Talk to anyone about England goalkeeper James Trafford and the soundbites are always the same.

“Awesome potential… laid-back character… how long before he’s England’s No 1?”

Well, three months into his Leeds United career and the club-record signing is proving money well spent. Daniel Farke’s side lie seventh and Trafford’s six goals conceded means only champions Arsenal have a better defensive record after eight games.

The imposing Cumbrian arrived from Manchester City in August for a fee that could rise to £45m, a new record for a British goalkeeper and a benchmark of Leeds’ ambition.

At 6ft 6in, Trafford is a giant of a man, albeit a fairly laconic one. But his self-assuredness, touch of arrogance perhaps, and natural talent are combining to solve what has been a problem position at Elland Road in recent years.

“It’s been a good start from James and he’s clearly someone who Leeds’ defenders have confidence in,” ex-Leeds and England goalkeeper Nigel Martyn tells The i Paper. “They know they have someone behind them who they can trust to do his job and make the saves he needs to make.

Leading the way! pic.twitter.com/eV02fszpo0

— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 27, 2026

“You don’t see James shouting and bawling and that helps your team-mates to relax and rely on you. He’s very level-headed and I haven’t seen any mistakes from him yet. I’d maybe like him to clear the ball a bit quicker when he’s getting closed down, but he seems so laid-back and at ease with himself that it’s probably best to just let him get on with it.”

The 24-year-old has a save percentage this season of 83.3 per cent, the highest of any goalkeeper in the Premier League, and insiders say he has quickly settled in West Yorkshire.

Trafford lives close to Leeds’ training ground near Wetherby – handy for his frequent trips back home to the family farm near Cockermouth – and has struck up a bromance with team-mate and fellow goalkeeping union member Alex Cairns.

Family matters to Trafford as Martyn, who now represents England Over 60s at cricket, explains: “I met James and his parents at Elland Road when he signed here in the summer. You could see what a tight-knit family they are and that’s clearly very important to him.”

Former Leeds manager Simon Grayson believes Trafford’s character has boosted the form of his fellow summer arrivals, too.

“When I speak to people around the club, they say Trafford just loves being at Leeds United and is a good personality in the dressing room,” he told The i Paper. “Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi also joined this summer and have thrived playing in front of him in Leeds’ defence.

“Elvedi has been great and Muharemovic looks an unbelievable player, so those relationships can go a long way towards making a season successful.”

Trafford’s career stalled after he returned to Manchester City from Burnley in July 2025, only for Gianluigi Donnarumma to arrive and take the No 1 spot weeks later. He played his part in City’s successes in lifting the Carabao and FA Cup last term, but he needed regular first-team football.

Moving to Leeds, upwardly mobile again, was too good to turn down and Farke reveals: “I was desperate to sign James, and not just this summer. I tried before because I was fully convinced of his qualities as a goalkeeper and a human being.

“You need this mentality because there’s big pressure and big competition when you play for a big club like Leeds. He’s relaxed and it helps as a goalkeeper if you have a bit of natural arrogance in a positive way. Natural self-confidence is perhaps a better word to describe it, and this is what James says.

“With his aura, and body language, you could feel that he knows this, and he’s bloody good! I didn’t have to persuade him to come here, I just spoke about what we want to do, and I got the feeling he was quickly sold. In James’ first few months with us, he’s shown that he can handle the pressure and expectations from Leeds supporters. That’s why they love him already.”

During the recent four-game block of Nations League matches, Thomas Tuchel gave Trafford and Everton’s Jordan Pickford two games apiece. It was recognition of Trafford’s fine start at Leeds and raised the prospect of him usurping Pickford as England’s No 1.

Trafford has four England caps compared to Pickford’s 93 but the battle between them looks set to intensify.

Martyn played 23 times for England but often played second fiddle to Arsenal legend David Seaman.
“Tuchel giving them two games each recently was interesting because I know myself how difficult it can be with just 45 minutes here or a friendly there,” he reasoned.

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“I probably had a game or two when Dave was injured and did okay, but I always knew he was going to come back in.

“I always thought my job was to put him under pressure with my performances in the Premier League every week… but then David kept playing well unfortunately! What James has to do, though, is to keep performing for Leeds and take any opportunities with England.

