..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Time for Arsenal to do talking on the pitch, says Wenger

Arsene Wenger has challenged Arsenal to do their talking on the pitch when they begin their Champions League campaign against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The Gunners reached the final in 2006, when they lost to Barcelona, but have failed to progress beyond the last 16 in the last six seasons.

Wenger, who has entered the last year of his contract at the Emirates Stadium, is under particular pressure to mount a serious challenge for the latter stages as question marks remain over his long-term future.

And, though the 66-year-old says his personal circumstances have no bearing on their aims for this term, he is keen to see his side produce some of their best football against the continent's elite.

"I just focus on the next game. I think I've played over 170 games in the Champions League - you want to do well in the next one. My personal case is not at stake in that," he said.

"Last year, we were second in the group because Bayern [Munich] were in front of us. We did beat Bayern at home, but they were more consistent. What we need to do to win the group is to get a good result here tomorrow.

"Better than all my speeches is the way we play and the dynamic we can put into the games. If you look at the results over the weekend, our championship is very intense. We're used to playing with that intensity in the Champions League. But better than talking is playing well.

"I was used to much younger squads when we didn't have the resources. Now I have a team of more experienced players. The squad is between 24 and 30, basically, which is where you have a good combination of physical strengths and experience."

Wenger is happy to begin Arsenal's Group A campaign against the Ligue 1 champions as he believes it will serve as an important test of their early-season condition."The two teams are looking for their rhythm. PSG have a few of the same problems as us, but I'm not worrying for them too much," he added.

"I like to come to Paris, it's my country and a city I love. PSG is a good test for us, it's a team above everyone else in France right now, and France always produce good teams and good players."It's exciting to come to us and have a good comparison with where we are to everyone else."

Wenger confirmed that defender Laurent Koscielny, who took a heavy blow to the face during Saturday's 2-1 Premier League win over Southampton, will be fit enough to play a part.

"He's alright, he had a big knock but recovered quite well. I was concerned he wouldn't be available, but he is alright," he said."He has a strong stature. He's one of the best defenders in the world."

Wenger also revealed that Olivier Giroud, who has made just two substitute appearances in the opening four league games, is "close" to being fit enough to return to the starting line-up.

 

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Rodgers: Suarez is one of the most beautiful men you could come across

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has hailed Barcelona's Luis Suarez as the best in the world ahead of their Champions League group stage meeting.

The two worked together at Liverpool, where Rodgers managed the Uruguay international for two years as he fired a stunning 54 Premier League goals under the Northern Irishman's stewardship before moving on to Barca.And, ahead of a confrontation with Suarez in Europe's premier competition, Rodgers lauded the 29-year-old, calling him a "beautiful" man.

"At this moment in time, Luis is the best striker in the world," he told a news conference. "I don't think there's any question about that."First of all, when you speak about Luis Suarez, you have to speak about the man.Luis Suarez is one of the most beautiful men you could come across.

"He's a very humble guy who works tirelessly at his profession. He's super-professional and a family man who gives everything for life as a footballer and for his family."I had the pleasure of working with Luis as a human being for two years and he was incredible.

"As a footballer, I think he's the best in the world. The biggest compliment that you could give Luis is that he came to an already world-class team and he made them better.

"When I see them play now, Barcelona would not be the same team without Luis Suarez."And, given his quality, Rodgers conceded that it will be hard for his Celtic players to stop Suarez on Tuesday night.

"To stop him is very, very difficult," he said. "Like all world-class players that you face, they always find the space.

"You can have all the tactical ideas, you can set up systems, you can park two double-decker buses in front of the goal, I think that some of the best players in the world will always find space.

"What you have to try to do is negate that and be as aggressive as you can in order to stop him - and that's something that we will try to do."

 

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Ancelotti: I can fit both Costa and Ribery into my Bayern team

Carlo Ancelotti insists the quality of Douglas Costa and Franck Ribery means they can play together for Bayern Munich.Brazil winger Costa is back in contention having made his comeback from a thigh injury off the bench in Saturday's 2-0 Bundesliga victory at Schalke.

