أكد أندريا بيرلو المدير الفني ليوفنتوس، أن التدريب أكثر صعوبة من الأداء كلاعب كرة قدم.

بيرلو تولى مهمة تدريب يوفنتوس خلفًا لماوريسيو ساري، وقد سبق ولعب للسيدة العجوز وكان أبرز لاعبي خط وسط البيانكونيري.

المايسترو بدأ مسيرته التدريبية بفوز على سامبدوريا (3-0)، ثم تعادل مع روما (2-2) بمنافسات الدوري الإيطالي.

وتحدث بيرلو عن العمل مع أصدقائه القدامي من اللاعبين في يوفنتوس وقيادتهم كمدرب، واعترف بأن دوره الجديد ربما استغرق بعضًا من التعود عليه.

وقال في تصريحات للاتحاد الأوروبي لكرة القدم “يويفا”: “إنه شعور رائع، لقد كانوا متعاونين حقًا، ربما لم يكن من السهل عليهم رؤيتي كمدربهم في البداية، لكن في غضون ساعات قليلة، فهموا أن دوري كان مختلفًا عما كان عليه قبل أيام قليلة”.

وأضاف بيرلو: “لذلك تغير موقفهم بسرعة وسهولة، يمكنهم مساعدتي كثيرًا، لأنهم يعرفون معنى اللعب ليوفنتوس، يعرفون ماذا يعني الفوز، وهم يعرفون أيضًا ما يشبه العمل معي، كما فعلوا خلال السنوات التي لعبنا فيها معًا، لذا فهم يعرفون الروح التي أريد أن أجلبها لهذا الفريق، لذا سيكونون عونا كبيرا خلال هذا الموسم”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. بيرلو: حالفني الحظ بالعمل مع أفضل مدربي العالم.. وجوارديولا مثال يحتذى به

وأكد بيرلو أن هناك فرق كبير لقيادة الفريق بأكمله من كمدرب بدلاً من السيطرة على الكرة في الملعب: “الأمر كمدرب بالتأكيد أكثر إرهاقًا منه كلاعب، لأنه في الملعب يمكنني أن أقرر ما أريد أن أفعله بالكرة”.

وواصل: “من مقعد التدريب يمكنني إدارة الأمر، لكن الأشخاص الآخرون هم الذين يفسرون دورهم، هم الذين يلعبون المباريات، لذا فإن الأمر أصعب قليلاً كمدرب”.

وأتم بيرلو: “عندما كنت ألعب، كان لدي أسلوب معين مما يعني أنني يمكن أن أشارك في مواقف معينة وأن أكون حاسمًا في مواقف أخرى على أرض الملعب، والآن يجب أن أفعل ذلك بمفردي من خط التماس”.

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Loads of Rangers fans have been running the rule over the weekend’s action, and they’re absolutely fuming at Kilmarnock defender Kirk Broadfoot.

The Gers continued their horrific form in the month of March this weekend, failing to get past Kilmarnock at home.

Ibrox has seen just five visiting teams leave with points to their name in the league this season, and the performance on Saturday was really worrying.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Alfredo Morelos equalised for the Gers after Conor McAleny had given the visitors the lead, but it’s a different incident involving Morelos that has really got fans talking.

The striker is reportedly (09:13) sweating over a possible ban for a collision with the 34 year-old Broadfoot, in which the Gers ace shoved the Kilmarnock defender.

Footage has since revealed the reason why Morelos acted so aggressively though, as Broadfoot appeared to deliberately rake his studs down the Colombian’s Achilles.

Rangers fans will be praying their talisman is allowed to feature in the Old Firm at the end of the month, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions to the incident down below…

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January signing Lovre Kalinic sat on the Aston Villa substitutes’ bench for the third match running and watched Jed Steer keep his second successive clean sheet against Birmingham City on Sunday, and manager Dean Smith’s post-match comments suggest the recent addition won’t be starting again anytime soon.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Midlands outfit agreed a deal to sign the 28-year-old on a four-and-a-half year deal from Gent just prior to the January transfer window opening, and he was thrust straight into action on January 5 in the FA Cup following Orjan Nyland’s Achilles injury.

That was the first of eight successive appearances in all competitions for the Croatia international, before he suffered concussion during the 2-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion last month and was taken off at half-time.

Despite recovering he has been an unused substitute in every fixture since, and watched Steer produce another impressive display between the sticks against arch-rivals Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Sunday.

What did Smith say?

Speaking post-match, via The Birmingham Mail, the Villa boss said: “I signed Kalinic because of the ability he has got.

“I probably didn’t want to throw Kalinic in as early as we did but we had to. Unfortunately Nyland ruptured his Achilles.

