Sunday, March 22, 2015

Jose Mourinho is a fan of acquiring watches

Jose Mourinho has a ritual that he adheres to at the end of every season in which he wins a trophy. "I take my watch from my wrist and I don't wear it again," theChelsea manager revealed. "I have a big collection! I keep it. They [the watches] are in a safe box.
"Instead of medals or this or that I keep a watch. It's one thing which I keep safe. Like people keep medals or shirts I keep my watches. Another thing is that if I don't win the watch becomes a normal watch. But when I finish a season with a trophy, that season is represented with a watch."
The watches clearly mean more to Mourinho than the medals - having tossed his Premier League winner's medal into the crowd at Stamford Bridge back in 2006 when Chelsea won their second title under him. The medal later sold at auction for £16,800.
Mourinho's watches are probably even more valuable. "I have 21," he said to reflect the number of titles and cups he has won throughout his career with Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and with two spells at Chelsea.
Image result for Jose Mourinho with chelsea players
However, if Mourinho goes through a season without winning a trophy then he will start the next campaign with the same watch. Admittedly it has not happened very often.
His favourite watch, Mourinho said, "is the last one because I made it, I designed it and the company did it for me according to my needs. To my needs to be on the bench - according to the colour I want, the material I want, the size and the weight. I designed it with the company. It's my watch."
Does he a favourite brand? "In this moment I have a deal by a sponsor. Previously no," Mourinho said with the expense of the watch reflecting his rising status as a manager. The first ones were therefore a lot cheaper.
"Previously it was just a watch that I could feel comfortable with as a watch. Especially when I come from the times [at the start of his career in Portugal] when not every stadium had a digital clock and even if some did they finished at 90 minutes."
Mourinho's current watch - as advertised by the Swiss company Hublot on whose website he describes himself as a "watch fanatic" - is the "King Power Jose Mourinho" with apparently only 350 having been made. It is blue with a sapphire dial and crystal and costs in the region of £17,000. Another one will be 'retired' should Chelsea win the Premier League title this season.
With Chelsea facing Hull City at home today Mourinho said that he was as motivated as ever to continue winning titles.
"If you don't have this passion for the job, this desire to get results, you have all the reasons to stop. If I don't stop and if I think I want to work for 15 or 20 more years, it's exactly because I feel that happiness."
With Louis van Gaal having revealed to Telegraph Sport that Manchester United would be his last job in management Mourinho paid tribute to the 63-year-old, his former mentor - and confirmed that, like Van Gaal, he would relish the chance to coach at a World Cup or European Championship in charge of his homeland.
"I think Louis Van Gaal has had a fantastic career," Mourinho said. "I know that he had a dream to coach his country in a World Cup. He did that. He coached, with huge success, the club of his heart, AZ, he coached with success the top club in his country, Ajax.
"He coached two of the best clubs in the world, Barcelona and Bayern, champions with both. Now finally he comes to a country he never worked to coach one of the biggest clubs in the world. His career is perfect; his career is beautiful."
The 52-year-old added: "I want to coach Portugal in a World Cup or European Championships - away in the future - but if I don't do, I don't do. There is not a drama. My career is beautiful I just want to carry on and enjoy many more years because I am too young [to think of retiring]."

Lionel Messi renews Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry in El Clasico against Real Madrid

Heading into Sunday's El Clasico, there were two images from the build-up that appeared to sum up the contrasting fortunes of the two highest-profile clubs in the world and the two best players.
The first came last Sunday when Real Madrid beat Levante 2-0 - and the petulant reaction of Cristiano Ronaldo as his bicycle kick resulted not in a goal for him, but for Gareth Bale. Ronaldo angrily waving his arm was about himself, not about the team.
Image result for messi
The second image was the joy in Lionel Messi's face as he congratulated Ivan Rakitic after the Croatian had smartly collected Messi's wonderful chipped cross-ball to score the goal that beat Manchester City at the Nou Camp.
That image was quickly followed by the Messi nutmeg, which left James Milner on his backside. It came during a 20-minute spell before half-time in which the Barcelona striker moved into a different stratosphere of awareness and ability to every other player on the pitch.

Cristiano Ronaldo was left frustrated against Levante

"It's a real luxury to watch him," Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona coach, said of Messi.
Messi completed 72 passes, 12 more than any other Barcelona player - Andres Iniesta was next in line with 60 - and was in the kind of form which makes redundant not just the argument of who is better - him or Ronaldo - but who is the best of all-time.
It has been a season of two halves for the pair. Ronaldo was in astonishing form in the early months as he racked up the goals and Real Madrid recorded a record-breaking 21 consecutive victories and won their first Club World Cup.
Messi's Barcelona were struggling under Luis Enrique, which brought talk of a crisis that could lead to the player even leaving the club or, more likely, the coach being dismissed.
That is a distant memory now and it is an interesting consequence of the power that Messi holds at Barcelona - far greater than Ronaldo at Real Madrid - that maybe it has led to him realising he has to take responsibility to spark a revival to maintain that dominant position.
It appears, also, that such is their force of personality that it almost seems impossible for Messi and Ronaldo to thrive at the same time. So, going into El Clasico at the Nou Camp, it is Ronaldo's physical and mental state that is dominating the agenda.
There has been inevitable mischief with Hristo Stoichkov stirring the pot by claiming in the Spanish sports daily AS that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez could be considering selling Ronaldo this summer.
"Messi at the moment is much better," he said. "Maybe the obsession with Messi affects [Ronaldo]."
Despite his obvious bias, it is an intriguing point that adds yet another dimension to this remarkable clash.

