New chapter in Japan’s aviation sector

KAMOKI: 

Japan unveiled its first passenger aircraft made in nearly four decades, as its manufacturers join the booming regional jet sector to take on industry giants Embraer and Bombardier.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a military contractor best known for its “Zero” World War II fighter, pulled back the curtain on its new Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) to offer passenger comfort with lower operating costs at a ceremony in Komaki near Nagoya.

The fuel-efficient, next-generation aircraft will be delivered to customers from 2017, and has been built with assistance from aviation giant Boeing.

“The dream of a Japanese-made product that can be proudly presented to the world for top-notch efficiency and passenger comfort is finally coming true,” said Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Chairman Hideaki Omiya.

The plane marks a new chapter for Japan’s aviation sector, which last built a commercial airliner in 1962 — the YS-11 turboprop. Japanese firms were banned from developing aircraft by US occupiers following its defeat in World War II.

The country slowly started rebuilding its aviation industry in the 1950s, starting with carrying out repair work for the US military, before expanding to licensed production of US-developed aircraft for Japan’s military. Japanese firms have also long supplied parts to Boeing.

The government aims to expand firms’ foothold in the global aviation and military sectors as the domestic market shrinks due to a rapidly ageing population. The jet will compete with small aircraft produced by Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier.

Hit or miss? James Rodriguez to Real Madrid

ANALYSIS: As part of a special series examining the form of this summer's major signings, Goal takes a look at the Colombia international

By Chris Myson

After just one season at Monaco and an exceptional World Cup campaign with Colombia, James Rodriguez took a massive step up to Real Madrid in a big-money deal.

But how successful has the transfer been, and what does the future hold for the 23-year-old? Goal takes a look...

THE DEAL

Even though James Rodriguez had already played four seasons in Europe with Porto and Monaco and commanded a transfer fee of €45 million when he switched between the two clubs, it was not until the World Cup that he earned global recognition.

The best moment of a stunning individual tournament – which saw him win the Golden Boot after scoring six goals in five matches – was his wonderful first-half volley against Uruguay in the round-of-16.

Immediately after that performance, the attacking midfielder made it clear that Real Madrid would be his preferred destination if his match-winning performances in Brazil were to earn a big-money summer move. "I have great respect for other clubs but ultimately Real Madrid are Real Madrid," he said. "I have always had a thing for them – that would be a dream."

After the tournament, Florentino 

Perez

 acted quickly and snapped up the 23-year-old for an eye-watering fee of €80 million and tied him down to a six-year contract.

THE STORY SO FAR

James' start to his Real Madrid career has been solid but not yet consistently spectacular, with the supreme goalscoring exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo taking centre stage in the early months of the club's season.

As expected, the Colombia star is already a first-team regular. He has appeared in all 12 of Madrid’s matches in 2014-15 to date, with 10 of those outings coming from the start.

He has scored three goals and assisted two – on average a direct contribution towards a goal once every two starts - while Madrid have won eight of those 12 fixtures, including the last six in a row as they begin to find some consistent form. 

Those are relatively modest individual stats, but James has been playing in a slightly different role in recent weeks, being used on the left side of the three central midfielders in a 4-3-3, which is deeper than the No.10 role or left-sided attacking roles he has predominantly played in the past.

His most impressive performance to date came in Madrid’s staggering 8-2 La Liga victory away to Deportivo La Coruna. James scored one and set up another as part of a fearsome foursome alongside Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, all of whom tormented the hosts.

THE FUTURE

There is a lot of pressure on James and the expectations are huge as a result of the €80m as he adapts to a new league. Performances come under intense scrutiny at one of the world’s biggest clubs anyway, but that is multiplied after the hype that surrounded his move.

Add to that the fact Angel Di Maria was sold to Manchester United and it becomes easy to have a clouded judgement when reviewing James’ early-season form. 

Di Maria was Madrid’s best player along with Ronaldo last season and any player would find the challenge of replacing the Argentine at the Bernabeu difficult, particularly as the new arrival adapts to a brand new position in a team where is not yet the main man. 

As he continues to acclimatise to life in Madrid and his new team-mates, James' influence can be expected to grow. That being said, his individual statistics could easily have been much stronger already. 

While the goals and assist columns are yet to take off, a deeper look at his performances indicate real signs of promise. In La Liga, the attacker already tops Madrid’s rankings for key chances created (16) and crosses (44), proof he is making a strong creative impact.