“That would put pressure on Jordan, who’s still playing very well and moving to an age where he’s probably going to be his most consistent and my early thirties were certainly my peak time. Jordan will probably stay as No 1 for now and I know James won’t want to hear that – but he’s clearly on a very good path at Leeds so long may it continue.”

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Jack Grealish could become an icon at Everton. But right now he is in the doghouse.

Axed from the team that beat Newcastle 3-1 to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Thursday night, he appears to owe manager David Moyes an apology.

Moyes would not be drawn after the match on exactly what Grealish had done, but it is understood to relate to a breach of club discipline over an unauthorised absence from training. The problem is, it is not the first time the club have had reasons to be concerned about the former England winger’s behaviour.

The good side of his nature was on full display at the Pride of Britain Awards last week when he presented an award to a young boy who had saved his mother’s life after she passed out behind the wheel of her car.

But it’s no secret that Grealish also likes to party, and just a few days after that swanky bash at Grosvenor House in London, he missed Everton’s defeat at Arsenal through illness. It was after another defeat to Arsenal last December that Grealish made headlines for the wrong reasons when he treated pals to a night out in London that ended in a strip club at 4am.

He missed Everton’s next game, at Burnley the day after Boxing Day, again through illness. A phenomenally talented player, Grealish should be making his headlines on the pitch, but throughout his career he has made them off it, being pictured worse for wear multiple times on nights out.

"I support the decision, but it's a club decision"

David Moyes has backed Everton’s decision to leave Jack Grealish out of the squad for their Carabao Cup win over Newcastle United, following a breach of club discipline. pic.twitter.com/LcJBiaxPp3

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 30, 2026

Moyes would not be drawn on whether the 31-year-old would return for Everton’s Premier League game at Newcastle on Monday, saying: “I wouldn’t give any team news away.” But with such a small squad already at his disposal, he has a right to feel let down.

Grealish was electric on loan for Everton last season and quickly became a fan favourite as he resurrected a career that had gone stale at Manchester City. He was one of the Premier League’s leading providers of assists with six in 20 games before he suffered a stress fracture in his foot in January that ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Only 17 players ended the season with more, and James Garner was the only Everton player to do so.
But since returning for another loan spell at Bramley-Moore Dock, Grealish does not have an assist or a goal to his name in his eight appearances for the club.

He is in the final year of his £300,000-a-week contract at City and was described as having “fallen in love with the right shade of blue” by Everton CEO Angus Kinnear before the Toffees sealed a deal to bring him back to Merseyside.

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• Pete Blackburn – Nottingham Forest’s January transfer plans – and why Glasner is safe
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But his future is far from settled, and the doubts will only grow if the disciplinary issues continue.
Moyes takes obvious pride in running a tight ship at Everton and praised his players for not letting Grealish’s absence distract them on Thursday night.

“The one thing about Everton is that it has got good values behind it,” he said, after beating Newcastle. “All the players stand up to the values on the pitch and off the pitch. The players did a brilliant job tonight. We are limited in some areas but we are doing our best to keep challenging.”

If Everton are to continue to do so, they are going to need the Grealish who sparkled and shone last season, who won hearts and minds and reminded everyone that form is temporary but class is permanent. It’s time to let his football do the talking.

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This time last year, Nottingham Forest’s players were being confronted by new voices and training methods for the third time in a season – just eight games into their Premier League campaign.

None of Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou or Sean Dyche would last the season. Twelve months on, Forest are 18th with six points and one win. Their home record is worse: one win in 16 league games. Their next two home games? Manchester City and Chelsea.

But something feels different. There is no panic. No noise. The club that got through four managers last season say the mood is good and believes the results will come.

That faith rests on two things: data suggesting Forest have played well and been unlucky, and a plan led by chief football officer George Syrianos, empowered by a series of promotions and the departures of senior figures Ross Wilson and Edu.

The best is yet to come

The numbers are striking. Opta has Forest fourth in its “expected” Premier League table, suggesting Oliver Glasner’s side should have 14 points – eight more than they do. It matches the eye test. In eight league games there is no obvious example of Forest being outclassed, and they have regularly looked the more threatening side. The 3-1 defeat at Palace, where they should have been out of sight by half-time, was the most extreme example.

