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Manchester United’s win over Chelsea at Old Trafford means the ‘T’ word is still being muttered somewhat less tentatively by many of the United faithful. The Reds may not have been firing on all cylinders for most of the season but there’s little denying they’ve hit top form at just the right time.

Throughout the campaign though we’ve heard pundit after pundit mention the same names when talking of why United are still in the hunt for the top three honours. Rooney, Nani, Berbatov, Chicharito and Vidic have been the usual suspects when it comes to receiving the accolades. Yet one man consistently rises to the occasion and seems to have made the term ‘big game player’ practically his exclusive nickname. Ji-Sung Park has for a number of years now been one of the real stars at Old Trafford always putting in a shift and weighing in with some important goals.

Who can forget his goal against Chelsea in the 2007-08 season which gave United a valuable point at Stamford Bridge- one which would turn out to be vital. Two seasons ago his goal against Arsenal at the Emirates helped United progress past the semi final stage in the Champions League.

Last season his winner against Liverpool may not have mattered in terms of the title race, but just imagine how disappointed we’d have been had the Scousers been the reason we failed to win that elusive 19th title. Then there’s his goal against the Gunners in the league at Old Trafford which was not just one of the best headers I’ve seen at The Theatre of Dreams but also made sure Arsenal didn’t gain a valuable point in the title race.

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The game against Chelsea at Old Trafford was one where you could take your pick from seven or eight United players who each had a good claim for Man of the Match. Giggs, Rooney, Carrick, Nani, Chicharito and the left footed Rio Ferdinand were all contenders, but for me Park stole the show. His goal and performance against Chelsea was yet another example of why Park’s so important to United’s success.

It seems the media are finally beginning to recognise just how good the South Korean is. The match reports were full of praise for Park’s efforts…

The Telegraph: “Laid down a marker by dispossessing Cole and launching an attack inside the opening five minutes. Tenacious and disciplined throughout, the Korean deserved his goal.”

Manchester Evening News: “Tireless performer who makes up in industry what he lacks in creativity and a goal to boot.”

The Mirror: “Played with typical industry and commitment, receiving a cut above his left eye from a clash with Terry for his fearless exploits.”

The Mail: “The Man Fergie looks to in the big games didn’t let him down. solid in defence and purposeful in attack. Park was faultless.”

ESPN: “Park once again showed why he is Sir Alex Ferguson’s first choice when it comes to the important games. Never stopped running and was rewarded for his efforts when Giggs picked him out with a sublime pass, which he finished with aplomb.”

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It seems the media are only reiterating what United fans have known for years, it’s not just because he’s got a funny chant that his name’s always echoes round Old Trafford. Ji-Sung Park Redflagflyinghigh salutes you sir.

Read more of Justin’s articles at RedFlagFlyingHigh.com

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Listen to the first episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and Toploader’s Dan Hipgrave makes a special appearance!

Having not won any silverware since the 2005 FA Cup triumph, Arsenal supporters will be desperate to see their team pick up a trophy this season. Arsene Wenger though, will need to do certain things if Arsenal are to end the wait in this campaign.

1. Sign a centre-back

Arsenal currently have only three recognised centre-backs in their squad. Thomas Vermaelen is top-class, but new signing Laurent Koscielny is unproven and Johan Djourou is injury prone. Although William Gallas, Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre will not be terribly missed, Wenger will have to bring in another central defender if Arsenal are going to mount a serious challenge in the Premier League and Europe. Wenger has linked with a host of names this summer, including Per Mertesacker, Neven Subotic and Phil Jagielka. Jagielka has proven Premiership experience and is a quality centre-back, if Wenger can get a decent price for him, he would worth a serious look.

2. Sign a new goalkeeper

Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski are not good enough for Arsenal to win the title. As much as he needs a centre-back Wenger needs to find another ‘keeper. A top-class goalie can make a massive difference in the season, preserving crucial clean-sheets and gaining the team a few extra points along the way. Mark Schwarzer has been linked throughout the summer, and whilst he is preferable to Almunia and Fabianski, he does not provoke huge confidence. If Wenger can bring in a goalkeeper such as Joe Hart, Maarten Stekelenburg or Igor Akinfeev it would stand Arsenal in good stead for the season. Whatever happens, Arsenal will need a new goalkeeper.

3. Sort out defensive frailties

This is easier said than done, but if Arsenal are to challenge for the top honours then Wenger will need to sort out Arsenal’s defence, which leaked too many goals last season. He will hope Koscielny can bring solidity to central defence, but the mentality will also need to be changed. Too often Arsenal’s defence was caught too far up the field last season, with top-class teams especially punishing them with counter-attacks. Although Vermaelen is an attacking threat, he may have to rein himself in more than last season. Defence was Arsenal’s weakest link last season and it will need to remedied if a title is to be brought to the Emirates.

