Vesper

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Emma Hayes: Whether it’s Chelsea or USWNT, she won’t be afraid to say what she thinks https://theathletic.com/5052603/2023/11/10/emma-hayes-Chelsea-uswnt-manager/ “It’s busy today isn’t it?” said Emma Hayes with a wry smile as she walked into the media room at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, on the outskirts of south west London. Many had mused on how Hayes would manage her first public appearance since the announcement of her departure. It could have been an awkward exchange. Last Saturday, Chelsea had released a statement — which Hayes had not seen before publication — saying their manager would leave at the end of the season to pursue an opportunity outside of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and club football. But U.S. Soccer, strongly expected to be her new employer as reported by The Athletic, are yet to make her United States women’s national team (USWNT) appointment official. When asked, Hayes would not comment on her next role. “You could read that statement and think I would be going off to be a pilot,” she said, tongue in cheek. In what could have been one of her most difficult Chelsea press conferences to date, Hayes was… well, Emma Hayes: down-to-earth, personable and straight talking. “I haven’t died,” she said. “I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m here, doing this job. My full focus and attention is on what I do for Chelsea… This is football, these things happen.” It is evident Hayes is sad to leave the club. She spoke emotively about her son, late father, family and team members while also masterfully navigating tough questions under pressure. Perhaps, in parts, she even relished the challenge. The USWNT job may bring even more scrutiny but the way in which she conducted herself on Friday only reinforces why hiring her would be a savvy pick for the U.S. Despite the life changing career change she is embarking on, she was still advocating for change in English women’s club football. Over the course of her press conference, she addressed a host of issues. She said doubling the women’s FA Cup prize money was still not enough, that the powers that be need to “get on with the next (WSL) broadcasting deal” and, most pertinently, conditions for those with children working in the industry need to be better. “I’m not afraid to do the tough things even though sometimes I’m the one who takes the battering from it,” she said. “I’m alright with that because if I see schools of girls up and down the country… whether that’s getting more prize money or better facilities — I still think there’s a way to go — but I’ve played my part.” The women’s game in England is losing its most ardent fighter for change and will be poorer as a result. Hayes clearly explained her reasons for wanting to leave the club. “The biggest factors are my son, leaving at the top and giving the club enough time to be able to transition without there being too much disruption,” she said. Eleven years managing Chelsea, a job that required a four-hour return journey six days a week, has been a lifestyle that has taken its toll on a person who, in her words, “has dedicated as much as (she) possibly could to Chelsea”. That’s not to say Hayes thinks her next stint will be a walk in the park, far from it. After all, she will be taking over after the USWNT’s worst finish in a World Cup and ahead of an Olympics with plenty of pressure for the four-time gold medalists in a time of transition. But she wants the best for her family, a little bit more flexibility and “something different, more than anything else”. “We have lives,” she said. “This is not a selfish decision, this is a selfless decision. This is about putting first some other things in my life. I’m ready for that.” Ultimately, Hayes knows her value and that is liberating. She is taking the next step to fulfil a childhood dream of managing a national team. Hayes has been a custodian not only of the wider game but also of her club. Her selflessness is shown through her commitment to the team until the end of the season, her involvement in the recruitment of her successor and insistence on crediting her staff and players. “My goal is to make sure I leave this dressing room in the best possible place,” she said. Hayes will be involved in the discussions about the selection of Chelsea’s next manager and recognises it is not about hiring a like-for-like replacement, highlighting yet again her self awareness. “That’s usually the wrong thing to do,” she says. “It’s about identifying what the needs are for the players and the club. Collectively, we will do that together. “I’m putting the team and the club first. I want to give our football club the right preparation time so they’re ready to continue after me. “I’m equally excited for the girls; they get a new coach, new ideas, new reference point, a new challenge. They (will have) had 12 years of listening to my orders, some of them will be like, ‘thank God’. “I’m a custodian, that’s all I am. I was here to guard this badge in the best way I possibly could and I hope more than anything else that I can put someone in a positive position. I’ve done everything I can for this club.” Even when asked about reports that her contract was not being prioritised by the club, Hayes refused to be drawn in, adamant to maintain her professionalism. “I believe in private conversations,” she said. “Of course I’m disappointed to hear things being said in the press. I want to make sure I maintain my own professionalism in everything I do.” Although she has “no reason to believe” that the club would not have her backing as they had done under the previous owners, when asked if they tried hard to keep her, alluding to reports Chelsea were prepared to quadruple her salary, she said: “I don’t know. I think you should ask them.” Hayes certainly knows her own value, of that there is no doubt. In the knowledge she is in front of the cameras, the face of the team, she struck the perfect balance of using her voice without putting herself at the centre of every story, even though this week really was all about her. She didn’t need to. Her expected move to the U.S. speaks for itself. “When people say to me: ‘What’s your greatest memory, was it this cup, was it that?’. No, it’s the people I work with. Whether that’s (general manager) Paul Green, (assistant coach) Stuart Searle, people that have been with us at the beginning, to the players at any step of the way. “My departure isn’t the end for Chelsea, it’s only the beginning.” For Hayes and the USWNT, the very same is true.

Is that extra Champions League spot still heading the Premier League’s way? https://theathletic.com/5048786/2023/11/10/is-that-extra-champions-league-spot-still-heading-the-premier-leagues-way/ There is the adage, made famous by former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, that second place was nowhere. Au contraire, Bill. It is not just second that has become somewhere, but third and fourth, too. And, from the end of this season, we might even start to consider finishing fifth in the 20-team Premier League a cause for celebration. A revamped Champions League has room for more clubs for 2024-25 and beyond, and that means the door could swing open for English football’s fifth-best team to earn their share of a financial windfall. But for the Premier League to get that extra spot, the eight English clubs currently competing in UEFA’s three competitions need to hold their own against continental opponents. The Athletic analyses who is likely to challenge the Premier League’s claims for that fifth golden ticket… How will the Champions League be different in 2024-25? Bigger is better. Or so decided UEFA last year. Gone are the 32 clubs split into eight groups of four that we’ve been watching in the Champions League for years, replaced by one big monster that is a 36-team league. The complexities of that format are best told at length elsewhere but the so-called Swiss Model will see the top eight sides qualify automatically for the last 16 and be joined by another eight who progress through a two-legged play-off round. The revised structure will see the total number of Champions League games per season leap from today’s 125 to 189. Key to that will be those additional four clubs joining the party. As well as the traditional means of entry through final standings in domestic leagues and by winning the Champions League or Europa League, another four spots will be up for grabs; one via a third-placed finish in the country that stands fifth in UEFA’s association rankings (it’s currently France); one to a lesser domestic champion through the qualification rounds; and two to the nations who had the best collective performances from their clubs in the previous season’s European competitions. The latter are what UEFA is calling its “European Performance Spots” and it is those that could mean a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League this season — or Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga or Germany’s Bundesliga — would be enough to qualify for the 2024-25 Champions League. And this is where it gets a smidgen complicated. Every season, all of the UEFA national associations will get a rating according to the collective coefficient of their clubs, with the total points amassed divided by the number of teams participating to avoid the usual suspects topping the chart every year. The top two countries then get the extra Champions League places. Talk to me about coefficients… Said nobody ever. This is UEFA’s nerdy way of rating the performances of its associations and the clubs who participate in its three competitions. The better you do in them, the more points you get. it’s two for a Champions League win, one for a draw and nothing for a defeat. Four additional points come for a team’s qualification for the groups, and then again to the last 16. Manchester City, for example, racked up a tidy 33 points when going all the way for the first time last season. An association’s coefficient, however, is calculated by the average of its clubs’ performances. And that includes adventures in the Europa League and Europa Conference League, albeit with fewer points on offer in those. One club winning the Champions League would not be a guarantee of a high association coefficient if everyone else from that country flopped at European level. All points won across the three UEFA competitions get added up and then divided by the number of clubs from each nation taking part. Any annual quirks in the matrix have traditionally been ironed out by UEFA judging all its association coefficients over a five-year period. The Netherlands, for example, had a higher coefficient than Spain in 2021-22, but still trail the top-four leagues by a large margin over the five years. Hence England, Spain, Germany and Italy are the ones handed four places in the Champions League — a reward for the achievements of their clubs in the previous five seasons. The biggest leagues will continue to get those privileges in 2024-25 and beyond but the European Performance Spots are not quite so cut and dried, as for them it is only the achievements of one season that are considered. So, will fifth in the Premier League be enough for Champions League football in 2024-25? Alas, none of us can answer yet. Only events over the coming weeks and months can tell us that for certain, but it is safe to say there is a high chance. History, if nothing else, tells us that much. In six of the last seven seasons, the annual achievements of English clubs in Europe have been first or second best, according to UEFA’s metrics. Only in 2019-20, when finishing narrowly behind Spain and Germany, has that modern pattern been broken. GO DEEPER Simeone's Atletico hero status was under threat - now he's turned it round Yet it is the fate of the eight clubs now competing in Europe — Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa — that is the deciding factor. If City can retain the Champions League and there is further success for an English club in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League, as there was when West Ham won the latter last season, then it would be safe to gild that fifth position. The points amassed on those European journeys would almost certainly be sufficient. Yet there is the potential for any success to be undermined by the failings of others. If Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham or Villa were unable to get out of their groups (which is much less likely after this week’s results in the fourth round of six group matchdays) or fall early in the knockout stages, then England’s coefficient will be dragged down accordingly. Then there is the prospect of Manchester United or Newcastle — possibly both — not only bowing out of the Champions League after the group phase but missing the chance to win points in the Europa League knockouts by finishing bottom rather than third. In Newcastle’s case, it might end up all the more damaging if group rivals AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund were to progress and prosper, as Italy and Germany have typically been two rivals to England on the coefficient tables. This all introduces us to the new era: a club rooting for a domestic rival. There is the faint prospect of one club waiting on the outcome of the final rounds of a European campaign to learn if they are to play Champions League football the next season. Might Manchester United end the season knowing their qualification is reliant on either Manchester City or Liverpool reaching a European final? Improbable, but not impossible. Who, if anyone, might the Premier League lose out to? It is early days, but other nations have been more productive through the groups of UEFA’s competitions this season. Italian clubs have performed well in the Champions League and Milan’s win over Paris Saint-Germain in midweek raises the prospect of all four Serie A clubs progressing to the last 16. Atalanta, Roma and Fiorentina are also well-placed to advance in the other two UEFA competitions. Germany will not see a full complement of its clubs move on after Union Berlin’s shortcomings were exposed in the Champions League but Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig might now be joined by Dortmund in the round of 16. Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt will also be expected to move forward from groups in the Europa League and Conference League. Opta’s predictive model still has the Premier League with a 77 per cent chance of claiming one of the additional spots, but the results this week saw the Bundesliga and Serie A close the gap. It adds another layer of intrigue to Newcastle’s group finale at home against Milan on December 13, and shows how damaging their two defeats to Dortmund could prove not only to them but also to other Premier League clubs. The key for the Premier League is that all eight teams are still alive and fighting. The same cannot be said for La Liga, which saw Osasuna knocked out in the summer’s qualifying rounds for the Conference League, or the Netherlands’ Eredivisie, where FC Twente were eliminated from the same competition at the same preliminary stage. The earlier a country’s teams fall, the more it hurts the average. The outlier in Europe through the opening weeks of group-stage play was Turkey, who, at one time, topped the chart thanks to Fenerbahce’s form in the Conference League and Galatasaray collecting points in the Champions League. Their haul before matchweek four was considerably less than England’s but regarded as superior due to the fact only four Turkish clubs are competing in Europe this season. Given Galatasaray now face a battle to qualify for the Champions League knockouts, and Besiktas will not make it through their Conference League group, do not expect their numbers to be maintained. And that, ultimately, is what points back towards the Premier League eventually gaining an extra Champions League place for the side finishing fifth. English clubs, now led by City, have become well-versed in going far. GO DEEPER Dortmund fans protest CL reforms with banners, fake money

