admit Alexis Sanchez link is ‘not very strong’Hamann hands Liverpool word of warning over £70m Keita Neymar: ‘I thought I was in a video game’ at Barcelona Liverpool, West Ham strike target refuses to rule out move
Lejeune reveals Benitez lure after sealing Newcastle move
All the done deals in the Premier League this summer
Bale ‘to be pushed towards Man Utd to make way for £109m man’
Frustrated Mourinho urges Woodward to start landing targets
Exclusive: Palmer agrees Town return after new Chelsea deal
Newcastle close on French defender after agreeing £8.7m dea
Juve bid for ‘Turkish Dybala’ – player wants Man Utd or Chelsea
Euro Paper Talk: Spurs eye €40m Sevilla star; Remy set for Fener move
Everton land Michael Keane to take spending over £100m
Man City handed Mendy boost as Monaco sign replacement
Ancelotti discusses Lewandowski’s Chelsea, Man Utd links
Klopp warns flexible Liverpool to prepare for different systems
Markovic could get shock escape route to Serie A minnows
Paper Talk: City to let star join United; Newcastle’s Gibbs raid
Everton announce £5.3m Sandro Ramirez deal
Totttenham target open to Premier League transfer
West Brom snap up Vitesse Arnhem striker
Aaron Lennon all smiles as he returns to Everton training
Morata rumours intensify as father and agent have Real talks
Former Liverpool favourite confirms Keita wants Anfield move
Inter Milan favourites to sign Liverpool, Stoke striker target
Thomas Lemar’s father advises player against Arsenal move
What Makes A Club: 21 photos to sum up the soul of Man Utd
John Terry: ‘It’s a club I have admired from afar…’
Leeds star linked with shock summer switch to Arsenal
Neymar has said the thought he was inside a video game when he first arrived in the Barcelona dressing room in
Neymar, 25, signed for Barca from Santos for £75million, but he has admitted he was “ashamed” to speak to the likes of Lionel Messi as soon as he arrived.
The Brazil forward is now on a similar level to Messi and after signing a new five-year contract worth around €16million a year, with a buyout clause fixed at €200m for the first year of the deal, €222m for the second and the €250m for the remaining three years, he finally feels at home.
But in an interview with Brazilian television show Caldeirao do Huck, he explained how nervous and “intimidated” he was when he arrived as a 21-year-old.
“I came into the dressing room, looked to one side and there was Messi, I looked the other and there was Xavi [Hernandez], [Andres] Iniesta, [Gerard] Pique, Dani Alves … I thought I was inside a video game,” said Neymar.
“One day I was playing with them on the console and the next I was there alongside them. The first month was the most complicated. I was ashamed to speak to Messi, [he and the others] were idols for me. I was the new arrival and the youngest more or less.”
Alongside Messi and Luis Suarez, the trio have become one of the most feared attacking units in world football and the trio were all present at Messi’s wedding last week in Rosario.
FFA Cup 2017: Round of 32 fixtures, dates, times, venues
THE details for the 16 2017 FFA Cup Round of 32 fixtures have been confirmed.
The fourth instalment of the competition kicks off with a blockbuster state-level clash between South Melbourne and Edgeworth Eagles, which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
The following week is headlined by two Member Federation v A-League club match-ups on consecutive nights.
First, 2015 quarter-finalists Heidelberg United will host two-time finalists Perth Glory on Tuesday night, August 1.
The next night, Central Coast Mariners, who were eliminated in the 2016 Round of 32, will face 2016 quarter-finalists Blacktown City.
The final Round of 32 broadcasted match will see Victoria National Premier League heavyweights Hume City host Bentleigh Greens.
Fox Sports will broadcast one game live on each of the four match nights with live crossed to the other three games, but every clash can be live streamed on foxsports.com.au.
Timothée Atouba made only 18 Premier League appearances in just one season at Tottenham, yet he will forever be remembered by those that watched him play – although not necessarily for the right reasons.
Tottenham finished second in the Premier League last season. Though they failed to land silverware, it was their most successful domestic campaign since the Premier League’s 1992 inception.
