Soccer VDO

Aston Villa secured a 3-3 draw at home against one of their relegation rivals – Queens Park Rangers – and this result was largely down to the brilliance of striker Christian Benteke. He scored his second Aston Villa hat-trick to help the club get at least a point from the encounter.

After having been injured for much of the season, Benteke has been making a huge difference in the last few matches. He has already taken his tally to seven goals in the last five matches, but none were more important than the three at Villa Park during the weekend.

England failed to make it eight consecutive victories after only managing a 1-1 draw against Italy in a friendly match, but manager Roy Hodgson was very pleased man after this match.

After coming under heavy criticism following a disappointing World Cup, the former Liverpool boss has managed to oversee spectacular run of form. England had won all their matches – since the World Cup – leading up to this friendly. Andros Townsend provided the equaliser on the night and England appeared to be disappointed by the draw. Still, it is eight matches unbeaten for the national team.

The Premier League is already known as one of the most marketable football leagues in the world with receipts of just over £ 3 billion from TV companies for the next two years.

Another milestone has been achieved after the league announced the results of TV money agreed for the period starting from 2016-17 and going to the next three years. A 70 % jump in the amount agreed has been seen as the TV companies will now be paying just over £ 5 billion for three years. This is an astronomical sum of money that will help the league attract the best players in the world.

Since the 2014 World Cup reached its end a few months ago, Roy Hodgson has gone on saying that his squad of players of England should learn from their opponents they faced in the worldwide competition and stop being so ‘’honest’’.

The English manager is referring to the fact that many teams have players that usually opt to take a dive for the possible outcome of a penalty kick or any other set-piece.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has claimed that he feels defender Phil Jagielka is one of the best England have right now, but he cannot understand the reasons for the former Sheffield United man having to take most of the blame for England’s poor showing at the World Cup 2014.

England defender Gary Cahill has stated that he is extremely happy with the spirit shown by the national team to get a 2-0 win over Switzerland in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. England came into the match with a lot of pressure due to poor performances in the World Cup 2014. They were playing away from home, but after having seen the home crowd at its lowest since the new Wembley stadium opened its doors several years ago. Many former players said that the fans cannot be blamed for the poor turnaround since they appear to have lost the faith in the team.

Cesc Fabregas has said that since his former club Arsenal was not willing to get him back at Emirates, he had no choice, but, to accept Chelsea’s offer.

As per a clause in Fabregas’ contract at Camp Nou, he could have been bought back by the Gunners this summer and there were expectations that Arsene Wenger & co. would do that, but, it wasn’t to be eventually.

Fabregas then joined Chelsea which paid 27 million Pounds to Barcelona to secure the services of the Spain international.

Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson has claimed that he is ready to replace Steven Gerrard in the centre of the England midfield. The Liverpool captain recently announced his retirement from international football after making 114 appearances in a stellar career. Even though he has failed to make an impact at international level, Gerrard will continue to be revered as one of many important players England have had in the last decade. Due to this importance, manager Roy Hodgson has a difficult task ahead of him to replace the 35-year-old.

Former Manchester United striker Andy Cole believes that England should not part ways with Roy Hodgson despite the national team not doing well at the recent World Cup 2014. England were knocked out of the group stages despite going into the tournament with a lot of belief. Hodgson named a young squad for this tournament unlike many of the managers in previous years, who resorted to using only experienced candidates in the hope of doing well. Hodgson may have experimented with the squad, but it seems that the upcoming group is a promising one.

Ahead of England’s opening match at the World Cup 2014, a lot of emphasis has been put on stopping Italy’s playmaker Andrea Pirlo. The 34-year-old has starting point of many attacks over the years. He continues to be the heartbeat of the team. In the past, teams that have prevented Pirlo from play his natural game have often gained a huge advantage. This was the case with Manchester United against AC Milan several years ago. As a result, it has been heavily speculated that England manager Roy Hodgson will come out with a unique plan in order to stop Pirlo.