Vesper

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee nil 1 wowowowow

I can see Wolves mauling Arsenal in the next game I cannot believe I have to cheer on those Goona twats

the way Wolves are playing I would not be shocked

I hate this feeling of inevitability that they are going above us soon combine that with a sense of major shenanigans going on with Shitty's CAS appeal and I am not in a good place

Manure's front three 51 goals all comps the entire starting 11 for Bournemouth 8 all comps ffs

this is Manure's strongest possible line up

back to the old Fergie okie doke

Leicester City v Crystal Palace HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-leicester-city-vs-crystal-palace-s2/ https://www.totalsportek.com/leicester-city/

Manure v Bournemouth HD streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-manchester-united-vs-afc-bournemouth-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/manchester-united-football/

Barkley may try and sneak out to the

hideous kit!!!!

Ahead of the West Ham match, Frank Lampard was asked for his thoughts on two potential arrivals. First up was Angel Gomes and it was noticeable just how emphatic he was in dismissing it. “I can elaborate to the point where it’s never been mentioned my end, so that’s it,” he said. meanwhile the shit journos are pushing this Chelsea could sign free agent as Kai Havertz transfer alternative after Timo Werner deal https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1303843/Chelsea-sign-free-agent-Kai-Havertz-transfer-alternative-Timo-Werner-deal-Angel-Gomes Chelsea could make a move for former Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes as he has now left the club. The Blues have been linked with Bayer Leverkusen ace Kai Havertz but a bid in the region of £75million may be needed to secure his signature. lololol

Mateo Kovacic ruled out of weekend clash against Watford https://astamfordbridgetoofar.com/2020/07/03/injury-update-lampard-confirms-key-midfield-star-to-miss-watford-clash/ Chelsea midfield mainstay Mateo Kovacic will miss out of this weekend’s Premier League game against Watford, manager Frank Lampard has confirmed. (h/t Chelseafc.com) Kovacic has been an integral member of the team ever since he moved to Stamford Bridge back in 2018. Having initially arrived on loan, the midfielder’s transfer was made permanent. snip fuck

now see, the 3 is a much better size on this one versus the home kit wtf

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I want to finish the last year of fifth grade, considering how my parents have been breaking my b@lls for 30 years” – Gigi Buffon says he will be going back to high school when he retires. Now if ever there was a documentary series that would be worth watching …

