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Murdochs ''news'' channel always seeking a new low. Trump described criminals ''rapists, muggers, the homeless'' Half of US citizens are two weeks salary away from eviction . Lot of those homeless fought for their country, have PTSD and didnt hide behind ''bone spurs''

Again Trump has instigated this. Every President in history after a killing like this stresses the need for calm, peace and unification on all sides. Trump immediately went on the offensive towards 'liberals' before we even knew the perpetrator. We saw how he instigates conflict and potential civil war with him goading people to attack the capital. Total fucking liabilty to have a low ratings TV reality star as president

Eden Hazard, John Terry, Diego Costa, Marcel Desailly, Joe Cole and Petr Cech are among the former Blues set to return to Chelsea action, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for the legendary reunion of Chelsea stars are on sale now, with prices starting from just £17.50 and all proceeds going to the Chelsea Foundation. Old rivalries will be reignited when our Chelsea FC Legends take on the Liverpool FC Legends on SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER AT STAMFORD BRIDGE

Charlie Kirk memorial chant: "White man fight back!"

“Or involuntary lethal injection or something. Just kill them.” - Fox News Host during a segment about the homeless population

lol are you crazy win this game its important to continue with the momentum and bayern its a much more tough game and we still have a plenty of games in ucl to guarantee the qualification

I badly want to beat Bayern. I Want people to begin to wonder if maybe, just maybe, there's a reason we won the CWC.

Reported Essugo injured too.

Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Trev, Cucurella, Enzo, Moi, Neto, Estavao, Facundo, Pedro

They must rate him highly....such a shame that Veiga and Maresca fell out, he had all the tools to be very good CB.

Not sure what they see in Badiashile. Always injured and not spectacular when fit.

