Vesper

cuz the Bundesliga is shit

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 Liverpool RB Leipzig http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/champions-league-liverpool-vs-rb-leipzig-s2/ https://www.totalsportek.com/stream-page-1/

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2021/champions-league-psg-vs-barcelona-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/stream-page-2/

other than that dodgy shit with CAS, I have no issues with City

5 2 Citeh great game

Woodward is still a loser cunt, just like Ole at the wheel

2020-21 English Premier League Manchester City Southampton http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/premier-league-manchester-city-vs-southampton-s3/ https://www.totalsportek.com/page-3/

Sarr has been immense

European football's dirty protest in administrative form The stars are aligning for Big Cup nonsense. Photograph: Estela Silva/EPA Scott Murray EUROPEAN HUSTLE It’s long been established that football fans can’t have nice things. Not allowed. Take our league, which used to have logical divisions like First, Second, Third and Fourth, but now makes even less sense than a marketing executive seven hours into an evening on the chop. Clubs like Ipswich, Watford, Southampton and QPR could launch genuine title challenges and nobody would bat an eyelid. Every season was a different world, played on fresh terrain. Now the same clique dine at the top table year in, year out, to the point that a poor title defence, pretty much par for the course back in the day, becomes a jaw-dropping break from the norm, a strange object of wonder to be mocked by a generation of compliant rubes. The Man jiggered Big Cup as well, of course. There’s a competition that could be won by Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade, Nottingham Forest or the Queen’s Celtic, but now is a similarly repetitive grind featuring the usual suspects, a firm that even petroclubs struggle to break into. You’d think The Man would be satisfied with his work, but it’s never enough for these people, and now it looks like plans to double-bloat Big Cup are in the pipeline and set to spray across the continent before the end of the month, a dirty protest in administrative form. Andrea Agnelli says agreement on 'ideal' new-look Champions League is close Read more The idea is the brainchild of Edwin van der Sar, chief suit of Ajax, a club that once melded seemingly incompatible concepts of collective responsibility and individualism to create something beautiful, but are now doing this. Across countries where Johan Cruyff once glided with balletic grace, his descendants clod-hop in dirty boots. The scheme, submitted under the auspices of the European Club Association, will see the group stage of Big Cup become a convoluted 36-club mega-league that necessitates each team playing 10 games against opponents decided by wildcards and coefficients, and there may be the need for some two-legged play-offs as well. All this before Christmas. It’s a work of no little genius, because the more you read it back, the less sense it makes every time. The motivation for this preposterous hustle is to end talk of a European Super League, another thing nobody has ever asked for, Uefa general secretary Giorgio Marchetti bloviating: “Unity can be lost when insidious ideas are pursued under the pretence of survival, growth and business needs.” All this will have the knock-on effect of further damaging the domestic leagues, required to shrink to make room for the extra fixtures, and may also feature “a double-path transfer system” where clubs can’t buy each other’s players depending on which tier they’ve been allocated. The grift is on, people, though we’ve known that for decades. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE! Join Scott Murray from 8pm for hot MBM coverage of Juventus 2-0 Porto (agg: 3-2) in Big Cup, while Simon Burnton will be on hand for Dortmund 2-1 Sevilla (agg: 5-3). QUOTE OF THE DAY “We will score 18 – 18-0, this will be the result. What a question! [Southampton conceded] nine when they played 88 minutes 10 against 11. Do you think this is a joke? We are going to score nine goals or 18? Be serious. We are just trying to win the game” – Pep Guardiola reaches peak exasperation after being asked if he expects a goal-fest against Southampton. RECOMMENDED LOOKING It’s David Squires on … Mole! Steve Bruce’s hunt for the Newcastle leaker. Yeah, it’s good. Steve Bruce investigates. Illustration: David Squires/The Guardian RECOMMENDED LISTENING It’s Max Rushden and the pod squad with a look back at the Madrid derby, Der Klassiker and what next for Barça now they have a new but not new chief suit. FIVER LETTERS “Re: yesterday’s Fiver letter from ‘NE’ bemoaning The Fiver flogging an unfunny joke beyond death. I can only assume they are a recent subscriber. Some of us have been waiting more than 20 years for some punchlines” – Darren Leathley (and 1,056 others). “The nice thing is that the letter shows you are inexplicably managing to attract new readers. Through some malady of low self-esteem, I have been reading since the beginning, but I appreciate the kids are the future, etc and so on” – Tom Schumacher. “José Mourinho (Psy.D) reckons the work he has done on Gareth Bale’s mind has made him good at football again (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs). Mourinho is clearly a follower of Seligman’s learned helplessness model, itself the inspiration for black ops interrogation and ‘persuasion’ techniques. ‘Yes, yes we break the psychological barrier!’” – Paul S Benveniste, Ph.D. “While it’s great to see you launching a ‘BAN BANNER B@NTER’ campaign (yesterday’s Fiver), may I respectfully ask that you begin in earnest after this weekend’s fixtures. The reason is I’m planning to honour my favourite Sheffield Wednesday player with an airborne message over Hillsborough on Sunday and I really wouldn’t want you to BAN BARRY BANNAN BANNER B@NTER” – Tony Crawford. Send your letters to [email protected]. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our letter o’the day is … Tony Crawford, who wins a copy of From the Jaws of Victory. We’ve one more to give away [UK only, apologies – Fiver Postal Ed], and you can also enter promo code FIVER and get 15% off and free shipping. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Germany will have to find a new boss who wears a roll-neck jumper as well as Jogi Löw does, after the floppy-haired 61-year-old announced he will take his catalogue stylings elsewhere after Euro Not 2020. ”I take this step very consciously, full of pride and enormous gratitude,” he sniffed after 15 years in the job. Even bringing big looks to a pandemic. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA Interim England manager Hege Riise is to be named as head coach of Team GB this week for Big Sports Day in Tokyo. Neymar’s lingering thigh-knack has ruled him out of PSG’s 4-0 Big Cup defeat (agg: 4-5) by Barcelona on Wednesday. An Oldham fans’ group have accused the owners of “destroying the legacy” of the club after Harry Kewell became the seventh manager to be sacked since the 2018 takeover. Keith Curle has replaced Kewell in the ejector seat. Aberdeen have mutually consented Derek McInnes through the door marked Do One after eight years at Pittodrie. Chelsea boss Tommy T is chuffed with Kai Havertz’s ghostly qualities as a false nine, having spooked Everton throughout their 2-0 win. “He showed up between the lines and used his potential to accelerate,” cooed Tommy. “Today he was excellent.” And was David Moyes happy with Big Cup-chasing West Ham’s 2-0 win over Leeds? “The players are really disappointed with how they played,” he sighed. “We didn’t reach the standard we’ve set this season.” STILL WANT MORE? Is Wayne Rooney made to measure as a manager? Jamie Jackson speaks to Sven-Göran Eriksson and others to find out if the Derby boss will go the distance. Boyhood coaching fan Robbie Keane on his desire to be a top, top coach. Your Robbie Keane composite. Composite: Getty Images; Sportsfile via Getty Images; Reuters Tommy T’s transformation of Chelsea is rooted in a rejigged defence, reckons Jacob Steinberg. Leipzig’s rampant full-back Angeliño gets his chat on with Jonathan Liew. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! HULK SHRUG!