Jimenez is sending flirty messages, but would anyone pay £50m for the divorce? https://theathletic.com/1906121/2020/07/03/raul-jimenez-wolves-transfer-real-madrid-50-million/ Raul Jimenez doesn’t come across as your average superstar footballer. For a guy with 3.3 million Twitter followers (more than Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Kevin De Bruyne have) and one of the most famous sportspeople in Mexico, his homeland where he is obsessed over and adored, Jimenez could be forgiven for being a little hubristic or self-important. Those who know him speak instead of a humble and dedicated professional who is grateful for his financial comfort and hungry to improve his game. He’s also said to be just about the most settled of all Wolves’ foreign players, enjoying the relative anonymity he receives in his corner of Wolverhampton where he lives with his partner Daniela Basso and their dogs. When he had a week off late last year he went to Salisbury Cathedral, not Dubai. When lockdown began in March, he and Daniela chose to stay in Wolverhampton while team-mates such as Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves took their families back to Portugal. His hugely impressive (and perhaps underrated) scoring record for Wolves now reads at 24 goals in 47 appearances this season — an improvement on the 17 in 44 he netted in 2018-19. For all Adama Traore’s speed-of-light pace, Neves and Moutinho’s midfield artistry, Conor Coady’s militant organisation and Willy Boly’s exceptional defensive strength (they concede a goal-a-game more when Boly doesn’t play) it’s Jimenez who is Wolves’ most important player. Their link-man and their goalscorer, he performs the job of two players. Given the tremendous success he’s enjoyed, links with some of Europe’s biggest clubs are inevitable — and Jimenez has been linked with just about all of them, chiefly Juventus and Manchester United. He hasn’t exactly shut down those links when they’ve been put to him during some of the regular interviews he does back home. “I am no stranger to all that,” Jimenez told Telemundo last week. “Every day a new team comes out, every day a new offer comes out — I do not know how many millions. “It is good to know that they are talking about you, but what I have to do to make that happen is to continue doing my job here with the Wolves.” We’ll be kind and give Jimenez the benefit of the doubt. Let’s assume that when he says “to make that happen”, he means for the rumours to continue, rather than to make a transfer happen. Either way, he’s fanning the flames to put it kindly. While it must be difficult coming up with something original and interesting to say when the same questions are repeated ad infinitum, this isn’t the first instance of Jimenez indulging links with other teams. In June, speaking to Bolavip: “It’s something very cool. I don’t know if they are true, they are rumours. Since they are talking about me, different teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool… they are teams that in the history of football are important. “It’s an incredible thing to be on the radar, and on the lips, of those teams. It’s something good to continue growing, making an effort and taking it as an incentive so that, if possible, give even more to achieve it.” OK, but he was probably just bored in lockdown, right? No, wait. There was this in May, to ESPN Deportes: “If you tell me that tomorrow an offer from Real Madrid or Barcelona comes, it is obvious that you do not let such an opportunity go. “I have to be calm. If they are talking about me, it is because I am doing things well: I would like to continue in England, I am happy, adapted and I like the idea of staying. “Leaving the doors open for anything is the most important thing. But if I stay here, I am fighting to qualify for the Champions League, for important things. I think I made the right decision to come here and I do not regret it. With Wolves, we are fighting for the Champions League. I am happy and I am an important player for the fans and the team. I am fine, I do not close any doors, I am open to whatever comes but it does not stop me sleeping.” Jimenez is part of a very close-knit family and they too have had their say. His father (who is also his agent) told Medio Tiempo: “Raul has always said it’s something very cool (to hear of the interest). “He’s very happy at his club, hopefully getting into positions for Champions League and Europa League. Always for him, all of that will be very gratifying, very cool to hear those comments. “Right now is the time of rumours. He’s only commented on what he sees that they publish, but nothing at the moment. Later, if there is something different, we will see. But