Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/768342
maltatoday, SATURDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2016 47 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Prandelli quits Valencia after woeful run FORMER Italy boss Cesare Prandelli has resigned as Valen- cia coach after one win in eight La Liga matches in charge, the Spanish team said yesterday. Prandelli took over in October on a contract until June 2018, becoming Valencia's seventh coach since Singapore busi- nessman Peter Lim bought the club in May 2014. "Cesare Prandelli has commu- nicated ... his irrevocable deci- sion to resign from his position as coach, as of Friday," the club said in a statement. Salvador 'Voro' Gonzalez, a senior member of the coaching staff, will stand in as caretaker of the first team squad. After a 2-1 win over Sporting Gijon in Prandelli's first match, Valencia have lost four and drawn three games in La Liga although they beat Leganes home and away in the King's Cup. Valencia are fourth from bot- tom in the table with 12 points from 15 games, nine of them defeats, above the relegation zone only on goal difference. It is a far cry from Prandelli's optimism at his appointment when he said it was "an honour to be in such a glorious club and we want to take it back there". Valencia are one of Spain's leading clubs but coach after coach, including former Eng- land defender Gary Neville last season, has fallen by the way- side in recent times. Prandelli replaced Pako Ayes- taran who was sacked with the worst record of any coach in the club's 98-year history after tak- ing 10 points from 12 matches. He followed Neville, who has the second worst record, into the job in March. Prandelli had the coaching ex- perience, with Fiorentina, Gal- atasaray and Italy, who he led to second place at Euro 2012, that Neville and Ayestaran did not possess. However, having been in charge for two months, the Ital- ian gave an insight into the dif- ficulties he had turning round the team's performances and player attitudes, saying: "Those that want to stay here need to prove they deserve to. "It's not a problem of tactics, it's a problem of personality." That was before yet another defeat, 3-2 at Real Sociedad on Dec. 10, in what proved to be the 59-year-old's last match at the helm. Cesare Prandelli Mourinho not planning to rotate Man United squad Guardiola demands that City match Liverpool intensity MANCHESTER United manager Jose Mourinho is unlikely to give any first-team players a rest dur- ing the hectic festive schedule as he tries to keep his side in touch with the Premier League leaders. United are sixth in the table, four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal and 13 behind leaders Chelsea going into today's home game against Middlesbrough. "Middlesbrough is the next game and the next game you play to try to win," the 53-year-old told reporters yesterday when asked whether he would change his starting line-up. "So against Middlesbrough we are going to think about Mid- dlesbrough and try to choose the team that gives us guarantees and chances to win the match." Following a mixed start to the season, United have won five suc- cessive games in all competitions, closing the gap on the top four and qualifying for the Europa League knockout stages. "The momentum of playing well comes from long time ago. It's dif- ficult for me to remember the last match where we didn't play well," Mourinho added. "In this moment we need points. So let's try to get three more at home at Old Trafford for our fans. It is a good day to play foot- ball, the last day of the year, so let's try." Mourinho will be without cap- tain Wayne Rooney, who missed Monday's win over Sunderland after picking up a thigh injury in training while left back Luke Shaw could return on the bench. "Luke is training now with the team without any problem, but I don't think he is ready to start the game," Mourinho said. Jose Mourinho PEP Guardiola believes his Man- chester City side have to match Liverpool's intensity at the Reds' Anfield fortress today if they are to avoid ending the year on a deflating note. The Spaniard has enjoyed mixed fortunes in his brief reign at the Eti- had, a dazzling 10-match winning start and a brilliant Champions League win over Barcelona having gone hand-in-hand with some un- convincing, absent-minded perfor- mances. Yet if he can end the year by derail- ing rampant Liverpool with a fourth consecutive league win - and their first at Anfield for 13 years - it would offer a timely reminder of why Guardiola was always seen as the man to elevate City to a new plane. He went to Anfield this week to watch his hosts' hugely impressive demolition of Stoke City and may have been forgiven a mild shudder of apprehension when recalling how his side had fallen apart at Leicester City earlier in the month. A similar, distracted performance against Liverpool at their swarm- ing "gegenpressing" best would be potentially calamitous for the side lying just a point behind Juergen Klopp's second-placed team. "Liverpool are contenders for the title, definitely," a Guardiola ac- knowledged at a news conference on Friday when his intense mood seemed to reflect the potential im- portance of this attractive fixture. "I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I know we have to equal their intensity. Anfield will play a big role tomorrow but what happens in the past stays in the past." Just as Klopp is a fan of Guardiola, the Spaniard has long talked of his admiration for the former Borus- sia Dortmund coach with whom he crossed swords in the Bundesliga when he was at Bayern Munich. Yet he too has no time to entertain the idea of personal duels when all he can see is a table full of live title contenders. "There are six teams fighting for the title, especially for the first four positions for Champions League qualification," he said. "The contenders are all really good teams so it will be a good fight until the end of the season." City will be without the injured Leroy Sane and Vincent Kompany but Guardiola confirmed that John Stones would be available after suf- fering a knock to the knee against Hull City. Key for him though, is the return of leading scorer Sergio Aguero af- ter a four-game absence through suspension. "Aguero is ready, he came back good from Argentina. We are happy he is back," Guardiola said.