Vercauteren aims a volley at the Rangers defence
Royal Antwerp boss, Franky Vercauteren, has cranked up the heat ahead of the Europa League return leg at Ibrox on Thursday night. The Belgian insists he couldn’t believe how badly Rangers defended in last Thursday’s first leg, and reckoned his side could have scored six goals. Steven Gerrard’s side returned from Belgium with a hugelyencouraging 4-3 win in the last32 tie after a rollercoaster of a match. However, Vercauteren (right) refuses to believe his side are out of the competition, and admits he was amazed Rangers presented them with so many chances.
He said: “We had so many opportunities. We could have scored six goals easily. “There were many positives for us because I expected Rangers to be better defensively. “They surprised me in a good way, from our point of view, with the chances they gave us – and in a bad way, too, because they could also have scored five times.
“The difference between 3-3 and 4-3 is big, unfortunately. Now we have to beat them by two goals in Glasgow. “But we keep believing and it’s definitely possible. Let’s see where we go with it.” However, Antwerp legend Patrick Goots, who netted 83 goals in just 153 appearances for the club, fears his old club have next to no chance, and they could be facing a hammering at Ibrox. Goots said: “Rangers were a lot faster in an attacking sense than Antwerp. “For me, the difference between the sides was that the best player on the pitch was Ryan Kent – and he was only a substitute for Rangers!
“I am the last man in the world to say it’s impossible.
“But how the hell are Antwerp going to keep a clean sheet in Glasgow, and score at least twice? “Antwerp will have to push forward, and that means Rangers’ forward players can use their pace even more. “That spells disaster, I am afraid.”
If David Moyes needs anyone to do his pre-match team talk today, Jose Mourinho has already done it!
The Special One believes high-flying West Ham, who are six points ahead of Tottenham in the Premiership, will drop down the league by the end of the season.
Mourinho said: “They are doing very well.
“But I believe that at the end of the season, in terms of their position and our position, they are not going to be the same as where we are now. “Good Premier League teams with one match-perweek are in an advantageous position compared to all the others.
“They have one week to prepare, one week to rest, less injuries and fatigue.
“It gives them a much better chance.”
Spurs were in Europa League action on Thursday night, beating Austrian outfit, Wolfsberger AC, 4-1 away from home.
As things stand, Moyes’ Hammers are on course to be the top London team in the Premiership, leaving Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Fulham in their wake.
His best top-flight finish came in 2005 when he guided Everton to fourth place in the table.
But history is against him today.
Mourinho has won 40 of his 66 London derbies, the majority of those wins during his two successful spells at Chelsea.
The Special One is now humble enough to say his record is down to the players. “Special teams. Special teams win lots of matches,” he said.
“We coaches are as good or as bad as our players make us. We depend a lot on them. “Especially coaches with a lot of experience and long histories, who went through every possible experience. “We get to a stage of our career where we feel much more stable, much more humble.
“We realise with all the experience we have that the ones really responsible for our career are the ones that play for us.
“So hopefully the guys deliver a great performance and they can make me look good.
“They’re the ones that make us look good or bad.”