Chelsea’s Mia Fishel on Emma Hayes’ USWNT hire, NIL deals and building a brand https://theathletic.com/5046474/2023/11/09/mia-fishel-emma-hayes-uswnt-Chelsea/ London seems to suit Mia Fishel. That much is apparent when she talks about adapting to moving to Chelsea after two seasons at Tigres. She name-checks Nando’s instantly – “I was eating there consistently when I first got here,” she said – and she’s been eyeing all the restaurants around Borough Market in central London, especially cuisines that are harder to find in Mexico or the US. She’s not afraid to try new things, whether it’s food or her career. Fishel has taken an unusual path for a young American player, opting to join Tigres in Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil instead of the Orlando Pride after the NWSL side drafted her ahead of the 2022 NWSL season. She then leveraged her 38 goals in 48 appearances in Mexico into a move to WSL powerhouse Chelsea this summer, where she’s already scored on her debut; a textbook header in the box against Tottenham. Fishel has also just broken through with the U.S. national team, having scored a goal in just her second cap in October in her hometown of San Diego. It feels like everything is coming up Fish at the moment, especially when you consider her future international career could also benefit from landing at Chelsea under manager Emma Hayes, who is nearing an official agreement to take over the U.S. women’s national team when her season is over in 2024. While Fishel couldn’t speak with any certainty about the deal, she did give Hayes a glowing recommendation in a wide-ranging chat with The Athletic. “If she’s national team coach, I mean, that’s amazing,” said Fishel. “She really knows how to manage players. And I’m lucky to have her. And if she’s national coach, I mean, she’s gonna do amazing things. She’s already doing amazing things here at Chelsea. She’s created a legacy here and I think that if anything, it’s just more responsibility for me, because she knows how I am, the player that I am. “She was the main reason why I came to Chelsea, was to develop the mentality of winning. We’ve had conversations even before I got here about how she sees me, how I can fit into the team, and we have a lot of similarities kind of off the field.” One of those similarities, according to Fishel, is that she and Hayes are both single-minded when in pursuit of something. “We will do anything to get there,” Fishel said. “Before I got to Chelsea we had a long conversation just about who we are as people. And I think my journey can kind of relate to her, in a way, of doing what you think is best for yourself and getting to that dream, to that goal.” That drive for success, that willingness to put herself out there, is also helping Fishel join a new generation of brand-savvy young athletes. Fishel is still only 22, but she’s already laying the foundation for a long and prosperous career off the field. Women’s soccer historically hasn’t been lucrative, especially for any player that isn’t a Sam Kerr- or Alex Morgan-level star. But Fishel hasn’t let that deter her. The NCAA’s acceptance of NIL (name, image and likeness) deals in the last year of Fishel’s college career at UCLA was the start of the journey. “When I grew up, I didn’t really have a role model. I couldn’t grasp onto something that was tangible,” she said. But NIL got her thinking about how to reach more people, how to build connections. At UCLA she forged a partnership with skincare brand Art of Sport and created her own merchandise via her brand, Big Fishel Energy. That’s expanded into her pro career, with Fishel ready to drop t-shirts and snapbacks with her personal logo of a crown perched atop stylized M.F. initials. It’s the kind of work that could have only happened after so many years of development of the women’s game, and the advent of social media allowing athletes to connect directly and instantaneously with fans. She eventually started an LLC and assembled a team, which now includes her agent and her father, who acts as her manager. “It was a lot of trial and error because I didn’t have a mock-up of how this was gonna run,” Fishel said. “I just told my team, this is what I want to do. And they’ve been helping me navigate through that process.” At times, she said she’s had to learn to be patient. When she wants something, she wants it done right away, but when it comes to things like production time or contracts, the timeline can run a lot longer. As an example, Fishel cites a children’s book that has been in the works since January, which is about confidence, empowerment, and taking control of your own destiny. “It’s kind of annoying that I had this whole plan. You know, I have all these ideas but to actually continue to follow through and to make sure that it comes to fruition is like, the important thing is just patience, and I’m still learning that,” she said. Putting out the advice that she wished she’d had when she was younger could gain even more significance as ever-younger players sign professional contracts in the United States. Multiple NWSL teams have signed young teenagers, the latest being Kansas City’s signing of 15-year-old Alex Pfeiffer. Even an ambitious young player isn’t going to come into the world automatically aware of things like how to find an agent or how to negotiate a contract, and Fishel said that trying to be that brand-conscious business person isn’t for everyone. “There is a lot of pros and cons about making certain decisions,” she said. She gets a lot of demands on her time and that can be hard to balance at 22, let alone at 15. “In the end, it has to come from you. It has to come from your heart, not what other people are doing, or fast-tracking your dreams and goals.” Fishel hopes that in the NIL era where more and more players are learning early on how to leverage their on-field success into off-field deals, more stakeholders will realize that women’s soccer is big and getting bigger. She adds a caveat about how building a business can pull too much of your focus off of soccer if you’re not careful, common sense balances out the headiness of success and attention. “I would say to be clear on who you are,” Fishel said. “You know, I’m still figuring out who I am. But I think that if you have a good sense of yourself and the direction to go, it makes things so much easier because it’s clear on what I want other people to see from me.”