Player Ranking — Real Madrid

GoalsTotal ShotsAssistsKey PassesTotal PassesTotal CrossesSavesClean SheetsGoals ConcededTotal ClearancesYellow CardsRed Cards

#	Player	GP	Key Passes
1	James Rodríguez	7	16
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	6	15
3	Toni Kroos	7	15
4	Gareth Bale	7	10
5	Luka Modric	6	8

The goals of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo in attack, along with Madrid’s recent upturn in form are providing him with the time he needs to fine-tune his role and improve on his end product before the season reaches its business end.

Looking further forward to the years ahead, James is set to become an even more important figure given the club’s huge investment in him, his marketability and unquestionable talent.

With Ronaldo’s long-term future uncertain, the baton will likely, at some stage at least, pass to James to be the new spearhead in Madrid’s quest for domination on and off the pitch.

Man City without Mangala against Tottenham

The France international defender picked up a muscle injury while on duty with les Bleus but is expected to be fit to travel to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday

Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala has been ruled out of Saturday's Premier League match against Tottenham.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed on Friday that the centre-back had returned from international duty with a muscle injury that will keep him out until Tuesday's Champions League fixture at CSKA Moscow.

Mangala played 90 minutes in France's 2-1 win over Portugal but did not feature in Tuesday's 3-0 victory away to Armenia.

"We have just a small problem with Mangala, a small muscle injury, but I think he will without any problem be fit for Tuesday," Pellegrini told the press.

The Chilean also revealed that Yaya Toure had only returned from his spell with Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday and that a decision will be taken over the midfielder's involvement on the day of the Tottenham game at the Etihad Stadium.

City put 11 goals past Tottenham last season, winning 6-0 on home soil in November, but Pellegrini is taking nothing for granted.

"We are not expecting to score six goals every time we play Tottenham," he said. "Last year Spurs away was one of the best 

games

 we played.

"We hope to play a very good game but it will be very different [to last season].

Bayern obliged to think about signing Reus - Rummenigge

The Bavarians' chairman upset BVB by discussing the forward's buy-out clause earlier this year but he feels that their interest in the Germany international is only natural

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says that Bayern Munich are "obliged" to think about signing Borussia Dortmundattacker Marco Reus.
The Bavarians' chairman provoked a furious reaction out of BVB in August by publicly discussing the Germany international's contractual situation, claiming that the 25-year-old's buy-out clause will drop from €35 million to €25m at the end of the 2014-15 season.
Rummenigge has now admitted that Bayern - who have lured both Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski away from Signal Iduna Park over the past 18 months - are interested in Reus' services."If a German international has an exit clause and his contract is running out, Bayern is obliged to think about him," Rummenigge told Sport 1. "With Marco Reus, his release clause is known.
"Whether we deal with it, I cannot seriously predict. We've talked too little internally about the subject.
"There are many great clubs from other countries who would be interested in signing Marco Reus.
"Of course they [Dortmund] will try to extend his contract. But at the end of the day the player will decide what he wants."
Reus still has three years to run on his current deal with Dortmund and coach Jurgen Klopp is confident that the former Borussia Monchengladbach ace will commit his long-term future to the club.

RELATED

Suarez: Barcelona Clasico debut is fate

The attacker is eagerly anticipating the match against Madrid and is in awe of team-mates Lionel Messi, Neymar, Xavi and Andres Iniesta

Luis Suarez believes it's fate that he could make his Barcelona debut in the Liga match against arch-rivalsReal Madrid on October 25.

The Uruguay international will be available for selection again when his four-month ban expires on October 24 and he thinks it's no coincidence that he could take on Madrid on his maiden appearance for the Catalans.

"You know, I’m the kind of person who believes that things happen for a reason, and out of all 19 teams in the league, it’s precisely against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu that I’ll make my comeback. There must be a reason," Suarez told Barca Magazine.

"I imagine what it’ll be like to pull on the shirt, to be with the rest of the team in the dressing room before the match, getting kitted up to play, and as chance would have it, in such a stadium. It’s a huge coincidence but I’m looking forward to the experience.

"It hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t believe it’s true yet. I did play 15 minutes in the 6-0 Gamper win over Leon, but to be honest, it felt like I was a guest player. I didn’t really feel like a Barca player. I’d only just arrived in time for the Gamper and I was still a bit nervous."

