Football News: Review Of The Day 1st March 2018

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Review of the Day

Buffon Praise For Alisson

Juventus and Italy's legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has praised AS Roma's Brazilian keeper Alisson. "Alisson is a surprise only to those who have not seen him before," Buffon said. "What really strikes me is the way he handles dangerous situations in such an efficient way. He gives his team a lot of confidence."

Kane England's Only World Class Player

Former England striker Teddy Sheringham has said in an interview that he believes England have no chance in the World Cup as they only have one world class player, Harry Kane. "Can we do well in Russia? Honestly, no. If you are going to win a World Cup you have to have two or three world-class players... at least. England have one - Kane," he told the Daily Mail. "You look around the rest of the team and, yes, there are good players but some of them cannot even get into their club teams, which is terrible for English football. I love Gareth as a man and a person and I like what he is trying to do, but he's up against it. It is going to be a really tough summer. We just find it hard to win games in the World Cup. We struggle with tournament football. We have had good squads over the years, but it is tough to take the English mentality to World Cups. Teams know the style. Teams expect us to play that way. Other countries are more clever to our ways than we are to theirs. Gareth is trying to do it, but it is a tough task to ask him to do it with the players we have."

Nainggolan Admits Rejecting Chelsea Offer

AS Roma's Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan has admitted he has turned down a number of offers in order to stay in Rome. "I could have gone to Chelsea and many other clubs, but starting something knew when you are 28, 29, in a new culture, another lifestyle, that's not for me," he told Belgium's Sport Voetbal Magazine. "I prefer to stay where I feel good. If money were my only motivation, I would have changed clubs many times and my salary would have grown, but my first priority is to live well. You need to live well and be happy playing where you are and I have both of those things here. Everything is perfect; my family is happy in Rome. There are lots of good restaurants and it's a good place to go shopping. When friends or family come to visit, you can send them almost anywhere. I'm liked at the club and the supporters are behind me. I've given a lot on the field and I get a lot of respect for that. As a footballer, that's one of the best things you can get. I grew up in Antwerp, but I became a man in Italy. As things stand, I can see myself living in Rome in later life."

Stoke Defender Gets New Deal

Stoke City's teenage defender Tom Edwards has been given a new 4 and a half year contract. The 19 year old made his debut against Manchester City in October and since than has made 5 more Premier League appearances. Potters' chief executive Tony Scholes said: "It's a measure of the progress we feel Tom has made that this is the third contract he has signed in little over eight months. Since signing his last contract in September, Tom has broken into the first team in the Premier League and shown why we hold him in such high regard. Tom has been with the Club since he was nine and is a great example to all the young players in the Academy. There is nothing better than seeing a local progress through the ranks all the way to the first team. It's a fantastic achievement and once which Tom and all those individuals who have played a part in his development should be very proud of."

Chambers Hits Out At PFA Chief Gordon Taylor's Obscene Salary

Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers has called on the PFA to spend more money on researching the dangers of heading a ball and less on the chief executive's salary. "I saw the other day that the PFA chief executive [Gordon Taylor] gets more than £2 million a year," Chambers, 32, told the club site. "I'm not sure what for. I don't think we get much from the PFA to be honest. They send someone down at the start of the season and tell us what we can do and what we can't do and that's it. So, we spend £2 million on a chief executive but what, £100,000 or so on research into head injuries in football and what heading can do to a player over their career? There is a lot of research that has gone on in the United States for the NFL and concussion to players. I'd like to see a lot more done in our game. As the world develops, more information becomes available. I didn't worry about the ramifications of continually heading a football 10 years ago because it was never mentioned. Now there are more stories out there, more information so you start to think about it more. I'd certainly like to see more of the PFA funding spent on that research because I've been heading a ball since I was eight years old." Nice to see someone finally spot that Taylor is being paid far too much for doing far too little!

Boa Morte At Sunderland

Luis Boa Morte has joined the Sunderland coaching staff until the end of the season, at least. The former Arsenal and Fulham forward is looking for a longer term deal with the Mackems as he moves from scouting for Arsenal into coaching.

Evans Gets Posh Job

As soon as Peterborough United sacked manager Grant McCann they were linked with Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans. Evans resigned his post, then, within hours, was appointed manager of the Posh. Not that anyone is suggesting a man famed for his underhand dealings while at Crawley Town would have possibly done anything wrong.

Another Stats List

With CIES putting out their lists of European stats leaders, Opta have got in on the act with their list of the Championship's top tacklers:
10. Chris Basham of Sheffield United - 80 tackles 64% successful
9. Kalvin Phillips of Leeds United - 81 tackles 69% successful
8. Ola Aina of Hull City (loaned from Chelsea) - 82 tackles 55% successful
7. George Honeyman of Sunderland - 84 tackles 70% succesful
6. James Meredith of Millwall - 89 tackles 57% successful
5. Sol Bamba of Cardiff City - 90 tackles 67% successful
4. George Saville of Millwall - 91 tackles 68% successful
3. Joe Bryan of Bristol City - 98 tackles 71% successful
2. Joe Williams of Barnsley - 101 tackles 53% successful
1. Massimo Luongo of QPR - 115 tackles 68% successful

Price Agreed For Charlton

Charlton Athletic fans will soon be able to breath a sigh of relief as their long-running battle with owner Roland Duchatelet looks to be coming to an end, as Duchatelet has agreed a price with a potential buyer. "The good news is the terms of the deal, including the price, have now been agreed between the parties," said director Richard Murray. "We are now just waiting for their respective lawyers to finalise the sale and purchase agreement."

