The loss of Valencia is a sizeable blow for United

Manchester United got their Europa League campaign underway on Thursday night with a “very ordinary” performance, according to Sir Alex Ferguson which saw them beat Ajax 2-0. Unfortunately, that game saw the Red Devils lose one of their star performers of this season as Antonio Valencia suffered a hamstring injury which will see him sidelined for around four weeks.

Valencia – who came on as a second-half substitute for the returning Ashley Young – said after the game: “After my last injury experiences I feared the worst” – he was not alone as many United fans collectively took a deep breath – remembering that horrendous ankle injury the Ecuadorian suffered 17 months ago against Rangers.

It has, in many respects, been a season where injuries have dominated and threatened to strangle the Manchester United squad – with the majority of the first-team regulars spending time on the sidelines this season – Rafael, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Tom Cleverley, Nani, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez to name but a few of whom have graced the physio’s table in recent months.

Speaking about Valencia’s injury – Rio Ferdinand said: “It’s a really big blow” before adding, “but when somebody gets injured or loses form at this club the manager can always call upon another player to perform” With the return of Nani and Ashley Young to the side, following their recent injuries, Ferdinand is correct but that does not account for how productive and understated the 26 year-old has been in his contributions for the Red Devils this season.

When called upon, Valencia has had to put in a couple of admirable shifts at right-back for United, but it is on the right of midfield where he really flourishes with his marauding runs forward, before unleashing a cross into the centre of the penalty area to find a team-mate. It all began with a hat-trick of assists against Wolves – and since then he has had 9 assists in his last 11 Premier League games. This puts Valencia third in the league table of assists behind David Silva (12) and Emmanuel Adebayor (10) – and one ahead of team-mate Ryan Giggs (8).

Of course, Manchester United being Manchester United, and with the injury crisis of earlier in the season averted it will be up to Nani to step into the breach left by Valencia. Many will argue correctly, that the Portuguese is a different animal in comparison to the Ecuadorian; his trickery is testament to this – rather than the direct approach undertaken by Valencia of the ball being whipped into, Nani will try to outwit defenders with his fancy footwork and walk the ball into the box. Something which Duncan White of The Sunday Telegraph has already alluded to on this site: “He does the simple things really well for a winger. You see so many wingers cutting inside, trying to be clever. He just goes to the byline and pulls it back.”

Regardless, the loss of an underrated Antonio Valencia represents a sizeable blow for Manchester United.

This piece was orginally written and posted on BT Life’s a Pitch

The Race for 4th Place

Pardew turned down England. Could he lead Newcastle to 4th?

With the Premier League on two week break due to the FA Cup, it is always a good time to take stock and look at the league table – new guest blogger, Sam Haase looks at the race for 4th place – that final important Champions League place.

As the Barclays Premier League has passed the half way stage, we are left with an intriguing battle between four teams fighting it out for that elusive final Champions League spot. With no European football standing in their way this season, Tottenham have established themselves as real title contenders; sitting pretty in third, and maybe with a good run could make a real attempt in snatching the title away from Manchester. This leaves us with Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle, with only four points separating Chelsea in third and Newcastle in seventh, setting up a compelling conclusion to this season.

Since the arrival of owner, Roman Abramovich at Chelsea set up they have been regular title contenders and have had no real qualms over their Champions League qualifications. This season sees them face a new challenge, altogether bringing new pressures and stresses to the club that they haven’t been used to in recent years, as failing to qualify for the Champions League has become a real possibility.

I think a risk was taken with the appointment of Villas-Boas in the summer, with no real background and pedigree in football, I was skeptical as to whether he could cope under the immense pressure that comes with the Chelsea job. He hasn’t got Chelsea playing the kind of football we have been used to seeing them play in years gone by, and has often delivered disappointing results, most recently the 1-1 draw at Wigan and 3-1 loss at home to Aston Villa.

With an ageing side, the likes of Terry, Cole, Drogba and Lampard have all surpassed 30, and underperforming players, Fernando Torres in particular, AVB has a tough task on his hands to ensure the Stamford Bridge faithful are entertained – with Champions League football in the upcoming season. The teams surrounding them I believe are playing far better football, and if their form continues like this for the remainder of the season, I will be very shocked if AVB remains in charge.

On the other hand, Arsenal have seen their fortunes turn somewhat dramatically this term. After a quite disastrous start, many were calling for the end of Wenger’s reign as Arsenal manager, shame on you all, with pandemonium surrounding the club as to whether they could fully recover from this huge downturn in form. However, Arsenal stuck to their traditions and values as a club and kept their faith in their manager, with Wenger once more displaying his talents and qualities that has brought him league and cup success in this country during his tenure. I genuinely believe that the perseverance and loyalty that the Arsenal board showed Arsene Wenger is to be commended, and is a quality that seems to have disappeared in modern football as we have seen in the past 18 months, with the likes of Chris Hughton, Roberto Di Matteo, and most recently Neil Warnock, all losing their jobs under, shall we say, mysterious circumstances.

Now many of you may argue that their teams were around the relegation zone and that was the reasoning, but all of these managers got their respective clubs to the Premier League, and quite frankly, that is where they are expected to be.

Anyway, back to the point. Robin Van Persie has shown the footballing world that he is a genuine force to be reckoned with, leading Arsenal’s march up the table and putting them in a position that many fans could not have seen happening a few months ago. Champions League football to Arsenal is like, well I can’t think of a profound metaphor so insert your own here, but it would be an absolute shame to see a club like Arsenal miss out on the competition. Personally, I think they are the most likely to take fourth spot; they have the countries, maybe even the world’s most in form striker at the moment and Chelsea really are dipping in form at the moment.

