Former England manager Sam Allardyce thinks Spain and Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets is no better or worse than Tottenham s Eric Dier.
Allardyce made the bold claim in an interview with talkSPORT following England s 3-2 victory over Spain in the Nations League on Monday, but what does the data suggest?
With the assistance of Opta, we compare the two players to see how Big Sam s assessment stacks up with the facts.
Busquets is a sitting midfield player who breaks up play, intercepts
Allardyce provided an accurate description of a large part of what Busquets excels at, and since the start of the 2016-17 season he has made 290 tackles, 160 interceptions and 685 recoveries in all competitions for Barcelona. Those numbers increase to 339, 1…
Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez insists Neymar will not be leaving the Spanish and European champions anytime soon.
Neymar has been discussing a new contract with Barca for months but the Brazil international is yet to reach an agreement at Camp Nou, amid reported interest from rivals Real Madrid and Manchester United.
But Fernandez reiterated that the 24-year-old who has scored 77 goals in 127 appearances and won six trophies since joining Barca in 2013 is staying put.
I said it very clearly two months ago, and I will say it again now: Neymar will stay with us, he told Television Espanola.
There is no problem. He will stay at Barcelona.
It would worry me if he was not happy but that is not the case. I say it again, he is con…
Erling Haaland is well aware he was brought to Manchester City to help them win the Champions League.
City are just one victory away from claiming the prize they covet most but has eluded them time after time with several near misses in recent years.
Haaland has been key to their latest charge to the final, where they face Inter Milan in Istanbul on Saturday, after a prolific first season at the Etihad Stadium.
The Norwegian has plundered 52 goals in all competitions since City identified him as the potential final piece in their jigsaw last year and paid £51million to recruit him from Borussia Dortmund.
“The Premier League, they won it two times in a row before I came here,” said Haaland. “So they know how to win the Premier League.
“The…
Edinson Cavani grabbed his first goals for Valencia in a 2-2 draw with Elche on Saturday, and joined an elite group of South American stars in the process.
The 35-year-old Uruguay striker netted a 41st-minute penalty followed by a stoppage-time header for a quickfire double late in the first half of the LaLiga game at Mestalla.
It gave Valencia a 2-1 lead, but they were pegged back by Pere Milla s second goal of the game midway through the second half.
Cavani became the fifth South American player in the 21st century to score in four of the top five European leagues, Opta stated.
He followed Alexis Sanchez, James Rodríguez, Philippe Coutinho and Angel Di Maria into that exclusive club.
HE DIDN T JUST GET ONE
HE S ONLY GONE AND GOT A SECO…
Joey Barton could face an English FA probe after the Newcastle midfielder was caught on camera punching Morten Gamst Pedersen during his side s 2-1 defeat against Blackburn at St James Park.
Barton collided with Pedersen in an off the ball incident in the second half on Wednesday and then knocked the Norway international to the turf with a punch to the ribs.
Referee Mike Jones didn t see the incident so Barton escaped punishment, but the FA may well investigate and could hand the midfielder a retrospective suspension.
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton said he had not seen the clash, while Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce refused to be drawn on the incident but he hinted he wouldn t be susprised to see action taken against Barton, who has been involved in several contr…
South Korea manager Cho Kwang-rae said he is planning on exposing Sasa Ognenovski s lack of pace when they face Australia at the Asian Cup.
The Australian centre-back played in the K-League for Seongnam Ilhwa when Cho was in charge of Gyeongnam in 2009.
Cho believes the towering defender lacks a turn of foot and will play speedy attackers to outrun the 31-year-old.
When it comes to the mobility of the players, our strikers are bit better than the Australian central defence, Cho said.
When it comes to Sasa s case, I was in charge of Gyeongnam (from 2007 to 2010), one of the clubs in Korea, and I intentionally put fast forwards to make it difficult for Sasa.
In these games I learnt that Sasa had problems with quick forwards and I could make use…
The wait for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the Skate reboot is going to be a while longer. EA pulled back the curtain on its fiscal 2024 lineup–this past April through March 2024–and neither game gets a mention.
Spotted by Twitter user Shinobi602, EA previewed its upcoming games slate in the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal 2023 results review. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the Skate reboot don’t show up as titles on the way for the company’s new fiscal year. The company does, however, mention two unannounced games will be on the way: one EA Sports and the other a racing title. That said, the new entries in the Dragon Age and Skate franchises have already been unveiled so they wouldn’t fit under that description anyway.
A previous report earlier th…
Neil Lennon is keen to talk to Celtic over a return as manager of the Scottish Premiership champions.
Under-fire boss Ronnie Deila announced he would stand down at the end of this season on Wednesday, in the aftermath of a damaging Scottish Cup semi-final defeat on penalties to bitter rivals Rangers.
And Lennon who won three league titles, two Scottish Cups and masterminded a run to the last-16 of the Champions League during a four-year stint in charge at Celtic Park wasted little time in putting himself forward as a potential successor to the man he made way for after the 2013-14 campaign.
Asked by Sky Sports News if he would like to take on the Celtic post once more, the 44-year-old said: That s the $54million question. I ve never hid my affinity for the club.<…
Gareth Bale missed a chance to announce himself as Cristiano Ronaldo s Real Madrid successor after struggling to fill the void left by the Portuguese superstar in the Champions League semi-final stalemate at Manchester City.
Speaking on the eve of the first leg at Etihad Stadium, Bale said he had no interest in seeing himself as a leading star who Madrid turn towards for inspiration.
A little more than an hour before kick-off, he had no choice in the matter.
Rumours whipping around pre-match soon became established as facts. Cristiano Ronaldo was not included in the Madrid squad, handing City a considerable lift.
Ronaldo missed Saturday s 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano and, in his absence, head coach Zinedine Zidane expected the man with an astonishing 16 go…
Jose Mourinho said he would shoulder the blame for Roma s humiliating 6-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.
The shock result in Norway came as a largely second-string Roma side crumbled woefully, although they still sit second in Group C after three games.
It was the first time in his 1,008-game coaching career that Mourinho has seen one of his teams concede six goals.
Mourinho said he expected more from his players, but told reporters they now knew why he usually selected the same group for games, rather than being a coach who rotates his squad.
On the night when his former team Tottenham also lost in the competition, Mourinho was left to accept responsibility for his Serie A outfit s embarrassing away trip.
1 A José Mourinh…