Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini has again warned winger Adam Johnson to ignore the hype that has surrounded him in recent months.
The 23-year-old has sprung to prominence after breaking into the England set-up, but Mancini has concerns over Johnson's focus on the job in hand.
He told reporters:"England is like Italy. When a young player plays five games very well all the newspapers say 'oh this Adam Johnson is a fantastic player'.
"When you are young you read the newspapers and think 'I am the top, I am the top'.
"But Adam Johnson is a young player and doesn't understand the game very well. I think he can improve a lot more if he thinks more when he plays.
"He's a good player, but he's just 23 years old, he's played 20 games in the Premier League and it's impossible to think of him now as a top player.
"For this, he must work, he must think, he must work for the team – not two dribbles, two crosses. In a top team you need more.
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"If you're only doing two dribbles you can't be the best player on the pitch. You must do dribbling, score a goal, you must defend, you must help your team-mates.
"There is more expected of him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from Yaya Toure but had to wait until the 73rd before putting the game to bed when Toure's shot struck the post before hitting Green and nestlising into the back of the net.
Adam Johnson made it 3-0 before James Tomkins grabbed a late consolation goal for the Hammers with a powerfull header.
Meanwhile, Alan Pardew's reign as Newcastle manager got off to the perfect start as the Magpies beat Liverpool 3-1 in the late kick off at St James' Park.
Kevein Nolan put Newcastle in front after 15 minutes before Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot levelled matters just after the break. However goals in the last 10 minutes from Joey Barton and Andy Carroll wrapped up the win.
Elsewhere Blackpool continued their fine season with a 1-0 win away at Stoke with DJ Campbell getting the only goal in an entertaining game.
Aston Villa eased their relegation fears with a 2-1 win over Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park.
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Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey put Villa 2-0 in front before Paul Scharner pulled one back for the visitors at the death to set up a tense finale.
Everton and Wigan both remain in relegation trouble after fighting out a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park and so do Fulham who also had to settle for a goalless encounter at home to Sunderland.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Mile Jedinak’s second goal in as many matches helped Australia edge Bahrain 1-0 and qualify for the Asian Cup last eight as Group C winners.Jedinak produced a scintillating strike in the shadows of half-time to give the Socceroos the hard-fought victory in Asia’s flagship soccer tournament on Tuesday as South Korea’s 4-1 triumph over India failed to dislodge Holger Osieck’s side from the summit of the standings.
As expected, the Socceroos made three injury-enforced changes for their final group game, with David Carney (shoulder), Jason Culina (knee) and Luke Wilkshire (groin) still bearing the battle scars from their arduous draw with South Korea.
In their place, Matt McKay replaced Carney at left-back despite being more accustomed to playing a midfield role for A-League club Brisbane Roar, Jade North filled the void left by Wilskshire on the right side of defence, and Carl Valeri was a natural swap for Culina in the centre of the park.
For Bahrain, who needed all three points to stay alive in the tournament, attacking midfielder Faouzi Aaish, scorer in each of their two games to date, was suspended for the match.
Brett Emerton made an early drive at goal for the Socceroos but hooked his shot from outside the penalty area, while Bahrain showed attacking intent of their own as they sought to expose the incongruous McKay with a number of thrusts down the right wing.
The Socceroos struggled to construct the fluent passing exchanges they were afforded against minnows India, a task made doubly difficult by the wet conditions at Al-Sadd Stadium in Doha along with the high level of intensity employed by their opponents in defence.
Against the run off play, the lively Abdulla Fatadi broke beyond the Australian defence and offloaded to Ismaeel Abdullatif, but the man who netted four times against India could only clip the woodwork from a narrow angle.
Australia launched a counter of their own as Brett Holman put Harry Kewell through on goal, but the alert Mahmood Mansoor darted off his line to foil the striker’s shot.
Mansoor could do little to stop Jedinak in the 37th minute, however, as a burst from Emerton set the former Central Coast Mariners midfielder up to launch a powerful strike from the edge of the area that skidded off the soggy turf and into the back off the net.
It was Jedinak’s second ever strike for the Socceroos following his equaliser against South Korea, as he begins to add a penchant for scoring crucial goals to the defensive midfield traits that have seen him become a regular in Osieck’s side.
Jedinak almost repeated the dose two minutes later, this time launching another fierce drive from a free-kick that forced Mansoor into a smart save.
