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For 90 minutes this was an examination of Romelu Lukaku’s value to Chelsea. It looked to be big Rom’s night then out of the career shadows rose Danny Welbeck to make double the case for authentic No 9s.

It was no less than Brighton deserved. For the hour following Lukaku’s own headed opener Brighton were the better side and Edouard Mendy Chelsea’s central figure, but he could do nothing to keep out Welbeck’s rousing riposte in added time.

After a month in which they had already surrendered seven points to Manchester City, this was a game Chelsea had to win if they were to keep the leaders in view.

Liverpool’s defeat at Leicester City was a further reminder of the capacity of the Premier League to produce anomalous results at this time of year, a feature exacerbated in the Covid age.

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And it started so well. It was too early to say whether Lukaku was at his best said Thomas Tuchel after just 45 minutes at Villa Park, though he was certain he would be. The question is begged, what is Lukaku’s best? Which itself begets another, is it good enough? Lukaku is a destroyer of average reputations, but has still to convince the purists. Though Lukaku had at least one other clear chance to win the contest it would not be fair to lay the blame for Chelsea’s surrender on him.

The goal he did score was pure enough, though he was aided by some bizarre defending. Neal Maupay would not register a lick as a centre-half.

What he was doing trying to stifle the Belgian striker at a corner in the service of a team that boasts Dan Burn at 6ft 7in is a question for Brighton philosopher Graham Potter.

There was certainly comedy in Maupay’s attempts to man handle Lukaku quickly followed by horror when the ball flew in off his nut. It was like a heavyweight knocking over a welter in sparring. We were still no nearer evaluating Lukaku but his value to Chelsea, over that of Timo Werner for example, was proved for the second game running.

Though behind Brighton were not cowed and in Yves Bissouma and Tariq Lamptey the visitors had two players who would walk into this Chelsea side. Bissouma looked the complete No 8, driving at the Chelsea defence with powerful bursts and smashing into contact. Indeed it was a tussle with Bissouma that led to the departure of the unfortunate Reece James midway through the first half.

The tackle looked innocuous. James carried on before going to ground and looked a wounded soldier as he was helped from the pitch on the shoulder of Chelsea medical staff.

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James, deployed on the left side for Chelsea had already experienced a torrid opening. Lamptey ran at him as if settling a personal dispute, perhaps over Chelsea’s decision to retain James over him. Lamptey played just once for Chelsea before deciding Brighton offered a better opportunity to develop his career. James’s selection on the left was effectively an open invitation for Lamptey to either twist his blood or take some in the tackle. He did both.

In this City/Liverpool lite configuration, Lamptey is often the furthest player forward when Brighton are in possession, a diminutive rapier who packs a punch the inverse of his size. Antonio Rudiger decided the way to subdue Lamptey was to halve him in the tackle.

You know the kind, where the player leaps up and says “but ref, I got the ball” while the victim pieces himself together.

Though the loss of James would have been received like a blow to the solar plexus, there was balm to follow with Lukaku’s headed goal. The wrestling match that preceded it attracted the interest of VAR but the watchers saw too little in the elbow to Maupay’s head to overrule referee Mike Dean’s decision. Umpire’s call.

Brighton began the second half as the ended the first, in the ascendency. Mendy had to be at his best to keep out Bissouma and Alexis Mac Allister as Brighton raged towards the hour. Chelsea were now in rapid counter mode and wasted a two-on-one when Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount raced free.

It was a brief respite against the increasing weight of Brighton attacks. No team has taken the game to the Premier League’s power units with the same courage and imagination of Brighton. For this Potter deserves immense credit and the interest of the English elite.

There would be a few fans of Manchester United watching this salivating at the prospect of a Bissouma or Lamptey in their line-up, not to mention a Mac Allister or Marc Cucurella, and maybe a Potter leading them. After all he seems to know a little bit about goals in Fergie time.

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After Liverpool’s Gameweek 19 match against Leeds fell victim to Covid, Fantasy Premier League managers were presented with a conundrum: to stick or twist with Mo Salah?

