Vesper

Why Liverpool let Rhian Brewster go https://theathletic.com/2109221/2020/10/03/liverpool-brewster-sheffield-united-transfer-explained/ Barely 24 hours after Jurgen Klopp had been unveiled as Liverpool’s new manager, he was standing on the balcony of their academy building in Kirkby, sipping a coffee and watching the action unfold below him. It was October 10, 2015 and the German coach was there to meet staff and take in the under-18s’ Saturday morning showdown with their Stoke City counterparts. “When I’m managing a club, each young player should smile, because the chance is bigger than it ever was,” Klopp declared. “The door is pretty wide open. Experience is an important point but not the most.” One striker, just 15 but with pace to burn, caught his eye with a lively 10-minute debut as a late substitute. Academy staff had been so keen for Klopp to see Rhian Brewster in action he had been put on the bench for the under-18s after playing 50 minutes on the back pitch for the under-16s the same morning. It did the trick. Klopp was soon on board with the belief among the academy coaches that Liverpool had one of the most exciting English players of his generation on their hands. Brewster was a star in the making and his reputation continued to grow. Yet five years on from that memorable cameo, Brewster has now been sold without ever scoring a competitive senior goal for Liverpool or making a single Premier League appearance. Having initially only considered a second loan move in as many seasons earlier this summer, Liverpool ultimately agreed to sanction a permanent transfer this week after Sheffield United agreed to pay their club-record fee of £23.5 million for him. Around £18 million of that figure is understood to be guaranteed, with the rest reliant in performance-related add-ons. It’s a decision that is bound to divide opinion among Liverpool fans, considering the buzz around Brewster and the fact his goalscoring exploits in pre-season for Klopp’s side following a prolific loan spell at Swansea City in the second half of last season suggested he was ready to make the step up at Anfield. However, there are several reasons why all parties decided that this was the best possible outcome. For a start, it’s an eye-watering sum of money in the current climate for a 20-year-old who is still unproven at the highest level. It effectively covers the club’s purchase of two-time Champions League winner Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich. East London-born Brewster had been signed from Chelsea for a compensation fee of just £250,000 in 2015. Then-Liverpool Under-21s boss Michael Beale, who had coached him at the Stamford Bridge club, was crucial in helping to convince the family a move north was in his best interests. Key to Sheffield United getting the deal done this week was them agreeing to both a 15 per cent sell-on clause and the inclusion of a buy-back option, which Liverpool can trigger over the next three years if they want to re-sign him and the player is keen on returning. What it would cost them to re-sign Brewster hasn’t been revealed but senior sources at Liverpool insist it’s a figure they regard as realistic if he fulfils his potential at Bramall Lane. Liverpool inserted similar buy-back clauses when they sold Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith to Bournemouth in deals worth a combined £21 million in the summer of 2016, but neither was ever acted upon. This isn’t a tale of Brewster being shoved out of the door against his will to balance the books amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The player and his representative, Leon Anderson, have been pushing for this. Having had a taste of senior football when he scored 11 goals in 22 games to help Swansea make the Championship play-offs after arriving in January, he was desperate to play regularly again this season. Brewster also held talks with Crystal Palace over a possible return to London but was enthused about moving to Sheffield United after a passionate pitch from their manager Chris Wilder, who has long since admired him. He didn’t fancy sticking around at Liverpool as a bench-warming squad player and, given the array of attacking options at Klopp’s disposal, he couldn’t see the situation changing much over the next 12 months if he just went out on loan again. Roberto Firmino is firmly established as Liverpool’s first-choice No 9 and Takumi Minamino is the back-up for that central role after making rapid strides in recent months following his January arrival. The £45 million signing of Wolves’ Diogo Jota, who can play across the frontline, two weeks ago made the challenge facing Brewster even greater. Klopp described Brewster as “a natural goalscorer” after he netted three times in two warm-up games against Stuttgart and Salzburg in August but it was telling that the manager also spoke about how the England Under-21 international “has to be more involved in games”. There’s a good reason why Firmino is referred to by Klopp as Liverpool’s “engine”. The Brazil international sets the tone with his pressing and intelligently drops off into pockets of space to link play. Those are the areas of Brewster’s game which Klopp felt still needed work. He would have happily kept him around to iron out those rough edges on the training fields at Melwood but Brewster was in a hurry. Hanging onto a player against his will never sits right with the German, who prides himself on having a squad completely committed to the cause. “I need a player in the right place in the right moment who is ready to fight,” Klopp told reporters on Friday. “All the boys need to know that we don’t keep them here at all costs just so we have a selection for one or two games a year. If I’m selfish, it never helps really. With a boy like Rhian, I am 100 per cent concerned about his development. He’s our boy. Sometimes we are the right place to make these steps, sometimes we’re not, and we have to admit that.” Brewster left Chelsea for Liverpool because he felt there wasn’t a pathway through to the first team for him there. Similarly, he came close to walking away from Anfield two years ago after initially rejecting the club’s offer of a first professional contract due to concerns about a lack of opportunities. He considered following in the footsteps of his former England youth team-mate and friend Jadon Sancho with a move to the Bundesliga. Borussia Monchengladbach’s advances infuriated Liverpool to such an extent that they threatened them with a tapping-up charge and cancelled a pre-season friendly against them. Ultimately, Klopp managed to convince him to stay put and he signed a five-year contract in July 2018. “When I spoke to the manager, he said, ‘You are going to be a top striker at this club. Not next season, but the season after you will be in my plans’,” Brewster revealed at the time. It wasn’t an empty promise from Klopp. Strikers Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke and Daniel Sturridge all left the club during 2019. The issue was that it took Brewster much longer than expected to recover from a serious injury which had derailed his thrilling progress. He had left a lasting impression on the club’s senior professionals when he scored a hat-trick in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Accrington Stanley at Melwood at the age of 16 in 2016. The following year, he announced himself to a much larger audience when he fired England Under-17s to World Cup final glory in India. Brewster’s eight-goal haul earned him the tournament’s golden boot. However, the following January he truly came back down to earth with a bump when he landed awkwardly playing in an under-23s game against Manchester City and needed surgery on both a knee and an ankle. It was 14 months before he played again. In the absence of Firmino and Mohamed Salah through injury, Brewster was named on the bench for the Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona at Anfield in May of last year, with Klopp vowing: “Next season he will be playing, 100 per cent, and he knows that. I have told him already.” However, Brewster didn’t kick on as expected in the opening months of last season. His only three Liverpool first-team appearances all season came in much-changed line-ups in the domestic cups and at times he dropped back down to the under-23s. In January, the decision was taken to loan him out to Swansea. His final act for Liverpool proved to be missing the decisive spot-kick after being brought on for the penalty shootout in August’s Community Shield against Arsenal at Wembley. Leaving Liverpool is a big deal for Brewster, especially as his dad Ian is a lifelong fan who grew up adoring 1980s superstar John Barnes. But he’s an ambitious and driven young man, and at Sheffield United he will get the chance he craves to grace the Premier League and lead the line. The parting of the ways is amicable. Brewster was a popular figure at Melwood and Klopp was also sympathetic to his situation in the knowledge that he wants to make up for lost time after losing over a year to injury. The pathway is still there for youngsters at Liverpool. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones are proof of that. But the bar is set incredibly high. Brewster couldn’t quite clear it, but there’s no disgrace in that given the elite attacking personnel he was competing against. Klopp will watch his development under Wilder at Bramall Lane with interest. That buy-back clause certainly reduces the degree of risk attached to waving goodbye to such a prodigious talent so young.

