Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Eden Hazard bids Lille farewell
Eden Hazard: Getting emotional about his final two games at Lille
Hazard's future has been the subject of speculation for some time and he has been linked with several of the leading clubs in England, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.Premier League target Eden Hazard has taken to Twitter to announce that he has two games remaining in Lille colours.
There have also been reports of a bidding war between Manchester United and Manchester City and Hazard refused to confirm which club he would rather join earlier this week when he said he could wear red or blue.
But it does seem certain that the playmaker's time at Lille will come to an end when the season finishes, after he confirmed his exit plans.
"Two games more to play in the colours of LOSC [Lille] ...Sniff," the 21-year-old tweeted.
Hazard joined Lille from Belgian side AFC Tubize in July 2006 and made his professional debut under coach Claude Puel at the age of just 16 in November 2007.
Lille have already secured a place in next season's Champions League but must win their penultimate match at league leaders Montpellier on Sunday to stand any chance of retaining their Ligue 1 crown.
Destiny
Hazard has been named Ligue 1's Player of the Season by L'Equipe after scoring 17 goals and contributing 15 assists in the league.
Lille boss Rudi Garcia believes the Belgium international has gone from strength to strength this season and still has room for further improvement.
"He should be part of the best players on earth, it is his destiny," Garcia said in L'Equipe.
"He has learnt football is not always played with ball. On a tactical level, he has hugely improved.
"He has moved better and his team-mates can find him more often. During the last few weeks, we also changed the system and he is at the heart of the game."
@SkySports
Monday, May 7, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Terry won't quit England team
John Terry: Happy to play alongside anyone for England
The Chelsea defender was stripped of the England captaincy as he awaits a court appearance over charges, denied by the 31-year-old, that he used racist language towards Anton Ferdinand.John Terry has rubbished rumours he could call time on his international career, saying: "I will never turn my back on England."
That led to suggestions he might call it a day for his country, but in an interview with The Sun he made it clear he would make himself available for new manager Roy Hodgson.
Terry said: "I'm not going to throw away my international career for anyone, I am proud to represent my country, I will never turn my back on England."
He added: "I never considered quitting. I was deeply disappointed by the FA's decision to strip me of the captaincy as it meant the world to me. But sometimes you just have to accept these things and move on."
"I'm not going to throw away my international career for anyone, I am proud to represent my country, I will never turn my back on England."
John Terry
John Terry
Terry also made it clear he would have no problem playing with Ferdinand's brother Rio.
"I don't have an issue playing with anyone and never have done," he said.
"I don't pick and choose who plays for England and if I'm selected to play it won't become an issue either."
Fabio Capello's support for Terry over the incident ultimately led to his departure as England boss back in February.
"I was extremely disappointed the manager decided to quit," Terry said. "From day one he stood by me and said he knew the English law and the English way and you are innocent until proven guilty and I respected him for that."
Hodgson was this week named England boss ahead of apparent fan favourite Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager.
"I always thought Roy Hodgson was a genuine candidate and I was surprised no one really mentioned him," Terry said.
"Clearly all the hype was for Harry Redknapp but the FA have taken their time to appoint the right man to lead us to success and I think this is a great appointment."
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Royal farewell for Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos wearing tradition Caucasian men’s cloths – papaha and burka
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Sol Campbell announces retirement
Sol Campbell: Has brought the curtain down on his illustrious playing career
Now 37 years of age, the ex-England international has taken the decision to hang up his boots.Former Arsenal, Tottenham and Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell has announced his retirement from professional football.
Campbell last turned out for Newcastle during the 2010/11 campaign, before being released by the Magpies after just one season on Tyneside.
He was unable to find a new club for 2011/12 and feels the time is right to take his career in a different direction.
A product of the White Hart Lane academy system, Campbell made his Spurs debut against Chelsea in December 1992.
Controversy
He captained Tottenham to League Cup glory in 1999, but caused controversy two years later when he left the club as a free agent and crossed the North London divide to sign for Arsenal.
Campbell spent five years with the Gunners, during which time he won two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and netted in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final.
After admitting that he was looking for a 'new challenge' in the summer of 2006, he agreed to join Harry Redknapp's revolution at Portsmouth.
More FA Cup success followed in 2008, but 12 months on he left Fratton Park at the end of his contract.
In a shock move he signed a five-year contract with Notts County in August 2009, with the Magpies' new owners outlining ambitious plans, but all was not as it seemed at Meadow Lane and he made just one appearance before walking away on 22nd September.
Campbell returned to Arsenal in an effort to maintain his fitness and was handed a short-term deal by Arsene Wenger in January 2010.
Emotional
An emotional return to Emirates Stadium saw him become a regular starter towards the end of the 2009/10 campaign and he passed the 200 appearance mark for the Gunners in all competitions.
There was to be no summer extension, though, and he moved on to Newcastle, penning a one-year contract at St James' Park.
Campbell struggled to make an impression in the North East and made just eight appearances for the Magpies.
In all, a career which spanned almost 20 years saw him make 646 appearances at club level.
On the international stage, Campbell graced three World Cups, made three European Championship squads and won 73 caps for his country.
@SkySports
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Hugo Viana - Why the best Liga player won't be in the Euro'2012
Why the Liga’s best player will not be in Portugal squad at Euro 2012
The odd case of Hugo Viana
Lately numerous opinion makers have been discussing how ludicrous it is that Hugo Viana will not start at next summer’s Euro 2012. Indeed it looks unlikely he will even be called up to Portugal’s squad for the tournament. The Braga midfielder has been quite possibly the best player in the league this season, so the question of his absence has to be posed.
