There Are Some Seriously Good Players Available After Deadline Day

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The transfer window may have slammed shut at 11pm on Wednesday night, but that doesn’t mean clubs can’t add new faces to their squads.

It does mean that Chelsea can’t pay any more millions for overrated defenders though, so that’s nice, but clubs can scour the dozens of free agents who are currently without a club for reinforcements.

And there are some handy players without employers right now, for one reason or another.

Check them out:

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Mathieu Flamini

Since leaving Arsenal at the end of the season, Flamini hasn’t yet found a new club.

The experienced Frenchman could certainly still do a job at a decent level, with the newly promoted sides springing to mind.

Roma and Torino have been sniffing around him though, so it may not be long before the 32-year-old is back in action.

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Wes Brown

Alright, perhaps it’s no major surprise that Brown is without a club, seeing as he’s been awful for a few years now.

He’s 36, and is currently looking for just his third club in his 18 year career, after leaving Sunderland last year.

I doubt many English clubs will want to take a chance on him recapturing his glory days, but a move to the MLS would surely be a smart move for him.

Portland Timbers currently have Steven Taylor and Liam Ridgewell at the back, so there’s hope for Brown yet.

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Dimitar Berbatov

Without doubt the classiest player on this list, the Bulgarian striker has been without a club since leaving PAOK a few months back.

His work rate leaves a lot to be desired, and at 35 it’s highly likely that a lame goat could out sprint him, but he’s available if anyone wants him.

Egyptian side Al Ahli – who are managed by former Spurs boss Martin Jol – were interested in him, but Berbatov turned them down, leading them to signing Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan instead.

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Emmanuel Adebayor

Former Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester City striker Adebayor has been without a club since leaving Cystal Palace at the end of last season.

He scored one in nine for the Eagles, but Alan Pardew has strengthened his side with Christian Benteke and Loic Remy this summer, leaving Adebayor without a team.

In fairness, the Togo international doesn’t make it easy for himself to find a new club as he still demands big wages for a 32-year-old, but Fulham were interested on deadline day and could still move for him as he looks to complete his quest to play for every club in London.

Chelsea, it’s down to you.

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Marouane Chamakh

Another released by Palace, Chamakh is still training with the club as he looks for a new employer.

Not entirely sure who that’s going to be though, considering he failed to score in 12 games last season and looks as much use as a carpet fitter’s ladder.

Who knows, maybe someone will take a chance on everyone’s favourite Arsenal flop…barring Nicklas Bendtner.

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Jose Enrique

Since leaving Liverpool, no one has offered Enrique another chance.

He released a bizarre video in pre season of him running up and down a Spanish road, but it hasn’t yet convinced anyone to take him on.

Funny that.

A move back to Spain looks the most likely source of income for him, although the £70,000 a week deal he’s had at Liverpool for the last few years should see him through for a while longer.

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Miroslav Klose

Even though he’s now 38, the man who holds the record for the most World Cup goals scored managed to net seven times last season.

It wasn’t enough to persuade Lazio to extend his deal though, so he’s currently a free agent.

He has been linked with a move to Australia, and some of the big money leagues like the MLS or China may also be interested in another marquee name.

So there you go, if you’re short for five-a-side, try and give one of these lot a ring.

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GM Bob Myers: Warriors will need ‘some time to evolve’

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Even after they won an NBA-record 73 games last regular season, many seem to think that the Golden State Warriors will easily be able to surpass that mark after staging the coup of the offseason by landing former MVP Kevin Durant. But general manager Bob Myers wants to pump the brakes a bit.

In an interview with KNBR 680 on Wednesday, Myers attempted to temper expectations for 2016-17.

“I think a lot of people think we signed Durant and everything is great, which in reality, that is a really good thing,” Myers said, per CSN Bay Area. “But we have a lot of new parts. This is not a team like last year’s team, where we could just hit training camp in stride. As much as we like our roster, it’s gonna take some time to evolve.

“Even though we’re happy with the offseason, I do think we’re gonna have some turbulence,” Myers continued. “Because the other thing is, I think the scrutiny on the team is gonna be so high that any loss, anything that happens in a negative way, is gonna be exaggerated. It’s just gonna be, ‘I can’t believe they lost a home game,’ or ‘I can’t believe they lost two in a row,’ … people might write or say, ‘Well, they’re not as good as last year,’ so there will be some challenges and incorporating a really, really good player into our team.”

