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HART DROPPED

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Manchester City’s Joe Hart was recently dropped from the first team by Manuel Pellegrini after a series of errors, which have cost the team dearly in some matches. His latest error came in the 2-1 defeat against Chelsea. It looked like City were going to come away with the match having earned a well-deserved point, but Hart committed a blatant error in the final minute of the match to allow Fernando Torres score a simple tap in. This meant that Chelsea not only took three points, but they also opened an advantage over City.

After the match, Pellegrini refused to back his goalkeeper since he felt that he had made one mistake too many in the last six months. Hart was subsequently dropped from the City first-team for the match against Newcastle United in the League Cup, although he was expected to be on the substitute’s bench in the first place. The weekend’s match against Norwich will provide a suitable answer whether Hart remains the first choice at the Etihad stadium.

Midfielder Jack Rodwell, though, thinks that the England number one will continue to remain the first choice at City even though he will remain on the bench for the next few matches.

“Joe is No 1 and Costel is good competition for him. He is a good lad, who trains well every day. He and Richard Wright are both good, but Joe is No 1. Costel put on a good performance at Newcastle. He is an international keeper, but having Joe in front of you it would be difficult for a lot of keepers. Costel digs away, he put on a good performance, and the Capital One Cup is good for him this season,” said Rodwell.

Pellegrini has stated that the 26-year-old could do with a spell on the sidelines.

ARSENAL START WITH LOSS

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Arsenal started the new Premier league season in the worst possible manner after 3-1 defeat at home against Aston Villa. This was the same Aston Villa team that finished close to the relegation zone last season. It was a very poor display by the team and it also did not help that Arsenal suffered several injury problems during the course of the match. This has reduced an already under strength team into a threadbare squad. This has put the chances of Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League group stages in serious doubt. They will be taking on Turkish club Fenerbahce in the qualifying match on Tuesday.

Most of the players who played against Villa are expected to be in the starting line-up, while the bench could also feature several youngsters as well. Arsenal have not signed any major player in this transfer window, and they are showing signs of panic buying in the last few weeks. Wenger, though, refused to buy players just for the sake of it. He has said that the club has been in the market so far, but they have been unable to bring in any players. They will be interested only in the right players at the right prices.

“Why isn’t it being spent. I can return your question. Why isn’t it being won by the players on the pitch? We do not spend the money because we do not find the players. I am not the only one for that. We have a team that works on that and if they are not ready then that is good enough for us. I am disappointed when our fans are not happy, but we haven’t lost a game because of our performance. We are in the market to buy players,” said Wenger after the Aston Villa defeat.

PELLEGRINI HAD ENGLAD CHANCE

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The new Manchester City boss, Manuel Pellegrini, has said that he had the chance to make a move to England a few years back as well, but, due to some reasons that couldn’t happen.

Pellegrini has been appointed as Manchester City manager recently. This will be his first stint in the Premier League.

Before flying to South Africa for Manchester City’s pre-season tour, Pellegrini talked to the reporters. When asked if this is the first time he was approached by a Premier League club, he said, “No, I had the opportunity to come to England a couple of times before. I was approached by Manchester City by their former owners and then, I got an offer from Liverpool. But, due to some reasons, neither of those deals got finalized.”

The former manager of Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, guided the team to the Premier League title in 2011-12 season and just one year after that, he got sacked. The expectations will be quite high from Pellegrini too. The owners would definitely be expecting him to guide the club to a few titles.

When asked about that, Pellegrini said, “Look, it’s not all about winning titles. It’s about developing the team as well. It’s very important that a manager spends time with young guys and help them learning the skills.”

Manchester City has already spent a lot of money this summer to bring a couple of star players i.e. Jesus Navas and Fernandinho at Etihad Stadium.

When asked about that, Pellegrini said, “It’s good that we have secured the services of some quality players. It’s important that we bring in two or three such players every season, but, they are not going to do it all for us. The young guys will be vital as well.”

