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Tag: English football

  • Liverpool’s huge title statement in City humbling; four goals in 11 mins ignite top-four race: Premier League Wrap

    Liverpool’s huge title statement in City humbling; four goals in 11 mins ignite top-four race: Premier League Wrap

    Liverpool took a giant stride towards the Premier League title on Sunday as a 2-0 win over Manchester City opened up an 11-point lead at the top of the table over Arsenal.

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    Mohamed Salah was again Liverpool’s star performer as he opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the season before setting up Dominik Szoboszlai to double the lead before half-time.

    Just days after exiting the Champions League to Real Madrid, this was another sobering defeat for the dethroned English champions, who are now 20 points adrift of the leaders.

    So often during Pep Guardiola’s glorious reign, Liverpool have come up just short in English football’s great rivalry of recent years.

    However, their time to match Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles now appears just months away in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

    Arsenal’s shock 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday had eased the pressure on Liverpool, that had built after dropping points in two of their last three games at Everton and Aston Villa.

    Newcastle hold on in SEVEN goal thriller | 01:18

    A trip to the Etihad has for so long been the stiffest test of all, but City’s defensive frailties were easily exposed and they also badly missed the presence of the injured Erling Haaland in attack.

    Liverpool, by contrast, had their talisman fit and firing as Salah took his staggering tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 Premier League appearances.

    The Egyptian fired the visitors in front on 14 minutes thanks to a brilliantly executed set-piece routine.

    Alexis Mac Allister’s corner was flicked by Szoboszlai into Salah’s path and his shot deflected off Nathan Ake past the despairing dive of Ederson.

    At the other end, City’s own Egyptian international showed his ability to finish, but Omar Marmoush had strayed off-side before being played in by Phil Foden.

    City winger Jeremy Doku was skipping past Trent Alexander-Arnold at will, yet the Belgian consistently failed to deliver a telling cross or shot.

    Salah was not so forgiving as he raced onto a long ball over the top and teed up Szoboszlai to wrong-foot Ederson.

    The final outcome could have been much more humiliating for City had Liverpool had been as accurate on the counter-attack after the break.

    Curtis Jones had a third goal ruled out by a VAR review for off-side after Szoboszlai just failed to time his run through the heart of the City defence.

    “We didn’t hit the levels today!” | 01:02

    Ederson was forced into a stunning save from Luis Diaz and only a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Abdukodir Khusanov denied Szoboszlai a second.

    Marmoush scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s 4-0 win over Newcastle and remained a lively threat as he flashed another effort across the front of Alisson Becker’s goal.

    But City lacked the end product to make nearly 70 per cent possession count. Despite an eighth league defeat of the season, Guardiola’s men remain in fourth and will be confident of securing their place in the Champions League next season with a top-five finish likely to be enough.

    However, after an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles, City look like yesterday’s team with Liverpool now champions in waiting.

    – ‘We need another title’, says Salah after ‘special’ Man City win –

    Mohamed Salah said Liverpool’s veterans need another Premier League title after inspiring a 2-0 win at Manchester City to surge 11 points clear at the top of the table.

    Salah was central to a statement win for the Reds as he opened the scoring and then teed up Dominik Szoboszlai to double Liverpool’s lead before half-time.

    Arne Slot’s men are in a commanding position to secure a record-equalling 20th English top flight title, although second-placed Arsenal have a game in hand.

    City, who have won the last four Premier League titles, are now 20 points behind the leaders down in fourth.

    Spurs win 3rd straight – Gunners choke | 03:05

    “It is incredible. It is a very hard place to come and play here,” said Salah after Liverpool’s first league win at the Etihad for a decade.

    “They are a tough team and they have an incredible manager I am glad in the end we won the game. It is special. Especially when you are in the title race, it is incredible.

    “Hopefully we keep calm because sometimes the pressure gets to us.”

    Salah took his tally for an incredible season to 30 goals and 21 assists and said he is enjoying his football more than ever despite speculation over his future.

    The 32-year-old, captain Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were all part of the Liverpool side that ended a 30-year wait to win the title in 2020.

    And Salah reiterated his belief that they need another Premier League winner’s medal to burnish their legacy.

    “Maybe people prefer my first seasons or now but I prefer now because winning the league, helping the young players, it is special,” he added.

    “We need another title. Me and the big guys in the team, we need another title.”

    – Forest felled by Isak as Newcastle bolster top four bid –

    Newcastle blew Nottingham Forest away with four goals in 11 minutes as Alexander Isak’s double inspired a vital 4-3 win in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four.

    Eddie Howe’s side recovered from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s early opener to run riot with a first half goal spree at St James’ Park on Sunday.

    Lewis Miley bagged Newcastle’s equaliser, sparking an astonishing spell of dominance as Jacob Murphy put the hosts ahead.

    Isak netted twice in less than two minutes to reach 50 Premier League goals and leave Forest in tatters.

    The Sweden striker has 19 league goals this season, taking him level with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in second place behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in this season’s scoring chart.

    Nikola Milenkovic and Ryan Yates scored for Forest in the second half, but it was too late for an incredible escape act.

    After three defeats in their previous four league games, fifth-placed Newcastle are back in the hunt to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top four finish.

    The Magpies are behind fourth-placed Manchester City on goal difference, with third-placed Forest just three points above them.

    “I’m trying to control my thoughts and stay positive. We won the game and that’s what we needed to do,” Howe said.

    “It was a great performance in the first half, then a couple of frailties showed in terms of defending set plays.

    “We can reflect on that. There are things we can do better. We pride ourselves on getting the details right.”

    Leicester lose 6th straight game | 01:21

    Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo added: “In the first half I didn’t recognise our team. In the second half we were much better.

    “We made mistakes. It was two totally different halves. We started well and then they just rolled over us.” Newcastle keeper Nick Pope made his first league start since early December in place of Martin Dubravka.

    But Pope was partially at fault as Newcastle gifted Forest the lead in sloppy style after just six minutes Jacob Murphy lost the ball in his own half as Hudson-Odoi pressured the Newcastle midfielder into conceding possession.

    Hudson-Odoi wasn’t closed down quickly enough by Dan Burn and the winger unloaded a powerful low drive that caught Pope out of position as it flashed into the net.

    Miley ensured Newcastle’s strong response to that early setback was rewarded in the 23rd minute.

    – Newcastle hold on –

    With Forest’s usually rock-solid defence slow to react, Miley had time to control Lewis Hall’s pass inside the penalty area and drill his shot through a sea of legs past unsighted keeper Matz Sels.

    Murphy made amends for his earlier mistake to put Howe’s team ahead two minutes after Miley’s equaliser.

    Hall’s driving run was the catalyst as the defender took Isak’s return pass and hit a deflected cross that looped over Sels for Murphy to bundle home from virtually on the goal-line.

    Newcastle were firing on all cylinders and they struck again in the 33rd minute. Ola Aina used his arm to block Hall’s cross, conceding a penalty that Isak dispatched past Sels with an audacious lofted effort that left the keeper sprawled on his back as he tried in vain to claw it out.

    Forest had no answer to Newcastle’s intensity and it was no surprise when they conceded a fourth just 60 seconds later.

    Joe Willock raced unchecked through the Forest midfield and slipped his pass to Isak, whose shot from 12 yards took a deflection on its way past the wrong-footed Sels.

    Newcastle eased up in the second half and Milenkovic reduced the deficit in the 63rd minute, flicking Chris Wood’s cross past Pope from close-range.

    When Yates steered home in the 90th minute, a nervous hush descended on St James’ Park, but Newcastle held on by their fingernails.

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  • ‘Stuff of dreams’: Inside fairytale rise of PL ‘disruptors’… and the unlikely hero at its centre

    ‘Stuff of dreams’: Inside fairytale rise of PL ‘disruptors’… and the unlikely hero at its centre

    Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth battling the powerhouses for a Champions League place. No one predicted that.

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    There is only a third of the Premier League season remaining and the race for the top four has arguably never been more intriguing.

    Liverpool appears set to have one hand on the title, eight points clear of second-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand, but the next rung down is where things get fascinating.

    Nottingham Forest third, Manchester City fourth and Bournemouth fifth.

    The latter jumped into the top five after Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle all dropped points last weekend.

    Forest have won 14, drawn five and lost six, while Bournemouth have won 12, drawn seven and lost six.

