Where In The World Is Angel Di Maria?

Do you know? Because if you do, could you let Louis Van Gaal know?

It seems that want-away Manchester United winger Angel Di Maria has disappeared. It started when he missed a scheduled flight to join up with his MUFC colleagues in America, where they’re on their pre-season tour, and it seems nobody has seen him since.

He’s pretty much destined for PSG, where he probably wanted to go last season but they were hampered by FFP restrictions. PSG Manager Laurent Blanc has said as much. But the man himself has gone AWOL.

In his latest press conference, LVG resorted to asking journalists if they knew where the Argentinian was:

"You can ask that every week, but it is the same answer. Maybe you know? I don't know that either."

Rafa vs Jose

It’s not a secret that Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho have never been on the best of terms. They clashed several times while Benitez was at Liverpool and Mourinho in his first spell at Chelsea. Basically, Rafa said that CFC’s success was more down to Roman Abramovich’s money than Mourinho’s talent and that led to a whole big thing where handshakes were ignored and press wars were waged.

Well, nothing’s changed. Benitez is now at Real Madrid, a club that Mourinho was at from 2010–2013, but he wasn’t the one that sparked this latest row. Oh no, it was, in fact, his wife.

Yes, Mrs Benitez (Montserrat Seara) spoke to Spanish paper La Region this week, where she alleged that:

"Real are the third of José Mourinho’s old teams Rafa has coached. We tidy up his messes! If you think about it, of course you end up crossing paths. There are only a few world-class clubs out there."

Shots fired?

Jose clearly thought so because he went all out on attack, launching a few pointed barbs of his own:

“The lady is a bit confused, with all respect. I’m not laughing, because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti.

The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time.

And for her also to think about me and to speak about me, I think she needs to occupy her time, and if she takes care of her husband’s diet she will have less time to speak about me.”

Geez, it’s like high school all over again.

For the record, Jose is right. Inter Milan is the only club that Benitez has directly replaced Mourinho at, however he has had spells at both Chelsea and now Real Madrid after JM, just not straight after him. And it’s fair to say that Jose won far more at all of them than Rafa’s managed. But maybe Madrid will be the lucky third strike?

The Terror of Miguel Herrera

Two days after leading Mexico to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, coach Miguel Herrera has been sacked.

That seems like harsh timing, but in actual fact the Mexican Football Federation didn’t have too much of a choice after the dude punched a TV commentator in the neck at the airport.

Christian Martinoli was the journalist, a man who has been very vocal in his criticism of Herrera. While they may have won the tournament, Martinoli had a lot to complain about because Mexico certainly did not win pretty. The outclassed Jamaica in the final but getting there was a struggle. Controversial penalties led to some major protests in Panama.

Martinoli’s version of events has been denied by some, while the airport (Philadelphia International) denied any knowledge of the clash. However Herrera, a notoriously outspoken man, was conspicuously silent.

Martinoli:

"I looked down to avoid any kind of provocation and suddenly feel a blow to the neck on the right side of my body. The next thing I see when I look up Luis Garcia is separating a madman who threw punches and kicks while I was insulted."

Miguel Herrera was somewhat of a cult hero during Mexico’s World Cup run. You may remember him from this gif:

Rock – Manager – Hard Place

Sometimes you just can’t win. Like in the case of Anatoly Korobochka’s time at Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, which he has just opened up about.

Korobochka had taken over as a caretaker manager in 2007 and he and Stephan Frail co-managed them during the 2007/08 pre-season. During said pre-season, they had themselves a match against Barcelona. Pre-Messi, but with Thierry Henry, Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho, among many others.

Quite a dream game. So much so that owner Vladimir Romanov asked if he could play.

"We played Barcelona in a friendly match and there were almost 60,000 fans there. Ronaldinho was at his peak and Barcelona were terrific. Before the game, Romanov approached me and told me he wants to play in the game. He wanted me to pick him. He wasn’t joking.”

Keep in mind that Romanov had never played professionally, nor had he trained with the team. Plus he turned 60 that year.

"I refused and told him he had done no training and therefore he couldn’t play. He said to me: ‘Fine, but you will not be the coach for long.’ He sacked me soon after."

Yep, six months later Romanov was out of a job. Definitely a no-win situation. (Including on the scoreboard, where they lost 3-1 to goals from Ronaldinho and Giovani dos Santos).

Romanov ended his involvement with Hearts this year after helping them through administration. He was… not shy of controversy in his time in Scotland.

Presented Without Comment

"I think people like Mr Blatter or the heads of big international sporting federations, or the Olympic Games, deserve special recognition. If there is anyone who deserves the Nobel Prize, it's those people."

"We all know the situation developing around Mr Blatter right now. I don't want to go into details but I don't believe a word about him being involved in corruption personally."

Direct quotes from Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, host nation of the 2018 World Cup.

Social Media Stunners

Harry Redknapp's Weekly Pearl of Wisdom