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prompted, Ausmus said he was sorry
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TOPIC: prompted, Ausmus said he was sorry
prompted, Ausmus said he was sorry 6 years, 11 months ago #842
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It started with an absolute clinic and it ended with an astounding howler. "What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future," once said arguably the greatest goalkeeper to ever play the game, Lev Yashin. On Saturday in the Premier League, Wojciech Szczesny, John Ruddy, Tim Howard and David De Gea all produced magnificent saves for their sides on the way to securing crucial points. All four goalkeepers stood tall during periods of the match that their teams struggled in. They were calm and ready when needed. On Sunday, with night falling on another weekend in the Premier League, the opposite happened when Manchester Citys Joe Hart rushed out of his goal, in the final minute of a 1-1 game at Chelsea, compromising defender Matija Nastasics options, and allowing Fernando Torres to score a dramatic late winner. It was another poor moment in a poor season for Hart. Many immediately took to twitter to question the position of Englands number one but the real question should be around whether he is now Manchester Citys number one. England do not play another game of significant importance for over seven months. Man City have less than seven days until their next league game. City are a magnificent football team that, in large parts of this season so far, have shown strong glimpses of the greatness they could achieve. Their fullbacks are disciplined but dangerous in attack, Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas have adapted well to their new surroundings, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero are back to the world class standard they once played at earlier last season, and even Samir Nasri and Alex Kolarov are improving by each game. They are primed to take a serious run at the Premier League title. In order to do that, however, they need to solve two significant issues. Vincent Kompany is virtually irreplaceable at the heart of their defence and there is nothing wrong with that, after all he is one of the worlds finest defenders. However, any replacement they have inserted when he has been injured has so far let them down. Martin Demicheles was guilty of conceding the first goal to Chelsea on Sunday, much like Javi Garcia was in Russia on Wednesday. With this problem, there are, of course, expected solutions. Demicheles is a defender manager Manuel Pellegrini knows well and is likely to get better with more games under his belt and it is hopeful Kompany - who has missed 13 of their last 23 Premier League games since - will get fit soon. What arent predictable at all are the form and the mental state of the clubs goalkeeper. Earlier this season at Cardiff, City were in control of the match 1-0 but lost 3-2 after Hart was guilty of two poor errors, and against Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier this month, he once again let in soft goals, which led to his manager considering dropping him for their next match against Everton. "He feels like he didnt do well against Bayern, I spoke a lot about this to him this week," said Pellegrini. "He is mentally strong and after talking to him, I decided he had the character to play (against Everton), it was a decision I made on Friday (the day before)." Following the loss to Bayern, Pellegrini obviously gave the prospect of dropping Hart a lot of thought. Hart, as his manager suggests, comes across as a confident man but even he will be rocked by his latest error. Costel Pantilimon is Harts backup but hasnt played a single Premier League minute since arriving at City in 2011. He is no long-term replacement, that is for sure. What he is, however, is the League Cup goalkeeper and City play Newcastle in that competition on Wednesday. What he could also be is a band-aid to stop the bleeding from a wound that is sucking the life out of an otherwise lively and legitimate title contender. The game is full of goalkeepers who benefited from moments such as this when a supposed superior goalkeeper struggled and the Romanian deserves his chance. On an outstanding team like City, the goalkeeper is rarely there to win them matches. At the moment, their current one is, far too often, losing them matches and on Sunday, handed two precious points to one of their main challengers in the league. The idea of goalkeepers winning matches used to be equally rare across Manchester, for rivals United. Until this season. Three weeks ago, United were trailing 1-0 at Sunderland when Emanuele Giaccherinis powerful header look set for the top corner to put the home side up 2-0. Spaniard De Gea reacted brilliantly, leaping to his right to fingertip the ball away. It was a magnificent save and one that prompted Uniteds legend Peter Schmeichel to call it one of the best Ive seen. Two second half Adnan Januzaj goals gave United a much-needed three points. On Saturday against Stoke, United again started slowly and found themselves down 1-0. Much like Sunderland, it should have been 2-0 when Jon Walters got into the box and volleyed the ball towards goal, only for De Gea to react brilliantly once again to keep him out. United would go on to win 3-2. "We needed our goalkeeper to make an extraordinary save again in the first half but thats what hes in the team for," stated manager David Moyes. Through nine games this season, almost a quarter of the campaign, De Gea has been Uniteds most important player. United were booed off at half-time and cheered off at full-time at Old Trafford but it is when the crowd, and the team, are not at their finest that De Gea needs to be. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) In their last three home matches, United have allowed much more shots and attacks than they did against the same teams last season. Against West Brom, they lost 2-1 but De Gea produced a brilliant stop with his feet to deny Saido Berahino and an ever better save, finger-tipping Morgan Amalfitanos effort heading for the top corner. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Hosting Southampton, they drew 1-1 but it could have been worse, De Gea standing tall to deny Danny Osvaldo on a one-on-one breakaway that the inconsistent defence in front of him allowed. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Being goalkeeper of Manchester United is not easy. Schmeichel was absolutely brilliant at it and the dozen goalkeepers between the Dane and Edwin van der Sar were abysmal. When De Gea replaced the Dutchman at 20 years-old, many were quick to turn on him. Evaluating goalkeepers is not easy. There is no specific statistic that tells you the complete story, while analysts in England preferred highlight shows, such as the iconic Match of the Day, which is never a true test of a goalkeepers worth. For example, last season at home to Fulham, De Geas spill led to an early goal by the visitors and, subsequently, more criticism that night on television but for the rest of the match, he was spectacular. Uniteds disjointed midfield and frequent poor defending this season has pushed De Gea back into the spotlight and this time, he has done nothing but shine. Hart may be keeping City from the top of the table in Manchester but De Gea is the only reason United fans still think that is a possibility for them this season. Nikita Zaitsev Jersey . 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The Cottagers last victory came in a 2-1 home win over West Ham when Rene Meulensteen was still in charge. Since then, a miserable run of seven defeats and two draws has seen the club part with the Dutch coach and replace him with German Felix Magath. DETROIT -- Alex Gordons grounder up the middle looked like a routine out -- until it hit second base and took a wacky bounce, allowing the games first run to score. With breaks like that, its no wonder the Kansas City Royals have won 10 in a row. Omar Infante added a solo homer and Jeremy Guthrie pitched impressively into the seventh inning, helping the Royals extend their longest winning streak in 20 years with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Kansas City has outpitched, outhit and outfielded the Tigers in taking the first three games of this series -- so the Royals have no reason to apologize for a little luck along the way. "Baseballs a funny game -- youve got to take full advantage of those," Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer said. "Were not complaining about it either." The AL Central-leading Royals have not won this many games in a row since a run of 14 in 1994. They extended their division lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games. Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and struck out nine in 6 2-3 innings. Drew Smyly (3-6) nearly matched him, but the Detroit left-hander was victimized by Gordons fluky RBI single in the first inning and Infantes homer in the fifth. J.D. Martinez homered off Guthrie in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances. Kansas City will try for a four-game sweep of the Tigers on Thursday. The Royals began the series by pounding star right-handers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, then Guthrie took the mound and breezed through the team that has won the last three division titles. "This could be the best game hes thrown all year," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "He was fabulous. ... We had to go back to our old way of doing things -- pitching and defence." It was Guthries second straight game with nine strikeouts -- he also reached the mark June 13 against the Chicago White Sox. He had some help Wednesday from his fielders, as Gordon saved a run in the fourth with a diving catch in left-centre..dddddddddddd "Im not that fast, but I can turn it on when I want to," the Kansas City left fielder said. Fortune seemed to favour the Royals throughout the afternoon. With a runner on second in the first, Gordons two-out bouncer up the middle looked like a groundout to the shortstop, but it ricocheted off second base for a hit, allowing Hosmer to come home. In the second, Detroits Victor Martinez dropped a nice bunt against a shifted defence, only to have the ball roll foul inches before reaching third base. J.D. Martinez homered in the seventh, and Nick Castellanos nearly tied it later in the inning with a two-out drive to left that bounced off the fence for a double. Kelvin Herrera relieved Guthrie and retired Don Kelly on a lineout to centre. Wade Davis struck out the side in the eighth, and Holland made it through the ninth after allowing a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera. Smyly allowed two runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings. He struck out six without a walk. The Tigers have lost 20 of 29 to fall out of first place. During his postgame news conference, Detroit manager Brad Ausmus replied sarcastically to a question about how his mood is when he heads home after these tough defeats. "I beat my wife," Ausmus said, clearly trying to joke. "Im just kidding around. No, luckily my wife and kids are fantastic. I do get a little mopey at home, but my wife and kids are good." About a minute later, without being prompted, Ausmus said he was sorry. "I didnt want to make light of battered women," the first-year manager said. "I didnt mean to make light of that, so I apologize for that if that offended anyone." NOTES: Kansas City OF Nori Aoki (groin) and Detroit OF Torii Hunter (hamstring) did not play. ... Royals C Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ninth-inning single. ... Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler made a nice diving stop on Infantes grounder in the third. ... Kansas City LHP Danny Duffy (4-5) faces Detroit RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-2) on Thursday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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