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VILLA PARK — West Ham United produced a performance worthy of top-four billing as they climbed back into the Champions League places.

You could argue the 50th-minute sending-off of Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa was a factor, but Ben Johnson’s seventh-minute goal set the tone for a dominant display and deserved victory by David Moyes’s side.

Declan Rice put West Ham back in front with 38 minutes on the clock after Ollie Watkins equalised four minutes earlier.

Villa looked a better prospect with 10 men and Watkins headed against the bar.

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But Pablo Fornals’s goal 10 minutes from time – after he had only been booked for a late foul on Marvelous Nakamba – ended any hopes of a comeback by Villa.

Jarrod Bowen added a fourth to make it five wins in a row in all competitions for the Hammers, while Villa have suffered four defeats in a row and conceded 12 goals in those games.

With Tyrone Mings dropped by Villa manager Dean Smith after some indifferent form, West Ham took control from the first whistle.

They took the lead when Johnson beat Matt Targett and curled a low, left-footed shot into the far bottom corner of the net.

Villa lost Jarod Ramsey to injury in the 15th minute and West Ham continued to pose problems.

Twice Matty Cash came to Villa’s rescue, blocking two efforts from Bowen.

Villa failed to produce a threat until the 33rd minute, when the lively Cash screwed a rising, angled drive over the bar.

But they equalised in their next attack.

John McGinn sent Emiliano Buendía scampering down the right and the £33 million club record signing held off a defender to cross low to Watkins, who crashed home from 12 yards.

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West Ham regained the lead when they again exploited a lack of pressure on the ball as Said Benrahma was allowed to drift in from the left before squaring to Rice.

The England midfielder unleashed a low, 30-yard drive that bounced twice before nestling in the bottom corner. Martinez appeared slow to go down.

The game turned further in West Ham’s favour five minutes after half-time.

Ezri Konsa was sent off after a VAR check when he pulled back Bowen in the box after initially being booked, after Kortney Hause was booked for arguably a harsher challenge for a body check on Pablo Fornals.

Mings belatedly appeared in the 52nd minute as Smith reluctantly withdrew Buendia, who looked furious as he departed down the tunnel.

Watkins headed against the bar from McGinn’s cross and Cash fired wide as Villa sought an elusive equaliser.

In between, a dangerous, low curling free kick from Rice was tipped around the post by Martinez.

The game boiled over in the 79th minute.

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Fornals was booked for catching Marvellous Nakamba with a late tackle when it looked like he might have got sent off.

Bowen pushed over McGinn in the melee to also earn a yellow card.

Within a minute, Fornals made it 3-1 to rub salt into Villa’s wounds.

The Spaniard tapped home after Martinez could only palm away Bowen’s shot on the run.

Four minutes later, Bowen finished after Manuel Lanzini squared when Michail Antonio spun Hause far too easily and sprayed the ball into the danger area.

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CARROW ROAD — When Anthony Taylor’s whistle confirmed victory for Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa paused for a moment of reflection at pitchside.

Crouched on his haunches and with his head bowed, the Argentinian appeared temporarily lost in the moment before Norwich counterpart Daniel Farke walked over and shook his hand. 

It was classic Bielsa.

“The games always generate a lot of tension,” the 66-year-old said when asked to sum up his emotions.

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“When it finishes it’s a moment to relax. The performance was a deserved victory, but it was not an easy game for us.”

Certainly it was difficult to put a price on this result for Bielsa’s side.

They started the day in the bottom three having struggled badly to rediscover their sparkle of last season when they finished ninth – their highest position for 19 years.

This match was billed as a relegation scrap, which was only a slight exaggeration.

Bielsa’s side had won just once in nine games amid growing fears they could be dragged into a serious fight for survival.

If Leeds could not see off a doomed Norwich side with a pitiful two points to their name, could they really consider themselves ready to start climbing away from danger?

It needed a goalkeeping error to earn Leeds victory as Tim Krul allowed Rodrigo’s hopeful 25-yard strike to squirm into the net on the hour mark.

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It was the game’s third goal in five minutes after the supremely-talented Raphinha opened the scoring with a delightful individual effort before Andrew Omobamidele equalised moments later.

Leeds and their raucous travelling army headed back to Yorkshire with three points but this was not the freeflowing football which carried the team to such heights last season.

For large periods of the game, passes were undercooked or overhit and crosses simply misplaced.

With Patrick Bamford (17 Premier League goals last season) currently absent through injury, Leeds are struggling for a serious goal threat.

Winger Jack Harrison has failed to recapture the form which marked him out as one of Bielsa’s best performers last term.

Rodrigo, a club-record £27million signing, has yet to justify his price tag, even if his goal here proved the difference.

Even England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, a player who has come to symbolise everything good about Leeds’ Bielsa-inspired renaissance, was some way below his formidable best against the Canaries.

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Injuries have played a major part in Leeds’ early-season inconsistencies, of course.

Bielsa fielded a back three at Carrow Road with captain Liam Cooper alongside Diego Llorente and Pascal Struijk.

But aside from Raphinha’s touches of class on the right flank, Leeds failed to sparkle during a first half which lacked genuine quality from both teams.

Dan James, who began out wide before being moved into a more central role, went close when he rounded Krul before his shot was cleared off the line by Grant Hanley.

There was precious little to inspire in the opening 45 minutes, although Raphinha always threatened to make his class pay and so it proved in the 56th minute.

Collecting possession from James’ fine pass, the Brazil winger showed brilliant skill to outfox three Norwich defenders and drill a low shot past Krul.

Leeds were still celebrating when 19-year-old defender Omobamidele headed home from a corner needlessly conceded by Illan Meslier.

It summed up the uncertainty within Leeds’ game, but Rodrigo soon settled the match on the hour when his low piledriver flew past Krul, who should have done better.

For Norwich this latest defeat was another knife in the side of a team who showed far greater desire than in their 7-0 hammering at Chelsea but who, ultimately, still moved another step closer to relegation.

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THE ACADEMY STADIUM — They were not at their best, but Emma Hayes’ Chelsea thoroughly demonstrated why they deserved a spot in the FA Cup final when they comfortably beat current holders Manchester City 3-0 on Saturday.

The London club put in the epitome of a professional performance, taking advantage of the opportunities they were handed by the hosts and digging deep to then hold onto that lead for the rest of the match.

“I thought it was very professional,” Hayes said. “I thought our mentality was fantastic from the off, I thought the way we pressed, the way we counter-pressed had real intent.

“I thought we had the desire to come here and put in the performance that was needed after a big international camp.”

