Key occasions
Rightio, that’s just about all we’ve bought time for. It’s been fairly the day hasn’t it? From Pep Guardiola’s cat to Roy Hodgson booing himself, with a trio of surprising Manchester United awards in between. Never a uninteresting second. Go and seize your self a pre-Christmas Friday drink to have fun.
I’ll go away you with this piece from Nick Ames with Arsenal’s William Saliba. He’ll be taking centre stage tomorrow night as two of the Premier League’s in-form sides meet at Villa Park. Saliba, that’s, not Nick.
One factor Pep did present at the moment was a proof for Kalvin Phillips’ ongoing, and barely baffling, exclusion.
🔵🏴 Guardiola: “I’m so sorry for Kalvin Phillips”.
“I ask for good personality and also good character and he’s perfect example…”.
“It’s just because I visualise something, I visualise the team and I struggle a little bit to see him. That’s all”. pic.twitter.com/uBA8qd1WCk
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 8, 2023
Meanwhile, it’s judgement day within the MLS on Saturday.
If, like me, you’re a staff information nerd, be at liberty to delve into this.
Real Madrid supervisor Carlo Ancelotti stays assured Jude Bellingham is recovering effectively from his shoulder drawback – however stated surgical procedure can’t be dominated out if the problem flares up once more.
The England midfielder, 20, is having fun with a standout debut marketing campaign with Los Blancos, having scored 15 objectives up to now in all competitions however was sidelined earlier than the worldwide break, lacking England’s closing Euro 2024 qualifiers, with a dislocated shoulder.
After returning to motion, Bellingham then picked up an ankle concern through the Champions League win over Napoli however has been coaching within the health club this week. Ancelotti moved to allay any fears over a critical setback, however accepts the membership will monitor how Bellingham’s shoulder responds to on-going therapy alongside a busy match schedule.
“Bellingham is working on his own because he still has to recover from the ankle injury he had against Napoli. He has recovered well,” Ancelotti stated.
“The shoulder is something he has to look after to strengthen it on his own. He hasn’t had any problem to play, and every day that goes by, he is improving in that sense.”
Pressed if Bellingham would possibly want surgical procedure, Ancelotti informed the press convention: “Not right now. The shoulder is very particular. If it happens again or keeps happening, maybe, but we will see.”
Football Daily has dropped, penned by yours actually. Do give it a learn and subscribe and … yeah you already know the remaining.
Manchester United say Victor Lindelöf and Marcus Rashford are each affected by sickness and are unlikely to function towards Bournemouth tomorrow.
With Casemiro, Lisandro Martínez, Mason Mount, Tyrell Malacia and Christian Eriksen all out injured as effectively, issues aren’t getting any simpler for Erik ten Hag.
Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has been pictured again in Arsenal coaching at the moment as she makes her long-awaited return from an ACL harm, which dominated her out of the World Cup. She’d beforehand been snapped performing some health club work and chatting to members of the squad, however now the comeback is effectively and actually on.
This electronic mail from Kurt Perleberg poses an existential query …
If the three o’clock blackout have been to be lifted what ought to that point window be used for?
I’m actually unsure, Kurt. Maybe we might simply bin the entire soccer factor and do one thing helpful with our time?
What have I simply witnessed?
Ahead of taking his in-form Bournemouth facet to Manchester United tomorrow, Andoni Iraola mirrored on captaining Athletic Bilbao to a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford in a well-known 2012 Europa League tie, his solely earlier aggressive go to to United.
It’s in all probability among the best days of my soccer profession. You all the time keep in mind these video games.
When I used to be at Rayo Vallecano, we performed them initially of final season. Even although it was a pleasant, you don’t need to lose, you need to compete and do issues effectively.
“Points are concerned tomorrow and we nonetheless want factors. Even if we’re doing effectively in the mean time, our begin to the season wasn’t so good so we’re nonetheless in a position the place we’d like factors.
How he’d love an identical end result 11 years on, this time as supervisor of the Cherries, who’ve by no means overwhelmed United at Old Trafford.
Against groups like us, let’s say within the second a part of the standings, I feel they’ve gained each recreation besides towards Crystal Palace. We know the calls for will likely be actually excessive and there’s a cause we’ve by no means gained there.
A cracking interview with Leeds United’s latest academy hotshot, Archie Gray, right here:
Marcus Rashford might do worse than to emulate what Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire have performed recently at Manchester United, Erik ten Hag stated at the moment.
How was this 19 years in the past? A magnificence certainly.
Saudi Arabia’s sports activities minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal has given an interview to BBC Sport by which he dismissed accusations of sportswashing and defended the nation’s proper to bid unopposed for the 2034 males’s World Cup regardless of considerations over human rights, restricted girl’s rights and the actual fact homosexuality is prohibited within the kingdom.
