Sudden-Death, Over-TimeDiehard Rugy & Football fan

Tag Archives

28 Articles

ENGLAND SEVENS TO FACE IRELAND IN QUARTER FINALS

by index

England would clash with Ireland in the last eight of the Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s.


George Chatterton, Mason Tonks and Alex Davis all scored tries as England defeated Italy 19-5. The victory is a much needed respite after losing the opening game to Spain 22-17.

England trailed 12-10 at the break with Harry Glover and Tonks scoring individual tries. The team lost CallumSirker but they kept the hopes alive when Henry Martin helped them take the lead. Spain kept up with the pressure, scoring and scoring until they won the game due to two late tries.

Then came Germany. Tonks kept his brilliant form but the Germans were better 17-5. The England team defeated the Italian side though. England led 7-5 at the break wither Chatterton on point. Davis, Will Edwards and Tonks then combined to take the tally to 14-5, before finishing off on a high.

LET’S HOPE THE CHINESE KNOW WHAT THERE ARE DOING

by index

The question of passion or love versus material wealth in football has over the years been asked and answered in various ways.


There was a time the former had a very big say over the latter – think for example Diego Maradona’s decision to stick with Napoli – and viewers have ever since been treated to a plethora of tales of loyalty, passion and sacred bonds players did have for their teams.

The matador-like push of club football to premium status in the early 90’s was a major factor that kick-started the dynamics of football as we know it today. Being honest demands admission that gone are those days where emotional attachments held sway – although players like Gerard and Totti tried their best to prove otherwise and for the record it did come at a price – inability for such legendary names to have a league title attached to them.

Another school of thought will tell you that the relegation of loyalty to the background did not necessarily have to do with players’ “long throats,” pinning a chunk of the blame-cake on club themselves. Like the two-way street loyalty is, a peruse at records will lead searchlights to beam on instances where clubs terminated or refused to renew contracts with even “one time” fan-favourites mainly because the “returns in value” of the player in question dipped below standard “requirements” and an extension of the said contract only “hurts” the club in the long run. This is the reason emotionally-stirred muses of supposed loyalty don’t hold water because at the end of the day football – especially at the club level – remains business, a set-up where profit is the ultimate goal.

This makes the media “pointing-of-hands” over who wronged who in contract negotiations look like airy reactions to the changes that occur in a system that runs on logic, mathematics and profit-focused book-keeping. The batting of eyelids at how easily European based players are switching to the new rich kid in the block ready to shell out wads for the street folks – The Chinese Super League – should not in all sincerity warrant such shocks & outrages.

INTER MILAN BOSS RUBBISHES JURGEN KLOPP TRAINING APPROACH

by index

New Inter Milan boss Frank De Boer clearly has issues with the training methods of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. De Boer took over at Inter when former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was sacked.


The Dutchman claimed he learnt a lesson from Klopp on how not to start life as a coach in a new team after the intense training method Klopp led at Anfield in his first session led to the rupturing of cruciate knee ligaments of Danny Ings.

The former Dutch international with over 100 caps claimed he would do the otherwise as he would ease his players into their new routine under him, unlike his German counterpart.

“I remember Klopp taking over at Liverpool last October and tried to immediately impose his high-pressing style which he used at Borussia Dortmund and it resulted in several injuries, nine in fact. Sometimes it is better to slow down.”

De Boer said he only just arrived at the club but that results would start showing from four months in, say from January. He said he would be very careful not to allow intensive training so it doesn’t lead to many injuries in his new team. He acknowledged that he has high targets since taking over the side, but insists that he would ease him team physically.

MAURO ICARDI SET TO LEAVE INTER MILAN FINALLY

by index

Mauro Icardi is set to leave the Italian club finally, following the comments from his agent and spouse.


The 23-year old player netted 16 times in the Serie A in the last season, six lesser than the number of goals in the previous season. There have been a lot of interests in the player but they have all been waved off in the past.

The agent and wife gave a hint that the player will finally leave the club when she was interviewed by CalcioMercato. Football Italia quoted her and confirmed that Icardi has been placed on a transfer list to Spanish side Atletico Madrid. The Argentinean has a reputation in Europe as one of the most talented goal scorers. The agent, Wanda Icardi, even took to her social media handle to reveal the state of things where she tweeted that the player was available.

