France international midfielder Franck Ribery said Tuesday he has yet to forge any kind of personal relationship with new Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal.
Ribery, a transfer target for several top clubs in the close season including Real Madrid, said he much preferred former Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
It s the first time that I haven t really felt close to a coach. There s not much feeling between us at all, Ribery said in an interview in L Equipe sports daily Tuesday.
He added in France football: Our relationship is professional. It was totally different with Ottmar Hitzfeld, for example. He was a real joy to work with and the best coach I ve known at Bayern.
Hitzfeld departed Bayern, whom he led to Champions League triumph in 2001, in May 2008 …
Fulham have completed the signing of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma for an undisclosed fee.
The 30-year-old Netherlands international has signed a four-year deal with the London club after ending his two-year stint with the Serie A outfit.
And he has revealed his excitement at making the switch to the Premier League.
I am very happy to be joining Fulham, and to have everything sorted out so early in the summer, so I can really focus on preparations for playing in the Premier League next season, he told the club s official website.
It’s good that I ll be joining (manager) Martin (Jol) again, he knows my capabilities very well, so I am just looking forward to joining up with the team in pre-season and enjoying some time with them prior to the new season starting.
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Jose Mourinho believes England have cause for optimism following their 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia.
Kieran Trippier gave England the lead in the fifth minute in Moscow but Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic broke English hearts as Croatia came for behind to progress after extra time.
England had the second youngest squad at the tournament, with an average age of 26 years old, with key players such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling all under 25.
The country s Under-20 and Under-17 squads won their respective World Cups in 2017, and Mourinho sees a bright future for the Three Lions.
Speaking as a pundit for RT, Mourinho said: England have reason to cry because they were so close, but they have also have reason to be optimistic.
According to Bild, the arrival of global sensation Cristiano Ronaldo could signal the end of Mario Mandzukic s time at Juventus. The Croatian, who is coming off the back of the 2018 World Cup final in which he scored both an own goal and a regular goal, has been with The Old Lady for three years and has had a fairly successful tenure there. Arguably his finest hour came in the 2017 Champions League final when he scored a remarkable overhead kick to equalise for the Italians against Real Madrid.
Alas, that may all be for nothing as CR7 is expected to become the focal point of Juventus attacking line-up from this point forward. The report suggests that if this ends up coming to fruition then German side Borussia Dortmund could be in with a chance of signing the 32-year-old. Mandz…
(GSM) Marco Borriello has admitted that he expected the call up to the Italy squad for this week s friendly against Cameroon.
The Milan striker has scored nine goals this season, and his general all round play has won him praise.
It s the first time Marcello Lippi has called up Borriello.
The 27-year-old targetman last appeared for the Azzurri under Roberto Donadoni in June 2008.
“I expected the call up and it arrived. I am now collecting the fruits of what I planted in the past. I am happy for this opportunity,” Borriello smiled.
“I will now have a chance to get Lippi to know me better, but the road to the World Cup is still long.”
Asked to explain why Milan play better with him up front than with Filippo Inzaghi or Klaas-Jan Hun…
Crisis club Portsmouth remained four points adrift at the foot of the English Premier League as Birmingham City gained revenge on their FA Cup conquerors with a 2-1 win at Fratton Park on Tuesday.
Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, beat Birmingham 2-0 at their south coast home on Saturday to reach the last four of this season s edition thanks to two goals from Frederic Piquionne.
But there was no repeat performance as Birmingham moved up to eighth in the table thanks to a double from striker Cameron Jerome.
Nwanko Kanu, who scored Portsmouth s winning goal in their FA Cup final win over Cardiff two years ago, pulled a goal back in stoppage-time but it came too late to prevent victory for the visitors.
We were well up for it, said delighted Birmingham …
Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera is keen to follow in the footsteps of Paul Scholes at Old Trafford.
Scholes made more than 700 appearances in all competitions for United between 1994 and 2013 and was widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders in the game during his career.
Herrera dreams of making a similar impact at United and has revealed he models his game on the former England international.
I remember Scholes as a player who could defend, who could attack, who could pass, who could tackle, who could do everything. He was a complete player, Herrera told the official United website.
I know it’s difficult as there is only one Scholes but I try to do similar things sometimes. I try to learn from him. I try to score, try to defend a…
Italian giants Inter Milan are considering a swoop for PSV Eindhoven defender Jeffrey Bruma, Raisport has learned.
The Nerazzurri plan to offload both Andre Ranocchia and Nemanja Vidic at the earliest opportunity and add some fresh blood to their back line.
According to Raisport, PSV Eindhoven centre-back Jeffrey Bruma is one of the first names on their hit-list.
The Stamford Bridge graduate had impressed during loan spells with Leicester City and Hamburg before joining the Eredivisie giants in 2013, and he has since developed into one of country s top stoppers.
While scoring 7 goals in 75 league outings for PSV Eindhoven, Bruma also earned 14 Netherlands caps, making five appearances for Oranje in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
It is quite surprising…
Thomas Tuchel rates winning the Champions League with Chelsea as his greatest achievement as a coach but challenged his Blues side to prove they have the hunger to keep on claiming the game s biggest prizes.
Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea became European champions for the second time by beating Manchester City 1-0 in May s final in Lisbon.
It marked an impressive triumph for Tuchel, who had only replaced Frank Lampard at the Stamford Bridge helm in January.
But the German is keen for his squad to now refocus and create a culture of winning.
I would say yes [it s my biggest achievement] but in general I find it pretty hard to rate achievements because who wants to be the judge and who wants to know? Tuchel said ahead of Chelsea …
Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has backed Sadio Mane to shine, expressing his empathy after his recent struggles with the Bundesliga champions.
The Senegal international arrived from Liverpool for a reported €32million fee and initially started strong in his new surroundings, scoring three goals in his opening three Bundesliga appearances.
However, a dip in goalscoring form for Mane has seen the forward fail to score in his last four league matches and has coincided with poor results for Bayern, who are without a win in those games.
Indeed, Mane s only goal in his last seven Bayern appearances came in a routine 5-0 win against Viktoria Koln in the DBF-Pokal at the end of August.
Salihamidzic is not concerned, however, identifying the…