Tottenham rely on the mercurial Frenchman to feed Son and Kane, and he delivered in his manager’s biggest game at the clubJosé Mourinho said last week: “It’s not easy for him to last 90 minutes.” This time, however, as Tottenham booked their place in the Carabao Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Brentford, Tanguy Ndombele proved him wrong.From the first minute when he burst from his own half before picking out Lucas Moura with an inch-perfect pass, the imposing France international looked determined to make an impression in a match his manager had described as the biggest since he arrived at Tottenham in November 2019. Related: Tottenham beat Brentford to reach Carabao Cup final after Son seals win Related:...
Sam Allardyce takes aim at Arsenal, Danny Ings could return to haunt Liverpool and José Mourinho must change tackOle Gunnar Solskjær has taken significant stick from laymen convinced their footballing expertise trumps his, but even they must concede that Manchester United are better now than at any stage in the Post-Fergie Wilderness YearsTM. Though it’s hard to envisage United winning the title, they must attack games as if they intend to, and should they fail, it will not be because they were too cautious. Solskjær’s side are too ruthful in attack and defence, but can offset these weaknesses by dominating opponents in midfield. Before their midweek win with Wolves, the Norwegian said “we need to go after them and get...
The Tottenham defender, like many others, played through headaches and dizziness because his career depended on itIt was around the end of last year that people began to notice Jan Vertonghen was looking decidedly off the pace at Tottenham. He was slow off the mark, slow to the ball, slow to react. Occasionally entire passages of play seemed to pass him by. And so, naturally, as an underperforming player in a popular ball game, it felt only right that he should be subjected to the same pitch of ridicule and abuse as anyone else in his position.I went back through social media during some of his poorer games last season and pulled out a few of the more representative comments...
Top finishers are a varied bunch, from classic or false 9s to target men and wide-rangers who cut in to score – and adapting teams to match their gifts is what makes the best sides tickAs Arsenal’s rebuild under Mikel Arteta has stalled over the past few weeks, one of the most common quick-fixes suggested has been to move Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the left into the middle. He’s a goalscorer, runs the argument, so you need to put him in the middle, nearer the goal. Which, frankly, is the equivalent of those Victorian doctors who believed malaria was caused by the bad air around swamps – the theory isn’t entirely unrelated to the reality, but a series of vital stages...
Another resurgent Frenchman for Chelsea, Mourinho has Kane purring and there was a Zaha masterclass to savourThere were long years when it seemed José Mourinho had lost his touch as a man motivator of star players. At Real Madrid, relations broke down with the club’s galácticos; his alliance with Cristiano Ronaldo was lukewarm at best. Second time around at Chelsea, there was frostiness with Eden Hazard, while Paul Pogba and Mourinho cold-shouldered each other at Manchester United. At Tottenham, Mourinho made it his business to get close to Harry Kane, and the results have been scintillating. In the same style that Mourinho made Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba into Premier League greats, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic flourished at Internazionale, Kane brims...