Lamptey may not last long at Chelsea, Leicester can be regular title contenders and have Pereira and Ndombele finally arrived?Welcome to the Premier League, then, Tariq Lamptey. And – quite possibly – farewell. For the 19-year-old right-back, the Emirates Stadium was some place to make a professional debut. He rose to the challenge, keeping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet and making one thrilling foray into Arsenal territory before playing in Tammy Abraham. It says plenty about Chelsea’s short-term youth policy that Lampard felt able to throw an untried teenager into a game of this magnitude. It says plenty about Chelsea’s long-term youth policy that they may not be able to keep him. Lamptey’s contract is up at the end of the season,...
Assumption that calamity is only just around the corner is perhaps new manager’s most toxic inheritance at EmiratesYou can sense trouble brewing for Arsenal the moment they go on the attack. This sounds paradoxical, but once you’ve watched a club like this for long enough reading the early signs of calamity becomes a sort of sixth sense, an almost shamanic instinct, like being able to see tomorrow’s weather in the pattern of a leaf. Perhaps it’s the way Nicolas Pépé retreats indeterminately towards the touchline, killing the momentum stone dead. Or the way Bukayo Saka advances just a few more yards than is probably wise. Perhaps it’s simply the breath of the wind on your cheek. Either way, you just...
Mikel Arteta can welcome Mesut Özil’s revival but will look to improve his side’s game management while Frank Lampard deserves praise for an astute substitution in the first halfWhen the dust settles, Mikel Arteta will feel a measure of satisfaction that so much of his message is getting through. Arsenal ran, harried, moved the ball on quickly, posed a genuine threat and did not really look like buckling under pressure until Bernd Leno’s howler changed the complexion. That felt harsh but what happened next was a reminder that simple game management is one of the first things Arteta’s Arsenal need to master. Sometimes you have to know when to take a point but, from their own attack, Matteo Guendouzi lost...
Leicester’s title hopes are fading, Danny Ings makes his England case and John McGinn’s absence is a huge blow for VillaAt this rate there is every chance two of the Premier League’s deadliest English strikers will not be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020. Jamie Vardy is unlikely to be tempted out of international retirement and then there is Danny Ings, the Southampton striker who took his tally to 13 goals for the season with a double. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson may be ahead of Ings in the pecking order but seven goals from his past seven games means it is impossible to ignore the 27-year-old’s credentials for a recall. Ings’s only cap...
The sport has a duty to police racism within its own boundaries, but this divisiveness comes directly from elected politicians“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a security announcement Racism is interfering with the game.” You can say that again. Welcome to Great Britain, 2019, a place of division and ugliness, a place where a Premier League football match can end with eight minutes of added time for time‑wasting, VAR and monkey chants; and a place where racist behaviour is most definitely interfering with the game.This was a wretched occasion for Tottenham in ways that go some way beyond a 2-0 home defeat by an impressive Chelsea team. You can raze the old structures, you can build a beautiful, gleaming stadium. Unfortunately,...