..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Man Utd is the perfect club for Pogba - Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Paul Pogba is arriving at the "perfect club" as he closes in on a move to Old Trafford.United announced on Sunday ahead of their 2-1 Community Shield win over Leicester at Wembley that Pogba had been given permission by Juventus to undergo a medical with the Red Devils ahead of a world-record £112 million transfer.

And the United boss insists the Frenchman will be met by the ideal environment to grow as a player, claiming that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would harm any move Pogba might have made to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

"I think United is the perfect club to bring him to the level he wants to be, and the Premier League is the perfect habitat," he told a press conference. "If you go to Real Madrid and Barcelona I think you are in trouble because the two big guys [Ronaldo and Messi] don't let you develop. Here he can develop.

"Money he would get at many big clubs so that is not the point. He comes here because he wants to be part of the Man United project. So hopefully it all goes well in the medical."

The 23-year-old will be the fourth addition to Mourinho's side since he succeeded Louis van Gaal as United boss, and he says that he is happy with the work done in the market over the summer following on from the signings of Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"On Tuesday I will be there waiting for [Pogba]. We have a new defender in Bailly, a new midfielder in Pogba pending the medical, a new attacking midfielder in Mkhitaryan and a new striker in Ibra. I think the market was good for us, but we need to work a lot, a lot, a lot. I am happy we have for the next six weeks only one match a week because we can work a lot."

United start their Premier League campaign at Bournemouth next Sunday, with Pogba potentially in line to make his second United debut four years on from his initial departure for Juventus.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

"Without him, we wouldn't be celebrating" - Mourinho dedicates Community Shield win to Louis Van Gaal

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has dedicated his new club's Community Shield win over Leicester City to predecessor Louis van Gaal.

United beat Claudio Ranieri's Premier League champions 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late headed winner, but Mourinho was quick to thank the Dutchman for his role in the triumph.

Victory in Van Gaal's final game in charge - the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace - qualified United's for the season curtain raiser, and the point was not lost on the 53-year-old.

"First of all, if you will allow me I want to dedicate the victory to Louis van Gaal because without him we wouldn't be here celebrating. He won the FA Cup to allow us to be here today. So I dedicate it to him and to my seven players who didn't play today. It was very hard to see players like Depay, Phil Jones, Ashley Young not playing."

The Red Devils came out on top despite Jamie Vardy netting early in the second half to cancel out Jesse Lingard's opener, and Mourinho added that Leicester's performance had given his side a real test - especially in an injury-time phase which saw goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel spend much of the time in attack.

"They brought an intensity to the game which was difficult for us to cope with," he added. "We recovered the balance, and when you score almost at the end it is always a bit lucky but we were almost in control.

"In the last five minutes it was a nightmare. Schmeichel is a goalkeeper but he was clearly watching videos of his dad, and at right-back they have someone who looked like Rory Delap with the long throw-ins but it was Luis Hernandez."

"It is an important victory but, of course, we have lots of work to do. Some of these guys have been in training for one week, [Anthony] Martial, Ibrahimovic, [Marouane] Fellaini – it's not a full pre-season."But it is always important to start with a trophy."

Despite Ibrahimovic netting the winning goal on his first competitive appearance for United, Mourinho expects the Swedish striker to offer more in coming weeks and saved some words of praise for new centre-back Eric Bailly."Zlatan will be more dangerous when we're more dominant and play closer to the box," he said.

"He is not a player to play 50 metres from the box and be dangerous. He needs them [United team-mates] to produce for him and we need to change that, this team was more about possession and recycling the ball."We are trying to change and the second goal is a great example of that."Bailly was the perfect opponent for them [Vardy and Ahmed Musa] because he is as fast as they are.

"You have a question mark when players come from a different level, but without [Chris] Smalling, the way he played was really good, but Daley [Blind] gave him the stability he needed."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mourinho explains decision to sub 'angry' Mata

Jose Mourinho says he took off Juan Mata just half an hour after his introduction in order to defend against high balls in the final minutes of Manchester United's 2-1 Community Shield win over Leicester City.

Mata was introduced on 63 minutes for opening goalscorer Jesse Lingard, who had taken a knock to his foot, but was hauled off in injury time for Henrik Mkhitaryan as the Premier League champions pushed for an equaliser.

The 28-year-old, who has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford in recent weeks, was visibly frustrated as he made his way back to the dugout for the final seconds of United's triumph at Wembley.

But Mourinho, who sold Mata to United during his first season back as Chelsea manager in 2013-14, says he made the change to help run out the clock while leaving his team capable of defending from late set-pieces.

"I know I did something which is not nice to do which is replace Mata, but he's happy now," Mourinho told reporters. "The rules allowed six changes, and I wanted to stop the game, to kill time. I have one more player [to bring on] and I have to pick the smallest one [to come off]."He played very well, he gave me exactly what I needed.

