Park Ji Sung

Peter Crouch looks like one of the high-profile exits from Stoke City in the summer.

The former England international has rarely featured for Mark Hughes’ team in the 2015-16 campaign. He has been at the Britannia stadium for the last five seasons, but this may be his last. His lack of first-team opportunities may force him to drop down a few divisions. At 35 years of age, he is in the final stages of his career that has seen him play for clubs like Portsmouth and Liverpool. He remains as one of the best scorers for England when it comes to goals per game ratio.

Crouch has started only one league match this campaign. He has appeared as a substitute in seven others, but he has not managed to find the back of the net in even one. Other players who are set to join the exodus include Steve Sidwell and Peter Odemwingie. The two players are also out of contract but they have been playing on loan at other clubs. Crouch represented the England national team for five years from 2005 to 2010. During this period, he made 42 appearances and scored 22 goals. It is rather surprising that he has not elected to go out on loan at other clubs even when he has not been the preferred first choice at Stoke

After being a regular in the first four seasons at the Britannia stadium, the 35-year-old made the bulk of his 169 appearances for the Premier League outfit. To find himself out of favour almost immediately will come as a surprise for the player, but he still has a couple of years left in the game. It remains to be seen if Crouch will be ready to drop down a division and continue playing this game or try a stint in the MLS.

The 25 year old Manchester United player Daley Blind has a contracting point of view concerning the playing style that his team has been displaying in recent times. Manchester United has not been scoring goals on a consistent basis, their defence has also been struggling but they still manage to stay in the top 5 spots of the Premier League and this is exactly what has been happening with Manchester United since the previous season.

Chelsea are the current champions of the Premier League but despite lifting the English title, they are regularly being critiqued for having an extremely defensive playing style which is usually called as: ‘’Parking the bus’’

Manchester United does not have that same defensive style of play but they do have something which is just stale and lackluster, however, according to Daley Blind it’s not a boring playing style.

The Dutch player Daley Blind voiced his thoughts concerning the current style of play of his team as he said: “We are playing really compact now and that’s something he Van Gaal demands. One of his strengths is that we are always strong in defence and that he always knows the opponents well. There are never any surprises against us because we are so well prepared’’

“I think it is unfair to say the team is boring, we want to play attacking football and I think everyone can see that. We defend very well and we create a lot of chances when we attack, we just need to score more goals but the goals will come.”

Despite the recent struggles in scoring goals that Manchester United has been experiencing, Daley Blind still remains optimistic that his team will be able bounce back. The captain of the team, Wayne Rooney needs his spark back in order for Manchester United to truly kickoff the 2015-16 season of the Premier League.

Manchester United spent €25 million in signing Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven and even though the Dutch winger is only 21 years old, Ji Sung-Park believes that the recent signing can become the new Cristiano Ronaldo.

Former Manchester United player said: “It’s definitely not easy to become like Ronaldo and not anyone can do it. But I think he has the potential and is always working hard.I think United are the best team to make him a better player.He will need some time but Louis van Gaal and Daley Blind will help him adapt. He has the passion to be the best player and always wanted to play on a big stage. He should be ready to enjoy his challenge at Old Trafford.”

In order for Ji Sung-Park’s hopes and predictions of Memphis Depay becoming the new C.Ronaldo, the Dutch player will first have to overcome a curse which seems to have been going around involving the Manchester United players who were given the number 26 shirt.

A few days ago it was announced that Memphis Depay was going to be wearing the number 26 shirt but taking into consideration how things have been going for the previous players who wore this jersey, it might not have been a good thing for the Dutch player.

Gabriel Obertan was one of the players who worse the number 26 jersey and he didn’t go through a very memorable period of time in Old Trafford as he only made 14 appearances in 2 seasons as he struggled with injuries and just wasn’t the most impressive player on the pitch in the few instances when he did play.

Shinji Kagawa was another one of the former Manchester United players that wore the number 26 but in this case, the Japanese player did enjoy a fairly season compared to Gabriel Obertan but one of the things that both Kagawa and Obertan have in common is the fact that they both sustained injuries which kept them out of the playing grounds for a significantly long period of time as Kagawa had to miss out from 2 months of action due to injury.

Memphis Depay will be wearing the 26 shirt for the pre-season tour of Manchester United but there is a possibility that it will be changed when the season officially kicks off as Luke Shaw was given the number 28 to play in the United States but he was later given the number 3.

South Korea go into the upcoming Asian cup tournament under a lot of pressure after their poor performance at the World Cup 2014.
After going into the tournament as one of top teams from Asia, South Korea failed to win even a single match. This is despite taking a large contingent of supporters to Brazil.