Borussia Dortmund suffer big injury blow: Jadon Sancho set to be until April https://bvbbuzz.com/2021/03/07/borussia-dortmund-suffer-big-injury-blow-jadon-sancho-set-to-be-out-for-weeks/

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 Borussia Dortmund Sevilla FC http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/champions-league-borussia-dortmund-vs-sevilla-s2/ https://www.totalsportek.com/stream-page-1/

Alaba has a demand that if the club will not play hi as a MFer in a pre-agreement, he will not come. Sule is meh meh meh atm, every time I watch him I do not rate Konate all that much post massive injury I want Fofana or really liking lately Sven Botman

Ornstein: Lamptey out for season, Mbappe not for City, Ritchie cleared locker, huddle rebels https://theathletic.com/2432533/2021/03/08/ornstein-lamptey-out-for-season-mbappe-not-for-city-ritchie-cleared-locker-huddle-rebels/ Brighton and Hove Albion have suffered a significant blow in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League after right wing-back Tariq Lamptey was ruled out for the remainder of this season following surgery over the weekend to repair a hamstring injury, The Athletic can reveal. The 20-year-old England youth international has been sidelined with the problem since the middle of December and underwent an operation in London on Saturday to fix a tear to the tendon. It is thought the procedure was successful and should enable Lamptey to resume training before the campaign is over, however he will not be fit in time to feature in Brighton’s final 11 fixtures. Lamptey has played a key role since joining Graham Potter’s side from Chelsea in early 2020 and recently signed a new long-term contract to keep him at the club until the summer of 2025. But he was forced off in the second half of a 0-0 draw at Fulham before Christmas and Brighton head coach Potter last week expressed concern that Lamptey could miss the run-in. Although Brighton had been coping reasonably well in his absence, they have now lost three consecutive games and are separated from the drop zone by only goal difference. It is also a setback for England Under-21s manager Aidy Boothroyd ahead of the Euros, which begin with a group stage later this month before the knockout phase is held in May and June. Mbappe wages mean move to Manchester City unlikely but Haaland an option Manchester City’s inability to break down neighbours Manchester United in yesterday’s 2-0 home defeat underlined why they are looking to sign a top striker in the transfer window this summer. They are among a small group of clubs in contention to recruit the prolific Borussia Dortmund front man Erling Haaland and The Athletic reported last month that high-scoring Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku is also a candidate being considered by the Premier League leaders. City will naturally have other options. For example, there is a long-standing interest in Harry Kane but the price it might take for Tottenham to even contemplate letting him go has deterred suitors in the past and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy would be reluctant to strengthen a domestic rival. One elite player who it is understood City are not actively pursuing, though, is Kylian Mbappe. The Paris Saint-Germain attacker is approaching the final year of his contract in the French capital and has yet to commit to a new deal, which has led to him being linked with many of the top sides. Mbappe’s wages mean he is not a realistic option for Manchester City (Photo: Fred Tanneau/AFP via Getty Images) But it is well known in the game that Mbappe’s salary expectations are extremely high and despite spending heavily on transfers under Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, City are unwilling to break their wage structure and risk causing damage to the harmony inside Pep Guardiola’s dressing room. This is thought to be a factor affecting City’s attempts to extend the contract of Kevin De Bruyne, whose current terms expire in 2023 and so far there has been no breakthrough in negotiations. It tallies with what the club’s chief football operations manager Omar Berrada told The Athletic last October, the executive talking of City wanting to run a “financially sustainable” operation. The level of wages Mbappe is said to be seeking — around the same figure Neymar is set to earn from his next deal with PSG, which is close to being agreed — will be hard for any team to fund in addition to a transfer fee. It may be more realistic if he leaves as a free agent in 2022 but the Ligue 1 champions will be determined to avoid one of football’s biggest stars walking away for nothing. Haaland would be more affordable in that sense and while his potential transfer fee would be massive in the upcoming market, the likes of City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all been linked with the 20-year-old Norway international. It has been noted that City’s pursuit could be complicated by the involvement of agent Mino Raiola, with whom they have a chequered history, but Haaland’s main representative is believed to be his father Alf-Inge, a former City player, and that is therefore unlikely to present a major issue. Players in England show support for Rangers by not taking part in huddles The rivalry between Rangers and Celtic swung in favour of the blue side of Glasgow at the weekend, with Steven Gerrard’s side clinching the Scottish Premiership title for the first time in 10 years. The traditional gestures for title-winners tend not to apply to these two sides. Celtic, for example, can point to Rangers refusing to give them a guard of honour in May 2019 when it comes to what they would be willing to do ahead of the game between the sides in two weeks. Fleck stands as Sheffield United huddle (Photo: Laurence Griffiths/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) But it is not just north of the border that the rivalry leads to unlikely gestures — or the refusal to do them. The pre-match huddle has been traditional at Celtic since the 1990s when Tony Mowbray introduced it to demonstrate togetherness. It is heavily associated with the Parkhead club. That is not the case in England, where a number of teams have a huddle pre-match. Eagle-eyed watchers of the game, though, have spotted a number of players in England avoiding the huddle due to their Rangers links. John Fleck and Oli McBurnie of Sheffield United both stand rather than bending down to join their team-mates in the huddle ahead of every game. Fleck came through Rangers’ academy, while McBurnie grew up supporting them. Edmundson, on loan from Rangers, stands for Derby (Photo: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images) In the Championship, Derby’s George Edmundson — on loan from Rangers — also stands for his side’s huddle because of his connection. With the rivalry as strong as ever, do not expect a change in this huddle muddle any time soon. Ritchie cleared out Newcastle locker and said goodbye in January A miserable week for Newcastle United ended with a drab 0-0 draw against West Brom and there was no chance for Matt Ritchie — the player at the centre of their latest controversy — to make headlines for the right reasons after being left as an unused substitute at The Hawthorns. Even before Ritchie’s training ground altercation with manager Steve Bruce, the 31-year-old’s Magpies future had been uncertain amid Bournemouth’s well-documented attempts to bring their former player back to Dean Court, both last summer and during the most recent transfer window. Ritchie was involved in a bust-up with Steve Bruce (Photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images) Despite extending his contract at St James’s Park