The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Moyes ready for United rebuild Posted: 18 Apr 2014 08:08 AM PDT Moyes revealed he was already "well into my planning" regarding new recruits as he nears the end of his difficult first season in charge, following the retirement of long-time manager Alex Ferguson. However, Moyes was acutely aware that the World Cup, which opens in Brazil halfway through June and lasts for a month, will impinge on his efforts to reinforce the squad. "I've got to say I'm well into my planning with my thoughts and ideas getting ready for next year," said Moyes. "It will probably be after the end of the season before anything takes place but we have got to look to do one or two things. "It's difficult as players are going to be going away for the World Cup, so it's maybe not quite as easy. "Ideally, all clubs would like to get the work done early. We cannot guarantee it but will try to make that happen." Hopes of a late recovery to claim fourth place, and a chance to qualify for the Champions League, are all but mathematically impossible, with United 10 points behind fourth-placed Arsenal heading into the final four league matches of this season, starting with Sunday's clash away to Moyes's former club, Everton. While the likely absence of Champions League football will be a blow to finances as well as prestige, there will be no shortage of funds for Moyes to invest. A new kit deal is imminent, with current suppliers Nike in pole position for a contract that could be worth up to £600 million (RM3.24 billion) and which has excited the New York Stock Exchange this week, with the club's shares rising by 8%. United's US-based owners, the Glazer family, are believed to be prepared to make £100m available for Moyes to reconstruct the squad which, only a year ago, won the Premier League title but has fallen well short this season. Moyes will lose his captain Nemanja Vidic, who is to sign for Inter Milan, and he could be joined on his way out of Old Trafford by left-back Patrice Evra. Meanwhile former England centre-back Rio Ferdinand is also expected to depart, and at 40 years old, Ryan Giggs's golden career is winding down. Moyes was in Lisbon in midweek for a cup tie between Benfica and Porto, whose French centre-back, Eliaquim Mangala, is thought to be earmarked as a successor to Vidic, while Benfica midfielder Andre Gomes, 20, was outstanding. The United manager, unable to prise Leighton Baines from Everton last pre-season, now has Southampton left-back Luke Shaw, 18, in mind to replace Evra. The England defender, valued at £30m, has also interested Chelsea and Manchester City, but is thought to favour Old Trafford. Moyes has also been strongly linked with William Carvalho, the Sporting Lisbon midfielder, Toni Kroos, although Bayern Munich are reluctant to part, and Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund, who is also valued at around £30m. "Not everything you read is correct," Moyes said. "We're linked with player after player and, every time I go to a game, I'm supposed to be signing three or four players from that game. "That isn't the case, but everyone is well aware we are looking to make signings and we will try to do that whenever the opportunity arises." Moyes remains hopeful that strikers Wayne Rooney, just back from a toe injury, and Robin van Persie (knee) can contribute to the climax of United's disappointing season. "Rooney trained great this week and has been in really good form," Moyes said. "Robin is in Holland and making progress, but we always thought it would be four to six weeks. We'll have a better assessment in the next week or so. "Our medical team is heading out there to see him this week and get a better feel as to exactly where he is." – AFP, April 18, 2014. |
| Wenger upbeat about Arsenal’s prospects Posted: 18 Apr 2014 07:57 AM PDT Long time Premier League leaders Arsenal have slipped to fourth in the table ahead of this weekend's trip to Hull – a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final between the two clubs at Wembley. Wenger has yet to sign a contract extension, prompting doubts over whether the 64-year-old Frenchman, who recently took charge of his 1,000th Arsenal match, will be back for another campaign. "I am not in the best position to judge my own work publicly," Wenger said today. "I just promise you one thing, I always sit down and try to be as honest as I can be with myself. "The only thing I can say is that I put total commitment in from the first until the last day of the season and I will." Arsenal haven't won a major trophy since 2005 and if they lose to Hull in the Cup final many will consider the season a disappointment, even if Arsenal hold off Everton in the race for the fourth and final Champions League place on offer to English clubs. However, Wenger said: "I think we have moved a lot forward, considering what happened to us with a number of injuries we had in a crucial period of the season." "We were 17 or 18 times top of the league, that did not happen last year, we are in the FA Cup final, we went out only against Bayern Munich in the Champions League with 10 men and we had come out of a very difficult Champions League group. "I believe that we have shown some real potential and promise for the future." Wenger added: "What is satisfying for me is that we do as well as we can until the end of the season, that you can turn and think 'this team has behaved really like a top-level professional team', with all the ups and the downs. "Because that is what you want from your team, to feel that the team has given as much as they could. After that, you leave the judgement to other people. "We want to come out of the season and think we have given absolutely everything, and I must say this team has been absolutely focused since the start of the season. "We had our downs, and big downs for some periods, but the behaviour was always focused." – AFP, April 18, 2014. |
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