The innings held together largely by Chetan Sachdev, Tripura reached atotal of 266/6 by the close of play on Day One of their Ranji Trophyleague match against Bihar at Agartala.Winning the toss, Tripura elected to bat but found themselves reelingat 63/4. A small partnership then developed between Timir Chanda andSachdev before the former departed at 116, having made 44.Sachdev was then joined by Abdul Sattar, and the two put on 134 runsbefore Sattar was dismissed for 63. At the close of play, Sachdev wasunbeaten on 99 off 209 balls, and Rajib Dutta (8*) was also at thecrease.
It is believed that Curtis Jones could be given a start tonight against Inter Milan in Liverpool’s Champions League round of 16 second leg, given the Reds’ advantages of playing in front of the home crowd as well as already having a 2-0 lead to hold on to.
While the English midfielder has found playing time hard to come by of late, the 21-year-old has the same amount of goals and assists in the Premier League as the returning Thiago, and has also provided two Champions League assists in two games.
With Naby Keita also having picked up a knock recently as well as Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner all having played a lot of football, it’s likely that those four will all be rested in games over the next few weeks, as Liverpool continue to compete for trophies on all fronts.
The homegrown ace has averaged a 6.97 match rating across all competitions this season for Liverpool, making 14 starts and six appearances from the bench, and his best performance so far this season saw him earn an 8.5 after setting-up two goals against Porto in the Champions League back in September.
In comparison to other central midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions, Jones ranks in the top 1% for assists per 90 minutes (0.43), shots on target per 90 (0.97), progressive carries per 90 (8.81) and short pass completion percentage (95.3%).
His numbers are a reflection of his excellent attitude and mentality, as despite not being considered a key player for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side, he has constantly and consistently performed extremely well when called upon – much like Takumi Minamino. Those statistics also provide a glimpse into how he could run their opponents ragged.
Reds captain Henderson believes the midfielder has all it takes to become a star, saying once in an interview at the start of the season, “He has all the attributes to be a top player.”
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Tonight can be another key demonstration of Jones’ potential – should Klopp opt to start him vs the Italian giants.
In other news: Klopp axes “frightening” 25yo, “world-class” gem starts in 3 changes: LFC predicted XI
Daren Ganga, West Indies’ opening batsman, will be given his first outing on their South Africa tour in the four-day warm-up match against South Africa A at East London.Ganga will open the batting alongside Devon Smith with Chris Gayle still sitting out as he recovers from the hamstring injury he picked up in Zimbabwe. Ganga is coming off a lean run in Tests, having failed to reach double figure in his last six innings after making 25 runs in the final three matches against England in May and June.Dwayne Bravo continues to lead the team, which won the Twenty20 international at Port Elizabeth by five wickets, while Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor who impressed in that match also sit out against South Africa A. Rawl Lewis, the legspinner, is given a chance to put his name in the equation for Test selection as is left-arm quick Pedro Collins.The four-day match is the only warm-up match before the Test series starts on Boxing Day at Port Elizabeth with two more games at Cape Town and Durban.West Indies Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Rawl Lewis, Darren Sammy, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards
When Pakistan and the West Indies meet next, after the final ODI at Karachi tomorrow, it will be for the opening game of the 2007 World Cup in Jamaica in just under three months time. Signs emerged at Multan during the last ODI that cricket’s premier tournament is looming on the minds of both sides, as line-ups were changed, experiments made and players tested.Pakistan went about the experiments with greater zeal, though ultimatelypaying the price for them and it is unlikely, injuries permitting, that theywill do so again with the same gusto. “We experimented in Multan and wefelt that it was right to do it then as opposed to in the final game,”said Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, at the National Stadium.Their batting struggled in Multan, though they were, for various reasons,without their immense middle order trio of Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq andMohammad Yousuf for the first time since 2004. The captain is “98%certain” to play tomorrow, having almost fully recovered from a fingerinjury. Yousuf is in Karachi and also likely to play, as is Abdur Rahman,who has been so impressive in the two games that he has played so far.Woolmer insisted that there were still some positives to be drawn.”We were without our middle three in Multan and the loss was disappointingbut we can take positives from that in Yasir Hameed’s batting and MohammadSami as well,” Woolmer explained. “We have learnt a lot from that game andwill be coming out in Karachi firing on all cylinders.”His opposite number, Bennett King, will no doubt hope his side does thesame and a drawn series here will nicely bookend a long, arduousthree-month road trip from which some light has emerged.”We made the final of two big competitions and onlylost to a high-quality side on each occasion. So as far as ODIs areconcerned, the results are very encouraging,” King told reporters.And the medium-term implications of a good finish are not lost on him. “Itis important that we finish the series on a good note with Pakistan beingin our World Cup pool. From our perspective, when we played Pakistan athome to where we are now, there has been a lot of improvement. We area dangerous force in ODI cricket. We found some good form the other night inMultan and we’re looking forward to this match.”Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose return to the top of the order proved socrucial then, is fit to play despite struggling at various points throughhis innings but Jerome Taylor’s inclusion, after being rested at Multan,is not as certain as might be expected from a bowler who has made such animpression. “We’ll see how Jerome pulls up in the morning. In thesubcontinent, with illnesses and injuries, it’s a day-to-day thing. We’repretty sure of what side will play but we’ll see. The wicket looks prettyflat and there isn’t as much moisture to help the fast bowlers. We’relooking forward to it and will pick the best side for the match.”Much of the talk of both men though was geared towards forthcomingchallenges. Pakistan head off to South Africa for a full series in Januaryand the West Indies to India for a series of one-day internationals in thesame month. Soon after that comes the face-off at Sabina Park. In whichcase, tomorrow becomes the first of numerous dress rehearsals for the realthing.
