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Stuart Broad and James Anderson, the two England bowlers at the centre of the recent ball-tampering controversy, have steadfastly defended their actions during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.TV pictures showed Broad standing on the ball while Anderson was seen picking at the leather which led South Africa to “raise concerns” about the condition of the ball. However, the home side didn’t take their complaint forward to official levels which prompted Andrew Strauss to call it “malicious” and England coach Andy Flower said if they’d had a problem it should have been raised in the formal way.Broad has now said he took “great offence” at being implicated by the South Africans and wasn’t impressed with the way they announced their concerns through a press conference.”I find it astonishing that South Africa should walk into a press conference and say they had raised concerns about the condition of the ball and then not follow that up by making a formal complaint. That is very poor behaviour,” he told the “My actions in stopping the ball with my boot have been questioned but I am not the first bowler to stop a ball with his size 12s and I will not be the last.”It was close to 40 degrees Celsius out there in Newlands at the time, and, if I was guilty of anything, it was just laziness in not bending down to pick up the ball. Ball-tampering? That’s astonishing.”Former England captain Michael Vaughan was critical of England’s part in the controversy, but Anderson is disappointed that he wasn’t more supportive of players he led until 18 months ago. Anderson said he and Broad were nothing more than “a bit absent-minded and lazy.””To be caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering was a huge disappointment,” he told the . “It led to a lot of comment and cast a shadow over me and Stuart Broad when we’d done nothing wrong except be a bit absent-minded and lazy.”I know my old England captain Michael Vaughan is entitled to his opinion but I was a little bit hurt by some of the comments he made about me, because I’d like to think he knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t do something like that.”I’ve got a lot of respect for Vaughany as a team-mate and as a captain and I learnt an awful lot under his wing in the England side so he knows the sort of player I am.”South Africa’s concerns over the ball stemmed from the fact that England have managed to find early reverse-swing during this series – often by the 15th over – while the hosts haven’t had the same success. However, Broad said that instead of casting doubts over what the bowlers are doing they should be praised for their skill.”Not too long ago, people were asking why English bowlers could not take wickets overseas on flat pitches with the old ball,” he said, “but what someone like Jimmy has done is become highly skilled at the difficult art of reverse-swing and all people can do is question that.”

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Joe Rodon is attracting increasing interest ahead of the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

According to a number of reports (via One Football), the 24-year-old defender is being monitored by both West Ham United and Newcastle United ahead of a potential swoop for the Wales international in the winter market.

An earlier report by Football Insider claimed that a Spurs source had revealed the centre-back “100%” wants to secure a move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January, after Antonio Conte informed the defender that he views him as backup to Eric Dier in the club’s defensive pecking order.

Paratici heading for disaster

While Rodon has been a bit-part player for Spurs since his £11m move to North London – starting just 13 games for the club thus far – it is undeniable that the Welshman is a player who possesses the traits to become an extremely important part of Antonio Conte’s side.

Indeed, despite only featuring in 12 Premier League fixtures last season, the £17m-rated man nevertheless impressed, helping his side keep two clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.8 interceptions – the most of any Spurs player – 1.2 tackles, 31.5 passes and winning 73% of his duels per game.

These returns saw the player who BBC reporter Rob Phillips dubbed a “colossal” talent earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.97, ranking him as the club’s seventh-best player in the league, as well as their second-best performing centre-back behind Toby Alderweireld.

So, Rodon’s efficiency in passing, interceptions and tackles would appear to make him a fantastic candidate for a starting role in Conte’s back three, leading us to believe that, should Fabio Paratici go on to sanction the departure of the centre-back in the upcoming January transfer window, it would undoubtedly be something of a disaster on the part of the managing director.

In other news: Paratici must seal Spurs swoop for £287k-p/w “phenomenon” who’s “better than Mbappe”

MatériaMais Notícias

O treino do Botafogo da manhã desta sexta-feira não contou com a presença do volante Bruno Silva, com conjuntivite. O meio-campista, claro, foi dispensado da atividade e agora é dúvida para a partida de domingo, contra o Atlético-MG, no Independência, às 17h, pela 31ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro.

A doença tem recuperação média de uma semana e o Glorioso entra em campo já daqui a dois dias. Apesar disso, o treinador Jair Ventura não descarta a utilização do atleta em Belo Horizonte. O time viaja já neste sábado, depois do treino da manhã. Se não jogar, o escalado deve ser Dudu Cearense, até pelas poucas opções que o setor tem.

