Month: February 2020

The Reds legend passed the armband to a fellow midfielder when leaving Merseyside in 2015 and sees the club in safe hands on and off the field

Liverpool would not function properly “without a cog like Jordan Henderson”, says club legend and former captain Steven Gerrard.

A Reds icon passed the armband to a fellow midfielder when swapping life on Merseyside for that in California back in the summer of 2015, as he headed to MLS with the LA Galaxy.

Gerrard claims to have never had any doubts that he was leaving Liverpool in safe hands and Henderson has more than justified the faith shown in him, with the England international now a Champions League winner, Premier League title hopeful and leading contender for the 2020 PFA Player of the Year award.

Now manager at Rangers, Gerrard told the Daily Mail of a man he once played alongside and is now admiring from afar: “I appreciated Jordan’s power and fitness by training with him.

“Some players play for themselves, Jordan does the dirty running, grappling for second balls, 12 or 13km Saturday and Wednesday, again and again.

“Teams can’t function at Liverpool’s level without a cog like Jordan Henderson. He’s obviously going to be a Premier League winner. I look at him and think: good for you.

“He has that confidence now. He has lifted the European Cup above his head.

“I don’t deserve one iota of credit, he has done it all himself, but I remember a chat with Jordan in LA a while ago and he wasn’t sure whether he was coming or going at the club.

“I remember saying to him don’t give up on Liverpool, you’ll be fine. I knew what he had inside and that he would get there. You know with certain people.”

While Henderson has contributed significantly to success on the field over the course of the last 12 months, Jurgen Klopp continues to pull the strings off it.

The German tactician is another presence at Anfield that Gerrard has the utmost respect for, with Liverpool having found the perfect coach to bring the good times back.

Gerrard added on Klopp: “He has this stature. When he walks in a room, it’s ‘Whoa’.

“If he was your manager you’d think ‘I am running here’. This Liverpool team are monsters and it’s come from him the moment he arrived.

“For the players to have that level of respect for their manager in a modern dressing room is special. You can see everyone is tuned in, physically and mentally.

“To get that from your players is a tough nut to crack. And I sense Liverpool is growing again around the world.”

Liverpool, who will be looking to pull 22 points clear again at the top of the Premier League, will be back in action on Monday when they take in a home date with West Ham.

The Germany international goalkeeper feels settled at Camp Nou and expects that an agreement will be reached with the Blaugrana at some stage

Marc-Andre ter Stegen will not be rushing into signing a new contract at Barcelona, but talks have been held regarding an extension to a deal that still has two years left to run.

As things stand, the Germany international goalkeeper is tied to the Liga champions through to the summer of 2022.

With there no immediate threat to the Blaugrana when it comes to the future of a key man, neither party is prioritising the agreement of fresh terms.

Initial discussions have been held, though, in an effort to sound out where Ter Stegen stands.

The 27-year-old has made it clear that he is happy at Camp Nou and that putting pen to paper is an option that he will likely take up when the right opportunity presents itself.

“I have two years left on my contract, my family and I are very happy here, we are at home,” Ter Stegen told Mundo Deportivo.

“The intention is to continue. At the moment there are conversations, but loose ones, because there is no hurry on my part. 

“I am very focused on my work, we have some very tough weeks ahead and we want to win. 

“I leave the whole contract subject to my agent, who is the one who is dedicated to it and who informs me of everything.”

Continued success on the field will make it easier for Ter Stegen to sign a new contract.

He has already collected four league titles, the Copa del Rey as many times and a Champions League crown during his time in Catalunya.

The intention is to add to that medal collection in 2020, with Barca chasing down further glory at home and abroad.

Ter Stegen added: “Every year the Champions League is in focus, it is a very good competition that we all have the hunger to go far in and achieving something that is very difficult. 

Click Here: NRL Telstra Premiership

“We have a game that will be very difficult but we know that we are going to put everything we have to get a good result and finish the work at Camp Nou. 

“Let’s go step by step as that has always helped us.”

Barcelona, who have moved back to the top of the Liga table, will take in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 encounter with Napoli on Tuesday.

The Hammers boss is confident that an England international midfielder will remain in his current surroundings rather than go looking for a switch

Declan Rice continues to generate talk of interest from the likes of Manchester United, but David Moyes expects the England international to become club captain at West Ham.

