It is often seen in soccer these days that ahead of any big showdown teammates including managers talk about any of their previous associations with the side they are going to clash and sometime it is done intentionally as part of a calculated mind game and these kinds of off field practices are more common in England. Sunday’s Capital One final is obviously the biggest showdown of the season till date and both the participants, i.e., Chelsea and Tottenham are trying to win the game with or without a best play in the field. Accordingly, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has talked about the some seven years old offer from the White Hart Lane side that he turned down for his exit clause that did not allow him move to England. Don’t know why he is revealing this now when he is up to meet Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final this weekend or he has some plans which he has begun implementing! Recalling those days Portuguese said, “I couldn't go. I couldn't train in England for two years,” … [Read more...]

It is rarely seen in English soccer that any side is showing an importance for a player who has crossed thirty years of age. But 31-year-old Manchester City’s Ivory Cost international Yaya Toure is different in many ways. First, City is showing no sign of trying to get rid off him and second, the player has committed himself by saying through his agent that he wants to remain with league defenders for the rest of his life. Moreover, City manager Pellegrini has also welcomed the loyalty shown by the Toure and commended his statement. Notably, Toure’s future has been in dark after his recent statement that he could leave the Manchester and reason, as reported by media, was that player is not happy with the way team boss is treating him including ignoring his birthday. After knowing the latest commitment by the 31-year-old Pellegrini is way too happy and said, “That means that Yaya's very happy here. He's a player who has a lot of criticism this year, always thinking that he wants to go … [Read more...]

Last Champions League showdown between Barcelona and Manchester City has still been in the news even after three days of it, and reason is simple, media geeks look for everything out of nothing. After countless debates about what went wrong for the league giants, it is the time now to target Suarez - the player who netted both the goals for Spanish giant. According to few reports published in local media in Spain, serial bitter tried biting City’s defender Martin Demichelis as well. Though, no one saw him doing anything like this, but for his bad name with teeth, few media houses may be trying to gain popularity for non-sense reasons. English media also picked the issue quickly and made it a national issue by highlighting his past record how he bit on three occasions in his career and faced similar bans. The 28-year-old Uruguayan international decided to answer all these negative reporting himself and categorically blamed English media saying, “(They are” making a mountain out of a … [Read more...]

English premier league is perhaps the only league in the world where every losing team customarily blames lots of things for its defeat including, obviously, referee, fans, and even sponsors some time. Last showdown between Liverpool and Southampton at St. Mary's was one such game that saw Reds crushed Ronald Koeman side by 2-0 and like always, it was, according to Koeman, referee who took few decisions that went against them. But fans seem not willing to buy his excuse as Liverpool has won seven of their last ten games making them a strong contender to finish among four. Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling were the goal scorers in the game with one each in both halves closing their side to Southampton in the leaderboard. They are now just one point behind of Gareth Rogers side; in fact, they can easily bypass them if they carry on winning streak similarly. Interestingly, Brendan Rodgers - Liverpool manager - has accused his opponent for treating Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert – … [Read more...]

Few managers gradually become one of the finest to handle any kind of pressure residing in any ambience during their long running careers and Chelsea’s second term serving Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho is one such mentor who is famous for his innovative field spread along with using a well mix of young and experienced players. For that reason, Blues are leading the league table this season and credit solemnly goes to former Everton manager who has managed many top clubs in his lengthy career. Real Madrid is prominently one of them where he served for three seasons and let Spanish giant won Copa del Rey in his first and a La Liga title in his second year. Despite having been a successful mentor at Santiago Bernabéu he could not enhance his tenure over there and many blamed his bitter relationship with club bosses for the same. But former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has a completely different view over his career in Spain as he calls it a failure of the 52-year-old not to … [Read more...]