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Abdullatif nearly gave Bahrain the perfect start to the second half when he forced Mark Schwarzer into a lunging stop, while at the other end, Tim Cahill, whose usual aerial threat was lacking on the night, wasted an ideal opportunity to make it 2-0 when he uncharacteristically skewed his header wide despite having an empty goal to aim at.
The Socceroos sought to protect their fragile lead and were only able to do so thanks to the superb Schwarzer, who made a pair of clutch saves to deny Fatadi and Abdullatif, as Salman Sharida’s side pressed forward in search of the equaliser that would re-ignite their quarter-final hopes.
But that never came as Australia did just enough to earn the three points and set up a quarter-final clash against the runners-up from Group D.
Rangers moved within two points of Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic with a 1-0 win at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday.SPL top scorer Kenny Miller – reportedly on the verge of a move to Turkish club Bursaspor – was left out of the Rangers team by Walter Smith, with James Beattie and Kylie Lafferty starting up front in his absence.
Visitors Inverness came closest to taking the lead early on at Ibrox through striker Richie Foran, who saw his header tipped on to the bar by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
Lafferty twice came close at the other end, before he was involved in the opener on the stroke of half-time.
The Northern Ireland international – a three million-pound signing from Burnley in 2008 – saw his shot blocked, but the loose ball fell for Steven Davis, who found the bottom corner of the net with a strike from just outside the box.
Inverness could feel aggrieved at going behind after referee Craig Thomson failed to award a free-kick for a foul on Adam Rooney in the build-up.
Defender Graeme Shinnie kept the away side in the contest during the second half, making goal-line clearances from Lafferty and substitute Nikica Jelavic.
Visiting goalkeeper Ryan Esson also saved from Lafferty late on but, while Rangers failed to extend their advantage, Inverness proved unable to force an equaliser.
The win means Rangers are now two points behind Celtic with two games in hand over the league-leaders.
Elsewhere, third-placed Hearts came from behind to beat Kilmarnock 2-1 away from home and stay within five points of Rangers.
Visitors Hearts started the better of the two sides at Rugby Park, but it was Kilmarnock who took the lead in the 19th minute through Portuguese forward Rui Miguel.
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Still trailing at half-time, Hearts boss Jim Jefferies introduced Stephen Elliott a minute after the restart and the substitution paid off.
Former Preston striker Elliot levelled in the 73rd minute, and with four minutes remaining Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell fumbled an Elliot shot into the net to hand all three points to the visitors.
Hearts are now 11 points ahead of fourth-placed Kilmarnock but remain five points behind Rangers, who have played one game fewer than the Edinburgh club.
Tottenham’s midfielder Niko Kranjcar must be feeling pretty confused at the moment. His manager Harry Redknapp obviously rates him; he bought him from his old cub Portsmouth. Yet, despite public cries that the Croat is very much part of his long-term plans, Redknapp insists on bringing in others and forcing Kranjcar further down the pecking order. So is it time for Kranjcar to turn his back on Spurs?
We all know it’s a squad game. Tottenham have to plan for a potential fixture pile-up due to a combination of Champions League football, an ambitious pursuit of Premier League glory and rearranged games due to the ‘big freeze’. But Kranjcar’s case is different to any other of the squad players at White Hart Lane, or anywhere else for that matter. How can his manager justify only including him in six fixtures all season, but still insisting the player has a ‘big part to play this season’? No one can doubt his ability at 26, he has plenty to offer. But if getting in ahead of the likes of Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart or Luka Modric wasn’t hard enough, Kranjcar now has to compete with the latest White Hart Lane recruit – Steven Pienaar.
So what is it about him that the rest of us can’t see? He generally does well when called upon, and we never hear about him brawling with team-mates on the training ground or getting into trouble on nights out. I’d be tempted to side with the midfielder and assume he hasn’t exactly been treated brilliantly by his manager. If you plan to sign someone like Pienaar, why deny Kranjcar the chance to go the other way? Everton bid £3 million, if reports are to believed.
And what about the proposed move to Werder Bremen? Redknapp didn’t exactly stand in his way, but talking to the press, he did his utmost to make us all believe he didn’t want to lose such a talented player. My response would be to play him a little more!
True, Kranjcar has been unlucky with injuries. When he first joined Tottenham, he was heavily involved in first-team action. But if this tells us anything, it’s that he is considered good enough by the Spurs management. With this in mind, signing Pienaar is a bit of a mystery to me.