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The game was not pretty, yet Chelsea emerged from the game with a clean sheet and a ticket to the Wembley final. Aniek Nouwen, the Dutch defender who joined this summer, was particularly impressive in the way that she played in the centre of defence. Jess Carter too was another positive, shutting Lauren Hemp out of the match.

For Manchester City, this was yet another lesson in their shortcomings in all areas of the pitch. Between the sticks, Karima Taieb showed why she is the club’s third-choice goalkeeper, a player lacking match sharpness who has clearly not been used to the pressures of top games since she has been given the chance to be the number one.

Ellie Roebuck and Karen Bardsley’s absences are perhaps the worst of those which the blues have faced during their injury crisis. In other positions Gareth Taylor has been able to make things work, but not in goal.

For both of the game’s first-half goals, Taieb should have done better. The first was a powerful half-volley from Erin Cuthbert, but it flew straight at her and the Frenchwoman should have stopped it. Shortly after she failed to move quickly enough and could not stretch to meet Melanie Leupolz’ shot and pull off what should have been a comfortable save.

“You’d expect them to be saved, but it’s easy from the sidelines,” said head coach Gareth Taylor. “You don’t know if it’s come through legs. I was more concerned with the first one that we switched off, which you can’t do against Chelsea.

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Elsewhere, City seemed to be devoid of a game plan which would have allowed them to exploit Chelsea. Despite a front three of Ellen White, Lauren Hemp and Bunny Shaw which on paper should pose a serious threat, they rarely did anything of the sort.

Taylor’s methodology seems to be one in which individual players are relied on to produce moments of brilliance to score goals rather than one in which the world-class talent work together as a coherent unit.

Out of the Champions League, last season’s FA cup and 11 points adrift of the top spot, tactical shortcomings will need to be improved on. If Sunday’s game proved anything, it was that City were not good enough to compete with even a subpar Chelsea side.

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It took 17 games for the tide to turn against Nuno Espirito Santo. Never have the rumblings of discontent against the new Spurs boss been as audible as they were in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, but this was the culmination of a growing crescendo of anger from the club’s supporters.

As the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium berated him with chants of “we want Nuno out”, his only relief came in the fact that his name was sometimes interchanged with “Levy”.

In the short term, Nuno will bear the brunt of decisions made higher up the chain and long after he is gone – whenever that will be – questions will remain about the selection process that has seen four managers in the hot seat in less than two years (if you include Ryan Mason, who took temporary charge towards the end of last season).

There are factors which he has not been able to control, such as the temporary demise of Harry Kane; a Golden Boot and Playmaker Award winner under Jose Mourinho, he has one Premier League goal since his failed attempt to join Manchester City.

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Nor can Nuno help that he is presiding over a dressing room well aware that he was behind Gennaro Gattuso and Paulo Fonseca on Spurs’ wish list. A deflated Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg ended his post-match interview on Sky Sports with “I’d better not say too much” as he reflected on his side’s apparent lack of motivation.

His manager, meanwhile, would not accept that his message was not getting through to the players. “You can have the right message, the right idea and things don’t go [well],” he said. “It’s not because of the message or understanding of the message. It’s the game of football.”

Spurs ended Saturday’s debacle without a shot on target – a continuance of their record in the second half of the 1-0 defeat to West Ham. The numbers are not flattering and are certainly not a reflection of the “DNA” which Levy promised to bring back with his summer appointment.

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Nuno’s side are averaging fewer goals per game and fewer attempts per game than under Jose Mourinho, but conceding more goals.

Mourinho was fortunate, to some extent, that his reign unravelled behind closed doors and so he was spared the in-person venom directed at his successor.

In light of the Portuguese’s departure, few expected that Levy would turn to the similarly conservative approach adopted at Molineux in recent seasons. Those who hailed Wolves’ European push after winning promotion were largely impressed by the results, not the manner in which they were obtained.

Tottenham’s managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, promised “we’re going to be attacking”, but Spurs are not even averaging a goal a game.

Nuno’s tenure is still in its infancy but he has already overseen three 3-0 losses (and narrowly avoided another in the north London derby at the Emirates).

It all began with such optimism with an opening day victory over champions Manchester City and at the start of September, Tottenham were top of the league. By the end of October, their manager was on the brink.

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West Ham will host holders Manchester City in the Carabao Cup fourth round in one of five all-Premier League ties.

City have dominated the Carabao Cup in recent years, winning each of the last four finals and can move ahead of Liverpool as the most successful club in the competition’s history on nine wins if they claim the trophy again this season.

West Ham are sure to provide a tougher test against Pep Guardiola’s side than their third round opponents Wycombe Wanderers. The Hammers beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford, just three days on from losing against them in the Premier League.

Chelsea’s reward for edging past Aston Villa on penalties is a home tie with Southampton, while Spurs will travel to Turf Moor to play Burnley after their victory against Wolves by the same method. Arsenal will host Leeds at the Emirates, while Leicester entertain Brighton at the King Power.

Carabao Cup 4th round fixtures – in full

All kick-off times 7.45pm

Tuesday 26 October:

• Chelsea 1-1 Southampton (4-3 on pens)
• Arsenal 2-0 Leeds
• QPR 0-0 Sunderland (1-3 on pens)

Wednesday 27 October:

• Stoke 1-2 Brentford
• West Ham 0-0 Man City (5-3 on pens)
• Leicester 2-2 Brighton (4-2 on pens)
• Burnley 0-1 Tottenham
• Preston 0-2 Liverpool

Of the remaining 16 teams in the competition, only four are competing outside of the Premier League with three of them based in the Championship.

Stoke and Preston will both host top-flight clubs in Brentford and Liverpool respectively, while QPR are at home against League One Sunderland, who beat their title challengers Wigan Athletic in the previous round.

The fourth round fixtures will be played on the week commencing Monday 25 October and televised games will be announced by the competition’s broadcaster Sky Sports in due course.

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By Ian Whittell at Old Trafford

David Moyes finally put one over on his old employers at Old Trafford and, with that, destroyed another route for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win his first trophy as Manchester United manager.

The West Ham manager had never won as a visiting boss at Old Trafford and not won against his old employers anywhere, in eight attempts, since leaving United following his brief, unhappy spell there.

But in front of 72,468, the biggest Carabao Cup crowd in five years, this was a good time to end that run.

United have reached the semi-finals of this competition three times in the last five years, the last two under Solskjaer, and the cup represents their last domestic trophy, won under Jose Mourinho, in 2017.

The two sides combined for 21 changes from their league meeting the previous Sunday – West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen the only survivor – but the football served up was every bit as entertaining as in that 2-1 United victory. It was the visitors who struck first, deservedly so, after they opened in fiery fashion, with United left-back Alex Telles particularly unsettled by their aggressive approach.

