Ronald Ainsbury, spokesperson and director of communications for Bringronaldohomeorg, replied to our email about their campaign to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United.

Mr. Ainsbury admitted that there is some confusion (read more on the online campaign and the finer details suggesting a scam) related to how they will pay for Ronaldo‘s fee. In a nutshell, he claims that all the money raised through the website will be transferred to Manchester United. Nike will supply the t-shirts to those who pledged their support to the Bring Ronaldo Home campaign.

If the campaign doesn’t succeed, they will refund the amount in full. It means that they went back on their earlier statement that £3 will be deducted towards administrative costs. Previously, Mr. Ainsbury told us that administrative costs include the PayPal charge for reversals and there are auditing costs to be also covered. PayPal doesn’t charge for refunds if they are returned within 30 days.

Bringronaldohome.org claim that they will be sponsoring two charities – WWF and Save the Child – by using the money raised through advertisements on its webpages. But they plan to cover their costs and only then make a contribution to the charities.

Here is an original copy of the email:

People are quite correct to say there has been some confusion!

To be honest, given the time frame within which the campaign has been put together I think this is only to be expected. Of course when we look back we will say “we shoulda, we shouldnta” – but 20-20 hindsight is wonderful. If only we had 20-20 foresight.

The thought came to a Manchester United fan just two months ago.

• Ronaldo was being quoted as saying he wants to return
• Sir Alex was quoted as saying he wants him back
• There appeared to be much fan support saying he should come back
• And then he read about crowd funding and came up with the idea – how do we motivate fans to unite to go to the club to bring him back?

Then gathered together like-minded supporters and so the campaign began.

There is only a short window of opportunity – the transfer window.

We were rather taken aback, as most reporters were, by Sir Alex’ announcement – but the recent changes at MU do not deflect the original intention – that Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford would be a huge boost for the club.

Now – do we go to the Club Management first and seek their endorsement? No! Then we aren’t a fan-based movement at all. This is about uniting fans.

Yes – this could be seen as just assisting the owners – another way to take money from fans – but a successful outcome will be a united fan base that management will not be able to ignore.

How do we see this playing out?

Imagine the scenario where we have garnered pledges from, say, million and a half fans: we approach United (and probably its kit sponsor) and say – here’s the deal, once you have signed Ronaldo to the Club we will authorise Paypal to transfer all funds to you – and – you need to send a Ronaldo Shirt to all those fans. Yes, all sorts of questions can be raised about the cost structure of the deal – and we have. But we believe that neither the club nor its clothing sponsor would be able to afford to ignore the contribution that would arise from the pledges of so many supporters and the marginal contribution from so many shirts.

If United say no – or fail to clinch the deal – we return the pledges.

But – we will have put together a substantial united United fan base – with a strong voice.

Mechanics of the deal – yes some confusion. The announcements at MU last week kind of forced us to more a bit quicker than we thought and so the pledge instructions have become a bit confused:

1. We will return the difference between the original pledge and £10 to those who already pledges – without any fees, as soon as we can arrange this via PayPal.
2. The shirt will be supplied by MU’s kit sponsor – in the new strip (just announced)
3. We will be explicit about the refund.

It is our intention that all funds raised through the pledge will either go to MU on success or returned to fans on failure to sign Ronaldo. We plan to cover our costs and make a contribution to the charities based on advertising revenue which we plan to sell over the next few weeks.

We realise that fans might be cynical (and reporters) but our intention is clear and our motivations straightforward. At the start of any campaign that breaks the mould one can expect cynics and pessimists.

We’d love to have more support from sportswriters and fans alike – imagine that place: a new supporter base of over 1.5 million fans that can’t be ignored by the Club.

Bringronaldohome.org has launched an online campaign to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Manchester United. At least, that is what they want the United fans to believe.

On May 10th, Bringronaldohome.org was officially launched. A 129 seconds video, emotionally appealing to the fans to bring Ronaldo home, was uploaded onto the site’s YouTube account.

Their logic is simple: 1 out of every 10 people in the world is a United fan; so to meet his €1bn release clause, Bringronaldohome.org has offered to buy him back from Real Madrid using the money raised through selling his replica t-shirts. The going price for a Ronaldo t-shirt on the website is £55 for adults and £50 for kids.

Fans are requested to pledge £10 as deposit, and the transaction will be completed only if he signs for United. If their movement fails, they promise to return the money. But it comes with a catch. Buried somewhere underneath the site’s terms and conditions, there is a rider that an administrative fee applies on every £10 the fans pledge.

 

Due to the nature of the movement and its associated costs, we are unable to give a fixed estimate of the Administrative Fee, however, we currently estimate this fee as follows:

• In the event the movement is Successful, 5% of the Total Price; or
• In the event that the movement is not Successful, £3.00 on the £10 pledge.

 

At the time of writing, 3691 have already pledged £10 towards their movement. If the movement fails, Bringronaldohome.org would pocket £11,073. If the reported 659 million United fans from worldwide contribute £10 each and Real Madrid refuses to sell Ronaldo, Bringronaldohome.org will be left with £1.9 billion.

This crowd funded project is backed by Equius Limited. But there is limited information available about the company on the site. The Sun website lists it as a company based in Southampton. We cannot verify at this moment whether it is the same Equius Limited.

However, Bringronaldohome’s Twitter and Facebook accounts have been pushing an article that appeared four days ago on an Australian media and marketing website Mumbrela.com.au.

The article states that a pair of media and marketing professionals from Australia are behind Bringronaldohome.org. Ronald Ainsbury and Andrew Dent are apparently the faces behind this project. Ainsbury, according to his website, graduated from Oxford University and was responsible for Diego’s PR.

On May 2nd, he updated his Facebook status as follows:

But the article on Mumbrela paints the picture that he and Andrew own the site. Whereas his Facebook status shows that he is in fact working for a client.

Andrew Dent complicates this case further. According to his Linkedin profile, he runs Tribalchoice, a company that specialises in webdesign and social media marketing. But Bringronaldohome.org was designed by another webdesign company called iglu.

We contacted Ronald on phone and asked him if he is behind this project. He sent a text back confirming that he is working for a supporters group and his client doesn’t have any connections with a t-shirt supplier. He stopped replying when we asked him if this supporters group is recognised by United.

Furthermore, the terms and conditions state that Bringronaldohome.org will conditionally provide the money raised to United. They didn’t list down these conditions. But they listed Deloitte as their auditors and invited United’s auditors PricehousewaterCoopers to audit all their transactions. Also, they are offering an incentive to the top 10 fans who pledge the highest amount of money, i.e more than £10. They will be invited to a watch a United game from the box.

Meanwhile, Ronald has been furiously denying claims that this campaign is a scam designed to cheat United fans.

@provenquality @ronaldohomeorg no scam. We’re true M U supporters. Majority of fans want Ronaldo back. This way Club will hear their voice.

— Ronald Ainsbury (@Ainsbury) May 14, 2013

On contacting via mail, their response to the question of Administrative Fee and association with any group was:

“We are not associated with any group. We are in the process of updating our FAQs to answer further questions but you are very welcome to contact our spokesperson Ron Ainsbury directly if you would like more info. The admin fee mostly covers PayPal fees for pledge reversals and also auditing fees.”

Ronald and Andrew’s experience as media and marketing professionals explains the sophistication involved in producing the promotional video and designing a sleek website. But Bringronaldhome.org’s motives remain hidden from our eyes. Are they here to sell t-shirts or make money through advertisements, as hinted by Ronald on Facebook? And how they plan on sponsoring Ronaldo’s move to United remains unclear. Will they use the profits earned through the t-shirt sales or will they donate the administrative fee to the club? We can only speculate until Bringronaldohome.org lifts its veil and addresses our questions.

Update: Ronald Ainsbury has responded via email to our queries regarding ‘Bring Ronaldo Home campaign’ here.

Lost somewhere in those thick blocks of text about Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, are a few lines dedicated to Wayne Rooney‘s future. Whilst columnists are bending over backwards to piece together a fitting tribute to Sir Alex, Rooney was quickly relegated to second choice, like he has been for most of the season in the United squad.

When the news that Rooney is interested in a move to Bayern Munich was broken, it received little coverage due to Sir Alex’s announcement. Speculation about the next Manchester United manager meant that Rooney was altogether dropped from the news headlines.

Bookies have named the Scottish manager David Moyes as favourite to join Manchester United. But, considering the history between Rooney and Moyes, is it a good choice to name him as Sir Alex’s heir apparent?

“I would have gone almost anywhere just to get away from David Moyes. If no-one had come in, I would have joined Newcastle,” Wayne Rooney ‘wrote’ in his autobiography. Rooney continues: “To me he appeared overbearing; just wanting to control people. I suppose being young and confident and playing for England at 17, I wasn’t bothered about upsetting him or answering back.”

Moyes sued Rooney for libel, and the striker paid £500,000 in damages and apologised before the trial began.

