Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne could not contain his anger as he vented his frustration on the performance of his teammates in their 0-2 loss to France. In what is not a first time occurrence, the 33-year-old launched a verbal dressing down of his colleagues following their Group A2 game, saying to Belgian VTM television; “I can’t say here what went wrong. I already did that to the team at half-time. “I cannot repeat that in the media but it has to be better in every way. If the standard we want to reach is the best, but we’re no…
Author: Somto Isaac
Declan Rice was the subject of headlines following his sending off against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League. The Arsenal midfielder, who was already on a yellow card, adjusted the ball away from Joel Veltman who was ready to take a freekick as it led to his second booking and eventual red which cost the Gunners three points. According to the Key Match Incidents panel of the league who reviewed the decision, it was adjudged to be a correct one. It was the first time the 25-year-old would be seeing a red in his career, but the board…
France began their UEFA Nations League campaign poorly following their 1-3 loss to Italy and head coach Didier Deschamps has revealed what his next plans are to ensure Les Blues get back on track. The 55-year-old has insisted he will stick to his plans to make numerous alterations and rotate the starting XI for Monday’s tie against Belgium — as he maintains he would stick to his plans as normal. “The six Nations League matches must be used to introduce new players and distribute playing time,” he said in the pre-match press conference. “If we had a different schedule and…
Arsenal have had an injury hit the start of their 2024-25 campaign, with sideline spells to Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and their squad depth was further depleted with a red card to Declan Rice who will now miss the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur. Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori has now been confirmed to miss the Nations League clash against injury against Israel with a calf injury. The FIGC, in a statement said that the 22-year-old is now set to return to Arsenal after suffering a bruise in the 3-1 win at France in Paris. In what was a freak…
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted he is no “Harry Potter”, in response to demands for quick fixes after his side’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool. The 54-year-old is under pressure just three games into the new Premier League campaign after the loss to Brighton the previous weekend. A triumph in the FA Cup final against Manchester City was enough to retain his job despite an eighth placed finish — with a contract extension and up to £200million to spend in the transfer window. “It’s not like I’m Harry Potter, that is what you have to acknowledge,” Ten Hag…
Declan Rice expressed shock and fury following the red card he received in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion. The midfielder received a second yellow in the 49th minute after interfering when a Brighton free-kick was to be taked. The 25-year-old explained the scenario and why he was stunned at the decision and his eventual dismissal. “I was shocked, I think you could see in my face I was shocked. He’s [Joel Veltman] obviously gone over… I’ve not sprinted back in front of him and smashed the ball away. I’ve touched the ball with the outside of my…
Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso saw his team’s long unbeaten run in the league come to an end with the defeat to RasenBallsport Leipzig. The champions were two goals ahead thanks to efforts from Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo but Kevin Kampl and a brace from Lois Openda helped Leipzig to three points. “We’ll take a lot of positives and negatives from this game,” Alonso said after the game. “We played a good game in the first half. We were happy with that and wanted to build on it in the second. [But] We had no control in the second…
Arsenal have been hit with an early season blow with yet another injury to another player in training. Gabriel Jesus was confirmed, at the start of the week, he would spend little time on the sidelines — and now new signing Mikel Merino has been ruled out for several weeks. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta stated the Spain international suffered the injury in his first training session with the club when teammate Gabriel Magalhaes accidentally fell on him. The 28-year-old moved to the Emirates from Real Soceidad earlier this week and was in line to make his debut in the Premier…
Carlo Ancelotti has insisted he is not worried about Kylian Mbappe’s start to life at Real Madrid as the Frenchman has failed to find the back of the net in the opening three league games. The 25-year-old joined the Spainish giants as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain in June, ending the lengthy transfer saga. Although, after making a promising start after scoring to help Los Blancos lift the UEFA Super Cup weeks ago, Mbappe is yet to net in the league, for the reigning LaLiga champions. “His last goal was on August 14th. It has only been two weeks…
Liverpool have been in the news for activities in and around the transfer market and contract situations, however, the Reds have seen one of the major names receive a lengthy match ban. Striker Darwin Nunez has been banned for five international matches, alongside several players in the Uruguay team receiving suspensions for their clash with fans after Uruguay’s Copa America 2024 defeat to Colombia, a month ago. The announcement made by CONMEBOL also made clarification that Rodrigo Bentancur received a ban of four games, while Jose Maria Gimenez, Mathias Olivera and Ronald Araujo received three-game bans. Following Colombia’s win in…