Month: September 2019

The midfielder has been sidelined since last April recovering from knee surgery but will step up his return with game time with the reserve side

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to return to action for the first time since April 2018 on Friday as the Liverpool midfielder steps up his recovery from knee surgery.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been ruled out for Liverpool since April 24, when he went down with a serious knee injury in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Roma.

The England international required surgery to repair the damage and has been working his way back, returning to training in December.

Now he is ready for the next step, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed, which will involve a run out for Liverpool’s Under- 23 side against Deby County on Friday.

“The plan is to give him some match time,” Klopp told Liverpool’s official website. “All that we saw so far in training looks really good, it looks really exciting, but we all know it is a massive difference between each training session you have and playing a proper game.

“It’s not about the opponent, it’s about judging situations, a bigger pitch, higher intensity, a different concentration level. The preparation for a match is different to a normal training session, so players after a long period [out] need to get used to that.”

Klopp downplayed any desire to rush Oxlade-Chamberlain back from injury, noting this is just part of the process in his recovery.

“There is absolutely no expectation on the game [for him] apart from go through it, tick that box, come back and go on training again,” Klopp added. “It doesn’t say anything about him ‘being ready for five days later’ or whatever, it is just a first – and very, very important – step.

“As I said, in training Ox is back but now we have to make sure we really prepare him for the rest of his career and the rest of this season.

“Probably it will be 45 minutes and that’s absolutely OK. It is a bit difficult for Critch [U-23 manager Neil Critchley] when the manager tells you to make a change at half-time, but it’s nice for Ox.

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“The boys worked really hard and a lot with him in rehab, but you cannot do it like it is a normal football game. The intensity cannot be that high or you kill a player then. He needs matches and as many as possible, but we are in the middle of the season and will not say now, ‘You need six or seven matches until you are ready.’

“It is about getting him the experience again on the pitch, getting him back in this one and then using him minute-by-minute on the pitch. As long as all the other players are fit and stuff like that, we will have to see who can help the team more when he is finally back.

“In the moment, he looks brilliant, everything is really, really good. Now let’s play football.”

Klopp also indicated that while Oxlade-Chamberlain will play in a game this week, it did not mean the midfielder is set for an imminent return to the first team.

Instead, Klopp thinks a more realistic return date is after the mid-March international break.

“I am happy people didn’t ask after one session if he could play at the weekend!” Klopp said. “He’s had a couple of sessions and now he has a first game and that’s really cool.

“Let’s see how he reacts, how he feels and all that stuff. But it is not in the plans, there is nothing to think about before the international break, but this game, maybe another game and having a bit longer and then having the international break, which from now is around three weeks I think, so then. Let’s see.”

Those at Camp Nou are said to have readied a €50 million approach for the Serb, but his loan employers in Germany are apparently yet to receive a bid

Eintracht Frankfurt are yet to receive an offer for striker Luka Jovic, according to a senior club official.

Barcelona are reportedly readying a €50 million (£43m/$56m) bid for the Serbia international, who scored his side’s goal in the 1-1 friendly draw with Germany this week.

Manchester City have also been monitoring Jovic – as revealed by Goal – who has scored 15 goals in only 18 Bundesliga starts in 2018-19.

However, Frankfurt’s supervisory board chairman Wolfgang Steubing says they have not yet received any offer for the prized 21-year-old.

“The numbers that are rampant across social media are not yet on our table,” said Steubing at a panel discussion in Frankfurt.

“There is definitely no offer. But maybe that will happen.”

Jovic is on loan at Frankfurt from Benfica, but the Bundesliga club have the option to sign the player outright for a reported €7m fee.

Barca are favourites to secure his signature as they seek a long-term successor to Luis Suarez.

His manager at international level, Mladen Krstajic, has suggested that Jovic would not look out of place at Camp Nou.

He has said:”I’m not his agent so I do not know that.

“But he certainly has the potential to play at such a club [Barcelona].”

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WASHINGTON – Tokyo and Seoul should not rely on Washington to help mend their soured ties, a U.S. expert says, despite many other researchers calling for a bigger American role in resolving the dispute.

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The presence of the United States has dampened incentives for the two East Asian countries to improve their ties, according to Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a conservative U.S. think tank.

“Obviously, the relationship between the ROK and Japan is one that has a long history and a difficult history,” Bandow said in an interview earlier this month. ROK is short for the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.

“I think it’s far too simplistic to assume that the United States is in control of the situation.”

