Arsenal confirmed more than 200 million cash reserves

Arsenal have almost £200m in the bank after making an increased profit
of £25m last year, the Premier League club's latest accounts have
revealed.
The figures, covering the year ending 31 May 2015, show the Gunners
spent a record £114m on new players.
But they have been criticised by some fans for only making one signing -
keeper Petr Cech - over the summer.
"We're focused on delivering more success," said Arsenal chief executive
Ivan Gazidis.
The cash reserves of £193.1m are intended to cover costs for a full season
and are not solely designated for player transfers.
However, the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association insists the
strong financial figures must be matched by positive results on the pitch.
Arsene Wenger's team lost 2-1 at Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions
League opener on Wednesday.
"The financial figures will only add fuel to the fire for those calling for
further squad investment," said AISA chair Lois Langton.
Profit before tax was £24.7m, up from £4.7m in 2014, while the north
London club say they have no short-term debt.
Total turnover was £344.5m - an increase of £42.6m from the previous
year, boosted by a new kit partnership with Puma.
"We continue to look to develop every aspect of our operations while
remaining true to our principles around being self-funding, investing in
youth, our style of play and our commitment to our fans and to our place in
the community," added Gazidis.

Arsène Wenger: No excuses for the Chelsea game

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side have no "cheap excuses"
regarding a lack of preparation time for Saturday's game at Chelsea.
Their Premier League game at Stamford Bridge kicks off at 12:45 BST.
The Gunners were beaten in Croatia by Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions
League on Wednesday, the same day the Blues beat Maccabi Tel Aviv at
home.
"I don't use that as an excuse," said Wenger. "I believe we are in a position
where we can perform."
Wenger aims for 'full power'
Wenger made six changes in Zagreb as he dropped keeper Petr Cech, left-
back Nacho Monreal, midfielder Francis Coquelin and forward Theo
Walcott to the bench, while midfielder Aaron Ramsey and right-back
Hector Bellerin were not in the squad.
Ramsey and Bellerin are back in contention to play Chelsea, while Wenger
says he has yet to decide whether Olivier Giroud, who was sent off in
Croatia, or Walcott will start.
"I stand up for my selection and take responsibility for it," added the
Frenchman. "I believe we can repair what happened.
"We are on a good run in the Premier League and it is important now to
look at that.
"Every defeat hurts but every defeat is also an opportunity to respond in a
very strong way."
Wenger refused to go into his fractious relationship with Chelsea
counterpart Jose Mourinho or the struggling start his 17th-placed rivals
have had.
"I do not consider too much where Chelsea stands at the moment and I'm
focused more on us performing well with full power," he said.

Uefa champions league team of the week

GK
Buffon - Juventus

DEFENDERS
Florenzi - AS Roma
Pivaric - Dynamo Zagreb
Bonucci - Juventus
Dante - Wolfsburg

MIDFIELDERS
Hakan - Bayer Leverkusen
Gaitan - Benfica
Di Maria - PSG

ATTACKERS
Griezmann - Atl Madrid
Hulk - Zenith St Petersburg
Ronaldo - Real Madrid

