Juan Mata insists Andre Villas-Boas has the total backing of the Chelsea squad.
Villas-Boas was forced to deny reports last week that some members of the Chelsea squad had become unhappy with his tactics.
Recent defeats to QPR, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen had left the 34-year-old Blues boss under pressure, but he responded well on Saturday by guiding his team to a 3-0 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s never easy to have such negative results, but we all have a lot of faith in ourselves as a team. We have a lot of faith in our coach and in the quality of the squad,” Mata said.
Osvaldo faces axe
Roma striker Osvaldo is set to be omitted from the next Italy squad following his spat with team-mate Erik Lamela at the Friuli Stadium on Friday.
The Argentine-born forward was suspended and fined by Roma after he was involved in a physical altercation with Lamela during Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Udinese. Osvaldo is also expected to be disciplined on an international level.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli maintains that all of his players must adhere to a code of ethics which he has implemented.
Osvaldo could now be left out of the Azzurri squad for the game against the United States in February.
Deschamps hails ‘great show’
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps believes the 3-0 defeat of bitter rivals Paris St Germain on Sunday night is what the team needed to kickstart their Ligue 1 season.
Goals from Loic Remy, Morgan Amalfitano and Andre Ayew denied PSG the chance to return to the top of the table.
“This kind of game is important,” Deschamps said. “After our performances earlier in the week, winning 3-0 was great.
“The team put on a great show. It was crucial to win this and play well so we set out aggressively, made an impact from the first minute and Paris could not find a way into the match.”
Ronaldinho happy
Ronaldinho has no plans to quit Flamengo and return to Europe, according to his brother and agent Roberto de Assis Moreira.
Former Barcelona and Milan striker Ronaldinho has been linked with a move to Greek side Panathinaikos amid claims he has not been paid by Flamengo for four months.
“I have not spoken to anyone about a potential transfer. He is very happy here where he can always visit his friends,” Assis said.
“He’s getting some good results here. He has made over 50 appearances and has scored 20 goals. He has even returned to the Selecao.”
Liverpool ‘behind Balotelli red’
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini accused Liverpool’s players of getting Mario Balotelli sent off in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Substitute Balotelli was dismissed in the 83rd minute following a second yellow card for elbowing Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel – 18 minutes after the Italian had come on.
“I think so,” said Mancini when asked if he thought Skrtel made the most of the incident.
“My impression is he gave a free-kick and didn’t want to give the yellow card, but after all the Liverpool players went there.
“I’m disappointed with him (Balotelli) for the first yellow card but not for the second yellow.”
Ferguson wary of Euro, Olympics
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson does not want any of his players to be involved in both the European Champion-ships and the Olympic Games next summer.
Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are all candidates to be in the England squad for Euro 2012 and they will also be eligible for the Olympics when they are staged in London.
Sir Alex is worried that the players will suffer from burn-out.
“One thing I am quite clear about is that I wouldn’t like to see our young players who might be involved in Euro 2012 then selected for the Olympics,” he said.
“Manchester United might well have a direct interest with our up-and-coming youngsters like Welbeck, Jones, Smalling and Tom Cleverley now on the international scene.”
Loan deals only for Milan
Milan could bring a leading player to the club during the winter transfer window – but only on loan.
The Rossoneri have been linked with Manchester City outcast Carlos Tevez and vice-president Adriano Galliani told Gazzetta dello Sport: “Whoever comes to Milan in January will be on loan for free, with an option to make that stay permanent.
“Tevez? We will see, there’s time. Probably if we had not had (Antonio) Cassano’s situation, we would remain as we are.”