the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal will be 'cautious' with Danny Welbeck despite five-star performance at Southampton

Arsene Wenger will not overload Danny Welbeck despite his return to form and fitness. The Arsenal striker made his first start of the campaign when he scored twice in the FA Cup in a 5-0 victory at Southampton on Saturday following a cartilage injury.

But manager Wenger knows he needs to manage Welbeck’s workload to prevent any further injury problems.

“Danny’s very sharp but we’re still not out of it completely,” he said. “We still have to be cautious with him.

“Where I agree is that physically he is ready to play. We still have to manage the times we use him and the times we rest him for a while.

“We will do that in the next month and then after, hopefully he will be completely fit.

“To come out of what he has come through, you need to be mentally strong. To play like he played on Saturday, you need to work hard physically.

“That’s not a gift of God. You have to go through all kind of suffering to come back to that level of fitness.

“Of course he has done enough to keep his place but at the moment we have to be cautious with him. I’m not sure how we’ll use him every three days. I think he’s a bit short for that. But the quality of the performance was there.”

Arsenal have numerous options in attack with Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez all competing for attacking spots.

“We have scored many goals since the start of the season and Danny was not there,” said Wenger. “To add him to the squad as well gives us huge offensive potential.

“Now I have to use the strikers well, in the right moment and without destroying the balance of the team. Offensively, we have many players who can produce and score.”

Meanwhile Wenger has not completely closed the door on Carl Jenkinson leaving the club in the next couple of days but the change of a switch to Crystal Palace are diminishing fast.

“There’s no news about him at all,” said the Frenchman.

“We are still open because we have many players in his position, but at the moment it doesn’t look like something will happen.

“We respect any professional decision. Carl Jenkinson is a great player who has a great attitude. There is no problem on that front. After that, he must find happiness with his conditions and where he goes and feel comfortable.

“The window’s been very quiet. On our front, we have a big squad. We are not in need of buying. On a general front it has been very quiet. That shows that there are not many players available who can strengthen English teams. It also shows that all the teams in England, especially the big teams, have big squads. That’s why not a lot happened.”

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Firefighters extinguish blaze at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium

Firefighter crews were called to Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium on Monday morning following the outbreak of a blaze.

Smoke could be seen emanating from the stadium’s Sir Bobby Charlton stand at approximately 7.00am.

Three fire engines were dispatched to the scene, and crews spent around 90 minutes tackling the blaze before it was extinguished.

The club later tweeted: “A small electrical fire was identified quickly in the Sir Bobby Charlton stand around 7am today.

“The fire brigade attended & the isolated incident was dealt with quickly & effectively. There was minimal damage & there were no injuries.”

The blaze broke out 13 hours after United’s 4-0 FA Cup win over Wigan Athletic, which saw Jose Mourinho’s side progress to the fourth round of the competition.

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service said: “We were called at 6.58am to Sir Matt Busby Way. Three fire engines from Manchester, Salford and Stretford attended the scene.

“We have isolated the electrics and extinguished the fire using breathing apparatus and a CO2 fire extinguisher.”

The cause of the fire has not been confirmed by either the club or the fire service, though early reports suggest that it was triggered by a faulty lift.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

'There is no need to buy a striker' - Arsene Wenger claims Arsenal are well-stocked up front ahead of deadline day

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he is happy with his options in attack and won't sign a striker this month.

Furthermore, the Gunners boss has claimed he is not yet even thinking about summer transfers after being linked with some high-profile forwards in the off-season.

Wenger was speaking at London Colney ahead of Tuesday night's game with Watford, and when asked about reported interest in Karim Benzema, Wenger gave it short shrift:

"Why? Because he is French?" Wenger asked.

"Maybe there are some noises he will leave Madrid.

"But for us in this moment there is no need to buy a striker.

"The summer window is not my worry at the moment."

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Pep Guardiola 'delighted' to welcome Vincent Kompany back but errs on the side of caution

Pep Guardiola was delighted to welcome Vincent Kompany back into the Manchester City team on Saturday, as his captain completed 90 minutes for the first time since last September, but warned that the club will tread carefully with the player as he continues to recover fully from injury.

Kompany’s absence has been a disaster for City this season who have struggled for stability at the back. But Kompany has been excelling in training recently and was able to complete Saturday’s game with no obvious problems. If Kompany can even play half of City’s games for the rest of the season he will help a side trying to compete in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, and the captain was assessed on Sunday back in Manchester to see how his body reacted to the game.

“We are going to see on Sunday his regeneration and after then we will see,” Guardiola said. “The first step is done, that is good. It is a long time since this happened, since he was able to play 90 minutes without injury. Last season I remember the semi-final of the Champions League [he went off] after seven minutes.”

Guardiola praised Kompany’s work as well as that of Dr Ramon Cugat, the Barcelona-based orthopaedic surgeon who Guardiola has always worked with. Dr Cugat, who rescued Guardiola’s own playing career, has helped to solve Kompany’s own muscular problems this season as well as working with Kevin de Bruyne. City have also appointed Dr Eduardo Mauri, a close associate of Dr Cugat, formerly of Espanyol, as their new club doctor.

“The doctors and the physios that Manchester City have are exceptional, some of the best I ever worked with in my life,” Guardiola said. “That has helped him a lot to get fit, that is good.”

Kompany was himself delighted to be back after having his season ruined by injuries so far. Kompany said that he knew he was ready to play again after excelling in training in recent weeks.

“I keep going and if I felt that in training these guys were a little too much for me I’d hold my hand up and say, ‘This was a little too much for me’,” he said. “But at the moment I’m with the best in training so there’s no reason to stop.”

Kompany’s early career at Anderlecht and Hamburg was blighted by injuries which means that he has the resilience to overcome problems, as he has shown over the last 18 months at City.

