Saturday Fulham Stuff (07/12/13)...

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Fulham: Bundesliga interest in Berbatov



A number of Bundesliga clubs could look to sign Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov this January, SportsDirect News understands.

The Bulgarian front-man is reportedly seeking an exit from Craven Cottage after becoming disillusioned with the team's performances this season, and the likes of Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and Hamburg may look to snap him up when the transfer window re-opens.

It is widely expected that Berbatov will look to remain in the Premier League, with Arsenal and his former club Tottenham Hotspur both being linked with him in the last few days, though he has played in Germany before with Bayer Leverkusen.

Fulham will ultimately do their best to persuade the 32-year-old to stay with the club and help them fight relegation this season, but manager Rene Meulensteen is supposedly already on the lookout for potential replacements for the former Manchester United man.

Berbatov only signed for Fulham last season, and supposedly rejected bigger offers from abroad to continue playing in England.



http://www.sportsdirectnews.com/football-transfer-window/36955-fulham-bundesliga-interest-in-berbatov.php#.UqLumKUcKbA

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World Cup Whites

Whites playmaker Bryan Ruiz will go head-to-head with England in the 2014 FIFA World Cup after Costa Rica were drawn with Roy Hodgson's team in Group D.

Los Ticos and the Three Lions face one of the toughest groups in Brazil after being selected alongside World Cup 2010 Semi-Finalists and Copa America 2011 champions Uruguay, and Euro 2012 finalists and four-times World Cup winners Italy.

Group E seeds Switzerland, whose squad could include Philippe Senderos and Pajtim Kasami, face a tough challenge against a nation they share a border with; 1998 World Cup winners France. The Whites duo are also scheduled to play against a pair of Latin American nations, Ecuador and Honduras, in another group which could prove to be wide open.

Iran face an almighty challenge to advance from Group F, where Ashkan Dejagah and company will be tasked with encountering two-times World Cup winners Argentina. The Iranians' tricky group is completed by 2010 Africa Cup of Nations champions Nigeria and Brazil 2014's only first-time qualifiers, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who made his return to the Netherlands squad in the last round of international friendlies, faces a repeat of the dramatic 2010 World Cup Final in Johannesburg. Andres Iniesta struck an extra-time winner past Stekelenburg to write Spain into the history books, and the 2010 World Cup finalists will be joined in Group B by Chile and Australia this time around.

Group C provides an interesting showdown for Giorgos Karagounis, whose Greece team were drawn in an unpredictable pool with Ivory Coast, Japan and Colombia, for whom Whites striker Hugo Rodallega has collected 43 international caps.

Other Fulham players with World Cup interests include Ghanaian Derek Boateng, and the Black Stars were drawn in Group G alongside USA, Portugal and Germany, for whom Sascha Riether has appeared twice.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/december/06/world-cup-whites?

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Fulham's Rene Meulensteen will fight relegation using tricks he learned from Sir Alex Ferguson

Cottagers have turned to former Manchester United assistant to save them from the drop after sacking manager Martin Jol

Rene Meulensteen says he will follow the lead of old boss Sir Alex Ferguson as he bids to steer Fulham to safety.

The Cottagers are third-bottom and host Aston Villa on Sunday trying to halt a run of six-straight top-flight defeats - their worst-ever run in the Premier League.

But Meulensteen, first team coach at Manchester United until Sir Alex retired in May, said: "I will definitely draw on the experience of working with Sir Alex Ferguson, for sure yes.

"Fulham is going through a tough time. Everybody knows that.We have to show mental toughness. We have to keep performing week in and week out.

"Aston Villa is a good team. Paul Lambert was in a similar situation last year and he chose to put an energetic young team out. He has gone through it. We know what their threats are."



Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fulhams-rene-meulensteen-fight-relegation-2899867#ixzz2mmUvApOq
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Three Key Battles: Fulham vs Aston Villa

Rene Meulensteen and Fulham will be looking to bounce back from their defeat at home on Tuesday night at the hands of fellow Londoners Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite showing signs of improving, the Craven Cottage faithful still saw their side lose and remain in the relegation zone, so this is a game everyone at the club will have pencilled in a must win.

Aston Villa, however, will be flying high.

To win away from home at one of the form teams of the league, Southampton, with on 30% possession was quite some achievement, and after Wednesday they will have no doubts in trying to do the same again as they continue their run on the road.

Villa haven't lost in five and are sitting comfortable in 10th.

With only four goals being scored in the last four Premier League games between the two sides, my only prediction would be a narrow away victory on this occasion.

Jack Simpkin's Prediction: Fulham 0-1 Aston Villa

The game is a 13:30 kick-off on Sunday and is live on Sky Sports 1HD.

Dimitar Berbatov vs Ron Vlaar

Many of the Spurs supporters that travelled to the Cottage on Tuesday night would have happily welcomed Berbatov back to White Hart Lane after his performance.

It was the first time this season the Bulgarian really showed he was up to the challenge of a Premier League game, but Meulensteen will be very much looking for more of the same as goals are the only thing that's going to find him his first victory at the helm.

Ron Vlaar at the heart of the opposition's defence will back himself to be able to deal with Berbatov but a few things are key, that he needs to keep in mind.

