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We are in the administrative stage of the Fantasy Premier League season with regularly occurring blank and double gameweeks posing logistical challenges and transfer headaches to FPL managers.

Gameweek 26 has a typical schedule with 10 matches involving all 20 clubs staggered out from Saturday lunchtime to Monday evening. However, things are about to get a lot more hectic with double gameweeks taking place in 27 and 29 either side of a mega blank in 28. Those Free Hit and Bench Boost chips are going to be popular in the coming weeks.

Similarly to previous articles, our selections for this weekend have been partly influenced by the upcoming schedule. There are four clubs playing twice in Gameweek 27 – Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Southampton – and the first two clubs, in particular, should be a focus of immediate interest in the transfer market.

Also bear in mind that this week’s FA Cup fifth-round results are going to wreak havoc on the Premier League calendar, given that the quarter-finals are scheduled to take place on the weekend starting Saturday 18 March. Essentially, any Premier League clubs that make it through to the next round will not play in Gameweek 28.

Gameweek 25 top scorers

Goalkeepers:

• Martinez (Aston Villa) – 9
• Guaita (Crystal Palace) – 9

Defenders:

• Firpo (Leeds) – 15
• Dier (Spurs) – 12
• Gabriel (Arsenal) – 9
• Van Dijk (Liverpool) – 9

Midfielders:

• Foden (Man City) – 13
• McGinn (Aston Villa) – 12
• Martinelli (Arsenal), Rice (West Ham), Benrahma (West Ham), Sarabia (Wolves) – 10

Forwards:

• Ings (Aston Villa) – 13
• Alvarez (Man City) – 11
• Haaland (Man City) – 10

*Arsenal vs Everton and Liverpool vs Wolves yet to be played

Back to Gameweek 26, there are some notable games to target for points. Managers who loaded up on Arsenal assets for their recent double gameweeks will be in a strong position considering the league leaders host Bournemouth on Saturday. Elsewhere, Manchester City welcome a Newcastle team that is struggling for goals and on a downer after losing the Carabao Cup final, while Liverpool and Manchester United go head to head at Anfield on Sunday.

Here are i‘s picks for Gameweek 26:

Gameweek 26 fixtures

Saturday 4 March

• Man City vs Newcastle
• Arsenal vs Bournemouth
• Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
• Brighton vs West Ham
• Chelsea vs Leeds
• Wolves vs Spurs
• Southampton vs Leicester

Sunday 5 March

• Nottingham Forest vs Everton
• Liverpool vs Man Utd

Monday 6 March

• Brentford vs Fulham

Fraser Forster (Spurs)

With Danny Ward reverting back to his unconvincing early season form since the World Cup, Fraser Forster has emerged as the best budget goalkeeper in the game after recording back-to-back clean sheets. At just £3.9m, Forster is currently the cheapest starting No 1 with the injured Hugo Lloris still a few weeks away from returning to action.

After a difficult first outing as the Frenchman’s understudy against Leicester, Forster has been a commanding presence for Spurs, albeit without being unduly tested by either West Ham or Chelsea. Spurs have been far more solid of late – besides that thrashing at the King Power – keeping four clean sheets in their last five league games.

Price: £3.9m Points: 14 Gameweek 26 fixture: Wolves (a)

Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)

Oleksandr Zinchenko is the lowest-owned option of Arsenal’s back five but could be a great differential in the coming weeks due to his improving attacking threat. The Ukrainian scored his first Arsenal goal (and first Premier League goal) in the recent win against Aston Villa and came close to adding his second against Leicester last weekend.

Interestingly, given he is a far from prolific goalscorer, Zinchenko ranks second among all defenders for attempts on goal (with 14) since the Premier League’s restart on Boxing Day, only behind Newcastle’s Fabian Schar (19), and is top for shots on target (five). He has also created a reasonable seven chances in that time too.

Price: £5.1m Points: 68 Gameweek 26 fixture: Bournemouth (h)

Lewis Dunk (Brighton)

Pervis Estupinan is a more exciting pick but the in-form left-back has been ruled out of Brighton’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Stoke. Keep an eye on Roberto De Zerbi’s pre-match press conference ahead of the West Ham game to see whether Estupinan is available as he probably shades Lewis Dunk as the Seagulls’ go-to defender.

That isn’t to say that Dunk is not a strong pick in his own right. In terms of security of starts, Dunk is far and away the best Brighton player to target as he has accumulated 500 more minutes than any other defender in their squad. Brighton’s opponents West Ham, meanwhile, have only scored seven goals on the road this term.

Price: £4.7m Points: 62 Gameweek 26 fixture: West Ham (h)

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Ruben Dias (Man City)

It has been a while since Ruben Dias was a lock in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City defence, but since returning from a hamstring injury the Portuguese centre-back has started in three successive Premier League games, including in the crucial win against Arsenal when he was excellent.

City have been frustratingly leaky of late, conceding exactly one goal in each of their last five league games, but have a decent chance of keeping an overdue clea sheet against a Newcastle team struggling for goals. The Magpies have failed to score in five of their last 12 matches in all competitions.

Price: £5.9m Points: 47 Gameweek 26 fixture: Newcastle (h)

Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)

On the one hand, an excellent player badly out of form; on the other, an excellent player in the form of his life. Trent Alexander-Arnold vs Marcus Rashford is perhaps the most intriguing subplot to Sunday’s meeting at Anfield given the pair’s contrasting fortunes this campaign.

Alexander-Arnold was the poster boy for Liverpool’s sloppiness at Selhurst Park and was mightily fortunate that Jean-Philippe Mateta could not punish two lax pieces of defending. Rashford has led the line in recent games, but Erik ten Hag may well be inclined to stick him in his favoured position on the left given Alexander-Arnold’s fragile confidence.

Price: £7.2m Points: 151 Gameweek 26 fixture: Liverpool (a)

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Bukayo Saka was one of the most captained players of Gameweek 25 and although he drew a frustrating blank in his first match against Leicester, he could have easily hauled on another day. Saka scored only for it to be disallowed due to a tight offside call and probably should have been awarded a penalty after being manhandled by Harry Souttar.

All is not lost for Saka owners and captainers as he still has a home fixture against Everton to play before attentions switch to the weekend visit of Bournemouth. With a little over a third of the season remaining, Saka has already contributed nine goals and nine FPL assists in 24 appearances.

Price: £8.5m Points: 135 Gameweek 26 fixture: Bournemouth (h)

Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)

After an explosive run of form, Martin Odegaard’s FPL returns have diminished of late, with just one attacking return in his last five appearances – prior to Arsenal’s second game of the double gameweek. Nevertheless, he remains the third-highest-scoring midfielder in FPL and returned 16 points on his previous appearance against Bournemouth.

Arsenal’s opponents have the worst away defensive record in the league, conceding 32 goals in 12 games so doubling up on the Arsenal attack is almost essential this week. With Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah all rotation risks, the Saka and Odegaard combo still looks to be the safest pairing.

Price: £7.0m Points: 134 Gameweek 26 fixture: Bournemouth (h)

Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton)

World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister has been overshadowed by Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March in FPL over the past couple of months, but since being shifted into a more advanced No 10 role following Adam Lallana’s injury, his attacking stats have shot right up.

According to FPL, who have recently added expected metrics into the game, Mac Allister has recorded a combined xG total of 1.92 across his previous two appearances against Crystal Palace and Fulham without scoring. That suggests that goals are on the way for the Argentine who is also the Seagulls’ first-choice penalty taker.

Price: £5.4m Points: 70 Gameweek 26 fixture: West Ham (h)

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Over the past five gameweeks only two players have scored more than three times: one is Rashford, a player in the best form of his career; another is Erling Haaland who is comfortably on course to beat Mo Salah’s record for the most goals scored in a 38-game Premier League season. The other? Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.

Villa’s decision to sell Danny Ings to West Ham was a big statement of faith in Watkins’ qualities and since his former strike partner’s departure, Watkins has enjoyed his best run of form in a Villa shirt. The 27-year-old has scored a goal in each of his last five league matches, becoming the first Villa player to do so in the competition’s history.

Price: £7.3m Points: 100 Gameweek 26 fixture: Crystal Palace (h)

Erling Haaland (Man City)

Erling Haaland had been chugging along with an assist and a goal in his four appearances pre-Gameweek 25 but it was still nice to see him register a first double-digit haul since Gameweek 21 during City’s comprehensive 4-1 victory over Bournemouth last weekend.

Haaland got the “assist” for Julian Alvarez’s opener after his shot ricocheted into the Argentine’s path via the bar and then doubled City’s lead with a predatory finish. After being relegated behind Saka and Mo Salah in the captaincy pecking order last weekend, he is back in the conversation ahead of City’s clash with out-of-form Newcastle.

Price: £12.2m Points: 193 Gameweek 26 fixture: Newcastle (h)

Ivan Toney (Brentford)

Ivan Toney still has the FA’s charges for alleged betting breaches hanging over him, but until that matter is resolved he remains an excellent FPL pick: only Haaland (with 193 points) and Harry Kane (161) have outscored Brentford’s main man among forwards this season.

Toney is the most transferred in player ahead of Saturday’s deadline with FPL managers evidently backing him to produce the goods against Fulham on Monday night. The Bees should be full of confidence for the west London derby given they are currently on the longest unbeaten streak in the top-flight.

Price: £7.6m Points: 122 Gameweek 26 fixture: Fulham (h)

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The draw for the FA Cup quarter-final takes place once the fifth-round action concludes in midweek, with Championship leaders Burnley looking to continue their run and Manchester City and Manchester United among the favourites.

Burnley, managed by former City defender Vincent Kompany, face League One team Fleetwood Town on Wednesday night on BBC iPlayer. City, meanwhile, beat rivals Arsenal in the fourth round and will be expected to overcome Bristol City on Tuesday night in order to secure their place in the last eight.

Grimsby Town defeated Championship side Luton Town in the fourth round and could take on one of the Premier League giants if they manage to upset Southampton on Wednesday.

Meanwhile at Old Trafford, Manchester United face West Ham, who are in high spirits after their 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest lifted them out of the Premier League relegation zone. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag’s men will be in even higher spirits, having lifted the Carabao Cup on Sunday against Newcastle.

Tottenham, led by assistant manager Cristian Stellini in the absence of manager Antonio Conte, will play against second-placed Championship side Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Conte is currently recovering from gallbladder surgery and has been absent from recent matches.

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When is the FA Cup quarter-final draw?

The quarter final draw will take place on Wednesday 1 March after the fifth-round clash between Sheffield United and Tottenham.

It will be broadcast live on BBC One, and is likely to take place shortly after 10pm – or later if the match goes to extra-time (there are no replays in the fifth round and quarter-finals).

You can also stream the draw on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Who is in the draw?

Here are the ball numbers for Wednesday’s draw:

• 1 Southampton or Grimsby Town
• 2 Leicester City or Blackburn Rovers
• 3 Stoke City or Brighton & Hove Albion
• 4 Sheffield United or Tottenham Hotspur
• 5 Fulham or Leeds United
• 6 Bristol City or Manchester City
• 7 Manchester United or West Ham United
• 8 Burnley or Fleetwood Town

FA Cup fifth round fixtures , dates and kick off times

Tuesday 28 February

• 19.15 Stoke City vs Brighton & Hove Albion (ITV4)
• 19.30 Leicester City vs Blackburn Rovers (BBC iPlayer)
• 19.45 Fulham vs Leeds United (BBC One)
• 20.00 Bristol City vs Manchester City (ITV1)

Wednesday 1 March 2023

• 19.15 Southampton vs Grimsby Town (ITV4)
• 19.30 Burnley vs Fleetwood Town (BBC iPlayer)
• 19.45 Manchester United vs West Ham United (ITV1)
• 19.55 Sheffield United vs Tottenham Hotspur (BBC One)

When is the FA Cup quarter-final?

The quarter-finals will begin on Saturday 18 March, with the semi-finals on the weekend of 22 April at Wembley.

The 2023 FA Cup final will be played on Saturday 3 June, also at Wembley. The date is slightly later due to the season disruption caused by the winter World Cup.

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I’m sorry, you can sit there and play with all your silly machines as much as you like because the best way to judge Graham Potter’s five months at Chelsea is not through any damning numbers, but his touchline demeanour.

During those early matches, dressed either in a black suit or purely black outfit, Potter’s glow-up left him looking like a Bond villain’s henchman modelling for GQ. Now look at him: slumped forward on the bench, puffy face with the eyes of a man who has recently attempted to watch all of YouTube in one sitting. This job is eating him.

The best moment of Potter’s tenure, which will presumably either come to an end very soon or just soon, was his press conference on 15 January, on the day that Chelsea signed their 13th first-team player of the season.

Asked about Todd Boehly’s Supermarket Sweep dash, Potter paused for a moment and said with glorious weariness: “You can’t just sign players.”

Graham, you silly sod: it turns out that you can. Enter Boehly, stage right, repeatedly asking Potter if he hasn’t got room for just one more mint. Oh sir, it’s only wafer thin and with amortisation we can basically say that it cost us nothing.

Chelsea then signed another player on 20 January, for £30m. And another on 29 January, for £25m. And another on 31 January, for £107m. I don’t think anyone’s listening, Graham.

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The temptation here is to seek logic, perhaps even a secret strategy. The long contracts must make sense because of FFP (but what happens if they don’t work out and you’re left still paying for players you don’t want?). The glut of signings must be a masterstroke because Chelsea must have needed them (even though they now have too many in certain positions).

The mega spend must have been a smart PR move from a new owner. And governing it all, the manager who excelled at improving players through coaching over the long term is being asked, nay expected, to hit the ground running. This is all 4D chess, right? Right?

Probably not, on reflection. At Brighton and at Ostersund, Potter preached the virtues of alignment between each element of a football club: owner, recruitment, manager, players, supporters. It is hard to envisage a club in European football where there is currently less cohesion.

The manager got players he clearly didn’t ask for; the players look unable – or unwilling – to do what Potter is asking for; supporters are in mutiny and the most abhorrent of them have sent death threats to the manager and his family. How was the play, Mrs Lincoln?

Chelsea’s January transfers

In: Enzo Fernandez (£106.8m from Benfica), Mykhailo Mudryk (£88.5m from Shakhtar Donetsk), Joao Felix (£10m loan fee from Atletico Madrid), Benoit Badiashile (£35m from Monaco), David Datro Fofana (£10.5m from Molde), Andrey Santos (£18m from Vasco Da Gama), Noni Madueke (£26m from PSV), Malo Gusto (£26m from Lyon)

Out: Malo Gusto (loan to Lyon), Bashir Humphreys (loan to Paderborn), Cesare Casadei (undisclosed to Reading), Jude Soonsup-Bell (undisclosed to Tottenham), Jorginho (£12m to Arsenal)

Nobody could have predicted the current level of grim tribalism and entitlement, but did we not all see this coming? “Brighton created a system of scouting at recruitment that maximised his strengths as a coach,” we wrote at the time of the appointment.

“He was, very simply, allowed to get on with his job. He is a fine coach, but a fine coach in the perfect environment. Can we be confident the same will happen at Chelsea, whatever the bland epithets used to welcome him?” No. Instead they made it harder for him.

This would all make a little more sense if Potter was merely a patsy, an expensive filler until the next ego-controlling gun-for-hire manager comes along to take Chelsea up the league before being sacked less than 18 months later. But that does not seem to be the case.

There is still faith that Potter will turn this emergency around inside the club, despite nothing in his past to suggest that he fits the bill, despite Chelsea sinking closer to the bottom three than top four and despite Chelsea’s support currently drowning him in a toxic custard.

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Somebody – and we will have to assume it was Boehly – seemed to assume that you could take a horde of ludicrously expensive players from across Europe, squeeze them into a squad without putting any existing noses out of joint and then add a proven project manager and huzzah! “This guy improves players, so now he can improve the best players,” Boehly presumably mused. “Why has nobody thought of this before?”

And so now Chelsea feel like a control experiment. You take the coach who improved players but over an extended period of time, far away from the constant cries of crisis that might follow a defeat elsewhere. You hand him a bunch of expensive ingredients, like Ready Steady Cook meets Harrods food hall, to raise expectations amongst supporters despite knowing that the coach would have preferred time to assess the current squad. You note that the coach struggled to make his former team efficient in finishing chances so, crucially, you don’t buy him an actual striker. That last one is a lovely touch, to be fair.

Chelsea’s results in 2023

• Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea
• Chelsea 0-1 Man City
• Man City 4-0 Chelsea
• Fulham 2-1 Chelsea
• Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace
• Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
• Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
• West Ham 1-1 Chelsea
• Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Chelsea
• Chelsea 0-1 Southampton
• Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea

Except that with experiments there is normally some implied unknowns or jeopardy – what are we going to learn today? This Chelsea season is the scientific equivalent of dropping a large concrete ball off the edge of a tall building to determine whether it will cause damage to the empty car that sits 35 floors below. And the car is a Ferrari. And it’s Todd Boehly’s.

This will soon be just more Chelsea history, Potter will become another fall guy from a club that has become addicted to short-termism because of the success that strategy has delivered. It will cause ripples: Potter’s career will need a recharge, the promotion of managers from non-elite English clubs to the elite may be blocked up again, Chelsea will seek another shortcut redemption arc.

But mostly it will reinforce what we have always known and Boehly needs to learn: it’s a hundred times easier for a plan to come together when everyone can tell what the plan even is.

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Erik ten Hag got up, tucked his chair in and departed the press conference, leaving the Carabao Cup behind him on the table.

Realising his mistake, he quickly scooped up the trophy. But there was a twinkle in his eye as quipped – half jokingly – that he was already thinking about the “next one”.

That arrives quickly. On Wednesday Manchester United play West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup and at the weekend they return to the Premier League grind. “100 per cent focus is necessary,” as Ten Hag rightly says.

For him, that is clear cut but amid the celebrations in the capital, the presence of Avram Glazer was a reminder that moving on from more than a decade of underachievement is only possible with a break from an ownership that has held them back.

The process they began might have smoked out substantial bids from Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani but Glazer’s presence and proximity to the celebrations confirms that breathless talk of new owners by April resides at the optimistic end of what plays out next for United.

No one really knows what the Glazers are thinking but nearly every source i has spoken to so far agrees that they want a premium price. That’s understood to be close to the £6bn mark and doesn’t, as football finance specialist Kieran Maguire stressed to i, represent “anywhere close to value for money“.

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Qatari sources insist there will be “no running commentary” on what comes next but lawyers and a team of specialists are now combing through United’s data room to give the bid team a fuller picture of the club’s financial situation. Their “indicative offer” will be firmed up and presented to the Glazers in weeks.

No one wants to pin down a number but most believe there will have to be a compromise if a deal is done. A couple of the Glazer family members retaining a stake or even adding further heft to the Qatari bid by inviting more backers in return for a percentage are theories doing the rounds in takeover circles.

The issue is that Ten Hag’s success might obscure the desperate need to rebuild the fundamentals around a transformative manager. A rebuilt stadium is a distant dream under the Glazers.

Ten Hag is a seriously impressive character and with every passing week it feels clearer that he is a truly special coaching talent ready to move into the elite bracket.

Tactically his tweaks have impacted games and his coaching is understood to be fresh, innovative and detailed. But it is his man management and charisma that have really impressed.

"I can leave it because the next cup. This one is in"

Just Erik ten Hag nearly leaving the Carabao Cup trophy behind pic.twitter.com/GLY8fMZta1

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 26, 2023

He arrived in England with warnings from Amsterdam that it took him time to open up and articulate his vision for the club. In the early days at Ajax, he was mocked in some quarters for his mannerisms.

It’s difficult to square that with the clear, compelling message that comes from Ten Hag in his second language or the way he has taken his players on the journey with him.

His values – hard work, unity, “buy in” to a collective set of rules and standards – have won over a group of players that were written off as unmanageable. He commands respect but the players like him. They know there are no favourites and no exceptions and his “gamble” to join the club seems to have paid off.

“It was a risk but I’m a little bit stubborn,” he said of his decision to join the club at such a low ebb.

“I just love United. When I see our shirts, I see Old Trafford, I see a legacy like the one Sir Alex (Ferguson) left, how so many big players were developed by United teams it makes a big impression.

“We all want the same, this team to make its own history and legacy. When this opportunity came I thought this is the right club for me.” It is just a start, but he is well on his way.

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Manchester United clinched the first domestic trophy of the season by beating Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final and are one of nine Premier League sides still in contention to lift the FA Cup.

Erik ten Hag may have joined his players in a post-match jig on the Wembley turf after the final whistle on Sunday, but United’s celebrations were reportedly kept to a minimum with Wednesday’s FA Cup meeting with West Ham at Old Trafford in mind.

“We know the importance of silverware throughout the history of this great club,” ten Hag stated in an open letter to United’s supporters on Monday.

“We are so happy to bring the trophy back to Old Trafford but we are by no means satisfied and we will not stop here.”

That is one of only two all-Premier League ties taking place this week, with Europe-chasing Fulham hosting relegation-threatened Leeds in the other at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night – evidence perhaps of the struggles that some big clubs have faced with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool already out.

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Other top-flight sides and Championship leaders Burnley will be acutely aware of the competition’s giant-killing history when they take on lower-league opposition.

There are four Premier League vs Championship match-ups in total, with Stoke vs Brighton, Bristol City vs Manchester City and Leicester vs Blackburn taking place on Tuesday night, followed by Sheffield United vs Spurs on Wednesday.

Spurs arguably have the trickiest of those ties against the Blades at Bramall Lane. Sheffield United may have made heavy work out of beating Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham in the fourth round, but have been flying in the league and look well-positioned to earn promotion to the top flight after two seasons away.

The north London club has seemingly stabilised under assistant manager Christian Stellini following a sticky patch, but manager Antonio Conte may make his return for the game after spending time in Italy recovering from gall bladder surgery.

FA Cup fifth round ties on TV

Tuesday 28 February

• Stoke vs Brighton (ITV4 and ITV X, 7.15pm kick-off)
• Fulham vs Leeds (BBC One and BBC iPlayer, 7.45pm)
• Bristol City vs Man City (ITV1 and ITVX, 8pm)

Wednesday 1 March

• Southampton vs Grimsby (ITV4 and ITVX, 7.15pm)
• Man Utd vs West Ham (ITV1 and ITVX, 7.45pm)
• Sheffield Utd vs Spurs (BBC One and BBC iPlayer, 7.55pm)

Ties that are stream only

Tuesday 28 February

• Leicester vs Blackburn (BBC iPlayer, 7.30pm)

Wednesday 1 March

• Burnley vs Fleetwood Town (BBC iPlayer, 7.30pm)

One club looking to avoid going in the opposite direction is Southampton and while preserving their Premier League status takes priority over an FA Cup run, new manager Ruben Selles will expect his players to have too much for League Two side Grimsby Town at St Mary’s.

The sole EFL-only affair can be found at Turf Moor where Vincent Kompany’s side host League One Fleetwood Town, managed by former Celtic captain Scott Brown.

With precious little room in the calendar, the eight fifth-round ties will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this midweek, and every tie is being shown on TV or on streaming services.

FA Cup fifth round in full

• Burnley vs Fleetwood Town
• Bristol City vs Man City
• Fulham vs Leeds
• Leicester vs Blackburn
• Man Utd vs West Ham
• Sheffield Utd vs Spurs
• Southampton vs Grimsby Town
• Stoke vs Bristol City

When will the quarter-final ties be played?

The eight clubs that successfully make it through the fifth round will not have too long to wait for the quarter-finals which are scheduled to take place on the weekend commencing Saturday 18 March.

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Riddle me this: Casemiro scored the opening goal in a Carabao Cup final that his side won and yet his most extravagant celebration came not in the aftermath of his header nor after the full-time whistle had blown.

Shortly before half-time, Casemiro successfully shepherded the ball out of play for a goal kick under significant pressure. It was a nothing incident, really. But Casemiro roared at the swathes of Manchester United supporters, like a lion who has just won the Pools. They returned in kind, a mass of clenched fists and cheers and teeth forced together into celebratory grimaces.

Will football supporters ever grow tired of watching players celebrate tackles? God I hope not.

That is the great paradox of Casemiro. He is a player who seems to exist in two states: the serene, consummate controlling midfielder, always on time and rarely rushed as a result; and the fierce agitator, prepared to slip into the dark arts and take several players with him for the ride. All or nothing.

He’s a midfielder who, as we have already proven, loves to win the ball at least as much as he loves scoring goals.

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Since Casemiro joined Manchester United, they have lost three league matches and he didn’t start two of them. It is damning him unfairly with weak praise to conclude that Manchester United’s midfield has merely been dragged into the present day, but it’s also true.

For too long, United’s midfield was a pace where the opposition was king. It was filled with reactors, not pro-actors. The unlucky actors spent most of their time trying to put out fires and the rest desperately getting rid of it as quickly as they could in case they started another.

Midfield control, at anything above the lowest – and least dangerous – tempo, was something that happened to other well-run, less debt-leveraged teams.

Now with Casemiro, control is the whole of the law because he is everything; his fingerprints lie over every teammate. An hour into Sunday’s final I realised that I’d forgotten Christian Eriksen exists. Suddenly it’s just Casemiro plus one.

When Eric Cantona left Manchester United, it was not his skill or even impact on the pitch that Alex Ferguson heralded most. Instead, it was the manner in which Cantona changed the culture of the club. During his eight-month ban, Ferguson persuaded Cantona to stay by tasking him with overseeing the development of a crop of talented academy graduates.

“Nothing he did in matches meant more than the way he opened my eyes to the indispensability of practice,” said Fergie. “Practice makes players.”

That became the mantra for a new age of Manchester United. If there was one trait that all of the most successful Class of ‘92 shared, it was not extraordinary innate talent but an ability to squeeze the most out of the talent they had through practice. Eric taught them that.

Casemiro’s signing now has a Cantona twinge, albeit we must beware leaping into the land of wild hyperbole. If Cantona changed Manchester United’s culture on the importance of training, Casemiro is hoping to offer a similar example in terms of hunger and winning mentality.

It is working so well because Casemiro likes what he has found: a manager who is his kindred spirit. He freely admits that he was shocked by Erik ten Hag’s obsession with winning.

We cannot pretend that all of this has occurred through glorious design. Manchester United’s marquee midfield signing coulda, woulda, shoulda been Frenkie de Jong, if United had thought to check if De Jong was as up for the move as they were.

There are reasons for regret too. On one of the many trains back north on Sunday evening, supporters sang and cheered but also bemoaned what might have been if their club had tried to fix this central midfield issue in any of the last three summers.

But these are trifling details and these supporters – and this club – are choosing for now to look forward, not back. A few short months ago, I/we/maybe you doubted all this a little.

Casemiro was a £60m 30-year-old who was being parachuted into the most obvious long-term rebuilding job in high-end European football. On that, Erik ten Hag has jumped through hoops at triple speed to make United successful in the short term. In turn, that makes Casemiro’s arrival look entirely logical.

It wasn’t that I – or anyone else – lacked conviction of Casemiro’s brilliance – quite the opposite. Why was he here? He had won 18 trophies at Real Madrid, including five European Cups in nine years. Had he not watched Manchester United play? Had he never heard of Avram Glazer?

We’re all for a bit of community action, helping out someone desperately in need as an act of charity, but wasn’t there somewhere a little more sunny and a little less Europa League-y? Someone certainly hadn’t tried to stay on the WiFi in the press box on a Thursday night.

The answer, it appears, is hunger. Hunger is what drives the tackling – “I go for the ball like it’s a plate of dinner”. Hunger is what fuels the fist pumps and the lion roars. Hunger is what took him to the top and hunger is what brought him here.

Cristiano Ronaldo chose to engineer a move to Saudi Arabia to top up his goalscoring statistics. Casemiro chose to leave the European and world champions because he saw the chance to make Manchester United…well, Manchester United again. Pick your own hero; I’ve chosen mine.

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Three Premier League games played. Three wins against the reigning champions and two London rivals. Five goals scored and none conceded. Christian Stellini’s brief managerial tenure at Tottenham could not have gone any better.

Sunday’s 2-0 victory against Chelsea, Tottenham’s first success in regulation time against the Blues in their “new” stadium and in the league since November 2018, had fans semi-jokingly advising Antonio Conte to continue his recuperation from surgery in Italy for the foreseeable future, such has been the success enjoyed by his No 2.

Despite his 100 per cent hit-rate which also includes the 2-1 win in Marseille that sent Spurs into the Champions League last 16 in November, Stellini has frequently given the impression that he will be relieved when Conte does return to work, rather than someone who has caught the managerial bug.

Stellini revealed on Sunday that Conte will be back in north London this week although was unable to confirm whether his return would coincide with Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Sheffield United or Saturday’s league encounter with Wolves.

A happier dressing room than the one he left surely awaits Conte given the significant improvement in performances and results since the last match under his watch – a 4-1 defeat against Leicester on 11 February.

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Spurs have tightened up considerably since that horror show at the King Power, keeping back-to-back clean sheets against West Ham and Chelsea to reignite their top-four chances. Spurs are four points clear of Newcastle in fourth place, although the Magpies have two games in hand.

Those shutouts have been welcome given conceding goals has been an issue for Spurs throughout the campaign. They have let in 35 in 25 league games, the worst record in the top half of the table, and surrendered multiple goals on 11 separate occasions, a joint league-leading total along with 14th-placed Leicester City. Their defensive vulnerability has been distinctly un-Conte-like.

Since 2011-12, Conte-managed teams have had the best defensive record in their respective divisions in five out of eight campaigns and never ranked lower than fourth for goals conceded. This season, Spurs are languishing in 14th in that particular table.

Paradoxically, Spurs are also fourth in the clean sheet charts, keeping nine in total. They have either shut teams down completely or charitably let them score at will. That all or nothing approach to defending is summed up neatly in Spurs’ previous six league games in which they have kept four clean sheets but conceded four times in the other two.

Clearly, though, work is being done to make Spurs’ defence harder to breach. It has been too easy for opposition teams to bypass their midfield and get shots away: only seven sides have allowed more efforts on target than Spurs. A possible explanation for that is Spurs have tended to have a numerical disadvantage in that area of the pitch; while most teams in the league use a system with three central midfielders, Spurs have employed a double pivot in 20 of their 25 games.

A noticeable recent ploy to plug the gaps has been to get Eric Dier – the centrepiece of the back three – to play as an anti-sweeper, moving up the pitch rather than back to help reinforce the midfield. It hasn’t always worked, Dier was pulled hopelessly out of position against Leicester, but it certainly did in the wins over City and Chelsea, with the 29-year-old doing an effective job of man-marking Julian Alvarez and Joao Felix. Dier set his stall out early on against the latter, clattering him inside the opening 10 minutes.

Another tactic has been to select more conservative wing-backs. It seems significant that the only occasion in which Spurs have picked their two most attack-minded wing-backs in conjunction – Ivan Perisic on the left and new recruit Pedro Porro on the right – over the past five games was also the only occasion in which they conceded. Since Perisic and Porro started against Leicester, Spurs have used more conservative options in Ben Davies and Emerson Royal and they have both impressed, even combining for the opening goal against West Ham.

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The much-maligned Royal, in particular, has been one of Spurs’ best performers, effectively nullifying Willian, Jack Grealish, and Raheem Sterling in recent weeks, while becoming more effective in the final third too.

Cristian Romero’s availability has also helped. The World Cup winner missed the Leicester defeat through suspension and has had a chequered injury record since signing in 2021 but he makes a massive difference to the backline when fit and on form. Romero has only started in 60 per cent of Spurs’ league matches this term but has been present for 77 per cent of their clean sheets.

It is no coincidence that Spurs’ chaotic period of form before and immediately after the World Cup coincided with Romero’s absence. Spurs conceded 11 times in five matches from 23 October until Boxing Day when Romero was either injured or returning from Argentina’s post-Qatar celebrations. They have let in eight in eight since Romero’s first game back on New Year’s Day, keeping five clean sheets.

If Spurs are to maintain their current position in the top four and progress to the latter stages of the Champions League and FA Cup they will need to maintain their defensive solidity. Spurs have tightened up since Stellini stepped in. It will be interesting to see whether that continues under Conte.

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Do people still love football? Like actually, truly love it? Or do they secretly, deep down, hate it? I ask because the actions of those who profess to love the beautiful game grow increasingly erratic, aggressive and nonsensical by the day.

Graham Potter receiving emails from people wishing him and his children dead. This is Potter who has been Chelsea manager for six months. Sure, it’s not been smooth going — Potter admits that himself. But it’s six months. Barely any time at all.

Arsenal had years of anger and resentment, with a contingent of fans chasing into retirement one of the greatest managers to stand on the touchline. And, as Potter pointed out after defeat to Spurs on Sunday, Mikel Arteta almost went, too. And now look at them.

The tribalism that runs through football’s core — indeed the element of the game that has arguably made it so popular — has turned from arguing over who has signed the best players and who has more silverware in the trophy cabinet to supporters vehemently defending and condoning the actions of their owners, from alleged financial doping buying a decade of success, to the persecution of homosexuals. None of it matters, apparently, as long as they are pumping money into your football club so that your team wins more than theirs does.

Parents on touchlines threatening to stab a 15-year-old referee. Parents following a referee back to his car in the car park after a game and assaulting him. Parents snapping a young linesman’s flag paid for out of his own money. These sorts of incidents are happening every week around the country, but receive barely any coverage.

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Why do the parents care so much — why does it make grown adults so angry? Children certainly don’t care as much as them about these things. They will make goals anywhere, at any time, out of anything and, without a referee in sight, will happily play for hours with anything from two to 22 of them. That’s properly loving football. What the adults do seems more like hating it.

Look at the reaction to England reaching the Euro 2020 final. At Wembley for a first major tournament final in more than half-a-century. A home final! It should’ve been a glorious occasion to unite the country, win or lose. Yet, even before the result was known, fans descended into rioting and stampeding and breaking things, and sticking lit flares in orifices where things on fire really should not be stuck.

Do you properly love football if it evokes that kind of reaction in you? Because it seems as though those are the actions of somebody who, deep down, maybe hates it. Maybe doesn’t like the way it influences their decisions, or makes them act.

For many, football’s become more like an addiction than a true love. The football fan reaches for his phone (let’s be honest here, the anger predominantly comes from men) to read all of the comments and quotes and reaction from last night’s defeat to inject some of that resentment and fury into their veins. They say that gambling addicts are as addicted to the losses as the wins.

This is not to conflate complaints and criticisms, about managers and players and performances, with the hatred that seems to have become as much a part of football as fandom. Supporters are, of course, well within their rights to be dissatisfied with a defeat, a draw, a defender’s poor form, one win in 11 games in 2023, as Potter has overseen at Chelsea. They are entitled to be dissatisfied with finishing runners-up in the European Championship final, even if it’s still hard to comprehend.

But criticism is very different to writing and sending death threats, to assaulting and threatening referees after your son or daughter loses, to defending the indefensible, to rioting and chaos that endangers lives.

