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"Messi set for new Barcelona deal" Barcelona have revealed they are planning to offer Lionel Messi a new deal as they look to reward the Argentine for his superb performances over the past few seasons. The 25 year-old still has four years to run on his current deal, but club president Sandro Rosell is hoping the three-time Ballond'Or winner will accept an improved deal so as to keep him at Camp Nou for the forseeable future. Talks have not yet begun with the Argentina captain, but Rosell told Catalunya Radio he is hoping the deal can be done sooner rather than later. "It finishes in 2016, but it would be irresponsible to not improve his contract," he said. "You have to think about such things. Right now there is nothing scheduled, but this is a machine that is constantly in motion and things can change at any moment. "The coaching staff think about next Sunday, we look further down the line and take the more distant future into consideration. "Work has to start now on the contract that will take effect from 2016." Rosell also spoke of his desire to keep captain Carles Puyol at the club with the Spain international still having not signed a new deal despite his current contract only running until the end of this season. "Puyol is an icon, a legend, he is our captain. We'd be delighted if he would end his career at Barca," he explained. |
20/09/2012 20:05 |
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"Tottenham target Baldini for new role" Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is pushing the credentials of Baldini to take on the senior executive role that will be created by the imminent White Hart Lane overhaul. Chairman Daniel Levy is looking to re-introduce a continental-style set-up to aid Villas-Boas four years after abandoning the director of football model when Damien Comolli was sacked in October 2008. Club sources insist there are no plans to appoint a director of football but admit they are actively targeting a recruitment specialist to work directly with Levy, the manager and the scouting team on signing players. Ian Broomfield, who was brought to the club from Portsmouth in 2009 by ex-boss Harry Redknapp, was sacked as chief scout last week, which followed the departure of scout Peter Senior from the academy set-up. Levy and Villas-Boas, himself a former scout, have begun a review of Spurs’ recruitment department and have not yet decided whether to replace both Broomfield and Senior as they prepare to bring in a big-hitter in a new executive tier. Baldini has been personally nominated by Villas-Boas and is believed to have already been sounded out for the post but he is not the only name in the frame. The Italian is currently general manager of Roma and his €600,000-a-year contract runs until 2014. However, his powerbase has been noticeably weakened at the Serie A club in recent months and he is believed to have had little input in Roma’s summer transfer strategy, which was overseen by sporting director Walter Sabbatini and authorised by the Boston-based owners. Baldini, who speaks fluent English, still retains close personal links to London and visited the capital during the recent international break. The 51-year-old is believed to be interested in a senior Premier League post and is a big admirer of Villas-Boas, who, as revealed by Goal.com, held talks with the Roma chief earlier this year about succeeding Luis Enrique as manager at the Olympico Stadium before the appointment of Zdenek Zeman. Baldini is well known to English audiences for his four years with the England national team working alongside Fabio Capello before his departure last October to return to Roma. The former midfielder became director of football at Roma in 1999 and, with Capello he helped to bring Walter Samuel, Gabriel Batistuta and Emerson to the club. Baldini resigned in March 2005 and joined Capello at Real Madrid a year later. The decision to remove Broomfield at White Hart Lane continues the overhaul of Tottenham's recruitment operation. The 61-year-old, who worked with Redknapp at Portsmouth, had been one of the last survivors of the Redknapp-led regime that Levy decided in the summer could take the club no further. |
20/09/2012 20:10 |
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"Robinho advises Neymar to join Barcelona over Real Madrid" The Brazilian attacker feels his countryman would be wise to pick the Catalans if he harbours the ambition of becoming the best player in the world one day. Robinho believes compatriot Neymar would be better suited to join Barcelona rather than Real Madrid if he were ever to leave Santos for the Primera Division. The Brazil striker is continually being linked with a move away from his current club, with clubs such as the Blaugrana, Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester United reportedly keeping tabs on his situation. In the eyes of the AC Milan forward, the Catalan giants would serve as the best option for Neymar if he wants to become the best player in the world. "It will be very difficult for Neymar to become the best player in the world in the Brazilian league. That's why he should make the move to La Liga," Robinho was quoted as saying by Lancenet. "If he decides to leave Santos and he has the choice to join Real Madrid or Barcelona, I would advise him to pick Barca. "Barcelona are a great club and Brazilians have always done well there." Neymar has a contract with Santos until the summer of 2014, but the Peixe have a one-sided option to extend his stay by two years. |