Sergino Dest: The story of the American right-back who got his Barca dream move https://theathletic.com/2107987/2020/10/01/sergino-dest-barcelona-koeman/ “Sergino Dest is a strange story — a really, really great talent, but also a really, really special person in how he looks at the world,” Gery Vink tells The Athletic. Vink was a coach in the Ajax youth system Dest joined when he came to the Amsterdam club from neighbours Almere in summer 2012. He immediately learned the new kid was different. “Every day was something different with Sergino, something at school, in the dressing room, on the pitch,” says Vink, now assistant head coach at another Dutch team, Willem II. “He wanted to be different than his teammates. He was an introvert, shy, a strange boy at that age. There were no serious incidents, but if everyone was wearing a white shirt, he had to wear a different colour. Those types of incidents were always happening. Or he would just not go to school. Can you imagine? He forgot to go to school. But that is Sergino. And I am proud of him, first that he got to the first team. I enjoyed watching him there. And now I am really proud of him going to Barcelona.” Dest signed a five-year contract at Barca on Thursday after they agreed a €21 million deal with Ajax (plus €5 million in extras). Former Ajax player and general manager David Endt was equally delighted to see his former pupil at the Spanish giants. Endt watched closely as Dest established himself in the youth ranks at the Amsterdam club, and got to know his family when he briefly worked at an agency which represented the then-teenager. “Sergino was very small but he was a sturdy guy,” Endt tells The Athletic. “He was an interesting footballer, who liked to play up front as a striker. He was always full of energy, quite skilful, but no one had any idea he would develop so quickly into a very good player. On the pitch he did his thing, but natural talents don’t always have an eye for the complete view, the tactical aspects of a team. He did it out of intuition. But you could see his natural quality, and his potential.” The coaches at Ajax’s “De Toekomst” (The Future) academy had difficulty in categorizing and understanding Dest’s natural talent. He played for a while in midfield, and on the wing, before settling as a right-back. Vink trained him at the U-17 level in 2016-17, with ex-Netherlands and Chelsea defender Winston Bogarde as his assistant. “Sergino was very talented, but he found it difficult when he had to think about tactical things,” he says. “He had a lot of talent, he was fast, very good both feet, and very good in attack. But mentality is also a talent, and his coaches had a lot of problems with his attitude, his behaviour. He was special. I had a lot of talks with him, and a lot of fights and discussions about what is needed to get to the top, to be a star. Sometimes he said no, just that — ‘I won’t do it. No, I don’t like it, I won’t do it’.” “It was difficult,” adds Vink with a laugh. “He cost me a lot of positive energy. But maybe now he has learned from those periods, from those years, and become the player he now is.” It was around this time that he first came onto the United States Soccer Federation’s radar. Former United States youth national team coach Dave van den Bergh, a native of Amsterdam and a product of the Ajax academy, called his former club to ask about another American in the ranks there. During the conversation, he asked if there were any other Americans they knew about. “They said, ‘Actually, we have another player here with an American passport’,” Van den Bergh recalls. “(Scouting) is a little bit of luck.” Van den Bergh watched film of Dest and saw a converted winger with attacking and technical skill, incredible sprinting ability, solid 1-v-1 defending and room still to grow into the position tactically. He called Dest and found him to be extremely receptive to the idea of joining the U.S. Under-17s. “I was the first one to call him from any national team, so that helped,” Van den Bergh says. “I don’t think he was on the radar for Holland at that point at all, and so he was immediately enthusiastic about the option and the opportunity to come here.” Former U.S. U-17 coach John Hackworth remembers the first few camps integrating Dest into an American squad that was made up mostly of teammates who played together at the U.S. Under-17 residency academy in Bradenton, Florida. It was not an easy task introducing players from outside that group into the squad, but Dest’s quality was evident from the first few training sessions. And it was apparent that he took something important out of his time with the group. In one session, Hackworth took the team on a regeneration run up through the mountains in Georgia, to a waterfall called Sliding Rock, where they could slide into ice cold water. “You could see in his eyes, it was remarkable for Sergino,” Hackworth recalls. “My wife was taking pictures and Sergino wanted more pictures and more pictures because he loved it. It was almost like he was enlightened coming into that group finding his American roots and enjoying some of the cultural aspects.” Just two years after featuring in the U-17 World Cup under Hackworth, Dest faced a decision between representing the U.S. and the Netherlands. As U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter and federation sporting director Earnie Stewart sat in a restaurant with Dest and his father in Amsterdam last year, the goal was to show Dest that he was to play a key role in the U.S. team’s future. “It was important just to lay out our plans and lay out where we were going as a team and how he fits into that,” Berhalter tells The Athletic. “Every player wants some type of clarity on their role and the direction where the team is headed. That was a major part of the trip, conveying those messages to him.” Stewart and Dest have similar backgrounds. Like Dest, Stewart was born and raised in Holland to an American serviceman father and Dutch mother. Stewart’s footballing education was also largely Dutch-based, playing at VVV, Willem II and NAC, then serving as technical director at NAC and AZ Alkmaar after his playing career. But Stewart also played in three World Cups for the U.S., winning more than 100 caps over 14 years. In 2019, he was named the U.S. federation’s first-ever sporting director. Seeing Stewart’s success with the U.S. may have played a role in the Dest’s final decision, but Dest’s connection to American soccer at that point was already strong. After playing in the 2017 U-17 World Cup, he also featured for them in the 2019 U-20 World Cup. His connections to many of his U.S. team-mates were formed on those squads, including Lille’s Timothy Weah, Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, Bayern Munich’s Chris Richards, and now-Barcelona team-mate Konrad de la Fuente. A couple days after that lunch in Amsterdam, Dest called Berhalter to tell him the news: he was committing to the U.S. It is perhaps ironic the Netherlands coach he informed of his decision is now the man bringing him to Barcelona, Ronald Koeman. Dest’s move to Barcelona becomes just the latest major development for a U.S. men’s national team that could be on the threshold of a golden generation. Just two years after missing the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. have seen two key figures — Weston McKennie and Dest — move to giant clubs, with McKennie completing a transfer from Schalke to Juventus earlier in this window. Those sales come one year after Christian Pulisic moved from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Gio Reyna is dazzling at Dortmund, 20-year-old Richards has broken into Bayern’s first team, and goalkeeper Zack Steffen is now the No 2 at Manchester City. Tyler Adams, 21, and 20-year-old Sargent are starters at RB Leipzig and Bremen, respectively. It was in December 2018 when Dest was offered his first professional contract at Ajax, when he was already 18. Endt says this was “quite late” as there were some doubts over his professionalism. Dest and those around him would contest whether his clashes