last March, Ritchie was keen on returning to the south coast — it is where he is from and retains a family home — and The Athletic has learnt that in January, the winger had even emptied his locker and bid farewell to team-mates and staff. That was how convinced the Scotland international was about the move going through but, after initially being given the green light by Bruce, it was ultimately blocked because Newcastle could not secure a replacement and were unwilling to accept the terms put forward by Bournemouth. Newcastle’s preference was for Ritchie to depart permanently or on loan with an obligation to buy, whereas the Cherries are thought to have favoured a loan that would turn permanent if they were promoted. That left scope for Ritchie to rejoin his parent club, which would not have suited them. England expect to call up Trippier and Bellingham despite COVID-19 restrictions There are currently no travel concerns for England’s overseas players ahead of the March international break, The Athletic understands. At present, England are confident Kieran Trippier and Jude Bellingham will be able to join up with them later this month, despite restrictions in certain countries about travel during the pandemic. Fitness permitting, Trippier is set for a recall to Gareth Southgate’s squad and Bellingham will be selected for the senior side or England under-21s. Any issue would not concern arriving at the England camp but with returning to their clubs. The FA believes that Bellingham’s side Borussia Dortmund, for example, have a regionally-arranged elite sporting exemption in place that would aid this process. While the situation could change if conditions worsen, as it stands, the FA hopes Trippier and Bellingham should be fine to be part of the set-up. The same rules would have applied to Bellingham’s Dortmund team-mate Jadon Sancho, who is expected to miss England’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Poland and Austria with a muscle injury. Trippier’s inclusion is anticipated following the expiry of his ban relating to a betting charge. He was back in the Atletico Madrid line-up for their 1-1 draw with Real Madrid on Sunday after serving a 10-week punishment. The suspension never stood in the way of his England participation because of its timing. Manager Gareth Southgate likes the 30-year-old, has played him at both right-back and left-back, and also named him as captain for a friendly against Wales last October. It would be a surprise if he were not named in the upcoming squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and he has four games for Atletico to prove he’s ready before England get together on March 22. Despite the case being brought by The FA, it has not affected the regard in which he is held within the England squad. Clubs worry international games could lead to Champions League restrictions The international break presents a headache for Premier League sides as players leave their usual bubbles for the first time this year — and clubs will have a chance to raise their concerns at a meeting on Friday with top-flight bosses and the Football Association. There is particular worry among those teams competing in the Champions League and Europa League that some squad members may have to miss quarter-final first-leg ties depending on where they have travelled overseas. Like England, each country around the world currently has its own COVID-19 related entry rules and with only a short turnaround between the final international fixtures on March 31 and European club matches on April 6, 7 and 8, there are fears that certain players might have to be left out of away trips. The upcoming international fixtures are causing concern for some clubs (Photo: Carl Recine – Pool/Getty Images) The situation has been made more manageable by the suspension of upcoming World Cup qualifiers in South America but UEFA is not planning to follow suit because there are no alternative dates in the calendar to play these games. The English authorities will seek to offer Premier League teams as much clarity as possible at Friday’s meeting, which takes the form of a question and answer session involving club secretaries and operations staff. Some teams are thought to be frustrated at the FA and FIFA over a perceived lack of communication on the issue. However, sources believe FIFA may consider showing leniency to those who refuse mandatory call-ups for this international break. That said, the world governing body is also aware that there are many players who are keen to play for their national teams and want to ensure these wishes are respected. FIFA’s view is believed to be that while health is of primary concern, it also has a responsibility to support the decisions players make. Clubs ask for Premier League season to be pushed back Premier League clubs are pushing for a later start date next season. Initial plans would see the 2021-22 campaign begin on the same date as the EFL, on August 7. Premier League clubs, concerned about the quick turnaround, prefer August 14. The current season doesn’t finish until May 23. Many clubs have players involved with their countries in the rescheduled 2020 European Championships, starting on June 11 and ending on July 11. An executive of one club tells The Athletic: “People will say the players had three months off last season during the (COVID-19) lockdown but that was cancelled out by a very short summer and intense programme this season. The schedule for the last two years, for reasons out of everyone’s control, has been relentless.” The lack of clarity over the start date is a further complication for clubs trying to arrange their pre-seasons. It is already proving difficult to plan camps abroad, due to the unpredictability of government travel regulations. Former Fulham man Kline fined £25,000 for incorrect allegations Craig Kline, formerly Fulham’s assistant director of football, was in the news last week after being sued by Martin Glenn, the Football Association’s former chief executive, for libel and harassment, explains Daniel Taylor. Glenn was awarded £100,000 damages after being the victim of what the judge described as a “long series of publications”, mainly Twitter posts, that accused him of corruption and covering up child sexual abuse. The Athletic’s information is that Fulham have also taken legal action against Kline, an American data expert, after he made a number of other damaging allegations, having left Craven Cottage in acrimonious circumstances towards the end of 2017. Similar to the Glenn case, Kline’s online allegations led to an FA investigation that found no wrongdoing. And again, it did not end well for Kline. Fulham felt strongly enough to take him to court relating to 49 breaches — 42 admitted, seven proven — of an earlier ruling forbidding him to make “any derogatory or critical comments or statements” about the club. Kline, now understood to be living in Gibraltar, was ordered to pay £25,000 for contempt of court. Derby want EFL to speak out about knee Derby County decided to stop taking a knee for the rest of the season after a meeting was held between senior staff and players, explains Ryan Conway. The Athletic revealed that the club and players felt that the message was being lost and they could do more behind the scenes to combat racism in light of abuse aimed at some of their players. Some senior Derby figures also felt some teams were being too casual with taking a knee, with subs from opposing teams still warming up when the protest was happening. They also want the EFL to give more clarity and guidance over the summer with perhaps a press conference in which they answer questions about their stance on it and other issues around racism in the game.

