January transfer window has now finished and every team tried hard to secure some of its favored players, while some succeeded others could not. Overall, it was not as busy window as it was expected and reason could be clubs financial position and UEFA’s firmness over FFP guidelines. Many high profile clubs could not restrict their expenditure within the framed limit hence they were not so active this time, while others, who believe their financial planners are smarter to manager every new buying in accounts, were active throughout January and English clubs, as always, were among them. Last day of any transfer window has ever been the most active day of the month and this time too it was the same and one team who edged every other team in signing a maximum number of players is Crystal Palace who secured as many as five players on the last day. These players include Ince who joined the club on loan until the end of the season, Hennessey who brought into Selhurst Park on a three and a … [Read more...]

Some players enjoy the perks of being on the radar of more than one club at a time and this pleasure is enjoyed by very few players looking at the highly competitive contemporary soccer. Ukraine’s 24-year-old midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka is one such player who has been like an eye candy for Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham off late. This is not only a surprising treat for the youngster, but also a promising start for his premier league career if he is interested in. Though, he would have to identify his priorities before picking any one. According to Liverpool manager, he has been in talk with the Ukrainian for some time now, in fact, he is confident to bring him in Anfield despite the fact that nothing has been confirmed from player’s camp at the moment. However, talking about where he could go next week, Konoplyanka’s father said recently, “I don’t want to talk too specifically, but the reports about a transfer to England -- they are true. He might change clubs later this week. We … [Read more...]

Fans disturbance has ever been a problem for ground security, especially when one team is winning a match convincingly. Last Liverpool vs. Everton match was the similar one where Liverpool almost crushed Everton by 4-0 and fans could not digest a devastating defeat. Luis Suárez, the scorer in the match along with Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, reported an incident to the referee where some coins were thrown on him from a section of the stadium. Later, referee escalated the issue to another referee and then to the ground staff and security personnel. This is not the only case of such occurrences as there have been many cases in the past as well where fans react violently for a defeat. Though, this case is just a minor one but taking note of the severity of this case police has started an investigation of the matter and trying to find out if it was a planned act or just a spontaneous reaction from fans. Actually, Suarez informed about the instance in the second half and pointed out … [Read more...]

Chelsea seems to be the busiest club this January that is why they are hiring and firing players every other day. After whatever happened with United transfer deal, they are again ready to let one more player go, though this time to Italy. Yes, 31-year-old Ghanaian footballer Michael Essien, who has been associated with Blues back since 2005, finally decides to switch from England to Europe. Generally, whenever a player makes a shift, it is assumed that he would have not been the consistent player but this is not the case with Ghanaian footballer as he has played more than 250 games for League club along with a loan spell with Real Madrid. Though, no further details are yet known about the deal, but according to the sources, amount involved in this transfer is about 15 to 20 million pound though none of them has confirmed about the figure. Reason for his makeshift could also be his absence from the field this season, hence he could be looking for more opportunities playing with another … [Read more...]

Sir Alex Ferguson has ever been a name to watch for, in fact, every time he faces the media, he seems to be advising other managers how to stop players sustain injuries and how to keep them motivated over a longer period of time. He is now serving UEFA as their coaching ambassador; hence is keen to help European soccer. Players’ diving habit has recently been a cause of concern for every club and almost every manager tries to restrict his players dive unnecessarily on the field which sometimes poses a risk of penalty shootout as well. Though, he admitted, players will have to scarify their attacking style a little bit if they want to recover from this problem. He was talking about how he helped United starlet Ronaldo and Ashley Young to recover from early days anywhere diving habits. According to him, it is the manager who should be held responsible if his players are accused of this and coaches should be trained enough to keep this practice out of their game plan. UEFA president … [Read more...]