But, surprisingly, last October Moyes heaped praises on Rooney, saying that he had boosted his profile as a manager and, also, was open to the idea of Rooney making a return to Everton someday.  ”I would certainly welcome Wayne back. It’s more likely to be later in his career but I think it is something even he would welcome.”

Rooney must have already been feeling unappreciated after playing second fiddle to Robin van Persie and, sometimes, even Danny Welbeck. Rooney may have cleared the air with Moyes, but would he be willing to work under him?

More importantly, will he use this as an excuse to leave United? If things come down to choosing between Moyes and Rooney, it is difficult to say who will get the nod. Since Sir Alex has a say in the appointment of the next manager, the odds appear to be in his compatriot’s favour.

Whatever may be the outcome, the fans will respect Sir Alex’s judgement.

However, his decision to stay on at United as a director and ambassador may do more harm than good.

In the 1969/70 season, Sir Matt Busby became the club director after appointing former United player, Wilf McGuiness as manager. But he had to be sacked after just one season and Busby made a brief return to management.

Busby named Frank O’Farrell as his replacement in the 1971/72 season. Results soon picked up but George Best openly rebelled against O’Farrell, and continued living his wild lifestyle. O’Farrell was sacked too for poor results. And Tommy Docherty became United’s fourth manager in four seasons. He saved United from relegation when he took over in December 1972 but, eventually, the club went down the next season.

Docherty said, Busby should have left the club instead of staying on as a director. Busby, apparently, still had a big influence on the players.

“If I fell out with a player over something and they felt they were getting no satisfaction, they were going to see Sir Matt. They called him ‘the old boss’. That kind of thing isn’t good for the stability of a club or for discipline. You can only have one boss,” said Docherty.

Is United repeating the same mistakes it made in the past? No matter where he looks, a new manager will see that Sir Alex has left his mark everywhere possible: the bronze statue, the stand at Old Trafford, and the glistening trophy room are a few of his reminders. If this wasn’t enough, a new manager has to deal with Sir Alex, the club director, scrutinizing his every move.

And the question nobody seems to be even bothered asking is what happens to Sir Alex’s backroom staff? Mike Phelan has been with the club since the last 11 years, and he became Sir Alex’s assistant in 2008. And Eric Steele, United’s goalkeeping coach, who worked with Van der Sar and is now working with David de Gea. If Mourinho gets the job, he would definitely bring in his own backroom staff. And if the job goes to Moyes and he has to compromise, would he be comfortable working with Sir Alex’s assistants?

With Sir Alex still at the club, he and his replacement will be like the two mice that fell into a bucket of cream. One will eventually drown and the other will struggle hard to churn that cream into butter and crawl out. The question is, who is it going to be?

Buy the Sir Alex Ferguson tribute T-shirt here -> http://bit.ly/SAF-Tshirt

Andrea Stramaccioni’s physio is working overtime to get his injured players up and running for the remaining six games of the season. Inter Milan lost three matches in a row, and last night’s defeat to AS Roma, in the semi-final of Coppa Italia, is no different than the previous two results. But it’s ironic that Inter’s season was ended by a member of Inter’s Primevera team, Mattia Destro, who left the team a year before Stramaccioni took over the Primevera team. Destro scored two goals in the second half to swing the tie away from Inter.

Last night, Inter had 10 players on the injured list before they took on Roma at home. Their injury list began to bloat after their 2-0 win against Sampdoria. And they recently threw away a two goal lead against Atlanta at the San Siro; a game in which Inter was leading till the 70th minute. Europa League commitments have certainly taken a toll on this squad.

Knocked out of all the cup competitions, Inter now face the prospect of not qualifying for any of the European cup competitions next season. Perhaps, beating Roma and reaching the Coppa Italia final was their last chance to play in the Europa League next season. But that boat has long sailed. Roma will face S.S Lazio in the Coppa Italia final for the first time in the history of both clubs. The third Derby della Capitale of the season will be played at the Stadio Olympico, the stadium which both clubs share.

According to UEFA’s coefficient rankings, the fourth and fifth placed clubs from the Serie A qualify for the Europa League each season. And the third spot goes to the winner of the Coppa Italia. If the winner of the Coppa Italia has already qualified for the Europa League, then the last spot goes to the losing team. At the moment, Lazio and Roma are level on 51 points at fifth and sixth places respectively. Inter are a point behind them, Udinese three points, and Catania four.

Inter could still qualify by finishing above the two clubs from Rome. But, taking the league fixture list into account, out of the three clubs, Lazio has the best chance of finishing fifth despite their slump in form. Inter must play Napoli away from home, Lazio at home, and Udinese, which might be a decider for fifth place, at home for their final league match of the season. Roma has to play against three out of the top four clubs – Napoli, Milan and Fiorentina – in its remaining six fixtures.

Currently operating at a $89 m loss, Inter’s President Massimo Morrati cannot afford to lose out on the revenue generated through Europa League gate receipts and broadcasting rights. Revenues have taken a nosedive since last season. Inter registered a $71 m loss in revenue. In these times of austerity measures, political crisis at the center, and the Euro zone crisis, Inter are barely filling the 80,100 seats at the San Siro. Morrati has already sold a minor stake in the club to investors from China and a plan to build a new stadium is in the pipeline.

The fate of Inter’s future is not in the hands of Morrati, but in the hands of a manager who did not even have a UEFA Pro Licence badge at the time of his appointment. Nonetheless, expect a gladiator style battle for the remaining Europa League spots.

I rate Giroud. But when he’s useless he’s really useless, and they don’t have *anyone* to relieve him.

— Tom Adams (@tomEurosport) April 16, 2013

Oliver Giroud was wasteful in front of the Everton goal. With Phil Jagielka sitting on his right shoulder and Sylvain Distin on his left, goal-scoring chances were always at a premium for Giroud. But he squandered the few best chances he had in the game.

Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud reacts after missing a chance during the match against Everton at The Emirates Stadium in London, on April 16, 2013. (Getty Images)

The Frenchman should have buried Aaron Ramsey’s cross from the right, but he couldn’t direct the ball into the goal. A sitter of a goal that would have given Arsenal the lead at half-time.

In the second half, a similar chance was created by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right, but Seamus Coleman poked the ball away from Giroud.

Giroud created his third chance by moving away from Jagielka and blazing the ball over the bar.

In his 32 league appearances this season, Giroud scored 11 goals. Out of which, only three are against a top half opposition, the rest are against the bottom half of the league. He has started 23 matches and has been used as a substitute, nine times.

With Arsenal playing the 4-2-3-1 formation, Arsene Wenger has no choice but to field Giroud consistently, as the lone striker. Theo Walcott used his contract as leverage to start as a centre-forward but, since signing his extension, he is back playing on the right. Walcott scored four goals in his six starts as a centre-forward, and yet Wenger uses him as a prop instead of giving him the lead role.

The race for Champions League places has reached the final lap. Does Wenger have an ace up his sleeve? Or will he pull out a spade when the situation demands an ace?

Interesting choice of Ross Barkley for such a big game by Everton manager David Moyes. Also started at Spurs – now trusting the youngster.

— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) April 16, 2013

Mikel Arteta and Ross Barkley compete for the ball during the match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on April 16, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

For the first time in this season, David Moyes used the 4-5-1 formation. Abandoning his preferred 4-4-1-1 formation, Moyes moved Marouane Fellaini from the hole to center midfield, alongside Darron Gibson, and used Everton’s academy product Ross Barkley to support Victor Anichebe.

While, Fellaini was breaking up attacks in midfield, Barkley shouldered the attacking responsibilities. Barkley slipped past Mikel Arteta more than once and came inches close to scoring his first senior goal for Everton. Picture this: Barkley receives a pass, flicks the ball with his right foot, turns and runs past Arteta to setup Anichebe to score. If Anichebe had converted the chance it would have been the best move of the game. Expect to see a lot of him in midfield for Everton next season.

Moyes. Yeah he’s good and all… But if he really deserves a crack at a big job, he needs to start winning away at bigger teams.

— Darren Can (@Darren_Can) April 16, 2013

David Moyes has been in charge of Everton for 11 years. His contract runs out at the end of this season. Word has it that he will not commit himself unless he is given assurances by the Chairman Bill Kenwright, regarding the money made available for transfers next season.

David Moyes of Everton points during the match against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on April 16, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

The club has been punching above its weight for quiet sometime now, and it would be shame if Moyes walks out due to lack of transfer funds. Nonetheless, his away record against the top four clubs is very poor. He is yet to win a single game away from home against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Even a struggling Liverpool were able to hold off David Moyes in the last couple of seasons. Moyes hasn’t registered a single win in 11 derbies played at Anfield, since he took over Everton in 2002.

However, he can change that stat if he could win at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool in the upcoming fixtures. After the draw against Arsenal, Moyes said that Everton needs to win all of its remaining fixtures if they want to qualify for Champions League next season. If could manage pull it off, there would no better way to sign off from the Merseyside club.