Costa is set to play a part in Bayern's Champions League opener against Rostov on Tuesday and that could pose a problem with the 25-year-old occupying a similar role to club stalwart Ribery, who endured an injury-hit 2015-16 season.

However, Ancelotti believes the best talent can always find a way to play together and refused to rule out the possibility that Costa and Ribery will feature in the same XI."My opinion is good players have to play and good players can play together," he told a pre-match news conference.

"This also applies to Ribery and Costa. While they cannot play full-back, they can play on both wings in offensive play. So this is not a problem."Ancelotti is expecting a tough test against Russian side Rostov, warning Bayern will have to be on song to break through a resolute defence at the Allianz Arena."They are defensively very well organised," he said. "They beat Ajax with ease.

"We have to play quickly and directly in front of them. They have a good team ethic and they have players who help each other."Especially defensively I expect them to be very strong."

 

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Guardiola & Mourinho 'too busy' for drink after Manchester derby

Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were too busy to have a drink after Manchester City beat Manchester United in Saturday's derby.The City manager insisted ahead of the game that would join his counterpart for the post-match tradition if invited but the meet failed to materialise due to other commitments.

Speaking ahead of City's Champions League group game against Borussia Monchengladbach, Guardiola told reporters: "No. We had a lot of things to do after the game. We have no time."

Guardiola has insisted the reported bad blood between himself and the United manager is played up in the media, adding he respects Mourinho."I have said many times I have a lot of respect for him," Guardiola said last week. "I always try to learn from all my colleagues and opponents and I learn from him as well."

 

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Cuadrado: I did everything to leave Chelsea for Juventus

Juan Cuadrado says he was desperate to seal a return to Juventus, insists he "did everything" to leave Chelsea during the summer.

The Colombian spent last season on loan at the Serie A giants and, after completing pre-season under Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, moved back to Italy on a three-year loan move.

Cuadrado is yet to make his second debut for Juventus, with the Old Lady beginning the defence of their title with three wins from their opening three games, but he is raring to go.

"It was exciting to see," Cuadrado told JTV. "To see the stands and the noise the fans make, I'm excited by the public's support."I did everything to come back, and thanks to God I'm here. I'm very happy."Cuadrado scored five goals in 40 appearances for Juventus last season.

 

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Sunderland 0-3 Everton: Lukaku hat-trick downs Black Cats

Romelu Lukaku quashed his goalscoring drought in fine fashion as he scored a hat-trick to hand Everton a 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Jermain Defoe spurned a clear opening for the home side early in the first half, but chances were few and far between in an end-to-end opening period before Lukaku took centre stage on Monday.

The striker had gone 1,139 competitive minutes without a club goal before finding the back of the net three times inside 11 second-half minutes to maintain the Toffees' unbeaten start to the season and inflict more misery on former boss David Moyes.

Jordan Pickford denied Yannick Bolasie a fourth but Everton's visiting fans were in full voice - some of them targeting Moyes with chants of 'you're getting sacked in the morning' - as their side took revenge for a 3-0 reverse on the same ground last season.

Sunderland captain Defoe wasted the best chance of a balanced opening half-hour, slicing the ball over the crossbar from just 12 yards after beating Everton's offside trap.

Lukaku's glancing header forced Pickford into a fine one-handed stop, before Ashley Williams nodded narrowly wide from Kevin Mirallas' corner.

Everton looked the more likely to open the deadlock, with Bolasie's movement causing Sunderland some problems, but Maarten Stekelenburg had to be alert to stop Lynden Gooch's cross from looping into the far corner.

Koeman replaced the ineffective Ross Barkley with Gerard Deulofeu at half-time and his run allowed Bolasie the chance to test Pickford from distance, before Kone headed straight at Stekelenburg from a corner.But Lukaku, who had been isolated too often in the first half, at last ended his long wait for a league goal on the hour mark.