    It reads like a Forest or Cherries fan plugging away on Football Manager for hours to get their team to dizzying heights, but supporters in England’s midlands and on the south coast better stop pinching themselves.

    They are not dreaming. This is real.

    The struggles of regular top six clubs Manchester United and Tottenham, along with Champions League Round of 16 bound Villa slipping in the league, presented opportunities, and Forest and Bournemouth have snatched them with both hands.

    The Forest story is famous.

    A powerhouse decades ago with back-to-back European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980 under legendary manager Brian Clough.

    A year before their first continental breakthrough, Forest won the English top flight and they were runners-up the season after.

    But following relegation from the Premier League in 1999, they fell into the football abyss.

    Forest did not return to the Premier League until 2022 and barely avoided relegation by finishing 16th and 17th in their first two seasons back in the top tier.

    Bournemouth were promoted from the Championship in the same season as Forest and initially found themselves in the bottom half of the table too.

    A 12th place finish last season was preceded by coming 15th in their prior campaign.

    Unlike Forest, however, Bournemouth is not a club with a rich pedigree.

    Its first season in the Premier League came under now Newcastle boss Eddie Howe in 2015/16 and a ninth-place finish in their second season was the club’s best result in the top flight.

    Years of mediocrity did not show too many hints of a breakout campaign in Bournemouth’s case, nor a stunning revival in Forest’s case.

    But the dream of Champions League nights at the City Ground or the Vitality Stadium is alive and well, and this how they have put themselves in the hunt for midweek action against the best clubs in Europe.

    Here is how they did it.

    FOREST’S KIWI FRONTMAN

    Like Forest’s, Chris Wood’s story is a fairytale.

    The 33-year-old captain of the New Zealand national team has remarkably played for 12 different clubs in England.

    He even went through a three-year period where he was sent out on loan six times by West Bromwich Albion.

    Wood bounced around the various tiers of English football after moving to the UK as a 16-year-old to chase his dreams, and now the Forest talisman is a bonified star.

    NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and AFC Bournemouth at City Ground on August 17, 2024 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    The six-foot three striker is third in the golden boot race.

    He has netted 18 goals so far this campaign, highlighted by a hat-trick in Forest’s 7-0 rout of Brighton earlier this month, to only sit behind Mohamed Salah (24) and Erling Haaland (19).

    It is his best Premier League season, and he still has 13 more opportunities to add to his tally.

    “When they talk about Mo Salah and Erling Haaland – they mention Chris Wood in the same breath – you can’t compete with that,” Wood’s high school coach former New Zealand international Mike Groom told Sky Sports.

    “It’s theatrical, it’s magical, it’s the stuff of dreams and kids’ dreams are fuelled by those images and that exposure.

    “We’re still a rugby-playing country, but Chris is single-handedly beginning to change that.”

    Wood’s height automatically makes him an aerial threat as a target man, he has scored six headed goals this season, the most in the league, but his finishing is still underrated.

    In fact, it is lethal.

    Wood has had 28 shots on target for the season, and scoring 18 of them makes him the most effective of any of the Premier League’s top strikers in front of goal.

    New Zealand’s record goal scorer, who is also nearing the record for most appearances for his country, has also endeared himself to football fans because he is not blessed with all the attributes of the likes of Salah and Haaland.

    The biggest difference is pace.

    Wood is not a quick player, and the fact he lacks speed seemingly contradicts the fact that Forest prefers to play counterattacking football.

    But he makes it work by timing his runs perfectly and seizing big moments.

    In some ways, it makes little sense but so has his entire football journey.

    “It’s definitely exceeded what I dreamt of when I was a kid and hopefully, I’ve got a lot more I can achieve to make it an even better dream,” Wood told Sky Sports.

    “I want to keep the path open for New Zealanders to hopefully make it into the Premier League one day – I want to grow that generation of new kids wanting to play football and wanting to dream of doing the best they can and ending up in the biggest league.”

    BOURNEMOUTH CREATE CHAOS

    Bournemouth’s blueprint in attack is not dissimilar to Forest’s.

    The two sides are comfortably the Premier League leaders for playing fast and direct football.

    They sit back and defend resolutely, and when they win the ball back, they are off to the races.

    Once the ball is in their attacking half, they press high and try to force turnovers in dangerous areas.

    It makes for exciting games to watch, and Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been heaped with praise this season for his tactics.

    “I sometimes value much more a player carrying the ball and forcing things to happen,” Iraola said in an interview with The Independent.

    “We have to prepare [positional] patterns, but we cannot just prioritise them. If you can see that you don’t have a teammate ahead, forget about the pattern, just drive the ball and try to force things to happen. I want him to attack first.”

    Meanwhile premierleague.com’s Alex Keble summed up the essence of their play as “disruption”.

    “High risk, high reward: that’s the mentality of Iraola and his team, whether in hounding the ball with an all-action and full-pitch press or piercing opposition lines with sharp vertical football and attacking overloads,” Keble said.

    “Perhaps the best word to encapsulate their tactical approach is “disruption”.

    “Disrupt the other team’s play with furious pressing, and disrupt the expected rhythms of your own attack with improvisations and surges forward in high numbers.”

    That philosophy has brought out the best in Justin Kluivert, who has scored 11 goals so far this campaign, four more than last season.

    The Dutchman has really found his groove in the Premier League in recent times.

    He was player of the month in January for scoring five goals and recording two assists in four appearances, of which Bournemouth won three and drew one.

    The highlight of his season so far was a hat-trick, and an assist, in a 4-1 away win against Newcastle who were previously unbeaten in nine matches before that January fixture.

    BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – JANUARY 25: Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest FC at Vitality Stadium on January 25, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    That victory was followed up by a 5-0 victory against Forest, where Kluivert contributed a goal and an assist to help end Forest’s eight-game unbeaten run.

    Knocking off several in-form teams led to Iraola taking home manager of the month, and David Brooks’ stunning volley against Everton made it a clean sweep of the awards by winning goal of the month.

    All of that came amid a length injury list, including strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal.

    But Kluivert’s breakout combined with the superb form of fellow attackers Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo, who have scored seven goals apiece this season, has prevented injuries from being an excuse.

    No matter who is on the sidelines, once Bournemouth wins the ball back there are simply too many runners for opponents to attack.

    Remarkably, one would expect such a style of play to make them vulnerable at the back.

    But Iraola’s side do not play a high line, and they have the equal-third best defensive record in the league, alongside Forest, conceding 29 goals so far. Only Arsenal and Liverpool have been stingier at the back.

    They key has been the centre back pairing of Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi, a combination Iraola landed on during the season.

    In the 13 games they have started together, Bournemouth have lost once, to Liverpool.

    Zabaryni is the rock that has played every minute this season, while 19-year-old Huijsen has been a revelation.

    “Huijsen is undoubtedly the star of the two,” Keble wrote.

    “Signed from Juventus for around £15 million last summer, his strength in the air, composure in possession, and – crucially – assertive front-foot style have catapulted Bournemouth to new heights.”

    LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 08: Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on February 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    FOREST’S ELITE DEFENCE

    ESPN’s Bruce Schoenfeld summed up Forest’s defensive brilliance in writing that manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s “football has hardly changed even though instead of a relegation battle, he has European qualification in his sights”.

    Forest defends like their life depends on it.

    They have comfortably made more clearances than any other team, including the equal most amount of clearances off the line.

    They are level with Liverpool for the most number of clean sheets with ten.

    Goalkeeper Matz Sels has punched away the aerial more than anyone else.

    They are desperate.

    And they are bringing an enormous amount of pride to the club’s greats.

    “I haven’t watched a better pairing at the back than Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic in my 50 years of watching Forest,” former England and Forest midfielder Steve Hodge said on BBC Radio last month.

    “I really mean that – pound for pound what they are as footballers and as a pair,” he added. “They have everything. As a pair, they complement each other perfectly and they both seem to be calm characters even under severe pressure.”

    Nikola Milenkovic of Nottingham Forest celebrates victory during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, on February 1, 2025. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    Milenkovic joined from Fiorentina last summer and the 31-year-old Serbian is in many pundits’ team of the season so far.

    He is an old-fashioned, no-nonsense centre back whose heading ability has led to him scoring two goals as well as clearing many attacking threats.

