Saturday, September 14, 2013
Cristiano Ronaldo will earn 50% more than Bale
Friday, September 13, 2013
Bale should follow Ronaldo example, says Zidane
Zinedine Zidane says Cristiano Ronaldo is an example to follow for Gareth Bale when it comes to dealing with the immense pressure at Real Madrid following his world-record €100 million transfer from Tottenham this summer. The Portugal international was previously the most expensive transfer following his €94m move from Manchester United to Madrid in 2009.
And, Zidane, who moved to Madrid for around €75m in 2001, knows what the weight of expectation at the club feels like and suggests that Bale looks no further than Ronaldo, who he believes has dealt extremely well with the extra pressure his immense price tag brought with it. "The pressure [on Bale] is huge, of course, but we have the best example in Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the most expensive player in football history and he has spectacularly overcome enormous pressure.
"His stats, his performances ... Everything he gives to Real Madrid on and off the pitch is genuinely spectacular. Real Madrid do not consider his price but rather everything he brings to the club." The 24-year-old Bale could make his official Madrid debut away against Villarreal on Saturday.
Ribery best in Europe, says Messi
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has conceded that Bayern Munich ace Franck Ribery deserved to win Uefa's Best Player in Europe award. The Argentine and Cristiano Ronaldo were pipped to the award at a Uefa ceremony in Monaco in August and the 26-year-old says Ribery's treble success with Bayern Munich meant the right man walked away with the prize.
"It was an honour to be in this race again, among the best three players in Europe," he told Uefa. "There are so many great players in the world and it is a real pleasure to be in the competition, but he [Ribery] deserved to win the trophy." The Blaugrana were humbled 7-0 on aggregate by the German giants en route to the Champions League crown last season.
And while Messi admits that the defeat left a "bitter taste" in his mouth, he believes the team must not dwell on the past if they are to bounce back from last year's disappointment in Europe. "We always want to achieve more. Winning the league was very important because of what it signified – winning it back after Real Madrid had won it last year," he added. The Catalans resume their Liga campaign following the international break by welcoming Sevilla to Camp Nou on Saturday.
Ozil lacked strength to fight for a place, claims Zidane
The Spanish giants boosted their attacking options over the summer with the high-profile acquisitions of Isco and Gareth Bale respectively, and Zidane has claimed that the Gunners new-boy lacked the stomach to compete for his selection in the starting line-up. "Ozil decided to leave," he told the club's official channel. "He is a good player who has given us so much so we wish him well.
"There are players who have responded with strength and will to fight for a place, but not everyone reacted the same. The Blancos travel to newly-promoted Villarreal in the Primera Liga on Saturday where €100 million recruit Bale could be handed his debut.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Ferguson reveals secrets of success
Legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed the methods and mentality that saw him win 28 major trophies in 26 years in charge.
The Scot permitted professors from Harvard Business School to observe and study his methods during his final season at Old Trafford as part of a case study, upon which he has since expanded to students in visits to the institution after his retirement.
In a wide-ranging interview published in full in the Harvard Business Review, Sir Alex explained that his first move upon joining the Red Devils was to establish his famed focus on youth.
from the moment I got to Manchester United, I thought of only one thing:
building a football club. I wanted to build right from the bottom," he
began.
"I knew that a focus on youth would fit the club's history
and my earlier coaching experience told me that winning with young
players could be done and that I was good at working with them. So I had
the confidence and conviction that, if United was going to mean
anything again, rebuilding the youth structure was crucial. You could
say it was brave but fortune favours the brave.
"At some clubs, you need only to lose three games in a row and you're fired. In today's football world,
with a new breed of directors and owners, I am not sure any club would
have the patience to wait for a manager to build a team over a four-year
period "Winning a game is only a short-term gain - you can lose the next game. Building a club brings stability and consistency.
"One
of the things I've done well over the years is manage change. I believe
that you control change by accepting it. That also means having
confidence in the people you hire. The minute staff members are
employed, you have to trust that they are doing their jobs. If you
micromanage and tell people what to do, there is no point in hiring
them.
"The most important thing is to not stagnate. I said to
David Gill a few years ago: 'The only way we can keep players at
Manchester United is if we have the best training ground in Europe.'
That is when we kickstarted the medical centre. We can't sit still.
"Most
people with my kind of track record don't look to change but I always
felt I couldn't afford not to change. We had to be successful - there
was no other option for me - and I would explore any means of improving.
I continued to work hard. I treated every success as my first. My job
was to give us the best possible chance of winning. That is what drove
me."
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Balotelli must be more professional, says Rosicky
The midfielder feels the AC Milan star has plenty of potential and says he will improve even further if he changes his behaviour, Tomas Rosicky believes there is much more to come from Mario Balotelli - but only once he has "calmed down" on the pitch. The two players go head-to-head on Tuesday in World Cup qualification Group B as the Czech Republic take on Italy and the Arsenal midfielder hopes the Balotelli will begin to mature and fulfill his potential.