4. Shoot more often

Arsenal’s passing style is unmatched in the Premier League, and it is an effective form of football. However sometimes it is true that Arsenal can overplay it, especially in the final third. Too often a player has a good shooting opportunity only to pass it to another player in an attempt to create a perfect scoring opportunity. When the move breaks down, this can be frustrating. The more shots a team has the more they are likely to score and there is no problem with players shooting from outside the box. If Wenger can put it into the minds of his players to shoot a little more often, it could be of great benefit.

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5. Toughen the mentality

Although pundits like Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson are over-the-top when they lambast Arsenal’s lack of mental fortitude, there is a slight issue here. When Arsenal are losing and especially against the top sides, there can be a tendency for heads to go down. Even when Arsenal do take the lead, there is never total confidence they can ride out the victory. This though, is as much the players as the manager and both will have their parts to play in becoming that little more resilient. If Arsene Wenger can achieve all these things, then Arsenal will stand a good chance of winning silverware.

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Chelsea have kept their title ambitions alive, as they beat Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.

Andre Villas Boas’ men had to come from a goal down to get the three points after the visitors started the brighter; Mario Balotelli converted after two minutes following excellent build up play from Sergio Aguero.

Raul Meireles managed to tie things up after 34 minutes, slotting home from close range after a great run and cross by former City attacker Daniel Sturridge.

The game changed on the hour mark, as Gael Clichy was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge on Ramires.

With the game heading towards a draw, Chelsea were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minutes, as Joleon Lescott was adjudged to have handled a Sturridge shot; substitute Frank Lampard dispatched the spot kick to give The Blues an invaluable three points.

After the game victorious coach Villas Boas was delighted with his team’s display, and feels Chelsea’s title ambitions are still alive.

“Our objective was to shorten the distance to the leaders today, and we managed to do exactly that, but we don’t take extra flavour from being the first team to beat them,” he told Sky Sports.

“We needed to do our job to get our Premiership challenge back on track, and I think it’s pretty much alive now.

“I think the fact that also other teams won, Man Utd won, Arsenal won all of us are chasing now and all of them are putting pressure on Man City so a lot of team still competing in this league.

“Again December fixtures will be decisive, Tottenham still with a game in hand so it’s very hard at the moment,” he admitted.

Meanwhile City have lost their unbeaten Premier League record, but Mancini hopes his side can start another run in the near future.

“We can do nothing about losing the record. We are at the top and we knew that it was possible to lose one game.

“I think that tonight after the Chelsea game we should draw or win the next match. We have worked well until now and we should continue.

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“I hope that we can go another 14 games without losing,” he concluded.

City’s lead at the top of the division is now only two points, and Chelsea have moved up to third, seven points adrift of the leaders.

By Gareth McKnight

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Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is not fussed who his side face in the Champions League quarter-finals.The draw for the last eight will be made on Friday, which could pit the Catalan giants against the likes of Chelsea or Manchester United, or Bundesliga mid-table outfit Schalke.But Valdes said he had no preference about who Barcelona’s opposition will be, while remaining hopeful that his side can clinch three trophies this season.”Whatever team we have to face, it will be very hard,” Valdes said.”I don’t have any preference for any team. I hope that we go through, and whoever it is will be our next opponent.””We are in the cup final, and we are still able to win all three competitions, so I am not ruling anything out.”Valdes is on the comeback trail after a knee injury sidelined him for three weeks and admitted although he is still having some issues, it is not causing him serious discomfort.”I am fine. We did a good job with my recovery and even though there are some niggles, it isn’t a big problem,” he said.The Spanish custodian also praised the players of arch-rivals Real Madrid, who paid tribute to Barca defender Eric Abidal on Wednesday night after their 3-0 second-leg win against Lyon. Abidal was diagnosed with cancer this week and Valdes said the gesture was greatly appreciated by his team-mates.”I think that it is a non-sporting injury, so it is above any sporting rivalry,” he said.”We as team-mates are grateful for all the support that he has received, and the love being shown for Abidal by everybody. Not just from the fans, but from everyone.”

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has set his sights on a move to England, having impressed in helping his side reach the World Cup semi-finals in South Africa.

The 23-year-old currently plays his football in the Netherlands with Ajax, but is expected to move on with a number of top clubs across Europe tracking the South American.

Suarez told the Daily Star Sunday:"I am not going to make any secret of my admiration for the Premier League.