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It took only eight minutes before Ryan Fredericks tortured Telles one more time, reaching the byline and pulling back for Manuel Lanzini to convert coolly from 12 yards.

Fredericks was injured in the process, tumbling down the steep camber that surrounds the pitch, and United were soon adding to West Ham’s concerns.

Juan Mata thundered a brilliant volley against the crossbar and Jadon Sancho saw a dangerous shot deflected wide as he cut in from the left.

Nemanja Matic cleverly set up Anthony Martial, although the Frenchman could only roll his shot beyond the far post, indicative of form that has brought him just two goals in his last 23 league and cup games for United.

The game had settled into a rhythm that continued after the restart when Mata’s chip into the area was met by Sancho, who volleyed wide at the first attempt. Right-back Diogo Dalot also threatened, shooting just wide after a Donny van de Beek effort was blocked. By the hour, Solskjaer had seen enough and thrown Mason Greenwood into the fray.

It was almost an inspired move, Van de Beek playing through the youngster whose first touch was a volley that Areola did well to keep out with his legs.

United were certainly in the ascendancy and the introduction of Bruno Fernandes added to that impression, with the Portuguese soon pulling a shot just wide of the goal and the crowd responding accordingly.

But West Ham began to increasingly exploit space on the break and Andriy Yarmolenko wasted a glorious chance to wrap up the tie, rounding the keeper but hitting the post after 86 minutes.

Mark Noble and Bowen were also denied by Dean Henderson in the frantic finale. But Moyes was not.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2Zqhqyj

In the short history of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it is hard to recall as toxic an atmosphere as the one which soured the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday. None of it was directed at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Nuno cannot possibly survive this. Spurs were not only jeered off at half-time, full-time, but at various intervals in between – and as Lucas Moura’s number came up in lights and one of the last remaining hopes of actually mustering a shot on target was removed from the pitch, it felt like the turning point. “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang out from the South Stand, made up almost entirely of season-ticket holders. “We want Nuno out” sounded from pockets elsewhere throughout the second half.

Solskjaer can hardly have believed his luck when he checked the fixture list after his own lowest ebb against Liverpool a week ago. It was the customary skin-saving performance from Cristiano Ronaldo, but this time there was a twist. The 36-year-old’s opening moment of magic, a first-time volley to the far corner of Hugo Lloris’ goal, was not just a dash of individual brilliance, but the product of a fundamental change in system.

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As he has done so often when his job has been on the line, the United boss opted for three at the back. In a game he simply couldn’t afford to lose, it was no coincidence the visitors began with seven defensive players on the pitch and the oldest starting XI Solskjaer has ever picked during his time in charge. With a front two of Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani – combined age, 70 – it would fall to Bruno Fernandes to conjure creativity. It worked, too. The playmaker’s chipped ball over the Spurs back line left Ben Davies floundering and Ronaldo did the rest. The Portuguese duo then combined again in the run-up to Cavani’s goal.

If this is to be United’s formation going forward, and it is one with which they have only ever lost four times under Solskjaer, it leaves two big questions. Where was this discipline not just against Liverpool, but on countless other occasions when they displayed the deep structural problems that will not be fixed with one emphatic win over the most lifeless and passive iteration of post-Pochettino Tottenham Hotspur yet. Those glaring defensive issues, not remotely exploited by Harry Kane – booed, incidentally, by his once faithful supporters on his 350th club appearance – will come up again soon.

The second conundrum concerns the wide men – Jadon Sancho did not get on the pitch, Marcus Rashford did and showed he’d been watching Cavani as he pulled a similar trick on Eric Dier and Emerson Royal to break in between the lines for the third goal.

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How to utilise Sancho, Rashford and even Mason Greenwood are problems Solskjaer can weigh up another day. For now, his job is safe and in this unfortunately dubbed “El Sackicko”, it was his opposite number who was left fielding questions about his future.

Nuno filled nobody with confidence when asked if he believes he’ll be given time to get it right. “I’m only thinking about the next training session,” he sighed, with the air of a man who was at best, Daniel Levy’s fifth choice for the job. “The booing and disappointment of the fans is understandable… In a humble way, I ask our fans to keep supporting us so we can change.” Both these managers have been accused of tactical ineptitude but Nuno does not have the luxury of changing things around. Kane is still Spurs’ only senior striker and the decision to ditch Sergio Reguilon – one of their only players inclined to carry the ball forward – backfired spectacularly.

Even if it’s accepted that United fans’ adoration of Solskjaer is steeped in misguided if forgivable nostalgia, as the flares fizzed and the manager’s name rang out from the away end it was at least a reminder that watching football is supposed to be fun. Yet long after the final whistle had gone, there were a handful of home supporters still remonstrating with stewards about their villainous chairman.

Raphael Varane’s return alongside Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire will be crucial if United are to solidify the defence going forward. The Frenchman largely kept Spurs at bay, though there was a moment of alarm when Son Heung-min broke through for the hosts’ first big chance – given David de Gea’s record at the near post, had he kept his shot down he would surely have had a chance of breaking the deadlock. But for the first time in eight years, since Andre Villas-Boas oversaw a 5-0 defeat to Liverpool just before his Christmas sacking, Spurs failed to hit the target with a single attempt.

That is where the fury directed at Nuno stems from and from which he will find it almost impossible to bounce back. Apathy has been the defining characteristic at Spurs since the early evening of 19 November 2019, when “Mauricio leaves club” was plastered across the club’s communication channels. At least the 60,000+ inside the ground were finally able to feel something.

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Forget everything you assumed on the walk to the ground. Leave those predictions of a fizzing home crowd, of Leicester City outfighting Arsenal, of Mikel Arteta’s team lethargically succumbing to high-intensity pressure, at the turnstile.

In fact, do more than that: turn them on their head. Arsenal and Leicester began the Premier League weekend with identical records, but Saturday’s encounter was no contest. 

More than that, Arsenal’s 2-0 win felt like a breakout day for Arteta’s new team. If we can reasonably judge the mood of a club by their away support, those hardy hundreds who trawl the country in search of requited love, Arteta has a mandate.

These fans have experienced enough grim days on which even mediocrity appeared out of their grasp. At the King Power, they lauded the young players, chanted for their captain and hailed Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu as cult heroes.

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It was a starting XI built in Arteta’s vision. Not only because it contained five new signings, or because half of the outfielders were aged 22 or under, or because it found room for both of their senior strikers, but because it was the same as the one that faced Aston Villa the previous weekend.

For so long at Arsenal, we have witnessed an auditioning process that takes place in front of a live audience. There will still be changes – Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard are all at least on the edge of the first-team – but consistency is to be craved.

