TOTTENHAM

NIKO KRANJCAR insists Totten-ham can clinch fourth place and win the FA Cup before attracting more top players to the club in the sum-mer.

Spurs have enjoyed a splendid campaign and are currently in pole position to land the fi nal Champions League qualifying spot.

They have also made it through to the semi-fi nals of the FA Cup, where they will face Portsmouth at Wem-

CHELSEA

FRANK LAMPARD has hailed Chel-sea’s comprehensive hammering of Aston Villa as one of their fi nest per-formances ever.

The Blues maintained their title push with an outstanding 7-1 thrash-ing of Villa - whose own hopes of a top-four fi nish now look over.

Lampard, who bagged four goals in the Villa demolition, taking his Chelsea tally to 151 goals, was de-lighted with the display which came just a week before they face champi-ons Manchester United at Old Traf-ford in a title showdown.

“The moving of the ball around, our passing and movement was fan-tastic,” said Lampard.

“It was great football and that is when we are at our best. It is easy to write us off and say negative things about teams and players from the outside, but all we can do is play football.

“We know the big games are to come, especially next week. We know the quality of the players we have, we’ve shown that over the course of the season.

“We’ve beaten Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal playing differ-ent formations. We have to forget the little rut we’ve been in and concen-trate on the target now.

“The title race has opened up with the way we’ve played in the last cou-ple of games in particular and we want to take advantage.”

bley on 11 April.But Kranjcar is in no mood to set-

tle for either fourth place or FA Cup glory as he believes Tottenham can achieve both.

“Why can’t we get both? Why do I have to choose?” the Croatian mid-fi elder said in the Daily Star.

Tottenham have to hold off Liver-pool, Manchester City and Aston Vil-la to get into the Champions League and Kranjcar admits he is deter-mined to play in Europe’s premier club competition.

Lampard delight at seven-goal rout

Kranjcar sets Spurs double target

Kranjcar: In confident mood

He feels Harry Redknapp could strengthen his squad and turn Spurs into a major continental force if they qualify for the competition.

“Of course, the Champions League is massive. Every player wants to play in it. It’s the biggest tournament around in football,” said Kranjcar.

“We’re definitely equipped to do well in the Champions League. You need to strengthen and build up your squad. I believe that Spurs could attract even bigger players if we reached the Champions League.”

CHELSEA

FRANK LAMPARD sea’s comprehensive hammering of Aston Villa as one of their fi nest per-formances ever.

push with an outstanding 7-1 thrash-ing of Villa - whose own hopes of a top-four fi nish now look over.

in the Villa demolition, taking his Chelsea tally to 151 goals, was de-lighted with the display which came just a week before they face champi-ons Manchester United at Old Traf-ford in a title showdown.

our passing and movement was fan-tastic,” said Lampard.

when we are at our best. It is easy to write us off and say negative things about teams and players from the outside, but all we can do is play football.

come, especially next week. We know the quality of the players we have, we’ve shown that over the course of the season.

Liverpool and Arsenal playing differ-ent formations. We have to forget the little rut we’ve been in and concen-trate on the target now.

the way we’ve played in the last cou-ple of games in particular and we want to take advantage.”

Lampard delight at seven-goal rout

05SoccerWeek APRIL 01 – APRIL 07, 2010NEWS

They may despise each other on and off the fi eld, but Arsenal and Tottenham have a chance this season to prove that nice

guys don’t always have to fi nish last when it comes to big-money sport.

Travel anywhere between Seven Sisters and Holloway Road tube sta-tions wearing either red or white on match day and you will attract the odd stare-down from rival fans. But somewhere behind that red mist of decades of shared animosity lie two clubs that represent more than just a local disparity.

This season, the North London ri-vals fi nd themselves in familiar po-sitions. For the Gunners, they have the best chance in fi ve years of win-ning the Premier League title once again – something their fans have ex-perienced time and again, but too of-ten without the glory of that number one spot. For Spurs, fourth place and Champions League football is realis-tically within their grasp for the fi rst time since the old enemy snatched it all away from them on the fi nal day of the 2005/06 season.

