LAST CHANCE FOR SOLDADO

The Spanish forward of Tottenham Hotspurs, Roberto Soldado has been struggling ever since he was transferred from the Spanish League over to the Premier League as he used to be a player of Valencia and after going through a sensation season with Valencia where Soldado managed to score 24 goals in 35 appearances then Tottenham decided to offload €26 million in order to bring him to the White Hart Lane Stadium but Soldado has not been able to replicate his form of years ago.

Tottenham Hotspurs locked horns with Everton on November 30 and goals from Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado sealed the victory for Tottenham, however this victory and this goal that Soldado scored was much more emotional and important for him as it was the first Premier League goal which he has been able to score since March.

The player himself admitted that it was a very important goal for him as he shed a few tears.

‘’The moment the ref blew for half time everybody sung my name and I welled up a little bit, I had a tear in my eye. It was very special. Thanks!’ Roberto Soldado told the media.

The manager of Tottenham Hotspur Mauricio Pochettino has recently been put under heavy pressure and criticism due to some of his decisions regarding certain players that he has chosen and placed in his starting lineup and one of those players was Roberto Soldado as fans just aren’t confident and believe that he should be playing in the main team at all but Pochettino expressed his confidence in relation to Soldado.

“We need to give him the chances to play again and keep him calm. A striker always wants to score but against Partizan he created chances pretty well and was unlucky in front of goal. Maybe next time he will score’’ Mauricio Pochettino said as he revealed his support towards Soldado.

Roberto Soldado will have to continue scoring goals for Tottenham Hotspur in order to gain the trust from all the fans and supporters of the Premier League club and also to prove that his price tag of €26 million was worth it.

GOALLESS DRAW

Bayern Munich could only muster a 0-0 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach during the weekend. This has been one of the few blemishes that they have suffered so far this season. This was, however, a point well earned given that Mönchengladbach had a good run of form coming into the match. They were second in the table and are proving to be the only title contenders along with Bayern Munich. A win for Bayern would have completely destroyed the title race even at this early stage in the season. Mönchengladbach’s inability to get a victory was primarily because of the efforts of Manuel Neuer.

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper is widely regarded as one of the best and he received a lot of praise from manager Pep Guardiola after this match. Mönchengladbach had several good opportunities in the 90 minutes including two one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper. However, the German international who helped Germany win the World Cup in the summer worked his magic and kept many of the shots out. The result sees Mönchengladbach remain four points behind Bayern. Wolfsburg, who also appear in contention for the title, managed to take advantage of this dropped points for Bayern by getting a victory against Mainz.

“In the first half we controlled the game very well. In the second half we were a little tired, we lost a bit of our organisation and had to play more on the counter-attack. I am very happy with our play and the point. Without Neuer they should have [scored] one or two goals,” said Guardiola. Neuer says that despite a poor pre-season due to the World Cup, he feels that he is in good shape. “I’ve been playing well in recent weeks. The only mistake I made was in the international game against Poland,” said the Bayern Munich goalkeeper.

Lahm future debated

The subject of the future Germany captain has been debated a lot in recent weeks. Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm, who is also the captain for the German national team, decided to step down after the World Cup 2014. He was one of high profile players to announce retirement after the World Cup. As a result, Joachim Loew has a tough job on his hands and the captaincy to a player who has enough experience and leadership qualities. It is easier said than done because this was a very young German team.

It was heavily speculated that Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer maybe the next captain. He will follow in the footsteps of Oliver Kahn if he is named as the next captain, but the 27-year-old refused to entertain such speculation by saying that it is up to the manager. Germany will be one of the favourites to win the upcoming Euro 2016. Qualifiers for this tournament will begin with Germany taking on Scotland. Neuer says that he is expecting tough match against the Scots given that they will regard this to be the ‘match of the year’.

Germany come into the encounter on the back of a disappointing defeat at the hands of Argentina in a friendly match, which once again raised questions about the defence. “We have a lot of players that have already been captain. A few of them have been on the team council but there are also players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira or myself. We now have the experience of winning the World Cup. So there are more players coming to the fore to take responsibility and replace Lahm and Miroslav Klose. The manager must decide if a goalkeeper is the right player to be captain,” said the Bayern goalkeeper, who is regarded as one of the best in the world.

POOR START BY LIVERPOOL

Liverpool’s woeful start to the Premier League has brought some of the senior players of the team under the microscope.

The player whom everyone has started having a go at is Steven Gerrard, the skipper of the side. Many journalists believe that the playmaker should be benched for the next few matches as it would help him have a look at his game. Continue reading “POOR START BY LIVERPOOL”

Rodgers Believes He Can GEt Best Out Of Balotelli

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers appears to believe that he can get the best out of Italian international Mario Balotelli. Several managers have struggled and failed to get the best out of the 23-year-old. Balotelli is regarded as a supremely talented striker, but his focus has not been always from the game. Even Jose Mourinho, who is known for creating great players out of average individuals, conceded defeat in trying to get the best out of Balotelli by selling him to Manchester City for £ 25 million.

The former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini attempted different tactics in order to get the best out of the Italian striker, but even that did not pay off dividends. He has since returned to AC Milan and has shown good form in the last 18 months. After having scored more than a goal every other game, Rodgers has the reasons to be keen on the striker. Liverpool recently sold Fabio Borini to Sunderland for around £ 14 million. This has left him with just Ricki Lambert and Daniel Sturridge as the options up front. Last season, Liverpool had three strikers capable of doing the job. Considering that the team will be competing in the Champions League, an additional striker is a necessity rather than a luxury.

“Balotelli is a big talent. I saw that in his time at Inter Milan as a young player and obviously going to Manchester City when we had a real close eye on him there. He’s got all the qualities. He’s 6ft 3ins, he’s quick, his touch is terrific and he can score goals. He went back to Italy to play and he’s still so young. If his focus is right, his concentration is right and he leads the lifestyle of a top player then he can play for any team in the world,” said Rodgers.