"What I love about it is the fact that there are five or six Champions League quality teams in the league and no other league in the world boasts that.

"I know I have had a very good World Cup and with that naturally comes interest from other clubs.

"If a Premier League side comes in for me it will be very difficult for Ajax to keep me and I think they are fully aware of that.

"Manchester United are a great side and, along with Real Madrid, are the most prestigious club in the world.

"You know if you join Manchester United and are there for any length of time you will win things.

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"Tottenham hold appeal as well, though, they are a team with great ambition and have done well to reach the Champions League.

"If there are multiple offers from the Premier League I will take time to decide, but at the moment they are the two clubs that stand out for me."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has labelled his side’s 2-2 draw with Benfica a cruel result, and stated that he was happy with the performance of his team.

A Phil Jones own goal was cancelled out by Dimitar Berbatov’s strike, and United went into the lead through Darren Fletcher on the hour mark before being pegged back by Pablo Aimar.

The result moves the Portuguese team to top of Group C on the basis of the two teams’ results against each other, and Jorge Jesus’ side face hapless Otelul Galati at home in their last game.

The English champions meanwhile must travel to Switzerland to take on Basel, who are only a point behind United currently.

Despite the Old Trafford team being put into an uncomfortable position, the Scottish coach has full belief in his players.

“It’s going to be a hard game but the chips are down for us and I’ve got every confidence in my team,” he told Sky Sports.

“That was very disappointing. We played so well tonight. We made a lot of good chances, played some really great football. I have no fault with my players at all. They deserve better.

“That’s the game. It’s a cruel game at times and it was cruel for us tonight.

“(It was) a bit freakish to be honest with you – an own goal and then a bad kick out from David De Gea.

“I think we had to get into a rhythm and a tempo. We had a bad start. It was a goal after three or four minutes. It does take the steam out of you, it takes the wind from your sails a little bit.

“Once they went to the game they played really well and they should have maybe been two or three up at half-time. I think it was very unfortunate we didn’t win that game,” he concluded.

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United are back to domestic duties at the weekend, and host Newcastle at home on Saturday.

By Gareth McKnight

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Our first concern with regards to footballers is how good they are, but second is whether they’re decent blokes or not. While we may not have met the stars of the Premier League, we feel as though we know them to some extent and thus have a decent idea as to whether they’d be the kind of person you’d want to go for a pint with.

In the Football Fans Survey 2011 here on FootballFanCast.com we asked you who you’d like to go with a pint with and the results are in! Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs won the vote, which is somewhat surprising seeing as the Welshman has steered clear of drink in order to have an extended career, but I’m sure he’d have plenty of great stories to tell. Giggs beat football funny man Jimmy Bullard, while almost a quarter of us would be happy to have a drink with anyone who’s buying!

That brings us on to footballers that we’d least like to go for a pint with. Rangers’ El Hadji Diouf won this award with 30% of the vote and I’m sure a fair few Celtic fans must have chosen the player who is renowned for spitting now and again. He beat Gary Neville into second place, whose hatred of Liverpool, Manchester City and generally any team other than Man United probably made his position well-earned, while Steven Gerrard and Newcastle bad boy Joey Barton were the also-rans in this vote. Do you agree with these selections?

To see the rest of the results from the Football Fans Survey 2011, brought to you by ZOO Magazine and FootballFanCast.com, click here

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Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is confident he has made a full recovery from an injured-ravaged past season.

The Ghana international has been sidelined since December with a knee ligament injury which also forced him to miss the World Cup.

Essien made a goalscoring return to action in Saturday's 1-0 friendly victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and was delighted by his comeback.

"It feels good, it's been a long time but I am back in full training now, everything is good and there is no reaction from the training, so things are looking good for me," he told the club's official website.

"I didn't have any holidays because of my rehab, but it will be good to start up again and I am looking forward to the rest of the boys coming back as well.

"I'd love to have been there playing at the end of the season, it wasn't easy for me but I supported my team-mates to win their matches, that's all I could do.

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"I became a supporter and to end the season with two trophies was amazing and I was enjoying it like everyone even though I didn't play the whole season."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Whenever a club is underachieving it seems inevitable that somebody will become a scapegoat. It is one of the few guarantees in the beautiful game with many players succumbing to this fate. And Andy Carroll is the latest to be reined in.

After joining on deadline day in January, Carroll has been unable to hit the heights expected of him as the £35 million replacement for Fernando Torres which has led to the media and some Liverpool supporters wondering whether he is up to the task.

