Allegri aggro
MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI'S AC Milan are going from bad to worse but the beleaguered boss will limp on until the key Champions League clash at Malaga on Wednesday.
Allegri will carry on despite another loss at Lazio on Saturday. But defeat at Malaga or at home to Genoa next weekend could spell the end.
Allegri will be entitled to around £8million in compensation for the remaining 20 months on his contract.
Milan are 15 points behind leaders Juventus after just eight matches and five losses.
Vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "The manager stays in his position and must find a way for the team to win points and find solutions to come out of this situation."
Allegri admitted: "You shouldn't ask me, it depends on the club.
"It's normal that if the team don't get results the manager is always in question."
What is certain is that Allegri, who had a brilliant start and won Serie A in his first season in charge in 2011, will not carry on beyond next summer — if he lasts that long.
SCHALKE'S Klaas Jan Huntelaar aims to heap more misery on Arsenal, but boss Arsene Wenger can count on Fortress Emirates — and HISTORY.
Arsenal's home is officially Europe's toughest ground in the Champions League group stage.
Opta stats prove Arsenal boast the best home record at this phase of UEFA's elite competition since moving to their new ground in 2006.
Gunners fans can take heart and forget, for now at least, Saturday's demoralising defeat at Norwich.
Since 2006 Arsenal have NEVER lost a home match in the group stage.
Only Chelsea and Celtic can boast the same in that six-year period. But European champs Chelsea have fewer wins and the Scottish kings have played just 10 matches at home in that period — Arsenal have played almost twice as many.
Schalke come to London after an impressive win away at champions Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Huntelaar said: "We want to win at the Emirates. After dropping two points against Montpellier in the last match we want a point as a minimum.
"We have to close down the spaces and keep it tight between midfield and defence.
"We have to stop not only Lukas Podolski but also their marvellous midfield.
"That's our first task and the second task is to play aggressively defensively and offensively like we did in the 2-1 win at Dortmund."
History, though, favours Wenger's side. Arsenal boast the sixth-best home record overall in the Champions League's 20-year history.
Taking the group stage into account at Highbury and the Emirates, Arsenal drop to seventh.
But since leaving their beloved Highbury, Arsenal are Europe's best at home in the group phase.
They have an an astonishing 84 per cent win ratio (16 wins 3 draws). Real Madrid have the same wins, but have lost two at the Bernabeu, while third-placed Chelsea have won fewer.
The Gunners have only lost ONE match at the Emirates — against Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final second-leg in 2009.
Arsenal have progressed to the knockout stages for the last nine years in a row. A win on Wednesday will all but seal their passage yet again.
They also went past the first group stage in 2001 and 2002 but there was a second group stage then and they didn't make it to the knockout ties.
The last time Arsenal were knocked out in the first group stage was 2000.
PS: HUNTELAAR, 29, is out of contract at the end of the season and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will be keeping a close eye on the situation.
The Dutch striker flopped at both Real Madrid and Milan after leaving Ajax. He has finally lived up to his promise at Schalke.
He scored 48 goals in 47 appearances last season and was top scorer of the Bundesliga with 29 in 34 matches.
Schalke have offered him a new deal worth up to £6m a season.
Talks have stalled and a new round is scheduled for January. He has a £16m get-out clause but if Schalke get knocked out of the Champions League, the Germans might be forced to sell for a cut-price fee in the winter transfer window.
Falcao may be tricky
SHOULD £45million-rated Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao pitch up at Chelsea or Manchester City, the Premier League must look closely at the star's ownership rights.
Atletico, who insist they will not sell Falcao in January — even if someone matches his £45m get-out clause — are said to be entitled to just 67 per cent of the fee.
Reports in Latin America suggest it could be as little as 50 per cent.
The rest will go to an investment fund called Doyen Sports Investments who helped Atletico when they got Falcao from Porto.
Malta-based DSI is a subsidiary of the London-based Doyen Group are said to have fronted around £11.5m of the £32m paid.
On their website, which lists Falcao among the stars linked to their business, they say: "Doyen Sports Investments is a private fund dedicated to providing a growing alternative source of financing for football clubs and football PLCs."
It wouldn't be the first time only a fraction of the fee for Falcao reaches the selling club.
Porto published their yearly accounts last week. They revealed they only pocketed HALF the fee for Falcao — just over £16m.
The rest went to intermediaries and solidarity payments to Falcao's previous clubs.
Two companies, Dutch Orel BV and Portuguese-based Gestifute, owned by Falcao's agent Jorge Mendes, shared nearly £3m in commissions.
Another £8.2m went to signing-on fees and other "respective intermediary commissions", though Porto did not clarify where the money went.
Third-party ownership is allowed in Portugal and in Spain, but banned here.
We all remember the Carlos Tevez saga after his contractual links with businessman Kia Joorabchian ended with West Ham being fined £5m.
No comments:
Post a Comment