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UsmanGurin
FC Barcelona Appoint Koeman As New Coach
Barcelona have appointed Ronald Koeman as their next coach, the club said in a statement on Wednesday.
Koeman, who has left his role as manager of the Netherlands, has signed a two-year-deal with Barcelona, who sacked Quique Setien on Monday after he presided over the club’s worst defeat ever in European competition. He will be officially presented at the Camp Nou stadium later on Wednesday.
“Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have come to an agreement for him to be the team’s coach until June 30, 2022,†the statement said.
“A club legend and Barca’s hero at Wembley who gave fans their first European Cup, Koeman is coming back to the Camp Nou. But this time he will be in the dugout to lead the team.â€
Koeman has frequently been linked with the Barcelona job in the past, in spite of a somewhat patchy club record which included disappointing stints at Valencia and Everton.
He also managed Dutch sides Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord plus Premier League sides Southampton and Everton and La Liga’s Valencia.
“Over the past two and a half years, I have done everything I can to achieve success with the team,†Koeman told the website of the Netherlands’ soccer association, the KNVB.
“I look back with pride on what we have achieved together in that period.
“The Dutch national team has a bright future, I am convinced of that. Everyone knows that Barcelona is my dream club. It feels very special to me to be able to become a coach there,†he said.
The KVNB’s director Eric Gudde added: “We regret Ronald’s decision, but respect his choice.
“In the period that Ronald has been national coach, he has achieved good results and given the team colour back in their cheeks after a number of difficult years,†he said.
Assistant coach Dwight Lodeweges will act as interim national coach until the KNVB has appointed a successor. (Reuters/NAN)
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SPORTLIVE11
LOYAL PLAYERS: The 5 Current Longest-serving Active Players In The English Premier League As At 2021/2022 Season
It is often remarked that there is no loyalty in football any more, but many players do defy the trend and stay with a club long enough to receive a testimonial.At the time of writing, there are only eight players currently playing for Premier League sides who have been at their club for more than 10 years. Here we count down these top five, in ascending order of their time at their club.
5 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - Since 25 August, 2011
4 LEICESTER - KASPER SCHMEICHEL (Since 2011)
The Foxes were the Denmark international's NINTH club he joined before the age of 25, but he has found his home in Leicester and has never looked back since arriving. Schmeichel has won both the Championship and Premier League with the East Midlands side.
3 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) - Since 9 June, 2011
Signed from Sunderland in 2011, Henderson was put through the mill at Merseyside, nearly leaving for Fulham in 2012. There was talk of him being a like-for-like Steven Gerrard replacement, but Henderson has certainly carved his own career and style of play at Liverpool since Gerrard left in 2015.
Having been criticised in the early part of his Liverpool career, Henderson has established himself as a first team regular and captained the side to a Champions League win last season.
2 Seamus Coleman (Everton) - Since January 2009
Coleman had to have surgery on a career-threatening infected blister, which delayed his Everton debut. But after getting the all clear from club doctors, the right-back made his first appearance in a 5-0 defeat to Benfica in the Europa League.
1 Mark Noble (West Ham) - Since August 2004
Nobobody on this list has been at one club longer than Noble has been at West Ham.
The midfielder made his first-team debut in 2004 and is still one of the first names on the team sheet fifteen and a half years later.
“I’m 33 in May. I’ve been doing this for 15/16 years of my life. It’s half my life,” Noble told talkSPORT earlier this season. “At a club at this level with the money we’ve spent, you can’t rely on me. You can’t rely on me to come on at half-time during an FA Cup game – that shouldn’t be like that.”
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BabyDanny1
Messi Makes Dramatic U-Turn, Set To Stay With Barcelona
Lionel Messi has confirmed he will stay at Barcelona against his wishes and hinted his desire to avoid a courtroom battle was the overriding reason behind the decision.
The superstar’s bombshell U-turn was officially announced on Friday evening, although Messi has once again doubled down on his criticism of the board and its under-fire president Josep Bartomeu.
The 33-year-old club captain announced he is finally abandoning attempts at a sensational move to Manchester City this summer in a recorded interview despite having initially demanded to leave.
Messi told Goal in an explosive admission: ‘When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama. ‘The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.
But I looked further afield and I want to compete at the highest level, win titles, compete in the Champions League. You can win or lose it, because it is very difficult, but you have to compete.
‘At least compete for it and let us not fall apart in Rome, Liverpool, Lisbon. All that led me to think about that decision that I wanted to carry out.’
UsmanGurin
SPORTLIVE11
BabyDanny1