Challenge accepted: the story of Weston McKennie https://theathletic.com/2435501/2021/03/09/challenge-accepted-the-story-of-weston-mckennie/ In the front seat of her pearl white Buick Lacrosse, on the way to her son’s youth soccer games, Tina McKennie would occasionally push the button. The one she knew would get a reaction. “They say that kid is better than you,” she would offer up, like a can of spinach to Popeye. “Oh yeah?” Weston McKennie would reply. “We’ll see.” The pre-teen midfielder would spend the next 90 minutes making sure no one on the field or in the stands could make that claim again. The youngest McKennie child has always been outgoing and boisterous. He shadowed his older brother, John, constantly trying to keep up with the bigger kids. It solidified two hallmarks of his personality: an overwhelming competitiveness and an incredibly talkative nature. “He could make friends with a turtle,” Tina likes to say. McKennie is like that still. He’s a jokester, he likes to keep the mood light in the locker room and he’s always approachable. To take McKennie at face value, though, to never look past the gregariousness he projects, would be to miss the characteristics that have led to such a rapid rise in European football and with the U.S. national team. There is a seriousness to how McKennie has always approached the sport, fueled by the same instinct Tina would prod on the car rides to youth matches. “When Weston gets challenged,” Tina says, “you see who he is as a player.” It’s a dichotomy that has started to show itself with the U.S. team, where McKennie is emerging within the young squad as a leader. For the first time ever, the U.S. will go into World Cup qualifying with a litany of names familiar to the global soccer community: Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Gio Reyna. Among this group of young Americans rapidly achieving historic new heights in the game, McKennie has emerged as the player who might be the most important to the team. But he wasn’t supposed to be the guy. Cut from the U.S. Under-17 World Cup team just six years ago, he vowed to take the route that challenged him the most and has now made himself into a key player for a historic European powerhouse. In the middle of the arrival of American soccer’s golden generation — or the start of a new normal, depending on your level of optimism — is a player whose biggest strength is his ability to turn a challenge, or doubters, into motivation. His latest success at Juventus is only the most recent example of that ability. “I’m sure everyone besides my close, close friends probably doubted that I would be as successful as I have been so far here,” McKennie says. “Or that I would even get minutes or start at one point or become important for the team. And that right there, it was something, in all honesty, I questioned myself about also. But at the end of the day I knew it was going to be a challenge and, like I’ve always said, I’m very competitive and like challenges and I was prepared to face it, and so I went in headfirst and did what I had to do to become a contributor to the team and become an important piece for the team as well.” McKennie was born at Ft. Lewis in Washington, then moved to Ft. Lee in Virginia as a toddler before his family faced a decision. His father, John McKennie, who was in the U.S. Army, had a choice to be stationed in Alaska or in Germany. Tina said she doesn’t do well in the cold, so Germany was the choice. The family moved into the last house John looked at when house-hunting near the army base in Kaiserslautern. It was across the street from a gymnasium, and on their first day in their new home, the boys were sent outside to play. They headed across the street, where Weston, then five years old, stumbled upon a kickaround. McKennie wound up joining a club team in Germany. He has vivid memories of his first training session. He was young enough that the session included a game of duck-duck-goose. His mom, not sure what was appropriate attire for the day, sent him to play in a pair of khaki shorts. By the time he returned to Dallas three and a half years later, he had fallen in love with the game. But a return to the States also meant a pull to the sport his older brother played: American football. And Weston thrived on the gridiron, too. A YouTube highlight reel shows McKennie wearing a No 10 University of Miami jersey, spinning, juking and sprinting past helpless would-be tacklers nipping at his ankles. It wasn’t until he joined the FC Dallas academy in middle school that he had a conversation with his mother and opted to give up American football and commit to soccer. (Photo: Miami Hurricanes, University of Miami) “I said, ‘Wes, how much do you like soccer and how much do you like football?” Tina McKennie recalls. “He said, ‘I like soccer 99.9 per cent and I like football 99.8 per cent.’ I said, ‘Well then, you’ve made your decision.’” For the record, McKennie thinks he could’ve made it in either sport. “Whatever I do I put 100 per cent into it,” he tells The Athletic. “So my body shape now is because I put everything I have into soccer, but if I put everything I had into football I might be another 20 pounds of muscle and stock here, and then, you know, bulkier. And if I played basketball, like, I would have been more agile, more handles and stuff like that. Whatever you put me in, the competitive mindset would have taken over.” McKennie’s choice to stay in soccer was a good one. At FC Dallas, he often played up two age groups. He wasn’t an especially big kid, but he was technically and tactically ahead of the others in his age group. “You always see a lot of early developers in this business,” FC Dallas academy coach Francisco Molina says. “But there was something different about him.” As a 13-year-old, McKennie received his first invitation to a youth national team camp. There, on one of four buses transporting 80 kids in the identification camp, he met another small kid sitting a row in front of him. McKennie started squirting the last drops from his water bottle into the kid’s ear. Later, they ran up eight flights of stairs together because McKennie was afraid of elevators. At the top of the staircase, McKennie and Christian Pulisic tossed pieces of chewed-up gum at the palm tree below. McKennie’s stuck. For the next couple of camps, each time they returned to the hotel, they’d climb the stairs and look to see if the gum was still there. After two camps and six months, the gum remained. The friendship between the two has now stuck for nearly a decade. (Photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos) “It’s pretty crazy if you look at it,” McKennie says. “Two kids that would never have thought we would end up in Germany being the biggest rivals, being on the national team later on together.” McKennie would go on to receive an invitation to join U.S. Under-17 national