Ryan Fraser ran Leicester ragged; Neil Warnock will not tolerate more Cardiff mistakes; and Rafael Benítez needs a new planJürgen Klopp was asked to describe his emotions during stoppage time in the 2-1 victory at Tottenham. His dominant Liverpool team had led 2-0 going into it but they conceded to Érik Lamela in the 93rd minute to set up a nervy finale. “I would love to say it is the first time in my life I have been in a situation like that but it happens so often,” Klopp said. “My wife hates it.” The Liverpool manager would not have gone through the wringer if some of his players – Sadio Mané, in particular – had played in a teammate...
Ukrainian provides perfect birthday gift for Manuel Pellegrini with two goals towards a first league win of the seasonIn West Ham’s situation any win will do. They are off the mark, off the bottom of the table and, on Manuel Pellegrini’s 65th birthday, they ensured they avoided the worst start to a league season in the club’s history. In the goals and all-round performance of Andriy Yarmolenko there were even tentative signs that the summer signings may turn out to offer some value. But nobody should be sounding the all-clear just yet: West Ham will face few opponents as sloppy and lacklustre as Everton were at the back on Sunday. Related: Yarmolenko double against Everton helps West Ham to first...
It is unusual Watford have pressed their case against Everton over Marco Silva and more or less every club does it, but fines don’t deter and repeat offenders should lose pointsThe most blatant “tap” I ever heard about goes back to the days when it was quite the norm for the members of the FA’s international committee to use their positions as a way of making clandestine approaches to players from the England team.It was June 1977 and England had just played Brazil as part of a tour of South America, minus Don Revie on the pretext the manager was flying off to watch Italy, one of their opponents in the World Cup qualifiers (in reality, Revie was negotiating his...
Spurs’ rough month could be extended by Liverpool, another perfect record is on the line at Watford and fears for West HamSeptember hasn’t exactly been great for Tottenham thus far. Defeat at Watford was followed by landing in Barcelona’s Champions League group, Daniel Levy confirming more costly delays to the new stadium and a night in Milton Keynes. Dele Alli got injured on international duty and their captain, Hugo Lloris, was ruled out with a thigh problem shortly after admitting being two times over the drink-drive limit. Ever a man to brighten the mood, Son Heung-min returns this week fresh from pulling the nutmeg of the year, with Asian Games gold (and military service exemption) also in the bag. How...
The Italian has made the most impressive start of the seven managers new to the top flight or on fresh assignments, while doubts already dog Manuel Pellegrini and Neil WarnockThere are no fewer than seven new managers in the Premier League this season, four of them completely new – Maurizio Sarri, Unai Emery, Nuno Espírito Santo and Slavisa Jokanovic – and three others with previous experience but in new club situations. As the domestic programme returns with two from the latter group meeting at Goodison Park, it is already evident that at least one of the fresh faces – if Manuel Pellegrini has ever been thus described – is under pressure.Before we move into the nitty-gritty of the season, with...