All posts by h79snht.top

FIVE players who could follow Ron Vlaar to Man United

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

At the present time, Manchester United do not have a concrete backline and even with everyone back to full fitness, Louis van Gaal will then need to decide who his first four choices are.

If they can finally land Ron Vlaar in January, it could open up a host of other defensive candidates hoping to earn a first team spot at Old Trafford, and in turn a spending spree to plug the holes in the Red Devils back four.

Whoever it may be, here are FIVE players that could well follow Ron Vlaar to United come January.

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CLICK OF MATTEO DARMIAN TO SEE THE FULL LIST

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Angelo Ogbonna

Name: Angelo Ogbonna

Age: 26

Position: Centre-Back

Nationality: Italy

Club: Juventus

Price: £16 million (asking price)

Angelo Ogbonna could be a great candidate for a Manchester United move mainly because of his versatility in the back line. He can play on both centre-back sides and is even used to a back three with Juventus, opening up the option Louis van Gaal to try out his 3-5-2 formation once more.

Considering their midfield presence, the club should move away from efforts to sign Arturo Vidal and lure away Ogbonna to join Ron Vlaar at the back.

Neven Subotic

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Name: Neven Subotic

Age: 25

Position: Centre-Back

Nationality: Serbia

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Price: £15 – £18 million

If Manchester United cannot land Mats Hummels, they have already considered signing his defensive partner Neven Subotic instead. Borussia Dortmund recently picked up another loss as they are yet to replicate their form from the past few seasons.

With this in mind, he should consider a fresh start at the heart of United’s back line as all spots are currently up for grabs. Louis van Gaal may turn to his academy players now, but when they are expected to get results, he may need some big game experienced players instead.

Kevin Strootman

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Name: Kevin Strootman

Age: 24

Position: Centre Midfield

Nationality: Netherlands

Club: AS Roma

Price: £80 million (asking price)

Kevin Strootman is currently Manchester United’s top target and being part of the Netherland’s setup, along with Louis van Gaal and Ron Vlaar, they possibility of convincing him to make the switch is highly likely.

Although he has been nursing an injury, his quality is known and could be open to a move if Roma and United can work out a reasonable fee. He is currently priced at £80 million, a number that looks to be too high for Van Gaal, considering he just spent around £150 million during the summer.

Nigel De Jong

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Name: Nigel De Jong

Age: 29

Position: Defensive Midfield

Nationality: Netherlands

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Club: AC Milan

Price: £8 – £13 million

Nigel De Jong is a much cheaper alternative to the likes of both Arturo Vidal and Kevin Strootman and can easily build a defensive Dutch trio with Daley Blind and Ron Vlaar. Having worked together as well as under Louis van Gaal, there won’t be too much room to fit in.

Given the fact he has also played for Manchester City, adapting to the English game will be simple for him. Vlaar and De Jong could be the key to Van Gaal finally being able to showcase much talked about 3-5-2 formation.

Matteo Darmian

//www.youtube.com/embed/HJL_kYf83aI

Name: Matteo Darmian

Age: 24

Position: Right / Left Back

Nationality: Italy

Club: Torino

Price: £16 million (asking price)

Matteo Darmian is already being scouted by Manchester United as it seems that Louis van Gaal will be targeting a defensive overhaul given he has already built a strong enough midfield. Although centre-back is still a problem, Rafael is seen as the only right back in the squad, meaning another one for the role is needed.

Being quite young, the club may be able to save some money on his wages rather than splash on yet another high profile signing as Van Gaal may give time for him to grow into the role behind Rafael. His addition will give the squad a much needed wing back boost as he can play on either sides of the back four.

Crewe leave their play-off hopes on the South Coast

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

After the freezing weather did its best to distort the fixture list and pile up the midweek fixtures for February and March, it was back to league duty for Crewe after ten days off since they overcame Bradford to reach the northern area final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

The 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient on the twelfth day of January seemed an age ago and Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth gave Crewe a chance to get back to winning ways in League One after also losing to Stevenage in their previous home game.

