England Under-21s manager Stuart Pearce says he will take the most experienced squad available to him to the European Championships.
The likes of Wilfried Zaha, Raheem Sterling and Jonjo Shelvey have all recently earned recognition at senior level but remain eligible for Under-21 duty.
And the 50-year-old believes the upcoming tournament in Israel would prove more beneficial to these players than friendlies England s senior team.
It s thin margins in tournament football and that s the beauty of taking any players to a tournament,” Pearce told reporters.
That s why I bark on about how you have to take these players to the tournament to give them that experience and hopefully they take that mentality with them when they step up into the senior ranks.
Laurent Koscielny is reportedly in talks with Arsenal over committing his long-term future to the club.
The France international still has two years left on his contract with the Gunners but manager Arsene Wenger is said to be keen to tie the defender down to a new deal after interest from a number of top sides around Europe, including Inter.
Arsenal have offered Koscielny an extension that would bind him to the Emirates until June 2017, according to L Equipe.
The 26-year-old centre-back, who has been capped four times by France, joined the north London club from Lorient in 2010.
Koscielny made just one appearance at Euro 2012 but drew plenty of praise from the French press for his performance in the 2-0 quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Spain.<…
Jules Kounde is the only one of Barcelona s new signings who was not registered on the eve of the LaLiga season.
Barca head coach Xavi on Friday revealed the club were very optimistic that their new recruits would be registered, but all five may not be given the green light for their first match of the LaLiga campaign against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
It later emerged that Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have been registered along with Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto, who signed new contracts
Centre-back Kounde s registration has not been sanctioned by LaLiga despite Barca having activated a fourth economic lever on Friday.
It had been reported that Kounde may be the last of the five new recruits the Cat…
Diego Simeone believes there are few strikers in football with the ability of Atletico Madrid frontman Alvaro Morata.
Spain international Morata found the breakthrough in Saturday s 2-0 win over Osasuna – Atleti s first victory in four LaLiga outings that moved them back up to fourth in the table.
The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus forward scored in seven consecutive games for club and country as October became November but ended a six-game drought when he powered Kieran Trippier s free-kick past inspired Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
Simeone has been linked to making attacking reinforcements during the January transfer window, with Timo Werner, Edinson Cavani and Olivier Giroud all touted as possible Atletico targets, but he offered a ringing en…
Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has already made his presence felt on his squad
Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is renowned as a disciplinarian and a man that does not respect reputations.
Throughout his career he has won silverware and done it by not allowing big egos or price tags get in the way of winning.
Unfit
The Dutch boss has already had an impact on the United squad.
The veteran boss has recently told £30million new signing Luke Shaw to train on his own, after stating that the England international is not fit enough to play in the role he had planned for him.
This sort of thing could become commonplace at Old Trafford in the next couple of seasons. Apparently Shaw has responded positively to the request and has Van G…
Verdict: Both teams to score – yes
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Three Group C teams are still vying for the place in the knockouts at the Euro 2016 with Ukraine being the only one in the company to have already packed their bags with no points from two opening games. Northern Ireland and Germany lock horns keen to sort out the standings in the group in order to have a good starting point for the elimination stage.
Northern Ireland
Michael O’Neill’s men have done brilliantly to get back in life with a win against Ukraine and following their opening disappointment vs Poland. The 46-year-old coach was criticized after the 1-0 defeat back in the homeland as his approach was dubbed too cautious. However, Northern Ireland manager O’Neill has been praised for hi…
Juventus face a battle from Barcelona to take advantage of Franck Ribery’s split with Bayern Munich. The French international is eager to quit the Bundesliga after just two years, having won the German Footballer of the Year title back in June 2008.
“I cannot be indifferent to the interest of the big clubs,†the 25-year-old told newspaper Le Monde.He would be available for around £25m and this is not the first time that Juventus have been linked with Ribery.
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Milan assistant coach Mauro Tassotti has backed coach Massimiliano Allegri to bounce back a poor start to the Serie A season.
Champions in 2010/11, Milan suffered their third defeat in four matches with a 2-1 loss to Udinese on Sunday, while Allegri was given a one-match ban for arguing with the referee.
Nevertheless, Tassotti believes the team will improve, starting with Wednesday s game against Cagliari at San Siro.
We know we have to fight against any team this season and it will be tough, we are perfectly aware of that, because we played against Sampdoria and Atalanta at San Siro and we have realized how hard it is for us to get a victory against any team, he said.
We don t have (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic anymore, who assured us 35-40 goals each season, …
A Liverpool stalwart might make an early exit from the club.
Jordan Henderson is under contract for two more years and is said to want an extension.
But talks have reportedly not progressed, potentially opening the door for outside suitors.
TOP STORY HENDERSON COULD LEAVE ANFIELD
Completing a new deal for Henderson is reportedly not a priority for Liverpool s ownership this off-season, and The Athletic says a move could be on the cards for the England international.
The report cites Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino as a long-time admirer of the midfielder and notes Henderson s close friendship with Atletico Madrid s Luis Suarez as potentially weighing in favour of a move to one of those clubs.
Liverpool are sa…
Prediction: Match to end in 2-2 draw
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Everton and Manchester City will face each other in the Premier League this week. The match is slated to kick off at 8pm UK time on Monday at Goodison Park and could be a cracker.
Everton
Everton will head into the match against City on the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Sheffield United away from home in the Premier League on Saturday. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s goal in the 80th minute proved to be the difference between the Blades and the Toffees at Bramall Lane.
It was Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s fourth successive win in the Premier League and maintained their chances of finishing in the top four this season. The Merseyside outfit are second in the league table at the moment with 29…