-Ausências certas são os dois suspensos. O atleta de alto nível sempre estará com alguma dor. Mas para tirar do jogo… Acho que não – comentou o treinador botafoguense, que só deixou a imprensa ver o aquecimento do treino desta sexta.

Como disse o técnico, o Botafogo tem dois desfalques certos: o volante Rodrigo Lindoso e o meia Marcos Vinícius, suspensos. Eles devem dar lugar a Matheus Fernandes e Valencia. Assim, a provável escalação do Glorioso conta com Gatito; Arnaldo, Carli, Igor Rabello e Victor Luis; Matheus Fernandes, Dudu Cearense, João Paulo e Valencia; Pimpão e Brenner.

– Estou com rinite, mas não fiquei doido (risos) – completou Jair, tentando esconder a escalação. O Botafogo também não contará, claro, com Airton, Leandrinho, Roger e Marcinho, em recuperação de cirurgia. No meio-campo, o Bota também tem Fernandes e Bochecha.

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It’s been a slow start to the season for Leeds United after their hugely successful return to the Premier League last term, but there has been a handful of positives for Marcelo Bielsa’s charges.

The west Yorkshire outfit finished in ninth-place in 2020/21 after the likes of Raphinha, Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison fired them into the top half of the table.

However, Harrison’s drop-off in form and Bamford’s injury issues have seen Leeds plummet down the table this time around.

After 11 games of the league’s fixture schedule, Bielsa’s side are currently sitting just three places and three points above the relegation zone, yet it could have been much worse if one player hadn’t dramatically improved his performance levels.

Rodrigo arrived from Valencia for a club-record £26m fee last summer after a string of eye-catching performances in his homeland.

But the Spain international struggled to settle upon his return to English shores following a nine-year absence, scoring just seven goals and providing only two assists in 29 appearances, although he was labelled a “class act” by Phil Hay.

Despite his underwhelming showing in his maiden campaign as a Leeds player, though, Rodrigo has bounced back in impressive fashion this fashion, complementing the effervescent Raphinha in radiant fashion and lifting the offensive burden from the Brazilian’s shoulders with devastating effect.

He bagged a last-minute equaliser from the spot to rescue a crucial point against Wolves before following that up with the winning strike against Norwich City a week later, highlighting his growing importance to the team in a campaign where they sit near the foot of the table.

And Rodrigo’s underlying numbers are further evidence of his change in fortunes.

As per SofaScore, the versatile attacker has won a whopping 35 duels in his ten Premier League outings, made 14 key passes to his teammates, created two big chances, made nine tackles and four interceptions.

Bielsa will need his overlooked star to continue his current rise following the international break, with tricky fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion up next.

And, in other news…“I don’t think”: Journo drops big update on £38k-p/w gem, it could be fatal for Leeds 

حرص البرتغالي جوسفالدو فيريرا المدير الفني للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي الزمالك، على الاجتماع باللاعبين في حضور الجهاز المعاون، قبل انطلاق المران الجماعي اليوم الأحد الذي أقيم على ملعب عبد اللطيف أبو رجيلة بمقر القلعة البيضاء.

ويستعد الزمالك لمواجهة نظيره إيليكت سبورت التشادي المقرر لها يوم 18 سبتمبر الجاري في الكاميرون، ضمن منافسات الذهاب لدور  الـ64 لبطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وبدأ فيريرا الاجتماع بتوجيه التحية للاعبين على ما بذلوه من مجهود أمام الهلال مشيدًا بأدائهم في مباراة كأس سوبر لوسيل التي حسمها الفريق السعودي بركلات الترجيح.

طالع | ممدوح عباس يرد على أنباء الحجز على أرصدة الزمالك في جميع البنوك

وطلب المدير الفني من اللاعبين أن يغلقوا صفحة الفترة الماضية تمامًا، وأن يصبوا تركيزهم على المرحلة المقبلة، لا سيما وأن الفريق مرتبط بخوض مباريات دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وشدد المدرب البرتغالي على ضرورة التركيز في مواجهة إيليكت سبورت التشادي في بداية مشوار المنافسة على بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وأكد أن الفريق مقبل على بطولة مهمة وهدفهم الفوز بها، مضيفًا أن بداية المشوار في المباراة المقبلة ولا بد من تحقيق الفوز.