Guardiola, Amorim and troubling times in the state of Manchester https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6620274/2025/09/12/manchester-derby-guardiola-amorim/ On the eve of his first Manchester derby in September 2016, it was put to Pep Guardiola that his rivalry with Jose Mourinho would elevate the fixture and the Premier League to new heights. It would be English football’s answer to Ali vs Frazier, or Borg vs McEnroe, or Prost vs Senna. For a time, it felt like that. Every clash was described as “box office”. It was Guardiola vs Mourinho on the touchline. It was Kevin De Bruyne vs Paul Pogba. It was Sergio Aguero vs Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There were fireworks on the pitch and off it, one thrilling clash in 2017 followed by a flare-up in the Old Trafford tunnel — pushing, shoving, milk cartons thrown, blood shed — after Mourinho and his players were riled by a triumphant Oasis singalong in the Manchester City dressing room. But City, under Guardiola, reached such great heights and tipped the scales so far that the rivalry became one-sided, the reverse of its previous imbalance. Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag all claimed notable victories over City without coming close to landing the biggest prizes. Mourinho and Solskjaer led United to second place in the Premier League in 2018 and 2021 respectively, but neither could seriously be described as a title challenge. City have been the Premier League’s dominant force for the past decade and United frequently its most captivating discussion point, but the oft-stated notion of Manchester as the centre of the football universe — “global capital of football in the rest of the 21st century”, as proposed by the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham, earlier this year — has never truly materialised. United’s loss of direction under the Glazer family’s miserable ownership has seen to that. Guardiola spoke about the gulf in class a couple of years ago, not long after he led City to their first Champions League title and their sixth Premier League title in seven seasons. “I know what we have done,” he said. “I don’t know what Man United have done because I am not (there). But I didn’t expect it, honestly, when I arrived here with Jose Mourinho, with Ibrahimovic (up front for United), with top, top players, (Romelu) Lukaku (who joined them in 2017).” He put the difference down to a clear, unified vision that was there from the moment City came calling for him at Bayern Munich, having hired two former Barcelona executives, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, in part because they represented a pathway to signing him. Guardiola and Mourinho in 2018 (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) The contrast with their neighbours is so stark that one of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first moves, upon buying an initial 27.7 per cent stake in United last year, was to raid City to hire a chief executive, Omar Berrada, in the hope that some of that clarity and vision would rub off. So far, it has not done to any appreciable degree. There have been changes, the usual talk of cultural resets and refocusing, along with another purge of perceived trouble-makers, but to date, Ratcliffe-era United has largely been indistinguishable from what was there over the previous decade, which City dominated. There have been derby-day highlights: resounding City victories, interspersed by days (not least the 2024 FA Cup final) when the old empire has briefly struck back. But the intensity of that Mourinho vs Guardiola period — and before that the Sir Alex Ferguson vs Roberto Mancini period as City, under new ownership, fought their way out of United’s long, intimidating shadow — has not been sustained. It is an unpalatable truth for United’s fans that the most tumultuous matches in Manchester over recent seasons have come when Liverpool and, more recently, Arsenal have visited City. The last Manchester derby? You would do well to remember it. It was a non-event at Old Trafford last April, a 0-0 draw so dreary that the only post-match talking point on Sky Sports was the softly-softly nature of it all. Former United captain Gary Neville complained of a “love-in” between the two groups of players at the final whistle, saying they seemed so content after 90 minutes of gentle sparring that “they’re going to go for a roast dinner now”. The Manchester derby in April ended 0-0 (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images) To an extent, that reflects the modern Premier League, which can be too sanitised and too convivial for many. But City’s games against Arsenal over the past few seasons have been tumultuous. Their clashes against Liverpool, while less antagonistic, have at times been of the highest quality. Even when United snatched a dramatic 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium last December, early in Ruben Amorim’s tenure, the dust settled quickly. This season’s first Manchester derby, at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, has arrived with what feels like indecent haste. Whereas that September 2016 clash came after Guardiola and Mourinho had won each of their first three Premier League matches since taking charge, this one finds both teams trying to shrug off an early-season malaise: an all-too-familiar sensation for United, but one that City hoped to have left behind them after a slump last term. Not since 2004-05, when Kevin Keegan was their manager and Danny Mills and Ben Thatcher their big summer signings, have City begun a campaign by losing two of their first three Premier League games. Since sweeping Wolves aside so impressively on the opening weekend, Guardiola’s team have lost at home against Tottenham Hotspur and, from 1-0 up, away at Brighton & Hove Albion. “There’s something… missing,” former City defender Micah Richards said this week at an event to promote CBS’s Champions League coverage. “I had felt that the things they were missing last season had been fixed. But against Spurs, they got caught out. Against Brighton, it was too easy. I thought they’d fixed it, but they haven’t yet. It might take more time.” It is the first time since December 2020 that City have gone into a derby trailing their neighbours in the Premier League table — and it is not as if United, with four points from three games, have set off at a frightening pace. There have been encouraging aspects to United’s performances, with new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo bringing a much-needed spark to the