Reserves Lose 0-3 At Barnet, Sunday Starters

Arsenal Reserves lost 0-3 at National League side Barnet this afternoon, but manager Simon Ireland reported good news regarding Jon Honey’s return to football following a long injury layoff. Scott Grogan was AFC’s best player at The Hive, and the scoreline didn’t reflect the match.

Lee Jackman finished from close range in the 14th minute to put Barnet ahead as Arsenal didn’t deal with a long throw, and Jackson swept home a Barnard cross. Ethan Ratcliffe had Arsenal’s best chance of the game early on but he fired wide when clean through.

AFC made one substitution at half-time, followed by a further eight in the 52nd minute and the raft of changes affected them as  Honey and Akil Browne combined to fell Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe in the box, and Yalany Baio stepped-up to drive Barnet two-up from the spot.

Just two minutes later Adjeman-Pamboe added a goal of his own when AFC ‘keeper parried a shot from Jason Dunne, but he was on hand to slot home the loose ball. Simon Ireland used all 22 players during the game, watched by First Team manager Gray Surman.

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Surman has confirmed the starting XI for tomorrow’s first team friendly at home to Enfield Town, giving a début to new signing Jack Robinson at left-back. He’ll join Corluka, Nastasic and Koscielny in defence in front of teenage keeper Tréguer.

Jos Verniers returns after injury where he’ll partner Rubén Pardo in the middle of the park, with Coutinho, Wilshere and Shaqiri in attacking roles behind striker Obradovic.

Arsenal are expected to have a full bench and make multiple changes at the break.

Daily Dortmund Diary: Sunday 21 June 2015

The players have reported back to Brackel after their four weeks off, with a number of players being promoted through the club’s squads. Erik Durm has been promoted to the first team after his return from Braunschweig where he scored 13 times in 32 appearances for the 2.Bundesliga side last season.

Hervé Matthys, Samy Bourard, Hendrik Brauer, Nils Lennard Dietz, Ogün Gümüstas, and Jeremy Dudziak are now all ineligible for the U19 squad next season and have joined Dortmund II. The club have announced that the club won’t play in 3.Liga again next season, and players will be sent on loan should they not break into the senior squad.

Viktor Fischer and Stevan Jovetic have both been granted an extra fortnight’s holiday after looking very tired in training. Both featured heavily in recent long-distance Euro 2016 Qualifiers for Denmark and Montenegro respectively.

Coach José Segura has started on his Continental Pro License, with the club paying the fee.

Alex Sandro has become the biggest signing of the summer so far, with a £21.5m move from Porto to Manchester City. The 24 year-old Brazilian international left-back was at Porto for four years (winning two titles) since his £8m move from Santos in 2011.

Colombian wing-back Juan Guillermo Cuadrado has left Chelsea after one season, where he only made 10 appearances following his £8.5m move from Udinese. The 27 year-old recently spoke out about his anger at not being included in Colombia’s Copa America squad, and has joined Marseille for £8.5m.

Chris Löwe and Lennart Zeugner Move On

Chris Löwe has completed his £1m move to Valladolid after three seasons with Borussia Dortmund. The 25 year-old left midfielder spent the whole of last season on loan at Valenciennes, who were relegated from the French top-flight in May, playing 35 times, creating one assist. Former club Chemnitz are owed £10,000 as a solidarity payment.

Also moving on today is 20 year-old centre-back Lennart Zeugner, who graduate from the club’s academy but with the absence of competitive reserve football, wasn’t able to break into the senior squad. He’s joined fourth-tier side Sonnenhof-Großaspach on a free.

BVB management wish both players the best for their careers.

Spurs Sign Valencia, £120m Summer Outlay

DAILY DIARY, 15 August 2014: Antonio Valencia has returned to the Premier League after a season at Real Madrid, joining Tottenham Hotspur in a £16m move, a year after leaving Manchester United for the Bernabeu for £13m.

Valencia spent four seasons at Manchester United, scoring 13 times in 92 Premier League appearances after a £17m move from Wigan Athletic. He played 32 times in Real Madrid’s title-winning campaign last season, scoring twice and creating six assists.

The 29 year-old midfielder joins Lucas Leiva, Mario Mandzukic, Jozy Altidore, David Alaba, and Magnus Wolff Eikrem as a new arrival at White Hart Lane this summer, with the 2013 double winners spending £120m in transfer fees this month.

Paul Ehmann has completed his loan move from BVB to Oberhausen, as initially reported on Tuesday.

Daily Dortmund Diary: Sunday 10 August

The club has appointed the first handful of a number of new coaching positions. José Segura has joined the senior squad from Real Betis, while the U19 backroom has been joined by Antonio Spataro, Francesco Salucci and former Schalke player Norbert Elgert.

The opening Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen has been brought forward to 22 August for live broadcast. The rearranged fixture means that the champions will play first and, curiously, will have their first three matches of the season all take place on a Friday.

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Thomas Meißner put in a fantastic display for TSV Aachen yesterday in their 4-2 win over Osnabrück. The young centre-back won all of his aerial challenges and was threatening at set pieces. With the game at 3-2 going into the last six minutes, he scored the goal that sealed TSV’s first win in 2.Bundesliga this season.

Paper Talk: Dortmund Chasing £20m Jovetic?

Kicker magazine are reporting that Borussia Dortmund are poised to make a transfer bid for Stevan Jovetic, fuelling further rumours that either Robert Lewandowski or Julian Schieber may be on their way out of the club. A Dortmund source wasn’t available to comment. Article:

Borussia Dortmund boss Grayson Surman’s interest in signing Fiorentina captain Stevan Jovetic has really got fans drooling at the prospect. The striker is seen as a perfect addition to the BVB squad and Dortmund fans are praising Surman’s vision and good judgement to want to bring such a player in.

Jovetic, signed from Partizan Belgrade for £5.5m in 2008, has recently submitted a written transfer request to Fiorentina after a reported falling-out with manager Vincenzo Montella.

24 year-old Jovetic has been capped 31 times by Montenegro, scoring 16 goals for his country. He scored 19 times in 24 Serie A appearances last season for Fiorentina, with 23 goals in 32 games during the 2012-13 campaign.

The club has confirmed that Marvin Ducksch and Florian Hübner have agreed to season-long loan moves away from Dortmund in order to gain first-team football.

20 year-old striker Ducksch is off to fourth-tier SV Darmstadt, while 23 year-old centre-back Hübner is joining Erik Durm on loan at 2.Bundesliga side Eintracht Brauinschweig.

Ernesto Valverde has resigned from his position as manager at Granada, and has been confirmed as the new Schalke manager replacing Huub Stevens who took the Dutch national job earlier this month. Valverde guided the side to 13th in La Liga last season.

Favourite to fill the vacancy at Nuevo Los Cármenes is former Villareal manager Juan Carlos Garrido, though Roberto Martínez – fired by Osasuna in February – is also being touted as a candidate by the local media.