3 Rivers Soccer

The England national football team did not have a very memorable 2014 as they were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages after failing to secure a single victory. Even with the early exit from the World Cup, it has certainly been a year to remember for Wayne Rooney as he was appointed as the new coach of England and Manchester United, his responsibilities as a player and a football figure outside of the pitch have increased. Rooney is now even playing in a different position for Manchester United as Louis van Gaal has opted to place him in a midfield role. Wayne Rooney has unveiled details concerning his new position in the pitch as he said that he wants to continue improving as a midfielder but it’s a different and difficult task as Rooney now has to not only think about going upfront in the attack but also aid in the defensive section of the squad.

The winner of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or will be announced on January 12 of 2015. This is an annual award that is given to the best player and coach of the previous season as they are compensated and awarded for their respective accomplishments. It doesn’t come as a surprise to see that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were nominated in the shortlist of 23 players that are being taken into consideration of winning the prestigious individual award. Diego Costa, KarimBenzema, Angel Di Maria, Andres Iniesta, ZlatanIbrahimovic, Toni Kroos, Eden Hazard, ThibautCourtois, Philipp Lahm, Javier Mascherano, Manuel Neuer, Neymar, Paul Pogba, ArjenRobben, Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez, Bastian Schweinsteiger and YayaToure are the other players that were included in the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist.

Michael Dawson completed his move to Hull City a few days ago and now that the experienced defender is not part of Tottenham Hotspur, the captaincy armband is up for grabs but the head coach of the club will not be precipitated or rushed in any way on announcing the new captain of the squad. Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino unveiled details about his plans of announcing the new captain of the squad as he told reporters: ‘’We will decide about the captain in the next few days when the transfer window closes. The past is the past. Football is all about the present and we needed to take a decision. We stayed too much with Michael and I wish him all the best because he is an unbelievable man. He was a very important player for Tottenham in the last 10 years. But football is in the present and this is our decision. We decided with Michael it was the best thing for him because he was not playing regular games’’

The head coach of Chelsea FC, Jose Mourinho has announced that his club did everything right during this transfer window. The Premier League club accomplished their major target which was Diego Costa. Diego Costa made his way from Athletic Madrid to Chelsea with a transfer fee of €32 million. The Spanish forward was the primary objective of Jose Mourinho even before the transfer window kicked off. Costa rampaged through everything during the previous season of the Spanish League as he was the main figure behind Athletic Madrid’s league winning campaign as he went on to score 27 league goals. Chelsea also managed to sign Cesc Fabregas, the former Barcelona man is another high profile player that Jose Mourinho will be in charge of in the next campaign and now the Portuguese manager is confident that with these arrivals, his club is now ready to battle and make a genuine charge at the top of the Premier League.

Wayne Rooney is one of the central figures in the England squad as the Manchester United not surprisingly was named in Roy Hodgons’ provisional list of players which he will be taking with himself for their upcoming international friendly matches but some of those names will have to be dropped before the start of the World Cup. England has struggled trying to get past the quarter-finals of the previous World Cups. It has been over 45 years since the English side has managed on lifting the silverware and even though the nation does indeed have talent spreading around in the entire squad, it has not been enough for them to compete against the teams all over the world. Mick Channon is a 65 year old sportsmen who used to perform in clubs such as: Manchester City, Southampton and Newcastle United just to name a few. With the 2014 World Cup edging closer and closer, Channon voiced his opinion about England but more specifically Wayne Rooney.

Liverpool is preparing to launch an offer in the region of €38 million in order to sign Ross Barkley from Everton. The 20 years old midfielder is enjoying an amazing debut season with the Premier League club and it has already attracted the interest of one of the biggest clubs in the league but unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers, it seems like Everton has no intention of letting him go. The head coach of Everton, Roberto Martinez revealed that he has already turned down a bid which was made by Manchester United some time ago and he will also reject offers from the club in Anfield. He told the england italia todennäköisyys website that “in terms of the speculation, we already turned down a £50 million bid from United, so we’re not going to take £38 million from Liverpool. It’s quite enjoyable to speak about speculation. I think it shows how well our players are doing and those are the type of football compliments that we want coming our way.”

Neymar is surely one of the few luckiest souls- and why not it’s the football legend Pele who is rooting for him this World CUP. According to the best footballer of all times, the young Brazilian has it in him to lead Brazil to the Cup this time. Pele was just a nine year old kid when Brazil tragically lost in 1950 world against Uruguay. However, the soccer legend led his country towards the coveted title 8 years later in 1962 & then again in the year 1970. If Neymar gets to achieve the same feat this time, he will be able to relieve his football mad countrymen from the shattering memory of losing when Brazil hosted World last time. With Pele’s & Neymar’s homeland hosting the most prestigious soccer tournament this time, the younger one is surely under a hell lot of pressure. However, the 22-year-old seems to be in a positive form lately which is evident from his hat-trick score against S. Africa last week.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho publicly courted Wayne Rooney in order to get him in the summer, but Manchester United prevented the striker from joining one of their rivals. It is understood that Chelsea still retain their interest in Rooney, but they are also aware that United will not sell him. Mourinho said ahead of the meeting with Manchester United that he expects Rooney to be sold in the summer since the striker had only 12 months left on his contract. He also said that Rooney's possible destination is likely to be abroad since United are not interested in any deal with a domestic rival. David Moyes, though, has reacted to these claims by saying that the striker is not going to be sold in the summer. The former Everton man has come under intense pressure due to poor results, while he is also having to defend United's failings in the transfer window since his arrival.

Gerrard said: “I think everyone knows how much I rate him. “I think we are very lucky to have him and we have to enjoy him while he’s here. For me he is one of the top four or five players in the world for sure.” The English midfielder spoke about his partner being one of the main attractions for top European clubs and he suggested Liverpool to take advantage of the time he remains with them before actually joining another club. Even with his infamous disciplinary problems he has faced in the past, Suarez still is a major target of Real Madrid, Arsenal and more recently Juventus as they have shown interest in signing the Uruguayan forward which caused Steven Gerrard on saying that they are lucky to have him. Joining forces with Daniel Sturridge, Suarez has helped Liverpool on making the impressive start of the season they have been going through as they are in 2nd place with 23 points behind the table toppers Arsenal only 3 points ahead of them.

Wayne Rooney recently went past the 200 mark when it comes to the number of goals scored from Manchester United. He is on course to beating Sir Bobby Charlton, who has 249 goals, in the next few years if he continues to stay at United. Rooney came extremely close to leaving the club in the summer, as he was reportedly unhappy about being used in a number of positions. The comments made by new manager David Moyes in the pre-season about Rooney being a backup to Robin van Persie did not help matters either. Now, defender Viv Anderson, who was a former Manchester United player, says that Rooney is already a club legend.