost.

Recently they have rarely looked like they will lose either. "It is a simple philosophy to play attractive, attacking football," the club's English assistant coach Paul Clement told the Guardian at the turn of the year. "We want to be difficult to beat but when you attack so creatively and openly you're going to concede. We want to attack by building from the back and defending from the front. At first, we weren't getting that but now we're defending more collectively and it shows." The balance that Ancelotti talked of has been found.

In 2013 under Ancelotti, Madrid conceded 25 goals in 26 games. So far in 2014 they have let in just seven in 17. Madrid have more possession and control than at any time in the last three years. Diego López and Iker Casillas have barely had shots to save. Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric have been Spain's outstanding midfielders. At the other end, Karim Benzema has become the perfect facilitator to Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, while also enjoying his best goalscoring season. Ronaldo's performances have been so good as to be almost ridiculous; Bale has 17 assists and 15 goals.

"We're very hopeful because we've improved a lot. The atmosphere is good, very healthy," Ancelotti said after Madrid defeated Málaga last weekend. They have pulled back 10 points on Barcelona since the last clásico. Madrid were defeated 2-1 that night, the last time they lost. Sergio Ramos played in central midfield and El País claimed: "Nobody came out of this worse than Carlo Ancelotti". A columnist in Marca insisted that the Italian should be sacked on the spot.

If that irritated Madrid's coaching staff it was not so much because of the criticism itself – they recognised that the Ramos experiment had not succeeded – but because of the suggestion that they had taken the decision on a whim. In fact, with Alonso injured and Asier Illarramendi yet to settle fully, the decision had been fully thought through.

Balance is the word and it applies to Ancelotti, too. Outwardly, there was no response and no panic. Not then, not ever. The club's president, Florentino Pérez, insists that the pressure at the club is unlike anywhere else but Ancelotti has barely flinched. Presidential pressure at a club where interference through inference is constant has been handled with tact and intelligence; Pérez has not always been Ancelotti's greatest supporter but the Italian has not allowed that to affect him. Isco and Illarramendi are big new signings whose role has been limited. "If I can, I like to go to the cinema on Wednesdays," Ancelotti says, an apparently banal statement that in fact reveals something of him.

Problems have been overcome with a lightness of touch. When Sami Khedira was injured, Ancelotti and his staff discussed the options and altered the system twice until they found the solution. Ángel di María, irritated at his demotion in favour of Bale, had "accommodated" his genitals in front of the fans (his words); Ancelotti, in turn, successfully accommodated him in midfield. Casillas and López have shared the goalkeeper's role and while the press reaction has been relentless, Ancelotti has remained unmoved, even-tempered.

He always is, win or lose. There has been a calm naturalness to the Italian that has defined this season at the Bernabéu. His eyebrow rises but his voice rarely does. He does not lack authority, he just exercises it differently. He admits that he has only been angry with his players after three games: against Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Levante. When he did raise his voice, he did so in Italian. They understood. "I don't like coaches who say you have to do this because I say so. I like to be on the same level. I am a calm coach, like Del Bosque," Ancelotti said, leaving a comic pause, "or Mourinho".

This is the way Ancelotti is. It may also be the way Madrid needed it. The paradox is that the best thing Mourinho bequeathed to Ancelotti may have been scorched earth. The players feel liberated now; the tension and division has subsided. Ancelotti has made them comfortable: the right manager in the right place at the right time. But if they feel liberated, they also feel like the protagonists in this piece and they are determined too. Last season Madrid won nothing and the players have something to prove and people to prove it to.

On Sunday, they face Barcelona with the chance to move seven points ahead of their rivals. It has been an extraordinary run, built on balance. Win this time, though, and the talk will be of titles. Just as Carlo wanted.

Sid Lowe

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Mainz 0-2 Bayern Munich | Bundesliga match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT

Bayern Munich put their Bundesliga title celebrations on hold despite beating gutsy Mainz 2-0, as Borussia Dortmund won 3-0 at Hannover 96 to delay the official crowning.

Bayern, who face Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals next month, struggled at times with Mainz's quick counter-attacks. They broke the deadlock with a Bastian Schweinsteiger header eight minutes from time. Substitute Mario Götze added another in the 87th minute as they notched a league record 18th consecutive win.

Bayern can still break the record for the quickest title triumph on Tuesday at Hertha Berlin with seven games left in the campaign. "That would be wonderful," said Berlin-born defender Jérôme Boateng. "To win the title in my home city would be great. We did the groundwork for that today."

The Mainz goalkeeper, Loris Karius, who had denied the visitors with half a dozen good saves, could do nothing to stop Schweinsteiger nodding in after a cross from Xherdan Shaqiri. Franck Ribéry then rounded the keeper and pulled back for Götze to seal the win in the 87th minute.

Bayern, who stretched their league record unbeaten run to 51 games, lead the title race on 74 points. Fellow Champions League quarter-finalists Dortmund, who eased past Hannover 96 with goals from Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus, are second on 51 points. Schalke 04 kept up their domestic comeback to beat bottom-placed Eintracht Braunschweig 3-1.


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Championship roundup: Brighton's García dismayed after Ipswich defeat

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 02:27 PM PDT

• Uwe Rösler buoyed by Wigan's comeback win over Watford
• Millwall's angry Ian Holloway says time is running out

Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Ipswich Town

Mick McCarthy said Ipswich's next two games will determine their play-off chances after headers from Tommy Smith and Daryl Murphy reduced the gap between eighth-placed Brighton and ninth-placed Ipswich to two points. "This was a huge win … We've still got a chance. We've now got to play Derby and Forest and we'll know more by the end of the week." Brighton went into the game with 17 clean sheets and the best defensive record in the Championship, leaving coach Oscar García dismayed at the manner of defeat. "We're frustrated and disappointed."

Wigan Athletic 2-1 Watford

Uwe Rösler said his Wigan players worked hard for the 2-1 comeback win over Watford that keeps them on track for promotion. "We had the majority of the possession and far more attempts. Even before they scored, we had three chances – two of them one against one. I felt we were very unfortunate to go a goal down, but we had to sort out one of two things defensively." Giuseppe Sannino said he was pleased with how his Watford squad had fought to the end. "When I lose a game I am always disappointed. But I can say my lads gave everything."

Leeds United 2-1 Millwall

Ian Holloway attacked his Millwall side for failing to take advantage of Leeds's ownership crisis. Holloway, who said during a tense press conference that he would rather "rip [a reporter's] head off and kick it down the street than answer absolutely bollocks questions", said defeat had made Tuesday's clash with fellow strugglers Birmingham even more important. "I've never had such a vital game in my life. Time is running out." Brian McDermott said his side's win was a huge boost as Leeds "fights for its life … We needed this – now we just want the uncertainty to go away."

