Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Injury Balls: Chelsea miracle as Diego Costa defies the tabloids
Football Balls looks at reporting on the Chelsea forward line going into the weekend’s match with Arsenal.
The Daily Express leads with news that Didier Drogba is not fit to face Arsenal. That injury is compounded by Diego Costa being “10 days away from recovering” from his hamstring injury. Arsenal play Chelsea in four days. So. Costa has no chance of playing in the match.
Yesterday the Mirror agreed, saying Chelsea were facing a “striker crisis”.
But one day on, the Mirror says Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is confident all his strikers will be fit for the Arsenal match. The Mirror agrees. It says Costa should train fully before the match, and Loic Remy and Didier Drogba “should also be fit”.
Such are the facts in the tabloid press…
Transfer Balls: Manchester United’s De Gea is leaving after signing a new deal with two clubs
Transfer Balls: The Daily Mirror leads with news that Manchester United’s David De Gea is leaving the club. The story is that Man United are “convinced the Spanish keeper has made his mind up to quit Old Trafford”. But this Daily Mirror “EXCLUSIVE” contains not a single fact.
De Gea has one year left on the Manchester United contract. His loss would be a blow to manager Louis Van Gaal’s plans.
But is the Mirror right?
In January, the Guardian told its readers De Gea wanted to sign a new deal to remain at United:
Transfer news: De Gea wants to stay at Manchester United – as it happened
That information was confirmed by the Metro:
David De Gea ‘SIGNS new five-year Manchester United contract after snubbing Real Madrid transfer’
And despite speculation last week that the 24-year-old had agreed terms with Madrid ahead of a summer switch… he’s now staying at Old Trafford having signed up until 2020.
That was followed in April by the Express‘ news that De Gea had agreed to join Real Madrid:
Three days after Izzy Horsefield’s scoop, the Express had other news: Real had cooled on De Gea and wanted Stoke City’s Begovic:
Man Utd handed MASSIVE boost as Real turn to Arsenal and Liverpool target Asmir Begovic
Oh, and ther was this from the Daily Mirror:
Boss Carlo Ancelotti is happy to keep the status quo with Iker Casillas and Keylor Navas as his keepers and spend big on other positions in the summer
Such are the facts in the trusty papers…
Posted: 22nd, April 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Sami Khedira’s Arsenal agreement is worthless
Transfer Balls spots the Daily Star’s news that Sami Khedira has delived a “blow to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United”.
Jonathan Green reports:
The 28-year-old has become one of the most sought after players in European football with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Schalke all looking to secure the German’s signature.
This is the Daily Star that told readers that Khedira had agreede to join Arsenla and Bayern Munich:
Such are the facts in the Daily Star…
The World Cup winner is out of contract in the summer and has confirmed he will leave the Bernabeu after five years.
The 28-year-old has become one of the most sought after players in European football with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Schalke all looking to secure the German’s signature.
And reports in Spain claim Dortmund are in the process of drawing up an offer for Khedira as they look to move ahead of their rivals.
Borussia Dortmund want Sami Khedira
INTEREST: Borussia Dortmund want Sami Khedira [GETTY]
They say Dortmund officials are prepared to offer Khedira a deal worth €11m (£8m) a year to bring him to the Westfalenstadion.
The Bundesliga club are set for a major overhaul this summer following Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he will step down as manager at the end of the season.
Mats Hummels looks set to follow Klopp out of the exit door while doubts remain over the futures of Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus, Ciro Immobile and Neven Subotic.
Posted: 21st, April 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
FA Cup Balls: Liverpool’s ‘lucky’ Coutinho Was better than 8 Aston Villa players
Aston Villa beat Liverpool 2-1 in an entertaining FA Cup semi-final. But what were the important scores, the ones newspapers award players?
Martin Samuel says Liverpool’s one goal was lucky. The Daily Mail writer says Philippe Coutinho’s shot went in via a “fortuitous deflection”.
