Louis van Gaal is continuing to take it slowly but surely despite the good run of form that has seen his side edge towards the top four. Doubts about the manager's future was positive last week, with wins against Shrewsbury, FC Midtjylland and Arsenal complemented by teenager Marcus Rashford's remarkable emergence. It looked as if the negativity would return, though, as Watford looked set to upset the home faithful yesterday, only for Juan Mata's late free-kick to secure a fourth successive win in all competitions The strike was pure … [Read more...]
Arsenal title hopes hits the rocks as injury woes continues
Arsenal’s evening capitulated in a flurry of frightened hacks, misplaced passes, lack of passion and general falling over. A mediocre Swansea side with a rookie left-back took them to the cleaners. Lukas Fabianski made some decent saves, Arsenal hit the woodwork twice, but let’s call a spade a spade: they bottled this. And they may well have bottled the title as well. Campbell gave Gunners the lead in the first half but Swansea were quick to reply with a well taken goal and took the lead when Ashley Williams met Sigurdsson set … [Read more...]
Miralem Pjanic to Chelsea after £31m buyout clause is revealed
Roma midfielder Pjanic is wanted by Antonio Conte, the man expected to takeover from interim manager Guus Hiddink at Chelsea in the summer. Chelsea have opened talks with the representatives of Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic over the possibility of springing a move that would trigger a £31m release clause in his contract, according to reports in Italy. Chelsea director and lead negotiator, Marina Granovskaia, has already made contact with Pjanic’s advisers ahead of a possible summer move for the 25-year-old Bosnia-Herzegovina … [Read more...]
Exciting revenge as Liverpool dent a huge blow to City’s title challenge
Liverpool avenged their Capital One Cup final defeat with an emphatic 3-0 victory to put a huge hole in Manchester City’s title aspirations. A replay of their Wembley encounter three days ago produced a completely different game and result, with goals inside the first hour from Adam Lallana, James Milner and Roberto Firmino earning the home side a comfortable win. It inflicted City’s third successive Premier League defeat, a run they had not experienced for seven years — and more significantly left them trailing leaders Leicester by 10 points, … [Read more...]
Norwich vs Chelsea (credit: 24h sport news )
Klopp can’t afford to get this wrong.
Liverpool look set for a major summer overhaul after club owners Fenway Sports Group gave manager Jurgen Klopp the green light to splash the cash at the end of the campaign in a bid to turn a squad that is struggling to qualify for Europe and lost the Capital One Cup final into a serious force. Klopp, who has already secured the signing of defender Joel Matip from Schalke and Serbia Under-21 midfielder Marko Grujic, had been adamant that a raft of new faces would not arrive but an overhaul of the playing staff will take place during the … [Read more...]
LVG confident Man Utd will guide modest Rashford
Louis van Gaal has urged the press to leave Marcus Rashford in peace following his dazzling start to life as a Manchester United player. The 18-year-old has burst onto the scene with four goals in his first two senior appearances for the Red Devils, including a double in the 3-2 win over arch rivals Arsenal on Sunday. Understandably, there has been an enormous amount of publicity surrounding local boy Rashford but van Gaal believes it is necessary to allow him the freedom to continue developing his game without the extreme fanfare he has … [Read more...]
Arsenal Santi Carzola could miss the rest of the season with Achilles problem
Santi Cazorla will probably miss the rest of the season after Arsene Wenger revealed the Spaniard has suffered an Achilles problem. The midfielder has been out since November with a knee injury but now has an issue with tendonitis which could yet rule him out for the remainder of the season, Arsenal have struggled with Santi on the sidelines and are six points off the top of the Premier League table after Sunday's defeat at Old Trafford. It was initially planned the 31-year-old would be back at some point in March but ahead of … [Read more...]
Pellegrini counting on City’s experience in title race
Manchester City can't afford any more slip-ups but Manuel Pellegrini feels experience can get them clinching the Premier League title. Manuel Pellegrini believes Manchester City are still in the Premier League race despite having little remaining margin for error as City travel to Anfield to play Liverpool on Wednesday, after overcoming the same opponent on penalties at Wembley on Sunday to lift the League Cup. That win came on the back of an emphatic 3-1 Champions League round-of-16 victory at Dynamo Kiev, a result that puts City in … [Read more...]
Hiddink unhappy with complacent Chelsea
Guus Hiddink felt Chelsea could have wrapped up their victory over Norwich City a lot sooner after a Great start at Carrow Road. Hiddink accused Chelsea of taking their foot off the pedal after watching his team hang on to a 2-1 victory at Norwich city on Tuesday. The defending champions started like a house on fire at Carrow Road with Kenedy scoring the fastest Premier League goal of the season after just 39 seconds. Diego Costa doubled Chelsea's lead in first-half stoppage time from what looked like an offside position when he ran … [Read more...]
Jurgen Klopp winning the Premier League unrealistic
Like all those other final defeats, for Liverpool the 2016 League Cup Final will shortly be treated like it did not happen at all. Such is the life of the losing finalist. Whatever the mandate was when he took over in October, reviving demoralized players who you must publicly support while privately asking yourself how much they can swell the transfer kitty in the summer requires more diplomacy. Klopp must somehow make these players believe there is glory in finishing fifth in the Premier League. That won’t take as much effort as winning the … [Read more...]