وفي نهاية الجلسة شرح فيريرا بعض الأمور الفنية والخططية تمهيدًا لتنفيذها خلال التدريبات استعدادًا للمباراة المرتقبة أمام بطل تشاد.

وبدأ المران بتقسيم اللاعبين إلى مجموعتين، لأداء فقرة تأهيلية خاصة، وضمت المجموعة الأولى أساسيي مباراة الهلال السعودي الأخيرة في كأس سوبر لوسيل، إذ خاضوا بعض التدريبات التأهيلية الخفيفة بالإضافة إلى مران استشفائي داخل الملعب باستخدام بعض الأدوات المخصصة لذلك، تحت قيادة أندريه فيليب سوزا مخطط الأحمال بالفريق.

وضمت المجموعة الثانية مجموعة اللاعبين البدلاء والمستبعدين من المباراة الأخيرة، وخاضوا فقرة تدريبات تأهيلية قوية تحت إشراف أعضاء الجهاز الفني للفريق، بجانب فقرة باستخدام الكرة.

وحرص البرتغالي جوسفالدو فيريرا المدير الفني للفريق على متابعة الفقرة التأهيلية للوقوف على الحالة البدنية لجميع اللاعبين.

طالع.. خاص | الزمالك يتحرك لضم لاعبه السابق ويخاطب إدارة ناديه لإنهاء عقده

وخاض لاعبو الزمالك البدلاء والذين لم يشاركوا في لقاء الهلال السعودي الأخير في كأس سوبر لوسيل، تدريبات فنية وخططية، إذ ركز الجهاز الفني خلال هذه الفقرة على بعض الأمور الخططية منها التمرير السريع في مساحات صغيرة حتى الوصول إلى مرمى المنافس، بجانب أمور خططية أخرى.

وقاد هذه الفقرة أسامة نبيه المدرب العام وأحمد عبد المقصود وروي أجواش المدربين المساعدين، وقاموا بنقل التعليمات بشكل متواصل للاعبين، بجانب تصحيح بعض الأخطاء التي وقعوا فيها.

ومنح فيريرا لاعب خط الوسط المغربي زكريا الوردي الوافد الجديد لصفوف الزمالك، بعض التعليمات الفنية خلال المران، كما شرح خلال حديثه معه بعض الملاحظات والأمور الفنية الخاصة بمركزه استعدادًا للفترة المقبلة.

According to The Mirror, the probable appointment of Antonio Conte as Tottenham manager is against Daniel Levy’s wishes, who has instead been ‘keen’ for Paulo Fonseca to take over.

The Lowdown: Conte’s arrival imminent

Nuno Espirito Santo was relieved of his duties at Spurs after Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Manchester United, the club’s fifth loss in seven Premier League matches (Sky Sports).

Conte is set to become the club’s next boss, expected to put pen to paper on an 18-month deal (via The Express).

The Italian maverick has of course already enjoyed major success in England with Chelsea and has a rather stunning list of accomplishments across his career, racking up five domestic league titles on the back of his famous three-at-the-back counter-attacking style.

The Latest: Levy keen on Fonseca

However, it seems Conte is not Levy’s favourite for the job.

The Mirror say that the Lilywhites chairman was ‘keen’ on a return for Fonseca, who almost made the move to north London in the summer, and it was only because of Fabio Paratici’s insistence that Conte became the priority. Scott Parker was also a name in the conversation.

The report does say that Spurs are still ‘poised’ to appoint the Italian however, so it doesn’t appear as though Levy’s wishes will obstruct what is an exciting move for the former Juventus gaffer.

The Verdict: Conte the obvious choice

With nine career trophies to his name, Fonseca impressed at Shakhtar Donetsk in particular, drawing massive praise out of Pep Guardiola when the Ukrainian outfit bested Manchester City in a Champions League group stage game back in 2018.

He then made the move to AS Roma and was even hailed as ‘similar to (Thomas) Tuchel’ by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but was eventually replaced by Jose Mourinho.

However, the Portuguese does not have Conte’s pedigree. The Italian has won league titles with three different sides in major European leagues – Juventus, Inter Milan and Chelsea – and also managed the Italy national team.

