Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo said he is not obsessed about breaking the La Liga goalscoring record this season.The Portuguese attacker has netted on 36 occasions for Jose Mourinho’s side in the league this term, and needs just three more to break the all-time record of 38 set by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra (1950-51 season) and Real’s Hugo Sanchez (1989-90).
Most recently, Ronaldo hit a hat-trick in Real’s 4-0 win over Getafe at the weekend, and the former Manchester United attacker has just two league matches left to net three more goals to earn what would be an impressive achievement.
The Portuguese leads Barcelona ace Lionel Messi by five goals in the race for the Pichichi trophy, awarded to the golden boot winner in the Spanish top flight.
The 26-year-old, however, is not getting carried away with his achievements, simply putting his flurry of goals down to teamwork.
“I’m fighting to reach a very important mark, but I’m not obsessed about doing it,” Ronaldo told Real’s official site.
“I’m not thinking a lot about that (the record), I prefer to do my thing to help the team to win and if I beat the records then that would be good, but if I don’t to be honest I don’t care about that.”
“I just want to play to enjoy it and keep well myself.”
Ronaldo’s tally of 49 goals in all competitions has already broken the club record of 47 in a single season set by Real legend Ferenc Puskas in 1959-60.
President Sepp Blatter is to be investigated by FIFA.World football’s ruling body has opened ethics proceedings against Blatter after Mohamed Bin Hammam, his rival in next week’s presidential election, claimed that the Swiss knew about alleged cash payments.
Bin Hammam and vice-president Jack Warner will also be at Sunday’s hearing to answer charges of bribery.
“I cannot comment on the proceedings that have been opened against me. The facts will speak for themselves,” Blatter said in a statement.
The ethics committee are bound by their rules to investigate any complaint by an executive committee member under article 16 of the ethics code.
Bin Hammam and Warner face allegations from executive committee member Chuck Blazer that they offered bribes at a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union earlier this month.
A file of evidence claims bundles of cash of up to US$40,000 were handed over to members of the CFU at the meeting in Trinidad.
In turn, Bin Hammam is effectively claiming Blatter was aware of some wrongdoing but did not report it, in itself a breach of the code.
The committee, chaired by Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb, will also be under pressure to decide whether Blatter will face any charges.
Alex McLeish’s resignation has caused quite a stir in Birmingham, given that he has been heavily linked with the vacant manager’s job at Villa Park. The Blues plan to do everything in their legal powers to prevent the two parties from talking, although it would be hard to see how they can stop it.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include the Glazers weigh up £1.7bn floatation; Usmanov blames the Arsenal board for failure, while time is running out for Jonathan Woodgate.
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McLeish linked with Villa after quitting Birmingham – Guardian
Glazers weigh up £1.7bn floatation on Hong Kong Stock Exchange – Daily Mail
Time running out for crock Woody – Sun
Usmanov: Arsenal board to blame for failures – Guardian
Man United win battle for Jones – Daily Telegraph
You’re Gunner regret it, Sam – Sun
UEFA chief Platini impressed by Football League’s financial changes – Daily Mail
Everton back in for Real Madrid starlet – Mirror
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Liverpool bid for Saints prodigy – Daily Mail
Swansea keen to sign young Chelsea defender – Mirror
Can we stop the demonisation of Randy Lerner please? As foreign owners go, he seems like one of the better ones. United fans started a new team under Glazer and yellow scarves are prominent at the Stretford End, Sheikh Mansour wants to buy the league without much success, Hicks and Gillett couldn’t have been worse, selling the team to the Boston Red Sox, who promptly gave some of Liverpool to Lebron James as part of a marketing deal, Yeung oversaw a relegation, Venky’s have done nothing yet, ‘just call him Al’ Fayed wants out, the revolving door at Chelsea keeps going round, Kroenke has no control anyway and no-one actually knows who Ellis Short is.
With that dream team of ‘fit and proper persons’, why are Villa fans complaining about Lerner? He gave the Aston Villa fans what they had wanted for years: An end to the Doug Ellis era. He appointed Martin O’Neill as manager and gave him the tools to construct an exciting lineup – trading Baros for Carew and buying Ashley Young for over nine million in his first season, for example.
Some of the signings were terrible and falling out with O’Neill was linked to that and wage inflation, but in the main, Lerner cannot be accused of denying his managers what they want. Delph (£6m), Downing (£10m) and Dunne (£5m) are three examples of solid purchases as Aston Villa remained something of a formidable side, an eleventh and three top six finishes before the ninth placed effort last campaign in what was an eventful season at Villa Park.