A talented 21-year-old at the London Stadium has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence.

Moyes helped to put Rice on that path during his first spell as Hammers boss, with a highly-rated academy graduate given regular minutes in 2017-18.

A promising youngster who was operating in defence and part of the Republic of Ireland set-up at that stage has come a long way in a short space of time.

Rice is now one of the Premier League’s leading holding midfielders, a regular in the England fold and a player many of West Ham’s rivals would welcome the opportunity to snap up.

Moyes has conceded in the past that he may struggle to retain the services of a prized asset, but he has been given no indication that a future skipper in east London is looking for a move.

The Hammers manager told Sky Sports of Rice: “Declan will go on to be a future captain of West Ham, there’s no doubt about that.

“I can see big improvements from when I left.

“He’s now someone who is physically much better: he’s much quicker, much stronger. And he has a better understanding.

“I think he’s learning under Mark Noble the leadership side of it. He was a quiet boy when I first came to the club, but he’s developing a good personality. He’s got a lot of things to do better but as a young boy, he’s doing very well.

“So many of the young boys these days are looking to be improved by coaches but quite often it’s your own self-development as a player. You have to develop yourself, you have to understand, you have to pick things up very quickly and not always rely on you coaches to be your guide.

“Many of the great players got into a team and had to find their own way to do things. Declan’s doing that himself. He is self-developing – and he’s doing an awful lot of things which prove why he’s getting into Gareth Southgate’s England squads.”

Moyes added on the impact Rice has made at West Ham: “There are bits of his game which we are hoping he’ll improve with time, with development. But at the moment he’s taking a big role at the club.

“There’s no one better for him to look up to at this club. Mark will give him a true reflection on how he is and how the club is. He’s good that way. But Mark probably learnt from really good people in front of him over the years, he had people to look up to. You need people the young players should be aspiring to.”

Rice and West Ham will be back in action on Monday when they take in a trip to Liverpool, with Moyes’ side looking to spring a surprise against the unbeaten Premier League leaders and clamber out of the relegation zone.

Click Here: IQOS White

The legacy of the Blues boss and his former team-mates gives immortal status to the side that enjoyed their first and only success in the competition

Frank Lampard’s story will be forever intertwined with that of Chelsea as it was he who lifted the Champions League trophy after the most important triumph in the club’s long and illustrious history.

As the former midfielder regularly says himself, the 2012 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich represents his finest hour as a player; a victory that Blues fans will talk and sing about forever.

Indeed, they revel in telling their Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City counterparts: “Champions of Europe; you will never sing that!”

This week, though, Chelsea will face Bayern Munich again, only this time with Lampard as their manager. It will be the most significant test of his coaching career to date. Going into the last-16 tie, the Blues are arguably even bigger underdogs than they were eight years ago.

The Chelsea of today is a very different side to the Chelsea of 2012. Roberto Di Matteo’s team was packed with club legends, but they were approaching the end of their careers.

Lampard himself was 33, Ashley Cole 31, and Didier Drogba 34. The latter, of course, decided the game in Chelsea’s favour. Drogba not only netted a dramatic late equaliser from the Blues’ first corner of the game, he also converted the winning spot-kick in the penalty shootout.

The Ivorian still can’t quite believe what happened that night in Munich.

“Did you know I was going to do that in 2012? I didn’t. Even me, I didn’t know,” Drogba said in an interview with Goal last season.

Drogba may have dominated the headlines but Lampard also played a pivotal role.

When he eventually emerged from a joyous Chelsea dressing room to meet the media at two in the morning, Lampard had a beer in hand. And a well-deserved one at that.

A natural No.8, the England international was employed as a holding midfielder alongside John Obi Mikel due to the absences of Raul Meireles and Ramires and helped the Chelsea defence repel wave after wave of Bayern attacks.

“Can I just say one thing to my little girls? My little girls are back at home. I told you Chelsea were the best team in the world and tonight we are. Get in!” a jubilant Lampard roared on Sky Sports after the game.

Mikel will never forget that night either.

“We were the first London club to win the Champions League, and forever we will be the first players to win the Champions League for Chelsea. Those memories will never go away,” the Nigerian told Goal.