with his coaches were always a positive learning experience, and whether he was treated fairly or a big enough effort was made to understand him properly. “Most of his coaches at Ajax gave him a hard time,” says one source, who suggests that the most supportive coach was former Barca right-back Michael Reiziger during their time together with the Ajax B youth team in 2018-19. Endt says that, following closely from outside, he was not sure how much influence any of the big name former international players had on the emerging talent. “They all had their influence, but it is difficult to say how much they helped him, or if they were also obstructing him,” he says. “Sometimes from obstruction comes something positive as well. Maybe they will claim part of the glory of this boy, if it comes to glory, as he still has a long way to go. But many of the coaches had a double relationship. Some of them did not really believe in him, and this could have been a motivation as well for him. (Former Everton and Atletico Madrid defender) Johnny Heitinga (Dest’s U-19 coach for two years) tried to teach him what professional football is like, that it demands some discipline, as well. “On the pitch was his natural habitat, where he would feel free and strong,” Endt adds. “Outside the pitch he was less mature. When you focus too much on his behaviour or get irritated by some of his actions, maybe you do not see, or you do not want to see, how the real talent is developing. Maybe it is that. Sergino was not the natural guy that everybody talked about as the upcoming talent from the Ajax academy. Some people thought he was too small, but he is physically strong, and determined. In the end they could not escape from his quality. He had a stubbornness, he would go on and whatever obstacle would come by, he would overcome this and show that he could play football. Sometimes being a little difficult can be an advantage for a player. It shows his character and his own willpower.” Ajax have a long reputation for fast-tracking talented youngsters into their first team — the side which came so close to reaching the 2019 Champions League final contained homegrown talents Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek and Kasper Dolberg. Dest watched that run from the sidelines, but got his chance at the start of the following season by current first-team coach Erik ten Hag. He quite quickly edged out previous first-choice right-back Noussair Mazraoui, another youth product, three years older. He made 38 appearances in total over the 2019-20 season, scoring two goals and giving six assists, and looking very much at home at the senior level. “I was surprised from the first time he made his debut,” says Vink. “But how Ajax are playing, he is a really typical player for his position. He is fast, technical, good going forward, and he can also defend. That is why he was able to make such fast steps as we saw last year.” He also again showed a stubborn, and principled, side when leaving an Ajax team training camp in Qatar last January at a moment of tension between the U.S. and Iranian governments. “What impressed me most was that he did not change his attitude even a little bit,” Endt says. “He was courageous, he never held back. He still played with the same skilful solutions. He kept doing things you did not expect, in the first team just the same as the youth teams. His attitude did not change, he was not shy, or too humble, he just did his thing, as if nothing was different.” Such performances and personality started to draw attention from Europe’s biggest clubs, and Dest himself only fuelled the speculation with local media interviews talking about his ambition to “be the most expensive full-back ever” and “play with Mbappe, Ronaldo, Messi, or Neymar”. There was contact with Bayern Munich, and also reported interest from Paris Saint-Germain, but Barcelona quickly became his first-choice destination. Dest will be presented on Friday as Barca’s most high profile summer 2020 signing, with the team’s fans in Catalonia, America and all over the world expecting big things as he signed a five-year contract with a €400 million release clause. Which is quite a journey for a player who was not widely rated in his early years at Ajax as a likely future star, and who only made his senior debut a little over 12 months ago. “When he entered the Ajax first team, people wondered if he was ready for it, too,” Endt says, anticipating The Athletic’s reservations over whether this big move has come too soon. “Now you have the same question as he is stepping into another world, a bigger world, maybe harder, as well. For him it is fascinating, as well, and he can’t really lose. (Barcelona) have shown great confidence in his ability. He may need a year to adapt to a different lifestyle, different way of playing football, a different dressing-room code and things like that. He will need good attention from the club to guide him into the new world, but I have no doubts that he can play at that level.” New Barca coach Koeman knows the Ajax system very well, having been a young player at the club in the mid-1980s, and then as coach in the early 2000s bringing through a talented generation of starlets including Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Endt says that Koeman will not be put off by Dest’s youth or the strength of personality which previous coaches found challenging. “I know that Ronald will not hesitate to put in youngsters, and give them confidence,” says Endt, who was Ajax’s “team manager” when Koeman was coach there. “He himself played professional football when he was 16 in the Groningen first team. He spots not just the technical quality, but also the mental and psychological quality of a player. It helps a lot that he knows Sergino. I can imagine, knowing Ronald, that he is also fond of him. Because he is an original player, and also an original person, he brings something different.” Vink says he understands completely why Dest grabbed the chance to move up, and that being surrounded by top-quality players at the Nou Camp will help him develop quickly again. “It is always a risk, but for me it is a very natural choice,” says Vink. “It is good for Sergino that he goes there. He must learn every day — on his defending, his heading, he must be stronger. But you get better and better when you play top games every week. That is good, he will be learning from the best players in the world. I hope he gets a lot of minutes, and he will benefit from that. When he settles in the fans will love his type of player.” Endt also recognises that there are areas in which Dest must improve but predicts that Koeman is the ideal teacher to have at this moment in his career. “Sergino still has to learn maybe the real craftsmanship of defending,” he says. “The important thing is to recognise the areas where he can take a risk, and where he cannot. This is something you can learn by playing a lot of matches. And he has an excellent coach who will teach him what to do, and what not to do. This awareness, which develops into tactical insight, will come over the years. Because he is at his best when he can move forward and do his thing. He has enormous energy so he can cover a lot of space. That makes him a modern player.” Barca have been searching for a new long-term solution at right-back for Dani Alves, who left in 2016 after winning multiple trophies in eight seasons with Barca. Portugal international Nelson Semedo was sold to Wolverhampton this summer after never really convincing in three seasons at the Nou Camp, while midfielder-by-trade Sergi Roberto has also struggled to fill the role when played there regularly in recent years. “You should not expect him to be a killer in the team already this year,” Endt says. “Maybe in two or three years we will see a very mature player who mixes styles, who has something of Dani Alves as well. It is not fair to compare him right now with Dani Alves, because you are thinking of Dani Alves when he was 28, at the height of his career, and you are comparing it with a boy of 19. But I think he has the same potential.”