A West Indies-Australia Test at the Gabba is always a special occasion tomark the start of summer. It doesn’t matter that the last contest wasdramatically one-sided, an upturn of the thrashings delivered by thetourists in the 1980s, or that the current squad is still searching forbatsmen to support Brian Lara consistently and bowlers to putty over theAmbrose and Walsh gaps. In Australia the West Indians turn heads and raiseexpectations.The tourist’s second Test at the ground flamed their reputation and began amagical season that ended in a street parade through Melbourne to farewellFrank Worrell’s side. Forty-five years ago the game’s most famous tieoccurred at a venue as unrecognisable today as the squad for the three-Testseries is to its world-beating predecessors. Despite their dramatic decline, the West Indians retain their enticing charm and their arrival inBrisbane two weeks ago was covered in the news pages of , which sent a reporter to follow them shopping.During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s West Indian teams felt likeextended family to Australians, arriving most years before Christmas andstaying for summers that didn’t want to end. They battered Australia and ithurt fingers, chests and pride, but their brilliant batting and fearsomebowling was respected and privately enjoyed. These memories linger and willburden Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s side over the next month. It is not his onlyworry.Since West Indies inflicted Australia’s last home series defeat in 1992-93they have won only two Tests on two tours. The last trip in 2000-01 was a5-0 disaster, beginning with a total of 82 in Brisbane and finishing withthe end of the captain Jimmy Adams’s career. Australia can be a crueldestination for leaders and the scheduling has made Chanderpaul the firstsustained target of Australia’s Ashes-loss backlash. A disparate World XIwere flattened last month and nothing acts as a better wedge for Caribbeanplayers of proud nations than a series of demoralising losses.A battery of fast bowlers, shorter than West Indies have traditionally had, has been employed toupset Australia this time, but with most of them relatively inexperienced it is notknown whether they will be positively or negatively charged. Corey Collymoreis the senior man and is jostling for positions with Fidel Edwards, JermaineLawson, Daren Powell, Tino Best and the allrounder Dwayne Bravo.The batting is more settled following Wavell Hinds’s finger injury and MarlonSamuels’s double-century against Queensland, but Brian Lara, who is 316 runsfrom Allan Border’s world record, is again the marked man. How and when hesnaps his out-of-form streak will almost certainly determine West Indies’competitiveness against a team still holding world-champion status.For Australia the series is a chance to re-assert dominance and they arealso using it to tinker for the future. Shane Watson is set for an extendedrun as allrounder despite struggling for influence in both disciplinesduring his two previous Tests, and a new opening combination has been forcedby Justin Langer’s withdrawal with a fractured rib. Michael Hussey will makehis debut but with Michael Clarke, the new No. 4, being followed by Simon Katich,Watson and Adam Gilchrist, the batting order carries rare uncertainty. Both sidessense a contest of opportunity.Australia haven’t lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988, when Curtly Ambroseintroduced himself with a six-wicket, Man-of-the-Match performance alongsideMalcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh. Viv Richards, batting in his 100th Testbehind Greenidge, Haynes, Richardson and Hooper, was bounced three times bya young upstart named Steve Waugh.West Indies ruled the world during that decade and the regular defeatssteeled Australia as their long-term replacement. England unveiled some softspots during the winter and West Indies must rain regular and strategicfollow-up punches if they are to turn an empire’s one-series stumble into aCaribbean-style crumble.Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey, 3 RickyPonting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Shane Watson, 7 AdamGilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 GlennMcGrath.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 RamnareshSarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), 6 Marlon Samuels, 7Dwayne Bravo, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Jermaine Lawson, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11Corey Collymore.