now, yes, they are mere speculation and rumours.” And finally, from his cousin Luis Manuel Flores, who told The Athletic that a move to the Bernabeu would be Jimenez’s dream as he grew up supporting them: “He’s always been a Madridista. Raul’s dream is to play for Real Madrid and win with them.” It’s an expanding tome of tittle-tattle, albeit there is nothing damning in what Jimenez is saying. There’s no smoking gun here. It’s more the notion that he is publicly dabbling with the thought of a move elsewhere. He’s not having an affair, but he is sending flirty text messages. Imagine Nuno Espirito Santo reading Jimenez’s phone and finding a text to Zinedine Zidane saying he’s the best manager in the world. He’d be hurt, sure, but it’s not a dumping offence, even if it does neither him nor Wolves many favours to be talking about it. It should be pointed out Jimenez repeatedly states he’s happy at Wolves — and no one would dispute that. This is a guy who draws the club badge on his pregnant partner’s belly. They are the club who resurrected his career from the relative wilderness of Benfica’s substitutes’ bench to become one of European football’s foremost strikers. Yes, he was playing in the Champions League in Lisbon and winning league titles, but he started just 20 league games in three seasons, coming off the bench 60 times. The perennial sub. Nuno saw his potential and Jimenez has realised it. “He’s given me the confidence to be an important man at the front of the attack,” Jimenez said this week in yet another interview, during which he again stated how happy he is at Wolves. “That’s what I’d been looking for since coming to Europe — it’s very important to me to have confidence from him and all my team-mates.” The question for Jimenez is: Can Wolves satisfy his ambitions? Does he want to risk heading back to the bench at an “elite” club, like Real Madrid, like Liverpool, like Juventus? Or would the prestige and money on offer be too hard to turn down? His age is a factor. After turning 29 in May, he’s probably only got one big move left in him and from his perspective, it’s approaching the now-or-never territory. If that dream move to Real Madrid is ever going to happen, it won’t be when he’s 33. On the flip side — and in Wolves’ favour (should they not be looking to cash in) — 29 will already be too old for some clubs who, when profiling potential striker targets with a budget of £50 million, won’t be looking in that age bracket. And for a player they paid £32 million to acquire last summer (Jimenez spent his first season at Molineux on loan from Benfica) with three years left on his contract, Wolves surely would demand at least £50 million. Nuno is aware of Jimenez’s comments and is said to be unconcerned. If Jimenez wasn’t performing on the pitch or in training, that would be different, but the Mexican is almost robotic in his consistent performance levels day after day, week after week. He plays, he eats, he sleeps. That’s his life. He is described as an exemplary professional. And although he is a deeply intelligent footballer, he has perhaps been a little naive with his Spanish interviews (note: he’s far more guarded when speaking to the English press) in agreeing to do so many. Wolves have been keen to limit Jimenez’s media commitments — it would be his full-time job were he to say yes to every single one, given his popularity back home — and will often turn down requests… only to later find Jimenez ended up doing them anyway. If he can be asked directly, it’s in Jimenez’s nature to say yes. When all’s said and done, he’s a nice bloke who doesn’t like letting people down. It was described to The Athletic as though Jimenez feels he has a duty to speak to the Mexican press. He wants to be liked back home, where he is ridiculously famous and features in the papers daily. In Wolverhampton, that’s not the case and that is to Jimenez’s liking. Can we shrug off the interviews as white noise? Or is there a deeper meaning to the flirtation? What can’t be disputed is that he’s happy at Wolves, settled in Wolverhampton and enjoying his football. Would he want to play for Real Madrid? Of course. Are Real Madrid going to offer at least £50 million to try to buy him? Therein lies the true question — and until that happens, Jimenez stays. “My advice to any of those players is to stick around because good things are happening at Wolves,” former England international Joe Cole said on BT Sport last week. “Those Wolves players are all happy the way they’re playing. My advice is to stay at Wolves.” If Jimenez wants to play for an exciting, ambitious Champions League club and be guaranteed first-team football and a hefty wage packet week after week… well, how about Wolves?

