Inter midfielder Davide Frattesi praises Simone Inzaghi’s man-management skills

Inter midfielder Davide Frattesi has hailed the man-management skills of Simone Inzaghi as the Nerazurri boss prepares to shuffle his pack once again against Atalanta.

The Serie A leaders boast a nine-point lead over Juventus and could stretch it to 12 with the right result against Gian Piero Gasperini’s side on Wednesday night.

Inter are set to be without key men Marcus Thuram, Francesco Acerbi and Hakan Canhanoglu, but are ready to bolster the starting XI by recalling some of the players who were rested for Sunday’s 4-0 walkover against Lecce.

These two

— Inter (@Inter_en)

Nicolo Barella is expected to reclaim his leading role in the centre of the park, with Benjamin Pavard and Alessandro Bastoni poised to return to the backline after …

Man City players will give everything to win FA Cup final – Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has promised Manchester City fans his side will “give everything” to beat rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

The neighbouring clubs clash in the competition’s Wembley showpiece for the first time as the domestic season reaches a mouth-watering climax on Saturday.

There is plenty of incentive for City as they look to claim the second leg of the treble and move a step closer to matching United’s 1999 haul of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies.

Yet even just taking the game in isolation, City manager Guardiola is well aware of how much simply beating United in a major final – after plenty of suffering at their hands in the past – would mean to supporters.

With that in mind, and his players fully focused,…

Everton back in for Lascelles

Everton have made an official enquiry for Nottingham Forest defender Jamaal Lascelles, the Mail Online understands.

The Toffee’s were fined £45,000 only last week for an unauthorised approach for the centre-back in 2010, but are now going through the correct channels as they try and secure a deal for the 20 year old, who has also been linked with moves to both Liverpool and Arsenal.

The England U20 defender has been offered a new deal at promotion chasing Forest following a string of fine performances since becoming a regular in Billy Davies’ starting eleven.

However, he has still made just nineteen appearances for the East Midlands side since turning professional, while he also turned out nine times on loan at Stevenage towards the end of the 2011/12 ca…

Spain’s World Cup-winning squad wins sports prize

Spain s World Cup-winning football squad won the prestigious Prince of Asturias prize for sport Tuesday for a victory that made history , the jury announced.

The team delivered Spain s first ever World Cup win, overcoming the Netherlands 1-0 in the July 11 final with a goal just four minutes before the end of extra time by Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta.

Coming on the heels of their Euro 2008 victory, it has become one of the milestones of Spanish sport internationally, the Prince of Asturias jury said in a statement.

Their exemplary way of understanding football, based on sportsmanship, fair play and fellowship has brought together millions of people around a team that has made history, it said.

The 23-man squad, including Arsenal midfielder Cesc …

Monaco out for Juventus revenge – Vasilyev

Monaco are on a revenge mission when they face Juventus in the Champions League, says vice-president Vadim Vasilyev.

The Ligue 1 leaders were paired against the Italian champions in Friday s semi-final draw in Nyon, in an intriguing tie that pits Monaco s immense attacking talent against the defensive strength of Juventus, who have conceded just twice in this season s competition. 

Monaco last met Juve in the quarter-finals of the 2014-15 season, where the Turin side ran out 1-0 aggregate winners.

Vasilyev recognises that Juve are stronger now than they were two years ago, but also warned that Monaco are a different proposition.

Semi-final fixtures !

3 May :
9 May:

— AS Monaco EN (@AS_Monaco_EN)

It will be a matter of rev…

Sydney held by Jets after late leveller

Substitute Nick Cowburn scored a late equaliser as Newcastle Jets held A-League leaders Sydney FC to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The struggling Jets bottom of the table ahead of this clash looked set to come up short against the 2017-18 premiers after Alex Brosque s scrappy first-half effort, only for Cowburn to net three minutes from time.

Adam Le Fondre s scoring streak ended at six games in all competitions and Sydney were instead grateful for some generous goalkeeping as they opened the scoring.

Rhyan Grant delivered from the right and Brosque, getting across his man, headed goalwards, the ball squirming under a despairing Glen Moss.

However, Newcastle grew into the contest and ended well on top, seeing a Ronald Vargas penalty appeal turned down before C…

Marseille still want to sell Strootman

It is never boring at the south of France. Olympique Marseille are still trying to find ways to recuperate as much as possible from the obvious mistake they had made in the summer of 2018. It was then that they went on a summer spending spree, following the final of Europa League they had reached in May.

They decided to spend around 25 million euros on a 28-year-old Kevin Strootman, with numerous injury issues over the years, and hand him a lucrative five-year contract. It is fair to say Olympique Marseille have been thinking about that move ever since and now they want to make another move get rid of the Dutchman.

According to L Equipe, they have already tried to do that in the summer as he failed to impress since arriving at the Stade Velodrome. He reportedly has a go…

No blues for departing Davies

Birmingham signing Curtis Davies has revealed he was happy to see the back of former club Aston Villa after his January transfer move.

Central defender Davies had not made a league appearance for Villa since the 2009/10 season and had spent the earlier part of this term on-loan at Championship club Leicester City.

Davies appeared destined to link up with Leicester again before a swoop on January 28 by Villa s rivals Birmingham kept the 25-year-old in the English Premier League.

It s good good to be here. They re a good set of lads and it seems a good club so I m just ready to get going and try and play Premier League football again, Davies said.

I was on my way to Leicester and had got the paperwork done really and Villa called my agent late on in the …

Blackburn want British coach to replace sacked Sam

Blackburn said on Tuesday they would ideally like another British coach to step into the shoes of sacked Sam Allardyce, given the boot on Monday after barely two years in charge.

The chairman of the club s new owners, India-based poultry firm Venky s, said the plan was to secure someone who could provide more entertainment from the team, as well as a top five finish but also someone British, which would rule out potential candidates such as Dutchman Martin Jol and Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Diego Maradona.

Anuradha Desai told Tuesday s Lancashire Telegraph: We want good football and Blackburn to be fourth or fifth in the league or even better.

The fans should trust us because this is in the best interests of the club. Our thinking now is that it will be a Br…

Michu: I would love Swansea return

Michu has admitted he is yearning for a return to Premier League club Swansea City.

The Spaniard, who now plays in the fourth tier in his homeland, said he felt he owed the supporters more after the way they greeted him back in 2012.

Michu arrived at the Liberty Stadium as a relative unknown when he signed from Rayo Vallecano but became an instant sensation as he scored twice on his league debut in a 5-0 win over QPR.

He finished the season with 22 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions.

I was really happy in Swansea, it was the best season of my life and my career. I miss the crowd, I miss the team-mates, I miss the city as well, Michu told the BBC.

I miss the Premier League and if I can play at the highest level again, I will play for…