Wenger happy with his team

November 20, 2016 by ClownTown

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that he is happy with the way his team is playing at the moment.

He stated that he always believed in the team even when they were facing severe critics. He believes that his players have enough qualities to challenge for the title and that they need to believe in themselves.

The Arsenal manager said that he still have players such as Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck to come back in the team and that this will make the team become even better. He said that there is a good team spirit in the club at the moment and that each player is focused on the club’s objective.

He stated that the club aim this season is to win the Premier League and that he will make everything he can in order to achieve it. He admitted that it would be difficult as the league is quite competitive this season and that all the big clubs have strengthened during the transfer window.

Gao Hong Bo says his players have had so much of workload

October 22, 2016 by ClownTown

Gao Hong Bo says his players have had so much of workload in domestic Football in the on-going season that everyone is tired.

As per Hong Bo, in China , to go from one city to the other, long distances have to covered because China is huge not only from the population point of view, but, also in terms of land and spending long time flying after playing matches is really tiresome for the players.

The former striker of Team Dragon said, “In other countries, the cities are nearby and the journey time for the players is not much, but, those playing here have to travel a lot. So, apart from the no. of matches, that’s another factor because you lose a lot of energy when you are on the plane for long durations.”

“Whenever the players come in the middle of the season, I always find them worn out and it’s no different on this occasion. I can’t see anyone in good shape to be honest and that’s why this match and the match next month, both are tough.”

Is Eddie Howe the next Arsenal manager?

September 27, 2016 by ClownTown

It’s been over 19 years since Arsene Wenger was officially appointed as the head coach of Arsenal and even though fans have developed a love-hate relationship with the French tactician, it’s hard to deny that he has become kind of an icon with the Premier League club.

There will be a point in time when Arsenal will have to search for a manager that can replace Arsene Wenger and rumors have been linking Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe with the managerial position in Arsenal.

Eddie Howe is not such a well-known manager as Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho but Howe has certainly been attracting the attention of the media as he has been accomplishing very impressive tasks in the past few years.

Back in 2015, Eddie Howe was named as the manager of the decade in the English League Championship and this shows the impact that the English tactician has been having in recent times.

The first club that Eddie took charge of was Bournemouth back on January of 2009 and in his debut season, he managed to rescue the club out of the bottom relegation zone even though they had a 17 point deficit. In the next season, he managed to push Bournemouth to promotion into the League One.

Bournemouth are very intent on stopping Zlatan Ibrahimovic

September 5, 2016 by ClownTown

It appears that Premier League outfit Bournemouth are very intent on stopping Zlatan Ibrahimovic more than world record signing Paul Pogba.

Ibrahimovic has come to Manchester United on a free transfer from Paris St Germain, whilePogba has just been the most sensational news of 2016 after joining the Red Devils for a world record fee of £ 89 million. However, Ibrahimovic has been grabbing equal attention in recent weeks following his debut goal against Leicester City in the Community Shield. Known as a fierce goalscorer wherever he has been, Ibrahimovic is looking to win a league title in his fifth major country.

Eddie Howe received a lot of praise for the way he managed to keep Bournemouth in the Premier League against all the odds. Even though the club had very little transfer money, they managed to remain without any relegation fears throughout the 2015-16 campaign. The second season in the Premier league is always tough for newly promoted teams. If this holds true, Bournemouth need to start picking up points from the first weekend in order to avoid relegation. Howe has challenged his players to keep Ibrahimovic quiet since he sees this as a first step towards success against Manchester United this weekend.

Gotze may return to Dortmund

August 14, 2016 by ClownTown

German club Borussia Dortmund is currently working on a bid to bring Mario Gotze back from Bayern Munich.

The player who joined Bayern Munich in 2013 has failed to make an impact at his current club and might be favorable to a return to Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund will be leaving for China for their pre-season preparation but are still active on the transfer market. The manager is keen to strengthen the team so as to be able to compete in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has admitted that there are talks in progress between the two clubs, but they have yet to finalize a deal. The player currently has one year contract remaining with Bayern Munich, but he may be available for the right fee.

