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When Newcastle United played Leeds United earlier this month, they were overpowered in the first 20 minutes. Leeds opened the scoring having missed two presentable chances and should have added to that lead. Marcelo Bielsa’s side took seven shots before Newcastle had even had one. 

But slowly, the pattern of the game shifted. Or, to be more exact, Allan Saint-Maximin started to get on the ball. He scored the equaliser and had four of Newcastle’s seven shots on target. Newcastle were not quite a one-man team – that description is almost always hyperbolic in the context of a team sport – but he was certainly their dominant attacking force.

There is a statistic that calculates “progressive carries”, the number of times a player carries the ball at least five yards towards goal when in the attacking 60 per cent of the pitch. That night, Saint-Maximin registered 14. No other Newcastle player managed more than three. 

This has become a theme of the early Premier League season. Saint-Maximin is not alone as a dominant ball carrier. The top seven most regular dribblers in the Premier League (he joins Adama Traore, Dwight McNeil, Trincao, Raphinha, Wilfried Zaha and Ismaila Sarr) all have something in common: they play for a club currently in the bottom half. 

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Watching these wingers becomes a game within the game. There is something emphatically comical about seeing Traore bustle and burst past flailing arms of central midfielders and full-backs who have long given up on the ball and are happy simply to concede a tactical foul. Or how Saint-Maximin will choose two blind alleys before inevitably finding a gap like an experienced pub goer winding his way back from a busy bar carrying four pints as his mates wince before rising to applaud. 

In part this trend reflects the financial sway of the Premier League. A decade ago, a middling Premier League club with a high-class individual might expect to lose them within a year of their potential being realised. Zaha has expressed a desire to leave Crystal Palace more than once over the last three years, but Palace’s asking price is understandably sky high because they have no desire to lose him and can afford to reject approaches below that price. Traore was expected to leave Wolves this summer, but stayed. Sarr stayed at Watford during their Championship season and remains at Vicarage Road. Their clubs can afford to pay them handsomely. 

In other cases, that financial strength permitted their purchase in the first place. Raphinha and Saint-Maximin were two of the most exciting attackers in Ligue Un and joined a promoted club and a side who had just finished 13th and changed managers respectively. Their transfer fees – £17m each – were out of reach of equivalent clubs in other European leagues looking to take a calculated punt. The Premier League – its average wage and global audience – is an attractive proposition.

But the dominance of those players perhaps also reflects a shift in how bottom-half clubs are operating to respond to the threat of clubs higher up the league. Over the last five years, the Premier League has witnessed an increase in goals scored on the counter attack (almost doubling over that period). This might be a reaction to Leicester City’s title win in 2015-16 – including great success against bigger teams – through quick counters, or, more recently, a response to possession and pressing that can create opportunities for quick counters if transitions are completed successfully. That presents individuality as an antidote to system-based attacks.

It’s important to note that these clubs are in the bottom half for a reason; this isn’t a foolproof strategy. There is a risk that teammates and managers can grow a little complacent: “Give it to Player X” syndrome. Overreliance can lead to predictability that provokes opposition coaches to simply double up on the obvious dangermen. Although those players are the most regular dribblers, that does not necessarily correlate with them being the most successful. 

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There’s also an issue of availability here. Relying upon one or two individuals can quickly become a problem when those players are absent. The Newcastle example is relevant again here: they have won two of their last 19 league matches without Saint-Maximin starting. Burnley have been without McNeil for 31 games in all competitions since the start of 2018-19; they have beaten one current Premier League team over that period. That said, Sheffield United’s rapid decline proves that a deliberately system-based approach can quickly be exposed too. 

But it makes the bottom half of the Premier League, and the battle to survive relegation, fascinating. Ordinarily, Newcastle and Wolves facing each other would not be appointment viewing. But on Saturday afternoon, two of the most exceptional footballers in the country will meet at Molineux. Between them, they have attempted more dribbles than half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have managed as a collective. The match may ultimately be decided by which of the two has more joy in breaking from deep and creating chances.

That duel may well be extrapolated across the rest of the season. Premier League relegation is often settled by which team is more efficient in finishing their chances, defending set-pieces or keeping clean sheets. This season, it may depend on which of the dribblers can stay fit and in form long enough to drag their club away from trouble. One thing is certainly true: it will be worth watching.

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England manager Gareth Southgate has suggested the Bundesliga is not as “intense” or “tough” as the Premier League and that is why Jadon Sancho is slow to adapt at Manchester United.

Winger Sancho has struggled since moving from Borussia Dortmund, where his performances as a teenager first earned him a call-up to Southgate’s England squad, to Manchester United for £73m during the summer.

Sancho, now 21, has started only two Premier League games and is yet to register a goal or assist in eight appearances for his new club. In contrast, his longest run at the Bundesliga club without a goal or assist was seven games, and he scored five and set up five in his final eight games in Germany.

“With Jadon I’m not surprised,” Southgate said after naming Sancho in his 23-man squad for October’s World Cup qualifiers. “The Bundesliga is totally different, Dortmund is a big club but Manchester United is one of the biggest in the world.

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“There’s some adaptation to that, there’s a definite adaptation to the league, you’re not going to get the goals and assists numbers anywhere near in our league, that you are in the Bundesliga.

“There are some very good teams but also it’s a good league for young players to develop in because there are some teams that aren’t at that level. Our league, every game is intense and tough and he’s probably just starting to realise that.”

Sancho’s position in the Manchester United squad was immediately threatened by the surprise arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo after he decided to leave Juventus. And he will come under even greater pressure when Marcus Rashford, also competing for a place in the England squad, returns from injury.

At one stage, Sancho appeared to be becoming a first-team regular for Southgate, but now places on one of England’s wings are courted by several players. Raheem Sterling has excelled for the national team even when his club form at Manchester City dips, mainly leaving one space that has been occupied in recent games by Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka or Phil Foden.

Southgate also has the option out wide of Mason Greenwood, again left out of the England squad to support his development, although many see the Manchester United player, who turns 20 on Friday, as a central striker. Southgate, nonetheless, has opted to retain Sancho in his squad, despite the shaky start at Old Trafford.

“Does he deserve to be in on these performances over the last few weeks? Well probably not,” Southgate said. “But I think we feel we have invested in Jadon over a period of time, we believe he can get to a high level.

“I would like some time with him to to chat with him and help that process that’s going on at Manchester United as well and I think for him to feel that we have belief in him at this point is a good message.”

He added: “We try to individually do the right thing at the right time, send the right message and sometimes the right message is to leave a player out and maybe they respond and that’s the right thing, but we feel with Jadon at this time it is important for us to keep him with us.”