“I can remember the night in Germany, it was absolutely crazy. Doing it for the fans was absolutely amazing.”

Chelsea faced 35 shots and 20 corners at the Allianz Arena. But roared on by 17,500 fans, they battled their way to the unlikeliest of victories over a Bayern side that had the benefit of playing the final in their own stadium.

But Chelsea felt that their name was on the cup that season, and with good cause. They had overturned a 3-1 first-leg deficit to beat Napoli in the last 16 and upset Barcelona in the semi-finals in the most incredible of circumstances.

Chelsea were down to 10 men following John Terry’s dismissal, and trailing 2-0 on the night, and 2-1 on aggregate, as half-time approached in their second-leg clash with the Blaugrana at Camp Nou.

Ramires, though, bagged a precious away goal just moments before the break and, after Lionel Messi had sensationally missed a second-half penalty, Fernando Torres famously booked the visitors’ place in Munich by finishing a stunning breakaway in the dying minutes.

The current Chelsea squad contains several players who were only just taking their first steps towards the first team at Cobham Training Centre when the club finally lifted the trophy that Roman Abramovich had been craving for so long.

Academy products Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James were all boyhood Chelsea supporters. Tomori still remembers where he was when Drogba & Co. silenced Munich.

“I was actually at my friend’s house with my mum,” the defender told Goal. “It got to half-time and we were 30 minutes away from our house, so we had to drive at half time.

“We missed the first 15 minutes of the second half and then Thomas Muller scored but Drogba equalised. When they went on to win it, I remember my friend called me immediately and he was just screaming down the phone.

“I was playing for Chelsea and I was so happy. I saw my friend the next day; he was buzzing and I was buzzing.

“I remember when me and my dad first went to a Chelsea game. We were sat literally next to the tunnel and me and my dad were looking at each other and we were like, ‘They don’t look real, they don’t look like real people, they look like robots.’

“Back then, it was surreal but now you see these people on a regular basis, so you just realise they are regular people and it has kind of sunk in now.”

Lampard will have hammered that home to his young charges. Anything is possible for those that work hard enough.

Chelsea and Lampard proved that in 2012; maybe they can do so again.

Click Here: Putters

The midfielder speaks about his own improvement and that of the team, but also the constant desire to improve in all aspects of the game

European champions Liverpool may be flying high at the top of the Premier League, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his team are always striving to improve.

The English midfielder has enjoyed a run of games in the Premier League for Jurgen Klopp’s side and has started the last six games.

Liverpool are 19 points clear at the top with a game in hand on the chasing pack, which they will play against West Ham United at Anfield.

Oxlade-Chamberlain says any talk of winning the league is being shut down, specifically by their captain, Jordan Henderson.

“I look at Jordan Henderson because he’s lifted the European Cup, how much that meant to him, but you wouldn’t have thought he’d lifted anything from the way he is,” he told the Daily Mirror.

“If anyone even utters the words ‘winning the league’ then he shuts them straight down. He’s done it externally as well, he won’t ever let himself get carried away. He’s just so driven, focused on the next game and the next thing.

“That’s how we are as a team and how I am as an individual. My dad built that into me so that I am never too excited by anything that’s going on around you, you’ve got to go onto the next thing to achieve the next target.”

The England international has improved this season under Klopp after recovering from a serious knee injury which kept him out for most of the last campaign.

He has recovered well and has played a major part in Liverpool’s rise to the top of the league, but despite that is still looking to add things to his game, especially goals.

“I feel like I need to do a lot more if I’m being really honest. It’s my best my goalscoring season,” he said.

“But, for me, I haven’t scored enough, I need to get more numbers and I’ve got the perfect base and the perfect team to do more.

“It’s a strange one. I think there are certain things that have definitely suggested I’ve improved. I could see it in my first season here just before I got injured that things were going in the right way and it felt like I was a big part of a team going in the right direction collectively.

“That’s the environment we are in and I don’t know if that’s what we’ve built as a team or that’s the way I feel about myself, but I wouldn’t look at this season and clearly say I’ve taken a big step forward because in my eyes I need to do a lot more.