20/09/2012 20:17 |
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"Sturridge nears Chelsea exit as relationship with club deteriorates" The Stamford Bridge striker has fallen out of favour at the west London outfit as doubts grow over his attitude among Blues officials, with the club looking for €15m Daniel Sturridge could be heading for the Chelsea exit door as his relationship with the club continues to deteriorate. Sturridge has yet to start a match for the European champions this season after being offered on loan to a number of Premier League clubs in the summer. The England international failed to make the substitutes’ bench for the 2-2 Champions League draw against Juventus on Wednesday after pulling out late on with what Roberto Di Matteo claimed was a minor hamstring injury. Although the Chelsea manager said “he won’t be out for long”, and there is no suggestion the injury was not genuine, doubts are thought to be growing among the coaching staff regarding Sturridge’s attitude. The 23-year-old is unhappy at falling down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge since Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas at the helm and spoke of his "hurt" at his exclusion from England’s Euro 2012 squad after losing his regular club spot in the final months of last season. He has been used almost exclusively on the flanks at Chelsea rather than in his preferred centre-forward position and, after his form deteriorated, he was an unused substitute in both the Champions League and FA Cup finals. Sturridge has entered the penultimate year of his contract, which expires in 2014, and the club have been reluctant to extend his €81,250-a-week deal, even though he scored 13 goals last season and made his international bow. He remains part of the senior England set- up and came off the bench for Roy Hodgson’s team in their 1-1 draw with Ukraine last week. Liverpool tried to sign the forward on loan as Brendan Rodgers desperately tried to strengthen his squad in the final 24 hours of the transfer window but Sturridge said he was only interested in a permanent move. Despite Fernando Torres’ inconsistency and the summer departures of Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Romelu Lukaku on loan, Sturridge has made only five substitute appearances for Chelsea this season. Uncertainty over his future comes at a time when Chelsea have an abundance of attacking midfield options but have Sturridge as the only senior centre-forward to understudy Torres. Chelsea value the former Manchester City man around the £12 million (€15m) mark and could be ready to cash in during the January window for the right offer. However, some of the proceeds of any sale will go to the Premier League champions. City negotiated a 15 per cent sell-on clause when they sold their former Academy star to Stamford Bridge in 2009. |
20/09/2012 20:32 |
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"Filippo Inzaghi and Massimiliano Allegri clash in heated AC Milan training ground argument" The legendary striker, now youth team coach at the Rossoneri, and the current first-team boss have reportedly been involved in an animated confrontation, according to reports AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and former player Filippo Inzaghi have reportedly clashed in a heated exchange at the club's training ground. Allegri has been under pressure following his side's dismal start to the season and reports have suggested that he could be on his way out of the club shortly. One man whose name has been linked to his job is former Milan striker, Inzaghi, now currently in charge of the youth team. According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, the dispute was triggered after Inzaghi ignored the head coach during his visit to the training ground on Thursday. Some strong words were exchanged with the former player allegedly telling Allegri that he is "not taking his job seriously enough". The altercation turned vulgar according to some witnesses as the Milan boss accused Inzaghi of wanting to take his position. Talking of the incident, Milan sporting director Adriano Galliani was keen to brush the event aside. "I spoke with both Allegri and Inzaghi and both have downplayed the incident. For me, the episode is as if it never happened," he was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport. The squabble comes during a difficult period for the Italian giants who, after selling a number of high- profile players over the summer, have been struggling on all fronts so far this season. After only managing a draw in their opening match in the Champions League on Tuesday night against Anderlecht, Allegri will be hoping to guide his team to a win over Udinese on Sunday in order to ease the pressure on him and his embattled side. |
21/09/2012 02:46 |
