It’s somewhat surprising that Christian Tello hasn’t arrived in the Premier League yet. Linked with a move for several years now, the 24-year-old again finds himself again amongst the gossip columns in England.
This time Spurs, and Mauricio Pochettino’s ongoing revolution in North London is the apparent destination. On some levels the link makes a lot of sense.
The permutations for likely qualifiers from the groups have begun as the groups complete their second round of games at the Euro 2016 tournament. In Group B, with England, Wales, Slovakia and Russia, likely countries to qualify is not yet clear as it could go either way for each side. The late goal from Daniel Sturridge means the Three Lions sit atop the group with four points from the two games played so far.
Wales are in second place with the three points they picked up from defeating Slovakia. Slovakia are in third place with same three points after they slid narrowly past Russia, leaving Russia last in the current standings with just a point from their draw with England in their first game.
Manchester United not made an offer for striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is a free agent after a few weeks, according to the player’s agent.
Ibrahimovic recently revealed that he will leave Paris St Germain once his contract comes to an end in June. He will be looking for a new club after his four-year spell with the French club comes to an end. During this period, Ibrahimovic has done his reputation no harm after transforming PSG into one of the biggest clubs in the world. Solely relying upon the presence of Swedish superstar, PSG were able to bring in a lot of world-class names.
Whether you are interesting in placing a bet or want to gauge which team has the best chance it’s always useful to look at the in-form players, who play for the in-form teams and decide who has the best chance of taking the Golden Boot award.
In 2012 we saw 6 joint top scorers with no particular player standing out. We may see the same this time around if elite stars like Cristiano Ronaldo fail to shine. Previously the award has been won be players only scoring 2 goals on 3 occasions however with an extended tournament this time around, there is more opportunity for goals.
Thomas Muller
The German never fails to deliver on the international stage and he will be coming off the back of a very prosperous season for Bayern Munich.
Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that he would not think twice about naming a weakened team once again despite the club’s 4-2 defeat against Southampton during the weekend.
It was clear that the Chilean was prioritising the midweek Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid over the game against the South Coast opponent. Even though finishing in the Premier League top four is extremely important, it seems that Pellegrini is now switching his focus to the European competition. On a personal level, this is more important for the former Villarreal manager considering that he is leaving the club in the summer.
Watford have managed to recover from their poor form, according to manager Quique Sanchez Flores.
Flores was taken aback to witness his team shredded to pieces in the 4-0 loss against Arsenal. The team appeared to have gone into hibernation ever since qualifying for the FA Cup semi-final after a stunning victory over Arsenal. They will be up against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final and it gives Watford a great opportunity to go to the final. Flores admitted that the FA Cup may have provided some distraction to the team, but he wanted the players to realise the bread-and-butter.
Pep Guardiola has given a huge tribute to former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff, who passed away at the age of 68 due to cancer.
Guardiola stated thatCruyff will forever be remembered as the architect of Barcelona rather than him. Even though Guardiola was more successful in terms of trophies, the former Barcelona captain says that it wasCruyff who planted the seeds of beautiful football in his mind.Regarded as one of the greatest footballers to grace the planet,Cruyff was also extremely good at managing clubs. He revolutionised the way Ajax and Barcelona played their football.
Former Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez’ time at the Spanish club already looked doomed when he claimed that it was difficult to say that Cristiano Ronaldo was the undisputed best player in the world.
Benitez made those comments in the club’s pre-season tour and he never recovered in a political sense. He was sacked from the role after just six months with many blaming Ronaldo for the rather poor performances throughout the first half of the campaign. After averaging more than a goal per game in the last five years, Ronaldo took a long time to get into double figures.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has confirmed that the players are completely behind manager José Mourinho despite reports of some creating unrest in the dressing room.
The Belgian international recently returned to the starting line-up after an extended period on the sidelines. His absence has been felt on some occasions even though his replacement – Asmir Begovic – has been in excellent form since the start of the season.Courtois was part of the press conference ahead of the game with FC Porto. This is a must win game for Chelsea if they are to reach the last 16 stages of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that star midfielder Franck Ribery could be back in action in the next few weeks. The Frenchman has been in and out of the team in the last couple of years due to various injury problems. It has once again be the cause for absence.
Even though Bayern have not missed him during this period, the return of such an influential player will only add to the options already present to Guardiola. The team are already close to establishing a whopping 10 point advantage in the Bundesliga, while they are equally dominant in the Champions League.