    But in the coming games, Forest face arguably the biggest defensive test of the season.

    Away at Newcastle, home to Arsenal and home to Manchester City are their next three league games.

    They passed with flying colours earlier in the season, defeating Liverpool at Anfield and taking a point from them at home.

    That shows that there is little to doubt that Forest’s steeliness will remain.

    BOURNEMOUTH’S EXCELLENT ROAD RECORD

    A major part of Bournemouth’s success has been their impressive away record.

    The Cherries have won six, drawn four and lost three of their matches on the road this season, including going unbeaten in their last seven away games.

    That streak has included a pair of 2-2 draws against rivals for the European places Chelsea and Fulham, as well as the Newcastle win mentioned earlier.

    Their most recent away win was a 3-1 win against cellar dwellers Southampton in a south coast derby, and post-match Iraola identified fast starts as the reason for their away success.

    “I think it’s key, especially when you play away,” he said.

    “I think we are having good starts. I remember last games, Newcastle away, Everton the other day.

    “Even the two goals in 16 minutes, but in the first minute I think we had two corners for us.

    “It’s a good start and a message that we are coming here and we want to win this game and we are not happy with the 0-0 and we want things to happen quickly.

    “Also, I think they are a team that now is aggressive in the press. I think there were spaces behind them. There were spaces behind us.

    “The game could go very open and I’m happy, especially first half, I think we controlled the game very well.”

    Their ability to get results on the road will be severely tested later in the season as they visit Arsenal and Manchester City in the final four games of their campaign.

    They could be vital to their European hopes.

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  • ‘Laughing stock’… or ‘village idiots’ who can’t hack an Aussie? Making sense of Ange ‘agenda’ claim

    ‘Laughing stock’… or ‘village idiots’ who can’t hack an Aussie? Making sense of Ange ‘agenda’ claim

    The tight rope Ange Postecoglou is walking is getting narrower.

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    That is to be expected when a big six club like Tottenham sits 14th on the Premier League table almost two-thirds of the way through the season.

    This time last week Spurs were still in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and the Europa League.

    Now, only the latter remains.

    The results are not stacking up in the Australian’s favour, but there is an unshakeable feeling among his backers that if he was not an outsider in English football, he might be afforded more rope.

    It has been highly publicised that Tottenham have been hit with an injury crisis in recent months.

    It was back in December that Postecoglou grumbled “I’m just going to stop answering these questions. If people can’t see the obvious, I’m not going to point it out,” when asked yet another question about what is going wrong after his side were battered by Liverpool 6-2 at home.

    Spurs out of FA Cup with loss to Villa | 01:18

    Then on Sunday, he called out the English media once again, saying there is an “agenda” against his team.

    “There’s got to be a better appreciation for what a very small group of players have been doing for the last two and a half months,” he said.

    “It can’t be that people think that’s an excuse. That’s just not anywhere near close to objective analysis. That’s just agenda-driven stuff.

    “If it’s to get rid of me that’s fine. Good on ya. Go for it a million times.

    “But in terms of this group of players, what they’ve given over the past two and half months has been outstanding, it’s a credit to them, I can’t speak highly enough of them.”

    Yet, the questions keep coming despite the most glaring issue being clear for all to see.

    Postecoglou has been repeatedly forced to put out a makeshift defence with first choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, centre back pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, and left-back Destiny Udogie all spending extended periods on the sidelines.

    Further afield, midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma have been regularly unavailable, while their goal scoring stocks have suffered the blows of injuries to Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison at various times.

    Logically, it is no surprise that the losses have mounted.

    Liverpool sink Spurs in run to final | 02:05

    Just as they did for Newcastle United last season.

    The Magpies lost ten of their first 21 Premier League encounters last campaign.

    Undeniably, not good enough for a club with a lot of financial power considering its 80% per cent ownership by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, well-known for funding LIV Golf and spreading their wealth throughout the sporting world in recent years.

    But manager Eddie Howe faced nowhere near the level of scrutiny Postecoglou has received.

    It was widely accepted that the Englishman, who made his name by taking Bournemouth to the Premier League for the first time, had his hands tied by an injury-riddled squad.

    The added pressure of mid-week European competition, Newcastle played in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, as well as cup fixtures and always demanding league schedule took its toll.

    It sounds familiar to Postecoglou’s current predicament.

    But unlike in Howe’s case, the English press, pundits, former players and fans have been baying for blood.

    And despite sometimes justified criticism of Postecoglou’s polarising tactics, some of the reasons for doing so have not always been fair.

    “Spurs’ Australian head coach is the latest target of the village idiots; the half-pint pundits and critics who prefer to laugh at the fact he finishes his sentences with ‘mate’ than listen to him contextualising his team’s problems,” football news correspondent for the UK Telegraph Matt Law wrote.

    The mockery unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with the club Postecoglou is at.

    Tottenham are repeatedly a laughing stock among rival fans courtesy of the well-documented absence of silverware in their trophy cabinet since 2008.

    The regularity with which they sack managers, Postecoglou is their 12th permanent manager this century, is the bud of many jokes.

    So too is the behaviour of their fans, who even wanted their own team to lose the penultimate game of last Premier League season at home to Manchester City, which they did 2-0, to deny arch enemies Arsenal the title.

    Therefore, of course, when an Australian arrived in north London with tales of how he has won a trophy in his second season with Celtic, Yokohama F. Marinos, the Socceroos, Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne, the punch lines were being written.

    Add to that the fact he had shown an unwavering commitment to attacking football, even when times are tough. That was until their last Premier League outing, a 2-0 victory away at Brentford, as a more defensive approach broke a seven-game winless streak in the league.

    Spurs sat deeper and gritted their teeth for 90 minutes, showing that they can be more resolute in defence, but Postecoglou is still spoken of as a madman.

    There are choruses of laughter in pubs and football clubs across England at Postecoglou’s and Tottenham’s expense, and they have only grown louder in recent days.

    Ange denies Tel initially rejected Spurs | 01:11

    In the past week, another dismantling by Liverpool, in the form of a 4-0 drubbing at Anfield in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final after leading 1-0 following the first leg, was followed by a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

    There is little shame in losing to the Premier League leaders, or Aston Villa have qualified for the Champions League Round of 16, but that did not prevent the pile on.

    Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp was scathing on Sky Sports after the Liverpool loss, saying “I cannot remember a team in my lifetime go down with less of a fight with what Spurs did today”.

    “Not having one shot on target in the semi-final of a second leg when you’re trying to change the course of your history?” he added.

    Fellow former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara, who has been a very vocal critic of Postecoglou, took to X to call for his sacking.

    “It’s time to go now, Ange is out of his depth. [Unai] Emery is on a different planet compared to him and his players bopped us off the park. Should have been five, we’re like reserve team playing in academy games that don’t matter, it’s crazy,” O’Hara wrote.

    It did not help things for Postecoglou either that Liverpool great Jamie Carragher opted to rub further salt into Spurs’ wounds.

    “It’s Tottenham!” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “When do Tottenham ever win a big game? When do Tottenham ever go and surprise, win against the odds?”

    The last few months it must have felt like Postecoglou was being forced to play game after game at a casino where the house always wins.

    With the injury crisis, the odds have been massively skewed against them, but the cup competitions kept the hope alive.

    Now, only the European dream remains to fulfil the Postecoglou prophecy of winning yet another trophy in his second season in charge of a team.

    Spurs finished fourth in the new look league phase of the Europa League with five wins, two draws and a loss to automatically advance to the Round of 16.

    Awaiting them will be one of Midtjylland, AZ Alkmaar, Real Sociedad or Galatasaray but arguably more important than the opponent they face, will be the respite Postecoglou’s injury hit squad receive.

    Their next European clash is not until March 6 as they will enjoy some much-needed breathing space between matches this month after a manic December and January.

    Tension eases as Spurs advance in Europa | 01:57

    Spurs played 17 matches across all competitions in that stretch as the casualty ward overflowed.

    It was reported by the UK Telegraph on Monday that Postecoglou has implemented a much-needed reset by affording the squad two days off this week to recharge the batteries before facing Manchester United at home in the league on Sunday.

    “The boys who are coming back, we’ll get the opportunity to give them a whole week of training, which is great,” Postecoglou said.