“Spend some money.” The Arsenal fans were honest with manager Arsene Wenger on the final day of last season albeit they added a crude word to that request which emphasised their disdain. Wenger still listened.
In a BBC Radio 5 Live special on the Gunners, the former managing director of Liverpool, Christian Purslow revealed Arsenal had spent up to £75 million on summer transfers alone. Yet at times this season, you wouldn’t have known it such has been the bipolar nature of the Londoners performances.
Some have accused Wenger of losing his managerial powers but the recent signs are bright after results against Spurs and Liverpool. What’s more the penchant Wenger appears to have developed for German players is something which should excite Emirates onlookers. Germany have of course reached the final of the last two major championships they’ve played in and the Bundesliga thrives with many young home grown talents emerging.
He is yet to attract any of the country’s best young talents though. For instance, Mario Götze’s signature proves elusive as the 19-year-old continually pledges his allegiance to Borussia Dortmund. This isn’t too surprising.
Götze is part of an extremely promising team who look likely to secure back-to-back league titles. What’s more he’s playing for his home-town club in front of a passionate crowd at the Signal Iduna Park. Arsenal doesn’t quite have what it takes to lure Götze away at the moment.
However, former Werder Bremen centre back Per Mertesacker joined Arsenal in August. The towering defender has a very good reading of the game which somewhat compensates for his distinct lack of speed. The 27-year-old became the first German to play for the Gunners since Jens Lehmann.
Wenger’s next acquisition must have given false excitement to some Arsenal fans – a 19-year-old German midfielder signing from Borussia Dortmund. Alas it wasn’t Götze. Thomas Eisfeld was brought to the Emirates with the long term future in mind, something not unfamiliar to Arsenal. The third signing could prove to be the best.
Although it’s not official, it’s widely understood a deal is in place to sign Lukas Podolski in the summer “Prinz Poldi” has the talent to succeed in the Premier League. He’s single-handedly kept Cologne’s season alive as they teeter towards the relegation area.
The question mark over the 26-year-old is over whether he is mature enough to thrive abroad. As a Polish-born German, the likes of Wojciech Szezcesny, Lukasz Fabianski and Per Mertesacker could help Podolski to settle. His time at Bayern Munich wasn’t too impressive but Arsene Wenger looks to be working on the assumption he has developed as a person since then.
The fact Wenger has managed to attract German players from German top flight may not seem significant but it’s something of a rarity in the Premier League. The Bundesliga is an exciting place to be currently and players like Götze will have noticed this, as well as the last few high profile departures from the country.
Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira and Nuri Sahin have all moved to Real Madrid in the last two summers. Knowing this sort of team is aware of the talent in the Bundesliga has probably encouraged more to stay in the hope they can be picked up by Real or even Barcelona. They’re two sides you’d be mad not to wait for, considering how both have played of late. Even though Sahin has barely featured in Madrid, not many tend to turn down Real and doubtless it would be a similar situation for other Bundesliga stars.
Arsenal does not have the same draw but nevertheless it’s still a very striking proposition. The standard of the Premier League and the money which comes with helps to attract a very high calibre of player. Wenger’s German signings of Mertesacker and Podolski are good but they’re not the best on offer in the Bundesliga.
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If Wenger can attract that higher calibre player to the Emirates, it will help to return the Gunners to the Premier League title race once more. The fact he’s active in Germany though is a very heartening sign for Arsenal fans.
Article originally written at Gone With The Rhind
For more on the Bundesliga and the Premier League, follow @arhindtutt
Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker heads a list of 10 players who have been released by the Midlands club.The 27-year-old joins John Carew – who spent the latter part of the season on loan at Stoke – Moustapha Salifou, Robert Pires, and Isaiah Osbourne through the exit door at Villa Park.
Youngsters Harry Forrester, Arsenio Halfhuid, Durrell Berry, Ellis Deeney and Calum Flanagan have also left the club.
Reo-Coker, a former England Under-21 captain, spent four years at Villa after signing from West Ham in a deal worth a reported 8.5 million pounds in July 2007.
Despite establishing himself as a regular under Gerard Houllier last season – making 30 appearances compared to only 10 under Martin O’Neill in the previous season – he is now free to move on.
Striker Carew signed for Villa in January 2006 from French outfit Lyon after spells with Valencia and Roma, and finished as the club’s leading scorer for three consecutive seasons.
But after falling out of favour with Houllier, he moved to Britannia Stadium in January in search of a fresh start, although Stoke boss Tony Pulis is yet to confirm whether he will offer the 31-year-old Norwegian a permanent deal.
Arsene Wenger has a real talent for developing and breeding young players in the hope that they might become the future stars of Arsenal Football Club. His track record would reaffirm the idea that he is one of the best, if not the best in the game at producing quality young players to make the step up.
