Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had insisted that the Blues squad that will face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter finals on Tuesday are a different team compared to the one that lost 3-1 at the Parc des Princes last season, Express reports.
The Blues face the Ligue-1 champions once again in this year’s round-of-sixteen, with the last meeting a Champions League quarter-finals clash less than a year ago.
Chelsea only managed to qualify for the semis last season because of a late Demba Ba strike, giving the Blues an away goal advantage after the game finished 3-3 on aggregate.
And Mourinho believes that this time around the result won’t be so even, due to the new additions to his squad and because PSG practically have the same team with that of last season.
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Mourinho said: “We beat them but we lost in Paris.
“It was a knockout tie that was decided in the last minute, a small detail making the difference. I’m not saying we won because we were better than Paris.
“We won because, in this case, we scored a goal away and didn’t concede at home.
“Paris are a great team, basically the same team as they were last season, with the addition of David Luiz. The same team basically, the same coach, the same dynamic, the same profile. They have conditions to be better because they have stability.
“We have changed some players and the identity of our game. We have changed our profile. I don’t want to say if Chelsea are better or worse than last season but, tomorrow night the Parc des Princes will see a different Chelsea to last year.”
Chelsea still have the chance to win three trophies this season, with Mourinho’s men in the Capital One Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur and also seven points in front of second-place Manchester City on the Premier League table.
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West Brom manager Steve Clarke has categorically ruled out the possible sale of centre back Jonas Olsson in January.
Olsson has been a rock at the back for Albion so far this season as they sit 7th in the Premier League going into an FA Cup tie with QPR today.
Rumours had been flying around in the media that the Swedish international has a relatively small buy-out clause in his contact at the Hawthorns and that has attracted plenty of clubs to the possibility of a smash and grab deal this month.
Arsenal were set to be leading the way to his signature but many other Premier League clubs and sides from Turkey were also reportedly interested in the 29 year old.
The Albion boss is confident that he will keep hold of all of his main stars in the transfer window and wants to build on the clubs impressive first half of the season.
“We can hang on to every single player,” Clarke told Sky Sports.
“We don’t have to sell anybody.
“Speculation is natural, because people make up stories to generate the interest. I know they make them up.
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“But it’s not unsettling for me in anyway, because I know that, come 1st February, the players that I need to be here will still be here.”
According to Turkish sports website Turkish Football, Newcastle United have joined Premier League rivals Everton in the race to sign Besiktas midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup, who is rated at £9m by Transfermarkt, this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Turkish Football reports that the Toffees are plotting a move for the 25-year-old, who left for his home country five years ago having failed to make the grade with Arsenal, but the Magpies are ready to hijack their interest.
Turkish Football says that the Tyneside outfit have been scouting the Turkey international throughout the campaign and have sounded out his representatives about a potential move to St James’ Park.
The report adds that Besiktas believe they have in agreement in place for the player to extend his deal which is due to expire at the end of the season, and they will need that to ensure that they receive a transfer fee for the player.
How has Ozyakup done this season?
He started the campaign as a regular in the middle of the park for the Turkish giants, but in more recent times he has found himself on the substitutes’ bench – starting the club’s last five matches in all competitions from there.
The 25-year-old has made 31 appearances in all competitions for Besiktas this term, providing six assists.
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According to WhoScored.com, the main strengths to his game are his passing, his dribbling and his concentration, and he has made 39 key passes in 26 outings in the Super Lig and the Champions League this season, while he has successfully completed 17 of the 24 dribbles he has attempted.
Would he be a good signing for Newcastle?
He certainly could be, yes.
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If the Magpies survive in the Premier League this season and were able to bring a player who knows the English game and has played in the Champions League to St James’ Park – potentially on a free transfer – they would be delighted.
The fact that Ozyakup could bring a goal threat and creativity from the middle of the park – he has 27 goals and 48 assists in 213 appearances for Besiktas – would help the Tyneside outfit from an attacking point of view, but it would surely raise question marks over the futures of Jonjo Shelvey and Mikel Merino, who the fans believe should be playing in a more advanced position than he currently does, with the latter in particular struggling for starts in recent months with Mo Diame preferred ahead of him.
Following the summer arrivals of Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria, coupled with the fact Wayne Rooney, Robin van Perise and Juan Mata were already at Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal had a tough juggling act to do. In recent weeks, it has been suggested that former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie should be the fall guy. However, after his goal today, no doubt a few will reassess their opinions.
Man United are back
A comfortable 3-0 victory at home to Hull City. No more than you’d expect from any United side under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Wayne Rooney is United’s main man
Pre-match, Angel di Maria likened playing alongside the England captain as similar to playing with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and, although that is hard for many of us to believe, Rooney is certainly proving to be as key to United as Messi is to the La Liga outfit.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas seeks signs of improvement from his first team against Swansea this weekend, following a last-minute collapse in their most recent fixture at Everton.
