Month: March 2021

Bale-Real Madrid comments ‘taken out of context’, says agent

Jonathan Barnett, the agent of Gareth Bale, has insisted that his comments about returning to Real Madrid next season have been “taken completely” out of context.

After a phenomenal couple of years at Spurs between 2011 and 2013, Bale joined Real Madrid in a world record-breaking deal. The Welshman made the move for a fee of around £85m.

The forward has gone onto have seven years with the Spanish giants. He has 105 goals from 251 appearances in all competitions for Madrid.

OPINION: England’s brilliant youngsters deserve a far better guardian

Click Here: Cheap Converse Chuck 70 Shoes

Bale made a big impact for Madrid, as he got on the scoresheet in the finals of the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

The 31-year-old has won the Champions League four times with Madrid. He also helped them to win the league title twice, as well as one Copa del Rey.

The attacker fell down the pecking order at Madrid as a result of a falling out with Zinedine Zidane. He looked likely to move to China in 2019, but that move never came to fruition.

He did leave last summer, though, as he rejoined Tottenham on loan. His return season for Spurs has been up and down so far.

Bale has struggled with injuries so his game time was very limited during his first few months back in England.

But he has featured more of late and he has started to show the kind of form he had at Madrid and the first time around at Tottenham.

Bale has ten goals and three assists from his 25 outings this season. Included in this are braces in the Premier League against Burnley and Crystal Palace.

His loan move to Spurs did not include an option to buy, so Bale’s future is still up in the air as we head into the final months of the 2020/21 campaign.

Bale is currently on international duty with Wales. In a recent interview, as cited by ESPN, he appeared to confirm that his future lies with Madrid:

“The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid. My plan is to go back and that’s as far I’ve planned, to be honest.”

But Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, has been quick to rule out these claims. He has suggested that these comments have been “taken completely out of context” and that it is “too early” to discuss the player’s future.


Wright backs Chelsea to finish ahead of Leicester

Ian Wright has suggested that Chelsea have “everything” as a team and he has backed them to finish ahead of Leicester City by the end of the season.

The Blues have been resurgent since the appointment of Thomas Tuchel. They are yet to lose from his 14 games in charge and they have won ten of these outings.

This has seen them rise up to fourth in the Premier League and they are also in the last eight of the Champions League.

OPINION: Liverpool must ignore temptation of Suarez, Coutinho reunion

Speaking on The Kelly and Wright Show, as cited by The Metro, Wright suggested that Tuchel has really “solidified” Chelsea:

“I don’t think Leicester are guaranteed. They’re in a similar position as they were last season and I just feel like the same thing is going to happen. It’s going to be up to them, can they learn from what happened?

“Manchester United are so inconsistent. I’m liking Chelsea at the minute. They’re on the kind of run where I think they’re in a good moment.

“I think you can’t write Liverpool off just because of the quality of their team. West Ham had to win that game [against Arsenal].

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Leicester, maybe they will look more to the FA Cup. But you can’t write Liverpool off with the quality they have. They could save their season. I think it goes down to Liverpool.

“I don’t think West Ham will make it. When it gets to this stage of the season, you have games you have to win, and that’s why I worry about Everton and West Ham.

“I’m not sure if they can do that. With what Tottenham have got, it would be criminal if they don’t make it, and I don’t think they will. ‘

“You look at Chelsea and the manager and the way he has solidified the team. They’re not conceding so you know then you have the capability of nicking one.

“From now, Chelsea, when you look at what they’ve got, I fancy them to win every game except for Man City maybe. The way they’re playing, passing and moving, it just comes down to the forwards clicking.

“If they can click, I genuinely think they can overtake Leicester because they have everything. They just look very impressive apart from the goals.”


Click Here: Bape Men 1st Camo Applique Oxford shirt

Southgate praises ‘excellent’ Lingard after San Marino victory

Gareth Southgate has insisted that it is “really pleasing” to see Jesse Lingard back playing with a smile on his face.

Four months on from bringing the curtain down on a challenging autumn schedule, the Three Lions kicked off what they hope will be a year to remember with a straightforward first step towards Qatar 2022.

England were always going to beat the world’s lowest-ranked nation and cruised to a 5-0 victory against San Marino at Wembley, where Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a brace and could have had more.

OPINION: England’s brilliant youngsters deserve a far better guardian

James Ward-Prowse, stand-in skipper Raheem Sterling and debutant Ollie Watkins also netted on a night when Southgate made four half-time alterations with the Albania and Poland qualifiers quickly following.

Those matches will be more of a test than that provided by the 210th best team in the world and are the final two fixtures before the England boss names his squad for this summer’s rearranged Euros.

“Of course it’s not the level of game that is going to dictate how well we can do in the summer,” Southgate said of the win against San Marino.

“It’s not the right level of comparable but you’ve got to respect the game that’s in front of you and approach it in the right way.

Click Here: spain rugby shirts

“And within that, it was an opportunity to work attacking patterns and it was an opportunity to produce consistent habits that need to happen in every single game.

“So, there are things we’ve taken from it, from the training in the week, which beds through to the next couple of games as well.

“But also individuals who’ve given good performances that can be very pleased with their evening’s work.

“So, we managed to keep freshness in the team, which was very important for the three games this week.

