Thierry Henry starting his career as a head coach at Monaco was the natural move he had been waiting for, according to Belgium boss Roberto Martinez.
Former France and Arsenal star Henry began his playing career at Monaco and was announced as the successor to Leonardo Jardim on Saturday, signing a three-year contract.
The 41-year-old, who oversaw his first training session on Monday, had been working under Martinez with Belgium since August 2016 and the Spaniard backed his former number two to be a success at a club that means so much to him.
On Henry s departure, Martinez told a news conference: I don t think it s a loss. The initial project was to have Thierry s experience preparing the group for the World Cup and we achieved that.
After that it s bee…
Real Sociedad claimed a place in the Champions League despite a 2-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid in LaLiga on Sunday.
Fifth-placed Villarreal’s loss at Rayo Vallecano by the same scoreline meant Sociedad could not be caught in fourth spot.
Antoine Griezmann and Nahuel Molina were on target for Atletico at the Civitas Metropolitano with Alexander Sorloth hitting a late reply for the visitors.
FULL-TIME! , there we go!
AUPA REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!! |
— Real Sociedad (@RealSociedadEN)
Atletico’s victory took them back within a point of second-placed city rivals Real Madrid.
Raul de Tomas and Isi Palazon struck either side of the hour-mark for Rayo Vallecano against Villarreal at the Vallecas Stadium. Giovani Lo Celso gav…
Market: Burnley win
Odds: 1/1 @
Two sides who already find themselves battling it out at the foot of the standings, Burnley will welcome Norwich to Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, left heartbroken on the road last weekend as they eventually had to settle for a single point, there is no doubt that Burnley will be desperate to build off of that performance. Despite throwing away the lead and having a last-gasp goal ruled out, the Clarets did snatch a 2-2 draw away at Europa League outfit Leicester. However, while Sean Dyche s side might have extended on their EFL Cup adventure with a 4-1 romp against Rochdale earlier in the month, they are battling it out at the foot of the table. Managing to muster just a pair of points since opening the…
Fabio Capello’s England side defeated Hungary 2-1 at Wembley, eventually anyway.
The team seem to have a better balance and Capello switched from his rigid 4-4-2 formation to a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending on how you looked at it.
Wingers
England may have won the World Cup in 1966 with no wingers but in the modern game wingers are necessary.
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott had been left out of the World Cup squad but showed in glimpses against Hungary that he is capable of taking on a player and delivering a decent cross.
On the opposite flank was Manchester City’s Adam Johnson. Like Walcott he also missed out on the England World Cup squad and is an out and out winger. Johnson has really impressed me since his move from Middlesbrough and improved hi…
PARIS (AFP) – Bordeaux and Marseille, league champions these past two seasons in France, put poor starts to this campaign behind them at the weekend as the southern outfits secured their first league win at the third time of asking.
After Marseille defeated Lorient at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday, on Sunday it was Bordeaux s turn to kick off the summer dust though it took a goal five minutes into stoppage time from Michael Ziani to see off a stubborn Paris Saint German at the Parc des Princes.
After the Girondins ended seven years of Lyon title-winning hegemony under Laurent Blanc in 2008-2009, it appeared they would be going places not least to the likes of the Nou Camp and Old Trafford for Champions League duels.
Instead, last season saw the south western…
Landon Donovan became the MLS all-time leading goal-scorer on Sunday to complete an emotional week for the Los Angeles Galaxy forward.
Donovan struck twice in the Galaxy s 4-1 win over Philadelphia Union, while he also set up LA s opening goal, just three days after the 32-year-old missed out on a spot in the United States final squad for the FIFA World Cup.
Leonardo and Galaxy skipper Robbie Keane scored the other goals for LA, while Maurice Edu another casualty of Jurgen Klinsmann s cull on Thursday struck an 89th-minute penalty for Philadelphia.
Galaxy needed just over a minute to take the lead at the Stubhub Center with Leonardo heading Donovan s free-kick past Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
The home side continued their strong start with Keane producing an au…
Allan McGregor says Rangers are determined to improve on last season s woeful Champions League home form as his side prepare to face Turkish champions Bursaspor at Ibrox on Wednesday.
The Old Firm side had a torrid time in Glasgow in the last campaign as they lost all three home games, including 4-1 defeats to Romanian rookies Unirea Urziceni and Spanish side Sevilla.
Rangers have not won a European match since their run to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2008 and it has been 30 months since the Ibrox fans witnessed a victory.
However, keeper McGregor says the players are desperate to end this terrible run as they aim to build on the point picked up at Old Trafford from a resolute defensive performance against Manchester United on match day one.
If we can …
Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he did not expect to be offered the Napoli job, but had no hesitation over taking charge at Stadio San Paolo.
Having been sacked by Bayern Munich in September 2017, Ancelotti replaced Maurizio Sarri, who later joined Chelsea, in the close-season.
But the ex-Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea coach said that although a call from Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis took him by surprise, he had no concerns over whether the job would be suitable.
I didn t expect to be called by De Laurentiis, Ancelotti, who has won seven of his first nine Serie A games in charge, told II Mattino in a live Facebook broadcast ahead of Napoli s clash with Roma on Sunday.
I was expecting everything but coming here, I thought Sarri …
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised midfielder Fabinho for an absolutely outstanding performance against Manchester United.
Xherdan Shaqiri s second-half brace helped Liverpool past United 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday as they returned to the top of the Premier League table.
Alisson s error had allowed Jesse Lingard to cancel out Sadio Mane s opener in the first half, before Shaqiri delivered off the bench.
But Fabinho s display pleased Klopp, who brought the Brazilian to Liverpool in the off-season.
He was outstanding. Absolutely outstanding, he told a news conference.
But I don t like these questions, the thing I don t hear is that it says something about other players as well. I know you don t mean it like this.
On Tuesday, we played a…
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insisted Kylian Mbappe will never be sold or leave on a free transfer amid ongoing links with Real Madrid.
Mbappe has long been tipped to swap Ligue 1 giants PSG for LaLiga powerhouse Madrid, while Premier League outfit Liverpool have also been linked previously.
The 22-year-old star is out of contract at the end of 2021-22, but PSG have remained defiant over Mbappe s future in the French capital.
Al-Khelaifi reiterated that stance as speculation grows heading into Euro 2020 and the off-season.
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe)
I will be clear, Al-Khelaifi told L Equipe. Mbappe is going to stay in Paris.
We will never sell I m and he will never leave on a free [transfer]. M…