At Goodison Park last weekend Spurs were moments away from gaining three-points and consolidating their fourth position in the Premier League. The win would have set the Lilywhites well on their way to challenging Chelsea for third spot.
Last-minute goals from former Tottenham man Steven Pienaar and Nikica Jelavic made sure the North London club left Merseyside with nothing to show for their efforts.
“The dressing room was extremely disappointed after Everton. To see the result shift and us to take nothing was difficult,” said AVB.
Tottenham’s resolve will be tested at White Hart Lane this weekend against a visiting Swansea team hoping to bounce back from a crushing 4-3 loss against Norwich in their last league encounter.
AVB noted that the players came back to training with a firm desire to “improve.” The Portuguese explained that as a collective “We take the blame for the first half and how we suffered with goals,” but ultimately defeat is merely another lesson for everyone to “evolve as players and as a manager.”
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“When a defeat happens there are always things to analyse. We worked on aspects that didn’t go well last week like keeping possession and our defensive shape,” he continued.
The learning process needs to speed-up rapidly as Spurs enter a busy Christmas period, and with AVB admitting that “Michael Laudrup has taken Swansea to the next level.”
Liverpool’s seven-game unbeaten streak came to a crashing end at Old Trafford on Saturday after Jurgen Klopp’s side lost 2-1 against Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Jose Mourinho’s outfit have now moved five points ahead of the Reds, who still remain comfortable in the top four.
It was a frustrating afternoon for the away side, who fell to a two-goal deficit before the interval after some weak defending allowed Marcus Rashford to net a double.
Supporters were left fuming with the likes of Dejan Lovren, who struggled to meet the physical presence of Romelu Lukaku in the build-up to both goals. It was another afternoon to forget for the Croatian international.
Fans now want Klopp to strengthen significantly in the defensive area this summer, believing their attack is good enough to take on anyone and their defence constantly lets them down.
Is it time for Lovren to be moved on?
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Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…
Adel Taarabt has hit out amid claims from his manager Harry Redknapp that he is three stone over weight and is not fit enough to play for QPR.
The QPR manager made no secret of his disgust at the player’s lack of fitness and slammed him twice in the space of a week for not being good enough to contribute to the team’s fight to avoid relegation. Taarabt was considered a key player to QPR’s cause and the fact that he is not able to play for them at the moment is a massive blow. It is clear from their results that they are struggling to score enough goals to win games at the moment and they are lacking a little bit of flare and magic needed – which Taarabt would undoubtedly have contributed had he been fit.
Redknapp made no attempts to hide how frustrated he was with the player in a post match interview, saying: “No, he’s not fit. He played in a reserve team game the other day, and I could have run about more than he did. So no, I can’t pick him. I pick people that want to try, and deserve to be at a good football club like QPR, and want to work, and come in every day and want to work, and train, and show a good attitude. And that’s what I got today from the players. When he starts doing that, whether he ever can do it, maybe he’ll get a game. The other lads, I’ve got a fantastic group of lads here, absolutely superb, all of them. I can’t keep protecting people who don’t want to run about and train, who are about three stone overweight. What am I supposed to keep saying, keep getting your 60, 70 grand a week but don’t train? What’s the game coming to? The others are as good as gold.”
These were quite harsh words against the player, which – even if they are all based on truth -his manager could have held back on, due to privacy. But it seems that the no nonsense gaffer has had enough of the situation and wanted to hang his player out to dry.
Taarabt has not taken this quietly however and had this to say in return: “I was desperate to play before the game. I was fuming when I didn’t play.” Taarabt, who has not started for QPR since 27 August said. “The journalist was doing his job and asking if I was injured. He should have said ‘when he is fit he will play’. He is an experienced manager and he should have controlled that situation. I didn’t do pre-season with the team because I had an ankle injury, so I wasn’t 100%.”
So whose side of the story do you take as gospel? Is he really just struggling to shake a niggling injury that he had during pre-season? If a player does not par-take in pre-season then that usually does put them behind the rest of the squad in terms of fitness, and one could perhaps understand him missing the first couple of games, or being used as a late impact sub, so eight games into the current season, there seems to be a lot more to this than meets the eye.
Harry Redknapp says the player is still unfit, and Taarabt says he is ready to play, so it could perhaps be a clash of personality that is stopping the gaffer picking him?
It seems that the real victims of the whole situation are QPR themselves, a team currently struggling to pick up any sort of form, playing on the most part without any sort of urgency or desire to win a football match – with the exception of their game against Liverpool at the weekend which saw them put up quite a good fight and they were unlucky not to come away with anything from that game.
But whether they play well or not, they need something different, a new face in the team, someone who can inspire them to start winning and go on a little run to get themselves out of trouble, and there is a player apparently chomping at the bit at a chance to play.
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It is a very peculiar situation, but history tells us that public falling out between a manager and a player ends up with the player being shipped out on loan or flogged on the cheap at the next transfer window. It could seem that Taarabt’s QPR career could be at an end.