After losing just one of this season’s fifteen home games at Dean Court, Bournemouth were not going to present an easy visit for side who have been witnessing a malaise in performances since the emphatic victory at Preston at the beginning of December. Crewe have won three times since then, but with scrappy, sluggish performances which have alerted manager Steve Davis to the need to alter formations and personnel as he attempts to arrest the slide that has now crept in through the form of results.

Davis tweaked the team further for the journey down south with Max Clayton partnering Mathias Pogba in attack as Bradden Inman and Byron Moore played wide of Abdul Osman and Luke Murphy in a 4-4-2, an alien system when it considered Davis has alternated with a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-5-2 over the course of the season. The defence was also changed, ever-present centre-half Mark Ellis was bizarrely dropped in favour of Adam Dugdale (who should not be starting at this level) and 20 year old Jon Guthrie, a centre-half by trade, was pushed to left-back to cover Matt Tootle’s absence through injury.

Against a side who had scored 47 goals in the comfort of their own home and had lost just one of their previous seventeen games, things looked ominous for Crewe who were a goal down within eight minutes. Dugdale succumbed to Marc Pugh’s trickery in the box and his fall led to Iain Williamson pointing at the penalty spot to allow Brett Pittman to fire past Steve Phillips. Crewe were settling in however and for a young side, their response was positive, Max Clayton headed at Shwan Jalal after good work by Moore, Inman and Murphy all saw shots go wide of the post while Pogba saw a drive deflected out for a corner.

Despite the good football being played there was little cutting edge and in Josh McQuoid and Lewis Grabban, the Cherries had a large threat on the counter attack, the latter broke free to round Steve Phillips on the stroke of half-time only to hit the side-netting with his effort. The second half continued in a similar vein, Pittman had three half chances while the pace of Grabban was also a constant danger, Phillips had to deny the attacker with his legs on the hour mark. For Crewe, Inman curled a shot just over while a neat passing move led to Pogba teeing up Osman who could not register enough power on his shot, it was the epitome of the good football the away side were playing that contained little ruthlessness in front of goal.

Probably the best indication into how well Crewe played to no reward was Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe’s admission that his own side appeared “leggy” and “tired” as a result of a packed recent schedule. “Such is the spirit in the squad that we managed to find  our rhythm in the second half and we were superb” said Howe who saw his team double their lead in the 66th minute after Pittman applied a deadly finish to McQuoid’s low cross. Midfielder Simon Francis then forced a mistake from Phillips and defender Harry Arter should have put the game to bed as he headed over with the goal at his mercy.

Bournemouth were nearly made to pay for that miss as eighteen year old Ryan Colclough, who together with Ajay Leitch-Smith came on for Clayton and Inman, stabbed home at the back post following a scuffed effort from Pogba to halve the lead with fifteen minutes to go. It was the promising winger’s first professional goal and it gave the Alex a feint hope, only to see it soon extinguished as Wes Fogden, a Bournemouth substitute for McQuoid, was tripped by Osman to another, albeit controversial, penalty award.

Pittman thrashed it home to complete his hat-trick and to finish Crewe off. Davis was left to bemoan the referee’s decisions but the lesson was clear in that despite playing well, teams have to be clinical or risk being punished by very good teams, which Bournemouth clearly are, they moved up to fifth in League One while Crewe slipped down to 13th, the play-offs now a very distant dream separated by a margin of eight points.

This was always going to present a tough assessment of Crewe’s young side who are still on an education in League One and positives will be taken from the decent performances from Clayton, Moore and the young Guthrie who filled in respectably at left-back. There were clear signs of life that the in-form Crewe of November and early December was on its way back despite the run of three games without a win that Davis will have another attempt at stopping it against Scunthorpe back at Gresty Road next Saturday.

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Fulham stay on cards for full back

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Fulham are set to grant Sascha Riether’s wish to stay put at the club when his loan deal comes to an end this summer.

The 30-year-old full-back, who has been capped twice by Germany, has enjoyed a successful season with the Cottagers since joining from FC Koln last summer and has played in 32 games for the Londoners.

And, after Riether recently revealed that he is hoping to stay with the club and will hold talks in the next couple of weeks, boss Martin Jol has also confirmed that he will look to do a deal with the player who is contracted to Koln until summer 2014.