What next for Chelsea after Emma Hayes? https://theathletic.com/5043991/2023/11/09/Chelsea-emma-hayes-future/ “We’ve got to kill the unicorn,” says Emma Hayes, in her audiobook of that name. “All leaders make poor decisions at some point in their careers because they are human. None of us have a crystal ball. Perhaps it’s best not to believe the hype.” The problem is the hype around Hayes, manager of the Chelsea women’s team, is justifiable considering she has won six Women’s Super League (WSL) titles and five FA Cups in her 11 years with the London club. The very identity of the side she oversees is inextricably linked to Hayes. The 47-year-old, however, does not believe a leader should be seen as a “magical creature able to solve any problem”. But what happens when such a figurehead leaves? And, in this case, the assistant, too — as is expected to be the case with Denise Reddy. The timing of the news of Hayes’ impending departure came as a shock and there is an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty among the Chelsea women’s team. There is no ready-made plan in place and the club are yet to start their recruitment process. They are in no rush to do so, with the season not ending for another six months. But no one knows what the next chapter looks like. So what now for Chelsea? Chelsea say Hayes will leave at the end of this season, not before. Whether she will work with the USWNT during international windows between now and next May is yet to be determined. Chelsea, however, will want Hayes’ full focus for the remainder of their 2023-24 campaign. The players were told the news straight after a dominant 6-0 away win against Aston Villa on Saturday. Sadness was the overriding feeling, especially given many of them owe their career progression to Hayes. Her departure may incentivise them to win as much silverware as possible and have one last crack at winning that elusive Champions League title. No doubt it adds more pressure and emotions will crank up a notch but the team may thrive off that. On the flip side, players’ performances may dip. Sir Alex Ferguson, a source of inspiration for Hayes, regretted telling his Manchester United players he was going to retire at the end of the 2001-02 season a year in advance, and ended up staying in the job until the summer of 2013. “When the team thought I would be leaving, they slackened off,” Ferguson wrote in his autobiography. “A constant tactic of mine was always to have my players on the edge…the must-win approach. I took my eye off the ball, thinking too far ahead, and wondering who would replace me. It’s human nature, in those circumstances, to relax a bit, and to say, ‘I’m not going to be here next year’.” GO DEEPER This Is Me: Emma Hayes Caution should be taken when replacing somebody who has been at the helm for so long. “Organisations outlive leaders as long as the right framework is in place,” says Hayes. Chelsea, after all, had a 100 per cent win record when their manager was absent for six weeks following an emergency hysterectomy in October last year. Paul Green, Chelsea’s general manager who shares an office with Hayes, took on media duties during that time, while Reddy led the coaching side. “None of this is an accident,” Hayes said upon her return. “It’s been developed by us all over a long period… the environment can take care of itself.” But with Reddy, who has been Hayes’ friend for more than 20 years, also expected to leave, Chelsea need a new manager and a new No 2. Who could come in? Chelsea haven’t yet approached anyone and there is not an official list of candidates. But, given their stature, the talent pool they will be fishing in is relatively shallow. The new manager will need to have excellent people-management skills, be capable of handling big characters, rotating a large squad, having difficult conversations and making tough decisions. Hayes mastered all that and got the best out of individuals. This is not a first-time role for an inexperienced manager. GO DEEPER Full Time: The big questions around Emma Hayes heading to USWNT Casey Stoney, head coach of NWSL side San Diego Wave and that league’s coach of the year for the 2022 season, is a logical candidate. A former Chelsea player who joined them at age 12 and took on the role of their player-manager on an interim basis in 2009, the 41-year-old managed the newly formed Manchester United women’s team from 2018-21. The 130-cap England international has experience in the WSL, executes game plans well and has a similar straight-talking attitude to Hayes. The question is whether Stoney would want to return to England and take the Chelsea job, given her partner Megan and their three children have only just joined her in California. Elsewhere in the NWSL, Laura Harvey of Seattle-based OL Reign is another possibility. She started her managerial career in England with Birmingham City and won the WSL with Arsenal in 2011 and 2012. The 43-year-old has also coached England youth teams. A three-time NWSL coach of the year, Harvey has plied her trade in the U.S. at club and international level. She was assistant to USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski in 2021 and has managed the Americans’ under-20 and under-23 teams. In July, she extended her contract with OL Reign — who could be crowned NWSL champions this weekend — until 2025, so, as with Stoney, the question is whether she wants to move back to the UK. GO DEEPER Laura Harvey on the importance of authenticity, balance and trust Former Barcelona manager Lluis Cortes, 37, is not in a job at the moment after he decided against renewing his contract with the Ukraine women’s national team when it expired in August. Cortes had led Barcelona to their first Champions League title in 2020-21 but that summer decided to step down after two and a half years in charge. “I don’t feel I have the energy to keep leading this team,” he said in a club statement. Recruiting from within the WSL looks unlikely. Arsenal took a left-field approach by hiring, at the time, a relatively unknown Jonas Eidevall from Swedish club Rosengard as Joe Montemurro’s replacement in the summer of 2021. The club will do their due diligence and remain equally open-minded. There is not one candidate who jumps out straight away and rushed appointments are rarely good ones. Chelsea may want to hire a new manager at the start of 2024, so they can have a handover period while Hayes is still at the club, but it is unclear if she will be part of the recruitment process. What else will change? For Chelsea players, it will be a period of uncertainty. Their two biggest stars, Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, as well as Ann-Katrin Berger and Maren Mjelde, are out of contract next summer. They may not sign new deals now Hayes is leaving. Alternatively, they may be reassured when the new manager is confirmed. Equally, Chelsea may not want to offer new contracts until Hayes’ successor comes in and decides who they want and don’t want. It will also affect the team’s future recruitment. For a long time, their scouting has been based on signing Hayes’ type of player. Chelsea are known to be masters of succession planning and scout players one year, 18 months, or even two years ahead of time, but a new manager may want to introduce a new tactical style. Prospective players, whether they liked Hayes as a person or not, knew what they were getting. Most often, the manager was a big selling point for Chelsea and players joined the club because of her. It will be very hard to replace a manager who continued to push players while also being the mother hen. Whether it was showing motivational clips from leading U.S. college basketball coach Kara Lawson, having the squad wear Arsenal shirts in training to help them mentally with overcoming their London rivals in 2012, getting photographers to pick up on the body language of her team or giving the players greeting cards with handwritten individual motivational messages inside before a big cup final, Hayes kept things fresh. “As a leader, you develop a distance while remaining close enough to smell their fears and sense their problems,” Hayes says in her audiobook. Whoever comes in next has some big shoes to fill.

Emma Hayes’ journey from Chelsea to the USWNT: Everything you need to know https://theathletic.com/5040364/2023/11/08/emma-hayes-uswnt-wsl-coach-podcast/ On Saturday, Chelsea announced that manager Emma Hayes will step down at the end of the season after 11 years at the club. Hayes’ reign, during which Chelsea have won six Women’s Super League (WSL) titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups, will end so she can pursue a “new opportunity outside of the WSL and club football”. The same day, The Athletic broke the news that sources briefed on the hiring process — speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their positions — had confirmed Hayes would be taking over the management of the U.S. women’s national team (USWNT). GO DEEPER USWNT to hire Chelsea's Emma Hayes as coach The Athletic’s Charlotte Harpur, Meg Linehan and Adam Crafton spoke with Sophie Penney about the appointment on the dedicated women’s football podcast Full Time Europe. Listen in full to the episode below, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or read the edited conversation below… Sophie Penney: Instant reactions? Charlotte Harpur: Shocked initially but also sad. Hayes is a fascinating person to talk to and the WSL will be poorer without her. Meg Linehan: Her name had been coming up but the timing was surprising. Adam Crafton: Impressed. This is arguably the plum job in women’s soccer, so to have an English coach taking that job, (I feel) a big sense of pride. The USWNT had a poor World Cup. Everyone’s looking at them thinking, “How are you going to respond to this?” And they’ve gone out and taken the very top of the market. Fair enough! Penney: With Hayes set to replace Vlatko Andonovski — who left in August after the team’s earliest World Cup exit — can you give us some background on her management style? Harpur: Hayes was born in Camden, north London. She’s a grounded person, very close to her family and her two sisters. She learned European studies, Spanish and sociology, so she’s quite a worldly person as well. She did a master’s (a postgraduate degree) in intelligence and international affairs and once applied for MI5, the UK’s counter-intelligence and security agency. She started in the U.S. in 2001 and became manager of the semi-pro side Long Island Lady Riders, who were part of the USL W League, and then she became head coach at Iona College in 2003. Hayes came back to the UK in 2006; she was an assistant at Arsenal and was part of the coaching team that won the Champions League under Vic Akers in 2007. Hayes returned to the U.S. in 2008 and managed Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) side Chicago Red Stars with her Chelsea assistant Denise Reddy — that relationship is key. After Hayes was fired from the Chicago Red Stars in 2010, she worked for the family business: a currency exchange. GO DEEPER The USWNT are hiring a serial winner in Emma Hayes - a coach with unfinished business in the U.S. Hayes joined Chelsea in 2012. Eleven years and 13 major trophies later, she’s won the WSL title for the last four years. When you think of Chelsea, you think of Hayes as part of the club’s identity. On the pitch, standards are high; she’s tough on her players. She’s a winner and tactically astute, and is known for getting the best out of her players. Hayes is very clever and savvy with the media and has a good relationship with them. When she wants a message (put) out, Hayes will make sure she has a line for you. When had aeroplane cancellations in Lyon, Hayes was the first one to say, “Come on the team flight, we’ll get you back on on the private plane.” After the 2022 FA Cup final, I was walking down Wembley Way at about 10pm and Hayes was outside with her son Harry and said, “Come into the after party, get your wristband on.” That’s Hayes. Penney: Can you explain why this move is such a big deal? Crafton: It’s a huge deal internationally. We may see U.S. Soccer agree to equal pay for the women’s coach role. For the USWNT coach to be on the same as the USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter — this would be a really landmark moment in sport. It will create very interesting conversations. England manager Sarina Wiegman might look at Gareth Southgate and think, “Well, if the U.S. are leading the way on this, shouldn’t our country be doing that as well?” It has the potential to create a significant precedent, especially when you’re looking at pushing $2million (£1.63m) a year, which is a significant commitment. Penney: What more can you tell us about how the deal was done? Crafton: This process has been ongoing since the World Cup. The U.S. have looked at various candidates but they managed to keep Hayes a secret regarding the extent of the conversations they’d had with her. Equal pay, if it transpires, will probably be debated over the next few weeks. But U.S. Soccer wouldn’t have wanted to do it just for the sake of it being a landmark statement. It had to be the right candidate for them to justify that since you’re more than tripling the previous coach’s salary. And what is U.S. Soccer’s plan if more money is going into Hayes’ salary? Is there still going to be sufficient funding for academy coaching of women’s teams and facilities? Meg Linehan: There is an expectation from players that their coach should be paid market value. Why is the USWNT coach making one-third of what the USMNT coach is considering the results of the two teams? It’s a natural extension of the conversation that we’ve had for a couple of decades around equal pay in the U.S. GO DEEPER USWNT's Morgan lauds women's soccer pay progress Harpur: The timing of it was a shock to Chelsea staff and players. Most of them found out in the dressing room an hour after the Aston Villa game on Saturday — which Chelsea won 6-0. Then the club statement was released. Crafton: Chelsea were under the impression this was going to get out and it’s hugely destabilising to have someone as embedded as Hayes leaving. They felt that their relationship with Hayes was sufficiently strong that they could get ahead of that story. I am speculating but I can’t imagine U.S. Soccer would have been thrilled; the Chelsea statement signposts where she’s going given it said the job was outside of club football. It doesn’t appear that the thrust of the deal is completely over the line and U.S. Soccer probably would have wanted to ‘own that moment’ more. Linehan: You can imagine U.S. Soccer would have wanted a big announcement, but how do you maximise that when Hayes is still a coach at another club? So you’re going to have to do it in two stages by saying: “We’ve got her. We’ll see you again in May/June 2024.” Penney: How is this being seen from the U.S. side? Linehan Generally, it is seen as ‘landing a big fish’. You have to have a certain personality to want to do this job, knowing what the expectations are and who the big characters are. It’s going to be a very different moment in time compared to 2019 (when Andonovski took over from two-time World Cup-winning manager Jill Ellis). It’s more tense, the Olympics are coming up. Hayes’ background in the U.S. is helpful, but there is a sense of having an outsider coming in to figure out how you fix things… Crafton: There is some uncertainty over the next six or seven months leading up to the Olympics. Chelsea want Hayes exclusively focused on the rest of their season, trying to win the Champions League and a fifth consecutive WSL title. But the intention is for Hayes to be there for the Olympics in some capacity — it remains to be seen whether that is as head coach. Could it be she sits in the stands observing the first few games? Linehan: There’s also a potential risk of frustration with players who will want to see an immediate turnaround from the World Cup and make a statement at the Olympics, even if it’s not as important. The timing of this implies that the bigger project is the World Cup in 2027. That is a valid decision for the USSF (U.S. Soccer Federation) to make but that doesn’t mean that the players want that. Penney: What does Hayes need to fix with the USWNT? Linehan: The USWNT — and the USMNT, actually — don’t necessarily have a recognisable style of play. Hayes is known as someone who will just figure out what each game needs and that is the opposite of what the mission is: to figure out what a U.S. team looks like consistently. GO DEEPER Emma Hayes' flexibility could bring much-needed fresh start to USWNT: Analysis The talent is there so you can probably survive the first few games pretty easily. The talent is also going to align with Hayes’ usual standards as a coach. The bigger question is how does Hayes reshape this team in her image? Because from everything that I know about Hayes, it does take a little bit of time for her to eventually get her vision onto the field. The other challenge is that, at a club, you’re with those players every day. That’s not going to happen with the national team. So how do you get Hayes’ vision into this team with 2027 in mind? Task number one is immediately post-Olympics. I don’t know whether Hayes can influence the 18-player roster for the Olympics. I don’t think Hayes can if she’s potentially at Chelsea until the Champions League final (on May 25). The next task is to come in and do your talent assessment and figure out who’s doing what leading into 2027. Harpur: The difference between managing at club and national level is huge. That’s part of why Hayes wanted to leave — that 24/7 lifestyle has taken its toll on her, especially having a young son and wanting more family time. But she’s got to be able to communicate this vision to a team that she doesn’t know in a very short space of time. This is pure speculation, but the fact that she recruited (USWNT internationals) Mia Fishel and Catarina Macario to Chelsea is beneficial… Linehan: I hear she doesn’t want to be on the field every day but you’re still going to be in a room working all day. This is still a full-time job and they expect a full-time commitment. Watching Ellis or Andonovski, they were constantly on the road. Andonovski was constantly going to NWSL games or going abroad to scout players, to maintain communication and connection with players, to watch their progress. I don’t see that part of the job changing. Crafton: I’ve spent a bit of time with Hayes. The last thing I would expect from her is that she would see this as easing up. She would be taking this immensely seriously. Like anyone going from club to international football, Hayes might find the loss of control difficult. At Chelsea, she has so much credit, deference and power in the bank, even to the extent that when former owner Roman Abramovich — before he sold the club — initially tried to move ownership to some of the trustees at the Chelsea Foundation, Hayes was one of these people. For a few weeks, Hayes was one of about four or five people who looked like she might end up accidentally owning the club. That was the extent of the respect that she’d built up at Chelsea. GO DEEPER This Is Me: Emma Hayes Hayes also has such an input over each player’s routines, physically and nutritionally. You can’t really do that as a national team coach in the same way. You have to defer to the clubs and that can often lead to tensions between club and country. It’s a big change. Around the style of play, the reality now is that international football is more pragmatic. You can aspire to a style of play but when do you have the time to introduce so many patterns? Matt Crocker (USSF sporting director) seems to want this U.S. identity — a style of play that you can pass on from one coach to another. I’m not sure Hayes is that person. Linehan: There has been a cultural shift in the USWNT over the past five years. When Ellis was head coach, you knew the starting XI and the three substitutes every single game, without fail. Part of Andonovski’s downfall was shifting away from that culture, which had to happen. You can’t run a national team like that any more. But that is still some of the mindset that the USWNT is shedding while also saying we’d like a recognisable style of play. Penney: Who are Chelsea looking at to replace Hayes? Harpur: From my understanding, they haven’t started the process — nobody’s been approached. Chelsea haven’t had to do that for 11 years, and the talent pool is shallow because they want to recruit the best. But who is an available club manager? Names have been mentioned but, at this stage, it’s only speculation: San Diego Wave manager Casey Stoney; Laura Harvey of OL Reign; Mark Parsons, who managed the Netherlands and was recently at Washington Spirit. He was the former academy director at Chelsea. But Chelsea have time; they won’t be pressured into making an appointment and that’s quite unusual. The pressure is to get it right. My understanding is that Hayes will stay until the end of the season. There’s no doubt that she will want to go out on a high, especially with a Champions League title. Penney: The contracts of Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby, Ann-Katrin Berger and Maren Mjelde are up at the end of the season. How do you convince players like that to stay, with Hayes leaving? Harpur: Hayes is such an influential part of recruiting players. Just look at Fishel, Macario and Hannah Hampton — they would have been persuaded and impressed by the powerhouse that is Hayes. It poses doubts in those players’ minds; no one likes uncertainty. At the moment, they don’t know who their manager will be next year.

Jackson and Hojlund: Chelsea and Man Utd’s ‘project’ players carrying huge expectations https://theathletic.com/5040701/2023/11/08/jackson-hojlund-project-strikers/ Nicolas Jackson had gone 10 games without scoring for Villarreal last season when their head coach Unai Emery backed him in a way that expressed both certainty and doubt. “He is in a process,” Emery, now in charge of Aston Villa, said. “I don’t know if he will ever score the number of chances he generates, but I’m sure the day he starts scoring them, his numbers will be talked about. I wish it was now. But he is in a process and he must continue to work.” Emery was wrong about one thing: above all, it is when a centre-forward isn’t scoring that his numbers are talked about. By the start of April this year, Jackson had scored just two goals in 24 La Liga appearances for Villarreal (eight starts) having seen a January move to Premier League relegation candidates Bournemouth fall through due to issues with his medical. Then it clicked. Jackson came on against Real Sociedad and scored a well-taken goal, cutting inside onto his right foot in what has become a signature move, and the floodgates opened. He scored 10 goals in his final 11 appearances for Villarreal, earning La Liga’s player of the month award for May and, more significantly, a €35million (£30.4m;$37.8m) move to Chelsea to become the focal point of a new-look forward line. And so began another process, this time under far greater scrutiny. His first nine Premier League appearances brought glimpses of his abundant talent but saw him score just two goals. Carrying the goalscoring burden in a struggling, inexperienced team looked like a huge ask of a player who, seven months earlier, had just two top-flight goals to his name. “I believe in him,” Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino said after Jackson was criticised for his performance in the home defeat against Brentford on October 28. “The only thing we need to do is give him time.” Nine days later, Jackson scored a hat-trick in Monday’s 4-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur. That sounds like the most dramatic, encouraging breakthrough imaginable, but still there was criticism relating to the timing of his runs when Chelsea were struggling to find a way past Spurs’ nine players, and remarkably high defensive line, after the dismissals of defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie. Even when he raced clear to score his third goal, seven minutes into stoppage time and four minutes after getting his second, he looked unsure of himself, almost apologetic, until he was halfway past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. Perhaps the floodgates will open for him now, like they did late last season at Villarreal. But at 22, with only 24 top-flight starts to his name, Jackson remains a “project”, his finesse in some areas belied by some frayed edges to his game. It all looks rather new to him and, when you consider that, two seasons ago, he scored just five goals in 25 appearances for Villarreal’s B team in Spain’s third tier, it is hardly surprising if the transition is not entirely smooth. This time last season, Rasmus Hojlund had scored just one goal for Atalanta. He had only arrived in the final days of August, signed for €17million after a spectacular start to the campaign for Austrian club Sturm Graz brought comparisons with Erling Haaland. But it was a slow start to life in Serie A. He was in and out of Atalanta’s line-up, only starting four out of a possible 13 league games before the season was put on hold in the middle of November for the playing of the World Cup in Qatar. As with Jackson, the goals came later and in a flurry: a barren spell of one in his first 11 Serie A appearances followed by a purple patch of eight in his 21 games after the winter break. Still, he was in and out of the starting line-up, but at times his performance level was spectacular. Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said: “He has the characteristics to become one of the strongest strikers in the world. Among the young emerging players in his role, if not the best, he is among the best in Europe.” Like Jackson, he was soon on the move. Manchester United agreed to pay a guaranteed €75million to Atalanta, with the possibility of a further €10m in add-ons if certain performance-related clauses are triggered. Again, it seemed an extraordinary show of faith — not just the size of the fee but the fact he was being signed to fill an urgent vacancy at centre-forward for one of the biggest clubs in world football when, barely six months earlier, he was still trying to find his feet at Atalanta. And, like Jackson, he has had a very challenging start to life in England. More challenging than his Chelsea counterpart, in fact. Hojlund, who doesn’t turn 21 until February, has scored three times in the Champions League — once away to Bayern Munich, twice at home against Galatasaray — but his eight Premier League appearances, seven in the starting line-up, have not yielded a single goal. Both players have shown glimpses of their vast potential — Jackson arguably more so on his debut against Liverpool in August than when scoring three times against Tottenham this week. Both have also, at times, looked as unpolished as you would expect such relatively unproven players to look. And, even in their most difficult moments, both would be entitled to feel their struggles have been a symptom of a wider dysfunction rather than a cause. GO DEEPER How Manchester United signed Rasmus Hojlund: Ten Hag's video calls, agents' scrap and turning down PSG In many ways, that is the point. Here we have two big, wealthy, powerful clubs, who have spent on such a huge scale in recent years (and in Chelsea’s case even more so in the first year under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital) but are commonly accused of doing so without a clear vision. For all the money both clubs have spent, they find themselves alarmingly short of proven quality and goal threat in attack. Chelsea averaged just a goal a game in the Premier League last season. This season has brought an improvement (1.55 goals per game) but all but six of their 17 goals have come in just three matches — against promoted sides Luton Town and Burnley and now a depleted Tottenham. Consistency remains an issue. United averaged 1.53 goals per game in the Premier League last season, considerably lower than any other team in the final top six, and are scoring at a rate of 1.09 after 11 matches of this one. It isn’t just Hojlund who has found it tough going. Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Hojlund have just one Premier League goal between them. It isn’t just a question of whether the players are good enough or mature enough. Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford have been graveyards for creative and attacking talent in recent years. If you were backing a young winger or centre-forward to hit the ground running in the Premier League in 2023, you probably wouldn’t propose Chelsea or United as the ideal stage. Young attacking talent tends to flourish in teams that play expansive football in a warm, positive, nurturing yet inspiring environment — something Pochettino has spoken about the need to provide for Jackson and others at Chelsea. It is a long time since United, in particular, could claim to offer that. On Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show, the former Chelsea, Liverpool and England forward Daniel Sturridge analysed Jackson in depth. Looking at a couple of chances he missed earlier in the season, Sturridge said he felt the Senegalese forward didn’t have “a particular finish that he’s trying to replicate”. Sturridge talked viewers through various different types of finish, and said they need to be practised over and over because “it’s hard all of a sudden to pick them up out of nowhere”. That applies to making the right runs too. At his sharpest this season, such as in that debut against Liverpool, it is the intelligent, direct, piercing runs that have defined Jackson’s threat. At times against Tottenham on Monday, he mistimed his runs, either going too early or holding back too long as if wary of getting it wrong. Then again, there was a moment early in the second half when he made the perfect run in the inside-left channel, only for Raheem Sterling, on the counter-attack, to play the ball to the right despite Jackson looking a far better bet. Sometimes it is about a player’s confidence and sometimes it is about having the confidence of his team-mates. A hat-trick in a London derby away to Tottenham should help in both regards. GO DEEPER Tottenham vs Chelsea chaos: 10 mad moments ranked It is interesting to analyse Jackson’s goals in the context of game state. Four of his first five in the Premier League have come when Chelsea were already leading: their third in a 3-0 win over Luton; their fourth in a 4-1 victory at Burnley; their third and fourth in that 4-1 defeat of Tottenham. He has looked more assured in the rare moments when, in terms of game state, the pressure has been off Chelsea. Hojlund can claim not even to have had that small comfort. United have not led by two goals all season in the Premier League. Indeed they have barely led at all, with all but one of their six league wins having been secured in the closing stages. Of the 572 minutes he has played in the competition, his team have led for just 51. Every game has been anxious. Almost every attack looks fraught rather than fluent. Jackson’s expected goals (xG) total, reflecting the quality of his scoring chances, is rated at 7.1 (the third highest in the Premier League behind Haaland and Mohamed Salah) as opposed to Hojlund’s 1.4 (71st in the division). Jackson’s xG per 90 minutes played is 0.84. Hojlund’s is 0.21, which is the type of figure you might expect for the centre-forward at a relegation-threatened team rather than Manchester United. Often in these situations, you might ask whether the player is a big part of the problem — failing to make the right runs, not willing enough to gamble by attacking the danger area. Nobody can accuse Hojlund of that. If a single image of him comes to mind this season, it is of him charging down the middle of the pitch at a rate of knots in anticipation of a cross… which doesn’t come. On the rare occasions the service has been there, as when Rashford picked him out at speed in the Champions League game against Galatasaray, Hojlund has obliged. During the segment on Sky Sports, Sturridge highlighted two incidents in recent United games when Hojlund made the perfect run, only for a team-mate to opt to shoot from a much tighter angle rather than pass. One came at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in September when Rashford fired into the side-netting with his weaker foot (xG for that chance: 0.05) after Hojlund had got ahead of his marker in the middle. The other came at Fulham on Saturday when Garnacho shot from a narrow angle (xG: 0.06) although his Danish team-mate’s pace had taken him clear of the home side’s Tim Ream in a central position. “He has great potential,” Sturridge said of Hojlund. “He makes good runs. I just think he’s maybe not getting as many opportunities as he would like. (Looking at the Garnacho incident at Fulham) Clearly, the ball isn’t great. I don’t think (Hojlund) can do much more there. He has to have those conversations, let (his team-mates) know what he likes and make them understand, ‘This is what I like. When you pick the ball up there, I’m going to make this run. Feed me in’.” Pitch-side microphones at Fulham appeared to pick up Hojlund yelling in frustration at Garnacho’s failure to do that. In Garnacho’s defence, he is even younger at 19. For a winger, as for a centre-forward, erratic decision-making and end-product can be excused when a player is learning on the job. It is no coincidence that both Chelsea and United ended up signing such young, unproven centre-forwards in the summer. Both had obvious vacancies, but neither club has been notable for its long-term strategic planning in recent years. It was a case of seeing what was out there and, with Harry Kane off limits as he swapped Spurs for Bayern Munich, Ivan Toney of Brentford serving a long-term suspension and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen deemed too expensive, there wasn’t much. The centre-forward has become an endangered species as football trends have evolved over the past decade. Haaland’s spectacular impact at Manchester City last season might have sparked talk of a renaissance, but there are not many Haalands out there. It is partly the absence of proven alternatives that led Chelsea and United to go for Jackson and Hojlund respectively — and Liverpool to sign a 22-year-old Darwin Nunez a year earlier after a breakthrough second season with Benfica in Portugal — in the hope that a rough diamond can be polished into something precious. Top-class centre-forwards are now so scarce — and so expensive in the case of Osimhen — that clubs even some of the biggest clubs are finding themselves gambling on younger, less proven players. It is almost impossible to imagine in the past that a club of Chelsea’s or United’s size, ambition and spending power would have committed such sums based on such a limited show of goalscoring prowess. Ruud van Nistelrooy had two hugely prolific seasons at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands before United agreed to break the British transfer record to sign him in 2001. Didier Drogba seemed something of a punt for Chelsea in summer 2004 despite scoring 32 goals in all competitions for Marseille the previous season. Fernando Torres had scored 91 goals in all competitions for Atletico Madrid by the summer of 2007 but was still perceived by many as a risky investment for Liverpool, with rival clubs not fully convinced he would be up to the physical rigours of English football. Chelsea and United fans will hope that, in time, Jackson and Hojlund can have the kind of influence those centre-forwards had in the Premier League. But there can be no guarantees about these or any other “project” players when the clubs in question don’t seem to have worked out precisely what their “project” is. Sturridge spoke up for both Jackson and Hojlund in his pre-match analysis on Monday and sounded particularly pleased for the latter after his hat-trick. But tellingly, when asked whether they represent the answer for the clubs who have signed them, he said: “I can’t answer that.” Nobody can yet. Nobody can say Jackson has cracked it after scoring three times at Tottenham and nobody can say Hojlund is a write-off — or anything close to it — after eight Premier League games without a goal. Even now, more than a year into his Liverpool career, it is best to avoid definitive pronouncements about Nunez, who can lurch between extremes not just from week to the next but from one moment to the next. And if he can be excused some rougher edges to his game at the age of 24, then Jackson, 22, and Hojlund, 20, can certainly be indulged in the challenging moments. Pochettino’s faith in Jackson received some welcome payback on Monday night. Even on a frustrating afternoon at Fulham on Saturday, Hojlund was far from the weakest link in United’s forward line. To borrow Emery’s phrase, both players are in a process. Nobody can say with any certainty where that process will lead them. It just seems remarkable that, at such early stages in their development, it has taken them to starting roles at two clubs where the goalscoring burden seems to weigh so heavily. These are two teams who do not look particularly well equipped to carry a young centre-forward through difficult periods. If anything, the onus will be on the young centre-forward to carry their team-mates. And that is a lot to ask.

Ivan Toney: What he’s been doing after ban, what future may hold for Brentford striker https://theathletic.com/5037051/2023/11/08/toney-brentford-arsenal-transfer/ Frank Onyeka’s pass bounced up awkwardly around Ivan Toney’s waist. Most strikers in this scenario would have slowed down to control the ball but, without breaking his stride, Toney flicked it with the outside of his right boot over Como’s goalkeeper Pierre Bolchini and calmly slotted it into the empty goal. After four months of training away from his team-mates, part of his punishment for 232 breaches of the Football Association’s rules around betting, nobody would have blamed Toney for looking rusty in his first appearance for Brentford since their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in May. The 27-year-old’s goal in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Como last month demonstrated that being stuck on the sidelines has not diminished his quality and underlined why there is expected to be a battle for his signature over the next few months. Lots of teams are looking for a reliable goalscorer and Toney scored 20 times in the top flight last season — only Erling Haaland (38) and Harry Kane (30) had better records. Toney’s eight-month suspension finishes on Wednesday, January 16 — right in the middle of a transfer window. Will he be lining up for Brentford against Nottingham Forest that weekend? Or does his future lie elsewhere? The Athletic breaks down the situation. What has Toney been up to during his suspension? Following a year-long investigation, Toney admitted to breaking the FA’s gambling rules and on May 17 an independent regulatory commission handed him a £50,000 fine to go with his ban. The striker watched Brentford beat Manchester City 1-0 on the final weekend of the 2022-23 season from the stands. In a speech on the pitch afterwards, head coach Thomas Frank pledged to support him and said “I know he will come back even stronger”. Toney spent a lot of time in the summer on holiday with family and friends. He was encouraged by the club to mentally recharge and visited Ibiza, Mykonos, Dubai, Morocco and Nashville in the United States. He attended the British Grand Prix at Silverstone with Frank, director of football Phil Giles and team-mates Ethan Pinnock, Vitaly Janelt, Mads Roerslev and Rico Henry. Toney picked up a hamstring injury against Liverpool and was allowed to visit the training ground to work with medical staff on his rehab. Otherwise, he worked with personal trainer Jim Burnside to build up and maintain his fitness at a studio in Bedfordshire. Toney returned to first-team training on September 18 and Frank held two individual meetings with him that week to discuss how to get him in the best shape possible. The coaching staff came up with a detailed 16-week plan so he is ready for action as soon as the ban ends. Will Brentford try to keep him? Toney has been directly involved in 89 goals in 124 appearances for Brentford since he joined them from Peterborough United in August 2020 for £5million. In an ideal world, he would stay and be a central figure in their plans to qualify for Europe. His deal will only have 18 months left to run in January and the possibility of a contract extension has been raised. But Toney wants to play for a top club and his next contract will probably be the biggest of his career. Brentford have one of the lowest wage bills in the division and their highest-paid players earn around £50,000 to £60,000 a week. Toney could easily double that at another team. The club will keep trying to convince him to stay long-term though, even if it’s unlikely to happen. Brentford’s plan is to hold onto their star striker for the rest of the season. Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo will represent the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations, which takes place between January and February. It will leave them short of options up front and selling Toney would only make the situation worse. They would be able to reinvest the money from any sale straight back into the squad, but finding any replacement would be expensive in the notoriously tricky winter window. Brentford have not ruled out losing Toney in January, but it would have to be a huge offer to tempt them to consider it. So far, no clubs have made contact with them about a potential deal. Frank was asked before Brentford’s 3-2 victory over West Ham United on Saturday if Toney wants to leave and how much he is worth. “I hope not, I want him to stay,” he said. “Ivan is happy to stay. He is happy at the club. What happens in the future is impossible to guess about. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t give an exact number. What I said was the No 6 positions have been sold for £100million plus this summer, which is rare. It’s normally goalscorers who get those numbers. To have a proven goalscorer in the Premier League that is above 20 goals is very valuable. “It’s not for me to put a price tag on him, it’s down to the club. I’m happy with him, I hope he plays here forever and I’m the coach.” Who are the leading candidates to sign him? Toney’s comments during his appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast in September sent Arsenal fans into a frenzy. Toney admitted he grew up supporting Liverpool but said: “From young, I’ve liked watching Arsenal. How they play and how passionate the fans are.” It’s a mutual attraction. Arsenal like Toney as he would provide Mikel Arteta with a different profile of striker than Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. During his six-and-a-half years in the Premier League with Arsenal and Manchester City, Jesus has never scored more than 14 goals in a single season. Nketiah’s struggles in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United show he still has room for development. The issue for Arsenal is finding a way to pull the deal off. They invested heavily in the summer and need to be wary of financial fair play (FFP) rules, which limit the amount of money clubs are allowed to spend over a three-year period. Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber arrived for a combined total of around £200m, while they signed David Raya on loan from Brentford. The expectation is Raya’s deal will be made permanent for a total package of £30m, which will add to the financial burden as soon as the club next spend. Arsenal raised around £70m from sales but that was largely due to Folarin Balogun’s €40m move to Monaco. Arsenal would need to sell big in January to finance a move for Toney or hope the owners advance them another substantial loan. There is a good relationship between the senior figures at Arsenal and Brentford, but it’s unlikely they would be able to agree to a similar arrangement for Toney like they did with Raya. Arsenal might have to wait until next summer and hope he is still on the market. A move to Brentford’s west London neighbours Chelsea is another option. They are considering Toney, but he turns 28 in March and it would go against their strategy under the Boehly-Clearlake consortium of targeting players 25 and under. Chelsea’s struggles in the past couple of years might make them a less attractive option, too. They finished below Brentford last season and are currently nine points outside the top four places following Monday night’s dramatic 4-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. If Mauricio Pochettino’s side don’t quickly improve, then they face the prospect of another year without European competition. In the past, Chelsea could compensate for this with the size of salary on offer, but they are more conscious of keeping their wage bill in check. For example, Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez are on much smaller salaries than Chelsea players in the past would receive. It means their rivals could be in a position to offer Toney a better financial package. Toney is not the only striker on Chelsea’s radar, with them looking at Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, too. The Nigeria international turns 25 next month so fits the age profile, but he could cost a lot more in transfer fees and wages. There is also admiration for Toney at Manchester United but their ownership and FFP situations complicate recruitment plans. Tottenham also appreciate his ability but it is doubtful they would be able to fund a deal in January, a window in which they will need to be creative if they are to do any significant business. Toney seeing out the remainder of his contract and leaving in the summer of 2025 should not be ruled out. It would give him more freedom over which team to join as they would not have to pay a transfer fee, although Brentford will want to avoid that outcome. Whatever decision Toney makes will have a significant impact on his career. He made his debut for England against Ukraine in March and will be desperate to hit the ground running when he returns to have the best chance of getting into Gareth Southgate’s squad for the 2024 European Championship. Staying at Brentford where he discovered the best form of his career might be the smartest choice for now ahead of seeking a new challenge next summer.

Is Raheem Sterling being unfairly overlooked or have England simply moved on? https://theathletic.com/5048230/2023/11/09/sterling-england-southgate/ Gareth Southgate often sounds very convincing when speaking in public on pretty much any subject. But on the Raheem Sterling issue? Not so much. Sterling, capped 82 times by England — 55 of them under Southgate — a mainstay of the side from the 2018 World Cup to the European Championship in 2021 where he was named in the team of the tournament, has played only 150 minutes for his country in the past 12 months. There are numerous reasons for that. First, having started the first two matches of England’s World Cup campaign in Qatar, scoring and assisting against Iran, he briefly left the tournament to be with his family after armed intruders broke into his home. He returned for the quarter-final against France, coming off the bench for the final 11 minutes. Since then? Nothing. He missed the March internationals due to a hamstring injury. In June, there was a “mutual decision”, as it was described, for Sterling to miss the qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia to focus on some post-season rehabilitation. “He’s not happy physically with his condition — he’s been carrying a hamstring problem,” Southgate said at the time. “He really wasn’t in consideration. He doesn’t think he’s operating at the level he needs.” A representative of Sterling said of his omission: “Following a private conversation between coach and player, a mutual decision has been made for Raheem Sterling to sit out the upcoming internationals, focusing instead on recuperating his body in preparation for the upcoming season.” But for the next games in September? No Sterling. Same again in October and now, for the last two qualifiers for Euro 2024 against Malta and North Macedonia, he misses out again. Southgate insisted at a press conference on Thursday that the door remained open for Sterling to return, but he did not sound particularly convincing about the reasons for Sterling’s continued omission. “We don’t need to know about his qualities or his personality,” Southgate said. “I can only repeat that the team are playing really well. We had an exceptional win against Italy last time around. Who do we leave out to put him in? “Look, he wasn’t available for the games in March or June, so the team had started on a good run. We won in Italy for the first time in 60 years. The two performances in June were excellent, so we have stuck with that group. We’ve deliberately not made many changes because that wouldn’t be fair to the guys in the squad.” Given England’s positive results in 2023 — no defeats, qualification secured, two wins over Italy — that is an argument that would stand up handsomely on its own two feet had anyone nailed down the left-forward spot vacated by Sterling. But nobody really has. James Maddison was shoehorned in there for three starts in Sterling’s absence and did fine, but that is not his most effective position. Jack Grealish had a chance against Australia and was seriously underwhelming, perhaps partly owing to a lack of minutes for Manchester City this season. Marcus Rashford started in England’s last match against Italy, where an excellent second-half performance (and a brilliantly taken goal) secured qualification for next summer’s tournament. Phil Foden, another option, was on the right that night due to Bukayo Saka’s injury absence, but may get his chance on the left over the next couple of weeks. It remains a vacant position, though, at least from what we have seen. Perhaps Southgate has other ideas. He called Sterling “re-energised” on Thursday and said the 28-year-old is “looking dangerous” for Chelsea, where his form has been much improved this season compared to last. So can his omission really be just for football reasons? Or, by missing the June internationals, or even that time at the World Cup, did Sterling annoy Southgate to the extent that his England career is now at an impasse? “I’m not looking to send a message,” Southgate insisted. “That’s an area where we have as much competition for places as anywhere. Jarrod Bowen has scored seven goals this season already, Anthony Gordon is playing very well for Newcastle, Cole Palmer is starting to play well for Chelsea. There’s just a changing landscape there.” Again, the logic does not quite add up. Sterling’s numbers this season may not demand inclusion, but he is playing at a good enough level to warrant a place in the squad when you combine his form with everything he has previously done for England, plus the lack of bona fide left-forward alternatives. Only Maddison and Grealish beat his expected assists and no one comes close to his exceptional take-on figure of 7.3 per match. And the argument of not changing a winning squad when specifically talking about Sterling is weakened when you consider Bowen was only brought in last month having earned his spot with his West Ham form. There is more bemusement than acrimony from Sterling over his recent snubs and he will continue to focus on his Chelsea form in the hope of earning a recall. Yet, in terms of the reasoning behind his exclusion, it appears to some observers that Southgate is now proving a point players cannot pick and choose which international camps they join. The England manager seemed a little tetchy on the line of Sterling questioning. In fact, tetchiness has been a theme of his recent press conferences, namely on subjects such as Jordan Henderson or Harry Maguire, perhaps a sign of growing weariness as he possibly/probably (delete as applicable) nears the end of his England reign next summer. (“I’m genuinely not thinking about it… I’m not interested in just racking up games or racking up years,” he said when asked if his time in charge will extend beyond Euro 2024.) And, after breezing through qualification yet again — this time with two games to spare — Southgate is probably right to be tired of perceived negative questions at every England camp given his record since 2018. But the Sterling questions are legitimate. It does not take Einstein to put two and two together, reach four and come to the realisation that this is not purely related to football. The real question is whether it really matters. In other words, does Sterling being out of the picture damage England’s prospects of winning Euro 2024? Until someone steps up to fill that left-forward void definitively, the answer veers towards yes. But as Ben White and others will tell you, Southgate is not for easily turning.

Raheem Sterling’s three eras in the Premier League: Dribbler, poacher, dribbler again https://theathletic.com/5048294/2023/11/10/raheem-sterlings-three-eras-in-the-premier-league-dribbler-poacher-dribbler-again/ This might make you feel old, but Raheem Sterling should be considered a veteran. The Chelsea winger is into his 13th Premier League campaign, and has made 359 appearances — only 70 players have made more. He also has 82 England caps — only 15 players have more, while no player has ever appeared for England at more World Cups than Sterling, having been selected for the tournaments hosted by Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022. Sterling has had an unusual career. He’s appeared for three of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’, but Liverpool fans resent the nature of his departure, some Manchester City fans weren’t always sold on him, and Chelsea fans haven’t yet learned to love him. He’s often appeared unconvincing in front of goal, and yet has scored 118 times in the Premier League, finishing fifth, sixth and fourth in the Premier League scoring charts during his best seasons. And, in some ways, he felt like an old head on young shoulders in his formative years, but now is playing like a youngster despite all his experience. Before Sunday’s meeting with one of his former clubs, Manchester City, this is an opportune moment to assess the evolution of one of the Premier League’s most intriguing players. All footballers evolve throughout their careers. Age catches up with everyone eventually, particularly in terms of speed — which has always been Sterling’s defining asset, and is particularly important for wingers. This graph, using data from Twenty First Group, shows that, in terms of dribbling past opponents, players tend to peak very early, around the age of 22. After that, because of declining mobility and a more risk-averse approach, they gradually ease off. Ryan Giggs, originally a flying winger and later a calm passer, would be the classic example. But the curious thing about Sterling is that, in some ways, he has been returning to the Sterling of old. In his career, Sterling has been primarily a dribbler, then almost a poacher, and now a dribbler again. The statistics demonstrate that neatly. In terms of attempting to dribble past opponents, 2023-24 Sterling is more like Liverpool-era Sterling than City-era Sterling. And the pattern is even more pronounced when you look at how often Sterling simply carries the ball forward. Not necessarily the most crafty, technical dribbler, Sterling is more effective when running with the ball at speed into space. You expect that from young wingers, but the interesting thing about teenage Sterling was his level of tactical intelligence. Although theoretically a typical modern winger, Sterling was used as a second striker by Brendan Rodgers at times in his first full campaign, and then often at the tip of a diamond in Liverpool’s near-title-winning campaign of 2013-14. At the end of that season, for England’s opening World Cup game against Italy, Roy Hodgson elected to use him in that No 10 role against Italy, handing him the task of marking Andrea Pirlo at the age of 19. That showed Sterling’s tactical ability, and how managers placed trust in him. In the following campaign, Rodgers sometimes fielded him as a wing-back. This was not a pure speedster focused on attacking, but someone who offered discipline and defensive awareness. The question, in Sterling’s early years, was about his end product. That’s common for a winger, although primarily in terms of whether they can cross the ball. For Sterling, who has never played in sides based around crossing, it was more about his finishing. After a 4-1 win over West Ham United in December 2013 when Sterling wasted a couple of good chances, Rodgers said it was just about him “getting that bit of composure” in front of goal, and decided to re-position Sterling — against the player’s wishes. “He is (now) scoring goals, which is important,” said Rodgers. “It’s interesting because he has always preferred playing from the left. And if you’ve seen him in the youth team, he played from the left. But when I looked at him in training, all his goals were coming from the right.” Over his career, he has played slightly more on the left (the minutes classified as being at right-back were in more of a right-wing-back role). Still, Sterling never quite became prolific at Liverpool, and his finishing ability prompted debates about his technical skills. “I don’t rate him that highly as a striker of the ball and by that, I mean, literally, how he kicks it,” wrote Paul Scholes in a newspaper column. “Too often his shots are a scuff or a bobble.” When he left Liverpool, many were suggesting Sterling lacked the clinical edge to become a truly top-class player — and it wasn’t uncommon to hear people saying that another Liverpool youngster, Jordon Ibe, was the better long-term bet. The 2015-16 season, Sterling’s first at Manchester City under Manuel Pellegrini, was a little flat, but Pep Guardiola recognised that Sterling’s speed and positional awareness meant he could become a regular goalscorer, given a bit of coaching. Midway through his first season under Guardiola, 2016-17, Sterling’s performances were promising but his goal return hadn’t improved sufficiently. “There’s something wrong with me — there’s actually something wrong with me,” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “I should have so many more goals. It’s terrible. I should be on about 15-16 goals right now and that’s what I need to do to get to the player I want to be… you need to start scoring goals. I’m putting too much pressure on myself at times.” That feels strange coming from a player who, today, sits 22nd in the goalscoring charts for the Premier League era, and 17th, if you take away everyone’s penalties. For a winger, that’s a truly excellent record and owes more to Sterling’s tactical intelligence than his literal shooting ability. Under Guardiola, Sterling became a brilliantly efficient goalscoring machine. At his best, he scored 18, 17 and then 20 goals in three straight league seasons, primarily because he proved brilliant at popping up at the far post to finish simple chances from balls played across the six-yard box. It didn’t matter which flank he played from. Here are a couple of memorable examples from 2019: one in a famous Champions League second leg against Tottenham from the left, another from a 6-0 thrashing of Watford in the FA Cup final from the right. The finishes were simple, but getting into the right positions was key. To underline the point, it’s worth looking at where the goals came from. More precise data could be used to demonstrate his close-range finishes, but perhaps a simpler barometer is looking at how few of his goals have come from outside the box. Of the 34 players to have scored 100 or more Premier League goals, only Peter Crouch, Dion Dublin, Darren Bent, Sadio Mane, Jamie Vardy and Dwight Yorke have scored a lower percentage of their goals from outside the box. Meanwhile, as the earlier graph proves, his dribbling numbers fell. “Now I’m just going at it 100 per cent,” he said. “Before, I was trying to be silky.” It felt inevitable that Sterling’s departure from City would come at the same time as Erling Haaland’s arrival. It wasn’t just that, after a couple of years generally playing without a proper No 9, City were now built around a true striker who needed to be serviced — after all, Sterling happily co-existed alongside Sergio Aguero. It was also that Sterling’s more literal role was filled by Haaland. The Norwegian is a master of the far-post finish, and therefore Sterling’s presence there wasn’t required. GO DEEPER Premier League clubs have ushered in a golden era of back post goals His first campaign at Chelsea is almost not worth much consideration, given that he played under three managers — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard — while the squad was being turned upside-down. But under Mauricio Pochettino this season, Sterling has a more obvious purpose and a very different one from at City. And it’s not about goalscoring. This chart shows Sterling’s shooting performance in each season throughout his career. The higher up the graph, the more shots he was taking. The further to the right, the better quality of shots he was taking. His Chelsea performance is very different to his peak goalscoring years; it’s more like his first couple of seasons at City. But Sterling’s ball-carrying skills, which we haven’t seen to this extent since his Liverpool days, have come to the fore, as the numbers show. Chelsea have only won four league games this season. In two of them, the 3-0 victory over Luton Town and the 4-1 win against Burnley, Sterling has been involved in all of their goals. There have been demonstrations of his close-range finishing ability and also his off-the-ball running. But the main factor has been that ball-carrying skill. In the game against Luton, he received the ball out on the right, carried it infield into a goalscoring position, and fired home. Against Burnley, he received the ball out near the touchline, dribbled into the box and forced an own goal. Later in that game, he again received the ball out near the touchline, dribbled into the box and was tripped for a penalty. And for Chelsea’s final goal at Turf Moor, he received the ball on the halfway line, on the turn, and carried it to the opposition box before playing a ball in behind for Cole Palmer. Eventually, Nicolas Jackson finished off the move. This is a side of Sterling we haven’t seen consistently for a few years — he simply wasn’t encouraged to do this kind of thing under Guardiola. And in the Premier League this season, no one has attempted to dribble past more opponents than Sterling. The question, though, is about Sterling’s consistency when attempting dribbles. While his raw numbers are high, his success rate is low. There’s a danger that he goes down too many blind alleys, and that highlights packages show an unreasonably favourable reflection of his displays. In that respect, Sterling’s numbers are back where they started over a decade ago. City fans this weekend might remark upon what a different player he is at Chelsea. Liverpool fans tuning into the game might consider him pretty much the same player they remember from a decade ago. Both would be fair assessments. The Sterling of 2023 isn’t too different from the Sterling of 2013 — he just became one of the Premier League’s most consistent goalscorers in between. Rather than evolved, he has revolved back to the player he used to be. GO DEEPER Is Sterling being unfairly overlooked by Southgate, or have England simply moved on?

Raheem Sterling to face no action after allegedly throwing object in crowd during Tottenham vs Chelsea https://theathletic.com/5052124/2023/11/10/raheem-sterling-fa-tottenham-Chelsea/ Raheem Sterling will face no further action after a review into an incident in which he allegedly threw an object back into the crowd during Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur. The Athletic previously reported that the Football Association were reviewing the incident but they have since concluded their investigation and the 28-year-old will face no punishment. The incident occurred shortly after Cole Palmer successfully levelled the scoreline for Chelsea with a penalty in the first half, prompted by Cristian Romero’s red card for a challenge on Enzo Fernandez. Sterling helped Chelsea secure a 4-1 victory on Monday, in a game which saw five disallowed goals and two red cards. Despite an improved start to the season, the former Liverpool and Manchester City player has been unable to force his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England setup, missing out on a call-up to England’s squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia later this month. Chelsea, meanwhile, are next in action this Sunday against Sterling’s former club Manchester City in the Premier League. GO DEEPER Is Sterling being unfairly overlooked by Southgate, or have England simply moved on?

worst loan move in years so stupid

Cole Palmer: From the periphery of Man City’s team to the heart of Chelsea’s in just four months https://theathletic.com/5048612/2023/11/10/cole-palmer-growing-importance-Chelsea/ Nicolas Jackson had the match ball in one hand and finished by clutching the player of the match award in the other, but it was Cole Palmer who stole the show in the amusing tunnel interview that followed Chelsea’s madcap 4-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. “Obviously it’s been a difficult start for him, no hiding it, but he was brilliant tonight,” Palmer told UK broadcaster Sky Sports when invited to talk about Jackson, the 21-year-old speaking with the air of a 10-year veteran assessing the progress of a teenage team-mate. “He just needs to work harder on the training pitch, keep his head down and I think he’ll get many more hat-tricks.” When the startled reporter leaned in to confirm if he had in fact just told Jackson — head down and smiling quietly to himself — to show more effort in training, Palmer replied with an incredulous grin: “Of course! You can always work harder!” It was an illustrative exchange for several reasons. First, as the latest example of the natural personality that marks Palmer out as one of English football’s more entertaining young talkers. Second, as a reminder of the high standards, instilled by the relentless intensity of Pep Guardiola during his years with Manchester City’s first team, which have helped him make an immediate and important impact on a youthful squad at new club Chelsea. Third, as a demonstration of the steely confidence that, two months ago, led him to leave the only club he had ever known in search of a more favourable platform for his talents. That confidence has been on full display for each of the three high-pressure penalties Palmer has successfully converted in his 515 minutes of Premier League action. New head coach Mauricio Pochettino has never officially made Palmer his preferred taker, which goes some way towards explaining the conversation that took place with Raheem Sterling when Chelsea were awarded a spot kick against Arsenal last month. Pochettino has simply made it clear to his players that he wants the person with the most belief on the pitch to assume responsibility. Palmer taking the ball — as he had against Burnley at Turf Moor in the previous match two weeks earlier — was his way of signalling just that, and Enzo Fernandez urging Sterling to let him proceed underlined just how quickly the former City man has earned the trust of his team-mates in big moments. In another context, such a scene might have been interpreted as a worrying sign of dressing room disharmony, but Sterling and Palmer are too close for any of that. Back in August, when he was weighing up the possibility of a transfer to Chelsea, Palmer called former City team-mate Sterling for advice. He responded by talking in glowing terms about life under summer appointment Pochettino and the broader project being funded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, telling Palmer that Stamford Bridge was the place to fulfil his potential. “Raz (Sterling) has always looked after me, so I appreciate him,” Palmer said in his official interview on signing for Chelsea. “He was one when I was coming through at Man City who put his arm around me. That was amazing for me, for someone of his pedigree and international experience to do that. “He saw the potential I had. He saw what I was doing in training. We started talking a bit more. I was asking him questions all the time and from there we have always kept in contact.” GO DEEPER The three eras of Raheem Sterling: Dribbler, finisher, dribbler again Sterling was one of Chelsea’s more dependable performers in a painful start to the season, but it is Palmer’s introduction at the end of September that has provided the creative catalyst for an upturn in results. In addition to those three crucial goals from penalties, his run of seven consecutive starts across the Carabao Cup and Premier League have yielded four assists. After only two victories and three defeats in the season’s first seven matches, when Palmer wasn’t in the starting XI, Chelsea’s record in the next seven, all of which have had him in the initial line-up, is five wins, one draw and one loss. Just as impressive is the variety of ways Palmer has been used in Chelsea’s attack. Pochettino gave him his first minutes off the bench in the home defeat against Nottingham Forest on September 2 as a No 8. His most common role has been as a playmaking right-winger granted the freedom to drift into the No 10 position, but he was deployed to good effect as a false nine in that 2-2 draw with Arsenal, leading the team press intelligently out of possession. Some at Chelsea, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have already voiced the belief that Palmer is the player they thought they were getting when they signed Kai Havertz three years ago. “We are happy with the way he has arrived,” Pochettino said of a player who helped England win the Under-21 European Championship this summer, after the 2-0 loss to Brentford almost two weeks ago. “He arrived on the last day of the transfer window but is playing like he’s been here 10 years, showing his character and personality. “I cannot say, ‘I didn’t expect that’, but also if I say, ‘I expected it’, then I’m lying. You create expectation always when you sign a player but, of course, he’s doing well. You only feel the player when you have the player, and from day one when he started to train, you could see the talent. He still needs time to improve.” Pochettino’s style of management has resonated with Palmer. There have been daily conversations and positive encouragement in training sessions and during matches, where Chelsea’s head coach has empowered him to take risks with his passing in the final third and play through any mistakes — a level of trust rarely afforded him by Guardiola. In these early weeks, the returns have been hugely positive. Palmer leads the Premier League in completed passes into the penalty area per 90 minutes (4.2), among players who have at least 500 minutes to their name this season, and his 4.5 shot-creating actions per 90 are the most in Chelsea’s squad. When it comes to key passes (2.32) and expected assists (0.33) per 90, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are the only team-mates who rank higher. Above all, Palmer gives the impression of a footballer who recognises the opportunity in front of him. Chelsea are nowhere near City’s current level, but moving to Stamford Bridge has given him the consistent run of Premier League football he had craved for much of 2023. Pochettino’s ongoing rebuild means Palmer can establish himself as a key figure on the ground floor in a team with the aspiration to scale similar heights to his previous one in the coming years. City’s visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday will undoubtedly bring added motivation. Palmer’s gratitude to his boyhood club is well documented, and the stellar football education he received under Guardiola is already serving him well at Chelsea, but their willingness to part with him was an admission that he was ultimately viewed as expendable. Challenging that conclusion on the pitch will likely require his best performance yet in a Chelsea shirt. That will not faze Palmer; he knows all too well that you can always work harder.

what a silly statement this board sometimes smdh

Chelsea https://thedailybriefing.io/i/138798312/Chelsea Gabriel Moscardo: “I can confirm that there was interest from Chelsea few months ago, strong interest… but I want to help Corinthians get out of this situation. To tell you the truth, I have very little information, my father knows a few things.” Where could Moscardo be moving to in January? Fabrizio Romano provides some exclusive info here. Pep Guardiola on Cole Palmer’s choice to leave Man City for Chelsea: “I said to him, ‘Riyad Mahrez is leaving, you are going to get a chance here’. And he said, ‘No, I am not going to play here, I want to leave’. So I said, ‘OK, leave…’”

Gabriel Moscardo to the Premier League? https://thedailybriefing.io/i/138797933/gabriel-moscardo-to-the-premier-league Also for January, keep an eye on Gabriel Moscardo. He’s a talented young midfielder playing for Corinthians, born in 2005, and there’s already been interest in him as Chelsea had a verbal proposal rejected at the end of August. Now we’re hearing some transfer rumours about Barcelona, and while it’s true that they appreciate him, at the moment because of Financial Fair Play they are not in a position to pay for Moscardo, with a deal likely to cost something in the region of €25m plus add-ons. For Barca at the moment it’s a complicated deal - they really appreciate the player but at the moment they are not prepared to invest that kind of money in January. I say January because at the moment the idea is for Moscardo to move in the January window, not in the summer. Premier League clubs are interested in signing Moscardo in January, so keep an eye on the Premier League for this boy, because for Barca it’s a difficult deal, but for big English clubs it could be a very big opportunity.

Alphonso Davies to Real Madrid could be one to watch in 2024 https://thedailybriefing.io/i/138797933/alphonso-davies-to-real-madrid-could-be-one-to-watch-in Let’s start today’s column with the situation of Alphonso Davies, because the Bayern Munich left-back was really close to extending his contract one year ago before the major changes at the club - Julian Nagelsmann left, Thomas Tuchel became manager, and then Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic left the board. So now there is no agreement for Davies and Bayern to extend his contract, and the situation is getting complicated. With Davies’ contract set to expire in 2025, the feeling for Bayern is that it’s important to get this situation clarified by next summer. In January, Davies is considered untouchable and not expected to move, but in summer 2024, Davies is a player in Real Madrid’s list. The interest has been there some months ago, and I can confirm that it’s still there. There is someone on the Madrid board who is a big fan of Davies, and there is a general feeling at the club that they need to do something in terms of full-backs in 2024. Davies is one of the players they appreciate, but, as ever, this deal happening will depend on many things - what will happen with Davies at Bayern, what will happen with his price tag, and if other clubs will join the race. It’s important to mention, for instance, that for many months last year, Manchester City’s scouts were following Davies, and this is just one example. So, keep an eye on Davies because he’s one of the names on Real Madrid’s list and he could be one of the big deals for 2024, let’s see what’s going to happen because it’s going to take some time for the situation to be clarified, while Bayern will also not sell players in January, but might sign players. Their priorities are a new centre-back and defensive midfielder, and for now Davies is going nowhere.

Di Maria will finish with between 900 and 1000 games played over 200 goals and over 300 assists for club and country at least 35 or so major trophies, including the World Cup (plus the U20 World Cup), Copa America, CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, an Olympic Gold, the Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup The only thing he really lacks is the World Club Cup, as he left Real Madrid right before they played and won it in late 2014 (stupidly moving to a shit Manure side for one season in 2014/15) if Palmer does half that he will be a fucking legend

Spuds

Gabriel Moscardo has monster potential

Pool almost pulled out a draw after being down 2 nil and then 3 1

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