Since the disappointment, the team has undergone several changes including the appointment of a new manager. Results have been inconsistent in the last few months even in the friendly matches, but one of the nation’s most iconic footballer – Park Ji sung – says that he is confident of the national team doing well in the Asian cup.

They start the tournament with a match against Omanfollowed by ties against Kuwait and Australia. Park Ji sung is easily the most recognised star in these parts of the world and it is not surprising given that the former Manchester United man has won more than 100 caps for the national team. He has also lifted some of the top trophies like the UEFA Champions League. South Korea will be rebuilding under German coach Uli Stielike and Park Ji sung says that he has seen enough to suggest that South Korea will do well at the tournament despite facing stiff competition from the likes of Australia and Japan.

“In every Asian Cup there are only a few teams that chase the title. I think South Korea will be one of the teams who can win the title.It’s a big tournament, like a World Cup, a bit less but still big and the biggest in Asia. Every player should want to show their performance on the pitch and make it enjoyable for the fans. Korea has not won the title for a long time, so I think they should chase the title really seriously this time and be focused on the game,” said Park.

Former South Korean midfielder Park Ji sung says that he expects his home country to become successful once again even though they are struggling right now.

After a disappointing World Cup 2014, the national team appointed Uli Stielike as their new permanent manager in October. After recently becoming the Manchester United ambassador for Asia, the midfielder recently came to this part of the world in order to promote United. South Korea have managed only two victories in the last five matches with most of them being friendlies.

The latest friendly ended in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Iran. Scoring goals has been a major problem for the national team in recent times, but Park Ji sung says that it is just time before the team starts playing well under the new management. He has also highlighted the fact that most of the players in this current setup are young and that consistency suffers as a result of young players. However, he expects these players to start learning from the mistakes that they have made in recent matches. South Korea went out of the World Cup 2014 in a very disappointing fashion after failing to win even a single match. The nation had a huge following in Brazil and most of them returned home with a big disappointment.

“I think the team, on paper, is good enough to contend for the title. I know the players will be under pressure to end the drought, but there are some good young players who have been in fine form. I think they can bring home some positive results. I think it will take some time for the players and the new coach to adjust to each other. So in a way, it may be difficult to win the Asian Cup, and the pressure to win may work against the team,” said Park.

The news is coming through that Jack Wilshere might be fit to play for the Gunners versus the Turkish club Galatasaray in the European Cup this Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.
In the last home game against Tottenham Hotspur, Wilshere had injured his ankle and had to be taken off.
After that, there were talks that the playmaker would be missing the forthcoming Europe fixture, but, the medical staff of Arsenal is said to have found out that there’s not any major issue with the player’s ankle.
The Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, would have heaved a sigh of relief to hear that.
Wilshere was not the only player in the Arsenal camp to have got injured in that Spurs’ game. Arteta, the club captain, and Ramsey had sustained injuries as well and unlike Wilshere, the injuries of these two players are serious and both of them have been ruled out for about a month.
Wilshere was also supposed to be going to remain out of the game for almost the same period of time, but, fortunately for Wenger and the Arsenal fans, his injury did not turn out to be as bad.
The Gunners have not made an ideal start to their journey in main draw in Europe as Borussia Dortmund smashed them by 2-0 in their first game a couple of weeks back. If they suffer another defeat, they will start drifting towards elimination and they would not want that.
It would be interesting to see whom the Arsenal management turns towards in the absence of Ramsey. The France international Mathieu Flamini might be the guy.
Tomas Rosicky also has an outside chance of getting into the starting line up. The Czech player has only featured once for the Gunners thus far in the ongoing season.

The South Korean Park Ji-Sung played the last professional match of his career during the Korean League Classic All-Star match which was played in Seoul on July 25th with the former Manchester United player ending his career on a high note as he managed score a goal.

Park was substituted after a few minutes as he was still being troubled by a knee injury but still managed on making an impact on the pitch and supporters of the players cheered for him after he was being replaced by Baek Ji-Hoon.
Throughout his entire career Park Ji-Sung made a name for himself as he became the first South Korean to play in the Premier League as he was a performer of Manchester United for 7 years before being transferred to Queens Park Rangers.

The former player of QPR has also helped South Korea on a number of occasions as he scored the winning goal for his nation when playing against Portugal in the final match of the group stages during the 2002 World Cup which was the boost that his team needed in order for South Korea to reach the knockout stages of the worldwide tournament for the first time in the history of the nation.

