Louis van Gaal has urged Manchester United to dare to play football when they host Chelsea in what could prove a pivotal game in the manager s Old Trafford career.
United slumped to a 2-0 Boxing Day defeat at Stoke City their fourth in a row in all competitions to pile further pressure on the under-fire Van Gaal and increase speculation that Jose Mourinho could replace him.
The Dutchman even suggested after the match that he could consider stepping down should United lose at Old Trafford on Monday, rather than face the sack, although he remains in charge for the time being.
With just two days to recover both physically and mentally after the Stoke loss, Van Gaal has called on his players to be brave against the Premier League champions, who are unbeaten in five a…
Samuel Eto o has pleaded with Antonio Conte to quickly restore Chelsea to their previous heights when he takes charge at Stamford Bridge this year.
Conte was appointed as the permanent successor to Jose Mourinho last week and will take up the role upon the end of his Euro 2016 campaign with Italy.
Chelsea occupy 10th in the Premier League following a dismal campaign and look set to miss out on European football next season.
Eto o spent the 2013-14 season with the club, but failed to claim any silverware and, with the club enduring another barren year, he hopes the new manager can bring about a swift change in fortunes.
I don t think that a great manager as Antonio Conte needs my advice, said Eto o.
I think that he s demonstrated already to b…
Nintendo has reconfirmed that the Switch successor will be revealed by the end of March 2025, when its current financial year concludes. Company president Shuntaro Furukawa made the announcement during an online press conference on Tuesday following the publication of Nintendo’s latest earning results, saying that announcement plans for the Switch successor have not changed.
Analysts are predicting that Nintendo won’t make an announcement this year, as doing so could have an impact on sales leading into the 2024 holiday season. “Making an announcement this year has gotten quite difficult,” Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda said to Reuters. “You would not want to divert attention to an upcoming console in the middle of the critical year-end shopping season.” Come from
Roberto Mancini basked in the emotion of a beautiful evening as Italy began Euro 2020 with a commanding 3-0 win over Turkey, but he is not getting carried away after one match.
Against a sorry Turkey side, Italy were a cut above on Friday in Rome s Stadio Olimpico, where the Azzurri are unbeaten in nine matches at major tournaments.
A frustratingly unambitious Turkey were finally breached early in the second half when Domenico Berardi smashed a cross in off Merih Demiral and, as their opponents cumulative expected goals (xG) value of 0.6 suggests, Italy need not have scored again.
But they did for good measure, Ciro Immobile pouncing on a rebound to net for the third successive game for his country, before then teeing up the excellent Lorenzo Insigne for a love…
Roberto Mancini says Giorgio Chiellini could still teach defenders around the world how to do their job after he made a commanding return to Italy action.
The 36-year-old made his first international appearance since June 2019 on Monday, delivering an excellent performance as the Azzurri beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the Nations League clash in Amsterdam.
Chiellini had surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament last September and only managed four appearances for Juventus in 2019-20.
Mancini is in no doubt over how important the centre-back is to his plans, however.
He has experience, quality he could still teach many defenders around the world, said Mancini.
It s important for us to have him on the pitch because he is a fighter. I m happy he is…
Martin O Neill is reportedly in line to replace Avram Grant as West Ham United manager, regardless of the outcome of Saturday s match against Arsenal.
West Ham are bottom of the English Premier League, but have lost only one of their last seven games under Grant, seemingly earning the former Chelsea manager a stay of execution.
West Ham beat Birmingham City 2-1 in a Carling Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday, but it appears even having one foot in a Wembley final will not be enough to dissuade West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan from showing Grant the exit.
The 55-year-old Israeli, who took over at Upton Park with a four-year deal in June 2010, has been consistently linked with the sack throughout a difficult first half of the season for West Ham.
(GSM) Liverpool have enough left to work for in the UEFA Europa League after losing their round of sixteen first leg game at Sporting Braga. Porto, Villarreal and FC Twente got important wins.
Underdogs Sporting Braga hosted Liverpool in Portugal and opened the scoring after 18 minutes. Sotiros Kyrgiakos fouled Marcio Mossoro in the penalty area and Alan made no mistake from the spot, 1-0.
Liverpool failed to get an equaliser or even convince in the remainder of the game, which was later dubbed terrible by Reds manager Kenny Dalglish.
On a generally disappointing game for English teams, Manchester City suffered a 2-0 defeat at Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine.
Former AC Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko scored the opener for Dynamo in the 25 minutes, and…
Swansea City coach Alan Curtis says Swansea City s international contingent shows how far the club has progressed in recent years.
The Welsh outfit have seen 11 players called up during the current break for qualifiers and friendlies, including the likes of Federico Fernandez, Ki Sung-yueng and Wilfried Bony.
After defeating Hull City on the final day of the 2002-03 season to stay in the Football League, Swansea have enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past 12 years.
Three promotions in seven seasons saw them reach the Premier League for the 2011-12 campaign, and three years of consolidation and a League Cup win in 2013 duly followed.
And long-serving coach Curtis, who works on manager Garry Monk s staff, believes Swansea s international talent is a sign of …
Napoli could offer Alberto Aquilani an escape route from Liverpool after Juventus pulled out of a deal to sign the midfielder.
Aquilani, 26, has made just 18 appearances for Liverpool and was loaned to Serie A side Juventus for much of last season.
The Turin club were expected to agree a permanent transfer in the off-season, but the departure of Gigi Delneri and arrival of Antonio Conte as head coach has seen the move fall apart.
It now appears Napoli, who earned a route into the Champions League with a third-place finish last season, could be Aquilani s best chance of remaining in Italy.
Aquilani to Napoli? I don’t think it would be an easy negotiation but if the will is there why not, Aquilani s agent Franco Zavaglia said.
I have not spoken…