Premier League News - Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United
Manchester City
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has expressed his support for midfielder Nigel De Jong, following his exclusion from the Dutch national side. The midfielder was all set to start training with the rest of his teammates for Netherland’s Euro qualifiers
against Moldova and Sweden but was informed by the Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk that he was dropped from the squad. The decision was reached owing to a rash tackle made by De Jong on Newcastle United midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, which broke his leg. The referee,
who saw the incident happening, didn’t see any malice in the tackle and didn’t book the midfielder.
In a post match interview with the referee on a local radio, the referee stood by his decision. Even Newcastle manager Chris Hughton also confirmed that De Jong’s challenge was a fair one but it was unfortunate that Arfa injured his leg. Despite calling
the player for the matches in the Euro 2012, he was sent back, owing to the incident happened at club level. On the topic, the Manchester City manager stated, “I don't want to comment about Nigel not being called up by his National Team as it is a matter for
the Dutch Federation. However, as his club manager I wish to say that whilst he is naturally competitive, Nigel is first and foremost a great player as well as being honest and loyal and I support him wholeheartedly."
Manchester United
Manchester United utility man John O'Shea was delighted to have fit players in the squad and urged the players to concentrate on the club now. The players believed that it was due to engagements with the national sides that the Manchester United players
were under performing. John O’ Shea stated that the international breaks will benefit the side overall as they haven’t been able to build any momentum. The international breaks have broken their momentum time and again.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Chris Hughton has stated that youngster Andy Carroll cannot be guaranteed a first team spot and would have to fight for a place. The manager decided to bench the player against Manchester City, after failing to find the back of the net in
his last 4 appearances. Hughton decided to choose Shola Ameobi over Carroll, following his two goals against Chelsea in the Carling Cup. "What I have to do is pick players who are going to win a game for Newcastle United. Andy had a touch of a virus last week
and if you look at his last performance, he had perhaps lost that edge. Shola Ameobi had done well at Chelsea and is pushing him hard. That's the competition we have and Shola started against Manchester City. Andy is a massive part of this club, but we have
to have competition in all areas. These are the things we see week-in, week-out," claimed the Newcastle United manager.
Newcastle United has a tough job on their hands following their promotion to the premier league and would want to win a few fixtures in order to re-establish themselves in the top flight of English football. Hughton did an extremely good job with the team
as he managed to stay on top of the Championship last season. Carroll scored a famous hatrick against Aston Villa when they thrashed the midlands club 6-0 in the second premier league fixture.
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