Ronald Koeman has been appointed as Barcelona s new head coach, replacing Quique Setien.
Setien paid the price after seven months in charge resulted in no LaLiga title and a Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Koeman leaves his role with the Netherlands to take charge at Camp Nou – where he was formerly a star player and assistant manager on a two-year contract.
It is his first club job since he left Everton in October 2017 and the stakes could not be higher with Lionel Messi entering the closing stages of his career.
We use Opta statistics to review Koeman s coaching career to date as he begins his 11th job as a head coach.
played for Barça from 1989 to 1995
games
goals
— FC Barc…
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was sent off after collecting two first-half bookings during England s Nations League clash with Denmark.
Maguire was cautioned in the fifth minute after plunging his studs into Yussuf Poulsen and his outing took a further wrong turn shortly after the half hour.
A heavy touch from the world s most expensive central defender left him lunging in on Kasper Dolberg, leaving referee Jesus Gil Manzano with little option.
Shortly after England were reduced to 10 men, Christian Eriksen put Denmark ahead from the penalty spot, although they lost Dolberg as the forward failed to shake off the effects of Maguire s challenge.
3 – Harry Maguire is the third player to be sent off for the England men s team at Wembley a…
Milan forward Ante Rebic has been left out of Croatia s preliminary 34-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
Rebic was a key part of the Croatia team who reached the World Cup final in Russia in 2018, opening the scoring in an impressive 3-0 group-stage win over Argentina in that tournament.
However, the Rossoneri man has only made three Serie A starts this season, and although he has hit the net three times in his seven total league appearances, it has not been enough to enter him into Zlatko Dalic s thoughts.
Rebic last played for his country at last year s Euro 2020.
Luka Modric briefly sparked concerns over his fitness when he missed Real Madrid s Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig this month, but the 2018 Ballon d Or winner is included on…
Jurgen Klopp is still hopeful that Georginio Wijnaldum will put pen to paper on a new Liverpool contract.
The Dutchman is into the final year of the deal he signed following his 2016 arrival from Newcastle United and will be free to talk to other clubs from January.
Barcelona were credited with an interest over the summer – their coach Ronald Koeman having worked successfully with Wijnaldum during his stint as Netherlands boss.
However, after seeing the former PSV midfielder score a beautiful curler as Liverpool ran out 4-0 winners against Wolves on Sunday, Klopp revealed that he has not given up on the idea of keeping the player at Anfield.
Asked about that prospect, the German told Amazon Prime Sport: I hope so, to be honest.
You can see …
Steven Nzonzi feels there is still a place for Sam Allardyce and his style of management, despite the former England manager having suffered two relegations in his last two jobs.
Allardyce could not save Leeds United from dropping to the Championship, with the 68-year-old failing to win any of his four games in charge after he replaced Javi Gracia in May.
Leeds confirmed on Friday that Allardyce would be leaving the club.
It is the second Premier League relegation on Allardyce s CV, after he also went down with West Brom in the 2020-21 season.
Nzonzi, who worked under Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers, feels his old boss style of management is not outdated.
He told Stats Perform: Of course, there is a place, there is no question about it, he has grea…
In a very interesting Premier League match on Saturday at Anfield, Liverpool beat Southampton by 3-1. Roberto Firmino broke the deadlock after just over five minutes, but Che Adams cancelled it out only three minutes later. Nonetheless, Darwin Nunez struck twice, in the 21st and the 42nd minute, to secure the points for the home side.
The game
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been experimenting with various formations this season as he seeks to arrest the slump and lead the team up the ladder, and it seems on this occasion he got it spot on with a 4-4-2 diamond. Following a couple of great performances after a long injury, Ibrahima Konate was given the weekend off as he prepares to go represent France at the World Cup, so it was Joe Gomez who played alongside Virgil van Dijk at…
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Mauro Icardi from Galatasaray in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Spurs are having issues in attack and are keen on bringing Icardi to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the middle of the season.
Icardi is doing well at Galatasaray at the moment and has revived his career. The 30-year-old Argentine striker has made 16 starts and one substitute appearance in the Turkish Super Lig so far this season, scoring 12 goals and providing five assists in those games. Icardi has also scored two goals in six UEFA Champions League games this season.
Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League table at the moment with 36 points from 19 matches, a point behind fourth-placed and defending champions Manchester Ci…
Former Fulham and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker has replaced Carl Hoefkens as Club Brugge s new head coach.
Hoefkens, who was only appointed in May, defied the odds by helping Brugge finish above Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time, where Benfica await over two legs.
However, they have struggled domestically as they sit fourth in the league and were knocked out of the cup by Sint-Truidense last week, leading to Hoefkens dismissal on Tuesday.
Parker managed Fulham between February 2019 and June 2021, before taking over the reins at Bournemouth ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
Welcome, Scott Parker!
De Engelsman werd zonet aangesteld als onze nieuwe hoofdcoach.
— Club B…
Real Madrid’s top-of-the-table clash with Girona this weekend will not be a title decider, insists Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti.
LaLiga leaders Real are two points ahead of second-placed Girona, who have defied the odds to emerge as genuine contenders in just their fourth-ever season in the top flight.
Michel’s side would leapfrog Madrid back into pole position with victory at the Bernabeu Stadium, but Ancelotti said Saturday’s showdown will not be decisive.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)
The Italian told a press conference: “Whoever wins will gain the advantage, but there is still a long way to go in the league.
“Both teams are very well positioned and the game won’t decide the league, but (the winners) will hav…
Emiliano Martinez s late own goal proved the turning point as Arsenal came from behind twice to beat Aston Villa 4-2 and boost to their Premier League title hopes.
The Gunners, who were replaced at the summit after losing to Manchester City in midweek, looked to be heading to another underwhelming result at Villa Park before luck went their way in stoppage time.
Ollie Watkins clinical finish put former Arsenal boss Unai Emery s Villa in charge early on, and although Bukayo Saka soon equalised, the visitors trailed at the break thanks to Philippe Coutinho s sensationally worked team goal.
Oleksandr Zinchenko levelled again and that appeared to be as good as it would get for Arsenal, but Martinez inadvertently put into his own net late on and was then caught up the…