Roma maintain interest in Florentino Luis
The player is still on Frederic Massara's shortlist to strengthen Roma's midfield.
According to Il Messaggero, both Florentino and Weston McKennie are two midfielders Roma are keen on based on Gian Piero Gasperini's requirements for the role.
Other European clubs are also interested in Florentino, but his arrival in the capital would represent a significant leap in quality for Roma, who are looking for a player capable of completing the defense and ensuring solidity in both phases of the game.
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New York Times
42 minutes ago
- New York Times
Manchester United vs Arsenal: The mood, transfer window, hopes for the season and predictions
Manchester United host Arsenal on Sunday in the pick of the games from the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Premier League season. Ruben Amorim's home side will be desperate to prove they have been transformed over the summer following a truly abysmal domestic campaign and Mikel Arteta's team are looking to go one better after three consecutive second-placed finishes in the top flight. To get you in the mood, The Athletic asked one of our United writers, Mark Critchley, and Arsenal counterpart James McNicholas for their insights before the game at Old Trafford. Mark Critchley: The impact of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's cost-cutting measures was still being felt over the summer, with more football-focused staff let go at the end of the season. Others departed voluntarily, and some are only staying around until replacements are found. The hope at United is that the club are now past the worst of all the upheaval of the past year, and that those who remain can truly call the renovated men's training building at Carrington their place of work. Ratcliffe cut the ribbon on the £50million ($67.8m) facility last week. It is certainly an upgrade on the Carrington of old and a symbol of what United believe will be a fresh start. Advertisement James McNicholas: Perhaps the most significant change is that Arsenal now have most of their key players fit again. In the second half of last season, they were without Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel and others for significant periods. There has also been significant incoming transfer business, including the addition of centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres. It's fascinating that this game could see him line up against fellow striker Benjamin Sesko — at the start of the summer, many believed the latter would sign for Arsenal, and that Gyokeres would end up reuniting with Amorim after working together at previous club Sporting CP in Lisbon. Critchley: It has been quietly impressive. Matheus Cunha's £62.5million signing from Wolves was a relatively straightforward deal and was finalised early. The same could not be said for the pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo, which lasted 44 days and ended with Brentford earning a guaranteed £65m, but in the end, United secured their two priority targets. Sales were said to be needed before they could make further additions, but there was always the possibility that Ratcliffe borrowed to spend and drew down on the club's revolving credit facilities. Sesko has filled the priority position at centre-forward for an initial €76.5million (£66.1m; $89.5m), despite no permanent exits and formidable competition for the RB Leipzig striker from Newcastle United. But outgoings are still necessary, especially after Amorim ostracised five players — Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia — to form a so-called 'bomb squad'. So far, only Rashford has departed, to Barcelona, and even that is only a loan. McNicholas: Arsenal's incoming business has been good. A deal for midfielder Martin Zubimendi was formally completed in July, but had effectively been agreed months before. The long hunt for a new striker ended when Gyokeres joined for a €63.5million upfront fee, plus €10m in potential add-ons. Arsenal have also added depth by signing Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Cristhian Mosquera. Advertisement The wildcard signing is arguably Noni Madueke. Bought from Chelsea for an initial £48.5million, the England international provides Arteta with another option on either flank. As with United, Arsenal are prioritising sales in the final part of the window. Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Karl Hein are all available. Critchley: More positive than you might think. Amorim and his players have regularly spoken of a bond developing in the camp this summer. Yes, you would expect them to say that on the eve of a new season, but talk to those around the club and it largely checks out. Having exiled the out-of-favour five, Amorim is now working with a group of players who are fully aligned with his vision. United's results and performances in pre-season have been broadly positive. Can such optimism survive a tricky set of opening fixtures? United's worst finish of the Premier League era last season leaves little margin for error. And though their summer spending is proof that Amorim has the hierarchy's support, it also shows how critical it is that he avoids a repeat of his first campaign in charge. McNicholas: The mood is good, especially after the comprehensive 3-0 win over Athletic Club in their final friendly of pre-season. Expectations are high, however. The Emirates Cup that the club won after