Gabrielle Marcotti, journalist and broadcaster, has spent the last 24 hours on Twitter, fiercely defending Paolo Di Canio’s political views. On any given Sunday, Di Canio’s appointment as the new manager of Sunderland FC would not have raised such a furore. But David Miliband, a Labour party MP from South Shields stepped down from his position of non-executive vice-chairman at the club because of “the new manager’s past political statements”.

If not for Miliband’s statement about Di Canio, the English press would have probably picked another angle for this story. Perhaps, about his inexperience as a manager, and rounded off the article with a brief mention of his past. Like when he was appointed as the manager at Swindon Town.

Miliband, knowingly or unknowingly, thrust Di Canio into the limelight. There is so much spin on this news that it is turning into a political story. And Miliband was put on a pedestal. What fans need to realise is that they need Di Canio, not Miliband, to save Sunderland from relegation. The role of a non-executive vice-chairman at Sunderland is moot. Clearly, a non-executive vice-chairman does not influence the team as much as a manager does on the pitch.

Miliband is set to resign as an MP too, and move to New York, to take charge as president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee. So he would have stepped down from his position at Sunderland, in the future if not now, regardless of Di Canio’s appointment.

It is fair to raise the question whether Miliband would have left Sunderland if he had not been appointed as president and chief executive of the IRC. Because, the IRC was founded by Albert Einstein to aid those who escaped from the racial persecution by Adolf Hiltler. And, later on, they extended their help to those who suffered similar fate under fascist dictators like Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco.

Paolo Di Canio, on the other hand, is a self-confessed fascist, and had even tattooed Mussolini’s title -  Il Duce - as a tribute to the leader. If all this was not enough, to get his point across, he made a “Roman Salute” in front of the Lazio fans during a Serie A match. Hence, if Miliband stayed on as the non-executive vice-chairman, it would have been a conflict of interest for his role at IRC. No politician would risk bad press, especially Miliband, who is brother of the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons. It is not like he is losing money by quitting from the post. It is a non-executive role, which means he is not on Sunderland’s payroll, because an MP cannot hold an office of profit.

It is not only a matter of conflict of interest, it is a conflict of his party’s principles. Similarly, when Di Canio was at Swindon Town, GSM withdrew its sponsorship citing Di Canio’s past actions. Outside football, GSM donates large sums of money to the Labour party’s fund.

Marcotti, on Twitter, has been patiently trying to clarify that Di Canio is not a Neo-Nazi. According to him, the “Roman salute” was made in a different context. Marcotti may not be the best man to testify Di Canio’s character without being partial; after all, he has ghost written Di Canio’s autobiography. ”I am fascinated by Mussolini,” Di Canio wrote. “I think he was a deeply misunderstood individual. He deceived people. His actions were often vile. But all this was motivated by a higher purpose. He was basically a very principled individual. Yet he turned against his sense of right and wrong. He compromised his ethics.”

Dan Hodges, a Telegraph commentator who has worked at the Labour party and GSM, suggests fans should boycott Sunderland because Di Canio is a fascist. I couldn’t find a similar outburst, in the Telegraph, to boycott Nottingham Forest, when Brian Clough banned Justin Fashanu from training with the rest of the team because he was gay. He was pushed out of the club, and had to endure homophobic comments from Clough during his time at Nottingham. However, the legendary Clough is never remembered as a homophobe. Fans do not weigh his success on the field against his personal views. In all fairness to Clough, that was the 80s, and he has mellowed since then. He said to the Observer in 2003 that his reaction to Fashanu’s revelation about his sexuality was one of his great regrets.

Brian Clough never faced a similar outburst despite his homophobic comments

Di Canio’s controversial autobiography was published 12 years ago, and it has been seven years since he made his infamous Roman salute. Sunderland are now two places above the  relegation zone; with just seven league games left for Sunderland to play this season, they need a man like Di Canio, who had the temerity to tell Fabio Capello to go f*** himself.

NAPLES, ITALY – MARCH 01: The fans of Napoli during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli v Juventus FC at Stadio San Paolo on March 1, 2013 in Naples, Italy.

In a time when Juventus were still sharing their home ground with Torino at the Stadio delle Alipi, a struggling Biaconeri hosted Udinese in front of 23,609 fans in 2009.

Juve won the match after defender Fabio Grosso scored the only goal of the game. Yet, the next day’s headlines weren’t what everyone expected them to be. A few sections of the home fans sung: “If you jump up and down, Balotelli will die.” And the press didn’t need to hear it a second time to run a full page spread about Juventus and racism.

This was two weeks before Juventus played Mario Balotelli‘s Inter Milan.

Three years later, in 2013, Juventus are now playing at a new stadium built on the same site where the Stadium of Alps once stood. The Biaconeri may have demolished their old stadium and built a new one on top, but they are yet to crush the racist chanting among its Ultras.

Juventus were fined 4,000 euros yesterday after the Ultras targeted Balotelli – for the second time in his career –  in a game where he wasn’t even within a 100 miles close to the pitch. ESPN’s Italian correspondent Adam Digby in his article for Juventiknows.com said that Balotelli wasn’t the only player targeted during that game.

In a YouTube clip “filmed as players were introduced to the crowd (against Catania), it contains yet more clearly audible racial slurs including a reference to a banana as Paul Pogba’s name is read out and Kwadwo Asamoah being labelled ‘a piece of s**t.”

The Biaconeri Ultras have a name too; Drughi: famously named after the violent gang from the novel A Clockwork Orange called the droogs.

Over the last three years, they have cost Juventus thousands of euros in fines paid to the Italian Football Association for racist chanting.

In the 2008-09 season, Juventus played one match behind closed doors after the Ultras targeted an 18-year-old Balotelli. Next season, Juventus were fined 25,000 euros after racist chants against Balotelli were heard during a game against Inter Milan. This happened just two weeks after they were slapped with a 20,000 euros fine for a similar offence while playing Udinese. Juventus also closed down “the stand holding their ‘Ultra’ fans for one match.”

Last season, when Juve won the Scudetto without losing a single match in the league, they were fined four times during the season for racist chanting by its Ultras.

A 10,000 euros fine when they played Inter Milan; Another 10,000 euros against Udinese; 20,000 euros against AC Milan; And 30,000 euros against Lazio.

Overall, the club racked up 119,000 Euros in fines since 2009 because the Ultras racially abused – not just Balotelli – but players from other clubs like Sulley Muntari, Urby Emanuelson, Pablo Armero and Gelson Fernandes.

It isn’t just a problem at Juventus. Racism has spread everywhere, every inch, in every stadium and city in Italy. Even AS Roma fans targeted Balotelli in the past. Recently, Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off the pitch in protest against fans of fourth division side Pro Patria for racist chanting. Last month, Balotelli’s former club Inter Milan were fined 50,000 Euros – for the second time this season – after fans made monkey calls and waved inflatable bananas during the Milan derby. The first time, they were fined 15,000 euros for racist chanting against Balotelli during a home game against Chievo. And yesterday, Genoa were fined 30,000 euros for racial abuse against an unnamed Milan player, in a game where Balotelli scored during the weekend.

Kevin-Prince Boateng has been subject to racism on several occasions

It has been 12 years since FIFA started its Fight Against Racism program, urging fans and players alike to embrace racial tolerance. In Italy, racism is an issue that is often drowned under match fixing scandals. It is deeply ingrained into the psychology of those standing on the terraces. Racism will forever remain a dark stain on the fabric of their respective club colours unless they do something quick.

In a time when two Italian clubs are going to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since the 2006/07 season and are slowly reasserting their dominance in Europe, there is a danger of Italian football stepping backwards instead of moving forward and leading by example. It is high time this persecution of Balotelli stops for good. Being black doesn’t make him any less Italian than those whistling from the stands. It is time for the FA to dock league points, especially for serial offenders like Juventus, when slapping fines is clearly not addressing the issue.

Manchester United and Chelsea players walking out for the FA Cup match

It seems like Manchester United has shifted gears and changed tracks, moving full steam ahead, towards the way Barcelona‘s season is headed. The latter was recently defeated by AC Milan and Real Madrid, and United’s season could be derailed in similar fashion.

Both teams opened a huge gap in their respective domestic leagues, but were quickly brought to ground just when their respective seasons were about to soar.

United were knocked out of Europe and Barca out of its domestic cup, by the same side. And now, both teams cling on to the faintest hope that they could progress, in different competitions, to the next stage.

In all fairness to Barcelona, they didn’t have Tito Vilanova to motivate the troops when Barca played Milan and Madrid. Despite the popular belief that the team can manage itself, Barca were in desperate need of Vilanova’s tactical acumen.

United, on the contrary had Sir Alex Ferguson, armed with his hairdryer and threatening to plug it in, if complacency crept in. Against Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final, the hairdryer wasn’t exactly blowing hot air, when United allowed Chelsea to comeback to draw the match from 2-0 down. But Sir Alex was on the defensive: “We’re lucky to be in the cup. We ran out of legs . . our two full-backs, Rafael and Evra, are just knackered.”