    “By the time we get to the back end of the week we should have something resembling a squad of players to prepare for a big game. That then folds into the following week when, again, we’ve got seven days and no midweek game to prepare for the next game.

    “So that gives us a real good opportunity to get some work into the guys who have been out for quite a while and give some rest to the guys who have been going at it. So by the time we get back to being in Europe and having midweek games we’ll be in a much better shape.”

    Postecoglou will be hoping the refresh, along with the possible returns of Vicario, Udogie, Maddison, Johnson and Wilson Odobert will be the morale booster the playing group desperately needs.

    Their frustrations came to the fore during the Villa loss on Sunday.

    “Spence ripped off his sock tape, threw it on the ground and headed straight down the tunnel with Yves Bissouma at full time,” The Athletic’s Jay Harris wrote.

    “Pedro Porro jumped up after being nutmegged and left in a heap on the floor by Marcus Rashford. He then brought Villa’s new striker down with a wild kick on the edge of the box and somehow escaped punishment. The Spain international received a yellow card in the final 10 minutes for a tackle on Ramsey.

    “Bentancur was booked for dragging down Rogers. Bergvall jumped into a tackle on Rogers and then clattered into him later on. He eventually picked up a booking for a foul on Ramsey, too.

    “These are the moments when Postecoglou needs his senior players, including the captain Son and Dejan Kulusevski, to calm everyone down.”

    Jovial Ange jokes before crucial goal | 00:57

    If the players can reset, they may be able to claw their way back to the days of Postecoglou’s honeymoon period at Spurs.

    The 59-year-old was a breath of fresh air when Tottenham amassed 26 points in his first ten games in charge, a Premier League record, when he took over last season.

    Most promising for Postecoglou is that the formula is still there.

    “The statistics still tell us this Tottenham team, for all their struggles this season, play a little differently to everyone else. The principles of play that had Postecoglou’s Spurs five points clear at the top of the table early last season remain in place,” Sky Sports’ Adam Bate wrote.

    “No team in the Premier League has won the ball high up the pitch more times than Tottenham. No team allows so few passes per defensive action. No team plays with more width than Tottenham. By design, it is supposed to be intense and expansive.”

    The numbers are a promising sign that if the medical staff can get most of their stars back on the pitch, the performances may turn quickly.

    Who knows what will happen in the Europa League knockouts, but for what it is worth, Howe’s Newcastle won nine and drew four of their final 17 Premier League games last season once the midweek grind subsided.

    They finished seventh, and currently sit sixth, two points shy of fourth-placed Chelsea and one of the lucrative Champions League places.

    Perhaps if Postecoglou is afforded the leniency of an Englishman, he may have the time to turn things around in a similar fashion.

    Who knows, they still have one chance to fulfil his trophy prophecy.

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  • Bargain buys — and unlikely hero behind 30-year fairytale: Inside PL season’s wildest rise

    Bargain buys — and unlikely hero behind 30-year fairytale: Inside PL season’s wildest rise

    Football fairytales do still exist.

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    At the start of the season, no one would have predicted Nottingham Forest to be guaranteed a place in the Premier League’s top three on New Year’s Day.

    The once mighty Forest, who famously won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, were in fact one of the favourites to be relegated this season, according to the bookmakers.

    After winning two of their last three matches to finish one place above the drop zone last campaign, that prediction made sense.

    But now, they are one place off top spot and everyone else has egg on their face.

    Forest moved to second with a 2-0 win at Everton in the early hours of Monday morning Australian time, and at worst they will start 2025 in third if Chelsea win at second-last Ipswich Town.

    It was their fifth consecutive victory in the league, which is the longest winning streak in English football’s top flight since 1995.

    Sitting on 37 points with 11 wins and four draws for 19 matches, they have already surpassed their entire points tally from last season by five.

    Forest returned to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years in the 2022/23 season and in their two previous campaigns back among England’s heavyweights, they only won nine games in each season.

    “We are enjoying it,” Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said of their league position. “We are especially enjoying because our fans are enjoying.

    “This is what we have to do together, let’s enjoy the journey, compete in every match. Nothing changes, we have to realise we didn’t achieve anything.”

    It has been a stunning turnaround, and it has been built off the back of staunch defence.

    The 26 goals they have scored so far is the equal least, alongside Aston Villa, among the top 12 teams, but they have still presented a serious attacking threat.

    New Zealander Chris Wood has been the hero up front with 11 goals after earlier in the year knocking back the pursuits of the A-League’s newest team, Auckland FC.

    The tall striker is a major threat in the air and is a proven finisher with a double figure goal tally in six different Premier League seasons across his stints at Forest and Burnley.

    Reds hammer West Ham in 5-0 rout | 00:45

    The 33-year-old is on track to better his best season tally of 14, which he has reached twice, and sits equal fourth in the golden boot standings, six shy of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

    Everton boss, and Wood’s former mentor at Burnley, Sean Dyche was full of praise for Wood after he scored at Goodison Park.

    “He’s got a different format they’re working to there which seems to be to his liking. He’s got wide players, they’ve got a strength behind them, and they get the ball up to him quickly,” Dyche said.

    “That seems to be a thing that’s good for him and not massively dissimilar to what we were trying to achieve at Burnley.

    “But yeah, I think a lot of credit to him, credit to his professionalism to keep on top of himself. He had a quiet spell when he first went there and [there were] a few question marks over him.

    “That can happen with strikers. He’s had that before, and he’s come through it. Certainly a very good player, and someone I’ve got a lot of respect for.”

    But it is at the other end of the pitch where Forest are causing the most headaches for their opponents.

    Goalkeeper Matz Sels boasts the most clean sheets in the league with eight, and has made many crucial stops throughout the first half of the season.

    In front of Sels is real the star of the show, however.

    Centre back Nikola Milenkovic was bought from Fiorentina for £12 million in the summer and is proving to be bargain in comparison to what the richer clubs fork out for the linchpins of their defences.

    In fact, the 27-year-old is widely regarded as the best signing of the season.

    “The Serbian defender has helped turn Nottingham Forest into one of the best defensive sides in the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo’s guidance, with an old-school appetite for the battle with his centre-forward,” The UK Telegraph’s sports writer Lawrence Ostlere wrote.

    “He’s also added a set-piece threat at the other end of the pitch, with a couple of goals and an assist already this season, and must have added plenty of value to his £12m transfer fee.”

    Milenkovic’s impact has been so great, that it has even forgiven other missteps Forest have made in transfer windows past.

    “Nottingham Forest were mocked, sometimes rightly, for signing vast numbers of players in recent years; so many that they didn’t have room in the squad for some of them,” The UK Telegraph’s senior football correspondent Richard Jolly wrote.

    “Yet recruitment has clearly been refined: less quantity, more quality. Their side now has a series of fine buys. Nikola Milenkovic may be the best: not merely in what he is – a giant, dominant central defender – but in terms of what Forest lacks.

    “He complements the excellent Murillo wonderfully. Forest now have one of the best central-defensive partnerships and defences in the division. And at £12m, Milenkovic is a bargain.”

    In midfield, captain Morgan Gibbs-White has been inspirational.

    He followed manager Nuno from Wolves to the City Ground, and has since become an England international.

    Gibbs-White scored in their most recent outing at Everton, but it his creativity in the middle of the pitch that has drawn the most praise.

    At Goodison Park, he also set up Wood’s goal and has been dubbed by his manager a “talented player” who is “fantastic”.

    He along with Wood and Milenkovic will need to maintain their high standards if Forest are to challenge for the title or hang on to a Champions League place.

    Chants of ‘we’re going to win the league’ have rung out from the Forest fans regularly in recent months, but with every win they are becoming less tongue-in-cheek.

    It would take a mighty collapse from league leaders Liverpool, who are eight points clear with a game in hand, but the fact Forest and the Reds are battling it out at the pointy end of the table is a providing older fans with a lot of nostalgia.

    Forest won the English First Division in 1978 with Liverpool finishing second, the following year their places were reversed.

    During the 1980s, Forest finished third on three occasions and they last played in the European Cup, now the Champions League, in the 1980-81 season.

    Now, the dream is real of hearing the Champions League theme on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at the City Ground.

    It will be a challenge, but their biggest tests might be behind them.

    Arsenal keep pressure on Liverpool | 01:27

    In the second half of the season, their clashes with fellow top five teams Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City are all at home.

