Manchester United will want to avoid a slip-up at Arsenal as their Premier League title bid continues at the Emirates Stadium. It is a weekend with a number of huge games at both ends of the top-flight, as with just four matches remaining this term, the fight for crucial points is as desperate as ever.

Alan Hansen has lifted the lid on the training methods which may be responsible for Liverpool's resurgence.
The Reds rose to seventh in the Barclays Premier League this week following victories over Wolves and Fulham.
Fans have noted a greater willingness to commit men into opposition territory under temporary gaffer Kenny Dalglish.

Luka hadn't quite perfected the art of the angry punchSettle down at the back there. The most gratifying part of a blogsworth's existence is the customary handing out of end-of-season awards - where players and games are rated and slated and the very best moments of the previous 10 months can be reminisced over.

Benfica 2-1 Arsenal

Aimar 49,

Nolito 60 van Persie 33

It started well enough and we tried hard enough. That is the best I can say.

Gervinho looked good and went close twice before Arshavin played Gibbs in, who found van Persie for a cool finish.

Kenny Dalglish has moved for Birmingham star Scott Dann after Liverpool's pre-season defensive shambles.
Dalglish wants to make the £8m-rated centre-back his fifth summer signing after seeing his side leak 15 goals in six friendlies.
He was eyeing Liverpool-born Dann, 24, earlier in the summer but opted to strengthen his midfield, landing Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.

Adam Digby writes a superb blog about Juventus and tweets on all manner of subjects @Adz77 ... this is his favourite goal.

Of course he has scored better goals. Of course he has scored more important goals. The current Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero has netted vital strikes at the World Cup, in a Champions League Final, in the World Club Cup Final and has won so many top trophies and titles that his list of personal honours is longer than that of most clubs.

Ask any pundit about Arsenal's form since the turn of the year and they will pause for effect before saying erratic, mixed, up and down, inconsistent or any similar description. The contrast between the win over Barcelona and the draw with Leyton Orient has been described in many places as 'the sublime and the ridiculous', which aside from being highly patronising of Orient, is grossly misleading.

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has criticised Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for recently suggesting finishing in second place behind Manchester United in the Premier League would constitute a successful season.

The Match of the Day pundit argues Sir Alex Ferguson would never dare suggest finishing as runners up would be successful and suggests his former Liverpool side of the 1980s would have a similar mentality, intimating it was win at all costs for the ex-defender, who won eight league titles during his glittering Anfield career.

Seventeen league titles, five European Cups, seven League Cups and fifteen Manager of the Year awards. Both adored by their fans, admired by their peers; and despised either end of the M62.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Bob Paisley OBE are undeniably the masters of their trade. Title after title has been mixed with majestic football and an unerring enjoyment of standing on the sidelines shouting at some of the worlds' most famous sportsmen.

Esteban Cambiasso's goal against Serbia and Montenegro during World Cup 2006 was the culmination of an amazing 25-man passing move culminating in the combative midfielder slammed the ball home with aplomb.

This summer, In The Stands will trail through the football archives and bring together the greatest goals and moments in football history as wet your appetite for the upcoming new season.

If there is one image that defines the revival that Arsenal are about to embark on, it's this one:

There were many positives to take from our dispatching of Bolton Wanderers on Saturday but, for me, this was the one that really counted.

Robin van Persie, mobbed by a herd of Bolton spongiforms, didn't give an inch.

According to Liverpool legend Alan Hansen, Chelsea were 'lucky to survive' in their recent game against Blackburn, and he believes that Kenny Dalglish's team can beat the London side by exploiting Andre Villas-Boas's preference for playing a high defensive line.
Hansen played in a Liverpool defence that 'would be as far up the pitch as any team' there's ever been' and he argues that this could be the key to beating Chelsea later today:
"Chelsea are there to be beaten.

When Arsenal brought Chelsea down 5-3 at Stamford Bridge, it was with a rather maniacal chuckle that Alan Hansen talked about van Persie. The same man who spoke of Walcott's lack of a "footballing brain" was finally going to get on Arsenal's back. "Arsenal almost looking like a one-man team!" he commented rather casually.