“I gave Jed the chance when Kalinic got concussed. He’s taken it. I’ve said before that he doesn’t have too many shots to save.

“Everything he did today except from his last goal-kick was good. He’s very vocal and has got a presence about him.

“Kalinic has come from a league where he was more protected.”

Smith’s words certainly suggest that he doesn’t feel the Croatian is ready to start on a regular basis right now, and with Villa making a late promotion push he appears unlikely to get another chance before the end of the campaign, unless Steer makes a bad error or gets injured himself.

Mark van Bommel, Netherlands’ resident hardman, former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan star, was targeted by David O’Leary’s Leeds United in 2002.

Leeds United were in desperate need of some solid quality in midfield and having failed to sign summer transfer target Keiron Dyer, who was set to join Newcastle, Mark van Bommel was their man.

According to the Daily Mail, Chairman Peter Ridsdale and then-manager David O’Leary were long-term admirers of the PSV Eindhoven enforcer, having tracked the player over a period of 18-months, and were prepared to table a £15 million bid to secure his services.

Leeds’ lacklustre performances in Europe – yes, it really was that long ago – was said to have spurned the club’s decision to make bold movements in the market, and Van Bommel, 24, was the most ambitious of all.

Ridsdale said: ‘Our club needs to build its team, and to do that you need money. Nobody is saying we don’t want to be in the UEFA Cup. This, the FA Cup and even the Worthington Cup are financially very rewarding.

‘The expectations of the fans are high, but we have to remember that we haven’t won anything for 10 years, where Manchester United have won something every year in the past decade.’

But what happened next?

Mark van Bommel – 2002

When you search Mark van Bommel on YouTube you will not find well-edited videos of the Dutchman dancing around players and pinging shots from 30-yards. Instead, you will compilations upon compilations of him flying through players, committing fouls, assaults, earning bookings, and suspensions – you name the infringement and it is probably conveniently documented somewhere.

There are clips from his PSV Eindhoven days, as well as ones from his stints with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and the Dutch national team, but nowhere will you find Leeds United.

Why you might ask? Well, easy answer: the move never came to be.

Indeed, despite all of Ridsdale and O’Leary interest and optimism, Van Bommel was decidedly uninterested in the prospect of joining Leeds United.

“I have heard about Leeds but if I move to England, I want to go to Old Trafford,” the 24-year-old was reported to have said at the time (as per Sky Sports).

Interesting choice of words.

Van Bommel would instead join Barcelona where he won one Champions League, one domestic title and two domestic cups, before moving to Bayern Munich. His commanding performances in the midfield role were lauded far and wide, and fans will likely never forget how he quite literally battled the club towards two Bundesliga titles and two cup wins.

AC Milan was equally as fruitful, and perhaps the most significant, in a way, because it was the last time anyone other than Juventus won the title.

You will notice a trend forming. Winning. Needless to say, a department Leeds United were lacking in shortly after 2002.

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Aston Villa fans have taken to Twitter to praise their ex-manager Paul Lambert after his Ipswich side were able to do them a favour last night.

The Tractor Boys, who are bottom of the Championship, held Villa’s play-off rivals Bristol City to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday evening, a result which brought great joy to supporters of the Villans.

After the game they were in fine voice, thanking Lambert for his efforts in helping Villa with their promotion push. In a series of comical tweets, they labelled the 49-year-old a hero and called him an agent, suggesting he had been sent specifically by Villa to help them out.

The Robins’ result last night also drew a certain Villa fan to believe that if they can’t beat a team rock bottom of the league, then they don’t stand a chance of getting in their way.

A win for the Midlands club on Wednesday when they face Nottingham Forest would see them move to within a point of Bristol City who currently occupy the final play-off place.

Ipswich had initially gone 1-0 down courtesy of Adam Webster but grabbed an equaliser through an own goal from Lloyd Kelly.

Here’s what the Villa fans had to say.

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On Wednesday evening, Liverpool’s official Twitter account posted a video of a goal scored by Adam Lallana during a training session.

Collecting the ball just outside the penalty box, Lallana had one touch before curling the ball into the top corner of the net. It was a fine finish, but the Liverpool fans were not overly positive about the goal.

Lallana was criticised for his performance in his team’s 2-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage last time out.

And the 5 ft 8 ace has not managed to contribute a single goal or an assist in 16 appearances in all competitions during the 2018-19 campaign.

There is no question that the 30-year-old is a fine footballer, but injuries have really harmed him over the last 12 months or so.

And it seems that he has a long way to go before winning the trust of the Liverpool supporters once again.

A selection of the Twitter reaction to the training-ground goal can be seen below:

أبدى لاعب ليفربول ديوجو جوتا فخره بالمشاركة في فوز منتخب البرتغال مساء أمس على السويد في بطولة دوري الأمم الأوروبية.