Hans-Joachim Watzke said that no agreement has been achieved so far and that they still have to talk with Bayern Munich’s representative as well as the player himself. He stated that it would be a great thing for Mario Gotze to return to Borussia Dortmund but at the moment there is nothing concrete.

Roy Hodgson feels Selection was not a Issue with Slovakia

July 18, 2016 by ClownTown

Almost the entire country is critical of his selections for Slovakia game, but, Roy Hodgson is not feeling as if he made any sort of mistake by playing the XI that he played.at Saint Etienne on Monday night.

That decision is not giving Hodgson sleepless nights. He says even that second string unit he used was always on top of the opposition. If the new faces had been lethargic and not in control of the game, he might have wondered if he was correct or not but, they were dominating from the first to the last minute. So, it was alright.

As per England supremo, he did not want any of his players who had already had full 90-minute appearances in the last two matches to push themselves any further as a little more of playing time might have broken them down which, entering the important phases of the competition, would not have held the Three Lions in a confident state.

Carlos Carvalhal says that a sleeping giant has been woken up

June 30, 2016 by ClownTown

Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal says that a sleeping giant has been woken up after the club reached the play-offs final by beating Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 on aggregate.

Brighton were the overwhelming favourites coming into the game. After all, they had just missed out on the automatic promotion spots by the skin of their teeth. Chris Hughton’s men have been one of the most consistent teams throughout the Championship 2015-16 season, but they suffered a major setback in the first leg after losing 2-0. Since no team had managed to come back from suffering a two-goal deficit in the first leg, the odds were heavily stacked against Brighton.

Even though they put up a spirited fight in the second leg against Wednesday, they were unable to get anything other than a 1-1 draw thus seeing Wednesday progress to the play-off final 3-1 on aggregate. Wednesday only narrowly managed to finish the play-offs after getting a win over Cardiff in the final few games of the season. However, they clearly seem to have the confidence factor over Brighton. After having been out of the Premier league since 2000, Wednesday are now aiming for a return to the top division. Carvalhal says that a giant has now been woken. Wednesday could face either Derby County or Hull City in the final.

Francesco Guidolin happy about Swansea City

May 20, 2016 by ClownTown

Francesco Guidolin is happy to see Swansea City achieve safety in the division following a 3-1 win over Liverpool this weekend.

Even though the club were never really considered as being in a relegation battle going into the last few matches, Guidolin has been very keen on reaching the psychological safety barrier of 40 points. The win over Liverpool means that it is mathematically impossible for Swansea to be relegated. After having secured Premier League football for next campaign,Guidolin says that the club can afford to relax in the remaining two matches.

There is still uncertainty surrounding the future of Guidolin, who was appointed on an interim basis. There have been reports that Swansea are set to be taken over by new owners. Chairman Huw Jenkins has failed to concretely suggested that Guidolin will be provided a permanent position at the club. Irrespective of his future, the 60-year-old has managed to get the club to safety and he will see this achievement with pride. It was only a few years ago that the club won the League Cup under Michael Laudrup, but they have failed to create anything of significance in the last two years.

Rafa Benitez was confident that Newcastle will be able to avoid relegation

May 4, 2016 by ClownTown

Despite watching his team extend their winless run to 7 games in the Premier League, manager Rafa Benitez was confident that Newcastle will be able to avoid relegation.

The club remain six points behind Norwich City in the final spot that will guarantee safety. The club’s latest loss came against Southampton, who were chasing a European spot. The 3-1 loss was much more convincing than the defeat against Norwich last week. However, the club may rue dropping points against teams in and around them. Benitez became the replacement for Steve McClaren a few weeks ago, but he is still waiting for his first win.

There was a lot of euphoria surrounding the appointment of Benitez, who has won major trophies like the Europa League and the Champions League. However, this is the first experience of the Spaniard of a relegation struggle. Newcastle’s inability to get a win under the new management will be a worrying aspect for the owners and fans. The club spent heavily in January to try and stay in the division. Players like Anderson Townsend came from Tottenham for £ 12 million, but they have made a little impact on the results. Since the turn of the year, Newcastle have been able to win just two games in the league.