Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had doubts about sending Weston McKennie on loan to Leeds last season and is giving him a fresh start in Serie A.
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Liverpool are very much in the market for midfield reinforcements this summer, with Dietmar Hamann telling GOAL what the Reds need.
Jurgen Klopp has seen his side slip from the loftiest of perches in 2022-23, with the Merseyside giants set to end the current campaign empty-handed after previously taking in Champions League, Premier League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup and Carabao Cup successes. Movement on Merseyside is expected over the coming months – in both arrival and departure lounges – with a deal for World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister seemingly in the pipework with Brighton.
Reinforcements in the engine room will be a top priority, with Hamann speculating on who Liverpool could target – including a somewhat shock choice currently on the books at Newcastle – while also discussing potential budgets for Klopp and how costly failure to qualify for the Champions League could be.
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Quizzed on where Liverpool need to be adding in the next transfer window, former Reds star Hamann – speaking in association with – told GOAL: “The first thing you look at is a holding midfielder. If Fabinho can reach the heights again – or close to the heights – that he has been to, then that’s done. If they are not sure, then another holding midfielder would be my priority. It is the most important position – it gives you balance, it gives you security. And, they didn’t score enough goals from midfield in recent seasons.”
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Pressed on who would be a good fit for the Reds, Hamann added: “Mac Allister is a wonderful player and I think he will be a great signing for Liverpool, but a player like Joelinton would be good. They lack a bit of physical presence, they are all very similar. You need a physical presence as well. The size of players is not everything but when you look at Newcastle, when they come out of the tunnel you think ‘Jesus, these guys are big and they can play as well’. Liverpool’s are all pretty slim, pretty small and similar – good on the ball, nifty players. They need a physical presence as well and a player of Joelinton’s stature I think would suit them very well – he can nick a goal, is physical, good on the ball. I would like to see a bit more difference between the midfielders.”
Getty ImagesTop-four failings
Liverpool’s inability to secure a top-four finish this season may come back to haunt them, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice – who have all been linked with the Reds – seemingly destined to head elsewhere.
Hamann said of missing out on the Champions League: “It certainly doesn’t help. You miss out on quite a bit of money, because you have guaranteed income if you go to the Champions League. And players want to play in the Champions League. I think Liverpool is still a big enough pull for people to say ‘I don’t mind playing Europa League football for one season because we’ll be back next year’, but other players might think ‘there is no guarantee we finish in the top four next season’ and you don’t want to go to a club for four years and only play in the Europa League for three seasons.”
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Getty ImagesEarly deals
Hamann added on how Klopp and Co can counter their lack of elite European football by moving quickly for top targets: “Everyone wants to play in the Champions League. It doesn’t help and I think that’s why it’s important to sign a Mac Allister, a Rice pretty quickly because if you sign a big player, or a big name, it makes it quite a bit easier. For example, if Rice and Mac Allister both come, if you approach players then they will think ‘well, we’ll certainly finish in the top four and we might have a chance for the title’. It’s important to sign someone quickly because it makes it easier with those to follow.”
The Blaugrana have had some wonderful players since the European Cup was revamped in 1992 but who makes our all-star selection?
Getty Images1GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Marc-Andre ter Stegen won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 and never looked back, usurping Claudio Bravo as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Fantastic with the ball at his feet, the German fits the club’s style perfectly and is likely to hold on to his starting spot for years to come – once he finally resolves his contractual situation at Camp Nou.
AdvertisementGetty Images2RB: Dani Alves
Dani Alves was one of Lionel Messi’s greatest servants at Barcelona, providing the Argentine with countless assists from right-back.
As well as proving an outstanding attacking outlet, the Brazilian always made it back to his own goal too – at least in the first few years of his Camp Nou career – thanks to his fantastic pace.
A dynamic, invigorating presence both on the pitch and off of it, Dani Alves will go down as one of the game’s greatest ever full-backs, having won six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues during an unprecedented era of success for Barca.