The case for keeping him was simple: he is the top-scoring player in FPL this season and naturally given that fact, is by far and away the most popular player in the game. The case for selling him was less clear-cut, although his hefty £13m price tag and imminent departure to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) were reason enough for some managers to get rid.

In Gameweek 20, that 50-50 call went the way of the gamblers, rather than the believers, as Salah scored 0 points despite playing the full 90 minutes in Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Leicester. Salah had scored each of his last 15 Premier League penalties prior to being denied by Kasper Schmeichel at the King Power, much to the relief of those who had transferred him out. Fine margins indeed.

Thankfully, for those left frustrated by Salah’s squandered spot-kick, another round of fixtures is set to begin on New Year’s Day and end on 3 January. It will be the last that FPL managers see of the league’s African contingent for a while, as Salah and co will be jetting off to represent their countries at Afcon in Cameroon after their Gameweek 21 matches.

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Emmanuel Dennis (if Watford agree to release him, that is), Edouard Mendy and Said Benrahma are among the more popular FPL assets who will be taking part in the competition, while the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Wilfried Zaha and Salah’s team-mates Sadio Mane and Naby Keita, have also been called up their respective nations. Managers with one or more of those players will have to start planning for upcoming matches without them, perhaps starting this week.

Get involved

If you’re interested in joining the i readers league on Fantasy Premier League for the 2021-22 campaign, enter this code when prompted on the website: t96gm9. You can also sign up to i‘s dedicated fantasy football newsletter to receive tips, injury updates and more each week throughout the season.

As it stands, all 10 matches in Gameweek 21 are set to go ahead but be prepared to make last-minute changes to your team should any get pulled from the schedule. Here are i‘s selections for the first Premier League matches of 2022!

David De Gea (Man Utd)

Manchester United were indebted to their long-serving No 1 on Monday when David De Gea made a string of important saves to keep Newcastle at bay, the pick of which was an outstanding finger-tip stop to deny Miguel Almiron a late winner. De Gea has been United’s most consistent performer this season and could become the most popular goalkeeper in FPL before long, owing to his side’s kind run of fixtures.

Price: £5.2m Points: 71 Gameweek 21 fixture: Wolves (h)

Joao Cancelo (Man City)

An auto-selection in i‘s selections these days. Although he has only scored once this season, Joao Cancelo has had 12 more attempts on goal than any other defender which is indicative of the attacking threat he provides from either flank. Although City’s opponents Arsenal have been in exceptional form, Mikel Arteta’s young side need a landmark win against one of the big boys to demonstrate their progress. They face a tough ask to get it against City on New Year’s Day.

Price: £6.9m Points: 113 Gameweek 21 fixture: Arsenal (a)

Luke Thomas (Leicester)

Luke Thomas has re-established himself in Brendan Rodgers’ line-up recently, starting in each of Leicester’s previous six Premier League fixtures. The 20-year-old did an impressive job of nullifying Salah’s threat on Tuesday and offers a cheap route into the Foxes’ backline ahead of their match with goal-shy Norwich: the Canaries are without one since the 1-1 draw against Newcastle, five games ago.

Price: £4.3m Points: 27 Gameweek 21 fixture: Norwich (h)

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Jan Bednarek (Southampton)

Southampton rode their luck against Spurs with Antonio Conte’s side left aggrieved at a couple of decisions that went against them, but Ralph Hasenhuttl would have been delighted by the resilience his team showed after being reduced to 10 men. Although Saints are without a clean sheet since Gameweek 11, they are up against a Newcastle side that looks set to be without its two chief goal threats in Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin, which boosts the budget-friendly Jan Bednarek’s appeal.

Price: £4.4m Points: 55 Gameweek 21 fixture: Newcastle (h)

James Maddison (Leicester)

If James Maddison is passed fit to play against Norwich, he should feature right at the top of your shopping list for Gameweek 21. Leicester’s No 10 has been in supreme form, racking up four double-digit scores in his last six appearances ahead of a reunion with his former club Norwich. Hold off from buying him until close to the deadline, though, as he limped off in the second half of Leicester’s win against Liverpool.