    That Liverpool match is only two weeks away, first they will travel to an in form Wolves in a grudge match for Nuno, and after that clash we will have a better understanding how serious about being a top team Forest truly are.

    Their current standing proves this is more than merely a good start, but it remains unclear whether this could be another Leicester City fairytale title, an Aston Villa of last season charge to the Champions League, or a campaign that fades into the middle of the table.

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  • ‘Where’ve you been?’: Ange’s epic response to big United question as Spurs linked to $100m star

    ‘Where’ve you been?’: Ange’s epic response to big United question as Spurs linked to $100m star

    Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said he wants to keep Marcus Rashford in his squad after the England forward suggested he could leave Old Trafford for a “new challenge”.

    The 27-year-old was dropped by Amorim for Sunday’s win at Manchester City and responded by hinting he would consider ending his time at United.

    Rashford, valued by Transfermarkt.com at $100m AUD, came through United’s youth ranks and has chalked up 138 goals in 426 appearances for the club since making his debut in 2016.

    However, he has lost form over the last 18 months with United and was also axed from England’s Euro 2024 squad.

    Amorim’s first decision of his reign to was followed by Rashford’s interview on social media on Tuesday in which he refused to rule out quitting United.

    Amorim, who arrived from Sporting Lisbon in November, was quizzed on Rashford’s comments when he faced the media on Wednesday ahead of United’s League Cup quarter-final at Tottenham on Thursday.

    Man Utd heaps more pain on rivals City | 01:56

    “No (I’ve not spoken to him),” Amorim said. “Not yet. It was yesterday (when) I gave the day off to the lads, so he’s our player and he’s ready for the next game.” Asked if he would be happy to retain Rashford, Amorim replied: “Of course, because this kind of club needs big talents and he’s a big talent.

    “So, he just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus.” Amorim added the “new challenge” Rashford spoke of could be found at Old Trafford in trying to revive the fortunes of United, once the dominant force in English football, but now a lowly 13th in the Premier League.

    “We have here a new challenge, it’s a tough one,” he said.

    “For me, it’s the biggest challenge in football because we are in a difficult situation and I already said that this is one of the biggest clubs in the world.

    “So, this is a really new challenge and the biggest one. I hope all my players are ready for this new challenge.”

    Spurs score FIVE goals in fast onslaught | 02:14

    ‘ALWAYS NOISE ABOUT MANCHESTER UNITED’

    Having endured speculation about his own position amid a troubled campaign, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou refused to get involved in the debate on Rashford’s future.

    “There’s always noise about Manchester United, come on mate. Where have you been?” Postecoglou said on Wednesday.

    “No interest. Don’t care. Not interested. He is a Manchester United player. A very good player, they have plenty of good players, but I manage my players and other managers will manage their own players.

    ‘Not worrying about people’s egos’: Ange | 01:22

    “In terms of Marcus’ situation, I have no real desire to examine it any further.”

    Tottenham have been linked with a potential January move for Rashford if United are willing to sell.

    But the Australian added: “If I looked at everyone we were linked to, I would have no time to do anything else to be honest. I have got other people to do that part of the process.

    “For us, we’ve been pretty disciplined in what we’re trying to build here and we’ll continue to be so.”

    Pressed again on whether Rashford was a potential target, Postecoglou added: “That’s not on my radar. You can ask me about Marcus but you can ask me about every single Premier League footballer and I’ll say the same.”

    It comes as United great Teddy Sherringham declared his former club cannot sell the striker for less than 100 million pounds ($207m AUD).

    “Oh, you’ve got to be talking £100m,” Sheringham told Express Sport with FreeBets.com.

    “I’m very surprised that there’s talk about him leaving United. I think Man United need to keep their best players and get them working to the best of their capabilities.

    So I’d be very surprised if Marcus leaves.”

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  • ‘I’m not good enough’: Pep reacts to derby nightmare as City collapse ‘like under-15s’

    ‘I’m not good enough’: Pep reacts to derby nightmare as City collapse ‘like under-15s’

    Pep Guardiola admitted he did not see Manchester City’s staggering collapse in form coming after conceding twice late on to lose 2-1 to Manchester United.

    City have won just once in 11 games in all competitions, a run that includes eight defeats.

    After an unprecedented four consecutive Premier League titles, City’s defence of their crown looks over before Christmas.

    Guardiola’s men trail leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, by nine points and sit outside the Champions League places in fifth.

    “I don’t have defence, I’m the boss, I’m the manager. I have to find a solution and I don’t find a solution,” said Guardiola.

    “This is a big club, when you lose eight out of 11, something wrong is happening. What can I say? The schedule is tough, the injured players? No.

    “I’m the boss, I’m the manager and I’m not good enough. It’s as simple as that.”

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    Ange’s Spurs strike in under 37 seconds | 01:11

    The manner of City’s latest loss was one of the most damaging as the English champions were headed for a much-needed victory against their local rivals thanks to Josko Gvardiol’s first-half header.

    However, they self-imploded as Matheus Nunes’ slack pass played in Amad Diallo and the Portuguese midfielder then chopped down the United winger in his attempt to make amends.

    Bruno Fernandes converted from the penalty spot to equalise on 88 minutes. Diallo then raced onto a simple long ball over the top to complete a remarkable turnaround and deepen a spiralling crisis for the club that has dominated English football over the past decade.

    “I am sitting here in the press conference because of what we have done in the past,” added Guardiola.

    “I knew that it would be a tough season. From the beginning, I said many times. Even when we were winning.

    “But I didn’t expect it would be so hard, like it is right now.”

    City midfielder Bernardo Silva was even more critical of his side’s malaise, comparing their mistakes in the final minutes to an under-15s team.

    “At this level, a game or two is unlucky. We can’t say this is lucky or unlucky — it’s not about that,” said the Portugal international.

    “If we make these stupid decisions with three or four minutes to go you deserve to pay for that. Today in the last minute we played like under-15s.”

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  • Salah rescue mission as Reds soar clear; Sheeran rubs in Man U boss’ tough start – PL Wrap

    Salah rescue mission as Reds soar clear; Sheeran rubs in Man U boss’ tough start – PL Wrap

    Mohamed Salah urged Liverpool to deliver a hammer blow to Manchester City’s fading title hopes after inspiring the Premier League leaders’ dramatic 3-2 win against Southampton on Sunday.

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    Arne Slot’s side moved eight points clear of second-placed City thanks to Salah’s second half double at St Mary’s.

    After taking the lead through Dominik Szoboszlai’s early strike, Liverpool were rocked by Adam Armstrong’s equaliser before Mateus Fernandes put bottom of the table Southampton ahead in the second half.

    As he has so often done before, Salah came to Liverpool’s rescue with a typically predatory equaliser and a coolly converted penalty in the closing stages.

    Liverpool’s 10th win in 12 league games ensured they capitalised on City’s dismal 4-0 defeat against Tottenham 24 hours earlier.

    Chasing a first Premier League crown since 2020, the Reds have a golden opportunity to throttle City’s hopes of a fifth successive title when Pep Guardiola’s team visit Anfield on December 1.

    City have lost five in a row in all competitions and Salah said: “Hopefully, we keep going in that direction. We have a game against them so hopefully, we win it and go 11 points clear.

    “Man City is Man City. They have a bad time now but they have great players.” Salah now has 12 goals in all competitions this term, including six in his last five league games.

    “They were very important, especially after being down 2-1. It’s the most important thing to have won the game,” he said.

    “Each game is different. They had a game plan and played very well. We managed to come back and win the game.”

    Pep: “We have got to fix something” | 01:14

    – ‘Urgency and intensity’ –

    Having Salah on form has been crucial to Slot’s dream beginning to life at Anfield.

    Slot has made a remarkable start, winning 16 of his first 18 games in all competitions.

    The former Feyenoord manager’s deft touch has established Liverpool as title favourites in his maiden season at Anfield after replacing Jurgen Klopp.

    Slot conceded Liverpool lacked intensity in the first hour at St Mary’s, but he was pleased with the way his players responded to falling behind.

    “In the second half I saw the intensity I was looking for in the first half. Southampton make it really difficult for many teams, including top clubs, and they made it difficult today, though we dominated the game completely in my opinion,” Slot said.

    “There was not enough urgency to arrive in the box in the first half, we just kept the ball instead of attacking the box.

