João Félix is settling at Chelsea, Eddie Howe is staying positive despite the draws and James Maddison is Leicester’s leading manAs if more than 100 charges weren’t enough, Manchester City were given one more reason to come out fighting on Sunday. They had just been pushed down to third in the league by their not very noisy neighbours, United, in Sunday’s earlier match. City responded as only they can, by taking the lead while their opponents were still trying to figure out their formation. Was it a 3-2-2-3? Whatever it was, it was 3-0 by half-time. Villa had been overrun, Bernardo Silva was the new João Cancelo and City were second again. By Wednesday night, if they play like the...
With the independent commission to come and Arsenal up next, beating Aston Villa didn’t really seem like the major issueA white sky almost entirely leached of colour. A damp bite to the air. A general sense of unease around the Etihad. Could the last decade of Manchester City success be erased or tainted by an independent panel hearing the charges brought by the Premier League? Quite possibly, but in the here and now, after a straightforward win over Aston Villa, City will go top of the Premier League if they beat Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday.Even in the wake of last Monday’s Premier League charges, it would be difficult to portray this as a defiant victory, a club under...
Grimsby’s owner on the sensible efforts to self-regulate – and why the outcome could benefit National League clubsIn the coming weeks, the government white paper that outlines the path to an independent regulatory body is due to be released. With that in mind, the Premier League and the EFL have resumed negotiations on a range of topics, including but not limited to financial distribution, fixture congestion, and the potential to align the number of teams promoted and relegated from all divisions. It appears there is an effort to self-regulate before the new authority is established. It is logical and sensible for the leagues to discuss collective issues and come to agreements, rather than have their hands weakened by individual rule-making.Regarding...
The England captain, who passed Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs record, has shown his ability time and again despite a lack of honoursThis was Harry’s game, Harry’s day. And also, in an agreeable piece of irony – football really does love this stuff – Arsenal’s day, although we can perhaps draw a veil over that for now.At the final whistle of this 1-0 defeat of Manchester City the Tottenham players stayed out, trophy ceremony style, for an on-field moment with Harry Kane as he celebrated passing Jimmy Greaves’ all-time club scoring record. Continue reading...
New manager’s sheer energy galvanises team with echoes of club’s history evident during momentous victory over ArsenalThere is a lot wrong at Everton. Vast sums have been spent very badly and again the board stayed away for its own safety, but just because there are a lot of things to put right it does not mean that you shouldn’t correct the things you can. And just because clubs are often unduly impatient with managers it doesn’t mean that a change isn’t sometimes necessary. Sean Dyche’s first game in charge after replacing Frank Lampard brought Everton’s best performance and best result of the season.It says much about how well Everton played that Arsenal seemed so flat. It’s the performance as much...