Robinho ready to return? |
The Sun...
'Go-go Robinho'
ROBINHO is raring to go after missing Manchester City’s last two games.
The £32.5million Brazilian striker has been battling to overcome an ankle strain in time to face Everton today.
And City boss Mark Hughes reckons his nine-goal Samba star will come back better than ever for the holiday rush.
Hughes
said: “The Christmas fixture demands are new to foreign players when
they come to England as it is pretty much unique to the Premier League.
“Robbie has been having a bit of a break at the moment because
he is injured and maybe we will get the benefit of this further down
the line.
“But he is still in every day and it’s not as if he
is having time off. He is coming in and working hard to try to get
himself back to full fitness, so he will hopefully be fit for the
Everton game.
“But perhaps the fact that this break has come at this time might benefit him and us long-term.
“Given
his quality and his application, and the way he wants to play every
game after missing out in recent seasons, he wants to be out there and
he wants to be playing.
"So despite his injury and the games ahead, I don’t see any risk of him allowing his own high standards to drop.”
Robinho, 24, faced United last month with the aid of an injection in his troublesome ankle joint.
But
the boss insists that City will not go down that route again if it
risks causing the former Real Madrid ace further problems.
Hughes said: “We gave him the injection for the United game because the area that was painful was more pronounced.
“If there is a likelihood of compromising the player, then you don’t give an injection.
“It’s
just that there is one part of the ankle that is concerning him when he
tries to go flat out and, in the Premier League, you need to be
dynamic.”
Everton have won only one of their last four Premier League games. But Hughes is still wary of his opposite number David Moyes.
He
said: “Six years at Premier League level is quite exceptional and that
is down to his ability as a manager. He’s had some difficult seasons
but he has also had some outstanding seasons as well.
“As a manager he is proven at this level, and Everton are still in good shape.”
Liverpool Daily Post...
'David Moyes: I’d rather have the pressure of having money to spend'
WHEN
Everton and Manchester City clash at Eastlands this afternoon, it could
be described as the calm before the storm for both managers.
The
forthcoming transfer window means that, for wildly contrasting reasons,
January promises to be a demanding month for David Moyes and Mark
Hughes.
While Everton manager Moyes grapples with a striking
injury crisis and tight financial constraints, City counterpart Hughes
is expected to attract a barrage of top players given the bagfuls of
cash at his disposal from the club’s Abu Dhabi owners.
Moyes
would be forgiven pangs of jealousy, given the manner in which he has
kept Everton competitive at the business end of the Premier League
without the vast riches bestowed upon his rival in the dug-out this
afternoon.
But although untroubled by City’s new-found wealth,
Moyes admits he would rather have the pressure of having to spend money
than having none whatsoever.
“I am not jealous of it and I think
good luck to Mark Hughes and Manchester City, it is their turn to have
a go at it,” says Moyes. “They have got an owner in now who is willing
to spend money.
“I have no problems with owners coming in and
splashing the cash. Mark Hughes has earned his right for that with the
jobs he did at Blackburn and Wales.
“But I think having all that
money to spend brings its own type of pressure. You need to buy the
correct players. But if you had a choice, you’d rather have that
pressure than the pressure of not having any money.
“I have
always said managers have to work without money and get on with it, but
I have felt over the last few weeks I’ve had to mention it partly
because of the injuries we have got.
“Money doesn’t always buy
success. It’s picking and choosing. Mark Hughes is a British manager
and has an idea of what needs to be done in the Premier League year in,
year out so I think his signings will initially be with that in mind.”
Such
a transfer policy has helped Moyes transform Everton into regular
top-six challengers over recent years, precisely the achievement Hughes
is desperate to emulate.
And the Goodison Park manager accepts that following that road to success makes his players obvious targets for City’s millions.
“I
think it makes people vulnerable in all squads,” says Moyes. “People
would look at Everton because we have good players and we’ve been up
near the top for a while. I can’t stop people looking, and we should
take that as a positive because people realise we have good players.
Mark
Hughes won’t be someone who will want to go and pay his players a
fortune in wages. I hear some stupid names and stupid figures being
linked with City. Some might come off but I think Mark will keep
control of it and do the right thing.
“I can’t afford to lose anyone from the squad. I’m needing to add more people to the squad, not lose players from it.
“I
think it will be a quiet transfer window. There’s talk about City and
some other clubs, but I can’t see it being overly busy.”
While
City are linked with the likes of Kaka, Gianluigi Buffon and Fernando
Torres, Moyes is having to once again plunge his hand deep into the
bargain basement.
The long-term absences of James Vaughan and
Yakubu mean the Goodison manager must strengthen his forward line with
a brace of loan signings.
Until then, however, much of the
responsibility will lie with Louis Saha who, while absent this
afternoon, is expected to recover from his hamstring problem in time
for the visit of Chelsea on Monday week.
“Louis has a sore
hamstring just now, but that’s why we probably need two more forwards
to help us out between now and the end of the season,” says Moyes. “But
Louis has been fine and I think we have managed him well.
“He has played nearly all the games and he has been available for virtually all of them, so we have managed him very well.
“The
injury is a grade one injury, so it’s not as bad as it could have been.
It’s only a two or three-week injury. So we are hopeful that he isn’t
too far away.
“There is a lot of responsibility on him, though, so we need to get some support for Louis and Victor.”
Anichebe
could yet miss today’s game with the back injury that forced him off
late on during Sunday’s agonising 3-2 defeat at home to Aston Villa.
With
no other senior strikers available, Everton ended the game with
midfielder Marouane Fellaini and centre-back Phil Jagielka up front.
And Moyes accepts other players may be pressed into an unaccustomed
attacking role if the injury crisis continues to bite.
“Some
players might have to play up front for the first time in their
careers,” he says. “We will try not to, but when you are chasing games
and needing to find solutions, sometimes you have to find solutions
with players that aren’t necessarily used to playing in those roles.
“Fellaini
did it last week, Tim Cahill has done it, Jags has done it. It might be
somebody else this week. Ossie has also played up front early in his
career.
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