Rosicky cool over comeback date

Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky said Thursday he was still some way off full fitness after suffering renewed problems to the thigh injury that has kept him sidelined since January.

“My return is still going to take some time,” Rosicky told the CTK news agency.

“Each treatment runs the risk of bringing complications,” the 28-year-old explained.

Rosicky's downbeat bulletin will disappoint his club manager Arsene Wenger who in August said he hoped to have Rosicky back playing by September.

Rosicky has been out of action since leaving the pitch in a FA Cup tie against Newcastle last season.

In Prague the media are speculating whether the injury could in fact trigger a premature end to the player's career.

“Let's hope the career of 'little Mozart' doens't ressemble that of the composer - spectacular but short,” wrote the Dnes daily.

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One in, one out for Bayern Munich

The German champions, Bayer Munich, are getting ready for their clash with title rivals Werder Bremen this Saturday and have received a confidence boost ahead of the mouth-watering match.

According to Bundesliga, Bayern Munich will benefit from the services of French winger Frank Ribery. Ribery has been training intensively in the past few days and declared that he hopes he can “start against Bremen!”

However it is not all good news for Bayern; during Wednesday’s Champions League game against Steaua Bucharest, striker Miroslav Klose had to be substituted because of a thigh injury. It remains unclear whether he will return to fitness in time to face his old club.

[Source: Bundesliga]

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Wilkins returns as Chelsea coach

Ray Wilkins was appointed as Chelsea's new assistant first-team coach on Thursday following Steve Clarke's move to London rivals West Ham.

Former England midfielder Wilkins began his career at Stamford Bridge and, while still a teenager, captained Chelsea as a teenager before moving to Manchester United.

This will be the 52-year-old's second coaching spell with the club, having previously worked under former manager Gianluca Vialli.

Now he will assist Luiz Felipe Scolari after Clarke decided to join up with Gianfranco Zola, another former Chelsea player, at West Ham.

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Spurs, AC Milan need UEFA Cup reprieve

Premier League tailenders Tottenham host Polish unknowns Wisla Krakow in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, with under-fire boss Juande Ramos knowing only a convincing win will appease weary fans.

The London club has got off to a dismal start in England's top flight, with one point from four games, including two home defeats to Sunderland and Monday's 2-1 humbling by Aston Villa.

That performance against Martin O'Neill's men was met with boos from Spurs supporters angry with the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov and the stalling starts of new stars David Bentley and Luka Modric.

But Darren Bent - whose goal against Chelsea earned Tottenham their only point so far - said the game against Wisla Krakow was an opportunity to get back on a winning streak.

“We need to pull ourselves up from this and just keep going. Even after their second goal, we kept going until the end, but it wasn't meant to be,” Bent told the club's website on Tuesday.

“We've got another game on Thursday to put things right. If it was a case of us not creating chances, then we could start to worry. But we are creating things and we just need to keep believing.

“Europe makes a nice change from the Premier League and we did well in the UEFA Cup last year, so we'll be hoping to go a step further this time. But the league is our bread and butter and we need to start winning.”

Another team desperately in need of a win are Italian giants AC Milan, who take on Switzerland's FC Zurich at home on Thursday.

The seven-time European champions, with superstars Kaka, Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko, lost 2-0 at Genoa on Sunday, a result that leaves them sitting an unbelievable second bottom of Serie A.

Under-pressure Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti would have hoped to avoid a potentially tricky tie against the organised Swiss team, who will stifle their rivals' creative spark.

Milan's general manager Adriano Galliani issued a bald warning to Ancelotti after the club's worst league start since 1986, saying: “He doesn't risk the sack, but he'd better stop losing.”

Ancelotti's task will be made all the worse with news that midfielder Andrea Pirlo has been ruled out of the match with a thigh injury.

A man used to such managerial pressure is former England coach Steve McClaren, whose new Dutch club FC Twente travel to French side Rennes.

The Dutch were taught a lesson by Arsenal in a recent Champions League qualifier, but McClaren only took positive things from the 6-0 aggregate drubbing.

“We got a lot of experience from that game which will make us a better side against Rennes in the UEFA,” he said on Tuesday.

FC Twente stumbled to a 1-1 draw against NEC at the weekend while Rennes were held to a similar result against Le Havre.

Motherwell will also travel to France to play Nancy nursing the bruises from a 4-2 hammering against Scottish Premier League champions Celtic on Saturday.

Former Celtic bete noire, ex-Rangers manager Paul Le Guen, appears to have turned things around at Paris Saint Germain in time for their trip to unheralded Turkish side Kayserispor.

The Paris side - winners of the now defunct Cup Winners Cup in 1996 - have endured a torrid time of late but sit third in the league thanks to a penalty from new boy Mateja Kezman which saw them defeat Nantes on Sunday.

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Chopra thankful for Keane backing

Sunderland striker Michael Chopra publicly expressed his gratitude to manager Roy Keane for giving himself time to sort out his life away from football.

The 24-year-old played for the reserves on Wednesday after a three-game ban imposed for a pre-season sending-off.

