Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has taken aim at former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal, claiming he felt like a robot during his days under the Dutchman.

Schneiderlin joined United from Southampton in 2015 and featured 39 times in all competitions under Van Gaal in his first season at the club.

Jose Mourinho afforded him just eight appearances after taking over ahead of the 2017-18 campaign and the Frenchman therefore opted to leave Old Trafford for Everton in the January transfer window.

Although Schneiderlin does not bear a grudge against Mourinho, he has no fond memories of Van Gaal.

I did not play a lot of matches at United this season. Mourinho told me that he liked me, but that he had to make choices. I respected that, just like he r…

Former England physiotherapist Alan Smith has died aged 74.

Smith was part of the England set-up after being appointed in 1994 under Terry Venables, also working with Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson before retiring after the 2002 World Cup.

It was in the build-up to that tournament that he took one of his most famous cases as he helped David Beckham overcome his broken metatarsal in time to be fit for the tournament in South Korea and Japan.

Sheffield Wednesday are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our former head physiotherapist Alan Smith at the age of 74

Our thoughts are with Alan s family and friends at this very difficult time

— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc)

He was also instrumental in getting Alan Sheare…

Pep Guardiola will never get sick of talking about Erling Haaland, but he insists comparisons to Lionel Messi are unwelcome.

The Manchester City boss has promised striker Haaland a holiday during the World Cup, because Norway have not qualified, and he may need a break in any case after a breathless start to his career in England.

Haaland has a staggering 14 goals from eight Premier League games already, and Mohamed Salah s record of 32 goals in a 38-game season already looks under serious threat. Kevin De Bruyne was City s top league scorer last season with 15.

Former Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland has stayed healthy and the goals have flowed, just as City s title rivals feared they would.

At this rate, Haaland could finish the season with the sort of…

A chance for a young striker

I’ve written this article before the kick off in the Rapid Vienna against Aston Villa Europa League play-off game so it may turn out that Villa have won 5-0 and the questions I ask are less relevant.

Criticised

Under Martin O’Neill, Aston Villa were sometimes criticised, not least by their own fans, for fielding a substantially weakened side in the Europa League.

Many people could not understand what the point of finishing in the top six is if you are then not going to take the resulting European competition seriously. Maybe more importantly, people were unhappy that loyal fans spent a huge amount of time and money to travel across Europe to watch their reserve side lose. Some people felt that showed a lack of respect to t…

Former Netherlands midfielder Edgar Davids is considering a shock return to English football with Crystal Palace in the Championship.

Davids has been a free agent since leaving Ajax in 2008 but he has now held talks with Crystal Palace manager George Burley.

The 37-year-old is believed to relish a chance to return to London where he had played in his two-year stint at Tottenham Hotspur.

The combative defensive midfielder has won 74 caps for his country in an illustrious career which saw him play at great clubs such as Ajax, Internazionale, Juventus, Milan and Barcelona.

Burley has taken the Saint Etienne forward Sébastien Grax on trial and is interested in Arsenal s Jay Simpson.

…

French daily newspaper L Equipe is reporting that David Beckham will attempt to persuade former teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic to join him in Miami.

The former Manchester United and England icon owns a football club in Miami that is tipped to join the Major League Soccer in the next couple of years and he is already thinking about big name signings.

And with Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic not getting any younger, Beckham will offer the Sweden star a chance to join his new club.

The two football stars played together at Parc des Princes during the 2012/2013 season, which proved to be the last campaign in the illustrious career of the former England captain.

Ibrahimovic has since helped PSG develop into one of Europe s top sides, and he has be…

Manchester City can draw inspiration from a 7-0 demolition of Norwich City in November when the two sides meet at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Manuel Pellegrini s high-fliers steamrollered Norwich in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium and will be seeking a quick response following Monday s 1-0 loss to title rivals Chelsea.

Defeat at the hands of Chelsea ended a 20-match unbeaten run for City, who had scored in their previous 61 home league games.

You have to go back as far as October 2010 for the last time City suffered back-to-back reverses in the Premier League, however, and that statistic appears unlikely to change this weekend given Norwich have won only one of their last nine top-flight encounters.

Striker Aguero has scored five goals in as many fixtures …

Alessio Romagnoli s stoppage time goal snatched a dramatic 2-1 win for AC Milan over Genoa at San Siro on Wednesday and moved Gennaro Gattuso s side up to fourth in Serie A.

Romagnoli had looked like denying his side maximum points after his attempted block of Christian Kouame s effort spun over Gianluigi Donnarumma for an unfortunate own goal 11 minutes into the second half.

That cancelled out Suso s superb fourth-minute effort, but the Italy international produced a wonderfully instinctive finish from Genoa goalkeeper Ionut Radu s looping punch to secure maximum points.

Gattuso has now guided Milan to back-to-back league wins following their derby defeat to Inter 10 days ago, easing pressure on his own position.

What a way to win this game. We neve…

Tottenham forward Richarlison tearfully admitted he fears the injury sustained in Saturday s win over Everton could crush his dream of representing Brazil at the World Cup.

Richarlison was substituted early on in the second half of Spurs 2-0 Premier League victory against his former side Everton at Goodison Park with a calf injury.

The 25-year-old left the stadium on crutches and will undergo an MRI scan on Monday, but he has already been ruled out of Wednesday s trip to Manchester United.

He missed a month of action last season with a similar injury and is now worried about a comparable lay-off, with Brazil facing Serbia in their tournament opener on November 24.

It s so close to the realisation of my dream, he told ESPN Brasil with tears in his eyes. I…

Market: Over 1.5 goals

Odds: 2/5 @

In what could be an enjoyable showdown at the Liberty on Tuesday night, Swansea will welcome Reading to south Wales.

Starting with the hosts, coming off the back of a nightmare display away at Burnley over the weekend, there is no doubt that Swansea will be seeking an immediate response here. Eventually hit with a shock 4-0 drumming at Turf Moor, the Whites will be glad to make a return to the Liberty on Tuesday night. Despite crashing back down to earth a few days ago, Russell Martin s side have continued to gain plenty of plaudits from across the Championship. Still firmly tipped as a leading pick to clinch a play-off place this season, the ex-MK Dons boss has still seen his side collect 12 points from their previous five sec…