Former Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke believes Unai Emery has done a remarkable job and hopes they can maintain the new level they have reached.
Emery joined Villa in November 2022 when the club was in a relegation fight, and led them to a seventh-place finish, securing qualification to the Europa Conference League.
In his first full season in charge, the Spaniard oversaw another impressive campaign as the Villans finished fourth in the Premier League, ensuring Champions League football for the first time since 1982-83.
Villa also reached the semi-final of the Europa Conference League after seeing off Ajax and Lille in the knockout stages, but were knocked out by eventual champions, Olympiacos.
On Monday, Villa confirmed that Emery had signed a contract…
Ronald Koeman gets his first taste of El Clasico from the dugout on Saturday, when Barcelona host Real Madrid.
A favourite of Johan Cruyff s mighty Dream Team of the early 1990s, the pressure is on Koeman the coach to get Barca back to winning trophies at home and in Europe after last season s miserable ending.
He will have a chance to earn some sizeable brownie points against a Madrid side who are reeling from back-to-back defeats to Cadiz and Shakhtar Donetsk, results that have placed much of the pre-game scrutiny on Koeman s opposite number, Zinedine Zidane.
As the former Netherlands boss looks to end a two-game winless run for Barca in Spain s grandest fixture, we look at how his predecessors fared in their first Clasicos in LaLiga
PEP GUA…
Eden Hazard was a bit sad to see Chelsea part company with head coach Mauricio Pochettino after just one season in charge.
Pochettino left Chelsea by mutual consent last week after a trophyless campaign and a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
Chelsea great Hazard, who spent seven years at Stamford Bridge, believes the former Tottenham boss deserved more time.
I was a bit sad, he told talkSPORT. I think he did a great job. I know people want Chelsea to be in the top four but it’s a season of transition.
He s a great manager. I wish him good luck and let s see who is going to be there in the future.
2023/24 wrapped.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Chelsea are reported to have whittled their shortlist to four names Thomas …
Fulham boss Marco Silva talked up “quality” Chelsea midfield pair Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez ahead of the west London derby at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea broke the British transfer record twice this year, signing Fernandez from Benfica for a reported £106.8million in January before beating Liverpool to confirm the transfer of Caicedo from Brighton for £115m in August.
Silva spoke on how the pair’s price-tags reflect their ability and expects them to bring the fight to Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha on Monday.
“Enzo joined in January and Caicedo in the summer as well,” Silva said. “They’re quality. We are talking about two players they almost spent £250 million on.
“This speaks about the quality and about how much they wanted them i…
Robert Lewandowski claimed Bayern Munich s sextuple success is special not only for the Bundesliga giants but football around the globe.
Bayern scraped past CONCACAF champions Tigres UANL 1-0 in Qatar on Thursday to clinch their second Club World Cup title.
It marked the sixth trophy Bayern have won in Hansi Flick s tenure, with that list also including last season s Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League and this term s UEFA Super Cup and DFL-Supercup.
Lewandowski, who scooped The Best FIFA Men s Player award for 2020, has been integral and played a key part in Bayern s win over Tigres as he forced Nahuel Guzman to flap at a cross, allowing Benjamin Pavard to lash in the decisive goal.
The six-pack is something special, a great story – n…
Bayern Munich wing-back Alphonso Davies wants to raise awareness for the plight of refugees worldwide after he was named as a global goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Canada international, 20, was born to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana after they fled their home country due to civil war.
Davies and his family were resettled to Canada when he was five, and at 16 he became the youngest ever player to represent the country s national team.
He is the first footballer to take on such a role with the UNHCR and vowed to help give refugees around the world a voice.
Davies told the agency s website: I am proud to join the UN Refugee Agency as a goodwill ambassador. My own experiences make me …
Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland is a match for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as a pure goalscorer after the striker netted his 44th goal of the season on Saturday.
Haaland scored twice as Manchester City won 4-1 away at Southampton to move them within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, who play Liverpool later in the weekend.
The striker s second, a brilliant acrobatic volley, took him to 44 goals in all competitions in his first season in England, now tied for the most ever by a Premier League player in a single campaign alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002-03) and Mohamed Salah (2017-18).
Of those goals, 30 have come in the league, and Guardiola was full of praise for Haaland after the win, comparing his prolific talisman to two of footbal…
Germany moved to the top of Group D in UEFA Euro 2016 qualification with a convincing 3-1 victory over Poland in Frankfurt.
The World Cup winners were 2-0 up by the 19th minute courtesy of strikes from Bayern Munich duo Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze.
Poland recovered well, with another Bayern man Robert Lewandowski reducing the deficit before the interval with a powerful header.
However, after striking the post, Gotze eventually made sure of the win late on when he tapped home from Muller s rebounded effort.
Northern Ireland moved to within one win of a maiden European Championship finals appearance as they beat the Faroe Islands 3-1.
It looked set to be a frustrating night for Michael O Neill s side after Gareth McAuley s early opener had been …
Roy Hodgson is pleased England s victory over Estonia and the continued 100 per cent record in Euro 2016 qualification has earned them a place in pot one for December s draw.
England made it nine wins from nine thanks to goals from Theo Walcott and Raheem Sterling at Wembley on Friday with a victory over Lithuania on Monday ensuring a perfect campaign.
The seedings for Euro 2016 are based on FIFA rankings and coefficient points and after the victory Hodgson told ITV Sport: If it s true that this victory will ensure we re seeded for the Euros I think that s important too.
It was as tough as we thought, they were a well-organised team who played quite intelligently.
We had to work hard. We attacked a lot, had the ball and had chances but it was a…
Debutant Laszlo Kleinheisler scored the only goal of the game as Hungary beat Norway 1-0 in Oslo to take a big step towards Euro 2016.
The 21-year-old starred on his senior international bow and netted with a dipping shot midway through an end-to-end first half.
Norway dominated possession after the break but their lack of a proven goalscorer – no one in the squad had more than three goals to their name – showed as they had no cutting edge.
Pal Helland hit the crossbar in the closing stages as the hosts luck deserted them.
The play-off second leg in Budapest on Sunday will now determine who progresses to the tournament in France; with Per-Mathias Hogmo s men knowing anything less than an away victory will see them eliminated.
Norway flew out o…