Back then, the Londoners were the only two clubs contesting for that fi -nal place in Europe’s elite compe-

tition but this year, while Arsenal have joined Manchester United and Chelsea again in the title race, there are new challengers looking to deny the men from White Hart Lane.

Most notably, Manchester City pose the greatest threat to Totten-ham’s European ambitions, after spending a fortune to build a side ca-pable of reaching their own chang-ing ambitions.

Having been in the wilderness be-tween the Championship and the Premier League for years, the arriv-al of their billionaire sheikh owners has seen the Eastlands outfi t make Champions League football a real possibility. In fact, should they reach it, next season they will be hoping to fi ght for the title.

Much in the way that Roman Abramovich bankrolled Chelsea’s initial rise to the very top, City’s benefactors have given the club eve-ry chance to make a place in the top four their own in the coming years. But while Spurs have been working towards this goal gradually the way anybody should be, City have been given a short-cut and achieved it in less than two seasons. It is for this reason that neutrals should be sup-

porting Spurs during what is sure to be an exciting season run-in.

Tottenham recorded the fifth-highest turnover in the Premier League in the last set of fi nancial results and have a manageable lev-el of debt compared to fourth-place rivals Liverpool, whose owners have put the Merseysiders in all sorts of trouble. With Aston Villa - a cleverly managed club that could have repre-sented the ‘good side’ - recently get-ting destroyed 7-1 at Chelsea and having failed in all recent attempts at breaking into the top four, they can probably be excluded from the top-four equation, considering they still have to face City and Everton in their run-in and are seven points adrift of Spurs.

Spurs certainly don’t have it easy either - with Arsenal, Chelsea, Unit-ed and Man City all still to come in a defi ning period for the club. Har-ry Redknapp, however, is optimistic, saying: “We do look at the form ta-bles and the fi xtures of other teams around us all the time.

“But you never know because this league is so hard and everybody is scrapping for points. West Ham have to play Liverpool and Man City yet,

and there will be some shocks.”History suggests Redknapp’s

side will fail to pick up the required points from those tough fi xtures to make fourth place, based on their previous records against the top sides, but a showdown at the City of Manchester Stadium in the penulti-mate round of the campaign is like-ly to be the decider. It’s now or never for Harry’s Hotspur.

For Arsene Wenger’s side, they are playing catch-up now and have to hope that United and Chelsea drop more points, all while winning every one of their own remaining games. This is not likely to happen, but Wenger’s efforts are notewor-thy nonetheless. Having built his side prudently over the last five years with only the profi ts of his la-bour and no outside sugar daddy like Abramovich, surely nobody will be-grudge the man his just desserts.

If these two fi erce enemies reach their goals this year, it will be a tri-umph for wise club management and squad building over buying the way to success. Such a victory will be unanimously lauded by anybody who still believes in the values of football and fair competition.

Mark Herman explains why neutrals, or anybody who believes in the good of the game, should support Arsenal and Tottenham over the next few weeks

MANCHESTER UNITED

MANCHESTER UNITED captain Gary Neville has heaped praise on Dimitar Berbatov for his ‘outstand-ing’ performances in the absence of Wayne Rooney.

For the second time in three weeks, Berbatov stepped into the lone forward role Rooney has proved so adept at and helped United grind out a crucial win in their pursuit of a 19th title.

United’s £30.75-million record signing also found the goals to pro-vide added gloss to his industrious performance at Bolton, scoring twice in a league game for the fi rst time since his move from Tottenham in August 2008.

During much of the intervening period, Berbatov’s contribution has been derided, but now it appears United’s fans are starting to under-stand what his team-mates already knew.

“Dimitar’s performances in the wins against Wolves and Bolton have showed fantastic determina-tion,” Neville said.

“It has been so important to us that when Wayne has not been play-ing Dimitar has been outstanding.”

Rooney was rested after suffering a bruised foot in training, which, at the start of a fi ve-game period that sandwiches next Saturday’s crucial clash with Chelsea between a Cham-pions League clash with Bayern, Fer-guson was not prepared to risk.

Neville heaps praise on Berbatov

Neutrals should back North London

Redknapp and Wenger are hoping to lead their sides to glory