Kranjcar has every right to feel hard done by. Maybe his problem is that he isn’t the modern day prima-donna who will start throwing his incredibly flash and expensive toys and of his brand new pram because he isn’t getting his own way. Is he becoming a victim of professionalism? We can only speculate. But if another player like van der Vaart for example wasn’t getting much playing time, it would be interesting to see how he’d react if his club turned down a bid from another club.
What’s worrying for the Croatian himself, is that his national team manager Slaven Bilic has now come out and said he needs to be playing football. He could quite easily be playing the same standard of football elsewhere but as it stands, Tottenham seem to be stifling his progress.
Niko Kranjcar is too good to be a squad player at a club like Spurs. At 26, time is on his side, yet you get the feeling his next move is a big one. Kranjcar owes nothing to Spurs and if he were to come out and demand a transfer like so many other of the Premier League’s ‘stars’ then I personally wouldn’t blame him in the slightest. Time to go, Niko.
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Flamengo forward Ronaldinho’s return to Brazilian football was a victorious one, but manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo is not getting too excited.
The Brazil international showed his usual flair and eye for goal in his first game for the club on Wednesday, with the 30-year-old donning the captain’s armband in his debut in their Campeonato Carioca victory over Nova Iguacu.
A crowd of about 40,000 came to see the former AC Milan and Barcelona star at the Enganhao Stadium, many of who were decked out in Ronaldinho masks.
But Luxemburgo was quick to lighten the load on Ronaldinho, trying to lessen the hype surrounding the star’s return to Brazilian football.
“I don’t want to create expectations because establishing measures and expectations (is not good). He was named the world’s player of the year twice; I think that answers your question. So, let the guy play,” Luxemburgo said.
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Flamengo will travel to Boavista for their next Campeonato Carioca fixture on Saturday.
Super sub Carlos Vela came to West Bromwich Albion’s rescue with a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw against Stoke City on Monday.
Vela’s late intervention lifts the strugglers out of the bottom three after Rory Delap’s second goal of the season seemed set to give Stoke another home win.
Having saved the Baggies’ blushes with an injury time leveler against Wolves last week, on loan Arsenal striker Vela seized on Stephen Reid’s through ball to beat Asmir Begovic with three minutes left.
Delap’s notorious long throws were a constant menace throughout the opening half but it was his 53rd minute near post header that again exposed Albion’s fragile defence – the worst in the English Premier League.
The anticipated aerial bombardment from Delap was soon in full swing with Albion’s rearguard scrambling a series of his long throws to safety before the recalled Scott Carson confidently palmed Jermaine Pennant’s rasping 25-yard free-kick around his left hand post.
The visitors at Britannia Stadium were not shy in venturing forward themselves with Graham Dorrans and Marc-Antoine Fortune both forcing good blocks out of Stoke goalkeeper Begovic.
Pennant was again unlucky to see his sublime curling free kick skim the top of West Brom’s bar.
Having played the part of provider so often throughout his Stoke career Delap stepped forward to head his side ahead on 53 minutes.
The midfielder stole a yard off the shoulder of his marker Dorrans to power the ball home at the near post from Pennant’s left wing corner.
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Keen to make amends, Dorrans soon saw his close range header blocked by the legs of Begovic before Vela’s timely intervention three minutes from time.
And after Somen Tchoyi had been denied from the edge of the area, Mexican maestro Vela nearly delivered a winning goal deep into injury time as Albion finished with a flourish to claim a welcome point in their battle to beat the drop.
Nice surrendered the lead twice but eventually saw off Stade de Reims 3-2 after extra time to reach the semi-finals of the Coupe de France.Serbian forward Danijel Ljuboja put Ligue 1 visitors Nice ahead at the Stade Auguste Delaune, but midfielder Romain Amalfitano levelled for the second division side just 60 seconds later.Gabon international Eric Mouloungui restored Nice’s lead two minutes into the second half.This time the lead lasted 11 minutes before Odair Fortes equalised for the hosts. Neither side were able to find a way through in the final 30 minutes.With the match going to extra-time, Reims remained in with a chance of an unlikely semi-final berth.But Mouloungui was on target with his second of the match in the 112th minute, scoring the winner that sent Nice into the last four.In Wednesday’s quarter-final matches, Chambery host Angers, Le Mans travel to Paris Saint-Germain and Lille are at home to Lorient.
