Chelsea plan set-piece department, injured Mee out for season – as it happened | Football
Key events
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading and emailing in and best of luck for the weekend.
As we stumble towards closing time here on the Weekend Football Countdown, here’s an exhaustive list of all today’s football pieces if you missed any of them – and even if you didn’t:
Barry, who of course was blogging here earlier, went off to sit in a darkened room to write Football Daily, which is below for your reading pleasure:
Regarding the mystery Chelsea player in the wall, I’ve had two correct replies, the latest from Paul Marijetic.
Make that three correct replies:
“Saw him score twice against Coventry in a night game,” emails Timothy Edwards. “That was pretty much it though. I also stood next to him in the toilet in Monaco at half time when we played Real Madrid in the Super Cup.”
I’m not going to name and shame, but someone thought it was Pierluigi Casiraghi, and someone else, Albert Ferrer. Join us next week for another round of Mystery 1990s Footballers.
(Extra point if you spotted Riccardo Scimeca lurking in the background.)
You know what time it is … that’s right, it’s weekend Premier League match preview time.
Dig in here:
Sachin Nakrani
In 40 or 50 years’ time – perhaps a littler sooner, perhaps a little later – football historians will talk about this week as the moment the sport entered a new era in regards to its biggest superstars. No longer, they will say, was this Lionel Messi’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s world, for now it belonged to two greater giants. We heard them speak, we heard them muse, we heard them make fun of our teams and, finally, the glory was theirs. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, praise be thy names.
An email entitled “Office Space” arrives, from perennial pun-master Peter Oh.
“I reckon the Chelsea set-piece department will want the corner office.”
Napoli host Juventus in Serie A on Sunday night, although the reigning Italian champions are languishing in ninth place after a desperately disappointing attempt to defend their third Scudetto.
Juve are second, 12 points behind the leaders Internazionale, who welcome Genoa to San Siro on Monday evening.
Third-placed Milan, meanwhile, kick off this weekend’s action tonight, away against Lazio, who are eighth.
If you missed it earlier: Jacob Steinberg reports that Roberto De Zerbi is on Liverpool’s radar in their search to replace the soon-to-depart Jürgen Klopp:
Vincent Kompany is desperate to reward Burnley’s supporters with a victory fist pump this weekend. The Clarets boss made a habit of sharing the afterglow of another three points with supporters in last year’s promotion campaign but has had little to cheer in the Premier League.
His side have three wins from 26 games, the last of those coming on December 23, and are in 19th place with relegation looming.
Kompany made a forlorn trip to face the travelling fans during their most recent 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace but is eager to join the Turf Moor faithful in a more satisfying reaction after Sunday’s clash with Bournemouth.
“We’re all in it with our passions and emotions. We take a real punch to the guts when we lose and it hurts – just like the fans do,” he said. “You go to fans when it’s going well and you give them the first pump, then when it’s going badly all of a sudden what are you going to do – run inside?
“The question was asked after the last game ‘did you go and apologise?’. No, no way. If you work hard in your job from morning to evening, with everything you’ve got to give, you don’t go and apologise. “Being respectful? 100 per cent. Being together? Yes. I’m just believing the good times are coming again.
“I would love nothing more than to go back to fans and do the fist pumps again, that’s how I visualise Sunday. We’ve got to be able to imagine ourselves winning these kind of games … you have to have that ambition.” (PA Media)
Gareth Taylor hailed an “impressive effort” from his team as Manchester City look to extend their winning run against Everton in the Women’s Super League this weekend.
City earned their 11th straight victory in all competitions with a 1-0 win against title rivals Chelsea before the international break.
Both sides are now level on 34 points at the top of the WSL table – as well as boasting the same goal difference of +28 – but Taylor believes there are areas his side can improve.
“The Chelsea game feels like a long time ago now having had the international break, a chance to recharge the batteries for some, for others a tough international period,” he said.
“When you look back over those games we still know we can improve in a lot of areas. I think that’s a good thing, it’s a healthy thing that each player wants to get better, wants to improve, that we want to get better and improve.
“But of course when you look at the run we’re on with 11 consecutive wins, it’s been a really impressive effort from everyone in the team.”