Back in February 2011, the Guardian's 'The Gallery' humorously predicted Gary Neville's next career direction in response to the news of his imminent retirement. Unfortunately, he became neither a Tellytubby or an Egyptian rebel instead, replacing Andy Gray as the man tasked with analysing games for Sky Sports; and, boy, has he done it well.

Alan Hansen's Premier League team of the year

Our columnist selects his Premier League first XI from past 12 months.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2011-12-28 23:00:58 from: The Telegraph

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

So 2011 is upon us. And with ominous trumpets and bad violins, BigFourZa start this decade with the second part of our Annual Football Awards or Fourzys. You can relive the horror of Part One if you wish, or else continue to Part Two.

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The 'Not That Kind Of Player' Award- Joey Barton

This award is given to players who masterfully imitate a rabid dog foaming at the mouth without the pundits catching on to it.

For those of you tuning in on Internet Explorer vision today, welcome back. For the rest of you, well, I can only send my condolences that you weren't around to see this website on its arse for two days. Flapping around like a half-dead sea bass on the deck of a boat. We've fixed it now. And when I say we, I of course mean someone else.

The Tottenham left back slot. Brave men have tried but few have succeeded in the mountainous task of making it their own and earning praise. Erik Edman had a valiant crack at it in 2004/05 but his efforts weren't deemed acceptable, even despite that 40 yard cracker at Anfield. No matter who the incumbent is, there always seems to be universal debate over his suitability to the role.

The Tottenham left back slot. Brave men have tried but few have succeeded in the mountainous task of making it their own and earning praise. Erik Edman had a valiant crack at it in 2004/05 but his efforts weren't deemed acceptable, even despite that 40 yard cracker at Anfield. No matter who the incumbent is, there always seems to be universal debate over his suitability to the role.

Alan Hansen believes that interim Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish will want the job permanently at the end of the season, and will be targeting Champions League qualification.
Dalglish, who previously spent 14 years at the Anfield club as a player and manager, was handed the reins until the end of the season after Roy Hodgson left the club.

Apologies for the delay –since the final whistle sounded on Sunday afternoon the denizens of AANP Towers have spent every waking minute traipsing the country searching for anyone – anyone – willing to buy Peter Crouch from us. It does not have to be the chairman of a football team. He could be bought by a British Basketball Association franchise, or shoved into a museum for small children to gawp at.

I was reading this article this morning by Alan Hansen in the Telegraph and straight away like the rest of you became defensive as the majority of you would do. I will be posting about the rest of the article later but it's this point I am looking at and wanting to blog about this morning. I am trying to decide if he is talking rubbish or if he has a point.

Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain tells an interesting story in his autobiography about Sir Ian Botham's time as a selector. It's worth quoting in full:

"The problem was that Beefy is such a legend, people do listen to him. Not only the David Graveneys [Chairman of Selectors] of this world but also people in the street.

There's not much more that needs to be said on this matter: Benny Assou Ekotto is probably one of the most highly coveted football figures amongst the British media these days. He's provided yet another refreshingly honest and entertaining interview, this time for BBC Sport.
Benny has been discussed in recent months on this blog, after he was criticised by Alan Hansen and after the Daily Mail interview a few weeks back, so there's little need to further analyse this latest offering.

There's not much more that needs to be said on this matter: Benny Assou Ekotto is probably one of the most highly coveted football figures amongst the British media these days. He's provided yet another refreshingly honest and entertaining interview, this time for BBC Sport.
Benny has been discussed in recent months on this blog, after he was criticised by Alan Hansen and after the Daily Mail interview a few weeks back, so there's little need to further analyse this latest offering.

Liverpool may sit in sixth place in the Premier League table, keeping them from playing in the Champions League tournament, but that won't keep the club from finishing on a strong note.
Former Reds defender Alan Hansen believes that a Liverpool appearance in the Europa League final would still be a respectable way to help close out the season.