The tweet proved legit when she confirmed it at the interview that the player would likely play elsewhere in the forthcoming campaign. “From what I can see, Inter have put Icardi up for sale. Mauro would be very sad to leave Inter, but we’ve understood the club’s economic situation and evidently they cannot hold Icardi back.”

INTER MILAN SIGN ANWAR EL GHAZI

by index

Italian side, Inter Milan have reportedly beaten off a host of competition to secure the signature of Anwar El Ghazi from Ajax.

The club was resolute in the bid for the youngster. The 20-year-old, who joined Ajax in 2012 after spending time at Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam, has been linked with a number of clubs in recent months, including The Red Devils in England.


Much earlier this year, fellow Italian side, AC Milan also revealed that they were interested in the Netherlands international, but Milan have lost out to Inter Milan, who have reached an agreement with El Ghazi’s Dutch club according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

The young attacker, who has a tough job to do at Inter, has scored 11 times in 33 appearances for Ajax this season. Inter Milan’s victory over Udinese was the first ever Serie A match with no Italians starting for either team.

Inter Milan seeking to improve their squad

by index

There are rumors that Italian side, Inter Milan might be looking to strengthen their squad with the signing of three players.

Sebastien Haller is reported to be one of those players. The Utrecht’s forward was recently in action for his under-21 national team, France against Macedonia. Haller, who started with Auxerre in France, joined FC Utrecht on loan in 2014. He managed to score 11 goals in 17 appearances for the Dutch side. During the close season, he signed a permanent deal with the club. He has made so far 31 appearances for FC Utrecht and managed 21 goals during the process. He will be an excellent addition to Inter Milan, who is looking to boost their attack.

There are also media reports that Italian side might be considering Vincent Janssen as well. The Dutch striker currently plays for AZ and has managed 20 goals in 28 games so far this season. He recently made his international debut in matches against France and England. He managed to score a goal on a penalty as well as made an assist in a game against England.

Bafetimbi Gomis might recover in time for Swansea City’s match against Arsenal

by index

A hamstring tear has forced Bafetimbi Gomis to be unable to play in the pitch for almost an entire month but now medical reports are coming in and are claiming that the recovery of the French attacker is going faster than expected and he might be able to perform in Swansea City’s Premier League match against Arsenal which is scheduled to take place on May 11.

Bafetimbi Gomis is an important player for Garry Monk as the player has scored 5 goals in this season. He is one of the top goal-scorers for the Premier League club.

The manager of Swansea City, Garry Monk announced that Gomis has already been training with the rest of his teammates but it remains uncertain if Gomis would be able to perform against Arsenal.

Garry Monk said: “Bafe is back in training and we will have to assess if he is ready to start, but it will be good to have him back as we are getting short on bodies. We have had a few injuries, but that comes back to adding to the squad.

5 goals in this season might not sound like a very high amount of goals but Bafetimbi Gomis along with Ki Sung-Yeung and Gylfi Sigurdsson are the top goal-scorers of Swansea City in this campaign.

Inter Milan appear to be back in the race for signing top players

by index

Inter Milan appear to be back in the race for signing top players after a number of names like Yaya Touré have been linked with the club in the last few months.

This was after the club sent a statement of intent by signing Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri in January. While Podolski is yet to hit the heights,Shaqiri has been a very important player for Inter already. Despite the presence of the star names, the club has won only one match in the last five. This results in Inter Milan struggling in the 10th spot with 10 matches remaining.

Their arch rivals AC Milan recently moved ahead in front with the 3-1 success over Cagliari. As a result, it is understood that Inter manager Roberto Mancini is keen on bringing more quality to the team. This may arrive in the form of Yaya Touré or James Milner. These are two players whom are extremely well-known to Mancini from his time at Manchester City. After all, it was the Italian who brought these players to the Etihad stadium. Mancini has recently been speaking a lot about signing a player like Touré and the club’s sporting director Marco Fassone says that Mancini is a huge draw amongst players.