The club gambled on his appointment after sacking Ralph Hasenhüttl but they ignored the red flags and paid the priceIf anything was symptomatic of Nathan Jones’s calamitous short-lived stint at Southampton – at 94 days, his managerial tenure was the shortest in the club’s history – it was the sight of Jan Bednarek bumbling backwards over the goal-line as Adama Traore’s shot pinballed between his legs and in to help condemn Jones to a seventh defeat in eight Premier League matches. It was a few seconds that speaks to the way Southampton have apparently regressed in the three months since boldly appointing Jones as Ralph Hasenhüttl’s successor.In many ways, Bednarek’s inclusion in the starting line-up was also indicative of a...
Arsenal reap the rewards of an old-school striker, Thiago Silva turns back the clock and Ten Hag’s tactics hit a snagFast-paced, tactically intricate and dramatic to the last, Arsenal v Manchester United was a heavyweight clash that lived up to its billing. It also showcased two models of centre-forward that were meant to be extinct: the old-fashioned target man and the old-fashioned poacher. Spearheading United’s attack, Wout Weghorst pressed with zeal and offered a focal point for United’s free-roaming wide men. It was his peeling run, drawing Gabriel to his left, that afforded Marcus Rashford the angle to blast home the opener. Nketiah pressed with similar intelligence but dropped deep when required to link with his midfield. Both his goals...
Mykhaylo Mudryk could make his Chelsea debut at Anfield, while Newcastle and Manchester United will miss their BraziliansShoots of recovery or a false dawn? Both Jürgen Klopp and Graham Potter will be desperately hoping their respective 1-0 wins last time out demonstrated the former. Liverpool versus Chelsea may lack its usual consequence with the teams occupying ninth and 10th place in the table and a 10 point chasm between themselves and fourth place, but their managers would beg to differ. Klopp admitted there would have been genuine doubt around Anfield on Saturday had Liverpool repeated their tame efforts at Brighton in the FA Cup replay at Wolves. An improved display from a much-changed team at Molineux, particularly in terms of...
Southampton stuck by their manager for almost four years and through two 9-0 defeats but even he had grown wearyAs Ralph Hasenhüttl assumed his position in the Southampton technical area on Sunday for what would prove to be the last time, the hood of his club-branded puffer jacket sheltered him from the rain but was powerless to preserve his position. He survived two 9-0 defeats in his almost four-year long tenure, plugged on despite the austerity of the previous Chinese ownership and the sales of his best players, as well as retaining the club’s Premier League status while developing young talents on the job. This time, though, he admitted to no longer having the answers. Could he see a way...
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United reign is already in crisis while Leicester may have to make do with what they’ve gotPersuading Daniel Levy to open his wallet is surely one of the greatest achievements of Antonio Conte’s career, but for as long as he refrains from using his new players, it barely matters. Though it does make some kind of sense to retain the men who earned a Champions League spot, making the point that places are earned by performances, not purchase prices, there is an Yves Bissouma-shaped hole in Tottenham’s midfield that on another day would’ve cost them the game. It’s true that Pierre-Emile Højbjerg scored a crucial goal, but it’s equally true that they were lucky to be...