Liverpool and England striker is a brilliant footballer but also an individualist who undermines himself with his apparent refusal to accept football is a team gameWatching Daniel Sturridge perform his critically panned one-man show against Slovenia on Tuesday, it was impossible not to picture his increasingly exasperated England team-mates as Alan Partridge in the car park. Dan! Dan! Dan! Over here! Look! I’m unmarked! Dan! Give me the ball! Dan! Don’t shoot! Dan! Stop trying to dribble past four defenders! Pass it! Pass it here! I’m in a much better position than you! Dan! Dan?Maybe Sturridge had a point, his selfishness a way of passing comment on his fellow attackers. Dele Alli managed one neat nutmeg but little of any...
Cesc Fàbregas may get his chance for Chelsea, Everton’s attackers can trouble Manchester City and Monday night’s big match at Anfield is too close to callEverything about Arsenal’s performance at Burnley screamed late Wenger era. Manchester City’s defeat at Tottenham gave them the opportunity to make a statement and as such the pressure was on; the game was tricky but hardly impossible. They delivered a performance devoid of intensity, purpose and conviction. Only Alexis Sánchez appeared not to deem the indignity of effort beneath him. Then, in the final seconds, everything changed, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Laurent Koscielny contriving the most glorious finish imaginable. Continue reading...
With Manchester United and Liverpool set to meet at Anfield on Monday, one manager’s approach seems stale while the other sounds the voice of modernityJosé Mourinho is only four years older than Jürgen Klopp but in football terms it can feel as though there is a lifetime between them. In part it is an issue of tactics: the hard, high press of which Klopp is such a devotee is modish. When Liverpool and Manchester City went to Tottenham this season and engaged in breathless, percussive styles, it felt like the football of today, the freshest ideas being pitched against each other. Mourinho’s style is more conventional. That does not render it invalid but, with the two managers’ sides poised to...
The German was appointed a year ago on Saturday and his combination of bear hugs, honesty and discipline has changed the atmosphere at the clubA Vauxhall Insignia estate sits in the space at Melwood where a Porsche Panamera GTS used to be. But that’s not it. Too superficial. Plus, he’s an ambassador for Vauxhall. Anfield now houses a luxurious main stand and an extra 8,500 supporters. But that’s not it either. The plans predate him. What about Adam Lallana, transformed from £25m substitute to player of the month nominee, or a team who lacked identity now powering their way into Premier League contention? Evidence of progress, unmistakably, but far from the only change Liverpool have experienced since Jürgen Klopp beamed...
Seven games gone and time to catch the breath but a pattern is evolving and the lift of intensity and physicality bodes well for the months aheadSo: how’s it been for you? As the Premier League takes a breath, sucks on half an orange, and smears some soothing embrocation across a vivid set of autumnal bruises, this seems like an ideal moment to sit back and review a particularly frantic opening act.For the first time in some time the Premier League feels like a slightly different place this year. With seven games gone and an international break now upon us the season already has a distinct tone and texture. Above all there has been a quickening of the pulse. The...