Some spots shine brighter than others. Behind Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arteta has offset age and experience with two of the brightest attacking talents in the country.

Bukayo Saka drove from deep with the ball, scaring Luke Thomas who was forced to stand off Saka and soon learnt that only provided temporary relief. On the left wing, Emile Smith Rowe prefers to pass his way through, interchanging possession with whichever of the two forwards has taken their turn to drop deepest. 

The effervescent excellence of Saka and Smith Rowe is well-documented; the latter in particular is unfortunate that Gareth Southgate has a plethora of options of a similar type.

But at the King Power, Arsenal’s other prodigies stood just as tall. Nuno Tavares starts at left back but can be found anywhere inside the opposition half when Arsenal are counter-attacking at pace. Albert Sambi Lokonga marries ball-winning with ball-playing. Tomiyasu is unusual as a modern full-back in that he appears to prefer blocking crosses to providing them. Ramsdale has seized his opportunity (literally) with both hands.

When watching a team swarm over another of a supposedly similar quality, it’s hard to know whether to acclaim one or kick the other. The answer, as with virtually every subjective assessment, lies somewhere in between.

But Leicester were certainly strangely lethargic, sluggish as if surprised by an early kick-off time. The home support groaned and booed and eventually settled on the instruction to “get into them, f**k them up”. Brendan Rodgers probably offered similar advice at half-time, changing the shape and sending his team out early.

Leicester’s defensive issues this season are hardly a state secret. They have been vaguely wretched at defending set pieces ever since opposition managers realised that a late near-post run and flicked header was enough to outfox a fox.

Those problems are exacerbated by the gradual decline of Caglar Soyuncu from Leicester’s Harry Maguire replacement to an effective mimic of, well… Harry Maguire against Liverpool.

Individual deficiencies make supporters wince, but Leicester’s attacking strategy provided the greater cause for frustration. Defenders and midfielders preferred safe passes and usually looked sideways or backwards for their next option.

James Maddison was the conductor in his No.10 position behind two strikers, but more than once slowed down a move rather than quickened it up. Leicester players took four or five touches when two might have done. On the back foot with less than 20 minutes played, it required urgency to counteract emergency. Instead we got a meekness that equated to acquiescence. 

This is all detailed not to pour scorn on Leicester, but because these are all the stereotypes of Arsenal when they fail: lethargic starts during which they look surprised by an opposition’s intensity, conceding soft goals, enjoying long spells of possession that come with too little penetration; those were commandments carved in stone during the late Arsene Wenger years.

At Arsenal, every defeat is destined to become a crisis, every victory a vision of new hope. Mikel Arteta is the personification of that dichotomous existence, to the extent that it’s hard to work out if he is in control of Arsenal or Arsenal is in control of him. 

Right place, right time.

Emile Smith Rowe doubles the Gunners' lead ????

2-0 up inside 20 minutes. Arsenal are on fire here! ???????? pic.twitter.com/JYvMOCGyu1

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 30, 2021

But slowly, slowly and who knows if surely, we are at least being offered a blueprint, the raw ingredients from which Arteta will hope to eradicate those interminable lurches in mood in favour of something a little less combustible.

More than anything, it’s something tangible to believe in after several years of vague half-promises and half-baked solutions.

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Edinson Cavani’s work rate in training was what finally convinced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to start the Uruguayan alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in Manchester United’s 3-0 win at Tottenham on Saturday.

Solskjaer had previously refrained from sticking both veteran forwards up front together during a patchy start to the season.

Things came to a head last weekend when United suffered their crushing 5-0 loss to Liverpool – a game that almost cost Solskjaer his job and also triggered an epiphany in him.

Heading into the clash at Tottenham Stadium Solskjaer justified his team selection as bringing “experience” back into the mix.

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And his move certainly paid off with Cavani running the show in north London.

“I’ve been here three years as manager and Tuesday’s training performance by Edinson Cavani is the best performance anyone has put into a training session here. The old men led from the front,” said Solskjaer.

“They play well together. They have loads of respect for each other. The work-rate and quality they put in is second to none.

“The [players] play for the club no matter what. It’s not about me. It’s about us improving as a group.”

It was not just Cavani and Ronaldo – who both got on the scoresheet against a lacklustre Spurs – who proved experience is vital if United are to turn their fortunes around.

Solskjaer went for a back three with the battle-hardened Raphael Varane stood in the middle of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, two centre-backs with enough experience behind them by now to know how to react to a loss like that inflicted by Liverpool.

In midfield Scott McTominay gave a man-of-the-match performance, so said Solskjaer, alongside Fred, and Bruno Fernandes was his usual calm self.

“The experience of Edinson Cavani and Cristiano is massive. We need it. We can’t hide. The week has been difficult for all the players. They really stuck at it. Experience counts in situations like this,” added Solskjaer, who must now prepare the side to face Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday, before a clash with Manchester City at the weekend.

“We’ve built this performance on hard work, discipline and keeping the ball away from our goal. Spaces will open up especially if you get the first goal.

“The first goal always decides how the game goes.

“We’ve got a hard week again. Champions League game then City. We’ve got to digest this one and be ready for Tuesday.”

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How many games does Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have to save his job? Quite a few, one would suspect, after Manchester United totally demolished Tottenham 3-0 in north London on Saturday night.

A team that at times against Liverpool last weekend looked like a bunch of competition winners certainly hit the jackpot at Tottenham Stadium.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford justified Solskjaer’s decision to “put a few more experienced players in there” following the harrowing scenes at Old Trafford last time out.

Indeed, this was a smart, considered and clinical display to earned United three deserved points. It couldn’t have been more dissimilar to how United conducted themselves against Liverpool.

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And it’s likely to have saved Solskjaer for now.

Next up for the boss in the Premier League? The Manchester derby, with United now just three points behind City after their defeat to Crystal Palace.

Here, i looks at five notable performances from the triumph in the capital…

Edinson Cavani 8/10

Solskjaer spoke about the need to bring more experience back into the team following the humiliation at Old Trafford last weekend – and this was the perfect stage for Cavani to thrive.

The Uruguayan has endured a stuttering start to the season at United thanks in large part to Ronaldo’s arrival confusing the make-up of Solskjaer’s forward line. Saturday was the first time the pair had started together and they soon got into their groove.

Shifting to three centre-backs meant the boss could afford to go with two veteran forwards up front – and it worked. Once the game opened up it was Ronald who fed Cavani in for the second goal. Indeed, Cavani was tireless throughout and could have scored earlier in the contest. His presence was exactly what United needed.

