World news

WEMBLEY — Part of the reason why Arsenal were odds-on favourites to win the season’s first piece of silverware was how Manchester City have drifted at a time of year when they are normally at their unstoppable best.

The business end of the season is where Pep Guardiola’s men activate beast mode, where everything that dares cross their path is swept aside with aplomb. Of late, their expensively-assembled side has looked distinctly ordinary – even Erling Haaland appearing more human than ever, picking the wrong time to endure the worst goalscoring spell of his career.

Before the end of March, Arsenal not only had the chance to breathe life into their quadruple dream by earning that expected victory over an incongruously timid City, they effectively could have hammered the final nail into their coffin of the league title challenge, potentially Guardiola’s final tilt, too.

Instead, one selection in particular, along with that profound inability to get over the line when it really matters, could have even more damaging consequences in the coming weeks.

"Kepa's lost it, AND O'REILLY HAS STOLEN!"

Manchester City take the lead at Wembley! pic.twitter.com/L9KFaERBmn

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 22, 2026

Sticking by Kepa Arrizabalaga is in some ways admirable. The Spanish deputy goalkeeper had played all the previous Carabao Cup rounds enroute to the final. But, with the outcome of the first showpiece of the season carrying so much more meaning than just a trophy, no chances, on an error-prone stopper, should have been taken. Arsenal haven’t even won a trophy for five years, after all.

City followed suit, in giving their number two keeper, James Trafford, his chance. But the difference in dependability between the two teams’ respective backup stoppers is night and day. Kepa has played in three League Cup finals without winning any, famously refusing to be substituted off by Maurizio Sarri before a penalty shootout in 2019 and then blasting the decisive spot-kick over the bar as Chelsea lost to Liverpool in 2022. It’s the joint-most finals played by any player in the competition’s history without ever being on the cup-winning side. Which tells you all you need to know.

“I have to do what I think is right, honest and fair,” Arteta said after the match. “It would have been very, very unfair on him [Kepa] and on the team to do something different.” A fair play award isn’t going to suffice this season, though.

David Raya is Mr Reliable. The best goalkeeper in the league. Even Europe. Would he have let Rayan Cherki’s cross slip through his hands on the hour mark to allow Nico O’Reilly to set City on the road to victory? Almost certainly not. This is where finals of the barest of margins are won and lost.

City were there for the taking in the first half. Guardiola’s offensive 4-2-4 out of possession leaves them vulnerable. But even before taking to the pitch at Wembley, the Catalan’s extraordinary 22nd semi-final or final appearance at England’s footballing home, Arsenal had the psychological edge.

Successive seasons of getting so close has given Arsenal that extra determination needed to break their Premier League title drought. So much hard work, albeit less aesthetically pleasing endeavours than previous title winners, had gone into getting the Gunners into a quadruple-threatening position.

They had City on the ropes early on. A triple save from Trafford is all that kept Arsenal at bay. From the seventh-minute onwards, until they had to throw in the kitchen sink late on, Arteta’s side did not create another open-play chance.

Some Arsenal players suggested post match that two weeks until the next game will give them time to regroup, with Arteta also claiming: “We are going to use this fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months.”

That time could, however, get into their heads and cause an overthink, allowing the jitters to creep in. Those amazing two months should have began in earnest on Sunday. Instead, the worst-possible outcome took place – Guardiola has been sparked into life.

And, more often than not, that means only one thing.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/2dChbtn

WEMBLEY — The local boy, with a 0161 postcode on his arm, keeps Pep Guardiola’s fire burning strong. Ending Arsenal’s quadruple dreams as quickly as they had become a realistic possibility.

Nico O’Reilly is another of Guardiola’s inventions – an attacking player deployed as a full-back. He has played in six positions this season alone, but a goalscorer he is not.

The most unlikely of O’Reilly braces was a result of a devastating second-half Manchester City display that not even one of the best defensive units in Premier League history could contain.

Nico O'Reilly scores ANOTHER! pic.twitter.com/AhPZ29VCKP

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 22, 2026

Arsenal still have so much to play for this term, so will not be too downbeat at losing a Carabao Cup final. What is most concerning is who they lost to, and the galvanising effect it could have on a team who have made long winning streaks their calling card down the years.

Just as it did in the Bernabeu a few weeks ago, Guardiola’s 4-2-4 system left City too open in the opening exchanges.

A stunning triple save from James Trafford – getting his chance in the Carabao Cup again – kept the Gunners at bay early, after a move that sliced right through the centre of the vulnerable City rearguard.

Arsenal, however, failed to pick that final pass for the remainder of the opening period. The only threat coming, of course, from set plays. “Boring, boring Arsenal” boomed down from the City end at Wembley. In the first half, Jeremy Doku, who was hardly a huge threat, completed three dribbles alone, two more than the entire Arsenal side.

Erling Haaland, without a career goal in a final, headed City’s best first-half chance over. Slowly but surely Guardiola’s side grasped how this attritional encounter would be won – by throwing caution to the wind.

Without Ruben Dias at centre-back, City came out for the second half with a mentality akin to the great Brazilian teams of yesteryear – the best form of defence is to attack, constantly.

For 20 minutes after the break, it was all City, with wave after wave of blue endeavour proving too much for even Arsenal’s near-impenetrable defensive force.

The major surprise was the identity of that matchwinner. A day after becoming legally able to drink in the United States, two headers from a left-back halted Arsenal in their quadruple-hunting tracks.

It was somewhat churlish to think Kepa Arrizabalaga, in the Arsenal goal, was not going to have a major say in the outcome. The man who famously refused to be substituted by Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri in 2019, took his life into his own hands when bringing Doku down outside the penalty area, receiving a yellow card.

Not done there, Kepa let Rayan Cherki’s cross, and Arsenal’s quadruple hopes, slip through his fingers, on the hour mark, O’Reilly on hand to set the ball rolling.

