A beautiful piece of skill from Karim Benzema would have unnerved the American who may now regret his trash-talkingIf there was a moment to make Todd Boehly think twice about making such a bold prediction ever again, it came when Karim Benzema took a pass with his back to goal just before half-time and used the outside of his right foot to produce a flick so deceptive it completely flummoxed N’Golo Kanté, the ground giving way as the ball span away from the Chelsea midfielder and Real Madrid set off on yet another counterattack.Welcome to the Bernabéu. And Todd, thanks for your take on where European football has been going wrong all these years. A word to the wise, though:...
Defeat at Wolves suggested that coach’s second coming will not provide an edge in the Champions League against Real MadridThe narrative seemed to write itself: Frank Lampard, having been offed by a famous Roman, resurrecting his managerial career at Easter. But the narrative was wrong. There has been no new manager bounce for Chelsea, quite the reverse. They have had a different manager for each of their last three games and they haven’t won any of them. This has been a new manager splat.Sacking Graham Potter with quarter of the season remaining was presumably supposed to jolt Chelsea into life, to at least give them a puncher’s chance in the Champions League. That has not happened. Maybe at Stamford Bridge...
The last time club legend was sacked there was talk of dressing room complaints, but everyone will feel good for 10 minutesIt’s the circle, the circle of life. It moves us all through despair and through hope. Although to be fair, in some cases with a little bit more in the way of the former.But not today! For he is returned, Chelsea’s own royal blue lion king. As expected, and equally, as massively unexpected, Frank Lampard was unveiled just after lunchtime on Thursday as Chelsea’s new, slightly more permanent caretaker manager. Continue reading...
Expectations are way too high and the squad is a mess, as the Goodison club’s latest managerial hiring will soon discoverJarrod Bowen scored with a header after a corner was half-cleared, then he scored again on a break. “Set-piece second phase, then a counter-attack …” Frank Lampard said wearily afterwards, as though the failings are so familiar to him he has started regarding them as things that just happen, acts of God he can’t be expected to influence any more than he could control the weather or the traffic on the M6.At other clubs at other times, the criticism would have focused on the way Everton lost at West Ham. Lampard’s teams have always conceded goals from set-plays and counters....
The real problem at Goodison Park is simply the board are extremely bad at running a football clubThe beanie hat was the real giveaway. Frank doesn’t wear a beanie hat. This is the same Frank Lampard who drew awed gasps from his fellow West Ham youth players at his vast and immaculate wardrobe crammed full of Ralph Lauren jumpers. Frank is sharp. Frank carries himself right. Frank understands projection, image, display. Frank understands about not wearing a beanie.And yet Lampard did wear a beanie, lurking like a dispirited hiker on the London Stadium touchline through the 2-0 defeat that would prove to be his last engagement as manager of Everton. Continue reading...