Deulofeu fed Idrissa Gueye on the counter-attack, and the midfielder's pinpoint clipped cross from the right was nodded into Pickford's bottom-right corner by the Belgium marksman, who was unmarked just six yards from goal.

Lukaku came within inches of a second just three minutes later, rattling the crossbar on the turn inside the area, but he had better luck with 68 minutes played as Sunderland's defence made it all too easy for him.

Bolasie drove to the byline down the Everton left and looped a cross towards the far post, where Lukaku arrived unmarked once again to head in from point-blank range.

And the former Chelsea man added a stylish third three minutes later, racing onto Mirallas' first-time through ball between a static Sunderland defence before shooting left-footed beyond Pickford.

Pickford saved low to his right from Bolasie's drive and Lukaku blasted a presentable opening over the bar, but the damage to a Sunderland side desperately short on confidence had already been done.

Everton have moved up to third following their third successive league win under Ronald Koeman, while Sunderland are currently 19th under Moyes after suffering a third defeat in four games under the Scot.

 

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EPL 2016/17 1st Hat-trick 1ka

Congratzzzzz Lukaku!​

 

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Lukaku: I must be a serial killer in attack

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku says he must adopt a "serial killer" instinct in the final third to build on his hat-trick against Sunderland.

The Belgium international had gone 1,139 minutes without a competitive goal for the club before he nodded in Idrissa Gueye's cross in the second half at the Stadium of Light on Monday.

Lukaku completed his treble in just 11 minutes, heading in Yannick Bolasie's delivery before slotting past Jordan Pickford on the break as Ronald Koeman's side sealed a resounding 3-0 win to move third in the Premier League.

The 23-year-old felt his side endured a poor first-half display but was ultimately frustrated not to have scored more goals, having hit the crossbar with a fierce shot from close range after earlier seeing a header tipped over by Pickford."I think we could have done better, especially in the first half. It wasn't as good as we wanted," he told Sky Sports.

"They defended well but we didn't get the ball up front or create chances, aside from one or two that I missed. It wasn't good enough."The second half was much better and it was a well deserved win.

"I think I could have had five at the end, maybe, so I have to be more of a serial killer. But we won today and the defence did a brilliant job. We have to keep going as a team."

Lukaku, who scored twice in Belgium's World Cup qualifying win over Cyprus last week, insists he was always confident he would recapture his scoring touch once his fitness levels improved following a post-Euro 2016 break.

"It was coming. When I went to Belgium, I said it was about my fitness levels, which weren't as good as I wanted them to be. You have to be patient in the Premier League," he said."I'm happy for the team. We're in a good position in the league and we have to keep going."

Defender Leighton Baines says the squad always had faith in Lukaku's ability and praised the "fantastic" all-round spirit within the dressing room."We know he's got goals in him, his record is phenomenal. We all knew the goals were going to come," he said.

"We've started from scratch, we've got to be crystal clear on the fundamentals again and be crystal clear on what we want to achieve. We started at the bottom and worked really hard, got fit, and the spirit is fantastic. We need to keep this run going.

"We haven't set any definite objectives. Our goal is to repeat what we did in the first chunk [of the season], and if we do that, we'll be in a good position."

 

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'I felt sorry for Fellaini' - Carragher slams Pogba derby display

Jamie Carragher has slammed Paul Pogba's performance for Manchester United as Manchester City ran out 2-1 winners at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The world's most expensive player lined up in a central midfield pairing with Marouane Fellaini as the city rivals dominated proceedings and earned a deserved derby win.

Carragher, analysing the game on Sky Sports' 'Monday Night Football', feels Jose Mourinho should have taken Pogba off at half-time due to his below-par showing and compared his tactical discipline to that of a schoolboy."I don't think Pep Guardiola got it massively right, rather that Jose Mourinho got it tactically wrong," Carragher said.

"What Mourinho wasn't helped by was the performance his players - he made two changes at half-time - and specifically the performance of Paul Pogba.