"Kepa's lost it, AND O'REILLY HAS STOLEN!"

Manchester City take the lead at Wembley! pic.twitter.com/L9KFaERBmn

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 22, 2026

Less than four minutes later, the Mancunian was on hand again to put the encounter to bed, this time from a Matheus Nunes pickout.

Somewhat uncharacteristically, Guardiola charged down the touchline to celebrate, like a mechanical hare around a greyhound track. That flame still burning on his 22nd visit to Wembley. Jurgen Klopp has the next highest number of appearances in that time, at five.

Arsenal struck the woodwork twice as they chased a way back into the match – Riccardo Calafiori flicking the base of the post and Gabriel Jesus heading against the crossbar.

The league leaders, however, got what they deserved. Don’t write this City team off on other fronts, too.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/8GhyOs6

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — What did we expect? How might it have been different when Spurs are a team led by a coach without connection to the club or its players? The selection of Igor Tudor came from nowhere, which is apt since that is where he appears to be leading Tottenham Hotspur, and with his foot on the gas.  

The minimum requirement in any match is the kind of sleeves-rolled-up fight displayed by Forest and exemplified by Elliot Anderson. In a contest between two teams fighting to stay in the top tier, who had forgotten how to win in the Premier League, Spurs winless in 2026, Forest winless in eight prior to this epic flowering, you better engage your inner dog. 

Elliot, a player lauded for his calm authority and ability to keep the wheels turning in central midfield will look at the highlights and wonder if he were not playing a game of rugby such was the time he spent in contact, hustling in and out of tackles, winning some, losing others, but always competing.

And at his shoulder a swarm of unified red shirts that appeared to be operating according to a plan. At the end, manager Vito Pereira reached out to the Forest fans whilst slapping his chest as if he had known them all his life. This might be the performative standard these days but it felt authentic and reciprocal, despite his temporary station.

You would not have known Pereira was the fourth to wear the Forest tracksuit this season. Then again, the Forest support would take any to their hearts who is remotely capable of striking up a tune on a day heavy with significance like this.

Ultimately the draw at Liverpool and the win against Atletico Madrid proved ephemeral straws for Spurs, free hits, first in a match they were not expected to win at Anfield followed by a Champions League victory in a tie that was already lost.

It was not that Spurs did not try. Kevin Danso attacked every high ball as if it had his worst enemy’s face on it. Richarlison chased across the Forest defensive line tirelessly and Mathys Tel was industry personified down the left channel, but none of it felt connected. Only Archie Gray rose above the dross to at least try to impose structure and he is only 19.

The only highlight on a dismal afternoon for Spurs was the result at Villa Park, where West Ham also lost to keep Spurs out of the bottom three. The Hammers’ ineptitude might be the only thing that can save Tottenham now. But in what has become a desperate race to the bottom, even investing in the poverty of their London rivals might not be enough for a Spurs team that has returned only one point of a possible 21. 

West Ham faced the harder assignment at Villa Park yet have taken nine points in the same period. Though they have an inferior goal difference, they trail Spurs only by a point with seven games remaining. Do the math.

The fans are, of course, the ones absorbing the pain for they are the only cohort emotionally attached to the club. This was a fixture outlined for protest. Instead an estimated 15,000 gathered along the Tottenham High Road to greet the arrival of the team, waving flags and blowing horns of unconditional support.   

“Winners” was the name etched on the back of one white shirt. Since Spurs had won only twice at home all season, the first thought was irony, and then a sense of humour. Well the sun was shining and the fans were imbued by gallows optimism.

Three goals too easily conceded brought the vibe back to reality. Tudor was spared the duty of answering for the loss by a personal matter. Standing in, Bruno Saltor clung to a 20-minute period in the first half when Spurs colonised the ball if not the big moments and the support of the fans, which was more than the club deserves.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/i1JVIdD

ST JAMES’ PARK — The Tyne-Wear derby makes or breaks reputations.

After the latest frenetic, frantic and spite-flecked instalment of this rivarly Bryan Brobbey can look forward to the prospect of never having to buy a drink again on Wearside after a brutal, brilliant throwback centre-forward display culminated in a last-minute winner. But for Eddie Howe this feels like a moment of genuine peril.

If not quite staring into the abyss, a second defeat to an injury-ravaged Sunderland – and one in which his team were out-fought, he was out-thought and fans turned at the end – leaves him teetering.

As Sunderland’s players danced in front of the jubilant travelling supporters, Howe led his players in an excruciating lap of appreciation. For the first time at St James’ Park there were loud boos from many of those who remained and that felt significant. Managers don’t always come back from the sort of anger that was expressed at the end.

Newcastle’s messaging has been consistent on him: he is their man. He gets and deserves patience, however the season ends from here. A rebuild is coming. But the size of this setback is considerable and Howe looked bereft in the press conference afterwards, glassy eyed and stunned by a Sunderland team that have twice this season looked simply like they wanted it more.

Sunderland were significantly weakened by injuries to six first-team players and began tentatively. Luke O’Nien, a surprise pick at centre-back, sliced a clearance straight to Nick Woltemade, whose instinctive pass was gobbled by Anthony Gordon. One up, Newcastle had the perfect plan.

But Regis Le Bris is one of the sharpest managers in the Premier League and his team re-adjusted. In the second half they had complete control. Chemsdine Talbi equalised – Aaron Ramsdale at fault – and then late in the game, as Newcastle’s gameplan was exposed, Brobbey struck. It was no less than they deserved.

A year on from Newcastle’s historic Carabao Cup win, Howe looked flattened by a week in which he admitted he was “disappointed by his delivery”. The second half in Barcelona was bad but this was potentially ruinous: the same problems, the same lack of solutions and the same long-term issues coming home to roost in spectacular fashion.

