METRO NAIJA

Friday, 30 October 2015

Richards accepts FA misconduct charge

Micah Richards has opted not to contest an FA
improper conduct charge following an incident in Aston
Villa's clash with Swansea City.

Aston Villa defender Micah Richards has accepted a Football
Association (FA) charge of improper conduct following an
incident in the tunnel in last weekend's 2-1 Premier League
defeat to Swansea City.

Former Manchester City man Richards and Swansea's Federico
Fernandez clashed on the pitch in the first half of the game at
Villa Park, with Fernandez seen pushing his head towards his
opponent.

The FA decided that neither player would face a misconduct
charge for that coming together, but Richards was hit with an
improper conduct charge for an altercation in the tunnel.

Richards had until 6pm on Thursday to respond to the charge,
but Villa posted on Twitter on Friday: "Micah Richards admits
an FA charge of misconduct, relating to an incident at the end of
the Swansea match."

Last Saturday's loss proved to be the last straw for manager
Tim Sherwood, who was sacked a day later with Villa bottom of
the league with four points from 10 games.

Inter need "head, heart and balls" to beat Roma in
Saturday's crucial Serie A clash, according to Gary
Medel.

Gary Medel has called on Inter to show "head, heart and balls"
in order to beat Roma in Saturday's Serie A clash at San Siro.

Rudi Garcia's Roma lead the Serie A standings after 10 matches
but a win for Inter would see them leapfrog the capital club at
the top of the table.

Medel believes his side remain short of the quality of Roma and
Napoli at present, but is confident they can overhaul both
should they cut out the errors in their own game.

"Roma are a great team. They're tough, they play football,
they're compact, with pace," the Chilean told La Gazzetta dello
Sport.

"As for ourselves, we can fight for the title, but we have to cut
out certain mistakes. We shouldn't drop points the way we did
against Palermo.

"Are Roma and Napoli stronger? I think so, they have something
extra right now, but we're working to surpass them. But you
have to beat the small teams to reach the top.

"You have to apply yourself, and believe. I might make mistakes
but nobody can ever criticise me for not giving everything."

When asked what Inter need to secure maximum points on
Saturday, Medel added: "Head, heart, intelligence. And balls."

Newcastle United head coach Steve McClaren believes
his side are in good shape as they look to bounce back
from derby defeat against Stoke.

Steve McClaren claims Newcastle United have reacted positively
this week to their defeat in the Wear-Tyne derby as they prepare
to host Stoke City on Saturday.

Newcastle were somewhat unfortunate to suffer a 3-0 defeat to
local rivals Sunderland last weekend, losing captain Fabricio
Coloccini to a harsh red card that was later overturned on
appeal.

But there will be no lingering sense of injustice affecting the
hosts when Mark Hughes brings his Stoke side to St James'
Park this weekend.

"We are not feeling sorry for ourselves," McClaren told a news
conference.

"If we perform like we did at Sunderland we will win eight or
nine times out of 10.

"It's been a good week, very focused and intense. We've been
reflecting on one of the strangest derbies I've been involved in.
"It has been a rollercoaster 10 games and we have been up and
down. We need to be consistent."

Stoke are 14th, five places and six points better off than
Newcastle. They go into the game off the back of a morale-
boosting League Cup penalty-shootout triumph over struggling
Premier League champions Chelsea.

"We will expect a vibrant, very good Stoke team who have an
excellent manager and squad taking the club forward," McClaren
said.

The former England manager also offered an update on Dutch
goalkeeper Tim Krul, who is beginning a long rehabilitation
process following surgery to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate
ligament.

"Krul has had his operation and is on the first small steps to
recovery."

Roberto Mancini is optimistic about Inter's chances
when they take on Roma at San Siro on Saturday.

Inter coach Roberto Mancini refuses to see his side as the
outsiders when they host Serie A leaders Roma this weekend.

Mancini's team are trailing Roma by two points heading into
Saturday's encounter and Mancini is hopeful his side can get a
good result.

"We don't think we're starting the game as the underdogs. We
know who we're up against and we'll give it our all," Mancini
said at a news conference on Friday.

"Roma are a great side with players who have been together for
a couple of years under the same coach.

"In matches like these, your focus is high and comes of its own
accord. I don't have to ask anything of the team.

"I don't think the match will be decisive, but it will be important
for both. There's still a long way to go."