Those saying that the United States should do more to improve the situation do not say what should be done or how it would work, Bandow said.

“I don’t think the United States can simply work this out or tell the countries to forget their dispute,” he said, pointing to the difficulty of dealing with “a lot of nationalist passions” in Japan and South Korea.

Tokyo and Seoul should resolve their differences because “the common threat to them from China, in my view, is far greater than any disagreements they might have,” Bandow said.

The historical issues “obviously have been a problem for Tokyo elsewhere in the region, but we do see countries like the Philippines, seeming to get over that,” he continued. “The Philippines wants a better relationship at least in part because of what they see from China.”

“So I don’t think there’s any reason historically (Japan and South Korea) have to have a bad relationship,” he said.

“I think that part of the problem is neither country sees a necessity (to mend their relations) as long as the United States defends them,” he said.

Bandow questioned whether South Korea would have conducted military drills on and around the disputed Takeshima islands — called Dokdo in South Korea — amid heightened tensions last month, without the U.S. presence as the protector of South Korea. Tokyo claims the Seoul-controlled Sea of Japan islands.

Because of the United States, South Korea was not worried about the tensions and acted “in ways that look irresponsible,” according to Bandow.

Asked what Washington should do, he said, “What is probably most important, and the (Donald) Trump administration could be the administration to do it, would be to communicate to both Seoul and Tokyo that the presence of American forces is not forever guaranteed.”

“There is no obvious reason why the United States should continue to have that kind of an alliance” with Japan or South Korea after over 70 years since the end of World War II and 66 years since the armistice in the Korean War, he said.

The United States needs to emphasize that this is an issue for both Asian countries, Bandow said.

Asked what Tokyo and Seoul should do, he pointed to the need for the neighboring countries to have a dialogue, which may be a private one “given how sensitive the political issues are.”

South Korea’s decision to terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan “has made (Seoul) the bad guy in Washington,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is also “a lot of unhappiness” in the U.S. government over Tokyo’s “fairly extreme measure,” namely tightened controls on exports to South Korea, according to Bandow.

“I think (Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe sees very little incentive to act because he believes he’s in a strong position, and frankly he is,” Bandow said.

But in the long term, “this is not a good position for Japan, even if his government feels good about where it is at,” he said.

“The short-term political gain to Abe is obvious, but I think he’s sacrificing something very important for the future,” Bandow said, warning of negative security and regional implications.

Japan has failed to track the trajectory of some of North Korea’s new types of short-range missiles in a recent series of launches, raising concerns over Tokyo’s defense capabilities, sources close to the matter have said.

The missiles, including some capable of reaching Japan, apparently escaped detection due to their low altitudes and irregular trajectories, and Tokyo is said to believe that North Korea is attempting to break through Japan’s existing missile defense network.

The government is increasingly concerned that the North is making progress in its technological developments. It is considering operating two or more Aegis-equipped destroyers to cover low altitudes as well as strengthening its radar functions, the sources said Sunday.

Seoul’s decision to terminate an intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo is also likely to fuel Japan’s concerns, as the missiles Japan failed to track were apparently successfully detected by the South Korean military.

Japan’s inability to detect missiles that could land in the country at an early stage would make it difficult to intercept them or take necessary steps — such as issuing evacuation warnings — with adequate speed.

In missile launches from May to September, North Korea fired off projectiles with different shapes and capabilities from previous ones on 10 occasions, according to the sources. Many of them flew below an altitude of 60 kilometers, lower than the altitude at which missiles typically travel.

Some of the missiles managed to escape detection by the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis-equipped destroyer in the Sea of Japan as well as radar deployed in Japan and operated by the Air Self-Defense Force, the sources said.

According to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo and the South Korean military, the projectiles launched during the period included the KN-23, a new type of a short-range ballistic missile, a missile resembling the United States’ Army Tactical Missile and multiple launch rocket artillery.

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Among them, the KN-23, which is similar to an advanced ballistic missile manufactured in Russia, is capable of reaching Japan. The missile is known to have an irregular trajectory, the sources said.

The U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from launching ballistic missiles, but U.S. President Donald Trump has downplayed the threat of North Korea’s launches of short-range ballistic missiles since July.

CHIBA – Municipal officials are still struggling to cope with shattered roofs and other debris two weeks after Typhoon Faxai roared through Chiba Prefecture.

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In the prefecture, 22 municipal governments have set up temporary disposal sites at a total of 33 locations, but many people have left typhoon debris elsewhere, officials said.

