Jose Mourinho claims Alexis Sanchez flopped at Manchester United because he was a sad man , but has backed the Chilean to reignite his love for football at Inter.
Sanchez joined the Italian club on an initial season-long loan deal two weeks ago after struggling for form and fitness during his 18 months at Old Trafford.
Much was expected of the Chile international following his switch from Arsenal in January 2018, but he managed just three goals in 32 Premier League appearances.
Mourinho was in charge of United at the time of Sanchez s arrival and is willing to accept some of the blame for the ex-Barcelona forward s lack of impact.
| FOTO
già a suo agio nella nuova sede (e un saluto a )
— Inter (@Inter)
I felt him [to be]…
Germany coach Joachim Loew said Monday that Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi, one of the Bundesliga s top scorers this season, will not be in the World Cup squad to be unveiled later this week.
After full consideration in the training team we came to the conclusion that we have other ideas for the make-up of our World Cup team, both tactically and when it comes to personnel, Loew said.
I said this quite openly to Kevin.
Kuranyi, 28, who has played 52 times for Germany, has had the best season of his career, scoring 18 goals with Schalke, who are second in the Bundesliga, three points behind Bayern Munich with one game to play.
He has not played for Germany since storming out on the team in October 2008 after being left out of the matchday squad for a Wor…
(GSM) Brazilian striker Brandao is aiming to continue his fine form for Olmypique Marseille against Valenciennes on Sunday as he is keen on impressing national coach Dunga.
OM were five minutes away from going out of the Coupe de la Ligue to Toulouse on Wednesday before the Brazilian s dramatic double, the second in extra-time, secured their place in the final.
The 29-year-old forward is now intent on firing Didier Deschamps side back into the Ligue 1 title hunt, and in doing so hopes to catch the eye of Dunga.
That is my life s dream, he said on www.om.net about his desire to play for the Selecao.
The first thing is that I succeed with my goals here in Marseille, playing good matches and winning a title. I hope then that Dunga will see my work.
…
Diego Simeone insists Atletico Madrid will be on their guard against a Copa del Rey upset when they host Reus Deportiu on Thursday.
Atleti hold a slender 2-1 aggregate lead over their third-tier opponents, having fallen behind in the first leg before being bailed out by goals from Luciano Vietto and Saul Niguez.
Simeone is likely to rotate his starting XI as he aims to extend an eight-match winning streak across all competitions that has helped to bring the 2013-14 Liga champions level on points with Barcelona at the summit of the Spanish top flight.
But the Argentinian has urged his players to turn in a fully committed performance against Reus, citing the first leg as a warning the 10-time winners must heed.
We ll go with everything we have, as always…
Arsene Wenger has warned Arsenal not to let their focus slip when they face out-of-form Southampton in the Premier League on Boxing Day.
Wenger s side travel to St Mary s looking for a fourth successive league victory on Saturday as they look to keep pace with leaders Leicester City.
Arsenal trail Claudio Ranieri s men by two points, while also enjoying a four-point cushion to third-placed Manchester City.
They will hope to at least maintain that points difference against Ronald Koeman s side, who come into the clash with just one point from their last five games courtesy of a 1-1 home draw with bottom club Aston Villa.
I believe for us the most important thing is to focus on ourselves, and not to speculate too much on any weakness of Southampton, Wen…
Meetings with Chelsea have provided Manchester City with a measuring stick over the past 12 months.
In June 2020, at Stamford Bridge, City s 2-1 defeat handed the Premier League title to Liverpool, ending Pep Guardiola s two-season stay at the summit.
When City then returned to the same stadium in January, facing Chelsea for the first time in 2020-21, they rediscovered their mojo.
It was the fourth match in a sequence of 21 straight wins in all competitions and arguably the pick of the bunch.
Slick City, missing a host of stars due to COVID-19, swept Chelsea aside in a 3-1 win as Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne all scored. They left London in fifth but firmly back on track.
It has since looked as though that might be a defining disp…
Pep Guardiola took another shot at UEFA over its expanded Champions League format, claiming European football s governing body does not care about player workloads.
Guardiola came out strongly against the ill-fated Super League plans this week, decrying the closed-shop format as not sport , despite Manchester City being one of the 12 teams to sign up before withdrawing.
But the City boss also said the launch of a breakaway project was evidence UEFA had failed and he was similarly uncomplimentary about reforms that will see the Champions League contested by 36 teams as opposed to its current 32 from the 2024-25 season, with 10 group games instead of six for each side.
Every time it’s the same. All the managers and players ask for better quality and the football…
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque on Sunday saluted what he saw as a sea-change in Germany s style of play ahead of the two countries World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Del Bosque said he did not believe the Germans would be treating the meeting in Durban as a revenge mission for their Euro 2008 final loss to the Spanish as his opponents had clearly moved on.
I don t think you can talk about revenge between two great teams. Both will be going all out to get to a World Cup final, said Del Bosque.
They recently set out to change a (style of) football which appeared to be worn out and tired. They have managed to refresh the team since the Euros and the proof of that is in their showings here.
They have got a great group together, the former Real Madrid bos…
Spain believe international football is entering a bright new age, powered by the sleek, easy on the eye style which triumphed over Holland s muscular harassment in the World Cup final.
Vicente Del Bosque s side added the world title to their European crown thanks to Andres Iniesta s extra-time winner in a disappointing final which the Spanish deserved to shade.
But they have no desire to become complacent with their achievements.
We have great players who are coming through and Spanish football is just growing, warned Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas who set up Iniesta s winner.
Del Bosque, familiar with great expectations from his time with Real Madrid, was also convinced that the beautiful game was still looking good despite a bruising final which saw Holl…
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has set his sights firmly on winning the Champions League ahead of Wednesday s opening game against Olympiacos.
The European trophy has evaded Guardiola since he took charge of Bayern in 2013, but he hopes it will be third time lucky for the Bundesliga champions.
We will again try to win the Champions League this season, Guardiola said at a press conference when asked about his goals this term.
But we should not forget that all the teams in the Champions League are very strong. A win against Olympiacos would be a good first step.
But whether we win the Champions League or not will not be decisive in saying if this was a successful season.
Despite being favourites to win Group F, Guardiola – who won the…