Carvalhal needs immediate impact at Swansea, Schmeichel seeks redemption and Chelsea’s Azpilicueta-Morata combination threatens StokeThe wisdom of appointing Carlos Carvalhal as Swansea’s new manager is, to say the least, questionable: a man who was dismissed on Christmas Eve for underachieving with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship does not inspire confidence. Still, he may prove successful: many doubted him when he arrived at Wednesday in 2015, and he started well there, reaching the play-offs in his first two seasons. But if he is to change things at the Liberty Stadium, he needs to do it immediately. After Saturday’s game at Watford, three of Swansea’s next four league games are against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool. If they do not beat the...
After developing the Fab Four frontmen Jürgen Klopp has spent £75m on a defender – the first part of an answer to a glaring weaknessVirgil van Dijk appears delighted his long-projected move to Liverpool will go ahead and everyone else involved in the world-record £75m deal has a reason to be just as happy.Southampton may not have had any particular desire to lose the player but they have been well aware for at least half a season a move was on the cards and have played their role as a selling club to perfection. Liverpool’s offer of £60m last summer was already a lot of money but the Saints made a principled stand over what they considered an illegal approach,...
Arsenal manager trusted his young full-back against the explosive Mohamed Salah and Maitland-Niles can be pleased with his performancePerhaps, in the kind of skewed reading that meetings between Arsenal and Liverpool have come to invite, this fixture was the perfect laboratory for a young full-back making his way.By the time Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 20 years old and making his third Premier League start, left the field he could at least assure himself that nobody would have noticed any ragged edges very much. Related: Roberto Firmino saves point for Liverpool after Arsenal’s crazy five minutes Related: Fab Four sparkle but bend Liverpool out of shape in collapse at Arsenal | Jonathan Wilson Continue reading...
Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané could do nothing to prevent meltdown after passing up chances to finish off home sideThe battle for the top four produced a game that was all about fours, as both managers opted for a boldness of approach: the Fab Four Liverpool forward line against the back four of Arsenal.Pep Guardiola has said, with a slight element of self-mockery, that his ideal team would feature 11 midfielders. This game seemed to look forward to a future in which everybody is either a forward or an attack-minded full-back and nobody pays too much attention to such dull and necessary parts of the game as defending. Related: Roberto Firmino saves point for Liverpool after...
How will Arsenal cope with Liverpool’s fearsome foursome, the Mark Hughes ultimatum and whether Sam Allardyce will ever win over Everton fansIt would be a dereliction of duty if Arsène Wenger has not spent the past few days coming up with a way to stop Liverpool’s fearsome attack from running riot at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night. Arsenal’s manager cannot say that he has not been warned. He knows how much his team has suffered against these opponents since Jürgen Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside in October 2015 and nobody could say it was a surprise when Liverpool hammered Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield in August, with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah inspired and Philippe Coutinho not even involved....