ADRIAN MUTU

As Chelsea keep struggling to get their targets this summer, this season seems like one that would be hard fought.

The Blues lost the chase for Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool. They also lost the chance to sign Swansea forward Fernando Llorente as Tottenham beat them to it. Leicester City’s RiyadMahrez might join them but nothing is sure anymore. Danny Drinkwater has expressed desire to move to Stamford Bridge but The Foxes are yet to accede to the request.

Antonio Conte tried luring RomeluLukaku back to Chelsea earlier but Manchester United beat them to it. While the Italian has added three to four new players, he would be set for transfer deadline pressure to add more, considering the number that left.

As Chelsea continue to suffer more woes in the transfer market, we remember when they signed Adrian Mutu back in 2003.

The Romanian joined the west London club that summer. He moved from Parma to Chelsea for a then large sum of €22.5 million. That was before the transfer market got as inflated as it is now. (more…)

It’s fair to say that the relationship between Christoph Daum, who is in charge of the senior soccer team of Romania, and the Romanian media is not the strongest and the friendliest.

The Romanian media has not let go of any opportunity to bash the Germany born coach who has been at his post for the last 12 months and has not guided the team to a lot of victories in this duration.

It seriously annoyed Daum last week when ahead of a big match versus Chile, a media person took a dig at him asking him when he was going to leave his post.

Answering the question in a very angry tone, Daum accused that journalist of harming the Romanian soccer and not helping it in any way with that kind of journalism.

Daum said in that press conference that he has been putting facts and figures in front of the media and has been giving them the reasons why the team is not being consistent and what is the work to be done in future to achieve the consistency, but, the media is singing its own tune and is not ready to pay any attention to his remarks. (more…)

Football players always dream of winning titles after all the hard work.

It might not their top priority but at some point they would always want the joy of lifting titles. Some talented players have worked very hard yet they have never won major titles. We look at some of them, recent ones in no particular order.

Italian Giuseppe Signori makes this list. He netted 283 times in his career but he never quite got to lift a major trophy. He was the top scorer in the Serie A for three years out of four. He was the top scorer in the Coppa Italia two times but it was after he left that Lazio won the Coppa Italia, UEFA Super Cup and even the Serie A.

Bernd Schneider is a decent star that made finals multiple times but he never lifted the title. He played in the Bundesliga, coming close in second place twice in 1999/2000 and 2001/2002; he played in the DFB Pokal, emerging runners up in 2001/02 and 2008/09, and he was in the team that reached the Champions League final in 2001/02 yet no single victory. He played at the FIFA World Cup in 2002 yet a silver medal. How unlucky he must feel. Luigi Di Biagio also has numerous runner up finishes with no major credit. (more…)

Former Chelsea player Adrian Mutu has stated that Chelsea will be champions this season.

He believes that there is no other side at the moment in the Premier League that can stop them and that they are the favorite to win the league.

For Adrian Mutu, Chelsea deserves to win the league as they have been the most consistent side this season. He said that Antonio Conte has successfully motivated his players and that they have become a formidable team.

The former Chelsea player said that players such as Costa and Hazard had found their form back under Conte and this is one of the reasons why the team has been able to perform so well this season. He said that Conte has also made some shrewd additions to the team. He believes that Kante has added more energy in the middle of the park and also provide an additional cover for the defender. (more…)

Romania is set to honour football stars during the country’s Football Gala in the first week of December, 2016.

The Gala is billed to take place at Ambasad’Or Otopeni during the Bucharest Fashion Week, according to reports.

The Football Gala is in its 18th year. The Gala seeks to honour sterling football stars in Romanian football, even though other sports are considered too. The Footballer of the Year award is the most prized. It has been awarded to big names like Gica Hagi, Cosmin Contra, Christian Chivu, and cocaine-shamed former player Adrian Mutu, amongst others.

In recent years, players like Cristian Torje, Alexandru Bourceanu, Lucian Sanmartean have snapped up the award. However, there are several other categories like the Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Forward of the Year and many other categories.

This year, Ciprian Tatarusanu, Florin Nita and Silviu Lung are battling for the Goalkeeper of the Year award while Romario Benzar, Gabriel Tamas and Dragos Grigore would battle for the Defender of the Year honour. (more…)

Adrian Mutu has been named as the manager of Dinamo Bucharest to the surprise of many football pundits.

