Football News: Review Of The Day 13th September 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Real Zaragoza midfielder Raul Guti has signed a 4 year contract.

Dimitri Bisoli has signed a 5 year deal with Brescia.

Arsenal have given young midfielder Joe Willock a new long-term deal.

Transfers

Monaco midfielder Sofiane Diop has joined Sochaux on loan.

Motherwell have signed free agent Ugandan international centre-back Bevis Mugabi on a short term deal until January. The 24 year old was previously with Yeovil Town, but went on trial with Motherwell over the last few weeks.

Injury Round-Up

Aberdeen forward Scott Wright is looking likely to miss the rest of the season after a knee injury picked up in training. The 22 year old is believed to have suffered cruciate ligament damage. Dons manager Derek McInnes said: "With nobody near him, he went over, got his studs caught in the turf. We first thought it was only going to be cartilage damage, but on further investigation it looks like there is damage to the cruciate. We will get that confirmed next week when the specialist sees it. If that is the case, it is just tragic for Scott, and really disappointing for us."

Danny Drinkwater is ruled out for two weeks after he damaged ankle ligaments in a nightclub brawl. Drinkwater, currently on loan with Burnley from Chelsea, was reportedly attacked and is unable to train on grass yet. Burnley manager Sean Dyche said: "They are human beings and people do get in scrapes. He's old enough and wise enough to know you do whatever you can to try not to get into scrapes but sometimes it happens. He is part of us. We have to work with him and help him get realigned to where he was and where he wants to be. We have talked to him and the rest will remain private. We've had a chat with him and said: What happened first of all? What was the situation that led to it? OK, let's move away from that, now where to do we go from here? That's where we're at."

Gerrard Critical Of Scotland Set Up

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has criticised Scotland's handling of Gers midfielder Ryan Jack after Jack aggravated an existing knee injury while on international duty. Gerrard said: "Unfortunately he was asked to do an 11k session two days after an Old Firm game, which made his knee flare up. It is a shame as he has missed the last five or six training sessions. I think it's just careless. You should never, ever do 11k two days after playing 90 minutes. That's the education I've had. Ryan's got a knee issue that he manages and he has done for a long time. The SFA are aware of that, their fitness coach is aware of that. I think everyone in Scotland watched the Old Firm and saw Ryan play 90 minutes. And then 48 hours afterwards, he did a double session."

PGMOL Struggle To Count

Referees' chief Mike Riley has laughably claimed that just 4 decisions were wrongly missed by the video assistant referee in the Premier League so far this season. Riley told Premier League clubs that 227 incidents were examined and 6 were changed but 4 more should have been changed. The four were a penalty claim from Manchester City for a foul on David Silva against Bournemouth, a foul on West Ham United striker Sebastian Haller versus Norwich City, the assault by Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans on Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson and a handball by Newcastle United's Isaac Hayden was missed in the build up to Newcastle's equaliser against Watford. As usual they blithely dismiss so many clear mistakes that it just makes the PGMOL a laughing stock.

Eriksen Happy With Spurs

Mauricio Pochettino, the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has claimed that Christian Eriksen is happy at the club despite his hints that he wants to leave. Pochettino said: "He never said he was not happy here - he always was. I said before the Arsenal game that he was in the right mind - that's why I selected him for that game and I will continue to select him. He has always been such an important player for us and he will continue to be."

US Soccer Federation Taken To Court

Relevent Sports, the company behind the annual pre-season International Champions Cup and plan to play a Spanish league match in the USA, have taken legal action against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). Relevent believe that the USSF is acting to prevent competition to a rival match promoter called Soccer United Marketing (SUM) which is owned by the Major League Soccer teams. Its relationship with the USSF is already the subject of legal cases. What caused this legal action was an attempt by Relevent to have an Ecuadorian league game played in the US, which the USSF blocked. With the CEO of the Ecuadorian league, Luis Manfredi, formerly employed by La Liga, it is believed that this was merely an attempt to test the current regulations. The USSF stated: "When Relevent requested to host a competitive league match in Miami between two Ecuadorean clubs, their application went through our review process for international match approval, which we conduct on the more than a hundred applications we receive each year from dozens of promoters. As part of this review process, we reached out to the Ecuadorean Football Federation and [South American Football Confederation] Conmebol to confirm whether they were aware that the proposal involved a competitive league match. As of today, we have yet to receive a response to this inquiry. At the same time, we also reached out to Fifa and verified the Fifa Council's October 2018 confirmation stating 'the sporting principle that official league matches must be played within the territory of the respective member association'."

Napoli In Dispute With Contractors

Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti has heavily criticised the state of the dressing rooms at the Stadio San Paolo following renovation work. The Neapolitans played the first two games of the season away from home to allow time for the works to be completed but posted a video on social media of unfinished dressing rooms with scaffolding still in place, pots of paint littering the floor, electrical sockets unfinished and sinks missing. Ancelotti said: "I have seen the state of the dressing rooms at the San Paolo. There are no words. I accepted the club's request to play the first two games away from home to allow the work to be finished, as was promised. Where are we supposed to get changed for the games against Sampdoria and Liverpool? I'm shocked at the incompetence of the people in charge of the work. How could the region, municipality and commissioners fail to respect the commitments that were made? It smacks of disregard and a lack of a bond with the city's team. I'm dismayed." Despite the video evidence, the architect and company who carried out the work deny there are any issues and say they are ahead on contractual times.

Messi Would Love Neymar Return

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has admitted he would have loved Neymar Jr to have completed a return to Barcelona in the summer. Messi said: "He was desperate to come back. I don't know if the club really tried or not. I would have loved to have Neymar back. I understand those people who are against his return and it's understandable for what happened with 'Ney' and the way that he left. But thinking about it on a sporting level, I personally think Neymar is one of the best players in the world and having him in our squad would increase our chances of achieving our objectives."

Kent Hits Out At Liverpool

Ryan Kent has blasted Liverpool over his on-off-on again move to Rangers in the summer, accusing the Premier League club of telling him lies. Kent told a press conference: "It was very tough. I had to stay mentally strong, when you are told you can do one thing and then you are lied to and it doesn't happen, that is quite hard to take. I just had to keep myself fit and train on my own and make sure I keep my fitness levels up and I was waiting for a moment like this to arrive. There's no bitter taste, the thing that I wanted from the start happened at the end so I am just happy with that. I would have liked to have been here from the start, it is quite difficult watching it on the TV wishing I was part of some of the games but I am delighted to be back and I can't wait to get going. There were probably some slight concerns along the way when I thought this might not happen and I might have to plan for something else but I always had a feeling that it might go to the last day of the window and that's what happened."

Written by Tris Burke September 12 2019 21:14:41