forward line, but there are still so many questions about Amorim’s team; that humiliating Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby Town prompted dark mutterings from the coach, saying that the players’ performance “spoke really loud about what they want and what they don’t want”. There is no doubt what Amorim wants. His tactical vision has been set in stone from the moment he arrived in Manchester last November. To the believers, it is a sign of a coach’s strength and conviction. To the doubters, it is a sign of weakness, a slavish devotion to a system that has yielded just 31 points from 30 Premier League games. In both camps, there is bemusement that United’s £200million summer revamp in the transfer market did not even begin to address longstanding deficiencies — both with and without the ball — in central midfield. There are still questions around Amorim’s United (George Wood/Getty Images) If there is one coach who has demonstrated the value of persisting with a certain playing style in the Premier League and ignoring the naysayers, it is Guardiola. His first Manchester derby featured a debut in goal for Claudio Bravo, whose deposing of England’s No 1 Joe Hart, on account of his superior ability with the ball at his feet, earned him the wrath of almost the entire punditocracy back in 2016 — as did an insistence upon intricate, possession-based football in a league where a more attritional style was still en vogue. What You Should Read Next Pep Guardiola was supposed to compromise his principles, but he conquered the Premier League by staying true to them When Guardiola first came to the Premier League, even sages such as Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp thought he may struggle - he has thrived Guardiola’s faith in his philosophy has brought spectacular rewards for City in the years since. But is his vision still so clear in 2025? The coach who taught us that a goalkeeper cannot justify his position through shot-stopping alone has just signed Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had fallen out of favour at Paris Saint-Germain because, in coach Luis Enrique’s eyes, he is not adept enough with the ball at his feet. Donnarumma could make his debut against United and it says much of Guardiola’s influence on English football culture that the signing of the Italian, widely recognised as one of the outstanding goalkeepers in the world, has attracted almost as much debate as the replacement of Hart with Bravo — and, ultimately and far more successfully, Ederson — did. What You Should Read Next Manchester City and the long summer of goalkeepers The signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma completes an overhaul of City's goalkeeping department - and raises some tactical questions too In a news conference before that Brighton game, Guardiola responded sarcastically when it was put to him that something had changed in his tactical outlook. “Yeah, after winning 18 titles, I will change my plan — yeah, I’m pretty sure. After winning four Premier Leagues in a row, I’m going to change the way I believe my teams should play,” he said. “Never, ever, will I change my belief in the way we’re going to play.” But clearly something has shifted in Guardiola’s approach. In the past, a ball-playing goalkeeper and a multi-functional centre-forward were non-negotiables for the City manager, who even used to rebuke Aguero for “disappearing” during build-up play. Now he has a goalkeeper, Donnarumma, who is far removed from the Victor Valdes or Ederson archetype, and a centre-forward, Erling Haaland, who brings an extraordinary goalscoring prowess but can at times give the impression he thinks he will be penalised if he touches the ball outside the penalty area. There have been other shifts over recent seasons: playing central defenders at full-back and moving towards players who have appeared to lack certain qualities that were previously required of midfielders (Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes) and wide forwards (Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku) in a Guardiola team. Guardiola has talked of the need to adapt to new tactical trends in the Premier League — “today, modern football is not positional, you have to ride with the rhythm” — but the City team that has emerged over the past 12 months, after so many comings and goings, has struggled in that regard. In the second half on the south coast a fortnight ago, he and his team looked flummoxed once Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler had changed the rhythm of the game. Guardiola looks on during the defeat to Brighton (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images) No manager can remain at the highest level without evolving and adapting to new challenges, but it feels strange to reflect that PSG dominated Europe last season in a style that seemed to have more in common with Guardiola’s great Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City sides than Guardiola’s current team has. Then there is the question of energy. Guardiola extended his contract to June 2027 last year, but a degree of uncertainty surrounds his commitment beyond this season. Management at the highest level is exhausting, particularly when someone is as consumed by the job as Guardiola is. Fighting for the biggest prizes — high-intensity matches every week — can be energy-sapping, but struggling to find answers is even more so. Amorim would identify with that. Like Guardiola, he gives the impression of feeling tortured by every setback — and there have been an awful lot of those in his first 10 months in Manchester. Sunday offers both managers a welcome opportunity to build momentum. As challenging as the first few weeks of the campaign have been, victory on derby day would change the mood considerably. The other side of that equation is the threat of defeat and all the negativity that would come with it. By 6.30pm on Sunday, either City or United — or both if it ends up a draw — will be left with one win from the first four Premier League matches. And things could feasibly get worse, with stern tests to follow next weekend against Arsenal and Chelsea respectively. All of which brings a certain type of spotlight on the Manchester derby, a game where the stakes are raised precisely because the mood right now is so low. It is wearily familiar territory for United these days, but for those of a City persuasion — at least for those like Guardiola and for a young generation of supporters who have grown happily accustomed to success — these are strange, unsettling times.

