Juan Carlos Unzue spent the last three years in the home team’s dugout at Camp Nou but will be on the visiting bench on Saturday when his Celta Vigo team travel to Barcelona. In each of the last three seasons, Celta have beaten Barca — albeit only once at Camp Nou — and it is something which Valverde says has been prevalent in his thoughts this week. “Of course we consider [recent] results against them,” he told a news conference when asked if Celta’s bête noire status was something which worried him. “They have had good results against Barca in…
Author: David Folami
Antonio Conte confirmed he has accepted a Football Association charge of misconduct and will pay his £8,000 fine but insisted that the incident will not make him change his behaviour on the touchline. “It’s right to accept it and pay the fine,” Conte said. “You know what happened, [and] if the referee took this decision I have to respect it and pay this fine. “I want also the referee to learn something about this because Swansea was wasting time and the referee has to protect the team that wants to play football and try to win the game. “I was…
Cesc Fabregas has warned that every Chelsea player must accept Antonio Conte’s rotation policy after the Italian made four changes to his starting XI for Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Swansea City at Stamford Bridge. “We have to cope with the situation,” he told the London Evening Standard. “No-one can play every three days even if we want to. If you keep playing, you will keep carrying knocks so it is good to have a break sometimes and come back fresher. “To know that the team is performing and winning without Eden really being involved is very good. We started the…
Didier Deschamps has said Les Bleus’ World Cup group “could have been worse” after his heavily scary side were picked against Australia, Denmark and Peru. “Clearly, it could have been worse,” said France’s 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000-winning captain. “We’ll have the time to analyse our opponents in friendly games. It gives us supplementary information which will allow us to make all necessary plans. “We’ll set up friendlies that correspond with them. Last time, you were all unanimous in saying that it was a great draw, even certain players… it’s not going to happen just by clicking our fingers.…
Mauricio Pochettino has said Frank de Boer’s dismissal by Crystal Palace after only four league games could further prevent top-flight clubs from appointing young bosses. “The problem was he didn’t have experience in the Premier League. It depends on results. If you sign an experienced manager and you don’t achieve what you want, then why not sign a young manager with different ideas and different energy?” Pochettino said he could see similarities between himself and Silva but, despite their success, is sympathetic to the pressures faced by risk-averse owners and chairmen when it comes to managerial appointments. “It’s not my…
Neymar should receive greater protection by Ligue 1 referees, Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery has said. “He touches the ball often, he looks for a lot of one-on-ones, he dribbles plenty, we need the players to be protected. “Football is a spectacle, and Neymar is a player who suffers numerous fouls. The referee needs to protect the players.” Emery warned his players that they could not afford to be complacent despite being 10 points clear at the top of the table. “We are taking it match by match,” he said. “We have several individual and collective goals to target in…
Spain coach Julen Lopetegui has a lot of good things to say about the three countries his team will face in the group stages of the World Cup. “Without a doubt, we have a hard, difficult group,” Lopetegui told the federation’s website. “This is a World Cup. Portugal are a great team, Morocco have not lost a game in qualifying. Iran were the first team to qualify for the World Cup. They are going to demand the best of us.” Spain will play their first game on June 15 against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.…
Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool were “lucky” to not have Simon Mignolet dismissed during their 3-0 midweek win at Stoke City. “First of all, I think was the first time in the season that we were lucky in this situation, to be 100 percent honest,” he told a news conference. “I have to admit that we were lucky. “When I gave the interviews after the game I was 100 percent sure it was the right decision because I thought Joe Gomez was in a covering position. “I didn’t realise, from my point of view, that it was pretty much 100…
Kyle Walker insists England’s players are as tight as club teammates. “You spend so much time with people during club football day in, day out and it feels like that because we have a group chat where there is always banter flying on there. We’re all together in the games room, playing pool, having a laugh and I think it is really bringing the squad together nicely. “When Gareth came in he has put his own stamp on it, he has in his head how he wants it to be and for us it is working. Now it is just…
Danny Mills is of the opinion that Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders “almost look unstoppable” at the moment, but he stressed there should be no assumptions they will end up winning the title — particularly with Jose Mourinho in the mix. “They almost look unstoppable. They are playing so well. It is brilliant to watch, and that is down to Pep. “But on the other half of the city you’ve got Mourinho, who is the pragmatist, the defensive mastermind. He is good at what he does, and he is a winner, simple as that. The derby is going to be…