team residency at Bradenton, a (now closed) full-time academy for the country’s top players that was run by U.S. Soccer. McKennie featured for that team, playing in friendlies and getting to bond with his future U.S. team-mates, including Pulisic and Tyler Adams. But it was there that he had his first major setback. As he would with Schalke, and now with Juventus, McKennie played a number of different positions for the U.S. But as the team neared the 2015 Under-17 World Cup, McKennie was falling out of favor with the coaching staff. He recalled a training session late in that cycle when, training off to the side from the top group, a coach essentially told him he would not be invited back to Bradenton for the next semester. The harshness of that moment deflated him. McKennie was left off the World Cup roster. Some believe his willingness to play multiple positions ultimately kept him from standing out at one spot. “When we were at residency and very young, his talent has always been there, that was a no-brainer,” Adams recalls. “But he was undervalued because he was the type of guy where the team could rely on him to perform in any position. And I think that, for him, he missed out on a lot of opportunities, because he was that guy that would say, ‘I can play forward, I can play center-back, I can play right-back, I can play left-back.’ Because he knew that he had the confidence in himself to do that. But also he made everyone else believe, ‘Oh, maybe Weston can play center-back.’ He was just that guy.” Missing the World Cup obviously had a huge impact on McKennie. “It broke me down quite a bit,” he says. He returned to FC Dallas, a needed move to restore his confidence. McKennie began playing regularly again, starting all 20 games and scoring 10 goals. He was named the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Central Division player of the year as FC Dallas won the 2015-16 national championship. McKennie, left of centre, celebrates with his FC Dallas team-mates in 2015 after winning the U-16 US Soccer Development Academy Championship. The following year they won the national academy championship too (Photo: Michael Janosz/ISI Photos) His performances brought him back into the U.S. Under-19 and Under-20 national team pool and caught the eye of European scouts. In the summer of 2016, McKennie went to train with Schalke. His exposure to the Bundesliga opened up options for the next step. But it was not an easy decision within the McKennie family. There were three options: accept a full-ride scholarship to the University of Virginia, sign with Schalke or take a homegrown contract with FC Dallas. McKennie wanted to sign in Germany. He had his mother’s support, but he had to convince his father. “I was the only one who was opposed to it,” John McKennie says. “I looked at it from the standpoint that you have a full-ride scholarship that was guaranteed… That was big for him to secure his future. We had a few heavy conversations about that. I just realized, John, this is not your decision, this is Weston’s decision. You just have to support him.” In an airport lounge with his mother and agent, former U.S. national team defender Cory Gibbs, McKennie made the final decision. He was signing with Schalke and returning to the country where he was first introduced to the sport. He inked his first contract with Schalke in August 2016. The competitiveness that has always lifted McKennie is buttressed by an ability to sniff out what might be missing in his team and fill those gaps. On the field that has, at times, worked against McKennie. Just as he had been in Bradenton, McKennie was a jack of all trades at Schalke. He was almost immediately a standout, but seemingly was never able to get consistent games in central midfield as a result of his versatility. McKennie’s ability to diagnose the culture of any team he walks into has also been a critical part of his success, though. At FC Dallas, even when he played up two age groups in the academy, Molina, his FCD coach, says McKennie quickly recognized and then filled a leadership vacuum. At Schalke, where the club’s identity is built so much around the coal-mining history of its region that the tunnel from the dressing rooms to the pitch in its home stadium is designed to look like a mine shaft, McKennie recognized how he needed to play to embody that identity. (Photo: TF-Images/Getty Images) “My work ethic definitely elevated while I was there because I wasn’t the best technically, wasn’t the best tactically, so I had to find a way to stand out,” McKennie says. “And that was how I kind of developed that sense of identity, someone who goes into the tackles and works his ass off. Sometimes you have your own personal goals and motivations … (but) you have to look at the bigger picture.” McKennie became a fan favorite at Schalke because of his consistency and commitment to running and tackling, working hard even as things turned sour for the club. In his final season in the Bundesliga (2019-20), McKennie was in the 85th percentile for midfielders in interceptions per game and in the 96th percentile for aerials won, according to StatsBomb data on fbref.com. The graphic below using smarterscout data shows his output in that final season at Schalke. Smarterscout is a site that gives players a rating from 0-99, relating to either how often a player does a given stylistic action compared with others playing in his position (such as shooting volume, or the volume of tackles they make), or how effective they are (such as measuring how well they progress the ball upfield). McKennie’s scores show how he was something of an all-rounder in most areas of his game. 50/99 here represents the average, with McKennie close to that when it comes to progressing the ball upfield, his impact as a defender, disrupting opposition moves and retaining possession. Eventually, with Schalke in need of revenue in 2020, they agreed to loan McKennie to Juventus for $5.3 million (£3.9 million) with a $22 million (£15.9 million) purchase option that included another $7.7 million (£5.58 million) in performance increases. Juventus triggered that option last week. People doubted that McKennie would be able to break into the team at such a massive club, but it didn’t take long for him to assimilate and start to make an impact. McKennie may be the club’s first American player but he found it easy to fit in. He spent the first few days acclimatising to expectations and, essentially, the level of tolerance for his boisterousness. Then he opened up, putting his personality and character on display. His team-mates at Schalke joked that he’d be silent in the Juventus locker room, awed by the big-name team-mates. That version of McKennie might not exist. In his first week at Juve, the club’s in-house camera crew caught him joking about his body before a training session with Cristiano Ronaldo. Out of