Woefully leaky Fulham are on course to concede 100 goals, and is it nearly time for Álvaro Morata and Chelsea to part ways?On the eve of the new season Slavisa Jokanovic said Fulham “don’t have to change much but we need to be intelligent. We need to grow up.” Two months down the line and either Jokanovic underestimated how much Fulham needed to adapt to be ready for the Premier League or his players are not being as smart as he had hoped. Whatever the answer, Fulham did not spend more than £100m in the summer to be languishing in the relegation zone with one win from nine games and a defensive record that is in danger of becoming an...
Pep Guardiola’s refusal to countenance a two-horse race for the title may have merit and other leagues look similarly openWhen Pep Guardiola was asked whether he thought the Premier League was turning into a two-horse race last week, before Manchester City’s trip to Liverpool, he shook his head and said no. There were still Chelsea and Arsenal to be considered, he explained, not to mention Tottenham and Manchester United.This was received at the time as diplomatic headline avoidance, with Guardiola smartly sidestepping the trap of writing off rivals’ chances so early in the season, though the odd suppressed snigger could be heard at the mention of Manchester United. Looking at the Premier League table after the last round of matches...
He was Liverpool’s best attacker against Manchester City but his highlights reel would still cut down to scuffs and bloopersWatching Mohamed Salah warm up before this game was to be struck by exactly the wrong thing. There is usually a kind of shock factor to seeing elite athletes close-up, a moment of higher-species recognition. For example, watching Harry Kane run through his shooting routine before the Champions League game at the San Siro two weeks ago was to be struck by how astonishingly good Kane is when it comes to the basic business of battering a football into the tiniest of spaces.With Salah, not so much. Instead he fluffed and shanked and screwed and peppered the advert boards. Eventually he...
Manchester City manager aims to turn tide on ‘incredible’ rivals by putting the emphasis on goals in their early title showdownrThe two strongest teams in England meet at Anfield on Sunday afternoon and, though Pep Guardiola’s side at present top the Premier League table on goal difference, the Manchester City manager knows after the events of last season that his players are the ones with something to prove.What would you say, he was asked by the man from the BBC, to people who suggest Liverpool have Manchester City worked out, that they know how to stop you playing? “I would say congratulations,” Guardiola flashed back with a disarming smile. “Well done, good, you are right.” Related: Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool...
Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have both reined in their attacking instincts this season, aware of leaving gaps in defenceIt is all about the full-backs but these days it is always all about the full‑backs. From a tactical point of view Sunday’s meeting between Liverpool and Manchester City is likely to be settled by Trent Alexander-Arnold against Aymeric Laporte and Andy Robertson against Kyle Walker – and, if it is not, it will be because Pep Guardiola has chosen not to take on that fight. Jack Charlton’s observation after the 1994 World Cup that full-back had become the most important position on the pitch seems wiser by the day.Full-backs, Louis van Gaal insists, are the key to Guardiola. The biggest...