“I just trust myself and all the situations I’ve seen over the past 13 years,” he said. “There’s very few moves that players will do that I haven’t seen, dealt or thought about before. The only thing is whether the body goes where you want to go. That’s not been a problem and I knew from training. If you get through training at City, then you’re alright for most of the games.”

The return of Kompany meant another game on the bench for John Stones, who Guardiola admitted was not the right man to take on the physical challenge of Christian Benteke.

Had Kompany been fit all season it might have been easier for Stones, who has struggled since his £48m move in part because he has not had a stable experienced partner alongside him. Stones has not played City’s last two games and Guardiola said that not every game was right for the young prodigy, telling him to “fight” like he did at the start of the season..

“If you see my line-ups for the last three, four , five months I try to have all the players play,” Guardiola explained. “So he’s played a lot. But now, for this kind of stadium, for [Christian] Benteke, for the long-balls, I decide to play two central defenders more strong in the air. I will continue to play a left-footed central defender on the left side, like Kolarov. But I remember the last games he played, especially in Anfield, even in Goodison Park, he played good.”

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Jurgen Klopp might now realise there are four separate groups of Liverpool fans to please - and that may not be possible

When Jürgen Klopp became Liverpool’s manager, he spoke about turning the doubters into believers, asking fans inside Anfield to stay right until the end rather than choosing to make an early dart. He spoke too about feeling lonely on the touchline during these moments: his despondency at seeing the stands beginning to clear before a result was settled.

Four minutes of injury time were signalled at the end of the second half on Saturday. Liverpool had not long scored through Divock Origi and though it remained 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, placed 18th in the Championship, you would think Liverpool had every chance of recovery. Had Klopp chosen to look behind his dugout, however, he would have seen lines of glum faces, chins nuzzled into breasts; people filing their way to the exit gates.

Perhaps some of the doubters who turned into believers have returned to being doubters again. Klopp did not choose this moment to ask for help. He could understand why decisions were made.

“I’m not worried, I cannot be new every day and I cannot say the same thing. But I would I have left. It was a bad game,” he said. “It is not that I think that people have to stay and accept everything. It was not good enough. It was a deserved win for Wolverhampton.”

Liverpool have played three games at home in a row and lost them all. Should Chelsea turn up at Anfield and inflict a fourth defeat on Tuesday night, it will represent Liverpool’s worst run at Anfield since Newcastle United - like Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Cardiff City before them - went there and won on Christmas Day 1923, despite the presence in goal of the great Elisha Scott.

To try and stop the prospect of that happening, Liverpool have laid on a private jet to bring Sadio Mané back from the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon after Senegal’s exit on penalties to Cameroon and he might be named on the substitutes’ bench.

Before that decision was made, it was put to Klopp that Liverpool are now in a crisis situation. Because of exits in the domestic cup competitions and with no European interest, Liverpool will play only six games between now and the start of April. Victory would put them seven points behind Chelsea. Defeat would stretch Chelsea’s lead to 13, leaving Liverpool with the sole target of Champions League qualification.

“I don’t think this is the right time to talk about the whole season,” he responded. “It is enough just to think about this game. I can’t have an influence on what people think. I know it is a few weeks since we don’t fly anymore. Everybody is reminded of difficult times in the past. You, all the people around – that is how it is. Who dreamt that it was going to be always like it was against Hull (when Liverpool won 5-1)? It’s a difficult situation. This is still a very good squad, even when everyone is thinking “Oh my God!” I am still quite a good manager, even though we have lost the last three games. That doesn’t change. The mood around? That has changed. This is football and we can change it [again]. The only good thing about this game is that it is over.”

Nestled amongst those quotes, Klopp used that line for a second time, the one about not being “new every day.” It must surely reflect that he thinks his novelty has worn off after 18 months in charge. His response to a different question, one related to touchline loneliness, was also telling.

“It is a little bit of your responsibility if you want – the people are saying a few things here, a few things on social media, a few things in the press,” Klopp said. “Some will have not seen the game and only seen the result. I don’t know exactly what they can think.”

Maybe this illustrates Klopp is beginning to understand that Liverpool’s fanbase is more separated than anybody at Fenway Sports Group would like to advertise, that it is not anymore simply one living and breathing organism. Let’s have it right, there are four sets of Liverpool supporters with different mindsets that Klopp must appease. The first are the Anfield regulars, from Merseyside or not, who understand Liverpool best but are worn down by its failures. You have the day-tripping consumers that head to areas of the ground like the ‘Fan Zone’ and, perhaps, have eaten too much pizza and chicken before games to expend energy in creating the atmosphere Klopp dreams of. You have the corporates, the Club Wembley types, who leave behind rows of empty red seats at half time. And then you have the ones who are not even there: those who follow games through platforms like Twitter and want their voices heard, reacting instantly to everything: good or bad.

For Klopp and Liverpool, Saturday was a bad day. Goals from Richard Stearman and Andreas Weimann had secured Wolves’ passage to the fifth round but the most credit must go to Paul Lambert, who maintains his record of never having lost at Anfield as a player or a manager. He knows Klopp well having played for Borussia Dortmund before going back there to study coaching methods when Klopp was in charge.

“He had an incredible time at Dortmund when he built the club up and got it going again and this is maybe his first spell where he has had to ride the storm,” Lambert said of Klopp. “It will make him stronger and it will make him bigger and better. He is a top guy and a top manager and I think it is just a blip they are going through.”

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Transfer news live: Dimitri Payet leaves West Ham, Asmir Begovic wants to leave Chelsea, Arsenal and United latest

West Ham have agreed to sell midfielder Dimitri Payet back to Marseille in a £25m move, with the club issuing a firm statement to express their disappointment with his the France international forced his move away from the Premier League club.

West Ham sell Payet back to Marseille for £25m

Sunderland looking to sign Leicester’s unhappy striker Leonardo Ulloa

Branislav Ivanovic closing in on Chelsea exit in move to Russia

Asmir Begovic looking to leave Chelsea after being ‘wasted’ on the bench

Burnley trying to sign Norwich City midfielder Robbie Brady

Southampton eye double-swoop for Serdar Tasci and Madolo Gabbiadini

Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool all unlikely to make any new signings before January window-deadline

Follow the live news below...