Comfortable and in control at half-time, how could this happen to Newcastle? It is now 22 points ceded from winning positions for Howe’s side, the worst in the Premier League. They consistently seem to get worse after half-time and experiments that aren’t working – Woltemade in midfield, Joe Willock as an impact sub and Ramsdale as the first choice goalkeeper – play on loop.

They sit in 12th in the Premier League. Two defeats to rivals that have just been promoted fall well below the standards expected and there are big problems to address.

A club that proclaim they want to be competing for everything by 2030 have been hobbled by financial rules, for sure, but a lot of their problems are self-inflicted. Poor recruitment, an inability to cope with three games in a week and an ownership that has made non-existent progress on the big picture stuff. The club’s majority owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, need to realise their project has stalled. The end of season review has to be warts and all and at the centre of it is the biggest question: is Howe still their man?

It was a grim day all round for those of a black and white persuasion. There were skirmishes in the city before the game and the match was suspended after Lutsharel Geertruida reported discriminatory abuse. Newcastle say they are investigating.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/FjSbLOy

Brighton 2-1 Liverpool (Welbeck 14’, 56’ | Kerkez 30’)

Thirty-five: the size of Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad, and the age of the top English goalscorer in the Premier League.

And yet somehow there is no room for Danny Welbeck in this bumper March edition, which took everyone by surprise when announced on Friday due to the sheer volume of players included.

Tuchel’s thinking, though initially baffling, did make sense through simple explanation, with the plan to rest a group of 11 trusted players – who have “credit” with the England manager – for the first friendly against Uruguay before then introducing them in the build-up and against Japan.

That group includes captain and sure-fire World Cup starter Harry Kane, who has been England’s first-choice striker for more than a decade and is in red-hot form for Bayern Munich this season (he scored one of the best goals you’ll see all year in the Champions League midweek).

If football is art, this is a masterpiece #UCL pic.twitter.com/O1VNYS1o7n

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 19, 2026

The role of playing deputy to Kane is therefore an unenviable one, and it arguably pushed Jamie Vardy towards international retirement in 2018 – when only 31 – given the lack of opportunities.

Welbeck though has not given up on his dream, despite last playing for his country in September 2018.

Going into the weekend, the 35-year-old told TNT Sports that he will “push every single day” when asked about his prospects of making England’s World Cup squad.

That interview was seemingly done before Friday’s snub, which evidently placed Welbeck far down Tuchel’s striker pecking order and at least behind Dominics Calvert-Lewin and Solanke, both of whom also beat Ollie Watkins to make the cut.

By Saturday lunchtime, Welbeck swiftly exposed the flaw in Tuchel’s upcoming experiment when scoring twice for Brighton against Liverpool, taking his tally to 12 in the Premier League this season.

The flaw being: if Tuchel really did want to open the floor to potential World Cup candidates, then why has the league’s leading English scorer not been handed an audition?

It is an insult to Welbeck, and perhaps why the Brighton striker cupped his ear when celebrating his opener at the Amex.

Danny Welbeck grabs his 11th Premier League goal of the season to give Brighton the lead over Liverpool @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Qco71tNCJe

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 21, 2026

More significantly, however, is that it is probably too late. England’s World Cup campaign starts in less than three months, and if Welbeck has not done enough to convince Tuchel by now, then he falls into the Trent Alexander-Arnold category of being overlooked for little reason.

Tuchel called it a “sporting decision” to pick full-backs Jarrell Quansah, Djed Spence and Tino Livramento over Alexander-Arnold in Reece James’ absence – a questionable call given the former Liverpool right-back’s experience at club and international level.

And presumably that is the case for Welbeck as well, the Brighton striker not matching the profile of player Tuchel will be looking to bring on when Kane either looks leggy or needs support, as was the case at Euro 2024 when Watkins emerged the semi-final hero.

Saturday’s showing would suggest Tuchel’s lack of belief is misplaced, with Welbeck’s link-up play as impressive as his spacial awareness for both goals, and if anything proving this humongous England squad was actually a tad too small.

The experiment could have been widened further, giving Welbeck a chance to show Tuchel in-person why he should head to the World Cup.

Instead, he will spend a fortnight away from an England camp where others will get the chance to impress, all while wondering why he hasn’t been given that shot too.

And the stinging reality? That there isn’t really a good enough explanation for his omission.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/ZoA3bjV

When Pep Guardiola arrived on our shores, within a few years he had changed how football was played at all levels.

From The Etihad to Hackney Marshes, goalkeepers were passing it out from the back – to mixed success. Defenders were selected on their ball-playing technique as much as their prowess at winning headers. Short passes proved to be the death knell for route one.

This was Mikel Arteta’s coaching upbringing. Which makes how he has steered Arsenal in with a chance of winning an unprecedented four trophies this term all the more surprising.

And equally, all the more impressive. We may not have all warmed to the Arteta-ball philosophy of free-kicks and physicality, but Guardiola’s former assistant and protege, in his first managerial role, walked into a club famed for its tika-taka approach, having only known tiki-taka at City, and gradually built a successful side in a totally different manner.

Now, just as Guardiola managed previously, other teams up and down the land, especially in the top flight, have swapped possession for aggression and employed set-piece coaches galore to attempt to match Arsenal’s unrelenting threat from corners and free-kicks.

All except one.

“Normally it happens that the team who wins, there is a tendency to copy,” Guardiola said ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against his ex-employee. “But that is a bit of a mistake because you have to feel what you have to do.

“Otherwise, in the long term, it will not work. I don’t know for Mikel, but talking for myself, when I came here I had the intention to do something differently. I tried, just with my Man City team, to play the way we played and try to get results. The rest, if it is copy and paste, it is not my business.”

Guardiola’s game has adapted over the years. It is not all about possession, with his recent purchases consisting of fast wingers, a traditional, shot-saving goalkeeper and an old school, out-and-out number nine striker.

Yet, he is the only one, even among his elite rivals, who has not put extra focus on set-piece improvement. While Arsenal lead the way for set-piece league goals this season, City have scored 14 more from open play than any other side this term.

