Make no mistake, the final eight or nine games of the season, when it is tight and you are locked in a battle for the title, are a wholly different challenge to games in the opening months of the campaign. People talk about mind games, but the reality is that winning a league all boils down to the mental strength of the players on the pitch and there are certain elements that never change. You should never talk about tiredness, you must not give your opponent any kind of encouragement by dropping points and you have to dredge something extra – fight, belief, grit – that will enable you to win games in the final 10 minutes when they are there to be won. If you start getting involved in mind games, make sure that what you say is based on fact and allows the other side no room for a reply. Manchester City, who, let us not forget, find themselves sitting on top of the Premier League, still have a terrific chance to win the title this season.
Monday 26 March 2012
Sir Alex Ferguson confident Ferdinand can prolong Manchester United career
The defender has managed 29 appearances this season despite suffering from back problems and the Scot believes Ferdinand is still a key member of the squad. Manchester United are 2/5 with Paddy Power to retain their Premier League title this season. Ferguson told reporters: “I think how long he can play is all down to how he feels physically himself, but what he is doing at the moment is good. “His form has not surprised me in the sense that he’s still young for a centre-back. In normal terms you would expect a centre-back with his athleticism to play well into their thirties anyway.'' Ferguson confirmed that the 33-year-old's injuries are closely monitored but believes it is a risk worth taking as he is able to pass his vast experience on to the club's younger players. “He has no issues at all," he said. "I think from time to time he gets the odd tweak in his back and we have to manage it and look after it. "He’s adapting really well to the challenge of making sure he is fit and fresh to play in the games we need him. "The younger players can take an example off older players in terms of the example they set. “He’s taken on that role of being the influential person in the dressing room. He’s great in the dressing room with the players – brilliant.”
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is refusing to contemplate challenging for a Champions League spot
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is refusing to contemplate challenging for a Champions League spot despite closing the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham to five points after a 3-1 win at West Brom. The Magpies moved level on 50 points with Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League after first-half goals from Papiss Cisse (2) and man of the match Hatem Ben Arfa disposed of the Baggies. Pardew believes that is a "phenomenal" achievement with just eight games remaining and Newcastle showing signs of mounting a strong finish to the campaign. But he feels breaking into the top four will be beyond them this season. He said: "I didn't think we'd be level with Chelsea with eight games to go. Maybe it might happen in the first 10 games if you get a fantastic start, which is what we did. "To have the same points at Chelsea at this stage is phenomenal really and you have to take your hats off to the players. "But are we Champions League contenders? I don't think so. I don't think we've got the depth of squad to challenge for that." Pardew will be without skipper and key defender Fabricio Coloccini for up to three games after he suffered a hamstring injury, including next weekend's clash with Liverpool. He said: "Fabricio is so important to us and, to lose him for the next two or three games, will hurt us." But Pardew can take encouragement from the performance of Ben Arfa, who set up Cisse's double as well as scoring himself, and feels he is worth a place in the France squad. Pardew said: "I think there are not many players who can do what he can do and it might be a nice wild card for France to have him in the squad. "He really has knuckled down and there is a much more controlled person in his manner and the way he is around the training ground. "I can say that publicly so it registers with the French manager. "We've not had one issue with him but in the past in France there was some reputation that he was an enfant terrible but not here."
Over-drinking can be deadlier than dehydration
Like many marathon runners, Kate Mori always drank plenty of fluids before, during and after a race, rather than waiting until she got thirsty. “I’d always been taught you had to 'stay ahead’ of thirst and that being thirsty was a sign you were already dehydrated,” says the 42-year-old sports scientist. In 2007, Mori took part in the London Marathon – her fourth, and the hottest on record, with temperatures peaking at 23.5C. Conscious of the repeated advice to maintain fluid intake coming over the PA system, she took frequent drinks at the water stations along the route. By the 18th mile, Mori felt “quite poorly” but was determined to finish; she was raising funds for a children’s cancer charity and wanted to ensure they got their sponsorship money. Near the end, she needed help from other runners to stay upright; hours later she was in casualty at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, suffering from severe diarrhoea, vomiting and increasing confusion, with her legs endlessly mimicking a running motion. “I thought I was still in the marathon,” she says. Mori was not dehydrated from drinking too little fluid, as might be at first assumed. She had drunk too much. As a result she had developed a dangerous but little-recognised condition called exercise-associated hyponatraemia (EAH). Sometimes called water intoxication, EAH is marked by a low blood sodium concentration and can cause the brain to swell, causing confusion, loss of consciousness and seizures. Mori made a full recovery after intravenous treatment with sodium chloride to redress the low concentration of sodium in her blood. Another contestant in that year’s marathon was not so fortunate. David Rogers, a 22-year-old fitness instructor, died