Tag Futebol

Wayne Rooney’s new book, entitled “Wayne Rooney – My decade in the Premier League” released six weeks ago, has proved to be a huge flop, according to the Daily Mail.

Last Friday made it ten years since Wayne Rooney shot to footballing fame following his unforgettable goal against Arsenal back when he was a 16-year-old at Everton. Since then, Rooney has been an integral cog for Manchester United and England, developing into the world class player many expected him to. However, it appears the literary world has little interest in what Rooney has to say about his thrilling ten-year career.

The book’s release couldn’t have come at a better time for Rooney, whose media stock has been high of late. The striker has been in the headlines for his 200th club goal, the 10th anniversary of his first league goal, being appointed England captain and his wife Coleen expecting a second child. Despite this, the England international’s book has only sold 6,000 copies in six weeks since being published.

Publishers HarperCollins held an emergency meeting with the United Striker before his newest book went to print. Currently the two parties have agreed a record breaking 12-year deal, worth £5 million for five books, however it is now believed that the remaining three books are likely to be scrapped.

HarperCollins publishing director Nick Canham has recently spoken in defence of the deal, and insists it is not being terminated: “It’s a long-term agreement with the guy. Wayne is one of the top three players in the world, alongside Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.”

When asked about the topic of future books, Canham reasserted the deal with Rooney was one of longevity.

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“The simple thing is we have a long-term agreement with Wayne and that affords us a number of opportunities,” he added.

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West Bromwich Albion have revived their pursuit of Fenerbahce midfielder Josef de Souza, according to Turkish publication A Spor.

What’s the word?

In August last year, the Express & Star reported that the Baggies had agreed a £10.6m deal to sign the Brazilian, who has made just three appearances for his national team.

However, the transfer never came to fruition, and De Souza later admitted that he was concerned about possible lack of game time.

Now, A Spor claims that West Brom plan to bid the same figure for the midfielder, who is valued at £8.1m by Transfermarkt.

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De Souza, who made 38 appearances in all competitions for Fenerbahce last season and scored four goals in the process, has one year remaining on his current contract.

Will West Brom finally get their man?

There is a vast difference between West Brom this time last year to West Brom now.

The club are no longer in the Premier League after suffering relegation to the Championship due to being rooted to the bottom of the table.

De Souza would probably not have concerns over available minutes given that a the Baggies could be without a few midfielders next season.

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However, it would be a surprise if the midfielder opted to join a club that had dropped out of the top flight.

The Brazilian has been at Fenerbahce since 2015, so perhaps a change would be good for the 29-year-old, but it would not make much sense to leave a team that finished second in their respective league to join one fighting for promotion.

Leeds United appointed Paul Heckingbottom as their new manager on Tuesday, and Whites fans have already told him that he should strip Liam Cooper of the captaincy and give it to new boy Adam Forshaw instead.

The 40-year-old has been tasked with getting the Yorkshire outfit back into the promotion race, with a 4-1 defeat against Cardiff City at Elland Road on Saturday seeing them drop to 10th, seven points adrift of the play-off positions.

Cooper was named as the skipper by former boss Thomas Christiansen, but he has been sent off on two occasions in 24 Championship appearances this season, including in the 4-3 loss against Millwall last month which subsequently saw him miss the goalless draw against Hull and the reverse against the Bluebirds at the weekend.

Leeds supporters have now urged Heckingbottom to give Forshaw, who made his debut against Neil Warnock’s men following his move from Middlesbrough at the end of last month, the armband, with one saying “I’d like Forshaw as captain”, while another said “Forshaw for me plays and acts like a captain”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

A self-imposed media lockdown following the 6-0 thrashing away to Chelsea on the weekend gave the impression that Arsenal would do their talking on the pitch, that there was nothing that could be said to spin an inexcusable performance away to a title rival.

Apart from the obligatory comment or two from Arsene Wenger and vice-captain Mikel Arteta, there was little coming out of the club. For once, perhaps, there would be a genuine response and a salvage of confidence ahead of an almost certain loss at home to Manchester City this Saturday.

The fact that Arsenal looked bereft of ideas, lacked any tactical instruction and went a goal down inside the first 12 minutes against Swansea on Tuesday night, only to end up with a single point against a team struggling against the tide in the Premier League, is evidence enough that Wenger simply has nothing more to offer this club; from an on-field perspective, at least.

