Stamford Bridge No 2 steps out for a rare appearance in a comfortable win for Maurizio Sarri’s improving teamYou can’t even, you can’t even, you can’t even make a sub. It took half an hour from kick-off for the Tottenham fans to find the best joke to date about Chelsea’s latest psychodrama on the theme of authority and control.And yet by the end that wheel had turned completely. It was instead the Chelsea fans who cheered their team and taunted the away support, after a performance of fire and purpose by a team that is constantly in the process of dying and resurrecting itself, west London’s own zombie FC. Related: Pedro strike and Trippier howler lift Sarri and give Chelsea...
It might have been a headache for the manager, but for the big studio moneymen Sunday’s bust-up was a fine day at the officeEven by the standards of non-apology apologies, Kepa Arrizabalaga’s first effort to address The Unpleasantness during Sunday’s League Cup final refined an art form. Politicians everywhere should draw inspiration from the Chelsea keeper, whose decision to decline to be substituted by Maurizio Sarri is regarded by some as the harbinger of Britain’s complete social breakdown (more on that possibility later).First, though, to events at Wembley Stadium. As Kepa put it in a statement issued in the immediate wake of the action: “I regret how the end of the match has been portrayed.” As always with these passive...
The incident in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final was regrettable for so many reasons and Maurizio Sarri was not the only person to look on in disbeliefJust two weeks ago we were mourning the death of England’s greatest goalkeeper, a man who did his job without fuss. It would be presumptuous to guess the reaction of Gordon Banks, were he still alive, to the behaviour of Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday but it’s hard to imagine any footballer of his generation not being appalled by the young Basque’s display of insubordination, for which he belatedly apologised on Monday evening.It is not just the orientation of the Wembley pitch from north-south to east-west that has been radically modified...
Luke Shaw played a blinder but can still improve, Eden Hazard remains central to Chelsea and Deulofeu is coming of ageLuke Shaw’s display at Old Trafford was his best for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, according to the interim manager. To see Mohamed Salah replaced on 79 minutes was all the evidence required. Solskjær said: “[When] they take Mohamed Salah off you know Luke Shaw has played a good game.” The left-back was a blur of defensive obstinacy. Solskjær said Salah’s threat meant Shaw could not attack as much as desired and this is understandable given the forward’s quality. But the prevailing caveat regarding Shaw’s contribution in most games is that he does not create enough when roving forward....
Refusal of keeper to be substituted near end of extra time undermined manager’s good work in League Cup finalAt times during his winter dissolve on the Chelsea touchline Maurizio Sarri has had something of the tracksuit-clad King Lear about him, striding his chalk square, whipped by the to-and-fro conflicting winds, raging at ingratitude and insubordination. By the end of this Carabao Cup final he had been transformed into something else, something more terminal; had become instead the fool. Related: Sarri and Kepa try to play down substitution ‘misunderstanding’ 'Poor Sarri. This really was the final, and very public, indignity'Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Related: Manchester City win Carabao Cup on penalties after Chelsea’s Kepa chaos Continue reading...