sunday papers rangers friendly

The Sunday Times July 29, 2007
Chelsea slip up at Rangers
Rangers 2 Chelsea 0
Douglas Alexander at Ibrox

SO much for the new mellow Jose Mourinho. By the closing stages ofthis match, after some slipshod play by his own team and a few refereeing decisions going Rangers' way, he was on the edge of his technical area screaming instructions to his players and arguing with the fourth official. When he digests it, the Portuguese will considersome problems which persist from last season. The lack of a trulypenetrating passer in his midfield and a tendency to be too narrow inhis midfield when compared to Manchester United. Having said that hegot a decent cameo from Florent Malouda in a first half which showedthe Frenchman has dig in his left foot and some devil in his make-up.Tal Ben-Haim spent the match flitting across roles in the back four,something that he may also spend the season doing, although SteveSidwell was easily outclassed by Barry Ferguson when they cametogether in midfield.It was a good test for Chelsea as Rangers were definitely up for it,their players seeking places in the lineup for Tuesday's ChampionsLeague qualifier against FK Zeta of Montenegro, and won the game withtwo goals in the last five minutes. First, Nacho Novo picked his spotsweetly into the bottom corner after Chris Burke burst down the rightand found him on the edge of the box. Then, Ibrox rubbed its eyes indelirious disbelief as a right-foot effort from Filip Sebo, the Paulle Guen misfit, deflected off Ben Haim and flew over Hilario into thetop corner. The stadium spent the remaining seconds chorusing "easy,easy" which cannot have helped Mourinho's mood.His assistant, Steve Clarke, believes the match was a good exercisefor his Chelsea troops and thought pitting their wits against teams ofthe calibre of Rangers is the best way to start the season. "We don'tselect easy preseason games," he said. "If we want to win 3-0, 4-0,5-0 we can go to other places and find easy games. The matches we playare difficult games. Ibrox is a difficult place to play and we allknew that when we selected them."Chelsea were arrayed in luminous yellow and the 4-4-2 he plans toemploy more frequently this season. Sidwell kept Frank Lampard companyin the central midfield and got forward to pull an early shot past thepost, while Ben Haim slotted in beside John Terry and Malouda providedthe width on the left with Joe Cole on the right. The Scotland vEngland aspect of the game meant it was not quite your usual tepidpreseason friendly and when Ferguson nailed Malouda with a flailingtackle as the Frenchman sped through midfield, Drogba was immediatelyin his face. Malouda didn't need his pal's assistance, waiting 10minutes for the revenge tackle on Ferguson which brought a booking.He also sent a drive flying narrowly past just before half-time, aftera first period which generally lacked fluency. Rangers had theirmoments, Ferguson lured Sidwell in and then sparked a one-two beforealmost playing Jean-Claude Darcheville in. The striker was halted by adubious linesman's flag but Boyd didn't have this excuse when drivingan earlier opportunity against Petr Cech after David Weir's passsnaked through Chelsea's defence. Terry's new lucrative contract didnot stop him missing a routine cross from Alan Hutton but Boyd, again,could not capitalise on his slip.At the other end, Drogba met a Lassane Diarra cross with a headerwhich dropped just wide and left Hutton, who had the temerity tochallenge him for it, writhing on the turf. Diarra had been drafted inat the last minute, when Paulo Ferriera was injured in the warm-up,while Glen Johnson played left-back with Ashley Cole in the finalstages of convalescence.The feeling of square pegs in round holes was accentuated after ahalf-time of Sven-Göran Eriksson style substitutions. Now Ben Haim andSidwell, the new boys, constituted the left flank of Chelsea's team asCarvalho came in at Terry's side and John Obi Mikel at Lampard's. Theversatile Israeli then went to right-back when Cole was introducedshortly after the hour."I thought Ben-Haim was excellent today," added Clarke. "He made a fewmistakes towards the end but that's fatigue, and don't forget heplayed three positions."Perhaps the most impressive newcomer on either side was CarlosCuellar, who Rangers paid Osasuna £2.2m for. He generally handledDrogba's physicality well and was also quick enough to cover acrossfor his colleagues. Terry, in contrast, again looked rusty when heslipped and had to foul Sebo to prevent