When it was going wrong and the club found themselves in 16th, he spent big on Darren Bent as Villa quietly only lost four of their final 15 games. Lerner should be praised for his ambition. Certainly Aston Villa are not the biggest club and there will be always other outfits ready to wave the chequebook at their stars, Ashley Young joining the red side of Manchester, while Milner and Barry went blue but surely there should be an element of faith in the new manager and chairman?
Lerner inherited the Cleveland Browns – essentially the absolute worst franchise in the NFL. Even then, he has tried to turn them into a progressive outfit, without much success in their competitive AFC North division. One tragic example was the signing of Le Charles Bentley – a much coveted lineman. Lerner spent over $30 million on him, only for Bentley to blow his knee out and retire without ever playing a down in the NFL.
Thankfully, while there have been some bad signings, some of the young players that have come through must genuinely excite the Holte End. Agbonlahor and Albrighton are established first teamers, with the likes of Delfouneso, Bannan, Hogg and Ciaran Clark needing a little more seasoning. It would have been easy for Lerner to hand his manager a chunk of his reported $1.5 billion wealth to buy in players, but largely, they have put their faith in youth and with Friedel and Reo-Coker gone, some spending will be inevitable as Villa rebuild around Darren Bent and the kids. With the Wenger driven exception in North London, which other foreign owned club has made youth development as much of a priority?
There has been no mass revolt from one of the better fanbases in the country, small pockets of disgruntled Brummies annoyed that they pinched their rival’s boss, simply because he was a Bluenose. It’s fair to say that rumours of season tickets being burnt and ripped are exaggerated. Who did Villa fans realistically want?
The fact that the stadium has retained the name without some corny sponsorship is a small sign that Lerner appreciates the tradition of English football. This is a man that spent 1983, one year after Aston Villa won the European Cup in England, gaining an appreciation of ‘sawker’ along the way. It should also be applauded that the Villains remain the only Premier League team to donate the lucrative primary shirt sponsor (to children’s hospice Acorns. Does giving up a reported 2.5 million a year sound like an owner who is out to asset strip the club?
So to sum it all up, here is a foreign chairman who spends money on players, the infrastructure of the club, knows the ins and outs of the sport and unique traditions in Britain, constructing a team who have an exciting young, largely British and Irish core and hasn’t neglected his responsibility to the community. Yet he’s being vilified because he went across town to fill their managerial vacancy.
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Really?
Read more of Hashim Piperdy’s articles at This is Futbol
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Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri insists that he will hold on to all three of his prized assets – Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik.The attacking trio, who were an integral part of Napoli’s successful campaign last year, which saw them reach the Champions League, have been attracting interest from across Europe.
However, Mazzarri was in a defiant mood regarding keeping hold of his most important talents.
“Sometimes it is better to give in to a player who wants to leave as he is no longer motivated but that is not the case with us. Cavani, Lavezzi and Hamsik will remain at Napoli – that is their wish,” he said.
“I spoke to Marek just yesterday and I could tell he was looking forward to starting the new season. He is keen to stay. He is an attacking player with unique qualities and in my view, he must not be sold.”
However, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis opened the door to a move away from Naples for Argentine forward Lavezzi, who has recently attracted interest from Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
“Like with all players, he is in the hands of his agent. I hope he makes the right decision. The player has a release clause and we cannot do anything. I would hate it if he were to leave,” he said.
Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani will definitely play at Anfield next season, his agent said on Thursday.The Italian spent last season on-loan at Juventus, but the Serie A club were reluctant to use their option to sign him permanently.
Recent reports have linked the 27-year-old to Fiorentina, but Aquilani’s agent Franco Zavaglia said he would remain with Kenny Dalglish’s English Premier League outfit.
“Aquilani will certainly stay at Liverpool,” he told Il Corriere dello Sport.
“Alberto has recovered from his ankle problem. He’s back in the international set-up and has the characteristics needed to do well in the Premier League.”
“He’s in pre-season training with Liverpool and has played in all of the team’s summer tour games so far.”
Aquilani had been linked to Fiorentina as midfielder Riccardo Montolivo continues to be tipped to join Serie A champions AC Milan.
In other Premier League news, Manchester City could sign Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi unless the Italian club offers him a new deal.
The midfielder’s current deal expires next year and Roma run the risk of losing him on a free transfer unless he receives a substantial pay rise and a clear outline of new owner Thomas DiBenedetto’s future plans for the club.
The Eastlands club are ready to put together a 23 million euro deal to secure De Rossi’s signature and can also significantly bump up his wages.
De Rossi would agree to sign a contract extension with Roma should he receive the certainties he craves and the club are believed to have offered to increase the Italy international’s wage from four million euros to six million euros per year.
