The Russians with the rubles travel to Anfield on Thursday night as Guus Hiddink's Anzhi face Liverpool in the Europa League. The two sides have never met before and although Anzhi are well known in the media it's still guess work for many as to what they are like on the pitch.
The Insider: Joey Barton, Lassana Diarra, Raul Albiol, Erik Pieters
Simon Jones is Sportsmail's man on the inside of all the major transfer moves this summer. Don't
miss your daily Insider instalment here for Thursday, August 25.
View the full story here: The Mail
A news article on 2011-08-25 14:37:34 from: The Mail
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
The Insider: Scott Parker, Lassana Diarra, Alberto Aquilani, Amauri
Simon Jones is Sportsmail's man on the inside of all the major transfer moves this summer. Don't
miss your daily Insider instalment here for Wednesday, August 24.
View the full story here: The Mail
A news article on 2011-08-24 15:01:43 from: The Mail
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
"I like the [Getafe] coach Luis Garcia. I like how organised his teams are and how he puts them
into practice. I admire his work." said Mourinho before the game. My wife and I have started to
teach our 15-month old son the nursery rhymes: "The wheels on the bus go.... Round and round
(3x).
As many of you will know, in exchange for Antonio Cassano and €7.5 million Giampaolo Pazzini is
now a Milan player. Signing on for three years, Pazzini will earn €2.8 million per season plus
bonuses. The move has done little, according to Football Betting, for Milan's chances this season.
It is a disappointment to see [.
Football At Last Ah... the Football Begins at last! It's been a long wait for top
level football since after the Euros and what a weekend for it to begin for me (with today –
Monday, being a public holiday)! I spent my Satuday night watching West Brom shock Liverpool to a
3-0 win (unlucky with the refereeing, their football wasn't bad but their finishing was still
atrocious) while flicking through the channels seeing how Arsenal would do with Santi Cazorla and
without Van Persie (a scoreless dud).
Football At Last Ah... the Football Begins at last! It's been a long wait for top
level football since after the Euros and what a weekend for it to begin for me (with today –
Monday, being a public holiday)! I spent my Satuday night watching West Brom shock Liverpool to a
3-0 win (unlucky with the refereeing, their football wasn't bad but their finishing was still
atrocious) while flicking through the channels seeing how Arsenal would do with Santi Cazorla and
without Van Persie (a scoreless dud).
He may not be the best defender. But, he has some experience, is a France international and, on
some days, he can be rather good. Yet, reports are circulating that Milan could be ready to ship
out Philippe Mexes to Arsenal in return for Nicolas Bendtner. It is not a joke; apparently the club
thinks [.
Maybe the King will not be returning after all. The Kaka saga was headline news in Spain's AS on
Tuesday. The story went on tell how Jose Mourinho, if not ecstatic, will be happy to continue
working with the Brazilian should he remain in Spain, which he said "will most probably be the
case". Still, [.
Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra looks set to join Spartak Moscow this summer according to
his agent.
The holding midfielder has one year left on his contract with the current La Liga champions but
Jose Mourinho seems disinclined to offer Diarra a new deal. Rather than let him leave for free in
12 months, Madrid are looking to recoup some of their investment in the player by selling him this
summer.
If Real Madrid and Chelsea are to end Champions League heartbreak this season, getting off to a
good start in difficult environments is crucial.
Real Madrid travel east to face off with CSKA Moscow in freezing temperatures. Jose Mourinho's
men have been dominant in the Champions League this season but the weather combined with Moscow's
infamous plastic pitch and a few key injuries makes the result far from predetermined.
If you're heading to the bookstore this weekend, look out for Leo Messi on the
cover of the latest 'TIME' magazine (International Edition). When your face graces the cover of
TIME, you f**king MADE IT! Unfortunately, the lovely Yanks don't seem to
think a Messi cover is worthy of the USA edition.
Just this week, in a podcast we never got to post Managing Madrid's Gabe Lezra asked me a question:
"Imagine this: Barcelona wins, Real Madrid loses, the lead has been cut to 3. It's the morning of
December 11th – how are you feeling?" I no longer remember what answer I gave, but here I am
today in exactly the same question.
So finally we've gotten this game out of the way. After Madrid's Burger King Boys (Getafe) knocked
the wind off the sails of Barcelona, opening up a SIX (6!) point lead between us and them, the
trolling from Cule trash talkers seems to have gone on overdrive (check out the last few posts at
RMFB) – pushing the pre-clasico fever a couple of days too early.
It was Inevitable - Kim Jong Il thought so soo - hahahah.
. In a way, even after Adrian scored the opening goal in last night's El Derbi Madrileno,
Madridistas the world over (and perhaps even Rojoblanco supporters) didn't feel too rattled (or
euphoric in the case for Atleti supporters).
Despite the String of Missed Chances especially in the first half, I would say that we generally
played well last night.