People tend to overlook continuity and team chemistry building when they assume that Golden State will smash the earth right off the bat. For as wildly gifted as Durant is, the Warriors will still have to reinvent themselves after the losses of two starters (Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut) as well as several key bench contributors (Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, and, to a lesser extent, Brandon Rush).

It’s always a culture shock to add a large-volume scorer to an established, championship-proven system where everybody already knows and is comfortable with their role. Durant will have his fair share of adjusting to do as well. The Warriors will figure it out eventually, because talent almost always finds a way to win out at the end of the day. But with a target on their back from every single team they play next season (a rarity for a non-defending champion), it will take some patience, as Myers is preaching.

Image Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

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‘Have Some F***ing Respect’: Ex-Teammate Wearing American Sniper T-Shirt Slams Colin Kaepernick

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San Fransisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been the subject of intense scrutiny since he refused to stand for the national anthem at a preseason game last week, and now one of his former teammates is joining in the criticism.

Alex Boone, who played guard with Kaepernick from 2011 to 2015, told ESPN that he wasn’t “surprised” by the move but was surely “upset and disappointed” by it.

Minnesota Viking guard Alex Boone (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

“I mean, like I had said earlier, that flag gives you the right to do whatever you want and I understand that — Anquan said that, and I agree with that,” Boone, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings, remarked. “But at the same time, you have to show some respect, especially in this position that we’re in, where we’re playing a game for a living — it’s almost disrespectful.”

“You see all these pictures of these veterans that have no legs and they’re standing up in their wheelchair,” he continued.

Further commenting on the issue to USA Today, Boone, who was reportedly wearing an “American Sniper” T-shirt at the time, explained that Kaepernick’s controversial decision is particularly difficult for him because his brother, a Marine, “lost a lot of friends” in combat.

While Boone said he understands his ex-teammate’s decision and his freedom to do so, he doesn’t necessarily believe it was right.

“You should have some [expletive] respect for people who served, especially people that lost their life to protect our freedom,” Boone said. “We’re out here playing a game, making millions of dollars. People are losing their life, and you don’t have the common courtesy to do that. That just drove me nuts.”

He went on to say that, if he and Kaepernick were teammates right now, the two likely “would have had a problem.”

The 49ers player doubled down on his decision over the weekend, saying he will continue to sit during the “Star-Spangled Banner” because he refuses to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” Kaepernick argued. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

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PSG beat Lyon to give Emery some early silverware

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Klagenfurt (Austria) (AFP) – New signing Hatem Ben Arfa was among the scorers as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a one-sided 4-1 win over Lyon in the Champions Trophy, the traditional French season-opener, on Saturday.

Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura and Layvin Kurzawa got the other goals before Corentin Tolisso grabbed a consolation as the French champions won the trophy for the fourth year running and gave new coach Unai Emery some early silverware.

What Emery, who arrived in Paris fresh from winning three consecutive Europa League titles with Sevilla, will make of this early success remains to be seen, however.

Lyon, last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up who also lost to PSG in the Champions Trophy 12 months ago, did not turn up for the first hour at least and the match was played out in a surreal atmosphere in a largely empty stadium in Klagenfurt.

The French league have used this game to promote their competition in recent seasons, staging it in Canada, the United States, China and in Africa.

In Austria, the occasion could hardly have been met with greater indifference by the locals and vast swathes of the 32,000-seat Woerthersee Stadion remained empty.

The departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after four glorious seasons in Paris has taken some of the star quality away from the champions but they began a new era by racing into a three-goal interval lead.

Pastore superbly converted a Kurzawa cross for the opener and the Argentine then squared for Lucas to bundle in the second under pressure from Jeremy Morel.

Angel Di Maria hit the bar with a delightful chip before setting up Ben Arfa, the former Lyon player taking a touch and lashing in his first goal since signing from Nice.

Ben Arfa was the only new face in the starting line-up named by Emery, himself a new arrival after the sacking of Laurent Blanc.

Pastore set up Kurzawa for the fourth goal nine minutes into the second half with the Lyon defence all at sea and at that point it looked like PSG could go on to thoroughly embarrass their rivals.

But goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was finally forced into a save from Maxwel Cornet just before the hour and midfielder Tolisso grabbed a consolation goal with three minutes remaining when he headed home a Christophe Jallet cross.

PSG begin their Ligue 1 title defence away to Bastia next Friday with Lyon kicking off their campaign at promoted Nancy two days later.

The post PSG beat Lyon to give Emery some early silverware appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

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