He said: “With Sascha Riether, we’ve got an option on him, so it’s an easy one. I’m very keen to keep him – we’ve got an option, as I said, so if we want to keep him, we will keep him. And we want to keep him.”

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FA Cup Third Round Draw in Full

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Manchester City will host Gianfranco Zola’s Watford at the Etihad Stadium, while Manchester United were handed an away trip to West Ham in the FA Cup Third Round draw.

The Premier League champions, who lifted the trophy in 2011, will fancy their chances of progressing to the fourth round against the Hornets, who are sixth in the Championship table, with Roberto Mancini facing off against former Italy international teammate Zola.

Meanwhile, local rivals United will travel to Upton Park to renew FA Cup acquaintances with West Ham in one of the ties of the round. It will surely evoke memories of one of the competitions most controversial moments that saw Paulo Di Canio score a controversial winner for the Hammers during a fourth round tie at Old Trafford.

Holders Chelsea will travel to Southampton, Swansea will be hoping to inflict more pain on Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, while Hastings United,  the lowest ranked team left in the competition, will be eager to make home advantage count in their replay with Harrogate Town and earn a trip to Championship high-flyers Middlesbrough.

FA Cup Third Round Draw as follows:

Crystal Palace v Stoke City

Brighton & Hove Albion v Newcastle United

Tottenham Hotspur v Coventry City

Wigan Athletic v AFC Bournemouth

Fulham v Blackpool

Aston Villa v Ipswich Town

Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield

Barrow or Macclesfield v Cardiff City

Barnsley v Burnley

Manchester City v Watford

Swansea City v Arsenal

Leicester City v Burton Albion

Millwall v Preston North End

Cheltenham or Hereford v Everton

Derby v Tranmere

Crawley Town v Reading

Aldershot Town v Rotherham or Notts County

Middlesbrough v Harrogate or Hastings

Accrington Stanley or Oxford v Sheffield United

Southampton v Chelsea

QPR v West Brom

Peterborough v Norwich City

Lincoln City or Mansfield v Liverpool

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Bolton v Sunderland

Nottingham Forest v Oldham

West Ham v Manchester United

Hull City v Alfreton or Leyton Orient

Blackburn Rovers v Bristol City

Leeds United v Birmingham City

Bury or Southend v Bradford or Brentford

Luton Town v Wolves

Sheffield Wednesday v MK Dons

Vidic refuses to rule out Serie A switch

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a move to Serie A in the future, goal.com reports.

The 31-year-old Serbian who is set to return to the Manchester United team for the weekend visit of Sunderland, has continually been linked with Italian league leaders Juventus among others including a big money move to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala.

“My future in Italy? Who knows? In the past I was close to Fiorentina and Parma. Juventus and Milan have the quality to compete for Champions League.” He told Corriere dello Sport.

Vidic became a key figure in the Red Devils recent success and took over as club captain when Gary Neville retired in 2011. He has however been plagued with injuries in the last two years, missing the majority of last season while not featuring in this campaign since the 4-0 home victory over Wigan in September.

United have struggled defensively in his absence but the attacking prowess the team possesses has seen them cope and they currently sit top of the Premier League table, six points clear of rivals Manchester City.

Vidic is refusing to get carried away with his clubs position though saying, “I don’t know if Manchester United is the favourite club to win Premier League.”

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Sir Alex Ferguson will be delighted to see his captain return to help sure up his sides leaky defence which has already conceded 23 goals in the league.

At 31, Vidic still has time left in the game. If he can steer clear of injuries upon his return, he could once again become a vital component of United’s team.

Stoke v Fulham – Match Preview

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Mladen Petric has insisted he is fit for Fulham’s trip to Stoke, while Mahamadou Diarra could also return from injury for Saturday’s game.

Petric was subbed off in Fulham’s 3-1 defeat to Sunderland last week just after scoring his side’s only goal but the Croatian striker, who has struck four goals in seven games since moving to the English Premier League, is convinced he will be fine to play Stoke.