Piles of debris, including trash, were seen on the side of the road in the Iwaifukuro district in the town of Kyonan, one of several locations that saw heavy damage from the typhoon that slammed into the prefecture on Sept. 9.

A debris collection firm commissioned by the town government was dealing with them. “There could be a secondary disaster if combustible trash catches fire,” a 48-year-old company official said. “They must be taken away. But the segregation process is time-consuming,” the official said.

The prefectural government has sent a total of 136 staff members to eight municipalities to help the management of temporary disposal sites and the collection and transportation of debris.

“As some municipalities have no experience in handling disaster debris, there have been many requests for support,” a prefectural official said.

The typhoon damaged about 12,000 residential buildings in the prefecture, according to prefectural and other sources.

A 75-year-old man in Iwaifukuro saw his house flood and its roof get blown away, leaving behind a lot of debris. “With the help of relatives, the debris was at last brought to a disposal site,” the man said.

About 3,100 households are still without electricity, while some 1,100 households have no running water. About 100 people remain at shelters.

Liverpool striker Sadio Mane suffered a dead leg in his side’s 2-1 win at Chelsea, boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed.

The in-form frontman, who has scored six goals this season, hobbled off in the second half at Stamford Bridge on Sunday with the problem, which was two-fold.

“It was a knock on the bone, around the knee, and a dead leg – that’s an awful combination,” Klopp said.

“He tried everything but I think you saw, there was one counter situation when he really tried and I would say on a non-dead-leg day he will get that ball, but no chance.

“And then we say ‘Come on, now we have to do it’ and changed. That’s it.”

Goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino earned Liverpool a 15th Premier League win on the bounce and restored their five-point lead over Manchester City.

Alexander-Arnold’s opener was superb as he fired a free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the area for his first goal since November last year.

“Hendo (Jordan Henderson) wanted it at first and then I think he thought it was a bit too close for him,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports.

“I discussed with Mo (Salah) that I wanted it rolled to make the angle a little bit better and maybe confuse the goalkeeper a little bit, and I’ve been able to put it away.

“I thought it was too close to go over the wall, I didn’t know if the wall was going to jump so I couldn’t go under it, I had to go ‘keeper’s side.

“It was a good roll and I just tried to put it as hard as I can that side with a bit of placement.”

 

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Roy Keane launched a 397-word rant after Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday.

United slipped to a demoralising loss at the London Stadium, stretching their winless run on the road to seven Premier League matches.

They also face an anxious wait for the results of a scan on Marcus Rashford’s groin after their last striker standing limped off.

It was a lifeless display against the Hammers, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer maintained after the match that he has “a good group to work with”.

Keane, though, was less positive about United and he thinks Solskjaer will be “fuming” inside.

Keane on whether the United players have enough characters in their side, Keane told Sky Sports: “Ole’s answers are ‘I think so’. Listen, I’ve known Ole a long time, he’s one of the nicest lads you will ever meet, and I can tell just by looking at his eyes that he’s fuming, that he’s disgusted.

“Like any manager he’s going to come out to try and defend his team. I always think the proof is in the pudding, managers can back their team all they want, but it’s all about what they do on the pitch when the referee blows that whistle.

“We didn’t see that today. We’re talking about Manchester United here. You look at the first goal, it’s all about the basics of football, closing people down, sprinting to people, it summed up Manchester United at the moment.

“There’s a lack of quality, a lack of goal threat. To me, the young boy James has come in and they’re almost depending on him trying to win them the game, he’s a young boy coming in from Swansea. He’s still learning his trade but they’re hanging their hat on him.

“Rice and Noble, they ran the midfield today and were excellent and I feel for Ole. I think his head must be spinning.

“When you’ve played for the club, there’s always that little bit of loyalty and you appreciate the history but the reality is, and I’ve been saying it for a couple of years, the number of times when I’ve watched Manchester United and they’re just not good enough.

“We can be critical of players, I’ll be critical of them if they don’t sprint and close people down, but a lot of these players aren’t good enough for Manchester United, it’s as simple as that, and we’ll be having the same conversation throughout the course of the season.

“They’re just not good enough and where do you start, where do you start with this team? They’ve brought in some players, that’s a bit of a start and it’s better than what they had, but then you watch it today and you’re thinking if they had different tops on, you wouldn’t think it’s Man United.

“The history and all that can only take you so far. They weren’t putting demands on each other today, you talk about the goalkeeper, Maguire, they’re experienced players and I think my head is spinning as well, I’ll be joining Ole! I don’t know where to start.”