Chelsea’s ‘monster’ back to fix Albion’s defence after spell in Russia https://theathletic.com/2109951/2020/10/03/ivanovic-west-brom-chelsea/ He ended his decorated Chelsea career with three Premier League titles, three FA Cup winner’s medals, a Champions League trophy and a Europa League triumph. But West Bromwich Albion’s new signing Branislav Ivanovic endured a frustrating start to life in the Premier League. For eight months following his January 2008 transfer from Lokomotiv Moscow to Chelsea for £9.7 million, the Serbian did not feature under Avram Grant. Ivanovic even considered leaving Stamford Bridge. But friendships with the club’s Russian winger Yuri Zhirkov and Ukrainian superstar Andriy Shevchenko helped maintain his sanity and convinced him to stay. That decision proved well-judged as Ivanovic went on to enjoy incredible success at Chelsea, but he admits his future was in the balance during those difficult first few months. “I have no ill feelings towards Avram but at that moment I was really angry,” he said in a 2009 interview. “I understand him now because I couldn’t change a lot of things at that moment. “When I arrived, it was difficult for a lot of reasons. I had come from the Russian League when there was a break between seasons. I was not ready to play. I needed time to be able to get used to the training, the play and everything about the club. After that, I picked up an injury and when I returned it was near the end of the season and every game for Chelsea at that stage was important. “The squad was very strong and they were trying to get to the Champions League final. They were also involved in a very tough title race with Manchester United. However, it was the most difficult time in my career. “I don’t think you can find a player in the world who is happy when they’re not playing. You think you deserve to play but a manager’s job is to find the players he wants to play. “Of course, I was very angry.” It was during his long wait for game time that Ivanovic first encountered the current Chelsea manager, who went on to be a team-mate and fellow dressing-room general in a golden era for the club. Despite struggling to make his mark on the first team at Stamford Bridge, Ivanovic made a big impression on Frank Lampard. “My memories start with him coming from Lokomotiv Moscow and I remember him trying to get fit,” Lampard told Chelsea TV. “When he came to Chelsea, I think I was recovering from an injury myself and we were training together. It was a cold day and Chris Jones, who is part of my coaching staff now, was crossing in balls and we were running in and heading them. “Anyway, this monster was running in and heading them like we saw him head (later on, when in the team). He could leap and jump and was strong. There was a determination that ran through him at that point. You could see he was going to be something a bit special and a bit different here. “I was fortunate to play with him in all those successful years because you could rely on him… you could rely on him at centre-back, at right-back. “You could rely on him for a headed goal, rely on him for the Napoli goal (an extra-time winner in the Champions League last 16 en route to winning the 2012 final), rely on him to dig in and fight, to support the team and his team-mates. So I have huge memories of him and I’m really pleased that he’s got his opportunity at West Brom to go back and play one more time in the Premier League.” Ivanovic was close to leaving for Fiorentina in January 2009, but Chelsea pulled the plug on the deal at the 11th hour. Three months later, in what was his major breakthrough game, he scored two headers in a Champions League quarter-final first leg at Liverpool to help secure a 3-1 victory. Still, that “monster” Lampard recalls on the training pitch had a reputation for shyness off it and, after scoring those two goals at Anfield, he walked through the mixed zone, ignoring assembled journalists and had to be persuaded to get back off the team coach just to speak to Chelsea TV. Chelsea staff remember a quiet figure who spent most of his time with Zhirkov, usually playing pool. But as Ivanovic settled in at the club, he became an increasingly influential figure on and off the field. He took Nemanja Matic, a fellow Serbian, under his wing and became like a big brother to him, especially in the midfielder’s first spell at Chelsea from 2009 to 2011. Like Ivanovic, Matic found first-team chances hard to come by at that time and found an understanding ear in his compatriot. Ivanovic was said to have developed a cheeky, dry sense of humour and was often the butt of jokes from team-mates about trying to crack his permanently serious expression. He became part of a core leadership group at the club that also included Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba. There were flashes of temper, like in January 2014 after he scored a winning goal at Manchester City. When Matic was named man of the match instead of him, aggravating an underlying belief that his game did not always get the credit it deserved, Ivanovic refused to conduct any post-match media duties when asked by the club. He was reputedly annoyed that Terry and Lampard had been asked to appear on TV instead and a stubborn streak for which he became well-known was displayed. He is perhaps best remembered at Chelsea for an interview he did agree to when, after Chelsea clinched a place in the 2012 Champions League final, Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves broke the news to Ivanovic that a booking in the semi-final second leg meant he would miss the biggest game in the club’s history. Ivanovic did make an appearance at the final win over Bayern Munich when he appeared, like Terry, in full kit, as per UEFA rules, to join in the celebrations. While Terry was mocked for his attire, Ivanovic’s went under the radar, so much so that his appearance on top of a crossbar at the Allianz Arena is rarely discussed. Behind the scenes, Ivanovic became a player of influence, so much so that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would speak to him in the dressing room after games in Russian. After an FA Cup quarter-final loss at Everton in March 2016, just days after being beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Ivanovic was spotted in animated conversation with then-technical director Michael Emenalo. Observers believe this was an example of a senior dressing-room figure conveying the feelings of players to the powers that be. Ivanovic enjoyed playing under Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti in particular, was frustrated when Andre Villas-Boas preferred Jose Bosingwa at right-back, and was eventually eased out by Antonio Conte. His final Chelsea appearance was low-key as he scored in a 4-0 FA Cup win over neighbours Brentford, refusing interviews after the game as he took his exit from Stamford Bridge badly. But he left the club having made 377 appearances, scoring 34 goals. Ivanovic’s success at Chelsea came as no surprise to those who knew him. “I knew he had the potential to play for one of the biggest clubs in Europe,” Slavoljub Muslin, his former coach with Lokomotiv Moscow and the Serbia national team, tells The Athletic. “He can play at right-back or central defender, which is really important for a coach. He was very fast and a very good crosser but defensively he was very good.” Ivanovic grew up in a sporting family in Sremska Mitrovica, a