Elsewhere, Benfica have announced the signing of Villarreal defender Joan Capdevila on their official website.
The World Cup-winning defender has signed a two-year deal with Jorge Jesus’ men, with a 20 euro million release clause inserted into the contract.
Capdevila has won 59 caps for Spain, scoring four goals since making his debut in 2002 and he played every minute of his nation’s triumphant World Cup campaign last year.
The left-back has enjoyed spells with Atletico Madrid, Espanyol and Deportivo La Coruna before joining Villarreal in 2007.
Santos midfielder Ganso has revealed he only wants to play for AC Milan once his current club eventually decides what to do with him.
The 21-year-old Brazil international has been strongly tipped to join Milan, who are yet to make a formal offer.
Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Ganso has already told Milan defender Thiago Silva of his ambition to join him at San Siro.
“I only want Milan and I am ready to wait,” Ganso reportedly told Silva.
The start of another League One season is only days away and whilst it seems only weeks ago that we were screaming at poor refereeing decisions or moaning about the horrible weather on a cold Tuesday evening, fans of football league clubs can finally look forward to a new campaign full of optimism and hope. One club doing just that is League One side Leyton Orient.
Last season was one of surprising highs. The O’s earned a seventh-placed finish and enjoyed an FA Cup run that included wins against two newly promoted Premier League teams and an amazing draw against Arsenal. Equally impressive was that Orient did all this playing attractive passing football rather than the long ball ugly game that often weighs down the lower leagues. There is a strange feeling of expectation around Brisbane Road. As many fans know this is of course a very dangerous feeling and needs to be balanced with a dose of realism due to the unpredictably of the lower leagues.
But in the euphoria of football returning after the summer break, I am going to preview the O’s season with a new sense of expectation. Pre-season has gone well for Russell Slade’s side. We remained unbeaten until a visit from Premier League Tottenham and Slade has brought in a number of new faces that add depth and experience to a relatively small squad.
Most crucial though is that we have kept last season’s stars together. Finding a lower league gem is hard enough but one good season often sees your best players snapped up by bigger teams. Jamie Jones and Jimmy Smith in particular were out of contract and look destined to move on but yet somehow both stayed and signed long-term deals with the club. Key men like Charlie Daniels and Dean Cox faced the inevitable whispers of them looking to move on yet both remain in East London for the new season. Keeping a set of players that are driven by a good spirit and great understanding of each other’s play is a great advantage for Slade.
And then we come to the manager himself. Not often do Orient bosses get head hunted by higher league sides but this summer the O’s looked on the verge of losing their most important asset to Championship side Barnsley. But Russell stayed and whilst it seemed like a case of chairman Barry Hearn slamming the door shut on any potential move, all parties seem happy and ready for the new season.
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Orient kick off the new campaign against Walsall this Saturday before facing local rivals Southend in the cup. With a slightly bigger squad at our disposal I believe we have the team to challenge in both competitions and early wins would set up the season well. But what about our other competitors? Who is going to be the danger team next season?
Despite experiencing a disastrous campaign last season I expect Charlton to do well. They have added to the squad wisely this summer and if they can make a good start, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make their long-awaited jump back up the leagues. Under the leadership of new boss Uwe Rosler and in the wake of some impressive signings, Brentford would be an outside bet for a play-off push next term. The clubs that were relegated from the Championship last season (Preston, Scunthorpe and Sheffield Utd) also have a good chance of making an impact in the third tier of English football.
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Whilst on paper the league looks weaker after the departures of Peterborough, Brighton and Southampton (and the long-term losses in previous years of ‘big teams’ like Norwich and Leeds that used to improve the league), League One promises to be another exciting campaign. The unpredictability of the lower leagues means its hard to say whether Orient can go one step better than last season but to be honest, come next May, I would be happy with another top ten finish.
How do you think Orient will do next season? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
David de Gea’s struggles continued last weekend as the new Manchester United goalkeeper let a very saveable shot from West Brom’s Shane Long past him. In the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter for Man United as they still beat the Baggies 2-1, but for the Spanish ‘keeper it’s the second game in the row where he’s been at fault for one of the goals. This will be of concern to de Gea and his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who will be hoping that his big money signing comes good. One ex-Manchester United goalkeeper who knows all too much about high profile mistakes is Ben Foster, de Gea’s opposite number last Sunday. Here are Foster and de Gea embracing, but what words of wisdom are being shared?
Leave your suggestions below…
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Arsene Wenger is set to continue his spending at Arsenal as he lines up a bid for Juan Vargas after missing out on him in the summer the Mirror reports.
The Gunners boss was interested in signing the versatile Peruvian before the transfer deadline as a replacement for Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas but opted to continue scouting him during the season.
