List of All Articles with Tag 'f'

With the MLB postseason coming up soon these 10 players are going to teach the world who they are with big October showings like Jeremy Pena did in 2022.

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Pep Guardiola admits he would have had a “big, big problem” if Kyle Walker had left Manchester City in the summer. The England right-back came close to leaving the treble winners for Bayern Munich but ultimately opted to stay and this week extended his contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2026. The 33-year-old had a spell out of favour last season but has started the new campaign strongly and Guardiola is pleased to have retained his services after losing experienced pair Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez. The City manager said: “After Gundo and Riyad, losing Bernardo (Silva) and Kyle would have have been a big, big problem. “It’s not about the quality – the skills you can find quite similar, or different players can help you – but there are some things in the locker room that are so difficult to replace. “These guys have a lot of experience in the important moments of important games. You know exactly how he’s going to respond in the bad moments. “It would have been a big loss. That’s why as a club of course we fought for him to stay with us.” Walker joined City from Tottenham in 2017 and has since won 15 trophies, including the Champions League and five Premier League titles. Guardiola believes he has matured into a far better player than when he arrived and recently underlined his qualities with his response to a calamitous error last month. Walker was at fault as Sheffield United claimed a late equaliser against City in their Premier League clash at Bramall Lane but then recovered to tee up Rodri’s dramatic winner. Everyone makes mistakes but he has an incredible heart. Pep Guardiola on Kyle Walker Guardiola said: “He made a wrong decision when they equalised but, right after the equaliser, the next two actions came from Kyle in the byline. It was a goal. What a top, top player. “He forgets what happened, says, ‘OK I’m going to win the game’. That defines the big, big players. “No doubt he’s a much, much better player than seven years ago when he arrived. That is clear. “Everyone makes mistakes but he has an incredible heart. And he’s a really nice guy, really nice, always tries to help. “When a player is injured, he always calls him. I was at home (after back surgery) and he called me twice. ‘How you feel, Pep?’ This counts a lot in the group of people. “The reason why we have a lot of success? The quality of human beings that we have.” Walker has captained City so far this season and, with Kevin De Bruyne currently sidelined, could be the favoured choice to succeed Gundogan in the role full-time. A vote among the squad and backroom staff – in which Guardiola will not participate – is due to be held in the coming days. Guardiola said: “The vote will be taken the next days and the players will decide. It belongs to the players, not to me. What they decide, I’m fine (with).” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mauricio Pochettino feels Chelsea’s young squad must be given time Erik ten Hag unsure whether Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again Early stages of life at Spurs ‘nothing like my honeymoon’ says Ange Postecoglou

Jadon Sancho’s future at Manchester United looks bleak after Erik ten Hag admitted he does not know whether the winger will play for the club again. The 23-year-old is training away from the first team as a disciplinary measure after claiming on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” following his omission from the squad for the defeat at Arsenal before the international break. Ten Hag hinted that it was not just this misstep that was taken into consideration when deciding the punishment, though repeatedly declined the opportunity to speak about Sancho when asked at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s visit of Brighton. The episode bears similarity to the way Cristiano Ronaldo was jettisoned out of the club after his explosive interview with Piers Morgan last year and Ten Hag said he did not know how long Sancho’s disciplinary procedure would last or whether he will represent United again. Asked directly whether he would pull on the United shirt again, Ten Hag said: “I don’t know. I am sitting here. Tomorrow we have a big game, we are going into a new block of games, many games in a condensed programme. I focus on that.” On how long the disciplinary process might last, the Dutchman replied: “I don’t know but, as I say, I don’t think about that. I think about tomorrow. I think about the way the team has to progress. I have a lot to consider to make the right decisions. “He is not available, so in this moment, he is not important, because he can’t contribute.” Ten Hag, who claimed he inherited a club with “no good culture” when he took over, was at pains to stress that he was not focused on Sancho and the team is the most important thing. “It’s in favour of the team. That is what my decision is based on,” he said. “That is not about me, and to be strict. No. This is in favour of the team. I don’t think about that (Sancho’s tweet) and I don’t talk about that, because I have to win a game. It is all about that. “The players who are there and available deserve me. I have to guide them, I have to prepare them, it is about that. I only focus on the players who are available. “It is also not about me, it is about the team and the club. I put my energy into giving the best performance tomorrow against Brighton. “As a club, as a team we have to deal with that. But once again it is no importance to the coming games, I have to put my energy so that the team play their best tomorrow, in a week, the coming period. I have to focus on that.” He is not available, so in this moment, he is not important, because he can’t contribute Erik ten Hag on Jadon Sancho Sancho’s misdemeanour is the latest in a long line of off-field issues that Ten Hag has had to deal with since his appointment last summer and he said part of his brief was to instil better discipline at the club. Ten Hag said: “Strict lines is what the club asked me because there was no good culture before I entered last season, so to set good standards, that is what I did and it is my job to control the standards. “Of course, it is never someone only makes one mistake, it is a whole process before you come to a certain outcome about strict lines. “If staff or players or whoever, there is a structure to cross lines so you have to be strong.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Early stages of life at Spurs ‘nothing like my honeymoon’ says Ange Postecoglou Steve Borthwick says Lewis Ludlam is ‘the right person to start’ against Japan Dawid Malan’s happy to be left holding the baby after shining in England victory

