Pep Guardiola knew what was coming, so he put on the kind of defensive masterclass that his Manchester City players have, in recent weeks, repeatedly failed to deliver. On the front foot — as uncompromising and blunt as a Roy Keane tackle — even Guardiola has it in him to be tough and forceful when he needs to be. Attack, so they say, is the best form of defence, and Guardiola, speaking at his news conference ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Watford at the Etihad Stadium, was ready for the questions about his philosophy, City’s poor defending and their increasing…
Author: David Folami
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said he plays “much more intelligently” these days and would have been “even more phenomenal” if he had his current mindset 10 years ago. Ibrahimovic made his 700th appearance in club football, when he faced Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday – – having played in Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France. The 35-year-old has already made 23 appearances for United in all competitions this season despite his age, scoring 13 goals. Ibrahimovic told the club’s official website: “I think I play much more intelligently now because, of course, you change a lot during the…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told spox.com that he does not believe the teams he has managed get enough credit for the possession-based football they play. Liverpool have averaged 55 percent of possession in games in the Premier League this season — fifth best throughout the entire league — according to statistics website Whoscored. While Klopp says his current Liverpool side do regularly employ high-pressing strategies in order to win back the ball, he feels other tactics have also led to recent success. When asked whether his teams have had more and more possession over in recent years, Klopp replied:…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has bemoaned his current lack of squad depth ahead of a hectic Christmas schedule for the club. Klopp is currently without Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge, Emre Can and Danny Ings through injury. After a 4-3 loss at Bournemouth was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to West Ham United, the Reds travel to Middlesbrough on Wednesday night in the first of five games in 20 days. “It’s far away from being the perfect situation,” Klopp said in the Daily Telegraph. “Emre is out for this game, for example. If Emre was back then we would…
Arsene Wenger has blamed the fatigue provoked by a congested run of away fixtures for his Arsenal team’s defeat at Everton. The Gunners suffered their first league reverse since the opening day of the season when they surrendered the lead afforded them by Alexis Sanchez’s first-half opener at Goodison Park to lose 2-1 on Tuesday. It means Arsenal could fall six points behind leaders Chelsea should Antonio Conte’s in-form men win at Sunderland on Wednesday, and may even find themselves pushed down to third if Liverpool win by three goals at Middlesbrough. Wenger, 67, told SFR Sport his squad were…
Everton manager Ronald Koeman ridiculed counterpart Arsene Wenger for consistently blaming referees after the Toffees beat Arsenal 2-1 on Tuesday night. Koeman’s victory follows home wins of 2-0 and 4-0 over Arsenal in the previous two seasons when the Dutchman was in charge of Southampton. Wenger said he was “really disappointed in [referee Mark] Clattenburg” for giving the corner that led to Ashley Williams’ winner, to which Koeman had a quick rebuttal. “It is the third time in a row I won at home against Arsenal and three times in a row it was about the referee,” Koeman said. Koeman…
Real Madrid star Cristiano says his Ballon d’Or victory celebrations have been tarnished by allegations of tax fraud. Ronaldo, who picked up his fourth footballer of the year award on Monday, says the allegations have been hard to bear for himself and his loved ones. They also “partly spoiled the pleasure” of winning his fourth Ballon d’Or. “It would be a lie to say otherwise,” he told France Football magazine in an interview published in part by the sports daily L’Equipe. Twelve European newspapers have published excerpts of the so-called Football Leaks dossier, based on documents obtained by the German…
The Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-Led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday in Abuja, facilitated with Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on his 49th birthday. The party gave the commendation in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye. Adeyeye said that at 49, Wike had positively affected the lives of so many Nigerians both at the state and the national levels. “Your contributions as Minister of Education in the last administration and now Governor of Rivers State cannot be overemphasised. “The results of your unflinching loyalty to our great party, the PDP, and the overwhelming developmental projects since…
Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in Lagos state, Otunba Segun Adewale has accused former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of being responsible for the crisis in the party. According to Adewale, who’s the factional chairman of the Lagos PDP, the party has been split in two because of Atiku’s 2019 presidential ambition. “These agents are working towards the nomination Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as our presidential flag bearer in the 2019 general election,” he said via a statement. “They have resorted to cheap blackmail as it is becoming obvious that the efforts of Ali Modu Sheriff at frustrating every attempt to impose…
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has said that he will fight President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. Murray-Bruce, who represents the Bayelsa East Senatorial District, however said that he will support Buhari till then. The Senator made the comments while speaking in an interview with Peace Hyde of Forbes Africa. “Buhari is the president today; he is my president. I must respect him regardless of what I feel. In 2019 we can fight but right now I want the economy to grow. If I take the position that I want to destroy APC and destroy Nigeria, will there be any Nigeria for me…
Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson‘s shared exciting birthday photos of her youngest child, Angel, as she turned one. The 32-year-old marked the day alongside her husband Prince Odianosen Okojie and her other kids. And the mother of three took the time to recall how she had birthed Angel in an Instagram post, saying: ‘Thank You Jesus,at this time I was in labour, I ran into the hospital after my brother in law had parked the car, and the wheelchair attendant was pursuing me to come sit to wheel me in, while I just kept running into d hospital. And at exactly…
Wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, on Tuesday donated relief materials to 300 women. The beneficiaries of the relief materials were recently relocated to Magumeri Local Government of Borno State following relative peace. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Magumeri was one of the councils sacked by Boko Haram at the peak of the insurgency making residents of the town to flee for safety in Maiduguri. Aisha, represented by Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, the Secretary of the Committee on Relief Items, said the gesture was to cushion the hardship of victims. “The First Lady had earlier taken the…
Rapper, Kanye West, has disclosed details concerning his recent visit to America’s president-elect, Donald Trump. West met with the billionaire cum politician on Tuesday, December 13, 2016, at Trump Tower. He revealed via his Twitter that they both had discussions concerning multicultural issues. He considered this vital in the course to instituting change in the United States of America. “I wanted to meet with Trump today to discuss multicultural issues. “These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago. “I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we…
Multiple award winning filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan has chosen a budding filmmaker to groom for six months after a sifting process in a film making competition. The lucky budding filmmaker, Joseph Duke, was chosen from the top 20 finalists that submitted entries for the Sahara Group bankrolled film making competition, “Grooming Film Extrapreneurs with Kunle Afolayan.” “The CEO” producer disclosed that after looking out of production values, entertainment value, delivering, acting and directorial approach, three names emerged the best contestants. Speaking at the unveiling of the winner, the filmmaker said: “The three crucial and important aspect of filmmaking include hands on…
The duo were spotted together at Trump towers only days after the rapper first came back into the public eye following his hospitalization. Trump spoke to reporters with West by his side, calling the rapper a “good man; and telling journalists that they have been friends for a long time.” West however refused to discuss the details of the meeting ignoring questions about whether he plans on performing at Trump's inauguration. “I just want to take a picture right now," West said, smiling. "You take care of yourself, I'll see you soon.” Trump told West. TMZ reports West went to…
Jose Mourinho has said he will listen to offers for Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin in January, but insists one-time outcast Bastian Schweinsteiger is not certain to leave Manchester United next month. Schneiderlin and Depay, signed at a combined cost over more than £50 million by former United boss Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2014, have been repeatedly overlooked by Mourinho in recent weeks, with both players omitted from the Europa League trip to Ukraine to face Zorya Luhansk before failing to make the substitutes’ bench for the subsequent Premier League game at home to Tottenham. Neither player…
Ashley Williams scored a late winner for Everton as they came from behind to win 2-1 and inflict a first Premier League defeat on Arsenal since the opening day of the season. Alexis Sanchez had fired the Gunners into a 1-0 lead with his 12th league goal of the campaign early on but Everton bagged an equaliser through Seamus Coleman before half-time, with Williams then completing the turnaround with an 86th minute header. Arsene Wenger’s side missed out on the chance to move top of the table with the result, with Everton moving two places up to seventh and securing…
Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has sad that history counts for nothing against Arsenal in the Champions League. Bayern have had the better of previous meetings against the Gunners — having knocked them out in 2013 and 2014, and beaten them 5-1 in the 2015 group stage — and, after the pair were drawn together again in the round of 16, Robben says that the German champions will not take Arsene Wenger’s men lightly. “It’s Arsenal, again. We were hoping for a new opponent, someone we hadn’t played against before,” he told ESPN FC’s Raphael Honigstein. “But got we got…
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar says restructuring the country is in the interest of the North in particular and the country in general. Atiku said this at the launch of a book titled: “The Nigerian Federalism; Continuing the Quest for Stability and Nation Building’’ in Abuja on Monday. The book, which was written by some federalism scholars in the African Policy Research Institute was edited by Mr Okechukwu Ibeanu and Alhaji Mohammad Kuna. The former Vice President described the book as an important intervention, adding that it would contribute to the ongoing debate on the country`s federalism and possibly settle…
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has criticized Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige over his recent comments about President Muhammadu Buhari’s treatment of Igbos. The group made the comments via a statement released by spokesman, Emma Powerful. The statement reads in part: “The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, worldwide and its leadership condemn those opposed to this new found courage of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The opposers are all evil men whose intent is to perpetuate the master-slave relationship between Abuja and Enugu.” “People like Chris Ngige and other political jobbers feeding off the crumbs from the master’s table…