“One yellow card at the end (for substitute Tyrone Mings), which if we’re being critical about the finishing, ideally no yellow cards tonight, but very pleased with the evening’s work.”

Among the positives was the way rejuvenated Lingard performed on his return to the England side.

The 28-year-old has been in superb form since joining West Ham on loan from Manchester United in January and looked bright on just his 11th appearance for club or country this season.

“I thought Jesse was excellent,” Southgate said of Lingard, who last played for the Three Lions in June 2019.

“First of all, really pleasing to see him playing football, enjoying his football, playing with a smile on his face.

“We know the qualities he has. We gave him his debut 50 games ago and why did we do that? Because he’s a player that technically is good, passes and moves, has intelligence in the positions he takes up.

“He works incredibly hard without the ball to pressure and to win the ball back.

“So, in the main, my first thought is how lovely to see him back playing at the level that we think he can be.”

Lingard led the voting for Thursday’s man of the match award – something Mount may well have challenged him for had he not been withdrawn at half-time with Sunday’s trip to Tirana in mind.

The Chelsea midfielder has established himself as a key player under Southgate and created eight chances from open play in just 45 minutes.

“He’s a top player,” the England boss said.

“Not only his work with the ball, but the way he pressed when we lost it, the way he recovered and won the ball back on the rare occasion San Marino managed to play through.

“His weight of pass was excellent and his all-round game is just very good.

“So, I was just struck last night when he was talking to you guys (in the media) how mature he was in that instance.

“But we’ve got so many good young players.

“Phil (Foden) coming on, Jude (Bellingham) coming on – obviously he’s a lot younger than the others – but they are different types of players who really express themselves on the ball.

“It’s lovely to see players wearing an England shirt and feeling free enough to do that.”


Liverpool transfer ruled out after ‘bullying’ former Arsenal star

Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell has claimed Aaron Ramsey wouldn’t be good enough to replace Georginio Wijnaldum at Liverpool with a report dismissing links to the ex-Gunners midfielder.

The Wales international left for Juventus in July 2019 after seeing out his contract with Arsenal, signing a four-year deal with the Italian giants.

Ramsey has scored twice and made four assists for his team-mates in 18 Serie A appearances this season but the 30-year-old has not been at his best since arriving in Turin.

OPINION: Liverpool must ignore temptation of Suarez, Coutinho reunion

A report in Calciomercato on Tuesday linked Ramsey with a move to Liverpool with the publication claiming that he ‘likes’ the Reds.

However, reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has ruled out any current interest from Liverpool.

Romano wrote on Twitter: “There’s nothing between Liverpool and Aaron Ramsey as of today, despite rumours. Former Arsenal midfielder could leave Juventus in the summer – but there are no negotiations or contacts with the Liverpool board at the moment.”

Click Here: custom product design

And speaking to Football Insider, Campbell doubts whether Ramsey would be a good fit at Liverpool with the Welshman regularly “bullied” by Liverpool in his Arsenal days.

Campbell said: “He’s not Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum’s got a good engine and he knows how to score goals.

“I think he’s a good player but he’s not the same. He’s more of an attacking player whereas Wijnaldum’s a box-to-box player.

“Wijnaldum’s a really good, underrated player. I don’t think Ramsey’s as tough as Wijnaldum. He was part of those teams that got bullied at Arsenal, including by Liverpool.”

 

Ramsey has also been linked with a return to Arsenal with Robert Pires suggesting in February that it would be a good move for all parties.

Pires told TuttoJuve: “He is very intelligent and knows how to adapt everywhere, Juve is a very big club and Serie A is improving him even more.

“He needs to stay a few more years and then he will return to Arsenal.

“It is my belief, I am not a fortune teller.”

Pires added: “Aaron would be perfect in Mikel Arteta’s game system, but he belongs to Juve and he has to stay focused on the Old Lady to win trophies.

“This year he has already won one, I hope it’s just the first in a long line.”

 

“Consent condom” requires four hands to open, making powerful statement about consent

With consent at the forefront of modern conversations about sex, one company is highlighting its importance in a unique way. Argentinian company Tulipán has created a “consent condom” that requires four hands to be opened, intending to raise awareness about consent in the bedroom. 

“If they don’t say yes, it means no,” the tagline on a video demonstration says. “Consent is the most important thing in sex.” Ad agency BBDO Argentina created the “Consent Pack” for Tulipán. The box can only be opened if four hands simultaneously press buttons on each side of the box, unlocking the condom inside.  
The limited edition condom packages were placed at bars and events around Buenos Aires. The company is also sharing information about the product on social media with the hashtag #PlacerConsentido, or “permitted pleasure.” They will be available to purchase later this year. “Tulipán has always spoken of safe pleasure, but for this campaign, we understood that we had to talk about the most important thing in every sexual relationship — pleasure is possible only if you both give your consent,” Joaquin Campins of BBDO said in a statement. The condom is not meant to be a solution to sexual assault, but rather to spread the important message of consent in all circumstances. According to AHF, a global nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS medical care, just 14.5 percent of Argentinian men regularly used a condom, 65 percent said they occasionally use them, and 20.5 percent said they’d never used a condom before. The Next Web reports that the “Consent Pack” is a direct response to these statistics, hoping to encourage not only consent, but condom use overall. 

Click Here: cheap puma men shoes