It seems it is not just England supporters who have yet to make up their minds about Sven-Goran Eriksson’s five and a half years in charge of the national team. The owners of Europe’s top clubs appear to share an uncertainty about how to assess exactly how good a job the Swede has done in handling a talented generation of English footballers.
Jose Reina redeemed himself in the most extraordinary fashion with three penalty shoot-out saves to win Liverpool the FA Cup after a classic final encounter with West Ham on Saturday. Liverpool required a last-minute equaliser from man-of-the-match Steven Gerrard to take an exhilarating contest into extra-time with the sides tied at 3-3.
Tottenham boosted their bid for Champions League football next season with a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday as rivals Blackburn saw their push for fourth place stalled by Portsmouth’s battle for Premiership survival. Goals from Canadian defender Paul Stalteri and England midfielder Michael Carrick either side of half-time allowed fourth-placed Spurs to pull four points clear of Blackburn
Manchester United have done a record-breaking shirt sponsorship deal with American insurance giant AIG but it is Premiership leaders Chelsea who are in the market for some protective cover this weekend. Jose Mourinho’s side are in need of the nerve-calming tonic that a victory over West Ham in Sunday’s London derby would provide.
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/ 27 February 2006
Sir Alex Ferguson has voiced confidence that he is capable of building another great Manchester United side and that he will be given the time to do it by the Glazers, the club’s American owners. The Scot was in bullish mood after watching Wayne Rooney mastermind a 4-0 win over Wigan in the League Cup final.
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/ 5 February 2006
Thierry Henry’s 200th goal for Arsenal helped the Gunners end a difficult week on a high with a 2-0 win at Birmingham on Saturday. Alan Shearer also celebrated a landmark day, his 201st goal for managerless Newcastle sealing a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth as well as making the former England forward the highest scorer in the club’s history.
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/ 8 December 2005
Manchester United’s bid for a tenth consecutive appearance in the knockout stages of the was shattered by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Benfica in Spain on Wednesday. First-half goals from Brazilian striker Geovanni and midfielder Beto put the Portuguese champions into the last 16 after Paul Scholes had given United a 6th-minute lead.
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/ 4 December 2005
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has savaged the performance of his players in a 2-0 defeat by Bolton that could have ended the Gunners’ chances of catching Chelsea in the Premiership title race. Wenger’s men slipped to fifth in the table and the 14-point gap between the two London clubs is beginning to look too big to close.
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/ 25 November 2005
With the weather forecasters anticipating the coldest weekend in Edinburgh in a decade, Scotland must hope the All Blacks also freeze at Murrayfield on Saturday. A 3-0 series win over the British and Irish Lions in June and July and a Tri-Nations title had established Graham Henry’s squad as the pre-eminent force in world rugby long before they touched down in Cardiff at the end of last month.
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/ 12 October 2005
Sven-Goran Eriksson has reiterated his faith in the England players who have made such an inept start to this season, signalling that he is unlikely to make significant changes to his first XI before the World Cup kicks off in June. Eriksson broke with his normal pattern of behaviour on Saturday.