He has therefore proven his ability at the highest level – as soon as it became clear he was available, he was surely the only man for the job if Spurs truly have any ambition of challenging for trophies.

In other news, Spurs make their move for this man.

An update has emerged on Manchester United defender Phil Jones, regarding Newcastle’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun, the Magpies are one of the teams eyeing him up as a possible target for the January transfer window.

The report names Watford as one of the other clubs interested in the English centre-back, whilst Championship side Derby – managed by Wayne Rooney – are also in the running.

Blunder

Eddie Howe, who is reportedly close to taking over at St. James’ Park, could make an early blunder by signing Jones from United. The ex-Bournemouth coach must avoid making a major mistake in his first window by opting against a deal for the Englishman.

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Put simply, there is no need for the club to take such a risk with Jones when they can look elsewhere. If Newcastle are looking to sign players to help them avoid relegation then availability and reliability are two factors that must be closely considered and Jones’ track record suggests that he is a dud who will not be able to provide what they need.

United legend Rio Ferdinand once blasted him as a ‘waste of time’ for remaining at Old Trafford despite his lack of minutes on the pitch. He said:

“He’s done well. Listen, good luck to him if you can get it. Staying at Man United is a great gig, but I look at him as a person, are you really going to be happy sitting there all these years.

“There are players who are happy to just sit at clubs and not play and just chill. Winston Bogarde did it at Chelsea for about three or four years. Signed a big deal and commuted in from Holland.

“If I was in the squad with someone like that I wouldn’t talk to them. They are a waste of time, why would I chat to you and give you any energy, taking that away from my other teammates who are here to play and go into battle for 90 minutes every week.”

The defender is said to be on £110k-per-week at the club and has made eight appearances since the start of the 2019/20 campaign. Jones has suffered 22 separate injuries for United, with his latest one keeping him out for 78 competitive matches.

This shows how unreliable he is due to his injury situation and Howe should not be trying to take a risk with the dud in January. Instead, the Magpies should try to sign a player with recent first-team involvement so that they can hit the ground running in the second-half of the season.

AND in other news, Forget Hayden: Newcastle gem with 9 duels won was Jones’ real hero vs Brighton…

The Bangladesh captain said the team had been playing good cricket in the past seven to eight months

Cricinfo staff24-Jul-2009Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said his side’s Test series win in the West Indies will lead to more consistency in their performance. The team, he said, had been knocking on the doors of a big win for some time and were confident it was round the corner.Mortaza was speaking on his return to Bangladesh, his tour cut short by a knee injury that ruled him out of the second Test and the ODI series.”We did something which never happened to Bangladesh cricket,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I was not playing for the most part. Our cricket can only go forward from here. We are not going to win every game from now on but I believe you will see more consistency because the boys have confidence and belief in their abilities.”He said the team put the loss to Ireland in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup behind them. “We have been playing good cricket for seven-eight months. We pushed teams like New Zealand and Sri Lanka really close and the players were confident that a result was just around the corner. One Twenty20 loss to Ireland doesn’t wipe out the good cricket we played before that.”Bangladesh’s win came against a severely weakened West Indies side, the hosts ravaged by an internal contracts dispute, but Mortaza wasn’t about to let it take the gloss off the result. “We had planned for Gayle and the rest but then their line-up changed. We couldn’t do anything about that and decided to stick to the same plan against players we didn’t know much about. We executed our plan really well and it worked.”Mortaza praised the effort of the top-order batsmen in the series, an area of worry for Bangladesh recently. “That had been one of our areas of concern in the past but Tamim (Iqbal) was excellent in the opening slot. Imrul (Kayes), Zunaed and some others may not have made big runs to show but balanced that by staying at the crease for long periods. Spending time at the wicket is decisive in Test cricket.”Mortaza was unsure about the details of his injury, and said he would travel to Australia to receive treatment. “I’m still not sure about the extent of the damage. I’ve heard that there could be a bit of internal bleeding probably. I will have to travel abroad and get it checked and we’ll see whether a surgery is required or not. But I’m confident that I would return to cricket pretty soon.”Fast bowler Shahadat Hossain, who also returned to Bangladesh after being omitted from the ODI team, admitted it was not a memorable Test series for him. “I am disappointed with my bowling. We played on wickets where you had to bowl long spells to get wickets. I didn’t do that and that’s probably the reason why I wasn’t successful. The pitches are slow in the Caribbean and we have Shakib who is super and then (Abdur) Razzak, Riyad (Mahmud Ullah) and Naeem (Islam). I expect the spinners to do well in the ODIs.”Newcomer Sahgir Hossain did not get to play in any of the Tests, but was happy to be part of the winning national team. “Obviously I would have been happier if I had played but the feeling of winning a Test series on my first trip with the National team is still a most memorable experience,” he said.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) may now sign Philippe Coutinho for Newcastle United in the January window, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Howe knows him well

