Tag Archives: spree

Rooney targets scoring spree

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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has managed to score just once in the current campaign but the England international is confident his form will improve soon (United 16/5 – Premier League outright).

Rooney’s off-field problems have been well documented of late, while his form and fitness have also been questioned but the striker is keen to get back amongst the goals and is certain his luck will change soon.

“You just have to keep working hard. I know I’ve been through this before and once one goal goes in, I am sure I will get more,” said Rooney. “If you don’t score, and you have chances, you are disappointed. I want to score but I have got a lot of games left in the season. I am sure this run without scoring will end soon.

“I don’t do anything different. I train as hard as I can every time I train and I do extra training every day and I’ve done that since I was a young boy.

“I’ll keep doing my training and I’m sure the goals will come.”

The 24-year-old has also struggled in front of goal on the international stage and has not scored for England since before the World Cup in South Africa.

The United star could not make an impact in the goalless draw with Montenegro on Tuesday but club and country team-mate Rio Ferdinand feels Rooney will rediscover his form soon and is confident he will be back to his best for both United and England before too long (England 8/1 – Euro 2012 outright).

“I think Wayne put in a good shift (against Montenegro). Sometimes with strikers you just need that little bit of luck in front of goal,” said Ferdinand.

“The ball didn’t really fall for any of our strikers to get a clean chance so to pick out ‘Wazza’ would not be fair.

“The ball just didn’t drop for us in their box. ‘Wazza’ is a great player but we can’t be too reliant on him.”

United face West Brom on Saturday as they look to continue their battle for the Premier League title, with Ferdinand and Rooney both expected to feature against the Baggies (Match Betting – United 2/9, draw 9/2, WBA 11/1).

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Mascherano ends Barca spree

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Barcelona’s sporting vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed that Javier Mascherano’s ‘dream’ move to the Nou Camp completes their transfer dealings for this season (Barcelona 13/5 Champions League Outright).

The Spanish champions swooped to bolster their already impressive midfield options by snapping up Argentina international captain, Mascherano, from Liverpool for a reported £18million on a four-year contract on Monday evening following his five-hour medical.

The Catalan giants, who are aiming to secure the Champions League title this season after failing to emulate their May 2009 success last term, have already snapped up David Villa (11/2f Champions League Top Goalscorer) and Adriano to help them do that.

Bartomeu has now spoken out to reveal that they feel Pep Guardiola’s squad has enough strength in depth to fight it out for the Primera Liga and Champions League.

He said: “The squad is now complete and we will not sign anyone else. We have reached the decision that there is no need to strengthen the team any further.”

Meanwhile Mascherano, who took a pay cut to join Barcelona, could not hide his delight at finally joining the club.

“When I landed I said that I was achieving a dream. At last I will be able to say that I play for Barcelona, the team who I wanted to play for.”

The 26-year-old must now fight it out with some quality players to get into a Barca side that consists of eight of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad.

“It would be stupid if I thought I was going to play all the time. You need to respect the people here who have been doing so well,” he added.

“In my position there are three world champions who have won everything (Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta). For me it is a dream to grow, learn and enjoy playing next to them.”

He added: “I know that they’ve won everything, it’s a team full of great players, with a base of world champions and I will try to be humble and help the team continue winning things.

“I’m going to have the chance to play with players who I admire and I will able to say that I’ve grown and that I’ve been a better player at this club.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I will train to be ready when I’m needed.”

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Mascherano completes Barca spree

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Barcelona’s sporting vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed that Javier Mascherano’s ‘dream’ move to the Nou Camp completes their transfer dealings for this season (Barcelona 13/5 Champions League Outright).

The Spanish champions swooped to bolster their already impressive midfield options by snapping up Argentina international captain, Mascherano, from Liverpool for a reported £18million on a four-year contract on Monday evening following his five-hour medical.

The Catalan giants, who are aiming to secure the Champions League title this season after failing to emulate their May 2009 success last term, have already snapped up David Villa (11/2f Champions League Top Goalscorer) and Adriano to help them do that.

Bartomeu has now spoken out to reveal that they feel Pep Guardiola’s squad has enough strength in depth to fight it out for the Primera Liga and Champions League.

He said: “The squad is now complete and we will not sign anyone else. We have reached the decision that there is no need to strengthen the team any further.”

Meanwhile Mascherano, who took a pay cut to join Barcelona, could not hide his delight at finally joining the club.

“When I landed I said that I was achieving a dream. At last I will be able to say that I play for Barcelona, the team who I wanted to play for.”

The 26-year-old must now fight it out with some quality players to get into a Barca side that consists of eight of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad.

“It would be stupid if I thought I was going to play all the time. You need to respect the people here who have been doing so well,” he added.

“In my position there are three world champions who have won everything (Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta). For me it is a dream to grow, learn and enjoy playing next to them.”

He added: “I know that they’ve won everything, it’s a team full of great players, with a base of world champions and I will try to be humble and help the team continue winning things.

“I’m going to have the chance to play with players who I admire and I will able to say that I’ve grown and that I’ve been a better player at this club.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I will train to be ready when I’m needed.”

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Birmingham eye spending spree

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Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish with goalkeeper Ben FosterBirmingham are 9/4 to finish in the top 10 of the Premier League and Blues boss Alex McLeish is hoping to boost their chances of doing so by adding another four players to his squad.

The Blues were one of the surprise packages of last season when, after winning promotion from the Championship, they managed to finish in the top 10.

Many had them down as relegation fodder but McLeish built a side that upset the form book and the Scot is now hoping for much of the same in the new campaign.

McLeish has already made a couple of shrewd signings when drafting in Nikola Zigic and Ben Foster but he wants more and is also keen on Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia.

The Blues boss admits that the Frenchman might be out of his reach for now but the ambition is there and McLeish is clearly intent on trying to move the club on to the next level.

“That one looks as if it is dead at the moment,” he said of the N’Zogbia move. “I’m not saying totally dead, but it looks like a difficult one, given the asking prices.

“Whether we can go to that level I’m not so sure, so maybe that’s for another day. We are looking at three or four other situations.”

McLeish has the backing of new owner Carson Yeung and the money is there for him to spend where he sees fit. The main problem for the Blues is that other clubs in the Premier League have much more and trying to bridge the gap with the top clubs is becoming almost impossible.

It is not too long ago that clubs like Birmingham could start the season with a real hope of making the top seven, which could lead to a place in Europe, but now it looks as though the top seven are starting to forge a gap between themselves and the rest.

Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham have emerged as serious Champions League contenders and when you add them to the ‘big four’ that have dominated in recent seasons, it is hard to see Birmingham getting into Europe via the league.

The Blues are 22/1 to make it into the top six but that looks highly unlikely unless the likes of Villa have a shocking campaign and Birmingham capitalise.

McLeish will no doubt say that staying in the Premier League is the number one objective but he will have his sights set high again and a top 10 finish will again be the order of the season.

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