Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has challenged his players at the UEFA Under-21 European Championship to use it as a stage to shine.
Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey, Andre Wisdom and Jack Robinson make up the Liverpool contingent for England at the tournament in Israel, and Rodgers expects them all to come back with more experience.
I always think going to big championships like that is great for their learning, Rodgers said.
All these football experiences are good for them. I m not one who is against players representing their countries.
Spain midfielder Juan Mata featured for the Under-21s for the 2011 tournament, despite having won the World Cup with the senior side a year earlier, with the Chelsea player crowned Golden Player as he guided his country to another t…
Former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele has been cleared of assaulting his ex-girlfriend by a French court.
The Paris Saint-Germain assistant coach had been accused of punching former partner Thandi Ojeer during a dispute in October 2010, and a jail sentence had been mentioned at previous hearings.
However, Ojeer s case was dismissed by a judge and she was forced to pay 90,000 euros in compensation and fined a further 2,000 euros for bringing an unsubstantial civil claim to court.
Makelele denied the claims, although he did admit there was a dispute when she arrived at his house to collect clothes and belongings four months after the end of their relationship.
Neither Makelele or Ojeer were present at the hearing.
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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted he is “not happy” with Marcus Rashford’s form but he remains convinced the England forward will get back to his best this season.
Rashford’s disputed red card in Copenhagen on Wednesday night contributed to a dramatic United collapse as they blew a 2-0 lead and conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes to lose 4-3, dropping to the bottom of Group A in the Champions League with two games left.
Gareth Southgate kept faith with Rashford by naming him in his England squad on Thursday, but a player who scored 30 goals for United in all competitions last season has only one from 15 appearances this term.
“I think he’s not happy, we are not happy,” Ten Hag said of Rashford’s performances. “We have an…
Trent Alexander-Arnold believes he seized on an opportunity to impress England manager Gareth Southgate when he starred in a midfield role against Malta last season and his “newfound excitement” about the position has left him targeting a starting berth at Euro 2024.
Despite a host of eye-catching appearances at right-back for Liverpool as they won the Premier League and Champions League, Alexander-Arnold found his pathway to the England side blocked by strong competition from the likes of Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James.
Southgate, though, wanted to give the marauding full-back a chance in midfield and, despite initially being criticised for doing so by club manager Jurgen Klopp, Alexander-Arnold has now started to operate in that role for Liverpool.
Criticism of Lionel Messi and Neymar for not being team players suggests former Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal does not like players that detract from the coach , according to Rivaldo.
Van Gaal, who coached Rivaldo at Camp Nou, claimed Barca and Paris Saint-Germain had fallen short in the Champions League because Messi and Neymar had been playing for themselves.
The ex-Manchester United manager advised the star duo to be more like Liverpool midfielder James Milner, a European champion in 2018-19, in order to return their clubs to winning ways.
But Rivaldo appears to believe Van Gaal simply does not like outstanding individual talents, as he responded in an Instagram post, including an image of Messi, Neymar and the Dutchman.
Messi, Neymar and Cristiano R…
Kylian Mbappe scored for the seventh successive match across all competitions as his brace led the way in Paris Saint-Germain s 4-1 Ligue 1 defeat of Amiens.
The France star, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Friday, was in lethal form as he took his Ligue 1 tally to 11 for the season, with PSG s star-studded unit of attackers causing struggling Amiens no end of problems and ensuring the champions remain seven points clear of Marseille at the summit heading into the winter break.
PSG s particularly reliable combination of Neymar and Mbappe linked up to great effect early on when the latter opened the scoring in what was a lively first-half display from the former Monaco talent.
Neymar then found the net for the fifth game in a row early in the second half and M…
manager Jose Mourinho says he’s not expecting Paul Pogba to leave the club this summer, according to .
The controverse Portuguese could, however, only offer his guarantees that neither he nor the club want the Frenchman to leave, and that there has been no contact from anyone about Pogba’s future – no clubs interested, no approach by his agent.
Having given up on Pogba as a teenager under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United re-signed the midfielder in 2016 for £89million, a world-record transfer fee at the time. However, the midfielder has failed to reach the heights expected of him so far. Many have criticised Mourinho for the way he’s been employing him, and many reports this season have claimed he wants out of the club. Manchester City manager Pep Guardi…
Julian Nagelsmann will 100 per cent be in charge of Hoffenheim next season, the club insist, despite speculation linking the highly rated coach with Arsenal.
The 30-year-old is reportedly a front-runner to succeed Arsene Wenger after he was overlooked by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who opted for Niko Kovac of Eintracht Frankfurt to replace their own veteran coach, Jupp Heynckes.
Mikel Arteta and Nagelsmann are purported to be the two men at the front of the queue for the Emirates Stadium vacancy, but Hoffenheim believe their coach is going nowhere having led the club to a Champions League spot for the second season in a row.
The club s director of football Alexander Rosen rejected speculation Nagelsmann could be tempted to take over at Arsenal.
J…
Manchester City have signed Turkey international striker Enes Unal from Bursaspor.
The highly rated 18-year-old becomes Manuel Pellegrini’s first signing of the close-season.
Unal became the youngest goalscorer in Turkish Super Lig history when he netted against Galatasaray as a 16-year-old in 2013.
He made his international debut in a friendly against Luxembourg in March having amassed a prolific record of 24 goals in 25 games for the country’s Under-16 team.
Unal has scored four times in 37 predominantly substitute appearances for Bursaspor, while he was prolific at youth level for his club in Turkey s Coca-Cola Academy League.
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Out of favour at Manchester United, Matteo Darmian is likely to leave the Old Trafford club once the transfer window reopens in January.
The Italian right-back has been widely frozen by Jose Mourinho this season, who has only used the 26-year-old defender twice in the Europa League thus far, while Darmian is yet to make an appearance in the Premier League.
Matteo Darmian joined Manchester United at the beginning of 2015-16 season, notching 28 Premier League performances for the club and scoring a single goal during that time.
Frustrated with the lack of minutes for Red Devils, Matteo Darmian is already looking for a solution to his frustrations at Old Trafford.
Inter Milan have already expressed their interest in signing the Manchester United outcast as …