GERRARD LEADS THE WAY

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Liverpool are set to finish the season once again outside the top four positions, which will mean that they will miss out on the Champions League football for the fourth consecutive season. The team has not been in the competition since 2009. The revenues from this competition is seen as one of the major reasons for the sustainability of a top club. The presence of Champions League football has also become an important factor in attracting quality players to the club.

Due to the lack of the same, it has been rumoured that players like Luis Suarez will be interested in a move elsewhere. The club captain, Steven Gerrard, has acknowledged that the club needs to finish in the top four in order to attract top quality players. However, he is of the opinion that the players will arrive at the club even without Champions League football due to the history of the club. He has targeted a finish in the top four next season as his main priority. However, the club needs to bring in a few players during the summer if they are to do so according to Gerrard.

He has pointed to a couple of matches were Liverpool have been unable to match their opposition in terms of quality and squad strength.

“In the minority of games we’ve played well enough to be higher than where we are in the league. But when you look at performances like Southampton, [Aston] Villa at home, West Brom away, Arsenal at home, there’s a handful of games where this team hasn’t turned up. That’s the reason why we are sitting where we are in the table. In between those games there have been some fantastic performances, well worth a top four finish,” said Gerrard, who has been an ever present for Liverpool in the league this season.

RODWELL RECOVERING

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After arriving in the summer for £ 12 million, the former Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell has not been a first-team regular at the Etihad stadium under the manager Roberto Mancini. However, it has been primarily due to the fact that Rodwell has not been available for selection due to his injury problems. After being patient with the player in the first half of the season, the manager has raised his concern about the number of injury problems faced by Rodwell for the first time this season. The midfielder is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, which is the sixth time he has had this injury this season.

Hamstring has been a major problem for the player, who has not featured for the club since being a substitute in the 3-0 win over Sunderland more than two months ago. Mancini has frequently complained about the lack of options in midfield, which have not allowed him to build on the success achieved last season. City are currently five points behind the leaders Manchester United. Rodwell was once regarded as the next big thing in English football. He was even compared with the former Everton striker Wayne Rooney for the quality that he possessed, but injuries have been unkind to him over the last few years.

“He’s getting better and we hope we can maybe recover him in two or three weeks. He needs to start to work with the group but he didn’t do this until [last] Thursday. I’m worried because when we bought him we thought that he was a good player and then he has these problems with his hamstrings. We hope we can improve this situation for him because he’s young, he’s got quality, he has everything to have a good career,” said Mancini, who also said that Balotelli will not be sold.

RODWELL RETUNS IN JAN

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The Manchester City midfielder Jack Rodwell has said that he is expecting to return to the first-team action in January. The former Everton man has not been of the first-team regulars at the club since arriving in a £ 12 million deal in the summer. In fact, he has made just six appearances for Roberto Mancini’s men after he has struggled with a lot of injuries. Rodwell came to Manchester City with a history of several injuries over the last few years, which have meant that clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea – who were previously interested in him – pulled out of the deal.

The 21-year-old, though, has incredible potential and Mancini thinks that he will be able to get the best out of him. Due to the fact that City will be losing the services of Yaya Touré for the 2013 African cup of nations, the return of Rodwell to the first team will be a major boost for Mancini. City have fallen seven points behind leaders United the table, which has put a lot of pressure on the manager. He is widely expected to get the sack if City do not win the Premier league title this season. The red card received by Samir Nasri in the match against Norwich means that he will be unavailable for the next three matches as well.

“I’ve just had a little bit of a setback with my hamstring injury. It will probably be another few weeks, so I’m looking into the new year. I’m doing quite a lot of training at the minute though, so I’m keeping busy. It’s down to strengthening now, so I’m doing a lot of work in the gym and am just getting it right to prevent another injury,” said Rodwell. Rodwell’s last appearance for the club was back in October.