Roberto Mancini Confident Mario Balotelli can Improve On and Off the Pitch

Roberto Mancini has praised Mario Balotelli following his team’s crushing 5-0 victory over Sunderland. The wayward striker failed to get on the scoresheet, but his performance impressed the City boss who hopes it is a sign of things to come.

‘Mario was perfect today,’ Mancini told reporters. ‘It wasn’t important he didn’t score today. He worked for the team, he ran all day, he was perfect. He must continue this.’

There have been strains on the relationship between the two as a result of the erratic behaviour of the Italian striker who has made headlines for all the wrong reasons since his arrival at Eastlands.

Recent controversies have included a fine for lobbing darts at a youth team player, an incident in which Balotelli’s sports car was smashed in and a red card in the Europa League last 16-clash with Dinamo Kiev.

Mancini has admitted that Balotelli’s behaviour has been unacceptable since his

Bale confident of England upset

Gareth Bale says it would not be a surprise if Wales defeated great rivals England in their Euro 2012 qualifier on Saturday.

The Tottenham winger, who is enjoying his best season with Spurs, is adamant Wales can spring a shock result against England despite having lost their opening three qualifiers.”We’re quietly confident in the camp that we’ve got enough to pull off an upset,” Bale said.”People might laugh at us but we fully believe that we’ve got some good players here and we’ll be fully prepared and ready to take it to England.”The 21-year-old is relishing the opportunity of playing against some of his club team-mates, many of whom are regular squad members with the Three Lions.”I’ve had a bit of banter with (Jermain) Defoe and (Michael) Dawson back at the club and it will be a great game on Saturday and I’m hoping Wales will come out on top,” he said.”A lot of us haven’t played against England for the full team. It will be a great occasion and one we all want to play in.”"I definitely think it will be a great experience for us to play at the highest level and it will stand us in good stead for the future.”"Now is the time we need to start delivering and there’s no better game than to beat England.”The fixture against England also marks the return of Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who has been regaining his fitness via a series of loan spells after recovering from a broken leg.The young midfielder’s return, in addition to Bale’s return from a six-week spell on the sidelines, will serve as a boost to Gary Speed’s men.”We’re still young, we’re still learning and we’re both improving at our clubs and we want to keep doing that,” Bale said.”If we do then it will be good for the Welsh team.”Bale also dismissed suggestions his return to the national set-up would have a major bearing on the result, insisting it would require a collective effort to knock over England.”I don’t think any player can carry the whole team and it’s about the team playing well together and not individuals,” he said.”As long as we work as a team then I think we can go a long way.”

Wed 23 March, 2011

Bale confident of England upset

Gareth Bale says it would not be a surprise if Wales defeated great rivals England in their Euro 2012 qualifier on Saturday.

The Tottenham winger, who is enjoying his best season with Spurs, is adamant Wales can spring a shock result against England despite having lost their opening three qualifiers.”We’re quietly confident in the camp that we’ve got enough to pull off an upset,” Bale said.”People might laugh at us but we fully believe that we’ve got some good players here and we’ll be fully prepared and ready to take it to England.”The 21-year-old is relishing the opportunity of playing against some of his club team-mates, many of whom are regular squad members with the Three Lions.”I’ve had a bit of banter with (Jermain) Defoe and (Michael) Dawson back at the club and it will be a great game on Saturday and I’m hoping Wales will come out on top,” he said.”A lot of us haven’t played against England for the full team. It will be a great occasion and one we all want to play in.”"I definitely think it will be a great experience for us to play at the highest level and it will stand us in good stead for the future.”"Now is the time we need to start delivering and there’s no better game than to beat England.”The fixture against England also marks the return of Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who has been regaining his fitness via a series of loan spells after recovering from a broken leg.The young midfielder’s return, in addition to Bale’s return from a six-week spell on the sidelines, will serve as a boost to Gary Speed’s men.”We’re still young, we’re still learning and we’re both improving at our clubs and we want to keep doing that,” Bale said.”If we do then it will be good for the Welsh team.”Bale also dismissed suggestions his return to the national set-up would have a major bearing on the result, insisting it would require a collective effort to knock over England.”I don’t think any player can carry the whole team and it’s about the team playing well together and not individuals,” he said.”As long as we work as a team then I think we can go a long way.”