“I feel I need to do keep pushing to keep up with the rest of this team and everyone around to be a part of this. The only thing I can say is that I feel I have taken a step forward from two or three years ago because I’m now getting more minutes consistently.

“I think I’ve started six Premier League games in a row and it sounds funny but I can’t really remember me doing that before. I don’t think i ever did that at Arsenal . Look back and check but I don’t think I did. But I genuinely can’t remember playing that regularly.”

Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey

Malgré bientôt 30 ans de carrière, Mylène Farmer reste la plus mystérieuse des artistes français. Ou presque… Avant de découvrir notre interview confidence dans Gala en kisoque mardi, nous vous dévoilons de petits secrets, jusque la bien gardés.

De neige et de Breizh. Afin d’expliquer sa passion pour la neige, l’histoire a retenu sa naissance à Pierrefonds, au Québec, où son père, ingénieur, avait été affecté pour participer à la construction du barrage de Manicouagan. Mais Mylène Farmer, élevée par la suite, avec sa sœur Brigitte et ses frères Jean-Loup et Michel, à Ville-d’Avray, en banlieue parisienne, ne garde que très peu de souvenirs du Canada. Ce que l’on sait moins, c’est que du sang breton coule également dans ses veines, puisqu’une partie de sa famille maternelle est effectivement originaire du Grand Ouest. Pour rajouter une pincée de celte, rappelons – cela ne saurait être totalement un hasard – que l’un de ses films cultes est La fille de Ryan de David Lean, tourné en Irlande, dont les paysages ne sont pas sans évoquer ceux de la Bretagne.

L’appel de la forêt. Depuis l’adolescence, la chanteuse, qui, quelques années plus tôt, se rêvait vétérinaire, est une cavalière émérite. Elle cultive également une certaine fascination pour les insectes. Mais ce sont deux créatures extra-ordinaires qui l’ont accompagnée dans son quotidien, ces dernières années. Pendant vingt-sept ans, Mylène a partagé, entre autres secrets bien gardés, sa passion du dessin avec E.T., un singe femelle capuçin pour laquelle elle avait fait emménager une immense cage dans son domicile parisien. Depuis plus d’un an, suite à la disparition du primate à l’origine du titre de son dernier album, Monkey Me, la chanteuse promène à ses côtés un berger suisse blanc, prénommée Liloup. Cette chienne aux allures de louve a, pour les plus attentifs, déjà été mise à l’honneur dans le clip de sa chanson A l’ombre. De même, dans les coulisses de sa récente tournée Timeless 2013 de la chanteuse, les badges after-show affichaient la gueule de l’animal incroyablement photogénique.

Une amitié au long cours. Avant d’être repérée par Laurent Boutonnat, Mylène, passionnée par le jeu d’acteur, a fréquenté au début des années quatre-vingt le prestigieux Cours Florent, notamment aux côtés d’Isabelle Nanty et de Vincent Lindon. A ce jour, le comédien demeure un ami de Mylène et fait partie des rares célébrités entrées dans son cercle d’intimes. Aperçu parmi les spectateurs des premières représentations de la tournée Timeless 2013, à Bercy, en septembre dernier, il comptait de nouveau dans le public d’une de ses dates bruxelloises, à la mi-novembre.

Muse et égérie. Niveau musique, Mylène aime tout particulièrement la discographie et la personnalité de Freddy Mercury, feu leader du groupe Queen. Parmi les vivants, elle s’intéresse de près à l’œuvre d’un autre iconoclaste, le jeune Belge Stromae. On l’a également aperçue au printemps dernier à un concert de l’évanescente Lana Del Rey, à l’Olympia. Mais c’est avec Matthew Bellamy, le chanteur du groupe Muse, qu’elle rêverait de chanter un duo. La chanteuse ne manque jamais une représentation parisienne du trio anglais. Affaire à suivre…

Les fans de sa vie. On la dit « recluse ». Elle déteste ce mot. Si elle tient au respect de sa vie privée, Mylène Farmer ne rechigne jamais à signer un autographe ou à se laisser prendre en photo par ses admirateurs. En marge de sa tournéeTimeless 2013, attablée avec une demi-douzaine de convives dans une crêperie de Lille qui venait d’ouvrir, la chanteuse a poliment refusé de se laisser inviter par la jeune patronne des lieux, mais c’est avec plaisir qu’elle a accepté de dessiner un drôle de petit personnage sur un des murs de l’établissement pour preuve de son passage. Collector !