him getting a run on goal.It was almost as if Chelsea were intent on providing succour to themuch-derided striker, signed by Paul le Guen last summer, when Mikelpresented the ball to Nacho Novo and the Spaniard played Sebo inperfectly only for him to fluff the chance with an incredibly poorconnection. No wonder, one report yesterday suggested that the man whosold him to Le Guen for £1.8m on behalf of Austria Vienna foundhimself being slapped heartily on the back everywhere he went in theAustrian capital subsequently. Now, belatedly, the match came to lifeand Cuellar had to block Lampard's shot on the line after allowingDrogba to escape down the left and provide a cross which caused panicin Rangers' box.Another Rangers' break then ended with Ashley Cole making a superbtackle to deny Ferguson as he prepared to score from Novo's pass. Yetthe goals, finally, came for Rangers as Sebo had the last laugh toleave Mourinho scowling. Chelsea now turn their attention to Tuesday'sgame against Brondby, their last game before Sunday's Community Shieldclash against champions Manchester United. Clarke added: "Hopefully wewill win the match and go into the Community Shield in a positiveframe of mind."Star man: Carlos Cueller (Rangers)Rangers:McGregor (Carrol ht), Hutton (Murray ht), Weir (Webster ht),Cuellar, Papac (Broadfoot ht), McColloch (Sebo 62min), Hemdani,Ferguson, Adam (Burke 82min), Darcheville (Beasley 46min), Boyd (Novoht)Chelsea:Cech (Hilario ht), Diarra (Carvalho ht), Terry, Ben-Haim,Johnson (A Cole 63min), J Cole (Wright-Phillips ht), Sidwell, Lampard,Malouda (Obi Mikel 46ht), Shevchenko (Pizarro 46ht), Drogba (Sinclair71min)Scorers: Rangers:Novo 86, Sebo 88Referee: Stuart DougalAttendance: 50,380----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:Rangers beat Chelsea in friendly at IbroxBy Bruce Maxwell at Ibrox, Sunday TelegraphRangers (0) 2 Chelsea (0) 0A Blues Brothers reunion, but the gap between the siblings has neverbeen wider than now. On a day when chairman David Murray announced hisintention to spend the thick end of £6 million on new players beforethe transfer window closes, Rangers still managed to look like thedistant poor relations of their illustrious and eye-wateringlywell-heeled opponents.That much could also be calculated from the fact that the John Terrywho sipped his bedtime cocoa last night was almost £19,000 better offthan the John Terry who had tucked into his breakfast cornflakes justa few hours earlier. The previous day, the Chelsea captain had signedthe £6.8 million deal that made him the Premiership's highest-paidplayer, but it would be pushing it to say his workrate wasconspicuously heightened as he returned to action in this tepid Ibroxfriendly.Murray is expected to announce shortly that Rangers' debt burden is inthe region of £15 million, the sort of figure he considers manageable,but the sort his Chelsea counterpart Roman Abramovich would probablyconsider good value for a decent tin of beluga. While Abramovichcontinues to add his personal twists to football's inflation spiral,Murray is obliged to count the pennies in the Govan poorhouse. Yet theman behind Rangers was in bullish mood yesterday as he refused toincrease his bid for Kilmarnock's Steven Naismith. Many in football,and almost everyone in Kilmarnock, consider the Glasgow club's mostrecent offer of around £1.5 million for the forward to be a tadmiserly, but Murray emphasised that it was the last he would make. "Ithink they should go and accept one of those other offers," he smiledwhen reminded that Kilmarnock claim to have found interest elsewhere.Murray was also confident that Rangers would be found to be in theclear when the investigation into transfer dealings that resulted in apolice raid on the club recently reaches its conclusion. However, theaffair has clearly angered him, as he described the suggestion thatRangers had something to hide as "a slur".A packed Ibrox will have done no harm to Rangers' cash-flow situationyesterday, but their finances would be better served by a decentresult on the same ground on Tuesday, when they takes on FK Zeta inthe first leg of their Champions League qualifying tie. Murrayestimated the net value of overcoming the Montenegrans to be in theregion of £10 million, the sort of money that not even Terry wouldsneeze at.advertisementAs for the game itself, Rangers looked markedly moreanimated than their English counterparts, displaying an industry thatwas eventually rewarded when Nacho Novo finished off a move ignited byChris Burke's spearing run