Arsenal might fancy their chances at Anfield and three new managers begin survival bidsThis will be the fourth meeting between Leicester and Chelsea this calendar year, clubs of differing resources whose fortunes nonetheless seem tangled together. Leicester went top after beating Chelsea 2-0 at home in January, James Maddison scoring the second goal before cheerfully claiming: “We knew they switched off at set pieces,” an observation that felt terminal to Frank Lampard’s employment. Having played some part in Thomas Tuchel’s arrival, Leicester won the FA Cup final against him in May, before league defeat at Stamford Bridge three days later helped to ensure the Foxes would narrowly miss out on the Champions League yet again. Chelsea are now European champions...
United are in danger of becoming a real-time experiment exploring what happens if you just don’t sack the managerWith 56 minutes gone, as Manchester City’s players pinged and tickled the ball around, 2-0 up and basically doing a yoga workout, a team conga in the Manchester United half, Jadon Sancho went to press Kyle Walker, looked behind and saw Luke Shaw 40 yards away watching with an expression of vague interest.Sancho raised his arm and began to shout a complaint. He reined himself in. The forward is 20 years old and yet to carry out a single significant act in a United shirt. He has though, played at the Dortmund school of science. Continue reading...
A relentless treadmill of games and injuries has taken its toll on a player who looked to have the world at his feet six months agoA couple of weeks ago, Kevin De Bruyne and Oleksandr Zinchenko were filming a video for the Manchester City YouTube channel in which they answered questions put to them by fans. Someone called Hesham from Egypt asked who they thought would be the best player in the world in 2030. “I will be retired,” whispered De Bruyne. “No, you already gone,” retorted Zinchenko. “Finished. You are 30 already. You finished.”Not a bad gag, as footballer gags go. And yet in this slice of harmless male banter there was a vaguely poignant note, a recognition that...
Evidence before Manchester derby suggests system-based City and structureless United signed the wrong player last summerWith Manchester City desperate for an equaliser against Crystal Palace last weekend, Jack Grealish was taken off. He was also taken off as City sought goals against Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool. Grealish has started nine of City’s 10 Premier League games since his move from Aston Villa and registered two assists – in the 5-0 win over Arsenal and the 4-1 win over Brighton – and one goal – in the 5-0 win over Norwich. It’s a crude measure and the season is only a quarter gone, but Grealish is yet to deliver game-turning moments in the biggest games or when the pressure is on.But...
Solskjær pulls off a tactical trick, Potter gives Brighton fans a treat and De Bruyne endures a rare horror showOle Gunnar Solskjær deserves credit for Manchester United’s win over Tottenham. The switch to a back three worked and a front two with a combined age of 70 proved far too good for Spurs, whose defenders were thoroughly outclassed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani. Ronaldo opened the scoring with a banger and Cavani was impressive on his second start of the season, offering intelligent movement and producing a cool finish after being set up by his strike partner. The question now is whether this is sustainable. Is the 3-4-2-1 system the way forward for Solskjær or an emergency solution? Will...