Inherent sloppiness at crucial moments threatens to damage whatever tactics Mauricio Pochettino uses in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first legThere are two ways to play against Manchester City. You can press high up the pitch, as Liverpool and Lyon have with some success over the past two seasons, and try to force their defenders actually to defend, or you can sit deep, look to absorb pressure and hit them on the break. Jürgen Klopp may have dismissed the bunker mentality as being akin to looking to win the lottery, attempting to restrict the number and quality of the chances City have but essentially accepting they will have some and hoping they will miss – but it worked for Newcastle, Crystal...
Troy Deeney offers masterclass of coolness under pressure, Everton require a few lessons in finishing and Eddie Howe needs his Bournemouth team to end the season in styleIt is hard to look for the positives when you have, as Lewis Dunk put it, missed out on something that “maybe comes up once in a lifetime”. The quashing of the FA Cup final dream hurt but the Brighton defender has urged his teammates to take confidence from their performance and use that in their vital Premier League games. Brighton are two places ahead of the final relegation position but crave more points to be safe. “I don’t think we need picking up,” Dunk said. “I think we need to thrive off...
No one really knows whether the Manchester City right-back should have been sent off – all we really have are opinionsIt seemed fitting that this FA Cup semi-final should end with Manchester City’s players keeping the ball in a kind of ad hoc rondo deep in the Brighton half, 1-0 up and just doing enough, their opponents held at arm’s length like an outmatched little brother, fists windmilling uselessly.It seemed fitting the victory tune on the Wembley PA should be Wonderwall, with its downbeat, ruminative opening chords. It seemed fitting also that it should be Brighton’s fans who cheered loudest in those moments, the entire end on its feet applauding the players for reaching this far, for an energetic performance,...
The Champions League quarter-final is latest in a line of often spine-tingling English derbies in Europe’s top competitionA new chapter in the colourful history of English teams meeting each other in the Champions League is set to open on Tuesday, when the first European game at Tottenham’s shiny new stadium is bound to generate an atmosphere all of its own.In such circumstances anything can happen, and all-England European nights already have a reputation for taking on a life of their own, sharing a similarity to derbies in which form and league placing are temporarily set aside. Related: Quadruple is on for Manchester City as the impossible becomes a reality | Paul Wilson Related: Football’s final furlong: our writers predict how...
Sarri is nearing the end at Chelsea, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold shone for Liverpool while Leicester and Rodgers look like the perfect fitWith Ole Gunnar Solskjær suggesting afterwards that Paul Pogba may operate deeper at times and Luke Shaw playing like a left‑back-cum-libero against Watford, this first win as the permanent manager suggests his brave new world will continue to feature a brightness of approach. Solskjær wishes to harness Pogba’s all-round ability to give more control of the ball as United are primarily a counter-attack unit. This was how Shaw opened up Javi Gracia’s impressive team with a majestic Matthias Sammer-like pass that put Marcus Rashford in to open the scoring. Before then United were poor as they...