Last season, when asked about who I'd like us to face in the Champions League on our way to the
final, I asked for the following teams: Olympique Lyonnais, AS Roma, Bayern Munich and Arsenal –
I would have asked for Liverpool or Juventus too if possible.
I don't get it. . Racing and Levante did it EXACTLY the same way. Wait for Madrid in your own half.
Defend deep. Frustrate them. And with a bit of cleverness and luck, through a quick counter, or a
set piece: you just might nick that goal that gives you a point – or 3. . Espanyol instead, chose
to do it EXACTLY the same way as Ajax and Rayo.
Pipita Scored and Kaka had another good game. Great Signs‘Assumptions are the mother
of all Fuckups!' – I once heard my brother (who's an associate Regional Director of a Fortune
500 Company) scold one of his subordinates. Filipinos have a similar adage: ‘Maraming Namatay
sa Maling Akala' (Many have died from the wrong assumptions), I was often told when I was
young.
No, Real Madrid is NOT in Crisis. We are merely in a slump. 5 dropped points over 2 games against
La Liga teams whose objective is to stave off relegation is proof of that. Maybe Jose Mourinho's
sarcastic remarks prior to the Levante game about just wanting to stay up were taken seriously by
the team: prompting them to play as if we were a team battling relegation.
Spanish Sports paper "Marca" has published in its online section that REAL MADRID & English Premier
League Club TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS have come to an agreement to transfer French International
midfielder LASS DIARRA Lass Diarra The Clubs are said to be finishing now a few "minor" technical
details before making an official announcement at a price speculated to be around 12M€.
Football transfer rumours: Gary Cahill to Liverpool
All today's Rumours are feeling sick Summer's gone. You can tell because it's raining outside,
and football's coming back. Oh summer! Cycling, cricket, golf, even the odd shaft of sun finding
its way through the cracks in the curtains every now and then.
Reports coming out of Spain suggest that Real Madrid could provide the answer to Spurs' striking
problems, but it will come at a price – and that price is Gareth Bale.
Spurs have been linked with Lassana Diarra at various stages throughout this transfer window and
while the player has said that he wants to stay at Real, his employers may not share that view.
This article titled "Euro 2012: France's Yann M'Vila makes progress but is a doubt for England"
was written by Marcus Christenson, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 8th June 2012 09.14 UTC
The France midfielder Yann M'Vila is unlikely to be fit to face England on Monday 11 June
despite making a "spectacular recovery" from his ankle injury.
Optimism to follow, but it would be remiss to begin proceedings with anything other than the
nasty business of a post-mortem...
The Arnie Approach
In the absence of our recognised midfield enforcers, our glorious leader adopted the cunning
tactical ploy of leaving the back-four without any protection to handle a City front-line so shiny
and expensive they had Tevez on the bench, while the rest of our team was crammed with attacking
types .
Lightning Strikes Twice in the space place in 3 days. This had Madridisimo collectively
groaning: "Oh Shit - Not Again!" .
Just a week after we started to fancy our Champions League odds by drawing APOEL Nicosia last
Friday while enjoying our 10 point lead in La Liga, we have all of a sudden decided to expose our
soft underbelly.
.
The lousy folks at Singtel's Mio TV who charge me a fortune to watch the EPL and the Champions
League didn't have the courtesy to show the match live. So I was forced to try to stream it... .
When I finally managed to hop onto a stream, the score was already 1-0. . When I opened a new web
browser to check who scored that goal, it became 2-0.
Harry Redknapp's attempts to strengthen his Tottenham Hotspur squad ahead of the closure of the
transfer window could prompt a surprise move for the unsettled Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole.
Lassana Diarra and Emmanuel Adebayor are on the verge of completing switches to White Hart Lane but
Redknapp has also expressed a desire to sign Cole.
Tottenham's Harry Redknapp admits desire to be reunited with Joe Cole
• Cole keen to return to London after frustrating year • Liverpool look to get former
England midfielder off wage bill Harry Redknapp's attempts to strengthen his Tottenham Hotspur
squad ahead of the closure of the transfer window could prompt a surprise move for the unsettled
Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole.
With just over a week to go before the transfer window closes, the papers at the weekend were
talking of ten deals in ten days for Spurs before the end of this month.
The reports included the proposed moves for Lassana Diarra and Emmanuel Adebayor which seem to
grow closer by the hour and there is talk of one more signing, but most of the focus is on the exit
door and Daniel Levy's streamlining of the dead wood.
One of the stranger transfer stories yesterday emerged out of Talksport with suggestions that
Spurs had failed in an audacious swoop for Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko. Whether the whole
business was a hoax or not is unclear and it appears that the story isn't accessible from the
station's website.
I awake from a two-day coma, just in time for the magic of the FA Cup. Provided this magic
includes Romelu Lukaku and, of course, Josh McEachran I'm all in. Bring forth some elaborate
illusions at the expense of our third-round opponents, Portsmouth.