Indeed, United just made four changes from the side that played Real Madrid on Tuesday night, while Chelsea made seven changes after their Europa loss to Steaua Bucuresti.

Benitez swapped his two full-backs with Ashley Cole and Cesar Azpilicueta. Moses and Ramires, who were rested in midweek, were used against United. Juan Mata played for 30 minutes on Thursday, and Demba Ba did not travel with the squad because he was cup-tied. In short, Chelsea had more fresh legs on the pitch than United had.

And it showed when Rooney lost the ball inside Chelsea’s box and they quickly countered; finishing off the move with a goal from Ramires.

United sorely needed some pace in their game, but Sir Alex did not use either Anderson or Ashley Young. True, they may not be match-winners, but they must be taken seriously for the pace they bring in to the attack. Instead, Sir Alex decided to bring on van Persie for Javier Hernandez and moved Wayne Rooney to the left.

Rooney was having a quiet game after he scored in the eleventh minute, and moving him out of his preferred position did not help neither United nor him. It felt like Sir Alex was unwilling to stoke the fire after the press reacted negatively for leaving Rooney out of the Madrid tie.

Benitez, on the other hand, seems to have placed the FA Cup above Chelsea’s European ambitions. His tinkering with the squad nearly paid off, if not for David de Gea, who stuck his foot out to clear Mata’s shot from five yards. After the match, Benitez went on the pitch to shake de Gea’s hand, and headed towards the tunnel without acknowledging Sir Alex.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are that of the author and does not necessarily reflect that of Sportskeeda

Last night, against Inter Milan, Bale knocked the ball past Juan Jesus and sprinted down the left like a roadrunner. His trailing leg appeared to have caught the Brazilian defender and he went down inside the box.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Welsh footballer Gareth Bale (R) is given the yellow card for diving by the referee during a UEFA Europa League Round of 16 football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan at White Hart Lane in east London, on March 7, 2013.

It all happened so quickly that it seemed like it was a penalty, at least from one camera angle. Tottenham fans were annoyed when the referee asked Bale to get up, and slowly raised his hand showing a yellow card. Bale was flummoxed and pleaded his innocence, but the referee pointed to a tag on his left sleeve that read Respect. It was his sixth booking for simulation since 31 December 2011.

He opened the scoring for Tottenham in the sixth minute via a glorious header, and 10 minutes later he was in the referee’s book. Bale will now miss the second leg and it would have proven costly for Tottenham had it not been for their three goal cushion. It was completely pointless and unnecessary, especially when he is one booking away from suspension.

Maybe he didn’t even know that he was close to missing the second leg at the San Siro. Even Daily Telegraph writer Henry Winter had to check with Tottenham and UEFA since the booking wasn’t shown on the team graphic before the game. Whatever the case is, Bale just cannot stop diving. It is one of those flaws that every genius is packaged with, and diving happens to be his. Either Villas-Boas should set him straight, or someone like Michael Dawson put an arm around his shoulder and have a little chat with him.

Anyway, diving aside, Inter Milan is sure to make headlines for their lazy display against Tottenham.

The centre-backs looked like they had their feet stuck in quicksand, the midfield wouldn’t step out of its own half and the attack got no service from their teammates.

In the build-up to this game, it was billed as the clash between two young and upcoming managers. After the first half, it was clear that Andres Villas-Boas won the first round over Andrea Stramaccioni.

It is hard to comprehend what game plan Stramaccioni arrived with at White Hart Lane. If one closely examines the highlights reel, Inter had just two clear chances to score and they fluffed both. Ricardo Alvarez saw his shot go wide before the end of first half when a through-ball from Cassano took a deflection and sent Alvarez 1v1 against Brad Friedel. In the second half, a quick free kick taken by Esteban Cambiasso sent Cassano through on goal, but he shot straight at Friedel.

On a night like this, when so much was at stake, it didn’t make sense playing an 18-year-old midfielder Mateo Kovacic in attack alongside Cassano, especially when Inter Milan’s top scorer Ricardo Palacio was on the bench. Shifting away from their preferred 3-5-2 formation to a more dangerous 3-4-3 clearly backfired for Inter.

Also, Inter’s marking was so poor that it cost them the tie. Cambiasso lost sight of Bale when he scored Tottenham’s first goal and was indirectly responsible for their second too. He saw Aaron Lennon moving behind him, and instead of checking his run, he tried to challenge an advancing Mousa Dembele along with Juan Jesus. That created space on the right and Lennon took a good position to whack the ball into the box to create a goal for Gylfi Sigurdsson.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: Gylfi Sigurdsson of Tottenham Hotspur scores his side’s second goal past Samir Handanovic of FC Internazionale Milano during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 First Leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and FC Internazionale Milano at White Hart Lane

Inter Milan weren’t even defending their posts during corners. Defoe was left free to stand in front of the goalkeeper and block him from coming out to punch the ball. Jan Vertonghen was left unmarked in the box, which allowed him to score Tottenham’s third. Their marking was so sloppy that any Tottenham player could have gotten away with tapping a defender on his shoulder from behind and attacking the ball when he looked back.

Three years ago, Inter were 4-0 up against Tottenham at half-time  in the Champions League. The Inter we saw last night was a shadow of a once-glorious side. It is hard to believe that they are just one point off the third place, and will be playing in the Champions League again next season if they finish third in Serie A.

FINAL SCORE: TOTTENHAM 3-0 INTER

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2013/03/08/tottenham-hotspur-inter-milan-3-0-europa-league/feed/ 0 02921 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2013/03/07/rooney-leaving-manchester-united-transfer-psg-city-siralex/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2013/03/07/rooney-leaving-manchester-united-transfer-psg-city-siralex/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 04:11:32 +0000 Leela Prasad http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=1398793

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MARCH 04: Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson look on during a training session at Carrington Training Ground on March 4, 2013 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It was surprising to read how many national dailies quickly wrote off Wayne Rooney as a has-been, after he started from the bench against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

It felt like the same story was traced using carbon paper and published across all the English papers after rearranging the text. Epilogues to his career at Manchester United were written, and they just stopped short of coming across as an obituary.

“The writing is on the wall for Rooney,” they said and it presented a grim picture for a man whom the press sung eulogies, not so long ago.

The story was blown out of proportion and it was linked to the way David Beckham left the club, after he was dropped from the team playing Real Madrid. After a series of heated showdowns between Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson, he moved to Real Madrid. Strangely, they did not link Rooney being dropped to the case of Ruud van Nistelroy, another player who left United for Real Madrid.

van Nistelroy was benched in the final game of the 2005-06 season and he left Old Trafford, three hours before kickoff, in a huff. Rooney has done none of the above to even raise the question of him moving to another club.

Former United striker Carlos Tevez was dropped from the starting XI when Real Madrid paid Manchester City a visit in the group stages of this season’s Champions League. He, like Rooney, played for the full 90 minutes in the previous match, and also scored twice. Yet, he only came on in the second half in the game against Madrid. Where was the “writing on the wall” for Tevez?

It’s a tedious job reading the same rehashed narratives written by the same columnists, moaning about how Rooney never fulfilled his true potential. The expectations can be crushing, especially for a prodigy like Rooney, who took the world by storm in Euro 2004. Sometimes, it feels like the English press is hot-housing its stars like English parents do to their children sitting for their GCSEs. And it was silly to draw comparisons between Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. True, their careers took off from the same point, i.e  at United, but each went off on a different tangent. It may be ridiculous to put them together in the same bracket but he isn’t far off from where Ronaldo is.

The argument is that Rooney isn’t the same player who he was once was; like the teenager who chased down the opposition to win back the ball. Ferguson, it seems, has hammered him on an anvil to fit him into the United mould. Ferguson did not exactly break his spirit but made him a better player. He may not be on the same page as Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, but he enjoys playing for United. He espouses the same ideal, like Ferguson does, that he is here to do service for the club and not the other way down.

As for the English press: they are always on the lookout for heroes. They will drop Wayne Rooney – even before the ink dries – just like they dropped Paul Gascoigne, and move on to the next “big thing” that happened to English football.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MARCH 05: Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson reacts after Nani of Manchester United is sent off during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second leg match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford on March 5, 2013 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

In his 24 years reign as Manchester United manager, Sir Matt Busby twice contemplated retirement from management. The first time was when he was recuperating on a hospital bed shortly after the Munich air crash. The second time was when United lost 2-1 on aggregate to FK Partizan in the semi-final of the European Cup.

“We’ll never win the European Cup now,” said a distraught Busby in 1966 after losing the tie.

Last night, Sir Alex Ferguson was “too distraught to face the media” after his pursuit for a third Champions League trophy ended in defeat to Real Madrid. He sent his assistant Mike Phelan to the post-match media conference. It wasn’t just Ferguson; even the players were ordered not to speak to the media. The drawbridge has been pulled up, flags were lowered to half-mast, Old Trafford is under a self-imposed seize.