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

The January transfer window closes at 23:00 on Tuesday 31 December.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Arsenal, African football and Donald Trump - former 'Invincible' Lauren Etamé Mayer opens up

Arsenal Invincible, Indomitable Lion, African immigrant: when Lauren Etamé Mayer talks – be it about Arsenal’s chances of ever winning the league again, the future of African football, or even the state of the wider world – it pays to listen.

Spoiler alert: he doesn’t seem particularly optimistic about the latter two topics; although he is positive about Arsenal in a wide-open season when they are starting to show some of the spirit of Lauren's team from 2004.

“Alexis [Sanchez] would fit perfectly,” he says when he’s asked which of the current team would have got into the Invincibles side. “I say that because of his talent, but also for the mentality that he has. You could compare him to the players from our era.”

Lauren is big on mentality and strength of character. His formative years were marked by his father Valentín Bisan-Etamé fleeing dictator Francisco Macías’ Spanish Guinea and taking his family across the border into Cameroon where Lauren was born in January 1977.

The second youngest of 22 siblings, Lauren then moved briefly to Madrid, and on to Seville in southern Spain. That explains why sat before me in the Madrid hotel where he is currently staying as he covers the African Cup of Nations for television, his accent is far closer to his former Arsenal team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes’ than to any of the Cameroon team-mates he won Olympic gold and two Cup of Nations with between 2000 and 2002.

“They were going to imprison him; execute him. It was a miracle escape. But it’s never been something talked about in the family. Did they climb out through a window? I don’t know they never told me,” he says recalling how his father - who had been head of telecommunications in Guinea - was passed information that there was an order for his capture.

“I have no memories of Cameroon. My first memory really is the Plaza de España in Seville. We lived in two flats, flat B and flat C, and there were a lot of bunk beds for me and the 10 brothers and sisters who moved with us. I started playing for Sevilla aged 11 as a striker.”

A quick, goalscoring, number 10 he made it as far as the club's B-team in the Spanish second division before moving to Levante and Mallorca where Arsene Wenger saw him; not as a number 10 (he had Denis Bergkamp for that) but as a new number two, a replacement for Lee Dixon.

“To go from attacking midfield to becoming a full-back was crazy. But if you are good, and you can adapt, then you do it because you want to play.”

Another one of the reasons he believes this Arsenal team can win the league is the quality of the current right-back. “[Hector] Bellerin is very, very good,” he says. “He is going to be better than all of us. He knows how to play with the ball at his feet. He reads the game. He can get forward and get behind the opposition’s defence. When he arrives he then has the ability to cross well. He knows how to play between the lines. And he is so young. If he stays injury-free then he is going to out-do me and Lee Dixon and Pat Rice and everyone who has played in that position for the club over the years.”

It was Pat Rice who helped Lauren learn his new trade. He recalls of Wenger’s former assistant: “He was the one who would be telling me to watch runs in behind me or pick-up my man. He was the one barking the orders at the defence. Wenger was more about giving you the tools so that you could resolve things. For him the most important thing was that wherever you were on the pitch you knew in a fraction of a second which was the right pass.”

The more Lauren talks about Wenger the more it serves as a reminder that back in 2003 he was already doing many of things now associated with Pep Guardiola.

“Ashley Cole wasn’t a pure defender, he started off in midfield. I started off in midfield. Kolo [Toure] was not a pure centre-back. Wenger was very keen on that and Guardiola is now. He wanted midfielders at full-back – players who had that offensive aspect to their game.”

Wenger has kept on producing teams with the same attacking panache but the mentality has been more difficult to find again.

“We had good footballers but they had tremendous character all of them and that is why we achieved what we achieved. I don’t want to say that the current players don’t have a winning mentality but evidently it’s not comparable.

“If I had to pick one player to come back as it would be Patrick Vieira. He was an example both on and off the pitch. He was exactly what the captain of a team should be – he always fronted-up but with what you call “good manners”. He was aggressive but there was an elegance to it.”

Lauren says he has no immediate interest in taking the coaching path but has no doubts that Vieira will follow his vocation right to the top.

“He has been very intelligent in the way he has gone about doing it. They have offered him various opportunities to manage in the Premier League but he felt that he was not ready. One thing is to coach kids and another to have the responsibility of a first team. We have seen how Clarence Seedorf failed at Milan and [Gary] Neville at Valencia. He is a great pundit but then [as coach] … When you don’t have experience you can’t just, from one day to the next, take over a big team.

“Vieira has seen that and he has decided to go slowly, first with the B-team, now with New York, and it is going well and he is getting experience and I think one day he will be the manager of a big club.”

So the future is bright for Vieira, and for Arsenal too. He urges them to renew Sanchez’s contract, saying: “I think the club have reached a moment when they should be holding on to their best players,” and he is enthusiastic about the current crop.

“I don’t remember a squad as strong as this one in a long time and I am seeing good things this season. The resistance shown against Bournemouth in the 3-3 away from home – it was not the best result but in seasons gone by at 3-0 down we don’t get back into that game if we play for three days.

“Now I look at Arsenal and it’s not just the 11 there are various players who can come in and make an impact. When [Alex] Iwobi and Lucas Perez have come in they have done very well.”

That analysis was certainly borne out by Saturday’s FA Cup demolition of Southampton. Where the optimism runs a little dry is on the future of African football. He says Fifa’s move to extend the World Cup to 48 teams will only benefit Africa if the continent ends up receiving its share of the increased revenue. And if it is then responsibly invested by national football associations.

“I don’t believe it will be that way,” he says. “Football for the poor is a very nice slogan but behind the slogan unhappily I don’t think it will be like that. The media has to monitor [the revenue distribution] and the African football associations then have to use the money efficiently to improve football at grassroots.

