Vesper

great half of footie though

fuckkkkkkkkkk 1 nil 1 1 agg

PSG v Borussia Dortmund HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/champions-league-psg-vs-borussia-dortmund-s2/ https://www.totalsportek.com/psg-games/

Bindippers v Atletico Madrid HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/champions-league-liverpool-vs-atletico-madrid-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/highlights/arsenal-vs-everton-2016-match/

BBC: Coronavirus: Up to 70% of Germany could become infected - Merkel https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51835856 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that up to 70% of the country's population - some 58 million people - could contract the coronavirus. Mrs Merkel made the stark prediction at a news conference on Wednesday alongside Health Minister Jens Spahn. She said since there was no known cure, the focus would fall on slowing the spread of the virus. "It's about winning time," she explained. Her remarks came as Italy entered its second day of a national lockdown. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country, which on Wednesday passed 10,000 confirmed infections. snip

RB Leipzig vs Tottenham Hotspur Full Match 1st Half https://eplfootballmatch.com/rb-leipzig-vs-tottenham-hotspur-full-match-uefa-champions-league-10-march-2020/2/ 2nd Half https://eplfootballmatch.com/rb-leipzig-vs-tottenham-hotspur-full-match-uefa-champions-league-10-march-2020/3/

Kante as he is now played is not world class at all and he is ageing, is oft-injured, and at an age where he will rapidly devalue I am sick and tired of the board shitting away hundreds of millions of pounds on shit buys, horrid contractual management, shit-timed sales, botched sales, botched buys, turn-downs of massive offers, and horrid renewals the rot simply has to end the board lacks pretty much any future-forward projectional aptitude they have shit for brains from a footballing concept for years now the only thing that has bailed us out is the academy finally striking multiple lodes of gold

Spurds are paying for failure to overhaul their squad. Now there’s no quick fix https://theathletic.com/1668309/2020/03/11/tottenham-jose-mourinho-lloris-champions-league/ Not yet ready or past their best — the Tottenham squad can be broadly divided into these two camps. There are a few notable exceptions, but in the former group are still-to-settle signings from last summer like Tanguy Ndombele and Ryan Sessegnon, and youngsters like Troy Parrott who are too inexperienced to be relied upon. In the latter group, thirty-somethings Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Hugo Lloris are among the Spurs players almost unrecognisable from the level they were at during Mauricio Pochettino’s peak years. Alderweireld and Lloris offered us a reminder of this during Spurs’ dismal Champions League exit to RB Leipzig on Tuesday night. A major reason for this state of affairs, as my colleague James Maw recently pointed out on The Athletic’s View from the Lane podcast, is the decision not to sign a single player during the transfer windows of summer 2018 and winter 2019, having brought in only Lucas Moura in the winter of 2018. Reaching the Champions League final in this period suggested Spurs had gotten away with their stadium-enforced frugality, but the present situation makes that seem like an illusion, an unsustainable sequence made possible by a manager and group of players who, by the end, were on their knees wringing out every drop of their collective talent and desire. Now is when the consequences of that self-imposed transfer embargo can really be felt. This is the time when the players who should have been signed in that period would have been coming to the end of their second season and theoretically fully settled at the club, helping to give the squad the refresh it so desperately needed. Because when you think of most successful recent Spurs signings — and those of most big clubs — few were instant hits. Of the Gareth Bale-money signings in 2013, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela started off solidly but both went to another level in their second and third seasons. Even Dele Alli who hit the ground running enjoyed his best season in his second campaign at the club in 2016-17 when he scored 18 Premier League goals — almost double his next best tally. Bale himself endured a difficult first couple of seasons before an outstanding finish to the 2009-10 campaign. Looking forward, this has major implications for the summer rebuild that Spurs so desperately need. Given the slow-burn nature of most signings — unless they are exceptionally expensive or quick to gel — it seems unrealistic to expect any to instantly settle and transform this Spurs team. It’s possible Ndombele and Sessegnon will make big strides in what will be their second seasons next term, and Giovani Lo Celso already looks being a brilliant signing, but the pipeline of players from the last few years is pretty dry. Of the 2017 summer signings, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth were supposed to be a centre-back pairing for the future, but Jose Mourinho appears to have little to no faith in the latter. Foyth has played just three times under him and is consequently open to a summer move. The remainders are Serge Aurier, who continues to divide opinion, Paulo Gazzaniga who has shown himself this season not to be a No 1 of the future, and the already departed Fernando Llorente. Then there are young home-grown players from the last few years like Harry Winks and, well, that’s about it. Spurs are more hopeful that Parrott, Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga can become first-team regulars, but certainly in the case of the former two, it’ll likely be a year or so before they are fully established. In short, plenty of patience is going to be required, and with chairman Daniel Levy admitting last week that there will be a reduced budget should Spurs fail to make the Champions League, shrewd signings who need a bit of time to develop will be the only option. That is unless Spurs sell one of their star players like Harry Kane or Dele and reinvest it as effectively as Liverpool did when they sold Philippe Coutinho and brought in Alisson and Virgil van Dijk. Should Tottenham choose to hold on to their best names and be more financially constrained, then Liverpool again illustrate how to effectively develop a side, with Joel Matip, Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson costing only a combined £67 million. But it took them time. Whether Mourinho is the man to oversee this kind of rebuild is open to debate — he has certainly never been tasked with doing so on such a meagre budget before. And watching the 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on Tuesday night it also became apparent just how many of the old Spurs guard look unrecognisable from their former selves. Lloris’s two errors caught the attention, but just as worrying was Alderweireld’s obvious discomfort against Leipzig’s pacy front three. The three-year contract extension he signed in December is suddenly looking like far less of a coup than it felt at the time. Eric Dier had similar difficulties, and it was hard not to brace oneself in the second half when the rapid Timo Werner picked the ball up around the halfway line with only Dier between him and the Tottenham goal. In the end, Werner’s shot was off target after he had sprinted away from the Spurs defender. Vertonghen, another key man of the best Pochettino teams, couldn’t even get a game — despite Spurs being without the injured Ben Davies and Sanchez. As he had done after being substituted against Southampton last month, the Belgian looked devastated when talking to Mourinho after the game. Spurs’ struggles are about more than just a fallow year or so in the transfer market, but some of these players should be in the process of being phased out. Instead, not enough alternatives have been brought in to replace them. Dele summed up the situation when he said in the aftermath of the Leipzig defeat that the team’s “confidence has gone”. He, and all the other stalwarts, have desperately needed fresh faces to reinvigorate this Spurs squad for at least a year. But they either didn’t arrive or did so last summer when it was too late. Tuesday night illustrated the extent to which Tottenham are paying the price for that, and you suspect they will be for a little while to come.