Cristiano Ronaldo 8/10

Class is permanent and no matter how many column inches and web pages are written about United’s issues with and without Ronaldo, there’s no denying that the Portuguese is their most valuable player.

Ronaldo was having a fairly steady afternoon when his Portuguese team-mate Bruno Fernandes picked a lock when lifting a ball over a deep Spurs defence to the forward. The ball, lofting over Ronaldo’s left shoulder, fell perfectly for the veteran to slam home on the volley and fire the visitors into the lead.

It was a goal of sheer quality matched only by Ronaldo’s assist for Cavani’s second-half strike – a flick between the legs to free himself from danger and a composed through-ball to the Uruguayan. Ronaldo came off with 20 minutes remaining, his job more than done. How many more times is he going to save Solskjaer?

Bruno Fernandes 7/10

An assist and a crucial role played in the second United goal, yet Fernandes had one of his quieter nights in the capital. The usually reliant playmaker lost the ball on a number of occasions and ended up turning backwards as much as he wanted to push on.

That is perhaps not Fernandes’ fault. United are at their best when they counter attack and exploit space, which means Fernandes often needs to be patient and trust that the opportunities will come his way.

In the end they did. He forced the opening goal with a remarkable chip over for Ronaldo. He was obliged to create the second thanks to Spurs’ ramshackle organisation.

Harry Maguire 6/10

Harry Kane barely had a sniff all afternoon but that wasn’t due to Maguire’s performance. The sheer number of defensive bodies around the striker meant he did his characteristic drop into midfield in order to reclaim some possession, and then sought to feed in Son Heung-min.

Son was unlucky not to score after getting past Maguire, who was saved by Wan-Bissaka’s late lunge. The England man, booked early into playing in a new-look three across the defence, seemed at times as befuddled as he was against Mohamed Salah and co. last weekend.

It wasn’t a great performance but it was enough to suggest Solskjaer could find some long-term success in a three-man back line. Yet it was the presence of Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof that earned United a clean sheet here.

Fred 7/10

It’s almost impossible to know what to make of Fred on a game-by-game basis. Against Leeds earlier this season he was exceptional, and he performed reasonably well on Saturday despite picking up a yellow card. Solskjaer is adamant the Fred-McTominay partnership will work in midfield even if the majority of United fans seem to feel differently.

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fred was his usual inconsistent self but did test Hugo Lloris from range in the first half and had no problem handling Spurs’ midfield. Having Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka higher up certainly helped plug the gaps usually left exposed by either the Brazilian or his Scottish team-mate.

But Fred is still not the long-term solution to United’s midfield problems and a sharper Spurs side could have exploited his misgivings here.

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It won’t go down as an example of free-flowing Premier League football but Crystal Palace’s clinical victory over Manchester City onSaturday is the marker of even better things to come in south London.

The 2-0 result – earned through Wilfried Zaha’s sixth-minute opener, a resolute back line, Aymeric Laporte’s red card, the help of VAR and Conor Gallagher’s late second – was an indication of just how far Palace have come in their short time under Patrick Vieira.

While Roy Hodgson gave Palace a firm platform in the Premier League, Vieira is now catapulting the Eagles to even greater heights.

And it doesn’t come much better than beating the defending champions on their own patch – and comprehensively so.

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“It was about getting in their faces and not letting them play,” said goalscorer Zaha, who has now found the net in three of his last six games.

“We know how good they are, we wanted to show them what we could do. I scuffed it but a goal is a goal. I was just buzzing to see it go in so I was happy.”

Palace were dogged throughout the encounter at the Etihad, willing and able to defend in packs and attack with pace. They frustrated their hosts, were happy to engage in the odd scrap, and rode their luck – as any team pinching points off City usually do.

The result was perhaps unforeseen to anyone outside of the terraces surrounding Selhurst Park. Palace had strung together four draws on the bounce, which included the late surrendering of their lead at Arsenal and against Brighton.

Their only win of the season had been the 3-0 demolition of Spurs. And Saturday’s was another surprise for those not keeping abreast of what Vieira is doing down there.

“I feel like we have had a threat (previously) but the difference now is that we keep the ball from the back and build and make our chances,” said Zaha.

“We’re exploiting our talent.”

Asked about the influence Vieira has had on the group, Zaha added: “He knows what he is talking about and we have all seen him do it. It’s surreal because he was an amazing player.

“Every player is buying into it and slowly the results will come.”

Indeed, it is that belief that is starting to become Palace’s identity. Whereas in previous seasons the impetus for practically any positivity was the presence of Zaha, now that responsibly is shared throughout an exciting attacking unit.

Palace recorded eight shots against City – more than most who come to the Etihad – and proved disciplined out of possession.

“The early goal helped, because it meant we had something to hold onto, and we defended well in the first-half,” said Gallagher. “To keep a clean sheet, even though they had 10 men in the second-half, is still not easy against players like that.

“When you come up against Manchester City, you naturally play differently. You defend more, you have to work a little bit harder off the ball. In the first-half, it is tough against a team that pressures like that. I felt we were brilliant defensively the whole game.”

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Jurgen Klopp’s injury headaches just won’t go away. In fact, if Liverpool’s club doctor were ever to investigate they’d likely diagnose the Anfield boss with an 18-month cluster migraine.

It’s becoming vogue to scoff at Klopp’s supposed excuses about results not going Liverpool’s way due to injuries that have ravaged the team ever since they won the Premier League title in 2020.

Klopp has the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip back in his squad and the results are already showing. The Reds are in a title battle this season that seemed unattainable only a few moths ago.

But while the German boss enjoyed welcoming back his long-absent stars, he’s also had to get used to losing others.

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James Milner joined Thiago, Fabinho and Harvey Elliott on the sidelines for Saturday’s clash with Brighton. And Naby Keita may be the latest on the Liverpool physio bench.

Keita started the Reds’ Premier League clash with Brighton – just six days after a challenge from Paul Pogba forced the Guinea international off on a stretcher. In the week Klopp revealed that Keita’s bruised foot would not rule him out of the Seagulls contest but he lasted just 20 minutes at Anfield.

Having impressed with some good touches earlier in the contest, Keita limped off seemingly holding his hamstring, to be replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – another Reds squad member to have suffered serious injury in recent times.

Keita looked disheartened as he walked down the tunnel – and so he should be. The 26-year-old has endured a string of injuries on Merseyside and missed the majority of the last two seasons due to set-backs.

At £52m Keita was an expensive signing for Liverpool back in 2018. He has two years left on his contract and persistent set-backs won’t aid his chances of a renewal.

Thankfully for Liverpool, Klopp does have better replacements than most when his top men suffer injuries. Oxlade-Chamberlain found the unmarked Sadio Mane four minutes after entering the field to earn the Reds a second goal before the break.