“If the national associations are not on top of this then Africa will always be two or three steps behind the rest of the world.”

Lauren’s story as an African immigrant to Europe is atypical because his father arrived in Spain with the means to support his family. But he can relate to the plight of those that flee because they have nothing left.

It would be remiss not to ask him what he thinks of wider world developments as it seems every day more borders are locked and visas denied.

“If you suffocate a country the people have to get out somehow. It’s terrible what we are seeing: women and children dying in the oceans.

“It’s the politics of fear – they are going to come and take your job, but the reason why there is this movement of people is never discussed.

“It seems globalisation is fine when it suits and not fine when it doesn’t. If globalisation means that it’s no longer just a couple of countries sharing the pie then suddenly those countries are not interested and they want borders and barriers and you get the demagogue politics of Donald Trump.

"No one has benefitted more from globalisation than the United States but now that it is no longer solely in their interest they are going to build barriers and talk to Nigel Farage in England and it’s the politics of demagogues."

He’s exhausted by the deviation into world affairs. “But let’s talk about the football,” he says.

We close by combining the two. Lauren is now an overseas ambassador for Arsenal. “The club is doing some fantastic work in Africa. It is taking football to certain countries where the kids have the fewest opportunities to experience it and develop," he says.

“I had the chance to go with the club to Kenya recently with a ‘coaching clinic’ developing players and also coaches, teaching the ‘Arsenal way’.

“They really are doing a phenomenal job and you can really see how the young players are developing. I was in Rwanda a couple of years ago too. And they are doing great work there as well. The clinics last for two or three weeks but periodically they send representatives to monitor progress and the work has a big impact socially and economically beyond football.”

He is back in positive mode now. He feels that working with his old club he is making a difference. “It’s good sustainable development that is needed,” he says. “It needs to start at the bottom because at the top end Africa has given football some great players over the decades. George Weah, Abedi Pele, Roger Milla, Tommy N’Kono, Kanu, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o… me.”

The last name is added with a modest smile. The modesty is not necessary, there is no question that he deserves to be on the list.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Ashley Young to leave United this January, confirms Jose Mourinho, but Bastian Schweinsteiger set to stay

Jose Mourinho expects Ashley Young to be the third player to leave Manchester United in the January transfer window - but made it clear that Bastian Schweinsteiger would be staying put following his man-of-match performance against Wigan on Sunday afternoon.

The United manager also gave no reassurances about Wayne Rooney’s future at Old Trafford.

Mourinho was specifically asked about Rooney, who is coveted by several Chinese clubs, but said the only player who would be leaving before January 31 was Young. The deadline for the Chinese Super League is February 28.

“Ashley is a player I would love to keep. I am not happy he is leaving,” said Mourinho, although since Young last started a Premier League fixture on November 6, he has long been surplus to his manager’s requirements. He has been linked with moves to Everton, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham and Watford – as well as China.

Interestingly, on the day Sir Bobby Charlton presented Rooney with a golden boot to mark the passing of his Manchester United goalscoring record, Mourinho did not give any indication that he wanted his captain to stay.

He was, however, effusive about Bastian Schweinsteiger, who scored Manchester United’s final goal in the 4-0 defeat of Wigan in the FA Cup, which was his first start in more than a year.

“Yes, he is staying,” said Mourinho of Schweinsteiger. “He is going on to the Europa League list because, with the sale of Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin, there are spaces open. We don’t have many players and we don’t have many options in midfield. Ninety minutes was probably too hard for him.

“I think he is happy now and he was a good professional when he was not playing and with so many competitions and games he will be an option.”

That Schweinsteiger has stayed at Manchester United owes as much to the inability of the club to find anyone who will match his wages of £200,000 a week as to his professionalism. However, the climax to Manchester United’s season will be an exhausting one and Mourinho lashed out at the way the English fixture list was compiled.

“We are in four competitions but the Premier League is almost an impossible mission,” he said. “In the League Cup we have a 50 per cent chance of winning it and in the FA Cup we are in the last 16 and in the Europa League in the last 32, so there are lots of matches to play.

“We are going to have some nice gifts,” he added sarcastically. “Watford had an amazing gift. They played today in the FA Cup and they have to play on Tuesday in the Premier League. You have to laugh. How is this possible? It is absolute nonsense.”

Manchester United could pay 67 games this season. “Liverpool will play 16 more matches,” said Mourinho. “Chelsea will play 16 more matches plus some in the FA Cup and we are in this really crazy situation.

“Southampton will have 15 days without football before the League Cup final. We are going to play two matches against St Etienne and in the next round of the FA Cup. The calendar in the best country in world football is nonsense.”

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Garry Monk takes responsibility for Sutton United defeat after fielding second-string Leeds side

Garry Monk took full responsibility for Leeds United’s exit from this season’s FA Cup at the hands of the National League’s Sutton United.

In total, Monk made 10 changes from his promotion-chasing side’s midweek win over Nottingham Forest, handing debuts to academy products Paul McKay and Billy Whitehouse.

The likes of Robert Green, Pablo Hernandez and top-scorer Chris Wood were left out of the matchday squad, and after the chastening 1-0 defeat, Monk admitted he may have altered his line-up too much.

“It’s a frustrating result and a frustrating performance but it’s my responsibility, I’m the one who selects the team. I made a lot of changes, it didn’t work and it backfired in that sense. I take full responsibility,” he said.

“It’s me that selects the team. When you make that many changes it sometimes doesn’t help with how cohesive you are.

“Okay, we���ve done that in the cups and reached a quarter final doing that and we’ve done well in league games when we’ve had to do that but maybe today was one step too far or one change too many.”

By contrast, Sutton manager Paul Doswell could hardly have been happier with Monk’s selection, having prepared his players to face a second-string Leeds outfit.

