Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Owen tips Arsenal to miss out on top four spot

Owen tips Arsenal to miss out on top four spot

Owen tips Arsenal to miss out on top four spot

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 08:00 AM PDT

Optimism is high at Emirates Stadium following the signing of Chile international Alexis from Barcelona. However, while acknowledging the quality of the forward,Owen believes Arsenal - who led the Premier League for much of last term before falling away to finish fourth - will find it difficult to secure UEFA Champions League qualification due to the strength of their rivals. Owen told talkSPORT: "The signing of Sanchez has made everyone sit up and take note. I really do rate him, he's a top player and it's a big step in the right direction. "But, in no particular order, my top four for next season would beChelsea, Man City, Man United and Liverpool." Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool were runners-up to Manchester CIty last season, andOwen has warned his former sidethat they must improve if they wish to claim a first league title since1990. "If Liverpool are going to progress again, they probably need to get better again," the 34-year-old told the club's official website. "Manchester City won the league, Chelsea have strengthened in a big way. "From second to first is a big leap so Liverpool are going to need to be better again and the top-line performers are going to need to play as well, if not better." Liverpool have seen star man Luis Suarez depart for Barcelona, while England internationals Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert have been among the Merseyside outfit's close-season recruits to date. "They are two good buys," added Owen. "They were fantastic last year for Southampton and are proven in the Premier League. "Lallana could be a star. He has done fantastically well, has great feet and lovely balance. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in the Liverpool shirt."

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Stankovic hails Inters Braveheart Vidic

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 04:05 AM PDT

The Serbian centre-back opted to leave Manchester United and move to San Siro on a three-year deal at the end of last season. Former Inter midfielderStankovic, who was confirmed as Udinese assistant coach earlier this month,described his compatriot as a warrior and is backing the 32-year-old to make a big impact in Milan. He told GazzettadelloSport: "For two years he was the best defender in the world, and he is still among the best - there's not much to add. "What you will discover is the man I knew for 10 years together in the national team - a serious person, a great professional, a leader." When asked about the likeness between the former Serbia team-mates, Stankovic said: "He is much cooler than me, but I would say courage. "Have you seen 'Braveheart'? I do not know how many times I said: 'Nema, think about your health', and how many times he split open his forehead or nose because he always throws it in, without thinking about it." Stankovic revealed he could have been appointed assistant coach of his country if SinisaMihajlovic had stayed in the role, but the 35-year-old is relishing his new job asAndrea Stramaccioni's right-hand man. He said: "With the Federation I could have come in as Mihajlovic's assistant, if Sinisa had remained as the coach of the national team. "As a director, no - if today the name 'Dejan Stankovic'means something then it is because I have earned that on the field and I would not have wanted a role just because of that name. "I wanted to use that name with the same humility that I first put in. I wanted an experience, to start over. "It is at the cost of tearing myself away for the first time in my life from my wife and my children, who are currently in Milan."

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Redknapp hopeful over Ferdinand deal

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 03:37 AM PDT

Ferdinand is a free agent after leaving Manchester United, and Redknapp is eager to be reunited with the centre-back, who played for him at West Ham. The 35-year-old defender has been working as a television pundit during the FIFA World Cup, but is due to arrive back in England on Tuesday. And Redknapp wantsto tie up a deal for Ferdinand as soon as possible as he prepares for life back in the Premier League following Rangers' Championship play-off final victory over Derby County. He talkSPORT: "He arrives back today so I am going to meet him and hopefully we can get it sorted. "He has not been difficult to deal with. He wants to play and he is not expensive. "He wants to come and play at QPR now so hopefully we can get it done."