Mourinho’s not leaving, so what should Tottenham do now? https://theathletic.com/1907155/2020/07/03/tottenham-spurs-jose-mourinho-kane-son-ndombele-dier/ After a season spent clinging on to the idea that somehow despite everything, Champions League qualification might somehow be possible, Thursday night felt like the moment the dream died once and for all. Come the end of the season Spurs will surely have failed to reach Europe’s top competition for the first time since finishing fifth in 2014-15. They are seven points off the top five and even the Europa League looks a stretch at the moment for Jose Mourinho’s ninth-placed side. What then needs to change? How can Tottenham rebuild a dysfunctional side that 13 months ago was contesting the Champions League final? The first thing to say is that Mourinho is not going anywhere. He is on a lucrative, long-term deal and will be given time to turn this around. So it’s up to him to find solutions, and these are the key areas he must address. Fix the defence Tottenham have kept four clean sheets in 28 matches under Mourinho and conceded 38 goals. For a manager who built his reputation on defensive organisation, these are extremely troubling numbers. A month or so after he arrived, some of the squad were surprised by Mourinho’s emphasis on general shape work rather than more specific defensive drills, and whatever he has done on the training ground doesn’t seem to have paid off. Against Sheffield United, Spurs defended dreadfully, especially for the second and third goals when they allowed their opponents far too much time in the box. As far as the transfer market goes, Tottenham will listen to offers for Serge Aurier at the end of the season and hope to replace him with Norwich’s Max Aarons, though Mourinho is understood to have reservations that he is too small. But even if a deal for Aarons is possible, he will not be a panacea for a defence that has been shaky for coming up to two years now. Spurs also need to make a decision on the future of now first-choice centre-back Eric Dier whose contract expires next summer and who wants to stay at the club but only if he is offered a suitable contract. And what of Toby Alderweireld? From signing a new and unusually long contract for a 30-year-old at Tottenham in December, he hasn’t played a minute since the restart. In reality, Spurs’ struggles at the back go beyond just the defence, with the team requiring far better overall structure. Protect the back four A major reason for the team’s increased vulnerability from the start of last season onwards was the decline and subsequent departure of Mousa Dembele. It is not a coincidence that since he left in mid-January 2019, Spurs have kept one away clean sheet in the Premier League. Spurs don’t control games in the same way anymore and have been trying to find a central midfield that works ever since. Giovani Lo Celso has been excellent this season, but he would be even better with a partner who allows him to play further forward and worry less about the defensive side of the game. Against Sheffield United, Lo Celso was frequently stationed behind Sissoko, who lacks the Argentine’s composure in the final third. Tottenham will look to address their lack of defensive midfielder by attempting to sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton in the summer. Hojbjerg is a genuine ball-winner — no outfielder in the Premier League tops his 10.6 recoveries per game this season — and so he would give Tottenham something they have been lacking. The Athletic understands no agreement has been reached but there is confidence a deal will be struck. That though was based on Spurs qualifying for Europe and, even if a deal for Hojbjerg remains possible, failing to do so would change the overall calibre of players they are able to bring in. Manage a tight budget and motivate the players Speaking of bringing players in, Mourinho and Spurs will not be able to spend their way out of this slump. The coronavirus crisis, money being paid back to broadcasters and the absence of matchday crowds has already left Tottenham estimating losses of more than £200 million of revenue in the period from the start of lockdown to June 2021. Missing out on the Champions League will be another major financial blow and one that will leave them weakened in the transfer market and at risk of falling further behind their rivals. Levy has ruled out selling the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli in the summer to fund a squad overhaul, and so Mourinho will have to prove he is still able to maximise the talents of his existing players. Finding a way to get the most out of record signing Tanguy Ndombele would be a major step in the right direction in this regard, but as The Athletic reported last week he will look to leave if he doesn’t start playing before the end of the campaign. Paris Saint-Germain, who he nearly joined last summer and who are interested in a permanent deal, is his most likely destination. Barcelona also retain an interest but could only afford a loan. Many of Ndombele’s team-mates believe him to be the most talented player in the squad and have noted an increased intensity in training in the past weeks. So all is not lost yet. A reduced transfer budget might also require Mourinho to promote more of the club’s youngsters. Japhet Tanganga has become a first-team regular this season, and in Oliver Skipp, Troy Parrott and Dennis Cirkin, among others, Spurs do have young talent that could make an impact. If in the worst-case scenario Spurs have nothing to play for in the last few games of the season, then they may even get their chance in the coming weeks. Improve the mentality After Thursday’s defeat at Sheffield United, Mourinho appeared to question the mentality of his players. “You have to be ready to cope with negative moments and go until the last minute,” he said. “In spite of my efforts in the dressing room, now I feel I know more about the profile of my players. I felt that in the second half we wouldn’t be strong enough to cope with a team that when they’re winning just defends and counter-attacks. So congratulations to them.” Mourinho’s comments drew criticism but the mentality of the team has been an issue all season. The implosions against Bayern Munich and Brighton were painful to watch, and sources close to the dressing room comment on the lack of strong leaders. It’s also true though that it’s the job of the manager to change the players’ psychology, and this emotional intelligence has traditionally been Mourinho’s great strength. This ties into the question about whether he can connect with the young players of today in the way he could with those of a decade or so ago. It’s also the case that Spurs’ players displayed the mental fortitude to come back from 3-0 down in a Champions League semi-final 14 months ago so clearly they possess a strength of character when effectively motivated. Develop a discernible style Privately Mourinho has preached evolution not revolution in his first season, and he is said to be conscious of the club’s attacking traditions. This would explain his often uncharacteristically offensive line-ups, including at Bramall Lane on Thursday. But you would be hard-pressed to define what kind of a style Mourinho’s Spurs play with. Are they a pressing team? A counter-attacking team? One that likes to dominate possession? Given he joined midway through the season and took over a side going through an identity crisis, he can be forgiven for it taking time for things to come together. And we should remember that even Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola took a while to hit their stride at Liverpool and Manchester City. That’s why it’s unrealistic to expect these fixes to happen instantly. They won’t. But a day after Spurs’ Champions League hopes for next season surely died, everything must be aimed at getting back there.