"However I knew it would end with long balls, throw-ins, so I don't pick [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic or [Marouane] Fellaini for sure. Mata is the smallest one.

"He was very angry but they threw everything. We want to win and everybody is happy in the end."Ibrahimovic marked his competitive debut for United with the winning goal seven minutes from time, after Jame Vardy had equalised following a superb solo strike from Lingard.

Vardy's goal, Leicester's first effort on target, came after 52 minutes, when Fellaini played a backpass into his path after intercepting a ball from Ahmed Musa.Mourinho, however, blamed the goal on the playing surface rather than his midfielder's error.

"It's a mistake of the slow pitch," he said. "I put my hand on the surface and thought 'wow, we're in trouble' because we wanted a fast pitch."Marouane gives the backpass, the ball slows down, and Vardy smells everything and is really fast."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

FA Community Shield 2016 in Pictures

Leicester City Vs Manchester United

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[Alucard_SxE]

Best assist in the match - Fellani to Vardy

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Best assist in the match - Fellani to Vardy

He he apo ow bro kiyala wadak naha.maru pass 1kaFellaini nam anemanda
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[Ysa Karu]

අද බ්‍රසීලෙ මැච් එක නන් චාටර්...

 

[Alucard_SxE]

අද බ්‍රසීලෙ මැච් එක නන් චාටර්...

olympics nam patta charter. portugal dinai wage ekath

 

[sri D]

අද බ්‍රසීලෙ මැච් එක නන් චාටර්...

Ow bn south africa match ekedi wath goal ekak na..iraq eunta full happy match eka draw karagattata.

 

[Ysa Karu]

olympics nam patta charter. portugal dinai wage ekath

අද ගෝල් කීයක් ගහන්ඩ චාන්ස් ආවද...අපරාදෙ හොඳට දිනන්න තිබ්බ මැච් එක...

 

[Ysa Karu]

Ow bn south africa match ekedi wath goal ekak na..iraq eunta full happy match eka draw karagattata.

 

[Alucard_SxE]

Samahara matches fixed wage.
Like Fiji vs Mexico match eka.
HT 1-0 to Fiji & FT 1-5 mexico.

Man nam ekakwath baluwe nehe. oita wada hoda matches thiyanwa me dawas wala. lower leagues wala

 

[Wolverine GTR]

OFFICIAL: Inter sack Roberto Mancini

Inter have confirmed the sacking of manager Roberto Mancini just under two weeks before the start of the new Serie A season.

The Nerazzurri's Chinese owners have decided to wield the axe following the club's heavy 6-1 defeat against Tottenham in a pre-season friendly in Oslo.

Mancini, 51, had been under pressure at Inter due to the club's failure to qualify for this season's Champions League with a fourth-placed finish last term, having been top of the table as late as January.

And Mancini has since been dismissed on the back of just one win from five pre-season friendlies, with former Ajax boss Frank de Boer poised to replace him at the helm, Goal understands.

"Inter would like to place on record its thanks to Roberto for the work carried out with the team since joining in November 2014,” said a club statement.

"Last season the club led Serie A until the Christmas break, ending the season in fourth place and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
"We thank Roberto for the work and commitment he has shown the club over the past 20 months."

Mancini, who guided Inter to three Serie A titles between 2004 and 2008, returned to the club for a second spell in November 2014.

The former Manchester City boss led Inter to eighth during the 2014-15 campaign and brought in a number of big signings last summer in an attempt to lead the club back into the Champions League.


However, Inter finished 13 points behind third-placed Roma and were also beaten by Juventus on penalties in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Zabaleta set for Man City stay under Guardiola

Pablo Zabaleta has confirmed he is staying at Manchester City, despite reports of interest from Roma.

The Argentine has won two Premier League titles in his eight years with City, but lost his place in the starting line-up to Bacary Sagna under Manuel Pellegrini last season.

However, with Pep Guardiola now in charge, and keen to retain the full-back, Zabaleta has dismissed talk of a move to Serie A ahead of the new campaign.

"There was a lot of speculation - that came from the media," the 31-year-old said.
"I don't know how many times I was away to Italy. It was incredible. Every day there was a new club."I've always been away from that because I knew from the first day it was my decision.

"I had been told by the new manager that I was part of his squad for this season, so I'm more than pleased because City was my priority."I know I only have one year left on my contract, so that creates a lot of speculation about my future.

"But I didn't decide anything before I came back for pre-season to meet the manager and hear from him what was my situation. I'm so happy to be part of Manchester City for this season."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Khelaifi: Matuidi will not be leaving PSG

Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi says the Ligue 1 champions have "not discussed" the possibility of selling midfielder Blaise Matuidi.France international Matuidi has been linked with a move to Juventus as the replacement for his Manchester United-bound Les Bleus team-mate Paul Pogba, but PSG are keen to retain the 29-year-old.

