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ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria -- Marie-Michele Gagnon ended a 30-year drought for Canadian women in World Cup combined events by earning her maiden victory on Sunday. http://www.hockeyavalancheshop.com/Burgundy-Red-Patrick-Roy-Jersey/ . Gagnon was 1.37 seconds off the lead in 16th after the super-G portion but went ahead of the field after posting the second fastest time in the slalom run. "Its really exciting, a magical moment," said Gagnon, who wasnt even born when Gerry Sorensen won a combined event in Puy St. Vincent, France, on Jan. 8, 1984 for the last triumph by a Canadian woman. "My teammate Erin Mielzynski won two years ago in Ofterschwang. She was the first Canadian woman to win in slalom in like 40 years," Gagnon said. "That was unbelievable and I didnt expect our team to make history again." Gagnon finished in an overall 2 minutes, 5.55 seconds to beat second-place Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria by 0.32. Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany trailed Gagnon by 0.39 in third. Nicole Hosp of Austria, who led the competition after the super-G, finished fourth. "Its amazing. I was quite surprised," said Gagnon, whose only previous podium came in a slalom in Are, Sweden, in 2012. "I didnt expect that after the first run. I knew I had to do a really good slalom run to be on the podium. I just tried to do my best and it looks like the pieces of the puzzle have come together." The super-combined format was introduced at the start of the 2005-06 season to replace the classic combined races, which consisted of one speed run followed by two slalom legs. No Canadian skier -- male or female -- had ever made the podium in a super-combined before. The last Canadian to get in the top three of any combined event was Emily Broydon, who came third in San Sicaro, Italy, in 2005. The combination of super-G and slalom at Sundays event suited Gagnon, who was in the top 10 of two super-G races this season and in the top six of all four slaloms. "I am happy with my season so far and this tops it off for sure," said Gagnon, coming off a disappointing season following her first top-three finish at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. "I ended that season really strongly and I came in the season after and I was expecting a lot," Gagnon said. "But I was trying too hard. This year, I just try my best. I know I have done all the work in training." Second-place Kirchgasser made an even bigger jump as she climbed from 20th after the super-G. "I knew something would still be possible (after the first run)," said the Austrian. "But after my slalom run, I first thought it wasnt enough." Kirchgasser failed to finish five races this season, but said she had forgotten about 2013 already, adding "2014 has been really good so far." Hoefl-Riesch regained the lead in the overall standings one day after she lost it to Austrias Anna Fenninger after Saturdays downhill. The German has 731 points and Fenninger, who finished eighth, 709. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein is third with 673. "Of course I am really happy," Hoefl-Riesch said. "But theres also a little bit of disappointment. It wasnt perfect skiing from me. And I missed second place by 0.07 yesterday and again today. But all in all it was a very satisfying weekend." Earlier Sunday, most of the 19 starters who failed to finish the super-G went out at the Panorama, a sharp right turn about 40 seconds into the run. Going into the curve with too much speed made it difficult to make the next gate. Julia Mancuso, who won the super-combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee in 2007, also went out at that point. Her American teammate Lindsey Vonn, who has a record 12 podium finishes in super-combined including a win here in 2009, is out for the season because of a right knee injury. It was the first super-combined event of the season and the only one before the Sochi Olympics next month. The womens World Cup travels to nearby Flachau for a night slalom on Tuesday. custom Avalanche Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Patrick Roy Avalanche Jersey . 1 team in the FIFA rankings, and the host nation will kick off as No. 3. Spain and Germany remain 1-2 in FIFAs monthly standings, while Brazil leapfrogs No.In the sixth minute of the game, Marouane Fellaini picked up the ball near the centre circle, attempted to run deep into Evertons territory to start another Manchester United attack but immediately saw the ball stolen away from him from James McCarthy. McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Around the Premier League on Saturday, numerous examples of midfields taking over games were on show. For Tottenham at Sunderland, Paulinho and Moussa Dembele ran the game in the second half, Stoke got back into their match against Chelsea by exposing a double pivot of Ramires and John Obi Mikel, while Liverpool lost momentum in their home match against West Ham once Steven Gerrard departed through injury. This is football in todays era. Central midfield is the most important zone on the field, where turnovers are caused, counter-attacks are started, defensive cover is needed and vision with the ball is demanded. Most teams in the Premier League play in systems that can be labeled 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, where at least three men centrally are asked to work as a unit, both defensively and in attack. It is the engine that motors the team forward and back. At Manchester United this season this has usually been done by two central midfielders and Wayne Rooney.Rooney has looked very good and if you were to make up a