Premier league round up: Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce was extremely disappointed by his defence’s flaws against Stoke City. The side lost 3-2 to the Potters, despite taking a lead in the second half and the manager was left frustrated by the complacency of his back four.
“It is tough. It is always difficult when you lose a game you don't think you should do. We have spoken all week about defending set-pieces - you have to be brave, you have to head it. But I also needed my goalkeeper and defenders to control the 18-yard
box better than we did and unfortunately it has cost us the match,” stated the Sunderland boss.
Sunderland are just a point behind http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 in the 8th spot and have produced some solid performances against some top oppositions in the Premier League. This included their 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and their draws against Arsenal
and Manchester United at the Stadium of Light. However, since the departure of star striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Darren-Bent-c10358, the side has failed to produce the performances which enabled them to be in the top seven. There are still 12 games left in the season and the Black Cats
would need to keep performing well in order to have a chance of playing in the European competitions.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has confirmed that German side Werder Bremen made an 8-million-pound bid for midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Niko-Kranjcar-c27926 in the January 2011 transfer window.
Kranjcar was the scorer of the last-minute winning goal against Bolton and the manager believed that the Croatian had a huge future with the club.
Kranjcar has struggled to make his mark with Tottenham in the 2010-11 season, owing to the form of summer acquisition Rafael van der Vaart and the ever-dependable http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Pienaar-c34208 in January, Kranjcar’s days at White
Hart Lane may be numbered.
The manager stated that Kranjcar did not want to leave the club and that is the reason he did not accept the bid. Redknapp pointed out the fact that Kranjcar was a huge success with the club in the previous season and hailed his work rate and positive thinking
on the training ground. He added that Kranjcar is not a player who bemoans when he is left out and keeps on working hard, even if he is on the bench.
“He trains every day of his life as if his life depends on it. It's hard for him. We've got http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422 and Lennon and Luka Modric and it's difficult to guarantee him a regular place,” stated the Tottenham Boss.
Tottenham are currently level on points with Chelsea and it would be a battle between Manchester City, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 and Tottenham for the third and fourth spot. All of these sides need to keep on winning and wait for others to make a mistake. Whoever falters
may well have to forget about a Champions League spot and pack their bags for a season in the Europa League.
Tags: