AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was in awe of the celebrations that came with winning the Serie A title.The Rossoneri clinched their 18th Scudetto – and first since 2004 – with a goalless draw at AS Roma earlier this month and it was party time at home against Cagliari on Saturday as they eased to a 4-1 victory in front of a parochial Milan crowd.
But the match was almost a sideshow, given the players had already been driven to the ground in an open-top bus and had performed a lap of honour inside the ground prior to kick-off.
Up to 50,000 fans also greeted the players in Piazza Duomo before the match and Allegri said the day was a tremendous experience.
“It was wonderful for me and the first time I’ve experienced anything like that, so I was amazed and fascinated,” he said.
“I wanted the lads to end the campaign in the best way with the fans and President here for us.”
Allegri said the title was achieved because of the hard work done by the squad during the pre-season.
“I immediately asked the side to train with intensity, as that is what prepares you for the pitch, but that is also a work ethic at Milan decades ago with Arrigo Sacchi,” Allegri said.
“I merely asked them to work for the team and that is what they did for me and each other.”
Philadelphia Union remain top of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids.They were forced to come from behind on Saturday as teenage Congolese forward Danny Mwanga equalised, three minutes after Conor Casey had given the Rapids the lead.
Casey converted from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute before Mwanga’s leveller as Colorado drew their sixth game in a row.
The Rapids are fifth in the Western Conference on the back of the result, while Philadelphia stayed top after the New York Red Bulls conceded a late goal in a 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew.
Moroccan midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy had given New York a ninth-minute lead but Richard Balchan hit back in the 90th minute.
New York are now winless in their last six games but remain second in the Western Conference, while Columbus are fifth.
A 69th-minute strike from on-loan midfielder Marvin Chavez helped Dallas extend their unbeaten run to nine games with a 1-0 win over New England.
The result keeps them five points from first-placed Los Angeles Galaxy in the Western Conference, while New England slipped to sixth in the East.
Chivas moved into sixth in the Western Conference after a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers, thanks to a goal from Argentine forward Marcos Mondaini.
The San Jose Earthquakes struck twice in the second half in their 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo.
Goals from strikers Steven Lenhart and Simon Dawkins condemned the Dynamo to a seventh-straight game without a win.
Midfielder Jean Alexandre and Argentine forward Fabian Espindola were both on the scoresheet as Real Salt Lake won 2-0 over the struggling Vancouver Whitecaps.
In other games, Toronto and Sporting Kansas City played out a 0-0 draw, as did the Chicago Fire and the Seattle Sounders.
Chile have picked up just a second win of the Copa America tournament, while Uruguay became the latest favourite to be held to a draw.In a Group C double-header at Mendoza’s Estadio del Bicentenario, Peru frustrated Uruguay into a 1-1 stalemate – the fourth draw in six completed games at the tournament in Argentina – while Chile’s class helped them overcome Mexico 2-1.
Despite Uruguay’s much-vaunted front three of Napoli’s Edinson Cavani, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan, Peru’s well-organised defence enjoyed the better of the early going.
After a lively opening, it was Peru who drew first blood when Paolo Guerrero was picked out by a great ball from Michael Guevara on 25 minutes.
The Hamburg striker coolly rounded Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera before slotting into an empty net.
Uruguay – the third-favourite nation behind Argentina and Brazil – began to wrest control late in the half and could have been back on level terms when Forlan launched a vicious swerving free-kick towards goal five minutes before half-time, but Peru goalkeeper Raul Fernandez performed an acrobatic save.
They did not have to wait long to equalise, however, and Suarez fired home on the stroke of half-time after a neat turn and pass from Ajax midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro.
The second half was a pulsating affair, with both sides having chances to take away three points as things became willing.
Guerrero had a great chance to seal a win for Peru in the 90th minute, but the 27-year-old put his close-range header wide of the mark.
In the later game, Chile showed their quality but needed to come from behind against a stubborn Mexico side.
Just six of the faces that helped their nation lift the Gold Cup on June 25 were included in Mexico’s largely Under-22 squad, with five overage players and only two who boasted more than 10 caps.
It showed as Chile dominated large sections of the game, with Barcelona target Alexis Sanchez busy and Sporting Lisbon midfield Matias Fernandez the hub of his side’s attacking moves.
Fernandez went close from a free kick and then open play, while team-mate Humberto Suazo was only thwarted in his hunt for a goal by some agile goalkeeper from Mexico’s Luis Ernesto Michel on 30 minutes.
The half appeared destined to end scoreless despite Chile’s domination, until 19-year-old defender Nestor Araujo threaded a header beyond Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo after Giovani dos Santos’ ball was flicked on in the area.
The goal failed to shake Chile, however, and they pulled level 22 minutes into the second half when substitute Esteban Paredes prodded home from close range.
They then finally made their domination count when Fernandez’s corner was headed into the net by Arturo Vidal, though Bravo was needed to keep the score at 2-1 when he blocked Edgar Pacheco’s effort shortly before the final whistle.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed that he will look elsewhere if he cannot tie down a move for Tottenham star Luka Modric.The Blues have been chasing the Croatian midfielder over the English Premier League offseason, with Modric attempting to push the move through by handing in a transfer request at White Hart Lane.
But Chelsea’s 27 million-pound bid two weeks ago was dismissed out of hand by the north London club and Villas-Boas admits it will take ‘incredible’ money to entice the midfielder from their Premier League rivals to Stamford Bridge.
“You know what the situation is, it is public,” Villas-Boas said after his side defeated Portsmouth 1-0 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. “You can understand the position that the club has taken.”
“At the moment we are scanning the market for everything. (Modric plays in) one of the positions we are looking to strengthen.”
“But here you saw we adapted Yossi (Benayoun)’s position in the middle and also against Wycombe he was marvellous in the position.”
“It is just a question of finding the solution. If it happens it happens, if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen.”
The Portuguese boss hinted that if a deal is not done soon, he will move on to other options.
“It does not depend on us. Spurs have a right to defend their player and property. We just have to wait,” he added.
“We respect whatever position Tottenham takes and the prices we are talking about is an incredible amount of money.”
Popular former midfield player Thomas Hitzlsperger could make a shock return for a second spell at Aston Villa according to both The Guardian and The Mirror, with Villa manager Alex McLeish failing to rule out the possibility.
The German, who was affectionately known as ‘Der Hammer’, spent five years at the club between 2000 and 2005 and enjoyed a successful relationship with the Villa faithful, which still remains. He originally left Villa Park to return to his homeland, playing for VfB Stuttgart and after a brief unsuccessful period at Lazio in Italy, he returned to England with West Ham. However, after West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League last year, Hitzlsperger finds himself without a club as a free agent.
Before any potential return however, manager McLeish has been told to cut Villa’s wage bill before bringing in any new faces: ‘Thomas’ name has been mentioned,’ said McLeish of the 29-year-old German international. ‘The midfield, in terms of experience, maybe we are a little bit lacking. But we won’t be bringing players in until we trade. We still have a very heavy wage bill and we’ve got to try and work to adjust that. There’s players at the club we respect totally, but they haven’t played much first-team football and we have to try to let them seek football somewhere else’.
The Football League season kicked off last weekend and fans got their first glimpse at the potential stars of the 2011/12 campaign. Whilst the Premier League is home to a fantastic pool of talent, below the top tier there are plenty of future names that could make a big impact in the Premier League in the years to come.
The majority of these players are plying their trade in the very competitive Championship which this season includes a number of big clubs and promises to be an exciting league this season. The better quality in England’s second tier promises to create more top class players that could soon try their luck in the Premier League. Below the Championship there is still plenty of potential in the League One and Two, though these future stars may take slightly longer to make their big break.
There is obviously no guarantee that players who impress below the Premier League can make it at the top but the Football League system is creating talents for the future that are being snapped up (just look at how Bayern Munich somehow ended up in Tranmere to buy Dale Jennings). With transfer fees rising beyond many smaller Premier League club’s reach, the lower leagues are proving to be a fantastic place to buy an exciting talent for a reasonably small fee. But who will follow Danny Graham, Chris Eagles, Anthony Pilkington and Connor Wickham out of the Football League and into the Premier League?
Click on Tom Cairney to see the 10 players that have Premier scouts sniffing
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Do you agree with the top ten? Have I missed someone out or do you disagree with one of my picks? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
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Arsenal have made inquiries into the availability of Holland and Hamburg winger Eljero Elia as Arsene Wenger attempts to replenish his midfield with creative talent. The midfielder is under contract with the Bundesliga club until 2014 and will cost between £8 and £10m.
Hamburg turned down an offer earlier this summer from Juventus. The fee was reportedly in the region of £6m – £1m less than Hamburg paid FC Twente just a year before. At the time, Elia told the Hamburger Morgenpost: “Hamburg told me they won’t let me join Juventus, but that’s not a problem – Juventus are no better than Hamburg in my opinion”.
“I’ve agreed with the club that we’d open talks if a big club like Arsenal or Chelsea comes knocking”.
Surely this opens the door for Arsene Wenger to make a bid. Having just sold Samir Nasri to Manchester City, a highly-rated international left winger would be just the tonic for Arsenal fans. Despite being only 24 and competing in the national side with such supreme talents as Arjen Robben and Ibrahim Afellay, Elia has 22 caps to his name.
Even at £10m, Elia is a snip compared to some of the reports linking Arsenal to a £26m bid for Lille’s Eden Hazard and a £17m bid for Kaka. There is also the promising potential to link Elia up with Dutch international team mate and new Arsenal captain, Robin Van Persie.
Article courtesy of Chris Smith from the excellent Transfer Tavern
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Cesc Fabregas has hit back at reports that he left Arsenal due to believing they could not challenge for the Premier League, and has stated his love for the North London club.
The Spain international departed the Emirates in the summer to return to boyhood team Barcelona, and reports from Spanish daily ‘Sport‘ indicated that the midfielder had written off The Gunners’ title hopes.