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If Tottenham fans squint hard enough, it is just about possible to mistake the Uefa Conference League trophy for the Europa League, but they will have been rubbing their eyes more earnestly at the sight of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura warming up partway through the second half of the 5-1 victory over NS Mura.

When Spurs eased into a two-goal lead inside eight minutes, the hosts threatened to run up the score. Yet this was a night – and indeed this is an entire competition – in which Nuno Espirito Santo can suffer no blows, and knows he will receive few plaudits for the triumphs either.

In any appraisal of Spurs’ attacking performance, it will be taken into account that the Slovenian outfit are the lowest-ranked remaining side, with a Uefa coefficient of 337. When they were founded just nine years ago, Tim Sherwood was busy reintroducing the gilet into the London fashion scene.

That much was apparent when Nuno made nine changes from the side outclassed in the north London derby. Aston Villa on Sunday is must-win for the manager, but he looked unnerved by a perfectly hit volley from Ziga Kous to retrieve a semblance of hope for Mura. Though it was probably a pre-planned move, it was time to enter the big guns as Moura and Kane combined for Tottenham’s third goal of the night, before Son got in on the act to set up the England captain for the fourth.

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Here are i’s player ratings from a successful night for Spurs.

Player ratings

Gollini – 6

Had nothing to do but was rooted to the ground for Kous’ volley, which he could have done little about.

Doherty – 5

Consistently lost possession and struggled to beat his man down the right. A chance to impress wasted but he did play a part in one of Kane’s strikes.

Rodon – 7

Rodon has a long way to go before establishing himself ahead of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez but he played the ball out well from the back and was an assured presence alongside Cristian Romero. Began the move that led to Kane’s second.

Romero – 7

Romero looks thoroughly composed and while he has been in and out of the starting XI since arriving this summer, he dealt with the limited threat posed by Mura’s front line.

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Reguilon – 6

Key to the build-up in the fourth goal and attempted a decent volley of his own, but couldn’t quite control it.

Alli – 5

It all started so well, Dele Alli winning the penalty in the first three minutes and scoring emphatically from the spot. There were few other positives, however, as he repeatedly misplaced his passes, overhit through balls and took needlessly heavy touches. Looked understandably downbeat when he was taken off.

Skipp – 7

Set up Giovani Lo Celso’s goal with a chipped pass and might have had a goal of his own on the end of a power run through the midfield. Made a good case to start against Villa.

Winks – 6

Nothing too spectacular throughout, but the highlight was a well picked-out through ball to Lo Celso for the second goal.

Lo Celso – 8

Aside from his own impressive finish which cut across the goalkeeper, he kept his cool to pass into Kane’s feet for the fifth. Still not the finished article but benefited from Spurs’ much improved movement.

Gil – 6

He doesn’t necessarily have enough pace, but Bryan Gil showed off his flare with some classy touches.

Scarlett – 6

The teenager struggled to get a foothold in the game as he still needs to grow into a lone striker role, but he oozed confidence with a deft nutmeg and some decent passes.

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Substitutes

Kane – 9

Kane appealed for a penalty within moments of coming on in a similar incident to the first and went onto score three in 19 minutes. A much-needed confidence boost.

Son – 7

Any Premier League defender would likely have stopped Son on his run to setting up Kane but he provided a huge injection of pace.

Lucas – 7

Lucas set up Kane with a ball slicing across Mura’s defence, which the striker took first time.

Emerson – N/A

Only came on late for Reguilon.

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Rangers returned to the Czech Republic six months on from their last Europa League visit to be greeted by the strange sight of a stadium full of children.

Sparta Prague hosted Steven Gerrard‘s side on the back of a stadium ban, with Uefa instructing the match to be held behind closed doors as punishment for racist chanting in their recent Champions League qualifier against Monaco.

That ban, imposed after midfielder Aurélien Tchouameni was subjected to monkey chants after scoring in the first half, has since been relaxed to allow Sparta to give away 10,000 free admission tickets to local schools.

“Due to the punishment for the racist behaviour of some of our fans during the home match with Monaco, no adult fans are allowed in the stadium,” the club’s statement said.

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“But there is an exception for organised children’s groups and we want to use it – we invite children to the Europa League for free. The invitation is valid for organised groups of children from 6 to 14 years of age who arrive at the stadium accompanied by an adult.

“At the same time, however, the rule applies that one adult must have a minimum of ten children and a maximum of 19. Admission is completely free for children and their companions.”

Glen Kamara and his Rangers teammates take the knee in front of Sparta Prague players. pic.twitter.com/XXUCNi1L3t

— i sport (@iPaperSport) September 30, 2021

When Rangers played Sparta’s city rivals Slavia last season, the tie was overshadowed by an incident which led to Ondrej Kudela being banned for 10 matches for racially abusing Glen Kamara.

Gerrard said Kamara is in a “good place” ahead of returning to the country. Shortly after making his report to the referee, the midfielder had issued a statement through his lawyer demanding Uefa got tougher on clubs whose fans, players or staff were found guilty of racism.

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“There is no place for racism or any form of bigotry in football,” Kamara said. “Since [the] summer many of us have taken the knee in solidarity with those who have lost their lives to racial violence.

“If Uefa genuinely wants to ‘show racism the red card’, then it’s time to stop the tokenism and take a zero-tolerance approach.”

The loophole allowing some fans to attend will likely be seen by many as another indictment of the governing body’s hollow promises.

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Long after Cristiano Ronaldo had secured a victory even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer considered lucky, there were several thousand Manchester United fans gathered where the Stretford End meets the players’ tunnel.

Perhaps appropriately, given how theatrical Ronaldo’s 95^th-minute winner against Villarreal had been, they wanted a curtain call. In the Munich Tunnel, by the directors’ entrance, a United fan, wearing a Ronaldo shirt and with what seemed like a sound system built into his wheelchair, was playing “There’s a Whole Lotta Shaking Going On” at maximum volume.

When Ronaldo did emerge, his limousine was pursued by hundreds of supporters, camera phones above their heads, until the car disappeared into the anonymous roads full of warehouses and light industrial units that surround Old Trafford.

You had to remind yourself that this was September and Manchester United had won nothing more than a Champions League group fixture, one in which Solskjaer had nominated his goalkeeper, David de Gea, as man of the match.

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That is to ignore what Ronaldo has brought to United. For the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, the biggest brand in world football has a player worthy of its self-image. Manchester United are glamorous once more.

There was something else; something more significant. The fans at the Stretford End were calling not just for Ronaldo, they were singing about their manager.

Inside Old Trafford, there is far more support for Solskjaer than there is outside the stadium, where the hashtag #OleOut surfaces on social media after every defeat. That includes the board, who since Ferguson’s departure have only sacked their manager when he has failed or looks likely to fail to qualify for the Champions League.

