Decision to sack Nagelsmann and bring in the former Chelsea manager has failed – Dortmund are top with five games to goThere was a sense in which you could argue that this was to be expected. This was, after all, the third time in successive seasons that Mainz had sent Bayern Munich home with a defeat in late April. “Oops, I did it again,” was the caption on the club’s social media post, featuring the inevitable Britney Spears mid-dance with the Mainz club crest on her jumpsuit.It was the only thing that was familiar about this scenario. More accurate was the later, second attempt from the wags doing the socials for Die Nullfünfer. It featured Homer Simpson coming home –...
The manager has told his side to ‘toughen up’ – that advice and more must be taken to arrest their poor start to the seasonI was once told by a highly respected head coach that they treat every interview and press conference as if they are speaking directly to the players. That theory, it would seem, is being put into practice by Thomas Tuchel after he told his Chelsea squad to “toughen up” after their latest Premier League loss to Southampton on Tuesday.It was Chelsea’s second defeat in five games this season and they have conceded eight goals. Tuchel will want them to be more resilient because their flaws have been highlighted. At St Mary’s, the winner came in first-half...
If Lukaku was too immobile for the manager’s system, there is no way Ronaldo let alone Neymar can be the answer It is still relatively early. There is still a month before the Premier League begins again. There is plenty of time for a club to make signings. Chelsea began from a position of unusual chaos. There is no reason to panic yet. It might all be fine. But equally it may not and it’s fair to say that if you’re planning a major overhaul of your squad, it’s easier if you haven’t just lost a load of leading figures from the recruitment department.Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect too much this summer, so soon after the removal of Roman...
Chelsea need a rethink – the mess against Arsenal did not come out of the blue and Thomas Tuchel knows itAs a measure of how badly Wednesday night went for Chelsea nothing summed it up more than Thomas Tuchel blaming his side’s latest shoddy defensive display on the state of the Stamford Bridge turf. “It is a very difficult pitch we have here,” Tuchel said as his thoughts turned to Andreas Christensen setting Arsenal on their way to victory by handing Eddie Nketiah the opening goal with a comical shank. “It is not to our favour and the ball bounces very, very awkwardly when the ball bounces to Andreas.” Continue reading...
The striker could still thrive at Stamford Bridge with time and love but has not been afforded either in a turbulent campaignThere are games of football that feel like the inevitable product of their circumstances: system against system, the attacking and defensive patterns predetermined days in advance, the result telegraphed from the moment the first ball is kicked. Then there are the games in which Granit Xhaka runs the midfield, a mass brawl breaks out in the closing minutes and Eddie Nketiah scores twice against a team currently sanctioned by the UK government.Chaos, farce, or high entertainment? Probably a mixture of all three. As shirtless Arsenal fans clambered over each other in the Shed End, as a fuming César Azpilicueta...