“We guessed nine of them, we had nine of the 11. We went off the Cambridge game and knowing they’ve got a massive game on Wednesday and their overriding priority is to get in the Premier League, I would have done exactly the same as Garry Monk today. The riches of the Premier League mean it’s a no brainer for him.”

The previous highlight of the south London club’s FA Cup history was their 1989 third round victory over then-holders Coventry City, but Doswell was not afraid to rank the achievement of his players higher.

“Now we’ve got to the fifth round and the club’s never done that it’s got to be the best day. I’ve been talking about making more modern memories and it’s brilliant.

“’89, to beat Coventry at that time, a Division One/Premier League club, was an amazing experience but we’ve gone on and done another round now. We’ve beaten a team that 47 years ago beat us 6-0 so we’ve made some progress.”

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Jasprit Bumrah denies England at the death as India level Twenty20 series

On a sultry evening in Nagpur, England were unable to overcome a cacophonous crowd, ropey umpiring and subtle, precise death bowling.

After yielding only three runs from the 18th over, flummoxing Joe Root with a series of slower balls, Jasprit Bumrah was left needing to defend eight from the final six balls. The first deceived Root, erroneously dismissed lbw after an inside edge, and the over played out with a mesmerising finale, each delivery greeted with ever-more pandemonium at the VCA Stadium. As Moeen Ali heaved in vain at the final ball, a yorker outside offstump, Bumrah held his arms aloft and looked to the sky, toasting a remarkable over that had yielded only two runs.

Twenty20 cricket is a game designed with big-hitting in mind; stifling it is the most precious attribute of all. Here Bumrah did that superbly, delivering his box of tricks with such chutzpah that it left players of the calibre of Root and Jos Buttler left heaving more in hope than expectation.

Bumrah’s skill was to ascertain what would be most effective on the wicket: essentially, a combination of back-of-a-length deliveries mixed with slower balls outside offstump, including three consecutive ones to Root to end the 18th over, ultimately the decisive juncture in the game. With England needing only 32 from their last four overs with seven wickets in hand, Ashish Nehra was almost as impressive, deceiving Ben Stokes with a slower ball of his own.

For all the wiles of India’s fast bowling pair, England could be entitled to feel aggrieved. India’s victory was abetted by a couple of umpiring errors - the incorrect decision against Root, and a reprieve of Virat Kohli, plumb lbw seven runs into his 21 - which were enough to raise the question: if neutral umpires are demanded for all Test matches, why not for T20Is, too, when two home umpires are still permitted? England, Morgan said, felt “extreme frustration”, and supported the introduction of the Decision Review System in T20Is. “There is as much on the line as there is in a Test or a one-day match so no reason why it shouldn't be used.”

England intend to issue a formal complaint to the match referee about the umpiring, and Paul Farbrace’s words to local umpire Chettithody Shamshuddin - who is down to officiate in the series decided in Bangalore - in the moments after the game appeared to reflect England’s angst.

Yet England would also not reflect on their batting with any great fondness. Chasing 145 on a tricky pitch demanded a refined approach, not merely the brutal swinging that now defines England in limited overs cricket.

A series of dismissals - Billings top-edging Nehra after advancing down the pitch; Roy being caught off a leading edge; the very next ball; and Eoin Morgan tamely picking out midwicket when England seemed ascendant - were distinctly of the self-inflicted variety. And this was an innings marked by a little too much swinging for the hills: England failed to score from 42 balls, while India failed to score from 36 balls, a difference one run more than India’s margin of victory.

So, despite some Stokes thrashing a pair of thunderous straight sixes after being bowled off a no ball first delivery, and Root anchoring the innings, the night ended with 40,000 lauding a classic finish and their desired result. In the context of the match, KL Rahul’s 71 was a classic of the genre, combining shrewd recognition that the conditions demanded less gung-ho than usual with crisp driving on both sides of the wicket.

How India needed him: they only managed four other boundaries in the whole innings. None of England’s attack was more impressive than Chris Jordan, who troubled Virat Kohli more than any other Englishman either side of Christmas. In Jordan’s opening over, the third of the innings, Kohli was struck on the pad by a ball that kept low, but was somehow reprieved. Two overs later, Jordan’s 64mph was bunted, mostly ungainly by Kohli’s regal standards, to long on.

Jordan’s was a performance that married control with variation - eight of his 24 deliveries were slower balls, according to the analytics company CricViz, and he also varied his line and length shrewdly. In a magnificent final over, Jordan conceded only five while taking two wickets, including MS Dhoni inside-edging a heave onto his stumps, hopelessly early on a slower ball.

There was also a run-out: Hardik Pandya drilled a ball straight into the stumps, uprooting the bails, but Jordan reacted with clarity and nonchalant athleticism to gather the ball and uprooted the stump. For England, the only shame was that Jordan provided Bumrah and Nehra with the perfect template of how to bowl on this wicket, but Jordan’s two terrific showings this series have given him strong hopes of returning for a second stint in the IPL, especially as his estrangement from England’s ODI squad means that should be available for the whole season.

It seems unlikely that Moeen Ali will even be in the IPL auction on February 21 - and, in truth, few franchises would be wooed by his offspin, given the abundance of Indian players capable of matching it.

Yet Moeen has been the most frugal bowler on either side this series, here recording his cheapest four-over spell in a T20I for the 2nd game in a row, and taking his series figures to 8-0-41-3. If this was a performance lacking any great mystery, it was a triumph for superb control: Moeen did not yield a single boundary. Sensing his threat, Morgan gave him a slip against Yuvraj Singh, who should earlier have been given lbw by Shamshuddin but was eventually dismissed sweeping after a torturous four from 12 balls.