beating the Bilbao side last Saturday is not going to satisfy supporters. After falling short of major silverware in each of the past five seasons, there is definite pressure on manager Arteta. Arsenal have a very challenging start to their Premier League campaign — including this trip to Old Trafford — and they need to come through it without sustaining too much damage. A few bad early results, and all that hope and anticipation could easily bubble over into something more negative. Advertisement Critchley: It was 32 points last season. The only time it has been bigger in the Premier League era was 1994-95, when United finished 37 clear of Arsenal (though that was in a 42-game campaign). United were runners-up that year. Arsenal finished in the bottom half for the first time in a long time, and also lost a European final. The parallels are there if you want to go looking for them. Arsenal were still three years away from winning their next title — the timeframe United have set for 'Project 150', their target to be crowned champions again by 2028, in line with the club's 150th anniversary. It is a very different league three decades on, but United could catch up quickly. We are still talking about the second- and third-placed clubs from just three seasons ago. McNicholas: The gap is a gulf. For someone raised on the title races between these clubs in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was surreal to see United so close to the foot of the Premier League last season. Amorim has been granted more time after his mid-season arrival. One wonders if Arteta's journey at Arsenal strengthened United's conviction to stick with their new manager. The Spaniard had a dismal period in the winter of 2020 when he got the job, but the board kept faith. Ultimately, that loyalty has been rewarded by Arsenal's return to the Champions League and their improved capacity to challenge for silverware. United will hope Amorim can follow a similar trajectory. Critchley: The obvious answer is Bukayo Saka, who could have a lot of joy down United's left if Patrick Dorgu plays as high up the pitch today as he has during pre-season, which could potentially leave Luke Shaw to deal with Arsenal's most potent open-play threat. Set pieces have to be considered too, though, especially as United conceded the joint-fourth-most in the league from dead balls last season, including two in the Premier League fixture at the Emirates. Jurrien Timber and William Saliba were the scorers that December night, but Gabriel is typically more dangerous, and scored after the breakdown of a corner in January's FA Cup meeting. Advertisement McNicholas: Even when United have been at their lowest, the quality of Bruno Fernandes has shone through. His decision to stay this summer after interest from Saudi Arabia provided them with a considerable boost. If Sesko starts, there will naturally be a huge media focus on his performance. Arsenal tracked his progress for years and deliberated over signing him this summer, before ultimately plumping for Gyokeres. United's great threat may come on their right-hand side. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori occasionally leave space in behind on Arsenal's left, and Mbeumo and Amad have the speed and quality to exploit that. Critchley: I've gone back and forth between Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City all summer, but I'm leaning towards Arteta's side to be champions. As much as everyone banged on about not having a recognised striker, and though a signing like Gyokeres was obviously needed, injuries, sendings-off and a creative over-reliance on Saka were as much a part of their downfall last season. Maybe they run into some of those issues again, but you could chalk most of them down to bad luck. And if they avoid those pitfalls, there is a stable, familiar foundation for Arteta to work with at a time when Liverpool and City are having to rebuild. McNicholas: Full disclosure: I have no idea. So much depends on what kind of progress the squad have made in understanding and implementing Amorim's system. My gut tells me United will be a top-half team again, though I'd be surprised if they finished in the Champions League qualification places. Somewhere between sixth and 10th feels most plausible to me. Critchley: We all know by now that Amorim is not going to budge from his 3-4-2-1, and all of United's summer business has been geared towards filling its roles and responsibilities. Cunha and Mbeumo have been signed to play as the left and right attacking midfielders respectively, which is likely to see Fernandes drop back into midfield. All three started up top together in the pre-season meeting with Everton, though, and could do so again if Sesko is not deemed ready for his debut. Advertisement Amad is also likely to be repositioned this season as a result of Mbeumo's arrival and could see more minutes at right wing-back than he did last term, although this could be the type of contest where Diogo Dalot's defensive solidity is preferred. McNicholas: It'll be Arsenal's standard variation on a 4-3-3. The improved depth at Arteta's disposal means he will have options in a variety of positions. He can choose between Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori at left-back, and Ben White and Timber on the opposite side of his back four. A midfield of Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard picks itself. The most intriguing decision is whether Arteta deems Gyokeres ready to play from the start. He scored in that final friendly against Athletic Club, and the manager may be tempted to go with the Swede — especially after Havertz suffered a minor injury last week, which disrupted his pre-season preparation. Critchley: A repeat of the 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture in March. Amorim's setup has frustrated 'Big Six' opponents in the past, even if his 10 matches against those clubs across all competitions last season only resulted in one United win (two if you include beating Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup). McNicholas: Arsenal are the better side but history shows that doesn't always translate into results. A draw is a good bet, a result could suit both clubs. I'll go for a 2-2. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