24 hours before kickoff, Sir Alex said, “You hope in a game of this nature that you are going to get the best refereeing performance, on the same level as the players on the pitch.”

And the match referee Cuneyt Cakir sent off Nani for kicking Alvaro Arbeloa. That is how the referee saw it. That is how the rest of the world saw it. On watching the subsequent replay of the foul, in Nani’s defence, it wasn’t intentional. Nani had his eyes on the ball and Arbeloa stepped in to challenge him for the ball. It was a 50-50 chance, but ended with Nani’s studs firmly imprinted on Arbeloa.

Ex-United midfielder Roy Keane called it “dangerous play” and said that the referee was right in sending him off. Twitter  imploded with tweets from United fans castigating Keane for siding with the referee. Cunyet Cakir’s history of sending off players – Terry, Balotelli, Gerrard and Cahill – belonging to English clubs was widely re-tweeted. And his first name was contracted to a one word expletive.

This is the narrative that has been developing so far. How United’s season will shape in the next two months, is the question that seems to have been forgotten.

It is important for United to not to lose sight of things. United are still in contention for two trophies. The season is not over yet. Sir Alex must not allow lightning to strike twice at Old Trafford, after what happened in the 2009-10 season. United showed so much promise that season despite selling two of its mainstay players – Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. Wayne Rooney was in cracking form until he fractured his metatarsal, while playing against Bayern Munich. He returned for the second leg but was substituted after he aggravated the injury. Rafael da Silva got himself sent off in a match United could have won.

And sandwiched between the two Champions League legs was a league match against Chelsea. It was a title showdown and United lost the match, and drew the next game against Blackburn Rovers, giving Chelsea a healthy four-point lead at the top. United’s season ended within a span of two weeks. Now Chelsea will once again have a say in United’s future when the two sides meet in the FA Cup.

Against Madrid last night, Sir Alex knew United were the better side, and he will rue another missed opportunity. But fair play to Jose Mourinho and Madrid. He made quick substitutions after United were down to 10 men. He removed Arbeloa who was on a yellow card. He brought on Luka Modric to force United into submission. If Mourinho was auditioning to be Sir Alex’s replacement, then he couldn’t have done a better job.

But, this is Sir Alex Ferguson that we speak of. A manager to whom no bank can sell a retirement plan. He contemplated retiring in 2003, yes, but he airbrushed it from everyone’s minds and has been on a rolling contract ever since. His undying enthusiasm seems to have a knock-on effect on the players. Paul Scholes came out of retirement. Ryan Giggs seems immune to the daily wear and tear of a Premier League footballer’s life. Surely, this is not the end of Sir Alex.

Sir Matt Busby mounted one last assault o the European Cup and triumphed in 1968, winning the final 4-1 against Benifica. Maybe, just maybe, Mourinho did something he wished he hadn’t done by giving Sir Alex a reason to sign a contract extension.

Rafael “Man, my first time at the Bernabeu was not good”, Manchester United defender on Ronaldo. sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/r…

— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) March 4, 2013

Rafael da Silva’s performance last month, at the Santiago Bernabeu, brought back those bitter memories of losing to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the 2010 Champions League campaign.

Manchester United were trailing 2-1 on aggregate before the second leg at Old Trafford. They went in for the kill by scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes, and Nani scored his second of the night before halftime.

Croatian striker Ivica Olic scored two minutes later and left the door open for a comeback. Besides all the goals that were racked up in the first-half, Rafael was having a poor game defensively, but he was brilliant on the counter.

He got a yellow card in the 18th minute for a reckless challenge on van Bommel, and he got his second yellow in the 50th minute for tugging Franck Ribery from behind.

Manchester United played for 40 minutes with 10 men. Arjen Robben scored a stupendous goal to take Bayern to the semi-final on away goals.

At the Bernabeu, Rafael was booked for a bad foul on Mesut Ozil five minutes before the first-half, summing up his frustration at stopping Real’s attack. He got better in the second-half and he was more careful before going into tackles.

The head-strong Brazilian right-back from two seasons ago has matured as a defender and today he is United’s best bet at man-marking Ronaldo. It has been said before and I’ll reiterate once again: marking Ronaldo doesn’t mean stopping him. It is impossible nailing jelly to the wall. If Rafael could stop Ronaldo from cutting inside from the left and force him to cross instead, it just might be enough to scrape through to the quarter-finals.

Wayne Rooney faces Pepe for first time since Twitter rant as.com/english/articu… vía @diarioas

— AS English (@English_AS) March 4, 2013

The Spanish media have again swallowed those hyperbole pills. They painted Wayne Rooney as a freckle-faced hooligan before the first-leg in Madrid. Now they dug up the archives, and excavated a frivolous tweet by Wayne Rooney from 2012.

During an El Clasico game, Pepe stamped on Lionel Messi‘s hand. Rooney tweeted: “Pepe. What an idiot. Sometimes people wind you up.”

The media is building this up as a clash between Pepe and Rooney. However, Pepe may not even start in the second leg since Jose Mourinho has shown faith in Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane on getting the job done.

It wasn’t just the Spanish media that were making forecasts by rolling the Magic 8-Ball. An English newspaper carried a story that Wayne Rooney may not even be involved in the second leg.

Since he played the full 90 minutes against Norwich City in the weekend, while Danny Welbeck started on the bench, this gave more credibility to the source.

Moreover, Rooney isn’t in his best form lately. He gave away the ball easily and his passing was skewed against Norwich. And suddenly, as if a jukebox changed the records, the soundtrack for the evening changed from grunge to heavy metal, as the net bulged due to Rooney’s screamer from 25 yards.

There has been murmurs of Sir Alex Ferguson using Rooney in his preferred role as a striker against Madrid. Since he has been the sacrificial lamb for the big games, so far he was used in various roles in midfield. But this tactical change may spring a surprise since goals from van Persie have dried up, lately.

And also there is a chance of Ferguson using Rooney in midfield, partnering Michael Carrick, and continue doing the work from where Phil Jones left at the Bernabeu.

Magic 8-Balls or fortune cookies weren’t used in making these forecasts. It is just a hunch.

Phil Jones has NOT trained with Man United today. Jonny Evans is doing light jogging away from the squad. Breaking on Mail Online now #MUFC

— Matt Fortune (@MFworldfootball) March 4, 2013

In the press conference before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson said that Phil Jones won’t be part of the squad that will take on Real Madrid. He is reportedly still recovering from an ankle injury.

In the past, Sir Alex fed the media with lies about his match preparations. The most controversial statement from Sir Alex that springs to mind is once again from the second leg tie against Bayern Munich in 2010.

Ferguson said: “He has no chance [of starting the game]. I don’t think he will be on the bench, but he might try to persuade me and talk me into it. It’s a difficult one.”

Sir Alex was referring to Wayne Rooney after he limped off the pitch in the first leg at the Allianz Arena.

Rooney started the match despite Sir Alex ruling him out. The same can be said of Sir Alex’s statement about Phil Jones, but it is hard to tell. The Glasgow man has the best poker face in the business.

Coming to the centre-backs pairing, Sir Alex made it clear, in an interview with the Sun, that Jonny Evans is his first choice defender.

Rio Ferdinand has recovered after a bout of flu and trained on Monday. Nemenja Vidic is in decent form at the moment.

So it may come down to Sir Alex snapping a cue stick into two and throwing the sharpest piece between Nemenja Vidic and Ferdinand.

Emotions to run high as Ronaldo returns to United with Madrid and Giggs hits 1,000 games apne.ws/WDQSgE

— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 4, 2013

Ever since the draw was announced in December, the media has been steadily drumming up stories about Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford. Too much coverage has been given about his return to “home”, to the point of an overkill.

United fans may not roll out the red carpet for the Portuguese player, but there will be applause from the stands before kick-off.

Reports of Manchester United making a transfer move for Ronaldo were played down by Sir Alex in the pre-match press conference.

And he joked about how he will stop him in the second leg: “I’ve got a plan to stop him: it’s called a machete. Plan B is a machine gun!”

Sitting beside Sir Alex at the press conference was Ryan Giggs, who will hit 1,000 career games if he plays against Madrid. After being rested for the game against Norwich, Sir Alex might spring another surprise by starting him.

“We like to keep him fresh. He’ll be involved at some point, starting or from the bench. I haven’t made my mind up,” said Sir Alex about Giggs.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 03: Opposing captains Thomas Vermaelen of Arsenal and Michael Dawson of Spurs clash during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC at White Hart Lane on March 3, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

So #afc get two statues in one week: Bergkamp and Mertesacker. Poor defending.

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) March 3, 2013

A cheeky but rare pun from the Daily Telegraph journalist Henry Winter. His tweet pretty much sums up Arsenal‘s defence at the moment.

Arsenal’s defence was so lifeless that they wouldn’t even have flinched if they were to have been showered with pigeon droppings. Especially Arsenal’s two centre-backs, who resembled tall stumps of wood.