But one page on, the Mail’s Laurie Whitwell says of Coutinho:
“Super run and finish.”
From lucky to super in a page.
The Mail awards Coutinho a score of 7 our of 10. That makes him better than 8 Aston Villa players. But the Daily Mirror says every Villa player was better than every Liverpool player.
Such are the facts…
Chelsea And Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli tops the twitter hate list
A study into the levels of abuse targeted at Premier League clubs and players online has revealed that more than 130,000 abusive posts have been made via social media so far this season.
The research, carried out by anti-discrimination body Kick It Out, found that Chelsea were the most targeted club, with – surprise surprise – Mario Balotelli suffering more abuse than any other player.
Far more in fact: Balotelli received well over 8,000 discriminatory posts. Second on the list was Danny Welbeck with 1,700 posts. Over half of the abuse received by both players was of a racist nature.
*Sigh* Some people really are terrible.
BBC Sport have published Kick It Out’s findings today, with the results making for depressing viewing…
The numbers (taken from Twitter, Facebook, forums and blogs) equate to 16,800 discriminatory posts a month, 551 per day, one message every 2.6 minutes.
Remember, this is just a football season’s worth (August 2014 to March 2015) of Premier League abuse we’re talking about. We’re certain we’re not even close to seeing the full extent of the problem here.
The Kick It Out study found that over 50% of the abuse was race and gender related, though sexual orientation, disability and anti-semitic abuse also made up a depressingly large slice of the pie…
“The level of abuse is truly staggering,” Kick It Out director Roisin Wood said.
“We must do all we can as a collective to protect those who are on the receiving end of discriminatory abuse.”
The group are now exploring the possibility of forming a dedicated task force to tackle “head on” the level of football-related racist, sexist and homophobic abuse online.
Good luck with that chaps. Something tells us it’ll be like trying to plait smoke.
Jurgen Klopp Should Go To Arsenal, West Ham Or Liverpool And Avoid Manchester City
By Klopp Watch
Jurgen Klopp is heading out of Borussia Dortmund. But where to next for the affable German?
The Daily Express says Manchester City is Klopp’s most likely destination. Why City, who have moved towards the Spanish model in recent seasons with the appointment of former Barcelona executives Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain (secured in the hope of luring Pep Guardiola to the Etihad), would opt for the man who made Dortmund masters of high-octane gegenpressing is not explained.
Any move for Klopp would necessitate a wholesale change in style and massive investment. Would Financial Fair Play allow it?
The Mirror also links Klopp to City. Apparently, odds on Klopp heading to the Etihad have been slashed. Of course odds on Klopp heading anywhere have been slashed following the announcement that this season will be his last at Dortmund.
The Mirror says City’s main rivals for the German are Napoli. Can anyone really see an Italian team embracing Klopp’s madly energetic, hard-pressing style? Klopp has said that he loves “serenity football… What we call in German – English football: rainy days, heavy pitch, everybody is dirty in the face…” So. Sunny Napoli it is then.
The Sun leads with news that Klopp has “told Premier League clubs: Come and get me.” The paper suggests the clubs that could go for Klopp: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Newcastle.
The Mail produces its list of possible Klopp destinations. City, Liverpool and Arsenal are the only Premier League clubs to feature. No word on West Ham, who would offer Klopp an intriguing challenge. Liverpool would be Klopp’s natural fit, but Brendan Rodgers is doing a decent job at Anfield. Arsenal could do with Klopp when Arsene Wenger leaves in a year or two. But after years of relative austerity when they sold their best players to balance the books and fund a new stadium, Wenger’s sudden departure would be like a man walking away from a loaded fruit machine.
The Mail says the clubs most likely to go for Klopp are Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Could Klopp, the outsider, end up at one of the ultimate insider clubs? Rory Smith (Times) compares such a move to “the gertrification of Williamsburg, the adoption of the beard by the Ben Sherman boys, the ultimate defeat for hipsters”.