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"AVB sure UEFA will act on racism" Andre Villas-Boas is sure that UEFA will act accordingly should any Lazio fans be found to have racially abused Tottenham's players in their Europa League stalemate at White Hart Lane. - Europa League review Monkey-chanting was heard to come from the away end on several occasions directed against Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend in the Group J fixture, which ended 0-0 after three Tottenham goals were controversially ruled out. Villas-Boas said he did not hear the chants himself, but he would encourage UEFA, whose head Michel Platini was at the game, to take any action if it is proven that the travelling fans did in voice racist abuse. "I think (UEFA will act if the accusations are proven)," Villas-Boas said in his post-match press conference. "UEFA is very active on this kind of situation so and our overall objective is to kick racism out of football. "I can't point the finger at anyone in any way shape or form tonight because I didn't hear anything. It's for the authorities to follow up in any kind of investigation." The anti-racism group FARE posted a link on their Twitter feed giving Spurs fans the chance to report any chants they heard from the away end and UEFA have fined clubs in the past for racist incidents. Tottenham also operate a strict zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism. |
21/09/2012 08:11 |
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"Mourinho playing a dangerous game" Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho had his first answer ready when he sat down in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu press room about half an hour after the final whistle of Wednesday night's thrilling 3-2 Champions League Group D win over Manchester City. The opening question came from an English journalist and was, predictably, about how the Madrid coach had felt as he slid across the Bernabeu grass on his knees to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo's 90th-minute winner. "Running through my brain was the sight of computer screens and everything that was ready to be published being deleted and journalists having to write again," Mourinho said. "But the celebration does not matter - what matters is the match, the way people that love football around the world enjoyed it for sure." Once he had got his initial jab at his critics in the Spanish media out of the way, the press conference went on as normal. Mourinho praised his players for "fighting like animals until the last minute" and having the character and ambition not only to come back twice but to then also keep going for the win after equalising with time running out. That was all fair enough - these factors had been key to Madrid winning the game. And Mourinho, as a coach, is maybe the best around at instilling this type of mentality into individual players, and especially into teams. At Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Real, he has shown he is an excellent motivator and team-builder, an astute selector of players, perhaps, and a masterly controller of dressing rooms, definitely. But nobody in Madrid (except a very few with axes to grind) claim Mourinho does not have all these very useful coaching qualities. What he is more often accused of is a lack of tactical acumen. This is a big issue in Spain, particularly at the moment, given how many see that a particularly innate Spanish (and/or Catalan) genius has invented a new tactical way of playing which is just better than any other way of winning football matches. And it looks as though this slight actually does hurt the self- proclaimed 'Special One'/'Only One'. Back in his Chelsea days, some in England viewed Mourinho as an innovative thinker on the game, but there was little subtlety to his Premier League- winning teams. They played fast, aggressive, physical and successful, football; they were excellent at overpowering teams and either smashed them to pieces or ground out results. Mourinho's most famous 'tactical' move from that era was the half-time treble substitution which involved removing a full-back when Chelsea were losing to a smaller team. If that didn't work, there was the trick of throwing on teenage defender Robert Huth as an emergency centre-forward. Even Huth's current boss at Stoke, Tony Pulis, does not see that as a tactical innovation worth copying. Mourinho's reputation as a tactician is most often based on the 2009-10 Champions League semi-final, when his ten-man Inter team held on to defeat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate with an outstanding defensive display in the Camp Nou second leg after midfielder Thiago Motta had been sent off in the first half hour. The most important tactical move in that tie, however, came in the first game at the San Siro, when Inter went for Barca's suspect defence and Wesley Sneijder pulled them apart. The Serie A side's rearguard action in the second leg was less planned (obviously, as they didn't know they'd be down to ten men). It also relied on some very poor Barca finishing and especially a refereeing error when Bojan's injury-time strike, which would have sent the Catalans through on away goals, was harshly ruled out for a Yaya Toure handball. At Madrid, although there has been plenty of success and records broken, there has been even less evidence of tactical genius. Following his team's 5-0 thrashing at the Camp Nou in November 2010, Mourinho cooked up a number of different schemes to try to undo Josep Guardiola's Barcelona, but for over a year the most effective were the ugly ones which involved physically intimidating Barca with Pepe in a midfield destroyer role. None of these really worked (Copa del Rey final aside) until