Getty3CB: Carles Puyol
Known as the eternal captain, the defender led by example throughout his captaincy at Camp Nou.
From letting Eric Abidal lift the Champions League trophy after the Frenchman's liver transplate, to brave blocks, tackles and interceptions, Puyol always gave everything for the Catalan cause.
He even got the odd goal, including one in the 6-2 win over Real Madrid in 2009 which is regarded as one of Barcelona’s best-ever performances.
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Getty4CB: Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique has his critics in Spain but that is more related to what he says and does off the field than how he performs on it.
Indeed, even those that despise the Catalan would find it difficult to deny that he has been one of the best defenders of the modern era, a pivotal figure ever since he rejoined Barcelona from Manchester United in 2008 thanks to his immaculate timing and astute reading of the game.
Lancashire take satisfaction in a hard-fought batting performance against a Nottinghamshire seam attack which included three international bowlers
Paul Edwards at Old Trafford18-Apr-2016
ScorecardLiam Livingstone’s half-century took Lancashire into a first-innings lead•Getty Images
Lancashire’s two previous First Division campaigns included only a scattering of days as encouraging as this one. In 2014, the county secured just four first-innings leads in 16 attempts and an inability to bat long in the first half of matches cost them their status. So the satisfaction gained from the four half-century stands shared by Steven Croft’s batsmen against a Nottinghamshire seam attack which included three international bowlers must be considerable indeed.No one enjoyed themselves more than Alex Davies, for whom a tough cricket match seems almost a natural environment, and Liam Livingstone, who marked his first-class debut with a composed, unruffled innings of 63 not out. Stuart Broad may have gained a little personal kudos from having his England team-mate James Anderson caught behind for 6 but he found Lancashire’s freshman a far tougher opponent. Livingstone hit Broad for five boundaries and took 25 off the 24 balls he faced from him. He played the ball, not the bowler.Nottinghamshire’s cricketers applied themselves in the best Trent Bridge tradition; Steven Mullaney’s tight eight-over spell after lunch was typical of their approach. But Mick Newell, Peter Moores and their players were left regretting the inability of their batsmen to post a total greater than 242 on a flat pitch where simple application is often all that is required.All of which offered some sort of warmth to the home fans on a chill Mancunian day when spring was an intermittent visitor and the sun gulled the unwary into venturing out without their coats. The blue skies belied the strength of a bitter westerly wind and the cricketers needed to steel themselves for their task. Bowlers were happy to bowl because it kept them warm; batsmen were content to bat because they could do so in a couple of fleeces; the poor old fielders were left half-hoping that the ball did not come to them. The sanctuary of the dressing-room and the teapot must have been tempting indeed.Each session followed a roughly similar pattern. The first was characterised by watchful defence in its first hour but a little more aggression in its second. Lancashire added 83 runs in 29 overs, 32 of them scored in the 15 overs before Luke Procter and Haseeb Hameed were dismissed by Harry Gurney and Jake Ball in the space of four balls. A more sprightly 51 were added in the 14 overs faced by Alviro Petersen and Steven Croft. But the difference seemed greater than that. Petersen immediately batted fluently, clipping Gurney twice through the leg side before driving Ball to the boundary off the back foot.Nevertheless, a foundation had been laid by Procter, whose only first-team appearance in 2015 was a T20 match, and by Hameed, who was playing his first innings at the top level of English cricket. The rhythm of the innings had also been set and it was never lost in the remainder of the day. Although Croft was caught at the wicket by Read off Mullaney for 15, Davies immediately settled to his work and even the loss of Petersen, caught and bowled by Broad off the leading edge for 48, did not disturb him.Instead Lancashire’s wicketkeeper-batsman shared in a remarkably mature 72-run stand for the sixth wicket with Livingstone and they had taken the score to 228 for 5 before the new ball, which had been taken just after tea, brought Nottinghamshire their best period of the day. Davies was lbw to Ball and Broad then removed both Anderson and Neil Wagner in quick succession. At that point, with more than 22 overs left in the day, it seemed that Nottinghamshire would be batting again on Monday evening, but Kyle Jarvis joined Livingstone in an unbroken 62-run stand for the ninth wicket which extended their side’s lead from the modest through the healthy to the substantial. Jarvis’s unbeaten 36 showed what could be done on this wicket but Read’s batsmen will still have to play well for at least an hour or so before they are in credit.
Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go
Alan Gardner13-Jun-20151:22
‘Not right to be easier to bowl in T20 than ODI’ – Taylor
Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but, after seeing more than 760 runs scored in 96 overs at The Oval on Friday night, New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go.It is more than eight years since McMillan played a key role in New Zealand overhauling totals of 336 and 346 against Australia in consecutive matches – still two of the five highest successful chases in the format. McMillan’s 67-ball hundred in the third ODI was the fastest by a New Zealander until Corey Anderson and Jesse Ryder both breezed past the mark at the start of 2014.That final match in Hamilton in 2007 saw 696 runs scored, albeit within the bijou dimensions of Seddon Park, and was at the time the second-highest match aggregate in history. It has since been pushed down to 10th, with six of the new entries coming in the last two years. Changes to the ODI playing regulations recommended by the ICC cricket committee may shift the balance once again but McMillan’s suggestion that “400 might well be the new 300″ no longer seems outlandish.”I wouldn’t like to put framework on it, I don’t know,” McMillan said when asked about the expansion of batting horizons. “T20 cricket has changed the perception of one-day cricket and what is possible and what’s not. I would think it’s pretty hard to beat 400 against quality opposition but with some of the grounds you play on, where the boundaries aren’t big and you play on good, true surfaces, anything’s possible, really.””These two sides, we’ve got two attacking batting line-ups that are going pretty hard at one another. I think with the pitches we’re going to face in the remaining three matches, 400 might well be the new 300. It’s also T20 cricket coming to the fore, batsmen play with no fear so chasing seven, eight an over is not a big deal anymore.”After two matches in favourable batting conditions, this series is already beginning to resemble a subcontinental run fest, where bowlers are little more than fodder. At Edgbaston, New Zealand took a wicket with the first ball of the match but ended up conceding 408; this time, Steven Finn got through a maiden before the fireworks began. Even with a target off 399 to back them up, New Zealand’s attack only just held out.A couple of winters ago, India and Australia gave it some relentless pongo during a series that looked to have redefined the game – particularly in the wake of the rule changes that brought such attacking cricket at the World Cup. Then, the overall run rate was 6.64 over six matches (one of which was a no result due to rain); currently, England and New Zealand are trading blows at a rate of 7.72 runs per over.New Zealand’s 398 for 5 at The Oval was the second-highest total in their ODI history – and their best against a fellow Test nation – but there was an ominous sense of control about the way the runs came. Of the top four, only Brendon McCullum scored at significantly more than a run a ball in the first 35 overs, with Ross Taylor opening up towards the end for an unbeaten 119 off 96 and Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi providing further impetus lower down.Underpinning it all was solid partnership-building, with 50-plus scores for each of the first four wickets – their smallest was 45 for the fifth – leaving McMillan very satisfied.”It was a very professional batting effort, to have partnerships all the way through really set the platform for that big total,” McMillan said. “McCullum and Guptill probably set the tone, then the partnership between Kane and Ross set the platform and it allowed guys like Elliott and Ronchi to come in and play their cameos. In many ways it was close to the perfect batting performance.”English conditions could once be relied on to even the contest between batmen and bowlers, even with the white ball, but the absence of swing so far has neutered a strength of both attacks. Another generous batting surface is expected at the Ageas Bowl, a ground on which New Zealand cracked 359 for 3 in 2013. Records may continue to tumble.”It’s been a difficult series for the bowlers so far, I think they’re looking forward to a pitch with a little bit more help at some stage,” McMillan said. “But it is something we need to keep working on, I think we made improvements from Edgbaston. England came very hard at us last night, harder than at Edgbaston but the boys got the job done.”There’s very little help, you usually see with the new balls a little bit of swing. That’s one of the challenges for them at the moment, when the ball doe\sn’t do anything, what’s your gameplan? You have to be able to adjust and be flexible. It’s a continual discussion among the bowling group, with Dimi Mascarenhas as well. I think we’ve seen from the first two games it’s going to be a tough series for the bowlers.”
