Gareth Bale has rejected claims that he dived to win a penalty for Wales against Scotland on Friday night.
The Tottenham winger scored two late goals to earn the hosts a 2-1 victory over Craig Levein’s men at the Liberty Stadium, with Shaun Maloney adjudged to have tripped Bale for a penalty in the deciding goal.
Despite the anger of the Tartan Army and criticism in the media, Bale has insisted that the award of a spot-kick was just.
“Somebody clipped me and I went over. He (Maloney) clipped my leg and I couldn’t stay on my feet,” Bale told Sky Sports.
“It was a simple penalty and it was nice to get up and slot it away.
“I’ve missed a few when I’ve taken them in the past, but I fancied it. I was confident and thankfully I did step up,” he commented.
Meanwhile, national boss Chris Coleman has praised Bale, and stated that the attacker will go down as one of the nation’s best-ever players if he continues on his current path.
“Gareth wouldn’t be fazed by moving to Real Madrid, Barcelona or any other top club in the world.
“It’s not easy moving to another country and culture, but he has the character to handle that. He’s young and has it all in front of him.
“In this country we talk about the great John Charles, Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush. Southall was the best goalkeeper in the world,” added Coleman.
“There’s no doubt in my mind Gareth will be up there with those guys.
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“He’s only 23. It’s not a case of ‘can he up there with those guys?’ He will be,” Coleman testified.
Tottenham Hotspur have had a decent start to the new Premier League campaign, picking up two wins and one loss as they sit in sixth place.
Based on their displays, it looks as though Mauricio Pochettino has managed to build a strong team, but it is still known that he will be searching for a midfield general and a striker once the club is allowed to buy players again.
With that in mind, here are SIX possible transfer targets Spurs could snap up in the upcoming January transfer window.
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CLICK ON MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN TO SEE THE FULL LIST
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Fredy Guarin
//www.youtube.com/embed/k5MFw5Lj-g0
Name: Freddy Guarin
Age: 28
Position: Midfield (Centre, Right)
Nationality: Colombia
Club: Inter Milan
Price: ?
Tottenham Hotspur had placed a formal bid of £10million plus Roberto Soldado to try and sign Fredy Guarin from Inter Milan, but saw the offer rejected over the summer. Yet they could now be preparing a new and improved deal.
Last season he provided nine assist and scored four goals from 31 appearances and is seen as one of the priority targets Mauricio Pochettino is said to want at White Hart Lane once the January transfer window opens.
Jay Rodriguez
//www.youtube.com/embed/e3adfleiWiE
Name: Jay Rodriguez
Age: 25
Position: Left Wing / Striker
Nationality: England
Club: Southampton
Price: £10 – £15 million
Jay Rodriguez is currently sidelined with a knee injury, but could be set for a return very soon as he may need to slowly work his way back into the new-look Southampton side.
Prior to his lengthy spell away from the Saints’ XI, he was in remarkable form notching 15 goals from 33 appearances, a display which tipped him to be part of Roy Hodgson’s World Cup squad in Brazil.
Memphis Depay
//www.youtube.com/embed/MiRW90BBv_o
Name: Memphis Depay
Age: 20
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Netherlands
Club: PSV Eindhoven
Price: £10 – £15 million
Memphis Depay was edging towards a summer move to White Hart Lane, but instead decided to sign a contract extension up until 2018, quashing any talk of an earlier switch.
However, even though he has penned a new deal, there is still the possibility of Tottenham move if they can conjure up a mouth-watering deal to PSV to force a move. Depay is also being tracked by Manchester United, so if they find out Spurs are making a move, Louis van Gaal may want to be reunited with the Dutch winger.
Morgan Schneiderlin
//www.youtube.com/embed/BD_ksXiqyMs
Name: Morgan Schneiderlin
Age: 24
Position: Defensive Midfield
Nationality: France
Club: Southampton
Price: £14 – £18 million
The Morgan Schneiderlin transfer story was a big saga during the summer window as Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur were refusing to sell players to each other despite the fact that both sides had targets in mind.
Recent reports suggest that Schneiderlin may once again look to force a move away from St. Mary’s and Spurs will need to be prepared to battle it out with Arsenal, who are also interested in the services of the French star.
Wilfried Bony
//www.youtube.com/embed/tD3sxqpEfoQ
Name: Wilfried Bony
Age: 25
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Position: Striker
Nationality: Ivory Coast
Club: Swansea
Price: £15 – £20 million
The fact that Tottenham Hotspur is in need of another striker puts Wilfried Bony’s name on the list as he was one of the players opting for a move to join a bigger club.
With Spurs having access to Europa League football, Bony may still be in the crosshairs of Mauricio Pochettino, who is seeing goals come from his defenders and midfielders rather than the usual forward players.