42 minutes ago
- New York Times
‘Not ideal' – Fulham's Marco Silva and the Premier League coaches frustrated by a lack of signings
Benjamin Lecomte is undoubtedly a fine goalkeeper. The 34-year-old Ligue 1 stalwart of Lorient, Monaco and Montpellier fame arrives in the Premier League with a wealth of experience and with the promise of doing a fine job warming Fulham's bench for most of the season. However, with the greatest of respect due to Lecomte, for him to be your club's only signing in the 2025 summer window to date at the cost of £500,000 must be underwhelming as a Fulham supporter. Or enraging if your name is Marco Silva. Advertisement In the 73 days since the transfer window first opened on June 1, Fulham haven't signed a single player for their first XI, the only Premier League club not to do so, with Lecomte their only addition to date. In fact the biggest signing Fulham have announced this summer, in a move that only Fulham could make, is adding Moet Hennessey (no, not Wayne's brother) as an official champagne, rose and cognac partner. Cheers! Silva isn't known for keeping his opinions to himself as he didn't mince his words at Thursday's pre-Brighton press conference. 'It's not an ideal scenario,' Silva stated on the eve of the season, before adding that Fulham play in white shirts and that the sky is blue. 'I didn't expect us to be this passive. I knew what I wanted and the plan was there but it hasn't happened. Right now we need to reinforce. In some positions we are very short. 'Did I expect it? Of course not, but the market is the market.' The market is indeed the market and Silva is by no means the only Premier League manager to state dissatisfaction at the heel-dragging of their club's owners and/or recruitment teams. In fact no fewer than a quarter of the league's bosses have gone public with varying degrees of volatility at their respective situations. Here's Nuno Espirito Santo of Nottingham Forest, speaking even as Forest bankrolled a club record £37million deal to buy Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town: 'Dealing with doubts is the worst thing you can have in football. 'We have doubts, who is going to be (here), when are they (new signings) going to come? All these things create doubts. 'We have to understand, but I cannot hide I am worried. This is the reality and I deal with the reality. Should I be over the moon? Totally opposite.' Forest have since signed James McAtee from Manchester City too and are pursuing other deals. Advertisement Yet a succession of opening press conference for the new campaign carried all the optimism and positivity of a dentist's waiting room. Here was Enzo Maresca about wanting a new centre-back to replace the injured Levi Colwill at Chelsea: 'The club know exactly what I think — I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.' Vitor Pereira piped up with some more market chat as he reflected on Wolves being down on numbers having signed three players to replace the five who left at the start of the summer. 'It's been a strange market this summer, it didn't move a lot, we had the Club World Cup,' he said on Friday. 'I don't like to wait, but this is a reality.' Then on Saturday before watching his team being thumped 4-0 by Manchester City, Pereira added: 'Today is not the day to complain about what is missing.' Maybe Sunday, then? Crystal Palace, like Fulham, arguably haven't strengthened their first XI either, signing only Croatia international Borna Sosa from Ajax as competition at left wing-back, as well as back-up keeper Walter Benitez. You can imagine Oliver Glasner, with a European campaign ahead of him for the first time in Palace's history, will be privately seething at the lack of business. In public he said last week: 'If you're thinking like this (about waiting to buy players), you make a mistake. Then you're always reacting to situations. You can't run a business where you're always reacting. 'You can but you'll never have long-term success. You have to be active and plan what's going on. 'You can't say we wait and then on the 28th, if we qualify for the Conference League group stage, then we act. We don't think like this. 