Van Persie Hits 300

Former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has notched his 300th career goal as he scored in Feyenoord's 3-0 win over Willem II. Since returning to Feyenoord in the January transfer window, van Persie has been scoring at a rate of one goal for every 67 minutes he is on the pitch!

Costa Helping Griezmann

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone believes the January arrival of Diego Costa has transformed Antoine Griezmann's form. Griezmann had been struggling for goals this season, but now is scoring for fun, including all four in the 4-0 win over Leganes on Wednesday and a hat-trick against Sevilla in the game before. Griezmann is now the 4th highest scorer in La Liga, behind Iago Aspas, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. "The season until December had been very good for the team," Simeone said. "Costa's presence not only improved Griezmann's moment, but that of the team. For his tenacity, courage and what he transmits to the team. The team is in a good moment, and from humility we go match by match as always. The moment is good for the team, we need to focus on continuing to improve as a team. The team was more forceful than in Sevilla at the end of the game [where Atleti conceded two late goals] - that speaks of an improvement. Now to prepare the Barcelona match in the best way, against a rival who has never lost. It's a nice challenge."

Premier League Clubs Wasting TV Money

The chairman of Premier League club Crystal Palace has said that the drop in value of domestic TV rights to show the league might be a good thing, with so many clubs lazy and wasting money. Parish said: "Maybe we outfoxed the bidders a little bit last time. And maybe we got a little bit of our own medicine. I think it'll be good for football. Because I think we waste a lot of money in the Premier League - all of us - because of this never-ending increased TV income issue. A little tightening of the purse strings wouldn't go amiss, for everybody. We're certainly seen as a target, almost, for clubs to sell to. Their players are managed to sell them to us for extortionate amounts of money. And we've got lazy, I think, in terms of buying very exposed talent. We could all do a better job in terms of our recruitment." Two of the seven rights packages are still available for sale, but the overall value is set to drop by hundreds of millions from the last sale due to Sky and BT no longer competing directly against each other.

Matic Praise For McTominay

Breakthrough Man Utd starlet Scott McTominay has impressed team-mate Nemanja Matic, who is expecting big things of the 6ft 4inch tall youngster. "He is amazing," Matic said after beating Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday, when McTominay made just the 10th competitive start of his career. "He is 21 and to play like that and control the game like that is impressive. He will be a big player for Manchester United. I like him because he is a very nice guy."

Atleti Clearout Continues Apace

Despite being unable to add to the squad until the season ends, Diego Simeone has continued to move players on from the Atletico Madrid squad, as first Yannick Carrasco and Nicolas Gaitan left and now Miguel Angel Moya has headed off to sign for Real Socieded. Sociedad's number one, Geronimo Rulli, picked up an injury. Atleti's squad is now down to 19 but striker Fernando Torres is also close to the exit door with interest in him from the Chinese Super League.

Johnstone Signs New Man Utd Deal

Sam Johnstone is currently enjoying a loan spell at Championship promotion hopefuls Aston Villa, with the keeper an ever present this season. Despite stated interest from Villa in making the deal a permanent one, Johnstone has chosen to sign a new, improved contract with parent club Man Utd.

Lens Offloaded To Besiktas

Besiktas have completed the permanent signing of Jeremain Lens, the Dutch forward having been initially on loan there from Sunderland. A club statement read: "Sunderland AFC can confirm that midfielder Jeremain Lens will join Besiktas permanently on 1 June for an undisclosed fee. The 30-year-old has spent the season on loan with the Turkish Super Lig side, who have now exercised an option to sign the attacker permanently."

Higuain A Doubt For Spurs' Game

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that star striker Gonzalo Higuain is doubtful to face Tottenham in the Champions League second leg match due to injury. The Argentine striker was missing as Juve beat Atalanta to reach the Coppa Italia final. "Higuain is not available right now," Allegri said. "He hasn't trained for a few days and we'll see if he is available on Saturday. That is the most important game right now - London and Tottenham can wait. It's not an obsession. I realise it's an important game in a marvellous stadium and we want to progress with a good performance on the European stage, but it mustn't be an obsession. There are always moments in a season where things go wrong and there are injuries, but we won't waste time crying over spilt milk. We should always thing positive and will always find a way."

Pienaar Announces Retirement

Former South Africa captain Steven Pienaar has announced his retirement from professional football. Pienaar is 35 and after being released by South African club Bidvest Wits in January, the former Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Everton, Spurs and Sunderland player has decided to call it a day.

Written by Tris Burke March 01 2018 05:40:25