The two first-half goals Arsenal conceded was the cue for the commentator to drop in one of his many cliches about ball-watching.

Per Mertasacker played Gareth Bale on-side and he scored with a calm finish. And it almost felt like Thomas Vermaelen was drooling at Jan Vertoghen’s Man of the Match performance at the other end when Aaron Lennon tip-toed behind him to latch on to Scott Parker’s through ball and score Spurs’ second.

And Arsenal’s winter signing, Nacho Monreal, must shoulder some of the blame for Aaron Lennon’s goal. Lennon gorged on Nacho and Monreal made a meal out of marking Lennon.

Overall, their defence was poor today and it is a concern for the fans knowing that their season expectations rest on a piece of wooden furniture with four wobbly legs.

Arsenal have never looked further from the Champions League under Wenger than they do now. Last season it was 10 points, but they had RVP.

— Tom Adams (@tomEurosport) March 3, 2013

Eurosport-Yahoo supervising editor Tom Adams couldn’t have said it better. Tottenham stretched the lead over Arsenal to seven points and the two Merseyside rivals Everton and Liverpool are playing catch-up with Arsenal. For long, Arsene Wenger stood his ground despite Arsenal’s trophy drought, by driving home the point that he took Arsenal to the Champions league in the last 16 seasons. But the ground is fast sinking under his feet, and any failure in qualifying could result in his sacking.

They had Robin van Persie last season, and none of the current Arsenal strikers have the feet that match Persie’s shoe size. While Arsene yo-yos between using Theo Walcott and Oliver Giroud as forwards, their chances of Champions League qualification seems to become a tall mountain to ascend.

It is hard to find fault with Giroud’s performance against Spurs. Nobody pumped crosses into the box hoping that Giroud will stick his head above Michael Dawson. And he usually scores only in those matches where Arsenal are winning by a decent margin.

Arsene has to make a decision on whom to use as his front man. With 10 games left, this should be Arsenal’s wake-up call; maybe even finishing fourth will not be enough to knock the dents out of Arsenal at the end of season.

Bale cannot stop scoring.

— Paul Rantcast (@UtdRantcast) March 3, 2013

Paul from Unitedrant.co.uk tweeted this right after Bale deflected Mertesacker’s header into his own goal.

Bale scored eight times in the last six games he started and he opened the scoring in today’s North-London derby. His free-kicks today were wide off the mark but he had a decent outing playing behind Adebayor and later Defoe.

Gylfi Sirgudsson made no secret of Spurs’ game plan in the first-half when he tried to find Bale, who was jogging in front of the defence before making a dash for the ball behind them. And a similar move resulted in a goal in the 37th minute: Arsenal tried playing a high defensive line but failed to stop Bale from scoring.

Bale came close to scoring in the second half when a glorious low-cross by Benoit Assou-Ekotto from the left found him inside the box, but he sent the ball into the stands.

Arsenal’s handicap was that they do not have a player like Bale to counter Spurs. Piers Morgan summed up Arsenal’s situation in this tweet: “Imagine. All the players in Wales and United got Giggs, Spurs got Bale… we got Ramsey.  #worldsshorteststraw“

AVB downplaying today’s result in his post match interview. #THFC next six fixtures include Everton, #LFC, #CFC, and #MCFC

— Leela Prasad (@theblcksheep) March 3, 2013

Andres Villas-Boas was right in downplaying today’s result over Arsenal. Tottenham blew a 13-point lead over Arsenal last season and finished fourth, which eventually cost them a place in the Champions League. But the circumstances today are different from last season. The then manager of Spurs, Harry Redknapp, was distracted by the vacant seat at England‘s national football team.

Villas-Boas faces some tough opponents in the next six games. And he also must make the difficult trip to the San Siro to face Inter Milan in the Europa League, while Arsenal maybe knocked out at Munich on Wednesday and concentrate on finishing fourth.

Tottenham qualified for the Champions League in the 2009-10 in spectacular fashion by defeating Chelsea and Arsenal in the final few league games before trumping Manchester City at Etihad for fourth place with a game to spare.

A similar challenge beckons Villas-Boas this season. They currently find themselves two points behind City, and their wafer-thin squad will be tested as the season draws to a close.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect that of Sportskeeda.

A majority of Spain’s national newspapers carried a front page blurb featuring Real Madrid’s 3-1 over Barcelona. And yet none of them published a headline eulogising Jose Mourinho for masterminding Real’s win. Only the Madrid based sports daily Marca briefly mentioned in its match report about how Mourinho schooled Barcelona in tactics.

Mourinho’s rift with the Spanish media is widely known and things reached a tipping point when Marca ran a story that Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas wanted him out. This maybe one of the reason why the media chose to play down his latest triumph against the Blaugrana.

And it also raises the question: how much credit does Mourinho deserve for crushing Barca?

When Pep Guardiola was the manager at Camp Nou, Barcelona dealt such severe blows to Mourinho’s side that he was too weak to even raise a white flag.

Mourinho won just twice against Guardiola, drew four, and lost five in 11 matches.

However, he has been gaining ground over Barca since Guardiola left the club after chewing into Real’s all-time head-to-head record over Barca.

Barcelona have been written off by the media and pundits alike after losing to AC Milan in the 1st leg of the Champions League and now Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. They say that Barca lacks the element of surprise and teams are better prepared to stop them.

Does Mourinho have an element of surprise up his sleeves? Perhaps not.

He uses the same 4-3-2-1 formation for a majority of Real’s matches against Barcelona. He fields a team that chokes the supply to Lionel Messi. Everyone knows that Real will attack against the run of play, even before the referee blows the whistle signalling the start to a Clasico. And when Barcelona has the possession, Real Madrid players quickly close down on the player with the ball like flies attracted to a light bulb.

But we must give credit where it’s due. In the 16 matches that Mourinho played against Barcelona since becoming manager of Real Madrid, he did not give up and kept knocking on their door.

We don’t know the amount of preparation that goes behind planning for an El Clasico. A 100% fit side and a solid game-plan is a must for teams going for the win against Barca.

Every player must last Barca’s 90 minutes of “El Rondo”. Milan showed it is possible by their consummate display against Barca in the Champions League.

Players must stick to their markers like geckos lest they slip away and create problems. And they did; Madrid set up road blocks that deflated every Barca attack.

Also, the players must know where their teammates are without taking their eye away from the ball. Xabi Alonso showed how it is done when he released Angel Di Maria down the left for Cristiano Ronaldo‘s second goal.

Mourinho cannot play the same tactics against Manchester United in a week’s time. Because the English club stretches the play by using their wingers to the maximum effect and the play is not entirely centered in the midfield like Barcelona.

Maybe, the Spanish media will play a different tune if he conquers Manchester.

Wembley will once again play host to this year’s Cup finalists for a record second time in three years. And on Wednesday, the two teams face each other only for the fifth time in the Cup’s history.

This round of 16 fixture will throw up a few questions that need answers from Sir Alex Ferguson.

How will United stop Ronaldo?

MADRID, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 09: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid acknowledges the crowd as he is being subsituted during the la Liga match between Real Madrid CF and Sevilla FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on February 9, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Ferguson’s tactics were once built around Cristiano Ronaldo to help him score goals; now he has to build a plan around Ronaldo once again - only this time, to stop him from scoring.

182 goals and 20 hat-tricks later, Ronaldo faces his old club for the first time. How will Ferguson stop a player who doesn’t have any known weakness that can be used against him?

Manchester City tried hard to stop him when Madrid paid a visit last year, and partially succeeded in pegging Ronaldo’s cape to the ground.

Yaya Toure tried his hand at barricading Ronaldo but he was whacked-like-a-mole into its hole. Zabaleta and Toure formed a tag team and took on Ronaldo in a handicap match, but the crosses still came in from the left. And finally it fell upon Vincent Kompany to take on the task of shutting down Ronaldo. The Portuguese made life so difficult for the Belgian that a push became a shove, and strangely, the referee did not stop the play even once. Ronaldo was visibly frustrated and looked helpless.

When Madrid played Granada at the start of this month, the Granada players effectively blocked Madrid’s right and left wing channel. Angel Di Maria and Ronaldo always pulled in two players to mark them, and they had no option but to pass sideways. Madrid grew so frustrated that they couldn’t string together even a single decent move as there was no support from the wing. They lost the game 1-0 and it definitely tops the list of Madrid’s worst performances this season.

Ferguson could either ask his players to get rowdy with Ronaldo or he could just pray that Ronaldo will be overcome with emotion, and his eyes well up with tears every time he comes up against an United player.

How will United exploit Madrid’s defence?

MADRID, SPAIN – DECEMBER 16: Pepe of Real Madrid CF reacts during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and RCD Espanyol at estadio Santiago Bernabeu on December 16, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho doesn’t have a regular centre-back pairing at the moment. He constantly rotated his players in those two positions ever since Pepe was sidelined with injury. The last time Pepe and Sergio Ramos played together in defence was in Madrid’s 3-2 loss against Malaga before the winter break.

