Belgian’s sensational display against Liverpool shows what it takes to stay ahead in the increasingly fierce competition for places at Manchester CityJust before the hour mark, and as Gabriel Jesus was replaced by Leroy Sané amid applause from the home supporters on the back of a devastating display in front of goal, Kevin De Bruyne could be seen speaking with David Silva and Sergio Agüero. The Belgian went over to each in turn and appeared to be telling them what to do. It was impossible to pick up what he was saying, but given everything that had happened up until then, it would not have been a surprise to have learned that his message was a simple one: “Keep going,...
Liverpool’s trip to Manchester City pitches the team with the most goals from counterattacks against the side who top the list for possession and passes. It has the feel of a pivotal moment Enough of the false starts, the window-wangling, the angsty autumn qualifiers. After an early season spent crunching around in the high gears, followed by a 13-day Premier League hiatus just as things were starting to get interesting, Saturday lunchtime at the Etihad Stadium really cannot come quickly enough. Time for some ignition.The Premier League is no stranger to showdowns and face-offs, not to mention Judgment Days, Super Saturdays and all the rest. This is a sporting theatre where the needle only ever goes up to 11 and...
The transfer window has shut, the first international break is over and the real business is about to begin. Can any of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham or Manchester United be content with the state of their squads?August never seems an entirely satisfactory month. The closing of the transfer window and the scramble for last-minute deals always seems to deflect from the matches themselves – although these days, perhaps, it is the other way round – and then just as everything is about to get going for real, just as throats have been cleared and vocal cords are warmed up, everybody dashes off to play a series of internationals that, in the year before the World Cup, contrive to be...
Virgil van Dijk, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sánchez are just three of the refuseniks who will have to buckle downA penny for someone’s thoughts seems a ludicrously old-fashioned saying in the era of the £1.4bn Premier League transfer window. But now the whole brouhaha is over it is hard not to wonder what is going on inside the heads of players whose hopes were dashed on deadline day. It is the football world’s equivalent of being stood up for a dream date. Wake up full of nervous expectancy, impossible to think about anything else all day, then the wretched waiting before the bleak realisation that nothing special is going to happen.So what now for Virgil van Dijk and Philippe Coutinho,...
The Liverpool manager gave his No1 goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, a break but his second choice got a rest too as Alexis Sánchez and co failed to threatenSir Alex Ferguson once galvanised Manchester United for victory with a team-talk that stretched no further than: “Lads, it’s Tottenham.” The same brutally dismissive thought may have crossed Jürgen Klopp’s mind before Liverpool destroyed their north London rivals. The Liverpool manager chose the perfect day and the perfect opponent to rest his first-choice goalkeeper. His second choice enjoyed a day of rest too, although Loris Karius was on the pitch against Arsenal.Any misgivings or judgment on Klopp’s decision to give Simon Mignolet a day off was postponed by yet another anaemic Arsenal performance at...