Price: £6.9m Points: 82 Gameweek 21 fixture: Norwich (h)

Son Heung-min (Spurs)

Son Heung-min hasn’t been at his sharpest lately, but has still managed to tick along nicely on FPL by registering attacking returns in each of his last five matches. Son has combined four goals with two assists over that run and will be expecting to continue his hot streak against a Watford defence that is still searching for a first clean sheet of the campaign. Watford have conceded more goals per game at home (2.3) than any other club in the division.

Price: £10.5m Points: 102 Gameweek 21 fixture: Watford (a)

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Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Kevin De Bruyne hasn’t featured too prominently in the thoughts of FPL managers so far this season, but his popularity is bound to increase in Salah’s absence. De Bruyne has registered 26 points in his last three appearances, netting three goals in that run. The City playmaker usually saves his best for the Gunners too as he has scored more times against them (five) than any club in his career.

Price: £11.9m Points: 57 Gameweek 21 fixture: Arsenal (a)

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)

Jarrod Bowen has been in electric form over the past couple of months and delivered his best performance of an already eye-catching campaign in West Ham’s 4-1 victory against Watford last time out. The 24-year-old tormented the Hornets’ (admittedly shoddy) backline throughout, laying on two goals and scoring one for himself to earn a season-high return of 14 FPL points. Unsurprisingly, given that performance, Bowen is the most transferred in player ahead of Gameweek 21.

Price: £6.6m Points: 94 Gameweek 21 fixture: Crystal Palace (a)

Raphinha (Leeds)

Despite playing for a team that is languishing towards the foot of the Premier League table, Raphinha has been one of the stars of the season so far. The Brazilian is one of the most watchable players in the division and is reportedly attracting interest from Bayern Munich, as well as rival Premier League clubs. The winger has eight goals and one assist to date and has emerged as Leeds’ first-choice penalty taker during Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo’s spells out injured.

Price: £6.5m Points: 82 Gameweek 21 fixture: Burnley

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Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester)

Kelechi Iheanacho is not a long-term pick given he will be representing Nigeria at Afcon over the next few weeks, however, for those Free Hitting or simply looking for a one-week punt in Gameweek 21, he looks a great option. Iheanacho has started Leicester’s last two games and was exceptional against Manchester City on Boxing Day, providing two assists and scoring in a 6-3 defeat. Norwich have been in dismal defensive form of late, conceding 14 times in their last five league games.

Price: £6.9m Points: 44 Gameweek 21 fixture: Norwich (h)

Harry Kane (Spurs)

It’s official: Harry Kane is back. The England captain scored for the third league game running against Southampton and was mightily unfortunate to have another strike ruled out for the most marginal of offside decisions in the second half. In seven appearances under Antonio Conte, Kane has fired off 25 shots on goal, registered seven big chances and recorded an expected goals tally of 3.74: all three of those totals are higher than he managed in nine games under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Price: £12.2m Points: 51 Gameweek 21 fixture: Watford (a)

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Phil Foden handed Manchester City a 10th consecutive Premier League victory and, with it, the prospect of opening the new year with a commanding double-digit lead in the title race.

A championship contest that once promised to be a keenly-fought three-horse race is in danger of turning into another title procession for Pep Guardiola’s defending champions.

After Wednesday night’s events in London, a City win at Arsenal on New Year’s Day would see second-placed Chelsea kick off against third-placed Liverpool on Sunday 11 points in arrears.

Compared to recent City displays, it was far from vintage from Pep Guardiola’s side but with Foden returning to the starting line-up, along with Jack Grealish after the pair were left out for disciplinary reasons, the England international proved the key.

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Player ratings

A City side that had scored 17 goals in their last three games did not have everything their own way, however.

And less than a minute before Foden’s opener, Brentford provided the champions with a major scare as Joao Cancelo was forced to nod Yoane Wissa’s effort off the City line.

But charging down the other end, City showed their clinical best, Kevin De Bruyne floating an inch-perfect delivery into the Brentford area where Foden was able to sweep the ball in with his first touch from six yards.