Unflattering stories about Chopra's marriage to Heather Swan, who starred in the British television 'reality' show Wags Boutique, appeared in several tabloid newspapers.

But, with the backing of both his wife and Keane, Chopra spent time at the Sporting Chance Clinic in Hampshire, southern England, set up by former England defender Tony Adams.

“I'm playing with a smile on my face again. It's down to me to work hard now and get my place in the team,” he told Sunderland's official website after scoring in the reserves' 2-1 win over Liverpool.

“I had a week away trying to sort myself out, and I'm pleased the gaffer let me do that. I'm grateful to him.”

Now Chopra hopes he can get into Keane's team for Saturday's Premier League north-east derby clash with Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light.

“I would love to be involved against Boro, but we will see what the gaffer does because he's got good options.

“If he picks me, I will be going on the pitch full of confidence.

“Getting a goal last (Wednesday) night perhaps gives the manager a headache over who he picks and if he turns to me, I would be delighted.”

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Subotic´s stunning start captures Loew´s attention

A string of good performances on his first Bundesliga season and three goals in four games has brought Borussia Dortmund teenager Neven Subotic to the attention of Germany coach Joachim Loew.

The 19-year-old defender made a dramatic league debut in August when he scored Dortmund's third and all-important goal against Bayer Leverkusen to seal a 3-2 win on the first weekend of the new season.

He then scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Energie Cottbus at the end of August and netted again last weekend as Dortmund came from 3-0 down at home to earn a 3-3 draw with bitter rivals Schalke 04.

The teenager makes his UEFA Cup debut against Udinese Calcio on Thursday.

“It is an absolute dream for me,” said Subotic, who has already tasted international football - but with the United States.

The teenager has walked a long and unusual path to the Bundesliga.

He joined Dortmund on a five-year contract in June this year from second division Mainz for 3.5 million euros (five million US dollars).

Born in the Bosnia and Herzegovinan city of Banja Luka in 1988, Subotic was just five when his parents fled to Schwarzenburg in Germany's Black Forest to escape the civil war in their homeland.

When their residency permit expired in 1999 they moved to the United States, first to Utah then South Carolina before settling in Florida.

Subotic's talent was spotted playing football in a park and he progressed to play for the University of South Florida from 2004 until 2006, before going to Germany and Mainz.

Subotic has played for both the United States Under-17 and Under-20 sides, but has applied for German citizenship and FIFA will rule on his eligibility for die Mannschaft should he qualifiy.

Under FIFA rules, Subotic can currently only play for the US, Bosnia-Herzegovina or Croatia, his country of ethnicity, but the German Football Federation (DFB) - and Loew - are keeping an eye on him.

“We assume he can play for us, because it has not played an A-international for the United States,” DFB media director Harald Stenger told the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

But Subotic says he is just concentrating on playing well for Dortmund, even if Loew's attentions are flattering.

“I read the coach of the national team has expressed a positive interest in me, but I don't have much to say on the subject,” the teenager told German agency SID.

“I am not even sure myself where I stand in terms of eligibility.”

And as the boyfriend of Germany's Under-20 world pole vault champion Lisa Ryzih, Subotic knows what goes up must come down.

“I know that everyone who shoots up fast, must also come down with a hard bang,” he said.

“I am only 19 years old and no exception to that rule.”

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Anelka finding his form

Nicolas Anelka has struggled to become a favourite with the Chelsea faithful since signing for the West London side this January but with three goals already under his belt this season, it seems that he may be beginning to find his form and the best is yet to come with strike partner Didier Drogba returning from injury.

The Frenchman has made it well known in the past that he prefers to play in a front two pairing and yet despite many appearances for the Blues, has had few opportunities in this desired formation.

Last season, under the management of doomed Avram Grant the striker was played in a wide position with Drogba as the lone forward. Anelka himself was outspoken about this decision and was thought to be unhappy at Chelsea because of this.

However, following the departure of Grant earlier this Summer, the arrival of Scolari has coincided with a upturn in demeanour and with it a chance to test himself at Chelsea in a forward role.

Following his opening day goal against Portsmouth he failed to score in Chelsea’s next two matches but back to back goals against Manchester City – a cool finish from a through ball – and Bordeaux – a predatory tap in from a Belletti shot which cannoned back off the bar - have got him back amongst the goals. And I will probably be betting on Anelka to score against Manchester United this Sunday with his strike-partner back to full fitness.

Drogba is now back to full fitness for this weekend’s Premier League showdown with Manchester United, a game which many believe now will serve as the first real test of Anelka’s ability in a partnership with the Ivorian.

The pair have proven before that they can work together. Grant’s controversial decision to bring on Anelka against Arsenal with his side trailing one-nil sparked an immediate turn around as he set up both of Drogba’s goals which claimed all three Easter Sunday points for Chelsea.

Blues fans will be hoping that the pair can hit form this weekend against United, and it would be interesting to check out the football betting to see if other punters agree that a strike partner will mean even more goals for ‘Le sulk’.

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