Pro Eleven Headlines

Inter: Adriano and Quaresma out. Mourinho stings Juventus

New exclusion for Adriano. The Brazilian striker is not in the list of players called for Palermo-Inter tomorrow evening. Mourinho also excluded Quaresma. The Brazilian was left at home for the usual disciplinary problems, for the Portuguese it is purely a tactical choice.
This is the list of players,
Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 22 Paolo Orlandoni.Defenders: 2 Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, 6 Maxwell, 13 Maicon, 16 Nicolas Burdisso, 25 Walter Samuel, 23 Marco Materazzi, 39 Davide Santon. Midfielders: 4 Javier Zanetti, 5 Dejan Stankovic, 14 Patrick Vieira, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Sulley Muntari, 36 Francesco Bolzoni, 33 Amantino Mancini.Forwards: 8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 9 Julio Cruz, 21 Victor Obinna, 45 Mario Balotelli.
Mourinho throws water on the fire. "Adriano would have played if he hadn’t had flu. I was not angry about the flu last Tuesday. My personal relations with him are good. Professionally he is like the others, he must train every day, he must arrive on time. This week he has not trained, Tuesday and Wednesday he trained alone, Thursday was his first training session with the group. And today he trained 100%. But this is not enough for me". On Quaresma: "He had his opportunities and he will have more of them in the future. But Mancini has done a great week of work. He deserves to play. Obinna brought intensity in the game against Udinese, he deserves to follow the team. Even Balotelli, Cruz and Ibra. We have a core of very strong strikers and I can not call all of them. I gave Quaresma three days off to go to Portugal to see his family. Next week he may become very important because Mancini, Obinna and Balotelli will play for their national teams"
Tomorrow will Sulley Muntari returns, available again after the stop for a muscle injury. "Muntari will play. The formation? Muntari and Ibra plus 9. He concluded thinking of the winter market:"I am satisfied with my players. The market in January is almost always for those who do not work well in the summer". In Spain there are rumors about Real Madrid’s interest for Hernan Crespo: "If Hernan may be important for another team, he may also be important for us and be part of the players for the Champions League."

Finally Mou challanged Juve and Ranieri. "I respect Ranieri as a coach. It is not up to him to have the same points that I have. It’s Juve that has the same points as Inter. Tomorrow I do not think we will have the same points. And neither in a weeks time."


Real Madrid ready to move on against Valladolid

Real Madrid lost Ruud Van Nistelrooy for the season earlier this week, but the Dutch striker's absence is not what coach Bernd Schuster is worried about the most before Saturday's game at Valladolid.

Van Nistelrooy was an integral part of Real's offense, which is second in Spain with 28 goals through 10 weeks. But Schuster believes Real Madrid will continue to score, it's tightening up on the other end that really matters.

Real Madrid has struggled in its last nine matches, going just 4-3-2 - which is unacceptable by the Spanish giants standards. Real has allowed 19 goals during that stretch, including at least two goals in seven of those matches.

Despite the woes, Real is still just two points behind Barcelona in the league and in position to advance in the Champions League.

And although Schuster admitted Real would "keep an eye on the market" to find a replacement for Van Nistelrooy - who had season-ending knee surgery this week in the United States - it has bigger problems to fix right now.

"It's been a hard blow to us all. We didn't expect it to be this serious, but it's just one of those things we have to learn how to deal with in football," Schuster said. "Nevertheless, our problem is conceding too many goals, not scoring too few.

"We all want him to return, but we have to move on."

Real, which has also scored 19 goals in its last nine matches, visits Zorrilla Stadium to face a struggling Valladolid squad. But Schuster has warned his club not to overlook Valladolid because the club has a strong attack.

And Although Valladolid is near the bottom of the league, it has been solid at home with all three of its wins and an overall record of 3-1-1. On the road, Valladolid is 0-5.

"We have to expect a complicated match because they put a lot of pressure in attack," he said. "They will try to steal the ball from us and counterattack."

Real has won its last two matches 4-3. It beat Malaga last weekend in La Liga when Gonzalo Higuain scored four goals and then beat Real Union in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday - although it was eliminated from the event on away goals.

Schuster wasn't worried about the Copa del Rey and with Real Madrid turning its focus back to league play and the Champions League, the struggling side could easily close the two-point gap and return to the top of the league soon.

Real would temporarily take over the top spot in La Liga with a win Saturday. Valladolid is trying to move further away from the drop zone. It currently sits three points clear.

Also Saturday, Valencia hosts Sporting Gijon.

On Sunday, Atletico Madrid hosts Deportivo, Getafe hosts Sevilla, Almeria hosts Mallorca, Malaga hosts Villarreal, Real Betis hosts Racing, Athletic Bilbao hosts Osasuna, Espanyol hosts Numancia and Recreativo hosts Barcelona.


Martin O'Neill demands grit from Aston Villa at Arsenal

MARTIN O’Neill is looking for Villa to produce ‘real grit’ as they seek to end their miserable sequence of results at Arsenal.