'If we want to be better than last year, then let's sign at least two players.' Many of the Premier League big boys, i.e. the ones with gigantic revenues and few PSR concerns, got their business done early, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea buying 13 first-teamers between them by July 6th at a combined outlay of around £500million. It has taken time for that money to recycle around the market and those towards the bottom end of the Premier League food chain have had to be patient, while also performing PSR juggling acts, even at a high-flyer like Aston Villa where sell-to-buy is their new reality. Advertisement Of the clubs still waiting to do some proper business, Silva's disquiet at Fulham is among the most legitimate — and is the one that could have the biggest consequences, given his contract, like Glasner's at Palace, expires next summer. Fulham's line up for their opening day draw at Brighton was very familiar; Bernd Leno in goal, Joachim Anderson at the back, Sasa Lukic in midfield, Raul Jimenez up front and Rodrigo Muniz in the super-sub role of netting a late equaliser. New season, same names. Not that there was a huge amount wrong with Fulham's 2024-25 squad (from which they lost Wilian, whose contract expired and Reiss Nelson, who went back to Arsenal after his season-long loan, although there are suggestions Fulham would like him back). However, it was clear to anyone who watched the Cottagers stutter to a finish of 11th in May having been four points off a Champions League spot in March (and in an FA Cup quarter-final) that the squad needed both beefing and freshening up. Evolution, not revolution, but something. Winger Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk would add said fresh beef, but Shakhtar have rejected a €30m bid from Fulham for the 22-year-old, who scored nine goals last season. All of which leaves some fans — and possibly Silva — questioning the ambitions of owners who recently bankrolled a £350million refurbishment of Craven Cottage's champagne and hot tub stand, AKA the Riverside stand, but haven't (as yet) given Silva, undoubtedly one of the best managers Fulham have had, any new players to work with. What's that old Premier League adage? Stand still and you move backwards? There are also concerns that Muniz is about to be sold, with Leeds United among the clubs to have expressed an interest this summer. Muniz is a rare example at a club that tends to buy ready-made first team players of Fulham developing a young talent. To lose him would be a blow. 'Rodrigo Muniz we want you to say' they sang in the away end at Brighton on Saturday. Fulham's fanbase don't come across as a reactive, provocative bunch, but in the worse case scenario of Muniz leaving and new signings still not forthcoming, their patience would be tested. Advertisement It's not all bad by any means — 18-year-old academy graduate Josh King had a fine game at the Amex, showing composure, poise and some serious quality as he continuously dovetailed with Alex Iwobi, drove Fulham into the box and marked himself out as a Premier League star in the making — while Kenny Tete and Tom Cairney were tied down to new contracts. Fulham won't go down, but unless the next two weeks are fruitful, it's asking a lot for them to go up the table, no matter how good their back-up goalkeeper is. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
42 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ronnie Stam, Dutch footballers and the criminal underworld: ‘Once you're in, you never get out'
From the second floor of Breda's courthouse, it was possible to make out the floodlights of the football stadium where, in happier times, Ronnie Stam had been a local celebrity. The shamed 41-year-old was about to be added to the list of footballers, or ex-footballers, who had been imprisoned for being enticed into the Dutch criminal underworld. And that list is getting bigger. Advertisement 'It's painful for Dutch football,' Evgenii Levchenko, chairman of the Dutch professional footballers association (VVCS), tells The Athletic. 'It's not good for Dutch football and it's not good for the Dutch image. And it's very painful when you see so many big, talented players who don't understand they are killing the image of our football.' Stam won the Dutch league championship with Twente in 2010 and was part of Wigan Athletic's squad the following year, albeit injured, when they beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup in one of the biggest shocks in the history of English football. On Tuesday, however, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for his part in an international drug-smuggling plot — the latest case to explain why Levchenko and his colleagues are warning the nation's footballers their industry 'is not only a magnet for the rich and beautiful, but also for criminals'. In June, the former Ajax winger Quincy Promes was extradited to the Netherlands in another high-profile case that has left Dutch football questioning itself. Promes, who earned 50 caps for the Netherlands, was sentenced to six years in prison in February last year for trafficking 1,363 kilograms (3,005lb) of cocaine with a street value estimated at £65million ($82m). Since then, he had been living as a fugitive, first in Russia and then Dubai. Then there is the story of David Mendes da Silva, another former Netherlands international, who was jailed for seven years in 2022 for helping to smuggle two consignments of cocaine, weighing 74kg and 105kg, into the country. The Da Silva case particularly hurt Levchenko, given that they had once been team-mates at Sparta Rotterdam. 'I was talking to David a month before he was caught. I asked: 'What are you doing now, David?'. He said: 'Oh, nothing much — something here, something there'. We agreed we would have to get together. Everything, to me, seemed very normal. But, in the end, these guys all did something very stupid.' Advertisement Da Silva, whose career also included spells at Ajax, NAC Breda and AZ, was also convicted of bribing a shipping clerk with a €100,000 (£90,000; $120,000) payment. 