A play-off shake-up would be good news for Wrexham, but bad for football https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6618958/2025/09/11/wrexham-play-off-efl/ Mention “the play-offs” to Wrexham supporters of any vintage and chances are their first response will be to shudder. Six times the club now owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have competed in the end-of-season promotion deciders and six times they’ve failed to go up, most recently in 2022 against Grimsby Town. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course. There’s an argument that the 5-4 semi-final loss, which served as the finale to series one of the Welcome to Wrexham TV show, actually did the club a favour, in that it introduced a US audience to the sense of jeopardy that exists in a sport featuring promotion and relegation. But, at the time, the devastation felt by supporters wearily used to coming up short in the play-offs — a tale of woe that stretches back to 1989 — was so deep that a straw poll at the final whistle against Grimsby would surely have voted in favour of boycotting all future attempts at going up via this route. Three or so years on, the landscape at the Racecourse Ground has changed significantly. Wrexham are a Championship club now and the Premier League is just one more promotion away. Surely, then, The Athletic’s exclusive story about plans to expand the number of teams involved in the play-offs at this level from four to six must be good news for Wrexham, even allowing for that dreadful record. Basic mathematics says lowering the qualification bar to eighth place certainly means an increased chance of getting a shot at realising their Hollywood owners’ much-stated ambition of reaching the top flight. Play-off changes could be good news for Wrexham owners Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds (Kya Banasko/Getty Images) And Wrexham would not be alone in welcoming such a change. The proposals — presented by Preston North End chief executive Peter Ridsdale to a meeting of Championship chief executives last week — received widespread backing, as clubs sensed the door to the Premier League’s promised land creaking open a little wider. But at what cost? The play-offs are one of English football’s greatest success stories. Introduced in 1986-87, they quickly became a highlight of the calendar by offering an intoxicating mix of drama and excitement that spread to the regular season by keeping even mid-table teams in the promotion mix until well into the spring. Thanks to the prize of reaching the Premier League being so big, the second-tier play-offs have taken on an aura all of their own, with the final long ago dubbed The Richest Game in World Football. None of this will change under this plan. There is, though, a very real danger of the quality being diluted sufficiently to damage the EFL brand. Bristol City, having finished sixth in last season’s Championship, stunk out the semi-finals, even before Rob Dickie’s red card on the stroke of half-time in their first leg defeat at home to Sheffield United. But what if Liam Manning’s side had instead hit a purple patch in May and gone on to clinch promotion? Chances are, one of the worst teams to qualify for the Championship play-offs would now be drowning in the league above. This season’s newly-promoted Premier League clubs may have made encouraging starts but Southampton’s derisory 12 points in 2024-25 and all six of the promoted teams going straight back down in the last two campaigns have raised questions over a competitive imbalance between the top two divisions. The Premier League has always been hostile to the notion of expanding the play-offs, which has been regularly touted for over 20 years, partly because of fears it would dilute the quality of its competition. How long before those at the top table start questioning the validity of three sides coming up every year? Sounds far-fetched? Perhaps. But there’s a huge gulf between the top two divisions right now that will not be bridged by promoting a team who could only finish eighth in the Championship. Be careful what you wish for, if you like. Especially as any extension to the play-offs would mean having to create space in an already congested calendar. Grimsby’s Tristan Abrahams celebrates beating Wrexham in the 2022 National League play-offs (Lewis Storey/Getty Images) This could be done by either squeezing the regular season even tighter with more midweek fixtures or putting the Wembley final back a week. The latter, though, would be a terrible option as play-off winners would have even less time to prepare for the Premier League than they do now. Those behind the shake-up have clearly looked to the National League — England’s fifth tier — for inspiration, judging by how the proposed eliminator stage looks very similar to the current format of the fourth-placed side playing seventh and fifth taking on sixth. But the decision to extend the National League play-offs from four to six teams in 2017-18 made sense, in part, thanks to the two-up, two-down agreement with the EFL. By increasing the participating teams by 50 per cent, more stayed involved in the promotion race for longer. However, if the National League ever gets the three-up, three-down set-up it craves, this argument feels more redundant. It’s also worth noting how the National League play-offs have panned out, both before and after those changes eight years ago. The lowest-placed team in the final table to win promotion is Grimsby in 2022, when, as the sixth-placed side, they followed that win over Wrexham by beating Solihull Moors. Otherwise, promotion via the play-offs has been pretty much the preserve of the teams finishing second or third, with the 2025 final the big outlier as fifth-placed Oldham Athletic defeated seventh-placed Southend United. Is it really worth not only adding to fixture congestion by extending the current Championship play-offs but also potentially risking the wrath of the Premier League for such little impact? Especially for a league so competitive already that, with just two games remaining last season, every one of the 24 teams in the second tier could either go up or down. If Wrexham, Preston or anyone else wants to go up, then do it via the current route. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Enzo Maresca: Chelsea squad not ‘worried’ about club’s 74 FA charges https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6622773/2025/09/12/enzo-maresca-Chelsea-charges/ Enzo Maresca says neither he or the Chelsea players are worried about the club facing 74 charges for alleged rule breaches related to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022. Chelsea have until September 19 to respond to the Football Association (FA) with the potential punishments, if found guilty, ranging from a fine to a points deduction or transfer ban. The Athletic reported on Thursday that the club are expecting it to just be a fine, although an independent commission will be the ones to decide what happens. Maresca admits he is not too concerned about the situation. Speaking during Friday’s pre-match press conference, when asked if he had spoken to anyone in the hierarchy about the case, he replied: “I know from the club that they are satisfied about the situation, about the process. “Personally I don’t have anything to add, firstly because I don’t have any idea. If I say something I could be wrong or right. I just focus on the pitch side, something I can control. The rest is not in my hands.” When pressed if he will speak to the players to reassure them over the possible ramifications, he replied: “I don’t think the players are too worried about the situation.” What You Should Read Next Chelsea’s 74 FA charges explained: What are the allegations and how could they be punished? Breaking down what Chelsea are accused of by the FA and what the implications could be Chelsea face Brentford on Saturday and Maresca will make a late decision on whether to recall Cole Palmer to the squad after a groin problem. The 23-year-old has played just once this season, against Crystal Palace in the opening game. He was withdrawn from the starting XI against West Ham United the following week at the last moment having felt some discomfort during the warm-up. Maresca said: “Cole took part in the session for the first time yesterday. It was not for the whole session, we have one more session this afternoon and we will try with him. We will see if he is okay, otherwise he will be out of tomorrow’s game. “For sure the moment he is available we will probably have to think of managing him because of the amount of games.”