Raphael Honigstein https://twitter.com/honigstein

yep, the Manure cunts in all the chatrooms are now all back to calling every other club (including us) little tiny teams who will soon be steamrolled for a decade plus by the manure machine

I think there will multiple lawsuits if Shitty walk scot free FFP is instantly a joke and so many teams have been smashed with it

Explained: Why Chelsea are so bad at defending set pieces https://theathletic.com/1906770/2020/07/03/chelsea-corners-set-pieces-lampard/ West Ham United built Wednesday’s 3-2 win over visitors Chelsea on the glaring set-piece weakness that has tormented Frank Lampard all season. They got only two corners in 95 minutes and both of them ended up in the Chelsea net — Tomas Soucek’s first effort ruled out after a lengthy VAR check, his second yielding a crucial equaliser just before half-time. Both were shambolic sequences that perfectly encapsulated why Chelsea have established themselves as the worst team at defending corners in the Premier League. They have conceded nine goals from 110 corners in the league this season: that means 8.2 per cent of the corners they have conceded this season have directly led to goals. Manchester United and Norwich City are next highest but, at 4.8 per cent, they are well behind Lampard’s team. Percentage of corners that lead to goals PREMIER LEAGUE 2019-20 CORNER GOALS/CORNERS Chelsea 8.20% Manchester United 4.80% Norwich City 4.80% Manchester City 4.70% West Ham 4.50% Brighton 4.20% Aston Villa 4.20% Everton 4.00% Wolves 3.90% Arsenal 3.70% Leicester 3.50% Newcastle 3.20% Watford 3.00% Crystal Palace 2.90% Southampton 2.60% Burnley 2.10% Bournemouth 1.90% Tottenham 1.80% Liverpool 1.50% Sheffield United 1.10% In fact, Opta data tells us the only team in Europe’s five major leagues to concede goals from a higher proportion of their corners this season are French side Amiens. They have let in 12 from 140 – a rate of 8.6 per cent. They also finished second-bottom of Ligue 1, seven points short of safety when their season was curtailed. Europe's worst corner defences TEAM CORNERS CONCEDED CORNER GOALS CONCEDED CORNER GOALS/CORNERS Amiens 140 12 8.60% Chelsea 110 9 8.20% Borussia Dortmund 103 7 6.80% Werder Bremen 198 13 6.60% Bayern Munich 102 6 5.90% Koln 201 11 5.50% Leganes 132 7 5.30% Brescia 195 10 5.10% Monaco 137 7 5.10% Schalke 178 9 5.10% Asked after the match what he could do to fix Chelsea’s persistent fragility defending set pieces, Lampard sounded worn down by the problem. “When a team is bigger than you, as (West Ham) were, you can work all week… if someone is much taller than the opponent and outjumps them, then they are going to score goals,” he said. “That’s what happens, so we were aware they were bigger than us and they were going to try to score goals or win the game. But the players have to deal with that on the pitch.” It wasn’t a response to fill any supporter with confidence but revisiting the footage makes Lampard’s weary tone understandable. Chelsea don’t possess the personnel for an elite set-piece defence and have tried things throughout the season in order to compensate. But any system is only as good as its execution and both West Ham corners were riddled with individual errors. David Moyes clearly drilled his players on one routine because the positioning and runs were virtually identical both times: Issa Diop attacking the near-post area guarded by Mateo Kovacic and Tammy Abraham, Soucek attacking the far post, Michail Antonio loitering in the six-yard box and Angelo Ogbonna occupying a defender near the penalty spot: Jarrod Bowen delivers the first corner to the near post, where Kovacic beats Diop to the ball but only succeeds in flicking it on. Behind him, Abraham should be well-positioned to cut it out but, having crouched low as if preparing to jump, he isn’t ready to rise towards the ball as it zips off his team-mate’s head. After a failed attempt by Antonio to bring it down in the six-yard box, the ball drops at the back post, where Soucek manages to bundle it past both Cesar Azpilicueta and Kepa Arrizabalaga. VAR came to Chelsea’s rescue, judging that the offside, prone body of Antonio was directly in the goalkeeper’s line of sight as Soucek scored, and soon after, Christian Pulisic cleverly won a penalty which Willian converted to give them a lead they scarcely deserved. But far from lessons being learned, the mistakes at West Ham’s second corner of the match were even more egregious than for the first. West Ham line up exactly the same way. This time, Marcos Alonso is blocking Diop’s path to the near post, determined not to be left behind again, while Azpilicueta gives himself a little more room to track Soucek’s run to the far post. N’Golo Kante has also been detailed to mark Antonio, preventing him from directly challenging Kepa: Bowen floats the ball directly to the back post. Kepa ventures off his line but misjudges the flight, running into Kante and Antonio before he realises he can’t get to it. As he then backpedals furiously, Soucek gets up above Azpilicueta and directs his header into the floor. The goalkeeper, moving backwards and to his right, can’t react to a ball that is bouncing slowly to his left: It shouldn’t matter because the moment the ball sails over his head, Abraham has the right instinct to drop back on to the line. As he watches Soucek connect with the cross, his feet are planted and he’s perfectly positioned to clear the header. Yet, somehow, he misjudges the bounce, leans back, misses the ball completely and falls down as it trickles in. This isn’t even the first time that Kepa and Abraham have managed to let a goalbound header go through them on the line. In September, at Molineux, Abraham was credited with an own goal when his ill-fated attempted clearance directed a firm header from Wolves’ Romain Saiss into his own net with Kepa in close proximity: Not much was made of it as Chelsea were 4-0 up at the time, thanks in part to a spectacular hat-trick from Abraham, and went on to win 5-2. There was a higher price to pay at the London Stadium. Lampard has already overhauled his strategy for defending set pieces once this season. The tipping point was the free header Victor Osimhen scored from the centre of the six-yard box in October’s 2-1 away win over