And the rest

Bournemouth defender Steve Cook scored an injury-time winner to beat Barnsley 1-0. ■ Reading won 2-1 at struggling Birmingham via two goals from captain Jobi McAnuff. ■ Leaders Leicester were denied a fifth straight league win by Blackburn as they drew 1-1 at Ewood Park. ■ A fourth-minute strike from Ricardo Fuller gave Blackpool a 1-0 win over Huddersfield – only the home side's second win in 21 games. ■ Burnley strengthened their hold on second place with a 3-0 win at Charlton. ■ Doncaster moved further from the drop zone with a 1-0 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday. ■ And Yeovil let a two goal lead slip, drawing 2-2 with Bolton.


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West Ham 0-2 Manchester United

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:34 PM PDT

Maybe Wayne Rooney will turn out to be Manchester United's Captain Marvel after all. Not many people expected that to be the case last summer, when he seemed certain to join Chelsea, but anything is possible when Rooney is in this form, even goals from 57 yards out. If he ever scores a better goal than his first in United's slick 2-0 win over West Ham United, we may have to stop football altogether, because there would be nothing left to see.

A week that began with faith in David Moyes disappearing at an alarming rate has ended with United looking more like their old selves, the inclusion of Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa allowing them to play with a panache that has rarely been evident this season. This was an excellent team performance, as impressive as anything United have produced under Moyes, but in the absence of Robin van Persie, Rooney was the main man. Wearing the captain's armband seemed to imbue him with superhuman powers at Upton Park and scoring twice moved Rooney to third in United's all-time list of goalscorers.

His first goal, struck after eight minutes, was the story. Rooney was 57 yards out when he struck a bouncing ball goalwards and while West Ham's goalkeeper, Adrián, will not enjoy the replays which, unfortunately for him, will be played for years to come, this was still a moment of pure genius and it was fitting that David Beckham was there to see it. Was this better than Beckham's wonder goal against Wimbledon in 1996? Moyes diplomatically swerved the debate. "Nobody expected Wayne Rooney to do that," West Ham's manager, Sam Allardyce, said.

It was hard to know what to expect from United: would we see the swashbuckling side that stormed past Olympiakos on Wednesday night to reach the last eight of the Champions League or the one that was embarrassed by Liverpool? That defeat forced Moyes to answer some awkward questions and the last thing he needed was to come to Upton Park, a place that Sir Alex Ferguson described as a "war zone" after a bruising draw last season, with Phil Jones as his only centre-back. While West Ham were too tedious to capitalise, Moyes will be grateful to have Rio Ferdinand back against Manchester City on Tuesday.

With Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic missing, Michael Carrick had to drop back from midfield. He is hardly the grisly sort of defender required to deal with Andy Carroll but Moyes was not being generous when he said that Carrick made the job look easy. Moyes's plan for Carrick and Marouane Fellaini to "tag-team" West Ham's striker worked handsomely and Carroll's only moment of threat came after 15 minutes, when he headed straight at David de Gea.

Moyes's side played as if a huge weight had been taken off their shoulders but the way they took the lead after eight minutes of dominance left everyone rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

There appeared to be no danger when Rooney challenged James Tomkins just inside West Ham's half. However Tomkins misjudged the bounce – Allardyce insisted there was a nudge – and Rooney let fly with an astonishing shot that hung in the air for an age, so high it was almost in the clouds. What looked like a hit and hope turned out to be something far more inspired. Soon a panicking Adrián was sprinting back towards goal, then he was running around in a circle, like a dog chasing his own tail, and the ball bounced high into the net. It took a moment to register what had happened. Rooney, who has not always played with this much freedom in recent years, put it down to "instinct". "My only worry was the bounce, whether it was going to take it over the bar," Moyes said.

Beckham nodded approvingly. He would have enjoyed United's performance in the first half. Van Persie's knee injury meant that Mata could work in tandem with the delightfully nimble Kagawa, starting for the first time since 22 January. They were both denied by Adrián, while Carroll cleared Fellaini's early header off the line.

Inevitably, Rooney extended United's lead. He started one of many counter-attacks after 35 minutes and when Mark Noble made a hash of clearing Ashley Young's cross, Rooney's finish was clinical. This was a tantalising glimpse of the future, with Mata pulling the strings in the middle. For the first time since his move from Chelsea in January, he looked like he truly belonged in a Manchester United shirt. West Ham were limited opponents, though, and a third successive defeat leaves them six points above the bottom three.

West Ham were poor,ran out of ideas long before the final whistle and will rue their failure to give United's makeshift defence a more searching examination. But sometimes nothing can be done when a player as good as Rooney is in the mood.

Jacob Steinberg

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West Ham v Manchester United – as it happened | Scott Murray

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:23 PM PDT

Minute-by-minute report: Wayne Rooney scored a wonder goal, and a faintly amusing one too, as Manchester United won away from home again. Scott Murray was watching

Scott Murray

Celtic 3-0 St Mirren | Scottish Premier League match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:14 PM PDT

Confirmation that Celtic are the champions of Scotland again should be days away. Either Wednesday night at Partick Thistle or three days later, when Ross County come here, is expected to provide confirmation of a third title in a row. It is routinely unfortunate that, amid the lack of credible opposition to that position, Celtic's success is almost overlooked.

On occasions such as this, when glances are inevitably fixed towards next season and a Champions League qualification campaign, it would be remiss not to praise Celtic for their attitude and approach. With eight matches to play, Neil Lennon's team have beaten their points tally of last season.

Leigh Griffiths, Stefan Johansen and Anthony Stokes scored the goals that saw off St Mirren. By full-time, the visitors were a weary lot with the excellent Stokes particularly influential in that.

Celtic's championship chase has long since turned into a procession but they do not always have things their own way. It would also be overly simplistic to claim the lack of competition always renders entertainment impossible.

The first half supplied case in point. St Mirren were confident and well-organised. It may seem a harsh reality that only a lack of quality in the final third prevented them from converting pressure into at least one goal.

On the balance of play, the visitors could legitimately feel hard done by to be behind at the interval, albeit Celtic had also been afforded the best chances of those opening 45 minutes. It was at least engaging fare; a matter perhaps assisted by the atmosphere created as the oft-vilified, routinely controversial Green Brigade took their place in the stands.

Paul McGowan could have sent the Paisley side ahead after six minutes. Instead, the former Celtic youth team player became the latest opponent to discover Fraser Forster's talents from one-on-one situations. Forster dived to save McGowan's low shot.

St Mirren continued to press but were almost undone by indecision in defence, 10 minutes before the break. Liam Henderson should have marked a first home start for Celtic with a goal but his shot was blocked when it looked easier to score.

The same applied to Griffiths, who sprung the offside trap to meet a Kris Commons pass. Griffiths rounded the St Mirren goalkeeper, Marian Kello, but uncharacteristic indecision from the striker followed. Griffiths eventually shot at goal, with Darren McGregor in position to head clear.