Liverpool in my eyes are genuine league contenders, only if they get their act together mind. They are frustratingly inconsistent, producing sterling victories against the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, yet drop points to the likes of Swansea, Norwich and Blackburn. I mean no disrespect to the latter teams, but they are games that Liverpool should expect to be winning.

It is this topsy-turvy form that finds Liverpool desperately trying to fill that fourth and final Champions League spot. There is no doubt that there is a mass of potential surrounding this young Liverpool side; Carroll is finding his form, Suarez and Gerrard are back in the side regularly and they have a rock of a defence to build upon. However, the inconsistency that has accompanied them thus far has left Liverpool in a precarious position, one that the club is not used to experiencing. Forget the illustrious history that surrounds the club, the golden days of the seventies and eighties are long gone, Liverpool need to focus on now, and now they need to get a run of form together if they have any hopes of playing European football next season. I don’t believe Liverpool have the capability to reach fourth spot this season; their inconsistency will be the root of their problems, but, with another pre-season as a squad together and learning from their mistakes from this season, Liverpool could be a genuine threat next season.

And this leaves us with the real fairytale of the year so far, a real romance in football that reminds us all why we keep faith with it. Two seasons ago Newcastle United found themselves travelling to Plymouth and Scunthorpe. Fast forward two years and they are in a battle to secure themselves a Champions League spot, something I imagine Newcastle fans could never have imagined when they were relegated to the Championship. Alan Pardew has done a tremendous job at the club, passing on his obvious passion for football to his players, transpiring through gutsy, honest and hard-working performances that saw them give to us arguably the best game of the season last year in the 4-4 draw at home to Arsenal. That game summed up everything about Newcastle, Pardew and the attitude of the club as a whole and this hard-work and determination has been rewarded, and deservedly so.

However, as many positives as there are to take out of this remarkable season to date for Newcastle, their top four credentials have been somewhat questioned following their heavy defeat to Tottenham this weekend, coupled with a lack luster performance at Anfield back in December. It is these performances away from home against their top of the table counterparts that leads me to question as to whether they have what it takes to cement fourth spot. Their home form is undeniably superb, recording victories against the likes of Manchester United, but they need to take this form with them on their travels if they are to still be in the picture come April/May time. A surprise package for the season, yet Newcastle have warranted their position in the league table, and if they can bring in players like Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye in the summer, they could become a real force to be reckoned with, even more so than they are currently.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @samhaase

Joey Barton’s Twitter rant

It was reported yesterday evening, Joey Barton is under investigation by the Attorney General over tweets relating to the John Terry racism trial, where he could be in contempt of court. Time to stop digging, Joey…

Here is what he has said thus far(warning, contains plenty of gramatical errors):

1. This John Terry saga, has turned into one of the most hideously managed spectacles I have ever known. WTF is going on…… #sortitout

2. We all know what was said. Its there on TV for all to see. Do I think hes a racist? No. I think hes said something really stupid in the heat

3. of battle/argument. This should of been dealt with instantly (Like Suarez or more games) and put to bed. The longer it goes on, the worse it

4. is for the game. Racism needs to be stamped out. We all agree on that. This is now affecting England as well as those involved. I dont

5. a f*cking man and took his punishment for what he said. This is now helping nobody. The one I feel for is Anton, hes done nowt wrong and has

6. Once the issue went out of the FA’s control, it was always going to get messy. They should have dealt with it instantly. Now its a farce.

7. Should of thrown his hands up and admitted his grave error. Excepted his deserved disciplinary action and let everyone move on

8. Whose the winner in all of this? I cant think of anyone….can you? What a debacle its turned into. Sad state of affairs. Heads should roll.

After a couple of tweets being sent forward and back to Stan Collymore, Barton went on to say: “I’ll probably get a letter now from “the powers that be.” If you’re reading this don’t bother………”

Not content with leaving it there, and being well aware he could be under investigation, Barton has continued this morning with another rant.

9. I will gladly go to jail for a month, in the name of free speech. I have no problem with what I said. Make me a martyr…..

10. What are they going to do put everyone who exercises freedom of speech in jail? They’ll be a revolution, if they try that shit.

11. The hypocrisy of the situation is borderline preposterous. So incredibly sad is the current state of media in this country….. #nofear

UPDATE: Sunday, 5th February – 1.47pm

12. In my opinion, Terry should of admitted his mistake. No amount of media or other pressure, will make me think otherwise. Sorry, but for

13. a court case with a maximum punishment of £2,500 if found guilty. I believe its nonsense. FA should of dealt with it instantly and saved

14. the public the expense of the drawn out legal proceedings. Who will foot the bill at the end? Yep, you guessed it! The British Taxpayer…..

15. Nobody has died, nobody is injured. Its for all to see on TV, whats gone on, in my opinion. Who stands to win in all this? Nobody……

16. It should of been dealt with instantaneously. Not allowed to drag on and on. People getting sent bullets in the post, for this shit…..

17. Do me a f*cking favour……….

18. I didnt hear anything or see anything during the game it was not near me. All I know is the whole debacle is doing my head in. #itsnonsense

19. What is the point of living, if you cannot express your opinion. Not having an opinion is not living, its surviving.

20. That is me done on the subject of Terry-gate. I’ve said my piece, u know were I stand. Let justice take its course now…..

For more, follow the man himself @Joey7Barton – he might eventually put down the shovel and stop digging.