So. Not all bad, then.
But while a move to Real Madrid seems possible, Klopp to Bayern would surely be a bitter blow to the Dortmund fans who love him. The Mail says “sources in Germany have not ruled out a move to rivals Bayern Munich if Pep Guardiola fails to win the Champions’ League this season”.
That might be because Klopp has not ruled out a move to anywhere.
Posted: 16th, April 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Raheem Sterling Is The Giggling To An Early Grave
Paul Sorene
Not Raheem Sterling. 3 May 1998: Paul Gascoigne and Paul Merson of Middlesbrough celebrate a return to top flight football after a Nationwide Division One match against Oxford United at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough, England.
LIVERPOOL’S Raheem Sterling is part of a trend. The shisha smokin’, laughin’ gas inhalin’ star is just the latest footballer to be “involved in off the field controversy”. Well, so says the Daily Mail, which delivers five players who erred.
Here, Sportsmail details five other misbehaving stars involved in similar incidents away from the field.
According to the Daily Mail not breaking the law in the privacy of your own home is controversial. Raheem Sterling is now apparently in a ‘bad boys’ group with these bright young things:
Jack Wilshere: smoking tobacco.
Read the rest of this entry »
Liverpool Balls: Don’t worry Raheem Sterling drugs never did David Cameron any harm
The Daily Raheem Sterling delivers a bumper crop of news and views in the tabloids. Today Sterling coverage reaches peak tabloid as The Liverpool players is all over the Sun’s front and back pages.
On the front page we see a photo of Raheem holding an orange balloon to his lips. It’s party time, but there’s no jelly and ice-cream to go with this balloon. The Sun says Sterling is inhaling not exhaling. It says the balloon is “apparently filled with dangerous legal high ‘hippy crack'”. Inside the Sun, over two pages, we learn that the image comes from a short video in which Sterling inhales twice before he “seems to pass out”.
The Sun adds: “The footage is thought to have been filmed at his £1.5m home days before Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Newcastle”.
Apparenly. Seems. Thought. So much for the facts. What else do we know? Well, the Sun’s doctor Carol Cooper tells us that nitrous oxide, which is the more official name for ‘hippy crack’, can cause hallucinations and cause the user to lapse into a coma.
Read the rest of this entry »
Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, QPR’s Rio Ferdinand and Spurs’ Lamela Are Redknapp’s stars of the season
Southampton FC’s James Ward-Prowse is the latest Saints player to catch the eye. But Jamie Redknapp knew all about the Premier League player before this season started. As Redknapp tells readers of his Daily Mail column, he picked Ward-Prowse as one of his “10 players to watch”.
Redknapp says that if Ward-Prose scores more goals he could become a better player. Well, he is the expert earning the big bucks. More goals, who knew?
But what we wanted to know was the identities of the other nine players on Redknapp’s list. So. We looked. And we found them:
Alexis Sanchez
Ander Herrera: “Manchester United have spent a long time trying to replace Paul Scholes and now they have found their man.”
Bafetimbi Gomis
Raheem Sterling
James Ward-Prowse
Diego Costa
Rio Ferdinand : “My dad, Harry Redknapp, rang me to say: ‘I’ve got a chance of signing Rio Ferdinand for QPR… I’ve looked him in the eyes and he wants to play.’
Danny Ings
Romelu Lukaku
Erik Lamela
Harry Kane is away…
Manchester United balls: foolish Juan Mata celebrates Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid reacts after scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second leg match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford on March 5, 2013 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has a blog. He wrote on it following United’s 4-2 win over city rivals Manchester City.
His article is entitled ‘Outstanding Atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams‘:
Hi everyone…
So much for the start. We’ll fast forward to the bit where Mata talks about Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea.
