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Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Monday, 5 October 2015
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Lallana Is Fit Again
The England international is ready to return after
suffering a thigh injury and insists that the club will soon emerge from
their early-season slump, starting against Bordeaux
Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana insists he is fully fit and ready for his return after being sidelined with a thigh injury.suffering a thigh injury and insists that the club will soon emerge from
their early-season slump, starting against Bordeaux
Lallana, 27, started his side's opening two Premier League games before
suffering the injury, which has sidelined him ever since.
The England international could make his return for Brendan Rodgers' men
on Thursday, however, as they visit Bordeaux in the Europa League, and
he says he is raring to go.
"I'm fully fit now," Lallana was quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo.
"I trained on Friday, it was too soon for [Manchester] United at the
weekend but after another three or four days [of] good training, I’m
ready for Thursday night.
"It was frustrating to have another setback but as a footballer you have
to deal with that. Hopefully I can now stay fit for the rest of the
season.
"It was so disappointing to miss the last couple of games because as a senior member of the team I have not been there to help.
"I'm delighted to be back and now I want to help the team get some positive results over the coming days."
Liverpool are looking to get back on track in the European fixture after
suffering a three-game winless run, which has included league losses to
West Ham and Manchester United, and Lallana is sure that the Reds will
soon return to form.
"We've had a couple of bad results but that won't continue. I've got an
immense amount of confidence that results will turn," he added.
"As a club we have got to stick together through the good times and the
bad times. This is a good chance to start getting a bit of momentum back
again."
Lampard off the mark for NYCFC
The former Chelsea and Manchester City midfielder
scored in a 2-0 win over Toronto FC, with fellow summer signing Andrea
Pirlo also turning in a high-quality display
Nearly 14 months after joining the club, Frank Lampard finally has his first goal for New York City FC.scored in a 2-0 win over Toronto FC, with fellow summer signing Andrea
Pirlo also turning in a high-quality display
The
37-year-old opened the scoring in his side's 2-0 win over Toronto FC at
Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, as the club moved into second in the
Eastern Conference.
Lampard missed the first half of the MLS
campaign after deciding to extend his controversial loan stint with
Manchester City, delaying his arrival until mid-July. Nagging injuries
have further limited Lampard's impact, with the former Chelsea stalwart
making just his fifth MLS appearance against Toronto.
But it took
him only 20 minutes to find the net. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo - another
marquee summer signing - played in right-back R.J. Allen, and his cut
back found Lampard on the edge of the box. Although he didn't make a
clean contact with the ball, his bouncing shot still evaded the grasp of
Toronto goalkeeper Chris Konopka.
"I didn’t catch it the best —
it sort of just bobbled in the corner," Lampard told reporters. "But
it’s great to get off the mark. I had a tough start with injuries, but
I’m getting fitter and hopefully more to come. It’s been frustrating for
me. No one is more frustrated than the player himself. I want to give
back. I want to show people what I can do. It’s a goal. I’ll get fitter
and there will be more goals, I hope."
And Lampard wasn't the
only big name to enjoy a productive night, as Pirlo notched a fine
assist in the 77th minute, helping Patrick Mullins add some sheen to the
scoreline. The Italy international's performance should quieten his
criticis for now, with Pirlo having seen New York lose in five of his
first seven starts.
"You can’t not enjoy playing with a player of
his quality," Lampard said of the former Juventus playmaker. "He’s a
master of the ball. He plays fantastic passes. You know when you move
that he is going to find you."
And coach Jason Kreis echoed
Lampard's sentiments, adding: "Andrea is a natural-born competitor who
doesn’t take to losing well, and I think that he’s been in many
situations like this before that require a massive effort. I think,
really, in the last two games he’s really worked extremely hard and
played quite well."
Mourinho slams Gerrard talk of Terry rift
Talk of a potential rift between the Chelsea captain and the Portuguese coach has been denied by the Stamford Bridge boss
Jose Mourinho has dismissed Steven Gerrard's suggestion of "friction"between the Chelsea manager and captain John Terry, claiming the pair
get on fine.
Terry watched the 4-0 Champions League win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday from the bench,
while the experienced defender was hauled off at half-time as Chelsea
were beaten 3-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League last month.
Gerrard, a former England team-mate of Terry's, expressed his disbelief
in the pre-match build-up that the 34-year-old skipper had been dropped
for the Maccabi Tel Aviv clash.
"There's certainly a bit of friction behind the scenes because for me,
you play John Terry week in, week out. He's your captain," Gerrard said
on BT Sport.
But Mourinho has played down talk of a rift, saying: "Steven is wrong.
"I have a very good relationship with him. He's wrong, because we have no problems."
Mourinho made a number of changes to his starting XI following poor
form in the Premier League, which sees champions Chelsea trailing
leaders Manchester City by 11 points after five games.
Eden Hazard once again disappointed with an early penalty miss on Wednesday, but goals from Willian, Oscar, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas secured a comfortable win for the Blues.
Walcott: Dinamo defeat is not the end of Arsenal's season
The England forward is adamant that his side is
capable of bouncing back from their opening day defeat against a team
that had won none of it's previous 15 group stage matches
Theo Walcott insists Arsenal have the experience and quality to bounce back from their embarrassing Champions League defeat against Dinamo Zagreb.capable of bouncing back from their opening day defeat against a team
that had won none of it's previous 15 group stage matches
Arsene
Wenger’s side, who were forced to play with 10 men for over an hour
after Olivier Giroud was sent off, slumped to a 2-1 defeat against a
team that had failed to win any of its previous 15 group stage matches.
Arsenal
now face an uphill battle to qualify from a section that also includes
Bayern Munich and Olympiacos but Walcott, who at least continued his
fine recent goalscoring form with a late consolation, is confident his
side retains enough quality to overcome this early setback.
"We can’t blow one result and say it’s the end of the season. We’ve still got a long Champions League run," he said.
"We’ve
had setbacks before and we’ve managed to bounce back from them. We’ve
been in this tournament for 18 years now so we’ve had a lot of
experience and we know how to deal with setbacks.
"We should be
able to come back stronger. The manager will make sure that it’s put to
bed in the changing room and that it will stay there. The journey home
won’t be nice but we need to reflect on this game and move on quickly."
Zenit executed counter-attacking plan - Villas-Boas
The Spanish side had 62 per cent possession in the
Champions League clash at the Mestalla but were beaten by midfielder
Axel Witsel's decisive second-half strike
Andre Villas-Boas says Zenit's plans to allow Valencia to dominate possession paid off in their 3-2 Champions League win on Wednesday.
The Spanish side had 62 per cent possession and had 15 shots at goal to
Zenit's seven, but were beaten by Axel Witsel's winner at the Mestalla.
Villas-Boas insists that Zenit planned to play on the counter, with Hulk
scoring a first-half brace before Witsel powered home the decisive
effort in the second period.
"We played well, although we let Valencia have most of the possession.
That was our strategy - to counter-attack," the former Chelsea and
Tottenham boss said.
"That is how we got our three goals. The result is fair. To have a lot of the ball in football does not necessarily mean a lot.
"That can work during a match and today we were fortunate to win the game using this strategy.
"We did not have the majority of the possession, but when we had the ball we did well."
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