Last time out, Forest drew 1-1 at Ipswich despite creating far more chances than the home side. Lax finishing and an uncharacteristic mistake from Nikola Milenkovic cost them – their season in microcosm. Morgan Gibbs-White called the finishing “not good enough” but said he was “proud” of the performances and that wins would “surely” come.

According to Understat, of the 25 teams to sustain xG numbers like Forest’s over a full season, none finished outside the top four and ten won the title. Sceptics will argue that eight games is a small sample, that poor finishing may be a flaw in the squad rather than bad luck, that Glasner’s Palace side also underperformed their data, and that performances could fall away if results don’t follow soon. Inside the club, though, the numbers are read as a sign of things to come.

Above all, it is the plan dictating the calm. Syrianos – a Bavarian-born former Stuttgart data analyst who rarely speaks publicly – laid out that thinking to a small group of supporters’ representatives recently. He was emphatic: he would stand by Glasner even if Forest were relegated.

He confirmed Forest had followed Glasner for several years – the club chose Nuno over the Austrian in December 2023 – and showcased an in-house statistical model rating him the third-best manager in the Premier League, capable of drawing overperformance from a squad Forest rate around 10th to 12th best in the division.

Forest’s transfer strategy

Recruitment is focused on young players from South America and Europe’s top leagues, and English talent from clubs squeezed by the Premier League’s financial rules.

That equation brought Elliot Anderson from Newcastle to Forest for £35m in 2024 – effectively much less, with the unwanted Odysseas Vlachodimos (valued at around £20m) going the other way – before he was sold to Manchester City this summer for a then-British record fee.

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Forest tried to repeat the trick with Everton’s Harrison Armstrong in the summer, and a deal was close until news of it leaked, provoking an angry response from Everton players, supporters and former stars. Forest’s recruitment staff were deeply disappointed and believe Armstrong is likely to join a Champions League side in the coming windows.

Glasner has said he is happy with his squad and rejected Marinakis’ offers of more signings, but Forest still want another midfielder after missing out on Armstrong and Spurs’ Lucas Bergvall. Interest in Bergvall could be revived if a deal becomes possible, and a third name remains on the shortlist. A goalkeeper to challenge Matz Sels is also possible.

But after a summer 2025 window in which they believe they did too much, only players who clearly improve the squad will be considered.

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So Bruno Fernandes and Michael Carrick have cleared the air. Marvellous. Here comes the new Manchester United, the Carrick relaunch. Be afraid, Chelsea. Very afraid. 

Why didn’t they pull up a chair earlier if it were that easy? United have not reached ground zero by accident. They are the authors of the mess they are in, one that cannot be talked out of existence nor willed away in episodic bouts of tub thumping.

If we take Fernandes at his word, why should Carrick believe that the skipper’s form this season is somehow unrepresentative of a declining 32-year-old? Fernandes has had one good hour at home to Ipswich, United’s only Premier League win.  

One of the few dynamic moves Carrick has made in this harrowing period has been to drop Fernandes for the home game with Bournemouth. Not for what he said after the Como retreat, but for the poverty of his play. Of those guilty of not running enough, Fernandes leads the yards less covered table by a canyon’s width. 

To fall for the idea that peak Bruno might be returning at Stamford Bridge is more likely to hasten Carrick’s end than prolong his stay. There has been nil sign of that Fernandes since the spring. Better to select an engaged Youri Tielemans in the playmaker role to which he is best suited. 

That would properly clear the air and let Fernandes and the rest of the squad know that actions not words are the currency that matters here. Let Fernandes state his case by making a difference from the bench.

Midfield rebuild starts here

Carrick is blessed by the return of his most consistent performer. No wonder Kobbie Mainoo succumbed to muscle failure saddled as he was with Fernandes in front of him and an out-of-position Tielemans behind.

Carlos Baleba’s injury coupled with the lack of any defensive effort from Fernandes killed the so-called midfield rebuild at birth. Tielemans was even less mobile than Casemiro, and had none of the Brazilian’s positional feel for the No.6 role.

With Tielemans deployed in a part of the pitch that he at least understands and Baleba holding, Carrick is living the upgrade dream and Mainoo is free to link defence with attack, which is his thing.

Attack attack attack

The sitting of Fernandes would allow Carrick to fire up the forward line that led the post-Ruben Amorim resurrection last season. Matheus Cunha, a victim of Carrick’s desire to rehabilitate Marcus Rashford, must start on the left with Amad on the right and Bryan Mbeumo through the middle. 