It provides the north London side with a solid foundation to build upon going forward and marked yet another upturn in form under Mauricio Pochettino. It also continues the work began by Daniel Levy from way back in 2004.
The 55-year-old had replaced Alan Sugar as the club’s chairman in 2001, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2004 that the wheels began to turn as a period of change swept through the Premier League.
Jose Mourinho came in as Chelsea manager, while Rafa Benitez was appointed Liverpool boss as teams turned to Europe’s top tacticians for continued success. Spurs followed suit with the appointment of Jacques Santini, who’d just overseen France’s exit Euro 2004 at the hands of eventual winners Greece.
Martin Jol came in as the Frenchman’s assistant and would eventually take charge in November as Santini departed citing personal reasons, but 2004 was ground zero as far as Spurs are concerned. It was the year that kickstarted the upturn in fortunes, even if it was a long drawn out affair.
Paul Robinson arrived from Leeds and went on to become England number one, Pedro Mendes joined from FC Porto, fresh from their Champions League triumph under Mourinho, while Sean Davis and Michael Carrick made the short trips across the capital from Fulham and West Ham, respectively.
At the back, Noureddine Naybet – an underrated free capture from Deportivo – Noe Pamarot and Erik Edman all joined the ranks as Spurs assembled key components for a functional squad.
The issue here, however, is that these players lacked the flair to really lift fans from their seats. Spurs were effective to an extent in Santini’s short spell in the capital, but in his 11 games, just 14 goals were scored both for and against his team.
Arsenal fans saw 43 goals scored in their games over the same period for context. It was neither pretty nor exciting, but Spurs had the necessary defensive mentality that had been lacking for some time, in part due to a blossoming centre-back partnership between Naybet and young Ledley King.
Yet, as functional as the team was, Spurs fans were still pulling their hair out at any sign of danger, in no small part due to the erratic defensive displays of the other summer signing, Timothée Atouba.
He was part of the Cameroon side knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and was a regular for FC Basel before his switch to England. But Atouba lasted just a solitary season at White Hart Lane before departing for Hamburg – more on that later.
The now 35-year-old made just 18 memorable – for both the right and wrong reasons – league appearances for Spurs, yet is something of a cult hero among fans. Whereas Edman, his rival for a starting spot, would keep things simple – a 7/10 left-back, if you will – Atouba went to great lengths to make things as difficult for his defensive team-mates as humanly possible.
While nowadays, fans strive to see full-backs carry the ball forward and overlap where possible to stretch opponents, Atouba joined in an age where a simple hoof up field would suffice. Yet, this was the easy escape route for the Cameroonian, who would rather dribble his way out of danger at the expense of supporters’ health.
Feints and Cruyff turns were the order of the day for Atouba – which is no bad thing. His decision to carry out these tricks 20 yards from his own goal when under pressure from opponents undoubtedly made games more exciting.
He was always one stepover away from being caught short at the back, yet by some miracle would bring possession forward to start attacks away from his goal. At a time when Spurs lacked flair, the left-back brought this in abundance.
When he tricked his way out of danger, Atouba was a difficult player to stop. His power on the ball meant opposing defenders struggled to halt him once he gained a head of steam. As such, the only threat to Atouba was Atouba himself.
He could get so far upfield and help to punch a hole in an opponents’ defence that he’d momentarily forget how to work his feet, trip over himself, and an attack would break down as quickly as he’d elected to Cruyff turn his way out of danger.
His team-mates, of course, were left constantly fretting over Atouba’s unique approach to defending, but would that stop him? Absolutely not. After all, why try to deny greatness?
He had his moments of magic, sure – his curling winner in a 1-0 victory at Newcastle a stand out – and though he was about as ‘Spursy’ a defender as Spurs could get, ultimately, it was a shame he lasted just 12 months at White Hart Lane before his move to Hamburg. Well, for neutrals and fans of Schadenfreude.
For Spurs fans, though, the sight of gold boots, short socks and shinpads on show is enough to give them nightmares.
Atouba did at least continue his knack for defensive showboating in the Bundesliga, with a prime example coming in Hamburg’s 2-0 home win over Bayern Munich in 2005.
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