Despite FA Cup semi-final failure against Manchester United, the progress the Argentinian is making at Spurs is undeniableIt feels as though Mauricio Pochettino’s career at Tottenham has been a battle with the club’s essential nature, with the need to end the curse of Spursiness. Spurs had this game in the bag, then they did not and the result was yet another semi-final defeat.Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pochettino’s reign is that every time he has been set a problem he has responded. Continue reading...
Manchester United midfielder recovered from a shaky start against Tottenham to showcase his silky creative gifts in the FA Cup semi-final’s pivotal momentsIt seems safe to say Paul Pogba will never please everyone. Not least when so many of those watching seem so eager to be displeased: to rail at every moment of struggle, those times where Manchester United’s most intermittently captivating midfielder refuses to do all of the many things that have been expected of him since his return to English football.United and Pogba have both sputtered and sparked this season. At times they have seemed a perfect fit in the most unwanted way, a team and a star player who are both prone to fades, moments of drift,...
Álvaro Morata needs to play regularly, rusty Manolo Gabbiadini can solve Southampton’s problems, and Stoke are in big trouble Related: Chelsea’s Morata tries to run his way into Antonio Conte’s good books | Barney Ronay Related: Mohamed Salah will get even better before the season is out, says Jürgen Klopp Continue reading...
Maligned centre-forward looked a lot better in Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final win in extra time against Leicester CityAntonio, Antonio. And still, just about, Antonio. Never mind the tide of snark on social media, or the sense of death that attaches itself to the endgame of every Chelsea manager; the travelling fans still sing Antonio Conte’s name with the same protective affection as they did from the start at the King Power Stadium.Chelsea kept their season alive here, edging past Leicester City into the FA Cup semi-finals. But this was also a victory studded with a sense of what might have been in another, happier second Conte season. Related: Pedro’s extra-time header takes Chelsea past Leicester into semi-finals Related: Antonio Conte...
Wigan seek to wreck Hughes’ Saints debut, FA Cup a big deal for Chelsea and Leicester, and Zaha returns to lift Palace’s spiritsIt is tempting to suggest that Mark Hughes has already made the biggest contribution that he can make to Southampton’s fight against relegation – in the form of his final 18 months at Stoke – but Sunday’s FA Cup joust with Wigan gives him a chance to start showing that he has the knowhow to stimulate an improvement at his new club. At Stoke he initially wrought good performances from mercurial types and he will have to do that quicksmart with Southampton, where the likes of Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal have lacked consistency all season....