It is surprising how quickly Carrick forgot the simplicity of the selections that persuaded the owners to give him the post full time. Freed from Amorim’s needless philosophical dogma, Carrick chose round pegs for round holes and watched the rhythm flow. This is the lesson he must learn at Stamford Bridge.

Holy grail

United have conceded against every opponent bar the mighty Shabah in the Champions League. This is the one area for which Carrick is absolved of responsibility. The so-called defensive reset is supposedly next following the investments in attack and midfield made in the previous two summers. 

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• Revealed: The two reasons Man Utd have given Carrick shock second chance

United are shorn of high-end full backs on both sides of the pitch. Harry Maguire is done as a front line centre-back and Matthijs de Ligt was hardly convincing before his injury. Having tried everything else, Carrick needs to find stability in the centre, which means trusting Leny Yoro and hoping De Ligt stays fit. 

The crisis at left-back caused by Luke Shaw’s returning frailty is a measure of the best-in-class ineptitude which has come to define the Sir Jim Ratcliffe leadership. There is little enthusiasm for Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui at right-back, never mind make-shift left-backs. 

Time then for Harry Amass to navigate the deep. He can’t be any worse, and he has a left-foot. Carrick needs a freak outcome, which by definition is unlikely. It starts with risk. Cry God for Harry, Carrick and United.

Kevin Garside’s XI to face Chelsea

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The great irony is that Derby County supporters had real cause to be excited about this season. They had just finished in their highest league position for seven years, offering strong evidence that the financial apocalypse years had steadied into something progressive and hopeful.

Their owner (and saviour) David Clowes openly accepted that greater investment was needed to step up a level, but was funding the project anyway. Derby had their highest net spend on transfers since 2015 – they spent £12m and lost no first-team player other than by choice. Manager John Eustace, an expert in overseeing precarious financial situations, had proved his worth in taking Derby forward.

The recruitment appeared sensible, taking risks in positions where Derby had existing options and plugging gaps with experience. The club had used the European market to seemingly decent effect, signing players from Salzburg, Pisa, Union SG and Padeborn.

And, off the back of all that, Derby sit second bottom of the second tier having suffered their worst ever start to a Championship season. They have the worst home record in the division, which probably needs to improve sharpish given Derby’s next four away opponents are Millwall, Wolves, Southampton and Middlesbrough.

The generous view – and bear with me because this doesn’t sound generous – is that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. It’s something that football supporters like to argue over in a fight for miserablism, but Derby might just have had the worst injury crisis of any league club this season. They have currently barely got a defence and their best striker, Patrick Agyemang, ruptured his Achilles in April.

The defensive absentees have, I think, persuaded Eustace to protect his goal. The problem: Derby have still conceded far too many chances and doing so has stymied the creative flair and any attacking quality, thus alienating plenty of supporters who believe performance is being unduly hampered by low-percentage fear football.

The unavoidable conclusion is that Derby have been bad at most things. They rank 22nd for xG for and 22nd for big chances created, but then also 22nd for xG against. They rank 22nd for points gained after conceding first but also 23rd for points dropped after scoring first. They rank 23rd for time spent trailing, almost 43 per cent of their league minutes. 

When (if?) the injuries settle down, Derby will surely improve. There is enough quality for them to avoid relegation, all things being equal. But that is becoming an assumption painted in naivety. Slow starts to football seasons, when the eyes and the numbers damn you, make recovery harder because belief is self-fulfilling for better and worse. 

There are harsh lessons here beyond injury management and bad luck. The chronic lack of goals is causing faith to diminish. The summer recruitment is not providing sufficient return and Derby invested heavily in 2025 too. The owner deserves no shade; he has been generous and honest. Those below him – particularly longtime CEO Stephen Pearce – deserve greater scrutiny.

This summer was a potential turning point for Derby County; this is the elephant in the room of their slow start. All summer, a potential takeover by Turki Al-Sheikh, a Saudi government official and general sports interferer, was on the cards. The deal was ratified by the Independent Football Regulator and got within several days of being completed. At which point, virtually on the eve of the season, Al-Sheikh pulled out and blamed delays and a lack of sufficient time for summer transfer business.