Samir Nasri should fit comfortably into the category of former Arsenal players who left and can stay well away. He’s taken noticeable jabs at Arsenal and their current standing in English football, all the while hardly making any impact of worth at Manchester City. This one should be filed under ‘good riddance’.
But it’s difficult to dismiss the idea of the player coming back to Arsenal, even if wages and maybe even reality says otherwise. It’s been said that Arsene Wenger keeps in touch with a number of his former players and it’s easy to understand why the manager would keep up to date with Nasri’s situation. The player’s relationship with Roberto Mancini and the reported disagreement could mean there is something in there, but is he what Arsenal want?
Let’s not forget, this is a supremely talented footballer who outshone even Cesc Fabregas at times during his last season at the Emirates. He may never have looked consistently brilliant, but when placed alongside the other players Wenger has opted to play out wide, Nasri always looked noticeably comfortable.
But then you come back to the reality of it and that Wenger will fight for all he’s worth to avoid bringing back old players. The returns like Sol Campbell, Jens Lehmann and Thierry Henry were a different matter, but Wenger will do all he can to find other alternatives, even if looking to his old stars make the most sense.
The player’s swipes at Arsenal over the past 12-months would make it difficult to accept him back, but are Arsenal in a position where they can be picky? If given the opportunity to bring back Nasri and to a tune that would suit them financially, there can be very few negatives found.
The player might be heavily criticised and seen as spineless in the wake of his actions in the most recent Manchester derby, but it certainly doesn’t take away his talent. This is still a player who can become a fantastic footballer, but it’s the lack of guidance that is perhaps keeping him from fulfilling that potential.
He should never have left Arsenal, and the idea that last year was his first and last big pay day makes little sense due to his age. He wasn’t and still isn’t the finished article, he often fails to combine a string of back-to-back good performances, and his difficult attitude may be the only thing holding back displays such as the one which saw Manchester City put five past Tottenham last season.
Would Arsenal fans welcome him back? It’s one of those cases where many would hate to accept him back due to what’s been said in the past, but many more I’m sure would take him back. Not for love or anything emotionally driven, but rather because he is a very good footballer who can add a lot to the current Arsenal setup.
Does Nasri fall into that category of players who were badly advised? Probably. It was rumoured that an unnamed player and his agent left successful contract negotiations with City sometime last year and celebrated wildly once they were out of earshot. Unnamed, but I have a shortlist as to who that could have been.
The player has his winners medal and shouldn’t have to worry about wages for the best part of his career; he’s still young and can be a well-paid asset to a number of clubs in Europe. But the player has to start focusing on his football and making in impression in the France squad. It’s easy to accept that things might not be working out for him at Manchester City, and it’s also easy to suggest that Arsenal was always the best place for him to be. But there’s no doubting that Wenger’s track record with talents such as Nasri have been impressive and successful.
Even though the player hadn’t hit his peak for Arsenal, there were always flashes of brilliance, starting with that two-goal performance against Manchester United in his debut season with the club. He’s an intelligent and technically excellent player. Arsenal fans have every right to initially and only for a moment send a few jeers Nasri’s way should he return. But it shouldn’t be disregarded that he would be a fantastic addition to any Arsenal team.
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Remembering Tomas Rosicky’s impact when coming on against Bradford and alongside Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla, Nasri is exactly the type of player to help get the best out of the leading players in the squad.
Spurs will be hoping for an impressive summer this year in the transfer market as they look to add a few players to the squad to make them real contenders for the title.
With the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Christian Eriksen pulling the strings and already in the top echelon of player in world football, Mauricio Pochettino will know he isn’t far away from bringing some silverware to the club.
Our landlord here in the Tavern has been keeping a close eye on the World Cup this summer and one man who has caught his eye is Mexico midfielder Hector Herrera, who has put in some superb displays for his country have they have impressed on their route to the knockouts.
Valued at £20m, the Porto midfielder has been one of the key men for the Mexicans, and he would no doubt relish the chance of playing in the Premier League after five years in Porto.
Herrera is a tenacious midfielder, but that does not take away from the fact he is a quality operator with the ball.
Still only 28 despite seemingly being around for years, Herrera would add something new to the Spurs midfield with the departure of Moussa Dembele. His attitude, style of play, and general love for football would no doubt endear him to the Spurs fans in their new stadium next term.
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Spurs fans, what do you think? Good signing? Let us know in the comments!
West Ham United have picked up some decent results since David Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic as head coach, but there is no question that the Hammers are still in a relegation battle.Indeed, Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Liverpool left the capital club in 13th position in the Premier League table – just three points clear of the bottom three.Next up for the Hammers is a massive game away to Swansea City this weekend, and defeat there would really place the club in a pickle.West Ham captain Mark Noble insisted that the players would recover from the defeat at Liverpool when they travel to Swansea on Saturday afternoon.[ad_pod ]The club’s supporters, however, were not too pleased with the midfielder’s comments.Fans do not take kindly to such messages as they would rather a positive performance in the first place, and it would be fair to say that Noble’s words were not received well.A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: