Football News: Review Of The Day 27th August 2018

Image from: marca.com

Review of the Day

Transfers

OGC Nice have sent young winger Vincent Marcel on loan to Troyes.

Argentine defender Nicolas Pareja has left Sevilla on a free transfer to move to the Mexican Liga MX and play for Atlas.

Guinea international Abdoul Camara, signed from Derby County in June 2017, has been released by Guingamp following an ACL injury last December. "The club is very sad to announce that Razza Camara will no longer wear the shirt of Guingamp for medical reasons," Guingamp announced on its website. "It follows a long process of medical examinations that have returned a verdict. All our thoughts are with Razza and his family so that they can overcome this painful ordeal. The entire club wishes him good luck for the next stage of his life. We will be by his side throughout this to help him."

Nolan Sacked By County

League Two side Notts County have sacked manager Kevin Nolan after six games without a win, despite taking them to the League Two play-offs last season. The Magpies have just one point in their five league games this season so far and sit on the bottom of the table. Coaches Steve Chettle and Mark Crossley will take charge until a new man is brought in. Chairman Alan Hardy said: "Having conceded 16 goals in our last five matches and being without a win in our last 10 competitive games, we feel now is the time to move forward with a new manager. Everybody knows of my desire to restore the fortunes of the world's oldest Football League club and I have invested substantial monies to strengthen our playing squad in the summer. Our supporters have responded magnificently by turning out in their droves but, unfortunately, their efforts have not been backed up by performances on the pitch."

Keane Suffers Fractured Skull

Everton defender Michael Keane's clash of heads with team-mate Idrissa Gueye in their match against Bournemouth has had serious consequences, with the centre back ruled out for a month with a fractured skull. An Everton statement said: "Michael Keane has sustained a small hairline fracture of the skull but suffered no other complications." Keane himself said: "I will be back with my team and back on the pitch as soon as I can. I'm OK but suffered a small hairline fracture of the skull, which will heal itself."

Valladolid Pitch Under Investigation

Following clumps of turf becoming dislodged during Barcelona's 1-0 win over Real Valladolid, La Liga are set to investigate. The pitch had been relaid on the Tuesday prior to Saturday's game, but was clearly not ready for league football.

Salah's Relationship With Egyptian FA Detoriates Further

The Egyptian FA seem to be doing all they can to destroy the relationship between themselves and their star player, Mohamed Salah, with row after row between the two still dragging on months later. First off they used his picture, without permission, to advertise a company rival to one of his personal sponsors. Then they utilised him as a political pawn in photographs taken alongside controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, after basing their World Cup training camp in the country. Now they are refusing to talk to the player or accept that there is any issue, despite his repeated requests for talks and calls for change with the national team. Salah's agent said: "We asked for guarantees regarding Mohamed's wellbeing whilst with the national team, and assurances that the image rights violations wouldn't happen again. That's all. They have yet to respond." Salah himself said: "It's normal that a football federation seeks to solve the problems of its players so they can feel comfortable. But in fact, what I see is exactly the opposite. It is not normal that my messages and my lawyer's letters are ignored... I do not know why all this [is happening]? Do you not have time to respond to us?!" It does seem a strange fight for the EFA to take on, when Salah is a national hero to Egyptians and already their reputation is in the dirt amongst Egyptian football fans who all lay the blame squarely at the door of the EFA. It is a fight they cannot win.

Klopp Brings In Throw-In Specialist

In a move Slaven Bilic would be proud of, as he is obsessed with throw ins and the effect they have on games, Jurgen Klopp has added a specialist throw-in coach to the staff at Liverpool. Klopp felt that his team squandered possession far too often from a throw and that as they defended or took an average of 50 such set pieces a game over the course of the season, it was a part of the play that needed improving. While the throw-in coach, Dane Thomas Gronnemark, set the world record for the longest throw-in, he does not work on encouraging a long throw. It is more about using the throw as a chance to launch an attack and how to avoid putting your own team-mates under pressure from the throw.

Rakitic Wants Barca Stay

Prior to last season, Ivan Rakitic was looking like a player on a steep downward spiral after a number of niggling injuries saw him struggle to perform at his best. However, last season saw him regain his form as the season went on and prove me personally wrong, as I had thought that his legs were going after all the injuries. His play throughout the season for Barcelona and then in the World Cup for Croatia were enough to create interest in signing him from PSG, amongst others, but the Croatian star has told Marca he is not interested in a move away from Barca, saying: "I have had a few days to reflect a little, talk over different things, I have had four fantastic years here and I would like to stay here a long time. To be part of the best club in the world is as good as it gets. I speak with my wife and my representative Arturo, and there is no place where I would be better off. There were several clubs that enquired about me. We spoke about everything and now the decision is final. The most important thing is that I want to be here, I feel privileged to be in the best club in the world."

Coman Set For Lengthy Spell On Sidelines

Following his successful ankle op on Sunday, Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman "faces a long spell on the sidelines". The 22 year old suffered a syndesmosis ligament tear in his left ankle in Bayern's home win over Hoffenheim on Friday evening. Having had to google the injury, as Bayern gave no kind of time framework for recovery other than the long spell thing, it is interesting that a number of studies show that the tear often occurs in conjunction with a bone injury of the ankle. That suggests the time on the sidelines could be counted in months, rather than the several weeks initially estimated by the Bavarian club.

Genoa Honour Bridge Victims With Silence

43 minutes of silence to be exact, after a bridge in the city of Genoa collapsed and killed 43 people on the 14th of August. There was a minute's silence before kick off, followed by applause for the relatives of the victims, who were invited onto the pitch before the game. Then the Genoa fans once more lapsed into silence, even managing to restrain themselves as Genoa notched 2 goals against Empoli in the first twenty minutes. It only ended at minute 43, when the scoreboard displayed the names of the victims.

Spalletti Cancels Day Off For Inter Players

After seeing his Inter Milan side collapse and lose a two goal lead over Torino, head coach Luciano Spalletti was critical of his players and cancelled their day on Monday. Spalletti said: "I cancelled tomorrow's day off because we need to refocus, you can't make a mistake reading the game like we did on the first goal. As I have always said, we aren't the 'anti-Juventus'. You journalists said that. I am coaching a team, that together with five other teams, must annoy Juventus. First, we have to battle with Roma and Napoli. Last year we had 15 players, now we have 20. We started badly against Sassuolo which everyone agrees on. In Reggio Emilia we played with three at the back, so how we set up depends on the opponents. Tonight we attacked Torino from the front which we had to do. After they scored I saw the players becoming very hesitant. We played with just three defenders as we wanted to storm them from the front. It seems to me that we succeeded in doing that. If things got worse in the second half, it's not a problem of choices. Handanovic is a good footballer. And this year, compared to last, we have two strong teams, but both cannot play. Now we have to learn not to give up the lead in games. We gave up in certain moments of play, and they [Torino] benefitted from it. We to hold our hands up, and that is why I am here. We lost some duels, and Handanovic read the play incorrectly for Torino's first goal, which created mentality issues."

Written by Tris Burke August 27 2018 06:46:13