Lille in the Champions League. It was the third headed goal they had given up from the same position, following in the footsteps of Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi and Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino on Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge. Until that Lille game, Lampard had favoured a purely zonal system, with Abraham guarding the near-post area in the manner fellow striker Didier Drogba once did for the club and four defenders stationed in a line along the edge of the six-yard box, with the three midfielders in front of them attempting to disrupt opposition runners: Osimhen’s header was the fifth set-piece goal Chelsea had conceded in the first three months of the season across all competitions. Lampard’s response was to switch to a mixed strategy: Abraham stood on the six-yard line with Kurt Zouma, the most aerially-dominant defender in the squad, with both given freedom to attack the incoming ball from their zones. Virtually everyone else was assigned a specific opponent to mark: Chelsea went six matches across all competitions without conceding from a set piece, winning five of them, and recorded back-to-back clean sheets for the first time against Newcastle at home and Ajax away. But what transpired in a rollercoaster festive period underlined that there could be no perfect solution; Dan Gosling and Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored overhead kicks for Bournemouth and Brighton respectively after Lampard’s men had won the first ball but failed to properly clear their lines. In between those two setbacks, Arsenal took an early lead at the Emirates when Calum Chambers beat Fikayo Tomori to Mesut Ozil’s out-swinging corner and flicked it towards the back post, where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stole in behind a ball-watching Emerson Palmieri and powered a header beyond Kepa: A relative lack of height, aggression and physicality will always complicate this Chelsea team’s attempts to defend set pieces but the problem is amplified whenever Zouma is absent. Lampard’s decision to make Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger his favoured central defensive partnership in recent months has its logic in open play — but both can be dominated in the air. Manchester United’s visit in February underlined this fact. Their second goal did not exploit Chelsea’s system for defending corners, but the individuals. Bruno Fernandes floated his delivery to the far edge of the penalty area where Harry Maguire, a genuine force in the air, easily shook off Rudiger to power a header past Willy Caballero: Chelsea had been given a similar warning a fortnight earlier at the King Power Stadium. Two goals from Rudiger helped secure a 2-2 draw with Leicester but Lampard’s side were hugely fortunate not to concede a winner to Jonny Evans from a corner in the 77th minute. Christensen allowed himself to be bundled to the ground as James Maddison whipped in his delivery, giving up a completely free header on the edge of the six-yard box. It was a gilt-edged miss: Lampard has been given good reason to doubt the reliability of other areas of Zouma’s game, but his formidable aerial presence is sorely missed at dead-ball situations. There is another squad with a similar physical profile to Chelsea in the Premier League. In any given match, Pep Guardiola’s starting XI is dominated by small, technically-focused midfielders and forwards, and yet Manchester City have conceded only four goals from 86 corners (not including last night’s Liverpool game) this season — an above-average rate of 4.7 per cent, but manageable. So how do they do it? City’s primary strategy is simply to avoid giving away corners in the first place, keeping control of the ball in the opposition half. No team has conceded fewer than their 86 corners this season, an average of 2.8 corners per match. They also unsurprisingly average the highest share of possession in the Premier League: 66 per cent. Chelsea try to pull off a similar trick but the equation is slightly less favourable: 59.9 per cent possession on average and 3.4 corners conceded per match. One tweak that might help, therefore, is for Lampard to place even greater emphasis on his players keeping the ball — though that might also make it even harder to break down pragmatic opponents such as West Ham from open play. When they do concede corners, Manchester City defend their penalty area with everyone. Here they are last month against Burnley, flooding their own box, even when 5-0 up: No one is left upfield to carry a threat in transition, and some of their most dangerous attackers are actively involved in the defensive effort. Kevin De Bruyne guards the near post area, accompanied by either Gabriel Jesus or Sergio Aguero at the front of a line of five players positioned zonally across the six-yard box: Guardiola has also tweaked things throughout the season. In the early months of the campaign, Rodri and Kyle Walker were the two players at the front of the five-man line but a couple of high-profile goals conceded at the near post prompted a change. First came Lucas Moura in August, peeling away from Aguero and outjumping Walker to head in a cross that had floated over Rodri’s head. The goal secured Tottenham Hotspur a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium: Then, a month later, Kenny McLean exploited a mix-up between Rodri and Walker to head Norwich into a shock 1-0 lead at Carrow Road: Guardiola responded by moving those two players to the back of the line, where they would zonally guard the back post area of the six-yard box while Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte — his most forceful aerial presence — shuffled to the front. The overall structure of every man back to defend the incoming ball, with some of City’s smaller players stationed on the edge of the box to disrupt and block opposition runners, remained the same: A relative lack of height and aerial physicality has not held Manchester City back from being a dominant Premier League team over the past three years. It need not scupper Chelsea’s hopes of doing the same — but Lampard might need to find a less-flawed solution, or go with less-flawed personnel, to ensure it does not derail their top-four hopes.