We’ve seen it before. Flip through recordings of past seasons around this time of the year and the story is exactly the same. Arsenal crumble because there is no plan. There is no plan to retain the fitness of key players; there is no plan to strengthen when an opportunity rolls around midway through the season; there is no plan even against the most lowly and unthreatening of opposition.

Arsenal were described as a shambles on Saturday lunchtime against Chelsea – that description was aimed at the defence, but it most certainly applies to all levels of the club. I wrote at the start of the week that games like the loss at Stamford Bridge offer the reality of where Arsenal are at this time, and where they’ve been for much of the past eight or so years. Can there be much of an argument against that? This is a team who regularly capitulates in embarrassing fashion against the biggest teams in the country and across Europe; it’s to such an extent that no one can seriously expect anything other than a loss to City this weekend.

Wenger has refrained from signing a new contract with the club. If he’s holding off to see how this season pans out, then it’s the right decision. But he must ask himself what more he alone can do. He must ask that question and answer it because he alone is responsible for the club.

He’s unwilling to delegate jobs of importance to others. The transfer front is directed by him. The fact that there has been such little progress on the pitch, despite new arrivals and the outgoing of deadwood players, shows that he makes the final decision on how things play out.

Whenever this stage of the season rolls around for Arsenal, people who want to defend Wenger – which is fine – consistently point to one of two things: he deserves respect, and who would Arsenal replace him with. The first is goes without saying. But skewing respect with an inability to criticise will help to ensure that very little progress is made with the football side of the club. The other point, questioning who could replace him, is idiotic, as if to imply the club would implode if a new figure arrived to manage the team.

The draw to Swansea, which felt like a loss when looking at how much closer Arsenal will be to fifth place than first come the end of this weekend’s results, shows that nothing can change with Wenger at the helm.

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Never before has a team been so reliant on confidence, susceptible to self-destruction upon the smallest setback. This has been the same of Arsenal regardless of which players are on the pitch. And the current makeup of the squad certainly doesn’t lack experience.

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Liverpool Football Club have welcomed the announcement of a fresh investigation into police conduct surrounding the Hillsborough disaster.

The new enquiry has been described as a ‘significant step forward’ in the campaign for justice for the families and survivors of the tragic events that occurred on April 15, 1989.

It will study any possible crimes committed by South Yorkshire police and others in relation to the disaster.

The club’s managing director Ian Ayre, said:”We welcome today’s announcement by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Director of Public Prosecutions. This is another significant step forward in the campaign for justice for Hillsborough families and survivors.” (Guardian)

The Independent Police Complaints Commission and Director of Public Prosecutions revealed on Friday that they would review the evidence looking at the circumstances in which the 96 fans died. They will then decide if they should bring any charges for manslaughter, perjury or perverting the course of justice to the courts.

The commission will also reassess if there was a cover-up by the police officers who were in charge of the original investigation of the Hillsborough disaster. While an investigation to find out if any officers perverted the course of justice by providing wrong information to journalists, leading to misleading and incorrect newspaper stories being published about Liverpool fans, will also be carried out.

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Mr Ayre added: “We will follow the progress of this investigation and remain resolute in our support of the families and survivors as they continue with their battle to bring those responsible for the tragedy to justice.”

Everton fans have been discussing a move for Sporting CP winger Gelson Martins, but it seems the majority of fans would rather stick with what they have.

Last week, a report from A Bola claimed William Carvalho isn’t the only Sporting player Everton are interested this summer.

According to the Portuguese outlet, new Everton director of football Marcel Brands has good connections in Portugal, and is eyeing up moves for Bas Dost and Martins.

All three players could actually be available for free this summer, as the trio are all expected to terminate their contracts due to the attacks at their training ground last month.

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Martins, valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, grabbed eight goals and eight assists in 31 league appearances last season, and has also been strongly linked with Arsenal.

The 23 year-old has electric pace, and is at his best on the right wing, where the Toffees currently have the equally speedy Theo Walcott.

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Fans have been voting on which winger they’d rather start next season with, and nearly two thirds of fans would prefer to stick with Walcott.

You can find the full poll results down below…

Usually all fans have to deal with during the January transfer window is major squad overhaul at their clubs, but Leeds United have gone one step further today and changed a major part of the team’s identity.