"I think, for a central midfield player, in a game of that magnitude, it was one of the most ill-disciplined performances you'll see in the first 45 minutes."The only way to describe it is the best player in the schoolyard. He runs where we wants, does want he wants."

Carragher went on to detail Pogba's positioning throughout the game as space was left in the centre of midfield, adding: "This must have happened 10 to 15 times during the game."I never thought I'd say this, but I felt so sorry for Marouane Fellaini."

 

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Ibrahimovic backs Pogba to prove 'jealous' critics wrong

Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Paul Pogba's "jealous" critics will be silenced by the midfielder.World-record signing Pogba has made a slow start to life back at Old Trafford, where United suffered a 2-1 derby loss to Manchester City on Saturday.

But Ibrahimovic has no doubt as to the 23-year-old's talents, insisting the France international will prove people wrong."Paul came from a generation that is becoming important in France," the Swedish striker told SFR Sport.

"The national team did not win the Euros, unfortunately, but the generation is strong and they will become stronger and Paul is one of them, and with what he has done, he will become even better.

"I did not know Paul before and now I know him personally, he is a boy who works hard, he wants to progress and has a good attitude.

"But he is still young and all the jealous people talking about him will swallow every word they said about him because he will only get better."Pogba is yet to score or have an assist in three Premier League games, but United sit fourth with three wins.

Ibrahimovic, who has already netted four times in the league, said the pressure on Pogba was enormous.He said: "You have to be realistic, people are putting a lot of pressure on Paul. His transfer created a huge amount of buzz."

United return to action with a Europa League trip to Feyenoord on Thursday before travelling to Watford three days later.

 

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Rooney MUST improve or face Manchester United exit, says Carragher

Wayne Rooney must improve if he wants to stay at Manchester United, says Jamie Carragher.

The United and England captain has played almost every minute of the Premier League season thus far under Jose Mourinho, with one goal and two assists to his name.

But Carragher, who was analysing Rooney's performance in the derby loss to Manchester City on Sky Sports, fears for the 30-year-old's future at Old Trafford because he believes United have “better options” in the position he wants to play in.

"Wayne Rooney has got a bigger problem at Manchester United in terms of getting in this team over the next three or four months than he does with England," Carragher said.

"He can still play for England. He's got a bigger problem [at United] because there are better options for where he wants to play."Wayne was poor at the weekend and he will have to improve if he wants to stay at Manchester United."

 

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Manchester United announce record £515m revenue

Manchester United have become the first British club to announce revenues over half a billion pounds.The Red Devils posted earnings of £515.3m in the 2015-16 financial year.Despite the club's struggles on the field since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, their financial accounts have not been heavily affected.

United's income via commercial channels has increased by 36.3%, having brought in £268.3m, while matchday revenue is up to £106.6m from last year's of £90m.

The Old Trafford outfit, who won the FA Cup last term, also posted an operating profit of £68.9m, with their revenue up 30% year-on-year, while their debt rose two per cent to £261m.

And, according to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, United are on track to improve their revenue again next year, despite failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League.

"Our record fiscal 2016 financial performance reflects the continued underlying strength of the business and the club is on target to achieve record revenues in 2017, even without a contribution from the Champions League," he said.

"This strong financial performance has enabled us to invest in our squad, team management and facilities to position us to challenge for, and win, trophies in the coming years."

 

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Moyes shocked at dismal Sunderland defending

Sunderland boss David Moyes said he "couldn't believe" the standard of his side's defending in their 3-0 Premier League defeat to Everton on Monday.

Having matched the visitors during the first half at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland collapsed to a third defeat in four league games thanks to a hat-trick from Romelu Lukaku in the space of 11 second-half minutes.

The Belgium international twice headed in unmarked from point-blank range before slotting in a third on the break after Kevin Mirallas split the home defence with a simple first-time pass.And Moyes is eager to assess what went wrong as soon as possible in order to avoid a similar result when they travel to Tottenham on Sunday.

