His calmness and ability to communicate effectively has transmitted itself to the players during his promising startGraham Potter hasn’t waved a magic wand. He hasn’t revived Chelsea with revolutionary training sessions or era-defining tactics. Instead, Potter has done something simple and sensible: he has been himself.This is a man who understands people, knows how to communicate and values emotional intelligence. Potter had never managed in the Champions League before replacing Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea’s head coach last month, but he was not fazed by the challenge of inheriting a dressing room packed with stars such as Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Nor did he think about the pressure that comes with working for Chelsea. In Potter’s world there is nothing...
Milan defender’s poor displays against Chelsea could cost him a place in England’s squad to QatarAt this rate Gareth Southgate is going to have to bow to public pressure and stuff his team with all the attackers when England face Iran in their opening game at the World Cup next month.The defensive concerns are mounting for England’s manager. If the possibility of John Stones returning from the hamstring injury that forced him off against Germany last month is a positive, then it is counteracted by Harry Maguire’s exile from Manchester United’s starting XI and Kyle Walker undergoing groin surgery last week. Even someone with Walker’s recovery speed will find it hard to win the race to be fit for Qatar...
The wing-back produced an excellent all-round performance and scored with a typically emphatic finishSomething sweet happened at the end of this light, fun, convincing 3-0 Chelsea victory against a blunt Milan. As the players hugged at the final whistle, speaking to each other behind their hands like underworld informers, the referee Danny Makkelie of the Netherlands declined Reece James’s offer of a handshake and instead went right in for a full embrace, clasping Chelsea’s right‑back to his bosom in the post-match lineup.In the moment it just seemed entirely appropriate. Mainly because James was magnificent here, delivering a performance of stately, unruffled incision and total assurance in defence. Continue reading...
The reaction to the Chelsea owner’s throwaway ideas shows the English game prefers its foreign benefactors to keep quietBob Dylan once had a piece of advice for aspiring artists: write 10 songs a day, and then discard nine. In a way this also appears to be Todd Boehly’s approach to improving English football. He is just putting stuff out there, you see. Running ideas up the flagpole and seeing if anyone salutes them. Throwing them out on the stoop and seeing if the cat licks them up. Not necessarily good ideas. Or practical ideas. Or popular ideas. Or ideas that really bear the weight of a moment’s logical thought. But ideas nonetheless.As such it is not necessary at this stage...
Meaty fist of capital has checked the dream at astutely run Brighton but no one can blame manager for seizing this chanceThere are times when the modern global obsession with football feels exhausting. Why do so many people from so many places care so much? What is it that drives the endless banter, the Ronaldo fundamentalists, the conspiracy theories over the preponderance of referees from the north-west? Why is this the focus rather than the apparently more pressing concerns of a mounting energy crisis, soaring inflation and a worrying new prime minister? Why are we more bothered by Erik ten Hag compromising his Ajax principles than by the tactics of the Ukrainian counteroffensive?And then you get weeks like this when...