The Cherries’ historic win from nowhere proves that emotion can still triumph over logicOut of deference to AFC Bournemouth’s 117-year history it seems proper to suggest there may have been more extraordinary high points than this in their footballing history. But let’s face it, there haven’t. On an increasingly wild afternoon on the south coast Eddie Howe’s high-energy team played their part in one of the great, and greatly improbable, Premier League games.Not only did Bournemouth come back from 3-1 down to win 4-3, barely coming up for air in a second half of relentless motion. They did so after completely they were suffocated for the opening half as Liverpool’s tourniquet of malevolent lime-green shirts took what looked to be...
Alan Pardew is under pressure at Palace, José Mourinho must back his midweek stars and the omens are there for Manchester City to end Chelsea’s winning runOne of the biggest accusations aimed at José Mourinho down the years has been that he favours workmanlike players who can follow instructions over unpredictable talents who are harder to control but more likely to decide a game with a moment of genius. Mourinho’s treatment of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial at Manchester United has provided his critics with more ammunition. But now is the time for the United manager to give both of them a proper run in his strongest side. Mkhitaryan created Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s early opener in Wednesday’s League Cup win over...
With no international breaks and the festive season looming, the next five weeks could go a long way to deciding which of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal have the legs to be Premier League championsDecember is upon us, one third of the Premier League season has been completed and a definite hierarchy has been established. You could throw a blanket over the top four of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, who are separated by only three points after 13 matches. With the gap from the fourth-placed Arsenal to the best of the rest a more emphatic four points, the smart money suggests that barring an unlikely surge from Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester United, this season’s Premier League title...
Arsenal rely on a fit Alexis Sánchez, Pep Guardiola is keeping Manchester City fresh and Jason Denayer may have aided Liverpool’s future opponentsOn the corresponding weekend of last season, Alexis Sánchez suffered the hamstring injury at Norwich City that would rule him out for two months. It was the afternoon when the Arsenal forward had also been pushed into the TV camera pit at Carrow Road by Ryan Bennett – an act that Arsène Wenger said “could have killed” the Chilean. Arsenal’s hopes have come to be closely linked to Sánchez’s fitness, on him staying out of the red zone, and there was plenty of nervousness at the club when he hurt his hamstring in training with Chile during the...
A return to Liverpool may seem the obvious next step but if Gerrard wants to make a clean break he must choose very carefullySteven Gerrard is possibly the nearest modern equivalent to Sir Bobby Charlton – synonymous with one club, England centurion, capable of stamping his imprint on matches and admired throughout the game – so as he considers his options for the future on announcing his retirement as a player, he will be aware that immense popularity on the pitch does not necessarily lead to a successful career in management.Charlton’s stab at managing was a brief and forgettable coda to one of the great playing careers. He left Manchester United, possibly a mistake, and lasted two years at Preston North...