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As Emile Smith Rowe wheeled away to celebrate his fourth goal of the season in Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Leicester on Saturday, one could be forgiven for forgetting that just two months ago this club were supposedly in crisis.

Having lost their opening three games of the season – which featured the humiliating defeats to Brentford and Manchester City, and the submissive performance against Chelsea – it appeared as though Mikel Arteta’s head was on the block.

The tinkerer who makes Pep Guardiola’s management style appear positively standoffish just can’t resist messing with his team. Bursts of form have come to an end thanks to switched-out systems, individual errors derived from confusion.

The freakish inconsistency has won Arsenal an FA Cup and seen them fail to qualify for Europe under Arteta. It’s taken the Gunners two years to develop some real tangible solidity. And it’s now starting to show.

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Arsenal lined up against Leicester with the same XI that beat Aston Villa 3-1 the previous weekend – and importantly the same midfield. It was a decision that won them the game.

Having Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka across a middle four has got this team motoring again. Note the absence of Nicolas Pepe and injured Granit Xhaka from that quartet.

On Saturday Smith Rowe in particular was an offensive asset all afternoon at the King Power, floating into pockets vacated by Alexandre Lacazette and evading Boubakary Soumare’s watchful eye.

The 21-year-old was on hand to bury a loose ball in the box after tireless work from his team-mates and put the Gunners two up within 19 minutes. It is now three league goals for the season for Smith Rowe – all of which have come when he’s been deployed on the left.

His versatility and drive on one flank is shared by Saka on the other. The England man has had a quiet start to the new season but when given the freedom to bomb forward, and the confidence of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s support, Saka lets his feet do the talking.

Why the wide men can provide persistent support for Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is because there is confidence in the those marshalling the middle of the pitch. Partey, last summer’s £45m acquisition built to go straight into the first XI, cannot protect Arsenal’s defence on his own. And that’s where Lokonga has come in, stepped up and walked all over Xhaka’s place.

At 22 Lokonga is by no means at the peak of his powers but already appears a more reliable midfield partner to Partey than Xhaka – a player who Arsenal couldn’t find a buyer for this summer and so gifted him a new three-year contract. Lokonga is compliant in his defensive duties and there to bounce off Smith Rowe when going forward.

The likes of Mohamed Elneny and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are rightly being overlooked, while in defence Benjamin White and Gabriel are forming a strong partnership. Arsenal have a unity that is working.

Of course, this unity will be tested not only by opposition teams but Arteta himself. The Spaniard doesn’t have Europe to worry about yet nevertheless loves a switch-up. Week-long waits between fixtures only gives the boss more time to tinker.

In times of crisis one expects managers to seek solutions. Arteta made four changes after losing to Brentford and five following the loss to Chelsea, switching the formation on both occasions. Following the 5-0 hammering at Manchester City – in which Arteta insisted his side dominated until the first goal seven minutes in – more changes came.

That’s what was needed, but even after the Gunners began stringing wins together Arteta continued to play around with formations and personnel.

Arsenal fans no-doubt buoyed by the team’s recent form, which has now stretched to seven wins in nine unbeaten games, will likely be expecting changes for no apparent reason. The one thing Arteta won’t change is his spots.

But the boss has found a system that works: a midfield that runs as a unit, a defensive partnership that can bat away most dangers and two strikers who individually pick locks. It won’t win them the Premier League title but Arsenal should be challenging for Europe.

The question over this team, then, is not its ability to win games, but the discipline of the manager to stick to those winning ways.

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There can be few better approaches to a stadium than walking down the Avenida de la Palmera in the late afternoon sun. Its buildings, alternating between businesses and sprawling high-end villas, contain a hotchpotch of grand architectural styles like a Mediterranean West Egg. Some of Seville’s most expensive properties hide behind ten-foot-high, foliage-covered walls that block your view of the Benito Villamarin until the last moment.

In contrast, the raw concrete of the stadium catches you off guard. Its weathered nature – Seville is the unofficial “warmest city in Europe” and it is 30 degrees Celsius at 5pm in late October – gives it the impression of a drained manmade lake, pockmarked and fissured grey where colour might usually appear.

It is also a wonderful place to watch football. Its steep sides make it feel compact and yet it holds over 60,000 spectators. The rundown fascia is contrasted by the renovated interior that traps the noise inside and swirls it around.

But the best part of the stadium are the stairwells in the top tier that are open to the outside world. They offer square windows of outside life: industry, apartment blocks, something other than football. As the sun sets, each square glows first gold, then orange and then pink. You couldn’t wish to be anywhere else in the world.

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Until 2005, Sevilla and Betis’ rivalry was largely competed on an equal footing. Neither team has won La Liga since 1950, they had won one Copa del Rey between them over the same period (Betis in 1977) and in the preceding 25 years had each suffered two relegations to the Segunda Liga. Sevilla had a historic reputation as the club of the middle class and Betis as the club of the proletariat, but those lines had largely become blurred over time. The rivalry was fevered and frantic, but Seville was the city of sleeping giants.

And then Sevilla rose to European prominence. Or, to be more specific, Monchi happened. Appointed as the club’s sporting director in 2000 and tasked with overhauling the academy and recruitment model, Sevilla feasted on the fruits of Monchi’s labour for a 15-year period. They won six Uefa Cup/Europa League titles and two more Copa del Reys. During a 15-month period in 2015 and 2016, Sevilla competed in six finals. 

Over the same period, Betis won two trophies, both of them second-tier titles following shambolic relegations. Even the best UEFA Cup run in their history – in 2013/14 – ended after they beat Sevilla 2-0 in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan only to lose by the same scoreline at home a week later, lose the penalty shootout too and then lose seven of their next eight league games to be relegated. Between December 2013 and December 2014 alone, Betis had five different coaches.

If Sevilla’s honeymoon caused great jealousy in Heliopolis, Betis were lucky to be afloat at all. Majority shareholder Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, who had assisted the club  in the 1990s and famously funded the world-record purchase of Denilson, was already unpopular with supporters after Betis’ relegation in 2009 but was then charged with fraud offences relating to tax bills in the late-90s. Betis were left in limbo for five years, under judicial control with Lopera unable to sell his shares and with debts mounting. 

But then losing and crises have always been part of Betis’ culture. They have a phrase – manquepierda – that has become a philosophical doctrine. Literally translated as “even if they lose”, it describes a refusal to give up in a crisis, a faith not that good times are certain to come but that good times do not matter. The relationship between supporter and club does not depend on success, simply on an indelible pride. That pride is more visible when times are tough. It isn’t that Béticos embrace defeat and shun victory – this is not a philosophy of defeatism. But they will treat each of those imposters the same.