After three defeats in four games and a miserable tactical display in Bern, where Ronaldo had been substituted in a vain attempt to protect a draw, the crowd knew the kind of pressure that had been building around their manager.

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“Sometimes the players we try to do our job but sometimes it is not possible,” Ronaldo remarked afterwards. “When the team is in a difficult moment, the fans need to push us. They gave us the momentum to keep going, keep running and keep believing.”

They were loud, they were intimidating and, significantly when Paco Alcacer gave Villarreal a lead they had earned several times over, they did not turn on their team as they had turned on sides managed by Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho.

It is partly because Solskjaer is “one of us” in a way his predecessors simply were not and it is partly because of the attacking style of his teams. After eight years in which the big prizes have gone to Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and even Leicester, the red half of the city craves something to believe in.

To put your belief in a 36-year-old who left his best days in Madrid and Turin does not sound much of a long-term plan but, given the barrenness of the recent past, it will do for now.

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It was notable that Gareth Southgate grouped Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood together when explaining why two of England’s most talented teenagers had not been called up to his latest squad. 

“They don’t come as a pair but they’re both similar situations in that they’re young players with a heavy load at the moment,” the England manager said.

It piqued curiosity when Greenwood, the Manchester United striker who turns 20 on Friday and has scored three times in eight games this season, was left out of Southgate’s last squad for the same reason and this time it raised eyebrows that Bellingham, 18, was omitted alongside him, two days after providing the assist for the only goal in Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League victory against Sporting Lisbon.

It’s extraordinarily rare for an English midfielder to be regularly playing in central midfield – such a crucial role in a team that requires intelligence, maturity, a certain coolness under intense pressure, coupled with advanced technical ability – and Southgate has been following Bellingham’s career closely, particularly since his £20million move from Birmingham to the Bundesliga.

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But England’s manager is thinking longer term, he explained. “We have to remember that these lads are still physically growing,” Southgate said. “So when we’re talking about young player development we’ve got to be really careful how we handle them and make sure that these are two players can be really exciting players for England for the future, but we don’t want to overload them and we’ve got the making sure we make the right decisions.”

Bellingham, Southgate pointed out, played a full season in the Bundesliga then went straight to the European Championship and is back in the thick of it again with his club. And Southgate has plenty of options vying for the two deeper-lying midfielders he mainly likes to play.

Breaking the firm grip of West Ham’s Declan Rice and Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips – who were first-choice on England’s route to the Euro 2020 final – on those two spots is not easy for an 18-year-old. Liverpool’s vastly experienced Jordan Henderson, a player who refuses to succumb to the restraints of age, is back in the squad after returning from injury.

Mason Mount and Jesse Lingard would be considered more attacking central options, and it seems uncertain where Phil Foden, Manchester City’s talented youngster, named as a midfielder in the squad, fits in: he could play as a deeper central midfield, or as a No 10, or on the wing, as Southgate has played him at times.

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So Southgate is happy giving Bellingham a bit of a break, a decision he had made in consultation with the player and his family, as was the case with Greenwood. “They’re very much decisions that have been with me having conversations with the players and their families, rather than any sort of deal with the club,” Southgate said.

Southgate intimated that players of their age would usually be playing with England’s U18s, 19s or 20s and that agreements are sometimes reached with clubs in those cases. 

“But the profile of these two boys is much higher, they’re both playing very well, so I can understand why people would raise their eyes,” he added. “It’s not the case we don’t think the players don’t deserve to be in the squad. We’d be picking them if we didn’t have those longer term aims and ambitions in mind.”

England squad for Andorra and Hungary qualifiers

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Conor Coady, Reece James, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice

Forwards: Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins

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Kalvin Phillips has held “positive discussions” with Leeds United about a new and improved deal for the England midfielder, his agent has told i.

Phillips has enjoyed a stunning rise to prominence for club and country during the past 12 months and was recently voted England’s Player of the Year following his starring role for Gareth Southgate’s side at Euro 2020.

The 25-year-old, a boyhood Leeds supporter who was born and raised in the city, was this week linked with a move to bitter rivals Manchester United.

Yet Kevin Sharp, the former Leeds player who represents Phillips, said talks were underway about rewarding Marcelo Bielsa’s star man with a new contract to extend his stay at Elland Road.

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Sharp told i: “I’ve had positive discussions with Leeds United throughout the summer on a new contract for Kalvin.

“Talks are ongoing and I can only see a positive outcome. Kalvin’s desire is to stay at Leeds United and there is a real willingness from all sides to make it happen.”

Earlier this summer, Sharp told i that he would not agitate for an improved deal for Phillips as the player was happy and settled at his hometown club.

But with interest from rival Premier League clubs and abroad, Leeds now look set to tie down their prized asset to a new long-term deal.

Phillips has won 17 caps since making his England debut last September and his reputation throughout Europe has soared.

Bielsa spoke of the importance of Phillips at his pre-match press conference on Thursday and, asked whether the player could leave, the Leeds head coach said: “That’s a question Kalvin needs to answer.

“Of course he’s a very valuable player. We have to adapt ourselves to how he feels belonging to Leeds.”

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Phillips has often spoken about how close he is to his family and the relationship he enjoys with Bielsa has seen him thrive during the past three seasons.

It is understood a new deal at Leeds would put Phillips amongst the club’s highest earners. 

Bielsa added: “I have seen in him the conduct I have very rarely seen in a player.

“In how football is right now, for a player to decline a team above the level where he is at, due to love of a club he is at, is not frequent.”

Bielsa acknowledged Phillips’ heart was in Leeds, saying:  “I have the certainty Kalvin is going to endure decisions like this the rest of his life.

“When you go for the money, or for the evolution, you resolve a moment in your sporting career, but when you opt for affection of those of the people, you resolve in commas your life forever.

“When you’re loved where you’re from, the possibilities to be happy increase.”

Phillips spoke to i‘s chief football correspondent last month about his family ties in Leeds

With his dad, Mark, in and out of prison when Phillips was younger and his mum, Lindsay, working two jobs to support the family, often sleeping on the sofa so that Phillips, his brother and two sisters always had a bed, sometimes going without meals, Granny Val was always there.

“Growing up with her she helped our family out and my mum out a lot of times,” Phillips says. “If my mum was at work or busy we’d go to my gran’s and stay there over the weekend. Whenever my mum was working my gran would be there to help us out.”

Always a shoulder to lean on, but also ready to offer a stern word to make sure he kept in line. “She’s always been the person if I’ve been arguing with my brother or sister or anybody she’s said, Here, listen, don’t let your head get too big for your boots. She’s always been the one to knock me down if I’ve ever been getting too big for myself. 