Amazingly it was the Belgian’s first league assist of the season, having contributed 32 over the past two seasons – not that City have struggled because of it: they have scored 113 goals in a record-breaking calendar year, 51 of them in this campaign.

Indeed, a goal to the good after 16 minutes and with Brentford decimated by injury, illness and suspension, a repeat of the seven City hit past Leeds or the six they netted against Leicester looked possible.

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Brentford had other ideas, as they had throughout a first half in which City’s tendency to give away tactical fouls presented the hosts with a series of threatening set-pieces.

Frank Onyeka planted an early shot directly at Ederson and the keeper was forced to save well at his near post after a Wissa cross took an awkward deflection off Ruben Dias.

City, for all their possession, failed to again test Alvaro Fernandez in the home goal, in the first half at least.

And a pair of tit-for-tat fouls between Fernandinho and Ivan Toney – both of whom should have been booked – summed up how combative the underdogs were.

The De Bruyne-Foden tandem almost linked again a minute after the restart with the latter glancing the former’s cross just beyond Fernandez’s far post.

A couple of minutes later, Fernandinho set up the Belgian for a shot which he curled into the arms of the Brentford keeper.

And on 50 minutes, Foden thought he had scored the second goal on his return when he headed in from a Grealish cross only to be judged offside.

Brentford lived dangerously, especially when De Bruyne struck the outside of their post from 20 yards on 65 minutes, but remained unbowed, even after Aymeric Laporte’s 87th minute header providing City with their second disallowed effort of the night, again for offside.

Foden: You can drop points at any time

City’s goalscorer Foden shrugged off the suggestion that his side had made an incisive move at the top of the Premier League despite gaining points on both Chelsea and Liverpool in the last 24 hours.

Victory over Brentford came 45 minutes after Chelsea had been down by a late Danny Welbeck equaliser, while Ademola Lookman’s goal at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night saw Liverpool beaten.

The results mean that City are now eight points clear at the top of the table with arguably their toughest games of the season – they have already played both title rivals and Manchester United away from home this campaign – already behind them.

“It’s the most challenging league in the world and it just goes to show that you can drop points at any time,” Foden insisted.

“The team is remaining focused at the moment and playing really well so I’m happy.”

The England talisman featured in a variety of roles, starting on the left but ending the game as a lone, withdrawn No 9, scoring a striker’s goal thanks to a perfectly timed run into the six-yard box.

“Maybe in the future I can move into that but wherever the manager puts me I try and do my best for the team,” Foden added.

“It’s really good that I’m adaptable and I can fit in anywhere.”

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Danny Welbeck’s stoppage-time header at Stamford Bridge earned Brighton a point and handed Manchester City the chance to go eight points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

After Cesar Azpilicueta had already hit the post, Romelu Lukaku’s 28th-minute header gave the Blues the lead but they had to wait 45 minutes for another attempt on goal as Graham Potter’s Brighton grew into the game.

There were more injury concerns for manager Thomas Tuchel too as first Reece James and then Andreas Christensen were forced off to join fellow defenders Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva in the treatment room.

Yves Bissouma stung the hands of Edouard Mendy with a dipping volley after the break and Neal Maupay’s goal-bound shot was blocked by Antonio Rudiger, but the home side’s luck did not hold with Danny Welbeck rising above Trevor Chalobah to head home and earn the Seagulls a point they richly deserved.

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‘No more wing-backs’

Reece James’ departure from the arena after less than half an hour will have been a worrying sight for Thomas Tuchel, who is already without Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell during the busiest of periods.

James left the field unable to walk unaided and even then was moving extremely gingerly with what Chelsea later confirmed was a hamstring injury.

“There’s no prognosis. Hamstring injury,” a furious Tuchel said afterwards.

“We have no more wing-backs. We have everybody injured and players coming back from the Covid situation.”

He added that for Chelsea’s next game against Liverpool on 2 January he would “try to find players who are ready to play” but would not be drawn on whether James, or Andreas Christensen, who went off at half-time, would be among them.

