Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey has opened up in his column for Goal.com regarding Liverpool’s recent form and also looked at interest from Real Madrid in Raheem Sterling. Liverpool’s recent form has been a shadow of their performances last season when they pushed Manchester City for the Premier League title and a wave of concern and criticism has followed Brendan Rodgers’ men in the last few days. Luis Suarez’s sale to Barcelona did not help, whilst Daniel Sturridge has also been injured, however, the form of Raheem Sterling has been one pleasing note. “The fans are not confident in their…
Author: Staff Writer
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez has admitted that he found it “strange” not to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award. The 27-year-old was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year after scoring a remarkable 31 goals in 33 games for Liverpool last season, a goal tally which saw him share the European Golden Shoe with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Suarez, who now plays for Barcelona and is back in competitive action following his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup in Brazil; has been left wondering why he was not included in the 23-man list for the Ballon d’Or.…
Arsenal have been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of Basel defender Fabian Schar, who admitted he wants to leave the Swiss club. The 22-year-old has been linked with a move away from Basel in recent summer’s but failed to see a move develop. However, after speaking with Swiss media Blick, Schar gave his biggest indication yet that he would like to leave the Swiss league and move to a bigger European club. Arsenal have been extremely interested as they seek to add extra cover to their defence. “Basel are open to negotiations, but at this moment I have…
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has warned Roy Hodgson that it is too early to consider starting fit-again Theo Walcott in England’s next few matches. Walcott was handed a 10-minute appearance by Wenger in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Burnley, making his first appearances for 11 months after suffering an injury against Tottenham Hotspur. Speculation has already begun that England national team boss Roy Hodgson is wanting to include the tricky winger in his plans for the upcoming fixtures against Slovenia and Scotland. “Hopefully Theo will come on and have no setbacks now, but we always have to be cautious,” the Frenchman…
Arsene Wenger hailed Theo Walcott’s return to the squad after his long term injury. England international Walcott made a competitive appearances for the first time since January against Burnley in Saturday’s 3-0 win and the winger’s return was met with heavy praise from his boss – Arsene Wenger. “Of course [it is a lift to have Walcott back],” Wenger said. “For him it must be great as well to see that everybody wants him to come on. “Lukas Podolski also could have scored two and he came on. When you think that we have not got a number of offensive…
Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul has hailed his team-mates for turn around the club’s poor start to the season. The Magpies secured their fourth win in all competitions after beating Liverpool 1-0 on Saturday, a run which also included a 2-0 away win over Manchester City. Alan Pardew’s side have been under increasingly heavy pressure in recent weeks with Pardew himself having to deal with fan taunts, protests and threats. “To win four in a row is incredible,” Krul told the club’s official website. “The spirit we showed again [against Liverpool] is what we’ve showed the last week, we’ve just kept grafting for…
Jose Mourinho is confident Diego Costa will soon be back to top form after returning from injury in the 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers. Costa was ruled out of four competitive games after injuring himself whilst on international duty with his adopted country Spain. The 26-year-old has been in superb form for the Stamford Bridge club this season since arriving from Atletico Madrid and his boss Jose Mourinho believes that form will be back sooner than later. “A muscular injury doesn’t just affect your body but also your brain, because after that you are afraid of reactions,” he said.…
Welsh winger Gareth Bale is ready and recovered from his latest injury to feature for Real Madrid against Liverpool this coming week. The former Tottenham Hotspur man has missed the last three games for Madrid, failing to play against Barcelona, Granada and Liverpool, but his return to training on Sunday makes him now available for selection in the second tie with Brendan Rodgers’ side. “Bale joined the group for the week’s last training session, during which Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo worked alone and performed running drills out on the pitch,” read a statement on Real’s website. “Bale completed a series…
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insisted he will not change his team’s playing style despite their recent poor run of results. City beat rivals Manchester United on Sunday thanks to a single goal from Sergio Aguero but after a poor run of results leading up to the Manchester derby, the reigning champions currently sit way behind league leaders Chelsea and in third behind second place Southampton. Aguero’s goal was enough against Louis van Gaal’s new look side and his manager has hailed it a ‘special’ win. “We have had one or two bad results but I am not going to…
Louis van Gaal slammed Chris Smalling and labelled him “stupid” his red card for Manchester United against Manchester City on Sunday. The England international was booked twice, charging down Joe Hart and hacking down James Milner and his boss has had no compassion for the defender, saying his red card was ‘stupid’. “In a derby you have to be careful – the second yellow card is a stupid yellow card,” Van Gaal told BBC Sport. “The sending off is not one of those things. As a player you have to control your aggression. I didn’t see the first yellow but…