أكد توماس توخيل، المدير الفني لفريق بايرن ميونخ، أنه لا تهاون في مباراة الغد ضد مانشستر يونايتد في دوري أبطال أوروبا، رغم تأهلهم إلى دور الـ16.
ويستضيف ملعب “الأولد ترافورد” مباراة الفريقين في إطار منافسات الجولة السادسة من دور مجموعات البطولة.
ويحتاج مانشستر يونايتد إلى الفوز في مباراة الغد ضد بايرن ميونخ، إلى جانب تعادل جالطة سراي وكوبنهاجن، من أجل التأهل إلى الدور المقبل.
ولم يخسر بايرن ميونخ في 39 مباراة في دور المجموعات، حيث أكد توخيل أن لاعبيه يريدون الحفاظ على هذا المسار المميز، وحذر من أنه لن يقبل أقل من الالتزام الكامل.
وقال توخيل في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ميرور” الإنجليزية: “أتفهم أن بعض الناس اعتقدوا أننا لم نبذل كل ما في وسعنا أمام كوبنهاجن (مباراة الجولة الماضية)، لكن عندما توقع لبايرن أو يونايتد، فإنك تقدم 100 % ما لديك يوميًا”.
وأضاف: “عندما ترتدي قميص بايرن ميونخ، فعليك أن تتصرف مثل الأبطال، ليس هناك طريقة أخرى، لدينا توقعات عالية، حتى لو كنا تحت الضغط دائمًا”.
وواصل: “مانشستر يونايتد سيبذل كل ما في وسعه من أجل التأهل، لكننا نتوقع أداءً عاليًا منا، آمل أن نتمكن من مجاراة حماس مانشستر يونايتد وطاقته”.
اقرأ أيضًا.. شكوك حول مشاركة ثنائي هجوم مانشستر يونايتد أمام بايرن ميونخ في دوري أبطال أوروبا
وأردف: “مانشستر يونايتد دائمًا فريق لديه خطورة وهالة معينة، اجتياز اللحظات الصعبة جزء من حمضهم النووي، هذا الملعب يخلق لحظات خاصة، سيكون تحديًا كبيرًا بالنسبة لنا”.
وفيما يتعلق بالنجم هاري كين، الذي سجل 22 هدفًا في 19 مباراة هذا الموسم، قال الألماني: “نحن فخورون جدًا لأننا تمكنا من التعاقد مع هاري، إنه شخصية عظيمة وقدوة رائعة، لاعب رائع”.
واستكمل: “لقد سجل الكثير من الأهداف وسيكون سعيدًا جدًا باللعب هنا غدًا، إنها قصة رائعة أننا تمكنا من جلب قائد منتخب إنجلترا، قلب الهجوم، إلى ألمانيا”.
MatériaMais Notícias
Depois da derrota por 1 a 0 para o Avaí no Maracanã, pela 17ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro, o Fluminense viu sua situação se complicar ainda mais na competição. O zagueiro e capitão tricolor, Digão comentou do revés diante da torcida e ainda citou um momento histórico do clube.
– O sentimento é de frustração total. A torcida está no direito de reclamar, comparecer contra o Corinthians e não conseguimos classificar. Jogando em casa a gente não pode deixar acontecer. É um campeonato muito difícil, temos que fazer o gol o mais rápido possível. Eles vêm aqui com proposta de jogar por uma bola, contra-ataque – disse ao Premiere.