midway through last season, when Madrid's players finally got their way and were allowed to go at the Barca defence and prove they could take them on man for man. Mourinho's tactical genius is rarely seen against other La Liga sides. Last season's Real were, unusually for such an expensive collection of players at a big club, a counter-attacking team. They almost always overcame Spanish rivals through their fitness, commitment, spirit and, most of all, individual talent. Not just Guardiola, but also Unai Emery of Valencia, Marcelo Bielsa of Athletic, Marcelo Pellegrini of Malaga and even Jose Ramon Sandoval at Rayo Vallecano out-thought Mourinho in games, but Madrid were able to see off all their teams through an Iker Casillas save, a Sergio Ramos tackle, a Xabi Alonso pass, a Mesut Ozil assist or, most often, a Cristiano Ronaldo goal. Madrid often had to come from behind in games, and their players often seemed to remove tactics completely and turn matches into an attacking showdown which Ronaldo and co almost always won. The one occasion on which they were really unable to do this was the Champions League semi-final, when Bayern Munich's better organisation and game intelligence helped them through to a penalty shoot-out victory. This season, those individual elements are not working as well (in La Liga), with the players below their physical and mental top levels, and Madrid as a team have struggled badly. Against Getafe last month, Mourinho sent on three attacking substitutes and finished the game with five forwards on the pitch, but it was Luis Garcia's decision to bring on the previously little-used Adrian Colunga to run at Raul Albiol which won the game for his side. During the 1-0 defeat at Sevilla last weekend, Mourinho also changed things during the game, but to little effect, ending with midfielder Sami Khedira at right-back, even though the player himself has since admitted he had never played there before. This is not to say that Mourinho is not brilliant at what he does - just that he is no master tactician. Compared to Bielsa, Emery, Guardiola, Pellegrino, and now Tito Vilanova, he is neither a deep thinker on the game nor a designer of particularly inventive schemes or systems. That does not have to matter - there are many ways to win in football. But it still seems he would like to be. Towards the end of his press conference on Wednesday night, he shared his description of how the game had gone. "In the first half they were very defensive, they could play with one striker in (Carlos) Tevez and three in the midfield, but in the second half they scored and the game was more open," he said. "I started with (Michael) Essien and Khedira to the left and right of Alonso in midfield and ended with (Luka) Modric and Ozil. It was a very good match for the crowd, but also for the people who understand football deeply, as the game was rich." The game was indeed "rich" - but in incident, not tactical genius. If anyone won the battle of coaching minds, it was City's Roberto Mancini, whose midfield slowly took control of the game. This was especially so after Mourinho withdrew Essien (at 0-0) and Toure was free to set up the opening goal and generally dominate the proceedings, at least until he tired towards the end and (as the Italian lamented in his press conference) City began to sit deep and invite Madrid closer to goal, where their talented individuals could finally make a difference. Mourinho's initial selection or changes did not win the game for his team, they almost lost it. It was some individual brilliance from Benzema and Ronaldo (and some dodgy goalkeeping on both goals from England's No.1 Joe Hart) that saw his team turn it around. His claim that those who "understand football deeply" would see how he had decided the game just does not hold up. Nor does his answer to Wednesday night's final question, when he decided to gloat at the journalists who had been forced to quickly revise their match reports as the game turned in the closing stages. "I know what you were going to say," he said. "He is crazy playing Varane (instead of Ramos) and leaving out all his creative players. (Gonzalo) Higuain does not score in the Champions League. Coentrao is fresher than Marcelo. I know all that was prepared." Then, already on his feet and turning from the desk: "Bad luck." This overlooked the fact that Ramos was missed as Madrid conceded two preventable goals, and that Higuain had again squandered at least two simple chances at 0-0. There was no time for those present to put these points to Mourinho, but they could at least console themselves with the knowledge that, generally speaking, they were not suffering at all from "bad luck". On the contrary, having a personality as compelling and colourful as Mourinho managing one of the world's top clubs is good luck for everyone involved in football, and especially journalists. This Madrid team must be one of the most entertaining sides to watch, and cover, that the game has ever seen. But the coach is no tactical genius, however much he'd like to be. |
21/09/2012 08:27 |