Manchester United face Liverpool in a crucial Premier League fixture at Anfied On Sunday

Louis van Gaal has been here before with the press questioning him, his players seemingly confused by his philosophy and the public bemused as the season tailspins into mediocrity.
The only difference on the previous occasion was that van Gaal tired of the challenge and gave up. It was 2008 and he was at AZ Alkmaar, an admittedly different proposition to Manchester United.
Van Gaal has revealed the United job will be his last but he could extend his contract at Old Trafford
But the ingredients were similar. The club was under-achieving, languishing in 11th place when they had been expected to challenge at the top of the table. And it seemed as if the players could not grasp what he was demanding from them. So van Gaal walked out. He resigned from Alkmaar in March 2008.
But then something remarkable occurred in the form of a players' mutiny. The team rebelled against van Gaal's own decision to walk out leave them and demanded him back.
Led by captain Stijn Schaars, central defender and vice-captain Kew Jaliens, midfielder David Mendes and Australian goalkeeper Joey Didulica the team leaders asked for a crisis meeting with the directors and the owner of the club.
'We felt insulted when the club told us Van Gaal was leaving,' said Kew Jaliens. 'The entire squad, felt that Van Gaal is the right man and the only man who could take this club and our squad to a higher level.'
Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring United's final goal in their 3-0 win against Tottenham last weekend
As United travel to Liverpool on Sunday with Champions League qualification hanging in the balance, the question is whether United's players and directors would do the same for van Gaal today.
Of course, thing aren't quite as bad as they were at AZ. After all, three defeats in 24 games would be satisfactory for most clubs. And last week's 3-0 win against Tottenham was a possibly the first sign that a new successful United team could emerge in the post-Ferguson era.
Indeed before Sunday's game at Anfield, van Gaal was confident enough to talking about extending his time at Old Trafford beyond his current three-year deal. 'This will be my last job but there could be five years to go yet,' he said. 
'I can extend my contract. You never know. I'm in a situation where I signed for three years because you can build something up in that time and the club agreed with that. I don't know how I would react in the circumstances when Manchester United ask me to extend, and if I should do that.'
Perhaps their 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend could be viewed as the United players own vote of confidence in their manager. Wayne Rooney later revealed that he had spoken to the team the night before and certainly it seemed as though they might have finally 'got' the elusive van Gaal philosophy.
And not before time: Sunday's clash with Liverpool could be defining for judging van Gaal's first season a success or failure.
Put baldy, finish fourth and van Gaal can be broadly satisfied; finish fifth and he can expect to be questioned as to whether he is still among the top coaches in the world. It is crude and unsatisfactory measure of his first season – a point here or there might make the difference between fourth of fifth. 
But van Gaal needs to demonstrate that United are making progress and qualification for the Champions League is the only tangible way to do so. Last Sunday's victory was welcome, but was notable for being one of the few outstanding performances this season. The defeats at Swansea and to Arsenal in the FA Cup are still fresh in the mind.
At times United's players seem to be inhibited by van Gaal. Some at United believe he has been in danger of losing credibility among the players at times when he spoke about his 'philosophy', given the amount of times he has changed his formation. In addition, the players have seemed 'strangled' by van Gaal at times, said one United source. His sheer intensity seems to overwhelm them.
At Bayern Munich they would relate to that. They remember him there as coach brought back discipline to the squad and who introduced fresh intensity and a crisper, sharper passing game, a tactical prerequisite for a modern elite Champions League club. The Bayern players found their standards had to rise considerably to meet van Gaal's expectations of passing accuracy and the foundations he laid have helped build the success of the club since he left.
But his discipline eventually was perceived as eccentric and bizarre, according to some at Bayern. The self-confidence, which helped underpin the team as they won the German League and Cup double in the first season and reached the Champions League final, became a liability as he sought to control more and more areas of the club.
They still talk with wide-eyed astonishment about the day he dropped his trousers in team talk to demonstrate that he had the 'balls' to drop any of the star players.
Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera and Radamel Falcao (left to right) train ahead of their trip to Anfield
And they still raise their eyebrows at the manner in which van Gaal organised meal times after training. Lunch time was a communal affair. And at Bayern, the whole team had to be assembled in matching kit before van Gaal would give the signal for the meal to start.
He once refused to allow the highly-respected club doctor, Hans Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who was then in his 60s, to join in lunch until he had gone back to change his socks. Mueller-Wohlfahrt was in his white club socks and the stipulated dress code was red socks.
His obsession with order carries over on the pitch and his greatest strength for some and his biggest weakness for others. Johan Cruyff, his great football adversary, is one of those unimpressed with his need to control. 
The difference is that he always organises a lot of things for people,' said Cruyff. 'I always use the basic quality of people to achieve what I want to achieve. That's a different way of thinking. I always love that they do things. And when it goes wrong, well, try to correct it in one way or another. His way is more as a very good organiser. That's the way he is'
Of course, when he gets it right and a club or a group of players buy into what he has to offer, van Gaal can be phenomenally successful as his time, at Ajax and his early days at Barcelona and Bayern demonstrate. And, of course, at AZ Alkmaar.
That famous meeting, when the players begged him to stay at the Dutch club was a heated and emotional affair in which van Gaal demanded the fill support and commitment of the players if he were to stay. They players agreed. The following season they won the Dutch league, the first time for 27 years that it had been won by a team other than PSV Eindhoven, Ajax or Feyenoord.
If he can do the same for United next season, his genius will be confirmed. If they lose on Sunday and the club's trajectory doesn't change, he won't need to worry about what to do when he sitting down with the Glazers to extend his contract.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Mancini: Pellegrini should be winning a trophy every year