Wed 23 March, 2011

Allegri still confident of Milan triumph

Massimiliano Allegri has refused to panic after his side’s loss at Palermo on Saturday, saying AC Milan are still confident of Scudetto glory.

Allegri watched on as a sluggish Rossoneri conceded a 10th-minute opener from Dorian Goian and were never able to redress the balance.

The loss leaves Milan’s lead in Serie A in a perilous position, with Inter Milan able to draw within two points of their city rivals with a win over lowly Lecce on Sunday.

Napoli also have the opportunity to put themselves just three points behind Milan when they host Cagliari.

But Allegri, whose side has taken just one point of a possible six in their last two matches, said it is too early to start worrying about other sides.

“Going down early on was not helpful and we didn’t play well in the first half, especially the final third,” the Milan boss said.

“It was better after the break, although considering all our possession we didn’t have enough shots on target.”

“Although it was better to avoid it, a defeat can happen. Fortunately we are going into the break for international duty now and have time to get our ideas in order.”

“In any case, we are still top of the table, and we’ll see what Inter and Napoli do tomorrow.”

Milan were without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the trip to Palermo as the Swede serves a three-match ban, but Allegri refused to blame the loss on his absent striker.

“There’s no point talking about how important Ibra is for us,” Allegri said.

“Tonight we should’ve done more; we have to analyse what didn’t work.”

“Alexandre Pato and Antonio Cassano were playing as a pair for the first time, so it’s natural it’d take a while to settle.”

“I had to look at the full 90 minutes, as Robinho is tired and Kevin-Prince Boateng cannot play a full game at the moment.”

“I remain convinced Milan are the favourites for the Scudetto, so even if things go badly, we’ll still be two points in front.”

Sun 20 March, 2011

Allegri still confident of Milan triumph

Massimiliano Allegri has refused to panic after his side’s loss at Palermo on Saturday, saying AC Milan are still confident of Scudetto glory.

Allegri watched on as a sluggish Rossoneri conceded a 10th-minute opener from Dorian Goian and were never able to redress the balance.

The loss leaves Milan’s lead in Serie A in a perilous position, with Inter Milan able to draw within two points of their city rivals with a win over lowly Lecce on Sunday.

Napoli also have the opportunity to put themselves just three points behind Milan when they host Cagliari.

But Allegri, whose side has taken just one point of a possible six in their last two matches, said it is too early to start worrying about other sides.

“Going down early on was not helpful and we didn’t play well in the first half, especially the final third,” the Milan boss said.

“It was better after the break, although considering all our possession we didn’t have enough shots on target.”

“Although it was better to avoid it, a defeat can happen. Fortunately we are going into the break for international duty now and have time to get our ideas in order.”

“In any case, we are still top of the table, and we’ll see what Inter and Napoli do tomorrow.”

Milan were without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the trip to Palermo as the Swede serves a three-match ban, but Allegri refused to blame the loss on his absent striker.

“There’s no point talking about how important Ibra is for us,” Allegri said.

“Tonight we should’ve done more; we have to analyse what didn’t work.”

“Alexandre Pato and Antonio Cassano were playing as a pair for the first time, so it’s natural it’d take a while to settle.”

“I had to look at the full 90 minutes, as Robinho is tired and Kevin-Prince Boateng cannot play a full game at the moment.”

“I remain convinced Milan are the favourites for the Scudetto, so even if things go badly, we’ll still be two points in front.”