Despite the presence of last season's top scorer Mauro Icardi
and new arrivals such as Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic, Inter
have struggled in attack so far this season, netting just 10
league goals in as many games.

Mancini is confident Inter will come good, though, once their
attackers get used to each other's style of play.

"Icardi and Jovetic haven't played together enough yet to
understand what they can do as a pair," the former Manchester
City boss added.

"Ljajic has done well, he made the right decision for Icardi's goal
against Bologna. He worked hard when we had ten men."

Adem Ljajic is not thinking about a potential permanent
move to Inter as he prepares to face parent club Roma
in Serie A.

Adem Ljajic would not be drawn on talk of him joining Inter from
Roma on a permanent basis as the two clubs prepare to meet in
Serie A on Saturday.

The Serbia international moved to the Nerazzurri from the
Stadio Olimpico-based side on a season-long loan in August,
with an option to make the deal permanent.

Ljajic has made only four appearances for Inter this season but
is hoping to deal his parent club a damaging defeat in the top-
of-the-table clash at San Siro.

Inter are two points behind leaders Roma in fourth place after
10 games going into the crunch encounter.

Asked about a potential permanent switch to Inter, Ljajic told
Corriere dello Sport: "I don't think about the future. I'm here
because [coach Roberto] Mancini wanted me and Inter are one
of the strongest teams in the world.

"We'll see what happens at the end of the season.

"They're [Roma] definitely a good team. They have a lot of
quality players, who can make the difference at any time.
They're strong, but we're not far behind.
"We want to beat them."

Roma lead the way in Serie A and Edin Dzeko would
rather see them lift the Scudetto since 2000-01 than
add to his goal tally.

Edin Dzeko would be happy to go without adding to his
Roma tally for the remainder of the season if it meant they could
finish as champions.

The Bosnian has scored just one goal in eight Serie A
appearances since arriving from Manchester City on an initial
loan move that has since turned permanent.

While the 29-year-old admitted he has not been happy with his
performances for Roma so far, he is more focussed on helping
the club win their first Scudetto since 2000-01.

"I'm not happy, as goals are important for me, but I don't feel
oppressed," the Roma forward said in an interview with La
Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The team is more important. I think anyone would prefer to see
the team win and Dzeko stay on one goal.

"That said, the goals will come, and in any case I've set-up
goals. I've always scored, and I'm sure I'll score here, but I'm
not putting pressure on myself.

"I'd be willing to continue my dry streak until the end of the
season to win the title here, it doesn't happen very often and it
would be even more important than going to the European
Championships with Bosnia, with whom I've already gone to the
World Cup."

Roma consolidated top spot with a 3-1 victory over Udinese in
midweek and on Saturday they face fourth-placed Inter – who
are two points adrift of Rudi Garcia's men - at San Siro.

Dzeko said: "I knew I was joining a great team, but there's a
long way to go.

"With that in mind, the game against Inter is not decisive yet,
even if it's an important game. Whoever wins can take
confidence, so we can't think of losing.

"There are no favourites this year, we're there as are Inter,
Napoli, Fiorentina and also Juventus - they remain a great team,
and they'll recover.

"Napoli are playing very well, with a champion like [Gonzalo]
Higuain up front. Unless he gets injured, he's the most
dangerous.

"He and [Miralem] Pjanic are the most decisive players in Serie
A at the

Andrea Bertolacci has revealed how Sinisa Mihajlovic
inspired AC Milan to victory over Chievo with a half-
time outburst.

A half-time dressing down from head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic
inspired AC Milan to beat Chievo 1-0 on Wednesday, according
to midfielder Andrea Bertolacci.

The Rossoneri failed to create many chances of note in the first
half and went into the break scoreless.

Stern words from Mihajlovic at the interval had the desired
impact, Luca Antonelli netting the only goal of the game as
Milan secured a first clean sheet of the Serie A campaign.

"In the locker room we received a bit of a dressing down from
the coach," Bertolacci told Corriere dello Sport.

"What was going wrong? A little bit of everything: we were too
passive, we didn't go and press Chievo.

"In the second half we made things hard for them, though, and
in the end we deserved to win by a bigger margin."

Bertolacci has been struggling to make much of an impact in his
first few months at Milan - who travel to Lazio this weekend -
after his transfer from Roma, but he is confident he will find his
feet once he is full settled.

He said: "It's always taken me time to get into peak condition,
even with my former teams.

"But moving from Genoa to Milan [via Roma] has certainly
played its part.