"I know Balotelli pretty well. Mario has a lot of potential. However, he will be even better if he calms down a bit on a professional level," Rosicky told Tuttosport. "Of course, his age plays a role in his behaviour, but he has already shown that he's a very interesting player at City and Milan. "Italy are very strong tactically and they have two superb strikers.
Balotelli made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the previous encounter between the two nations after he was dismissed in the second half after receiving two yellow cards within the space of four minutes. Czech Republic currently sit third in Group B with nine points from seven games, trailing leaders Italy by eight points and second-placed Bulgaria by one point.
Barcelona would not pay €100m for Bale
While Rosell admits the timing of Martino's comments was ill-advised, he has voiced his own disdain for the world-record fee, claiming that his own club could never match such sums on a single player. "I wouldn’t have paid €100 million [for Bale]," he told TV3. "Barcelona cannot allow for that. If we pay €100m, people would go crazy. Madrid is a private institution and if their socios allow it, then I have nothing to say.
"We need to tell Tata that he can’t always say what he thinks, but he was speaking from the heart." Rosell was quick to praise Madrid for their decision to allow Kaka to return to AC Milan on a free transfer, however, stating that the departure of the likes of the Brazilian and David Villa from Camp Nou are useful in freeing up the wage bill.
"Madrid selling Kaka to Milan for nothing was a good move. That’s one huge salary off the books at least. Just like selling Villa was a good move for us," Rosell said. The 49-year-old also revealed he has been in touch with Tito Vilanova, who is continuing to battle cancer following his relapse earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Barcelona were handed a boost after Sergio Busquets returned to training on Monday. The midfielder, who injured his thigh in the 3-2 Liga win over Valencia, has stepped up his recovery after being forced to withdraw from the Spain squad for the matches against Finland and Chile.
Blatter: Summer World Cup in Qatar is a mistake
The Arab nation was awarded the World Cup in 2010 but there have been significant concerns raised about players and supporters' safety holding the event in summer months where temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius. Blatter, in February 2011, insisted the World Cup in 2022 would be held in the summer, but has had a change of heart and will next month make a proposal to Fifa's Executive Committee to alter the dates of the event to the winter.
"After many discussions, deliberations and critical review of the entire matter, I came to the conclusion that playing the World Cup in the heat of Qatar's summer was simply not a responsible thing to do - despite the fact that I know full well that Qatar has the means to develop the best cooling technology.
When it was suggested to him that he already knew it would be impossible to host the World Cup in the summer in Qatar, Blatter told insideworldfootball: "That may well be so, and it may well be that we made a mistake at the time.
"That is why I went public and suggested that the Fifa ExCo should review the period when the event shall be staged and see what consequences it would have to play in winter."
Key figures in the Premier League and Bundesliga chief Christian Seifert, as well as other European leagues, have raised concerns over the club calendar in Europe, which would face upheaval for three to four years should the change go ahead.
Nevertheless, Blatter will go to Fifa's board in early October to propose the event be changed to the winter.
"Once the Executive Committee of Fifa has agreed to that, we can take the next step which will include a close look at the international calendar and establish what consequences the change would have. And we would naturally need to speak to and consult with all interested parties and stakeholders."
Blatter had said in July that he is confident the move will be accepted: "The executive committee will certainly follow my proposal. Then we will have dealt with it for good."
Monday, September 9, 2013
Madrid fought until the death for Neymar - Rosell
Barcelona club president Sandro Rosell has revealed that rivals Real Madrid tried to convince Neymar
to move to Santiago Bernabeu this summer right until the eleventh hour.
The Brazilian forward sealed a €57 million switch to Camp Nou after
making it clear he favoured a move to the Liga champions, but that did
not prevent los Blancos from attempting to disrupt negotiations even when the contract was being signed, according to Rosell.
"When we reached an initial agreement with Neymar's father, the player had already passed a medical with Madrid, so we joked we would not bother with our own check-up," he told television station TV3. "When we were signing the contract, Madrid were sending emails to Santos."
"When we reached an initial agreement with Neymar's father, the player had already passed a medical with Madrid, so we joked we would not bother with our own check-up," he told television station TV3. "When we were signing the contract, Madrid were sending emails to Santos."
The Blaugrana president was also quashed the notion of their being any possibility of Real Madrid club captain Iker Casillas replacing the out-going Victor Valdes, despite the Spain No.1 having failed to regain his first-team place from Diego Lopez. "Casillas will not sign because he is an icon of Real Madrid and I could not see him with the club badge on his chest, the same way I wouldn’t like to see Xavi in a Real jersey," said Rosell.
Finally, the 49-year-old revealed that tensions have dropped between La Liga's top two since Jose Mourinho's departure for Chelsea, but hinted he would miss the Portuguese's presence in Spain. "Since then the tension has dropped, but his press conferences were entertaining," he added. "In the European Super Cup I was siding with Bayern Munich. Pep Guardiola is the best coach in history."
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