Antonio Conte has been charged with misconduct following his dismissal against Swansea on Wednesday, the Football Association announced. He will have until 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening to respond to the charge, at which point he could face a fine or a further touchline ban. Conte was sent to the stands and then down the tunnel by referee Neil Swarbrick after a number of compaints. The final straw came as he confronted fourth official Lee Mason over a goal kick that was given to Swansea rather than a Chelsea corner. The manager then watched the rest of the match from…
Marcus Rashford will be among the several watchers viewing Friday’s draw for a World Cup the forward believes Gareth Southgate’s England will be well-equipped to fight in the tournament. “Yeah, 100 percent I’ll be watching it,” the forward told Press Association Sport. “Before you know it, it’ll be right around the corner. “The Premier League season is difficult but we have to make sure that each individual is playing at our best to get in the team first for all. “You’ve got to be playing well for your club, and then you’ve got to come together and try and peak…
Vincent Kompany says he knows how frustrating their late showings could be for their title rivals. “I have been in that position myself — [Manchester] United used to do it to everybody else to be honest!” the City captain told reporters. “It’s a long season. We have done it so far and if at the end of the season we have done it consistently then I will be happy about it. But the key thing for us is not necessarily what the other teams think but just to know that you can trust your team, your players. “It’s too early…
Real Madrid temporary captain Nacho Fernandez praised Gareth Bale’s “great performance” as a substitute as Madrid survived a Copa del Rey scare on Tuesday. And Nacho said afterwards that it was “fantastic” to have him back along with the fit-again Mateo Kovacic and Keylor Navas. “We’re really pleased for him and he put in a great performance,” he said. “Kovacic also made his return after a long lay-off, as did Keylor. Bringing new players into the team is fantastic for us.” Mayoral told “El Transistor” that Bale had been keen to get back after 11 games out with hamstring and…
Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku is struggling to deal with the added pressure of competing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a starting berth. He told BT Sport: “He’ll come out of this. I think that maybe the bigger problem for him is Zlatan Ibrahimovic being there. “Mentally, having a big striker behind you who wants to play, that’s a pressure from within, and sometimes people find that hard to deal with.” Following the 1-0 win over Brighton at the weekend, Jose Mourinho said he “does not care” whether Lukaku scores or not as long as he works hard.…
Laurent Blanc says top teams will want to avoid 2010 champs Spain in Friday’s World Cup draw. Blanc counts Julen Lopetegui’s team among the favourites to win it all in Russia next summer, said the two had been grouped together in a previous practise draw. “We did so many draws, you know. We did four practise draws and I think tomorrow we’ll do one or two more. For your information, in one of the draws, we had France-Spain,” Blanc said. “Spain is going to be a problem, because they’re in Pot 2. I would think that with Spain and England…
Gernot Rohr has said he is not seeking to avoid any country, and is hoping to get either France or Germany. The Super Eagles have been placed in Pot 4, which contains all the lowest-ranked teams from the October FIFA ranking, while both France and Germany are seeded in Pot 1 alongside the highest-ranked teams. “First, we are in Pot 4 so we are not favourites,” he told KweséESPN. “That means we will be last. “I want to play Germany because I am half German, so it will be a pleasure for me to play Germany. It will also be…
Emre Can has insisted that his main focus remains on Liverpool as he is set to enter the final six months of his current deal at Anfield. “Of course, I talk to Liverpool,” Can said following the win at Stoke. “Let’s see what happens. My focus is on Liverpool only right now, and my agent takes care of the rest.” Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brighton, Liverpool sit two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the Premier League, and Can hopes they can continue their run of five consecutive league games without a loss. “We could do better, but we are…
Charles Oputa, also Known as Charly Boy, has promised to occupy the Libyan embassy in Abuja. He said “We are horrified by the reports and footage of hundreds of Africans, including Nigerians, being sold into slavery by slave dealers in Libya as published by CNN and several other international media houses. “These videos show men, women and children being sold for as little as $400. They also show the dehumanizing conditions in which these victims are kept, beaten, starved and killed. “It is shocking to find that slave trade, a horrible part of African history which is best confined to…
Kemi Adeosun, has announced the willingness of the Federal Government to pay out a total of N421 million to whistleblowers in November as stipulated in the Whistleblower Policy. She said, “The total amount, which also include Osborne Road, Ikoyi is N421,330,595. This is for the November batch and it is ready for payment. “The only condition necessary is that the money will be paid to the whistle-blower who signed the agreement, not to any company. “If we get the court judgement, we have to wait for three months to ensure that there are no encumbrances.” “We will also make sure…