City host ninth-placed Everton on Saturday. (PA Media)
Ben Fisher
When Gary O’Neil was approaching the back end of his playing career he juggled performing in the Premier League with making birdies on the back nine as a scratch golfer. In 2012, he had come came up short in his attempt to make the cut for the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, one of Tiger Woods’s favourite courses, and former teammates recall O’Neil flicking through golf magazines in pursuit of perfection, scouring pages for tips to put into practice at the London Club, in Kent, his local at the time. In his spare time he competed in professional tournaments and grew obsessed with the Masters.
Here are the talking points from the last round of Women’s Super League action – including a very significant win for Manchester City against Chelsea …
Chelsea Women, who lead the WSL on goal difference from Manchester City, visit seventh-placed Leicester City on Sunday.
In her pre-match press conference, Emma Hayes is asked a question which kicks off with the premise that a disproportionately high amount of ACL injuries are occurring in the women’s professional game.
“I’d dispute that,” Hayes says. “There’s an equal amount happening in the men’s game.”
After prompting the questioner to rephrase, Hayes says: “We do our own research here. We’re women, we’re built differently … we’ve got a relatively new professional game. It’s multi-faceted. There isn’t a simple answer.
“We don’t run in straight lines. We have kick-off times that are different. We have loading that has different requirements. When it comes to women’s football, we are not going to have all the answers right away, and we have to accept that.
“When it comes to academies, we have to make sure the youngsters are given the right amount of strength training early on in life. I’m not sure if we will ever solve it (the problem of ACL injuries) and maybe that’s something we’ll have to accept.”
A bit more from Unai Emery here, on this weekend’s looming encounter with Luton: “It will be a very demanding match in 90 minutes. Even when they were losing 3-0, they scored two goals against Manchester City (in last week’s 6-2 FA Cup defeat). Even when they were losing 3-0 at home against Chelsea (in December), they scored two goals and had chances to draw the match.
“Analysing them, my respect for them is increasing. I’m impressed with how they are playing. (Ross Barkley) is playing very well,” Emery said. “They are in a very good moment … I appreciate a lot how they are playing. Very aggressive, man-to-man, playing in combinations and Barkley is in a very good moment.”
Speaking of Gent, who remembers this hilarious mix-up, from back in 2019:
Jacob Steinberg
Chelsea and West Ham are tracking Gent’s Archie Brown with a view to a potential summer move for the English defender.
The 21-year-old left Derby County for Lausanne three years ago and could return to England after impressing in Belgium this season. Brown began his career as a left winger but has made strong progress since switching to left-back at Lausanne.
If Todd Boehly gets his way perhaps association football will switch to an NFL-style model with separate teams for offense, defence and a special team for kicks and stuff like that. It’s an idea.
“Hello Luke,” emails Paul Riley. “I believe the player you are struggling to name is Mark Nicholls.”
Thanks Paul. You are spot on by the looks of it. Great career path, too, all the way to North Greenford United in 2019, via Aldershot, Partick Thistle and Torquay, to name but three.
Luton’s Rob Edwards speaks on their battle against relegation before hosting Aston Villa in the Premier League tomorrow night: “We have to concentrate on ourselves. If we don’t get enough points to get back in that mix (to stay up), it doesn’t matter.
All our focus in on Villa. Whatever happens elsewhere happens. Tomorrow’s an important game. It’s not like a must win. It’s not at that stage … but it’s going to turn around quick now. We’re into March. We want to give ourselves the best opportunity in the final month of the season. We’re in the mix.”
What is it like battling relegation amid all the talk about possible points deductions? “It’s strange. It’s hard. It’s new for all of us … I am sure it’s interesting for everyone on the outside. But it is weird … it’s weird it could be going on after the season. That’s mental. We’re trying to not be involved in that come the end of the season.”
Searching “Chelsea wall” in the image archive also threw up this – from the famous old Worthington Cup in 1998 – featuring Gustavo Poyet, Tore André Flo and the late, great Gianluca Vialli.
I can’t name the player on the left, but I am sure someone out there can help via email.
