Spanish soccer giants Barcelona are set to have a busy summer getting players to boost the team.


The club seems focused on getting talented world class and young players to cover defensively for the team. The Nou Camp has been linked with Hector Bellerin and Marco Verratti. It would be a tasking job, or near impossible, to lure the players this summer.

Barcelona are reportedly considering Ousmane Dembele. This is another player that would be difficult to get as the club does not want to sell either. Barca’s budget, if they do not sell players off, could limit the amount of money they could use to convince clubs to give them the best defensive talents.

Barca chased Dembele when he left Rennes but the player preferred Borussia Dortmund for career reasons. The player got regular football, developing more into the world class player he is now. He seems disappointed with the sack of Coach Thomas Tuchel who convinced him to move to Germany. Continue reading

A former side in the German top tier football league 1860 Munich have been relegated to the third tier.


The slip has caused uproar as many did not expect such a slump. The club announced on their website that they know it is “not acceptable for the whole ‘Lions’ family.”

With the results, Jordanian investor HasanIsmaik’s move would crucial as the club suffers weak finances. The Munich based side would be forced to declare insolvency unless Ismaik commits to the future of the club. The club has until Friday to pay €5 million to the Football Federation in Germany (DFB) for a third division license.

The plans of the investor remain unclear and he even missed the game on Tuesday. The fans would not mind he left but the club would have to declare insolvency, and then there would likely be a free fall to lower levels.

The club is set to lose its players as their contracts are not valid in the third division. After the match, the president Peter Cassalette resigned from his role. The chief executive Ian Ayre already left before the game. Ayre said the shareholders have varied interests and do not have a shared vision. Continue reading

Europe’s football regulatory body UEFA has revealed the guidelines on the bidding process for the 2024 continental tournament.


The body says that the winning host nation must comply with human rights rules – a first time this is happening.

Germany and Turkey are the only countries seeking to host the tournament as they were the only ones that indicated formal interests before the March deadline. The Germans hosted the 1974 World Cup, the European Championships in 1988 as West Germany before hosting the 2006 World Cup as a nation.

On the other hand, Turkey has never hosted a major football tournament, and this human rights abuse angle does not favour them. Following the coup attempt in Turkey, the president TayyipErdoganhas been accused of a crackdown on civilians by the international community. A state of emergency was declared and almost 47,000 people were arrested over a nine-month period. The nation has blocked access to Wikipedia under national security laws. Continue reading

Germany has to undergo a radical change in terms of the youth coaching methods in order to prepare for the future, according to national team coach Joachim Loew.


He says that the players have been able to reach the full potential of their physicality. Hence, improvement can only come from the mental side of the game. A number of players are unable to take their game to the next level due to lack of understanding of the game.Loew reckons that it is primarily down to coaching methods. After having had first-hand experience about the youth coaching philosophy at Barcelona,Loew says that he is left speechless at seeing the under 10 team perform at such an exceptional level.

Barcelona are widely adjudged to have the best youth setup in the world. Several great players have come from the La Masia youth academy with the likes of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta amongst the few to remember.Loew says that the football players at Barcelona are trying to play the game like chess – seeing each move 20 or 30 times in advance. Continue reading

The former assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick, 51, has stepped down from his role as sporting director of the German Football Association, according to reports from the European country.


Flick, who is also nicknamed Hansi has been in the game for some time now. He assisted Joachim Low, the national team coach from 2006 until the team claimed their world cup victory in 2014.

At the end of the tournament in Brazil the former Bayern Munich midfielder became the sport director, but the DFB recently confirmed that they had hesitantly accepted his decision to step down two years early.

Flick said that his departure is not coming as a result of any sporting career, but that he is leaving for specific reasons that have to do with his family.

“There are currently no other sporting ambitions, nor are there any problems. The only reason for leaving is my personal desire to concentrate more on my family in the near future,” he said. Continue reading

Germany coach Joachim Loew has ruled out the possibility of returning to the Bundesliga once his stint with the national team comes to an end.


