1 year ago
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Key events
Beattie retires from international football
Jen Beattie, the Arsenal and Scotland defender, has called time on her international career aged 31. Having made her senior debut for Scotland aged 16 in 2008, she has racked up 144 caps and scored 24 goals over the last 15 years.
“Representing Scotland has been an absolute honour and a dream come true,” she said. “Thank you so much to every single staff member and player that has made my experiences so memorable and enjoyable. I’ve made friends for life. I’ve been a part of the national team for almost half of my life and it’s been incredible to contribute to the growth of the game. I look forward to supporting Scotland from the stands and I wish Pedro [Martínez Losa] and the team all the best for the future.”
Van der Sar explains Schreuder sacking
Seasoned Eredivisie watchers will have noticed that Ajax are in a bit of a pickle at the moment. After their latest draw against Volendam, they are on a seven-match winless streak in the league. Six of those matches ended with the points shared, mind, but it’s still a pretty abysmal run for the reigning champions, who are now fifth in the table. Unsurprisingly, it has cost their head coach, Alfred Schreuder, his job.
Edwin van der Sar, the club’s chief executive, has been sent out to explain the decision, with Schreuder only succeeding Erik ten Hag last summer. “This is a painful decision, but it’s necessary,” he said. “Regardless of the good start to the season, we lost a lot of unnecessary points. The football itself was precarious too. Due to the World Cup, we had an early and long break during the winter. We gave Alfred our time and trust to change the way things were going. It became clear to us that he could not change the tide. Regardless of the many transfers that took place, we consider the squad fit for a championship. We lost a lot of points over the last few weeks and sadly saw a lack of progression.”
Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Me, and boy do these claw marks sting! Let’s start with the news that the EFL has asked the Premier League to halve the financial gap with the Championship. “Doing so would make clubs financially sustainable in a thriving and competitive pyramid,” argues Rick Parry, the EFL chairman. “English football now has the opportunity to make the changes required to fix the imbalance – the money is in the game, but a redistribution solution is not.”
Right, for much of the afternoon, Will Magee is in the chair.
Jadon Sancho to return for Manchester United this weekend? It looks likely. Erik ten Hag says Jadon Sancho could make his first appearance in 14 weeks when Manchester United host Reading in the FA Cup this weekend. Sancho last played in October’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
He is training with the team and we will see. So, he’s improving, he’s making steps and we will make the decision after the training. I said he’s on the way back, he’s making steps. He’s back in team training and now we have to see when he’s ready to go back into the games.
This was the story last month.
Cardiff appoint Lamouchi as new manager
Cardiff have appointed Sabri Lamouchi as their new manager. The former France international and Nottingham Forest boss has signed a deal at the Cardiff City Stadium to replace Mark Hudson after his sacking earlier this month. Dean Whitehead, Tom Ramasut and Graham Stack will be part of the coaching team, with Sol Bamba coming back in, having worked with Lamouchi with the Ivory Coast national team.
The word from Merseyside on Bielsa is that he wanted to come in and work with the club’s Under-21 team for the rest of the season until taking over the seniors next season. Until that, an interim boss would come in. Has anyone told Sean Dyche this?
Per Andy Hunter:
Bielsa informed Everton he would join now but would work behind the scenes until the end of the season, coaching the under-21s and younger players as the club adapted to his methods. That would have left Everton needing an interim manager for the precarious task of keeping them in the Premier League and was not a situation the club was willing to accept.
Arsenal make move for Brighton's Caicedo
Big move, big player, and someone everyone wants. Will he take the Trossard route? A bid of £60m is low.
Chelsea had a £55m verbal proposal for the midfielder rejected this month and Brighton hope to keep the 21-year-old but Arsenal are pushing for a deal and negotiations are a key juncture.
Shock news, as Chelsea want to sign someone, anyone. Young Magee brings you the latest.
Jamie Jackson is up for the Cup, and Preston take on Tottenham in a historic tie in Saturday’s Dad’s Army slot. Great pic, too. Not sure about the goalie’s positioning.
Transfer news from Wolves, who have landed their man after a tug of war, according to PA Media.
Wolves have agreed to sign Joao Gomes from Flamengo for £15million. The midfielder is due to travel to England next week for a medical, the PA news agency understands.
It marks the end of Wolves’ chase after they pushed hard, with Flamengo keen for Gomes to join Lyon. The Brazilian club have now agreed to let the 21-year-old move to Molineux with the Premier League his preferred destination.
Gomes would become Julen Lopetegui’s sixth January signing after Mario Lemina, Pablo Sarabia, Matheus Cunha, Craig Dawson and Dan Bentley.
Some bonus Liverpool transfer news, per PA Media.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has not ruled out defender Nat Phillips leaving before the end of the transfer window.