It was fitting that the first half's finest move resulted in a goal. Celtic swiftly fed the ball to their right flank, from where Griffiths dropped a pin-point cross on to the head of Johansen. The Norwegian duly celebrated his first Celtic goal.

St Mirren were again clawing their way back into the game when Celtic's lead doubled. From there, the result was inevitable. Again, it was a goal of wonderful simplicity. Stokes was the creator with a pass into the feet of his strike partner, Griffiths. The ex-Wolves man, who has already shown the value of his £700,000 purchase, calmly finished underneath the advancing Kello.

Celtic should and could have scored more. Commons lashed a shot off the inside of Kello's left post with Griffiths unable to capitalise on the rebound. Griffiths was subsequently wasteful when evading the defence, 10 minutes from time. Teemu Pukki, thrown on in place of Commons, had a chance with his first action of the afternoon but failed to show sufficient pace or confidence when it was needed. Another substitute, the lesser spotted Georgios Samaras, laid the ball on a plate for Stokes to notch number three.

Ewan Murray

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Scottish roundup: Ryan Jack seals Aberdeen's comeback against Killie

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:10 PM PDT

• Billy McKay ends Inverness's five game goal drought
• St Johnstone seal top-six place with win over Hibs

Aberdeen fought back from behind to defeat Kilmarnock 2-1 and end a successful week for the Dons. Kris Boyd's 11th-minute goal put visiting Kilmarnock in the lead but goals in either half from Adam Rooney and Ryan Jack saw Aberdeen turn around the deficit for a 2-1 victory. The win followed on from Aberdeen's League Cup final win over Inverness last Sunday, Dons boss Derek McInnes won the Manager of the Month award, and Rooney claiming the player's award for their efforts in February.

Inverness ended their goal drought and claimed a first home league victory for John Hughes in the process as they beat Partick Thistle 1-0. Caley had gone five games without scoring before Billy McKay's 21st goal of the season gave the hosts their first league triumph on their own ground since beating St Johnstone1-0 at the end of November, just before Hughes became manager. Partick were left to rue missed first-half chances with the Caley keeper Dean Brill saving well from the on-loan Sheffield United striker Lyle Taylor on three occasions. Caley made the breakthrough in the 62nd minute when Draper's header across goal to the back post found Mckay and he made up for an earlier missed chance with a simple finish.

Motherwell recorded their third win of the season over Ross County to maintain joint second spot. Goals from James McFadden and John Sutton early in the second half should have seen the Fir Park side on their way to a comfortable win but a Yann Songo'o strike eight minutes from time had the home side hanging on nervously for their second home win of the week over Highland opposition.

St Johnstone beat Hibernian 2-0 at McDiarmid Park and sealed the club's top-six place – and provided their ill manager Tommy Wright with a welcome boost. Wright was taken into hospital on Tuesday suffering from stomach pains and, after undergoing an operation on his gallbladder two days later, was advised to stay away from the match against Hibs. A first-half Steven MacLean effort and a second-half Ryan McGivern own goal earned Saints the win and ended the top-six ambitions of the visitors.

Nial Briggs

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Wenger accepts the blame for 'nightmare' defeat to Chelsea

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:08 PM PDT

• 'When you don't turn up – nobody takes that easily'
• José Mourinho hails '10 amazing minutes' at start

Arsène Wenger admitted his 1,000th game as Arsenal manager had turned into "a nightmare" after a remarkable 6-0 trouncing at Stamford Bridge that will be remembered for José Mourinho's biggest ever win for Chelsea and the extraordinary moment when the referee, Andre Marriner, sent off Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity involving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Arsenal have never lost by a heavier score to Chelsea and Wenger was so aggrieved he did not appear at the post-match press conference. "I don't believe it is the time to talk too much about [what went wrong]," he explained. "It was a nightmare and I take full responsibility for it. The players are deeply disappointed, as we all are. When you don't turn up in a game of this stature – nobody takes that easily."

Chelsea rushed into a two-goal lead inside the first seven minutes, through Samuel Eto'o and André Schürrle, and went further ahead before half-time via Eden Hazard's penalty and Oscar. Two more goals in the second half, from Oscar and the substitute Mohamed Salah, left Arsenal's aggregate score in their away games at Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool this season as 17-4.

"It was 10 amazing minutes," Mourinho said of Chelsea's start. "In 10 minutes you can win a game. In 10 minutes you can show anybody you won't give any chance to any opponent. I am so happy with the approach. We came to kill and, in 10 minutes, we destroy. After that, easy."

The Chelsea manager added: "My analysis is all about those first 10 minutes. To play against 10 men is easier, obviously, because you are more comfortable and relaxed but the way we started there was no doubt. After 10 minutes, this game is over."

The game's controversy arrived after a quarter of an hour when Oxlade-Chamberlain's handball gave Hazard the chance to make it 3-0 from the penalty spot. Marriner was alerted to it by one of his linesmen and showed the red card to Gibbs despite Oxlade-Chamberlain owning up to the offence.

"The referee made a mistake because he missed the identity of the player," Wenger said. "He has not seen what happened at all. He gave a corner. I don't know who told him that it was a penalty. Maybe it was a penalty. But it was not Gibbs."

Marriner admitted later it was a mistake via a statement from the Premier League referees' body: "Andre is an experienced referee and is obviously disappointed that an error of mistaken identity was made in this case. Incidents of mistaken identity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors.

''Whilst this was a difficult decision Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player. He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue.''

Arsenal have grounds to appeal and Mourinho said it was time for fourth officials to be given access to television monitors. "The sending-off is big ammunition for people like me who think that one little screen in front of the fourth official is a big help against this kind of mistake.

"The important thing is the penalty was a penalty and there was a red card, even if they didn't know who. After that, it would be nice for the referee to have technology and for the players, too. It was Chamberlain, not Gibbs. It is the kind of mistake no referee wants to make."

Wenger had to face chants of "specialist in failure" from Chelsea's crowd as his team were left seven points off the top, albeit with a game in hand. "It leaves us in a very bad situation," he said. "But we want to respond.

"We had two difficult away games at Tottenham and Chelsea. If we had played two draws we would have two points. Having won one, we have three points. But today is a huge disappointment, of course.

"What is important is to give a response [against Swansea] on Tuesday night and that is it. We have to win the next game. That is what we have to focus on now and give a strong response."

Daniel Taylor

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FA's films urge players and fans to report discrimination

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 12:00 PM PDT

• Campaign tackles 'under-reporting of discrimination'
• 39% of players polled had witnessed homophobic abuse

The FA has launched a series of animated films as part of a campaign aimed at ending "the under-reporting of discrimination" by players and fans at all levels.

The "Hear it; See it; Report it" campaign follows the release of survey results showing more than half of all professional footballers in England have either witnessed or been subjected to racist abuse in stadiums.

The poll of 200 players in the Premier League and Football League, of whom one third were from black and ethnic minority backgrounds, also revealed 39 per cent of players have witnessed homophobic abuse – yet not all were aware of the best ways to report it.

"It is a huge problem," said Paul Mortimer of the Kick It Out campaign, which commissioned the survey. "We have a reporting app which players can report social media abuse on and we also want to educate people how to handle abuse, such as not responding in person."

The new videos, featuring artwork by the Observer's Paul Trevillion and fronted by the former England players Graeme Le Saux and Dion Dublin, encourage players, staff and fans to be proactive.

Le Saux said: "When discrimination takes place at any level of the game, we need to ensure that we can take positive action, and the best means of ensuring that is to encourage players and supporters to report it.

"These films will help explain to players and supporters both the importance of reporting discrimination and highlight the many ways in which they can do so."


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Arsenal already all at sea before Andre Marriner refereeing farce | Barney Ronay

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 11:23 AM PDT

Red card shambles should not disguise the fact Chelsea were simply on a different planet to an inept Arsenal side in 6-0 win

First, the farce. On the face of it, Kieran Gibbs's sending-off for a handball committed by his team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after 16 minutes of Chelsea's 6-0 victory at Stamford Bridge looks like a perfect storm of horribly nuanced refereeing ineptitude. Graham Poll had his three yellow cards for Josip Simunic at the 2006 World Cup. Stuart Attwell awarded Reading's "ghost goal" against Watford four years ago. Now Andre Marriner has his own special moment. They don't get much more mangled than this.

First, there was the obvious case of mistaken identity, Marriner incorrectly identifying Gibbs as the player diving to palm away Eden Hazard's shot on the Arsenal goalline. Then, more distantly, comes the issue of whether it was actually a correct incorrect red card in the first place. With Hazard's shot drifting wide, technically no immediate goalscoring opportunity was denied, although there is a sympathy tick for Marriner who based a marginal call on the clear intention of the imagined Gibbs/Oxlade-Chamberlain hybrid to prevent a goalscoring opportunity. Then, of course, there is the fact Marriner mistook one mixed-race player for another. Not two players who were both blocking the ball, or even two players who look particularly alike beyond similarities in skin tone and hairstyle. There is a horrible piece of timing here: all week the FA has been publicising its new anti-racism drive with the tweet "Have you been a victim of discrimination in football? If you have, #ReportIt".

The referee's report here will certainly make for interesting reading, although it would surely be wrong to draw a racial implication out of Marriner's howler. Mistakes are made. This was one.

Most worrying is the referee's refusal in the aftermath to accept Oxlade‑Chamberlain's word as he calmly pointed out the mistake. What kind of human being in such circumstances concludes the player is lying to him – in front of the television cameras – in order to protect his team-mate? There is plenty of evidence already of the increasing disjoint between players and referees, and also of a certain arrogance among the current generation of rather puffed-up and self-regarding professional referees. Marriner's response, not his initial mistake, is the bigger issue.

So, to the game itself. In the event, the real imposters at Stamford Bridge were Arsenal's players, numbers one through to 11, a team passing themselves off for the last time this season as genuine title contenders. By the time Gibbs left the field they were already being mercilessly torn to red and white shreds on a lovely, clear, breezy west London afternoon. Chelsea's attacking engine room, the inside‑forwards Andre Schürrle, Hazard and Oscar, outran, outpassed and thoroughly outplayed their counterparts in an Arsenal formation that mirrored the home team on paper, but which in practice seemed to be playing a half‑speed version of the same game.

In the pre-match commemoration of Arsène Wenger's 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal, the only real dissenting voice came from José Mourinho. For all the enduring spikiness, they are alike in many ways, both innovators in English football in their own time. If Wenger will always be cast as a modernist, the thin white duke stalking the land with a sprig of broccoli in his fist, Mourinho is more of a post-modernist, arriving in a Premier League that had already been dragged up to speed and bringing with him an entirely different set of meta‑management skills, master of the game within the game, an entirely adaptable, rather playful kind of Machiavel where Wenger remains a one-track conviction politician.

For all their differences, Wenger and Mourinho sent out teams with an almost identical shape here, but with wildly differing results. It was in the inside forwards that the differences of approach were most plain, Schürrle, Hazard and Oscar scoring four times in 59 minutes and playing at a thrilling tempo throughout. Mourinho has always liked his attacking midfielders to play at peak revs from start to finish and here Hazard and Schürrle were superbly energetic in an opening passage where, as Mourinho pointed out, Chelsea "killed" the game.

With four minutes gone, Schürrle carried the ball forward and played a perfectly weighted pass to Samuel Eto'o, who stepped inside Oxlade-Chamberlain like a man very politely sidestepping a stray toddler and curled the ball into the corner. Two minutes later Schürrle stepped inside from the right himself after Nemanja Matic had stolen the ball, unbalanced Laurent Koscielny with a slight shuffle, and shot low into the same corner.

Schürrle had more shots than any other player in the Bundesliga last season and at his best he looks a superbly mobile, long-striding athlete, and an ideal counterpart to Hazard's more artful contributions. Here Schürrle had a secondary role too, his acceleration and willingness to run behind Arsenal's high defensive line a vital quality in the absence of a genuinely pacy centre-forward. Schürrle has plenty to add to his game – Eto'o's goal was his first assist for Chelsea in 28 games – but it isn't hard to see what Mourinho, connoisseur of the workaholic inverted winger, sees in him. It is this high-speed physicality that marks out Mourinho's work-in progress Chelsea 2.0, with Matic and David Luiz also towering over an underpowered Arsenal midfield. Chelsea have been hiding in plain sight so far this season, with Mourinho claiming throughout a sense of table-topping mistaken identity, but here they really did look the real thing.

Barney Ronay

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Middlesbrough 1-3 Queens Park Rangers | Championship match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT

Middlesbrough pressed the self-destruct button in stoppage time and crashed to a 3-1 home defeat to QPR. Boro had led through George Friend, but Yossi Benayoun equalised and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. However, the Boro goalkeeper, Dimi Konstantopoulos completely misjudged a back-pass, leaving Bobby Zamora free to stroll in and score during second-half injury time. And there was still time for Ravel Morrison to wrap it up for Harry Redknapp's side.

QPR went close twice within the opening two minutes as Boro failed to clear a corner and Joey Barton's 25-yard shot was palmed away by Konstantopoulos. Tom Carroll got to the rebound but the Greek keeper blocked his close-range follow-up with his feet.

The home team then took control. Friend and Jacob Butterfield both had shots turned over by Rob Green, and Kei Kamara bundled an effort behind the goal from a free-kick.

Boro, though, scored the opener they deserved on 18 minutes as the left-back Friend wriggled into the penalty area from his flank and, although he stumbled and lost the ball, it was generously deflected back into his path and he stabbed a low, eight-yard shot that squirmed through the hands of Green and over the line.