small city in Serbia’s Srem region. His father played professional football for Srem and his mother was a successful handball player. Ivanovic’s childhood included a difficult time as the former Yugoslavia broke up and Serbia found itself under sporting and economic sanctions. He began his career at Srem, following in his dad’s footsteps, moved quickly to OFK Belgrade and, by the age of 22, was heading for a first spell in Russia. “He was a young player but he wanted to learn, to progress and to work,” recalls Muslin. “He stayed like that because he could not have had the career he had without that. He is a very good professional and that is the most important thing for a player. “Every day, he came to training to learn and progress and it was very important for him at the beginning of his career.” After two years and one Russian Cup triumph with Lokomotiv Moscow came the move to London, and nine years with Chelsea. When his time at Stamford Bridge was up, Russia came calling again. In three seasons at Zenit St Petersburg, Ivanovic won the league twice and another Russian Cup. “Whenever we have a player of the quality of Branislav Ivanovic then everyone goes mad in Russia and says, ‘Wow, we have a world-class player’,” says Alexy Yaroshevsky, who provides English-language commentary on the Russian Premier League. “When he joined, the fanfare was maybe not as vocal as Dejan Lovren, who replaced him eventually (in a move from Liverpool this summer). When Lovren signed, people went crazy, whereas it maybe wasn’t as big when Ivanovic signed, but people who worked in football in Russia were ecstatic. After joining, he was soon named Zenit’s captain. “Zenit is a team with huge ambitions because they are sponsored by one of the wealthiest natural resources companies in the world, so becoming an immediate starter is quite an achievement. The gap between Zenit and the rest is huge but Ivanovic started almost every game. “And since he’s gone, you can see there is a decline in how they operated defensively because a lot revolved around Ivanovic. He was universally loved and admired by Zenit fans, by the pundits, and he was one of the most welcoming, heart-warming guys you could speak to in a mixed zone. “We have a problem in Russia that many players skip past journalists after a game and leave without a comment, especially if they lost, but Ivanovic was one of the few who always stopped for a conversation with journalists. “He’s a model professional who speaks three or four languages, is very fluent in Russian and in English and everyone was very sad to see him go.” In Serbia, the end of Ivanovic’s international career is a source of mystery. Shortly before the 2018 World Cup, the nation’s most capped international, known as “Bane” (a common Serbian nickname), was stripped of the captaincy of the national team. Since that tournament in Russia, he has not played for Serbia but has neither formally announced his retirement nor spoken about the circumstances of his apparent departure. Yet in his homeland, the widely-reported story behind the captaincy change makes for bizarre reading. Two Serbian journalists have independently told The Athletic that in a pre-World Cup training camp, Serbian FA president Slaviaa Kokeza turned up unannounced in full kit and insisted on participating in a practice game. Ivanovic is thought to have voiced his disapproval to coach Mladen Krstajic, and soon after the armband was given to Aleksandar Kolarov, Ivanovic’s friend and the former Manchester City full-back. “When they came back, he practically said goodbye to the national team without officially saying it,” says Nemanja Stanojcic of the Serbian website 24sedam.rs. “But when it comes to football and the things he gave to the national team, he is definitely one of the all-time greats. “There was some talk that he might come to Red Star (Belgrade) this summer and Serbian fans were quite excited about that.” Ivanovic is not, though, a megastar in a nation where basketball and handball rule the sporting scene. Overseas football, where he has spent most of his career, is often the preserve of wealthier families who can afford subscription television. “Ivanovic is not a star here as he might be if he’d played in Serbia and in our league,” says Nikola Jankovic, a freelance journalist based in Belgrade. “But the fans are with him from the time he lost the captaincy and he has real respect.” Now, an unexpected summer transfer has brought Ivanovic back to the Premier League with West Brom at the age of 36. Slaven Bilic spoke to friends in Russia to get first-hand testimony of Ivanovic’s fitness and form for Zenit. He is expected to slot in at centre-back with Semi Ajayi, the strong, powerful, quick but raw defender, his most likely partner if Bilic reverts to the four-man defence he used in the Championship last season. Bilic is convinced that Ivanovic will have a positive impact in the dressing room at The Hawthorns. “He is one of those players that likes to share his opinion of situations that happen in training. On and off the pitch, he’s very vocal. He’s been there, he’s a leader, he’s got quality — that is all part of the package and the reason we have him at the club.” Time will tell whether Ivanovic can make an impact in the Premier League in the twilight of his career. But in Serbia and Russia, there is optimism about his fitness and how he will influence Bilic’s young players. “Zenit have young defenders coming up who are getting more and more chances in the first team,” says Yaroshevsky. “And Vyacheslav Karavayev, who is a right-back, which is the position Ivanovic used to occupy, learned a lot — basically everything he does now — from Ivanovic. I’ve heard that from a lot of people inside the club. “If we compare the Russian league to the Premier League, it’s a different planet. The Russian league is not as physical or as high-paced. “There are four or five huge games for every top club each season and Zenit are no exception. They play against Spartak, CSKA, Lokomotiv and the likes, but many other games, against the minnows, the competition level is not as fierce as it is in England. So for Ivanovic, with his experience and physicality, they could be a walk in the park, unfortunately for the Russian league. “But in the big games, he still showed an amazing level of physicality and pace and contribution to both attacking and defending, so I haven’t seen a single glimpse of him becoming less physically effective than he was at Chelsea.” Muslin adds: “Later in his career, he was still a great professional and he was my captain for the national team. He was a leader in the national team so I knew he could do that. For the young players he had a very good reputation with the career he had with Chelsea, and his experience was very important for the national team. “He is a quiet guy but he was a leader on the field, with his example of how he fights on the field. And he was also a leader in the dressing room. “He was open to everybody. If anyone had a problem, he was open for the players; if he had a problem outside of the field, he came to speak to me and he wanted to help everybody. He tried to understand everybody in the team and I used to ask him what he felt about the team and he’s a very good person. “This is another challenge for him but I think it will be a good move for West Bromwich Albion. He is a good professional, so I hope he can play another one or two years at a high level.”

