Weekly Football News, April 16, 2012
Gerrard: Blame us, not Kenny
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has attempted to deflect the mounting criticism of manager Kenny Dalglish by laying the blame for the Reds' poor league season at the door of the players. Liverpool are clearly outsiders in early FA Cup betting to beat London rivals Chelsea at Wembley on May 5th after a very mixed season.
Speaking after Liverpool advanced to the FA Cup final next month with a derby win over cross-town rivals Everton on Saturday, Gerrard admitted that eighth-placed Liverpool's expensively assembled squad had not performed in the Premier League this season.
"The league doesn't lie and our league position is not good enough," he conceded.
"I believe we have the players in the squad to certainly improve next year. On our day we can beat anyone - we've beaten Chelsea and Manchester United - but as a squad we need to be better and as players we need to take responsibility.
"Everyone knows ... we need to be winning the games against the likes of Wigan and Stoke. We are better than those teams but we have not shown it."
In the other semi-final, Chelsea beat Spurs 5-1, although the Blues were helped by an officiating blunder, with referee Martin Atkinson admitting that he made a mistake in awarding Chelsea's second goal after TV replays suggested Juan Mata's shot had not crossed the line.
We must take a lead to Madrid: Schweinsteiger
Bayern Munich will look to catch Real Madrid cold in Tuesday's first leg of their Champions League semi-final meeting in Germany.
Real warmed up for the clash against Bayern by fielding a virtually full strength side in their 3-1 win over Spanish strugglers Sporting Gijon on Saturday.
By contrast, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes chose to rest captain Philipp Lahm, midfielder Thomas Mueller, wing Franck Ribery and striker Mario Gomez against mid-table Mainz with the Bundesliga title on the cusp of being retained by runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund
Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger, who played in that goalless draw in Munich, insisted that Bayern's strategy is to take a lead into the second leg in Madrid.
"It's all or nothing on Tuesday," said the Germany star. "We have to go to the limits and beyond, but we can do it with our fans behind us.
"It won't be easy, and it comes down to mental strength. I hope we show that mentality which is a Bayern trademark."
Confusion over Tigana exit claims
French coach Jean Tigana has claimed that he remains the manager of big spending Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua despite reports to the contrary over the past week.
According to French press agency AFP, Tigana told them on Monday that he has not quit the club, confusingly adding, "I have nothing to declare."
However, the 56-year-old was absent from the sidelines of Friday's 1-0 home loss to Tianjin Teda, while high profile former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka last week tweeted that he had replaced Tigana as player-coach.
According to the Shanghai Daily, Shanghai Shenhua's owner Zhu Jun has also confirmed that Tigana has resigned despite only joining the Chinese club in December.
Zenit close in on Russian title
On-loan midfielder Andrei Arshavin scored as defending champions Zenit St Petersburg increased their lead in the Russian Premier League with a 2-0 home win over second-placed CSKA Moscow.
Luciano Spalletti's side are now just one win away from a consecutive title after moving 14 points ahead of CSKA with just five matches to play.
"It was a very good match from any point of view," Spalletti said.
"CSKA were looking better in the first half, but after the break my players shrugged off the pressure and clinched a very important win over the strongest of all our rivals."
Compiled by Marc Fox
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