The Chelsea midfielder was magnificent against Brentford but must learn to use his sublime gifts more consistentlyThomas Tuchel has always been a puzzle-solver. One early interview lists his chief hobby as “an interest in furniture design”. A famous long afternoon with Pep Guardiola spent furiously shuffling pepper pots around a Munich restaurant table has already passed into modern managerial lore.On a boisterous afternoon in west London there was more evidence of exactly how that restless brain has set to work on a footballer who might qualify as the most bafflingly underexplored all-round talent in England. How do you solve a puzzle like Ruben Loftus-Cheek? And will Chelsea really have the patience to find out? Continue reading...
Bruce potentially set for his final game at Newcastle, Ranieri begins tough spell at Watford and Guardiola has Sterling decision It feels trivial discussing mere football matters when set against the ethical concerns arising from Newcastle’s Saudi takeover, but it feels as if whatever happens on the pitch against Tottenham will accelerate Steve Bruce’s departure. He is unlikely to get much credit if his side record a first league win of the season; instead it will only heighten the sense of “new broom” momentum that would require a bigger-name manager as soon as possible, while defeat would only serve to demonstrate the immediate need for change. It helps Bruce that Newcastle’s first opponents of the new era are a side...
Questions asked of Solskjær, Barkley is Tuchel’s latest success, and why did City sign Grealish not Kane? “The short answer is yes,” said Ole Gunnar Solskjær. “We’ve got loads to work on and we need to improve. We know that and I know that but I do believe in this group of players and the coaching staff. I’m very confident that we will get the best out of this squad.” Thus far, despite unconvincing performances, the evidence is that Manchester United’s board share that confidence: they gave him a new three-year contract in July. But, externally at least, questions are being asked of Solskjær. He faces a defining period – against Leicester, Atalanta, Liverpool, Tottenham, Atalanta again and Manchester City...
He was billed as the missing piece of the jigsaw but the Belgium striker was increasingly frustrated in the defeat by JuventusIs it time to talk about Romelu Lukaku? Or rather, to talk about the way in that this mannered Chelsea team still seems to be toying with that final element of its armoury, spinning it on its end, admiring its edges.Lukaku has been called the final piece in this jigsaw so many times, you wonder what kind of jigsaw this is that can become champions of Europe, with such excess talent available, and still claim to be incomplete. Continue reading...
Starved of creativity, Chelsea were swarmed by Manchester City’s press as Pep Guardiola beat his German rival at the fourth attemptIt’s dangerous always to elevate players in absentia, to assume that if only they had been there they would have produced a flawless game and performed absolutely to their maximum, but perhaps the biggest lesson from the clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was just what a good player Mason Mount is.Chelsea so far this season had been the most impressive of the title contenders because they had seemed to have such balance between attack and defence – a quality that has become increasingly rare as the financial imbalances of the modern game have led superclubs to focus on the...