The 25-year-old is fifth-choice centre-back and has made just five appearances this season and the recall of youngster Rhys Williams this week from a loan spell at Blackpool could pave the way for his departure.
“Depends if there are offers,” said Klopp when asked if Phillips could leave. “We have to be prepared for pretty much everything, the 31st is deadline day and we will see.”
Jürgen Klopp has been speaking ahead of his Liverpool team’s return to Brighton. It didn’t go well last time, and apologies for linking to my own article, very poor form.
Still the worst game I have ever seen of a team of mine, that’s still the same thank god as we have played a few games since then... We did really well in moments and spells of the games. The first half against Chelsea we were very disciplined and we didn’t give them a lot. We have to do that again against Brighton, of course.
We have six or seven midfielders in top shape which is the perfect situation but only three can start. You can’t make mistakes with line-ups. Against Brighton it is massively important how we defend the first line. The goalie is really calm, they just pass the ball if the front three aren’t performing well. It is really about how we defend.
Important column from the Wycombe midfielder, David Wheeler, here.
I’m not saying gambling is bad, nor do I want to stop people from having a bet, but it says all you need to know about how a sport and a country treat a public health issue that we name our national league after a gambling company. The EFL deal with Sky Bet ends next season and after Sky Betting and Gaming sent self-excluded gamblers free spins and exploited fans through sign-up offers, I would urge the league to look elsewhere for its next sponsor.
It’s clearly not the responsibility of footballers to set policy – this should sit squarely at the feet of the government, the regulator and governing bodies, all of whom have so far failed. The government has been reviewing gambling laws for about three years and it is its duty to protect young fans from harm. But players do have a responsibility to speak up when something is so obviously harming our supporters, the communities we represent and even our colleagues.
Jürgen Klopp seems surprised Sean Dyche is coming in at Everton.
The pair have some history together.
Though Dyche also has some history with the Everton players. Awkward.
"I'm not sure Everton know how to win a game, lads."
Throwback to Sean Dyche revealing what he said to his players at half-time against Everton 😅pic.twitter.com/jJDO8BvN2n
The big news of the week is, of course, the Guardian’s Top 100 men’s footballers, and here’s the special projects boss man, Marcus Christenson, on how we arrived at the idea Lionel Messi might just actually be the best around.
It is worth noting that although we have a 35-year-old winner and the same winner as 10 years ago, there is an abundance of young, talented players coming through.
It is clear to see that Mbappé is a likely future winner but there are younger players than the 24-year-old on the list who are upwardly mobile. Erling Haaland and Vinícius are 22 and in the top 10, while Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Jamal Musiala, Bukayo Saka, Pedri, Gavi and Tchouaméni are set to improve their positions.
These two just bloody love each other. It wasn’t long ago that Mikel Arteta was Jason Tindall to Pep Guardiola’s Eddie Howe, and supplying the aggro on the sidelines.
Brighton v Liverpool looks a key tie in this weekend’s FA Cup.
Jürgen Klopp was adamant that progress was being made following Liverpool’s drab goalless draw at home to Chelsea, but a truer test awaits the holders on their return to the Amex Stadium. Brighton ripped through Liverpool in the Premier League a fortnight ago, when Klopp described his team’s 3-0 defeat as one of the worst displays of his managerial career. Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Joël Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all withdrawn in a quadruple substitution midway through the second half against Roberto De Zerbi’s polished side. None have started in the two matches since. Eighteen-year-old Stefan Bajcetic has seized his chance in central midfield, injecting an energy and bite that was previously lacking, while Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez have benefited from the improvement in front of them. Both managers should go strong with no midweek fixtures to concern them. Klopp must hope De Zerbi finds Liverpool unrecognisable. Andy Hunter
Here’s some meat on the bones from Andy Hunter.
Sean Dyche is set to be named Everton’s manager after Marcelo Bielsa told the club he would only take over in the summer.
Bielsa was the first choice of Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, and flew to London on Thursday to hold further talks with club officials. That raised their hopes of enticing the Argentinian to Goodison Park, despite his reservations over the state of the club and the squad and his record of never taking over a European club mid-season.
The 67-year-old remained unconvinced about going to Everton at this stage, however, and negotiations are understood to be over. That has cleared the way for Dyche and the former Burnley manager could be appointed on Friday on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Preamble
The FA Cup fourth round is here, starting with a blockbuster tonight between Manchester City and Arsenal, though first, the big news comes from Goodison Park, where Sean Dyche is set to be announced as the new manager of Everton. It seems Marcelo Bielsa will not be coming, after all, and instead the Ginger Ancelotti, or whatever banterous name we can call the former Burnley boss, takes the reins. With Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski in the ranks, there’s a couple of players to get the lookeylikey game in the dressing room. And woe betide anyone who wants to sit out the curry night. Sean Dyche is back. But what does that mean for Everton?
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