I do not know if Al-Sheikh is a tyre kicker who ever intended to complete that takeover (it would have been weird to go that far in the first place without any determination). I do think that having him as an owner would have been a step in the wrong direction for Derby County’s identity and their long-term future, because of who Al-Sheikh is and the reputation that precedes him. Some supporters will disagree with that; fine. 

But the sheer stress of the experience itself must have changed Derby in some way. It opened Pandora’s Box and shards of bright light shone into their world. It purported to be a game changer. So when that game remains not only unchanged but on-pitch performance immediately makes everybody feel glum, it’s not hard to conclude that frustration will abound and warp into misery in the minds of the pessimists.

That is Derby County’s greatest problem now. It’s not the injuries, for they will clear eventually. It’s not the recruitment worries, although Championship clubs cannot afford many expensive mistakes. It’s not Eustace; I don’t know who would come next and offer realistic hope of lots better. It’s not even all of those in combination, which has created the storm.

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It’s that Derby County exists in a fragile state in the seasons following their financial apocalypse, what I’d label as the fallout years. They are not alone: I’ve seen it or similar at Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan, Bolton, Scunthorpe United and others. Crisis creates a psychological imbalance: you know you should be grateful but it’s as if only by getting back to where you were can erase the negative thoughts.

Everybody became hardwired towards mistrust and angst in the dark times because that was their emotional self-preservation. So when something systemic goes wrong outside their control, such as a takeover falling through, the auto response is to panic and fret. 

At Derby, that has been followed by a rotten start that provokes concern of what happens next and makes pushing the black thoughts out of your head that bit harder. They need a shift in mood. A few players back from injury might be a start.

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ANFIELD — It is always nice to see old friends, especially when they come with presents. Last week, it was Villarreal managed by Inigo Perez, now it was Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea. On Sunday, Mikel Arteta will bring Arsenal to Anfield. All knew Andoni Iraola from youth-team football in Bilbao and San Sebastian.

Villarreal surrendered a two-goal lead in the Champions League. Now Chelsea surrendered a briefly-held one-goal lead to force a penalty shoot-out that gave Liverpool a home quarter-final against Iraola’s former club, Bournemouth, the news of which seemed to give him enormous pleasure. Sunday against the league champions will go a long way to deciding how good Iraola’s Liverpool are.

Making a judgement on a Carabao Cup tie, won on penalties, is a dangerous thing but Liverpool had the advantage of having almost a complete first team on the pitch when spot-kicks were taken. They had better, more expensive players which has not always been the case.

Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals! pic.twitter.com/pnCYwRrYzi

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 28, 2026

If Alonso and Chelsea are mentioned in the same breath on Merseyside, it will usually be the 2005 Champions League semi-final when Alonso wore red and the noise from the stands was so ferocious that the Chelsea of Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea that would jog their way to the Premier League title, appeared fatally unnerved.

Then, seen from the Kop, Chelsea were arrogant new money, prepared to spend their way to silverware. Now it was Liverpool who had three £100m players on the bench while Alonso brought on Marco Pelestra, Emmanuel Emegha and Valentin Barco. Young talents, £30-40m players but none of them is Bradley Barcola. Two of them missed their penalties.

So did Ryan Gravenberch and Wesley Fofana, each of whom had conceded a penalty in normal time and who had otherwise endured forgettable nights. Gravenberch, sent off earlier in the month against Manchester City, is having a forgettable season.

The goalkeepers were not first team, although the fractured jaw that Emi Martinez sustained at Everton ensured Mike Penders will be a regular at Stamford Bridge in the weeks to come. On this evidence, the 21-year-old is unlikely to disappoint.

Bruce Grobbelaar, whose heroics in the shoot-out in Rome won Liverpool the 1984 European Cup, was on hand to watch Alisson Becker’s deputy, Giorgi Mamadashvili, stand up to the men in blue walking towards the penalty spot with a ball tucked under their arm.

Each made a save. Pelestra chipped on to the post before Kostas Tsimikas and Fofana outdid each other for who could shoot most ridiculously over the bar and Liverpool were through.

This was a night that mattered more to Alonso, who described the defeat as “a sad experience but a small setback”. His club is not in the Champions League, form and finances are shaky. The Carabao Cup was, he pointed out, the least important of his priorities. There are two left and since Alonso has become one of the very few Chelsea managers to lose to Tottenham, winning the FA Cup appears the only realistic route to silverware. A win at Anfield would have been proof there are better days ahead. The Carabao Cup with its emphasis on young players is all about better days ahead.