Chelsea to establish set-piece department
Jacob Steinberg
Chelsea’s drive to improve their sporting infrastructure will see them establish a department devoted to working on set-pieces. It is expected that they will recruit one or two specialist coaches to work within it.
The move comes despite some initial scepticism from Mauricio Pochettino to the idea, although it has been stressed that the head coach has come round to it. Pochettino said last month that “football belongs to the players, not the specialists” and said the members of his close-knit backroom staff are capable of working on set-pieces.
But Chelsea have gone ahead with the plan and are aiming to become as proficient as Brentford at set-pieces. Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all have set-piece coaches. Pochettino has suggested that his aim is to sign a player who is strong at taking set-pieces this summer.
Before tomorrow’s meeting with Everton, West Ham’s David Moyes has set Jarrod Bowen a target of 20 Premier League goals this campaign. The Hammers forward has 14 after his hat-trick against Brentford last Monday.
“He’s enjoying the (goalscoring) feeling,” Moyes said. “He’s looking like he can be a goalscorer. He can still play wide right. We’ll chop and change when we need it. We can always move him back (to the wing) … I just get that feeling about him he’s hungry to score more goals. If he can get to 20 goals it’ll be a great record … I’ve not told him yet, but there you go, I’ve probably set a target for him.”
What will Moyes’s emotions be going back to his former club Everton?
“Huge feelings for Everton. It gave me brilliant opportunity … it gave me a start. It gave me a chance to make mistakes, and get it wrong at times … I think people look back and say it was a good time … we were in Europe … we were trying to challenge top clubs.
“But the best thing about being at Everton was the players. If you look at the players we brought in, some of them went on to be internationals … brilliant, brilliant lads to be with. I keep in touch with them all. I really look forward to catching up with them when I get a bit more time myself.”
De Zerbi: ‘I have only Brighton in my head’
Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi was also asked earlier about all the recent reports linking him to various roles around Europe.
“I have only Brighton in my head,” he said. “I would like to finish this season in the best way, playing with not all players, because (Solly) March and (Kaoru) Mitoma, they both finish the season.
“But the other players, (Julio) Enciso, with João Pedro … to compete, to try to win as many games as we can.”
Will De Zerbi be at Brighton beyond this season? “Yes, I have a contract. Until now, I have not decided nothing. My focus is on Brighton 100 per cent.”
Reassuring.
Will Unwin sizes up what promises to be a pivotal month in Manchester City’s relentless quest for silverware:
“On the way to winning the treble last season Manchester City enjoyed the most run-of-the-mill March considering the history achieved three months later. They played four times, winning two Premier League and two cup matches 16-0 on aggregate. It might have been straightforward but it showed their competitors they meant business.
“A year on, this month could define how Pep Guardiola’s three-pronged battle concludes but it will be a lot more difficult. City begin a complicated Premier League period by welcoming United for the Manchester derby on Sunday, followed by games against their title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal, with the small matter of a Champions League last-16 second leg against Copenhagen and an FA Cup quarter-final at home to Newcastle also fitted in.”
The Aston Villa head coach, Unai Emery, talks up Luton, the Villans’ oppoonents tomorrow in the Premier League: “They are in a good moment. Not just with (Ross) Barkley. They are feeling strong. Maybe not with good results. The last matches, they didn’t win. But they are playing really well.”
Damning with faint praise, at all?
Broken ankle rules Brentford’s Mee out for season
Brentford defender Ben Mee will miss the rest of the season with an ankle fracture, manager Thomas Frank said on Friday. Mee sustained the injury in Monday’s 4-2 Premier League loss at West Ham, joining fellow defenders Rico Henry, Ethan Pinnock and Aaron Hickey on a list of injured players.
“It’s our entire back four from last season now out,” Frank said. “If you look at key players, I have potentially seven starters out. The back four, Bryan (Mbeumo), Kevin (Schade) and Josh Dasilva. We have a good squad, we have good players, but that makes it a little bit more tough,” he said.