The player who has had a tumultuous career as a player has now the chance to make a name for himself as a manager.

The player has retired from football in May after spending 19 years in the footballing world. Adrian Mutu played for Dinamo Bucharest for two years from 1999 to 2000 where he managed to make 42 appearances for the club and scored 29 goals during the process.

The club’s majority owner said that it an exciting time for the club to have someone as Adrian Mutu at the head of the club. He believes that Mutu’s experience both at the domestic and international level will be an important asset for the club. The owner said that Dinamo Bucharest is looking to develop as a club and they feel that the appointment of a manager such as Mutu is a massive step in the proper direction, (more…)

Former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has slammed Jose Mourinho and stated that the manager is a fake person. Both parties have had some issues in the past, but it is the first time that Mutu has been speaking publicly about his former manager.

Adrian Mutu admits that Jose Mourinho is a good manager and that he is capable of steering a club to success but that he has a bad personality. The former Romanian striker believes that Mourinho is only interested in himself. He said that the manager does not value relationship and that he is more concerned about his career.

For Adrian Mutu, Jose Mourinho does not know how to communicate with his players and that he is distant as a manager. He said that there is no way for a player to approach him and to discuss about an issue.

He said that Mourinho always makes it a purpose to irritate its players and that he does not do anything to keep his players happy. He said it is always the big personality in the team that gets problem with the manager, and Mutu believes that he will never change.
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Anghel lordanescu says if he had the choice, there was not a chance of him picking Les Blues out of all the teams for Romania’s opening encounter, but, now that such has been the programme, he would want to have a positive perspective and see it as an opportunity for Romania to shine in a match which would be viewed in each and every corner of the world.

Iordanescu is drawing the heart from the fact that his team had a goalless draw versus Spain recently and Spain’s playing style resembles to that of France in the sense that they also believe in possession play.

According to Iordanescu, the strong point of Romania is that the organisation of the defence is solid and goals are always tough to come by for the opposition and also, discipline-wise, his players are very good. Whatever strategy is discussed and finalized in the preparations, it is well-remembered and nobody really errs from that too often.

Iordanescu reckons that the match versus Albania; which is going to be the last preliminary-round match for Romania, is crucial because it is scheduled at the end and at that time, various qualification equations would be forming. (more…)

The former Chelsea and Juventus striker is currently playing for     ASA Tirgu-Mures in Romania. Mutu is desperate to prove to the Romanian coach that he is still able to play at the highest level and that he deserves a place in the Romanian selection at the Euros.

Adrian Mutu, who last played for Romania in 2013, would be inspired by the comments of current Romania coach, Angel Iordanescu, who said that the 37-year old player might be selected if ever he proved his form in a competitive league. It is for this reason that Adrian Mutu has agreed to join ASA Tirgu-Mures.

Adrian Mutu has played a host of European clubs such as Parma, Chelsea, Juventus, and Fiorentina. He rose to prominence with Parma where he will make 36 appearances for them. He will score 22 goals during that period. His good form in Serie A will attract the interest of other European clubs.

In 2003, he will sign for Chelsea where he will score 4 goals in three matches. But his form will decline as the season progresses and will ultimately lose his place in the starting lineup. (more…)

On May 18 of 2014, Athletic Made history as they won the Spanish League title, La Liga. Athletic Madrid managed to seal 90 points which was 3 more than Barcelona and Real Madrid. Taking into consideration all of the major spending and the high-profile players that their rivals had, winning La Liga was a huge accomplishment, it was a history making achievement that will forever mark the name of Diego Simeone and his players in the chronicles of Athletic Madrid.

Real Madrid and Barcelona were the favorites of winning that season but Athletic Madrid arrived and sneaked past everyone as they took the Spanish League title of the 2013-14 season. Athletic Madrid has not been able to repeat that feat ever since then however, Carlo Ancelotti believes that Diego Simeone has a team filled with talented players who are able to surprise the world once again.

Diego Simeone said: I’m confident they’ll trouble Barcelona and Madrid. Diego Simeone is a coach who knows how to get the best from players. It’s very hard playing against them.”

Athletic Madrid kicked off this new season of the Serie A by winning their 2 opening matches of the season but the 2015-16 has only just began and it’s far from over as anything can happen. (more…)