Plenty of the people who accuse us of that haven’t been to Saudi, or seen what we’re doing. Any nation has room for enchancment, no-one’s good. We acknowledge that and these occasions assist us reform to a greater future for everybody.
Everyone’s welcome within the kingdom. Like some other nation now we have guidelines and laws that everybody ought to abide by and respect. When we come to the UK we respect the principles and laws, whether or not we imagine in them or not. Through the 85 occasions that now we have had up to now, we haven’t had any points.
Wolves’ sporting director Matt Hobbs has (form of) clarified the state of affairs round wing-back Jonny, who was banished from the membership’s Compton Park base after a “training ground incident” however has now returned – albeit he is not going to be made available for first staff choice.
Hobbs stated: “I’ve sat down with him, he’s apologised, and we have outlined the way forward. We had a conversation and have agreed that at least until the end of the January window he won’t be part of the first-team group.
“He will still be training at the club and, if he chooses, he can play for the under-21s to keep up his match sharpness, and I think, knowing him, he’ll probably do that.
“This is a guy who has been a great servant to the football club. One incident doesn’t define the role he’s played during the successful times and the man he is day to day around the place. Everybody has moments and that’s all it was, but we move forward for the wider group.
“It’s not something Gary [O’Neil] has had to deal with, we’ve dealt with it as a club and allowed Gary to focus on getting the team ready for the important games coming up.”
Guardiola: ‘We’ve been like a cat being stroked’
Pep Guardiola used a slightly odd feline analogy when discussing Manchester City’s type at at the moment’s press convention.
“As a manager I sometimes need that, I need that challenge,” he stated. “I think for everyone it is good. I think it’s necessary to live that.
“For a long time, we’ve lived like a cat [strokes head] and [known] how good we are. We need to say: ‘Guys this business – it’s terrible’. You are unbeatable and then, oh my God, you cannot win one game – from nothing. Maybe for myself first, I need that challenge to prove myself, that I’m a good manager, to help the players overcome that situation.
“For the players it’s a good challenge to say: ‘Aston Villa were miles better than all of us, so imagine the other ones’.”
Back on the Premier League press convention carousel now, and extra from Roy Hodgson who says he regrets calling Crystal Palace followers “spoilt” after he and his gamers took an earful at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night time.
I’m distressed by my feedback and selection of phrase, which I bitterly remorse. I feel the followers have been very affected person throughout this unhealthy spell they usually’ve not been spoilt.
I can perceive their frustration so I owe them an apology as a result of they’ve been so good to me throughout my 5 years on the membership. I’d be devastated in the event that they didn’t assume I appreciated them.
Everyone got here to the sport pondering we’d get some factors on the board, so to have that hope taken away by a mixture of issues is difficult. We didn’t play almost as shut as we wished to do. But it’s gone now and now we have to recover from it.
This is effectively price your time; the latest column from our resident soccer proprietor who discusses Manchester United’s takeover of types.
Predictable tweet of the day involves you by way of Mr Predictable, Richard Keys.
Ten Hag. MoM for November? Somebody is having fun. W v Fulham 1-0 in added time. W v Luton 1-0. W v Everton 3-0. Two of them backside 3. Not counting however – misplaced 0-3 to Newc in LC. L 4-3 to Copenhagen. D 3-3 v Galatasaray. Time was this might get you the sack at Utd. MoM? 😂😂.
— Richard Keys (@richardajkeys) December 8, 2023
Hodgson: ‘I felt like booing myself’ in Palace loss
Quote of the day involves you by way of Roy, after Palace’s lacklustre 2-0 midweek loss.
“I felt like booing myself”, says Roy Hodgson in regards to the Bournemouth defeat. #CPFC
— Dom Smith (@MrDomSmith) December 8, 2023
This season’s Premier League is throwing up some mouthwatering fixtures isn’t it? Aston Villa v Arsenal seems like one for the ages, so too does Tottenham v Newcastle. Everton v Chelsea gained’t be a quiet night time on the library both.
Maybe it’s my very own pre-Christmas hubris, however every little thing simply feels contemporary, tense and difficult to name proper now. What recreation are you most wanting ahead to? Email me should you like.
It’s Friday afternoon, it’s quiz time and you may positively beat my rating of 9/15 on this:
Manchester City supervisor Gareth Taylor is eager to see his facet producing extra of the identical after the “relentless” show once they blew away Tottenham within the WSL.
City adopted up their 3-1 win towards Manchester United at Old Trafford by hammering Tottenham 7-0.
Asked at a press convention what he says to his gamers going into Saturday’s home conflict with Aston Villa having seen them win like that final time, Taylor stated with a smile: “Can we do it again?”
He added: “We’ve been talking for a long time about potentially [getting] that kind of scoreline and being really emphatic.
“Once we got that first goal we were really kind of relentless. Trying to recreate that is the hardest thing … but we also know the only thing that’s stopping us from doing that is us.”