Nothing has fazed Gilmour so far – a senior Scotland bow would be no different https://theathletic.com/1666711/2020/03/11/billy-gilmour-scotland/ How can a Chelsea player who controlled the midfield against Liverpool and Everton last week not make it into the national squad of a country that has not qualified for a major tournament since 1998? That is the stripped-back question being asked since Scotland Under-21 manager Scot Gemmill confirmed Billy Gilmour would be in his squad to face Croatia and Greece rather than in the senior squad for the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel. It is asked in such a direct, almost perplexed fashion, because there is an assumption that a Scottish player thriving at the elite level, even if only for two games, must automatically be included regardless of the competition. It is a case of working backwards to find someone to drop rather than who is best suited for a momentous occasion. It is a condition engendered by a fanbase desperate for an otherworldly figure to inspire them, akin to Gareth Bale in Wales. The 18-year-old is not that type of player and never will be. His game is about subtlety. Nonetheless, despite these flippant calls for Gilmour to be thrown into a game of such magnitude, he should have at least been named in the squad because he has a skillset that no other midfielder in the squad possesses. If Gilmour was a centre-back or a striker he would undoubtedly be included due to the dearth of options in those positions, but he is unlucky that central midfield is the one area where Scotland are strong. Steve Clarke has Scott McTominay, Ryan Jack, John Fleck, Kenny McLean, Callum McGregor, John McGinn, Tom Cairney, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie all competing for a place. It was decided that it would be better for his development to play with the under-21s, where he is guaranteed minutes, rather than being called up only to not feature, as revealed in David Ornstein’s Monday column. Gemmill was clear that Gilmour could well be called up depending on injuries though, as McGinn only resumed training with Aston Villa last week after suffering a fractured ankle in December, while Jack is managing his troublesome knee and has missed several games since the winter break. “He’s done excellently for all of the national age groups and moving forward I’m very confident that he will get to play for the full squad,” said Gemmill. “I met Steve Clarke and, right now, he’s happy for him to be selected for the under-21s. But, as is the case for all the players, that can change. The last time we played, Steve called and took Ryan Porteous. “We’re talking about the national team here, it should be hard to play for your country. Everyone involved in it should be happy that is the case. He can only pick a certain number of players and has to have a balanced squad, as do we. Historically, there was a much bigger gap between under-21 football and the full squad but in recent times that gap has closed. All of a sudden you are seeing not just for Scotland but other associations where players are going quickly into the senior squad. It’s really exciting for all of our young players to know how close they are to it. “We’ve all got a responsibility to help Billy maximise his potential. His recent performances have gone a huge way to confirming his talent that we’ve all spoken about. We’ve all got an opinion on young players and who is going to get to what level but until they get the opportunity it’s just talk. Billy has stepped up after being given the opportunity at a fantastic level at a fantastic club and his manager (Frank Lampard) has been unbelievable for him. “Billy has shown he has the emotional intelligence to keep his feet on the ground. I’ve praised him for how good he is off the pitch as he is on it but this is a new test for him and he has to continue to push.” It is worth comparing how other nations have managed the progression of similar young talents. Wales and Chelsea midfielder Ethan Ampadu, who is on loan at RB Leipzig, made his full international debut as a 17-year-old against France in November 2017, but Chris Coleman had already introduced him to the group in May when he included him in a training camp despite making just 13 appearances for Exeter in League Two. Ben Woodburn was given his debut in September 2017 by Coleman when he too was 17 and had played just nine times for Liverpool. Theo Walcott had never played in the Premier League when Sven-Goran Eriksson saw fit to take the 17 year-old winger to the 2006 World Cup just months after Arsenal had signed him from Southampton after just 13 senior appearances. Wayne Rooney, whose rapid rise Gemmill witnessed up close as Everton, became the youngest England player at the age of 17 after he had made 26 appearances for Everton in the 2002-03 season. But, in trying to strike the balance between pushing the player on to the next level and holding them back in case they are damaged by the step up, do Scotland err too often on the side of caution? John Fleck had to wait until November 2018 for a call-up, by which time he was 27, when there was a groundswell of support for his inclusion in 2009 when he burst on to the scene at Rangers. It was decided it was too much too soon. Gilmour is already the third most experienced player in the under-21 squad with 12 caps, just four behind captain Ross McCrorie and one behind Fraser Hornby. He may only have made seven appearances for Chelsea’s senior team in all competitions, playing a combined total of 370 minutes, but he has shown unique traits which would help Scotland in a game where they will have the majority share of possession. Unlike Rooney, he has not physically matured yet despite improving his athleticism in the two years he has spent at Chelsea since his move from Rangers, and perhaps that goes against him as he can visually still look like a boy in a man’s game. But that is only until the ball comes to him. He was recently moved into the first-team dressing room permanently by Frank Lampard who said he “ran the game” against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup this season, while Rangers head of youth Craig Mulholland praised the mix of arrogance and humility he possesses. Lampard said he is the type of No 6 who has the “balls” to receive the ball in difficult positions and be positive. For all the depth Scotland have in midfield, a lot of the players share very similar attributes. Only McTominay, Jack and McLean could be viewed as candidates for the deepest role but all three prefer to play further forward and none scan the pitch or can produce incisive forward passes as well as Gilmour can. Jack, McGinn and McGregor was the preferred trio in the last two games, both wins against Cyprus and Kazakhstan, but the first two names are doubts. McTominay is in good form for Manchester United since returning from injury but his best work has come since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer moved him forward away from a playmaker role. Nothing has fazed Gilmour from the first time he stepped up to train with the Rangers first team, to moving down to London, to playing against men a foot taller than him, to captaining Scotland Under-21s at the age of 16. Giving him the responsibility to dictate play at Hampden on his debut probably wouldn’t either. His talent allows him to move up the ladder seamlessly. While some players can look accomplished but then struggle under the pressure of a faster game, Gilmour is the rare breed who looks the exact same no matter the level or opposition. Clarke’s decision not to include him is not as mystifying as many believe but if it is only a matter of time until he is promoted then that experience alone would have been valuable.

What is Chelsea’s best centre-back pairing? https://theathletic.com/1665272/2020/03/11/chelsea-centre-back-tomori-rudiger-christensen-zouma/ There are just over two months left of this season and still nobody can say with any certainty which is Chelsea’s first-choice pairing at centre-back. Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger appear to be in favour after back-to-back clean sheets in the past week, but a glance at Frank Lampard’s selection policy over his first campaign in charge suggests another change will come sooner rather than later. Not including the eight occasions when Chelsea have employed a back three, there have been six different partnerships in the middle of the defence across all competitions since that opening fixture away to Manchester United in August. In fairness to head coach Lampard, some of the adjustments have been caused by a player sustaining an injury as well as the natural inclination to bring back a more experienced player, Rudiger for instance, after recovering from one. But there is going to be a lot at stake over the run-in with Chelsea having realistic targets to achieve — qualifying for the Champions League via a top-four finish (or top five, depending on Manchester City’s appeal against their UEFA ban) and winning the FA Cup for a ninth time in club history. So the time has surely come to settle on one main pairing. The question is: who should get the nod? The Athletic has studied the records of all the possible variations (when they have been played in a back four) in an attempt to find the answer… Kurt Zouma and Fikayo Tomori Stats: P 11 W 7 D 2 L 2 (all competitions) Best game: Ajax 0 Chelsea 1. The duo combined superbly to shut out the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finalists on their own patch in October for what proved to be a crucial victory in qualification for the Champions League last 16. Worst game: Chelsea 4 Ajax 4. While there were others at fault for some of the goals Ajax scored on the way to building a 4-1 lead in the reverse fixture just two weeks on from the Amsterdam meeting above, Zouma and Tomori were run ragged until the visitors had a couple of players sent off midway through the second half. Arguments for: The number of positive results alone give a very convincing argument about prioritising this pair. Chelsea’s most consistent form of the season from September 25 to November 9 (W 9 D 1 L 1) came as Zouma and Tomori started together in eight of those fixtures, although Lampard had little choice but to select them because Andreas Christensen and Rudiger were out injured for almost that whole run. Zouma’s physical presence stands out — he leads the way at Stamford Bridge with an average of 2.4 headed clearances a game in the Premier League, while he has the third-most interceptions in the squad and most among defenders (2.1 a match). Tomori has the second-best tally of interceptions (1.53 per game) of the four centre-halves and his extra pace makes for a good combination. Arguments against: Both have faults in possession, particularly Zouma. The France international has a pass accuracy of 87.29 per cent, but it dips to 75.26 per cent when attempting something more ambitious in the opposition half. Tomori, who is in his first season as a senior player at Stamford Bridge, was strong in all departments initially but increasingly began to show lapses in concentration as the strain of the schedule kicked in. His tackle success rate of 55.17 per cent is the worst of Chelsea’s centre-back quartet. Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen Stats: P 7 W 2 D 3 L 2 Best game: Chelsea 2 Liverpool 2 (UEFA Super Cup). One of Chelsea’s finest displays of the season, considering the strength of the opposition. Granted N’Golo Kante was providing a lot of protection from midfield, but Zouma and Christensen defended stoutly throughout and Lampard’s side were unfortunate to lose on penalties. Worst game: Everton 3 Chelsea 1. That season-opening 4-0 loss away to Manchester United could have been chosen too, but the pair were bullied so terribly on the ground and in the air by Dominic Calvert-Lewin that this has to be the pick. The fact they haven’t played together in a back four since that loss in December speaks volumes. Arguments for: With Christensen’s ability to read the game, it makes for a combination of different strengths. The Dane is more consistent in possession and relieves the pressure from his partner to play out from the back. He has the highest passing accuracy (90.06 per cent) of Chelsea players with a minimum of nine Premier League appearances this season, and a healthy 80.9 per cent completion rate when he crosses the halfway line. Arguments against: Chelsea haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of the seven matches they’ve started together and despite having good moments in games, opponents seem to find a way to exploit a weakness, especially from crosses or passes from wide into the box. Seven of the 14 goals conceded on their watch have come in this fashion. Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger Stats: P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2* (* Zouma shares the home loss to Manchester United with Christensen, who had to go off at half-time with the score 0-1) Best game: Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0. Jurgen Klopp may have rotated his side, but Chelsea still restricted Liverpool to very few chances over the course of the FA Cup fifth-round tie. Significantly, the visitors didn’t have a shot on goal for the last hour. Worst game: Chelsea 0 Bournemouth 1. Lampard’s men fell for the sucker-punch, but the manner in which Zouma and Rudiger defended on the game’s only goal from a corner left a lot to be desired. Neither seemed to be marking anyone particularly closely and it was Zouma who played Dan Gosling onside before he found the net. Arguments for: They give Chelsea a lot more strength when on the pitch. There is no doubt that both men can provide the kind of robust tackling the crowd enjoys too. The duo have the best tackle success rates among Chelsea centre-backs in the Premier League this season (Rudiger 62.5 per cent, Zouma 57.1) and both will be full of confidence after holding Liverpool and Everton scoreless in the club’s last two matches. Their ability to offer a goal threat — they have scored 22 between them in club football (Zouma 12 and Rudiger nine, whereas Tomori has four but only one for Chelsea and all of Christensen’s seven came while he was out on loan) — shouldn’t be underestimated either. Arguments against: The partnership is raw, having played just five-and-a-half games, and so they still give chances away. Even in the game against Everton on Sunday which Chelsea dominated, Zouma got tackled upfield and Rudiger was outpaced by Calvert-Lewin, who put a shot wide. Rudiger can be accomplished on the ball in his own half (passing accuracy 92.5 per cent) but on the whole, these two can give it away cheaply under pressure when playing it further forward. Like Zouma, the Germany international’s level drops significantly, in his case to 74.6 per cent. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen Stats: P 5 W 1 D 2 L 2 * (* Christensen shares the 2-0 loss to Manchester United with Zouma, after playing the first half) Best game: Chelsea 3 Burnley 0. Most pundits expected the visitors to dominate up front because they had both been exposed at various times in the season when dealing with crosses into their penalty area. But Christensen and Rudiger impressed, keeping Chris Wood subdued. Worst game: Newcastle 1 Chelsea 0. This was one of the most disappointing defeats under Lampard due to the quality of the opposition and the timing of the winner, coming four minutes into added time. The defending from a set-piece once again led to Chelsea’s downfall, with Rudiger outjumped too easily by matchwinner Isaac Hayden. Arguments for: Besides their strengths highlighted above, they are also arguably the most experienced combination of the lot. Rudiger has played in the top divisions in England, Germany and Italy, Christensen has over 100 games in the Premier League and Bundesliga on his resume. One tackles aggressively, the other relies on neat timing to get in front of his man. Arguments against: Despite that display against Burnley, there remains a question over how each of this pair copes with the threat from set-pieces and open play. Rudiger has the lowest duels success rate of 57.3 per cent among the four (compared to Zouma’s quartet-leading return of 66.2) and also the fewest interceptions per 90 minutes at 0.72. Meanwhile, Christensen boasts the fewest recoveries (79, compared with Rudiger’s 94, Tomori at 96 and Zouma with 117). Both are good defenders in their own right, yet there is a doubt over how good an understanding they share. Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori Stats: P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1 Best game: Chelsea 2 Brighton 0. Lampard’s team were in control of this September win for long periods, which was partly due to the solid base provided in defence. Christensen and Tomori kept Chelsea’s first clean sheet of the season, although they were relieved when an unmarked Dan Burn sent a header against the crossbar when the score was still 1-0. Worst game: Bournemouth 2 Chelsea 2. Unfortunately for their hopes of playing regularly, this game at the end of last month will still be fresh in Lampard’s mind as he mulls his line-up for the run-in. Tomori, who had mysteriously not played any Premier League football in the previous two months, struggled most of all and was substituted shortly after Bournemouth scored twice in four minutes early in the second half. Arguments for: Playing at their best, both men make tackling look easy and can glide around the pitch. That one defeat on their record came against European, now world and soon to be domestic champions Liverpool. Yet their work in open play was very impressive back then, with Tomori negating Mohamed Salah to much acclaim. Both are comfortable in possession, as shown in Christensen’s passing stats (see Zouma/Christensen entry above) and the fact Tomori has touched the ball 1,348 times in the top division, which is 344 times more than the Denmark international despite playing only 36 more minutes (1,293 to 1,257) in the same number of appearances (15 each). Arguments against: Neither is the loudest talker on the pitch, which is not ideal for your centre-backs as Lampard wants his players to communicate during games. Tomori has lost the highest percentage of aerial challenges (54.8 per cent, 28 out of 62) among our four candidates and Christensen has been beaten in 40.5 per cent of his 84 (Zouma’s loss rate in this metric is only 25.6 per cent, while Rudiger’s is a whisker better than Christensen’s at 40.3). The fact they have had just four appearances together in a back four all season suggests Lampard prefers fielding them alongside someone else. The only other pairing used this season was Zouma and Marc Guehi, now on loan at Swansea City of the Championship, in two Carabao Cup ties — winning once and losing once. Tomori and Rudiger have only been played together in a three-man defence. Conclusion: As Lampard has obviously found, there is no easy resolution. It should be pointed out there have been other factors in Chelsea’s porous defence throughout the campaign like the form of first-choice goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, although he has shown signs of improvement since returning from his January benching last week. All four defenders have strengths and weaknesses in equal measure and buying a more domineering character is on the summer wish-list. Zouma and Rudiger deserve to keep their places after successive clean-sheet victories, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the rotation continues until that final game against Wolves in May.

I am one who is demanding we sell Kante thsi summer we need the cash, he turns 30 next season, does not fit in Lamps system, is so injury prone now, and will rapidly devalue after next season

Oh, so not wanted buys? Sorry then. Cheers.

The scouse vermin will commit mass suicide if that happened. Lololol No title for you! Now back to yer ASBO's and hubcap nicking. ya soddin' twats.

EPL should do the same. Except relegation should deffo happen. Fuck Victimpool. Try again next year cunts.

Option 1 should happen. Its bullshit otherwise. Fraudulent

Fucking board. He will end up being a £60m plus loss. Cunts

Good. Cock blocks Manure.

Your add ins total up to over £350m and include a Mino Raiola client in Romagnoli AND you kept Kante NEVER HAPPENING

Lol Barca are now a selling team? German press is hitting the schnapps too hard. Zero chance they let a top 3 in world keeper go

Fucking pound is dropping like a rock v the euro Down 10% in 3 weeks 120m euros 3 weeks ago cost around £95m Now 120m euros costs £105m. This means my £120 to £130m valuation on Sancho (is it was converted from euros) is now £132m to £143m Ffs If it continues at this pace, we COULD see the pound sterling on PAR with the Euro by early April Disastrous for buying foreign players and will also jack up HG prices #sofuckedbyFOREX

Chelsea, HJK Helsinki agree transfer for hot prospect Jimi Tauriainen — reports 16-year-old dynamic left-footed player from Finland https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2020/3/10/21172832/chelsea-hjk-helsinki-agree-transfer-for-hot-prospect-jimi-tauriainen-reports Chelsea are set to add yet another teenager from the Nordic regions of Europe, by reportedly agreeing the transfer of youth prospect Jimi Tauriainen from HJK Helsinki, who turned 16 yesterday. The transfer will go through on July 1st, when the FIFA registration window opens, but there are pictures of him signing papers with a Chelsea badge in the background, and even holding up a Chelsea shirt while posing with head coach Frank Lampard. So yeah, probably quite real. The Finland U16 international has apparently been scouted by many of the bigger teams in Europe, and has had trials with Juventus, Inter Milan, and other unnamed clubs in the UK and Germany. His older brother, Julius, currently plays for Freiburg’s U19 team. Their father is 34-time Finland international Pasi Tauriainen, so very much a footballing family going on there. The ever-excellent @chelseayouth did some digging on the youngster Tauriainen, and he apparently very much fits the mold of what the Chelsea Academy looks for in a player (obviously): “dynamism, athleticism, technique, end product”. He’s left footed and has played in every position up and down the left flank already — though such positions don’t always matter in the end (e.g. Reece James used to be a striker and didn’t play full/wing-back until just a few years ago). Tauriainen is the fourth player from the region to agree a transfer to Chelsea in recent months, joining countryman Lucas Bergström, Bryan Fiabema (Norway), and Edwin Andersoon (Sweden). Where we once used to sign ALL the Belgians, now apparently we’re mining the Nordics for talent. Welcome, soon, Jimi!

City should ditch Otamendi just like they did Demichelis after derby nightmare https://theathletic.com/1660681/2020/03/09/nicolas-otamendi-manchester-city-demichelis/?source=dailyemail These are the moments when the mind goes back to another derby defeat for Manchester City, a little earlier in the Abu Dhabi era, and what it meant, specifically, for the ageing Argentinian in the heart of their defence. Martin Demichelis was an outstanding player in his peak years, winning 11 trophies for Bayern Munich and playing 51 times for his national side, including the 2014 World Cup final against Germany. But he took such a chasing from Marcus Rashford, almost 17 years his junior, in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United in March 2016 he was substituted seven minutes into the second half and it turned out to be his last start for the club. Demichelis was at fault for the game’s decisive goal, fortunate not to give away a penalty and partly responsible for Joe Hart injuring himself when he under-hit a backpass to City’s goalkeeper with his first touch of the second half. Manuel Pellegrini, then the City manager, admitted afterwards that his most experienced defender had looked “very nervous” but the most memorable line came from Louis van Gaal, blunt as ever. “Marcus is very quick and Demichelis looks like the years are catching up with him,” was Van Gaal’s take. “He was a very good defender, my centre-back at Bayern, but that is the life of football.” That is, indeed, the way this sport works. It is brutal sometimes but Van Gaal was right: age is the one opponent that catches up with everybody and, for Demichelis, it ended with Rashford running him out of the Premier League. Demichelis, then 35, came off the bench twice in the remaining two months of the season and subsequently joined Espanyol, who had just finished 13th in La Liga. All of which brings us to the puzzle of Nicolas Otamendi and the considerable evidence that he, too, is reaching the point whereby a club with City’s ambitions have to think seriously about whether this summer would be a good time to cut him free. Otamendi is 32 and, on the face of it, that is not remarkable for a centre-half. His mobility is not as limited as Demichelis and, to give him his due, perhaps it is a little harsh to focus entirely on one player after Sunday’s loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford, a performance that Bernardo Silva described as “not acceptable”, featuring two dreadful errors from Ederson and several clues about why City are 25 points behind Liverpool at the top of the table. All the same, it was difficult to find too much in the way of mitigation when the post-match debate among the Sky Sports pundits turned to City’s inability to replace Vincent Kompany and the team’s vulnerability at the back whenever Aymeric Laporte is missing through injury. Micah Richards, for one, seemed perplexed that Otamendi had become so accident-prone. It was only 18 months ago, Richards noted, that the player in question was known as “The General” to his team-mates. “I don’t know if he has got to an age where he can’t move as well as he could,” Richards suggested, “but he’s not producing the same performances that he was a couple of seasons ago.” The discussion turned to the extent of rebuilding work that would be needed to assemble an elite back four and the consensus was that City had to make this part of the team their priority. “We’ve seen Otamendi being exposed time and time again, and they (City) have to sort it out,” came fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville’s verdict. “When Pep Guardiola last lost the league, which was three seasons ago, he was aggressive like you wouldn’t believe in the transfer market. I would imagine he is going to do the same again. They have to be aggressive in getting those centre-backs in.” Note the use of “centre-backs” — plural. That has potential repercussions for John Stones, too, bearing in mind his deterioration in form and the growing suspicion behind the scenes at City that the England international — missing here with an injury, according to his club — might always fall short of the ambitions that City, and Guardiola in particular, had for him. Hypothetical, perhaps, but it is also tempting to wonder whether City might harbour a few regrets about their decision to leave Harry Maguire to United when the two clubs were competing for the same player last summer. Maguire has not been flawless this season — Exhibit A: the exquisitely-delivered nutmeg from Sergio Aguero that dumped him on the floor in the first half — and City were entitled, like most of us, to think that Leicester City’s valuation of £80 million was too high. The problem is more that City did not have an alternative. There was nobody else on their list and that, on reflection, has to be seen as a mistake, particularly now they are preparing to release their grip, finger by finger, on the Premier League trophy. At least with Ederson, the mistakes that led to United’s goals can be written off as an aberration and so out of the ordinary that Guardiola, in the post-match interviews, would not accept a negative word against his goalkeeper. For Ederson, City’s third defeat to United this season became a personal ordeal but it was easy to understand why Guardiola was so reluctant to add to the criticism. It was Ederson’s least distinguished performance from three seasons in English football but the reason why it was so shocking was that it was the exception rather than the norm. Unfortunately, for Otamendi, the same could not be said for him and the evidence is stacking up that this summer has to be a good time for City to think about easing him out of the club. Otamendi has been vulnerable for some time, with his tendency to dive into challenges and his susceptibility, in particular, when he is exposed to quick, direct opponents who will take him on and test the theory that he cannot keep up any longer. The most startling aspect, perhaps, is that he has still not learnt when to go into challenges and when to hold back. Perhaps somebody ought to teach him that Kenny Burns, the 1977-78 Footballer of the Year, used to have a great old saying that “you don’t have studs on your arse.” Don’t dive in, to put it another way. Stay on your feet. This has been a weakness in Otamendi for too long and, at this stage of his career, it is probably wishful thinking to imagine that it is ever going to be fixed. He was fortunate, in the extreme, not to concede a penalty for a challenge on Fred that ended with the United midfielder being booked, wrongly, for an alleged dive and nobody from the VAR control room apparently thinking it necessary to intervene. There was another moment in the second half when Daniel James ran at Otamendi and took the ball past him as easily as someone swatting away a bothersome fly. And the problem, more than anything, is that this has become part of a recurring theme. “The General” is straying dangerously close to becoming a danger to his own team and, at this level, City need only look at the champions-in-waiting, 40 miles or so along the M62, to realise that no team can expect to win the really big prizes without having some of their best men at the back.

Why Mourinho decided ‘enough is enough’ with Ndombele, Tottenham’s ‘big concern’ https://theathletic.com/1661976/2020/03/08/mourinho-ndombele-big-concern-spurs/?source=dailyemail Jose Mourinho’s scathing criticism of Tottenham’s record signing Tanguy Ndombele on Saturday night was about a lot more than just a poor first-half display. Sure, Ndombele had been disappointing in the opening 45 minutes against Burnley but Mourinho’s frustration has been brewing for weeks. Mourinho, according to one source, has tried to be patient with Ndombele but by Saturday night, felt that “enough is enough”. On the other side, the confrontation was viewed by some close to the situation as confirmation that Mourinho’s management style is not best suited to getting the best out of Ndombele — a mercurial if not always diligent midfielder. First, a quick recap on what Mourinho said at Turf Moor after Tottenham’s 1-1 draw in which he had hooked Ndombele at half-time. “Somebody has to realise this is the Premier League… I hope that next season, he can be fantastic because until now, it is not enough,” Mourinho told Sky Sports — without actually naming the player. At his press conference a few minutes later, Mourinho eventually dispensed with any veneer of ambiguity and after saying: “My thinking was that in the first half, we didn’t have a midfield,” and defending Ndombele’s midfield partner Oliver Skipp, he went on: “Because I don’t want another question about the same story. I’m not going to run away and I have to say that Tanguy had enough time to come to a different level. I know that the Premier League is very difficult and some players, it takes time. Some players, it takes a long time to adapt to a different league but a player with this potential and responsibility has to give us more than he is giving us.” Tension has existed since soon after Mourinho took over in November — perhaps unsurprisingly, given the type of player Ndombele is. He is a richly talented midfielder but one who relies on virtuoso moments of brilliance. He has always been less interested in the defensive side of the game and there were concerns about his fitness at previous clubs Lyon and Amiens. He is about as far away from the Mourinho prototype as it is possible to imagine. And having been signed for £55 million by Mourinho’s predecessor Mauricio Pochettino, starting 11 of 17 games under him, Ndombele started only one of Mourinho’s first nine — the ninth of which was the Boxing Day win against Brighton. Ndombele was not even in the squad for that match and afterwards, Mourinho said: “He was not injured but not feeling in a condition to play.” Six days later, having limped off against Southampton with a hip injury, Mourinho described Ndombele as being “always injured”. The Athletic reported at the time that publicly calling Ndombele out did not go down well with some members of the dressing room, though others at the club supported Mourinho’s stance. They were in agreement with the head coach’s view that Ndombele’s attitude and application were questionable, going some way to explaining why he was physically not in the right shape. Soon after, Mourinho praised Ndombele’s “amazing quality” as he revealed that the Frenchman had been placed on a bespoke fitness programme. Fast forward to last Sunday and a tragicomic video went viral of Ndombele ambling back to try and stop Wolves winger Pedro Neto — barely breaking into a sprint despite Spurs losing 3-2 at home in the closing stages. Mourinho was asked what he made of the incident a couple of days later and to the surprise of some, he took it in good humour. He laughed and with a broad grin said by way of explanation: “Or Pedro Neto is very fast.” Mourinho did not want to publicly call out the player again and thought he would be better off making light of it and protecting him this time. Privately though, Ndombele’s lack of conditioning was reportedly becoming a “big concern” — just as it had been to his predecessor. Pochettino started to have doubts by the time he left and a few weeks before he was sacked, raised eyebrows by saying it might take two years before fans saw the best of Ndombele. By the time Saturday’s match against Burnley came around, Mourinho still felt that Ndombele needed to improve his conditioning and that he was not reacting to the instructions he had been given as quickly as he should have. His physical condition had not been great when Mourinho arrived — not helped by a groin injury carried over from the Pochettino era — and since then, he struggled to adapt to the new head coach’s methods. He has completed 90 minutes under Mourinho just once and in his three other starts under him prior to Saturday, had been taken off after 63, 61 and 25 minutes (the latter with an injury). Nevertheless, with Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso needing a rest, Ndombele was given a rare start — only his fourth in the Premier League under Mourinho. He lasted just 45 minutes and afterwards, Mourinho explained precisely why: “More important than the tactics is to have midfield players that want the ball, to have midfield players that connect the game, to have midfield players that press, to have midfield players that recover the ball, to have midfield players that win duels, and we didn’t have it.” These failings were a huge disappointment to Mourinho but what really infuriated him, The Athletic understands, was what he perceived to be the player’s lack of effort compared to his team-mates. Was Mourinho’s assessment fair? It’s not easy to quantify effort but certainly, a look at two touch maps shows how much more involved the outstanding Lo Celso was when he replaced Ndombele at half-time. Ndombele’s touch map (above) compared with Lo Celso’s (below) shows how much more the Argentine offered As for Mourinho’s inference that Ndombele didn’t want the ball, connect the game or recover possession, the evidence suggests that may have been a little harsh. He touched the ball 40 times, which if calculated per minutes he was on the pitch, would have been the second-most of the Spurs starters, while his three possession wins had him joint third (though both figures were bettered by Lo Celso). His 62.5 per cent duel success was the second best of the Spurs outfielders. But, as mentioned, Mourinho’s reaction was about more than just a sluggish first half against Burnley. And there are some who share the manager’s exasperation — one dressing room source said Ndombele has not made enough of an effort to adapt to the English game. Back in France, a prominent journalist told The Athletic that there was a perception of Ndombele as “arrogant”. This view was entrenched by Ndombele saying in December 2018 that: “To run after the ball against little teams is a bit boring.” Yet there is another side to all this. One source close to Ndombele told The Athletic that the player requires more careful management and there is a sense that Mourinho is being “particularly hard” with him. This was a sentiment agreed with by former players Danny Murphy and Ian Wright on Saturday night’s Match of the Day. “At least six or seven players were not at the races in the first half. It’s harsh to use him as a scapegoat,” said the ex-Tottenham midfielder Murphy. “It’s pretty harsh digging him out,” added Wright — before making the point that it’s his first season and he should be given some leeway. This is a view put forward by other observers, who make the point that he needs time to be in the best condition and find his best role in the Tottenham team. There is also an understanding at the club that joining Spurs at such a tumultuous time has not been easy. Adapting to the Premier League from Ligue 1 is hard enough at the best of times, let alone with a switch of manager and a team that is constantly changing their system and personnel. Ndombele will likely need more stability and balance to thrive, and some feel that he would benefit from a more attacking role that exposes his defensive deficiencies less than being part of a central midfield pair. Tottenham’s more direct style under Mourinho — as was the case against Burnley in the first half — is also a long way from being the best method of maximising Ndombele’s rich passing and dribbling quality. Mourinho v Ndombele This week The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Maw and Charlie Eccleshare discuss Mourinho's criticism of Tanguy Ndombele. Was Jose wrong to do this in public? How will it affect the player and the rest of the squad? They also discuss the team's performance in the draw at Burnley, and explain why there is hope for Spurs in Leipzig https://theathletic.com/podcast/148-the-view-from-the-lane/?episode=19 More broadly, he is far from the only player to get this sort of treatment from Mourinho. Eden Hazard, Paul Pogba and Joe Cole are other players with extraordinary attacking gifts that have been singled out in the past. As well as fears about his conditioning, Ndombele has also suffered groin and hip injuries that appear to still be niggling him and may require proper rest. His likely involvement with France at Euro 2020 will not help in his regard. The question now is what happens next? Given the vast outlay spent on Ndombele last summer and the appreciation of his huge talent, he is a player that everyone at the club wants to succeed. Mourinho himself said on Saturday: “I hope he uses every minute on the pitch and every minute knowing what the Premier League is to improve. Many fantastic players in their first season in a new country; for different reasons, they struggle.” Though he then added with a warning: “I cannot keep giving him opportunities to play because the team is much more important.” The former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher said on beIN Sports that he hoped Ndombele used the criticism as fuel to prove to Mourinho what he is truly capable of. In the longer term, Ndombele still has plenty of time to do that and in the coming weeks, Tottenham’s injury problems mean that he will have more chances to prove he is worth the money and the effort. He knows he needs to start taking them.

horrid to watch

they picked a SHIT year to have it spread over 12 countries