Rangers hit back with an equaliser in first-half stoppage time. Boro's defence was pulled out of shape and Niko Kranjcar nipped it to drill in a shot that was deflected kindly for Benayoun to rifle in from close range.

Rangers were brighter after the break and had the bulk of the play, but struggled to fashion anything of quality. Boro went close on 63 minutes when Albert Adomah neatly brought down a ball on the edge of the penalty area then skipped past his marker to fire in a low shot that was straight at Green.

Rangers responded, with Junior Hoilett streaking forward and slamming a low, 25-yard shot straight at Konstantopoulos, and the game seemed to be heading for a draw, when Boro completely lost their concentration in stoppage time.

Four minutes into added time, a routine ball was played back towards Konstantopoulos. The keeper came out and took a swing at an attempted clearance and missed completely, leaving Zamora free to stroll through and tap home. Two minutes later, Morrison ran behind the defence to collect a cross and finish emphatically from 15 yards.


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Newcastle United 1-0 Crystal Palace | Premier League match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:25 AM PDT

So much for the notion that Hatem Ben Arfa is an eminently dispensable luxury; not to mention more trouble than he is worth. After this, the case for Alan Pardew to risk ruffling a few dressing room feathers and reconstruct his side around the France international's extraordinary talent is compelling.

Newcastle United looked destined for a goalless draw – or worse – against impressively bloody-minded visitors until Ben Arfa stepped off the bench to game-changing effect. Having placed Tony Pulis's team firmly on the back foot, his cut inside and wonderfully curving, beautifully weighted cross created Papiss Cissé's last-gasp headed winner to exacerbate Palace's relegation worries.

"Disappointing," was Pulis's summation. "We were very good for an hour." Adamant his side deserved a late penalty for handball against Mike Williamson and should have been awarded a free-kick just before the winning goal, Palace's manager was most annoyed that, by permitting 40 seconds "overtime", the referee allowed Cissé to steal three points.

Mike Ashley, watching his first match here since September, would doubtless disagree. If the afternoon ended with smiles from Newcastle's owner, it might not have taken Ashley too much of the first half to remember why he had stayed away for so long.

Arranged in a narrow formation lacking the width usually afforded by their indisposed full-backs Mathieu Debuchy and Davide Santon, Newcastle laboured. It was all too easy to see how a side low on imagination and improvisation, and badly missing their best, but currently injured, striker Loïc Rémy, have struggled painfully to score goals of late.

Watching via a television screen at the training ground while he serves his stadium ban for butting Hull's David Meyler, Pardew presumably found the first half tricky viewing. The moment when the pacey Cameron Jerome headed narrowly wide after connecting with Jason Puncheon's cross must have been particularly alarming.

Although Palace frequently frustrated Newcastle by sitting deep, they still proved appreciably less risk averse than a week ago when, in drawing 0-0 at Sunderland, they virtually sent Wearside to sleep. Sporadically morphing from a starting 4-4‑1-1 formation into effectively an attacking 4-3-3 guise, an element of adventure was creeping into their game.

At one point it nearly cost them a counterattacking goal, but Julián Speroni performed wonders to save Cissé's first-time shot at the end of an exhilarating break initiated by Moussa Sissoko. Even so, Newcastle were still not creating enough and the specially installed hotline between Pardew and John Carver, his assistant and technical area deputy here, was presumably busy at half-time.

Not long after the break, and shortly after watching Yannick Bolasie dodge Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa before brushing the crossbar with a shot, Carver introduced Ben Arfa at Luuk De Jong's expense.

Ben Arfa's economy of effort in defensive situations may infuriate Pardew and certain team-mates, but, given the ball, the Frenchman scares opponents, and his introduction resulted in a flurry of frantic instructions from Pulis.

He was right to be worried as, from then on, all Newcastle's best moments involved Ben Arfa, one of whose fabulous crosses led to Cissé heading inches over the bar.

When Cheik Tioté's volley rebounded off the bar and Cissé missed the follow-up from close range, a draw looked inevitable, but the substitute's work was not quite done. The time had come for him to remind everyone that workrate is all very well, but invention, incision and bravery tend to win games. As well as helping Cissé to learn to score again.

Louise Taylor

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Hull City 2-0 West Bromwich Albion | Premier League match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:25 AM PDT

Steve Bruce paid tribute to the influence of Shane Long on his side's Premier League survival fight as the striker haunted his former club at the KC Stadium. Long won the penalty that led to the opener for Liam Rosenior then fired home the second himself to secure a 2-0 win over struggling West Brom.

The Ireland international had surprisingly been allowed to leave The Hawthorns in January when the Hull manager, Bruce, also brought in the former Everton striker Nikica Jelavic from Everton. Bruce said: "The two strikers came in at just the right time and have given the whole club a boost.

"We didn't play well today by any stretch of the imagination but if you have got that bit of quality at the top end of the pitch they can create something and they will always be a handful with the attitude they've got."

Long was barracked by the visiting Baggies fans for his part in the penalty incident, falling under the challenge of Craig Dawson in the box after what television replays suggested had been minimal contact.

Jelavic's penalty was saved by the Baggies keeper Ben Foster but Rosenior was on hand to head home the rebound and score his first senior goal since October 2009.

Bruce added: "Shane is never going to dive, but when you move as quickly as he does, you are going to go over with the slightest little tap. It might be a soft penalty but Chris Foy is close and maybe he's seen and heard some contact."

The result leaves Pepe Mel's side three points and two places above the drop zone. and fighting to restore the feelgood factor generated by last week's win at Swansea. Mel said: "I think it was a bad decision by the referee, and in the second half there was the same situation in the other box and the referee missed it.

"Shane Long is a good professional and he is a striker for Hull City. For us it is about playing with attention and hard work and it is the same for us whether it is against Shane Long or any other players. Shane only wants the best for his team and I think it is normal.

"I always believe we are capable of winning a game but today it was not possible. But Fulham lost, Palace lost, Cardiff lost and Sunderland lost. There are now four teams beneath us and the next game is a big one for us."

While Mel faces a major challenge rousing his players for what promises to be a tight relegation run-in, Bruce is now convinced his side is within touching distance of safety with one more win likely to preserve top-flight status for at least another year.

Bruce said: "I've said all along I think 10 wins is going to be enough and now we have to do whatever it takes to see it through. We have still got a little bit to do and we certainly won't be taking anything for granted."


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Cardiff City 3-6 Liverpool

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:16 AM PDT

Premier League: Luis Suárez, with a hat-trick and help from Martin Skrtel and Daniel Sturridge, kept up Liverpool's title push

Premier League football clockwatch – as it happened | Simon Burnton

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:16 AM PDT

Minute-by-minute report: Liverpool scored six and Manchester City five on a goal-strewn afternoon in the Premier League and beyond









Manchester City 5-0 Fulham

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:16 AM PDT

No slip-up, no contest and almost no sweat. Manchester City prepared for Tuesday's trip to Old Trafford with an exercise in ruthless efficiency as Yaya Touré led a rout of Fulham with his first hat-trick in English football. Felix Magath was left incensed at a lack of fight from the Premier League's bottom club. On this form, his men look condemned. Manuel Pellegrini's team look in control.