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It is more than a catchphrase or marketing slogan. Betis may have won two major trophies in 85 years, but they have a majestic fanbase. Villamarin has the fourth highest average attendance in La Liga and the club recently passed 50,000 season ticket holders. Forty thousand arrive for a Europa League game against Bayer Leverkusen, a midweek early kick-off. Around the front of the middle tier, a sign reads: “From parents to children, from grandparents to grandchildren, a passion known as Betis”.

And they are finally being rewarded for their faith. After a judge lifted the limitations on the club’s spending and ownership in 2015, shareholder Angel Haro won the election to become Betis chairman in February 2016. One of his first initiatives was to invite Beticos to buy shares in the club and become the majority owner. Supporters now own 55 per cent of Betis and that increased sense – figurative and literal – of ownership has strengthened the bond between club and community even further. They now have more season ticket holders than at any point in their history. 

Two per cent of those shares are owned by Joaquin, the 40-year-old winger who is a personification of Betis on the pitch: loyal, hard-working with a touch of unpredictable magic, still desperately hanging onto his career. Joaquin has now played 585 La Liga matches, 35 more than any other outfielder in the league’s history. He is not even close to being a one-club man (nine years at Valencia, Napoli and Malaga saw to that), but there is only one club in his heart.

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On Thursday evening, Betis were pegged back by a Bayer Leverkusen side that sits third in the Bundesliga and will challenge them for top spot and an automatic qualifying place in the Europa League’s knockout stages. But they are enjoying themselves again. They are consolidated back in La Liga – four top-half finishes in six years – have assembled an excellent squad and finally feel no obligation to sell their best players. In charge is Manuel Pellegrini, a wily old head who always seemed more comfortable in Spain than England.

Perhaps it is purely a coincidence that a calmness has washed over Betis in the years following their fan ownership scheme. The romantic would plead otherwise: Betis are finally moving forward sustainably because they have those who love the club most closer to its centre than ever before. As higher-profile La Liga clubs struggle to juggle financial mismanagement with pandemic economics, Betis are in a brighter place than most. Manquepierda will never die; it is a cornerstone of what Betis is and always will be. But this club might finally be in a place to win again. 

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Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has said that his frozen out stars need to understand what it takes to get back in his team.

Nuno has been questioned relentlessly about Dele Alli and Harry Winks in recent weeks as both men have found themselves restricted to appearances in the Europa Conference League.

It is deja vu for Alli as, after starting the season in Nuno’s Premier League team, he has quickly found himself out of the reckoning and was unable to make a 20-man squad for the Carabao Cup game at Burnley.
Winks has never been a Nuno favourite and has made just six appearances in all competitions this season.

Nuno has said that the players who are not in his plans need to show commitment to fight their way back into the team.

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“At the end of the day what we want is for all the players to be involved and committed,” he said. “This word is very important. The commitment is very important.

“When you are committed you understand better some kind of decisions. You are more patient and keep doing what you should do. Focus on your task, day after day.

“I wish all the players were equally committed. That would be absurd to tell that is the reality because the players have their own expectations.

“Many of them work very, very hard during the week. And then comes the weekend and the coach decides to go with other players.

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“It’s not because you’re not committed, but you are upset. You are annoyed. That is respectful. It doesn’t have to do with the commitment of these players.

“These players have to go beyond. They have to make a conscious effort that he has to go again from the beginning of the week to change the opinion and the idea of the manager.

“This is how it works. In this industry, this is what the player should do. Unfortunately, it’s not what is always happening.”

Dele’s decline – in numbers

By Oliver Young-Myles

Dele Alli’s 2020-21 campaign was essentially written off at half-time of their first game of the season. After being named in Jose Mourinho‘s starting line-up to face Everton in the opening Premier League game of the season, Dele was substituted following a lacklustre opening 45 minutes.

It proved to be his last league start for six months. By the end of the season, a player who had won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2016 and 2017, scored for England in a World Cup quarter-final in 2018 and started in a Champions League final in 2019, had made only seven starts in the top-flight.

The removal of Mourinho and subsequent arrival of Nuno gave the 25-year-old the chance of a fresh start and initially, it looked to have worked in his favour as he started in each of Tottenham’s first six league games of the season. However, since being hooked at the break during September’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal, he has been on the periphery of the squad.

Dele Alli’s record in the Premier League – by season

2015-16

• 33 games, 10 goals, 9 assists

2016-17

• 37 games, 18 goals, 7 assists

2017-18

• 36 games, 9 goals, 10 assists

2018-19

• 25 games, 5 goals, 3 assists

2019-20

• 25 games, 8 goals, 4 assists

2020-21

• 15 games, 0 goals, 1 assist

2021-22

• 6 games, 1 goal, 0 assist

Although Dele has shown flashes of promise as a central midfielder this season, there is no denying that his productivity in the final third of the pitch has dropped off alarmingly. Since the return of football after the first national lockdown in March 2020, he has only one goal and assist apiece in 24 games. In that context, it is easy to see why he has struggled to nail down a starting place under Nuno this season.

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The adulation for Ibrahima Konate among Liverpool supporters increased as the humiliation of Manchester United went on at Old Trafford.

Just nine minutes in, with Liverpool already 1-0 up, Konate had Cristiano Ronaldo on his backside; a tackle left the United forward sat with his arms outstretched as his protests towards referee Anthony Taylor were waved away.

In first-half stoppage time Konate then quickly rushed over when Ronaldo kicked the ball into Curtis Jones, defending his team-mate, giving Bruno Fernandes a shove, and keeping Fred in line for good measure.

Mo Salah’s historic hat-trick may have taken the headlines from Liverpool’s perspective, but this was a statement performance from 22-year-old Konate, who in just his second Premier League start recorded a match-high eight clearances and now has an Old Trafford clean sheet, something United star signing Raphael Varane cannot yet boast.

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“I thought he was outstanding,” Jordan Henderson said afterwards. “We’ve got a few very, very good centre-backs so it’s difficult, but I thought he was top class. You’ve got to be to get a clean sheet at Old Trafford, so I’m delighted for him.”

The Liverpool captain was not alone in praising Konate, with Andrew Robertson describing his 6ft 5in defensive team-mate as a “giant” who has settled in quickly since moving from RB Leipzig in the summer.

Meanwhile, assistant manager Pep Lijnders called the player a “beast” for coming in and helping control United’s attacking quartet of Ronaldo, Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford.

Klopp: Konate a machine

By Richard Tanner

Konate has been described as “a machine built for the Premier League” by Klopp, who looks set to give the young French defender an extended run in his Liverpool team.