However, whilst trawling the forums, blogs and newspapers this morning I stumbled across an immensley interesting article in the Daily Mail that pays tribute to a 62 year old French psychologist who has played an important role in the production of Arsene Wenger’s young guns.
Jacques Crevoisier has known Wenger for almost 40 years and has worked with some of Europe’s brightest young talent. Crevoisier states, “Arsene Wenger always tells me that you have to be clever to play for Arsenal and that is where he starts…Without that, you cannot fit into his system. At Arsenal I’ve done tests for all the young players. They were all outstanding psychologically. I think Wilshere’s showed him to be a bit more confident than Walcott but they all had some of the best profiles you will see.”
For Crevoisier, these psychometric tests intend to measure psychological endurance, competitiveness, emotional control, stress resistance, aggression amongst a variety of other characteristics. There main aim is to uncover strengths and weaknesses so that the manager can work on young players shortcomings and build upon their strengths. It is also hoped that the tests would detect whether these future stars have the intelligence to match their skill and ability.
The 117-question analysis has stark results. Crevoisier says that some of the results of the young English players are different compared to their French equivalents “Young English players come across as more committed and aggressive in the test but their self-confidence and concentration is not as good” Crevoisier explains this as due to a lack of first team opportunities. He furthermore makes it clear that, “If you are at an average-sized club in France you will get the opportunity to play. At the same size club in England, you have, say, a 28-year-old international with lots of caps in front of you and the chance is not there.”
Crevoisier’s work is not foolproof. He recalls his time at Tottenham and states that it does not always work. He believes that if significant steps are not taken to work on the results of these tests then there is little point in the exercise. In addition he remembers “giving the young players at Tottenham their tasks and they would do them at the end of training. The problem was that the players were not given a chance in the first team – they still aren’t. What is the point of having an academy if you don’t use those players?”
He finalises his findings by acknowledging that this is not the case at Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has created a mentality that opportunities in the first team will arise for the talented youth if they can show that they are willing to work hard and prove that they have what it takes.
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Arsene Wenger has clarified that all-being-well Jack Wilshere should return to action for Arsenal in March.
The England international midfielder has not featured for The Gunners this season as yet due to an ankle injury, and suffered a setback before Christmas as his rehabilitation looked to be nearing an end.
However the French coach is looking to have his talisman back available before the end of the season, but won’t rush his recovery.
“Jack can be back within a month if all goes well,” Wenger told Sky Sports.
“The recovery of his latest problems looks very good. The latest scan was very positive.
“We go cautiously step-by-step because we tried to push him back quicker in the first instance and he had a setback. So this time we have to be cautious and not go too quick.
“He can be back before then end of the season, of course,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Arsenal take on AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday night, and the Emirates Stadium manager has admitted to studying Tottenham’s victory over the Italian giants from last season in preparation for the game.
“I have seen [that game], yes. Milan had a lot of the ball and Tottenham caught them on the break at the end of the game,” he told the club’s official website.
“You never decide when you break, you break when you can. It was a game which was vastly dominated, especially in the second half, by Milan.
“We will not decide at the start of the game that we will sit in our half if we have to, like Tottenham did. We will do it and then try to catch them on the break.
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“But at the start we will try to get out of our own half and try to get up there and play. Spurs won the game when they were dominated, but that is football today,” he stated.
Nigeria fullback Taye Taiwo has joined Serie A champions AC Milan on a free transfer from Ligue 1 club Marseille.Taiwo, 26, completed a medical with Milan on Wednesday before finalising his switch from the Stade Velodrome to the San Siro on Thursday, signing a three-year contract.
The left-back had made more than 185 appearances in six seasons with Marseille, playing a key part in the club’s Ligue 1 championship success last season.
Formerly of Nigerian clubs Lobi Stars and Gabros, Taiwo scored the winner for Marseille in their League Cup final victory against Montpellier last month.
“I thank God for this move, joining another big team like AC Milan is a dream come true,” Taiwo said.
“I am leaving a big club for another one, one I was only able to dream of playing for as a kid.”
“I will surely miss the city and Olympique Marseille, the fans, players, management and French football in general.”
“It is emotional and sad to leave a place I have come to call home but I’m taking a piece of Marseille with me.”
Taiwo has 48 caps for Nigeria and appeared in the 2010 World Cup finals.
He joins a Milan side celebrating their first Scudetto since 2004, the same year he made his full international debut.
“I hope to bring my best to a team that’s parading great players already,” he said.
“The three-year deal is signed now and all I can do is give my all to a dream club and win trophies to complete the union.”
“I am a happy man and my immediate target is to be a winner here.”