place? Hardly. Silent? Definitely not. “My personality doesn’t allow me to be like that,” McKennie says with a laugh. “I could never just, like, be quiet.” He calls it his “if I’m in the room, you know I’m in the room” personality. It’s a confidence that hints more at his mentality. McKennie believes he belongs, no matter where he is. This has allowed him to transition quickly into the highest levels of the sport. McKennie has carried that confidence onto the field, shocking observers during his first year in Serie A, not just with the qualities that were on display at Schalke, but with how active he has been in the attacking end of the field. The graphic below shows how the location of his touches has changed from his final season at Schalke to his first at Juventus. Just look at how many fewer touches he is taking in his own half… The running, pressing and tackling never went away, but McKennie’s passing and ability to arrive in the box — that impeccable sense of timing — has been vital to his success at Juventus. There is no better example than his goal against Barcelona in the Champions League back in December, where McKennie engineered an attack and then finished it with a well-timed run and scissor-kick finish. At Juventus, McKennie’s become far more offensive-minded. He gets into the box more, shoots more and progresses the ball upfield more than he did at Schalke. In possession he’s making fewer progressive passes — those that move the team ten metres or more upfield — with his passing safer and looking to link play. Defensively he’s become more of a destroyer, tackling, fouling and clearing more often than last season at Schalke and going up for more aerial duels too. He’s become more of an attacking outlet without losing the defensive side of their game. “I know that I can be better than the players that I go up against,” McKennie says. “Because it’s very hard to find a player that has a strong mentality and a strong work rate, and that relentlessness of not letting yourself be beat. “I always look at myself and say, ‘How can I be better, how can I contribute more to my team than that guy?’ There’ll be more times, obviously, in the season that I’ll face tough opponents in the midfield, when we play Inter Milan or AC Milan or going up against (Arturo) Vidal, for instance. That’s something that I look forward to.” While McKennie’s success has surprised some, it is not a shock for those closest to him. They knew the motivations at Juventus wouldn’t be all that different from the ones in his mother’s car all those years ago. “People felt from the outside that a massive superclub might’ve been too big for him,” says Gibbs, McKennie’s agent, who had 19 caps with the USMNT. “Me knowing him since he was a teenager, his mentality is just like no other. I’ve always known Wes to be someone to want to conquer any challenge, whether it’s playing with Ronaldo, the best in the world, playing in a superclub. (Photo: Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) “There was never a doubt he’d play up to the level, we knew he’d succeed and play above it.” McKennie said he hopes he’s convinced some who wondered if Juventus was too big a step for him. “For them to exercise the loan before the year was up is a pretty good sign in my eyes,” he says. “I was definitely very happy about that and for all the people who have doubted me, I’m sure if they’ve doubted me they probably have followed (my season) at some point. I’m sure they hopefully have changed their minds about the whole situation.” McKennie’s growth with Juventus has big implications for a U.S. team that is attempting to get back to the World Cup. The U.S. will start the qualifying gauntlet in the fall, and McKennie is expected to be one of the team’s most important players, both with his on-field contributions and his locker-room presence. The U.S. team that failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 was made up mostly of veterans in their final years of international soccer. That group has been replaced by a core of young players under the age of 23: McKennie, Pulisic, Adams, Reyna, Dest, Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, Lille’s Tim Weah, Bayern Munich’s Chris Richards, Fulham’s Antonee Robinson and potentially England youth international Yunus Musah. Other up-and-comers are starting to break out in Europe, as well: RB Salzburg’s Brenden Aaronson, Barcelona’s Konrad de la Fuente, Schalke’s Matthew Hoppe, Caen’s Nicholas Gioacchini, Norwich’s Sebastian Soto, Wolves’ Owen Otasowie, Roma’s Bryan Reynolds, Boavista’s Reggie Cannon and Orlando City’s Daryl Dike, now on loan at Barnsley. Pulisic, McKennie and Adams at Wembley for the friendly against England in 2018 (Photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos) With so many young players in the squad, McKennie has stepped up to fill the leadership vacuum. “From an early age he’s always had that,” says John McKennie. “He’s always wanted the responsibility. That’s how it’s played out.” After a scoreless friendly between the U.S. and Wales in December, McKennie entered the press conference in a joking mood, his charm disarming the Zoom call full of reporters. Minutes later, though, he expressed disappointment in some aspects of the performance, announcing publicly what he said he told the team earlier in the locker room: the U.S. has players with quality, but on this night it also had a group of players that didn’t make the runs that were best for the team. The criticism landed just right. It shook reality into a young team that is still very much searching for a leader. “It’s always funny to talk about Weston because off the field his personality is big, he’s a fun guy, a magnetic personality, everyone loves him,” says U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. “He brings a real energy to the team. I think what he did in the (November) camp, in particular, was he flipped the switch when the game time came, and that was really interesting for me to see because he’s so relaxed and jovial around the training days and around the camp, and then when the game came you can tell it was a different Weston. And I like to see that.” After four long years, the U.S. now faces its most important period since missing the World Cup with a loss to Trinidad in November 2017. Qualifiers will begin this fall and McKennie will be counted on in central midfield. His goal is to prove through the team’s success what he’s proved with his individual accomplishments at Juventus. To make the U.S. men’s national team an embodiment of his own personality, ready to run and work and fight for everything, but all in the name of showing you belong on the biggest stages with the traditional powers. “Americans, we’re known for our work rate, we’re known for our drive, our relentlessness on the field,” McKennie says. “I think what this new group has to offer is we’re not only that.”