In football, as in so many other areas in life, context is everything. Whether he’s a club manager or the coach of a national team, it’s absolutely critical that the players are chosen according to the manager’s ideas, and not just because they excelled at their (previous) club. Otherwise, he would be left with a bunch of players with little or nothing in common, creating chaotic scenarios that we see in football far too often (Gian Piero Gasperini’s case at Inter immediately springs to mind*), in which the manager has the thankless task of being forced to try to concoct some game plan that accommodates everyone.
In case you’re wondering, that’s the ideal way to ruin a team and their manager. Just look at how Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City ended up spending so much money in unsuccessful newcomers (from Wayne Bridge to Shevchenk or Torres, from Robinho to Sahin, from Carroll to Charlie Adam), most of which they couldn’t get rid of. As for national teams, just think of why the performances from Messi, Ronaldo, Lampard or Gerrard (to name but a few) draw so much criticism from their own fans.
As decisive as Viana has been in Braga’s exhilarating season, it’s important to analyse if his traits, tendencies and overall game fit into Paulo Bento’s ideas. Regardless of how much you may or may not agree with Bento’s ideas, it’s up to him to make the decision in the team’s best interest and, therefore, there will be no discussion of his perspectives.
1. Braga’s tactics
Leonardo Jardim’s Braga usually play a 4x2x3x1, with Custodio as the holding midfielder and Viana alongside him. Additionally, Lima is a fast, mobile forward and Mossoro provides the link-up between midfield and attack. Viana’sprecise passing offers an alternate route to Mossoro, allowing Braga to quickly break away by bypassing Mossoro with long passes to Lima or Alan. Defensively, Braga tend to be quite conservative, dropping back and usually creating two banks of four. There are numerous players around Viana to cover for him when he strays for an attack, for instance.2. Portugal’s tactics
Again, this issue does not revolve around whether this is the best option for Portugal; rather if Hugo Viana is a suitable pick. The Portuguese eleven has traditionally lined up in a 4x3x3 for quite some time now. Paulo Bento has stuck to Joao Moutinho and Raul Meireles, with Miguel Veloso lately getting the nod ahead of Carlos Martins. It seems clear that Bento favours a team that is capable of exerting pressure higher up when necessary, a job which Hugo Viana’s attributes do not enable him to do.
Unlike Braga, Portugal does not have a typical regista, which means both midfielders (ahead of Veloso) must defend and attack. If we take a closer look, Bento has been calling up players capable of doing just that, such as Meireles, Moutinho, Ruben Micael or Ruben Amorim. Even Castro or Andre Santos have been called up precisely because they fit the bill. With so many offensive-minded players at the back (Joao Pereira and Fabio Coentrao, for instance) and wingers who rarely help out defensively (Nani, Ronaldo, Quaresma), it’s up to the midfielders to provide coverage, and not the other way around.
3. Portugal’s approach
It only seems logical to infer from Bento’s stint so far that he will be going for a different approach from Carlos Queiroz. Instead of sitting and waiting for opponents, the Seleccao will be looking to stifle teams and play with a high(er) defensive line. Again, unfortunately this does not bode well for Hugo Viana Viana, who is particularly prone to tiring out mid-game and does not usually do well in such sides. Besides, Viana is vulnerable to being muscled out of the park (the Besiktas tie is proof enough), a threat he will face in most matches of the European Championship.
Conclusion
All in all, I don’t believe that this is a case where a stubborn coach does not want to admit he got it wrong at first; rather a case where the player doesn’t fit well into the team’s tactics and approach. To put things in perspective, even though they are very important at their current clubs, it would be nonsensical for Barcelona to contract Luisao, Milan to contract James Rodriguez or Manchester City to contract Matias Fernandez – the teams’ principles and the players’ attributes simply do not match up.
Personally, I do believe that Hugo Viana could be a valuable asset (particularly for matches where Portugal may not be the clearly superior side), but I also think that his playing time would be limited.
*Gian Piero Gasperini was hired by Inter at the start of the current season, only to be fired after five (winless matches). The oddness of it all was that he was dismissed precisely for implementing his game plan (known to everyone as a high-pressure and very intense one) that did not fit the players he had at his disposal – mostly players on the wrong side of thirty.
@Vasco Mota Pereira
Roy Hodgson expected to be unveiled as new England manager
Roy Hodgson: The only man to have been interviewed for the England job
The FA made its move for the West Brom boss on Sunday evening, announcing that he was the only candidate under consideration.The Football Association has called a press conference for 4pm on Tuesday, at which it is expected to unveil Roy Hodgson as the new England manager.
Initial shock at the decision to overlook the man considered to be the leading candidate for the role, Tottenham's Harry Redknapp, quickly subsided and Hodgson arrived at Wembley for talks on Monday.
Further discussions have been held on Tuesday, with the FA's four-man selection panel doing their utmost to ensure that they get the right man for the job.
England have been without a full-time coach since Fabio Capello handed in his resignation in February, with U21 coach Stuart Pearce having filled in on an interim basis.
It has always been the FA's intention to have a new man in place in time for Euro 2012, and it would appear that Hodgson will be charged with the task of leading the Three Lions' glory quest in Ukraine and Poland.
@SkySports
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