"However, this is all part of my growth process as a player and
my form has clearly improved lately."

Brazil great Pele has criticised Neymar and believes his
former team-mate, Vasconcelos, was far superior to the
Barcelona forward.

Pele does not consider compatriot Neymar to be a truly great
player, suggesting one of his former Santos team-mates was
"10 times better".

The 75-year-old, who won the World Cup three times with Brazil,
acknowledged the Barcelona forward is the best player in the
current national team.

However, he believes Neymar's shortcomings are his heading
ability and lack of defensive awareness, claiming former Santos
man Vasconcelos was a superior talent.

"Neymar is a good player, but how many goals has he scored
with his head in his life," Pele said in an interview with Placar.
"Is he an excellent player? He is, but Vasconcelos [Pele's
Santos team-mate between 1956 and 1958] was 10 times better
than Neymar, without any doubt.

"Neymar is an attacker, he plays up front. That is it. He does
not track back, does not organise and does not come out to
play.

"It's difficult to compare him with so many players of the past
when he has deficits although within the current Brazil team, he
is the main figure, the only one."

Pele also offered his opinion on Neymar's Barcelona team-mate
Lionel Messi.

He considers the Argentine to be the best in the modern era, but
also pointed out a perceived weaknesses.

"Messi, I always said in the last 10 years he is one of the
players I considered superior," Pele said.

"But, for example, he doesn't use his head. He predominantly
uses his left [foot] and is not ambidextrous. And, today, he is
the best.

"Messi has the same style as Maradona, the same kind of
game. So he is lucky, because there is no one to compare him
with."

Vicente del Bosque has reiterated Gerard Pique's
commitment to Spain and insists the Barcelona star is
not a divisive figure for the team.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has dismissed any suggestion
that Gerard Pique is a problem in the dressing room and says
the Barcelona man would be dropped if he were.

Pique has been a target for the boo boys in Spain, largely due to
his support for Catalan independence and for teasing Real
Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo following Barca's treble
success last season.

Earlier this month, Pique called for the whistling he receives in
international matches to stop after he was again singled out in a
4-0 rout of Luxembourg in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Del Bosque has also spoken of his desire for Spain fans to get
behind Pique, and insisted the centre-back has not caused any
problems among the team.

In an interview with Marca, he said: "No [Pique is not sick of the
situation]. He is a good guy, he works hard and he does not pay
attention to it.

"He is not a problem. If he was a problem or harmful [in the
dressing room] he would not get called up. There wouldn't need
to be an explanation."

Del Bosque also stated that Pique - a European Championship
and World Cup winner with Spain - is still enjoying his
involvement with the national team.

"[I have spoken with Pique] very little about it," he added. "I think
it is similar with Iker Casillas when he was booed by [Real
Madrid] fans last season.

"I don't give it much importance. I don't know why he has been
booed. He's very happy in the national team, since he came in
as a youngster. That's a fact."

Ambitious Gus Poyet is proud to have taken over as
AEK Athens coach and wants them to challenge at the
top of the Greek Super League.

Gus Poyet is hopeful of helping AEK Athens return to their
previous heights after being appointed the club's head coach.

The Uruguayan has spent seven months out of the game
following his sacking at Sunderland before his return to
coaching with the Greek side was announced on Thursday.

AEK - the country's third most successful club with 11 Greek
Super League titles to their name - suffered financial difficulties
that led to relegation for the first time in their history in 2012-13
and played the following campaign as an amateur side in the
third tier.

Poyet still believes AEK are a club of great stature that should
be challenging at the top of the table, despite only returning to
the top flight in 2015-16.

"I know that I have come to a huge club and I've been
astonished by the reception that I have received," Poyet told the
club's official website.

"Our goal is to play to win every game, starting with the derby
against Panathinaikos on Sunday, and maintain contact with the
top positions."

First up for Poyet is a clash local rivals Panathinaikos and
victory on Sunday would see AEK leapfrog them into second
place.

Arsene Wenger was effusive in his praise of Mesut Ozil
last weekend and the Arsenal star admits it is "a
privilege" to hear.

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil admits it is "a privilege" to hear
words of praise from manager Arsene Wenger.

Wenger stated "if you love football, you love Ozil" after his
performance in the 2-1 Premier League victory over Everton at
the Emirates Stadium last Saturday.

With Arsenal having won four of their last five matches in all
competitions, Ozil is proud of the way the team is performing
and is enjoying the trust of the manager.

