Six Premier League title races to offer Manchester City hope in their bid to overturn nine-point deficit November 21, 2019 It may only be the 13th round of the Premier League season, but Manchester City’s clash with Chelsea on Saturday evening has almost become a must-win game following the champions’ defeat to title rivals Liverpool last time. The Reds’ 3-1 win at Anfield a fortnight ago extended their lead over fourth-placed City to nine points, [...]
Mateo Kovacic has flourished in Chelsea’s midfield this season alongside Jorginho November 21, 2019 Amid all the praise that Chelsea’s youngsters have received this season, the improvements of midfield duo Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho have gone largely unheralded. Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic have provided an attacking and creative flair feared missing after the departure of Eden Hazard, Tammy Abraham has supplied a hatful of goals, while Fikayo Tomori [...]
Hiring Jose Mourinho is a roll of the dice, but Daniel Levy must’ve felt keeping Mauricio Pochettino was the bigger gamble November 20, 2019 Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy doesn’t strike me as a gambler but his decision to sack the manager who took the club to a Champions League final and replace him with Jose Mourinho is a roll of the dice. On the face of it, Mauricio Pochettino’s departure is a surprise. While being 14th in the Premier [...]
Jose Mourinho must improve Tottenham’s attack and arrest Harry Kane’s waning club form November 20, 2019 Jose Mourinho arrives at Tottenham with a to-do list that includes arresting a year-long slump that threatens the club’s status as Champions League regulars and rehabilitating his own weathered reputation. But chief among the former Manchester United and Chelsea manager’s priorities in North London should be reinvigorating an attack whose threat has dissipated to the [...]
Pochettino’s legacy may haunt his Tottenham successor after Levy takes unpopular but perhaps necessary action November 19, 2019 On 1 June Mauricio Pochettino had reached the high point of his managerial career and was ready to enjoy the culmination of five years of hard work. He had transformed Tottenham from also-rans into Champions League finalists. Today, just 123 days later, he was sacked. Poor results, 14 points from 12 games and a Premier [...]
Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham Hotspur sack manager after poor results November 19, 2019 Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino after a poor run of results left them 14th in the Premier League table. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said club had been “extremely reluctant” to cut their ties with Pochettino, who joined the club from Southampton in May 2014. The club are without an away league win since [...]
Kosovo 0-4 England: Winks impresses at No8, Rashford explodes off the bench, Kane scores again November 17, 2019 England: making qualifiers fun again. After eight Euro 2020 qualifying matches in Group A Gareth Southgate’s side have ended with 37 goals and 21 points. The shock 2-1 defeat by Czech Republic last month has been followed by a 6-0 win over Bulgaria, a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro, and today’s 4-0 victory against Kosovo. Read [...]
Ireland face familiar situation in crunch Euro 2020 qualifier with Denmark November 17, 2019 Heading into a play-off match to qualify for a major competition is a feeling that the Republic of Ireland are all too familiar with. The infamous Thierry Henry handball incident in 2009 saw them lose to France in extra-time and miss out on a place at the World Cup in South Africa the following summer. [...]
Manchester City lose financial fair play appeal to prevent Uefa investigating allegations November 15, 2019 Manchester City’s efforts to block a Uefa investigation into financial fair play violations have been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). City had asked CAS to throw out the case brought against the club by Uefa for allegedly breaching financial fair play rules. Read more: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City: Reds produce their [...]
England 7-0 Montenegro: Kane hits a hat-trick to seal Euro 2020 qualification in style at Wembley November 14, 2019 How quickly the drama of the week was forgotten. The TV cameras may have picked out Raheem Sterling in the stands, but the rate with which the first-half goals flew in meant there was little time to discuss his behaviour and its ramifications. That was exactly how Gareth Southgate would have liked it. Instead of [...]