Chelsea player ratings

Edouard Mendy – 7

Solid with his hands but a little unsteady with the ball at his feet. Made a fine stop from a dipping Bissouma volley and would have deserved his 10th Premier League clean sheet of the season – if Chelsea had hung on.

Cesar Azpilicueta – 7

Nearly opened the scoring in a goalmouth scramble early on and later, as Chelsea struggled to hang onto their lead, provided an exhortative but ultimately cool head at the back when plenty around were losing theirs. Lovely backheel for Mount almost set up Chelsea’s second too.

Andreas Christensen (replaced by Chalobah, 46th minute) – 6.5

Horrid clearance almost put Chelsea in trouble after a miscommunication with Mendy but made a crucial intervention from behind shortly before half-time to snuff out a nascent Brighton attack. Played through first-half injury but was removed at the break.

Antonio Rudiger – 6

Made a very reckless challenge out on the left that could have earned him a red, not a yellow, on another night, and should have scored a free header at the back post. Did make a last-gasp block to deny Maupay with Mendy scrambling though.

Christian Pulisic – 5.5

Made a lively start at right wing-back but with freedom to roam almost anywhere. However, defending against Solly March left plenty to be desired and it was he who failed to close down the cross for Brighton’s late goal.

Mateo Kovacic – 5

Could have cost his side a goal when caught dwelling on the ball midway through the first half and did not provide the kind of incisive passing that the evening demanded.

Jorginho – 5

Chelsea did not have a shot at goal in the entire middle third of the game, which is hardly Jorginho’s fault, but they also conceded 12 shots. He and Kovacic struggled to stop the likes of Bissouma and Lallana passing or running through the lines. Kante’s introduction was a necessity.

Reece James (replaced by Alonso, 28th minute) – 6

Started at left wing-back and was given a hard time by the pace of Tariq Lamptey in the early stages. Was then clattered by Yves Bissouma and was taken off with a hamstring injury. Replaced by Marcos Alonso.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (replaced by Kante, 67th minute) – 5.5

Felt like a performance to sum up CHO’s Chelsea career so far. Lots of nice moments, but not much telling end product in the important ones. Blew a two-on-one when Veltman played on the lack of incision.

Mason Mount – 7.5

Failed to find his man when Chelsea broke early on but did force the first real save from Sanchez at the near post, and was constantly lively in the right and then the left channel.

Romelu Lukaku – 8

Imposed himself physically from the off, despite the efforts of Dan Burn to match up with him. Fine glancing header, brilliant hold-up play, and did not deserve to end up without three points.

Substitutes

Marcos Alonso (on for James, 28th minute) – 6

Poor clearance straight to Bissouma offered the Mali international the chance to test Mendy but the goalkeeper spared Alonso’s blushes.

Trevor Chalobah (on for Christensen, 46th minute) – 5

Almost cost his side an equaliser when he tried to intercept a pass to Maupay, missed it and the Frenchman flashed just wide. Was not so lucky when Welbeck outjumped him in stoppage time.

N’golo Kante (on for Hudson-Odoi, 67th minute) – 7

Gave Chelsea a second wind after a poor half hour split by half-time. Played in a more advanced role to cut off Brighton possession higher up the pitch and did so extremely effectively. Tuchel probably wishes he didn’t have to expend 23 minutes of his energy though – this was his fourth appearance in 10 days.

Analysis: What is Lukaku’s best?

By Kevin Garside, i‘s chief sports correspondent

For 90 minutes this was an examination of Romelu Lukaku’s value to Chelsea. It looked to be big Rom’s night then out of the career shadows rose Danny Welbeck to make double the case for authentic No 9s.

It was too early to say whether Lukaku was at his best, said Thomas Tuchel after just 45 minutes at Villa Park, though he was certain he would be. The question is begged, what is Lukaku’s best? Which itself begets another, is it good enough? Lukaku is a destroyer of average reputations, but has still to convince the purists. Though Lukaku had at least one other clear chance to win the contest it would not be fair to lay the blame for Chelsea’s surrender on him.