    “Although we fell behind in the second half we showed more urgency and intensity. That led to numerous chances and eventually two goals.”

    Ange reflects on Man City thumping | 01:01

    With Salah’s contract due to expire at the end of this season and the forward yet to sign a new deal, Slot was quick to praise the contribution of his talisman.

    “If you want to win you need to score goals and we know Mo can score,” he said. “For me his first goal is the most important as we scored out of nowhere, then after that it was just waiting for us to score another.”

    Before City’s crucial trip to Anfield next weekend, Liverpool host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday and Slot is relishing the blockbuster clashes.

    “They are two teams who have dominated football the last few years. So two big games and that’s why we needed to win today and that is what I am happy about,” he said.

    Spurs extend champions horror run | 02:07

    – Man Utd held by Ipswich in Amorim’s first match in charge –

    Ruben Amorim was given a stark illustration of the size of his task at Manchester United after his uninspiring team were held 1-1 by struggling Ipswich in his first match in charge on Sunday.

    The Portuguese — the latest man tasked with restoring the club to the top of English football — spoke before kick-off about the need to be “patient”.

    But he had barely settled in his seat at a blustery Portman Road before Marcus Rashford turned in Amad Diallo’s inviting cross, stunning the home crowd.

    Ipswich, who started the day in the relegation zone, battled back, earning the equaliser they deserved through Omari Hutchinson just before half-time.

    Neither side could find a winner in the second period despite chances at both ends, with the result leaving both managers unsatisfied.

    The result leaves United 12th in the Premier League, six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, while Ipswich are still in the drop zone.

    Before kick-off two Manchester United fans held up a home-made sign saying: “Good luck Ruben Amorim, Make our team great again.”

    The former Sporting Lisbon boss, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag, made three changes from the final line-up named by United’s interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy before the international break.

    And he changed his formation to play three at the back as widely expected, with England forward Rashford operating as a lone central striker ahead of captain Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho.

    United were ahead within two minutes when Diallo surged down the right, shrugging off the attentions of Leif Davis and Jens Cajuste to whip in a cross that Rashford touched home from close range.

    Amorim, wearing a black coat and dark trousers, remained impassive in his seat as United’s players celebrated in the corner.

    “I’d stay” – Pep on City ‘relegation’ | 01:04

    Christian Eriksen flashed wide from just outside the box in the seventh minute after more incisive work from Diallo.

    But Ipswich responded well, creating openings of their own and looking the more dangerous team as the half wore on.

    The home side should have been level in the 40th minute but Andre Onana somehow kept out a close-range effort from Liam Delap with a strong right hand before Cajuste flashed over the bar.

    Ipswich got the equaliser they deserved just before half-time when Hutchinson hit a stinging shot that skimmed off the head of Noussair Mazraoui and beyond the diving Onana.

    The watching Ed Sheeran celebrated wildly in the stands among the 30,000-strong crowd.

    Garnacho had a chance to put United back ahead in the opening moments of the second half but Arijanet Muric got down to his left to keep out the shot.

    Onana saved well with his foot from a Delap flick from close range before Cajuste produced a perfectly timed challenge at the other end to cut out a Garnacho pass to Rashford after a swift break.

    Amorim threw on Luke Shaw and Manuel Ugarte for Jonny Evans and Casemiro about 10 minutes after the restart but United continued to labour against a team with just one Premier League win all season.

    Ange praises Pep as “one of the greats” | 00:57

    He later introduced forwards Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee to add fresh legs to his attack.

    Fernandes hit a free-kick just wide of the post from a central area and Onana saved from Conor Chaplin at the other end but neither side found the quality to earn the win.

    Amorim is United’s sixth permanent appointment since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after leading to the team to a 20th English title.

    At 39, he is the youngest United boss since Wilf McGuinness followed Matt Busby in 1969.

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  • ‘Fanatical about winning’: Man Utd close in on target dubbed the next ‘special one’

    ‘Fanatical about winning’: Man Utd close in on target dubbed the next ‘special one’

    Twenty years ago it was Jose Mourinho. Now it is Ruben Amorim who appears set to move from Portugal to the Premier League with a reputation as Europe’s next coaching superstar.

    Amorim has emerged as the favourite to take over at Manchester United following Erik ten Hag’s sacking. His club Sporting Lisbon have confirmed the English club’s interest, and that they have entered negotiations.

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    Sporting have confirmed that United will pay the €10 million release clause in Amorium’s contract to allow him to leave. It is expected that a United delegation will travel to Lisbon to close the deal after Sporting’s Portuguese cup quarter-final at home to Nacional on Tuesday evening.

    Man United boss AXED in brutal sacking | 01:55

    Amorim is 39, two years younger than Mourinho when he left Porto and took over a Chelsea side poised to dominate English football.

    Other coaches have come from Portugal with huge reputations, but not all have succeeded. Andre Villas-Boas, for example, failed to live up to expectations after following Mourinho’s path from Porto to Chelsea in 2011.

    But everything about Amorim — who was also linked to the manager’s job at Liverpool this year — suggests he could be something special, just as Mourinho famously claimed he himself was in 2004.

    As long ago as 2017 when Amorim confirmed his intention to become a coach, he told Tribuna Expresso: “I don’t know if I am going to be good or bad, but that is what I am going to be.”

    He had just quit playing aged 32 after injuries blighted a fine career. Amorim has made his name as a coach at Sporting, but he starred as a player for their Lisbon rivals Benfica, the club he has supported from birth.

    “I can see myself coaching Benfica, or one of the world’s biggest clubs. Obviously only time will tell and you need so much luck,” he said.

    City star Rodri claims 2024 Ballon d’Or | 00:50

    Amorim began playing at Belenenses from the Lisbon suburb Belem best known for its custard tarts.

    He worked under Jorge Jesus there, reaching the Portuguese Cup final in 2007. In 2008 he joined Benfica, and a year later he was reunited with Jesus. Amorim mainly played at right-back as a team featuring David Luiz and Angel Di Maria romped to the title.

    The following season, Benfica were overtaken by Villas-Boas’s Porto and Amorim struggled with a knee injury.

    He needed a loan move at Braga to relaunch his career, and went back to Benfica, and Jesus, in 2013/14.

    Playing regularly in midfield, Amorim starred as they won a domestic treble and lost the Europa League final on penalties to Sevilla.

    His career never reached such highs again, and he ended his playing days in Qatar.

    Matildas take down Euro heavyweights | 02:29

    – ‘Fanatical about winning’ –

    Amorim has described Mourinho, who managed United from 2016 to 2018, as his reference, but he admits Jesus — now guiding Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia — marked him more than any other coach after he spent seven years under his stewardship.

    “It is funny, because as a player I had lots of problems with Jesus, albeit other players did too, because Jesus is a coach who wears you out,” Amorim recalled.

    “He is a real perfectionist. I worked with him for a long time and it is obvious that what I demand of players is quite similar to him.”

    Cooney-Cross scores long-range worldie! | 00:43

    Amorim, who appeared for Portugal at two World Cups, began coaching in 2018 when just 33, at Lisbon club Casa Pia, and his rise since has been vertiginous.

    He won the third-tier title there, but didn’t yet have the necessary coaching qualifications and left in early 2019.

    Amorim really began his steep ascent upon joining Braga, managing their B team before being handed the first-team reins in December 2019.

    He did so well that Sporting swooped, paying his 10-million-euro release clause. Sporting had not won the Portuguese title since 2002 and their supporters had some concerns about his Benfica past.

    Ten Hag blows up after VAR decision | 00:59

    “I am a professional and I am fanatical about winning. I know how big this club is. I played against them. I am not hiding my past,” he said at his unveiling.

    In his first full season Sporting won the title, losing just one game. Amorim, who favours an intense pressing game, then took Sporting to the Champions League last 16.

    He won a second Portuguese title last season and players such as English forward Marcus Edwards and Swede Viktor Gyokeres have flourished under him.

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  • ‘Awful’ signings, no ‘identity’ … and how Ange was architect of sacked Utd boss’ final humiliation

    ‘Awful’ signings, no ‘identity’ … and how Ange was architect of sacked Utd boss’ final humiliation

    It was the move everyone saw coming.