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Jose Mourinho thinks that he “probably deserved to be sacked” at Manchester United but reckons they are in a “worse” position now than under him.

The Portuguese coach was sacked last December after high-profile clashes with star players Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, while there was apparent discontent over the club’s failure to sign a defender in the summer.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer impressed as interim boss before landing the job full-time – but the Norwegian has overseen a mixed start to the new season.

The Red Devils’ second loss of the campaign against West Ham on Sunday leaves them ten points adrift of leaders Liverpool after only six matches.

On United‘s current issues, Mourinho said on Sky Sports: “I’m not the right person to answer it.

“They are far behind. It’s difficult for me to answer. I was there for two seasons where I could feel lots of positive things and I could feel the direction to go in, then obviously the third season was not good enough.

“I was sacked, I probably deserved to be sacked because I was responsible as the manager, but the sad reality is that they are worse than before.

“And for me that is a sad thing. Maybe people think I’m enjoying the situation but I’m not enjoying it at all.”

 

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Mourinho added: “I have people in the club I love, I have lots of respect for the fans and for me it’s really sad because when a team is ‘boring’, you are boring but you can still get the results.

“But at this moment I don’t see anything. I think they are going to really, really be in trouble to get not just into the top four but potentially in the top six.

“I think this team is worse than the team of last season.”

 

Frank Lampard believes Chelsea were “the better team” in their 2-1 loss to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and praised the “character and spirit” of his team.

Liverpool took an early two-goal lead after some questionable defending by The Blues allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold to fire in from a short free-kick before Roberto Firmino planted a free header into the Chelsea net.

But Chelsea grew into the game and missed a host of chances to draw the game after N’Golo Kante had reduced the deficit with a fine individual run and strike.

“Performance wise we were the better team. We had more energy in our game, character and spirit. That’s why the crowd applauded at the end. Let’s take this forward.

[On Mason Mount’s disallowed goal]: “I like to think we might get a couple in our favour. But you can see Mason is a tiny bit offside.

“We have to get on with it. It is a sad thing for the celebration and the moment but if we are looking for correct decisions that is where we are at.

“It changes the atmosphere in the crowd, on the pitch. We are slightly deflated and they get a boost. We deserved to be level at that point.

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“No home wins we want to change and I believe we will if we play like that. The reality is younger players have come into the team. We lost two number 9s we had last year and we can’t change that.

“People say the [transfer] ban is a bad thing for Chelsea and in the short term, of course, but in the long term if we can have a vision, with the likes of [Fikayo] Tomori, Mason [Mount], Tammy [Abraham], then hopefully it will be really good for us but in the short term there might be occasions with things like today happen.”

 

The governing body has hit the German side with several charges stemming from the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League

Bayern Munich have been charged by UEFA after fans displayed an “illicit” banner criticising VAR during the Champions League loss to Liverpool.

The use of technology in German football has been met with opposition from the stands and Bayern fans vented their frustration in Wednesday’s quarter-final clash at Allianz Arena.

The banner read: “Modern football kills emotion. F*** VAR! F*** UEFA!”

Bayern have also been charged with ‘kit infringement’ after Leon Goretzka wore the wrong shirt in the 3-1 second-leg loss.

The midfielder, a second-half substitute, took to the pitch in the club’s Bundesliga’s domestic kit, which features Qatar Airways and T-Mobile logos.

Article 28 of the UEFA Equipment Regulations states that teams are prohibited from advertising more than one sponsor on shirts worn in European competitions.

The cases will be heard by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on May 16.

But the Bavarian were not alone, with UEFA also issuing a charge to Schalke for “acts of damage” during their Champions League loss to Manchester City in Manchester. 

The Europa League also had some issues, with both Inter and Eintracht Frankfurt facing charges stemming from the setting off of fireworks by supporters during their match on Thursday.  

Zenit were also hit with damages charges for actions during their last-16 tie with Villarreal. 

The draw for both the Champions League and the Europa League quarter-finals took place on Friday, with Liverpool drawn against Porto and Juventus drawn against Ajax. Premier League rivals Tottenham and Manchester City will also face off, while Barcelona and Manchester United were pitted against one another in a clash of European giants. 

The Europa League saw Arsenal drawn against Napoli, Chelsea pitted against Slavia Praha, Benfica slated to take on Eintracht and Spanish sides Villarreal and Valencia drawn against one another. 

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