Farke faces defensive dilemma for Liverpool, Forest need their best XI, Chelsea’s women eye treble and a six-pointer in AustriaLeeds are falling apart. Maybe. But here’s the thing: anyone who beats them ends up falling apart too. None of the eight teams who have got the better of Marcelo Bielsa’s men in Championship this season have won their next match – seven of them have lost it. Nottingham Forest were the latest to find that beating Bielsa’s side takes a heavy toll, as on the back of last weekend’s 2-0 win at the City Ground, they flopped to a home defeat by Charlton. But they are still only two points off the automatic promotion places and could foil West Brom’s...
Olivier Giroud’s absence is a mystery, Hugo Lloris proves his worth and Manchester United’s defence continues to wobbleThe debutant Steven Bergwijn will rightfully claim the headlines for Spurs but the contribution of Tottenham’s current third-longest serving player against Manchester City should not be forgotten. Hugo Lloris made one of the saves of the season to deny Sergio Agüero in the first half, somehow getting a big toe to turn a deflected shot on to the post, before he also denied Ilkay Gündogan from the penalty spot (the fourth spot-kick City have missed in their past six). Lloris rode his luck – he was clearly off his line when palming Gündogan’s effort away and fortunate not to concede another penalty when...
The dominant style of football’s hyper-capitalistic age has its origins in the unlikeliest of placesA training field near Ostfildern, in the forest south-east of Stuttgart. It’s February 1983, and local sixth-tier side Viktoria Backnang are playing a friendly against Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s Dynamo Kyiv, who are wintering at Sportschule Ruit. For Viktoria’s young player-manager, Ralf Rangnick, it is a revelatory experience. When the ball goes out of play for a throw-in early on, Rangnick counts the Dynamo players, half-believing they had sneaked an extra man on to the pitch. They hadn’t, but such was the ferocity of their pressing that it felt as if they had. And so a seed was planted that has had a profound impact on football’s tactical...
Purists are overcoming the pragmatists because with the world watching it’s not just what you do, it’s the way that you do itWhen the history comes to be written of this football season, there will be two stories that dominate. The first, barring some kind of bizarre catastrophe (which would in turn become the standout story), is Liverpool’s near faultless procession towards their first title in 30 years. The second – less impressive, perhaps, but no less commented upon – is the arrival of VAR.Everyone has had their say on the controversial video referee and the consensus of opinion is it has ruined football. I happen to disagree, as I think it just needs to be better thought-out. Junk the...
Roberto Firmino’s winner at Wolves grabbed the headlines but Liverpool’s captain was, yet again, an immense figureAs the final whistle blew on a cold and misty night in the Midlands, Liverpool’s players allowed themselves a moment to congregate in the centre of the pitch and celebrate yet another win. Backs were patted, hugs were exchanged and, not surprisingly, breaths were caught after what was the league leaders’ toughest assignment of the season so far. But one man in red was not there, for he had walked to the far side of the pitch in order to acknowledge the 3,000-plus travelling supporters who had made the trip here. In turn they saluted him, and rightly so. He was not only their...