“She’s always been there to humble me and make sure I don’t become a person I’m not. That’s a major thing in how our family works: we’re very humble people, very hardworking people, the more people that meet us, the more people realise how much gran had a big effect on our family.”

Perhaps one of Granny Val’s best pieces of advice was to stay at Leeds. “She was definitely the reason why I would’ve never gone to Villa. She didn’t want me to. I always knew that whatever my mum and my gran wanted me to do I’d end up doing that.

“She’s a major figure in our family so I knew that what she was telling me to do was the right decision and it turned out to be the right decision, even now. Without some of those decisions she’s told me to take I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Read the full interview here

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Ronald Koeman has been fighting against the tide ever since he was appointed Barcelona head coach last August, but now it appears he could well be “sunk”, as one Spanish paper had on their front page on Thursday.

Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat at Benfica was their second in the Champions League by that scoreline after being humbled at home by Bayern Munich a fortnight ago.

Bottom of Group E, Barca are also sixth in La Liga, where they are yet to lose, though three draws in six games has them playing catch-up already with table-toppers Real Madrid.

The loss to Benfica could well be the final straw for Koeman, with the Spanish newspapers painting a bleak picture for the Dutchman on Thursday morning.

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“Sunk” was the solitary word of choice for AS on their front page. Mundo Deportivo declared Koeman “Against The Ropes”, Sport stated “This Is A Nightmare”, while Marca’s “Siniestro Total” could translate as “Total Catastrophe/Disaster”, “Ominous”, “Total Crash” or “Complete Write-Off” – take your pick, none of them are positive.

It is difficult to believe it was anything but catastrophically ominous from the very beginning. Koeman arrived after the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, leaving his role with the Netherlands to walk into a civil war.

Lionel Messi declared he wanted to leave just six days after Koeman was hired, with Argentinian newspaper Diario Olé detailing a frosty first meeting between the pair, claiming the new Barcelona head coach told the six-time Ballon d’Or winner “your privileges here are over”.

All this after Koeman had already shown Luis Suarez the door, while then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu had already rocked the boat when naming just eight players as “non-transferrable”.

Messi eventually stayed – as we now know, for just the one season – but Suarez was joined by Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal Arthur, Nelson Semedo, Rafinha as part of a clea-rout, and having already signed Miralem Pjanic and Francisco Trincao, Koeman’s only addition was right-back Sergino Dest.

Bartomeu then announced his resignation in October, when he also dropped the European Super League bomb which would come to fruition and a spectacular collapse six months later, and this instability off the pitch came at a time when Barca were also suffering on it.

October 2020 saw league defeats to Getafe and then crucially Real Madrid, while draws with Sevilla and Alaves halted what had been a decent start to the campaign. Further defeats to Atletico Madrid and Cadiz followed, with Koeman admitting the latter was a “huge step back” for the club.

Perhaps surprisingly, a 17-game unbeaten run in the league boosted their title hopes, while 15 points from their Champions League group ensured a smooth passage into the knockouts. However, it all came unstuck when they met Real once more, losing 2-1 to their great rivals in April as leaders Atletico Madrid were losing their grip on the trophy.

Barca remained in contention, but in their final five games they picked up eight points, which included a goalless draw with Atletico, who held on to win their first title since 2014.

This title race played out months after Barca had already exited the Champions League, with a 5-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 their earliest exit for 14 years, while a rare bright moment was winning the Copa del Rey in April.

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Cue a summer which will go down in Barcelona folklore. Lionel Messi left, new president Joan Laporta announced the club were £1.15bn in debt, while Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba all agreed pay cuts so free transfers Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia could be registered. To cap it off, Antoine Griezmann left on deadline day, returning to Atletico a year after Barca had gifted them Suarez, and two years after he moved to the Nou Camp for £107m.

Barca have since dropped from second to sixth when it comes to spending limits in La Liga, plummeting from €347m (£300m) to €98m (£84.7m), and while the parlous state of the club’s finances is not Koeman’s primary concern, results on the pitch have done little to deny the fact they are no longer dining at Europe’s top table.

I don't even know where to start with this pic.twitter.com/wrWeI324wE

— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) September 29, 2021

It has been a sorry September for Barca, losing to Bayern 3-0, drawing with Granada 1-1 then Cadiz 0-0, beating Levante 3-0 but then losing 3-0 to Benfica on Wednesday night.

The defeats on the European stage are the most damaging for the five-time European Cup winners. Six years on from Messi, Suarez and Neymar guiding the club to the treble, they are being regularly humiliated in the Champions League.

“I don’t think it was a big test,” Benfica’s Rafa Silva said after his side waltzed past Barcelona, while Koeman is now relying on the backing of his players to cling onto his job.

“That’s the easiest thing in the world of football, but everyone has their share in the responsibility, [including] the players,” Busquets said when asked about the prospect of Koeman being fired. “But we’re in a critical situation, that’s the truth.”

Koeman said he feels “very supported” by his players, with Frenkie de Jong also admitting a managerial change is not the “solution”, but whether this backing is enough to stay in charge remains to be seen.

Reports in Spain suggest he could be sacked on Thursday, while ESPN reported last week that Barca are already exploring their options, with club legend Xavi Hernandez and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez among the current frontrunners.

Next Barcelona manager odds

(Best available)

• Xavi – 2-1
• Andrea Pirlo – 11-4
• Roberto Martinez – 6-1
• Antonio Conte – 10-1
• Erik Ten Haag – 14-1

Xavi has long been sounded out as a future Barcelona head coach, but the Al-Sadd coach dismissed the club’s advances in 2020 and may be reluctant to swap Qatar for Catalonia this time around as well given the mess his former side are in.

Martinez, meanwhile, has reportedly been championed by sporting director Jordi Cruyff, although the prospect of another former Everton manager who has failed to steer Belgium’s “golden generation” to a major trophy is unlikely to stir Barca’s culers.

Andrea Pirlo is also 11-4 with some bookmakers, with the Italian only boasting the one season of managerial experience so far – a campaign where Juventus’ nine-year run of titles came to an abrupt end with a fourth-place finish.

Again, perhaps not an inspiring option, but at this exact moment, neither are Barcelona.

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England are set to name their squad on Thursday for two World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary.

Gareth Southgate‘s men could all-but seal their place at next winter’s World Cup if they win both their game, although official confirmation will probably have to wait until the next international break in November when they face Albania and San Marino.

This time around, they will travel to Andorra on Saturday 9 October (7.45pm kick-off), against whom they have never conceded a goal in five meetings and scored 20 times.