Antonio Rudiger open to Spurs loan move after latest snub by Frank Lampard https://theathletic.com/2111049/2020/10/03/antonio-rudiger-chelsea-open-spurs-loan-transfer-tottenham/ Chelsea are playing their sixth game of the season against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, and Antonio Rudiger will not feature once again. It is arguably the surprise story of their season so far. Since being an unused substitute in the opening Premier League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion, Rudiger has not even made a match-day squad — and that includes the Carabao Cup match at home to Barnsley. By his own admission, 2019-30 did not go smoothly for the centre-back. However, just over two months ago, the 27-year-old started the FA Cup final against Arsenal. A week before, he had helped Chelsea keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers which secured a fourth finish and a Champions League place for this season. It makes the fall from grace, and the sheer extent of it, all the more noteworthy. It’s certainly come as a surprise to Rudiger. So how has he found himself in this predicament and what will happen next? For starters, his absence has not been caused by any injury concerns, nor have there been any major disagreements with head coach Frank Lampard. The only explanation offered by the latter during a brief conversation with the defender is that it is a football decision and there are simply other players who are currently preferred at his position. It is clear Rudiger runs the risk of playing little football this season should he remain at Stamford Bridge. That would be unappealing for any professional, but that is even more the case for Rudiger because he wants to represent Germany at the European Championship finals next summer. The transfer window closes at 11pm UK time on Monday and the search for a potential new club has understandably stepped up over the last few days. A decision about what happens next could be made internally at Chelsea today. But the situation is complex and it could take until the final hours of the window to reach a conclusion. Even then, there are no certainties he will leave at all. It is understood the clubs who have expressed an interest in Rudiger are Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Barcelona, but it is not clear where he will end up at this stage for various reasons. Tottenham are Rudiger’s preferred destination. His complaint about being racially abused by Spurs fans during Chelsea’s 2-0 win there last December is not a factor and would not put him off joining them. The north London club had looked at Milan Skriniar from Inter. That is all but over, so the Chelsea man is their main target. However, Chelsea are reluctant to grant Rudiger such a move. Relations between the two capital rivals have not been good during the Roman Abramovich era. The last player to leave Stamford Bridge for Spurs was back-up goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini 11 years ago and that was on a free transfer when the Italian was 35 years old. There is still some upset felt at Chelsea over being beaten by Spurs to the 2017 purchase of Swansea striker Fernando Llorente — a player their then-manager Antonio Conte very much wanted. After qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League this week, AC Milan made their latest enquiry on Rudiger, having already lodged one before. Yet even with the extra funds European club competition is going to provide, a loan move has been deemed too expensive. Meanwhile, neighbours Inter proposed a swap deal with an unknown squad member, but Chelsea rejected that. The other Serie A club in the mix, Roma — with whom Rudiger spent two seasons from 2015-17 before a £29 million move to Stamford Bridge — see him as a potential alternative if there are any complications in their bid to re-sign Chris Smalling from Manchester United after his loan spell last season. There is the exciting prospect of Barcelona being a possible destination, but the La Liga club are trying to figure out what to do with their fringe centre-backs Samuel Umtiti and Jean-Clair Todibo first, so there is a question mark as to whether they can do anything concrete. To add to the intrigue is how Chelsea want to resolve the situation. Last month it was envisaged that Fikayo Tomori would be the one leaving on loan for the season, and an agreement for him to go to Everton was close. It is believed sections of the hierarchy would prefer Tomori to make way. They hold Rudiger in high regard and even now would rather he stayed. But once Lampard made it clear Tomori was above the German in the pecking order — the England international has featured in three of the first five games this season — a bid to find a solution has been pursued. Just like with Lampard’s request to buy new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy — despite the presence of £71.6 million Kepa Arrizabalaga, still the most expensive signing ever at the position — his decision is being backed. Chelsea have considered all possibilities. Even though they regard Rudiger as one of the best defenders in Europe, they have talked about selling him. Yet that is not looking likely in this market. A loan is appealing. But with less than two years left on his contract, Chelsea would like the former Stuttgart defender to sign an extension first, to protect his market value. It should be stressed though that doing so isn’t a strict condition — he could leave for the rest of the season anyway without doing so. One would have to think it might be hard to convince Rudiger to agree fresh terms when he is not part of Lampard’s plans. On the other hand, situations always change in football, and ostracised players do come in from the cold. He also has the knowledge that there are people at the top of the club who still appreciate him. Tomori may still be a little bit anxious about where he stands, too. Until the three recent outings, he had played on just three occasions under Lampard in 2020. New signing Thiago Silva is surely going to feature regularly now he is fully fit, so that leaves the 22-year-old competing with Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, plus Rudiger should he stick around, for one place in the team. But the chances of going to Everton look over because they are on the verge of acquiring fellow centre-back Ben Godfrey from Norwich City. So how has Rudiger, who has won the FA Cup and Europa League with Chelsea since arriving three years ago, handled all of this? After all, while it wasn’t decisive, he played a part in convincing countrymen Timo Werner and Kai Havertz to join Lampard’s squad this summer and must have thought he would be in the first XI with them. It is thought he has remained calm about the situation. Perhaps the reality of being demoted in such a fashion has not quite sunk in. Rudiger is a strong character and a big personality in the dressing room, but is said to be highly professional and unlikely to cause a disruption. A resolution one way or the other is not expected until Monday. Chelsea have provided a lot of drama in the window this year, but what happens with Rudiger may be one of the most intriguing sub-plots in what has been a fraught start to Lampard’s second season in charge.