From this Monday we are already thinking about our next ‘final’, a visit to the leader of the Premiership… going back to Stamford Bridge for the first time will bring me plenty of good memories, for sure. The day I arrived to this great club I wrote: “Gratitude is the memory of the heart”. And I keep thinking the same. At that time I had the chance to thank everybody who helped me in London during those two and a half years, and next Saturday it will be nice to meet former team-mates, fans and friends. I keep good memories of them and I wish them the best…
Call me old-fashioned but I like it when my team’s players don’t declare their love for the opposition. I sympathise with the Newcastle United fan who spotted his side’s goalkeeper Tim Krul wait at half-time to congratulate Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe on scoring what turned out to be the game’s only goal and noted:
“It’s f**ing derby… you don’t laugh with some scum in the tunnel, you either ignore him or kick the sh*t out of him. Nothing else is acceptable.”
A friend is a highly intelligent, sane and respected individual. Whenever a team other than his beloved Manchester United is playing his wishes only destruction on their houses. Unreasonable, inhumane, bigoted and unhinged, of course he is. He’s a fan.
Mata’s cameraderie and admiration for the team that sold him is not what any Manchester United supporter wants to hear. If Mata has to say anything, then wish ill on Chelsea.
Mata’s blog is the verbal equivalent of the player who refuses to celebrate his goal against a former club. The player – let’s call him Cristiano – scores. His teamates celebrate. And he stands, head bowed in respect, alone in the frenzy. It is utterly pathetic.
In the right world, any footballer failing to wildly celebrate a goal – famously described as an act better than sex – should be red-carded and banned for six matches. And that goes for you, too, Juan Mata. If you score against Chelsea, Manchester United fans will not respect your open-palmed apology to the opposition, and I’d wager Chelsea fans won’t either. They want you to slide across the turf and pump your fists like Mike Tyson on speed.
The United fans will love you. The Chelsea fans will regret losing you. You win. Anything else is just sad…
Posted: 13th, April 2015 | In: Chelsea, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Raheem Sterling’s smoking Arsenal audition
It’s the Daily Raheem Sterling – a look at the Liverpool player in the news.
The Sunday Mirror has news that Sterling, 20, has been photographed smoking a shisha pipe during a night out with friends. Was this a bonding session with Arsenal’s smoking Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny?
The picture of him inhaling on the bright orange pipe during a night out with pals emerged just hours after he upset his army of fans by snubbing a £100,000-a-week contract. Experts warn a single shisha session could be equivalent to smoking up to 200 cigarettes.
In case you were less than bothered at what a top athlete does in his spare time and find ludicrous the claim that a drag on a shisha is the same as smoking 200 fags, the Mirror trills:
The image will shock team-mates and parents of youngsters who idolise the winger, 20.
As ever with such things, we are invited to think of the children. From being an adult having a legal puff , Sterling is now a danger to your kids.
The Daily Mirror says Sterling was heckled by Liverpool fans as he modeled the team’s new kit. As Sterling took the stage to enthuse about the outfit, a voice shouted:
“Make sure we see you in it next season.”
Others cheered. Sterling, quick as a flash, said nothing.
ESPN says Sterling will ignore the hecklers and not sign a new Liverpool contract. How do ESPN know this? It reports:
Raheem Sterling will not sign a new contract at Liverpool this season as he waits to see what offers come his way this summer, a well-placed source has told ESPN FC.
An anonymous source says so, that’s why. And if you can’t trust an anonymous source, who can you trust?
Over in the Liverpool Echo the news is that Liverpool already have a ‘new’ Sterling:
Jordon Ibe can be just like Chelsea and Arsenal target Raheem Sterling – Brendan Rodgers
Is that what Rodgers said? No quite, no. The Liverpool Post has Rodgers quotes on Ibe in full:
“They’re both very exciting, but they’re different types of players,” Rodgers said.
Over on Sky Sports, Sterling is being talked about by his Liverpool teammate Lucas Leiva:
“It’s incredible how much he (Sterling) can achieve,” said Lucas. “He’s got all the potential and of course there has been a lot of talk about his contract situation but he’s dealing with it well on the pitch.