Villa supervisor Carla Ward stated about City: “They’re an unbelievable team, it’s going to be a tough game. They’re a team you don’t want to face off the back of their last two fixtures.”
Pochettino: Cannot blame Chelsea followers for booing
Mauricio Pochettino has come beneath some critical fireplace this week following Chelsea’s defeat to United and he’s addressed that in his press convention, together with the flak he and his gamers took from followers after the sport at Old Trafford.
On fixing Chelsea: “It’s only a matter of time. Sometimes that is six months, sometimes a year, sometimes only a month. But we know what we’re doing will pay off. Fans react how they feel, we cannot blame them. If we’re not playing well, it’s normal that we’re criticised.”
On Sean Dyche and Everton: “I think his teams are like Sean’s personality. Aggressive and brave, they can also play direct and it will be a massive challenge for us. If you want to perform in the Premier League you need to deal with this.”
Marco Silva has revealed that the mercurial Adama Traoré is again in coaching after a hamstring harm and will likely be assessed as Fulham put together to entertain West Ham on Sunday. He’s but to begin a league recreation since his summer season transfer.
Silva has been impressed with the type of Alex Iwobi, who scored two in Fulham’s 5-0 rout of Nottingham Forest in midweek:
“He is a hard worker. I knew when we signed him, his energy and dynamic will help us.”
Before that, kudos to Sky’s Bianca Westwood for this reponse to a former QPR and Man City participant who shall stay anonymous.
Mauricio Pochettino and Marco Silva are among the many Premier League managers subsequent up on the presser rostrums. We’ll carry you what they’ve stated subsequent …
There was some gushing reward for Luke Shaw from the Manchester United supervisor, too.
He is a participant others can build on, he provides perception and confidence to different gamers, teammates round him really feel comfy, he offers with conditions, he’ll arrange, take the initiative, create and strengthen the staff. His presence, his character, the skillset with physicality [is] so robust, technically excellent. We are blissful he’s again on.
Ten Hag: Rashford will return to type
We’ll stick to Manchester United, on condition that Erik ten Hag is presently chatting with the media at Carrington, with no bans in place for this one. Here’s some snippets from the Dutchman:
On Marcus Rashford’s poor type: “Rashford is an incredible, good player. You can’t do it with 11 players. He can’t play every game. He’s not in this moment in the form he was last year, but I am sure he will get there.”
On a busy fixture schedule: “As manager, my coaches, with the rest of the staff, we always consider [rotating] but the next game is always the most important, especially in the Premier League where everyone is killing everyone.”
Player and supervisor of the month awards
Thanks Tom.
I’ll begin with this. No, there’s no want to regulate your screens, that basically is the maligned Harry Maguire and the beleagured Erik ten Hag with the Premier League’s participant and supervisor of the month awards for November. No shock that Alejandro Garnacho bought the objective of the month prize, after all.
If you ignore the actual fact Manchester United misplaced badly on twenty ninth October and 2nd December and that they shipped seven objectives in two Champions League video games in November, they really had an excellent month: three video games, three wins, three clear sheets.
And that’s my brief and candy stint performed. Dominic Booth will now information you expertly by way of the afternoon. Bye.
More emails: “When did Match Day 1 or whatever move across the Atlantic and become accepted, if not acceptable, in reference to the ‘Greatest League in the World’ (TM)?” thunders Richard Hurst. “Please can we put it in the (top)bin along with xG. And bah humbug to early Christmas decorations as well, whilst we’re at it.”
I type of like “top bin”, principally as a result of it doesn’t actually make any sense, although I believe it’s an expression beloved of the type of people that used to go on about “teckers” again within the Noughties. If unsure, blame Tim Lovejoy.
Never underestimate the capability of soccer golf equipment to show the straightforward pleasures of reside fandom right into a chore. “Last season I was able to spend some lovely afternoons at Prenton Park with my eldest watching LFC women play,” writes William Preston. “It’s a super way to spend some time and she absolutely loved going. What made it even more special was the players making time to speak to the crowd after the game and being happy to have photos taken, and sign things.
“This season, however, if you aren’t a season ticket holder match day tickets are only available for the Kop (or Cow Shed) ends of the ground (behind thr goals). Being situated there means the great inclusivity and interaction bit is lost, which has really put us off going, because the views aren’t nearly as good as the other stand, especially for a 9 year old. The cost of a season ticket isn’t absurdly high, which is commendable, but the restriction on not being a holder does smart a little bit. In 22-23, LFC women averaged 2,500 spectators a game (if you exclude the derby game, which isn’t at Prenton Park), so there’s plenty capacity there, keeping in mind the current average attendance for the season is 2,000 (derby excluded). It seems a bit of a regressive move, to me, and puts off the more casual fans.”
Want one thing to hearken to whereas chomping in your lunch? The latest Football Weekly providing will allow you to just do that.
