UEFA NL: Slovenia Draw Cyprus, Bulgaria And Norway

The Slovenian national football team will slug it out against Cyprus, Bulgaria and Norway in the forthcoming group stage of the UEFA Nations League tournament. Slovenia got to know of their opponents following the draw in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday.

The international competition is set to replace international friendly matches across Europe, with its widespread support and adoption. The first campaign is set to begin in September later this year. The new tournament is expected to offer an alternative path to the Euro 2020 finals via playoffs. Read More

KLOPP ANGRY WITH LALLANA’S INJURY

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is mad that his star player Adam Lallana picked up an injury whilst in action for the Three Lions during a crucial moment for the club this season.


The German tactician says he is not pleased with the scheduling of the friendly against Germany – which England lost 1-0 courtesy of a Lucas Podolski strike.

Lallana was injured in the first half of the clash with Lithuania. However he played the entire game thinking it was just a dead leg. On reaching Anfield, the thigh injury has been checked out, with the professionals declaring him unfit for the next four weeks.

Liverpool are involved with Everton in a Merseyside derby this weekend, and they are in the race for the top four as the season winds down. So evidently Klopp is angry that he is a man down during this time in the campaign.

“It’s hard for us to lose a player like Adam for four weeks, which would be eight games – it’s a lot. Whoever though it was a good idea to play Manchester City and Liverpool on Sunday night and then Germany against England on Wednesday – it makes no sense.

“We all have to start to work much better together: the FA, the Premier League, television and the clubs because we’re trying to sell the best product,” Klopp said. Read More

Guardiola wants B team

Pep Guardiola has stated that the Premier League is affecting the development of English players and that they need to make changes if they want the England team to improve.
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He believes that the Premier League clubs should be allowed to play their second team in the lower leagues of English football as this will encourage the development of new players. This is a concept that is already in place in various European leagues.

Pep Guardiola said that this is what is done in Spain and this encouraged the development of players. He said that in England you have the reserve league, but there are no spectators. He said that the young players do not play under any kind of pressure and this is hindering their development.

For him, this is the main reason why young English players fail when they come to a big club such as Manchester City, and he said that he wants this to change.

Pep Guardiola believes that the younger players would have benefited a lot from playing against a team such as Newcastle United in the Championship. The players would have played in a competitive game and would have learned how to play under pressure. Read More

SOUTHGATE NAMED ENGLAND NATIONAL TEAM COACH

The Football Association is reportedly putting final touches to a new deal that would be offered to Gareth Southgate, The Guardian reports.


The coach was the interim manager of the Three Lions for a few games until the deal ended. He courageously asked that the FA offer him a new deal, or at least decided his future on time so he could know what to focus on. Well, the FA obliged and a four-year deal is the result.

A five-man panel by the FA interviewed Southgate on Monday. The meeting was a favourable one going by the outcome after three gruelling hours. Southgate’s salary would be 1.5 million Pounds annually – a fee that was considerably smaller than what former manager Sam Alladryce earned. The deal would run through 2020 but there is a break clause after Russia 2018 World Cup. Either party can trigger the clause. Read More

Roy Hodgson doesn’t desire to leave the English set up presently.

He reckons no coach would will to break the association with a team that is set up beautifully and is about to peak.


But, he admits his future involvement is not something that would be his call and it is up to how the top brass sees it.

Speaking on the occasion of unveiling the squad which he would be travelling to France with, Hodgson said, “England can be a very, very special team in the close future and nobody, as a coach, would like to be going out at such stage.”

“But, you don’t always have it in your own hands and more than your keenness, it’s the opinion of the others who are above you matters.”

“Having worked in the coaching field for forty years, I can’t shy away from the fact that showing the returns is important as well and at the end of the day, that’s what everyone sees.”

The FA has not given away too much in terms of what is the least stage they want the team to get to in the Euros. Read More

Ryan Bertrand wants to have a bigger role in Roy Hodgon’s team

For a fee of €10 million, Ryan Bertrand was transferred from Aston Villa to Southampton and it has turned out to be a bargain price for the team of Ronald Koeman as the 25 year old defender has turned out to be one of the best players in this season of the Premier League.

Bertrand has performed in almost all of the Premier League matches in this season for Southampton with impressive performances being made throughout the entire campaign but he is now ready to make a claim in the England national football team.

The last match that Bertrand played with England was back in March 31 when he entered the pitch at the 87th minute during a friendly match that was being battled out between Italy and England at the Juventus Stadium.

Bertrand is hoping that he play a bigger role for England at the international stage and even though the undisputed left-back of Southampton only played for a few minutes against Italy, he said a few things concerning the match and how it was for him to get back on the pitch.

When Ryan Bertrand was asked about the left-back position in England, he replied by saying: “You know, it’s down to the manager. Whoever he wants to pick, it is his decision.’’ Read More