It has been reported that Eddie Howe is now ‘close’ to becoming the new permanent boss in the North East after the departure of Steve Bruce, although Graeme Jones will still take interim charge of their match away at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

Nonetheless, Howe should be involved in the St. James’ Park faithful’s transfer activity come January, and Coutinho is a player he knows well from his time in the Premier League – the former Liverpool man scored twice and assisted once in five showings against Howe’s Bournemouth side, including one incredible Man of the Match display at Anfield.

In a 4-0 Liverpool win back in 2017, Howe was extremely complementary of the ‘creative flair’ and ‘pace in attack’ (The Liverpool Echo) on show from Coutinho and co.

The Latest: January move could happen

As per Sport (via Sport Witness), Barcelona are now ‘waiting’ for the Tyneside club to ‘make a move’ for Coutinho, and would be ‘prepared’ to let him go on loan.

However, that option would have to include an obligation to buy next summer, but the Magpies are seen as the ‘obvious destination’ for the playmaker.

The Verdict: Worth the risk

Coutinho has not exactly hit the ground running at Barca, with just 24 goals and 14 assists in 101 games in total over all competitions (£121.5m.

However, he is a player who shone in the Premier League, with 78 goal contributions in 152 matches in the division (FIFA.com back in October last year that he is ‘one of the very best players in the world’ and has ‘magical powers’.

Paying his £380,000-per-week wages should not be too much of a problem for the new mega-rich owners, and at 29 years of age, the Brazil international should be at the peak of his powers.

His signing could also prompt other global names to follow him to the Toon.

In other news, find out which ‘fiery’ enforcer Alan Shearer once dubbed a ‘warrior’ NUFC are ‘very interested’ to sign here!

What has so been so striking about Rafa Benitez’s Everton side is the way they’ve defied the critics since he entered Goodison Park.

The Spaniard arrived back in Merseyside surrounded by controversy after comments he made about the Toffees over ten years ago.

However, he has guided his team to a mightily impressive start despite a blip over the last seven days.

They lost to QPR and Aston Villa but after defeating Norwich 2-0 on Saturday afternoon, they are a point off top spot in the Premier League.

Andros Townsend confirmed his place as Everton’s top scorer by finding the net from the penalty spot and then Abdoulaye Doucoure scored following smart work by Demarai Gray.

All three of those players have been exceptional this term, namely the wide players who have netted seven goals between them after their summer arrivals.

They have already outperformed Alex Iwobi and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they usurp his goals tally for the club in just a matter of months.

Iwobi cost Everton £34m back in 2019 but has only beaten the goalkeeper on five occasions after joining from Arsenal.

Townsend (four goals) and Gray (three goals) are already beginning to outmuscle the Nigerian despite an accumulative price tag of £1.7m.

They were brilliant against the Canaries but Iwobi stuttered again, just as he has done throughout the vast majority of his Toffees career.

The winger was incredibly poor against QPR a few days ago, completing just 75% of his passes and winning only 22.2% of his defensive duels.

There was a slight improvement against Daniel Farke’s side this weekend but he still flattered to deceive in Everton’s attack.

The £100k-per-week earner completed 92% of his passes on this occasion but he was still a lightweight in physical battles, losing out 60% of the time.

Furthermore, he could only complete one dribble in a display where his decision making left plenty to be desired.

Ultimately, that has been one area of the 25-year-old’s game that has continuously let him down. He can beat a player and get into the penalty area but his end product is tame and lacks authority.

Iwobi is no longer a young player; he is a senior professional who needs to begin showing more to Benitez. At £34m, he has been a waste of money; they must focus their attention on bringing someone else into the team.

AND in other news, Forget Iwobi: Rafa must unleash Everton’s rarely-seen 20 y/o with “unbelievable pace”…