They will then host Hungary at Wembley on Tuesday 12 October (7.45pm), a game which represents the return fixture from England’s 4-0 win at the Puskas Arena in September. The fixture was marred by racist chanting from the home fans for which Hungary received a two-game stadium ban and a fine.

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Southgate will reveal his full squad for the two qualifiers at 2pm on Thursday 30 September.

The games are part of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, which will take place in the winter for the first time to avoid the extreme heat of summer in the host country Qatar.

The next global tournament will take place in 2026, although current Fifa president Gianni Infantino is controversially pushing to make the competition biennial, rather than every four years.

Ask current players about World Cup plans, pleads Henry

France World Cup winner Thierry Henry believes doubling the frequency of the tournament would be mentally exhausting for players and questioned why Fifa seems to rely on the views of retired stars rather than active ones.

The plans for biennial World Cups are being advanced by Henry’s former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, in his current role as Fifa’s head of global football development.

Henry was critical of the proposal Wednesday while on CBS alongside former Denmark and Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who went to Qatar for Fifa meetings earlier this month and appeared on a virtual news conference with Wenger to make the case for World Cups every two years.

Henry said he struggled with the pressure of playing in a World Cup even every four years. The Fifa showpiece has been a quadrennial tournament since 1930, apart from during the longer gap due to World War II.

“Do [Fifa] actually ask the current players what they think about it?” Henry said. “I played four World Cups and [three] Euros and I came out of them shattered mentally. And it’s not about the games I played in it, it’s the preparation for the World Cup, coming back from the World Cup after a season at your club. So if you play that every two years, mentally it’s tough for a player.”

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Gareth Southgate admits he is not against a World Cup every two years after talks with Arsene Wenger

Alongside 1998 world champion Henry in the CBS studio for Champions League coverage, former England and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher interjected as Schmeichel tried to make Fifa’s case.

Carragher said he was on a call recently about the plans with Wenger, former Liverpool teammate Javier Mascherano and former Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure. Carragher was then not named by Fifa among what it called a “group of top footballers … part of the ongoing consultation process on the future of global football.” But listed were supporters of Wenger’s plans: Mascherano, who played at four World Cups with Argentina, and Toure, who qualified three times with Ivory Coast.

“Maybe I haven’t been invited to the next one because I’m not as fully involved in it as you [Schmeichel] and pro the World Cup [every two years],” Carragher said. “My big problem is – why are we trying to get ex-players to support it? We aren’t going to play in it. Ask the players who will play in it now.”

Wenger has said he is consulting international players’ union Fifpro.

The Frenchman’s priorities in changes to the international calendar are for less travel for players and less disruption for their clubs while ensuring there are more meaningful games.

The current system – that typically sees players based in Europe taking long-haul flights home throughout the season in short breaks for national-team games – could be replaced by a single block of fewer qualifying games in October.

International tournaments would occupy June each year, with players proposed to get a mandatory 25-day vacation in July before rejoining their clubs.

“I made a really bad decision in my career,” Schmeichel said. “Coming out of a World Cup I was absolutely mentally drained and I made a decision to leave Manchester United because I was not in a state where I could make a qualified decision as big as that.”

Schmeichel took the decision to leave United a year after his only World Cup with Denmark in 1998. In an interview last year with United’s podcast, he complained about the current four-year cycle that features only a World Cup and European Championship.

“Every two years, your holidays go,” he said. “You are straight back in.”

European governing body Uefa and South American confederation Conmebol oppose a switch to a World Cup every two years which is a key objective of Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

Additional reporting by AP

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Hi HN, we have recently completed a research project on how to encrypt emails with post-quantum secure algorithms as well as Forward Secrecy. We'd love to hear your feedback and discuss technical issues. The paper can be found here: https://ift.tt/3dq0tbe

Philosophy is the word of the week at Tottenham Hotspur following their humbling defeat to Arsenal in Sunday’s north London derby.

The fallout from the 3-1 loss has seen Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust request a meeting with the club’s board to discuss the “short and long-term strategic vision”, while the spotlight has shone on Daniel Levy’s words when addressing fans in May.

The Spurs chairman said: “We are acutely aware of the need to select someone whose values reflect those of our great club and return to playing football with the style for which we are known – free-flowing, attacking and entertaining – whilst continuing to embrace our desire to see young players flourish from our academy alongside experienced talent.”

Fast forward four months and Nuno is already under pressure. Three straight 1-0 wins in the Premier League led to a manager of the month award, but results have soured in September with 3-0 defeats to Crystal Palace and Chelsea, a 2-2 draw with Rennes in the Conference League, and only progression in the EFL Cup to shout about – albeit after a penalty shootout against Nuno’s former club Wolves.

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Tottenham are sleepwalking towards mid-table mediocrity and Nuno looks powerless to stop the slide

The damaging Arsenal defeat made it a run of five games without a win for Spurs, a sequence which has seen them face more shots than they have attempted.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var a in e.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}();

Hence the questions of when this “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football is going to surface. Well aware that he is under pressure, Nuno was bullish ahead of Spurs’ match at home to Mura in the Conference League on Thursday.

“I’ve been told [the philosophy] and everybody knows,” Nuno said. “It’s football, everybody wants to play good. Everybody wants to play offensively, everybody wants to score. This is what we chase.

“Sometimes it’s not possible but we are aware that this is what we want to do but it takes a building process to achieve it and we are trying.

“The criticism is normal. Everybody knows how this industry works. When you don’t play good, when you don’t perform and results don’t go your way, criticism is something you have to deal with. We understand it and it’s up to us to react and change it.”

The building process arguably begins in Europe, with the Conference League offering Nuno his best shot at surviving beyond Christmas.

The expectancy will be to top Group G – which features Vitesse, Rennes and Mura – and while this feat would hardly win Nuno a new wave of supporters, this competition does present him with the opportunity to put this desire to play offensive football into practice – or more vitally, actual match practice.

Nuno must therefore view the Conference League as a potential springboard for success, a chance to instil tactics which are then replicated in tougher Premier League tests.

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That would mean bucking the trend of playing second-string XIs, and though Nuno may be reluctant to field his strongest side two times a week, it may be less harmful in the short-term for Nuno to go big against Mura and work with the players he wants to perform week in, week out in the Premier League.

There is no denying a crucial period await Spurs. After their next three European games, they face Aston Villa (Sunday 3 October), West Ham (Sunday 24 October) and Everton (Sunday 7 November), a trio of teams all currently in the top eight of the Premier League.

For Tottenham, and for Nuno in particular, it will be about proving the club are above the bracket featuring Villa, West Ham and Everton – not with them, and certainly not below them. If the latter proves to be the case, it could well be obrigado e tchau to Nuno – before the search starts all over again.