The World Cup winning coach’s only experience of managing a club team in Germany is his two-year stint with VFB Stuttgart before the turn of the century. Since then, he has been exclusively involved with the national team; first as an assistant manager to JurgenKlinsmann and then taking over the full-time job in 2006. He is one of the longest serving managers in international football, but he has also brought about success during this period.

Apart from leading Germany to finals of European championships, the national team achieved the crowning glory in the form of the World Cup title in 2014. This is likely to remain his best achievement to late, as Germany have been able to win the honour after several decades. Continue reading

Germany and Manchester City’s sensational midfielder, IlkayGundogan has high hopes of making his comeback to the international scene.


This was after he was forced to miss out for almost a year due to injuries. The 2018 World Cup isn’t on his mind yet.

On the 8th of October, Germany, who are World Champions will go head on with Czech Republic. In three days after that, they would play host to Northern Ireland in their World Cup Qualifiers match.

Gudongan will be looking forward to win his first cap then since November 2015. He had signed for Manchester City in the close season but ended up missing the 2014 World Cup and the Euro 2016 as well due to injury.
The 25 year old was quoted saying,

“It is great to be here again. I did not realize it was actually such a long time since my last game. But I know the feeling of a comeback well from the past few years. I just want to enjoy the moment and if I am needed, I will be there. I will give it all I can and I cannot ask for more at the moment.” Continue reading

Reigning world champions Germany suffered a 3-2 defeat against archrivals England in what turned out to be an embarrassing game for Joachim Loew and his men.

Germany were expected to comfortably cruise to victory after gaining a two-goal advantage. Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez scored either side of the half-time break to ensure that Germany were in a strong position going into the final 30 minutes. However, England came back in spectacular fashion to stun the world champions, who are known for their efficiency worldwide. Tottenham forward Harry Kane has been in form over the last few months.

He pulled one back for England in the 61st minute. The equaliser came with 15 minutes of normal time remaining to Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy, whose surprising leap from nonleague football to internationals has been seamless. Loew was extremely disappointed to see his team suffer such a poor result just a few months before the start of the Euro 2016. Germany are one of the favourites to win the competition, as they come in with the tag of being the world champions. The result is sure to put some doubts into the mind of the fans and players. Loew hopes that his team can recover quickly when they face Italy in a friendly a few days later. Continue reading

Federico Macheda’s time in the English Championship club Cardiff City might be reaching it’s end as the Italian attacker has struggled trying to make an impact in the team of Russell Slade and his future is now being linked with Bristol City.

Injuries is something that has seriously affected Federico Macheda since he arrived to Cardiff City back in May of 2014, the Italian player has had to recover from surgery that he had in order to resolve a back problem. Even though Macheda is fully fit and ready to enter the pitch, he has been dropped to the sidelines and is serving as a substitute player more than anything else.

Macheda’s goal-scoring record since having arrived to Cardiff City isn’t a very impressive one as he has only scored 8 goals in 30 appearances.

Bristol City is positioned in the bottom drop zone of the English Championship League and they are looking for some offensive forces that can help pull them away from the relegation zone. This is an ideal opportunity for Bristol City to improve their attacking department while Cardiff City has the chance to offload one of their fringe players and Federico Macheda also has the chance of starting again with a new club where he might be able to spark his career to life. Continue reading

Germany manager Joachim Loew claims that he is happy with the outcome of the World Cup 2018 qualification draw. Qualification to this competition will be an extensive process with almost every team from the world competing for a position. Despite being the reigning holders of the World Cup, Germany will have to go through a qualification phase just like everybody else. They recently learned that their stage opponents will be the Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, San Marino, and Azerbaijan. Thus, they have avoided heavyweights like the France and Italy. There was a possibility of being grouped alongside such tough opponents.

Loew finally proved to the World Cup 2014 that he is a manager capable of winning trophies. The 55-year-old had raised a lot of doubts in recent years after his repeated failures on the final stages of the tournament. Since taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann,Loew had guided Germany to the finals of the Euro 2012. The 55-year-old, though, warned his team against complacency about qualifying for the World Cup. The national team still have the core players who were responsible for the World Cup triumph. The big task forLoew will be to find replacements for the likes of Miroslav Klose, who have retired from international action. Continue reading