“They (Arsenal) play a bit different to us,” City youngster Nico O’Reilly said. “They’ve got some amazing players, individual players, they play well as a team, they know what they’re doing. Sunday’s going to be a tough game. We know that. But it’ll be a tough game for them as well.”

The respect between the two rivals is there. But Guardiola’s players – by design – think the same way as their manager. Guardiola is often asked about his footballing principles honed in the Johan Cruyffian classrooms. In part, because you will always get a full answer, one laced with passion.

More meaningful discussion is sought this season as we are not sure how long the madcap Catalan is going to stick around for. All of which plays into his stoic reluctance to follow the latest Premier League trend. One perhaps exposed on the continent this week.

"An exceptional team"

Pep Guardiola on what has impressed him most during Mikel Arteta's time as Arsenal manager. pic.twitter.com/zpROx2zw78

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 20, 2026

Arsenal are odds-on favourites to garner the first trophy of the season at Wembley given this is a City team in transition. So many new signings are taking time to settle in, with big-name departures like Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson big shoes to fill.

Guardiola insists the new-look team is on the cusp of becoming another all-conquering City side. Which has led many to believe the 55-year-old is not done with the Premier League yet.

The legacy he leaves is very important to the City boss. He does not want to see everything he and the club’s hierarchy built laid to waste, and will not want to leave a team set up to fail from the start for his processor.

Whether he sees this latest incumbent blossom into the beautiful flower he thinks it can remains to be seen. What he will do in the meantime, though, is all he can to ensure elements of those attacking, open-play principles live on long into the future.

Nothing, no trophies or personal accolades, would give him more pleasure.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/UZ9KHBM

Defeat in a big European game in midweek, derby at the weekend. Newcastle United (and Sunderland) have been here before – and the aftershocks of that earthquake in April 2013 were felt for a long time.

The Magpies started that week with the tantalising prospect of a Europa League semi-final if they could overturn Benfica. But with Premier League form plateauing, a game against Paolo Di Canio’s Sunderland three days later felt just as seismic.

In the event, they exited Europe on their shield, denied by a late goal at St James’ Park after Hatem Ben Arfa had missed a glorious opportunity to take the game to extra time.

Alan Pardew had split the squad in two to cope with both games, and then lost 3-0 to Sunderland in a game that began the Black Cats’ modern-day dominance of the derby.

“Hellish” is how the former Newcastle boss describes it 13 years on.

“Trying to field a fresh team to counter the magnitude of the occasion proved too much for our slim squad,” Pardew tells The i Paper.

“We were a shadow of the team we could be on the Sunday, way below our levels. Defeat started a very low period for our staff and squad. It’s hard to explain unless you understand the fixture’s consequences.”

Pardew belongs in a select group of bosses who can appreciate the dilemma Eddie Howe faces this week. Newcastle broke new ground just by getting to Barcelona. Their season, and possibly Howe’s Magpies tenure, will feel broken if they lose on Sunday.

The Tyne-Wear derby is that kind of game. The rivalry is so bitter, the emotions so entrenched, that it has proved make-or-break for many managers down the years.

A derby win in his second game launched Gus Poyet’s Sunderland tenure with the Uruguayan telling The i Paper it gave him “legitimacy” in the eyes of fans. But Michael Beale lasted just five weeks after a meek FA Cup defeat to Newcastle in 2024, the surrender a symbol of his passivity.

Chris Hughton tells The i Paper that before the 5-1 win that he oversaw in October 2010 he knew he was on borrowed time with Mike Ashley. Contract talks had stalled and “there was a lot going on behind the scenes” but his players delivered and it changed his life.

“It was a difficult period personally but the outcome couldn’t have been any greater,” he says.

“My thought at the time was ‘If we have a bad spell, I don’t know how long I’m going to be here’. So when I won that game it was a huge relief, a huge release of pressure.”

Pardew experienced both sides of it. In 2012 Newcastle began the season against a backdrop of suspicion after they had sold big players like Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton. Jose Enrique had tweeted his displeasure from a pre-season tour. It felt like things were falling apart.

And then they won at Sunderland it everything changed. “It was bigger than I imagined,” Pardew admits. “The passion from the stands made my hair – or what was left of it – stand on end. I probably didn’t realise how big it was in the North East before then.”

When he started losing the derbies – Poyet also oversaw a 3-0 win at St James’ Park – Pardew felt it sometimes had an oversized impact on fan feelings. A 90th minute defeat to the Black Cats in December 2014 was his penultimate game in charge as he left for Crystal Palace.

For Howe the situation is different. Backed by the ownership he has delivered over four years and is still overwhelmingly popular with a majority of supporters. But this year has been bruising and damaging.

Sunderland recreating the photo that Newcastle took last time the two teams met at the Stadium of Light pic.twitter.com/0hBjfecUja

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 14, 2025

The defeat at the Stadium of Light in the winter was significant: Newcastle played poorly and the respective statuses of the teams meant it was not a good look.

That explains his strong – at least by Howe’s usually measured standards – quotes about his team needing to play “as if their life depended on it” on Sunday. It might feel dramatic, but this game is vital to shape the narrative around Newcastle’s entire season.

For Sunderland, Regis Le Bris is in huge credit. But a drop off in form means there’s not quite the feel-good factor around the Black Cats there was a few weeks ago. Winning this weekend would change that conclusively.

Could lightning strike twice? “Eddie’s navigated this European season with aplomb. The squad is much bigger than mine was but still not at the level of Arsenal, so drop off after Europe is understandable,” Pardew says.

“My heart says a Newcastle win, my head says draw or defeat.”

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/KNfim6y

Manchester United’s improving form under Michael Carrick has resulted in England recalls for Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo.

Thomas Tuchel named a bumper 35-man England squad on Friday for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan later this month.

