Struggling Eintracht Frankfurt have sacked coach Armin Veh in less than a season in charge after a seven-match winless run saw them slip into the relegation zone, the club said yesterday.
Veh had taken over in July on a two-year contract. A 1-1 draw against promoted Ingolstadt on Saturday compounded Frankfurt’s woes.
“Parting ways was very difficult for us because Armin Veh had our faith until now,” said club CEO Heribert Bruchhagen.
“But we wanted to give the team with this change of coach an important impulse because we want to be successful in our relegation battle.”
City back on title track – Kompany
Vincent Kompany believes Manchester City are back in the groove after revitalising their title challenge with a comprehensive defeat of Aston Villa.
City thrashed the Premier League’s bottom side 4-0 on Saturday to move within two points of third-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.
Kompany said: “It’s been an awkward week but if you actually look at the last four games we’ve won three of them. They were over different competitions.
“Actually in the last four games we’ve shown three times that we can achieve a very good level of play. That’s what we’ve got to maintain from now until the end of the season.”
Swansea rally round in Guidolin absence
Ashley Williams says the Swansea players have accepted more responsibility since head coach Francesco Guidolin was admitted to hospital.
Swansea recorded back-to-back Premier League wins for only the second time this season as Gylfi Sigurdsson’s sixth goal in 10 games saw off relegation rivals Norwich.
“With the gaffer not being here we’ve had to step up a little bit and try and make it smoother on game day and in training,” Williams said.
“Going to London for a week (for the Tottenham and Arsenal games) has brought us closer together as a squad and we can’t really ask more from two games.”
Macheda sends warning to Rashford
Teenage striker Marcus Rashford has been told he must keep working hard, ignore the hype surrounding him and have a little luck to succeed in the long term at Manchester United.
According to former United prodigy Federico Macheda, Rashford needs to capitalise on his sensational start in the first team at Old Trafford.
“Marcus needs to continue working hard, don’t grow a big head, don’t read or listen to all the hype and be lucky with injuries.
“The kid has got a great chance to play more than I had, so he must stay as calm and hungry as he is now.”
Niersbach has regrets on Qatar payment
Former German football association president Wolfgang Niersbach has expressed regret at not telling his fellow DFB board members about a €6.7 million payment to an account in Qatar in 2005 when he was made aware of it 10 years later.
Niersbach admitted the last few months have been the worst of his life amid allegations he had known about a payment made in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, which Germany hosted, allegedly made to secure votes to stage the tournament.
“I could never have imagined in my worst nightmares what has happened over the past few weeks and months,” Niersbachsaid.
“I regret it, but I did not want to hide or mislead anybody. I just wanted to clear everything up before being able to present satisfactory results to the board.”
Origi turned down United as teenager
Liverpool star Divock Origi has revealed that he rejected a move to Man. United as a teenager.
Origi, 20, completed a £10 million transfer to Liverpool from Lille in July 2014 before immediately being sent back to the Ligue 1 side for the 2014-15 season.
Now part of the Reds’ first-team squad, the Belgium international says that he is satisfied at how his career has progressed and does not regret turning down Sir Alex Ferguson’s offer to move to Old Trafford in 2011.
“At that moment I just realised about the academy and Lille and the French League. I saw Eden Hazard coming through and other players there, like Gervinho and Joe Cole,” he said.
“I thought I would have the chance to get through at Lille, and so I said no to Man. United.”
Barca, Arsenal revenues at €1bn
The Champions League clash between Barcelona and Arsenal features two clubs with combined revenues of almost one billion euros – the highest ever for a last-16 tie in the competition.
The Deloitte Football Money League, which profiles the highest-earning clubs in world football, puts the two clubs’ combined revenue from 2014/15 at €996.3 million.
Barcelona’s revenue is €560.8 million and Arsenal’s €435.5m.
The clubs in the last 16 have a total revenue of over €4.3billion.