“Off the pitch he is getting advice that he thinks is best for him. My advice for him would be to play football – although it is hard to give advice. He knows what’s best for him as do his agent and family.”
So. No news, then…
Posted: 12th, April 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Raheem Sterling is heckled and we loved it
Raheem Sterling was heckled yesterday. As Liverpool FC paraded their new kit, the 20-year-old was singled out for treament by one Liverpool fan. As Sterling took the stage to enthuse about the outfit, a voice shouted:
“Make sure we see you in it next season.”
Others cheered. Sterling, quick as a flash, said nothing.
Away from the rarified environs of a BBC studio, the inside of an hermetically sealed supercar and unable to dodge catcalls by swaddling his head between two massive headphones as he walks from the team bus, this was Sterling exposed.
And we loved it.
Heckling is pretty much the only occassion when the masses get to address their leaders and idols.
Let’s hear more of it…
Posted: 11th, April 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Transfer balls: Sterling to Arsenal, Walcott to Liverpool and £20m in change
Transfer balls looks at today’s reporting on Liverpool star and Arsenal target Raheem Sterling.
The Daily Star leads its sports coverage with news that Sterling is off to Arsenal. David Woods has an “exclusive”. He “can reveal” that Arsenal are buying Sterling. He can also”reveal” that Liverpool are buying Arsenal’s Theo Walcott.
Well, maybe.
Overlooking the obvious fact that this “exclusive” was first reported in a fact-free Daily Mirror story two weeks ago, the Star’s scoop contains not a single fact about either player. Woods says Arsenal would pay Walcott plus £20m for Sterling. Given the figure of £50m touted for Sterling, that values Walcott at £30m.
How he arrives at those sums is through the process of ‘guesswork’.
It is utter balls.
We do hear from Arsenal in the Sun, where team manager Arsene Wenger says:
“We have a core of five or six players who have been here for the last seven years and we wants to keep that nucleus.”
Does that group include Walcott, who joined Arsenal in January 2006? It’s unclear because the Daily Express quotes Wenger thus:
“We now have a core of players, a good balance of players…who have been here for up to seven years and a few that arrived one or two seasons ago. We have a good balance.”
Walcott arrived at Arsenal nine years ago. Given how guarded and careful Wenger is with his words, it might well be that Walcott, who will have just one season remaining on his curent deal at this season’s end, is on his way out.
Such are the facts
Posted: 10th, April 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool Balls: Raheem Sterling is trapped in a blizard
The Daily Stelring: a look at media stories on Liverpool star Raheem Sterling.
Writing in the Daily Mirror, former Liverpool great Robbie Fowler says Sterling “would be crazy to leave”. He begins his open letter:
“Raheem Sterling has been buried under such an avalanche of advice over his future that he must think his head is about to explode. So, instead of adding to that blizzard, I have a very simple message for him.”
That simple message goes on for 29 paragraphs.
Kaboom!
Read the rest of this entry »
Manchester United balls: statistics prove Herrera is better than Paul Scholes?
Just how good is Manchester United’s Ander Herrera? Well, the Daily Express’ Ben Jefferson takes time out from his usual diet of Transfer Balls to state that the Spaniard is very good:
The stats that PROVE Man Utd’s Herrera is BETTER than Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal stars
Which stats? Which stars?
The Spaniard’s current form has drawn comparisions with Paul Scholes from the Old Trafford faithful.
Old Manchester United fan 1: “He’s not as good as Scholes?”
New Manchester Untied fan 2: “Whose Scholes?”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 8th, April 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Former Liverpool player arrested for shoplifting: Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson are innocent
‘Former Liverpool full-back’ Andrea Dossena, 33, has been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting. The Italian, currently running out for Leyton Orient in League One, was arested along with a 31-year-old woman for allegely shoplifting at Harrods, the Knightsbridge superstore.