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JUVENTUS STADIUM — With the addition of Romelu Lukaku in the summer, it appeared Thomas Tuchel had found that elusive missing piece to his most picturesque puzzle.

As Chelsea stormed to Champions League glory last term, their success was built around the airtight defensive unit, one without flaws or even the suggestion of a leak.

Goals were not always in plentiful supply and opponents were rarely steamrolled, especially as the Blues’ Champions League odyssey reached the latter stages, but that did not matter, as with their impenetrable backline, all they needed was to score once and the job was done.

Timo Werner often struggled in the pressure situations, fluffing his lines to great hilarity among rival fans. Therefore, a clinical, proven striker like Lukaku to lead the line appeared to make the Blues a force to be feared Europe-wide.

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Federico Chiesa goal shows Thomas Tuchel what he’s missing as Chelsea transfer target earns Juventus win

Federico Chiesa’s performance as Chelsea slipped to somewhat surprising 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Turin showed that the Tuchel masterpiece is not the finished article quite yet.

The visit of the European champions, amid a run of one defeat in 17 away from home in the Champions League, appeared to have come at the worst possible time for fading force Juventus.

A trip to take on the Old Lady, whether in their previous famous concrete enclave – the Stadio delle Alpi – or the current modern hi-tech Allianz Stadium, used to represent as tough as challenge as it gets in Europe.

Now, having relinquished their Serie A title last season in an unfathomably meek manner, Juve sit 10th in the Italian top flight this season, and without a host of first-team players through injury, they looked there for the taking on an unusually warm late September’s evening in Turin.

Allegri needed a performance to raise the spirits, and he got just that. The Juve coach made a surprise decision and elected to go with a False 9 approach, and it caused Chelsea’s backline unexpected problems early on, as the visitors did not know whether to come or go.

Firstly, the man selected in that deep-lying forward role – Federico Bernardeschi – should have done much better when finding himself through on goal, with Chiesa offering him an outlet he ignored to his right.

Then it was Chiesa’s turn to break clear, drilling an effort just wide to leave Tuchel scratching his head – where was this level of Chiesa-shaped zing in his supposed perfect unit?

The crowd, currently restricted to 50 per cent of capacity in Italy at the moment, were buoyed by their side’s opening half hour of football. While this type of modern arena hardly appears intimidating all light shows to a AC/DC Thunderstruck soundtrack, the way they are built, keeping the fans on top of the players, creates plenty of volume.

The Blues were looking a little Thunderstruck themselves. The chances kept coming for Juve, with Adrien Rabiot arrowing an effort for goal that just flew over the top.

Chelsea had 72.5 per cent possession in the first half, but other than Lukaku’s early effort, they did not create another meaningful chance.

Tuchel has made a name for himself as being the most proactive coach we have seen for many years on our shores, and once again he elected to make a half-time change, but as Ben Chilwell was taking his position on the pitch, and the referee’s whistle still ringing around the enclosed stadium, Chiesa slipped in and gave Juve the lead 10 seconds after the restart.

The German then seemed to let his reputation get the better of him, as he made three more changes in search of that leveller, but it left Chelsea looking even more disjointed and, uncharacteristically, lacking a obvious plan.

The possession remained, but the lack of threat was all too prevalent as well. Even Ross Barkley entered the fray as Tuchel got desperate, but other than Lukaku’s late spin and shot over the bar Chelsea looked more like the side who last came to Turin under Roberto Di Matteo and lost in 2012 – a performance that cost the Italian his job.

For the second time in as many games, Tuchel had perhaps been outthought by a more experienced adversary. Juve seemed set to deploy Moise Kean as the lone striker in the absence of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala – the Juve coach even said so himself pre-match – but the inclusion of Bernardeschi as that False 9 threw Chelsea for six.

If the tactical masterclass administered by Pep Guardiola at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was an outlier, then the effect of Allegri’s system shift should at least put a dent in the superiority complex Tuchel has inadvertently created since arriving in England.

Allegri, like Guardiola, still needed his match-winner, however, and Chiesa, as he showed for Italy at Euro 2020, is just that man for the big occasion.

His dynamism alone was the reason Juve could turn Allegri’s well thought-out plan into a victory nobody saw coming, and ensured the doors to the Chelsea vault could well swing open again soon enough.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ijTaUV

OLD TRAFFORD — After Lionel Messi’s sublime finish against Manchester City at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night, some wondered how Cristiano Ronaldo might respond. There was an early header over the bar where you marvelled at the spring in those 36-year-old legs but, generally, he was a spectator.

Then, at the death, his supreme ability to see a chance fractionally before anyone else, a talent he had first shown at Old Trafford nearly two decades ago, rode to Manchester United’s rescue. As the watching Usain Bolt proved time and again over 100 metres, it is not how you start, it is how you finish.

As the anonymous star of a team that had been outplayed for much of the night, Cristiano Ronaldo waited until the last possible moment before making his mark. When Jesse Lingard laid the ball off in the Villarreal area, Ronaldo pounced and drove his shot into the net beneath the Stretford End off the bottom of Geronimo Rulli’s gloves. Then he threw off his shirt and drank in the applause as if it had all been pre-planned. The whistle went and Ronaldo, celebrating a record 178th Champions League appearance, marched off with the headlines.

Having been thoroughly outplayed for the first 45 minutes and having fallen behind to a team they had not beaten in five previous attempts, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s beleaguered regime would have settled for a point, which would still have seen them bottom of Group F.

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Man Utd player ratings vs Villarreal: Ronaldo to the rescue, De Gea pivotal, Dalot has ‘nightmare’

Instead, they drew level through two other Portuguese speakers, a free-kick from Bruno Fernandes that was met on the volley by Alex Telles with the kind of aplomb that only Brazilian full-backs tend to manage. Telles slid on his knees towards the Stretford End in the way Solskjaer sometimes did.

If any team can claim to be a bogey side to Manchester United it is the one from a town in eastern Spain with the population of Clacton. This was the sixth time the biggest brand in world football had faced Villarreal and the sum total of their previous efforts had been four goalless draws and a defeat on penalties in the Europa League final in Gdansk.

After three defeats in four matches, Solskjaer and Manchester United needed not just a win but one delivered with style.

They had two World Cup winners, the man whom Sir Alex Ferguson rates above Messi as the greatest footballer of his generation. In Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood they had two of the brightest young talents in the English game. They went into the dressing room at the interval lucky not to be three down.

Even before kick-off, the weaknesses were obvious. Solskjaer was without three of his regular back-four. Unai Emery would not have required much analysis to have targeted the two full-backs, Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot, men who you suspect would not be at Old Trafford had not the pandemic squeezed all the money out of European football.