"We were really poor in the second half, but I thought, in the first half, we showed some good things. We had one or two opportunities ourselves," he told Sky Sports.

"But we weren't in the right positions to defend crosses in the second half. For two of the goals from crosses, I couldn't believe we didn't have defenders in the middle of the goal, especially against Lukaku.

"We're putting together a new team, it will take time. But I was really disappointed with the last 30 minutes especially."There have been a couple of games where we've been right in it right at the end, but the minute we lost a goal tonight, we never looked like getting back into it.

"I thought we gave them away really cheaply, we didn't do basic defending and we got punished. You have to give Everton credit, they picked people out with a couple of really good balls. We just weren't in the right defensive positions, which is something we work on regularly. I can't wait to get to them and ask why they weren't doing it.

"We've got to try not to concede any goals, we had some decent play going forward at times and we had a young side out. But that's no excuse - when you're in the big league, you've got to step up to it."

 

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UEFA Champions League Group Stages Fixtures 2016.09.13

UEFA Champions League Group Stages Fixtures 2016.09.13

Barcelona Vs Celtic

Basel Vs Ludogorets

Bayern Vs Rostov

Benfica Vs Besiktas

Dynamo Kiev Vs Napoli

Manchester City Vs Monchengladbach

PSV Vs Atletico Madrid

PSG Vs Arsenal

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[Alucard_SxE]

Ibrahimovic backs Pogba to prove 'jealous' critics wrong

Meketh aththak thiyanawa. Everybody is waiting for him to fail. It's totally not his fault ithin.

Poddak withara oluwa loku kamak thiyanawa & tikak wadipura ad danawa. eka kamak nehe kiyamu..

I blame his agent. Raiola. Minihata salli walata thiyana peretha kamata sahena hype ekak dila sahena kalayakadda transfer eka. hena charter wedak kare. eken thama wade charter une

 

[Alucard_SxE]

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Meketh aththak thiyanawa. Everybody is waiting for him to fail. It's totally not his fault ithin.

Poddak withara oluwa loku kamak thiyanawa & tikak wadipura ad danawa. eka kamak nehe kiyamu..

I blame his agent. Raiola. Minihata salli walata thiyana peretha kamata sahena hype ekak dila sahena kalayakadda transfer eka. hena charter wedak kare. eken thama wade charter une

Ekanam attha thamai bro Ath anemanda spend time aranhari kamak naha spend karapu gane hatiyata deyak kaloth nam echchari
​

 

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Congratulations Muller!

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Arsenal are heavy favourites to FINALLY win Champions League group

Arsenal and the Champions League have never really been a match made in heaven. The 2005-06 final in Paris was set-up as a near-perfect scenario for Arsene Wenger’s side. A showpiece finale in his homeland with compatriot Thierry Henry upfront and in defence a makeshift back four which had just made a European record of 10 consecutive clean sheets.Everyone knows what happened next.

Jens Lehmann’s infamous sending off, which ironically may be considered a bookable offence in today’s game, and Sol Campbell’s bullet header from an Henry free-kick emphasised the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Wenger’s men. Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti went on to break Arsenal hearts in the second half as the Gunners missed out on their greatest opportunity to win Europe’s elite competition.

Since then, Arsenal’s European performances have been underwhelming to say the least. Other than a couple of quarter-final appearances and one semi-final defeat to Manchester United, when Kieran Gibbs slipped in the opening stages of the game, Arsenal have failed to progress from the last-16 for six consecutive seasons. Was it poor tactics, inferior players or simply bad luck on the day? There is certainly cause for argument that the exits are down to a whole raft of reasons but, regardless of the club’s history in the competition, there is no doubt that this season remains arguably their best chance to finish top of their group.

Paris Saint-Germain have been labelled as ‘weaker’ than last season with even their most ardent supporters claiming that the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has affected their attacking play. They still boast one of the most exciting attacks in Europe and their defenders are world renowned, yet questions remain over whether they can handle the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez over two games.

