Month: November 2024

New Spain head coach Julen Lopetegui says it is critical they stop living in the past if they are to regain their place at the top of world football.

After establishing an era of dominance at international level, in which they won the World Cup in 2010 and back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012, Spain have endured a decline in recent years.

A humbling group-stage exit at the World Cup in Brazil two years ago was followed by a last-16 defeat at Euro 2012 at the hands of Italy, after which head coach Vicente del Bosque stepped down from his role.

Lopetegui, who coached Spain s Under-19 and Under-21 teams to European Championship glory in 2012 and 2013 respectively, believes now is the time to focus on introducing younger stars into the senior side as…

Mikel Arteta has hinted at Arsenal s transfer plans as he aims to upgrade the squad ahead of the next Premier League season.

The Gunners finished as runners-up behind Manchester City in the previous two seasons, missing out on the final day last year as they finished just two points shy of the champions.

While they were closer to the Citizens last term – they won the same number of games as City and matched their goal difference of 62 – Arteta acknowledged they needed to bring in new additions to help mount another title challenge.

We have to [improve], said Arteta. When you are so close you want to grab it.

Perfection in this league requires different standards when you relate that word to winning the Premier League and that is what we have to do.<…

Arsenal are set to hold talks with William Saliba over his future, according to .

The young centre-back signed for the Gunners in the summer of 2019 for a reported fee of €30 million, and almost three years later, he s still to make a single competitive appearance for the club. Instead, he s played for former club Saint-Etienne, OGC Nice and now Olympique Marseille on loan.

His performances for Marseille have obviously been impressive enough for France boss Didier Deschamps to give him his first-ever senior international call-up, and at the age of just 20, his future seems bright.

In the last couple of months, Saliba has been linked with Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan, but his contract with Arsenal will have two more years left to run when his loan with…

West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen has joined Kieran Trippier in withdrawing from the England squad ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifier in North Macedonia.

Bowen suffered a knee injury in training and remained in England when the rest of the squad flew to Macedonia on Sunday.

England boss Gareth Southgate told a press conference: “Unfortunately Jarrod picked up an injury, I think he felt it a little bit yesterday and again at the end of training today.

“We didn’t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed.

Touchdown for the !

— England (@England)

“I don’t think it’s going to be anything serious but…

Lionel Messi did not deserve his contract to be leaked to a newspaper, said Ronald Koeman, as the Barcelona head coach claimed there was an agenda to hurt the Argentine superstar.

A report by El Mundo claimed the deal Messi signed at Camp Nou in 2017, which expires at the end of this season, is worth more than €555million.

It was already believed that Messi was on an extraordinary salary at Barcelona, given he is recognised by many as the greatest current player of the world s most popular sport.

The leaking of the exact sums payable to Messi has caused a stir, coming at a time when embattled LaLiga giants Barcelona are reported to have built up debts of over €1billion.

Koeman rejected any suggestion that Messi s contract is in any way connected to…

Watford have sacked Quique Sanchez Flores less than three months after bringing him back for a second spell as head coach.

The Premier League club announced the decision on Sunday, the day after a 2-1 loss to fellow strugglers Southampton.

Watford surrendered a first-half lead at St Mary s and remain rooted to the bottom of the table with eight points from 14 games.

In a statement issued on their official website, Watford pledged to move swiftly to install Flores successor.

Quique is a man of great integrity and it was clear how much he wanted to have a positive impact, but ultimately results have dictated our decision, said chairman and chief executive Scott Duxbury. 

The appointment of a new head coach is imminent, and with nearly two-third…

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Looking to extend on their hometown romp in the early hours of Wednesday, Independiente will welcome Newell’s Old Boys to the Estadio Libertadores de America.

Independiente

Starting with the hosts, suffering last-gasp heartbreak away at Gimnasia over the weekend as they eventually had to settle for a 1-1 draw, Independiente will be seeking an immediate response here. Almost finding themselves sat in Primera Division limbo, Ricardo Zielinski’s men are still trying to find some stability on either side of June’s international break. However, while El Rojo might have only mustered a pair of wins from their previous seven domestic appearances across all competitions a run that stems back to May 13th the Buenos Aires-based outfit shou…

Valencia have confirmed the exit of president Anil Murthy following a turbulent few weeks at Mestalla, stating the club must regain the trust of the fans .

The 49-year-old has been embroiled in controversy since April when a man purported to be Murthy suggested to someone else in audio leaked by Superdeporte that he had threatened to kill  Carlos Soler s reputation in the press if he did not sign a new contract.

Valencia did not deny Murthy was the person depicted but claimed the reports were part of a smear campaign against the club, insisting the recordings were taken out of context from a private conversation and recorded illegitimately without the permission of the president of Valencia, Anil Murthy.

The club also reported death threats against Murthy t…

Diego Maradona lampooned Lionel Messi for using the bathroom 20 times before a game and suggested the Argentina star stay in the international wilderness.

Messi has not appeared for the national team since the last-16 loss to eventual champions France at the World Cup in Russia.

Caretaker coach Lionel Scaloni remains hopeful the Barcelona skipper will eventually end his self-imposed exile, but Maradona is less convinced of the 31-year-old s present value to the team.

The Albiceleste great and former head coach, who at times handed Messi the armband during the 2010 World Cup, is adamant any return should come with the caveat of no captaincy.

Messi is a great player, but he s not a leader, Maradona told Fox Sports Mexico.

Before speaking to th…

Manchester City fans experienced that rare feeling of Premier League defeat under Pep Guardiola as Norwich City overcame the odds in sensational style at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Many were suggesting the heavily depleted Canaries best hope was to avoid a cricket scoreline against the defending champions.

But a clinical performance, coupled with some questionable Man City defending, saw Daniel Farke s side secure a memorable 3-2 victory, with Kenny McLean, Todd Cantwell and the in-form Teemu Pukki on the scoresheet for the hosts.

The loss marked an end to a 25-match unbeaten streak against promoted sides for Man City, while Norwich had lost 11 of their previous 12 encounters against the team defending the Premier League title – their last such victory coming aga…