That one-sided tussle embodied how, after a series of limited overs games in which bowlers have often seemed a mere addendum to the batsmen who shape matches, here bowlers had a wicket that empowered rather than neutered them. The spin bowlers could generate turn, and the pace bowlers could garner bounce. It made for absorbing cricket and a thrilling denouement, each England dot ball cheered as jubilantly as the winner in an FA Cup tie.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Bastian Schweinsteiger rolls back the years as Manchester United cruise through to FA Cup fifth round

“Are you watching Merseyside?” sang the Stretford End. This was an example to Liverpool and everyone else about how to beat a lesser team with a weakened side. Manchester United have now met two Championship sides managed by men who used to work for them and beaten them both 4-0.

Overcoming Warren Joyce’s Wigan was slightly more difficult than beating Jaap Stam’s Reading but it underlined something about Jose Mourinho. One jaw-dropping afternoon against Bradford at Stamford Bridge aside, he is not a manager who loses to lower-division opposition. And he has not won domestic cup competitions in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain by fielding weakened teams, although three days after reaching the League Cup final, he decided to soften Manchester United.

A forward line of Mata, Rooney, Mkhitaryan and Martial – men with a combined transfer fee of £124m - could hardly be dubbed weak.

There was also room for Bastian Schweinsteiger, whose last start for Manchester United had come more than a year ago in a 1-0 home win over Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup, a game that was turgid even by the standards of Louis van Gaal’s sides. The great Dutchman would, however, want it pointed out that four months later Manchester United lifted the trophy. By then, Schweinsteiger was nowhere near the first team.

Playing in short sleeved shirt and gloves, Schweinsteiger’s early play was coated with rust. His passing was short and very simple or when he attempted something more adventurous, played aimlessly into space.

It took him until the 44th minute to produce a ball that suggested he might have once won the World Cup and when he did Manchester United were ahead.

The cross was high and hung in the air and Jakob Haugaard, Wigan’s Danish keeper, elected not to come for it and made the wrong choice. Marouane Fellaini’s header was hard, directed into the ground and finished in the net beneath the Stretford End.

By the end Schweinsteiger was looking like the man Van Gaal signed from Bayern Munich and nine minutes from the final whistle, the match already won, he scored United’s fourth, turning lithely in the box with his back to goal to speed home Ander Herrera’s header. The ovation was thunderous.

Having managed Manchester United’s reserves for eight years and been responsible for the development of the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford, Wigan’s manager, Warren Joyce, arguably knew the club better than Mourinho.

Historically, the task facing Joyce and his team was daunting. Wigan had visited Old Trafford eight times in their history, lost every time and conceded 28 goals. The only time they had managed a goal was a stoppage time penalty from Leighton Baines, awarded when United were already three goals to the good.

And yet Wigan began confidently. In his account of a football life lived in the lower leagues, called Journeyman, Ben Smith, who played for Crawley in an FA Cup tie at Manchester United in 2011, said the only way to cope was to imagine yourselves the equal of a Ryan Giggs.

Until Manchester United scored their second, a header from Chris Smalling from another cross – this time delivered by Anthony Martial – Wigan looked like they believed.

They had the first shots on target, one from Callum Connolly that was punched away with both fists by Sergio Romero, and another from Max Power, who possesses a glorious name for a footballer. For Wigan to have had a chance, one needed to have gone in.

However, gradually, Manchester United’s class told, epitomised by two wonderful counter-attacks in either half. The first featured a lovely cross from Timothy Fosu-Mensah that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, perhaps slightly off balance, was unable to tap in at the far post.

For Manchester United’s third, Mkhitaryan did not miss, although the work was done by Martial, who running fast with the ball, laid it off perfectly for Mkhitaryan to slide home ahead of Stephen Warnock. By the end Mourinho was subbing his keeper, something usually only done in pre-season friendlies. It was that simple.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Romero (Pereira ; Fosu-Mensah (Tuanzebe 68), Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Fellaini (Herrera 70), Schweinsteiger; Mata, Rooney, Mkhitaryan; Martial. Substitutes: Pereira (g), Ibrahimovic, Blind, Young, Rashford, Herrera.

Wigan Athletic (4-1-4-1): Haugaard; Connolly, Buxton, Burn, Warnock; MacDonald (Browne 76); Perkins (Wildschut 59), Power, Morsy, Jacobs; Grigg (Tunnicliffe 70). Substitutes: Jaaskelainen (g), James, Kellett, Morgan.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Injured Anthony Watson to miss England's Six Nations opener against France

England winger Anthony Watson has been ruled out for a period of three to four weeks by a hamstring problem.

The Bath flyer will miss the opening RBS 6 Nations clash with France at Twickenham next weekend but it is hoped he will be available to head coach Eddie Jones later in the tournament.

A medical assessment confirmed that Watson has a slight muscular strain to his hamstring which will require a rehabilitation period of between three and four weeks.

Watson will remain with England for his rehabilitation and Jones said: "It's disappointing news for Anthony and for England, but we know he'll rehab diligently to get himself right to go as soon as he can.

"We're confident he'll be in the mix later in the championship."

PA

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Sutton United bask in magic of the FA Cup after knocking out Leeds to progress to fifth round

When these two sides last met at this stage of the world’s oldest football competition, Don Revie, then-manager of Leeds United, warned supporters against invading the pitch in the event of an upset, lest “a player worth a quarter of a million” be injured. He needn’t have worried, his side won 6-0. 47 years later, however, Sutton’s master of ceremonies spent the final minutes of what will be remembered as one of his club’s greatest victories asking Gander Green Lane to do the same and stay in the stands. He stood no chance.

Sutton’s remarkable journey through this competition continues at the expense of Garry Monk’s Leeds, Championship high-flyers and their biggest scalp yet. A second-half penalty from their captain, Jamie Collins, ultimately proved to be enough for the 16th-placed side in the National League to reach the last-16 of the FA Cup.

You sensed this upset was coming. Monk rang the changes for this game, making 10 in total, not one of them over 25-years-old. Only Stuart Dallas was retained from the midweek win over Nottingham Forest, while Billy Whitehouse and Paul McKay were handed debuts. Malik Wilks was named among the substitutes despite the death of his 19-year-old brother in Harehills on Thursday.