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Real Madrid opt for 0-10-1 formation

Posted: 15 Jul 2014 03:00 AM PDT

Due to fun-ruining inventions such as global scouts and something called television, the Poborsky-Diouf Syndrome is rarely seen in football these days, aside from the odd outbreak around White Hart Lane. This particular malady occurred mainly in the 1990s when a previously unknown footballer would have an outstanding couple of games in a big tournament and get a plumb transfer to a desperate club, before doing next to nothing for five years. Real Madrid tend to develop a lighter, less harmful strain of Poborsky-Diouf: instead of unheard-of players, it is usually the more glamorous variety which gets Florentino Pérez's Galactico belly a-grumblin'. Over the past month, two top World Cup performers have had their fair share of front covers on Marca and AS – Toni Kroos and James Rodríguez. Neither is a seabed-dwelling oyster being uncovered for the first time, but both have been very noteworthy in the media, something that especially gets Florentino's digestive juices flowing. Newly-crowned Welt-Meister Kroos is still being cagey over his footballing destination next season, but the stones point towards the Santiago Bernabéu being his home in a tasty €25 million deal, due to the Bayern Munich player having just one year left on his current contract. Indeed, AS sages say that the presentation could take place as soon as Thursday. Monaco man James is making things a little more obvious. The self-confessed all-rounder isn't so much issuing a come-and-get-me plea to Real Madrid as standing atop the tallest building in Tokyo, dressed in a Lady Gaga shrimp suit in front of a rampaging Godzilla. "It would be a dream to sign for the club of my dreams," squealed the dreaming Colombian in an interview with Marca over the weekend. Should both signings take place, this would leave the Real Madrid squad a little unbalanced and lacking defensive representation – especially if Sami Khedira is flogged, one of the possibilities, with Arsenal among those interested in signing the suspiciously unattacking German. However, fussy stuff like tactics has never been Real Madrid's big concern and that's what makes the institution so much fun to observe. Indeed LLL feels that Pérez may even dispense with the services of Iker Casillas, Pepe and Sergio Ramos due to their iffy World Cups and go for a 0-10-1 formation with James, Kroos, Luka Modric, Xabi Alonso, Angel di Maria (unless he goes to Manchester United to help fund Florentino's financial flutters), Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Isco, Asier Illarramendi and Jesé packing the midfield behind Karim Benzema, potentially the only striker in the team. This may have CR7 feeling a little left out, but the Portuguese Man-of-Phwooaar knows there is still big love from him in Madrid with Marca giving the forward the annual Di Stefano Award for being the best player in La Liga last season, pre-empting Messi's FIFA World Cup accolade in the WTF stakes by about a week. Transfer gossip being transfer gossip and all that means that there is one certainty with Real Madrid over these two players. Whichever comes will get the mother of all presentations... an option that is currently unavailable to certain other clubs.

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England assistant Neville excited by Shaw talent

Posted: 14 Jul 2014 11:36 PM PDT

Shaw, 19, left Southampton in a deal thought to be worth around£27millionin June, signing a four-year deal with Louis van Gaal's team. And Neville, who made over 400 appearances for United and worked with Shaw at England's ill-fated FIFA World Cup campaign, is excited by what the teenager can offer his former club. "I am trying to keep guarded here about the size of talent that exists in this footballer," Neville told the Manchester Evening News. "You are talking about real brilliant potential. The reason United spent £27m on a left-back at his age is because they see the huge talent and I can only endorse that talent. "You have to watch him at close hand to realise that this is an incredible and hugely talented football player. Luke Shaw is fantastic." Shaw was picked in England'sWorld Cup squad after a fine season with Southampton in 2013-14, but Neville feels that the youngster will need time to adapt to life at Old Trafford. "United fans have got to understand, and this is not the boy's fault, is that when you sign someone at that age for £27m, you don't get perfection straight away but you have to give him time and space to develop," he added. "I think Luke will need time to settle in, as any 19-year-old boy would coming to Manchester. I am expecting he will do well this season but you will really see a really quite fantastic full-back in 18 months to two years. "When he matures and gets used to the club and settles into the environment and understands the expectation he will blossom. "I am hoping that, from a football point of view, he is allowed to develop. "The manager he has now got in Louis van Gaal has a track record of working with young players, so it is all perfect for Luke. "He has joined absolutely the right football club in terms of his development. He can achieve anything he wants at United. United have signed someone for the long term."

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