Man Utd dealt transfer blow as Edinson Cavani 'makes shock decision' over his future Edinson Cavani is set to leave Manchester United in the summer transfer window according to a report from South America https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1407204/Man-Utd-transfer-news-Edinson-Cavani-Premier-League-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-SNT

£34m is great price for him, class player

‘If you trust them you have to let them play’ – Is Tuchel the new Tinkerman? https://theathletic.com/2435879/2021/03/09/if-you-trust-them-you-have-to-let-them-play-is-tuchel-the-new-tinkerman/ Chelsea’s new coach Thomas Tuchel continues to enjoy keeping everyone guessing. There are not many managers who will secure an impressive 1-0 victory at Liverpool — it’s still an achievement regardless of the woeful run the defending champions are on — and then make five changes for their next game. One of those was the goalscorer and arguably Chelsea’s best player at Anfield, Mason Mount, who had to settle for a place on the bench. If you’re struggling to name Tuchel’s best XI right now, it’s understandable. As the former Paris Saint-Germain manager admits, he doesn’t have one in his head at the moment. The Athletic asked him outright after Chelsea had secured another comfortable victory, this time a 2-0 triumph over Liverpool’s neighbours and fellow top-four challengers, Everton. As we have begun to expect, the answer from Tuchel was long and detailed: “If you play in competitions like the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup there is no way you have (only) 11 players in your head. “First of all, whoever you see on the pitch deserves to be on the pitch and we need to analyse what we give in there. We cannot just keep players on the pitch to keep them going. “Sometimes it is like this, but after two intense games, and away games with a lot of travelling where we missed a lot of sleep between Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool, it was the moment to change. “We changed also a little bit because of the characteristic of the offensive players because we expected a bit of man-marking in offensive midfield so we went for speed and for deep runs. “I want to have the choice and when I have the choice sometimes it is a tactical decision. For (the selection of) Kurt Zouma it was simply well, well deserved and Toni (Rudiger) needed, in my personal opinion, a little break because he played in such a high, intensive concentration level, it was outstanding. “So there is a reason for every change and you cannot just say I trust you guys. If you trust them you have to let them play. This is the best situation we did not lose quality at all. Everybody feels it and they can play at a high level.” Tuchel’s philosophy is being rewarded at the moment. In the 11 games he has taken charge of, the German has made 53 changes to his starting line-up, which works out as an average of nearly five per fixture. Despite the chopping and changing, the team boast a record of eight wins and three draws. Now it should be highlighted that in Frank Lampard’s final 11 games as coach, he made 59 alterations in all, six more than Tuchel. But there were mitigating reasons for his higher total: there was a dead rubber in the Champions League group stage against Krasnodar, FA Cup ties against lower league opposition in Morecambe and Luton Town, plus a busy Christmas fixture schedule. The Englishman was also on a bad run in the Premier League having lost five out of eight games and was frantically looking for solutions to stay in a job. But there is a significant difference between the choices made by these two men. What makes Tuchel’s actions so extraordinary is Chelsea are on a great run and yet he continues to ignore the adage “never change a winning team”. It brings back memories of the first coach to work for owner Roman Abramovich, Claudio Ranieri. The Italian was in charge between 2000-04 and got to work for only one season under the Russian multi-billionaire. He was nicknamed “The Tinkerman” at Stamford Bridge because of his tendency to change the first XI on a regular basis even if his side had won. But Tuchel’s decision making continues to pay off. The closest he has come to naming the same XI in consecutive matches was early on when he opted to make one alteration from the group that beat Burnley 2-0 for the 1-0 triumph at Tottenham. Tammy Abraham, not for the first time under Lampard’s successor, was the unfortunate victim that day as Reece James was brought in so Callum Hudson-Odoi could be pushed further forward rather than operate from right wing-back. The intimidating schedule over the past fortnight of Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton has seen Tuchel make 15 adaptions since the 1-1 draw at Southampton. They keep paying off. Few predicted Kai Havertz, who hadn’t started for Tuchel since his first game against Wolves, would play a full 90 minutes against Everton, often operating as a false nine for others to run off. It was his shot that led to Ben Godfrey’s own goal and his run that won a penalty after Jordan Pickford brought him down. Chelsea’s expensive recruit also had a strike disallowed for handball. There have been suggestions that Tuchel is merely trying to use as many players as possible to avoid the same issues as Lampard had in keeping a large squad happy and also to inject some value back into fringe members of the squad ahead of a possible summer sale. Even if there is an element of truth to either theory, it still doesn’t detract from the consistent manner of Chelsea’s performances since he took over. They look well organised and well-drilled regardless of who is playing. There will still be individuals not too happy about their predicament: Christian Pulisic, Billy Gilmour, Emerson and Abraham to name just four. But unlike what was happening under Lampard, the message is being sent out that everyone potentially has a role to play. As captain Cesar Azpilicueta explained to BT Sport: “It’s a collective mindset. When you’re playing for Chelsea, it’s one of the top clubs in the world and you have to fight for a place. There is nothing easy. When you step on the pitch and the manager gives you a chance, you have to be at your best. “In every training session, even if you don’t play, everybody trains very hard. That is why when the changes come everybody is ready for it. We have the same idea, we play collectively. Sometimes we adapt to a different system or in the same system we have different players which means there is a different style of play. But the most important thing is we are thinking in the same way.” Tuchel’s reasoning has still to be tested in adversity. Chelsea have trailed for only 21 minutes since he has been at the helm. It is a lot easier to act this way and for players to go along with your rotation policy when there are victories to show for it. As the pursuit of a top-four finish and success in the Champions League and FA Cup intensifies, individuals will be less enamoured with being left out of the big games. But if the Chelsea squad can’t predict the line-up then neither can their opponents. Tuchel seems one step ahead of everyone right now.

Most promising youngsters: England well represented Issue number 328 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the most promising youngsters worldwide according to the capital experience approach. The latter weights domestic league minutes played by footballers with the sporting level of their teams of employment on a global level. The greatest capital experience since January 1st 2020 for players born in the 2000s was calculated for Borussia Dortmund’s winger Jadon Sancho. Two other German Bundesliga players complete the podium: Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and Sancho’s teammate at Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland. Two Englishmen are at the top of the table for 2001-born footballers: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) and Mason Greenwood (Manchester United). This suggests good prospects for the English national team in the coming years. At the top of the rankings for players born in 2002 is Barcelona’s Pedri González ahead of St. Gallen’s Leonidas Stergiou. For footballers born in 2003 or after, the highest experience capital gained since a bit more than one year was recorded for Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz. At second position is another German Bundesliga player eligible for England, Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, while two additional Englishmen are in the top six positions: Harvey Elliott (Blackburn, on loan from Liverpool) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich). Should the latter finally opt for England to become world champion?

2020-21 English Premier League West Ham United Leeds United http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/premier-league-west-ham-united-vs-leeds-united-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/page-4/

Havertz MOTM for me AC second

Wooot

Pen

A shedload over the course of the season

Exactly No clue what that poster is on about

The actual rule meant it should have counted, as above end of shirt sleeves is not handball, it was a shit call