Sun 20 March, 2011

Arsenal Confident of Completing £8m Signing Of Spanish International

15 comments by The Newshound on February 15th, 2011

Arsene Wenger keen to bring Villarreal keeper to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal Vs Barcelona Tickets

Leonardo still confident on title chances

Inter Milan boss Leonardo insists his side’s hopes of retaining their Serie A title remain intact despite their 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Sunday.

New Juve striker Alessandro Matri scored the only goal of the game in Turin, when he powered home a header from just seven yards out on the half-hour mark.

The loss saw Inter slip behind Lazio to fourth, eight points behind league leaders AC Milan, although they have a game in hand over their fierce rivals.

With nine wins from his 11 games in charge since taking over from the sacked Rafael Benitez in December, Leonardo is adamant his side can still challenge for the Scudetto.

“Looking at the results of the last few weeks the table changes a lot, we’ve had a good run to get into the fight,” Leonardo said.

“On Wednesday we have another good opportunity (against Fiorentina). Everything is like it was before – there are still many games to go, 14 for us and 13 for the others.”

Despite the loss, the Brazilian insisted he was not completely dissatisfied with his team’s performance.

“There are positives, I’m satisfied with the second half,” he said.

“We lacked general brilliance in the first half but in the second we had the chance to come back.”

“We started slowly in the first but in the second we fought to the end, we tried every way to score.”

Juve boss Luigi Delneri was delighted with his side’s second win in succession, a result which sees them climb into sixth in Serie A and breathes life into their title challenge which had looked to be faltering after back-to-back defeats to Palermo and Udinese.

Delneri said the team had worked hard to push through a difficult period of results and hailed the influence of his January signings, strikers Matri and Luca Toni and defender Andrea Barzagli.

“It was an important game against an Inter team who were in good form and have great quality but we had good chances to finish the game,” he said.

“Barzagli, Toni and Matri are important acquisitions for the balance of the team.”

“We’ve come through a difficult period psychologically and this win gives us security in what we’re doing.”

Mon 14 February, 2011

Leonardo still confident on title chances

Inter Milan boss Leonardo insists his side’s hopes of retaining their Serie A title remain intact despite their 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Sunday.

New Juve striker Alessandro Matri scored the only goal of the game in Turin, when he powered home a header from just seven yards out on the half-hour mark.

The loss saw Inter slip behind Lazio to fourth, eight points behind league leaders AC Milan, although they have a game in hand over their fierce rivals.

With nine wins from his 11 games in charge since taking over from the sacked Rafael Benitez in December, Leonardo is adamant his side can still challenge for the Scudetto.

“Looking at the results of the last few weeks the table changes a lot, we’ve had a good run to get into the fight,” Leonardo said.

“On Wednesday we have another good opportunity (against Fiorentina). Everything is like it was before – there are still many games to go, 14 for us and 13 for the others.”

Despite the loss, the Brazilian insisted he was not completely dissatisfied with his team’s performance.

“There are positives, I’m satisfied with the second half,” he said.

“We lacked general brilliance in the first half but in the second we had the chance to come back.”

“We started slowly in the first but in the second we fought to the end, we tried every way to score.”

Juve boss Luigi Delneri was delighted with his side’s second win in succession, a result which sees them climb into sixth in Serie A and breathes life into their title challenge which had looked to be faltering after back-to-back defeats to Palermo and Udinese.

Delneri said the team had worked hard to push through a difficult period of results and hailed the influence of his January signings, strikers Matri and Luca Toni and defender Andrea Barzagli.

“It was an important game against an Inter team who were in good form and have great quality but we had good chances to finish the game,” he said.

“Barzagli, Toni and Matri are important acquisitions for the balance of the team.”

“We’ve come through a difficult period psychologically and this win gives us security in what we’re doing.”

Mon 14 February, 2011

Arsenal to Complete Crucial £2.5m Signing: Wenger Confident He Will Secure Schwarzer Deal In Time

"Fulham's Mark Schwarzer takes his seat in the crowd before their English Premier League soccer match against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton" height