Chelsea’s policy of targeting young players in the transfer market must be given time to prove its effectiveness, according to boss Mauricio Pochettino. Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have led a recruitment drive that has prioritised youth over experience during the last two transfer windows. At an average age of just over 23 the club have the youngest squad in the Premier League this season, with contracts of seven or eight years for new players common at Stamford Bridge. They have broken the British transfer record twice in 2023 on two players who are under 23, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Yet the team have taken just four points from the manager’s first four league games in charge, after a summer in which recruitment spend in the previous 12 months under the current ownership surpassed the £1billion mark. The manager was unhappy with the ease with which Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga was allowed to run through the heart of his team’s defence to score the only goal in the visitors’ 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge before the international break, and mistakes in defence and in midfield have been a theme in the season’s early weeks. Nevertheless, Chelsea have enjoyed periods of dominance in all four fixtures, particularly in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on the opening weekend and in the 3-0 win over newly-promoted Luton. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic said this week that the squad lacked the kind of world-class individuals that helped the club win five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues over the past 20 years. But Pochettino has seen enough to be reassured that his ideas are taking root amongst his young squad, and appealed for the necessary patience for an inexperienced group to find their flow. “They were (once) young also, John Terry was young, Frank Lampard was young, (Didier) Drogba was young,” he said. “You know better maybe than me, that is a completely different pressure. This is a different Chelsea to what I saw when I was at Tottenham or Southampton. Worse or better? I’m not saying that. “But it’s different pressure. Different circumstances. Now we cannot compare with the past. I think it’s not fair. It’s a different Chelsea. What I want to translate is the fans want to win because the normal way in the past for Chelsea is to win. “We need to accelerate all the process, because Chelsea is about to win, and we want to win. But I understand that the process is completely different to in the past. Because we have a different approach to the game and the philosophy and the ideas, (it means) we have a young squad of course. “(We have) very talented players that need time to perform. But for sure we have one of the best squads of young players with the project. But of course we need time. We need to be careful about how we evolve and how we develop these ideas. But it’s true, players that need to improve and improve.” Chelsea travel to Bournemouth on Sunday looking to win away from home for just the second time since March, with their only victory on the road in that time coming on their previous visit to the Vitality Stadium at the end of last season. Pochettino spoke positively about his side’s performances so far this campaign despite a points return that has left them 12th. He emphasised that his young squad are carrying the club into a new era where success is planned over a longer period, investing in potential rather than ready-made stars. “I cannot give my opinion about what (Begovic) said because I didn’t hear,” he added. “But it’s obvious that at the moment, if you’re talking about a name like John Terry or Lampard or Drogba… come on. “Today maybe we have the potential of Lampard or Terry or Drogba, but they are young. They need to prove that they can be one of these guys. “In the past, Chelsea was about to sign (big) players, like Drogba. Now the idea is to buy young people to have the possibility to develop and to build a team. We are in the process of building a team.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pep Guardiola admits Kyle Walker exit would have given him a ‘big, big problem’ Erik ten Hag unsure whether Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again Early stages of life at Spurs ‘nothing like my honeymoon’ says Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou has laughed off talk he is in the honeymoon period at Tottenham but promised they will continue to improve. Spurs’ flying start to the new campaign earned their new head coach the Premier League manager of the month award for August on Friday. The last Tottenham manager to receive the accolade was Nuno Espirito Santo at the start of the 2021-22 season but he was sacked months later in October. When it was put to Postecoglou that he was still enjoying the honeymoon phase of life in north London, he was happy to point out some of the challenges he has faced in N17. “I don’t know what your honeymoon was like, but mine didn’t have me losing the greatest player (Harry Kane) in the history of this football club on the eve of a transfer window, me trying to scramble to get players into the club, fighting for everything I do mate. That’s not what my honeymoon was about,” Postecoglou reflected. “I don’t sit here and think this has come to me or been served on a platter. I’ve worked hard, mate, I’ve worked really hard. It’s been a really tough period, nothing like my honeymoon. “At Celtic I lost three of our first six. At Yokohama, we were battling relegation, but I can tell you the same sort of building stuff I did at the those clubs, I’m doing here. “The only difference is the results have been better, encouraging, for sure, but I love this period because there is pretty much a day-to-day uncertainty about where we’re at. That will be here for the next six months to a year. I don’t know what your honeymoon was like, but mine didn’t have me losing the greatest player (Harry Kane) in the history of this football club on the eve of a transfer window, me trying to scramble to get players into the club, fighting for everything I do mate. That’s not what my honeymoon was about Ange Postecoglou “Everywhere I’ve been, the second year is where I’ve felt like the team has really taken hold, but I also understand at this football club I can’t go three, four, five months without results because I won’t last. That’s the reality of it. “If you measure on outcomes, yes, this looks like this has been smoother than the others. “But I can assure you this has been just as challenging, if not more challenging because of the stakes here in the Premier League.” Postecoglou admitted it would take two more transfer windows for him to feel his playing group has the squad depth it needs, with Spurs only required to challenge in the Premier League until January. He added: “I definitely think we need at least two more windows to get to a space where I think ‘okay, we (are happy) as a squad.’ “Don’t forget this year we’re out of the Carabao Cup now and we’ve got no European football, so the fixtures are a little bit kinder to us between now and Christmas, but that’s not our aim. “We want to have games, we want to be in Europe, we want to be in cup competitions. So we’re going to need a stronger squad and I don’t think we’re anywhere near that point where we’ve got a robust enough squad at the moment.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Erik ten Hag unsure whether Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again Steve Borthwick says Lewis Ludlam is ‘the right person to start’ against Japan Dawid Malan’s happy to be left holding the baby after shining in England victory

The latest batch of NFL rumors has Aaron Rodgers definitely coming back to the Jets, the Eagles potentially cooking up a trade and the Steelers' OC problem.

The Tennessee Titans host the Los Angeles Chargers in their home opener with both teams trying to avoid an 0-2 start

Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison said he received more than 60 “disgustingly disrespectful messages” through social media that included racial slurs and encouraged suicide in the aftermath of the team's recent loss