CONFIRA AQUI PARA CONFERIR E SIMULAR A TABELA DO BRASILEIRÃO
Em seguida, o defensor tricolor relembrou a campanha de reação do time em 2009. Na ocasião, o time chegou a estar com 98% de chance de rebaixamento e conseguiu na última rodada se livrar.
– Eu lembro que eu 2009 eu estava aqui naquela arrancada. Ninguém acreditava na gente. Eles provaram que a torcida faz a diferença. Espero que não nos abandonem – concluiu.
Com o resultado, os cariocas ficaram com 12 pontos, na 18ª colocação, com um jogo a menos.Na próxima rodada, o Fluminense visita o Fortaleza no Castelão, às 17h de sábado.
RelacionadasBrasileirãoQuem não faz, leva! Fluminense pressiona, mas Avaí marca no fim e vence a primeira no BrasileiroBrasileirão02/09/2019
It’s the tournament that has had more names than Sean Combs and more format changes than a struggling TV show. The ACT Comets came and went, as did the ill-conceived split-innings concept. But now the newly-retitled Matador BBQs One-Day Cup might just be finding its niche as a season-opening three-week campaign that mirrors international tournaments.It begins in Brisbane on Saturday and Queensland will enter the competition hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins after taking out the past two Ryobi Cups. Remarkably, they will do so without having lost a single player to the national side. Ben Cutting and Usman Khawaja are the only Queensland players to have had chances over the past two years, but remain on the fringes.There is not a Bull in the UAE with Australia’s one-day international squad that will play Pakistan this month. More than anything, that reflects the evenness of their contributions. In their successful campaign last summer, they had none of the top five wicket takers, and one of the top 10 run scorers. The injured Chris Lynn and Ryan Harris will miss the tournament, but most of the Queensland squad remains intact.”We’ve been like that for a few years now. That’s probably what could have cost us for a few years at the Australian selection table as well. We don’t have those guys peeling off big seasons,” Queensland captain James Hopes told ESPNcricinfo. “Last year was probably the first time we got there … Usman Khawaja was the second leading run scorer in this tournament.”And we share our bowling a fair but up here, we all end up taking a pretty similar amount of wickets. I suppose that might hurt us at the selection table if we don’t have those standouts, but all we can do is keep winning games of cricket and our guys will be prepared for international cricket if that time comes for them.”Australia’s international schedule means that some of last summer’s leading players, including top run scorer David Warner and wicket taker Sean Abbott, will be missing from all or most of the Matador Cup. But others will use the competition as one last chance to audition for a call-up to Australia’s one-day side to play South Africa in November, and potentially a World Cup position.The condensed nature of the tournament, introduced last year, means players need not switch between formats too often during the summer. But it also means that should a player be injured, he can miss out completely on 50-over cricket for the summer, as is the case with Lynn, who could have on the verge of a national call-up but will sit out of the whole Matador Cup as he recovers from shoulder surgery.”We have lost our most destructive player missing for the whole tournament,” Hopes said. “But that’s the way it goes and to be honest, he’s actually looking at it the other way. He’s taken the positive view, I’m not going to be playing three forms so I know what I can prepare for now, T20 and Shield cricket. It is unfortunate time for him though, because he was slowly pushing his case to be something like a reserve for the World Cup squad.”I don’t mind it [the format]. They’re trying to mirror what happens in international cricket, and that’s what happens in international cricket. Gone are the days where you play a Test match and then two one-dayers and then another Test match. Some of the states have named a 15-man squad, so you start to see things like that, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”The entire tournament will be played in Brisbane and Sydney, with each side playing seven preliminary matches before the top three go through to the finals. The first games on Saturday feature Queensland hosting Victoria at the Gabba and New South Wales playing South Australia at Allan Border Field, a match that could be Shaun Tait’s first one-day game in nearly four years.Tait’s comeback to the 50-over format will provide one of the most interesting storylines of the Matador Cup, for at his quickest there is nobody currently in Australian cricket who can match him. However, the question is whether he can maintain that over 10 overs after spending the past few years as a Twenty20 specialist.He will be joined in the South Australia side by batsman Mark Cosgrove, who has returned to Adelaide after spending the past few seasons in Tasmania. In other major moves, Michael Klinger will next week make his first appearance for his new state Western Australia, and notably it will be against his former team South Australia.Another South Australian who has found a new home is the former Test fast bowler Peter George, who is set to make his debut for Queensland. Although George was never a major one-day force in South Australia, his new captain believes he can play a role in the Matador Cup as well as the Sheffield Shield, which begins on October 31.”I’ve been surprised at how quick he’s bowling compared to the last few years,” Hopes said. “He’s got that bit of zip back. And coming from that height, he’s going to be a handful, especially at the Gabba.”We played the Irish [in a practice game] and he bowled into what could best be described as a gale-force breeze and he was getting them through really well. So we’ve been looking for a bowler who can bowl into the wind, apart from myself, and Pete might be that man.”