City's biggest league win since November resembled a training session for the final half hour as they prised apart Fulham without performing close to their fluent, commanding best. Their manager withdrew the outstanding Touré, who now has 20 goals for the season, David Silva and Samir Nasri in the closing stages in readiness for the Manchester derby, the first of two testing away games next week that can shape City's attempt to overhaul Chelsea at the summit, such was their comfort level.

Fernandinho and Martín Demichelis completed the scoring against a Fulham team reduced to 10 men when the hapless Fernando Amorebieta was sent off early in the second half. The range of goals was a perfectly timed illustration of City's power with their leading strikers injured, ill or, in the case of Álvaro Negredo, struggling to finish from three yards.

"At this part of the season it is important to have the balance between scoring and not conceding easy goals. Fulham is a team that defends well but we played well, we were a balanced team and we had patience. Winning is always good preparation for the next game and to win 5-0 is important, but we must forget about this now and move on because a derby is always a special match," said Pellegrini.

Negredo missed a great chance to make it six and impress in the absence of the hamstrung Sergio Agüero and under-the-weather Edin Dzeko, but played a pivotal part in turning the game by winning a soft penalty following a slight touch from Amorebieta.

Magath's team had been comfortable until the 25th minute incident, with City labouring. Once behind, however, Fulham's belief evaporated.

The Spanish forward showed good determination to beat Amorebieta to James Milner's long ball into the box but looked as though he had been slain by an assassin's bullet when he got there. The referee, Jon Moss, was unmoved but his assistant, Ian Hussin, spotted a slight touch on Negredo's backside from the Fulham defender's boot and signalled for a spot-kick. Once the protests had subsided, Touré sent David Stockdale the wrong way from 12 yards.

There was little fluency to the home side yet they could have been three goals ahead by the interval. Not a bad sign when pursuing the title. Amorebieta's one positive contribution was to clear off the line from Silva after he collected Fernandinho's pass, wriggled free inside the area and clipped over the advancing Stockdale. Aleksandar Kolarov also side-footed against the bar from Silva's lay-off down the left.

After the interval, however, the rain stopped, the sun appeared and City cruised towards victory without breaking into a sprint. There may have been doubt over the first penalty decision but Amorebieta gave Moss no alternative but to point to the spot for a second time and dismiss the already-booked Venezuelan when he sent Silva sprawling. The spot-kick routine did not change; Stockdale went low to his left as Touré converted to the goalkeeper's right.

The midfielder completed his hat-trick in stunning fashion shortly afterwards. Nasri played a free-kick square to Touré and, from 25 yards, he curled an exquisite shot beyond the despairing dive of Stockdale. City's fourth also impressed as Milner found Fernandinho with a clever corner and the Brazilian hit an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. The onslaught was not over for the sorry visitors as Demichelis tapped into an open net after Stockdale parried the substitute Stevan Jovetic's shot into his path.

"Until the first penalty it was not bad," said Magath, the Fulham manager. "In my opinion it was not a penalty and it gifts power to City. It was a bad moment for us but that is no reason to stop playing. The team did not seem to believe we could win after the first goal. The penalty changed the whole atmosphere and the players didn't have the confidence to change the situation."

Andy Hunter

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Cardiff City 3-6 Liverpool

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:16 AM PDT

The Liverpool bandwagon rolls on. "We're gonna win the league" reverberated from the travelling supporters after a sixth successive Premier League victory maintained Liverpool's pursuit of a first title since 1990 and offered further evidence of their staggering firepower and ability to score almost at will.

Trailing 2-1 at one stage, Liverpool responded in emphatic fashion through a hat-trick from the irrepressible Luis Suárez, who took his tally for the season to 28 in 25 appearances, two goals from Martin Skrtel and another for Daniel Sturridge. Cardiff, who remain second bottom, were powerless to stop the inevitable Liverpool onslaught. Brendan Rodgers's side have racked up 24 goals across those last six league fixtures, an incredible return that underlines why they are not just legitimate title contenders but also entitled to stake a claim to be the most enjoyable team to watch in the Premier League at the moment.

Sunderland travel to Anfield on Wednesday night and it would be easy to forgive Gus Poyet and his players for arriving with a sense of trepidation.

It is the first of five home games Liverpool have in their remaining eight fixtures – another reason for supporters to believe this could be their year.

"The immediate future is all I can focus on," Rodgers said. "The fans can believe and dream – and that's important when you're a supporter. And when you come and see your team play away from home and score six goals, then you've got every right to do that."

If there is one nagging doubt about Liverpool's ability to finish top come 11 May, it is the defensive vulnerability that surfaced again here. Cardiff, who have struggled for goals all season – Suárez alone has plundered more than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's entire squad – managed to score three times and on each occasion Liverpool's defending left much to be desired. Conceding three and beating Cardiff, Stoke and Swansea is one thing; doing the same against Manchester City or Chelsea is quite another.

It was put to Rodgers that there are similarities between Liverpool and the Newcastle team that Kevin Keegan managed the first time around, when the modus operandi seemed to be to simply try to outscore opponents no matter what happened at the other end.

"I think we're a totally different team to that – they were a wonderful team," Rodgers said. "It's not how we work. We don't look to just outscore opponents, we work on our balance, we just conceded poor goals [today].

"We're off the back off two clean sheets, which I take as much pride in. We just conceded too much space. But the key thing for me is how we respond, and how we've grown over the last 18 months has been that mental resilience and that confidence to know that we can get back into game, so I'm more pleased with that."

For Solskjaer, the biggest frustration was the manner in which Liverpool went ahead for the first time. When Skrtel headed in Philippe Coutinho's corner to put Liverpool 3-2 in front, Mutch and Kévin Théophile-Catherine were both off the pitch, after being ordered to leave the field following treatment. "I think you should look at that rule," the Cardiff manager said. "How can you defend a corner kick with nine men, and two of your men have not faked anything, they've not dived, they just want to get [back] on the pitch. I said to the fourth official: 'They're going to score here.'"

Solskjaer was at least able to take some encouragement from the way Cardiff played in the first half. Mutch put them ahead in the fourth minute, after Campbell capitalised on Joe Allen's wayward pass, and although Liverpool equalised through Suárez, following a fine move involving Glen Johnson and Jordan Henderson, Cardiff were soon back in front. Daniel Agger was left badly exposed by Mutch's slide-rule pass and Campbell skipped past the Dane before confidently beating Simon Mignolet.

