Tag Futebol

With iconic manager, Arsene Wenger, set to finally end his 22-year tenure at the club, there has been a lot of speculation about who would replace the Frenchman to manage the Gunners next season.

Big names like former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti have been floated but so too have inexperienced hires such as former players, Mikel Arterta and Patrick Vieira. 

Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri, was reportedly the fans’ favourite to take over in North London but the Italian has distanced himself from the role.

“If they don’t fire me, then I think I’m staying at Juventus next year too,”

“It’s not an issue of decisions on the future, it’s about planning what the future of Juventus will be, because once we’ve finished celebrating, we have to sit around a table with clear heads,” added Allegri.

The former AC Milan manager guided Juventus to their 34th top-flight title on Sunday to maintain his incredible record of winning a domestic double in each of his four seasons in the hot seat at Juventus.

It is this consistent success that has made Allegri a favourite to succeed Wenger and led him to be linked with replacing Antonio Conte at Chelsea.

But the 50-year-old’s latest comments have left Arsenal fans reeling with some supporters speculating whether Allegri’s comment are simply a bargaining tool to demand a higher salary to move to North London.

While others have pointed to Allegri learning English as evidence that the move is still on.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Arsenal supporters have been quick to react to the news – and the reaction has been pretty split. Here’s a selection of what’s been said on social media…

[ad_pod ]

Jack Wilshere has experienced plenty of highs and lows in his career, but one thing that has been lacking severely in recent years is consistency.

That is not because the midfielder has been in bad form, it is because injuries have left him on the sidelines for large spells.

After spending last season on loan at Bournemouth, the 26-year-old returned to the Emirates and this season has been impressing.

Manager Arsene Wenger has included the England international in the starting XI of the club’s last six matches.

Wilshere managed to score his first Premier League goal of the campaign on Wednesday night in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Chelsea on home soil.

Despite his positive form, there have been no indications as yet that the midfielder will be handed a new deal at the North London outfit.

According to The Mirror, after the clash against Chelsea, Wilshere revealed that there was “no progress” on his contract situation.

As it stands, the player will be free to leave Arsenal for free at the end of the season.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Supporters of the club have made it clear on Twitter what outcome they are hoping for.

Over the years the game of football has evolved. Gone are the days of big, burly centre halves who scythe down attackers at will. They have been replaced with the silky samba skills of Brazil and nippy wingers who zip in behind defenders like they’re not even there. Stamina and fitness have become key attributes for the modern day professional footballer. Team baths have been replaced by ice baths, and pints down the pub with isotonic drinks and warm downs. The introduction of sports science to the modern game has revolutionised the way clubs are run and how players conduct themselves.Whilst they occasionally let their hair down and attend lavish parties, the majority of footballers look after their mind and body off the pitch in order to achieve peak physical performance on it. A modern day player needs to often play two games in one week, and when you’re covering 12km every game that is no mean feat, especially towards the latter part of the season. With the increased money in the game, the fans demand more and it’s up to the players to deliver through hard work and determination. If you’re not up for running 12km every weekend however, how about you do some of it playing the latest FIFA game from EA Sports? We’re giving away one copy of FIFA 14 thanks to Ladbrokes, who have just launched their Endurance challenge for September, which gives players the opportunity to build up points through their cash games and tournaments, qualifying for a cash reward and a pending bonus. For a chance to win your very own copy of FIFA 14…

We’ll pick a winner by Monday (30th) and announce the winner on the same day.

Open to UK residents only

England manager Roy Hodgson has confessed that the Three Lions miss injured forward Wayne Rooney, and that the Manchester United man will walk back into the senior side when he is available again.

Rooney suffered a gash on his right leg in a recent Premier League game against Fulham, and as such missed the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

With the home nation drawing 1-1 with Ukraine in a disappointing showing on Tuesday, Hodgson has admitted that the team will be stronger when Rooney returns to action.

“We’ll get the best out of him because he’s desperate to play for England,’’ Hodgson is quoted as saying in The Telegraph.

“He’s an excellent footballer and quality is permanent. I’ve spoken to him of course. He’s had a nasty injury and we’re hoping he gets over it as soon as possible.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“The sooner he comes back into our fold the better because we are short of experienced and quality front players in England. We are blessed with quite a few very good midfielders,” the coach admitted.

Once Arsene Wenger announced his decision to resign from his post as Arsenal manager, attention swiftly turned to potential replacements.

Numerous names have flooded the the gossip columns, and fans have debated on social media who the best option is.

Former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique emerged as an early candidate, but reports have suggested that salary could be an issue.

A recent report in The Mirror claimed that the Spaniard is demanding wages worth up to £15m after tax.

[ad_pod ]

Enrique does not have the biggest portfolio in terms of clubs managed, but he has had huge success at Barcelona.