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"Size isn't everything" As they beat Swansea City on Saturday, Aston Villa used 14 players. There is nothing unusual in that except that, by fielding 11 starters and three substitutes, Paul Lambert deployed as many footballers in the space of 90 minutes as Ron Saunders did in Villa's entire title-winning campaign in 1980-81. If football was a team game three decades ago, it is a squad game now. But that comes with complications. Building a side seemed simpler, especially in the times of tactical uniformity. When everyone in English football played 4-4-2, it was a case of finding a goalkeeper, a pair of full- backs, central defenders, centre midfielders, wingers and strikers, plus a handful of reserves. Now there are endless permutations and combinations, depending upon formations. Now the demands of European competitions mean top clubs could play 60 games a year while the pace of the game may mean injuries occur more frequently. Either way, squad rotation is more necessary. Yet stockpiling players is not the solution, and not just because of Premier League regulations. The 25- man squad rule has a negligible impact: any club with a decent youth system or that buys young players can have a pool of 30 or more footballers. In any case, keeping too many with little chance of first-team football is a recipe for disharmony and disillusionment. While major tournaments last a month and seasons the best part of ten, FIFA offers a model. The 23-man party each country can take to a World Cup allows for three goalkeepers and two players for every outfield position. Yet while goalkeeper is a specialist position, so is striker, and three of the Premier League's elite clubs that only operate with one up front contrived to end the transfer window with just two senior centre forwards. It is at least one too few. In Liverpool's case, that was a well- chronicled cock-up. But Chelsea, with only Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge, and Tottenham, with only Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor, will also lack attacking options should injury strike. Indeed, Spurs loaned out their third striker, Harry Kane, at the end of the window, perhaps reasoning the versatile Clint Dempsey can step in. But while Andre Villas-Boas has a strong starting XI, Spurs' squad is proof that assembling a group of players can be harder. There are four senior goalkeepers - clearly one too many - but just a solitary specialist left-back. Now he, Benoit Assou- Ekotto, is injured, just after his deputy, Danny Rose, was loaned to Sunderland. Meanwhile, Villas-Boas appears to have a surfeit of central midfielders, a problem that is still more evident at Stoke: Tony Pulis usually plays 4-4-2 but now has eight men competing for two spots. The opposite applies at Stamford Bridge. While Roberto Di Matteo has a host of wingers, after the exits of Raul Meireles and Michael Essien, Oriol Romeu provides the only cover for Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel in central areas unless Ramires or Oscar are dropped into a deeper position. A previous Chelsea squad was pruned at a cost. In 2006-07 and on Roman Abramovich's instruction, Jose Mourinho was forced to get by with a group of 20 and found it too few, partly because Khalid Boulahrouz was one of them. As they lost their league title, Chelsea were left over-reliant on a small core. Squad-building is about planning for most eventualities, even if some situations are so extreme that managers should not be blamed for failing to anticipate them. Arsenal spent the best part of two months last season without a specialist senior full- back after all four were injured at the same time. With varying degrees of difficulty, players such as Thomas Vermaelen, Johan Djourou and Francis Coquelin had to slot in. But what Arsenal's recent past proves is the significance of utility men in any squad. They reached the 2006 Champions League final with midfielder Mathieu Flamini standing in superbly at left-back when Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy were both sidelined. And it illustrates that versatile players constitute an insurance policy in themselves. Sometimes those derisively deemed a Jack of all trades and master of none can prove invaluable through their ability to slot in wherever needed without being a weak link. John O'Shea accumulated the best part of 400 appearances for Manchester United operating as everything from emergency goalkeeper to auxiliary striker, but usually filling a gap anywhere in defence or the centre of midfield. A former United team-mate, Phil Neville, took his adaptability to Goodison Park, where he has been joined by likeminded individuals. David Moyes named the smallest squad in the division, with just 19 senior players, but almost every outfield player can adopt at least two positions. Like Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar and Steven Naismith, Neville has three strings to his bow. Everton beat Manchester City last season with Tony Hibbert doing a fine impression of a central defender, drew at Old Trafford with Sylvain Distin an auxiliary left-back and reached the 2009 FA Cup final when Tim Cahill was compensating for the absence of the professional centre forwards. A slender group has shown it is not always the size of the squad that counts but the number of options a manager has in every position. Edited by Demola09 21-09-2012 08:35 |
21/09/2012 08:30 |
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Messi is pretty awesome I should say. Look at the way he turned things around against Spartak Moscow. | 21/09/2012 14:54 |
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