Sunday’s defeat at home was a shock for Fulham and they want to bounce back quickly against a team similarly placed on the Premier League table.

“I got a kick on my calf when I scored,” Petric said, “It made a cut so I had to come off to have stitches put in and then by the time I got back on the pitch it was 2-1. It was a bit painful but I had injections so it was OK.”

Stoke will draw level with Fulham on 16 points if they win on Saturday but with the visitors having not won in four matches, they are due a victory.

Fulham manager Martin Jol may be keen to bring Diarra straight back into his starting line-up as his team have struggled defensively this season.

Diarra would add much-needed stability in defensive midfield as Fulham have conceded the equal third most goals in the Premier League (22 in 12 games).

Stoke held on for an impressive 1-1 draw away to West Ham last week and have picked up five points in their past four fixtures as they have moved up to 14th position.

For Stoke to win against Fulham they will most likely need to keep the visitors scoreless.

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Tony Pulis’ side have only scored more than one goal in three Premier League matches this season with Peter Crouch Stoke’s main attacking weapon.

Crouch has hit the back of the net four times this season but has not scored in his past six matches, a record that must improve if Stoke are to cause an upset against Fulham.

Prediction: Stoke 1 – 1 Fulham

Manchester City suffer late heartbreak

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Manchester City relinquished the lead twice in a thrilling 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.

The Premier League title holders were handed the most difficult Champions League opener possible with a trip to the Spanish capital, but acquitted themselves well, with the scoreline still 0-0 at half-time.

Despite Jose Mourinho’s side have the bulk of possession and territory, the visitors went into the lead when Yaya Toure played substitute Edin Dzeko through to slot home.

City’s lead was short-lived however as Marcelo fired home from the edge of the penalty area, with the shot taking a deflection off Javi Garcia.

The Etihad Stadium side refused to give up however and went back into the ascendancy when a devilish Aleksandar Kolarov free-kick evaded everyone to nestle in Iker Casillas’ goal.

With the English team looking for a hard-fought victory, a late flurry by Los Blancos broke City hearts when firstly Karim Benzema fired home after a neat turn, and then Cristiano Ronaldo’s dipping effort beat Joe Hart in the 90th minute.

Roberto Mancini has admitted that he is disappointed with his side dropping too deep and berated the loss of Samir Nasri and Maicon to injury.

“We didn’t lose concentration,” the City boss told Sky Sports.

“We went too deep with the team. All it is, is a mistake.

“In this moment we are disappointed but I think everything has to be more strong in the future.

“We lose two players for injury – Nasri and Maicon.

“And we had a problem because we wanted to change Aguero because we wanted to attack more. Instead we should do this change,” he concluded.

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Borussia Dortmund beat Ajax 1-0 in the other fixture in City’s group.

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Black Cats ace delighted at proving doubters wrong

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Steven Fletcher arrived at Sunderland well aware he had to hit the ground running after Martin O’Neill paid a hefty fee for the Scottish striker.

However an incredible early run of goals for the Black Cats has gone some way to silencing critics of his £12 million pound move.

The 25-year-old netted his fifth goal in four games against Wigan Athletic and has scored every league goal for the Wearsiders this term.

Fletcher told the Journal, “I’m delighted with the way it has started here.

“When I came here I knew I would get chances with the players we have and the delivery the boys are putting in has been fantastic. They are always giving me tap ins or first-touch finishes.

“Normally there is one player who can really get the ball in like this, but we have several whose delivery we can rely on.

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“People tried to put pressure on me with the price tag and stuff. You need goals and I have scored them early doors. They are big boots to fill [ Darren Bent’s who scored 25 goals in his only full-season at Sunderland] but hopefully I am doing that with five goals in four games and hopefully I can keep that going and everyone will be all right,” he added.

Willian tempted about link up with AVB

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Andre Villas-Boas could well secure a major coup over his former club after Willian stated he would be tempted to join Tottenham despite interest from the European Champions.

The Spurs manager is now considered to be a ‘friend’ of the attacker who has been speaking ahead of the Champions League tie this week against former suitors Chelsea and realises all eyes are on him with the opportunity to showcase his talents on a bigger stage.

