England for Englishman - Special One

(02-10-2010) Jose Mourinho has ruled out ever managing England, insisting only Englishman should lead the Three Lions. "I think national teams are England for the English and Portugal for the Portuguese," said the Real Madrid coach on Friday. Mourinho enjoyed a stellar career in England, leading Chelsea to successive league titles and a number of FA Cup successes and has subsequently won Serie A titles with Inter Milan. He also led both Inter (2010) and Porto (2004) to Champions League glory. Now in chanrge of Real, Mourinho is tasked with returning the expensively assembled La Liga giants to apex of world club football.

Reds in for Bundesliga sharp-shooter and other red-hot gossip

(02-10-2010) Liverpool are set to fight it out with Manchester City for Bosnian international striker Edin Dzeko. Dzeko currently plays for German side Wolfsburg. The 1.9m striker has an excellent record in the Bundesliga scoring 61 league goals in 100 appearances including 26 goals in 29 league starts in 2008/09 and 22 in 33 league starts in 2009/10. He is valued between £25m to £30m. Elsewhere, Birmingham are tracking Swedish striker Daniel Larsson of Malmo; Tottenham boss Redknapp has warned Real Madrid off his left-sided Welsh star Gareth Bale; Arsenal's French striker Gilles Sunu could be in line for a loan move back to Derby after recovering from a cartilage problem picked up in pre-season; and Sunderland boss Steve Bruce thinks Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford when the latter eventually retires as Manchester United manager.

Grow a thick skin Roo – Giggs

(01-10-2010) Ryan Giggs has called on Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney to toughen up. Rooney has been in the spotlight recently over tabloid allegations of romps with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant. "When I was younger - 17, 18 or 19 - everything was going brilliantly. Then you hit a bit of bad form and they want to know who you are going out with, about your family history,” commented Giggs on Thursday. "I've had it a few times. It's not nice. You don't like it at the time but you get thick skin and it helps you in the long run." Giggs added: "There is a lot of pressure on world-class players and Wayne is certainly that. We said at the start of the campaign we cannot rely on Wayne like we have done. But when Wayne starts scoring again, we'll be in extremely good shape."

City suffer blow in Juve draw

(01-10-2010) Manchester City suffered a setback during their 1-1 draw with Juventus in the Europa League on Thursday, losing defender Pablo Zabaleta with a hamstring injury. City boss Roberto Mancini confirmed afterwards that the Argentine would definitely sit out Saturday’s EPL clash with Newcastle. "It is a hamstring," said Mancini. "I do not believe it is serious but he won't play on Sunday." Earlier, City had gone behind at Eastlands to a Vincenzo Iaquinta goal before Adam Johnson equalised as the Group A game finished level. "I don't know why we started so slowly," added Mancini. "We thought we could control the game but after Juventus scored, the match changed. Sometimes that can happen when you have to play every three days.”

United star unhappy with patchy form

(01-10-2010) Manchester United star Park Ji-sung is very unhappy with his lack of form this season. The South Korean has been poor since returning from the World Cup with his display against Valencia in the Champions League earlier this week particularly bad. "I am not satisfied with my performances this season," said the 29-year-old on Thursday. "I don't know why my performances have not been good. Maybe I was not ready for the season. Mentally I have been weak and I have to improve.” United’s 1-0 win over Valencia at the Mestalla was the first time Park completed 90 minutes this season. "It is always difficult to get the balance," added Park. "I missed a couple of games and then played again, although since I joined Manchester United it has been like that so I should know how to deal with it."

Red Roy happy with draw

(01-10-2010) Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson declared himself satisfied with the club’s 0-0 draw with Dutch side Utrecht in the Europa League on Thursday. The Reds were on the back foot for much of the game at the Stadion Galgenwaard and owed much to goalkeeper Jose Reina and a goal line clearance from Raul Meireles. "It was a good point because we knew it was going to be a tough game," said Hodgson afterwards. "We created some good chances ourselves and it wasn't a dull 0-0. There was activity at both ends of the field. Utrecht did well, they were determined, aggressive and committed, so we knew we had to be at our best defensively to keep them out and fortunately we did.” The result leaves Liverpool top of their group with four points followed by Utrecht and Napoli with two. Steaua Bucharest are last with one point.

Blues in for French defender and other red-hot gossip

(01-10-2010) EPL champions Chelsea are keen on Roma defender Philippe Mexes. According to reports, the Blues are aware of stalled contract talks between the Serie A club and the French international and hope to take advantage of the situation by landing the 28-year-old on a free transfer in January. Elsewhere, Liverpool may try to tempt Michael Owen into a return to Anfield from Manchester United as they look to increase their attacking options; Tottenham may test Manchester City's resolve to hang on to striker Emmanuel Adebayor in the January transfer window; Valencia and Portugal defender Miguel has admitted he is interested in playing for Liverpool to link up with international team-mate Raul Meireles; and Arsenal are weighing up a £3m move for Tromso midfielder Kara Mbodj.