Its awards time for the most incompetent teams in the Premier League, from those who cant take throw-ins to others who revel in needless yellow cardsWelcome to the Guardians fifth annual index of ineptitude, a catalogue of calamity, a prospectus of the piss-poor.As each season draws to a close, the best moments, players and teams of the year are all charted, celebrated and cheered. Which means that what comprises most of the rest of the Premier League experience is missed. Related: The Premier League teams ineptitude index 2017-18 Continue reading...
Hard for Manchester City and Spurs to serve up another classic, Everton can cause trouble for Manchester United and Chelsea fans should lap up Eden HazardBefore the run-in even started, Liverpool looked like they might be consumed by nerves during it, so tentative were their performances against Leicester, West Ham and Manchester United. But they battled hard to avoid disaster, and now that the run-in is actually under way, are playing like a team who expect to be champions, either riding their good form or maintaining the patience and composure necessary to force the issue. Against both Tottenham and Chelsea, they could easily have flapped in frantic, frenetic style, but instead were able to increase intensity without sacrificing control, which...
Without the intervention of technology, Manchester City would be through to a Champions League semi-final and Spurs would have been robbedThere is always the chance, when English clubs meet in European knockout football, that players who know each other so well will treat it as a pumped-up Premier League encounter rather than showing the respect and caution they might have afforded continental opponents, and the memorably frenetic showdown between Manchester City and Tottenham was an instant classic of the genre.Never mind the woeful defending in the first 20 minutes, the inability of either side to hold on to an advantage or manage the game professionally, this was English football at its most appealing because both teams were going for goals...
Pep Guardiola suffered another Champions League exit with Manchester City on a night where all hope of controlling the game was lost early onPep Guardiola aways did get a bit tetchy when people asked him about Manchester City doing the quadruple. On the bright side, he is in the clear now.Although as ever Guardiola will not be entirely free from questions at the end of a wild, thrilling, at times utterly mindbending match. There is a theory that Guardiola, the master of control and systems, just isnt suited to the intangibles of one-off knockout football, nights where an entire campaign can be thrown away in a fit of human frailty or a surge of irresistible emotion. Related: Spurs prevail in...
Neil Warnock cuts out the moaning, Jordan Henderson scythes through Chelsea and injuries may leave Spurs’ midfield bluntedThe Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best photosAfter 76 minutes, when he was withdrawn to a deafening ovation, Jordan Henderson’s work was done. A lung-busting display by the Liverpool captain set the tone for a vital victory, a relentless performance typified by the moment when he burst to the byline and supplied a hanging cross for Sadio Mané to convert. Henderson asked Jürgen Klopp if he could play further forward in a “more natural” No 8 role – one he has impressed in for his country – and he flourished there against Chelsea. Mohamed Salah’s rocket, another peerless defensive display by Virgil...