Skrtel then grabbed his first to bring Liverpool level, when he got in front of Juan Cala to volley in Coutinho's cross, and the central defender added his second of the afternoon with a glancing header when Cardiff were down to nine men. Sturridge's delightful backheel set up Suárez for the Uruguayan's second and the roles were reversed for Liverpool's fifth.

Suárez, running on to Johnson's long diagonal pass, got away from Steven Caulker before crossing for Sturridge to tap home.

Mutch's 88th-minute header, from a Kenwyne Jones knockdown, after the Liverpool defence again went missing, gave the scoreline a more respectable look from Cardiff's point of view but Suárez was not finished. Shrugging off Cala, the striker sprinted clear in injury-time and beat David Marshall with nonchalant ease to register his third hat-trick of an extraordinary season. "He's a remarkable player," Rodgers said.

Stuart James

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Norwich City 2-0 Sunderland | Premier League match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:13 AM PDT

Gus Poyet indicated before this game that he is already planning for next season. Presumably, that is with a view to playing in the Championship because, on this evidence, Sunderland have not the slightest chance of avoiding relegation, regardless of how many games they have in hand.

"That was unexpected," said the Uruguayan, with dry understatement, after seeing his side offer minimal resistance as Norwich scored twice in a first half of almost total dominance. The two players he had substituted after 40 minutes were unlucky, he said: it could have been any of eight.

That Norwich's second – a brilliant volley from 30 yards out by Alex Tettey – will probably prove to be the goal of the midfielder's career, was little consolation. "He won't score another like it, I'd put money on it, but I don't think we deserved too much for a performance like that," said Poyet.

Norwich, on the other hand, have given themselves a more than decent chance of survival, despite the frequently mentioned fact that their last four matches are against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. If their next three opponents – Swansea, West Brom and Fulham – play even half as miserably as Sunderland did here, the Canaries will certainly survive.

"We were excellent from start to finish," said their manager, Chris Hughton, who was rewarded for what some supporters would suggest was an uncharacteristically positive selection. "Tettey's goal was one of the best, and you saw from the celebrations how much everybody enjoyed it, because it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. But what pleased me was that we maintained our performance levels in the second half. What with results elsewhere, it's been a good day for us."

There were positives for Norwich's supporters to cling to before this game. Seeing their team concede once in their previous five matches at home was a pretty big one, though they had seen them score just three times.

A nervous, and increasingly scruffy, opening 20 minutes had passed before Norwich took the lead. The goal befitted much of what had gone before, in that it came from a mistake, in this case by Sunderland's centre-half Wes Brown, who turned Martin Olsson's low cross back to Johan Elmander. The Swede looked up and pulled the ball back for Robert Snodgrass, on the edge of the penalty area, who steered a low, left-footed shot beyond Vito Mannone.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel failed to make contact when a touch was all that was required to convert a low cross from the effervescent Wes Hoolahan shortly afterwards, at which point – such was Norwich's territorial dominance – it was no real surprise to see all the Sunderland substitutes sent out to warm up. The Canaries' growing confidence was exemplified by Jonny Howson's attempt to lob Mannone from 45 yards out – and he did not miss the goal by much.

Perhaps his effrontery inspired Tettey in the 32nd minute, when Hoolahan's cross was headed out to him. From 30 yards out, the midfielder swung his right foot and smashed a volley back beyond Mannone and into the far corner. Poyet reacted by making the double substitution, Lee Cattermole and Sebastian Larsson replacing Ki Sung-yeung and Jack Colback.

Van Wolfswinkel, who has scored once in 20 Premier League appearances for Norwich, should have improved that dismal record two minutes after the break, but his close-range header from Snodgrass's cross gave Mannone the chance to save.

Sunderland did improve thereafter, in that Cattermole imparted a certain organisation and midfield bite that had been totally lacking previously, but they never threatened John Ruddy's goal, and Poyet acknowledged defeat by removing Adam Johnson with 20 minutes remaining.

Richard Rae

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Everton 3-2 Swansea City | Premier League match report

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:11 AM PDT

Revenge does not form part of Roberto Martínez's vocabulary. He is too urbane, too polite, too magnanimous. Yet the fact remains that, since he left the Liberty Stadium in 2009, a section of the Swansea fans have branded him "El Judas" and City's 3-2 win in May pushed his Wigan side to the relegation trapdoor. Now, in a role reversal, his Everton team beat his former employers by the same scoreline to ensure they remain imperilled.

Swansea may not play like a team in danger of the drop but, after going eight games without a win, their plight grows worse by the week. In contrast, Everton are now on their best run at Goodison Park since 1986, having recorded an eighth successive home victory.

The common denominator has been Martínez, an expert at turning one point into three. Often his input comes in the form of substitutions. On Saturday, his alchemy came in his half-time team talk. "In the last 20 minutes of the first half we were too open," the Everton manager said. "We changed that mentality and focus." Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas, hitherto ineffective, returned re-energised. Both played pivotal parts in the decisive five-minute spell that yielded two goals.

Everton's second goal amounted to a long-range one-two between the two Belgians. Lukaku laid the ball into Mirallas's path and the winger arced his run around the Swansea defence before crossing for the striker to finish. Destroyer turned decoy for their third as Lukaku missed Mirallas's corner, the ball was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box and Ross Barkley emerged unnoticed to head in what proved the winner.

His marker, it emerged, had been the subject of an unwitting bodycheck by his captain. "He is [José] Cañas's man but he gets blocked off by Ash [Ashley Williams]," Garry Monk, the Swansea manager, said. "If I look at most of the goals that have gone against us in my time, they are mainly individual errors."

His frustration was compounded by the context. "There is always a period when the opposition have pressure and you have to manage it properly and get through it unscathed," he said. "We didn't do it in that five-minute period and it cost us dearly. It gave us too much of a mountain to climb."

They mounted a valiant effort. Wilfried Bony and Pablo Hernández drew fine saves from Tim Howard before Williams headed in the Spaniard's injury-time corner. It made them the first visitors to Goodison to score twice since November and Martínez, typically forgiving past slights, tipped his old club to survive.

"I know for a fact they will get enough points to achieve their aim this season," he insisted. As the instigator of their brand of passing football, his knowledge of City proved useful. "Swansea are one of the best teams in possession in the league and you have to use that to your advantage," he added. So Everton did for the opening goal, catching Swansea on the counterattack, isolating the speedy Barkley against the slower Chico Flores and seeing the Spaniard trip the Englishman. Leighton Baines converted the resulting penalty.

Yet Swansea's leveller had the stamp of Martínez, too, whether with the ability to switch play or in the involvement of an overlapping full-back. Wayne Routledge picked out Àngel Rangel, who had escaped the attentions of a ball-watching Aiden McGeady. The Spaniard centred to give Bony a simple finish.

"I am a bit to blame for how they play," said Martínez. Having taken six points against Swansea this season, he may share a different form of responsibility if Swansea City defy his prediction and slip out of the division.