Très attendu, annoncé à grand renfort de photos et de bandes annonces qui sentaient le souffre, le Nymphomaniac de Lars von Trier débarque enfin sur nos écrans. Du moins sa première partie. Résultat : un film inégal qui dépasse les simples scènes de sexe filmées crûment.

Le vieux Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) recueille chez lui Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), une jeune femme qu’il découvre inanimée et blessée dans une ruelle. En même temps qu’il la soigne, celle qui se dit nymphomane lui raconte sa vie sexuelle. Un récit qui se découpe en chapitres, depuis la perte de sa virginité jusqu’aux hommes d’un soir en passant par un concours avec une copine, dans un train, à celle qui se tapera le plus d’hommes en une soirée.

Nymphomaniac sort en deux parties (la 2e est prévue pour le 29 janvier), dans une version censurée que Lars von Trier a autorisée sans y avoir pris part, comme le précise la production au début du film. Difficile donc de juger de manière précise et complète ce qu’a voulu proposer le réalisateur danois. On sort forcément de Nymphomaniac avec un petit sentiment de frustration et de goût d’inachevé.

Certaines scènes ont été coupées pour ne pas heurter le public, mais pourtant celles qui ont subsisté à la coupe pourraient tout à fait figurer dans un film X, ce qui confirme le parfum de scandale qui entoure la sortie de Nymphomaniac. D’autant que sans faire preuve d’un puritanisme exacerbé, on se dit qu’elles ne sont pas forcément nécessaires au récit. Ok, le film raconte l’histoire d’une nymphomane, mais voir des sexes en érection, des fellations ou autre détails n’apporte pas grand chose si ce n’est le plaisir coupable d’assister à un spectacle subversif.

Fidèle à ses habitudes, Lars von Trier a choisi un casting aussi surprenant qu’efficace. Il a réussi à convaincre des acteurs et des actrices dont le X n’est pas le métier, de jouer dans ce qu’il faut appeler un film porno. Mention spéciale à la jeune Stacy Martin qui révèle tout son talent et son charme dans cette histoire transgressive plutôt sordide, mais pas dénuée d’humour. C’est elle qui tient le film et joue le personnage de Joe jeune. Il faudra attendre le second volume pour voir Charlotte Gainsbourg se mettre en danger.

De Lars von Trier, avec Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stacy Martin, Uma Thurman. 1h50

Click Here: brisbane lions guernsey 2019

Ricky Martin va commencer 2014 seul. Le chanteur et son boyfriend, Carlos Gonzalez Abella, ont mis un terme à leur relation après plus de cinq ans d’une belle histoire d’amour.

Toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin. Après cinq années ensemble, Ricky Martin et Carlos Gonzalez Abella se sont séparés. « Ricky et Carlos ont pris d’un commun accord la décision de mettre un terme à leur relation. Ils vont continuer à être amis grâce notamment à leurs expériences partagées » a confié un représentant du chanteur dans un communiqué repris par le Los Angeles Times.
En début de semaine, l’artiste avait déjà donné un premier indice en postant sur Twitter « Changes oh changes ». Un message évasif mais assez limpide compte tenu du contexte. Pour le nouvel an, Ricky Martin s’est rendu seul à Cancun, pour un show au Moon Palace Golf & Spa Ressort. Selon une autre source qui s’est exprimée dans le magazine américain People, la distance pourrait être également un des motifs de la séparation: « ils passaient très peu de temps ensemble et évoluaient chacun de leur côté ».
Le latin lover et son compagnon s’étaient rencontrés en 2008 mais ce n’est qu’en 2010 que Ricky Martin révèle son homosexualité aux yeux du monde.Une étape importante, qui avait libéré le chanteur: « Je regarde en arrière et je réalise que je tyrannisais les personnes que je savais homosexuelles. J’ai intériorisé l’homophobie. Jusqu’à ce que je réalise que ça me confrontait à moi-même. Désormais, je suis fier de dire que je suis un homme homosexuel chanceux » expliquait-il dans le GQ australien en septembre dernier. Finalement, l’ancien tyran était devenu doux comme un agneau depuis sa rencontre avec Carlos. Les deux amoureux s’étaient même fiancés et s’occupaient ensemble des deux jumeaux de Ricky, Matteo et Valentino, aujourd’hui âgés de cinq ans. A 42 ans, le beau brun va retrouver un peu de liberté même si la liste des prétendants ne devrait pas tarder à s’étoffer.

