csconstantine.com

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes England should follow the German model and implement a winter break.

The Scot believes a month's break in January is the way forward for the Premier League and sees nothing wrong with the season ending later in the summer.

Ferguson wrote in Saturday's match programme: "What is worth looking at is the German model of a month's break in January and then launching the second half of the season with their Cup competition.

"I know this would mean spilling over into the summer season but I see nothing wrong with that and playing league fixtures beyond the end of May.

"We are playing internationals in June and we could accommodate a league extension."

Manchester United controversially withdrew from the FA Cup in 2000 when European success saw them compete in the World Club Championship.

As a result of Wembley hosting the Champions League final, this year’s FA Cup final will be played two weeks before the end of the season, timing which Ferguson believes could be improved.

He added: "What I'd like to see preserved is the timing of the FA Cup final to fall on the last day of the season, with the big day at Wembley a natural climax."

Follow Goal.com on to get the latest soccer news directly. Check out Goal.com's

Labels: believes, break, England, Ferguson, Follow, German, Goalcom, Implementing, Manchester, Model, Should, United, winter

Real Madrid director Jorge Valdano believes the heir to Alfredo Di Stefano is Cristiano Ronaldo, not Barcelona's Lionel Messi as Atletico Madrid coach Quique Sanchez Flores labeled him.

Sanchez Flores saw the Argentine international score a hat-trick against his side on Saturday evening, but Valdano has rebuffed those comments, saying it is the Portuguese superstar who deserves the mantle.

"It is not Messi, it is Cristiano Ronaldo, who what is more wears the same shirt," Valdano said, as reported by Eurosport. "He is a very important player who is set to make history at this club.

"We wouldn’t swap Cristiano for anyone, although one must recognize that both he and Messi are two very high-quality players whom it is a privilege to have in La Liga."

Ronaldo scored twice in the Blancos' 4-1 win over Real Sociedad on the weekend.

Di Stefano scored 418 goals in 510 matches for Los Merengues, helping the Spanish side win the first five European Cups between 1956 and 1960.

Follow Goal.com on to get the latest soccer news directly. Check out Goal.com's

Labels: Alfredo, believes, Cristiano, Director, General, Goalcom, Jorge, Madrid, Ronaldo, Stefano, Valdano

England manager Fabio Capello has named Jack Wilshere as a key player and important team member for the future of English football.

The Italian spoke highly of the 19-year-old and discussed his various different playing positions, also revealing that he spoke with the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to decide where Wilshere would be most effectively deploye.

64-year-old Capello claims that Wilshere will play like Claude Makelele did for Chelsea, and that his role will be vital for the team’s future as the gaffer looks to replace the defensive midfield role.

"One of the players who has only played a short time with us, Wilshere, will be really important for the future,” said Capello to the FA’s official website.

"He is a really young player but he is really important for me, because he can play a position on the pitch where I am looking for some players to play there. 

"I hope he can be like Makelele in the future, now he prefers to play forward, but I monitored him in one game where he played in this position [in front of the back four] and he played very well. I spoke with Arsene and he told me he is better when he is going forward, but he told me also he can play in this position." 

The England manager made known his joy for the return of Wayne Rooney’s goal-scoring form, claiming that his is one of the best players in the world and that he had a decent game against Aston Villa.

"He is one of the best players in the world. He played very well [against Aston Villa] and scored two goals, but he played well before that. 

"I saw him play some good games and he was important in making assists for Berbatov, but he was not lucky sometimes when he tried to score himself. His first goal against Aston Villa was really, really nice for the control of the ball and to shoot at goal, his movement was very good as well. 

"I met Sir Alex on Thursday when he received an award for 2,000 games as a manager, and he told me that Rooney played well every time and was really important. He has some ankle problems but he told me he is fit, not completely, but he told me he is back." 

The Italian was also full of praise for Manchester United’s Gary Neville, who recently retired from domestic football following a 19-year spell at the club.

"He is one of the most important English players. He played a lot of games with the national team, he won a lot of trophies with Manchester United. He is a really important player in the history of football. 

"When a player like him decides to retire, you understand it's the moment to stop this career and start a new one as a coach, as a manager, as a commentator, I don't know which." 

The January transfer window included various record breaking deals, which greatly interested the England manager – who revealed his views on Torres, Dzeko, Chelsea, Manchester United and the title race.

"I followed the events it was really interesting for me because I remember last year the window was not a lot of money spent, £20-30m, but this one there was more than £200m spent. 

"It was really interesting that a lot of teams bought forwards, big changes between teams in England, Bent, Carroll, Torres and also Dzeko came in from Germany to Man City. 

"It will be more interesting to see the rest of the season and who arrives at the top four positions. 

"I don't like to speak about the money that teams spend, I like to speak about the technical quality of the players. In Torres the whole world knows the value of this player, he is good in every moment, his movement, his speed, he scores goals. 

"For Chelsea to win the Premier League I think in this moment they need Manchester United to lose some games, not only the two games that Chelsea have to play against them.

"There are other teams, Arsenal have a better fixture calendar than Chelsea or Man Utd, Man City is in a good position and Tottenham is a really good team and if Gareth Bale is back quickly they will be an important team to fight to win the Premier League.

Labels: Arsenalaposs, believes, Capello, England, Fabio, Goalcom, manager, Wilshere