Brentford, 16th with 25 points, have lost their last three games as they struggle to stay above the relegation zone. “I’m very optimistic. I’m a massive fighter and my players are massive fighters,” Frank said. “When you are in a situation when things are going against you, you can only do one thing. Get tighter together … and fight. I can’t wait for tomorrow.” (Reuters)
Roberto de Zerbi – reportedly on Liverpool’s radar – has a positive update on squad fitness before the Seagulls’ visit to Fulham tomorrow.
“Tariq Lamptey and Joel Veltman are available. Evan Ferguson as well. (Danny) Welbeck played 45 minutes, and he can play part of the game (tomorrow). I am very, very happy.”
Will his selection have one eye on the Europa League match against Roma next week? “The focus is to win the game. We have to play with fresh players … I will change something in the first 11, but not for Rome (with the Roma match in mind).
“We start to think about Rome Sunday morning. We will start to prepare the game. But the focus is on the Premier League.”
Are Lamptey and Veltman fit to start? “You want to know the first 11?” De Zerbi deadpans. “Maybe yes we can (play them from the start).”
Why have Brighton struggled for consistency lately?
“I don’t know. I think we are playing well. With Everton we conceded two shots on the goal, we conceded one goal. On Wednesday, against Wolves, we play another good game. We have some problems (with results) but in terms of performance, I have nothing to say. I think we are playing well.”
Silva plays down Fernandes TikTok row
Marco Silva, the Fulham head coach, is asked about Erik ten Hag’s criticism of a club social media post about Bruno Fernandes. (Ten Hag said it was “totally out of order” if Fulham’s social media team had suggested the Manchester United captain feigned injury.)
“OK, I’m aware of everything,” he says. “I haven’t seen (the post). I’m not a big fan of social media … but I’m aware. When a manager defends a player, it’s a normal situation. One of my players, I will defend to the last. Ten Hag said he hasn’t seen the post. He was speaking after a question from a journalist. I haven’t seen how the journalist put that question … that is the situation.
“Bruno is a player I know well. He is a top player, a top professional, that’s what I can say about him. A top quality player, top professional … You are not a Man United captain if you don’t have all the package in the same box to be a Man United captain and a so important player. Ten Hag can defend his player. I can understand that. All the noise around that comes because it’s Man United. Probably if it was Marco Silva reacting in this way, it would be finished 10 seconds after.
“The second question in this press conference comes about TikTok … I would prefer to talk about our performance. OK, you (journalists) are talking about TikTok before a match against Brighton. It’s nice.”
Note: he means it’s not nice. He’s being sarcastic there. Anyway here is the story in which Ten Hag demands an apology, in case you missed it:
Louise Taylor
Eddie Howe has revealed that playing the piano has helped him to relax during an often stressful season at Newcastle by briefly diverting his focus from football.
“I was tinkling the ivories last night,” the manager said on Friday. “When I’m playing I’m not thinking of 4-3-3 or 4-4-2; it’s a rare moment for me to do that – a chance to get away from football.
“In most other parts of my life, walking my dog or going to sleep, I’m thinking football. But the piano is one of those rare things that really does occupy your brain and take you away.”
The Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers, has a chat following Wednesday’s 7-1 drubbing of Dundee – and before Sunday’s visit to Hearts in the SPL.
The Hoops captain, Callum McGregor, went off injured two days ago and Rodgers tells Sky: “We’ve got a few that have niggles … Callum came off at half time with his achilles and soreness in his calf. We have to await results of a scan for that.
“If he’s out, clearly he’s our captain and a hugely influential player … (but) if he’s not available there’s someone to come in and take his place.”
What did he take from that handsome midweek win against Dundee? “I think the biggest thing was the players got up to the speed of the game quickly … we were no time in our comfort zone.
“I think the intent, the start of the game was really good. The speed of our football, our counter-pressing … was all there. The mentality is we have to maintain that.
“The half time response (from the fans) would have felt great for the players. They played so well to be 6-0 up in any game of football. It’s up to us on the field. If we can perform and play at the speed and the tempo we want to, that will inspire the supporters.
“We were poor on the day (last time out against Hearts when Celtic lost 2-0 at home in Decemeber). We looked tired … we weren’t at out best on the day, they deserved to win. But … we enjoy going there. We want to go there and keep this level of performance going.”
