Supporters of many different clubs talk about the ‘way’ their teams must play, yet it seems in the age of high finance such scruples are fading away and success by any means will sufficeThe Arsenal way. The Manchester United way. The Tottenham way. The West Ham way. Every supporter wants their team to be successful but also play with a certain style that is supposedly unique to their club. Yet in the multimillion-pound industry that football in the 21st century has become, are we all expecting a little too much?Petr Cech’s acknowledgement this week that the former manager Arsenal Arsène Wenger cared more about the aesthetic beauty of his teams than their effectiveness was the kind of candid admission professional...
Ramsey needs to discover his inner Lampard, Shaqiri deserved more time and Traoré has become a specialist substitute Related: Unai Emery’s system beats out a dull rhythm that fails to entrance | Jacob Steinberg Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Related: Record-breaking Jorginho the beating heart of Chelsea’s mangled midfield | Barney Ronay Continue reading...
The Tottenham manager betrayed English football’s disdain for the views of those who did not play the sport but when those dry up it will be time to start worryingDeep down, behind the club loyalties, beneath the professional distance, everyone loves Mauricio Pochettino. You can deny it. But search your feelings, you know it to be true. There is just something very likable about Pochettino: the barking laugh, the pouchy dimples, the way he strides around the touchline looking like the world’s most handsome oil rigger.Plus of course there is his success as a coach, which has come in the most interesting way, as a developer of players, the author of a style of play. Pochettino has been 100% successful...
Mauricio Pochettino needs to remember the key purpose of the Fannying About Theory – to hurt opponents further up the pitchThere was an unusual moment in the first half at San Siro on Tuesday night. With the score 0-0, the sky still deep blue above the stand, the game still to take its decisive shape, Mousa Dembélé burst the ball. Radja Nainggolan will claim an assist on this. Both men went into a slide tackle with full force. As they made contact simultaneously there was a deep booming noise, like the sound of a major world war two ammunition dump exploding 50 miles away.For what it’s worth Dembélé just about won the ball, albeit at the expense of the ball’s...
Ryan Fraser ran Leicester ragged; Neil Warnock will not tolerate more Cardiff mistakes; and Rafael Benítez needs a new planJürgen Klopp was asked to describe his emotions during stoppage time in the 2-1 victory at Tottenham. His dominant Liverpool team had led 2-0 going into it but they conceded to Érik Lamela in the 93rd minute to set up a nervy finale. “I would love to say it is the first time in my life I have been in a situation like that but it happens so often,” Klopp said. “My wife hates it.” The Liverpool manager would not have gone through the wringer if some of his players – Sadio Mané, in particular – had played in a teammate...