Jurgen gets angry
Jurgen Klopp is a nice guy but when he gets angry he gets very angry. And following the loss to Leicester City 3-1 this week (I wonder what Claudio Ranieri felt about that!) Jurgen tore into his players in the dressing room, shouting at several of them individually. The problem, as I highlighted to you last week and the week before, is their defence. He was brutally honest as he criticized players individually. He said, “It wasn’t good enough at the beginning, the middle or the end! The first goal was like a friendly with a throw in, one pass and a goal! What happened against Leicester has happened too often this season.” Now he has to face Arsenal today and almost certainly without Captain Jordan Henderson who still has a bruised foot.
Contacting the clubs this week I found that Tottenham Hotspur are watching Paris-Saint Germain star Adrien Rabiot who at 21 years-old has already won four consecutive Ligue 1 titles. His contract runs until 2019 but he has expressed a desire to play in the Premiership. Meanwhile, I am intrigued to hear that Jose Mourhino has been making calls to Barcelona superstar Neymar asking him to quit Spain for the UK. The two know each other and the £180million release clause in Neymar’s contract will not worry United who know that they will get the money back through commercial revenues promoting the player. Everton boss Ronald Koeman is telling us all that he is confident he can bring Michael Keane, the highly rated Burnley central defender, to Goodison Park at the end of this season. The £20million price tag will suit Everton although Manchester City and Chelsea are also interested but not likely to follow through. Chelsea have asked the Spanish side Villarreal if they can present a proposal to sign midfielder Mateo Muscchio, who is on the verge of signing for AC Milan. Personal terms and club ambition would probably lure the player to Chelsea rather than Italy although his agent said he would not settle for a seat on the substitute’s bench each week. Finally, although Man City have made direct enquiries about signing Lionel Messi following his uncertain situation at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola is also eyeing Kylian Mbappe, of Monaco, who was so impressive against them in the Champion’s League last week. Mbappe is described as the new Thierry Henry and probably would have joined City had they not taken on Gabriel Jesus from Brazilian outfit Palmeiras. The thought of Jesus, Aguero and Mbappe linking up as strikers is mouth watering!
Talking with Arsenal this week, I was told that manager Arsene Wenger has turned down a massive deal with a Chinese club worth £30million a year! That is double what the highest paid manager in the world, Pep Guardiola, earns at Manchester City. It also dwarfs Wenger’s offer from Arsenal to extend his contract for another two years which would increase his current salary of £8million to £10million.
Shockwaves are still reverberating around the world following Leicester’s sacking of manager Claudio Ranieri. From hero to zero in a matter of 9 months. You have to remember that Claudio showed tremendous loyalty to Leicester by turning down a chance to manage the Italian national side a few months ago. The actions of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha have been widely condemned by managers, players, commentators, fans and in fact just about everybody connected with football. I hear that Vichai was in a London department store, Harrods, purchasing nearly half a million pounds worth of wine when he met another club director and boasted that Claudio’s sacking would be announced an hour later!...And it was!
Being drawn against Russian side FC Rostov, in the Europa League, is causing Jose Mourhino some worries. At their Manchester training ground he said the five hour journey into temperatures of -3 degrees and facing a very capable team, with only three days to prepare, is a tough ask. The team will charter a jet as there are no direct flights to Rostov and fly out this coming Thursday but Mourhino will probably arrive two days earlier to prepare for the players.
When Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League, the job of manager Loius Enrique was questioned at board level. Barca will only accept complete success and will ruthlessly sack their manager if they think he has failed on any level. It is a highly stressful job. I have discovered that the board contacted Pep Guardiola to see if he would be interested in a return to the Nou Camp stadium. Pep said he was flattered but his time at Barca has come and gone and he will not consider a return there and he is committed to Man City.
Manchester United stars have been told that they will have smaller pay packets next year if they fail to qualify for the Champion’s League. Despite United being declared the biggest earning football club in world, their pay deals are structured so that up to 25% of a player’s wages are removed if they do not reach the Champion’s League. That means, because they failed last season under Louis Van Gaal, many of them have lost part of their salaries. The players it did not affect are Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovich because they arrived later in the year but it will affect them next year if United are not in the Premiership top four at the end of the season. Pogba earns £290,000 a week and Ibrahimovich £220,000 so they won’t have empty pockets. Other big clubs like Arsenal and Man City take a different approach and ADD to their player salaries if they achieve a top four place.I have been told that if United fail to make the Champion’s League for next have £22.5million taken off their annual kit deal with Adidas and cutting player salaries is a way of getting some of that money back.
Floyd Mayweather has been urged to pass up the chance to face Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor and take on Gennady Golovkin after the middleweight world champion pledged to drop down a weight division in order to bring the unbeaten American out of retirement. Mayweather is locked in talks for a cross-code clash with McGregor but a deal is yet to be agreed.
The 40-year-old has accused the Irishman of holding up a deal being finalised to fight later in 2017, after the pair exchanged barbs on social media. Mayweather has not fought since retiring after beating Andre Berto in September 2015 to extend his unbeaten winning record to 49 fights.
Golovkin is considered by many to be the best pound-forpound boxer on the planet, having captured the WBA, WBC and IBF world middleweight titles. The Kazakhstan fighter has been chasing a money-spinning unification bout with Mexican Canelo Alvarez, but the pair continue to dodge each other’s advances.
WBA regular middleweight title holder Daniel Jacobs is Golovkin’s next opponent on 18 March, yet he has already turned his attention to the future. “Especially for Floyd I would go to 154lbs or 160lbs, if he wants,” he told ESPN. “This is the dream fight. There is a big difference between Floyd and Canelo. Floyd is Floyd; he is the best pound-forpound. Canelo is nothing. I spoke with him last year, I want this fight and I need this fight. I’m tired of talking too much. I don’t respect him because he’s selfish.”