Gourcuff thrilled to be back in French fold

Palermo coach Gian Piero Gasperini has slammed his former side Inter Milan before the two sides clash in the Serie A.

The 54-year-old was only given three months before facing the sack at Inter back in September 2011 and he believes the tactics he implemented, which cost him his job, are now being embraced.

The three-man defence is now popular and even seen at Inter. However, when I was there it was not accepted, Gasperini told reporters.

When I left I was not angry, more upset and disappointed as I had built up some good working relationships.

It is also frustrating to see that they bought (Rodrigo) Palacio a year after I had requested him.

Gasperini said that it will be a tough test for Palermo when they travel to the San Siro to face Inte…

Andrea Agnelli says Juventus success in 2012 was just the first step on their route to becoming a football powerhouse once again.

Juve pipped AC Milan to the Serie A title by four points in 2011/12 and remained unbeaten throughout the entire league campaign.

They have since followed that up with a flying start to the new domestic campaign topping the table by four points and qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages as group winners much to the delight of Agnelli.

This year has been great, he told reporters.

We are very proud of what we have achieved. But it is important to think about the next targets. We won t stop now, the 2012 Scudetto was just the first step of our route.

Juve ran out 1-0 winners over Palermo on Sunday thanks to…

Aston Villa announced Wednesday that want-away midfielder Gareth Barry would not be returning to pre-season training on Thursday and said the England international had been disciplined for an unauthorised newspaper interview.

Barry has made it clear he wants to leave Villa for their Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Last weekend he criticised Villa manager Martin O Neill in an interview with the News of the World, saying the Birmingham side s boss was more interested in commentating on Euro 2008 for the BBC than retaining his club captain.

Villa s action came shortly after Liverpool denied Wednesday they d made a final offer for Barry of 15 million pounds (30 million dollars) plus a further two million (four million dollars) depending on the Anfield club s lea…

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp revealed on Friday that the DFB-Pokal was his number one priority at the start of the season.

Reigning champions Bayern Munich will take on Klopp s men in the German Cup final on Saturday in Berlin with both teams looking for their second piece of silverware this season.

Bayern wrapped up the Bundesliga title with seven games left in the season, while Dortmund defeated the Bavarian club 4-2 in the German Super Cup in July.

Klopp labelled the DFB-Pokal final the biggest , due to its accessibility for his team, and claimed he had set Dortmund the goal of winning the cup competition at the start of the campaign.

For me it is the biggest final you could play in, because it is much closer to reach than the Champions League final, t…

Accumulator betting in football remains one of the most popular ways of online punting. Perhaps it’s the excitement, and maybe it’s the skill required to put together the perfect acca. Either way, are so pervasive in the sports betting community that even complete beginners try their hands. This often leads to some misconceptions and practices with questionable results.

We already talked at length about . This time, however, we’ll do things a bit differently. Let’s talk about what not to do when placing accumulator wagers.

Mistakes to Avoid in Accumulator Betting Strategies

The important thing to keep about soccer betting strategy is that it can rely heavily on context. Sometimes, a generally great idea may simply be unusable in the given circumstances. Think …

Patrick Vieira dismissed talk about the Arsenal vacancy as the Nice head coach insisted he is 300 per cent focused on the Ligue 1 side.

Former Arsenal captain Vieira has emerged as a candidate to replace Unai Emery, who was sacked by the struggling Premier League club last week.

But Vieira – a three-time Premier League champion with Arsenal – played down the speculation ahead of Nice s Ligue 1 clash against Metz on Saturday.

I don t have any comments, Vieira told reporters. Sincerely. It s a question I don t have to answer.

Sincerely, I am 100 per cent focused on what I have to do here. And I think I have a lot of things to do here. And I don t want to spread myself over anything.

I am 300 per cent focused on how I can try to find solution…

AC Milan s French forward Jeremy Menez is seeking a move away from San Siro, according to his agent.

Menez, 29, made just 10 Serie A appearances in 2015-16, failing to replicate the form that saw him hit 16 goals in 33 league games for the club a season earlier.

Milan coach Cristian Brocchi has the likes of Carlos Bacca, Luiz Adriano and M Baye Niang competing for places in his attack, and Menez s agent Jean-Pierre Bernes believes his client will be plying his trade elsewhere next term.

Bernes told Gazetta World: Menez has one year left on his Milan contract. I think he will leave the club, and then we will prepare for the future.

We ll see what offers we receive.

…

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis believes the financial might of Juventus is too big a task for Serie A title contenders to overcome.

The Italian giants have won five-straight titles in Italy, claiming the 2015-16 Scudetto by nine points over next-best Napoli, despite not breaking into the top half of the table until the 11th matchday.

De Laurentiis side boasted the league s top goalscorer in Gonzalo Higuain and still could not capitalise on Juventus slow start, but the president says it hard to compete with their rivals such is their financial stability.

It s hard to beat Juve because of their great economic stability, he told Monaco Hebdo.

They can spend three times as much as we do, while I had to start from scratch with Napoli.

There …

Italian legend Giuseppe Dossena is not convinced that Inter Milan signing Ricardo Quaresma will be a good signing.

The 24 year old joined Inter Milan in a deal worth around 30.6 million euros.

For now I am not convinced, Dossena told the Gazzetta dell Sport.

There is a question mark next to Quaresma. He did not have a great Euro 2008.

I would like to see him on the field, I am curious.

Dossena also stated that AC Milan forward Ronaldinho was the best signing this summer.

He said: I like Poulsen and Mellberg (of Juventus), they are two excellent purchases.

The two best signings? Above all, Ronaldinho (for Milan). He is still finding his way back but he is the number 1.

Fiorentina have made a great purchase too in buyi…

Rivals and neighbours North Korea and South Korea played out a 1-1 draw in Asian World Cup qualification on Wednesday in front of a paltry crowd.

Staged at a neutral venue here, only about 500 fans turned up at the Hongkou Stadium. They saw North Korean Hong Yong-Jo convert a penalty in the 63rd minute but the South s Ki Sung-Yeung scored five minutes later to salvage the draw.

This was the fourth draw between the rivals in 2008 alone, although the North will be disappointed not to have come away with a victory.

The North now have a win and a draw in their first two matches in the fourth qualifying round after a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

This was the South s first game in this final qualification phase.

We were so cl…