During a three-year spell, the 48-year-old won nine trophies, including two La Liga titles and the Champions League.

Enrique left the Catalan giants last year and has been out of work since.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Despite the reported concerns over money, former Arsenal defender Lauren believes that the former Celta Vigo boss would embrace the club’s philosophy.

He told Sky Sports:

“I would go for Luis Enrique because of a few facts. The style of play, there are some parallels with Barcelona, the way they play is the ‘Arsenal way’. He’s got that killer instinct that you need to manage a big team. You need a manager that has that big personality and the animal instincts to control everything.”

Although they saved themselves towards the end of the last campaign, Everton were in a precarious position above the relegation zone mid-season and manager Roberto Martinez was under pressure.

The Europa League excuse was banded around again and the generic reasoning of the Thursday night travelling to the depths of Eastern Europe for the abysmal campaign that Everton gave their fans.

The Europa League is not treated with adequate respect in England and this is often to the league’s detriment. However, Everton’s humiliation to Dynamo Kyiv shows that it may not be about disrespecting the competition, but that Everton were performing so poorly they could not compete in even the second rate European competition.

The clumsy touch of Romelu Lukaku and wobbly defending did not look like a side capable of progressing beyond the last-16, even after a convincing win over Wolfsburg in the group stage.

https://vine.co/v/OY30vjmbE70

The lack of ambition at Everton is bizarre. Bill Kenwright may not invest as much as many others, but the club’s loyalty to David Moyes was a sign of the limited ambition that continues to hold the club back. As sides like Southampton, Swansea and Stoke are looking to build upon their relatively recent promotions, Everton have been treading water for years. None of the three clubs mentioned have significantly more money than Everton, but they are happier to accept mediocrity in both league position and performance. Moyes’ time at the club was not only static in progress – aside from finishing fourth in 2005 – but provided particularly uninspiring football.

At least in Martinez’s first season there was a change to a more exciting style and greater faith in the younger players. Followed by the permanent signing of the inconsistent Romelu Lukaku, the club slumped to sloppy performances in 2014/15 and were eventually flattered by their finishing position.

Although the signing of Lukaku was ambitious, there is a squad at Everton that should be competing for top seven places, regardless of Europa League football.

Ross Barkley’s development has stunted and the chance to cash in on Leighton Baines has been missed, the club is treading water whilst rivals are buying with intelligent scouting and making shrewd moves in the market. The two young stars have disappointed, with both still looking very raw, and the previously reliable old guard have finally begun to show their age as Gareth Barry, Sylvain Distin and Tim Howard look to be creaking.

Now in need of a new keeper and the burden of Barry’s high wages when he is no more than a backup, there has been severely poor management of the squad from the toffees.

The way the club is standing still leaves them at risk of losing three of their best players; John Stones, Kevin Mirallas and James McCarthy. Not to mention the consistent links of Seamus Coleman to a side with a regular chance of European football. The loss of any of those three would be a significant setback to any ambition at Goodison, if it exists.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

John Stones is likely to be an England regular for years to come, whilst James McCarthy is the midfield lynchpin that must form a partnership with Besic if Everton are to challenge for Europe again.

The biggest concern for Everton fans must be the wobbly defence of last season that was reminiscent of Wigan’s during Martinez’s time. The longer the defence is as open as a Sheikh’s wallet, the closer to the drop the Toffees will go.

Lukaku must begin to look like a centre forward worth his £28million price tag and develop the subtlety required to be one of Europe’s best.

22 years after signing their first contracts, six of Manchester United’s most famous stars met at the place where it all started.

David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes got together on Monday night at the Artisan Bar & Restaurant to reminisce about the special time they shared together at Old Trafford.

The six footballers helped transform the Red Devils and set the club on their way to two decades of dominance. But where are they now?

Beckham is obviously known as both an English and global icon. Since his time at Old Trafford, he has played for Real Madrid, AC Milan and Los Angeles Galaxy. During his time at Man United, Beckham made the number 7 jersey famous and to this day still refuses to play for any other Premier League club.

Giggs, who holds a record 12 Premier League medals as well as two Champions Leagues medals, recently signed a one-year contract to join the coaching staff at United. The 39-year-old was also an honorary captain for Britain in the London Olympics last summer.

Since his retirement, Gary Neville has had a successful media career as a pundit for Sky Sports and columnist for MailOnline. He’ll always be known for his successful partnership on the right hand side for England with Beckham.

The younger of the brothers, Phil Neville was unable to establish himself as left-back until 2000. In 2005, he joined Everton where he became Captain. Recently he returned to the Red Devils as a first-team coach.

Somewhat flying under the radar, Nicky Butt ended his career in 2011 after a brief stint at South China, a Hong Kong club. Today, Butt is a reserve team coach for the Reds.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

And finally there’s Paul Scholes, who claimed 11 Premier League medals for Man United. He recently came out of retirement to try and strengthen United but has been plagued by injury. He has made over 700 appearances for the club.