down the right side with a lashing shotfrom the edge of the box after 85 minutes.Two minutes later, as Rangers pressed confidently, Filip Seboswivelled beautifully and arced an unstoppable strike into the topright corner of Henrique Hilario's goal.The margin may have flattered Rangers, but it was a fitting riposte toChelsea's rather languid approach. The Londoners impressed in themanner they dealt with Rangers' sporadic intrusions into the dangerarea, but they seemed worryingly uninterested in doing anything withthe ball once they had confiscated the thing from their Scottishhosts.Indeed, the closest Chelsea came to raising any head of steam was inthose moments when the friendly nature of the contest eluded them asthey clattered Rangers players.Florent Malouda earned a yellow card for the first-half challenge onBarry Ferguson that almost chopped the Rangers captain in half, whileTerry collected a caution with his equally fierce, if almost comicallyclumsy, tackle on Sebo. Perhaps Terry sensed a danger about Sebo thattends to elude more regular Ibrox attendees. When the Slovenianprovided the second goal, however, his threat was obvious to all.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The ObserverRangers are Novo richRangers 2 - 0 Chelsea (friendly)Novo 86, Sebo 87Patrick GlennSunday July 29, 2007Assessments made on the basis of pre-season friendlies tend to beabout as reliable as sweating dynamite. On the evidence availablehere, it is safest to conclude that Chelsea are still short of agallop and Rangers, under Walter Smith, are experiencing a resurgenceof spirit and self-belief. The two late goals from substitutes NachoNovo and Filip Sebo that gave the Ibrox side victory were wellexecuted, but tended to emphasise the lack of stamina in the visitor.Novo's powerful right-foot drive, low to the right of substitutegoalkeeper Hilario, from the edge of the penalty area, was followed bySebo's shot from an angle on the left, which sent the ball high intothe far corner.As well as the victory, Rangers also satisfied their desire for acompetitive outing in advance of the first leg of their ChampionsLeague qualifier against FK Zeta of Montenegro on Tuesday. Theopportunity to achieve further match sharpness was, as Smith said, theone aspect of Chelsea's visit that could be beneficial, in terms ofthe European assignment.Nor did the Premiership club come to Ibrox to insult their hosts, JoseMourinho fielding a starting line-up that included some of the tallestreputations in the game. Not surprising since they face ManchesterUnited in the Community Shield on Sunday.John Terry and Frank Lampard were in their usual places, but, for thehome crowd, the most appetising news would be of the frontlinepartnership consisting of Didier Drogba and Andriy Schevchenko.The powerful, often irrepressible Ivorian and the expensive Ukrainian,who has been something of an enigma since his move from Milan toStamford Bridge, might have made the quickest possible impact bygiving their team the lead straight from kick-off. It was Lampard'sbeautifully controlled flick with the outside of his right foot thatreleased Schevchenko down the left, allowing the striker all manner ofoptions for his delivery into the goal area. These included Drogba,yelling for service at the back post.Schevchenko chose to wait for Steve Sidwell to stroll unattended tothe edge of the box and roll the ball straight to the former Readingmidfielder. The attempted drive, perhaps the result of rustiness, wasa miscue, Sidwell wrapping his right foot around the ball and pullingit yards wide.It was the kind of slick, instant movement the Rangers fans would havefeared, but it was rarely reproduced by the visitors for the remainderof a first half that was robustly contested without being dazzling.Rangers, to their credit, shrugged off the early scare to demand somerespect of their own with one or two forward pushes that threatened tobring them a lead. This seemed especially likely when David Weir, fromhis own defence, sent a precision pass through the inside-left channelthat gave the striker the chance to run, untracked, towards Petr Cech,in the Chelsea goal.Boyd's touch was not particularly heavy, but pushing the ball threeyards ahead of himself was enough to give a goalkeeper as alert and asquick as the big Czech the edge - and he was at Boyd's feet, snafflingthe ball, before the latter had the chance to make the scoringattempt.The extensive changes made by both managers at half time - six fromSmith, five from Mourinho - amounted to the