Berbatov does have quite a sublime touch when bringing the ball down, but isn't usually very quick in what he does with it once he's got it, so my advice would be to only try and win the ball when the ball is on the floor.

Competing in the air will be something that Vlaar will be used to do but he should play to Berbatov's weaknesses on this one.

Scott Parker vs Ashley Westwood

Parker has adapted to life well at Craven Cottage but he'll have to be wary of the threat possessed by Ashley Westwood in the Aston Villa midfield on Sunday.

Going forward is something that comes naturally to Parker, but he might have to hold himself back at times, in order to nullify the problems Westwood could cause Fulham on the ball.

When he gets a chance to either run with the ball or find a pass, he will, so Parker cannot give him a yard of space or any time at all or Westwood will find it all too easy to start creating goalscoring chances for the visitors.

As for the Villa man's defensive responsibilities, he'll have to pick up Parker closely at any set piece because if he gets a chance to shoot from distance, he will, potentially to devastating effect.

Philippe Senderos vs Gabriel Agbonlahor

Having scored his first goal of  the season on Tuesday night, Gabby Agbonlahor will be full of confidence going into the this one and with regular and captain, Brede Hangeland, still out for Fulham with a sciatic nerve problem, it'll be down to Senderos again to lead the line from centre-half.

Agbonlahor has showed any doubters that he has really found his speed again and has started to cause defenders troubles as a result, so Senderos will have a real job on his hands trying to deal with the Englishman in this match.

With talented players behind the frontman, any time they can play a ball through or over the defence, he will chase after to it and probably get on the end of it for a one-on-one.

Therefore, if the midfielders don't do their job well enough, Senderos needs to be sure to follow Agbonlahor as well so he can to try and make a recovery challenge to see off the danger.



http://www.touchlinetalk.com/three-key-battles-fulham-vs-aston-villa/77417/?

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Wht Arsenal must NOT turn to Berbatov in January

Why signing Berbatov would be a bad idea! by Ash

As Arsenal enter December, with January less than a month away, the rumours regarding transfers have already begun and a major plot being linked with the Gunners at the moment is a story relating Arsenal with Fulham FC player Dimitar Berbatov.

Berbatov is a Bulgarian striker who has plenty of experience on both the international stage and the Premier League game, however that is also his downfall because as he is 32 years old, and so approaching 33 in January, Berbatov is a little too old in my opinion.

Now of course experienced players can be helpful in being successful as they provide a role model, as well as the fact they are a character on the pitch who has experienced a lot of these tough games before. In terms of Arsenal at the moment, we are gradually attaining an older squad, with Arteta, Sagna and Rosicky all in their 30's as well as the fact that the likes of Cazorla, Mertesacker and Flamini will soon be joining them, but Berbatov is completely different.

He is known to be a lazy striker and at such an age I highly doubt Wenger is going to be able to recapture both interest as well as physicality. As well as that, I believe Arsenal already have enough tall and powerful strikers and so adding another such as Berbatov would seem to be a stupid idea. There is no plan B when Giroud is firing off form to replace him with Bendtner because the Dane is of the exact same physicality as his French predecessor. Arsenal needed a quick, young, technical striker, rather than a slow golden oldie.

The rumours have been building up for a few days and I think the main reason for why the link is there is because Berbatov offers a team a wealth of experience, good quality, whilst he also isn't Champions League cup-tied. If Wenger was to go for him, it would of course only be a short term operation, but considering the fact he is a former Tottenham player I don't think he would be doing himself any favours in joining the Gunners.

Wenger has spoken about the quality of Berbatov before and he has produced some brilliant stuff down the years, but if he was ever going to join Arsenal it should have been before now and I think that ship has sailed. Do you agree? And who do you think we should be looking to sign?



http://justarsenal.com/wht-arsenal-must-not-turn-to-berbatov-in-january/28884?

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Tottenham alerted as Fulham confirm plans to sell Dimitar Berbatov in January


Rene Meulensteen says he won't stand in Dimitar Berbatov's way (Picture: Getty)
Tottenham have been given the green light to re-sign Dimitar Berbatov in January after Fulham confirmed they are willing to sell the striker.

Berbatov, who has endured a frustrating season so far at Craven Cottage, revealed this week that he is considering leaving in the new year.

Former club Spurs are known to be among those interested, and Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen says he wouldn't stand in the way of a move if an offer arrived.

'I will never stand in the way of people's ambitions,' said Meulensteen.


Berbatov is keen to move to another club (Picture: Getty)
'I had a really good chat with him recently. We spoke about him as a player and the most important thing for me is to focus on the next few games up to January.'

Meulensteen has worked with Berbatov extensively in the last few years, having helped coach him at Manchester United.

And the Dutchman says that Spurs will face real competition to sign from Fulham.

'He is an immense player, that's for sure,' he continued.

'Any manager in the world would like to have him in their team.'

Tottenham are keen on adding another forward to their ranks when the window re-opens, and have been linked with a £3million move for Berbatov, who enjoyed a successful spell at the club in the past.


http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/07/tottenham-alerted-as-fulham-confirm-plans-to-sell-dimitar-berbatov-in-january-4221734/?