After six months of research, the Elland Road side have unveiled a new club crest for the eleventh time in their history.

It’s a huge change from what came before with the club claiming it “depicts the ‘Leeds Salute’, which over the decades has been an expression of the passion that connects Leeds United’s fans and players on and off the pitch and all over the world.”

They also say they consulted 10,000 fans before deciding to go with the new design.

However, supporters aren’t happy and the reaction has been fierce on social media today with many absolutely hating the change.

Some can barely believe it, while others are suggesting the 10,000 fans must have been from rival clubs.

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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all..

England boss Roy Hodgson has brought in a sports psychiatrist to aid them in their preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Sky Sports reports.

Psychiatrist Dr. Steven Peters is well renowned for his previous work with snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, as well as English cyclists and currently employed by Liverpool.

Hodgson, who was speaking at the press conference before the England friendly with Denmark, declared his delight at the services of Dr. Peters.

“Yes we are (bringing a sports psychiatrist in),” Hodgson said. “It’s not just any psychologist either, it’s Dr Steve Peters who is a very famous man in that area.

“He has a great CV of working in different sports and has been doing some work with Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers so Steve knows him quite well.

“It is something we have spoken about for some time but we wanted to get the right man – luckily Brendan let me talk to Steve and he has accepted our invitations so we are happy with that.”

Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard also stated that he’s work with Dr. Peters since 2010.

“He’s helped me an awful lot from a personal point of view,” Gerrard said. “I’ve been seeing Steve for three years even though he’s only been at the club for a year.

“I first saw him when I had a big groin problem back in 2010 – I had a groin avulsion where it had come off the bone. I feared for my career so I went to see him in a one-on-one situation a couple of times.

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“I really liked the work he did with me so I went back to see him a couple of times and I have seen an awful lot more of him since he has been with Liverpool.

“I feel as though he can help the players if the players buy into what he’s trying to do.”

Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen believes his team can take a lot of confidence from last night’s difficult 3-1 win against Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League.

Their second consecutive win in Europe leaves the Gunners top of Group B, and has also lifted the team after their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea last Saturday in the Premier League.

The scoring was opened by Gervinho, however Arsenal’s grip on the game quickly faded and Kostas Mitroglou equalised for the Greek champions just before half time.

Arsenal controlled the second half and goals from Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey secured the win for Arsene Wenger – watching from the stands due to a touchline ban.

In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Vermaelen said: “I think it gives us a lot of confidence, six out of six [points] and that’s really important.”

The Belgium international was eager to address his side’s conceded goal.

“In the first half we were sloppy sometimes with passing, we lost a lot of balls.

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“We started with a high tempo and that was great but then we dropped a little,” he said.

However, the Arsenal defender was pleased with his team’s result. “The most important thing is to win your home games in the Champions League. We want to keep it going.” he added.

Real Madrid attacker Lucas Vazquez has told Liverpool that he will not be joining the club this summer following their Champions League final defeat, according to Don Balon.

What’s the story?

The Spanish publication reports that Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has been keen on Vazquez moving to Anfield to provide competition for Roberto Firmino.

However, the Spaniard – valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt – reportedly decided on Saturday night that he does not want to join the Merseyside outfit following their Champions League misery.

The Reds were beaten 3-1 by Madrid in Kiev, and the collapse began after Mohamed Salah was forced off the pitch 31 minutes into the clash with a dislocated shoulder.

Loris Karius made two big blunders in goal, allowing Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale to strike, while the latter hit a stunning bicycle kick to take the headlines.

Vazquez has struggled for game time at the Bernabeu, and made just 16 starts in La Liga last season.

However, Don Balon reports that the attacker now wants to fight for his position in Madrid.

Will Liverpool struggle to sign stars?

If the Merseyside outfit had won the Champions League, then their position in the transfer market would have been boosted.

Financially, the club would have pocketed a tidy sum, and their reputation would have strengthened.

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It was not meant to be, though, which may cause some players to second guess whether joining Liverpool is the right option.

Klopp’s side have shown throughout the campaign that they are moving in the right direction, but they are not quite at the level to challenge the Real Madrids of the world.

Players that fit the manager’s mould should be excited by the prospect of competing at Anfield, but the club may need to work a little harder to get deals over the line.