With England’s World Cup campaign starting in less than three months – against Croatia on 17 June – there is precious time left for players to impress Tuchel.

The German has rewarded United pair Maguire and Mainoo for their role in boosting the club’s Champions League prospects under interim boss Carrick, although teammate Luke Shaw misses out as Tuchel turns to Newcastle United left-back Lewis Hall instead.

Both Maguire and Mainoo last played for England in September 2024 and will now push to start not only against Uruguay (27 March) and Japan (31 March) but in the summer as well.

The Three Lions also play two warm-up games against New Zealand (6 June) and Costa Rica (10 June) before the World Cup starts.

Why 35 players?

Five goalkeepers… Seven centre-backs… Five No 10s… Anyone wondering “why?” is not alone, but Tuchel has his reasons – confirming the camp will be split into two with 11 players not joining the camp until after the Uruguay game.

Those players are: Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Elliott Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka.

The majority of those 11 players already have “credit” with Tuchel, with at least six or seven expected to start at the World Cup.

“These guys have played 3,500 minutes, some 4,000 minutes. More important than the pure number of minutes is some of these guys have played more minutes than the whole of last season,” the England boss said.

“All of these players have contributed in September, October and November. They have credit with me. To give them a break mentally and physically, we will benefit from it.”

It also means England’s most hotly-contested battle in terms of quality, the No 10 position, is set to drag on.

Jude Bellingham and Rogers are viewed as the leading contenders for that role, but despite reports Cole Palmer would miss out, the Chelsea playmaker is arguably one beneficiary of this bigger squad, with Eberechi Eze and Phil Foden also called up.

No Trent despite James absence

Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold did not make the cut despite the absence of Chelsea’s Reece James through injury.

James is Tuchel’s favoured right-back but a hamstring problem means the Chelsea captain now faces a race to be fit in time for the World Cup.

And despite that spot opening up, Alexander-Arnold has not caught the eye of Tuchel, with Tino Livramento (Newcastle United) and Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur) fancied instead.

Who is Harry Kane’s back-up?

With Ollie Watkins struggling at Aston Villa and both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Danny Welbeck ahead of him in the Premier League top scorer standings, there was intrigue over who Tuchel would pick as Kane’s back-up.

It is an unforgiving role, given Kane’s importance to England and his fine form this season at Bayern Munich – he has just scored one of the goals of the campaign, too – but as Watkins showed at Euro 2024, playing the willing deputy is vital for the nation’s tournament prospects.

If football is art, this is a masterpiece #UCL pic.twitter.com/O1VNYS1o7n

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 19, 2026

And Tuchel’s answer: no Watkins, with Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke picked instead.

It is a bitter blow for Watkins, while for Calvert-Lewin the 29-year-old’s five-year England absence is at an end after leading Leeds United’s bid to stay up with 10 league goals.

Mainoo’s late challenge to Anderson

When Mainoo first burst onto the England scene, starting all four of their Euro 2024 knockout games, it felt as though his partnership with Declan Rice could last for years.

Mainoo’s fortunes changed drastically though at club level, and after being constantly overlooked by former United boss Ruben Amorim, his prospects of an England return felt distant.

All the while, Nottingham Forest midfielder Anderson dazzled on debut for England last year and is seen as Rice’s most probable midfield partner for the World Cup.

Now though, with Mainoo shining under Carrick, there is competition in midfield, while Everton’s James Garner will also hope a first senior call-up this month can solidify his place on the plane in three months’ time.

England squad in full

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/b1npCTB

Who would you have in your Liverpool team, Steven Gerrard or Dominik Szoboszlai? It’s a daft question, really, and insulting to some, but revealing nonetheless.

For Liverpool lifers the question offends. I get it. Gerrard The Indefatigable is untouchable; a leader and a legend, hero of Istanbul and, most significantly of all, a Scouser. It is also devilishly difficult to compare across the eras with so many variables to consider.

Yet so much of our enjoyment of the game is spent deliberating just this kind of abstraction, distilling the greats, past and present, in search of the perfect baller. And Gerrard is obviously a fan of the modern day No 8. 

“I like his mentality. He’s evolved, and he’s grown a lot since he’s become a Liverpool player,” Gerrard said on TNT Sports after Liverpool’s win over Galatasaray.

“The way he’s playing and his consistency and his mentality, you can hear it in his voice. He’s straight on to the next game, talking about Brighton. I love that about him. He’s got everything going for him. He’s just got to maintain it and stay healthy.”

“I don’t really care when I’m scoring or how I’m scoring. I just want to help the team”

Dominik Szoboszlai on his important goals this season

@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/amzx4ytyYZ

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 18, 2026

Gerrard was on comms duty with former Liverpool team-mate Steve McManaman, who fired a few fawning questions at Szoboszlai. If only the discussion had moved back to Gerrard and “Macca” had asked the question I am posing here, he might have received a response worth the listen.

I put the question to an Anfield season-ticket holder during the game. He shot back his vote for Gerrard. “The G-man did it season on season. Maybe if ‘Szob’ does it for a few more… but he is fantastic.”

The view was echoed by my neighbour, another life-long Liverpool supporter. The answer was automatic, the kind of appreciation triggered by countless match-winning displays in the service of one of the world’s most garlanded clubs. “Gerrard, no question,” he said, until I offered a counter perspective.

“Well, if you put it like that…”

This was my case. Gerrard was from a very English mould, powerful, aggressive, urgent in the tackle, would run all day and would evince from his team-mates the extra five per cent that makes a team greater than the sum of its parts. The goals were spectacular, net busters from all distances and angles, clean, angry strikes.

Szoboszlai’s power is in his technique and flair. He attacks space at pace, drives forward just as Gerrard did but with deft feet and subtlety. Gerrard swung an axe, Szoboszlai is playing lead violin.

Yet the highlights reel is equally as explosive as Gerrard’s, the ball flying into the net from distance, preferably, like Gerrard, off the right peg, but also the left as he showed against Galatasaray with a goal that changed the trajectory of the Champions League tie and possibly Liverpool’s season.

