Lamptey may not last long at Chelsea, Leicester can be regular title contenders and have Pereira and Ndombele finally arrived?Welcome to the Premier League, then, Tariq Lamptey. And – quite possibly – farewell. For the 19-year-old right-back, the Emirates Stadium was some place to make a professional debut. He rose to the challenge, keeping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet and making one thrilling foray into Arsenal territory before playing in Tammy Abraham. It says plenty about Chelsea’s short-term youth policy that Lampard felt able to throw an untried teenager into a game of this magnitude. It says plenty about Chelsea’s long-term youth policy that they may not be able to keep him. Lamptey’s contract is up at the end of the season,...
Leicester’s title hopes are fading, Danny Ings makes his England case and John McGinn’s absence is a huge blow for VillaAt this rate there is every chance two of the Premier League’s deadliest English strikers will not be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020. Jamie Vardy is unlikely to be tempted out of international retirement and then there is Danny Ings, the Southampton striker who took his tally to 13 goals for the season with a double. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson may be ahead of Ings in the pecking order but seven goals from his past seven games means it is impossible to ignore the 27-year-old’s credentials for a recall. Ings’s only cap...
Leicester will be looking to emulate 2016 at City, Frank Lampard has a special reunion and Freddie Ljungberg signs offUnless Mikel Arteta decides there really is no time like the present and, without even taking a training session, oversees Arsenal’s visit to Goodison Park from the dugout this will be Freddie Ljungberg’s final match in temporary charge. It is easy to feel some sympathy with Ljungberg given that, throughout his five games so far, he has had to operate with no coaching staff to speak of and little certainty about the length of his tenure. Arsenal had made clear upon Unai Emery’s departure that they would be open to giving Ljungberg a run until the end of the season but...
Arsenal can exploit Manchester City’s weakness, Pellegrini in peril and Brighton upbeat for Palace derbyNigel Pearson was introduced to the media at Vicarage Road on Thursday, when he was asked about the reputation he has gained across his career. Towards the end of his time at Leicester one press conference memorably dissolved into an instantly infamous rant – “If you don’t know the answer to that question then I think you are an ostrich” – which sealed his reputation as, frankly, a bit of a grump. “I know I have at times been perceived as difficult to work with, but a lot of that was born out of trying to protect my players,” he said. “I’m a human being, I’m...
Everton’s stand-in manager and Newcastle striker triumphed this past week with traditional values but science is also neededWhat a week old-fashioned centre-forwards have just had. First we saw Duncan Ferguson revive Everton’s fortunes from the touchline just by breathing on players who were struggling to make any impact under Marco Silva, then Andy Carroll came on at Newcastle and helped engineer a remarkable comeback against Southampton.Carroll is a particularly interesting case because when occasionally deployed as an impact sub at West Ham it was usually a signal for spectators to express further dissatisfaction with the manager for not having any better ideas. Carroll as Plan B was, essentially, a sign of desperation, a last clutch at a straw. Yet Steve...