There was no room for AC Milan star Robinho in Brazil’s 24-man squad to face Scotland in a friendly on March 27 at London’s Emirates Stadium.Brazil coach Mario Menezes has selected four men playing in the English Premier League, with Chelsea pair Ramires and David Luiz getting the nod along with Spurs defensive midfielder Sandro and Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva. Ronaldinho, who completed a move from Milan to Brazilian club Flamengo in January, was another high-profile omission from the squad. But his former teammate at the San Siro, Alexandre Pato, makes the team, as does Inter’s Julio Cesar, Lucio and Maicon.Full squad: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Victor (Gremio), Jefferson (Botafogo), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Inter), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Lucio (Inter), David Luiz (Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Milan), Luizao (Benfica), Lucas (Liverpool), Ramires (Chelsea), Sandro (Tottenham), Elias (Atletico Madrid), Lucas (Sao Paulo), Henrique (Cruzeiro), Renato Augusto (Bayer Leverkusen), Jadson (Shakhtar Donetsk), Elano (Santos), Jonas (Valencia), Pato (Milan), Nilmar (Villarreal), Neymar (Santos).
Seven and a half years ago we were instructed, after a 25-yard winning strike against Arsenal, by a now famous piece of commentary, to ‘remember the name – Wayne Rooney!’ More recently, the Manchester United striker has been escaping punishments for on-field assault faster than the hair has been escaping from his scalp. Several accusations of adultery and a candid threat to leave Old Trafford later, is England’s greatest attacking potential of the new century failing to live up to his billing and encouraging significant concern for both his club and country?
It cannot be denied that the Croxteth-born attacker has endured a horrifying and demoralising 12 months. This Wednesday marks the anniversary of the ankle injury Rooney sustained in the first leg of United’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, and the first episode in a series of personal and footballing disappointments for last season’s PFA Fans’ Player of the Year. Rooney failed to find the net since the match at the Allianz Arena until converting a penalty against West Ham at the end of August, and scored his first goal from open-play this season against West Brom on New Years Day.
It goes without saying that England’s number 10 was one of several noteworthy failures at last summer’s World Cup, but Rooney had already achieved a considerable amount before he left Heathrow for Johannesburg and is starting to yet again demonstrate his worth. At 25, Rooney is close to completing his eighth full season as a senior professional and has 70 England caps under his belt. With 26 goals for his country he’s not quite matched the international form of David Villa (46 in 72, and now all-time Spanish record goal-scorer), or even Peter Crouch (22 in 42, 23 of those appearances coming on as a sub), but it represents a decent return for a striker of his age.
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What’s more, his record of a goal nearly every other game for United (140 in 311) is an acceptable total for a world-class finisher. In fact it’s strikingly close to what his United team-mate, Michael Owen, achieved in his seven and a bit seasons with Liverpool, eventually prompting Real Madrid, the club Rooney conspicuously flirted with last Autumn, to sign the striker.
Rooney has publicly admitted his recent frustrations and last month conceded to the News of the World“it has been a difficult season for me – probably the worst I’ve ever had.” However, his recent form has transformed his scoring performance in the League to one in three, and has netted 8 times overall since the turn of the year. Rooney has confirmed he feels fresh, “at a time when most players are picking up injuries or feeling jaded,” and his recent exploits have vindicated his confidence. It seems likely that, barring any unanticipated injury setbacks, the man who at 16 years of age curled a rocket past David Seaman on his Everton debut, will propel United to glory this season as he gradually rediscovers his touch.
He will labour to ever convince the public of his moral credentials and will struggle to ease the expectations showered on him having emerged at such a tender age, but his talent, above all else, has remained constant through his yet unfinished career. Having originally been described as a ‘blip,’ Rooney’s darkest spell in professional football, spanning at least 9 months from last March, appears to be at its end. With no less than another seven years remaining at the top of the game, Rooney currently resembles a player determined to expand his trophy collection beyond the Champions League, 3 Premier Leagues and 2 League Cups he’s already earned.
His country revealed their potential in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat of Wales with promising performances from Jack Wilshere and Ashley Young, but England have to re-acknowledge Rooney as the country’s most gifted attacking talent if 45 years of hurt are going to cease any time soon. United have stuck by the player having awarded him a lucrative and long-term contract, and will be proved right in trusting last season’s Player of the Year.
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