Telles scored his first goal for Manchester United and looked a sight more effective than Sancho going forward down the left. Dalot, signed by Jose Mourinho, gave another indication that at this level he is horribly out of his depth.

His tormentor-in-chief was Arnaut Danjuma, who was born in Nigeria, learnt his football in Holland and had come to Villarreal from Bournemouth. When he was growing up in Eindhoven, Danjuma dreamed of being Cristiano Ronaldo and to Dalot he would have appeared every bit as terrifying as the great Portuguese in his pomp.

Usain Bolt, Sir Alex Ferguson, and snooker legend Dennis Taylor buzzing after that Man Utd win ????#UCL pic.twitter.com/QwmIwEbliX

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 29, 2021

Peak Ronaldo would, however, have scored. That he did not was due in part to the brilliance of David de Gea, whose missed penalty in the mesmeric shoot-out had cost United the Europa League.

A few short months later, De Gea exorcised some of the ghosts of Gdansk, not least with a double save from Boulaye Dia just when Villarreal appeared to have settled for the draw.

Much earlier there had been an instinctive tip over the bar from Paco Alcacer’s near-post header, a block with his forearm from Danjuma that saw the Spaniard round on a defence that was betraying him all too frequently.

They even included Raphael Varane, whose stumble allowed Alcacer clear on goal. The shot went wide and when a cleverly-worked free-kick was driven into the Stretford End by Alberto Moreno, who just before half-time, almost steered the ball past his own goalkeeper, you imagined Villarreal might pay for all this wastage.

They did not pay. They went ahead. Once more the contest between Danjuma and Dalot was a foregone conclusion. Danjuma muscled his way past to deliver a low cross that Alcacer, a centre-forward who had the misfortune to be at Barcelona at the same time as Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez clipped home what seemed at the time would be a pivotal goal. That goal was yet to come.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ijT9QR

Cristiano Ronaldo’s late winner earned Manchester United a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as a resilient Villarreal side were denied a deserved Champions League point.

Prior to the Europa League final which Villarreal won on penalties, four Champions League meetings produced exactly zero goals, with goalless draws seeing the two sides share the points in the group stages in both 2005 and 2008.

On this occasion, David de Gea was the reason why the deadlock was not broken in the first half at Old Trafford, but Villarreal eventually took the lead in the 53^rd minute through Paco Alcacer.

The goal woke United up, with Alex Telles’ superb volley finding the far corner before Ronaldo netted a late, late winner in the 95th minute.

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Here we pick out five United performances on a night where they were largely outplayed, but came away with all three points…

David de Gea – 9

After an early tester from Arnaut Danjuma, De Gea was forced to deny Villarreal’s No 15 for a second time when diving low to his left to make a stunning stop.

De Gea made another two superb saves before half-time, keeping out Paco Alcacer’s header and denying Yeremi Pino from close range.

Eight minutes into the second half, De Gea was beaten, but he was not to blame as Alcacer prodded home from Danjuma’s cross.

Bruno Fernandes – 7

Fernandes flashed an early shot over with United in the ascendancy, but the opportunities dried up in the first half as the hosts failed to attack with any cohesion.

A sloppy misplaced pass which had Victor Lindelof running back somewhat summed up Fernandes’ opening 45 minutes.

When United trailed, Fernandes produced their first chance to equalise, but from distance his shot sailed wide.

Moments later, Fernandes teed up Telles for the leveller, lofting a free-kick from out wide towards the edge of the area and allowing the United left-back to do the rest.

What a time to score your first Man Utd goal!

Alex Telles with a clean strike on the volley ????#UCL pic.twitter.com/HI6ouM0NYi

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 29, 2021

Diogo Dalot – 4

“He’s had a bit of a nightmare,” Michael Owen said at half-time on BT Sport, with Dalot facing wave after wave of Villarreal attacks as the visitors turned to Danjuma to create their opportunities.

Owen Hargreaves added: “He’s got the better of Dalot. Danjuma is the biggest threat and always looks like he’s going to make something happen.”

Indeed, Danjuma gave Dalot a torrid time, and little changed after the break as the Villarreal winger got an assist when losing his opponent and picking out Alcacer.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 7

In what was a record 178^th Champions League appearance, this was a largely ineffective display from the 36-year-old… until the 95th minute.

On the verge of drawing a blank the night after Lionel Messi’s moment of magic, Ronaldo popped up with the vital contribution to make it five goals in five games.

CRISTIANO RONALDO WINS IT LATE FOR MAN UTD!

Listen to that Old Trafford roar ????

Big players deliver in big moments.#UCL pic.twitter.com/7rcbEJzUQt

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 29, 2021

Earlier, Ronaldo had failed to pick out Sancho early on before a pointless pirouette resulted in Villarreal winning back possession. He then headed over his best opportunity of the half.

Inevitably the cameras fell on him after Villarreal’s goal, and he was seen trying to rally his team-mates after the visitors deservedly took the lead.

Ronaldo watched on as Telles equalised, and it was looking to be a quiet night for the Portugal forward, whose presence is seemingly giving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as many problems as it is solutions.

However, after switching to the left when Edinson Cavani was subbed on with 15 minutes to go, he of course surfaced on the right and was perfectly placed to squeeze in the winner in stoppage time.

Raphael Varane – 5

After a vital interception, Varane almost gifted Villarreal the opening goal, but somehow Alcacer flashed a shot wide when bearing down on goal.

It proved to be a busy half for Varane and Victor Lindelof at the back, and Harry Maguire’s absence was keenly felt with the pair not quite on the save wavelength at times.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3une5LR

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Sheriff Tiraspol, conquerors of Real Madrid and, since Tuesday night’s stunning 2-1 win at the Bernabeu, the worst-kept secret in European football, are a team from nowhere.

It isn’t just that the place where they play their home games – the diplomatically unrecognised proto-state Transnistria – isn’t named on maps or represented internationally. What makes this place otherworldly is that it lies inside a kind of legal wormhole, a microclimate where all the normal conventions of doing business seemingly can’t penetrate.

Until now, the impact of this zone of unregulated economic activity had been mostly felt only locally. Yet Sheriff’s victory against Real has finally brought one of the products of this “nightmarish Disneyland” – in the words of one OSCE diplomat – to the world’s attention. Because in Transnistria, all roads lead back to Sheriff.

In Moldova proper, Transnistria’s estrangement seems not to bother ordinary people, nor is there any stirring, nationalistic rhetoric echoing from the corridors of power about reclaiming this rebellious sliver from the separatists. Critics say this is because powerbrokers in the Moldovan capital Chisinau benefit just as much from frontier law in the ‘republic’ as those in Tiraspol. Whatever the truth, Transnistria makes its own laws, when it bothers to make them at all. At the back of it all, Sheriff’s hand guides the process along.