Richard Jolly

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Manchester City 5-0 Fulham

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:04 AM PDT

Premier League: Yaya Touré scored a hat-trick as City piled more misery on bottom side Fulham

Crimea's football fans shiver at prospect of their team playing in Siberia

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:55 AM PDT

The uncertain future of Crimea's Tavriya Simferopol football club is symbolic of the peninsula itself

The fans of FC Tavriya Simferopol are used to stressful times: their football team is languishing at the bottom of the Ukrainian Premier League, and for most of this season the question has been where their next win might come from. But as the Russian army has rolled into Crimea in recent weeks and the peninsula has been swallowed up by Russia, they now have an even more pressing concern: which league will the team play in?

The team is halfway through the Ukrainian season, and on Saturday played an away game at Chernomorets Odessa. But with other sides now unable to visit the club for home games and the club's oligarch backer under arrest in Vienna, it is unclear just how tenable it is for the team to finish the season, let alone start next season in the Ukrainian league.

The uncertain fate of Tavriya is symbolic of that of Crimea itself. Across the peninsula in the past few days it has been all change as Ukrainian military bases have been seized, Ukrainian-language signs have been torn down from government buildings and the former Russian consulate has begun the en masse "passportisation" of the region.

The logical outcome would be for a similar process to occur with the football team, but the fans are split over what they want to happen.

Server, a 42-year-old Crimean Tatar whose son plays for one of Tavriya's youth teams, travelled to Odessa to watch the game, and do a little business. He runs a construction company and needs to put the windows into a house he has completed, but since the troubles started deliveries from the rest of Ukraine have halted, so he would have to drive to Odessa and pick up the glass himself.

"I'll go, and stay for the match. I go to every home match and as many away matches as I can, though obviously if we're playing in Russia those away journeys are going to be impossible. I'm not going to Siberia for a football match."

Server did not vote in the referendum and, like most Crimean Tatars, wanted Crimea to remain part of Ukraine: "What was the point of voting if it was all already decided? Of course, I'm worried about what will happen now, about what it will be like with Russia. But I'll still go to every game."

Among the many pro-Russian fans of the team there is great excitement at the prospect of moving to the Russian league, but among the hardcore "ultra" fan groups, who were mainly Ukrainian nationalists, there is dismay.

Oleg, 23, was born in Simferopol and has not missed a Tavriya game for six years. But two weeks ago he left Simferopol for Kiev and he is not sure he will ever return. "Most ultras are nationalists. We are Ukrainian and we are for a united Ukraine," he said. When the Maidan protest movement started in Kiev, ultras from Tavriya attended a meeting with hardcore fans from other Ukrainian clubs and agreed there should be a truce. "It was obvious that fighting the authorities was more important than fighting each other," he said by telephone from Kiev.

The club declined requests for interviews or information, but three foreign players from the club said that there was a tense atmosphere inside the training ground. One said: "Nobody knows which league we will play in or when we will be able to play home games again."

There is also worry about salaries, with the arrest of Dmytro Firtash, the club's billionaire backer, who was detained in Vienna this month and released after posting a £125m bail. Tavriya is not the only Ukrainian club to suffer: Metalist Kharkiv is owned by Sergey Kurchenko, a shady 28-year-old banker believed to be one of former president Viktor Yanukovych's money men. He is now on a wanted list and on the run. Other clubs with oligarch backers face similar problems.

But Tavriya's situation is unique. The Crimean authorities have announced that all financing from Ukraine for the club will be stopped. The plane that the team used to get to games has been grounded, which meant that for the match against Dynamo Kiev last weekend they had to take a 13-hour train trip, and travelled to Odessa on a long, bumpy bus ride.

"It's going to kill us," said one of the foreign players. "It's a good club, but it's in a difficult situation. If offers come in for me, of course I will leave."

"I understand the foreign players of course," said Vitaly Grenyov, a 43-year-old fan who runs a Tavriya supporters club. "They came to a foreign country and suddenly there are armoured personnel carriers on the street. But I think there will be good times ahead for the club. The whole world is going to look at what Putin does with Crimea."

Indeed the hope, even among those fans who did not support the Russian annexation, is that Tavriya could become a kind of showcase project. "I remember from reading in school about tsars and shahs that they always have to provide the people with two things: bread and circuses," said Server.

Shaun Walker

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Spurs boosted before 'tough' visit of Southampton

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:18 AM PDT

• Manager Tim Sherwood hopes side can build on Benfica draw
• Emmanuel Adebayor to return after missing trip to Portugal

Tim Sherwood is hoping Tottenham can build on their promising midweek display in their "tough" return to league action against Southampton.

Despite being 3-1 down from the first leg against Benfica – and without 11 first-team players – Spurs avoided a fourth successive defeat on Thursday, in their Europa League last-16 tie. The 2-2 draw meant they fell just short of progressing, but they returned to north London with renewed optimism ahead of today's meeting with Southampton.

"The expectancy is very high at the club, and with every right; a lot of money has been spent by Tottenham," said the manager, whose future continues to be scrutinised. "It counts for nothing, it's all about doing the job on the pitch and they [Southampton] have got a lot of internationals. They've built a good squad, and a good way of playing. They've got a lot of England internationals who are going to be representing our country in the World Cup. It's going to be a tough game."

Mauricio Pochettino's side have earned many plaudits for their performances and focus on home-grown talent, with academy graduates Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana strong contenders to make England's World Cup squad. "It's a good model," Sherwood said. "It's a completely different model to Tottenham, as much as we want to bring our boys through.

"Our boys have to be at a level of playing Premier League to Champions League. Southampton have had the benefit of their players being developed from League One to the Championship to now. So it's good.

"It's a good model. Now is a test for them. How many can they deliver into the Premier League straight away?"

It is an interesting question but one that could also be levelled at Tottenham and their summer acquisitions, with their £100m-plus summer spend yet to bear fruit.

Roberto Soldado, bought at a cost of £26m from Valencia, is one of those players and was ineffective in the 2-2 draw at Benfica, with Harry Kane, his replacement after 71 minutes, a much bigger threat.

"He's a good trainer, he's a real good lad, he wants to do well," Sherwood said of the Spaniard. "We all want him to do well.

"The fans wish him well. He's not on the pitch and they sing his name. You almost become a better player when you're not playing.

"I know that from not playing. When you're not playing and the team don't win, the ones who are sitting on the sidelines become better."

There is an argument for Kane, instead of Soldado, to start against Southampton on Sunday, when Emmanuel Adebayor is likely to return having missed the trip to Portugal.

Mousa Dembélé is available after missing the past four matches with a hamstring injury, and Younès Kaboul returns to a Spurs defence also boosted by the availability of Jan Vertonghen, who was suspended against Benfica.

Hugo Lloris is another back in the frame for Sunday's match, although Vlad Chiriches, Michael Dawson, Etienne Capoue and Erik Lamela are still unavailable.


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