list of Uniteds problems he would certainly be at the bottom labeled as ‘Rooney – only concern is how to play him with van Persie against superior teams. The English striker has proven in recent years (see vs Andrea Pirlo at Euro 2012 for reference) to be a liability when it comes to making up a midfield three in a defensive manner but against the majority of inferior Premier League teams this is not a problem. Last season for example, against the 13 teams who finished between eighth and 20th in the Premier League, Manchester United, playing 4-4-2, won an astonishing 22 of 26 matches, claiming a total of 69 points from a possible 78. However, upon closer inspection there were matches where they looked outrun in midfield and allowed a goal through a defensive lapse, but these were quickly forgotten about because United painted over the cracks by banging in goals at the other end. It happened against Fulham, when Dembele ran the game before getting a move to Spurs (Fulham led 1-0, lost 3-2), it happened against Liverpool and Southampton in second halves at Old Trafford (games won 2-1) and against Newcastle who led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 last season before losing 4-3. On Boxing Day the United system was handing their opponents regular gifts with numerous goal scoring chances but once again, their attacking heavyweights powered their way out of trouble. United would go on to win the game through Javier Hernandez in the 90th minute, who, like on Saturday, partnered van Persie up front for United that day. That however, is where the similarities ended for the pair. Last season the service towards them was remarkably different to the amount of passes they received in Saturdays 1-0 home loss. Sixty-seven passes to 36 is a remarkable difference over 90 minutes: Hernandezs winning goal last December would give his side three more points won from a losing position and iin total United would go on to claim 29 points from losing positions last season. http://www.hockeyavalancheshop.com/Burgundy-Red-Paul-Stastny-Jersey/. On the surface that seems like a remarkably impressive number, it is after all the second highest of all-time in the Premier League behind Newcastles 01-02 season of 34 points, but you must have flaws in your team to be behind many times to get to that number. Uniteds flaws remain this season but because they cannot power themselves out of trouble with goals they have been magnified to the level where action is now required. Two seasons ago United were stunned by a Champions League group stage elimination after Benfica and Basel ran through their midfield and scored eight goals between them in four matches. United were sent into the Europa League and would go on to again be exposed in similar fashion, losing back-to-back home games to technically superior teams, Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. In those matches United looked far too English. A timid, reactionary team lacking true post-to-post midfielders who excel in both the attack and defensive side of the game. It is an accusation that remains even more glaring two years on. The worlds best teams today all have world class deep-lying playmakers who control matches with the combination of brilliant, forward thinking vision and equally outstanding footballing intelligence without the ball. In central midfield, Real Madrid has Luka Modric, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso, Barcelona has Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi, Bayern Munich has Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Toni Kroos, Manchester City have Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. Manchester United has Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Tom Cleverley or Phil Jones. Carrick remains very important to United, a fine player in the Premier League whose calmness and passing ability has been sorely missed lately. Fellaini remains a mysterious buy, a player whose escalated price came from playing further forward but who wants to play in central midfield, despite not yet excelling at the attributes needed to play there. Cleverley has now started nine of their 15 league games this season and isnt anywhere near the quality of, at least, 20 other Premier League midfielders who have (and will continue to do so) the beating of the United youth product. Jones remains a promising player who will likely move to centre-back as he ages, but certainly does not have the offensive abilities to play regularly in central midfield for a team like Manchester United. None of these players are not close to being deep lying playmakers and none are anywhere close to being world class. United badly need at least one, and most likely two, of these caliber players as soon as possible. As last season showed the team is more than capable of going on a long successful run this season, beating inferior teams and that will help them climb towards a likely finish amongst the top four but what absolutely must not be forgotten again next summer is what was ignored in recent transfer windows. It is time to stop the likes of Dembele, McCarthy, and Cabaye running the show in games at Old Trafford. While United were spending a whopping 65 million pounds (the cost of Smalling, Young, Jones, Zaha and Powell) on mediocre, or unproven English talent the last four summers, many other teams have not only caught them up in central midfield, but now overtaken them. A club like United should be close to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern, but through bad buys and neglecting a key area they are not even close and are left exposed by average teams in their own league. It is time to get to work on a very deep-lying problem. ' ' ' |