How Chelsea's secret signing could be Frank Lampard's most important arrival this season Chelsea have been splashing the cash over the transfer window with the likes of Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell and Timo Werner joining but Frank Lampard has a secret weapon https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-transfer-news-lampard-update-22780496 snip The expectations have ramped up at Stamford Bridge and the Blues boss has been touted to challenge for trophies. But one thing he must improve is his defence - which has been scarily leaky, conceding 54 times last year in the Premier League - the most in the top 10. It has led to Lampard looking to not just improve his squad but his backroom staff, with Anthony Barry joining from Wigan Athletic. Despite being just 34, he joins with glowing references and studied for his UEFA Pro Licence in June alongside Lampard and Chelsea's assistant manager Jody Morris. Barry has been branded a defensive-minded coach but his abilities go much further than that. The former Accrington Stanley star is an avid user of video analysis, going into diligent detail over every facet available. His relentless commitment to his work will undoubtedly be an absolute asset to Lampard. Individual errors, set-pieces and poor organisation has cost them goals at the back while going forward, Chelsea could be accused of not utilising their awesome arsenal of talent to their full capacity. With Barry behind the scenes, the Blues should be achieving that one per cent extra sometimes necessary that can be the difference between winning and losing. During his time at Wigan, he was also close with Reece James - who has become a key part of Chelsea's XI. The Englishman starred for the Latics during a loan spell there and knows all about how good the full-back is. Then there is his enthusiasm, electric personality and popularity among players and staff - which will no doubt make him an infectious member of Chelsea's team. With Lampard still in the infancy of his managerial career, having a talented squad is one thing - but he will know it will not count for anything without a proper crew of coaches who are willing to put in the graft necessary - and Barry ticks that box.