Kevin De Bruyne: Mourinho only spoke to me twice

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne claims he only spoke to Jose
Mourinho twice during his ill-fated six months under the Portuguese
manager at Chelsea.
De Bruyne is desperate to prove himself in England with a reported fee of
£55million hanging over his head at City, plus his previous struggles to
make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League can be a brutal place with plenty of talented
footballers having been branded failures by the English media and fans for
poor stints in England, despite having had successful careers elsewhere
both before and after.
Think Shinji Kagawa at Manchester United or Andre Schurrle at Chelsea.
But De Bruyne said his critics forget he first joined Chelsea at just 20
years of age, while he was at the club during the tenures of three separate
managers - Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Mourinho - over
just two years.
Now at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne insists he is a more mature
individual, while he said a lack of communication gave him little chance
under Mourinho.
"You can't compare with me two years ago at Chelsea," De Bruyne said on
Friday.
"It's a different situation and I am a completely different person. I was
younger and just didn't play that much. I wasn't even on the bench.
"I didn't get any explanation. I only talked with him twice, Mourinho. That
was before a game against Basel in November, where he said I was doing
better and that I would get my chance.
"And then again one week before January, that's the day I said I wanted to
go out because, even if I was training better, I was not getting any minutes.
So for me it was better to go."
De Bruyne was sold to Wolfsburg and after an impressive season-and-a-
half back in the Bundesliga - where he had previously played on loan from
Chelsea at Werder Bremen - the Belgium international earned a big-
money move to City.
He is relishing his second chance in the Premier League.
"You know there is going to be a lot of pressure," he said.
"When I was coming here, the first thing I said to everyone was that when I
get to England I will have to prove that I am a good player.
"I know everyone will talk about the money. It was the same in Belgium
when I was with the national team for two weeks. They only talked about
how much City paid to Wolfsburg, and how much I am going to earn."
While De Bruyne concedes he was perhaps impatient for game-time at
Chelsea, the 24-year-old said he may have played "too much" at
Wolfsburg last term and is happy enough to be rotated by City manager
Manuel Pellegrini.
The former Genk youth player is also happy to play out wide at City as he
knows David Silva is Pellegrini's main option in the number 10 role.
"Even though I played as number 10 a lot at Wolfsburg, I was the guy who
was drifting out a lot to the sides. You have to be a little bit open-minded,
not fixed on one position," De Bruyne said.
"I'm not somebody who talks a lot with the coach. Of course, you want to
know sometimes what he thinks and what you need to do, or what he thinks
you need to do.
"That was maybe the biggest part that went wrong at Chelsea."

Ferguson: I wanted to continue as United manager but

Alex Ferguson said he would have definitely carried on as Manchester
United manager if it was not for the death of his wife's sister.
Ferguson called time on his tenure in 2013 after winning 38 trophies in 26
glorious years at Old Trafford.
The 73-year-old's retirement, despite is age, surprised many and the Scot
said he had no plans to retire but he wanted to be by wife Cathy's side
following the death of her twin sister Bridget Robertson three years ago.
"I definitely would have carried on," Ferguson told the Telegraph.
"I saw she [Cathy Ferguson] was watching television one night, and she
looked up at the ceiling. I knew she was isolated. Her and Bridget were
twins, you know?
"But when I told her this time I was going to retire she had no objection
whatsoever. I knew she wanted me to do it."
David Moyes was swiftly appointed as Ferguson's replacement in May
2013 but his countryman's reign was short-lived, sacked less than a year
into a six-year deal after overseeing United's worst ever Premier League
season.
There were suggestions Moyes - since replaced by Louis van Gaal - was
left with a declining squad, who had claimed a 20th Premier League title
the season prior with Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and
Robin van Persie on board, but Ferguson strongly disagreed.
Ferguson added: "Even when I knew I was retiring we still tried to put
some things in place, with players coming in.
"Like everything I say about Manchester United, the bus was still moving
forward. No one was getting left behind. Everyone was optimistic about
where we were going."

Breaking News!

Everton have rejected Chelsea's latest £25million bid for John Stones.

Mata vows to hit goal trail

Juan Mata has vowed to hit the goal trail to ease the burden on Manchester
United's strikers this season.
Captain Wayne Rooney is expected to be utilised as United's primary
centre forward following the close-season departures of Robin van Persie
and Radamel Falcao.
And while Rooney has set his sights on a prolific campaign, attacking
midfielder Mata, who registered nine Premier League goals last term, is
confident he can chip in.
"I always try to score," Mata told reporters during United's pre-season
tour of United States.
"I've always done that. I used to play as a striker when I was a kid and
every team I played for I had a good goals record and it's the same at
United.
"This season I will aim again to score a good number and to help the team
with assists and goals.
"I had a 21-goal season at Chelsea and another with Valencia when I
scored 14, so I've always been lucky enough to score a good number for a
midfielder.
"I always try to score more than 10 goals in a season. I've nearly always
done that and I think that's a good number for a midfielder.
"Last season I tried to score as many as I could and it's always a big part
of my game. I will try again to be in and around the box and score again."