One thing’s for certain, despite these footballers going their separate ways for a bit after their spell with Manchester United, they will always be remembered for their dominance at Old Trafford. As well as paving the way for the club’s global presence today.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that he may need to make a further attacking addition to bolster his squad after failing to see his side score in their first two Premier League games of the season at home to Sunderland and away at Stoke.

Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in front of goal so far this campaign has highlighted the absence of Robin van Persie, who signed for Manchester United two weeks ago. Following Arsenal’s goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium yesterday, Wenger told the BBC, “We always felt we were dangerous, but we couldn’t finish it off. We have work to do in the final third.”

Wenger is still confident that his side will still score plenty of goals this season despite the departure of van Persie, “I don’t want to take anything away from Robin van Persie, he is an exceptional player, but I still don’t worry we will score goals with the players we have.” Additionally, Wenger said he is still confident new signings Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud will score plenty of goals for Arsenal despite creating any clear cut chances in the draw at Stoke, “we lacked a bit of understanding with the players in the final third. We have many new players and you can see something was missing.”

The Arsenal manager also added that the North London club are likely to be busy in the next few days, “we are active and there could still be action in the transfer market.” Arsenal have been strongly linked with Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila as a like-for-like replacement to Alex Song, who left the Gunners to join Barcelona for £15 million last week.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[ad_pod id=’dfp-mpu’ align=’right’]

Even the most ardent of Leeds United supporters would find it difficult to put a positive spin on what has been a very disappointing 2017-18 campaign for the club.

Indeed, the Whites currently sit down in 14th position in the Championship table following their 2-1 defeat at Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.

Paul Heckingbottom’s side have lost four of their last six Championship matches – winning just once, and big changes are expected to occur at the end of the season.

Leeds certainly have a problem when it comes to their goalkeeping department, and it does appear that German stopper Felix Wiedwald will be moved on following some poor performances.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell currently has the gloves for the club, but he was criticised at the weekend when Josh Murphy’s powerful effort seemed to go through the 21-year-old.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Peacock-Farrell has been defended by a number of Leeds fans on social media, but there were also plenty that were upset with his performance at the weekend.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Love or hate politics, it’s taken over as the nation’s big talking point this week, even beating Chelsea’s Premier League title win! The General Election is, of course, much more important than 22 men kicking a ball around a rectangle of grass, but there’s no reason we cannot think of a world where the two combine, yeah?

Stay with us, as here are five politician/footballer match-ups we’d love to see…

[ad_pod id=’election’ align=’center’]

[interaction ]

Boris Johnson vs. Paul Scholes – tackle contest

Paul Scholes was many things as a footballer. An excellent passer, and experienced playmaker, a scorer of goals… but he could not tackle. The former England international was frequently in a different time zone to his opponent when attempting to win the ball, with rash tackles commonplace in his game.

So, it would be interesting to see him face off with London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson. The wavy haired bumbler featured in a charity match once upon a time, producing the above horrific challenge!

It would be interesting to see who’s the worst tackler: Boris or Paul…

Tony Blair vs. Andy Carroll – header face-off

As the above video shows, former Prime Minister Tony Blair was a dab hand at head tennis. The ability to cushion the ball and keep a back and forth going is quite a skill, so we think he could take on one of the best in the business when it comes to head-butting the football… Andy Carroll!

The one time £35m England international would give Blair a run for his money, but the ex-PM could lure Liverpool into a making a £50m offer for him should he beat the big Geordie.

John Prescott vs. Wayne Rooney – Boxing!

Wayne Rooney hit the headlines recently for some amateur boxing in his kitchen with former team-mate Phil Bardsley. Although he was KO’d by the defender, we think a comeback bout could be arranged…. against John Prescott.

The politician is famous for his reaction to being ‘egged’ in 2001, as he swung out at the culprit on a visit to Rhyl. Ding, ding, DING!

Nigel Farage vs. Roger Johnson – Drinking contest

Farage loves a drink. Pictures of him sipping pints of ale or lager are commonplace, which is normal. But if he wants a drinking buddy, or opponent, in the footballing realm, he should look no further than Roger Johnson.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The 32-year-old Charlton defender allegedly turned up for training bladdered in his Wolves days back in 2012.

David Cameron vs. Mike Ashley – who’s the most frugal…

The current PM has had to make cuts in his tenure. He inherited the role with the UK in financial peril, and his work has, thus far, been respectable, despite criticism of tax regulations surrounding high earners.

Although not a footballer, Mike Ashley is known for his ‘money saving’ ways at Newcastle, form whom he’s sold, bartered and done just about anything to make a profit. We’re picturing some sort of contest negotiating cheap deals at the market challenge…