    Manchester United’s woeful start to the season – 14th in the Premier League after the nine games and 21st in the Europa League after three games – is nowhere near good enough for a club of such magnitude and the regular poor showings meant Erik ten Hag was always on borrowed time.

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    Now in the wake of the Dutchman sacking, the finger pointing has truly begun.

    Is it all ten Hag’s fault? Is it the players fault? It is the owners fault?

    Everyone at Old Trafford has been in the firing line since ten Hag was given his marching orders on Monday.

    ‘DEAD MAN WALKING’: Man Utd sack manager Erik ten Hag after club’s 35-year Premier League worst

    Controversial VAR penalty hands WHU win | 01:18

    Many former Manchester United stars have come out to express their displeasure with what has been going on at their old club.

    One-time defender, now Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, suggested that Australian manager Ange Postecoglou architecting a memorable 3-0 win for Tottenham at Old Trafford last month got the ball rolling on sacking ten Hag.

    “I suspect the Tottenham game was probably a catalyst for them to start thinking about a new manager,” Neville said.

    “You look at who is available then you try to think of the timing. You are half hoping the manager can turn it around but, 99 times out of 100, the tide is against you and continues to do so.

    “Looking at that Tottenham game a few weeks ago I felt I had seen this before. It was a bad day for Manchester United and a bad day for Erik ten Hag.

    “It’s got worse from then. On Sunday the missed chances were unacceptable, they should have been two or three up at half-time.

    “Overall, the challenges of the results and performances have meant that the owners have decided to sack him. I don’t think anybody will be truly shocked.”

    Mourinho red carded in duel with Man U | 02:56

    Digging deeper into the causes of the Red Devils woes, Neville believes that the ten Hag era will be defined by the lack of a signature style of play.

    Sir Alex Ferguson built a cultural at Old Trafford that Manchester United teams would be tight defensively but electric in attack, ten Hag’s teams did not have those traits.

    “I think the lack of identity and style is something that has been a mystery for the last two-and-a-half seasons,” Neville said.

    “The recruitment has been awful at times but I believe there are a group of players who can play better than they are.

    “Lack of style has been the biggest problem. It is a real struggle watching them play and it hasn’t changed in the last 18 months. That has been as bad as the results.”

    Legendary goal scorer Alan Shearer meanwhile placed blame on the club’s ownership – in particular co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

    United won the FA Cup final against fierce rivals Manchester City and the unexpected silverware saved ten Hag for the short term, but the club already had plans to move him.

    “We were just waiting for it to happen. Even the way he was talking that ‘we’re all on the same page’,” Shearer said.

    “Well, they weren’t really on the same page because everyone knew they were talking to managers in the summer.

    “If they’re on the same page why on earth are they speaking to managers in the summer? As soon as that came out we all said he was a dead man walking, unfortunately.

    “For them then to give him a new contract after that was bizarre really, and to back him with £200 million, and in nearly four months they’ve sacked him. Bizarre.”

    Postecoglou: ‘Why would I be happy?’ | 01:00

    Things have clearly gone from bad to worse in recent months for ten Hag.

    There was the thrashing by Tottenham at home, which followed Liverpool belting them 3-0 at Old Trafford as well, then three painstaking Europa League draws were thrown in before the 2-1 loss at West Ham on Sunday was the final nail in the coffin.

    United missed chances at an open goal at London Stadium and their poor finishing came back to bite as they conceded a controversial stoppage time penalty via VAR which Jarred Bowen sent into the back of the net for the winner.

    For former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, it was painful to watch and he likened it to seeing a boxer being pommeled by their opponent in the ring.

    “It was like a boxer getting hit and knocked down in the third round and never recovering and getting knocked out, knocked down, every single round on the way to the 12th round,” Ferdinand said.

    Spurs rollercoaster season continues | 01:03

    More than a decade since he ended his 27-year rein as Manchester United boss, the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson still looms large at Old Trafford.

    After nearly three decades of stability, ten Hag’s replacement – United goal scoring great Ruud van Nistelrooy – will be the ninth person to take charge since Ferguson’s departure.

    The fact no manager has worked out in the last 11 years leads many United fans to argue that the position is impossible because no one could ever replicate Ferguson’s success.

    But writing for the UK Telegraph, Liverpool legend turned pundit Jamie Carragher shut down that premise.

    “Some are suggesting Manchester United has become an impossible job since Sir Alex Ferguson left, with so many well respected managers struggling and being sacked. Nonsense,” Carragher said.

    “For the majority of Ten Hag’s reign, no Premier League manager had so much backing, so much control over transfers and so much patience to prove he was the right man. Most coaches in world football could only dream of such support. Ultimately, he failed to make the most of one of the most attractive posts in football.”

    Salah strikes for late draw v Arsenal | 01:17

    Carragher continued to also blame the club’s management for not acting swift enough at the end of last season.

    “They have wasted three months and £200 million on new players by giving Ten Hag a fresh opportunity. Their biggest lesson might be to act sooner the next time a coach is on a downward spiral,” he said.

    “No one will argue against the view the club should have been run much better since Ferguson retired – that is why Ineos wanted to take over – but the reason United have been mismanaged is because a series of coaches have been overindulged, squandering millions on poor signings.

    “The lack of judgment at boardroom level has helped managers, not hindered them. They have been able to sink or swim with their own decisions with regard to football matters, paying the price for their own mistakes. Ten Hag is a prime example.”

    Many of signings during the ten Hag era came with huge price tags and have massively under delivered.

    Brazilian Antony was one of his worst signings.

    United paid £85 million for the former Ajax winger – making him the second richest signing in club history – yet he has only played once this season and it was against league one side Barnsley in the Carabao Cup.

    Midfielder Mason Mount has not worked out after they splashed £60 million on him, striker Joshua Zirkzee – who was bought for £36.5 million – has scored once in 13 games, and defender Matthijs de Ligt has struggled after he was signed from Bayern Munich for £42 million.

    Add £70 million for Brazilian midfielder Casemiro and it make for even more dire reading.

    That is why former Manchester United captain Roy Keane believes the players must take responsibility too.

    “In good teams, coaches hold players responsible. In great teams, players hold players accountable,” he said.

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  • Ange’s ‘strange’ gamble pays off in comeback win; Arsenal’s title dream fades: PL Wrap

    Ange’s ‘strange’ gamble pays off in comeback win; Arsenal’s title dream fades: PL Wrap

    On the day Spurs’ fiercest rivals’ title challenge took a significant hit, Ange Postecoglou showed his pragmatic hand to guide Tottenham to a big comeback win.

    Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were victims of their own ill-discipline once again, although William Saliba wasn’t the only player to see red in a wild night of Premier League football.

    Read about all that and more in our wrap of the overnight Premier League action!

    Auckland FC start A League with win | 01:25

    ANGE’S ‘EYE-RAISING’ SPURS GAMBLE PAYS OFF

    Throughout this Tottenham career, Ange Postecoglou has come under fire often. At times the Australian has been perceived as lacking pragmatism, and the ‘Plan B’ so loved by English football.

    Translation: Instead of taking the safe option, Ange goes for the jugular. He’d rather win 5-4 than 1-0.

    And yet with his side level with West Ham at half-time Ange did something many thought unthinkable. He made a pragmatic substitution.

    Off went attacking midfielder James Maddison, at times the creative jewel in Postecoglou’s Spurs crown. On came Pape Matar Sarr, a more conservative and traditional central midfielder.

    Speaking on Optus Sports’ Matchday Live, Premier League legend Emannuel Petit described the move as “strange because he’s (Maddison) a really good player.”

    “So I was quite surprised. It’s quite strange from the manager.”

    Maddison hadn’t been poor by any stretch of the imagination. He’d created Dejan Kulusevski’s equaliser and had five key passes in the opening 45 minutes, but as Ange noted post-game he needed different profiles in midfield.

    “I just felt West Ham ask you certain questions in midfield areas and I just felt Pape’s running power would help us in the second half,” he explained.

    “They obviously worked hard in the first half and I thought he could give us some real energy.

    “I thought he did really well and he gave us a platform to be really threatening every time we went forward and clinical in our football.”

    Former Brighton striker Glenn Murray described it as an “eye-raiser” but conceded the decision ultimately worked.

    “Hindsight proves it was the right decision,” Murray said.