standard reminder of theexperimental nature of pre-season friendlies, although they certainlyprovided Tal Ben Haim with an opportunity to demonstrate hisversatility.Having started as Terry's partner in central defence - and then beingmoved to left-back when Ricardo Carvalho came off the bench - theIsrael defender moved to right-back when Ashley Cole replaced GlenJohnson.Before those late flourishes from Rangers, Chelsea were denied twicewhen Drogba swept past Carlos Cuellar on the left and cut the ballback to Lampard. The England midfielder's low drive was cleanlystruck, but Cuellar recovered well to block on the line, while MikelJohn Obi's follow-up drive was saved by substitute goalkeeper RoyCarroll.Ibrox 50,380Rangers McGregor; Hutton, Weir, Cuellar, Papac; McCulloch, Ferguson,Hamdani, Adam; Darcheville, Boyd Subs used Carroll, Novo, Burke,Murray, Beasley, Broadfoot, Webster, SeboChelseaCech; Diarra, Terry, Ben Haim, Johnson; J Cole, Sidwell,Lampard, Malouda; Drogba, Schevchenko Subs used Hilario, A Cole,Carvalho, Mikel, Pizarro, Sinclair, Wright-PhillipsReferee S Dougal--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:Malouda can be a jewel in Jose's crownRangers 2 Chelsea 0By PETER HIGGSFlorent Malouda is promising to become a Stamford Bridge favourite onthe evidence of a lively 45-minute performance, despite Chelseasuffering the first defeat of their pre-season campaign.With Arjen Robben almost certainly on his way to Real Madrid, JoseMourinho appears to have found the ideal replacement in the Francewinger.Fast and tricky, the yellow-booted Malouda was involved in most ofChelsea's bright moments in an otherwise uninspired display — and evenmanaged to get himself booked in one of the game's two unsavourymoments.Malouda, a £13.5 million signing from Lyon, signalled his threat inthe opening minutes as he burst clear of the Rangers defence to set upSteve Sidwell. But the former Reading midfielder, with the opportunityto score his first goal since moving to the double domestic Cupwinners, dragged his shot wide from 20 yards.Malouda's elusive running led to the first flare-up of an afternoonthat was mostly as tame as any pre-season friendly. As he burst awayfrom Barry Ferguson, the Rangers captain scythed him down, incurring astern lecture from referee Stuart Dougal and an angry reaction fromDidier Drogba.When Malouda took revenge with a crude lunge at Ferguson momentslater, he became the first booking of the afternoon. Two furtherimpressive contributions from Malouda, a cross which Drogba headedwide and a fizzing 25-yard shot which went inches wide, came beforeMourinho took him off at halftime, having done enough to suggest thathe will play an important role in Chelsea's bid to regain thePremiership title.With Mourinho making seven changes in the second half, Rangers tookadvantage to send their fans home happy with two goals in the lastseven minutes.From Chris Burke's surging run down the right, Nacho Novo collectedthe pass before drilling a 20-yarder in off a post, with substitutegoalkeeper Henrique Hilario helpless.Four minutes later, Filip Sebo added a second with a curling shot intothe far corner which appeared to catch Hilario out of position.Earlier, John Terry was yellow-carded when he brought down Sebo, whowas clean through.Hemight have been sent off in a League game,provingthat even a salary of £135,000 a week is no guarantee againstmistakes.Although the defeat may cause diehard Chelsea fans cause for concern,Mourinho will have been satisfied with a good work-out two weeksbefore the season and the chance to run the rule over his newsignings.Sidwell was busy and competitive in midfield, defender Tal Ben Haimshowed his versatility by playing in three different positions overthe course of the match,and Peruvian centre forward Claudio Pizarro,at6ft 1in,looked more like a typical old-fashioned English striker thansomeone blessed with Latin American skills. But from his one goodchance midway through the second half, Pizarro wastefully headedwide,although a linesman's flag had ruled him offside.The return of Ashley Cole after injury was another bonus for Mourinho.The England leftback came on for Glen Johnson in the 63rd minute andalthough short of match fitness, he showed he had lost none of hisdefensive nous with a goalsaving tackle to deny Novo after a midfieldmisunderstanding between Sidwell and Shaun Wright-Phillips.Mourinho will have gained some useful pointers as he establishes hisstrongest side for battles ahead. In Malouda, he appears to have founda gem.