After failing in a bid for the versatile Brazilian in the summer Chelsea look set to battle once again for the player and face stiff competition from Spurs amongst other clubs after Willian basically confirmed his desire to leave in an interview with Lancenet.

The player elaborated further on his dilemma and relationship with AVB, confessing  “he always sends me messages. We are in touch and he has become a friend for sure. Chelsea is Chelsea. They are a great team and the Champions of Europe.”

Despite inviting AVB to make an offer this January the player claims he is still focusing on the imminent match against Chelsea with Shakhtar boss Lucescu warning Chelsea that they will be made to pay for failing to appreciate the players “true worth” in the summer when making an offer with the club failing to get “anywhere near” the valuation of the player ahead of the crunch tie on Tuesday.

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Can Chelsea follow Man City’s lead over in the States?

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

New York City FC was only founded 15 months ago and isn’t set to join the MLS until the 2015/2016 season. The football club is 20% owned by Yankee Global Enterprises and 80% owned by City Football Group, who also own Manchester City.

Since the creation of the football club, New York City FC have acquired six players, with two of their most notable players being Englishman Frank Lampard and Spaniard David Villa. With the money available for the football club thanks to their wealthy owners and the quality of the players they have already brought in, New York City FC will be looking to have an immediate impact on the MLS and possibly change the landscape of the league. Some people may say thanks to their wealth, they have already bought an MLS title.

Until New York City FC joins the MLS for its inaugural season in March 2015, Lampard has gone on loan to Manchester City whilst Villa has gone on loan to Melbourne City FC, also owned by the City Football Group. The Australian side is yet to begin their season but the Spaniard is predicted to set the league alight. On the other hand, Lampard has already demonstrated he is still a quality player after scoring the equalizer in City’s 1-1 home draw against his former club, Chelsea, in the Premier League.

If that isn’t enough to satisfy you, maybe you should know that Lampard is the highest scoring midfielder in the Premier League from the 2009/10 onwards with a total of 65 goals. These goals would have mostly occurred thanks to Lampard’s characteristics of taking long shots and being excellent at direct free kicks. Lampard averaged 40.2 passes per game and also had a pass success percentage of 82.4% during his last season at Chelsea. He also averaged 1.3 key passes per game. New York City FC manager Jason Kreis will be hoping Lampard can replicate or increase these statistics in the MLS.

Villa finished last season as Atletico Madrid’s second top scorer, with 13 goals from 36 La Liga games. He was outshone by attacking partner and fellow Spaniard Diego Costa, who is now at Chelsea, but Villa’s contribution shouldn’t be understated. He averaged around 2.1 shots per game and has the characteristics of being a good finisher and playing through balls. He has won basically every top competition available including the World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, La Liga, and the Copa Del Rey, and he is also Spain national team’s all-time leading top goal scorer with 56 goals.

Villa should have a similar impact to the MLS as Robbie Keane. In his first full season (2012) following the Irishman’s moved from Tottenham Hotspur to LA Galaxy in 2011, Keane scored 16 goals from 28 league games. Villa is a much better finishing than Keane as proven by the goals he scored last season in La Liga for Atletico Madrid. Villa is still good enough to play for many European teams.

Could we see more clubs in the Premier League owning or partly owning teams in the MLS in the future? The MLS is fast developing into a league for older players to continue to play, but also as a league that is producing some great players, so I think we will see more clubs in the Premier League owning or partly owning teams in the MLS in the future for that reason.

Some people, such as Arsenal manager Arsene Wegner, have questioned if the loan of Lampard to City is in line with Financial Fair Play rules. Some believe they have bent the rules to meet the five home grown players they are required to have in their restricted 21-man Champions League squad. UEFA rules state Lampard’s loan move falls inside the Financial Fair Play rules provided City pay the midfielder’s wages, which they insist they do. Although Manchester City, New York City and Melbourne City are all owned by City Football Group, they are run as standalone businesses but some believe New York City FC is helping City by loaning out Lampard to them and bending the rules.

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We could therefore also see more Premier League clubs owning or partly owning teams in the MLS in the future in order to try to get around the Financial Fair Play rules.

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