of EAH after finishing the race in three hours 30 minutes. Mori isn’t sure how much she drank during the race. “But the consultant reckoned it was probably about three litres of water,” she says. “Ironically, at the finish I was taken into a first aid tent and offered more water. “I feel ashamed that with my job [she teaches an MA in sports development at Gloucestershire University] I did not have the awareness about this condition,” she adds. “It is far more dangerous than dehydration.” With the 2012 London Marathon taking place next month, most would-be runners will be similarly advised on the need to avoid dehydration, especially if temperatures rise. Dehydration occurs when the body’s normal water content is reduced and its balance of salts and sugar upset. But according to many medical experts, thousands of runners could be risking their health if not their lives by drinking too much rather than too little. Timothy Noakes, professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who has spent the last 30 years researching the topic, says that the dangers of dehydration during endurance exercise have been exaggerated, with the result that cases of EAH are on the rise. He says runners need to be warned that overconsumption of fluids (whether water or sports drinks) before, during, or after exercise can have a potentially fatal outcome. “There is not a single report in the medical literature of dehydration being a proven, direct cause of death in a marathon runner,” adds Prof Noakes. “But EAH, caused by drinking excessively, has resulted in at least 12 deaths among sportsmen and women.” As well as Rogers in 2007, fatalities include a female US marathoner in 1993 and an American footballer, Paul Allen, in 2010. “In addition,” says Noakes, since 1981, “there have been over 1,600 documented cases of EAH worldwide.” Although the symptoms of EAH were first noted by Prof Noakes and colleagues in the 1980s, the cause – voluntary over-drinking – was finally established in 1991. The condition results from abnormal water retention throughout the body, which reduces the blood sodium concentration, causing excess fluid to move from the blood into tissue cells, including those in the brain, and makes them swell. Consultant cardiologist Professor Sanjay Sharma of St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, London, and the London Marathon medical director, warns that the higher temperatures rise, the more people are encouraged to drink – especially, he says, by sports drinks advertisements – and the more cases of EAH can be expected. “Many runners feel they need to drink at water stations whenever they can, regardless of how thirsty they feel,” he says. Slow runners are particularly at risk because they are on the road for longer – and it usually takes four hours of over-drinking to accumulate the excess fluid which causes EAH. So how much fluid should runners drink? Guidance from the International Marathon Medical Directors Association (IMMDA), drawn up by Prof Noakes in 2003, advises that “drinking to thirst” is enough to maintain the body’s fluid balance – and that to drink more than that contradicts our natural biological signals. However, the influential American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) argues that to avoid dehydration, athletes should not lose more than two per cent of body weight while exercising, a position also taken by the big sports drinks companies, Lucozade and Gatorade. The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) advises would-be athletes to “drink before you’re thirsty or you’ll just be playing catch-up. Drink before, during and after exercise.” Athletes should “train their guts” to tolerate more fluids in the same way “they train their muscles to tolerate more exercise”. But Dr Courtney Kipps, specialist in sport and exercise medicine and the London Marathon’s assistant medical director, argues that in a marathon one should expect to lose up to two per cent of body weight and that “losing less than two per cent body weight after a marathon means that you’ll probably be over-hydrated and at risk of EAH.” Prof Noakes sees a conflict between science and commerce. “Promoting an abnormal and unphysiological behaviour – drinking to stay ahead of thirst – produced a novel disease, EAH, with tragic consequences,” he says. However Dr Ian Rollo of Gatorade argues that Prof Noakes “does not factor in the dangers associated with the more common condition of dehydration”, while a spokeswoman for the ACSM told The Daily Telegraph that “if anyone is at fault, it’s the marketing teams for the commercial sports drink companies.” Given the controversy, perhaps it’s not surprising that many runners know disturbingly little about the dangers of over-drinking. Dr Jonathan Williams is a marathon runner and sports physician at Bristol University who has himself suffered symptoms of EAH. His recent research published this month in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, found that 12 per cent of 217 runners in the 2010 London Marathon planned “to drink volumes which would put them at risk of EAH, and that only 35 per cent had a basic understanding of the cause and effects of EAH.” Kate Mori, now pregnant with her second child, will be watching this year’s London Marathon from the sidelines. “I haven’t felt like running a marathon since I had EAH,” she says. “But I would like to do another eventually. I am very fortunate to have made a recovery.” Advice for marathon runners To avoid dehydration, drink when you feel thirsty. Sticking to a rigid drinking plan is potentially dangerous. Weigh yourself before and after training runs of different lengths and intensity and in different weather conditions to understand how your body responds to drinking fluid during exercise. If you weigh the same (or more) than when you started, you have drunk too much. Over a marathon expect to lose up to two per cent of body weight due to depleted energy stores. Sports drinks may contain a low concentration of sodium but they will not prevent the development of EAH in runners who drink to excess. If you have bloating, vomiting, nausea or a headache, get medical help. These could be early warning signs of EAH.