The goal he did score was pure enough, though he was aided by some bizarre defending. Neal Maupay would not register a lick as a centre-half. What he was doing trying to stifle the Belgian striker at a corner in the service of a team that boasts Dan Burn at 6ft 7in is a question for Brighton philosopher Graham Potter.

There was certainly comedy in Maupay’s attempts to man handle Lukaku quickly followed by horror when the ball flew in the his nut. It was like a heavyweight knocking over a welter in sparring.

We were still no nearer evaluating Lukaku in absolute terms but his value to Chelsea, over that of Timo Werner for example, was proved for the second game running.

Should Chelsea’s first goal have been ruled out?

Former referee Mark Clattenburg on Amazon Prime Video

“First of all, what I’m seeing a lot of, especially over the last couple of weeks, is defenders are not watching the ball at corner kicks but watching their men.

“He’s put his arms around, and the momentum of Lukaku’s arm has caught Maupay, but for me, this arm [Lukaku’s] is just natural. He’s trying to shake him off. He’s lost his man, he’s [Maupay] went down. This is a clear goal for me.”

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A month into his interim spell at Old Trafford and Ralf Rangnick has made the blunt admission that progress has not been as swift as he wanted or expected.

Few would be particularly surprised by that, but it is a further illustration of the size of the job Rangnick and whoever he helps to anoint as his successor faces in reshaping Manchester United in 2022 that he has encountered some resistance – or an inability to translate – his ideas. This is a big job and a new manager bounce is not enough to change the narrative at Old Trafford.

To be fair, the rescue mission handed to the temporary coach on 29 November has been hampered by Covid and the closure of Carrington for much of the early part of December. There were inevitable signs of rustiness at St James’ Park on Monday.

But winnable matches against Burnley and then Wolverhampton Wanderers will offer more insight into whether the issues lay with a lack of cohesion caused by Covid or more fundamentally around adapting to Rangnick’s emphasis on physicality, pressing and intensity. The latter would be worrying, with implications for just what Rangnick could change in what feels like it will be a transitional second half of the season.

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At Newcastle, the decline in performance was alarming. A tweak to the 4-2-2-2 display at half-time rescued a point but the manner of his team’s performance was – in Rangnick’s words – a “negative surprise”.

Asked whether he felt he had made the start he’d hoped for, he replied: “Of course not. Every coach wants to take faster steps forward but in order to do that you need to be able to train and as you know we had to close Carrington for four days.

“We had eight or nine fewer players in training directly after the Norwich game and they only came back in small pieces. Only in the last three days did we have a full squad in terms of training and we couldn’t do that much in training.

“On the other hand, in those three training sessions the team looked good so it’s a negative surprise in terms of the way we played in terms of game speed and game tempo and physicality.”

Rangnick should be able to use his interim title to slay a few sacred cows at Old Trafford and there are no shortage of big names he would be justified to drop after the Newcastle draw.

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From the flat-lining Marcus Rashford to the error-strewn Harry Maguire, few should consider themselves safe. But it perhaps says much about the way the club has been managed over the last few years that such moves have been so few and far between.

Asked to be drawn on the performance of his centre-back pairing of Raphael Varane and Maguire, Rangnick played the straightest of bats. Both can expect a physical test at Burnley.

“Raphael hasn’t played for the last five or six weeks since the Tottenham game in which he got injured,” Rangnick said. “He hasn’t played much in the last three months. Yes, he made a mistake for the first goal we conceded but apart from that I thought he was OK.

“I wouldn’t say he was outstanding, the same with Harry. They did OK. Our problem was again that we allowed too many transitional moments but this wasn’t just the centre-backs, it was the team. It starts up front.

“I don’t think it makes sense to talk about the individual performance of players. We need to get better as a team.”

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On Tyneside, Edinson Cavani provided a rare glimmer of light and he could start at Turf Moor.

Ragnnick revealed it was the player himself who had decided he was not fit enough to play at Newcastle – but there was no alternative given the first-half display.