Klopp said: “I’m not surprised how quickly he has adapted. He is an incredible talent. He came really young [from France] to Germany and that is a tough league to play for a young centre half and he did that incredibly well.

“He has come to England and he is built for the Premier League, physique-wise. He is a machine, he has the speed we need, he likes challenges, he has a really good football knowledge, he anticipates situations really early, so it is a really good package.

“You never know how long things will take but he is a really good boy, completely integrated in the group here. And it helps here that he speaks really good English which is a bit of surprise for a French guy who was in Germany. That has helped him settle into the group as well.”

The performance has presented Jurgen Klopp with a centre-back selection headache heading into Saturday’s match against Brighton at Anfield, but for the Liverpool boss it is a welcome one after last season’s injury problems.

“There are a few decisions I need to make – thank God,” Klopp said. “It means we have options. The bad times are when you don’t have options. It’s about who looks the most likely to help us win the game. Hopefully it is the right decision.”

Starting Virgil van Dijk is a given when the Dutchman is fit, leaving Konate as fresh competition for Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, while Nathaniel Phillips has dropped to fifth-choice after helping Liverpool through their struggles last term.

“The boys get along really well with each other, all five of them, that’s really nice to see. They respect each other a lot,” said Klopp, who is yet to start Gomez in the Premier League but has played the England international in both Carabao Cup games so far.

Liverpool’s starting centre-back pairings

• Van Dijk & Matip: 9 appearances (7 PL, 2 UCL) – 9 goals conceded
• Van Dijk & Konate: 2 (2 PL) – 0
• Gomez & Matip: 2 (1 Carabao Cup, 1 UCL) – 2
• Gomez & Konate: 1 (Carabao Cup) – 0

Gomez joined Van Dijk on the sidelines in November last season, and persistent problems for Matip as well saw Phillips play a larger role in the second half of 2020-21, so too Rhys Williams and loan signing Ozan Kabak – with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho also deployed at centre-back.

Klopp added: “It was always clear we had to bring a centre-half in. In the moment all five [are fit] and really I have mention Nate Phillips playing the second half against Preston. He looks a completely different player to last year – a top-class centre-half and he’s not playing [regularly] as well.

“Now Ibou [Konate] came in and for us we have to deal with Joey, with the intensity, and we are not even halfway through the season and we are talking about these things.

“Hopefully nobody gets injured through the year. You have to be on top of your game for the moment when you come in and convince everybody. We will need them and we will need Joe, his quality is incredible, we all know that, we’ve seen that in a lot of moments.

“We have only top-class players in that position and that makes it harder.”

As Klopp points out, it is only late October, but Konate’s arrival and Phillips’ improvement has left Liverpool far better equipped than they were at this point last year, consigning the Fabinho-Henderson pairing to the history books even if an injury or two does occur.

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There’s a distinctly retro feel to the Championship’s nascent promotion race as it morphs into a deliberate, discernable shape. The last time play-off chasing Coventry City – currently fourth and gunning for a highest league finish in more than 20 years – had their name uttered in the same breath as the Premier League, Alex Ferguson still had 12 years left in the job at Manchester United, Jürgen Klopp had barely hung up his playing boots, and cash-strapped Chelsea’s midfield was being marshalled by Jody Morris.

The day the Sky Blues dropped out of the top flight, in May 2001, the team’s current top scorer was three years old. Viktor Gyokeres admits to not exactly having an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the club he signed for permanently from Brighton in July, but since this is a team facing emphatically towards its future, perhaps that’s fair enough.

“I know a little of the history of the club,” says the 23-year-old Sweden international, whose nine Championship goals have put the grip into Coventry’s hold on the top six. “I wouldn’t say I know it all. We’re just trying to do out best and it’s been a good start, but we know that we’re nowhere near the end.”

In truth, the key elements of Coventry’s last two decades are sufficient to paint a picture. The club’s drawn-out demise, triggered by the end of their 34-year stay in the top flight, triggered a descent into League Two in 16 chaotic seasons. But it was the failure of the owners to reach a tenancy agreement on the stadium formerly known as the Ricoh Arena, forcing the club to play home games outside the city during three of the next eight years, that defined the era.

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This season the club are back in Coventry for the first time since 2019, after two seasons spent playing at Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s. In July, a 10-year lease was agreed on the Coventry Building Society Arena, as it is now known, but there are plans for the team to move into a purpose-built, permanent home after a deal was reached last year to purchase land from the University of Warwick.

After more than a decade of fan protests against the running of the club, there has been a fresh impetus to involve supporters in decision-making, as well as greater communication from the board. Last month, owner Joy Seppala confirmed that she and the board have their eyes on the Premier League.

That promotion push has taken on an unmistakable shape this season, helped in no small part by Gyokeres and his goals. It’s no coincidence that this marks his first first-team season as a permanent signing since leaving Sweden at the age of 20.

“I wouldn’t say I had a tough time at Brighton,” says Gyokeres. “I was away on loan for two years getting experience, so I can’t say there was anything wrong with the move. Sure, I would have wanted to play more in the first team. But I wasn’t there forever.

“I wouldn’t do anything differently. I did one-and-a-half seasons there, I was on the bench a lot for the first team and played a few games in the cup. Then I was out on loan to Germany [to St Pauli], had a good season in division two. It was definitely my decision to come [to Coventry]. It was completely up to me. There was certainly others interested, but I was sure I wanted to come back here.”

Much of Coventry’s revival can be attributed to manager Mark Robins. The former Manchester United striker has been a constant over the past four years, masterminding two promotions and victory in the 2017 EFL Trophy. One more promotion would make him the first manager to guide a team from the bottom division of the Football League to the top flight in a single spell since Graham Taylor at Watford in 1982.

“Mark is a really good manager,” says Gyokeres. “Him, Adrian [Viveash] and Dennis [Lawrence] work really well together, and they are good at getting us to improve, as a team and as individuals. They’re great people to work with. It’s good to finally be somewhere permanent, being at a club to which you belong. I like it around here, I’m enjoying living here.

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“I don’t know if we’re surprised exactly to be where we are. I will say it’s nice to be up there. We knew before the season that we are a good team who play very good football. We’re good enough to be where we are in the league.”

There is plenty to keep Gyokeres motivated. When he signed for Brighton in 2018, his partner, the AIK Solna defender Amanda Nilden, came too, signing for the Seagulls’ women’s side. After a brief return to Sweden, she joined Juventus in August.

“Maybe we’ll see more of this [partners playing for the same club] as the women’s game continues to be more established. She’s at Juve now so she’s done really well. It’s a great example for me to try and match.”

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2ZxuLVE