The Sport Review: “Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1: Blues ‘couldn’t drop £50m Torres’” plus 4 more

Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1: Blues ‘couldn’t drop £50m Torres’
Monte Carlo Masters: Maturity the key to success in openers
Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1: Rate referee Benquerença’s display
FA hopes Women’s Super League will turn professional
Frank Lampard: We’ll win it for Roman Abramovic

Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1: Blues ‘couldn’t drop £50m Torres’

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:14 PM PDT

fernando torres

Sir Alex Ferguson believes the pressure of Fernando Torres’ £50m price-tag left Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti with no choice but to start the misfiring striker in Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.

Goals from Javier Hernández and Park Ji-sung gave Ferguson’s men a 2-1 victory on the night and a comfortable 3-1 aggregate win to take them into the semi-finals for the fourth time in five years.

Torres, who is yet to find the net since moving to Stamford Bridge, endured a torrid 45 minutes and was replaced by Didier Drogba at half-time.

And the United manager believes the striker only featured because of the large sum spent on acquiring his services in January.

“A lot of people thought Drogba would play,” said Ferguson. “I thought having signed Torres for the money they did they had to play him. I wasn’t 100 per cent sure but I couldn’t see how they could leave Torres out.”

Ancelotti, however, insisted the decision to include the goal-shy Spaniard on Tuesday night was purely a tactical one.

“I told you a lot of times this season I wanted to start with Fernando for this kind of game, these type of tactics,” said the Chelsea boss.

“Didier played well in the second half. I wanted to put more pressure up front because we needed to score. Didier was fresh and he could use his power up front. This was the reason I took out Fernando.”

Ferguson, meanwhile, is backing the Spain forward to rediscover his goalscoring touch at Stamford Bridge. He continued: “They had the opportunity to sign Torres and I don’t think anyone would have turned it down.

“Everyone said at the time it was fantastic business. You can’t criticise him [Ancelotti] for that, it was a good signing. It isn’t working at the moment but he is a young man and there are other seasons ahead.

“Torres has played against us quite a few times and he had a little goal spell at Old Trafford and got a goal at Anfield but we’ve actually done all right against him.

“It’s made out that he’s tortured us. He’s a good player but with [Nemanja] Vidic’s experience and [Rio] Ferdinand’s experience they should be able to handle the best players in the world. They are in that sphere of being top players themselves.

Monte Carlo Masters: Maturity the key to success in openers

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 04:00 PM PDT

roger federer

Is Monte Carlo the most civilised Masters on the tour? If the scheduling is anything to go by, the players and spectators must think they've died and gone to heaven.

Play on the two show courts, just a hair-pin bend down the coast from the Monaco border, begins at 10.30 and fits two matches before lunchtime. The afternoon gets under way at around 1.30pm and the day's work is over by teatime.

Four matches, eight hours, and the day's play is over in time for Martinis on the patio before dinner.

Some of the players don't even leave home for breakfast. Those who live in Monte Carlo—as Ivan Ljubicic happily explained—can relax at home with the family. No wonder he looked so chilled.

The sun may have disappeared before the players when some inconsiderate clouds gusted in from the Med at around 4pm but, by then, the big crowd on Court Central had already soaked up two seeds strutting their stuff in some style.

Gilles Simon, who missed most of last year's clay swing with knee injury, got off to a sprightly hour-and-a-half dismissal of the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci for the loss of just five games.

The quick Frenchman has boundless energy and metronome accuracy, and he found some surprising pace from the back of the court on his much improved down-the-line drives on both wings. It was a confident performance.

Simon was followed by Roger Federer, who took a mere 50 minutes to beat the German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-1.

Federer came straight to Monte Carlo after his Miami semi-final loss in order to work on his clay preparation. And it showed in a crisp, workmanlike performance against a man who seemed to be carrying the weight of his opening two-and-a-half-hour match in his legs.

It was, though, the afternoon schedule, featuring players from both ends of the age spectrum, which provided the day's greater interest.

The first match involved the 32-year-old Ljubicic, whose poor hard court season comprising just one win from his last four tournaments has seen him drop from 14 in the rankings to his current 40.

He began to turn that record around with a 6-1 6-2 win over Jeremy Chardy in the first round here, but now he faced the charismatic Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a finalist in Rotterdam but also an early loser at the North American Masters.

Tsonga had already won a long and testing three-set opening-round match against the demanding clay-court expert, Juan Monaco, so when it took him over 10 minutes to win his opening service game, it was clear that this match too would be tough for the Frenchman.

Indeed it soon turned into a gripping contest between two big men playing their own particular brand of big tennis: heavy ground strokes, attacking net approaches, deft volleys and testing drop shots.

Ljubicic eventually won the opening set tie-break but then he, too, had to fight a full 15 minutes in his second service game.

Tsonga broke but, over-eager to press home his advantage, he followed it with a horror of a fifth game. He immediately handed the break back with three successive volley errors.

The Frenchman promptly vanished for a comfort break—presumably in an attempt to regain his composure—but the pause seemed to give a super-calm Ljubicic even greater focus and the Croat hit a truly purple patch.

He broke Tsonga again and finished off the set, appropriately enough, with a love game sealed by his signature wide serve finished by a cross-court volley: 6-4.

This is Ljubicic's 12th Monte Carlo tournament and that experience, combined with living at home, makes this the favourite stop on the tour for the likeable and popular veteran. And he aims to carry on playing for as long as he stays pain free and enjoys his tennis, so expect still more wins on his 409 tally. Long may it continue.