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This was a night of penalties. Two in normal time and then the adrenalin rush of the shoot-out which some slightly better finishing would have prevented.

This time the stands did not shake when Chelsea took the field. This is, after all, the Carabao Cup and Anfield did not become animated until Gravenberch brought down Moises Caicedo and by then the game had weaved its way prettily but uneventfully through 40 minutes.

Chelsea’s attempt to protect the lead that Gravenberch’s clumsiness and Morgan Rogers’s conversion had presented them with lasted three minutes. Wesley Fofana decided to go up for a corner with Virgil van Dijk while waving an arm around, duly conceded a penalty for handball which Cody Gakpo put away as easily as Rogers had done. They both proved a rehearsal for what was to come.

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After 81 minutes in the Accu Stadium, Derensili Sanches Fernandes was withdrawn in the aftermath of Huddersfield Town’s fourth goal, another win secured. As he walked around the back of the goal, supporters rushed towards the front of the stand to touch the winger’s hand. There was something distinctly comical about adults joining children in the pursuit, as if they were clamoring to see their favourite character at Disney World. 

If Sanches Fernandes’ arrival from the Dutch Eredivisie was a coup, the form since has been ludicrous – nine goal contributions in as many league games. On this night, he assisted the fourth goal in a 4-1 win over Peterborough United but his fingerprints were over the entire performance because he’s the out ball for most attacks.

Football managers talk an awful lot about maximising their advantages. You can distill the whole business to one mighty difficult pursuit: making good momentum last as long as possible and ending the inevitable dips as quickly as you can. Do that with individual players and the performance of the team will reflect it in glorious symbiosis. Doesn’t that sound so easy.

The question I want to answer is how that actually works in practice? Using interviews with Sanches Fernandes and head coach Martin Drury, I want to know how a football club – and a footballer – work specifically to keep an in-form player at the top of their game?

Praise vs motivation

We’re all aware of the difficult balance of man management: motivation, complacency, praise and criticism. Every player’s personality is different and they shift over time and depending on a dozen external factors. Coaching teams must quickly understand what makes each player tick. It is the most complicated and most important element of the job.

The starting point, as Drury says, is honesty.

“The best thing you ever do for players is to tell them the truth,” he tells The i Paper.

“So when someone’s doing something good, I think they should be championed. And when they’re not doing something right, I don’t think you should shy away from letting them know.”

Delivering yet again #htafc pic.twitter.com/50PFGfCB70

— Huddersfield Town (@htafc) October 24, 2026

Sanches Fernandes says that he feels the love from Drury. There is an embrace when he finally gets around the touchline to the bench.

Twenty minutes after the game, in the back of the tunnel, Drury comes out of a side room, sees his winger and gives him another bear hug and a complimentary word in the ear. Cue beaming smile from his special talent.

“It’s really important that staff recognise when players are improving,” says Drury. “But I think it’s even more important that players recognise themselves improving. That can be really magical, because they see the route to getting even better and they become sponges for information.”

Sanches Fernandes is in that zone now. He has been excellent so far this season, but his first words to me do not dwell upon how well he’s doing but the improvements that he must make next. 

“I know clearly what has to happen,” he says. “I have to learn that even when I get tired, the final pass or shot is better. I should have been involved in at least two more goals [against Peterborough United]. When I’m tired, I have to know that I can still produce.”

Think like an underdog

Sanches Fernandes says that he isn’t particularly superstitious. He doesn’t have a specific mental routine or use visualisation techniques as others might do. But there is a mindset that he believes makes good form more likely to persist: “Think like an underdog”.

In the Dutch league, where defenders were physical with him (and League One is no different) he told himself that he was the underdog even in situations where he knew that he was the better player. Doing that subconsciously fueled his defensive work and making runs even when he wouldn’t get the ball. You play as if you have something to prove in every action. 

“Doing that also creates a picture where you aren’t seeing the game for how it is, but how it could play out,” he says. “You’re trying to get something over the opponent. Then when something changes behind you, you can adapt really quickly.”