"He knows about football! No, I joke," he told Arsenal Player
when asked what he thought of Wenger's comments.

"It's a privilege for me, especially when such an experienced
manager says something like that about me.

"I'm here to develop myself further and I've said in the past that
I have the manager's trust and enjoy that.

"My goal is to help the team and I'm on a good way. I'm proud
of myself and of the whole team.

"We've played a successful season up to this and now we need
to work on ourselves to make sure that we become more
successful."

Ozil believes a full pre-season has helped him to hit more
consistent form this season for the Gunners.

"The coaching staff know exactly how individual players
become fit," he said. "They have all the information and I think a
first full pre-season in a long time has helped me to feel really
fit.

"Before, I was playing at tournaments after a long season and
had little time for holidays.

"In hindsight, you realise that your body may not have the same
freshness. At the moment I feel very comfortable, I'm fit and
that's what is important."

Arsenal will look to respond to their shock 3-0 League Cup upset
away to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday when they visit
Swansea City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Manchester United need to be rediscover their clinical
edge as soon as possible, according to left-back
Marcos Rojo.

Marcos Rojo is concerned by Manchester United's lack of goals
after Louis van Gaal's men drew blanks in each of their
previous two fixtures.

United followed up a 0-0 draw at home to local rivals
Manchester City last Sunday with a penalty shoot-out
elimination at the hands of Middlesbrough following a 120
goalless minutes in the last 16 of the League Cup, also at Old
Trafford.

The Argentine believes the team's difficulty in finding the back
of the net cost them on Wednesday and needs to be addressed
quickly.

"The best chances [in the match with Middlesbrough] fell to us,
but we couldn't manage to convert any of them," Rojo told
MUTV.

"So then it went to penalties, which are always a lottery, and
unfortunately it wasn't to be for us this time.

"It hurt a lot and we were still smarting afterwards because it's
an important competition and we wanted to go a lot further in it.

"So coming off the back of two games on the trot without being
on the mark does hurt and frustrate you a bit, but we are doing
a good job at the back and defending well.

"We just need to turn the chances that we're creating into
goals."

Louis van Gaal's side travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal
Palace in the Premier League on Saturday and Rojo is expecting
a difficult game in London.

He believes the visitors will need to be wary of Yannick Bolasie,
Bakary Sako and former United winger Wilfried Zaha.

"They will be strong and will try and take the game to us, but we
need to go there ready to battle hard for the entire 90 minutes if
we want to grab all three points," he said.

"I've seen a few of their games and they are very skilful and
above all very quick, so we are going to have to be on our guard
and mark them tightly to deny them the space they need to play
well."

Newcastle United have asked the FA to "reassess" a
charge of failing to control their players against
Sunderland.

Newcastle United have accepted a Football Association charge
of failing to control their players but have asked for it to be
"reassessed due to mitigating circumstances".

A number of players from Steve McClaren's side confronted
referee Robert Madley after Fabricio Coloccini was shown a red
card in the 3-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on
Sunday.

The FA upheld Coloccini's appeal against his one-game
suspension after accepting Madley had made "an obvious error",
but issued a charge against the club for the resulting behaviour
of their players.

"Newcastle United have admitted a charge of failing to control
their players in last weekend's Tyne-Wear derby defeat at
Sunderland," a club statement released on Friday read.

"The charge relates to the players' reaction to the match
official's decision, which saw Sunderland awarded a penalty
and captain Fabricio Coloccini issued with a red card, which has
since been rescinded.

"The club has admitted the charge but has submitted an
application for it to be reassessed due to mitigating
circumstances."

The defeat leaves Newcastle second from bottom of the Premier
League ahead of their home clash with Stoke City on Saturday.

Friday, 30 October 2015

Richards accepts FA misconduct charge

Medel: Inter need head, heart and balls to beat Roma

McClaren seeks Newcastle consistency

Mancini: Inter not underdogs against Roma

Ljajic coy on talk of permanent Inter deal

Dzeko focussed on title push at Roma rather than goal tally

Bertolacci reveals half- time Mihajlovic outburst

Pele: Neymar only knows how to attack

Pique not a problem for Spain, insists Del Bosque

Poyet wants to make AEK Athens a force again

Wenger's praise 'a privilege', says Ozil

Rojo: Lack of goals hurting Manchester United

Newcastle want 'reassessment' of FA charge