Villa have not won at Arsenal since November 1993 and Arsenal are unbeaten in 19 Premier League matches against Villa.

O’Neill futher believes the Gunners will be fired up to knock down a side seen as pretenders to their top four spot.

“I think they will see it as a game to win, a chance to knock potential candidates down and more importantly, to get their own season back in a challenging position,’ he said.

O’Neill is looking for character from his side.

Arsenal have won 13 and drawn six matches since Villa prevailed by the odd goal in five at Villa Park on December 13, 1998.

“It is a big game because we have lost the last two and we want to bounce back,’’ he said.

“We want to show real grit and determination and in the last two league games that we have played, on the balance if we hadn’t been beaten then I think that would have been fine.

“We didn’t do enough in the last 30 minutes against Newcastle and before that we should have won it, and I don’t think we should have been beaten last Sunday. Now we have to put that right.

“We have always responded well, and you have to respond if you are to lay claim to anything at all.

“But I have said to the players it is a tight old league and it is the team that can produce a couple of performances.”

O’Neill says his side should take a leaf out of Everton’s book.

Struggling at the start of the season, they have shot up the league and showed just as much steel by turning around a 1-0 deficit in the dying stages at West Ham last weekend by winning 3-1.

O’Neill added: “I saw David Moyles on Monday. His last few results they have dug in and won late matches.

“I think that is a great thing- to be able to win a couple of games when you haven’t played well.

“In fact against West Ham they were outplayed in the match but fought back and got the equalising goal and then the next ball that comes into the box ends up in the corner of the net. It can happen.”

O’Neill says results have understandably affected morale.

“If you are talking about the mood in the camp, we are really disappointed in the results but in the midst of all that we have had some great European matches,’’ he added.

“We can put those to the side now and we will rethink that at another time.’’


Roma: Knee problems for Totti. No derby for him?

Despite his knee, the captain will do everything to play the derby. There are no good news at Roma in this moment. Francesco Totti left the training session, due to knee problems.

The "Giallorossi" captain put a bag of ice on the knee and, after a few minutes, left the pitch. After De Rossi's injury another problem for Spalletti, in the run up to the derby on Sunday evening. Doni has recovered and started to train regularly.


Didier Drogba charged over coin-throwing

The FA has charged Didier Drogba, the Chelsea forward, with violent conduct for throwing a coin into the crowd during the Carling Cup defeat by Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Although he issued an apology immediately after the final whistle, Drogba can expect a mandatory three-match suspension.

If, as is expected, he pleads guilty, he has until 6pm on Monday to respond to the charge - the case will be heard next week - and the club are unlikely to take any internal disciplinary action before then.

The Metropolitan Police are also investigating the incident and the FA is working with both clubs to try to identify the spectator who threw the coin on to the pitch when Drogba was celebrating putting Chelsea ahead at the Shed End, where the Burnley supporters were housed. Chelsea went on to lose in a penalty shoot-out.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, defended his player yesterday and criticised the Burnley fans. “Didier went to the pitch to play,” Scolari said. “He didn't put coins in his pocket. For people, for the police, for the FA, they have to think about this. He was happy to score a goal and he wasn't starting anything. It wasn't Didier who started it.

“Didier didn't go out on to the pitch to fight but to play. He apologised after the game. But I want, now, the police to find out who was the man who threw that [coin], which fan threw it. After this, we'll look at what happens. I'm not a judge.”

Less predictably, perhaps, Drogba also received the support of Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager. “I believe overall that Drogba is a fair player,” Wenger said. “He had a moment of non-controlled reactions and he accepted that and apologised, you have to accept that. He will certainly be punished, but overall he is a fair player and fair fighter in our game.

“We have a responsibility as managers and players to keep in control of what we do and to stay calm. We are expected to always keep our nerves and I think 99 times out of 100 we do that, but on that one time we are punished and we accept that.”

Scolari called for British fans to maintain the atmosphere that makes the Barclays Premier League popular. “In the world sometimes some crazy people don't go to watch the games,” he said. “In England the game is a party. It's fantastic. I look and there are 40,000 people singing. It's beautiful. I want to say to the fans, during the game they can support their different teams, but after the game you offer congratulations and it's finished. England can give this example to the world.”

The tie against Burnley also threw up the issue of Chelsea's shortage of efficient striking alternatives. Nicolas Anelka was rested, Drogba is not fit enough to play a full 90 minutes - and is facing a ban - and other attacking players lacked a cutting edge. The answer, according to Scolari, will not necessarily be to expand his options in January. He still believes that 24 is the optimum squad size.

“I don't believe a squad of 34 is a squad where everyone is the same quality,” he said. “Despite all our problems, we're still top of the table. That's because all the players are very good. I don't want to pay ten players to do nothing. I started in a small team and I know how important money is.” Even to Chelsea? “Yes,” he said. “If I want to change players, I'll sell someone or loan someone to bring someone else in. Money is a problem all over the world at the moment.”