Three days prior Sky’s foremost Anfield cheerleader, Jamie Carragher, was pouring out his distress following the home draw against Spurs in which Liverpool capped an awful performance by conceding an equaliser in added time.

Interestingly it was Szoboszlai who answered for the team, despite scoring Liverpool’s only goal in a display that fell below the standard required. The “we have to be better” response he urged was immediate, Liverpool aglow under lights during a rampant second half on Wednesday night.

Though a Champions League winner on that unforgettable night in Istanbul, where he inspired the Homeric recovery against AC Milan after falling 3-0 behind at half time, Gerrard ended his career without a Premier League winners’ medal.

At the heart of a settled midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai was arguably the jewel of Liverpool’s title stroll last term. Were he deployed consistently in the same part of the pitch, Liverpool’s season might have taken a more settled course this year.

That is a rabbit hole for another day. It is enough to acknowledge the talismanic quality of Szoboszlai that has the same transformational effect on those around him that Gerrard had. Even Mo Salah looked like his old self in the second half, popping his 50th Champions League goal.

The assist came from Florian Wirtz, but Szoboszlai was the first to wrap his arms around Salah, symbolic of his centrality to Liverpool’s best work. That’s why, at the risk of bringing the Anfield diaspora to my door, I would argue that Szoboszlai has the potential to rise even higher, and why, fractionally, I would pick him over Gerrard. Sorry Stevie.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/UIdtzmD

It was probably not what anyone at Newcastle United wanted to read the morning after the night before.

Bruno Guimaraes, it was claimed by Reuters and a Brazilian journalist who has reported before on the Newcastle skipper, was in “advanced negotiations” over a £69m move to Manchester United.

In terms of timing, just at the point when the Magpies are licking their wounds after a 7-2 Champions League defeat to Barcelona, Newcastle fans needed it like a sore head after too many Spanish cervezas.

It should come as some relief, then, that multiple Newcastle sources told The i Paper it was news to them that their skipper, who was out in Spain to support the team as he steps up his recovery from injury, was close to leaving.

That denial, from the heart of the club, should assuage a few black and white concerns ahead of this weekend’s crucial Tyne-Wear derby. But the experience of last summer – when Alexander Isak’s future stalked the entire off-season – means Newcastle nerves are tightly wound ahead of another big summer.

Perhaps fans should buckle up. In addition to the summer of incomings – at least four starters are being sought, with a goalkeeper, striker, right-back and midfielder on their shopping list – it feels likely that there will be a high-profile outgoing on too.

There will certainly be links. Sandro Tonali is wanted – Manchester City, United and Arsenal are among those keen – while lack of progress on Tino Livramento’s contract means he may be available too. Arsenal are confirmed admirers, The i Paper can confirm.

You can probably add Anthony Gordon into that too after his impressive Champions League form. Lewis Hall is clearly an elite performer in the making.

The good news? Newcastle are in a position of strength on all of them. Prices quoted will be sky high. They absolutely won’t sell all of them and the sort of names they are looking to recruit – we are told – will send a message on their ambition. If they have a European campaign to plan for, and they can strike for that now with more time in between league games, they can retain their best.

None of those listed above are the same sort of unicorn that Alexander Isak was – someone with a unique skillset that it was virtually impossible to replicate. Central midfielders are easier to replace if you do it well.

And it was always signposted that player trading would be required, right? The key is to do it well and be more decisive than rudderless Newcastle were with Isak.

They dropped the ball there and recruited his replacements poorly. It is a mistake that will have a legacy beyond the first few months of this season and may require a sale below a player’s book value, which is a heavy blow in the PSR era.

Learning their lessons – a mantra many inside Newcastle have spoken about – is key. And in sporting director Ross Wilson they have a skilled operator at the wheel who has Eddie Howe’s trust. The mood is positive, even if there may be difficult decisions and days ahead.

A byproduct of the decision to sell Isak was also cementing the idea that Newcastle aren’t quite yet the destination club for marquee names.

Some feared his agitation created a blueprint for players who wanted to go. But Isak’s issues after going on strike all summer – clearly undercooked and effectively torching a season of his career – mean anyone looking to emulate him is taking bad advice.

Indeed Howe said in Barcelona that Tonali is “totally committed” to the club, however irritated he may have been by recent agent quotes.

Newcastle’s wanted men have done well by the club. The grass isn’t always greener.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/xNPouCA

NOU CAMP — It felt like an ending for Newcastle United – and not just for a Champions League campaign that has often been a life raft in stormy waters for Eddie Howe.

A second half nightmare in the Nou Camp felt like a cruel conclusion to a European adventure that has brought vivid highs and some sobering lows.

They must learn from it. Here are the lessons from a brutal night in Barcelona and a Champions League campaign that brought with it clarity on what is required.

Newcastle aren’t up to scratch in two key positions

It was damning that Newcastle began what Howe called the biggest game in the club’s history with Aaron Ramsdale in goal and Anthony Gordon up front. When qualification for Europe’s elite competition was clinched on the final day of last season, that was not part of the plan.

Ramsdale was a panicky Plan B after first choice targets fell through and he is not the long-term answer. Links to Robin Risser of Lens carry truth and that is the direction the club needs to go down and Howe needs to have faith in. The preference for tried and trusted needs to change.

More damningly Newcastle played two games and didn’t give either Nick Woltemade or Yoane Wissa a minute of football. Repairing that situation is going to take major surgery in the summer transfer window, and probably taking a significant loss on one or the other.

Put up or shut up on Sandro Tonali

The comparisons with Alexander Isak’s situation are inevitable but misleading. For a start the Swede always felt irreplaceable, with strikers matching his profile gold dust. The panic around his exit was because he was so important to Howe’s system and much of this season’s struggles are because of that.

