|
|
Branislav Ivanovic pleased with Chelsea recovery against Swansea City but admits ‘we have to do a lot of things better’
The Serbia international defender feels that the Blues merited their last-gasp equaliser at the Liberty Stadium but that there is work to be done to avoid similar situations
1 Feb 2012 16:32:00
By George Ankers
Getty Images
Branislav Ivanovic has expressed his delight with Chelsea’s effort to recover what he believes was a merited point in their 1-1 draw with Swansea City, but admits that they must improve on many fronts.
A stoppage-time own-goal by Neil Taylor cancelled out ex-Blue Scott Sinclair’s first-half opener as Andre Villas-Boas’ men fought back at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night.
And Ivanovic called for an improvement on their performance in the first period, telling the club's official website: "It was a very hard game for us.
“We played away against a team who played very good football, but we should do better in the first half. As a team, the second half was much better.”
The Serbia international also praised centre-back partner David Luiz, who made two vital blocks from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Danny Graham after goalkeeper Petr Cech had left his line.
“It is always in the mind of the defender to get back there when somebody passed the keeper when the keeper went out to help protect the line and we were successful in this situation, but still we have to do a lot of things better,” Ivanovic added.
The defender, who recently returned from injury, also reacted to suggestions that Jose Bosingwa’s ball which was deflected into the net by Taylor had been intended as a cross rather than a shot.
“For me it is looking like a shot because he had already crossed a couple of balls and nothing had happened from those,” the 27-year-old observed.
“So he tried a surprise and it got a deflection, but I think we deserved an equaliser and it was nice for Jose as well.
“The result was negative for us so we tried to do everything to change this,” he continued.
“We tried to push harder forward and tried to do the simple things better, and in the end we equalised and as I said, I think we deserved to.”
|
Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
A stoppage-time own-goal by Neil Taylor cancelled out ex-Blue Scott Sinclair’s first-half opener as Andre Villas-Boas’ men fought back at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night.
And Ivanovic called for an improvement on their performance in the first period, telling the club's official website: "It was a very hard game for us.
“We played away against a team who played very good football, but we should do better in the first half. As a team, the second half was much better.”
The Serbia international also praised centre-back partner David Luiz, who made two vital blocks from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Danny Graham after goalkeeper Petr Cech had left his line.
“It is always in the mind of the defender to get back there when somebody passed the keeper when the keeper went out to help protect the line and we were successful in this situation, but still we have to do a lot of things better,” Ivanovic added.
The defender, who recently returned from injury, also reacted to suggestions that Jose Bosingwa’s ball which was deflected into the net by Taylor had been intended as a cross rather than a shot.
“For me it is looking like a shot because he had already crossed a couple of balls and nothing had happened from those,” the 27-year-old observed.
“So he tried a surprise and it got a deflection, but I think we deserved an equaliser and it was nice for Jose as well.
“The result was negative for us so we tried to do everything to change this,” he continued.
“We tried to push harder forward and tried to do the simple things better, and in the end we equalised and as I said, I think we deserved to.”
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
|
Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
Inside Goal.Com
-
Welbeck convinces Hodgson he is the man to lead the line
England beat Norway 1-0 at Wembley, with the Manchester United man hitting an impressive winner to stake his claim for a starting spot at Euro 2012
-
The five players Rodgers could sign to kick-start revolution
The new Reds boss was unveiled to the press on Friday and must immediately begin work on revitalising a thin squad with some additions in the transfer market
-
Managerial merry-go-round keeps spinning as Lambert takes Villa job
The Scot officially left Norwich City on Saturday to become the second new boss in June, following the appointment of Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool on Friday
-
Rodgers ushers in new Anfield era on his own terms
The Northern Irishman inevitably expressed his delight at landing the Reds job but evidenced plenty of the steely resolve which could see him become a success at Anfield
-
The definitive timeline of FSG's hunt for new manager
Kenny Dalglish's sacking at the end of the season sparked a massive hunt for the next Anfield boss, and the former Swansea man has been chosen after several turned the job down
