The final battle for Champions League football was won on Wednesday, as Spurs beat Manchester City at Eastlands to book their place in Europe’s premier cup competition next season.
Peter Crouch headed home the winner late on in the match, and the result mathematically guaranteed Spurs at least fourth place. Arsenal’s loss against Blackburn last weekend means that if Tottenham win their last Premier League match against Burnley and the Gunners lose to Fulham, it will be Spurs who get the automatic spot in the main draw.
Third place would be sweet enough, but to beat your most bitter rivals to it? Spurs fans must be licking their chops at that prospect. For now, though, the thought of playing alongside the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Lyon is plenty to cheer about.
“It’s fantastic. It’s been a terrific season for us, and we’ve played some great football on the way, and we deserved it,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports. The interview was cut short, however, when a group of Spurs players, including one David Bentley running around in his underpants, ambushed their manager with a good old-fashioned ice bath.
Meanwhile, speculation had been rife over whether City manager Roberto Mancini would stay on at Eastlands after failing to lead the club to a fourth place finish, but the Italian swiftly brushed aside any exit rumors after the match.
“I think I stay here. Why not?” he said.
“I work here four or five months and I think when you build a house you don’t start from the roof but the basement. We work very well but we are near the roof.”
City representatives also told the BBC that they would not be firing Mancini despite the loss.
Foster Ponders United Exit
Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has admitted that he may be leaving Old Trafford this summer in search of first-team football.
The England international had the chance to take the number one shirt this season after injuries and family issues put Edwin van der Sar out of the team. However, when Foster was given the opportunity to step up, he failed to make a solid impression and found himself quickly out of the spotlight. Foster was most notably fragile during the thrilling Manchester derby early in the season, which United won in the dying seconds thanks to a Michael Owen goal.
And after being out of the first-team picture since the middle of the season, Foster has admitted he may have to leave United to further his development.
“The season started off well but since I came out of the team it has just been low-lights really. I have had nothing to cheer about,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
“If things don’t work out for me at United I will go somewhere else and, hopefully, I will play first-team football and be happy and that is the most important thing for me. You never want to leave Man United. If you leave this club you are only ever going to go down. But I want to be playing football. I am not interested in just hanging about.”
“I would go if the club wanted to sell me. If they are happy to accept a bid then you have to read between the lines and realize you are not really needed and move on. It would not be the end of the world for me.”
Birmingham are being rumored as a possible destination for Foster, either as a loan move or a permanent deal. Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted that he may let some players go over the summer, and Foster is thought to be one of them.
In terms of United’s goalkeeping situation, veteran keeper Edwin van der Sar signed a year-long extension in February which will keep him at the club until the end of next season, and Tomasz Kuszczack occupies the number two spot.
Hull’s Relegation Confirmed
Hull’s brief two-year stint in the Premier League will come to an end this weekend. Monday’s draw against Wigan confirmed that they will be playing in the Championship next season.
Hull were up 2-1 against Wigan until Steve Gohouri scored an equalizer in injury-time to send the Tigers down. Stand-in boss Ian Dowie, who was appointed after the club fired Phil Brown, hopes to stay on at the KC Stadium on a long-term basis. His contract currently runs out at the end of this season.
“My record in the Championship is decent and I feel you can always build something but my future is something for the powers that be to discuss,” he said.
Unfortunately, relegation will be a big hit not only for Hull supporters but also for the financial state of the club. Hull have amassed a reported £35 million in debt, and without the high stream of revenue that comes with playing in the Premier League, administration is a stark but very real possibility.
Hull joined Burnley and Portsmouth as the three teams heading down next season.
Assou-Ekotto Admits His Drive Is Money, Not Football
Tottenham defender Benoît Assou-Ekotto sparked a lot of discussion among football fans this week after admitting that he considers the game more his job than his passsion.
In an era where players constantly talk about playing for the shirt, but all too often abandon that shirt for a new one with a better contract (see: Carlos Tevez, Figo), Assou-Ekotto’s remarks are not all too surprising, and his honesty is at least refreshing.
“If I play football with my friends back in France, I can love football,” he told The Guardian.
“But if I come to England, where I knew nobody and I didn’t speak English … why did I come here? For a job. A career is only 10, 15 years. It’s only a job. Yes, it’s a good, good job and I don’t say that I hate football but it’s not my passion. When I am at work, I do my job 100%. But after, I am like a tourist in London. I have my Oyster card and I take the tube. I eat.”
Of course, one could always argue that the best players in the world have that fire to constantly work overtime to reach the plateau of the sport, but it is no secret that not every player has that motivation. Football, at the end of the day, is a career like any other. Well, maybe not exactly like any other, but it’s still a career. And in the business world, when people see a bigger paycheck somewhere else, they usually take it. Football fans too often assume that the players on the pitch care as much about the club as they do, and unfortunately that is usually not the case.
“[Lens president] Martel said I go to England for the money but why do players come to his club? Because they look nice? All people, everyone, when they go to a job, it’s for the money. So I don’t understand why, when I said I play for the money, people were shocked. Oh, he’s a mercenary. Every player is like that.”
Assou-Ekotto’s comments have gotten a whole spectrum of responses, some like his honesty, some brandish his attitude as greedy. What do you think?