'I let certain people get too close,' he admitted in court. If that was the full extent of the issue — three multi-million-pound drug busts and three high-profile footballers in prison — it would still be shocking. Yet the Dutch authorities openly accept there have been numerous other cases whereby past and present players have hooked up with serious criminals, particularly in the last 10 to 15 years. Those players, in turn, have become involved in, or on the edges of, drug, money-laundering and match-fixing plots. And sometimes worse: weapons, shootings and death. 'The difficulty we have is that some players are so close to the criminals,' says Levchenko, VVCS chairman since 2019. 'They think they are friends. And that is the biggest mistake they can make. 'We hear it so often: 'Yeah, but he's my friend, I've known him all my life'. And I say: 'If he were your real friend, he would never transport drugs in your car. Or ask you to carry €1million of watches to different countries'. Because those are things that have happened. 'It can start with something so simple. 'Can I borrow your car? Can you look after these watches? Can you get a shirt signed for me? Fancy coming to my birthday party where I will introduce you to the other criminals?'. That is the start. And once you're in, you never get out.' Are organised criminals deliberately targeting young, impressionable footballers? Arno van Leeuwen, a retired Amsterdam detective, answered that question during an interview last year with BN DeStem, the Breda-based newspaper, in which he discussed his own experiences of liaising with Ajax and the Dutch football association (KNVB) to warn players of the dangers. Advertisement Van Leeuwen explained how, in many cases, the footballers and criminals had grown up in the same areas. He started to notice the pattern more clearly in 2015 when an Amsterdam criminal known as 'Boeloeloe' was warned by the police that his life was in danger. Boeloeloe left the police station in a leased Mercedes. When Van Leeuwen's colleagues checked the number plate, they discovered it belonged to an Ajax youth player. 'So I thought, 'Let's check all those other Ajax lease cars through the system',' said Van Leeuwen. 'And what did I know? They were often lent to criminals.' Further inquiries revealed that one of the cars had been the target of gunfire after a footballer lent it to a friend. A hail of bullets went through the rear window and lodged in the driver's seat. It was a shocking scene — so shocking that the police still use the photos in their presentations to clubs and KNVB officials. Another of the Ajax player's cars was being driven around by the son of Gwenette Martha, a career criminal who was gunned down in 2014 and left with 80 bullets in his body. And Boeloeloe? He, too, was shot dead in a separate incident. Promes signed for Ajax in 2019 and Van Leeuwen recalled the footballer being seen with well-known criminals. 'We told him: 'Those are guys who could be targets for assassinations. And you're driving around with them. If they come under fire, you're sitting next to them in the car'.' According to a file from the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, Promes was also linked to Piet Wortel, a notorious figure in the Dutch underworld. Wortel was suspected of being involved in a litany of serious crimes, including drug trafficking and the 2019 murder of ex-footballer Kelvin Maynard, a Suriname-born right-back who was shot multiple times in his car in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. Advertisement Maynard, whose career included two seasons with Burton Albion in England's lower divisions, was gunned down by two masked assailants on a moped. His assassination was allegedly ordered in revenge for the theft of 400kg of cocaine, and shortly after, the 32-year-old had posted a photograph on social media showing him holding a huge wad of €50 notes. Wortel, who is serving a three-year prison term for money laundering, denies any involvement. Promes has lodged an appeal against his conviction and is fighting an additional 18-month sentence, imposed in 2023, for stabbing his cousin. The difficulty for the police, the clubs, the players association and other Dutch authorities is that there is a culture in modern-day football for many players flaunting their wealth. In that world, being rich is seen as the best way to get street cred. And, in the process, they romanticise a lifestyle of fast cars, expensive jewellery and attractive women. Levchenko says he has personally asked elite footballers from the Eredivisie, Dutch football's top flight, to reconsider what they put on social media. But do they listen? One leading international, he says, recently posted a picture of himself wearing a €200,000 watch. 'All the stars love to show off their different way of life: the cars, the beautiful women, the watches. What they don't seem to understand is that the younger players are watching them. It's wrong of the big stars. But they want to show off.' Another case relates to Romeo Castelen, a former Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag footballer who was arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in 2019 on suspicion of laundering €2.2million. Castelen, who made 10 appearances for the Dutch national team, had €139,000 in his pocket but claimed the money was earned through football, the watch trade and casino wins. 