Metropolitan Police state:
“Police arrested a 33-year-old male and a 31-year-old woman on April 7 on suspicion of shoplifting at Harrods. They were taken to a west London police station. Both the man and woman have been bailed to a date in late April, pending further enquiries.”
He’s not the first man who have worn Liverpool red to have shoplited:
“I grabbed a few pens and paper from Woolworths and made a dash for the door but the security guard grabbed me. I thought it was all over. I thought the club would drop me. And I was convinced the school would expel me.”
And, of course, the greatest of them all…
“The biggest one was the toilet seat,” he says. “I was with a mate who was doing up his bathroom and he wanted to buy a set where you get everything together. I’d never bought a bathroom like that in my life, and neither had he, so we banged it on the trolley. But we took out the toilet seat and got another one that had a slow-close lid so it wouldn’t trap his kid’s fingers.
“What we didn’t know was that it was £2.35 more than the one that should have been in the box. Then we went through the till, my mate paid for it and then this security guy stopped us and said he had been watching us on CCTV and seen us swapping the toilet seats.”
Spotter: Liverpool Echo
Transfer Balls: Arsenal buy Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain for the second time
Transfer Balls: The Daily Express report Arsenal are in “pole position” to buy Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.
That is incredible news. Why? Because as we Sun readers know, Higuain already plays for Arsenal.
Two years ago the Sun told us that Higuain had joned the Gunners for a record fee.
For those of you missed Mark Irwin’s scoop of July 2013, the good news is that despite a site redesign, the news of Higuain’s transfer to Arsenal remains a fact on the Sun.
So much for the Sun. The Express is far more on the ball. Or not.
In 2014, the Express told us:
GONZALO HIGUAIN could be on his way to Arsenal… Gonzalo Higuain has hinted he could be leaving Napoli, with Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United all interested.
He never has played for Arsenal.
Transfer balls: Manchester United are selling their captain
The Daily Mirror leads with news that Manchester United are to rid themnslves of £200,000-a-week Robin van Persie.
United will replace RVP with PSG’s Edinson Cavani.
Is that right? can we believe what the Press report?
As Barry Glendenning says:
A handsome, lank-haired South American striker moving to Manchester United from a high profile Ligue 1 club? What could possibly wrong?
It’s all gone wrong for Van Persie. But what did the experts say at the start of the season, when the Dutch striker’s compatriot Louis Van Gaal was heading to the club?
Back in May 2014, the Daily Mail’s Martha Kelner stated:
Louis van Gaal sees Robin van Persie as perfect captain for Manchester United…
The Holland manager has grown close to the striker, who captains his country, and is set to favour him over Wayne Rooney for the skipper’s armband at Old Trafford.
The Daily Mirror agreeed. Van Persie was a shoo-in for the captain’s armband.
And then Van Gaal made Wayne Rooney his captain.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 7th, April 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
New Watch: Arsenal sign the news Lionel Messi
New Watch: an occasional column looking at footballers described as being the ‘new’ versions of an established world star.
The Daily Mail says Arsenal are keen on “Argentine wonderkid” Maxi Romero. He is “dubbed” the “next Lionel Messi”.
But he might be the next Eddie McGoldrick. You never can tell.
Transfer Balls: Raheem Sterling to Real Madrid as ‘mid-table’ Liverpool look for cash
Transfer Balls looks at Raheem Sterling in today’s news. It’s going to be a busy summer for the Liverpool striker. To save you the bother of reading a myriad different publications, we’ll round-up the day’s Sterling news:
Barney Ronay wonders in the Guardian if Sterling is really all that special:
Among the assorted soundbites swirling about in the wake of that unauthorised BBC interview it is the regurgitation of Brendan Rodgers’ claim last year that Sterling is “the best young player in Europe” that seems most startling, and indeed illuminating… The best young player in Europe is an Englishman who has never scored a goal in the Champions League, never won any kind of trophy, and never made any real impact against one of the heavyweights of European or international football. Really?…
Only in the overheated Premier League could a series of promising moments lead to some apparently serious talk of a £50m transfer fee. The real point here is that beyond the island borders of the World’s Most Excitable League, European football is awash with equivalent fine young talent in Sterling’s part of the pitch…
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 7th, April 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (2)
Arsenal balls: Mesut Ozil makes mugs of the experts
Jamie Redknapp says Arsenal’s German midfileder Mesut Ozil “is something special and worth paying to watch”.