Questions have been raised over his on-pitch attitude, fitness and lifestyle, but with Kenny Dalglish refusing to criticise the striker, it seems that people on the outside have got it in for him. So is this a case of the media sensationalising something that all players go through? Or is patience starting to run thin with the 22-year-old?

Nobody can doubt that Carroll has so far failed to live up to expectations but it is becoming redundant to read that spending £35 million on a striker should equal goals and his so far goal shy Anfield career makes him useless. And while it is obvious that strikers will be judged by how often they get on the scoresheet, it is not the only thing to consider.

His time on Merseyside has been plagued by injuries that have prevented him from showing his power and eye for goal. Having joined the club with a torn thigh muscle it took until March before he could finally make his debut and after opening his account with two goals against Manchester City and looking sharp he suffered another injury setback, which has been linked to a lack of professionalism. But many young players suffer injuries when they play a lot of football and as the main striker at St. James’ Park it was likely that his body would suffer some affects.

On top of that, England manager Fabio Capello said that he needed to control his drinking to reach the top but club manager Dalglish rubbished these suggestions. When asked by a reporter about the player’s off-pitch antics the Scot claimed that “nobody knows” what his lifestyle is and that the press “milk” an unimportant issue. It is clear that King Kenny does not believe there is a problem and if the man that sees him day in and day out has no worries, then there is little to argue.

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A big factor in this debate is the lack of game time Carroll has had because of his trouble adapting to the Liverpool style of play. Newcastle got the most from the striker because they utilised their wingers, getting in plenty of crosses and long balls that allowed Carroll to use his power and top class heading ability. Now at Anfield, the fluid, attacking style of play is unsuited to his strengths and despite Dalglish bringing in Stewart Downing to get crosses in, the plan is yet to succeed and with no out and out winger on the right the goal chances are drying up.

This is why he is dropped even after scoring important goals. Grabbing a goal in the Merseyside derby was a big step in getting the fans on side but in the following games against Manchester United and Norwich he was back on the bench and prevented from building his confidence.

The reason for this has been the superb form of Liverpool’s other signings. Fellow January signing Luis Suarez has been a revelation at Anfield since joining from Ajax, scoring freely and fitting in seamlessly so when Carroll was given the opportunity to play he has been expected to do the same. And this season, Craig Bellamy has marked his return with his own passionate displays which have put unwarranted pressure on the £35 million man.

It is easily forgotten that last season was his first campaign as a first-choice Premier League striker and he was instantly thrown into the limelight with 11 goals in 19 appearances for Newcastle. His performance against Arsenal in the Magpies’ 1-0 win showed his immense potential but at just 22 he is yet to develop as a rounded football and reach his peak, and having been signed whilst injured, manager Kenny Dalglish clearly has the “six years not six months” mindset with this buy.

Andy Carroll is a superb talent going through a rough patch. He has scored 17 goals in 56 Premier League games during his career, hardly a poor record for someone so young. Every footballer has a spell like this and the best players always come through it. His injury problems have made the spell last longer and the fact that Liverpool are off the pace has left everyone wanting answers. If the club were really becoming impatient with him it would be clear to see but with the form of Suarez and Bellamy it is simply a matter of Dalglish playing his best team on the day. Dalglish is confident that Carroll will repay his price tag and so should everyone else. The fans and the media need to lay off him and let him get to what he knows best. The best years of his career are ahead of him. He will be Liverpool’s next great number nine.

What do you think? Is Carroll a good player or another for the scrapheap? Have your say. Comment below or follow me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.

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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has refused to discuss the performance of referee Miguel Lasa in his side’s 1-1 draw at Sevilla on Sunday.Barca’s lead in La Liga was cut to just five points over Real Madrid after the Spanish champions could only manage a point at Sevilla, though Lasa was in the spotlight for two decisions that potentially cost Guardiola’s side the game.Firstly, the referee disallowed an early Lionel Messi goal after ruling that Sergio Busquets had infringed at the free kick.Then, the referee waved away calls for a penalty in the second half after goal-scorer Bojan Krkic appeared to be felled in the area.But Guardiola did not wish to make any comment on the referee and said he was satisfied overall with Barcelona’s performance.”The referees always do their utmost,” Guardiola said.”I’m a representative of the institution Barcelona. I don’t want to talk about the disallowed goal of Messi.””A Barcelona coach doesn’t discuss the referee’s performance.””We put in a good performance against a great team. Maybe we deserved more than a draw after our first-half performance.””Sevilla improved after the break and showed their great mentality.””Overall I’m quite satisfied with how we played. We always try to control the game, but sometimes you face a strong opponent. We didn’t lose though and never stopped trying.”