'In the football world,' his lawyer, Evelien de Witte, told a preliminary court hearing in Zwolle last year, 'it is considered cool to show off a wad of cash in the locker room.' Castelen, 42, denies any wrongdoing. On other occasions, high-profile footballers have been seen on nights out with known criminals, often in VIP sections of bars. One infamous occasion goes back to 2013 when the waterside river party at Amsterdam's Scheepvaartmuseum turned into a shootout between rival gangs, leaving one man dead. One Netherlands international, according to the police, allowed his Porsche to be used by criminals and the car ended up riddled with bullet holes. Another issue is the frequency with which the players' properties have been used for illegal purposes. Advertisement Reports in the Dutch media have alleged that Robin van Ouwerkerk, a feared criminal who gained international notoriety for allegedly creating 'torture containers' in Brabant, was the subject of an assassination plot while living in an apartment rented out by Karim Rekik, the former PSV youth-team player. Marco Ebben, a convicted drugs kingpin who was shot dead in Mexico this year, was previously reported to have been hiding in the penthouse of former Feyenoord player Terence Kongolo (now at NAC Breda). Guns were found in a house rented by Jetro Willems, then a Groningen player, in the town of Barendrecht in 2023. Willems, formerly of Newcastle United and now at NEC Nijmegen, said he was shocked by the discovery and it is important to make clear he was not treated as a suspect. Nor was Rekik, a former Manchester City player, or Kongolo, who played for Huddersfield Town and Fulham in the Premier League. These stories are alarming, nonetheless, given the reputations of the criminals involved. The police advice is: if you are a footballer moving to a new city or country, rent out your property through a reputable estate agent — not via friends, or friends of friends. 'We once had a footballer who had transferred abroad,' Bob Schagen, another highly experienced Amsterdam detective, told the Het Parool newspaper in 2023. 'He had rented out his house through acquaintances. That house became a criminal hotbed. Someone else lived there who was later shot dead. In the end, that footballer himself was clearing out a cannabis plantation. You can become infected for life through criminal contacts.' In Stam's case, the court in Breda was told he had established himself as one of the 'big boys' of the criminal underworld since retiring from playing in 2016. He was arrested after the police intercepted six months of messages on encrypted phones — a favoured choice of communication for organised criminals — that showed him plotting to smuggle cocaine and MDMA with a street value running into millions of pounds. Advertisement Stam, who was raised in Breda and had two spells at the city's biggest football club, admitted that he had colluded with his accomplices, including his brother, Rudi, to smuggle 20kg of cocaine from Brazil to Germany. The payment, he said, was 'an amount worth one kilo.' But he insisted that was his only involvement. He also alleged that gangland figures had turned up at a PSV youth-team fixture where his eldest son was playing. 'They threatened me on the sidelines at my son's game,' Stam told the court. 'A grenade was thrown at my house.' The reaction can largely be summed up by Ronald Waterreus, the former Netherlands goalkeeper, in a column for De Limburger newspaper, where he expressed 'pure disgust' for Stam and was heavily critical of Promes, too. Promes, Waterreus noted, had described his time in a Dubai prison as 'hell on earth'. Stam also complained about his circumstances, including the impact on his family, and did not turn up for his sentencing because 'those rides in the van from prison to court are hell'. 'Disbelief, sadness, anger,' Waterreus wrote. 'But perhaps most of all: anger. And that is mainly due to the 'victim' role in which these two gentlemen manoeuvre themselves. Wanting to be so tough as to deal in large quantities of drugs, with all the life-threatening consequences for society. Then acting like a whining toddler when you get the punishment that you asked for.' Waterreus urged the courts to impose the 'severest possible' punishment. And that anger is exacerbated because, reputation-wise, these cases are painting a picture of Dutch football that the relevant people see as unwanted and unfair. Levchenko, a former Ukraine international, has lived in the Netherlands since the age of 18 and played for six of their professional teams. Now 47, he is part of regular meetings with the clubs and players, of all ages, warning them not to follow the lead of Stam and all the others. Advertisement 'It's not only the Netherlands,' says Levchenko. 'I have seen something similar in Bulgaria, in Ukraine and Russia. But this is a big, painful story for Dutch football because the whole world is watching the Netherlands. 'We are visiting the clubs, talking to the players, their mothers and their fathers, and what we are finding is that the young generation don't think too much about the future. They just think about the moment: 'OK, if I do this (crime), I can make a lot of money'. 'That is really not wise. We tell them: 'Guys, one wrong move and your career is over. Don't be stupid — don't just think it's easy money. The chance of you being caught is so big'.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