Redknapp tells his Daily Mail readers that “Mesut Ozil is an easy target for ex-pros and pundits…”
Adding:
“When things don’t come off for the German, people are quick to criticise. We do that too much in this country — looking at what people can’t do rather than what they can — and it’s where we go wrong so often.”
Well, going into Arsenal’s last match in which Ozil shone, Redknapp said Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson “will press hard and make sure Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla have no room to breathe.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Want to see a video of Manchester United player Marcos Rojo’s one-man sex tape?
Why anyone would do this is bemusing. Why anyone with a public profile would resort to digitally insultated solo sex suggests a deep mental negligibility.PSST! Want to see a video of Manchester United star Marcos Rojo playing with his little ‘Red Devil’? No, us neither. But the Times, 34, alleges Rojo, 25, sent Sarah Watson a recording of himself masturbating along with “explicit messages” and photos.
Why anyone would do this is bemusing. Why anyone with a public profile would resort to digitally insultated solo sex suggests bordom and deep mental negligibility.
To add to the stickiness, at a flat belonging to Rojos’ friend, Waston claims she prefomed a “sex act” on the Argentinean watched by four other players, who might or might not also play for Machester United.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 6th, April 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Football’s morality: Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling is a fair-weather friend
Writing in the Times, Rory Smith nails Raheem Sterling’s issue with Liverpool.
Sterling has turned down £100,000-a-week to stay at the club and, reportedly, said he’d not even accept £180,000-a-week to play for Liverpool. He also denies all any accusations that he’s money-grabbing. Sterling, says Sterling, only craves more titles. Success is his only driver
Says Smith:
“Football’s morality: mercenary bad, fair-weather friend good.”
What price loyalty? That question to you, Raheem…
Posted: 6th, April 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Liverpool: Rodgers defends the ‘boy’ Sterling by questioning his intellect
Raheem Sterling is all over the Sunday sports sections. The Liverpool tyro – Liverpool’s best player in their 4-1 defeat to Arsenal – is going nowhere.
But he might be. Keeping hold of a very good young English player who sees glory elsewhere is not easy.
And Brendan Rodgers isn’t helping. The Sunday Times leads with “Rodgers escalates war over Sterling”. Rodgers says Sterling has been turned by his agent, Aidy Ward.
“I’ve had a good chat with [Sterling], gave my opinion. This is a young kid who has been advised to do something else. You’re not a 20-year-old boy who picked up the phone and asks to speak to the BBC. You don’t do it. And him in particular.”
Rodgers is a patient, intelligent man. But calling Sterling a “boy” is foolish. Telling him that he’s easily led by the big bad agent and not capable of speaking for himself is hardly going to win hearts and minds in the ‘war’.
Sterling has two more years to run on his contract. Can Liverpool in that time challenge for the title? When Sterling looked at his teamates and the wreckage Arsenal wrought on Liverpool’s Champions’ League ambitions, did he see his future at Anfield?
How likely is that?
Not very…
cfrontpages.
Liverpool balls: Daniel Sturridge follows Arsenal defeat with a call to party
Liverpool lost 4-1 to Arsenal in the Premier League. The game delivered a severe blow to Liverpool’s chances of Champions’ League qualification. But how does Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge respond? Well, on Twitter he’s having a par-teeee:
As @andrew_warden notes:
That awkward moment when you are paid to promote something but your team lost today! :/
Sick as a tweeter…