Capable of playing at anywhere on the left and also in central midfield he could be a huge asset to Arsenal who are currently going through one of their worst periods under Wenger,
With the Frenchman worried about his sides ability to cope mentally and physically during an arduous winter schedule a bid for Vargas, who also has a reputation as a tough nut, is likely.
The 27-year-old isn’t one to shy away from a physical battle and he would certainly add a fighting mentality to a side that has so far failed to show any sort of battling qualities.
Wenger is prepared to put his faith in the current side until January but a move to bring Vargas to the Emirates Stadium could happen if results don’t improve by then.
They could have a rival for his signature with Juventus are also keeping tabs on him and have been linked with a £10 million bid when the window opens at the start of 2012.
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The latest Merseyside derby this weekend highlighted a lot of issues. Are our referees really the best in the world, and if not, when are they going to be held accountable? Are we starting to see the ugly side of fans, creeping back into our stadiums, and are clubs doing enough to combat those disgusting individuals who throw missiles directly at players? And is the Liverpool side that finished the game (with the exception of Jordan Henderson) the ideal starting XI for Kenny Dalglish? Let’s take a look.
Little more than 20-minutes had passed on the clock when Martin Atkinson foolishly flashed a red card in Jack Rodwell’s direction after the Everton midfielder committed a tough, but clean challenge, but it took Liverpool until the 71st minute to break the deadlock. Both club Captain Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy had been on the pitch barely 4-minutes when the latter was involved in some neat build-up play which saw Andy Carroll break Everton’s resolve. There should be little doubt that the injection of pace and quality that Liverpool introduced at that time, in the sweltering, unseasonable weather, against a tiring 10-men helped change the game once more.
Bellamy replaced the anonymous Stewart Downing and looked instantly more threatening down the left-hand side of the pitch, combining well with left-back Jose Enrique. The former Villa man had a promising start to the season, but in recent weeks has become something of an invisible man. Bellamy on the other hand is the perennial pain in the neck to whatever opposition he faces. His constant harrying and buzzing around the pitch, coupled with his mouthy, moaning ‘charm’ never leaves supporters wondering if he is on the field of play. Charlie Adam had performed bright in spells but has not been as consistently influential on the pitch as he would have liked – or many would have expected. The return of iconic Captain Gerrard will now threaten Adam’s place in the starting line-up. There could be a case to partner both midfielders together and thus replacing the much maligned Lucas, which is what many fans want to see. It would certainly provide a more offensive option, however the balance of the team may suffer as the much improved Brazilian provides an effective shield in-front of the defensive line, and defensively, Liverpool have struggled at times this season.
Injuries have prevented Liverpool from having a consistent back-line this season but there can be little doubt when fit, Agger, Carragher and Jose Enrique should be first choice (alongside keeper Pepe Reina). The only question mark is at right-back with young Martin Kelly forever impressing, injury prone England international Glen Johnson seems to be a forgotten man at Anfield, and many believe his poor defensive positional sense should see young Kelly keep his place.
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One option could be to play Johnson further forward and join the midfield unit – he certainly has the attacking quality and composure. However the ever-dependable Dirk Kuyt now seems to have won his place back in the starting line-up after initially losing it to new signing Jordan Henderson at the start of the season. Many were mystified by Dalglish’s preference for youngster Henderson over the experienced Kuyt, but it now seems the Dutchman has worked his way back into the starting line-up at the £20 million man’s expense. Henderson can have little complaint due to his performances thus far, but maybe it is a slight on the management team for rushing the youngster into the first team instead of allowing him to acclimatise slowly – was there pressure from above to play him, with his huge price-tag? Either way Henderson is not yet ready for the starting line-up, especially whilst there are other more experienced, proven options available who have also contributed more on the field of play this season than the former Sunderland man.
That just leaves the front-line which was made up of £58 million pair Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll for the entirety of the derby. The two striker’s were bought together back in January to form a dream ‘little and large’ partnership, but of the two, only Suarez has shone. The Uruguayan has been far and away Liverpool’s best player since pulling on a red shirt and his place in the starting line-up is cemented. Contrast that with Carroll’s very inconsistent, stop-start career at Anfield so far which has seen the Geordie giant’s abilities called into question every time he plays. A severe lack of goals has added to the scrutiny, but Dalglish is standing by his man, publicly defending the youngster from the media’s criticism. Carroll repaid the managers faith with a derby goal, and there is little doubt he is still a huge ‘work in progress’. But both strikers scored on Saturday in a 2-0 win, their jobs done. Will the team that was on the field of play whilst both goals were scored be given a chance from the off?
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