Attackers such as David Villa and Thierry Henry struggled at Camp Nou as they had to settle for a position on the wing rather than their preferred No.9 position, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic also failed to make an impact at Barcelona.

Nevertheless, Suarez does not fear that he will encounter similar problems and is ready to play wherever head coach Luis Enrique needs him.

"Some people see me as a centre-forward and others as a forward, but even if I play at centre forward I never stay there all the time. I’m always moving around and don’t like to be still.

"When we have the ball, I like to move all around the attack. I don’t just want to be in the area. But you have to listen to what the coach wants and asks for and try to help the team however you can.

"What a striker likes best is to score goals and doing that depends on their quality, their confidence, their instinct at the right time, opportunism. But a striker is also a team member and in my case I also like making nice moves and providing passes for my colleagues to score.

"Although some people might not believe it, there are strikers who prefer to set up a goal for a team-mate if they are better positioned. In the teams I’ve played for, I’ve always tried to help not only with goals but also with assists."

The Uruguay star also had his say on the quality of his team-mates and admitted that he is thoroughly impressed by what Lionel Messi, Neymar, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are capable of.

"The quality of the players here is incredible. It’s admirable. You watch the games and see how good the players are and training with them confirms what you’ve seen in those matches.

"To see the passes that players like Leo, Neymar, Xavi and Iniesta make! They’re all top quality players and when you think it’d be impossible for them to make a pass, you are stunned to see that they do.

"Sharing training and day-to-day life with those people is spectacular."

Di Maria was greedy - Ancelotti

The Italian coach has explained Madrid's decision to offload the midfielder, while voicing his admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Real Madrid decided to cash in on Angel Di Maria this summer due to the Argentine's hefty wage demands.

The versatile midfielder played a key role in Madrid's successful Champions League campaign last term as they at last won La Decima.

However, Di Maria was then sold to Manchester United in a deal worth €75 million after talks over a contract renewal broke down.

"Di Maria demanded a lot of money and preferred to leave in order to earn more elsewhere. The club simply couldn't give him the money he wanted," Ancelotti told Cadena Cope.

"There are times when a club has to say no. You cannot change the club's policy for just one player."

The Madrid coach also had his say on Cristiano Ronaldo and insisted the Portugal international is the best player he has ever coached, while admitting that it is not an easy decision to rotate the attacker.

"I have coached Zinedine Zidane and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but I think Ronaldo is the best player I ever trained.

"It's never an easy decision to rest him. He nearly always scores when he plays and you almost start each game 1-0 up when he starts. He is a great professional."

Ancelotti then went on to discuss the signing of James Rodriguez and stressed that the former Monaco man is worth his €80m pricetag, while dismissing claims he is being forced to play the forward to satisfy the Madrid hierarchy.

"James is worth the money. When you pay €80m, it's because you think a player is worth it.

"If the president told me to play someone, I'd step down right away..."

James has netted once in seven La Liga appearances so far, while creating two more.

Schurrle: Losing isn’t in Mourinho’s vocabulary

The Chelsea boss teaches his side to “play like men” according to the German forward, who says he has improved immeasurably as a player since joining the west Londoners

Chelsea attacker Andre Schurrle believes Jose Mourinho has transformed his mentality and says the Portuguese’s will to win is rubbing off on him.

The Germany international was Mourinho’s first signing upon his return to Stamford Bridge in 2013 and has started four of the Blues’ seven Premier League encounters this term.

And Schurrle has praised his managers’ fierce hatred of defeat, claiming the former Real Madrid boss even instructs the players to commit fouls, and is confident he is developing the skills needed to become a world-class player.

“Jose Mourinho has taught me a different style of play and a different way of thinking to reach the world-class level someday,” Schurrle told SportBild.

“To him, finishing second is a failure. He doesn't know the word ‘losing’. That's how he holds his talk before the matches. His thinking is impressive - as impressive as the way he gets his message across.

“He challenges you to be robust on the pitch, to play like a man. To commit a foul. I feel much better since joining Chelsea and I have become much more confident.”

Unbeaten Chelsea currently sit top of the Premier League table, while Schurrle has bagged goals against Burnley, on the opening day of the season, and Manchester City.