All the early running came from the hosts, who took advantage of their visitors’ evident lack of cohesion. Roarie Deacon, a thorn in Leeds’ side from the first whistle to the last, thought he had opened the scoring early on when he fired decisively into the roof of Marco Silvestri’s net. It was only once the pile of amber and chocolate shirts on top of him had cleared that he noticed the linesman’s raised flag. Offside, just.

The decision only galvanised Deacon. A few minutes later he found enough space again, around 30 yards out, and sent a fizzing, dipping strike at goal. Silvestri was equal to it this time, and impressively tipped over the bar. Sutton could smell blood, and a disjointed Leeds struggled to find a response to the non-League side’s tenacious midfield.

Silvestri was forced into action for a third time just before the half-hour mark. Bedsente Gomis pounced on a loose, deflected ball in the box and the Leeds ‘stopper kept it out, but only with his backside. The ball then broke loose from underneath him, but he was spared further blushes by smothering it.

It was Dallas who finally registered an effort on goal for the visitors around ten minutes before the interval, but his attempted chip was easily pushed away by Sutton’s Ross Wormer. Leeds had, by then, successfully taken the sting out of Sutton’s play, but still lacked a significant threat in their own. The first-half ended as it had started, with Deacon inviting another eye-catching, one-handed save out of Silvestri.

When both teams re-emerged, there was a sense that Sutton may have missed their window of opportunity. Monk’s midfield looked to have finally got a grip on their industrious opponents, and Whitehouse soon went close with a deflected effort just wide of the far post. Yet Leeds’ newfound confidence was misplaced, and their downfall was their own doing.

In what should have been a routine communication between full-back and goalkeeper, Lewie Coyle and Silvestri instead crashed into each other, the latter falling to the ground. Coyle, desperately attempting to atone for his mistake, then tripped the ever-troublesome Deacon in the box. The referee Stuart Atwell pointed to the spot and Collins nestled the ball into the bottom-right corner.

Leeds reassumed control in the middle of the park but were never assertive, and failed to convert their busy pressing and neat passing into opportunities. The introductions of Kemar Roofe and Hadi Sacko did nothing to help. Sutton, on the other hand, had no such trouble, always sensing that Monk’s shaken backline would present them with a chance to kill the tie.

Such a chance almost fell to Craig Eastmond. The former Arsenal youngster, a dynamic presence throughout, looked set to test Silvestri again before he was brought down by Liam Cooper, the Leeds captain. The centre-half had already had his name taken by Attwell early on and his late dismissal made his side’s exit certain. Several tense minutes later, Monk, Leeds’ travelling support and one poor old master of ceremonies were all forced to accept defeat.

Sutton United: Worner, Amankwaah, Downer, Collins, Spence; May, Bailey, Eastmond (Traore 90+1); Deacon, Biamou, Gomis.

Subs: John, Fitchett, Gueye, Monakana, Tubbs, Shaw.

Leeds United: Silvestre; Coyle, McKay, Cooper, Denton; Grimes, Phillips, Dallas (Sacko 57); Whitehouse (Roofe 73), Doukara (Wilks, 64) Antonsson.

Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Vieira, Ayling, Vann.

Referee: Stuart Atwell

Attendance: 4,997

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Fulham fire four past Hull City to knock Marco Silva's men out of the FA Cup

Fulham have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2010-11 after a 4-1 win over Premier League side Hull on Sunday.

The hosts put four past a Hull outfit who looked lethargic throughout the game with former Tigers forward Sone Aluko opening the scoring for Fulham just 17 minutes in.

The Yorkshire side equalised shortly after half-time through Lazar Markovic but goals from Chris Martin, Ryan Sessegnon and Stefan Johansen put the game to bed before Hull striker Abel Hernandez failed to convert two late penalty kicks at Craven Cottage.

The Londoners made four changes from the side which lost 1-0 to Reading on Tuesday with Floyd Ayite, who returned from the African Nations Cup following Togo's exit from the competition, and new signing Thanos Petsos, who joined the club from German side Werder Bremen, starting the game on the bench.

Following their exit from the EFL Cup on Thursday Hull manager Marco Silva made seven changes with Markovic, who came off the bench in midweek, awarded his first start for the club.

Silva was forced to make an early change with Harry Maguire replacing Curtis Davies after he limped off holding his hamstring and the visitors struggled to get momentum.

On 17 minutes Fulham were awarded a free-kick after Tom Huddlestone brought down Martin. Midfielder Johansen's cross into the box found the head of Tomas Kalas and Aluko fired the ball into the back of the net to score his fifth goal of the season in all competitions.

The Tigers looked tired throughout much of the first half, struggling to get into an attacking position but after half-time they quickly caught the Fulham back four napping as Markovic was left unmarked to head Andrew Robertson's cross home. The goal was the midfielder's first for the visitors since he joined on loan from Liverpool on Monday.

It was not long until the hosts were back in control and just five minutes later they were ahead once again. A piece of excellent play saw Sessegnon pass the ball across the Hull defence, leaving on-loan Martin, who is said to be keen to return to parent club Derby, with an easy finish into an empty net to slot the ball into.

Slavisa Jokanovic's side continued to dominate and on 66 minutes Sessegnon and Martin teamed up again with 16-year-old Sessegnon slotting the ball past Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic.

The visitors struggled to get back into the game and Fulham, who had not beaten Hull since 2009, scored again with just over 10 minutes to go.

Midfielder Tom Cairney held the ball up in the area before passing to Johansen, who was left unmarked, and the 26-year-old midfielder was left with time to make sure his shot was on target.

In a late twist - with less than five minutes remaining - the visitors were awarded a penalty when Kalas brought down Robertson.

Hernandez's first effort was saved by Bettinelli, but the Fulham goalkeeper fouled the Uruguayan as they challenged for the loose ball.