Glad they are being careful with Lavia, Fofana and Reece

Next week we will play Bayern, then Manchester United... I was hoping either Lavia or Essugo can get into rotation/game fit state until we reach this part of the season. But in the next 3 month Lavia needs to stay fit.

so will be enzo + caicedo, as usually

New: Romeo Lavia not ready to return for Chelsea's trip to Brentford. Same goes for Benoit Badiashile. Enzo Maresca: "Both are close, but not available for tomorrow."

16yo Reggie Walsh trained with CFC first team this week Enzo Maresca: "I like all the academy guys but Reggie is the one I like more than the rest. He is doing things I'm demanding from others, but he is doing those things without me asking him. I don't need to ask him." Maresca on Mheuka and Ryan Kavuma McQueen: “They are both in my plans, for sure. Shimmy was already with us and played some games for us last year. Ryan is more of a winger.” Maresca on Mheuka and Ryan Kavuma McQueen: 🗣 "They are both in my plans, for sure. I was watching when Ryan scored four goals against Germany, so I was very impressed, but I already knew him. One of my staff is always watching the youth team; they told me he was very good." [@LloydCanfield]

“Any way back for Sterling and Disasi?” Maresca: “With us? No”

EXCL: What my sources are saying about Adam Wharton ahead of January interest from Liverpool, Chelsea & Man Utd Keep a close eye on this one... https://thedailybriefing.io/p/excl-what-my-sources-are-saying-about I’ve just had an interesting WhatsApp exchange with a very well-connected source who’s expecting strong interest in Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton this January. As I recently reported for CaughtOffside here, Wharton had genuine and concrete chances of moving late on this summer, but Palace succeeded in frightening suitors off with a whopping £100m price tag. Needless to say, there was no appetite to let Wharton leave so late in the window when Eberechi Eze had already joined Arsenal and Marc Guehi looked set for a move to Liverpool. In the end, Eagles co-owner and chairman Steve Parish will have to view the transfer window as a relative success - Eze was the only major sale, with Wharton and Guehi staying put, while Oliver Glasner is also still in charge despite interest from Manchester United. Adam Wharton will be one to watch again in January However, this may all only be a temporary reprieve, with Guehi obviously out of contract at the end of the season. As reported yesterday, Liverpool remain confident that they’re in pole position to sign him on a free transfer despite “noise” about links with other clubs. Wharton is also going to be one to watch again in upcoming transfer windows, with my sources telling me that Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United could all push for him in January. Starting with United, we know they made a bid for Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, and he’s still on their list, but that might not be the only midfield signing they make in the next twelve months, with Wharton also highly appreciated. My source this morning told me: “United see Wharton as the ideal replacement for Casemiro, who’s expected to leave at the end of the season. His ability to dictate play from deep fits perfectly into Ruben Amorim’s tactical setup. They made an approach in the summer, but Palace rejected it outright.” This source, who was also one of the first to confirm Arsenal had made a breakthrough on the Eze deal, also informed me that Wharton’s asking price for January would likely be more like £60m than the £100m they raised it to towards the end of the summer. World Cup could come into Adam Wharton’s thinking Why the change of heart? Well, although Wharton is not expected to push hard for a move away from Selhurst Park, there is next summer’s World Cup to think about. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images) The England international is likely to be part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad, but there’s a lot of competition for a starting spot. Clearly, this is a player who knows very well that he’s good enough to be in that XI, but playing for a bigger club and in the Champions League would undoubtedly do his chances no harm. My source confirmed this to me, saying: “Wharton is keen to play European football and cement his place in the national team - these factors could influence his next move.” This could mean Liverpool and Chelsea have an advantage over United for the time being, as they’re both in Europe, but it’s also the case that there’d be more competition in those squads. Arne Slot is a big admirer of Wharton as I understand it, but football is unpredictable and all sides will know there’s some uncertainty about whether the 21-year-old would immediately be able to shift other top midfield players like Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch or Dominik Szoboszlai out of the Liverpool starting line up. Similarly, Chelsea already have Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez as their clear first-choice midfield pairing. Wharton very much fits the profile of player this Blues ownership likes, but it’s not a move without its risks. Wharton is open to leaving Palace and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this in the weeks and months ahead, but a combination of regular playing time and European football will be crucial. Let’s see if anything emerges that ticks both of those boxes.

Nilson Angulo

We already knew that His move to tottenham dont bother me too much we are ok in the attack

Grealish player of the month. Was never good fit for Pep system. Wasted so many years.