Maturity of an entirely different kind concluded the day's play in Monte Carlo. It came in the form of the youngest man in the draw, the preciously assured Milos Raonic.

This time last year, the Canadian was still playing the Futures and Challenger tours and was ranked outside the top 400. Thus far in 2011, he has won San Jose, reached the final in Memphis and stands at 34 in the rankings.

In this, his first ever clay court Masters, he was playing a man just four places higher in the rankings and only two years his elder, Ernests Gulbis. In play and in personality, though, they are as chalk and cheese.

Both are independent characters, but where Raonic has developed within the discipline of a coach who will brook neither bad behaviour nor disagreement on court, Gulbis has had few such constraints.

He blows hot and cold where Raonic plays power and percentage, and the contrast was writ large over one particular incident in the opening set.

Gulbis was wrongly penalised by the umpire for a perceived double bounce. He lost focus entirely, his serve was broken and his calm opponent took the set as though nothing had happened.

The second set was a closer affair and the full gamut of Gulbis's skills had a chance to shine, particularly his varied and damaging backhand crosscourt drive. However, Raonic settled into a good serve-and-volley rhythm and played accurate, unhurried, mature tennis.

He was rewarded with a break in the ninth game and finally served out to love for the match, 7-5. It left Gulbis with time to ponder on what lost him this match.

The Latvian has charm and intelligence, he has speed, talent in spades and shot-making power all round the court. He also wants to be No1 in the world. This time last year, he made some deep runs on the clay to break into the top 30 for the first time but failed to build on that momentum.

So, in pondering on this loss, he could do worse than take a leaf out of his opponent's book: the one entitled 'staying calm in adversity'.

Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1: Rate referee Benquerença’s display

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 01:56 PM PDT

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

The Sport Review wants your take on Olegário Benquerença’s refereeing display at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

Cast your vote above and have your say on how the Portuguese team of officials got on during the Champions League quarter-final clash between Manchester United and Chelsea in the comments box below.

FA hopes Women’s Super League will turn professional

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 10:35 AM PDT

women's super league

The FA hopes the new Women’s Super League set to launch this week will eventually turn professional.

Arsenal take on Chelsea in the competition’s inaugural match on Wednesday, and FA general secretary Alex Horne believes the launch of the new eight-team league will pave the way for a professional top flight.

“Hopefully, if we set this up right and we expand the right way, the game will become professional,” he said.

Arsenal, Birmingham, Bristol, Chelsea, Doncaster, Everton, Liverpool, and Lincoln will play each other twice as they compete for the inaugural title.

Chelseal’s clash with Arsenal will be televised live on ESPN after the broadcaster signed up to screen six live games this season and 10 next year.

FA chairman David Bernstein said: "This is a true landmark in the women's game, a real opportunity for it to take off in England.

"The launch of this league together with England competing in the World Cup in Germany makes for an exciting summer of women's football ahead."

The new semi-professional league, which replaces the old Women's Premier League, is expected to attract more lucrative sponsorship and in turn result in better salaries for the players who opt to stay in England rather than move to more established clubs in Europe or America.

Most women’s teams in England, including those of Premier League clubs, play at non-league grounds.

Bristol Academy are the only team to have their own ground after building a 1,500-capacity stadium at Filton College in 2010, while Doncaster Belles are the only club to share their home ground, the Keepmoat Stadium, with their male counterparts.

Arsenal, who have dominated the Women's Premier League and regularly compete in Europe, play their home games at Boreham Wood FC's 4,500-capacity Meadow Park.

Kelly Simmons, FA head of national game, believes the birth of the new league will encourage more young girls to take up the sport.

"Football is the most popular team sport for girls to play and we have over a million regular players throughout the country,” she said.

“What has been missing in the sport until now was a clear pathway of progression for young girls who are good enough to play professionally and earn a living doing so.

"We believe the league will encourage many more young girls to get into and stay in football where they can see an elite structure at the very top of the game and the role models to inspire them."

England and Arsenal captain Faye White is equally excited about the new league. She said: "I really can't wait for the new league to launch, it seems like we've been talking about it for some time and now it's really upon us.

"This is a huge moment for women's football here and all the players are excited for what lies ahead. This will really push the game on and hopefully inspire the next generation of players to follow in our footsteps.

"I've seen the game develop so much since I first started playing, we've made huge strides in putting things in place to ensure the game thrives and this new league will really help us push that forward and take the game to the next level, it's a massive moment for everyone involved in woman's football."

Frank Lampard: We’ll win it for Roman Abramovic

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 07:20 AM PDT

frank lampard

Frank Lampard says Chelsea are determined to repay Roman Abramovich’s investment by winning the Champions League for the first time.

The Londoners have won the Premier League three times, the FA Cup three times and the Carling Cup twice since the Russian billionaire completed his takeover of the club in 2003.

But Chelsea are yet to win Europe’s prized club competition, and Lampard says Carlo Ancelotti’s men are now focused on winning the trophy Abramovich “deserves” ahead of their quarter-final showdown at Manchester United.

“Everything I’ve achieved in the last 10 years has only been possible because of the owner’s investment,” he told The Sun.

“I never envisaged that we would be winning league titles, competing in the Champions League and fighting on all fronts year after year so quickly.

“Everything changed when Mr Abramovich arrived in 2003. He has made a huge investment and we are all very thankful.

“I’d be very proud to win the Champions League for a lot of reasons but I definitely understand the thought process that we owe it to him to win it.”

He added: “He never sits us down and says ‘You must win the Champions League, this is the main thing’ but we all know it would be a fantastic thing to him. And he deserves it for all that he has given to the club.”