Despite this, Fabregas has retorted by claiming that the published interview never happened.
“I’d never speak one bad word about AFC. That’s not why I left, it was never in my mind. AFC made me who I am today. I never gave any interview away since my press conference at my presentation,” he commented on his Twitter account.
“People can hate me for leaving or remember that I gave my all for the club. But me talking one bad word or saying something against AFC will not [be] seen,” the statement reads.
Arsenal have had a shaky start to the season, losing against Liverpool 2-0 at home and to Manchester United spectacularly 8-2 at Old Trafford, but seem to have regained confidence with a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
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Arsene Wenger’s men take on Blackburn at Ewood Park on Saturday, as the North London club look to close the gap on the Manchester clubs and Chelsea at the top of the standings.
Whilst many of us would dream of being paid to play football week-in week out for our clubs, for a number of the world’s top footballers this is not the only passion or, for some, the only career path that they have shown an interest in. We are not taling about things like playing golf, or partaking in other common sports, but genuine hobbies or interests outside of the world of sport that these footballers find the time to pursue seriously. I have compiled a selection of 10 footballers with ‘another life’, most of whom I am confident are relatively unknown to the general public, though one or two are certainly familiar.
Click on Daniel Agger to see the 10 players and their secret second lives
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Every fan loves to see their players kissing the badge. Every fan wants to feel as though the players feel the same way about the club that they do, that they’ll give everything they can and that they genuinely want success for the club as much as they want personal success. Obviously there will always be movement between clubs; some players want to move abroad, move to a bigger club to achieve success or move to the club they supported as a boy. But it seems that in the last fifteen years player loyalty is on the decline, almost as though it’s going out of fashion. Sol Campbell’s “Spurs is the only club for me” was swiftly followed by a move to their bitter rivals, Wayne Rooney’s “once a blue always a blue” was hastily followed by the image of him in a red shirt and Ashley Cole’s abandonement of the club that he had supported as a boy are just some of vast swathes of examples that exist within the Premier League.
I think that you can definitely find a correlation between the injection of cash from super rich owners and the decline of loyalty too, funny how that works. However I think the problem runs deeper than that. I think the culture of football has changed and everyone: ther media, the fans and the players have all been caught up in it.
Money
It would be unfair on players to suggest that the only reason why some of them wish to jump ship is for money. But then again it would be foolish to deny the obvious pulling power of a double-your-wages offer from some non-specific oligarch. People may now be joining Man City to win trophies as well as the money but originally you can be pretty sure it was just for the money. Did Robinho join the Manchester club because he thought he had a better chance of winning titles their than in Madrid? Probably not. The same applies to Carlos Tevez, Ashley Cole and every other mercenary at those clubs.
The fact is that whilst the players may begin their careers with good intentions the money that certain clubs are able to offer would turn even the noblest head. Who, realistically, could turn their nose up and the £200,000+ per week that some of the City players are on? No, money is doing its bit to destroy player loyalty within our league and others. Players should be able to earn what they can, but within reason. Football is about more than just winning, it is also about having a connection with your club and the fact that the players are feeling less and less sentimental towards their employers will certainly have an effect on the relationship between clubs, players and fans.
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Patience
Money however is, as I said, not the only reason for a decrease in loyalty. The culture of wanting everything instantly has taken over football as it has the rest of society. Consumerism has lead be to abandon patience in favour of debt in society in the never ending pursuit of things that we want. The same has happened in football. Instead of being happy to wait and work for success at their current clubs players look to move as soon as things aren’t going exactly as they wish.
Obviously there are exceptions where truly exceptional players need to leave their clubs to grow as footballers but even within the top clubs there is no loyalty. How can we go from having legends like Matt Le Tisser slogging it out at Southampton for all those years and then have players like Samir Nasri who isn’t prepared to wait a more than three years.
Steven Gerrard is testament to the fact that if you stay and work hard at your club you can win the biggest trophies. Gerrard could have left on numerous occasions during his Liverpool career but he didn’t and he has lifted the Champions League, The Uefa Cup and the FA Cup and the League Cup in his time. Had he left it is arguable whether Liverpool would have won nearly as much. They definitley wouldn’t have won the FA Cup against West Ham.
Bosman
The Bosman ruling is another problem in that it highlights the way in which power has shifted from the clubs to the players. In the past the players, knowing they were at the whim of the club, would not have been able to even consider forcing a move away. Now examples such as Rio Ferdinand’s to Man Utd or Nasri’s to Arsenal are demonstrative of the power that players have. And with more power they seem less responsible, less considerate and less loyal.
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I know that many people will argue that these players have the right to look after themselves, after all it is their career we are talking about, but you cannot ignore the reasons for their disloyalty. Many of these players are abandoning the clubs and managers that made them what they are today, and the gratitude shown is minimal. Player loyalty is on decline, there can be no doubt, but how far will UEFA let it go before they introduce stronger financial rules to curb the temptations that billionaire owners can offer?
Follow Hamish on Twitter @H_Mackay
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