Bernard
//www.youtube.com/embed/i15aC9yXuZY
Name: Bernard
Age: 22
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Brazil
Club: Shakhtar Donetsk
Price: £18 – £23 million
The recent political crisis in Ukraine has seen Bernard tipped to leave his club, but due to Tottenham not offering an acceptable sum to Shakhtar, a move didn’t happen.
His club announced that despite the problems in the country, they would only let their star winger leave for a reasonable price. Spurs will once again have to battle it out with Arsenal if they are to secure a big money move for the talented winger.
Manchester United are set rival Arsenal in a move for Raheem Sterling, according to the Daily Mail.
Sterling has been offered a new contract at Anfield but is yet to put pen to paper and with just 18 months left on his youth deal a move may be on the cards.
Sir Alex Ferguson is an admirer of the 18-year-old but it would certainly be a shock if any player moved between the fierce rivals.
Sterling gained his first England cap against Sweden last month in a 4-2 defeat and has become a regular in the Liverpool first team under Brendan Rodgers.
Sterling arrived on Merseyside just two years ago from Queens Park Rangers and is capped at U16, U17, U19 and U21 as well as at senior level for England despite being born in Jamaica.
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A January move to United would be unexpected but with Nani seemingly on his way out of the club and with Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia yet to live up to last season’s form it could be the perfect time for Ferguson to sign a natural winger.
Sunderland defender John O’ Shea believes that a consistent run of games will revitalise the club’s flair players.
The Black Cats rescued a draw in Sunday’s game with Newcastle thanks to Demba Ba’s late own goal, but the centre back is aware that this spells just one win in 15 games for his side.
The Republic of Ireland star feels that with the lengthy international breaks for this calendar year, the club’s attacking personnel will have time to gel, and find their form in front of goal.
O’Shea mentioned that it was important to get the likes of Stephane Sessegnon, James McLean and Adam Johnson to work on supplying quality service to their £14 million summer acquisition Steven Fletcher.
The versatile defender went on to tell Sky Sports “Now over the next few weeks, fingers crossed, with a few bodies coming back as well, we will be able to go on a stronger run than we have been doing.
We have not been losing games. Obviously, we lost against (Manchester) City, but we should have more wins on the board than what we have.”
A worry for Sunderland and Martin O’Neill is that opposing sides have managed to ensure that the club’s danger men are kept quiet in games.
However, the former Manchester United ace, O’Shea was quick to point out that all the players have confidence in the team’s ability.
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Next up is a tricky trip to the Britannia stadium for the Black Cats where they will be trying to secure a 3 points that could provide a real impetus to their campaign.
Stoke have made an offer of £4 million for Liverpool fringe midfielder Charlie Adam, according to The Daily Mail.
The Scotland international moved to Anfield last summer from Blackpool for £9 million, and featured under countryman Kenny Dalglish last term.
However, new Reds boss Brendan Rodgers does not have a place for the playmaker in his team, with a central midfield trio of Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva and new signing Nuri Sahin in the Northern Irish manager’s thoughts.
Rodgers will allow Adam to leave before the end of the transfer window, with Stoke launching a bid.
It has yet to be revealed whether the Merseysiders have accepted the offer from Tony Pulis’ men, who want the Scot to replace Wilson Palacios in the Britannia Stadium side.
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Fenerbahce have also been accredited with an interest in Adam, who looks likely to leave Liverpool over the next 48 hours.
With the season about to enter its tenth round of fixtures, we are a quarter of the way through the league campaign, which while it may not be enough to judge either fully or accurately how the season will eventually turn out, is enough time to make an opinion on which players have done well since signing for their new clubs.
While Manchester City and Newcastle have predominantly relied on those players who helped them so much last season, most clubs have sought to bring in fresh first-team bodies. They don’t always have to be the most expensive acquisitions, but the way you can tell whether they’ve been a success or not at this stage is if their presence is already missed from the starting eleven.
Click on Arouna Kone to unveil the top 10
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Louis van Gaal has been at Manchester United long enough for us to judge his progress so far and compare his qualities against the man he replaced.
After seven games last season, the Scotsman had the Red Devils sitting in 9th place in the league with 10 points, scoring 10 goals and conceding nine. The Dutchman on the other hand has achieved fourth place in the league with 11 points, scoring 13 goals and conceding 10. Fourteen points was the benchmark at this point last season. What this shows is the league isn’t as competitive this season as it was at this stage last season, meaning van Gaal is having a slightly easier time. But this is the Premier League, one of the toughest leagues in the world, and every point has to be earned so this still puts van Gaal ahead, 1-0.
Before the signing of Spaniard Juan Mata from Chelsea for £39m in January 2014, Moyes had only had one recognisable signing in Belgian Marouane Fellaini from Everton for £27.5m. Mata did make an impact when he arrived but Fellaini did not, and was told by van Gaal in the summer that he was no longer needed.