Mexican coach sacked for punching a journalist

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has been sacked following allegations he
punched a journalist.
The incident is alleged to have happened at an airport in Philadelphia on
Monday as Herrera's side prepared to fly home from a successful
CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign.
It is claimed by Azteca's Christian Martinoli that Herrera struck him in the
neck.
The outgoing national boss has been quoted, likening the contact more to a
push.
"The Mexican fans deserve respect and upright figures," said Mexican
Football Federation president Decio de Maria. "The results cannot be above
our statutes, regulations and freedom of expression.
"We have decided to separate Miguel Herrera from the national squad. I
met with Miguel and, at the end of the day, this was the decision.
"I believe that Miguel perfectly understands the reasons for the decision.
"We will not rush [an appointment]. I cannot put a time on when we will
appoint a new national coach to achieve our objectives."
Mexico lifted the Gold Cup with a 3-1 final victory over Jamaica.

V Persie couldn't inspire Fenerbahce as they drew blank in UCL qualifying round

Robin van Persie could not inspire Fenerbahce to victory in the the UEFA
Champions League third qualifying round as Shakhtar Donetsk left Turkey
with a goalless draw.
Shakhtar made much of the early running, with Alex Teixeira flashing a
shot wide in the 16th minute, while Fernandao headed off target from
Nani's cross.
The home faithful had to wait until the 68th minute to see their other recruit
from Manchester United brough off the bench, and Van Persie inspired
sustained pressure during the closing stages, although he was unable to
make decisive contact with a volley two minutes from time.
Monaco were convincing 3-1 victors at Young Boys on what proved to be
a fruitful gameday for away sides.
All four goals in Bern arrived in a frantic 11-minute period during the
second half, with highly-rated left-back Layvin Kurzawa putting Monaco
ahead in the 64th minute.
Debutant Guido Carrillo doubled the lead and, although Raphael Nuzzolo
hit back for Young Boys, Mario Pasalic - also making his first Monaco
appearance - completed the scoring with 15 minutes remaining.
CSKA Moscow twice led against Sparta Prague but face an uphill task after
being held to a 2-2 draw.
Alan Dzagoev opened the scoring after 14 minutes before Kehinde Fatai
found an instant reply for the visitors.
Bebras Natcho then missed a penalty and Zoran Tosic restored CKSA's
advantage in the 53rd minute following an error from Lukas Vacha, but the
Sparta midfielder atoned for his mistake by crossing for Ladislav Krejci to
head home four minutes later.
APOEL and Viktoria Plzen secured 2-1 wins away from home against FC
Midtjylland and Maccabi Tel-Aviv respectively.
KF Skenderbeu of Albania were also winners on the road as Hamdi
Salihi's brace sealed a 2-0 triumph at Moldova's Milsami Orhei.
Panathinaikos came from behind to beat Club Brugge 2-1 in Athens as
Nikos Karelis' second-half penalty proved decisive. The hosts played the
second half with 10 men after Sergio Sanchez was sent off for a challenge
on Abdoulay Diaby
Paulo Vinicius' 89th-minute equaliser snatched a 1-1 draw for Hungary's
Videoton against BATE Borisov, while 10-man Dinamo Zagreb and
Molde shared the same scoreline in Croatia.

Platini to launch FIFA presidency bid

Michel Platini is expected to confirm his intention to run for the FIFA
presidency this week.
The former France and Juventus midfielder was appointed president of
UEFA in 2007, succeeding Lennart Johansson.
With current FIFA chief Sepp Blatter announcing last month that he will
step down from the role next year, speculation has been rife that Platini
will be first in line to replace the Swiss.
Reports on Tuesday emerged that Platini has gained the support of Europe,
South America (CONMEBOL), North, Central America and the Caribbean
(CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), with the election date set for February 26.
Liberia Football Association chairman Musa Bility has also thrown his hat
into the ring for the post, claiming he is the favourite with the backing of the
African continent behind him.
Blatter, who has been in charge of the world game's governing body since
1998, opted to resign in the face of a damaging corruption scandal which
has engulfed FIFA.
No accusations of any wrongdoing have been made towards Blatter, but
the 79-year-old announced his intention to vacate the role in June, with
reports suggesting Platini could confirm his candidacy as early as
Wednesday.