Cela lui pendait au nez. A force de se trémousser en petite tenue—voire nue— dans des poses plutôt suggestives, Britney Spears voit son clip interdit d’antenne avant 22h par le CSA. Même verdict pour sa copine Miley.

Selon un communiqué du Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel français, le clip de la chanson Work b**tch de Britney Spears n’est rien d’autre qu’ «une mise en scène d’un univers sadomasochiste qui donne de la femme une représentation susceptible de choquer de nombreux téléspectateurs». Quant à celui de Miley Cyrus, Wrecking Ball, il n’est pas mieux puisqu’il montre des «scènes à connotations sexuelles».

Il est vrai que voir la jeune chanteuse de 21 ans se balancer, nue comme un ver, sur une boule de démolition, léchant langoureusement ses lèvres d’un rouge carmin, est assez osé. De même qu’admirer Britney, en tenue de latex noire moulante, entourée de demoiselles à quatre pattes, peut être un choc pour les plus jeunes. Voilà pourquoi le CSA souhaite interdire leur diffusion sur les écrans de télévision français avant 22 heures, histoire de préserver un peu l’innocence de nos chers enfants.

Click Here: Germany Football Shop

Cette décision, le CSA l’avait déjà pris à l’encontre de la sulfureuse artiste Rihanna à cause de son clip S&M. Une censure dont avait également fait les frais, en mai dernier, College Boy du groupe Indochine. La vidéo jugée violente montrait en effet le lynchage d’un adolescent par ses camarades de classe.

Mais Britney Spears et Miley Cyrus, qui n’en sont plus à une provocation près, se moquent de heurter les sensibilités. Au contraire, c’est même le but recherché puisque leurs dérapages éthiques —et parfois éthyliques—font à chaque fois le buzz. Dépasser la ligne jaune est donc devenu leur passe-temps favori. Que le CSA les sanctionne n’est alors qu’une étape obligée, presque une formalité…

Il devait participer au tournage de deux films, mais la mort prématurée de Paul Walker a forcé la production à lui trouver des remplaçants. Deux noms circulent déjà, James Marsden et Rupert Friend. La ressemblance est quelque peu troublante…

Si l’acteur n’a pas eu besoin de remplaçant pour Fast and Furious 7, il a fallu lui en trouver pour deux autres de ses projets dont il n’avait pas encore entamé le tournage. Ce sont les comédiens James Marsden et Rupert Friend qui ont été choisis. Pour leurs qualités d’acteurs, mais aussi pour leur ressemblance avec Paul Walker. La star américaine décédée lors d’un accident de la route devait tenir les premiers rôles de la suite du film d’action Hitman, tiré du célèbre jeu vidéo, et d’une romance, The Best of Me.

Click Here: Germany Football Shop

C’est Rupert Friend, vu dans la très réussie série Homeland, qui aurait été approché par le réalisateur Aleksander Bach pour interpréter Hitman. James Marsden, lui, va reprendre la place de Walker dans The Best of Me, inspiré d’un best seller de Nicholas Spars (Une Seconde Chance en français). Avec Michelle Monaghan, ils vont jouer un couple qui après avoir vécu une histoire d’amour intense durant leur adolescence se retrouve une fois adulte grâce à un ami de l’époque. Le projet devrait rapidement entrer en tournage, sa date de sortie américaine étant fixée au 17 octobre prochain.

En revanche, Paul Walker n’aura pas besoin de remplaçant pour Fast and Furious 7. Ce qui ravit d’avance ses fans. L’acteur mythique du « film vroum-vroum » aurait tourné suffisamment de scènes pour qu’elles puissent être intégrées dans la version finale du film. James Wan et son équipe ont même trouvé un moyen de ne pas tuer Brian O’Conner, le personnage de Paul Walker, que son frère devait remplacer, en lui faisant «prendre sa retraite».