After announcing the signing of Jese Rodriguez from Real Madrid, Al-Khelaifi told a press conference the club are closed for business in this transfer window."The transfer window is over for me," he said. "Matuidi is under contract with us and we have a very good relationship.

"We have not discussed losing Matuidi, who is a pillar of the team."Al-Khelaifi also expressed his delight with the work PSG have done in the market this off-season.

"I think Jese is our last recruit this summer transfer window," the 42-year-old said.
"We have a good team. We are very pleased with our recruitment."As well as Jese, the club have signed Hatem Ben Arfa, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Thomas Meunier and Giovani Lo Celso.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

OFFICIAL: PSG sign Jese from Real Madrid

Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain have sealed the signing of Real Madrid forward Jese Rodriguez on a five-year contract.Unai Emery's side confirmed the deal on Monday after agreeing a fee believed to be in region of €20m with Madrid.

Jese becomes PSG's fifth signing ahead of the defence of their Ligue 1 title following the earlier arrivals of Hatem Ben Arfa, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Thomas Meunier and Giovani Lo Celso.

He played in 38 times – scoring six goals - for Madrid last season, although just 11 of those were starts due to stiff competition from the likes of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.The return of Alvaro Morata from Juventus further limited Jese's starting opportunities under Zinedine Zidane, prompting his move to Paris.

"I am delighted to join Paris Saint-Germain, who have become one of Europe’s most competitive clubs,” he told his new club's official website.

“Like Paris Saint-Germain, I have big ambitions for the coming seasons and it will be a great pleasure to work under the direction of Unai Emery, who has developed an excellent reputation in Spain, and across Europe, for his quality as a coach. I can’t wait to begin this next challenge of my career."

Paris Saint-Germain Chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi added: "I am very happy to welcome Jese to PSG.“His speed and creative qualities will complement our excellent attacking players. With Jese, our squad is now, more than ever, armed to confront the coming challenges and meet the expectations of our fans."

Jese made his Madrid debut in March 2012, but was still playing for the Castilla team until the end of the 2012-13 season, from which point he became a full member of the first-team squad, winning the Champions League twice.He is yet to win a full international cap for Spain, but has played for his country at every youth level.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

OFFICIAL: Vermaelen joins Roma on loan

Thomas Vermaelen will spend next season on loan at Roma with the Serie A club also having the option to purchase the Belgium international at the end of 2016-17, Barcelona have announced.

Vermaelen arrived on Sunday to undergo his medical and the 30-year-old has now completed his move to the Italian capital."I feel very happy to be a Roma player and I'm looking forward to the new challenge,” Vermaelen told Roma TV.

"It's a new start for me, in a new country, and I am looking forward to it."

The centre-back joined Barca from Arsenal in August 2014, but injuries prevented him from making an impact at Camp Nou. He made just one appearance in his first season at the Catalans, before making an additional 20 appearances last term.

Vermaelen won two domestic doubles as well as the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during his time at Barcelona.

Roma previously already brought in Alisson, Mario Rui, Juan Jesus, Federico Fazio and Wojciech Szczesny, who played at Arsenal with Vermaelen.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Vermaelen godakma injury prone​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Forlan backs Man Utd for title challenge under Mourinho

Diego Forlan is confident Manchester United can be ‘real contenders’ for the Premier League title under Jose Mourinho this season.

United have failed to finish higher than fourth in the table since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement three years ago and will also have no Champions League football to look forward to for the second time in the same period.

Louis van Gaal paid the price for his failure to guide United into the top four last season as he was replaced at the helm by former Chelsea boss Mourinho.

Forlan, who spent two-and-a-half years as a striker for United and is fondly remembered by fans for his winning brace against Liverpool, believes the club have appointed ‘the right man’ in Mourinho.

With Mourinho having added Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to his squad, and with Paul Pogba close to completing a move, Forlan expects United to be title challengers.“As soon as Jose Mourinho was given the job, I knew that he was the right man for Manchester United,” Forlan told Goal.

“They have had a few seasons which their fans will not have been used to and it was going to take a coach of Mourinho's experience and influence to guide the club back to where they are expected to be.

“Manchester United looked a long way off winning the title last season and, even with Mourinho in charge, I thought this would have to be a year of transition for them, but now I am not so sure.

“They have signed very well, and if they manage to also sign Pogba, I think they can be real contenders.”

Forlan, whose final appearance for United in August 2004 came in Mourinho’s first Premier League match as Chelsea manager, feels the lack of Champions League football will also boost his old club’s title chances.

He added: “They have no Champions League football next season, and I am sure Mourinho will use the Europa League as a chance to develop the youngsters at the club.

“Like Leicester last season they can give their big players a week’s rest between games, and that could make all the difference for them.”