Alternate title option: "How the Brums got into Europa League"For the record: I blame Koscielny, who should've ignored his keeper's presence and booted that away. Alan Hansen is right, as always. - Greg Seltzer

There have been few, if any, managers in the history of the British game who could match Bob Paisley's genius in spotting players. The man who built three Champions' Cup winning teams did so not by outspending others but by identifying before anyone else players with the talent to play in his sides.

United take on Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow and ahead of the game Alan Hansen has stated that the league leaders cannot afford to lose. Whether or not you agree with Hansen's assertion is up to you, but the quality of the Premier League isn't what it was a few seasons ago and so United can probably afford to lose at Anfield and still win the title, at least that is this blog's prediction, for

Alan Hansen and Emmanuel Petit have highlighted Arsenal's paucity of leaders and winners. Telegraph Sport looks at six of the men who inspired Arsenal in their most successful period.

Manchester United heaped more misery on Arsenal by turfing the Gunners out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford. Although he named a team containing seven defenders, Sir Alex Ferguson's gamble was rewarded with goals either side of the interval from Fabio and Wayne Rooney. Earlier, substitute Lee Chung-yong earned Bolton their first FA Cup semi-final spot for 11 years with a late winner as they beat Birmingham 3-2 at St Andrew's.

Somewhat predictably there's something of a Harry backlash today and although most of it is thoughtful and considered, the odd headline uses phrases such as ‘losing the dressing room.'

The Telegraph in particular seems to have it in for Redknapp and after printing a piece by Alan Hansen before the Madrid game suggesting he had taken Tottenham as far as he could, an article by Jason Burt claims that he has reached a ‘crossroads'.

Alan Hansen has pin-pointed the up-coming games against Manchester City and Arsenal as a way of measuring the squad's strength in depth.
City visit Anfield on Monday night, with the Reds travelling to the Emirates six days later to face Arsene Wenger's men.
The Kop legend believes the two games will give manager Kenny Dalglish a good evaluation of his current squad's capabilities.

I love Spurs. It's a simple fact of life. Some would call it a curse but that doesn't stop me. The wife knows she wasn't my first love and the only constant in my 32 years has been a football club. Like many fans much of my life revolves around the club and the team. Most of my friends are spurs fans simply because we never run out of anything to say.

Assuming that Manchester United and Barcelona are able to hold serve this week, they are on a collision course to face each other in the UEFA Champions League Final.

The topic of debate when posed with the task of being pitted against Barcelona has always been how to shut down their attacking prowess.

United Rant reminds us that our destiny is still in our hands.

MUFC Info has a statistical preview for tonight's game against Schalke.

Alan Hansen tells The Telegraph that United will struggle to beat Barcelona if we're in the Champions League final.

Caught Offside lists the 100 greatest players of all time.

Skysports.com understands Arsenal and Liverpool are going head-to-head for defensive duo Phil Jones and Scott Dann.
Blackburn's versatile youngster Jones and Birmingham centre-back Dann are both thought to be top targets for the Gunners and Reds as they look to bolster their defensive options this summer.

Fed up with the brain-dead, sound bite-honking dullards at the forefront of BBC Sport? Then why not turn them into a card game?

BBC Sport. Let's face it, it's basically dead. Once an opulent Roman empire of punditry with Des Lynam as its silver-dusted Caesar – in the past ten years it has crumbled.

The Telegraph sings the praises of Tom Cleverley.

The Mirror claim Sneijder's deal to United will be confirmed in the next two days.

Alan Hansen predicts in The Telegraph that United will win the league.

The Daily Mail reports on Laurent Blanc's claims that Nasri should leave Arsenal.

By Chris Wright

If you immediately responded 'GET THE POWER, ON YOUR FEET!' at the top of your voice after reading that headline then you, like me, were at school in the early-ish 1990′s a glorious period in which Bull Boys (never heard of before or since) enlisted one Alan Hansen to flog their godawful football trainers.