وتواجه المنتخبان في الجولة الرابعة من المجموعة الثالثة في المستوى الأول.

وفازت البرتغال بثلاثة أهداف دون رد في ملعبهم، وقدم جوتا أداءً مميزًا حيث سجل هدفين.

وقال جوتا، في تصريحات نشرها الموقع الرسمي للبطولة: “كانت ليلة ممتازة، واحدة من أفضل العروض التي قدمتها في مسيرتي”.

وأضاف: “تمثيل بلدي للمرة الثانية وتقديم هذا الأداء مع زملائي أمر رائع، لقد حققنا نتيجة رائعة ضد السويد”.

وواصل: “السويد فريق ليس من السهل التغلب عليه 3-0، لذا فهي نتيجة يمكننا أن نفخر بها”.

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Liverpool fans on Twitter have been busy discussing a move for Bayer Leverkusen star Julian Brandt, who has become the topic of conversation amongst Reds supporters once again.

The Merseysiders made Brant one of their top targets two years ago, before his decision not to switch clubs before the World Cup saw the move come to a halt.

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

Brandt, 22, has recorded seven goals and 10 assists across all competitions for Leverkusen this season, and is said to be available for just £22m this summer which will be sure to pique Jurgen Klopp’s interest.

The Premier League title hopefuls are lacking creativity in the middle of the park right now, especially since the departure of Philippe Coutinho, so the German international would go some way to easing that problem.

However, whilst the positives of the move are strikingly evident, not all Liverpool fans are dead set on a move for Brandt…

[ad_pod ]Gareth Southgate has announced his squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers in which England will square off with Czech Republic and then Montenegro – there are some notable omissions, including Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse.Southgate has explained his reasoning behind that decision and it will surely baffle not just Saints fans, but anyone invested in the national squad too.

What did he say?

Well, speaking about his crop of players, the former Middlesbrough manager said the following of Ward-Prowse’s exclusion:

Interesting stuff. It should surely do little to soothe the St Mary’s faithful or the player himself, who, as Soughtgate says, has been in sensational form of late.

Southgate has dug himself a hole

The England boss has repeatedly stated his preference to pick players based on form rather than reputation but his latest selection is a huge contradiction to that. Ward-Prowse is the epitome of ‘form’ at the moment having scored six goals in his last nine games, including free-kicks against Manchester United and Spurs.

Meanwhile, Fabian Delph and Ruben Loftus-Cheek – two of the midfielders who have have kept the 24-year-old out of the Three Lions setup this time around – have accumulated just 1,155 minutes of Premier League football between them this term at Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, with Delph featuring for just 10 minutes in the top flight in 2019.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Previous managers have shown loyalties to the top six clubs but, considering Southgate’s promise not to do so, fans of both England and Southampton were surely expecting the Saints number 16 to be a shoe-in for the squad, particularly with the likes of Harry Winks and Jesse Lingard out.

Southgate has dug himself a sizeable hole with his comments and should Ward-Prowse keep up this form for the remainder of the season and then not be included in the next squad, the England boss will have confirmed he is no less biased towards the big clubs than his predecessors.

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Birmingham City’s hugely important clash with arch-rivals Aston Villa on Sunday was overshadowed by the incident involving Jack Grealish, but that shouldn’t have been the first thing Blues management duo Garry Monk and James Beattie discussed on Monday morning.

On the chalkboard

The hosts knew they had the opportunity to not only try and close the gap on the top six following Bristol City’s loss to Leeds United and Derby County’s draw with Sheffield Wednesday, but also to put five points between themselves and Dean Smith’s side.

While strike duo Che Adams and Lukasz Jutkiewicz were clearly always going to be key, Monk would have expected a big contribution from wingers Jota and Jacques Maghoma on the day – but it just never arrived.

The former lasted 58 minutes before being replaced by Kerim Mrabti, while Connor Mahoney came on for the latter in the 71st minute.

What happened?

With Ahmed Elmohamady and Neil Taylor at full-back and with Villa having the worst defensive record in the top half of the Championship going into the weekend’s fixtures, the visitors’ defence was clearly there to be got at.

However, Jota and Maghoma simply didn’t take advantage and were largely anonymous before they were both taken off, and Monk and Beattie should have been discussing why that happened – the pair could easily have been key to a draw or win had they been in any kind of form given it was a scrappy and close affair.

Perhaps they were distracted by the Grealish incident, but Birmingham certainly can’t afford for their wide men to be struggling in the final 10 fixtures if they are to have any chance of making the play-offs, so don’t be surprised to see a change on the flanks when they host Millwall on Wednesday.