Nick Pope with another howler

3 1 NUFC Wilson on a hat trick

Saint-Maximin is a fucking beast holy shit

I love their beers especially (and for an Imp it is not an alcohol bomb so you can drink two and not be off yer tits)

Samuel Smith brewery Yorkshire slate squares at Old Tadcaster

2020-21 English Premier League Newcastle United Burnley http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-newcastle-united-vs-burnley-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/newcastle-united-epl/

Bamford ran end to end for the full 90,did not slow down and my father, when he was a teen took a summer job in Sweden doing industrial hot tar roofing said it was the worst job he ever had he was a yoke-man, carrying giant buckets of deadly hot tar up from the ground via a lift and then walking it over to the spreaders

the 2nd time I ran a full marathon (the first I sorta took it easy as I was intimidated) I made the HUGE mistake of trying to keep up with Linnea (she is a kinda near world class biathlete, and by far the better athlete between us, although I destroy her in squash) and puked my arse off like 2/3rds of the way through from sheer exhaustion mostly was dry heaves, it was horrid! but I got aided by race course physios, given some electrolytes,, chilled for 10 minutes, and finished so I can relate to the Leeds lads

trump dies Israel invades Egypt in the chaos salah gets called back to the army roflmaoooooooooo

i saw a special on Bielsa they said his workouts are so intense that it is super rare when multiple players do not vomit from fatigue

wayyyyy too early but if not us who wi it then the team I would so love to beat the dippers would be the toffees and king carlo

bindippers are waltzing to it unless another team (not shitty) steps up

great draw for Leeds love to watch thsi style of footie

crazy game

Ake on for Mendy at LB

omg Leeds have twice hit the bar now in 3 minutes

yes, could easily be 3 1

Ederson with a Kepa

and they did!

damn, Leeds almost scored again