Italian World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo has revealed that he has held talks with members of the Italian FA and other clubs as he considers stepping into a coaching career. The 38-year-old hang up his boots during the back end of 2017, and he is expected to be given a formal send-off at a San Siro testimonial next month.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has revealed his desire to remain at Stamford Bridge for the remainder of his existing contract. The Italian’s future has been a topic of speculation in recent weeks with reports emerging that he could get the sack at the end of the campaign.
Speaking ahead of the Watford game, Conte stressed that there is no rift between him and the club’s hierarchy whilst insisting that he would like to honour the remainder of his contract which expires in 18 months’ time, he said: “From the start of this season there have been a lot of speculation and rumours around me. The only thing I can tell you now is I still have 18 months of contract with Chelsea. My intention, my will, is to respect the contract.
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Italy is in turmoil after failing to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1958 and now the blame game has started. The Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio has revealed that he has not slept since their elimination at the hands of Sweden and he blamed the debacle squarely on the shoulders of head coach Gian Piero Ventura.
Of course Ventura was the first victim of their exit when was sacked from the job two days after the game. Tavecchio was expected to follow suit but he has remained resolute and is staying in the role as things stand and he didn’t hold back when talking about that fateful night.
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Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has claimed that he thought about quitting the Italian champions after suffering a defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the Champions League final last season.
After having dominated Italian football over the last few years with five consecutive titles, the club managed to once again lift the Italian Serie A with a four point advantage over Roma. Yet, Allegri was unable to celebrate this title after watching his team fail at the final hurdle once again. The loss against Barcelona was rather acceptable considering that it was against one of the best teams in history, but Juventus were hoping for a much better outcome against Real Madrid. Continue reading
Italy have been given a major boost with regard to the World Cup 2018 and the future tournaments after manager Giampiero Ventura has signed a new contract with the national team.
The results shown by Italy so far in the qualification campaign are a major sign that the team will face no issues with regard to reaching Russia. The team has managed to pick up five victories and a stalemate in the six matches. They trail Spain only on goal difference. The longevity of a manager is extremely important for stability in the national team. Continue reading
Manchester United have been linked with a move for Torino striker Andrea Belotti for a while now.
United are also having a hard time convincing Real Madrid to lower their asking price for striker Alvaro Morata whom they have agreed personal terms with. Morata is believed to be excited at the deal that would make him the star striker, with wingers readied to help him bang goals.
United’s bid of £52 million was turned down as Madrid want over £20 million more. Real are willing to sanction the deal but United would need to cough out more cash for the young and proven striker.
Same United have been linked with TiemoueBakayoko of Monaco but they would have to fight off competition from Chelsea. His teammate Fabinho is another attraction but the finer details would determine if United would sign them this summer. Continue reading
Juventus are set to go head to head with Real Madrid on June 3 for a chance to lift the Champions League.
Madrid are the slight favourites for the clash though Juventus have a decent squad that can surprise everyone. Madrid are gunning for their third title in four years – making them the most consistent in recent years at the elite football club competition.
The whole of Italy would be gunning for an upset. The defensive capabilities of Juve are top notch no doubt. This season they have demonstrated the importance of defence in football. Since the tournament started last year, Juve have conceded just three goals. They conceded in the group stage to Lyon and Sevilla and the last to Monaco in the semi-final second leg.
However, this time they face a resilient and attacking Madrid side. Juvesuffered a defeat Madrid when they met in the 2013/14 season. Giorgio Chiellini was sent off and Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a brace to help Los Blancos in the group stages. In the 2014/15 season, Juve defeated Real in the semis. They won 2-1 at home before forcing a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu. Continue reading
Giampiero Ventura has clarified that his decision of allowing Andrea Barzagli to leave the national squad had nothing to do with any kind of agreement that he had with his club Juventus.
However, Barzagli left the squad much to the surprise of the Italian supporters.
It was suspected that Ventura, who is in charge of the Italian team, might have agreed with Juventus to send the defender back to them for the vital game against Napoli and it was because of that agreement that he let Barzagli go.
But, as per Ventura, there wasn’t a mutual consent between him and the Juventus management and there is never a possibility of that because for him, nothing is a bigger priority than the Italian national side. Continue reading
The Italian national football team became the champions of the world back in 2006 when Italy defeated France in the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
This age mark shows that during 2006 edition of the FIFA World Cup, even though Italy was the nation that came out on top and won it, they had a fairly elevated squad with no real youngster that could add explosiveness and energy into the team.
Gian Piero Ventura is the current coach of the Italian national side and he is excited to be in charge of a national team that is so young and different from the team that won the 2006 World Cup. Continue reading
Antonio Conte is regarded as one of the best coaches to come out of the Italian Serie A in the last decade.
Ventura has used strong words to describe the former national team boss’ time with Italy and Juventus. Conte has managed to go from success to success largely because of his impressive record with Juventus. He managed to get the club from the second division of Italian football into successive champions in the Italian Serie A all in the space of a few years.
After his recent stint with the Italian national team, he has moved to Chelsea in what would be his first major job outside Italy. Unsurprisingly, there are several references made by current manager Giampiero Ventura about the status of the national team.
Ventura believes that the national team has a tough situation since Conte left behind an ageing team.”The European Championship left us with one of the oldest squads in the last 150 years,” said Ventura. Conte may have struggled to replace several of the important players from the national team, but he did extremely well in terms of just results. Ventura argues that Conte had a great opportunity to reduce the age of the national team, but he chose not to in order to preserve his individual records.