Arsenal should stay positive, Potter shows Benítez a trick and VAR makes refereeing harderOn the first Sunday of 2021, a first-half Chelsea capitulation against Manchester City hastened Frank Lampard’s exit and deepened a despondent mood. Twelve months on, Liverpool’s two early goals at Stamford Bridge could have induced Groundhog Day feelings. Instead, Thomas Tuchel’s side roared back and showed that, whatever other problems have recently beset the Chelsea manager on and off the field, this is a team that plays for him. Though they did so in a rather un-Tuchel-like manner. The intense atmosphere generated by the Premier League debut of safe standing was met with the kind of front-foot, high-tempo performance more associated with a Jürgen Klopp side. Chelsea...
Chelsea and Liverpool’s wild, moreish draw demonstrated why they both trail Pep Guardiola’s flawless side by so many pointsWell, there goes the league title. Happy new year everyone! But hey, what a way to go. For the second time in two and half weeks Liverpool came to London and played out a wild, impossibly moreish 2-2 draw against occasionally brilliant, occasionally flawed opponents.This was no doubt an agonising watch for Jürgen Klopp in self‑isolation; just as it was 90 minutes of full-body torture for Thomas Tuchel, who spent the afternoon leaping up like a furious clockwork woodpecker, combination-punching invisible demons, and at one point hurling a bottle of orange energy drink thrillingly into an advertisement hoarding. Continue reading...
Chelsea and Liverpool spent big on the ‘final piece of the puzzle’ – and each player has proved such signings are vanishingly rare“How have we managed to sign this guy?” There is something a little vague and apocryphal about the oft-quoted reaction of one unnamed Celtic player to seeing Virgil van Dijk in training on his first day at the club.Van Dijk was 22 at the time and a late bloomer, rejected as a teenager by Willem II (“too many limitations”), and more recently by Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, with two decent seasons at Groningen to recommend him. Continue reading...
The Chelsea manager, unlike Jürgen Klopp, does not want to lay down the law on players getting protectedThe latest update about the number of Premier League players who are vaccinated against Covid-19 shows that English football is crying out for strong leadership when it comes to getting jabs in arms.The figures are infuriating. On Monday it was revealed that 16% of top-flight players remain unvaccinated. The vaccination journey has crawled along and even now, with Omicron forcing a raft of fixture postponements, some players are still refusing to do their civic duty. The willingness to digest misinformation about the vaccine on social media remains a problem, although perhaps there will be a shift in attitudes if different rules are brought...
João Cancelo continues to shine, Dele Alli shows his worth and Blackburn are looking upJürgen Klopp spent much of the pulsating 2-2 draw with Tottenham frothing with rage at some of the refereeing decisions and his anger was more than justified. We all have bad days at the office, but certain elements of Paul Tierney’s display were inexplicably poor. Diogo Jota was denied a blindingly obvious penalty in the first half, before Harry Kane escaped with a yellow card for a potentially career-ending tackle on Andy Robertson. Robertson was smart enough to jump, without which the damage would have been severe. “That’s definitely a red card ... if Robbo’s leg is on the ground, it’s a broken leg,” Klopp correctly...