The preference should be to keep Tonali despite significant interest in the midfielder. Howe insists he is totally committed and he is largely showing that on the pitch. But clear parameters around his future should be established now: the asking price needs to be high and Newcastle have to war-game every scenario.

Ross Wilson needs to be ruthless

Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar have been unbelievable servants for Newcastle but this is a squad that needs fresh blood and perhaps the impending end of the pair’s contracts offers solutions.

Insiders have told The i Paper that Newcastle have to operate a one in, one out policy because of financial fair play. That means tough calls have to be made by sporting director Ross Wilson.

Newcastle under Howe haven’t been good at saying goodbyes. That has to change.

Eddie Howe remains the right man to do it

Was he bold or naive? For 52 minutes of the first half (they conceded deep in stoppage time once more) you would have said the former. At full-time it felt like the latter.

But Howe is evolving, much as his critics might suggest he isn’t. Tactically Newcastle have been good even if this season has tested him more than any other.

He struck the right tone afterwards when he said that Newcastle must “play as if their lives depended on it” in Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby. His reputation would take a dent if they allowed Sunderland to do the double on a team with European pretensions but it shouldn’t be terminal.

He must adapt – recruitment policy must change – but Howe is a big reason why Newcastle are on this stage in the first place. An end of season review with PIF must be bracingly honest and changes must be made but he deserves the chance to take it on.

2030 dream is just that unless something radical happens

Chief executive David Hopkinson’s ambition of competing for top honours in less than four years sounds good but the reality feels different. Newcastle have so much work to do on and off-the-pitch and the pace of change remains a problem.

Financial regulations aren’t loosening any time soon and that means sharp recruitment only gets them so far. They need a spark from somewhere else. Ticking off a big infrastructure project – the training ground is closest – is essential before the start of next season.

Without it, PIF’s 2030 vision – eloquently explained by Hopkinson – feels more like a pipe dream.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/fBocWiq

Chelsea fans singing the name of Roman Abramovich in the week the club was hit with a record fine for illegal payments made under the Russian’s stewardship is desperate enough. Others leaving the stadium early felt like a repudiation of all that the Blues are.

A three-goal Champions League defeat at home to Paris Saint-Germain, taking the aggregate score to a coruscating 8-2, signalled how aimless the club has become, a vessel for wealthy prospectors rather than a serious football club competing for the game’s premier prizes.

You might argue that this is the logical extension of the transactional experience it always was under Abramovich. That the fans bought into that association as a genuine bond between benefactor and team reflects how low the ethical bar is for supporters who care only about the trophy count.

This is all supporters, of course. There is not a club in the world who would turn down the kind of cash injection pumped by Abramovich, no matter how allegedly dirty the source or the purpose of spending it.

The Blues were hours from going bust when Abramovich stepped in to relieve previous owner Ken Bates of his burden. Poor old Bates, so close yet so far from reaping the rewards of the Premier League boom. He had little alternative but to submit to the Russian offer.

Chelsea, like Manchester City and Newcastle United, were propelled overnight into the vanguard, shaping a new footballing era based on unaccountable ownership.

The Blues paid a piffling price for their transgressions this week, and one against which those clubs treated more harshly justifiably protest. We await the outcome of the hearing into 130 charges of financial irregularity against Manchester City, all denied, with even greater interest now. 

Hemmed in by regulatory reaction to Chelsea’s and City’s spending, Newcastle, poor lambs, were denied the opportunity to splash the kind of wealth that would dwarf even their partner kingdoms. Nevertheless the influx of Saudi Arabia funds delivered a first trophy for 50 years and powered the Toon into the Champions League.

The difference at Chelsea is in the ownership model. The Saudis did not buy Newcastle to make money, but to spend it on burnishing their reputation. The technical term is sportswashing, normalising a theocratic state with a medieval approach to human rights via ownership of Big Sport.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are all about investing to turn a profit. The Blues are one of a number of properties in the sporting portfolio of Todd Boehly and his BlueCo buddies, who see the Premier League and Champions League as profit accelerators.

The majority owner, Clearlake Capital, raises the funds to invest largely from private equity firms on the promise of huge dividends in return. This is more straightforward in the financial sector where the variables don’t go missing in Paris to kill their Champions League hopes, nor cough up home defeats to Newcastle in the Premier League that jeopardise their participation in Europe’s big money-spinner next term.

In the two decades since Abramovich swept in, Chelsea fans have seen their world transformed. Yes they were a top-six club for seven seasons prior to their Russian revolution, but for six of the seven seasons before that they did not finish in the top half. And in the two decades before that they were a yo-yo team spending eight seasons in the second tier.

At least in that period of turmoil when Chelsea were undone by the financial overreach involved in building a new stand, the fans were spiritually aligned with the club. Indeed a school friend of mine would send his 12p-a-week pocket money to help with the fundraising effort to save the club.

Imagine that in this disposable world where mercenary owners hire mercenary players for profit knowing that either party will leave when it suits. Is that Enzo Fernandez making eyes at Real Madrid, per chance, despite having six years left on his contract?

Contract? Ha, like that is anything other than a device of mutual convenience. Meanwhile, those picking up the emotional tab are the fans, interchangeable commodities as far as the owners are concerned but the only part of the whole that really gives a damn, even if their moral compass has been warped by excess.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/5BvEl69

ETIHAD — Chasing the game, while still creating chances with 10 players, Pep Guardiola decided to pick a Champions League knockout tie against Real Madrid to do something he had never done before.

Erling Haaland is a shadow of his normal self in 2026. The numbers more human. Yet when you need goals, to take him off with a third of the match to go is a decision that won’t have been taken lightly, with a message to be garnered from such a bold move.

Haaland has been withdrawn before, but when City have been out of sight and the legs needed to be saved. To take off the greatest, pound-for-pound, Premier League goalscorer of all time, when you needed his phenom-like superpowers in front of goal more than ever, suggests Guardiola could be heading back to his footballing roots one final time.