Friday July 3 2020 Football Nerd Young American: Why Christian Pulisic is Project Restart's in-form player By Daniel Zeqiri Christian Pulisic is flourishing since football resumed CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES It seems that technical players with a change of gear are thriving in Project Restart's relaxed atmosphere, and no player has looked more devilish than Chelsea's Christian Pulisic. The winger has scored twice and won a penalty in Chelsea's three league games since lockdown, and now has more Premier League goals than any player aged 21 or younger this season. There was a period in the second half of Wednesday's defeat to West Ham when the American bordered on unplayable, slaloming past opponents with an ease that will have Watford's defenders on edge before they face Chelsea on Saturday night. Competition is fierce on Chelsea's flanks, with Pedro and Willian committed until the end of the season and Callum Hudson-Odoi another high-class option. Mason Mount has also been used from the sides and summer arrivals Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner will add even more productivity. Frank Lampard had Pulisic on the bench for much of the first half of the season, but the 21-year-old is a growing influence who looks like he could nail down a starting spot on the left of Chelsea's attack. Since the Premier League resumed, no player has had more touches in the opposition's penalty area. Pulisic has adapted quickly to a new league, although living in Pennsylvania, England and Michigan as a child before moving to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund aged 16 surely cultivates a certain worldliness. Of the Chelsea players with more than 1,000 league minutes, Pulisic has made the most successful dribbles per 90 minutes with 2.94 per game from an average 5.10 attempted. There is a degree of risk in Pulisic's game, but it is worth the reward of opening teams up when he beats his man and it is plain to see why Chelsea identified him to replace Eden Hazard. Pulisic is no show pony, however. Of the Chelsea players with more than five league starts this season, only Tammy Abraham has a higher tally for expected goals and expected assists combined per 90 minutes. Pulisic's 0.64 xG+xA per 90 minutes is on the coat-tails of Sadio Mane who has registered 0.70. Pulisic becoming an integral part of Lampard's best XI could spell trouble for Abraham. Although a striker, there is a theory that Werner could play from the left alongside Abraham with Ziyech bound to be a starter from the right. With Pulisic flourishing, accommodating both strikers could prove difficult for Lampard, which is the most first-world of first-world problems.