“In the last two days I was considering playing him from the start,” he admitted.

“He didn’t feel comfortable to play from the beginning because he didn’t know how fit he really was, but after being 1-0 down at half-time it was clear to me that we needed to take more risks and needed to change something, which is why we needed to bring on him and Jadon at half-time.”

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It started first in the King Power’s East Stand, amongst a section of Leicester City supporters nearest the away fans. They repeated their taunt irregularly during the game, but the chant was not contained there. In the second half, the South Stand and North Stand joined in too. “Feed the Scousers,” rang out from a section of a stand designated as a family area. Good luck sidestepping that irony before it hits you in the face.

This is not about Leicester City fans, or not only about them; viewing this through the prism of a single club undermines the point. It’s Christmas time in the Premier League and that means it’s time to chant about poverty to football supporters from Merseyside, an area of the country perceived to be the worst afflicted by a societal disease that lies in every city and town in the country to greater and lesser extents.

It is helpful to begin by understanding the predictable defence: this is just a chant and this is just banter. Ask a selection of those supporters on Tuesday night who partook in the song and the majority would say that they were simply using it as a tool to wind up Liverpool fans. To them, the aim is more important than the words.

And any criticism of their song will be viewed as a stance of unhelpful wokeness, that term used as an insult by those who refuse to believe that “wokeness” simply reflects an intention not to be an irredeemable d___. We are at the football and at the football we banter. If you can’t stand the heat, stay at home in your echo chamber, snowflake.

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But that argument falls down quickly. Chants about racism and homophobia are against the law and thus punishable, but there are other topics that almost every football supporter would consider beyond the pale on decency grounds. You would not chant about cancer or, to be topical, you would not mock those who have died of Covid-19. That suggests that an unwritten code does exist. And poverty should be part of that code.

For banter to avoid becoming b*nter, it must have a vein of humour running through it. What is funny about 2.5 million people in the UK using a food bank in 2020 and 2021? Where is the punchline in children growing up in abject poverty and often not getting a hot meal from one day to the next? At what point do you think using the state of a nation in which almost a quarter of households are behind on their bills is something to joke about rather than lament?

‘Feed the scousers’ chants from the Leicester fans at Anfield last week. Today we went to @FoodbankSouth in Leicester to make a foodbank donation. Lets work together to end food poverty #HungerWearsNoClubColours pic.twitter.com/vAohkJUtU9

— Indy Singh (@IndySingh_1) December 28, 2021

But worse than that, poverty chants are a grim example of punching down. It is particularly tasteless at football matches because football was a working-class sport that eventually transformed into middle-class leisure pursuit through the rise in ticket prices and because it is one of the few places where people gather en masse and proudly display their tribalism. Very few at the King Power on Tuesday will have experienced poverty because the cheapest season ticket renewal in the East Stand cost £420 last summer.

As for the geographical slur to Merseyside, take a look around you. According to the End Child Poverty Coalition, in 2017 Leicester was eighth in the table of local authorities with the highest rates of child poverty in the UK; the percentage of children in poverty after housing costs was 41 per cent. In January this year, 12 per cent of adults in the city were worried about having enough food. Rising energy prices, the end of the Universal Credit uplift and the impact of Covid-19 will only make things harder. Leicester City are a football club that does brilliant things for its community. If nothing else, demonstrate your love for that club by following their example.

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Again, this isn’t just Leicester City supporters; they are merely the latest example of the “Feed the Scousers” slur. This isn’t just football either. In this country, to suffer poverty is to somehow accept some culpability for your fate. It comes with the accusation that you are workshy, that you have massaged benefits culture for your own gain, by those who have been fortunate to avoid the same circumstances and in doing so have persuaded themselves – or been hardwired to believe – that their position has been achieved purely through skill or hard work.

And that matters. Societal inequalities are established by governments, but they are propelled by the people for as long as the people are happy to mock those worse off than them. They become foot soldiers of inequality, punching down on those who must know their place and accept their fate. And conversely, the only way to address this inequality is through love, support and sympathy. You might not think that a chant matters. It might only be banter to you. But it makes a difference.

Before Tuesday night’s game, Leicester City gave out a free can of beer to every adult supporter as a gesture of thanks for their support – just another way in which this club demonstrates its gratitude for those who spend their time, money and energy on their beloved club. We can presume that some of those who enjoyed their pre-match drink mocked the away end, using the perception of Merseyside as poverty-stricken as their slur.

Twenty-four hours later, a mile from the King Power, volunteers will hand out food parcels at the Manor House Neighbourhood Centre to those who need it most. Those two queues only exist in isolation from one another if our behaviour demands it. Football supporters can do better and football supporters must do better. You don’t get to conclude that it’s just a chant and you are part of the problem if you cannot be dissuaded from that conclusion.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3eyah37

The question now is how brave Manchester United are prepared to be in 2022.

If appointing Ralf Rangnick was the first step in scrambling the failed “DNA” that the club’s hierarchy clung to through the disastrous later days of the doomed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era, the ominous reversion to type on Tyneside illustrates the scale of the project the club need to embark on to reclaim their relevance in the Premier League title conversation.

Last week’s curious claim from John Murtough to the club’s fans forum that Solskjaer’s “re-set” of their culture was the best thing to come from his three years collided with cold, hard reality on a wet night in the North East. The club may be laying foundations off the field but make no mistake, the first team needs a rebuild, not tinkering at the edges.

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Rangnick’s rebuild – if he gets the time and space to get into it – will have to be a big one and success will only come with some high-profile casualties if Manchester United are to recalibrate from the mess that first Norwich and then Newcastle were able to exploit so easily.

The German was a portrait of frustration on the touchline at St James’ Park, howling into the drizzly night when Jadon Sancho’s overhit cross sailed into the Leazes End. A minute later he spun round with clenched fists when Marcus Rashford, whose decline in 2021 has been one of the saddest footnotes of the Manchester United year, mishit a long-range drive into the stands.

Sancho, improving at least after a disappointing start, is protected by virtue of the long-term investment the club has made in him. But is the same true of others who are not contributing enough? A loan offer from Sevilla for Anthony Martial has been turned down but the job of pruning the squad isn’t just about selling a few fringe men. The dynamic just isn’t right.

Big decisions on players with sizeable reputations will be deferred until after the January transfer window and a new managerial appointment is made, but they cannot be kicked into the long grass forever.

Rangnick knows this. His initial meeting in the club’s London offices last month centred on the need for a change in direction, bringing “control” back to the team’s play and their recruitment philosophy. Both have failed in a year which has seen them cede further ground to their city rivals and a Liverpool side who have made up the gap in resources with smart recruitment and even sharper coaching.

It says a lot that Premier League clubs no longer fear Manchester United. One describes scanning his club’s fixture list looking for their game against the Red Devils, confident that in their current state they could unpick the weaknesses that have manifested themselves on countless occasions. Newcastle’s plan to press them high worked perfectly, with Rangnick admitting afterwards the team did not have the answers – physically – for inferior opponents.

Rangnick’s short-term mission is to eradicate those issues. A second half change of formation from a 4-2-2-2 system that was failing hinted at a Plan B that Manchester United did not possess under his predecessor, though much will depend on whether Edison Cavani can stay fit and out of the clutches of Barcelona.

Those close to Rangnick insist he is not naive enough to think that his work will be done after five months’ work on the training ground with a group of players who have been collected like trinkets by different managers to work to different systems and with wildly varying ambitions.

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His first priority, they insist, is to work on cohesion, eradicating the ill discipline that undermined much of their work in the last two matches.

Surely the least they can expect is the team to start looking more united. Gary Neville accused them of being “whingebags” given their constant complaining to each other and officials – a charge Rangnick denied.

“I don’t think it was a problem of body language, it was more a question of physicality, of meeting the demands with speed, tempo, physicality, the side effect is the body language afterwards. I don’t think that was the major problem,” he insisted.

But he will see the signs and they don’t bode well. There is so much work to do.

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