Since the start of 2013, Mourinho used at least six different combinations in the centre-back positions in the last 10 matches. He did not retain the same defensive line-up in his last four matches; he tinkered with Ricardo Carvalho, Raphael Varane, Raul Albiol and Ramos. It has become a game of “drawing the straws” for the defenders. Despite Mourinho’s shuffling and cutting of his defenders like a deck of cards, Madrid surprisingly kept six clean sheets. But four of those came when Iker Casillas started the match.

Mourinho signed Sevilla goalkeeper Diego Lopez as cover for the injured Casillas. Lopez started his career at Real Madrid but moved to Villarreal in search of opportunities. He tasted Champions League last season and moved to Sevilla after Villarreal were relegated. Pepe returned to action last weekend against Sevilla, and might play alongside Ramos, even though Varane has excelled in his absence.

How will Ferguson exploit a defensive partnership that may be weak due to lack of match time, and at the same time, may have difficulty in communicating with a new goalkeeper?

How will United line-up against Madrid?

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 10: Ryan Giggs of Manchester United is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford on February 10, 2013 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

With the exception of Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher, Alex Ferguson has a full squad at his disposal; and his options were boosted by the news of Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Ashley Young being declared fit to play.

While Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Rafael da Silva and Patrick Evra will pick themselves in defence, who will start in midfield against Madrid?

Michael Carrick should start in midfield, since he has been consistent in his performances so far this season. Tom Cleverley is also in impressive form and he may partner Carrick in midfield. Phil Jones might be handed the man-marking duties once again like last week against Everton, but that could lead to a 1vs3 situation in midfield and United risk being overrun in midfield while Jones tails his target.

And then there is the winger conundrum. Antonio Valencia isn’t the same player – one who once pulled on the number 25 jersey and took the defenders head-on – in his new number 7 jersey. Nani has become a one-trick pony; one that gifts possession to the opponents. Ashley Young hasn’t played in United’s last six games since he was taken off injured in the 2-1 win against Liverpool. Ryan Giggs looks like a mint condition action figure whose value keeps increasing as the years in a calendar change. But he lasted for a full 90 minutes against Everton, and may start from the bench for this match.

Is there a place for Shinji Kagawa in this side? He can’t be afforded the same luxury he enjoyed at Borussia Dortmund by playing him behind the striker, and then there is the talk of Kagawa starting on the left wing.

Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney are confirmed to start unless there has been a change in plans to spring a surprise on Jose Mourinho.

How will this side cope with the counter-attacking football that Real Madrid plays? Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain/Jose Mario Callejon move extremely quickly from one end of the pitch to the other, while defending a corner kick in their own half.

Hopefully, SAF will have an answer to these questions tonight.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – FEBRUARY 06: Mario Balotelli of Italy during the international friendly match between Netherlands and Italy

Watching Italy play in international friendlies can be more painfully boring than waiting for a groundhog to jump out of its burrow and predict the weather forecast on groundhog day. Last night’s 1-1 draw against Netherlands was no exception either.

Ever since Cesare Prandelli took over from Lippi in 2010 after Italy’s shameful exit from the World Cup, he has won just three games out of 12 friendly matches. Those 12 matches included six defeats and three draws, losing his first-ever game as the national coach in a friendly against Ivory Coast.

Judging his managerial acumen by reviewing the poor results in friendlies is unfair on Prandelli; he led Italy to the final in last year’s Euro Championship and he regularly fields strong teams in friendly games. Against the Netherlands, he picked a crop of fairly experienced players and fielded them in an attacking formation of 4-3-3. But the players looked worse than kids passing the ball in a park. They looked static in midfield and much withdrawn from the game. Perhaps the players’ indignation towards friendlies can be better explained by taking a look at their exasperating defeats against teams like Ireland, United States, and Russia in friendly matches.

The entire team looked jaded against the Dutch and yet, Mario Balotelli stood out from the rest; he was the worst player on the pitch. He had a terrific debut at the San Siro, in Rossoneri colours this time, against Udinese. Even someone as eccentric as Balotelli would not have dreamt of making such a memorable debut for AC Milan. It seemed as though all the stars aligned in to the shape of the number 45 on that night. Balotelli was not expected to start against Udinese since he was not 100% match-fit; Pazzini picked up an injury during the pre-match warm-up and Balotelli took his place in the starting eleven.

He scored twice in the game –  the penalty kick shouldn’t have been given – and he looked like the Mario from the Euro Championship last summer. The same spark was missing from Balotelli last night and shades of the Mario from Manchester City resurfaced once again, when he kicked the ball at the advertising boards in frustration.

Prandelli used Balotelli’s team-mate Stephan El Shaarawy and Lazio’s Antonio Canderva in the three man attack, along with another team-mate Riccardo Montolivo, Juve’s Andrea Pirlo and Roma’s Daniel De Rossi manning the midfield. Italy did not take their first shot of the match until the half hour mark, when Balotelli chested down a lob from Pirlo and dragged it wide off the goal post. Till the time Balotelli was substituted for Pablo Osvaldo in the second half, he did not receive much service from the midfield; his linkup play with El Sharaawy was poor, and he gave away possession cheaply.

Italy sprang to life in the last two minutes of regular time and were rescued by a goal from 19-year-old substitute Marco Verratti, thus halting Italy’s five consecutive defeats in international friendlies.

It is hard to say if AC Milan’s vice-president Paolo Berlusconi’s racist remarks about Balotelli had any effect on his performance. After all, Paolo’s brother and club president Silvio Berlusconi called him a rotten apple, and yet he signed for the club.

He is cup-tied in the Champions League, so he will not feature in the upcoming clash against FC Barcelona. Milan need him to take the fight for the third and final Champions League spot to the wire. They are in a direct battle with rivals Inter for the spot, and Milan will need all the help they can get. Milan face Cagliari next weekend and it will not be an easy game, since they recently struck down Roma 4-2 and cost Zdenek Zeman his job.

Louis Saha – a stop-gap solution?

Lazio’s chances of playing in the Champions League next season suffered a setback when their top scorer Miroslav Klose was ruled out for two months with a knee injury. After knocking Juventus out of the Coppa Italia, they lost their last two Serie A games and Klose was substituted at half-time in Lazio’s 3-2 loss to Genoa.

They signed 34-year-old Louis Saha on a five month contract as cover after he was released by Sunderland. He joins fellow French man Nicolas Anelka in the Serie A, who joined Juventus on a short-term contract.

Is this another case of desperation or are the cash-strapped Italian clubs unable to attract top-talent anymore? Juventus has a strong line-up of strikers in Sebastian Giovinco, Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella, Alessandro Matri and Niklas Bendtner (injured). But none of them managed double figures in front of goal so far this season. All the four strikers misfiring at the moment can be frustrating for any manager but would signing Anelka, who last played in Europe in 2011, help?

Similarly, Louis Saha had a start-stop career since he left Manchester United. He has not scored even once in his 14 appearances for Sunderland. Next weekend, he might walk straight into the starting eleven in a crucial game against Napoli. Will the gamble pay off?

As Britain prepares to send a “sizeable amount of troops” to aid France in Mali; a sizeable contingent of football players have arrived from France to rescue a British club in the north-east of England.

More precisely, five French nationals have arrived at Newcastle United in the winter transfer window to steer this rudderless ship.

With the latest additions to the squad, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has now the option to start 11 French-born players if he wishes to. Even Arsene Wenger never had so many of his fellow countrymen to choose from; the 2006-07 comes a close second to Pardew’s XI, with seven French players  playing in Arsenal colours.

Changes in the team setup were made necessary due to the position they find themselves in league.

Newcastle United are the only club in the Premier League without an away win in any of the four competitions they played. With just seven wins in all competitions in 31 games they played so far this season, they have a win percentage of just 22.5%.

They travel to Birmingham to play fellow strugglers Aston Villa in the league today, in a must-win match for both sides. Villa are just a point below Newcastle in 17th place, and have conceded the most number of goals (44) in the league so far this season.

The difference between the two sides is like chalk and cheese; though both are being sucked into the same quicksand.

Christian Benteke

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has placed his faith in young players. The average age of his defence is 23.5 years and it has been nothing more than a leaky cauldron this season. Their attack hinges on a 22-year-old Belgian striker Christian Benteke, who moved to the club last summer.

Lambert consistently fielded a fairly young squad, with the exception of Grant Holt, during his time at Norwich City. In hindsight, Lambert always relied on youngsters, while other managers treat them like shiny figurines, bringing them out of their glass showcases only during cup matches.

He has not made any moves in the transfer market, and there may not be any players arriving at Villa Park in this window. He cannot be found sauntering anymore as there are not many games left to play.

At the same time, Lambert cannot put together an ensemble of players who will pull them out this rut. He already committed himself to using chiefly British players in their twenties and must stick to it.