Saturday 24 March 2012
Borat anthem stuns Kazakh gold medallist in Kuwait
Kazakhstan's shooting team has been left stunned after a comedy national anthem from the film Borat was played at a medal ceremony at championships in Kuwait instead of the real one. The team asked for an apology and the medal ceremony was later rerun. The team's coach told Kazakh media the organisers had downloaded the parody from the internet by mistake. The song was produced by UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for the film, which shows Kazakhs as backward and bigoted. The original Borat movie offended the Kazakh authorities Footage of Thursday's original ceremony posted on YouTube shows gold medallist Maria Dmitrienko listening to the anthem without emotion and finally smiling as it ends. Coach Anvar Yunusmetov told Kazakh news agency Tengrinews that the tournament's organisers had also got the Serbian national anthem wrong. "Then Maria Dmitrienko's turn came," he said. "She got up on to the pedestal and they played a completely different anthem, offensive to Kazakhstan." Continue reading the main story Anthem gaffes Instead of singing "we love your mountains" in his attempt on the Croatian anthem, an English opera singer sings "my penis is a mountain" Swiss TV runs obsolete "Deutschland uber alles" subtitles over the German national anthem Grenada plays Taiwan's anthem at a ceremony inaugurating a China-funded stadium Saudis play Syrian anthem for Lebanese football team Belgian party leader Yves Leterme sings French anthem when asked to sing the Belgian The spoof song praises Kazakhstan for its superior potassium exports and for having the cleanest prostitutes in the region. The film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, released in 2006, follows Baron Cohen's character, the journalist Borat Sagdiyev, as he travels to the US and pursues the actress Pamela Anderson. The film outraged people in Kazakhstan and was eventually banned in the country. The government also threatened Baron Cohen with legal action. Reports say the film is also banned in Kuwait.
Friday 23 March 2012
Chelsea have received a huge boost with news that captain John Terry looks set to be fit for this weekend's vital Champions League clash against London rivals Tottenham.
Terry missed the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City due to calf cramps and has not been able to train fully since last week's win over Napoli, which was only his second appearance since returning from knee surgery.
The 31-year-old looks as if he will be able to face Tottenham, however, after taking part in a training session on Thursday morning.
Captain's job: Terry has been passed fit to face Tottenham at the weekend
Pep Guardiola to be offered Chelsea deal of £40m
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH is ready to hand super-coach Pep Guardiola a four-year deal worth £40million AFTER TAX to become Chelsea boss. 131 comments Related Stories Barca boosted by Pep talk PEP GUARDIOLA is close to agreeing a new one-year deal to stay at Barcelona The club's billionaire Russian owner refuses to give up on his quest to lure Barcelona's all-conquering manager. And that includes making Guardiola the highest-paid boss in the world with a money-no-object offer worth £10m a year in cash, according to one Blues insider. Guardiola's Nou Camp deal is up at the end of the season and Abramovich will not call off the chase while the manager leaves his future up in the air. He currently earns around £8m a year NET at Barca but Rom can eclipse that with his staggering offer. Sacked Andre Villas-Boas was paid about £4.5m a year and Chelsea coughed up £13m compensation to his previous club Porto to release him last summer
Kenny Dalglish has accused his critics of lacking intelligence and not understanding what he is trying to achieve at Anfield,
Kenny Dalglish has accused his critics of lacking intelligence and not understanding what he is trying to achieve at Anfield, pointing to the success of the academy and Liverpool’s Carling Cup triumph, as well as the FA Cup semi-final to come.
But, after Wednesday’s implosion at Loftus Road, when they lost a Premier League game after leading 2-0 for the first time in 11-and-a-half years, and after buying nearly £115million worth of players in just over a year, the club sit seventh, a place above Swansea (who have spent around £10m in that time). So, we ask Sportsmail’s experts — has King Kenny delivered?
After spending more than £100million on players, Kenny Dalglish must realise his Liverpool side have seriously under-performed this season. Six defeats in the last 10 Barclays Premier League games, nine in all, as well as eight draws at home, is simply not good enough.
The widely-held view that the Carling Cup would be enough to satisfy the club’s American owners this season is not shared by many inside Anfield. Not even a Carling Cup and FA Cup double will keep them completely happy when the main objective was to qualify for the Champions League.
Kop legend: But with Liverpool 12 points off the Champions League spot, Kenny Dalglish does not seem to know how to turn around the club's League fortunes
But that does not mean Dalglish will be sacked, or indeed should be sacked, particularly when it has never been more difficult to secure a place in the top four and particularly when we are talking about Dalglish here. These Americans are not half as daft as their predecessors.
The pressure, however, will be on next season, with so much more required from those marquee signings.
Andy Carroll has been a disaster so far, while Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam just don’t look like Liverpool players; nothing like as good as Xabi Alonso or Fernando Torres, prior to the latter getting injured, anyway.
Stewart Downing has had his moments but needs to perform with more consistency, especially for £20million.
Chelsea will have to fight to keep David Luiz this summer, with Barcelona preparing to offer £35million for the Brazil defender.
The Catalan club have long been admirers of the 24-year-old centre half, dating back to when he was impressing at Benfica. In 2010 he was player of the year in the Portuguese League.
Wanted: Barcelona are preparing to offer £