Van Gaal on the other hand has notably signed Argentine duo Angel Di Maria and Marcos Rojo, Englishman Luke Shaw, Dutchman Daley Blind, Spaniard Ander Herrera, and Colombian Radamel Falcao on loan. All of them except Shaw have already had some sort of impact on the squad and results. Bringing these players to United cost van Gaal over £150m, and if you want to include the inevitable permanent deal of Falcao, even more than that. The squad van Gaal is trying to create is guaranteed to improve upon last season’s finish.
A huge advantage you could have going into a job like managing United is experience. Moyes was hand-picked by United’s greatest ever manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Just one Champions League play-off and one fourth-placed finish was the highlight of his C.V. Van Gaal, though, is a completely different story, filled with many impressive achievements. He has won eight league titles in four different countries and a Champions League with Ajax back in 1995. The Dutchman knows what it takes to finish on the top of the pile and how to motivate a side.
A stat that Moyes does succeed in compared to van Gaal at this point of the season is defence. So far during his time at United, van Gaal’s side has been switching between three at the back and four at the back for different games. They have conceded 14 goals across all competitions, including an embarrassing 4-0 loss to League One side MK Dons. His side takes on Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games, so his defence definitely needs to improve. Moyes however, his United side had only conceded 12 goals at this point of the season in all competitions including the Champions League. His side was also still in all competitions at this point as well, but we all know how that turned out.
It therefore seems van Gaal clearly has had the better start and is the better manager thanks to his past experience and the players which he has brought to United. He just needs time for his ideology to set into the team as he clearly has a proven track record which is better than what Moyes has.
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The hope would be that it has set in enough already, especially the defence part, so that his side can limit the damage they take from Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games.
Liverpool’s owners and manager Brendan Rodgers are set to come to loggerheads again, after the club announced plans to form a “technical committee” in light of the Andy Carroll debacle. The Telegraph reports.
Supporters are still fuming at the decision to let £35million signing, Carroll leave with Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini as the only options upfront.
The Reds were interested in securing a deal for Daniel Sturridge to bolster their attacking options, but were only willing to bring him in on loan whereas Chelsea were keen on a permanent deal.
But the most high-profile failure came after the club could not meet the £6million valuation which Fulham set for Clint Dempsey, resulting in the USA international joining Tottenham instead.
This new proposed committee will be set up to avoid future situations like this, advising both Rodgers and owners John W Henry and Tom Werner about all aspects of the club, including transfer dealings.
It is likely to cause even more tension between owners and management, particularly as Rodgers made it clear he wants total control over all first-team matters, but the owners have since said this so-called British model is unsustainable and costly.
The American owners want to replicate a similar kind of model that is already in place at West Brom, where Dan Ashworth has the role of sporting and technical director and is now wanted by the Football Association.
Under this new model, Rodgers will have to discuss prospective transfer targets with members of the committee, who in turn will advise the manager on the best way forward.
Ian Ayre, the current managing director is likely to hold a key role in the new set-up, along with a chief scout and an experienced football administrator.
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Liverpool fans will hope this goes some way in improving the club’s fortunes, especially as they seem a long way off from competing at the top level in the near future.
Wayne Rooney has poured cold water on rumours that he could leave Manchester United.
The England international has been decidedly off the boil recently, both in Euro 2012 and in the Red Devils’ opening games to the 2012-13 season.
With Sir Alex Ferguson bolstering his attacking options with the signatures of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa this summer, the British tabloids have speculated whether the Old Trafford outfit were getting ready to cash-in on Rooney.
However, the attacker has dismissed this as nonsense and stated he wants to stay with United.
“Read the nonsense in the papers and heard what people have to say it is absolute rubbish. #heretostay,” he told his Twitter followers.
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Rooney suffered a nasty gash on his leg in the 3-2 win over Fulham at the weekend, with the extent of the injury meaning the striker could be out for as long as two months.
Swansea City are going to find it very difficult to keep hold of Lukasz Fabianski this summer following their relegation to the Championship.
The 33-year-old was named Supporters’ Player of the Year following a string of impressive performances during the 2017-18 campaign.
However, Fabianski, who has just 12 months remaining on his contract at Swansea, could not prevent the Welsh club from being relegated from the Premier League.
Fabianski is undoubtedly one of the best shot-stoppers in the top flight of English football, and there will be a number of clubs taking a look at him this summer.
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Liverpool are believed to be in the market for a new goalkeeper despite Loris Karius spending the second half of the 2017-18 campaign as Jurgen Klopp’s number one.
AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma has been linked with a move to Anfield, but the Liverpool fans have offered up a cheaper alternative.
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Indeed, Fabianski has been mentioned as a possible arrival at the Merseyside club.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: