Any match involving France and Argentina is one worth watching but Friday’s showdown in the men’s quarter-final of the Olympics is bordering on unmissable given the recent acrimony that has flared between the nations.
Host nation France, coached by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, cruised through Group A after beating the USA, Guinea and New Zealand to set up a mouthwatering meeting with Argentina in Bordeaux after they finished below Morocco in Group B.
The two countries are among the most successful international sides in the men’s game and are part of a select group of multiple World Cup winners, with Argentina lifting the trophy three times and France doing so twice.
The pair are the most recent world champions too, with France winning the 2018 tournament in Russia and Argentina doing so in Qatar in 2022.
That Argentina triumph came at France’s expense. They won on penalties after a titanic battle over 120 minutes in which their best players took centre stage, with Lionel Messi scoring twice and Kylian Mbappe netting a hat-trick.
Relations between the countries have become strained in the aftermath of the final in Doha. Before the game, Argentine fans sang a song that has racist connotations about French players of African heritage.
The song includes the words: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
French anti-racism movement SOS Racisme stated that the song is an “expression of a far-right ideology”.
It also makes transphobic slurs against Mbappe, who was taunted by Argentine players after the World Cup final. During celebrations in Buenos Aires, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez posed with a doll with Mbappe’s face on it.
Tensions escalated further in July when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez filmed himself and other members of Argentina’s squad singing the song after their win against Colombia in the Copa America final.
In response to the video, the French Football Federation (FFF) pledged to file a legal complaint against the Argentine Football Association to Fifa for “racist and discriminatory remarks” that are “contrary to the values of sport and human rights”.
Several of Fernandez’s Chelsea colleagues unfollowed him on social media after the incident and France defender and club teammate Wesley Fofana, whose father is from the Ivory Coast, described the video as “uninhibited racism”. Former France captain and ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said it was an “attack on French people”.
Fernandez has issued an apology to his Chelsea teammates (Photo: PA)
Fernandez, who joined Chelsea for £107m from Benfica a month after the World Cup final, issued an apology on his Instagram page, saying “there is absolutely no excuse for these words,” and that the song and its contents “do not reflect my beliefs or my character”.
The 23-year-old apologised to his Chelsea teammates in person on Monday after joining up with the squad in Atlanta for their pre-season tour of the United States. He has also offered to make a significant donation to an anti-discriminatory charity.
Chelsea launched internal disciplinary procedure against Fernandez that has reportedly now been closed. New manager Enzo Maresca has insisted that the squad have “all accepted” the midfielder’s apology.
Last Friday, Argentina’s populist right-wing president Javier Milei met French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss trade relations. The recency of the post-Copa America celebrations will have certainly added a diplomatic edge to those talks.
Argentina’s football and rugby sevens teams have been whistled and booed by French fans during the Olympics.
The football team led by Javier Mascherano can expect an even frostier reception on Friday night when they go head-to-head against Les Bleus.
Four members of Mascherano’s squad – Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli, Julian Alvarez and Thiago Almada – won the World Cup in 2022 and with the exception of new Lyon signing Almada, all featured in the Copa America success this summer. By contrast, none of the French squad at this Olympics featured in the last World Cup.
The winner on Friday will be well placed to win a gold medal, with Spain the only other traditional powerhouse of international football still in the competition.
A victory for France would go some way to avenging that defeat in Qatar. Rarely has a football fixture in the Olympics had so much riding on it.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/hkSwT2g
The goalkeeper position isn’t one that Fantasy Premier League managers tend to fret over too much, but it is still worth putting some thought into which shot-stopper you want for the start of the season and beyond.
In an ideal world, your chosen keeper for Gameweek 1 will still be in place by the time you use your first Wildcard as it’s not a role that you want to be using precious transfers on given they tend to provide fewer points than players higher up the pitch.
You may have to use more of your £100m budget on those two goalie slots, though, as there is an absence of £4m starters this year.
Over the past two seasons, Alphonse Areola and Danny Ward have provided FPL bosses with a budget-busting option between the sticks (albeit with mixed results) but it’s unlikely we’ll get one this term, barring a freak injury crisis.
As ever, there are options at different price points, ranging from £5.5m at the top end to £4.5m at the bottom. While some bosses prefer the security of a premium asset, others are happier to run the gauntlet on a cheaper option to free up funds to be spent elsewhere.
Here are five keepers we’re tipping for big things this season:
An obvious place to start. David Raya won the Golden Glove by keeping the most clean sheets last season (with 16) despite only playing 32 times in his debut year at Arsenal.
Raya was the best-protected goalkeeper in the division by a distance as the Gunners gave up significantly fewer high-quality chances than any other team, recording an expected goals against (xGA) figure of 27.9; Manchester City had the second-best tally with 35.6. Mikel Arteta has further strengthened a formidable backline by signing Riccardo Calafiori.
The Spanish international is a safe if unspectacular option for your FPL team. While he boasts better clean sheet potential than any other goalkeeper, he doesn’t tend to pick up many bonus points as he generally has fewer saves to make. He earned just six bonus points, a total bettered by 18 keepers.
Price: £5.5m Points in 2023-24: 135
Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
Four keepers are valued at £5.5m and Raya is proving to be by far the most popular at the time of writing. Uncertainty over Ederson’s future at Manchester City has probably put FPL bosses buying either the Brazilian or his rival Stefan Ortega, but the lack of interest in Alisson is more surprising.
It could be that FPL managers are waiting to see how Liverpool perform at the start of the Arne Slot era, before investing in their defence. However, the Reds have a more favourable fixture run at the start of the season than most which could bode well for Alisson’s clean sheet prospects.
Liverpool play newly-promoted Ipswich Town on the opening day and face only one of last season’s top 10 – Manchester United at Old Trafford in Gameweek 3 – in their first six matches.
We selected Jordan Pickford in this corresponding article last summer and he justified our selection by earning more FPL points than any other keeper, eventually finishing 18 points clear of his nearest competitor Raya.
England’s No 1 kept 13 clean sheets overall, a record that was three behind the Arsenal man but also three ahead of anyone else. Considering he played for a side that finished in the bottom half of the table, that was an impressive feat.
Understandably given his form, Pickford has received a price rise of £0.5m this season, but he still represents excellent value. Sean Dyche has made The Toffees difficult to break down, particularly at Goodison Park where Pickford kept nine clean sheets in 19 appearances.
Price: £5m Points in 2023-24: 153
Alphonse Areola (West Ham)
There doesn’t appear to be a standout option at £4.5m but Areola could be one to consider after enjoying a solid first campaign as West Ham’s No 1 Premier League goalkeeper.
Areola only kept four clean sheets in 31 appearances (including three in a row against Manchester United, Arsenal and Brighton either side of Christmas) but he more than made up for that by racking up the saves. Keepers earn an extra point for every three saves made per match in FPL.
The 31-year-old made 136 overall, a total only bettered by Andre Onana (who costs £5m) and Thomas Kaminski (who is no longer playing in the division). He also proved himself as a penalty expert too, saving two of seven efforts faced.
There’s plenty of uncertainty over which goalkeepers will get the nod at their respective clubs for Gameweek 1. Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone are in competition at Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest have added yet another keeper to their ranks and Filip Jorgensen will presumably usurp both Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic in Enzo Maresca’s pecking order once he joins Chelsea.
It is sensible to err on the side of caution, therefore, and pick someone who is (presumably) nailed on to start, like Brentford’s Mark Flekken. The Dutchman proved a capable replacement for Raya, keeping seven clean sheets, making 113 saves and even providing an assist in his inaugural Premier League season.
The Bees have a pretty rough start to the campaign with trips to Anfield, the Etihad and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium scheduled in their first five games so you might want to buy another first-choice stopper with more favourable fixtures in those weeks.
Price: £4.5m Points in 2023-24: 119
from Fantasy Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/ZvrjCGW
via IFTTT
It’s 10am on Saturday and Michelle Gargate, the owner of The Blue Boar pub, is about to open the doors. She’s anticipating a busy day ahead.
In three hours, Southend United will face Gillingham at Roots Hall, situated just 350 yards away from the pub where the club was formed in 1906. It may only be a pre-season friendly, but it is a significant occasion for thousands of supporters, heralding the start of a new era that many were unsure would ever begin.
Eight days before the game, the Custodians of Southend United (COSU) consortium, led by Australian IT millionaire Justin Rees, finally completed their takeover of the club, ending the disastrous 26-year reign of former owner Ron Martin.
On 26 June, the latest in a long line of HMRC winding-up petitions issued against Southend was dismissed. For the first time in forever, fans can allow themselves to be more concerned about results on the pitch than results in the courtroom.
i arrives at The Blue Boar at 10.30 and there are already pockets of people congregating around the bar which doubles up as a shrine to the Shrimpers.
A vibrant collection of classic shirts hang neatly from the ceiling, flags adorn the windows and photographs of famous days and favourite players from the club’s history are fixed to the walls.
A signed Freddy Eastwood shirt, from Southend’s memorable 1-0 humbling of Manchester United in 2006, is understandably given a position of prominence.
There is a palpable buzz about the place. Virtually everyone present is wearing one of the club’s shirts for the new season despite them going on sale just 24 hours before.
Over 3,500 season tickets have been sold only a week after release, already marking an increase from the 3,000 that were shifted for the 2023-24 campaign. Sunlight streams through the windows of a room that for so long was a vessel for doom and gloom.
Gargate is also on the board of The Shrimpers Trust, the club’s largest supporters group, and was previously involved with Save Our Southend, a protest group that sprung up during lockdown during a particularly perilous period for the club.
“I lost my voice on Friday and it hasn’t come back yet!” she tells i.
“It’s been great. There’s so much good feeling, everyone’s really positive. I think it has kind of caught everyone a little bit off guard.
“Today almost feels like the first game of the season, even though it’s a friendly. We haven’t had a friendly at Roots Hall for over two years. Last year, all our home friendlies got cancelled because the stadium didn’t have a safety certificate.”
The timing of the announcement came as a surprise. There have been a few false dawns over the past 12 months. COSU agreed to buy the club last October and contracts were exchanged just before Christmas, but complications surrounding the Fossetts Farm housing development delayed the takeover.
Martin had long planned to relocate Southend to the site and received clearance to do so from Southend-on-Sea council. However, COSU pledged to keep the club at Roots Hall, their home since 1955. A new Fossets Farm project without the stadium needed to be ratified, which included a deal for £20m of profits from residential development at the site to be given to Southend to rebuild Roots Hall. Negotiation between the three parties became more protracted than anyone envisaged.
Uncertainty swirled as delays mounted. In April, Stewarts Law LLP lodged a winding-up application to the high court over unpaid fees and on 24 June, the National League ordered the club to pay a £1m bond within five days due to concerns about their “ability to fulfil financial obligations” for the 2024-25 season. Fans naturally became twitchy that Rees, who had already committed £3.5m in funding to the club, would cut his losses and walk away.
Thankfully, a compromise was reached and documents were finally signed off, allowing the change in ownership to proceed. It is a team effort – there are 10 consortium members, many of whom are lifelong fans including Tom Lawrence, the CEO who has been in position since March 2021 – but Rees is the figurehead of the new regime and the poster boy for what supporters will hope can be a prosperous future.
Underneath the blue plaque which commemorates Southend’s inauguration at The Blue Boar is a cardboard cut-out mask of the new chairman’s face. There are more inside the premises too. Around 90 minutes before kick-off, the man himself crosses the pub’s threshold. He’s one of 800 people that has managed to secure himself a brand new Southend shirt.
Within seconds, Rees is posing for selfies and being asked by every supporter he meets what he would like to drink. He kindly peels himself away briefly to speak to i, with a freshly poured pint of Moretti in hand.
“I think that for the fans, it’s probably been more that outpouring of joy and ecstasy,” he says. “For me, it was probably more relief. It was a very, very difficult process. We could have lost a lot of money and of course, a year of our lives and achieved nothing.
“I mean maybe all’s well that ends well, but it was a very, very difficult year. But maybe the more arduous the journey, the more enjoyable the next chapter will be. Maybe it’s easy to say that now! Try to get me saying that two weeks ago…”
Justin Rees in The Blue Boar (Photo: i)A mask of Justin Rees’ face outside The Blue Bar (Photo: i)(Photo: i)
In 2021, Rees was on the lookout for a new challenge after selling his majority stake in the hugely successful IT and consultancy company that he had co-founded a few years previously. His love of football, inspired by his English father, and expertise in project management drew him to Southend, a historic club in need of salvation.
“I don’t know if obsession is the right word but it’s the one that comes to mind,” he says. “Ever since I came here, I was like, ‘I want to do this’. I couldn’t envisage how to do it, I didn’t know how the deal would eventually look, I didn’t know I was going to put a consortium together or know anyone in the consortium. But as soon as I was here, I knew this was what I wanted to do in my next chapter.
“It just feels right and it just feels like where I want to be. It’s a wonderful story. It’s one of those where I think you can see the impact that a well-run club will have not just on the fans but on the whole city. It’s important and it kind of feels… it’s a bit of a privilege actually to go ‘hey, I think I can help with this situation’.”
He attended his first game in October, a 5-0 victory against Solihull Moors. By that point, Southend had already got under the Sydneysider’s skin in a way that only football clubs can.
He has visited regularly ever since, often stopping by at The Blue Boar for a drink before and after games, as well as in other Southend supporter strangleholds, The Spreadeagle and The Railway.
The Australian’s down-to-earth persona and desire to engage with the community have further endeared him to Southend supporters who are just happy to have anyone other than Martin in charge.
“The relationship with the fans is important because obviously we’re in a honeymoon period now, but that relationship has to be maintained relentlessly forever, you know? You can’t just have a good few months,” he admits.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re always listening to fans and to do that efficiently we’re going to put a fan advisory board in place and ensure there are efficient ways of fan voices coming up to the board.
“And then of course all the interactions you have in the community, in the pubs, they all add to it. So we’ve got to have some official channels and we’ve always got to be listening to fans and not lose that connection.
“There are signs that the fans are really ready to get behind the club, which we already knew, but also local businesses too. We’ve announced a lot of sponsorships this year. [Front of shirt sponsor] CTC is a big brand, a big regional brand. So more businesses are wanting to be part of that story and part of the next chapter.”
“I love the fact they’re so they’re so about the community,” Gargate adds. “They’re not just about trying to make the club amazing, they are trying to make the city amazing. And they’re getting involved in a lot of projects like the Southend City Jam [art festival].
“They are very much into supporting the pub, supporting the fish shop, supporting everybody. So I really like that about them. They’re really grounded and it’s really refreshing and really nice to have the complete opposite of what we’ve been used to.”
Getting the fanbase onside was the easy bit. Renovating the stadium will be a far bigger challenge. Bringing Roots Hall into the 21st century features prominently on the consortium’s list of priorities.
The Burger Bar inside Roots Hall (Photo: i)
i was warned what to expect from Rees beforehand. “Our facilities are tired. You’re going to Roots Hall after this. It needs a refurb.”
He may have undersold it. Years of neglect have left it looking almost apocalyptical. A lovingly cared-for pitch and the presence of human life in the stands are the only indicators that it is a facility still in regular use and not a white elephant.
The stadium’s facade is characterised by cobwebs and peeling paint. Inside, a burger stand looks frozen in time. The blue and yellow seats are faded, some to the point of being virtually colourless. A toilet seat lies detached from its bowl in the men’s cubicle behind the stand where Rees sits. Scaffolding casts a shadow over one of the goalmouths.
Despite the clamour for tickets, the attendance is just 2,225, less than a fifth of the overall capacity, because vast swathes of the stadium are unsafe for use.
Rees is confident that the team itself is in much better shape. Manager Kevin Maher, a club legend as a player, has worked wonders over the past three years, while veteran head of football John Still possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of the lower leagues. The squad possesses individual quality too.
Josh Walker, the scorer of a well-taken goal just after half-time, and Harry Cardwell, a tall, technically accomplished centre-forward, are standout performers in an evenly contested game that League Two Gillingham win 3-1. The defeat fails to dull the swell of optimism that has taken hold and supporters stay behind to applaud Maher and the squad.
It is Southend’s last home game before the National League season gets underway. They host York City on the opening day in a fixture that is noteworthy for the generosity shown by their visitors during tough times.
“York helped us out an awful lot when we were going through our worst times when our staff weren’t being paid,” Gargate says.
“Their fans actually collected for us outside their stadium. Matt Uggla, the York chairman, put £10,000 into the hardship fund. So we owe a lot to York. If it wasn’t for them our staff probably wouldn’t have been paid, we probably would have been kicked out of the league and we wouldn’t still be standing. So it’s really nice that our celebration day will be when York are here as well.”
Rees will be in attendance again. The chance to watch the club play in a competitive fixture for the first time under his ownership is not one to be missed.
He is under no illusions – he knows this will be anything but a quick fix. A Wrexham-style ascent up the divisions would obviously be welcomed but is not the dream being pitched. Instead, sensible sustainability is being preached.
“I think there’s a logical five-year plan for the club,” Rees says. “To renovate the stadium and all the other facilities. By doing that we can be a financially stable club with better facilities to allow us to then achieve our potential on the pitch and move up the divisions.
“That’s what every football club should aim for, particularly one of this size. Five years feels about right to restructure things and bring the club forward to where it needs to be.”
Given the instability and chaos that has defined the club’s recent past, a steady approach suits Southend supporters just fine.
“They are more looking at the long-term plan, which I like,” Gargate says.
“I would much rather somebody come in who’s sensible, who wants to get the basics right and pay the staff, maintain the stadium, get all the fans on board – which they pretty much have already – and then build on that rather than having some rich owner that will just come in, blow some cash and bugger off and leave us high and dry.”
Southend’s supporters have long been unified. A collective effort to pressurise Martin into selling the club required collaboration. Various fan groups mobilised as one, bound by a common goal. Now that unity is being channelled into something more positive. Hope for the future has replaced a fear of tomorrow.
“The Trust do so much work than I had initially realised,” Gargate says. “They do so much in terms of fundraising and behind the scenes like liaising with the council and the consortium and with the FSA and all sorts of different governing bodies to try and do what they can.
“There’s been so much happening in the background. But it’s paid off because we have now got what we wanted in the first place, which is our club back.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/NwHyDRZ
COTTINGHAM — Tim Walter’s voice booms out over the plush green training pitches at Hull City’s Cottingham training ground.
We are deep into week four of pre-season and the Championship’s opening weekend is hurtling into view. Time is of the essence.
“No, no, no! Not like this, it’s too narrow!” Walter shouts, calling a halt to the fast-paced 9 v 9 game.
Quick, to the point instructions follow before the action resumes. It’s a blur of black and green, all high tempo sprinting and short, sharp passes with players facing goal.
In the middle Xavier Simons, Hull’s 21-year-old holding midfielder being readied for a big role this season, stands out as the only man wearing a white bib.
He’s “the joker” today, playing for both sides with a remit to find the right positions to open up spaces for teammates on both sides while also being burdened with defensive responsibilities.
Forget passing drills or shooting sessions, it has been as intense as this all summer at Hull.
Some days the pitch has been redrawn for them to work on width or diagonals, others days they have played with no bounces allowed.
Every session carries a challenge or scenario to hammer home Walter’s key principles and a common theme is “pressure” – training players to be “awake” and available to win the ball and then move at pace at all times.
It is, insiders tell i, unlike any pre-season they’ve ever seen before.
And at the centre of it is German boss Walter, who hopes to bring an attacking style he boldly declares is “unlike anyone else’s in the world”.
So what does that entail? Put it this way, he enthusiastically endorses the description of it by a journalist who had watched his teams at Hamburg as “heart attack football”.
High press, high energy, high reward is the long and short of it.
It will be fascinating to see how it plays out in one of the competitive leagues in Europe.
The German’s appointment is not without risk, given his managerial philosophy (Photo: Hull City)
Walter is a intriguing hire, pitching up in England after stints as a youth coach at Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich before progressing to manage Holstein Kiel, Stuttgart and Hamburg.
It is the 48-year-old’s last posting that piqued the interest of Acun Ilicali, the high-profile Hull owner who tired of predecessor Liam Rosenoir’s more cautious style.
Despite successive promotion play-off defeats his Hamburg team scored 202 goals over his 104 games in charge.
Over three years in the job he accrued a +61 goal difference and that was not by accident.
But will the same style work in East Yorkshire and lead Hull to a return to the Premier League after a nine year absence?
During a fascinating morning this week, i was given behind-the-scenes access to Walter’s work-in-progress.
As part of his pre-season programme he has broken the pitch into thirds.
The first fortnight was spent on the defensive third, the second on the attacking third.
Now they are working on the middle third, in Walter’s words, “trying to find solutions but keeping to their principles”.
“Conquer the ball” is one of this favourite phrases. His players are told to get straight back into counter pressing mode as soon as they lose the ball. Take risks, he continually tells them.
It’s remarkable for a manager in the middle of pre-season to be so open about his preparation but Walter isn’t worried about giving the game away.
“There are no secrets. I am open like a book because I know that what I do, nobody else in the world does it. Nobody can copy it,” he tells i later in his office.
“I don’t have a big influence, it’s all myself, it’s my style, it doesn’t matter if other people don’t like it. I play possession in a different way. Of course we are all trying to get to the same goal: winning. But I do it in my own way.
“My style is more fluid. It’s from the back to the forward and not dropping back from the front to the back.
“You normally have players between the lines, like the number eight or central midfielder, and they drop back to get the ball but they do it in a closed body position.
“I want them to stay open, in an open body position, and step into the ball and not come from the front to the back [to receive it]. If you go to your own goal you’re always in a closed body position so I try to bring everything to the front.
“Laying back and waiting for another team to make a mistake is not how I like to play. I’m not a reactive manager, I try to think about offence.
“Maybe you make more mistakes that way – somebody said to me that’s more risky – but it’s all about courage and self-confidence.
“At the beginning you might see more mistakes but I’m open to it if they make mistakes. If they make mistakes, it’s me who makes mistakes. That’s what I told them from the start. They have to be brave, they have to be convinced and making mistakes is how they learn.
“I told them if they do it like that I’ll be the happiest gaffer they can have.”
Turkey winger Abdulkadir Omur is one of Hull City’s star players (Photo: Hull City)
Walter admits his philosophy requires most of the players to be “reprogrammed”, one of the reasons he is holding two two-hour sessions a day through the summer.
The flat screen TV on the training ground canteen announces to the players the second one starts at 2pm and it will be more more technical, focusing on tactics.
It’ll also be a bit less physically intense but Walter admits there is a psychological element to these “two-a-days”. Encouraging players to push to their limits and maintain focus as limbs weary is key.
“It’s creating a mentality. You have to go out, you have to step over a point even if you’re tried you have to do it again. You go out with your heart full and with the intention to develop,” he says.
“That’s the mentality you need across the whole league, over the whole year because it is a very demanding league.”
And the hard work is combined with morale-building off it.
On Wednesday the squad decamped to the local David Lloyd centre for a tennis tournament, Walter paired with Lewie Coyle in the doubles. He declines to say how they got on.
“It’s the part of the job I love. I love being around the players, I want them to be happy to come to the club and to create a family here,” he says.
“I try to be normal with everyone here, I try to treat all the staff the same. We all work hard, we’re all important and just because I’m the gaffer I’m not better than them.”
Local optimism at a bold appointment has been tempered somewhat by a summer of major upheaval at the MKM Stadium, Rosenoir’s exit preceding an exodus of players and the return of high-profile loan signings like Fabio Carvalho and Liam Delap to parent clubs.
Trust remains high in popular owner Ilicali – who has invested heavily in Hull – but after the departure of Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene there is no escaping the fact the squad needs additions and fast.
Pre-season defeats have set alarm bells ringing for some supporters and even though Walter isn’t worried, fielding a youthful side at Doncaster in midweek was a reflection of his limited resources.
“We need more players but they have to be the right players,” Walter admits.
“If you don’t get the right players in for my philosophy [it is no good]. To get the right players to play under me maybe you have to take a closer look, talk more to them.
“Maybe if you know a player is a good crosser or a fast winger that’s enough for some managers but for me it’s more so it’s more difficult to find a player, especially at the back, where we need to find someone who is stepping in, who is dribbling, who is brave. Or maybe a full-back who is playing more than a central midfield.
“It’s a hard job but it’s fun! Finding the right players – it’s the most important job in the world to me.”
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali faces a busy summer at the MKM Stadium (Photo: Getty)
The size of the rebuild still to be carried out should not be underestimated.
Walter believes the number of new arrivals still required extends to double figures, with “up to five” coming in on loan.
“At the moment we have eight or nine players, the rest are young, they have a good quality but need time to develop, especially for the Championship. So we need, maybe, 10 more,” he says. He has “confidence” Hull’s transfer team will deliver.
On the day i visits, a triallist goalkeeper is being put through his paces. There is interest, too, in Wigan Athletic’s promising England Under-21 centre-back Charlie Hughes.
If it feels like things are still up in the air on-the-field, Walter’s office reflects that.
He apologises for the untidiness and there’s an open suitcase on one of the chairs and a tube of toothpaste on the desk.
He is working long hours – “I’m a football obsessive,” he admits – and living in a nearby hotel that is a short drive from their training base. His family are due to join him in England in November.
“It’s hard not to be with them, I miss the warmth of them around. But that’s football, it’s the same everywhere,” he says.
He signed a three-year deal and says he’s it in for the long-term, with the Premier League his aim.
Cynics might point to Turkish media mogul Ilicali sacking Rosenoir as proof Hull is a poisoned chalice but Walter says he is on the same page as the ownership.
“At the beginning, before I took the job, I had a really good conversation with them and it was open,” he says.
“I’m not 100 per cent German so maybe that fits better for the Turkish mentality. My grandfather was Hungarian and my other grandfather was Ukrainian so I have kind of different mentalities in myself too.
“Maybe I find it easier to open myself up to the South Eastern mentality like the Turkish and we have an open relationship with the management, we talk a lot to each other, trust each other and if we have a different opinion on something I’ll tell them. They like that and I like it that way.”
For neutrals it will be fascinating to watch it play out.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/dtXx1rg
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been heavily criticised for saying he believes Premier League fixtures abroad are inevitable.
The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) passed a motion at its AGM last week opposing competitive British football matches taking place overseas, a concept first raised by the Premier League in 2008.
In a statement, the FSA said: “We defeated Game 39 in 2008 and we’d attack any attempted revival with a full blown, two feet off the ground, studs to the knee tackle.
“Dear @MayorofLondon – a quick question. Are you really saying you’d be happy to see the North London derby played in LA or NYC?
“We suggest you talk to matchgoers [or the PM!] to find out what supporters really want – and we’re happy to meet you.”
The FSA also referenced a Labour manifesto pledge committing to “making Britain the best place in the world to be a football fan”.
“We’re not sure how moving games abroad against supporter wishes fits with making this country the best place to watch football [or how it fits into environmental/sustainability pledges],” it continued.
The Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust also said they “strongly oppose any Premier League games being played overseas”, while fan website We Are Brighton said on X: “When a politician from the party of government comes out and says something like this, it gives clubs [like Brighton] who don’t want an independent regulator ammo to their claims the government can’t be trusted to set one up.
“Just keep quiet next time, Sadiq Khan. Please.”
Discussions of Premier League matches being played in the United States have intensified recently, with NBC Sports’ Jon Miller saying the network hoped to air matches across the pond soon.
This led chief executive Richard Masters to say the “door looks ajar” for future games in the US, with the prospect of a Manchester United vs Chelsea match in New York reportedly very appealing.
Nine Premier League clubs are majority-owned by Americans, with four of the Big Six under US ownership, including Chelsea and Manchester United.
Birmingham City even recently asked for permission to play next season’s League One match against fellow American-owned side Wrexham in the US.
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has also lent his support, while owner John Henry played down those claims, but there is undoubtedly a growing sentiment towards a move abroad which would make financial sense for both the league and owners.
Speaking on The Sports Agents podcast, Khan said: “I think that’s the way it’s going.
“We’ve seen some other leagues across Europe have some of their competitive games held elsewhere. All 32 NFL teams have now played in London and all of them have had a great experience. We have some of the top baseball teams now playing in London.
“We’ve got seven Premier League clubs in London but when you look at the way the Premier League works, a lot of the revenue they receive is TV rights.
“Liverpool, the team that I support, are currently on tour in America. I think the point that the Premier League would make and some of the owners would make is, why can’t their fans in those countries benefit from a competitive game?
“The key thing for me is to make sure our fans don’t lose out. The thing we’ve learned from American football is often when the players go back to America the next game is an issue because of time zone, because of diet and so forth.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/nLzdOxv
Chelsea began their marathon pre-season tour of the USA with a 2-2 draw against League One side Wrexham.
Across the next 11 days, Enzo Maresca’s side will play four more matches across four different states, travelling from coast to coast.
Celtic, fresh from beating Manchester City, are their next opponents on Saturday, before matches against Club America, Man City and Real Madrid.
There is huge expectation on Maresca to make the most of Chelsea’s £1.2bn squad, with this summer considered the fourth and final window of the rebuild under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s ownership.
So here are five problems he should use this summer to work out ahead of the first game of the Premier League season – against City at Stamford Bridge on 18 August.
Who should start at centre-back?
Perhaps Chelsea’s most obviously complete and varied group in any position, settling on a starting central defensive pairing is going to be one of Maresca’s most difficult and crucial choices.
Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong, Levi Colwill and Benoit Badiashile have all travelled to the US, with Trevoh Chalobah left behind as the club attempt to force him into a move away.
A lack of consistency at centre-back was one of Mauricio Pochettino’s biggest defensive failings last season, with injuries and underperformance leading to constant changes.
One of the major factors in this decision will be how well Fofana has recovered from the ACL injury which ruled him out for almost a year – he has not played competitively since the final day of the 2022-23 season.
Signed for £70m, Fofana may well be Chelsea’s most talented centre-back on the basis of his performances at Leicester, but recovering pyschologically from an injury of that magnitude will take time.
Another massive boost to Chelsea’s defensive prospects is Romeo Lavia’s return to full fitness, with the 20-year-old set to sit in front of the defensive line and hopefully provide more protection than they were afforded last season.
Where does Christopher Nkunku fit in?
Some of Christopher Nkunku’s best Chelsea moments have come in pre-season games – it’s now a matter of staying fit into the season proper and maintaining the level of performance.
The Frenchman scored the opener against Wrexham, adding to his three goals in pre-season in 2023 – as many goals as he scored for Chelsea all last season.
But assuming he stays fit, Maresca has a major choice to make about where he fits in best, with striker and left-wing the most likely options.
A lot of this is likely to depend on whether the Italian trusts Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling or Mykhailo Mudryk more to start consistently.
Maresca has said he sees Nkunku’s versatility as a massive plus and that he doesn’t believe moving players round the pitch is an issue – he views it as a key trait for his squad.
“He can play everywhere,” Maresca said.
“He’s one of the players that in these two weeks [of pre-season] is doing very, very well.
“What we are going to try is to try to have players that they can play in different positions, that’s the way I see the football, and also that’s the way I like to work every day to try to improve players and help them not only play in one position, [but] that they can play in different positions.
“Also because sometimes many players say I can play as a winger and it’s for them it’s just there [in one position], but I don’t think if you move them five, 10 metres inside, that there are big changes.”
Do Chelsea need another left-back?
You do have to feel slightly sorry for Levi Colwill. Having spent most of last season out of position at left-back, he was given the No 6 shirt and told he would be playing at centre-back, only to then start on the left in the first game of pre-season.
Of course, in practice he was largely the left centre-back in a three as Reece James and Malo Gusto inverted so often as to largely become central midfielders.
But this does raise the issue of Chelsea’s left-sided problem – does Maresca currently have a left-back he can trust?
Ben Chilwell came off the bench against Wrexham but does not fit what a Guardiola disciple like Maresca looks for in a full-back, more inclined to push up the pitch and stretch play.
This may well push him towards the exit, leaving Marc Cucurella, new signing Renato Veiga and Colwill as the only players comfortable at left-back.
As Cucurella showed at Euro 2024, he is still an elite defender when used correctly, which Maresca is likely to do.
But this still leaves Chelsea short on options, meaning a new left-back should be high up their priority list.
What to do with Sterling and Mudryk
Given the personnel they have available, left-wing should not be a problem area for Chelsea, but there is no denying it has been.
Sterling and Mudryk are the two first-choice left-sided attackers, likely now joined by Nkunku, but both the former options are at crucial junctures in their careers.
At 29, Sterling risks wasting the last of his supposed prime years if he continues to underperform, even if his 10 goals last season is far better than his regular showings appeared to merit.
He should be one of Chelsea’s leading figures, probably the most senior figure in the dressing room by the end of the summer and a player who has had huge success under Guardiola, Maresca’s mentor and former boss.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Mudryk appears in desperate need of instruction and direction, needing consistent performances and the right coaching to begin reaching his obvious potential.
How Maresca handles the pair will be crucial to how his attack functions, with the pair possessing the speed and technical ability to break down low blocks.
Maresca appears confident that Enzo Fernandez will easily reintegrate into the Chelsea squad after chanting racist and transphobic slurs about members of the France squad, but it is unlikely to be that easy.
The former Leicester boss said: “It is quite easy in terms of the player doing a statement to apologise.
“The club did the same, so I don’t think there is something to add in terms of the situation. It is already clear and clarified.”
Yet considering Fofana has still not taken down the post in which he called Fernandez’s chant “uninhibited racism” and Chelsea have seven black or mixed-race French players in their ranks, tension may be difficult to resolve once the Argentine returns.
Given the number of key players involved in the row, Maresca’s ability to diffuse the situation while not excusing Fernandez’s behaviour could define his Chelsea career before it’s really begun.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/IbjiNfT
The decision makers at Fantasy Premier League HQ have given managers plenty to think about ahead of the 2024-25 season after slapping a prohibitive £15m price tag on Erling Haaland.
That represents a sizeable £1m increase compared to last summer and makes the Manchester City striker at least £2.5m more expensive than any other player in the game.
Haaland’s inflated fee makes it harder to squeeze as many premium assets into your FPL squads for Gameweek 1.
If you want to buy the three most expensive players in the game – Haaland, Mo Salah (£12.5m) and Cole Palmer (£10.5m) – you’ll have just £62m left to spend on the remaining 12 positions, which is roughly £5m per player.
It threatens to shake the game up, though, with Haaland’s ownership currently hovering just over 33 per cent. In previous years, he has been picked by well over 80 per cent of bosses. Unless Haaland makes himself indispensable by bagging a hat-trick or two in the opening weeks, there should be more variety to people’s teams, which can only be a good thing.
Even if you plan to go without him, price rises to other popular players will force FPL bosses to scour the market for bargains.
Palmer has risen by £5.5m after topping the rankings last season, while Bukayo Saka now costs £10m (up from £8.5m), Son Heung-min is priced at £10m (up from £9m) and Phil Foden is valued at £9.5m (an increase of £2m).
Here are the best low-budget buys to consider next season:
Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace)
Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) is proving to be extremely popular after amassing 121 points last season (just one shy of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s total) and while the Dane offers exceptional value, Daniel Munoz could prove to be worth the extra £0.5m investment.
The Colombian wing-back slotted in seamlessly at Selhurst Park after joining in January. No defender provided more assists than Munoz (with four) from his debut until the end of the campaign and he maintained that form at Copa America by scoring twice and setting another goal up in only five appearances.
Position: Defender Price: £5m Points in 2023-24: 56
Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Unai Emery has bolstered his attacking department ahead of Aston Villa’s inaugural season in the Champions League but Morgan Rogers should still get plenty of game time after impressing following his mid-season move from Middlesbrough.
The England U21 international scored three goals and provided an assist in eight league starts and was often deployed as a second striker behind Ollie Watkins.
Position: Midfielder Price: £5m Points in 2023-24: 35
Somewhat surprisingly, Joao Pedro’s price has remained unchanged from last year despite the Brazilian enjoying an encouraging debut campaign with Brighton.
Pedro scored nine Premier League goals and also contributed three assists. Four of his goals came via the penalty spot and with Pascal Gross potentially on his way to Borussia Dortmund, he should remain the first-choice taker this season.
Position: Forward Price: £5.5m Points in 2023-24: 104
The talented No 10 has struggled for game-time over the past two seasons but he could be a great option in FPL if he moves clubs and rediscovers his 2021-22 form when he netted 10 times and set up two assists for the Gunners.
Position: Midfielder Price: £5.5m Points in 2023-24: 25
Jorgen Strand Larsen (Wolves)
Premier League defenders will have a second towering Norwegian striker to worry about in 2024-25 following Wolves’ capture of the 6ft 4ins man mountain Jorgen Strand Larsen from Celta Vigo.
Strand Larsen has joined on an initial loan deal but Wolves have committed to buying him outright for €30m (£25.2m) next summer which suggests he will be a key player under Gary O’Neil. He scored 13 times in La Liga in 2023-24, although surprisingly given his height only twice with his head.
Position: Forward Price: £5.5m Points in 2023-24: N/A
Leny Yoro, Manchester United’s new signing from Lille, has been priced cheaper than FPL managers might have expected considering he is expected to become an important player for Erik ten Hag.
With Raphael Varane moving on this summer, the teenage Frenchman looks set to play plenty of games as United attempt to build upon their FA Cup triumph at the end of last season.
Position: Defender Price: £4.5m Points in 2023-24: N/A
Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
Christopher Nkunku had a forgettable debut year at Chelsea as injuries restricted him to only 11 Premier League appearances, of which just two came from the start. As a result, his price tag has been slashed to just £6.5m.
The Frenchman has looked sharp in pre-season and if he can shake off his fitness issues he could prove to be a snip at that price. That he has been reclassified as a midfielder, after previously being listed as a forward, further adds to his appeal given he will earn an extra point for every goal scored.
Position: Midfielder Price: £6.5m Points in 2023-24: 29
Wout Faes (Leicester)
It’s always handy having a cheap, guaranteed starter on your bench in case you ever need them to come on and Wout Faes looks to be the standout £4m defender after starting 43 times for Leicester in the Championship.
The Belgian provides some goal threat too having averaged two goals per season over the last four campaigns. If you do pick him, just be warned that he managed two own goals in the same game against Liverpool the last time the Foxes were in the top-flight…
Position: Defender Price: £4m Points in 2023-24: N/A
Rodrigo Muniz (Fulham)
Rodrigo Muniz’s spectacular run of form during the second half of last season has seen him rewarded with Fulham’s No 9 shirt vacated by Aleksandar Mitrovic last summer.
The Brazilian scored nine goals in his final 16 appearances of the campaign, a total that was only bettered by three forwards – Jean-Philippe Mateta, Haaland and Alexander Isak – in that period.
Position: Forward Price: £6m Points in 2023-24: N/A
Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton)
Only Arsenal kept more clean sheets than Everton in 2023-24 which makes the Toffees an obvious team to target for defensive reinforcements.
Jordan Pickford (£5m) is a nice option, but Vitaliy Mykolenko is £0.5m cheaper and carries some attacking threat. The Ukrainian left-back scored two goals and set another one up for Sean Dyche’s side last term.
Position: Defender Price: £4.5m Points in 2023-24: 101
from Fantasy Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/TYynELO
via IFTTT