The last time Villa played Newcastle the match ended in a 1-1 draw at St James Park. Five French players were in the squad that day and there may be six today.

Under the team’s current transfer policy adopted by Pardew, Newcastle may not see another Alan Shearer in the near future. But there are 14 British players in the team roster; it’s just that only seven of them have started in at least one game this season. Either they are not ready to face the daunting task of winning a relegation battle, or Pardew does not have faith in them.

If the new signings fail to stop Newcastle’s free fall then the British press will take a big bite out off Pardew’s “Royale with Cheese”.

It is not an overstatement to say that Manchester United were rubbish, terrible, and all that in a match they eventually won 4-1 at home.

Manchester United almost treated this tie as a dress rehearsal for their match against Real Madrid in three weeks time; they sleepwalked throughout the match saving their batteries for the big day.

Also, Fulham were in no mood to engage Manchester United as they have more things to worry about – like staying up in the league – than be a Captain Ahab trying to kill Moby Dick.

After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson once again reminded us that Rio Ferdinand doesn’t have an FA Cup medal and “United must do something about it”.

What he really needs to do is up the tempo in their performance. United dragged their legs in the first half; the tempo of this match was slower than ants marching up an anthill. Their symphony never had rhythm and was jarring to my ears as they played all the wrong notes.

United were gifted a penalty in just 72 seconds after kickoff, which Ryan Giggs duly converted. But instead of killing off the tie, they sat back and pleaded Fulham to take advantage of their laxity in performance.

Their performance yesterday is reminiscent of their 2-0 home win against West Brom in the league this season. United took the lead through an own goal by West Brom defender Gareth McAuley in the first 10 minutes, and soon after that, the United players chained themselves to the goal post.

Against Fulham, it almost felt like the United players were paying their tributes to Dimitar Berbatov by slowing down the pace of the game. If there ever was a rehab for adrenaline junkies, then playing United match tapes – such as these – on loop would have done the trick.

Taking nothing away from Ryan Giggs excellent display against Fulham, the United players made him look younger by their lethargic display.

To be fair on United, they did turn up the heat on Fulham as soon as the second half kicked off, but Fulham could have sucker-punched while United had their guard down.

For a change, United had 18 shots on goal yesterday. They take very few shots at goal these days. They are not in the top five clubs with the best shooting averages for a team that is at the top of the league.

However, this United squad hasn’t got the same ruthlessness that treble and double winning teams in the past have shown. They face Fulham once again in a week’s time in the league. If chasing a game gets their engine running, then so be it; concede first and attack next!

He kept just four clean sheets in 23 appearances this season. For all his faults, he balanced them with some spectacular saves. But Sir Alex Ferguson’s patience reached a tipping point, at least according to what ESPN “understands”, when his feeble punch at the ball resulted in Tottenham Hotspur scoring an equaliser in the 90th minute.

Against Fulham, while United were coasting towards victory, de Gea conceded a goal from a corner. Only this time, the defence was at fault since there was nobody guarding the post to de Gea’s left. This would have been a costly mistake if United didn’t have a four goal cushion. Again, this underlines how care-free United’s approach was towards the FA Cup tie.

It is understandable if one chooses to receive this statement with utter incredulity when both Roma and Barcelona are put together in the same sentence. To digress slightly, even Lisa Simpson from The Simpsons agrees on this: “Anything that’s the ‘something’ of the ‘something’ isn’t really the ‘anything’ of ‘anything’.”

Also, it is futile to pontificate Roma’s style of play with heat maps and drawing boards. The exoskeletons of Barcelona and Roma are similar. Both play under a 4-3-3 formation, and the comparison doesn’t end here.

Roma is structured on the same pass-and-move style of FC Barcelona. Their full-backs, Federico Balzaretti and Ivan Piris, are more like wingers. They have a strong holding midfielder in Daniel De Rossi/Panagiotis Tachtsidis. Their wingers move towards the center of the pitch, narrowing down the play. Their attacking trident – Fransesco Totti, Erik Lamela, Pablo Osvaldo – is as powerful as Posiedon’s.

Watching Roma play at the Stadio Olympico is perhaps the best solution to the question posed above.

Last night, the Coppa Italia first-leg match against Inter Milan at the Olympico is enough proof of what Roma are capable of achieving this season.

Just 30 minutes into the game, both sets of players looked exhausted: their jerseys were soaked in sweat; players were gasping for breath; yet Roma did not wilt under the pace of the game they had just set.

The ferocity of Roma’s wave-after-wave of attack could have even tanked a WW2 Soviet warship. Their synchronicity of movement would even compel talent show judges to award them a perfect score of 10. Zdenek Zeman’s appointment has done wonders for this team.

Since the time Zeman returned for a second spell at Roma, they have failed to score just twice in the 24 games (all competitions) that they played so far this season. Zeman injected Roma with an attacking verve, but the only side effect is that their defence is more porous than a sponge.

Roma have scored 50 goals in domestic competitions – the highest number of goals in Serie A, and one more than table topper Juventus. Also, they have the second highest number of shots (17) per game in Serie A.

Yet, they find themselves struggling in seventh place in the league table, despite scoring more goals in the league than the second and third-placed teams. Why? Because Roma have the third-worst defensive record in the league; only behind Cagliari and Pescara – a team which Zeman lead to promotion before joining Roma. Moreover, both teams are fighting to avoid the drop.

It is easy to point fingers at Roma’s Brazilian centre-backs, but without them the team may not maintain the same attacking thrust. Both Maquinhos and Leandro Castan have been a joy to watch this season. Roma frequently play the offside trap due to the forward excursions of their centre-backs. Perhaps, Zeman must drop his high defensive line strategy once Roma takes the lead.

He complained to the Italian press last week that Roma needed to close out games once they took the lead. But maintaining the same pressure-cooker attack in a bid to stifle the opposition is close to impossible.

Zeman also names the same players in the starting XI week-in, week-out. His training methods drew flak in the past for wearing out the players. If there are any lessons that need to be learnt from Athletic Bilbao about how to not collapse in the end after a Barca-esque showing for most of the season, then Zeman must learn it by heart.

Roma started the new year with two consecutive league defeats, but are slowly finding back their form. They are nine points away from a Champions League spot, and are in contention for the Coppa Italia title. Rest assured, they will not end this season with either of those two.

For cinephiles, Frankie Dunn had to pay managers on the side to get more fights for Maggie Fitzgerald. Because Maggie kept knocking out her opponents in the first round.

Luckily, Barcelona doesn’t need to loosen its purse strings to setup a match because club football follows a league system, unlike boxing. The Catalan club has this ridiculous propensity to kill matches even before the opposite side warmed up to the contest, like Maggie in Million Dollar Baby.

In the La Liga, they have been winning at both half-time and full-time in 11 of the last 12 matches. Any punter worth his salt would blow his money on EuroMillions tickets than risk betting heavily against this high-flying Barcelona side.

Everything changed yesterday evening; Barcelona’s wings were clipped by Real Sociedad and they lost their first league game under Tito Vilanova.

Any bets on Real Sociedad winning the match after going 2-0 down at 25 minutes would have resulted in windfall earnings. Even after Sociedad striker Gonzalo Castro scored a goal just before half-time, Sociedad stealing points from Barca would have been dismissed as wishful thinking. After all, Lionel Messi swapped shirts at half-time before disappearing into the tunnel.

Gerard Pique was sent off for a second yellow card offence 11 minutes into the second half. Despite the one man advantage, history was against Sociedad; they lost 4-3 against a 10-man Real Madrid side a few weeks ago, despite playing 84 minutes of the match with an extra player.

Castro equalised within six minutes of the sending off, after Victor Valdes outstretched arm failed to stop his deflected shot. With 30 minutes left on the clock, Barca looked like a side who traveled to Basque Country with just one game plan – keep possession and switch play to open gaps between Sociedad’s defence.

They looked lost in their endless game of rondo that they forgot to even shoot at goal. Despite just 32% of possession, Sociedad took the lead through substitute Imanol Agirretxe in the 90th minute of the game, winning 3-2 in the end.

Though 18 points behind leaders Barcelona – before third placed Real Madrid plays Valencia tonight – comparison between Mardrid and Barca is inevitable. Real Madrid did not look like a side that was down to 10 men against Sociedad in their first match of 2013. Madrid took 25 shots on goal, dwarfing Barcelona’s measly eight attempts on goal against Sociedad.

To inflame the dying embers of the Messi-Ronaldo debate post Ballon d’Or, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in that game and had 14 shots at goal. He lead Real’s vanguard from start to finish while Messi petered out towards the end.

Barca clearly don’t have a plan B to tackle the worst case scenarios. They seem to have been caught in their own whirligig of victories that they forgot to attach a safety net. They were once again caught in the familiar trappings of teams absorbing attack and breaking on the counter.

Barcelona, like Maggie, must learn that there are opponents out there, who will take the contest beyond the first round. They should have a contingency plan before they kick back and coast through the match in third gear.