La Liga – The News Desk

How can you tell if a football manager is actually good at their job?

9Apr

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Sports

How can you tell if a football manager is actually good at their job?

An important thing to remember about Andre Villas-Boas is that he had ridiculously good hair.You don’t spend a record-shattering €15 million (£12.9; $16.3m) fee to sign a rookie manager away from Porto unless you’re pretty sure you know what you’re getting, and one thing Chelsea knew for certain, back in the heady days of 2011, was that the man with a swirling, fox-red side-parting looked impossibly cool getting tossed in the air during trophy celebrations. Villas-Boas at Porto in 2010 (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)Hair like that had sexy new ideas — a philosophy, perhaps. It had the sort of rakish sweep that could command a press conference, smouldering volcanically above the jagged peaks of an unbuttoned collar. But when the 33-year-old prodigy conducted his first i...

Free agents in 2024 – the players who can now sign pre-contract transfer agreements

2Jan

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Free agents in 2024 – the players who can now sign pre-contract transfer agreements

This season’s winter transfer window is now open, meaning clubs can officially start the scramble to add reinforcements or offload players deemed surplus to requirements.Premier League sides can do business until 11pm GMT on Thursday, February 1 — and, following discussions with the major leagues around Europe, that will also be deadline day in La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 (France) and the Bundesliga (Germany).But while clubs who want to sign players under contract must negotiate and, usually, pay a transfer fee during a FIFA-determined transfer window, wise forward planning allows ‘pre-contract agreements’ in some circumstances.The Athletic explains what these are and which players due to be out of contract in the summer could now step up transfer plans…What is a pre-contrac...

One year of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

31Dec

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One year of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

It was one of those rare days when nothing comes off for Cristiano Ronaldo and he cannot conceal his rising frustration.An offside flag denied him a goal and a VAR intervention denied him a penalty before he sent a wild shot and two headers off target in the closing stages of a crucial game. At one stage, he wrestled an opponent to the ground and was perhaps lucky to avoid a red card. As the game slipped away, he kept grimacing, looking to the heavens in disgust, as if to ask what he had done to deserve this.It was another blow for Al Nassr’s Saudi Pro League title hopes and, walking off the pitch at the final whistle, Ronaldo heard mocking chants from the jubilant Al Hilal supporters. “Messi, Messi,” they shouted, trying to taunt him with the name of his great rival.Grinning, he twice gr...

Lamine Yamal: Barcelona’s young prodigy and the proud neighbourhood that shaped him

28Oct

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Lamine Yamal: Barcelona’s young prodigy and the proud neighbourhood that shaped him

Rocafonda is where Lamine Yamal grew up — if you can say that of a 16-year-old.The Barcelona winger’s football development has progressed at an astonishing pace since his first-team debut, against Real Betis, at the age of 15 years, nine months and 16 days on April 29.That evening, he became the club’s youngest player since La Liga was formed more than 90 years ago and earlier this month, on October 8, he became the competition’s youngest goalscorer after finding the net in the 2-2 draw with Granada.This weekend, Real Madrid will consider him one of their most dangerous potential opponents in El Clasico and everyone who has watched him play will expect him to take the excitement in his stride. His talent has, inevitably, been compared to Lionel Messi’s — in the ongoing conversations at Ba...

Chaos, confusion and compromise as majority of Spain women’s squad agree to end boycott

21Sep

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Chaos, confusion and compromise as majority of Spain women’s squad agree to end boycott

A compromise between Spain women’s players and their national football association has been reached after meetings involving government officials that ran into the very early hours of Wednesday.Now, two days before they are due to play their first match since winning the World Cup a month ago, 21 of the 23 players called up by new manager Montse Tome have agreed to represent Spain.Victor Francos, president of the Consjejo Superior de Deportes (CSD — a governmental body with authority in sporting matters), travelled to meet the squad at the end of another dramatic day in a long-running dispute.In a statement issued after six hours of talks, shared with media at around 5am local time today, Francos said “two players requested the possibility of leaving for reasons of lack of morale and pers...