Swiss champions Basel have knocked out Chelsea and Liverpool in the Europa League in previous seasons. They're a well-organised unit and good on the counter attack, boasting Seydou Doumbia upfront and Granit Xhaka's older brother Taulant in midfield, Arsenal will have to be wary of the European underdogs.

Similarly, Ludogorets are somewhat of an unknown quantity in Group A but come with a reputation of being able to surprise and play under pressure. Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho is considered their star player and the Bulgarian giants are likely to deploy a packed midfield against the likes of Arsenal and PSG in a bid to counter the attacking threat of each respective team.“We’d love to win it, as it has never been done at this club,” said Wenger in September 2013. “It’s something I miss; I’ll try very hard to fill my CV with it.”

There are countless decisions, events and moments in games which Wenger can look back on in regret where the Champions League is concerned. Robin van Persie’s sending off after shooting when the referee had blown for offside was one, while Nicklas Bendtner’s miss against Barcelona in the same game was another.

It has been a tremendously difficult competition for Arsenal to breach and made all the more difficult with the powerhouses of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid seemingly unable to be wrangled off the trophy. Atletico Madrid have come close in recent seasons but even Diego Simeone’s side haven’t got their hands on the famous silver ‘ears’.

Wenger will be quietly happy with Arsenal’s Champions League group this season knowing full well that each of his opponents pose individual threats across the pitch. However, the draw which really matters comes after the group stage and it is the round-of-16 where Arsenal have struggled to overcome in the past six campaigns. If this is the Frenchman’s final hurrah at the club then the trophy that he has yearned for over so many years will be on his mind once again.

“Better than all my speeches is the way we play…”, said Wenger when asked about Arsenal’s hopes of winning Europe’s biggest trophy. He’s right, the words have been written, the talking will stop once the game begins. It’s up to Arsene’s Arsenal to show what they can do now.

 

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Mourinho: The team will always be more important than any player


Jose Mourinho has worked with many of the game's elite talents, from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Cristiano Ronaldo, but insists no one player is bigger than the team and makes no special effort to cater for individuals.Rather than pandering to egos in his pre-match pep talks, the Manchester United manager at all times delivers a unified message to his group.

"For me the team will always be more important than any player," he told Goal. "The individuals are there, like I am, to serve the team, to give their best to the team. Unless any particular situation demands a one-to-one, I coach teams, I don't coach individuals and prefer to talk to everyone."

Master-motivator Mourinho detailed to Goal his pre-match techniques, in which he insists on multiple team talks to catch players' attention in short bursts before pumping them up with a psychological briefing just before the game starts.

The two-time Champions League winner is famed for the bonds he forms with his players, and much of his success is down to his ability to both motivate his men and also convey his own attention to detail in those precious get-togethers before matches."I do more than one [talk] because I think the message has to be very short and objective," he said. "I normally start having meetings with the players to prepare [for] a game three days before.

"But the last one, because you did all the work in terms of the game plan and tactical preparation, is very specific for both sides. Normally I leave for the last talk the psychological aspect, the motivational one."

Mourinho also disclosed the details behind his psychological techniques, revealing that while he prepares methodically for his pre-match talks, he prefers to be more instinctive once the match is underway."Normally I prepare, especially the pre-match," he said. "You can think and re-think and study a lot interviews until you arrive to the final product.

"The words during the game, the talk at half time, that is a different story; it's more difficult. You have to read and feel the game and the players, reduce the unpredictability of the game, and it's much more automatic and instinctive.

"But for pre-match you have plenty of time, especially for me - I work so many hours in the day to think about the consequences of the words, to choose the right words."Mourinho puts his success in extracting the maximum from his troops down to not only coaching his players but also interacting with them on a personal level.

"I love that feeling, influencing a player's career and life and consequently the family's,” he said. "It's a way to have them ready to give everything - plus something - because sometimes everything is not enough! That 'something' comes when the relationship is good between manager and player."