Ibrahimovic blasts Guardiola, Barcelona

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has defended his decision to reveal the truth about his unhappy spell at Barcelona in his autobiography.

The book, titled ‘I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic’, is set to be released on November 15, but Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet recently leaked excerpts from the book, which included the 30-year-old directing heavy criticism at the management of former coach Pep Guardiola.

However, Ibrahimovic has insisted that there is no ulterior motive to the sudden release of his story, believing it was necessary to clarify his version of events that took place in Catalunya two seasons ago.

“If anyone has anything else to say or they know something I don’t, then they are welcome to speak, but I’ve told you everything I know in this book,” said the striker.

The Sweden international joined Barcelona in a blaze of glory during the summer of 2009 from Inter, but he admitted that his experience contrasted from the one he had dreamed of, despite scoring 21 goals for the European champions.

“Sometimes it is better to be content with what you have to dream about, than to fulfill it, only to discover that it almost kills you,” he said.

In the autobiography, Ibrahimovic revealed that he completely lost control in the aftermath of Barcelona’s 4-1 away win over Villarreal in the 2009-10 campaign which followed their Champions League elimination by Inter only days before.

He told Guardiola that he was afraid of then-Inter coach Jose Mourinho and that the Barcelona coach could ‘go to hell’.

“I yelled to him: ‘You have no balls!’ And probably worse things than that. And I added: ‘You are sh***ing yourself about Mourinho! You can go to hell!’ I was completely mad. If I were Guardiola, I would have been frightened,” Ibrahimovic writes in the first chapter of his book.

The former Ajax star also took the time to reveal his true feelings for Barcelona trio Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

“The atmosphere in the dressing room was way too quiet for me. Messi, Iniesta and Xavi always obeyed without protesting. They were like schoolboys. I’m not like that and I couldn’t be myself,” he said.

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Wolves skipper blasts ´boo boys´

Wolves captain Roger Johnson has hit back at sections of the club’s supporters, who have been letting their displeasure with recent results known to manager Mick McCarthy.

Molineux has become increasingly hostile in recent weeks as the side have been struggling on the field, with the Wolves boss being on the receiving end of the majority of supporters’ criticisms.

A number of fans have resorted to booing tactical decisions and substitutions, while also chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning,” – when 2-0 down during Saturday’s match with Swansea City – in the manager’s direction, a game that the Midlands outfit went on to draw 2-2.

Speaking to Wolves’ official website, Johnson has leapt to the defence of the former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland boss, saying that it is not the manager, but the players who need to improve.

“We don’t want to hear that at all, but you’ve got to look what happened – we brought two subs on and we drew 2-2,” said Johnson.

“So you tell me who’s right?”

“It’s not nice to hear. I wasn’t here a few years ago when the manager was doing better but I’m sure they were singing his praises then.”

“It’s not good when we go 2-0 down and we’ve lost five games in a row.”

“I’m a football fan myself and at times you do jump on the bandwagon and question decisions. But some of the shouts I heard on Saturday were below the belt. We don’t want to hear that and it’s not on.”

“The fans have got short memories – they can have a pop at me for saying it, but we don’t need that.”

“It’s not the manager; if you brought someone else in here, what’s going to change? The players will still be here, and so will the fans.”

“He’s a good manager and what he’s done for this club speaks for itself.”

“I know what football’s like and the first person people look to criticise is the manager. He’s by himself and you can’t sack a whole football team.”

“So I’m telling you now, the only people to blame right now are the players, not the manager.”

Johnson, a summer signing from Birmingham City, is confident that having halted a run of five straight defeats, Wolves have put in place the foundations for a run of improved form, but he feels that a more united atmosphere is needed around Molineux.

“We’d lost five games on the spin, confidence is low and we went 2-0 down again, so we thought we were heading for a sixth successive loss,” continued the 28-year-old.

“So we were pleased to have got a point out of it.”

“It’s very hostile – we were trying to keep the ball, playing from side to side and you’re being booed for it.”

“Yet that’s good enough for Chelsea and Man United, then they play the ball when they think it’s right.”

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Wolves skipper blasts ´boo boys´

Wolves captain Roger Johnson has hit back at sections of the club’s supporters, who have been letting their displeasure with recent results known to manager Mick McCarthy.

Molineux has become increasingly hostile in recent weeks as the side have been struggling on the field, with the Wolves boss being on the receiving end of the majority of supporters’ criticisms.

A number of fans have resorted to booing tactical decisions and substitutions, while also chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning,” – when 2-0 down during Saturday’s match with Swansea City – in the manager’s direction, a game that the Midlands outfit went on to draw 2-2.

Speaking to Wolves’ official website, Johnson has leapt to the defence of the former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland boss, saying that it is not the manager, but the players who need to improve.

“We don’t want to hear that at all, but you’ve got to look what happened – we brought two subs on and we drew 2-2,” said Johnson.

“So you tell me who’s right?”