Hernandez stepped up to take the second penalty, but again he was denied by Bettinelli.

PA

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Millwall move into FA Cup fifth round following well-deserved victory over struggling Watford

League One Millwall capped a significant week in their existence with a 1-0 home victory over Watford that took them into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Another convincing performance was finally rewarded with the goal it deserved when Steve Morison's late, close-range finish ensured Watford became the second Premier League team the hosts have eliminated this season.

It also concluded the week in which their future at The Den became secure after Lewisham council's abandonment of a controversial property scheme.

Watford manager Walter Mazzarri had retained only four players from the team that last week drew 2-2 at Bournemouth in the Premier League, having spoken of his wariness of their schedule of three games in six days, but his gamble undermined them.

As made sense against a much-changed team low on confidence, Millwall began with the same intensity with which they overwhelmed Bournemouth to win 3-0 in the third round. Unlike Watford, who retained only Younes Kaboul, Miguel Britos Abdoulaye Doucoure and Stefano Okaka, they were unchanged.

Almost immediately after kick off, Jake Cooper found Morison on the right wing with a long pass from defence. After running further into Watford's half, the striker sent a well-weighted crossed into the area towards Lee Gregory, whose first-time shot hit the crossbar.

From their next attack Gregory made another dangerous run off another long pass, but was this time rightly ruled offside.

In the opening 10 minutes Tony Craig also threatened with a deflected shot from the edge of the area, and Cooper went close with a header.

Watford only began to appear remotely settled midway through the half when Millwall's intensity fell, and as a result of the composed Ben Watson's passing.

Their only true sight on goal came in the 35th minute, but when Jerome Sinclair created space in the area he miskicked the ball and wasted his chance.

Millwalll responded by launching another attack, from which Gregory closed down Costel Pantilimon to take possession before appealing for a penalty when Adrian Mariappa appeared to block his shot with his arm.

The goalkeeper suffered an injury in the challenge, and was taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Heurelho Gomes after receiving treatment.

Just on the stroke of half-time, the hosts again came close to scoring. Morison headed another of Cooper's passes towards Gregory, whose volley connected well but was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by Gomes. From Shaun Williams' resultant right-wing corner, Morison then saw a goal-bound header headed clear by Adlene Guedioura.

The impressive Morison's work-rate and understanding with Gregory ensured the hosts continued to threaten in the second half, but as the clear chance they needed continued to elude them a replay began to look likely.

It was in the 85th minute when substitute Shane Ferguson brilliantly picked out the unmarked Morison in front of goal with a cross from the left, and the striker deservedly capitalised with a powerful shot Gomes got a hand to but could not keep out.

From another attack almost immediately after Millwall again found the back of the net, but Byron Webster's effort was ruled out for handball.

Watford's struggles show little signs of ending after their latest defeat left them with one win in nine.

PA

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Barcelona grab late equaliser at Betis but 'ghost goal' refereeing blunder prompts more calls for video officiating

Barcelona may not have played well enough for all three points in a disappointing display at Real Betis that not only leaves them a point behind arch rivals Real Madrid, who have two games in hand, but are on the cusp of falling three points behind surprise title challengers Sevilla, should they win against Espanyol on Sunday afternoon.

And yet, that will not be the post-match focus in Spain, where debate will once again rage about video and goal-line technology after the reigning La Liga champions were denied a clear goal by a refereeing blunder.

Barca had goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to thank for not losing this game by a couple of goals. His heroics, however, only held out their hosts until the 75th minute when Alex Alegria gave Betis a much-merited lead.

Luis Suarez's last-minute equaliser salvaged the 1-1 for Luis Enrique's side but only after two chances had seemingly been cleared off the line by Betis defenders - one, on replay, which was a clear distance inside the goal.

Neymar was no sooner in the changing rooms post-match than he had sent out a Snapchat to his followers, laughing wryly at the injustice while also claiming a penalty that was ignored.

Neymar on Instagram pic.twitter.com/eQbslfm4d5

— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) January 29, 2017

Paranoia over refereeing bias is one of the more tiresome characteristics of the clasico rivalry, and Barcelona's noisy media will not let this lie.

But the bigger issues for Luis Enrique must be addressed on the training ground this week.

Ivan Rakitic failed to provide the necessary fluency and direction in the Sergio Busquets role, filling in for one of world football's most irreplaceable players. Busquets' own underperformance this season has been one of the reasons behind their (relative) struggles but this is a side that is struggling to pull together all of their elements despite a glittering, superstar cast.

It is one of the reasons that Luis Enrique has placed his own future in such doubt. There is a feeling that he can't get his pieces to meld together right now. They are struggling to click.

But these are complex things to resolve, questions of nuance and technical precision.

In a world of black and white, of over the line or not, there is only one issue that will fill the pages of newspapers in both Barcelona and Madrid over the coming days.

[the-independent-spt-yahoopa-blog]

Wikipedia jumps the gun and crowns Rafa Nadal champion in Australian Open

Tennis star Rafael Nadal was crowned winner of the Australian Open on Wikipedia almost an hour before the end of the match.

The victory was recorded on the website when the Spanish player had a break of serve in the final set and seemed to have the upper hand in the fiercely contested final.

It was active for almost 11 minutes before moderators revised the page. The match was subsequently won by Roger Federer.

The Swiss won the five-set thriller in Melbourne earning his 18th Grand Slam title and his first in five years.

Federer was forced to leave the court during the match to receive treatment on his right quad and came from a break down in the final set to take the crown.

He was returning from an injury which had sidelined him for six-months and beat his arch-rival at a grand slam for the first time in almost ten years.

Nadal and Federer have faced each other 34 times, nine of which have been Grand-Slam finals and their famous duel in the 2008 Wimbledon final is often noted as the greatest tennis match ever played.

The five set thriller ended with Federer winning 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3.