From top to bottom, the hatred that consumes the game is making it harder to love every day.

Why is diving no longer being punished?

Have football’s authorities given up taking action against diving?

In the opening couple of minutes of Tottenham’s victory against Chelsea on Sunday, Raheem Sterling was dribbling inside the Spurs penalty area when Oliver Skipp stuck out a leg. Over went Sterling. The referee, Stuart Attwell, wasn’t sure what had happened so VAR took a look to see if it was a penalty.

Replays showed — in crystal clarity — that Sterling had tried to con the officials by falling over Skipp’s outstretched limb as though he had been fouled. VAR ruled no penalty — correctly — yet where was the caution for Sterling?

What’s the point of rules if they are not going to be enforced?

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Defeat stings for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final but comes with the comfort that they are moving in the right direction to be a constant presence competing for trophies.

Eddie Howe says Newcastle have changed, but Manchester United doing a thoroughly professional job on them was a reminder of how far they still have to go.

Here’s the next steps the club should take in order to continue competing.

Regain momentum fast

Howe said his team have responded to every challenge set of his players so far but this is the biggest examination of their pretensions to compete at the top.

They are now winless in six and the nature of Sunday’s defeat was understandably deflating. Bruno Guimaraes was in tears. But the prize – arguably the bigger one given Newcastle need to attract good players – is European qualification and they are still right in the mix for the top four.

There is no time to lick their wounds: Newcastle travel to Manchester City on Saturday.

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Is it time to tweak?

You don’t have to dig deep to discover Newcastle’s problem right now – they just can’t score goals.

Howe opted for Callum Wilson ahead of £60m record signing Alexander Isak at Wembley but once again he struggled to find a way into the contest. It is now just one goal in 11 games since the World Cup for his number nine and given Isak’s impact in the final it feels like the time is approaching when a change in personnel might be needed.

Modifying the system might not be far off either. Howe has stuck to his guns so far – even down to his habit of bringing Jacob Murphy on for the last 25 minutes of games (22 time so far this season) – but as he acknowledged last week, ideas and plans need to evolve. January signing Anthony Gordon, who has added some fresh impetus, should also be integrated as a starter.

Newcastle could spend £250m in summer

WEMBLEY STADIUM — Newcastle United’s upward trajectory has been so dizzying over the past 12 months that it has perhaps obscured just how far they still have left to travel if they are to truly compete.

Eddie Howe’s pretenders didn’t actually play badly here and Manchester United didn’t really play that well. There wasn’t an awful lot wrong with Howe’s game plan either and a cogent case could be made that the Magpies were actually the better team for significant spells.

But strip out the emotion and all the conjecture about their trophyless generation and the conclusion is simple: they have a dearth of world class quality at either end of the field.

Read Mark’s analysis from Wembley in full here

Be ruthless

Howe admitted afterwards that some of his players may not return to Wembley if Newcastle get there again. It seemed to be a nod to the next chapter of the story, when the need for upgrades is unavoidable.

A conservative estimate is they need a proven goalscorer, a midfielder of presence and a full-back capable of performing at the highest level. Another winger might also be required, as well as back-up able to pressurise his first XI.

That is going to require a huge spend and some tough decisions because the unity and mentality of this group has been part of its strength.

Flexibility required

It was a full house of Newcastle’s hierarchy at Wembley, with the PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan a notable attendee for the Carabao Cup final. The Magpies have the most controversial ownership, arguably, in world football but their sporting decisions have been flawless so far.

In January, faced with the option of rolling the dice and strengthening the side from a Champions League position, they demurred. The argument is that this is a long-term project and financial fair play is a significant factor. But with form ebbing away, it may end up feeling like a missed opportunity.

So far their recruitment has been stellar, bringing in the likes of Sven Botman and Bruno Guimaraes to “join them on their journey”. The last two windows have been about potential and the club have joined the rest of the Premier League in placing a firm premium on potential and young players.

They may not be in a position to add a Casemiro just yet, but his imperious display at Wembley illustrated what that policy sometimes foregoes. A dash of bona fide experience competing regularly at the top table, with a nod to the impact Kieran Trippier has had, would not go amiss.

Off-field support is coming

Newcastle’s extensive search for a main sponsor is nearing completion and the announcement will be studied on Tyneside like it was an arrival for the first team. A lucrative deal would help fund summer transfer business and although Newcastle sources insist a Saudi sponsor isn’t nailed on, it’s still the most likely development.

Darren Eales, the club’s charismatic CEO, drank with fans in Wembley fanzones and has big plans to consolidate the positivity around the club, which manifested in a Trafalgar Square takeover that gave Newcastle something to remember the weekend by.

A behind-the-scenes documentary is intended at the global market, which understandably didn’t have much appetite for Ashley’s husk of a club.

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Mentality shift?

The friendly takeover of London was borne of pride, shaking off the shackles of a club that refused to commit and a commitment to making the most of the weekend.

The show of support before the game was breathtaking and emotional and maybe that creates unintended issues of its own – too much was invested into it.

In the future Newcastle probably need to look like they belong here.

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