Tottenham and Everton both need a result while Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa may serve up another feast of footballWhen the dust settles on José Mourinho’s Tottenham tenure - and that could be one day soon - 4 October’s 6-1 win at Manchester United will probably be a high watermark. It happened on a day when the Premier League took on a demented quality. That Sunday also featured Liverpool’s 7-2 loss to Aston Villa. Six months on, Spurs announcing themselves as title contenders feels like a dim, surreal memory. United have since regrouped and victory in north London would further frank their passport into next season’s Champions League. Meanwhile, Spurs continue to scrap on the peripheries of the top four...
McNeil good enough for top six, Crystal Palace set for tough run-in and Brighton’s confidence boosterMikel Arteta’s benching of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for lateness was hardly draconian. Gone are the days when Sir Alex Ferguson made David Beckham sit in the Elland Road stands after missing training to attend to a sick Brooklyn or Roy Keane commanded the Sunderland team bus to leave three players behind because they were a minute late. But as Tottenham’s rope-a-dope tactics looked to be working in the first half, the tardy captain’s demotion appeared a case of principles overriding pragmatism. When Alexandre Lacazette chose to step over rather than to shoot in the moments following Érik Lamela’s goal, Aubameyang’s incisiveness appeared an avoidable loss. So...
United cross town to City for a Manchester derby, while there’s a big old meeting of strugglers on Sunday lunchtimeIt’s been a bad week for Steve Bruce. Saturday’s draw with Wolves means Newcastle have won just two of their last 15 league games, and are now hovering just above the drop zone. Bruce’s post-match comments – “unfortunately Matty didn’t get the directions on quick enough” – appeared to blame substitute Matt Ritchie for not passing on tactical instructions shortly before Wolves’ equaliser, which led to a training-ground argument between the pair this week. Ritchie has since apologised but morale seems to be low, particularly with mounting injuries. Callum Wilson, Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin have scored more than half of...
Crystal Palace’s manager has enjoyed extraordinary longevity – but if these are the final months of an impressive coaching career, how should he be remembered?The whole dynamic of the game was Brighton attacking. Everything was about whether they could find the goal they so clearly deserved. When Christian Benteke then volleyed a winner for Crystal Palace, it felt so implausible it was impossible not to pause. It didn’t feel right: was that allowed? Had the whistle already gone? On the touchline, a huge grin broke across Roy Hodgson’s face, he gave a little skip, and he turned instinctively to hug Ray Lewington.These are the best wins, particularly in a derby: stolen against all odds, against all justice. Analysis and fretting...
Another resurgent Frenchman for Chelsea, Mourinho has Kane purring and there was a Zaha masterclass to savourThere were long years when it seemed José Mourinho had lost his touch as a man motivator of star players. At Real Madrid, relations broke down with the club’s galácticos; his alliance with Cristiano Ronaldo was lukewarm at best. Second time around at Chelsea, there was frostiness with Eden Hazard, while Paul Pogba and Mourinho cold-shouldered each other at Manchester United. At Tottenham, Mourinho made it his business to get close to Harry Kane, and the results have been scintillating. In the same style that Mourinho made Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba into Premier League greats, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic flourished at Internazionale, Kane brims...