Deploying an out-and-out striker goes against Guardiola’s Johan Cruyff-inspired principles, but he has made an exception for two of the greatest to ever do it at Manchester City – Sergio Aguero and Haaland. Output you just cannot leave on the sidelines.

When Aguero called it a day, Guardiola did not entertain the idea of a replacement. He could not wait to conquer all with a False 9, to unprecedented success on our shores. The fact he could achieve 100-point seasons, successive league titles, without a recognised striker was his footballing dreams becoming a reality.

Haaland was a club purchase, a market opportunity City simply could not pass up. Guardiola again had to put his ideology to one side. The trophies continued to flow.

Now Haaland is amid the worst goalscoring drought of his entire career – four goals in three months – Guardiola, in perhaps his last opportunity to leave one final Cruyffian legacy, may be more willing to attempt an end-of-season revival with the Norwegian on the periphery.

“No,” Guardiola insisted when asked if an injury to Haaland was the reason for taking him off.

“I wanted fresh legs and other people.”

It is the lack of conviction in his shooting that gives Haaland disciples the biggest cause for concern. Even with his goal, ultimately in vain, against Real, the struggling striker did his level best to miss the opportunity from point-blank range, scuffing the ball home.

While Thibaut Courtois was the scourge of the boys in blue once more at the Etihad, many of his saves from close-range Haaland efforts were again far too close to the Belgian stopper.

If the goals fail to flow, there are not many other reasons to persist with Haaland. He barely touches the ball – 16 all game against Real – unless he is eight yards from goal.

Omar Marmoush is much more suited to the striker-less forwardline. Antoine Semenyo adept at playing highest up the pitch. Guardiola formations are never rigid, but his penchant for a fluid 4-2-2-2 setup this season has posed plenty of fresh problems for opponents.

Should p at least push Arsenal close and win a trophy or two in this system, the chances of Guardiola staying on for another year will also increase exponentially.

It is not out of the question that Sunday could be the start of one, final strikerless fling. Haaland cannot be kept on the bench for long and is not the sort of person to take omission lightly.

If anyone has the gall to take such a bold step, however, it is Guardiola. Especially one who is uncertain himself whether he really wants to see out his contract. Another trophy-laden False 9 unit, perfected next season, is exactly how he would want to bow out.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/liKPm3L

Manchester United’s interest in Sandro Tonali is clear.

Whether they are prepared to pay a British record fee and attempt to broker a deal with Newcastle United who want to hold on to their best players this summer is not. Not yet, anyway.

The Red Devils want to overhaul their midfield and there is a strong chance, with Casemiro leaving at the end of the season, that two new midfielders could be brought in to elevate the quality levels in a long-neglected area of the squad.

Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has long been United’s first choice, but The i Paper understands he currently prefers a move to Manchester City. Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, another top pick, is high on Liverpool’s agenda, too. Brighton’s Carlos Baleba also remains an option.

The other name who has rocketed up United’s wishlist, alongside the long-admired aforementioned trio, is Tonali.

Is a move for Tonali plausible?

Newcastle would command a fee “in excess” of £100m if they decided to cash in on Tonali, who the Magpies believe belongs in the top tier of midfielders across the league.

It remains a big if. Newcastle do not want to lose him and also do not want to be dragged into the latest round of stories surrounding his future. Tonali – who gave a searingly honest response when The i Paper asked him last year about his ambitions for the future – has been conspicious by his absence in Champions League press conferences and mixed zones in recent months.

Indeed there has been a degree of irritation at Newcastle at the noise around Tonali but also some encouragement at the way the Italy international has responded. He has delivered some of his best performances since scrutiny over his future has intensified in the wake of stories last month that he had been offered to Arsenal.

Tonali is viewed internally as honest and open and he is grateful to Newcastle for the way they handled his long suspension for gambling-related offences shortly after his £52m move from AC Milan. He also signed a contract until 2029 during that ban that did not include a release clause, which means Newcastle retain control in any summer transfer scramble.

How prepared are Newcastle for a possible exit?

But a combination of interest in him, the player’s ambition to challenge for top honours and Newcastle’s own hopes of European football next season being in the balance mean that Manchester United might view him as an attainable target. Some in the world of recruitment believe he is open to overtures from elsewhere.

The i Paper understands that Chelsea are another Premier League club who are monitoring his situation.

Newcastle are currently scouting multiple midfielder targets, with interest in Lamine Camara of Monaco intensifying. Sources in France have indicated that Djaoui Cisse, of Rennes, is another who has been watched.

But with doubts about Joe Willock’s future, Newcastle know they are likely to have to move for at least one midfielder this summer regardless of what happens with Tonali. The intention internally is clear: to compete with Manchester United in the market rather than hand over one of their star players to them.

Are there alternatives for Manchester United?

Premier League knowhow is key for United co-owner Ineos when making big-money signings.

The effect Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha have had on the club’s mini-revival under Michael Carrick is key to that thinking.

There are plenty of talented young midfielders on United’s list alongside Tonali – Sevilla’s Lucien Agoume being another top target – but for the high-profile arrivals, Premier League pedigree is the preferred option.

Arsenal are also understood to be keeping tabs on Tonali, only adding to the concerns over a long pursuit. For the right player, however, United’s hierarchy are ready to do battle.

What appeals about Tonali is the ground he covers and the energy he can bring to United’s midfield. Kobbie Mainoo has slotted back into Premier League life seamlessly after Ruben Amorim’s departure, but he is not the fast-breaking, box-to-box midfielder Tonali can be. The pair could work in tandem perfectly, or even as two of a midfield three.

The fee could be a stumbling block for United, given Tonali could cost upwards of £100m. The sales of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona and Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli after their season-long loans have finished, along with Manuel Ugarte – the Uruguayan is attracting interest from Turkey – could help boost their spending power.

from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/Lwauigo