Frank Lampard says defeat at West Ham is 'a sign of where Chelsea are' Chelsea miss chance to go third with shock defeat Lampard: ‘We have a lot of hard work to do’ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/02/frank-lampard-says-defeat-at-west-ham-is-a-sign-of-where-chelsea-are Frank Lampard admitted his team are far from the finished article after Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat at West Ham meant they missed out on the chance to leapfrog Leicester into third place in the Premier League. Andriy Yarmolenko’s late goal secured a priceless victory for West Ham after Willian had scored twice for Chelsea, ensuring David Moyes’s side moved three points clear of the relegation zone. But having defeated Manchester City to crown Liverpool as champions and also beaten Leicester to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, Lampard admitted this setback was an indication of how far his team must progress if they are to challenge for the title next season. “It’s a sign of where we are – we have a lot of hard work to do to get to where we want to be,” he said. “The reason the rest of us are chasing Liverpool and Man City is because of the consistency they have developed so that is what we have to work towards. It’s obviously frustrating but if we are in that position it’s how you bounce back and move forward.” Poor defending from Chelsea allowed West Ham to go ahead thanks to goals from Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio before Willian’s equaliser from a free-kick. Yarmolenko’s goal in the 89th minute means Chelsea still trail Leicester by a point after their defeat to Everton, with Manchester United and Wolves two points behind Lampard’s side. He refused to blame his players for their first defeat since the restart and said they must look ahead to Saturday night’s game against Watford at Stamford Bridge. “I’ve not been let down by my defenders – we’ve made mistakes in the buildup to the goals, not just defenders, which cost us the game,” Lampard said. “I wouldn’t call it a wake-up call because every game is different. This wasn’t a huge surprise – if you know the Premier League and you make mistakes, it can happen. We have to accept it and move on.” West Ham’s victory was their first since the restart and Moyes said it was fully deserved after Soucek’s goal had been controversially ruled out for VAR in the first half. “One win is not enough – we have to win more if we’re still going to be a Premier League club,” he said. “But after the performance that we saw Chelsea put in against Manchester City, it was an outstanding result for us.”

Borussia Dortmund agree deal to sign Birmingham's Jude Bellingham in blow for Manchester United Midfielder believes he will make quicker progress in the Bundesliga and joins Erling Haaland in preferring Westfalenstadion to Old Trafford https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/07/02/borussia-dortmund-agree-deal-sign-jude-bellingham-blow-manchester/ Borussia Dortmund have agreed a deal in principle to sign the highly rated England Under-17 midfielder, Jude Bellingham, from Birmingham City. Manchester United had been eager to sign Bellingham and gave the 17-year-old a tour of the club’s training complex in March but the player and his father, Mark, believe his development will be best served by a move to Germany. Bellingham becomes the second player in seven months to pick Dortmund over United after Erling Haaland snubbed a move to Old Trafford in January in order to join the German giants for £20 million.

he is one of just a handful actually worth over £100m (NON COVID pricing) atm could be down to 10 by summer of 2022, as Varane drops off next year, Oblak the year after that ,and Felix may fall off due to play, plus assuming no new ones pop onto it by then (Lautaro or Werner or Richarlison or De Ligt would be the most likely to do so atm) Kylian Mbappé Raheem Sterling Jadon Sancho Jan Oblak (2nd to last season on the list) Erling Håland Frenkie de Jong Saúl Ñíguez Alphonso Davies Trent Alexander-Arnold João Félix Joshua Kimmich Kai Havertz Raphaël Varane (last season on the list) these would still, if no COVID, pull over £100m, but I would not pay it due to age (plus Kane, not a chance I would pay £100+m for him) Neymar (last season on the list) Sadio Mané (last season on the list) Mohamed Salah (last season on the list) Kevin De Bruyne (last season on the list) Lionel Messi (last season on the list) Virgil van Dijk (last season on the list) Paul Pogba (last season on the list) Harry Kane (2nd to last season on the list)