Coaching but never over-coaching

Sanches Fernandes, like many creative attacking players, is an instinct footballer. There is a muscle memory to his movement, accumulated over his entire development. If there is any overriding philosophy, he explains it succinctly: 

“I just want to attack and just go as quickly as possible. If I see a gap open up, I just play it. When I see it, I give it. And if I can shoot I will always shoot.”

That sounds so ludicrously simple that you wonder how coaches adapt his game. It’s one of the more unrecognised elements of training elite footballers: knowing when not to coach is as important as when to coach. When an instinct player is thriving, why would you ever complicate that?

“It’s a really important point,” Drury says. “Some players have just got that level of ability that they can turn it on and off when they decide to and, actually, sometimes you just have to respect that level. You have to work out a different way to connect with them. 

“Derens has got a hell of a lot of talent and our job as a coaching staff is to make sure we get the ball to him and put him in situations he enjoys, he thrives in, he relishes. He loves competition. He really enjoys being in duels and looking at his opponent and how he wants to get the better of them.

“As you rightly say, we have to get that balance around how we coach so as not to uncoach some of the things that they’re already doing themselves. Of course there are always things that we can refine, but you have to have a soft and different touch with those types of players.”

Recovery is king

“The physicality here didn’t surprise me because I knew what to expect,” says Sanches Fernandes with a weary smile 30 minutes after full-time. “But now I’m definitely feeling it.”

When Huddersfield Town signed Sanches Fernandes, they knew that he was prepared for physical demand. The winger is keen to point out that Excelsior, his previous club, were hard trainers and that made adapting to League One football easier. There is a resilience to Sanches Fernandes that belies his frame. 

He has also never played more than 35 matches in a domestic campaign and has already reached 13 this season. There are certain things you can do: Sanches Fernandes has been substituted in five of the last six league games and left out of the squad for both EFL Trophy fixtures. 

But the player and club both understand the importance of recovery work and rest. Drury is in regular communication with medical staff about training workloads. Talent speaks loud but any player’s voice is amplified by feeling able to perform at their peak. In the case of a fast winger who acts as his team’s most regular outlet and creative force, it becomes everything.

Freedom = unpredictability

Practically, the easiest tactical way to keep an attacking player in form is to maintain their unpredictability. In the age of data and video analysis, there are no surprises. It becomes a game of cat and mouse: opposition coaches move to mitigate Sanches Fernandes’ impact; he and Huddersfield work to maintain it by shifting the sand. 

Here again, relying on the player’s instinct is useful. Sanches Fernandes nominally starts on the right wing, but he has clear licence to drift from that role: dropping deeper, staying high, moving infield, taking his man on the outside and inside. 

“It’s something I practiced a lot a couple of years into my career,” Sanches Fernandes says. “When I first started, I tended to stick out on the wing and I got a little predictable. The defender knew my next move.

“If I’m given a slightly more free role, I can take on my man on the outside. But then he also knows that I can move to the middle and create space. Or sometimes even go onto the left and create an overload out there. Even if I still end up going down the right wing, there’s doubt in the mind of the defender.”

The whole package

It’s pretty obvious that happy people make happy footballers. You probably do your job better if you feel good about yourself, feel valued, have a settled home situation and see your friends and family often. The same is true of people who have to make split-second decisions under intense pressure under great physical strain, weirdly. 

Sanches Fernandes has a new flat. His family come over from the Netherlands every week and were present for the weekend home game against Wigan Athletic (when he scored again, of course). He now has a friendship group within the club. Staff checked in far more often in his early weeks.

But Huddersfield Town also made it easier in another, emphatically practical way. Last season, Excelsior played 26 Eredivisie matches with Sanches Fernandes on the right wing and Ilias Bronkhorst at right-back. Sanches Fernandes was signed by Town on 21 July. Eighteen days earlier, they had signed Bronkhorst on a free transfer. 

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It’s fairly unusual, but made complete sense given that the club were in the market for a right-back anyway. Not only did each player have a familiar, friendly face around the new place of work, they also had to do far less acclimatisation on the pitch because they knew each other’s game so well. 

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? On Saturday, Huddersfield beat Wigan to go top of League One. Their two scorers were Sanches Fernandes and Bronkhorst. 

“I can’t pay any more respect to Ilias and Derens in terms of what they have done together,” Drury says. “Coming to a new country, with a new group of players. The way they have both started the season is just absolutely crazy and it’s happened more quickly than I anticipated.”

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