Veteran spinner Brad Hogg has signed on for another season with the Perth Scorchers, who have also secured Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat for another year
ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2014Veteran spinner Brad Hogg has signed on for another season with the Perth Scorchers, who have also secured Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat for another year.Hogg, 43, has just returned home from the Caribbean Premier League, where he played for the Antigua Hawksbills, and he was also part of Australia’s World T20 squad in Bangladesh earlier in the year.”The body is feeling great and the mind is just the same as ever; it’s feeling like an 18-year-old’s,” Hogg said. “I’m really looking forward to getting back out in the middle and playing. I know my career is coming to an end; it’s going to come to an end quicker than it will extend, we all know that. I just want to enjoy every moment and I’m just excited.”Like Hogg, Arafat was a key part of the side’s BBL triumph last summer with his 12 wickets at 14.75, and Scorchers coach Justin Langer said both men were important signings for the 2014-15 campaign.”I’ve said from day one that, the way I’m watching the game, is that, in Twenty20 cricket, that experience is so important,” Langer said. “To be able to handle the pressure, whether you’re batting, bowling, fielding, usually it’s the more experienced heads that do that. To have Brad Hogg and Yasir adding that experience to our group adds great layers to our squad.”
The BCB has sold its worldwide media rights for the next six years, until April 2020, to Gazi TV for the price of $20.02 million. The company won the rights after quoting an offer price slightly higher than the $20 million floor price set by the board.Gazi TV became the only contender during the open bid on Friday, after another company, Mediacom, quoted a lower price. BCB president Nazmul Hassan said the board was satisfied with the outcome, as it could have been worse.”There was an open bid this morning after which the board had to take a decision in a meeting,” Hassan said. “There were two participants, one of whom didn’t meet our floor price so they became automatically ineligible. Gazi TV has paid just more than our floor price, and their papers have been okayed. As they have no financial problems, we are giving them this work. BCB will receive from them $20.02 million (net) without production cost.”I don’t look at history, but we are satisfied. We believe that we received [the bid] according to the current market situation. If nobody had taken part in the bid, it would have put us in an embarrassing position.”There were several questions during the press briefing about the Gazi TV’s links with the BCB. Gazi Golam Murtoza, the vice-chairman of Gazi TV, is a BCB director and chairman of the tournament committee. Gazi TV’s chairman, Gazi Golam Dastagir, is also a former BCB director.However, Kazi Inam Ahmed, the BCB’s marketing committee chairman who handled the media rights, said Murtoza had stayed out of any discussion on the media rights.”We want to be clear that, during the entire process our committee worked on, the BCB director who is related to the Gazi family has signed legal papers that said he will not be present during any board meeting where we will discuss the TV rights deal,” Ahmed said. “We have ensured that our process remained transparent, and since everything took place through open bidding, there was no chance of corruption.”The BCB’s last long-term deal was with Nimbus between 2006 and 2012 after which Channel 9, Gazi TV and Masranga TV have been given rights separately for home series since October 2012.