    As Murray noted, Ange’s gamble paid off. Spurs scored three times in eight minutes to win and climb to seventh on the ladder. Sarr too was strong, dispossessing Jarrod Bowen as he moved towards Tottenham’s goal and finding Heung-Min Son with a beautiful assist for his 60th minute goal.

    Spurs could’ve scored more too. Son hit the post in the 61st minute while the free-flowing attack continued throughout the second half, forcing West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola into three saves.

    “When they are good they are nearly irresistible, Tottenham,” Connor McNamara said on commentary.

    Former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood heralded the character Spurs showed during the win.

    “To go behind and then come out with that character in the second half, after what happened at Brighton before the international break, I think not only the ability of his side, but the character of his side, really shone through,” he said.

    Writing in The Guardian, Jacob Steinberg described Tottenham as ‘exhilarating,’ while noting ‘Ange Postecoglou was there to see another defensive implosion, but this time he would not be the coach who will have to deal with the fallout.’

    Indeed the post-mortem will centralise on West Ham and new manager Julen Lopetegui, who has failed to inspire the tactical shifts expected of him in pre-season. Their second half capitulation means they sit 15th.

    For Postecoglou though the win alleviates some of the pressure on his shoulders following Spurs’ bitter loss to Brighton in their last Premier League outing.

    That game that overshadowed a five game winning streak and inspired further doubts about Postecoglou’s Premier League suitability.

    For now at least those pressures are alleviated.

    James Maddison’s half-time substitution was a turning point in Spurs’ 4-1 comeback win over West Ham.Source: AFP

    ARSENAL’S CHARGE TAKES SIGNIFICANT HIT

    At the end of the season if Arsenal fail to break their Premier League title drought, Mikel Arteta will reflect on this loss as the moment the title slipped through his side’s fingers.

    Arsenal were unbeaten heading into the weekend, with their defence the envy of the Premier League and their attacking improving weekly.

    Bournemouth are a good side, coached well by Andoni Iraola, but their start to the season had been indifferent.

    Few would have predicted the game to unfold as it did.

    Arteta, and Arsenal fans, will argue William Saliba’s controversial 30th minute red card, awarded after the Frenchman brought down Bournemouth striker Evanilson just beyond the halfway line.

    There was no Arsenal defender between the Brazilian and goal, a factor that ultimately led VAR Jarred Gillett to instruct referee Rob Jones, who initially awarded a yellow card, to send the Arsenal defender off.

    For the third time this season Arsenal would need to see out a game with a man down.

    Raheem Sterling initially shifted to right back, with Ben White moving into the heart of defence in Saliba’s place. However, Antoine Semenyo breezed by the pair twice, prompting Arteta to introduce Jakub Kiwior and return White to right back.

    Arsenal, who were without Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, their two most important creators, held Bournemouth scoreless until the 70th minute, when a lovely corner move resulted in Ryan Christie’s strike breaking the deadlock.

    The Premier League’s set-piece masters were breached by a set-piece.

    Seven minutes later Evanilson was again involved. Fouled by David Raya in the box the Brazilian won a penalty, converted by Justin Kluivert to secure a big win for Bournemouth, a monumental loss for Arsenal.

    William Saliba was initially shown a yellow card against Bournemouth. VAR intervened and changed it to a red card, leaving Arsenal to play with 10 men for much of the match.Source: Getty Images

    The Gunners were not without their chances. Gabriel Martinelli had a great chance to score moments before Bournemouth’s opener, but missed the target, while Mikel Merino pushed a shot wide earlier in the game.

    Speaking post-game, Arteta described the task set for Arsenal following Saliba’s send off as “impossible.”

    “We are very disappointed with the result and gutted because we had to play in that context again,” he said.

    Discussing Saliba’s red card, the Spaniard conceded he’s not expecting it to be overturned during the week.

    “It was a decision made on the pitch. The decision was changed. I don’t think it will change twice. The decision has been made,” he said.

    Auckland FC start A League with win | 01:25

    ETH SAFE FOR ANOTHER DAY

    Boos rang around Old Trafford at halftime, though perhaps not the kind of boos some may have expected after the last fortnight at Manchester United.

    Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock had just scored an injury time header from a corner to lift his side into the lead at the interval.

    The strike didn’t come without controversy after United’s Dutch central defender Matthijs De Ligt was forced to leave the pitch and have some blood cleaned from his face.

    Instead of waiting for De Ligt to return, referee Sam Barrott allowed play to continue, ultimately resulting in Brentford’s opener.

    United’s bench erupted after the ball rifled into the back of the net. Erik Ten Hag, arguably the manager under the most pressure in world football, was booked for his protests of the decision to allow play to continue while De Ligt was sidelined.

    Given the storm surrounding the future of the Dutchman’s managerial tenure, Ten Hag’s frustration was justified. In a must-win game his side entered the interval behind against a difficult to break down Brentford side.

    Writing in The Athletic, Mark Critchley said Pinnock’s goal ‘felt like the end. The chances of a second half fightback appeared remote.’

    At the break United, who were without six first team players, were yet to create a big chance. By full-time they’d created three, scoring two, to record a big win both in the context of their season and their manager’s future.

    Alejandro Garnacho got the ball rolling in the 47th minute, meeting a sublime Marcus Rashford cross to score his first goal of the season, before a delightful Bruno Fernandes flick set Rasmus Hojlund up in the 62nd minute.

    Even more impressive was the way United managed their lead in the dying stages of the contest, something Critchley noted.

    ‘Not only did (United) turn this game on its head, but once in front, they managed the final stages relatively well – something which has not often been said of this side in the past,’ he wrote.

    Post-game Ten Hag insisted the victory “showed we are together.”

    “We showed determination and scored two beautiful goals.”

    Erik Ten Hag wasn’t happy with the decision to allow play to continue while Matthijs De Ligt was off the field receiving treatment.Source: AFP

    Goals have been a major problem to United in what has been their worst-ever start to a Premier League season. Prior to their Brentford win they’d scored just five. That figure is now seven, two less than 19th placed Wolves.

    Ten Hag will be hoping goals to Garnacho and Hojlund, as well as Rashford’s creative output, will kick his side into attacking gear as they look to kick their season into life.

    “This team has the capacity to score very good goals,” he stated post-game.

    “Today the two goals we scored were high quality and when you score and win you add confidence.

    “At the start of the season we had some good performances but didn’t score enough, then everyone is negative.

    “This result can help us, but it is only one win and we must build on it.”

    LATE DRAMA SEALS FOXES COMEBACK

    After half an hour Southampton were 2-0 up against Leicester, courtesy of goals to Cameron Archer and Joe Aribo, and seemingly on their way to a first win of the season.

    Their lead remained after an hour, before Facundo Buoanotte’s fortunate strike found the back of the net, giving Leicester a way back into the game.

    10 minutes later they were level, courtesy of a Jamie Vardy penalty that came after the striker’s shirt was pulled by Saints winger Ryan Fraser as he attempted to sweep the ball into the back of the net from close range.

    Jordan Ayew’s late strike sealed Leicester’s comeback win over Southampton.Source: Getty Images

    Fraser was sent off, the fifth player to see the red in the Premier League overnight, and Vardy converted the penalty, drawing the Foxes level with plenty of time to play.

    Despite their man advantage, Leicester’s winner came with essentially the final kick of the game after Jordan Ayew swept the ball home from a corner in the 98th minute.

    The win lifts Leicester to 14th, six points clear of the relegation zone – although both Palace and Wolves have a game in hand.

    For Southampton, losing from such a winnable position has turned the pressure up on manager Russell Martin, who has constantly been accused of playing beautiful, possession-based football without getting results.

    VILLA’S MARCH CONTINUES AS NEWCASTLE FALTER

    Aston Villa’s towards the top of the Premier League table continued against Fulham overnight.

    Unai Emery’s side fell behind to an early Raul Jimenez strike but scored three times before full-time to seal a crucial three points.

    Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins both scored, continuing their fine seasons, before an Issa Diop own goal sealed the win after 70 minutes. Emi Martinez saved an Andreas Pereira penalty with the scores locked at 1-1.

    Fulham lost central defender Joachim Andersen to a red card six minutes before Diop found the back of his own net.

    The win leaves Villa fourth on 17 points, two clear of fifth-placed Brighton, who narrowly beat Newcastle overnight.

    Danny Welbeck’s fifth goal of the season proved the difference between the two sides

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