Football News: Review Of The Day 16th February 2022

Image from: freelargeimages.com

Review of the Day

Become a Patron!

Contracts

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Dani Garcia has extended his deal by a year to 2024.

Luis Munoz has a new contract which will expire in 2025 with Malaga.

Transfers

New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer have paid £2.86m to Legia Warsaw for Luquinhas.

FC Basel have signed veteran Hungarian forward Adam Szalai from 1.FSV Mainz 05 on a free transfer. The Swiss have also taken young central defender Strahinja Pavlovic on loan from AS Monaco.

Also leaving Mainz is former West Ham United midfielder Edimilson Fernandes, who has joined BSC Young Boys on loan.

Injury Round-Up

VfB Stuttgart trio Enzo Millot, Tanguy Coulibaly and Daniel Didavi have all tested CV positive and will miss their side's clash with VfL Bochum this weekend.

Borussia Dortmund head coach Marco Rose has ruled star striker Erling Haaland out of the Europa League match against Rangers.

Managerial Changes

SPFL club Dundee have sacked manager James McPake, despite winning their last 2 matches. McPake took over at Dens Park in 2019 and led them to promotion to the top flight last season.

Port Vale have given manager Darrell Clarke bereavement leave.

Disciplinary Charges

Second-tier German side St Pauli have oddly been posted a letter which contained death threats towards three Bayern Munich players. Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Serge Gnabry are called "dirty Bavarian pigs" who should be shot. The letter, which was titled "Save the league, save football. Fire and death to the dirty Bavarian pigs", also included threats against referees. A police spokeman said: "We are investigating on suspicion of threatening and disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes. We will check the backgrounds."

Italy have issued an international arrest warrant for former Brazil international and close friend of Neymar, Robinho after his conviction for gang rape was confirmed by the country's top court. The Italian Justice Ministry have asked Interpol to enact the warrant on Robinho, full name Robson de Souza, who lives in Brazil after fleeing there because they do not extradite nationals. Robinho and five other Brazilians were found guilty in 2017 of the rape of a woman after plying her with alcohol in a nightclub. Robinho has 100 caps for Brazil and played for Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Serie A have launched an investigation after AS Roma's VAR consultant (what even is that??) Gianpaolo Calvarese reportedly entered the referee's room to speak with him after the game against Genoa.

Matthaus Hits Out At Bayern Signings

Legendary former Bayern Munich player Lothar Matthaus has hit out at recent defensive signings for his former team, which has looked extremely weak at the back this season. French duo Lucas Hernandez and Dayot Upamecano were part of a shambolic performance in defence as VfL Bochum notched four goals in the first half against Bayern to run out 4-2 winners. Matthaus claimed the duo's "price-performance ratio" is poor and that "everyone can see that both of them don't make the best impression". Matthaus went on to say: "Upamecano seems to be shaky. He seems like a foreign body, but he's been here for seven or eight months. How much time should you give him? He's not doing enough." On record signing Hernandez, Matthaus said that he commits "a lot of fouls" and is too slow in 50/50 battles: "He was the most expensive Bayern player, so more is required. Bayern's big goal is to win the Champions League. The defense has to be clear about that increase." Bayern's head coach Julian Nagelsmann has already said that he will not change his attacking approach despite the defeat: "My philosophy, my approach, I'm not going to change that. There's a certain structure in our squad, even though there are some players missing. The funny thing about football is that these discussions only come up when you're losing. In our win over RB Leipzig, we had one less defender than we did in the defeat to Bochum, but somehow everyone said we were too offensive against Bochum. In the end, it's all about the way you play, not the system. I'm not going to change my approach based on what the media writes about us." While Matthaus is criticising players, former president Uli Hoeness has asked for fans to show patience towards Marcel Sabitzer: "He knows the coach well and the coach really wanted him. You have to be patient, and patience is something that a lot of people in Munich don't have."

Become a Patron!

Written by Tris Burke February 16 2022 19:21:41