“It’s not nice to hear. I wasn’t here a few years ago when the manager was doing better but I’m sure they were singing his praises then.”

“It’s not good when we go 2-0 down and we’ve lost five games in a row.”

“I’m a football fan myself and at times you do jump on the bandwagon and question decisions. But some of the shouts I heard on Saturday were below the belt. We don’t want to hear that and it’s not on.”

“The fans have got short memories – they can have a pop at me for saying it, but we don’t need that.”

“It’s not the manager; if you brought someone else in here, what’s going to change? The players will still be here, and so will the fans.”

“He’s a good manager and what he’s done for this club speaks for itself.”

“I know what football’s like and the first person people look to criticise is the manager. He’s by himself and you can’t sack a whole football team.”

“So I’m telling you now, the only people to blame right now are the players, not the manager.”

Johnson, a summer signing from Birmingham City, is confident that having halted a run of five straight defeats, Wolves have put in place the foundations for a run of improved form, but he feels that a more united atmosphere is needed around Molineux.

“We’d lost five games on the spin, confidence is low and we went 2-0 down again, so we thought we were heading for a sixth successive loss,” continued the 28-year-old.

“So we were pleased to have got a point out of it.”

“It’s very hostile – we were trying to keep the ball, playing from side to side and you’re being booed for it.”

“Yet that’s good enough for Chelsea and Man United, then they play the ball when they think it’s right.”

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Tottenham Midfielder Blasts Harry Redknapp Over Substitution

Tottenham Hotspur midfileder Rafael van der Vaart has hit back at manager Harry Redknapp for substituting him during the 0-0 draw with West Ham United.

The 28-year-old is unhappy about Rekdknapp’s reluctnce to play him for the full 90 minutes.

The Dutch international went striaght down the tunnel after being replaced with 18 minutes to go, which angered Redknapp who expected his star to sit on the bench.

“I didn’t like that at all,” Redknapp said. “If you are part of a team I think you should stay and watch the game. I will speak to him about it. He is a good lad. I just wanted to make a substitution.”

But Van der Vaart refused to speak to his manager and left for international duty straight after the Premier League game.

The former Real Madrid player expects the disagreement to soon be forgotten but is upset over how he is being handled.

“I read that Harry Redknapp wanted a conversation with me, but I had to return to the Netherlands so I did not see him,” Van der Vaart told De Telegraaf.

“Tottenham should not be angry with me. I also did the same thing against AC Milan

Delneri blasts ´arrogant´ Juve

Juventus manager Gigi Delneri slammed his players as “arrogant and without excuses” after their shock 2-0 loss at Lecce on Sunday.

“We got the wrong approach from the start,” Delneri said.

Juve’s cause was hampered by the red card shown to goalkeeper Gigi Buffon in the 12th minute but Delneri had no excuses.

“The team was very arrogant. This is a defeat that should make us think carefully, as we should’ve been more intense and taken charge.”

“Lecce were always first to the ball and we deserved to lose. In fact, we’re lucky it only ended 2-0.” “We are unable to face supposedly ‘easy’ games with the right concentration.”

“Now our objectives seem a long way away. We cannot afford any more mistakes.”

“It’s a shame, as we were on the right path, but today we had no excuses for this performance.”

Lecce coach Gigi De Canio was in the stands serving a touchline ban but assistant manager Roberto Rizzo found their win “beyond all expectations.”

“We played a good game and the lads believed in the result throughout the week,” Rizzo said.

“We went beyond all expectations, even the rosiest outlook. Juve suffer a bit when hit with pace, so we have David Di Michele who is exceptional at that kind of work.”

“We prepared for the match with that thought in mind.”

Sun 20 February, 2011

Delneri blasts ´arrogant´ Juve

Juventus manager Gigi Delneri slammed his players as “arrogant and without excuses” after their shock 2-0 loss at Lecce on Sunday.

“We got the wrong approach from the start,” Delneri said.

Juve’s cause was hampered by the red card shown to goalkeeper Gigi Buffon in the 12th minute but Delneri had no excuses.

“The team was very arrogant. This is a defeat that should make us think carefully, as we should’ve been more intense and taken charge.”

“Lecce were always first to the ball and we deserved to lose. In fact, we’re lucky it only ended 2-0.” “We are unable to face supposedly ‘easy’ games with the right concentration.”

“Now our objectives seem a long way away. We cannot afford any more mistakes.”

“It’s a shame, as we were on the right path, but today we had no excuses for this performance.”

Lecce coach Gigi De Canio was in the stands serving a touchline ban but assistant manager Roberto Rizzo found their win “beyond all expectations.”

“We played a good game and the lads believed in the result throughout the week,” Rizzo said.

“We went beyond all expectations, even the rosiest outlook. Juve suffer a bit when hit with pace, so we have David Di Michele who is exceptional at that kind of work.”

“We prepared for the match with that thought in mind.”

Sun 20 February, 2011