Park Ji-Sung continued making appearances at the international stage for South Korea and during the 2010 World Cup; he was named as the captain as he went on scoring a goal against Greece which aided South Korea on their achievement of reaching the round of 16 for the first time away from home.

One of the main reasons on why the South Korean stated that he had to hang up his boots and retire from playing professional competitive soccer is due to the problems and injuries he has sustained on his knee.

Ji-Sung Park said: “I’ve been mulling retirement since February, and I’ve concluded that my knee won’t hold up for another season. I have no regrets about my career. I do think about what might have been if I hadn’t been injured, but I have no feelings of disappointment or sorrow as I leave the sport.”

Former Manchester United star Park Ji sung has announced his retirement from the game at just 34 years of age. The South Korean star played for Manchester United for a period of seven years during which time he was not just there to improve the merchandise sales, but also to help the team on the pitch as well. Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson often relied upon Park Ji sung in order to do a defensive job against the opposition because he knew that the disciplined attitude of the South Korean will help neutralise the biggest threat.

The last few years however, he has been suffering from a succession of knee injuries and this slowly to him out of the limelight. It was not surprising when he decided to leave United. He moved to QPR in a year contract worth around £ 2 million. After failing to impress in the Premier league outfit, he returned to PSV Eindhoven where he started his European football career. Throughout the season, he has been suffering from injury problems and he has finally decided to call it a day due to such niggling issues.

United paid tribute to the former midfielder, who won several trophies including the Champions League with them in a seven-year spell.

“The midfielder must have been the first nuclear-powered South Korean in history, in the sense that he rushed about the pitch at the speed of an electron,” said former AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo in his autobiography about the defensive attitude of Park Ji sung. It has been rumoured in the last few days that United may be ready to offer the 33-year-old an ambassadorial role concerning his overwhelming popularity in Asian regions. Manchester United are one of most popular clubs in this region with an estimated follower count exceeding 300 million.

Alexander Ferguson, from 1986 to 201CBE is the successful manager of the high flying English club Manchester United. He was also the former manager of the Scottish football team and his stint with the Manchester United club from year 1986 to 2013 had drawn widespread acclaim and admiration for his stewardship and rated as the most successful in the golden history of football.

Ferguson was born on 31st December 1914 at Glasgow, Scotland and assumed the position of a forward in his playing days. He had a highly successful stint as a manager of Aberdeen and prior to that, he managed East Stirlingshire and St. Mirren. Following that, he managed the Scotland national team and in 1986 took over the mantle with Manchester United.

He was the longest serving manager thus setting a new record of more than 26 years as a football club manager. Among his several records he also holds the benchmark the most winning manager of the year in English soccer history. He also won the European cup more than one time and his knighthood came in 1999 for the priceless services he offered to football. He also won the award of freedom of the City of Aberdeen among others.

His association with Manchester United came to an end when he retired on 8th May, 2013 as manager. During the long tenure of 26 years, Ferguson won 38 trophies with 13 Premier League titles and 2 UEFA Champions League. His playing career as senior with several clubs included 317 appearances and 171 goals and his national record with the Scotland team puts him at 9 matches with 9 goals. Apart from Manchester United the clubs he managed during his career included East Stirlingshire, St. Mirren and Aberdeen. On the personal front Ferguson married Cathy Ferguson in 1966 and has three sons out of the marriage.

Park Ji-sung has said that he is hoping his national side South Korea to make it to the knockouts in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. South Korea has been slotted in Group H. The other teams in that group are Algeria, Belgium and Russia.

According to Park, his country could have got a harder group than this and then, it would have been very difficult for them to quality for the knockouts. But, now, with this group, they have got a very good chance.

South Korea’s World Cup performances have been quite good in the last one decade or so. During the 2002 World Cup which they had hosted along with Japan, the Taegeuk Warriors had stunned a lot of people by make their way into the semi final round.

Even in the last World Cup which had been organized in South Africa, South Korea had managed to qualify for the pre quarter final round.

This would be the first occasion after Park’s international debut that South Korea would go into a World Cup without him. He had featured for his country in the last 3 World Cups.

Talking to the reporters about South Korea’s chances in the upcoming World Cup, Park said, “We need to make a good start. The opening game will be crucial. If we manage to do well in that game, it will get us going.”

“It’s good for us that we are not in group of death, but, we must not take any opponent lightly. Russia and Belgium are quality sides.”

“We have got a talented squad and if we go into the tournament well prepared, I think we can make it to the knockouts.”

South Korea’s first match in the World Cup will be against Russia.