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Who are Sheriff Tiraspol? How a team from Moldova’s breakaway state of Transnistria shocked Real Madrid

It began in 1990 in the last days of the Soviet Union. The authorities in the Russian-speaking region near Moldova’s eastern border, fearing the unification of an independent Moldova with Romania, proclaimed Transnistria’s intention to remain part of the USSR as a lone republic. When the Union fell the following year, Transnistria took up arms to fight off a disorganised and poorly planned campaign from Chisinau to reunite Moldova, and the rebels in Tiraspol put down the roots of their unrecognised, de facto state.

The Sheriff company was born in 1993. Its directors were oligarchs in the definitive sense – ‘entrepreneurs’ in newly capitalist eastern Europe who grew rich by exploiting political connections. In Sheriff’s case, a deal was struck between the government of Transnistria’s first president, Igor Smirnov, and the nascent company allowing them to bring food produce for general sale into the republic customs-free.

Sheriff supermarkets bearing the company’s unmistakable five-point star soon sprang up across the region. In a stroke, the organisation had transformed itself from a smuggling ring operating across Transnistria’s unregulated border with Ukraine – the Black Sea, a traders’ gateway to legal and illicit riches alike, lies only a few kilometers to the south – into a credible business, its success virtually ring-fenced by government patronage.

“Because of the historical trade relationship between Chisinau and Odessa [the Black Sea port], Sheriff have been able to accumulate huge resources of contraband,” says former Moldovan sports minister, Octavian Ticu. “Sheriff have made an economic empire this way. They have made a monopoly of provisions.”

Then, in 1996, the football club was founded. But domestic success – 20 Moldovan league titles and counting – was never the overall goal; qualification for the Champions League was always the pot at the end of the rainbow for Sheriff’s president, the former KGB agent Viktor Gushan.

To achieve it, Sheriff scoured the globe for unrecognised talent, embarking on one of the most diverse recruitment drives anywhere in the world. Players from Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Curacao, Trinidad and Malawi have joined signings from more obvious destinations like Argentina and Brazil in a revolving door of new arrivals and departures.

“Don’t confuse the football team with the corporation,” says Peter Lulenov, a member of Transnistria’s football federation. “They are not the same. But everything is connected. Football and economic trade move in parallel and in the same direction.”

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In the summer, Sheriff launched their most audacious overhaul yet, signing virtually an entire new first team and adding Luxembourg, Niger, the Ivory Coast, Mali and Peru to the list of nationalities represented. The cost of this recruitment drive, like everything else to do with the way the club is financed, is known only to those on the inside – transfer fees are never disclosed, and Sheriff treat even everyday business with secrecy. The club is virtually closed to access from the press.

The irony of Sheriff is that, despite the financial indulgence that has gone into constructing the project, their home town is a living museum of the USSR, a solemnly Soviet time warp where the hammer and sickle flies from government buildings and crumbling, grey apartments line cracked and broken roads. An almost obsessive nostalgia for Communist iconography remains, in the middle of which Sheriff, a team from nowhere, have quietly spent their way to the summit of European football.

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Fantasy Premier League managers will have been cursing their misfortune over the past few days as a number of popular Premier League stars have succumbed to injuries.

When things start to unravel on FPL they usually do so in pretty spectacular fashion and that has certainly been the case ahead of Gameweek 7 with managers now having to shelve their best-laid transfer plans for the time being in order to react to an ever-growing injury list.

This past week hasn’t been kind to Gareth Southgate either as the England boss faces the prospect of being without a few key members of his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary next week. Judging by England’s recent performances against those two nations, though, an under-strength squad should have more than enough to collect six points.

This weekend’s round of Premier League matches are the last before the next international break and just like last time, it looks as though quarantine red tape could wreak havoc once more with a number of countries still stuck on the UK government’s red list for travel.

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At the time of writing, the three most sold defenders ahead of this week’s FPL transfer deadline are all England international full backs. It’s a good job Southgate has a plentiful supply of options in that particular area of the pitch.

Luke Shaw (£5.5m) is just about clinging onto his status as the most selected defender in the game, despite being sold by just shy of half a million managers since Gameweek 6. Those who have dispensed of Shaw’s services may have been premature, however, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer issued a promising update on his condition after he limped off against Aston Villa.

“Luke, we might give a chance to but he didn’t train this morning. So maybe the best-case scenario is he will join us on the bench,” Solskjaer said before Manchester United’s Champions League tie against Villarreal.

Next on the list of discarded defenders is Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) who is the second most popular player in his position. Unlike Shaw, Alexander-Arnold looks certain to miss Liverpool’s Gameweek 7 match against Manchester City, after Jurgen Klopp admitted that the groin injury he sustained during training was more serious than initially thought.

Reece James (£5.6m) completes the triumvirate of luckless England full backs after he suffered an ankle injury during Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City last Saturday. James initially played on before hobbling off. “On Reece’s injury, it’s still very painful,” Thomas Tuchel acknowledged. “It will come down to pain management, how much he can accept, but right now we are looking at a minimum of one more week.”

Southgate also has issues in the centre of defence too, with Harry Maguire (£5.4m) ruled out of England’s upcoming matches. “Harry is, more or less, definitely out [against Villarreal] and it doesn’t look good,” Solskjaer said. “It’s Harry’s calf and it might take a few weeks.”

Another member of Southgate’s Euro 2020 finalists who may be unavailable for selection is Mason Mount (£7.4m) who missed Chelsea’s loss to City and was subsequently ruled out of the midweek meeting with Juventus. Tuchel said that the playmaker’s injury is “minor” but has not specified when he could return.

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Patrick Bamford (£7.8m) earned a senior debut during the last round of international matches but he too could be ruled out due to an ankle issue. Raphinha (£6.5m) is also currently flagged on FPL after being taken off early in each of Leeds’ previous two games with a hip problem. Marcelo Bielsa will issue an update on the pair on Thursday before Saturday’s game against Watford.

N’Golo Kante (£4.9m) may not be a desirable FPL asset himself – albeit he did score against Spurs in Gameweek 5 – but his presence in midfield most certainly helps Chelsea’s defenders and forwards amass points. The Frenchman has tested positive for Covid-19 and will have to isolate for 10 days, ruling him out of this weekend’s clash with Southampton.

Ilkay Gundogan (£7.2m) will miss City’s trip to Liverpool after Pep Guardiola confirmed that he will return from a knock after the international break. Arsenal will also be without an influential midfielder as Granit Xhaka (£4.9m) will be sidelined for three months after suffering knee ligament damage in the north London derby.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3updU2t