Category: Competitions

Serie A manager assesses Andrea Pirlo chances of success in management

Filippo Inzaghi has tipped Andrea Pirlo to have a good career in club management.

The former midfielder was the surprising pick to become the next Juventus manager after the Old Ladies fired Maurizio Sarri.

He became their manager with no senior managerial experience and some may feel that a club like Juventus might be too big a step for him at this moment in time.

However, Benevento manager Inzaghi believes that it is actually an advantage for him to manage a team of top stars because when things go wrong on the pitch, the players will know what to do.

He admitted that management is different from playing, however, having spent so much time in the locker room as a player managed by some of the game’s top managers, it makes the transition to coaching easy, he reckons.

Inzaghi was speaking on the ‘Tiki-Taka’ show and was quoted by Tuttosport … Read the rest

Former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali to take over as Formula 1 CEO

Former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is poised to make a surprise return to Formula 1 as the CEO of the sport, RaceFans has learned from a source with knowledge of the situation.

The role of CEO will be relinquished by Chase Carey, who took up the position in January 2017 following Liberty Media’s takeover, and has recently overseen the successful completion of negotiations to extend F1’s Concorde Agreement with all 10 participating teams. Carey, who also holds the role of F1 chairman, is expected to retain links to the sport in an outward-facing role.

Domenicali, 55, is well-connected both to Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn and FIA president Jean Todt through his spell at Ferrari. Born in Imola and educated at the University of Bologna, Domenicali joined Ferrari in 1991. He took over from Todt in charge of the team in 2007 and oversaw its most recent championship … Read the rest

Ice cold in Alex Runarsson

We made our third signing of the summer yesterday with the capture of Runar Alex Runarsson – now to be known as Alex Runarsson – from Dijon.

The signing of the £1.5 Icelandic international came just minutes before the man he’s replacing – Emi Martinez – saved a penalty on his debut for Aston Villa. I sense the ‘Look at what Emi did!’ thing is going run throughout this season, but how much attention you pay to that will be an individual thing. He wanted to go, we wanted £20m, sometimes that’s as much as there is to it.

Anyway, the arrival of Runarsson is interesting. First off, it absolutely and utterly cements Bernd Leno’s position as the number 1 keeper at the club. I know some people thought he was bad against West Ham, but I don’t really share that view. I loved Emi as much as the next … Read the rest

Humbert: A Piano Man & Rising French Star

Editor’s Note: Ugo Humbert beat Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday at the Hamburg European Open for his first Top 10 win. This feature was originally published on 1 November 2019.

If you head to a tournament hotel when the ATP Tour is in town, many times players can be found in their rooms studying tapes on a future opponent, watching tennis and other sports on television, or even playing video games. But if there’s a grand piano around, don’t be surprised if Frenchman Ugo Humbert is at the keys.

“I started with my sister. At the same time, I started tennis,” said Humbert, who competed in the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals. “I love music. I play a little bit of electric guitar, but I’m better at piano.”

Humbert began playing the piano when he was five. From the age of 12, when he trained with the French Federation in Poitiers, … Read the rest

Xbox One X’s Sales Rank Has Risen Over 400{3851c0879557ceb6c70cddb6630c7df9a9750acfd53fffec21979e603af26faa} on Amazon

Today pre-orders for Microsoft’s next-gen consoles opened up, allowing hopeful consumers the opportunity to spend their hard-earned cash on the Xbox Series X or the Xbox Series S.

But it turns out that some people might be confused by Microsoft’s naming conventions because, as of the time of writing, the Xbox One X (a suped-up revision of the Xbox One that released in 2017) has risen 431{3851c0879557ceb6c70cddb6630c7df9a9750acfd53fffec21979e603af26faa} in sales rank on Amazon, which was spotted by AndrewAlerts on Twitter.

And when Andrew spotted the increase in sales ranking, the product jumped from the 2,804th spot to 331. Now, the Xbox One X 1Tb console has inched its way to #317 on the list.

Why … Read the rest

'Unbelievable feeling': Henderson reacts to Man United debut vs Luton Town

Manchester United star Dean Henderson couldn’t contain himself after making his debut vs Luton Town in the League Cup.

The young Englishman has huge expectations on his shoulders to be the man to replace David de Gea and he has dealt with that pressure well.

United eventually overcame Luton 3-0 and Henderson played a crucial role in keeping a clean-sheet, saving well from a close-range effort.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will likely have a goalkeeping headache all season long and dropping the academy product after that performance will be tough.

Henderson’s save came at a time when the Red Devils were only leading by 1-0, meaning he gave them the platform to go on and score twice.

… Read the rest

Wijnaldum rejects new Liverpool contract offer – report

Netherlands star Gini Wijnaldum has reportedly rejected a fresh contract offer from Liverpool.

The midfielder is said to have held positive talks with manager Jurgen Klopp earlier this month – as per Sky Sports – but it now seems the club still aren’t meeting his demands.

That’s according to Football Insider, who claim Wijnaldum is holding out for a contract at least four years in length.

The arrival of Thiago Alcantara isn’t mentioned, as the Dutchman is seemingly happy to continue the fight for a regular starting place at Anfield.

Gini is Klopp’s most used midfielder since the German took the reigns at Liverpool in 2015, after leaving Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

MORE: Solid source claims Sarr set to sign for … Read the rest

Demands set: Man Utd want £18m to green light exit with Euro giants set for scrap

Man Utd reportedly want £18m if they are to approve of an exit for Chris Smalling with Roma and Inter both said to be interested in the defensive ace.

The 30-year-old enjoyed a stellar loan spell with Roma last season as he firmly established himself as a permanent starter for the Giallorossi and a key figure in their bid to break into the top four in Serie A.

SEE MORE: Video: Mason Greenwood shows his class with a clinical finish for Man United vs Luton

With that deal coming to an end, he has faced an uncertain future this summer amid ongoing speculation linking him with a more permanent stint in the Italian capital, but it seems as though an agreement has yet to be reached between the two clubs.

As noted by The Sun, Man Utd want £18m to green light an exit for the centre-half, while it’s … Read the rest

Juventus under Police investigation over alleged Luis Suarez language test fraud

This could get messy for Juventus if the reports that are emerging are anywhere near the truth.

Forbes is claiming that officials in Perugia have enough evidence to show that Luis Suarez cheated his Italian language test by having advanced notice of the questions and that his final grade has already been agreed.

Suarez had been linked with a move to Juventus ever since he was informed by the new Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman that he did not feature in his plans going forward.

Those links soon hardened but to complete a move to any Italian club Suarez had to obtain Italian citizenship, which included a language test.

Well, he passed with flying colours and that has raised questions and prompted Spanish media outlet Deportes Cuatro to conduct an investigation.

Deportes Cuatro, as cited in the same article from Forbes, has since reported that Suarez “knew how to speak and … Read the rest

What do the engines of 2026 look like? FIA explains

For the time being, Formula 1 runs with the current V6-Turbo hybrid engines. Until 2025 these will be the sources of power with which the F1 cars will drive. From 2026 new engines will be used and FIA Single Seaters technical head Nikolas Tombazis says they need to become even greener.

Greener Formula 1
It is a difficult process to determine what kind of engines the F1 will run from 2026 onwards. In any case, it will be important for Formula 1 to continue to become increasingly greener. Some teams have proposed to move away from the rule of maximum oil or fuel consumption per 100 kilometres.

According to Tombazis, all such proposals are taken into account: “There are such considerations. But if we were to do such a thing, we would not limit the fuel to one race distance, but to one lap. We cannot compare Monaco with Spa-Francorchamps,” … Read the rest