Roberto Mancini says his Manchester City successor Manuel Pellegrini should be winning a trophy every year.
Image result for mancini of man city
Mancini thinks Pellegrini was "really lucky" to inherit a strong side from him and he should be delivering continual success at the Etihad Stadium.
Pellegrini did win two trophies last season, but the Chilean is now under heavy pressure with City faltering in their Premier League title defence and facing an uphill task to overcome Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Image result for Pellegrini should be winning a trophy every year
Mancini, who was sacked by City in 2013 despite winning the Premier League title the previous year, told CNN: "I think Pellegrini was really lucky because he got this team that is a strong team and he has a chance to put in more good players.
"I think City can win a title every year and have a chance - it should and must try to win a title every year."
The Italian’s jibe came on the eve of the second leg of City's showdown with Barcelona as they head to the Nou Camp trailing 2-1.
The success or otherwise of City's season now appears to hinge on the outcome of that game, as they trail Premier League leaders Chelsea by six points having played a game more.
But Mancini said: "It's my opinion that City is the best team in the Premier League. It's in second and six points behind Chelsea but I think it's the best team.

"In the Premier League anything can happen right up to the last game, in the last minute. I think they should think that they have a chance to win the title."

Mesut Ozilcriticism exchanged shirts at half-time with Geoffrey Kondogbia

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil came under criticism as the German international swapped shirts at half-time during the Champions League last-16 clash with Monaco.
Ozil exchanged shirts with Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia as both sides left the pitch after the first 45 minutes at the Stade Louis II.
ITV pundit Paul Scholes was quick to criticise Ozil for the premature shirt swap, saying: 'I don't like it. At the end of the game, maybe. But still I'm not a big fan then.
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil came under criticism for the shirt swap at half-time in Monaco
'You do it that once you're in the tunnel or in the dressing room, out of the way of everyone. At half-time, it's not for me.'
Arsenal beat Monaco 2-0 but were still knocked out on the away goals rule in the 3-3 aggregate defeat. 
Ozil's shirt swap was similar to that of former Arsenal defender Andre Santos who exchanged shirts at half-time with former fans favourite Robin van Persie.
Santos asks Holland international striker Van Persie for his shirt at half-time of the game at Old Trafford
Santos asks Holland international striker Van Persie for his shirt at half-time of the game at Old Traffo
Van Persie was playing for Manchester United at Old Trafford at the time and the exchange was more than a just a sore point with the Gunners fans.
Santos later apologised to travelling fans for any aggravation that was caused by swapping shirts with the Holland international striker.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger later admitted that he was embarrassed by the Brazilian's actions and supposedly took measures to ensure it didn’t happen again.

Friday, March 13, 2015

LVG Radamel Falcao Will build his confidence in U21 fixtures

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has defended his decision to play Radamel Falcao in the club’s U21 side earlier this week.
Image result for Radamel Falcao
The Colombia international forward has endured a difficult time since arriving at Old Trafford on loan from Monaco on the final day of the summer window last year.
And, having been an unused substitute for Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final loss to Arsenal, he then found himself starting for the U21 side against Tottenham 24 hours later.
But Van Gaal says that playing in that game was in no way ignominious for Falcao, pointing out that he regularly gives big name players the opportunity to build their confidence in U21 fixtures.
“That is one of the aspects, that I let my players play in the second squad,” said Van Gaal.
“I have read in a lot of papers that it is a humiliation. I don’t think so.
“It is a professional attitude of the manager, of the management of the club, but especially also of the player.”
Falcao was not the only famous name to feature against Spurs, as Van Gaal observed.
“Not only Falcao has played, (goalkeeper, Victor) Valdes has played, also Rafa da Silva has played,” he said.
“Rafa da Silva played a wonderful match and scored a wonderful goal. Because of that, he can grip again his confidence.”
Falcao is a dual Ballon d'Or nominee but he has scored just four times for United since joining on loan and, despite playing for 72 minutes in the U21 game against Spurs, he again failed to find the target.