1. City manager says ‘we need to make our noise’
Enzo Maresca has called on Manchester City fans to bring inflatable bananas to help inspire the team in their first Premier League home game since being found guilty of financial breaches when they take on Ipswich on Saturday. Supporters packed the away end at Liverpool with the novelty items as a nod to the club’s history last weekend.
Blow-up bananas became popular among City fans in the 1980s and 1990s when they spent time in the second and third tiers, and have been revived in reaction to the threat of being punished with relegation and to show there is plenty to reflect on before the 2008 takeover.
“Very nice,” Maresca said of the inflatables. “I didn’t know the history behind the banana. I hope tomorrow I can see many bananas in the stadium. I think it creates a nice environment for the fans and for everyone that is in the stadium. I have four kids, they already asked me [for bananas], but tomorrow they’re going to be at the stadium and we’ll see.”
It comes after Maresca dropped points for the first time as City manager, losing 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. City are three points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and victory would make Maresca the first manager to win their first seven Premier League games with a club. City are playing against a backdrop of being the focus of anger around the country.
“We need to try to make our noise,” Maresca said. “And to make our noise means win at Anfield, try to win tomorrow. And this is the way we can make our noise. The different kind of noise, we are not able to control that. I think Rúben [Dias] said that people don’t like the City win. But we like to win. So I think that is a good message for everyone. Probably since the noise, we can see, I can see from my personal point of view, the fans, the club, the team, more together for sure. But we’ll see.” Will Unwin
2. Alonso insists ‘the clean sheets will come’
Xabi Alonso has stressed the importance of clean sheets as he strives to find the right balance at Chelsea and faces up to the absence of Reece James for three months after knee surgery. The manager has been delighted with the attacking output of his team but it is a different story at the back where they have the joint-worst defensive record in the Premier League.
Alonso made tactical tweaks for last Saturday’s 5-1 home win over Bournemouth when Moisés Caicedo returned in midfield to play alongside Jordan Henderson in James’s absence. Chelsea announced on Friday morning that James had undergone an operation; it compounds the captain’s reputation for bad luck where injuries are concerned.
Alonso’s team defended deeper against Bournemouth and were compact in a 4-4-2 shape out of possession rather than their usual three centre-half system. There were positive signs, which Alonso is determined to build on at Everton on Saturday lunchtime.
“You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,” he said. “But you [also] need to score a lot of goals. So it’s about being strong in defence, being good in attack and we are in that process. We are still early days; to do a very deep analysis, it’s too early. We can maybe talk in February. Those tweaks … they need to come naturally and we are not in that moment yet.
“The obsession is to win and to compete in the best possible way. The clean sheets will come, I’m pretty sure of that, because we want to play with good balance and good control.”
The chemistry in midfield will be key and if Caicedo’s partnership with Henderson showed promise against Bournemouth, Alonso made it clear he would also count on Roméo Lavia and Valentín Barco. He added there would be matches where he played with three midfielders.
“In terms of personalities, Moi and Hendo match very well,” Alonso said. “Hendo has this energy to go. He’s very active. He covers a lot of the pitch. And to find the balance with Moi … that he’s more in the position, that he has this stability to be in good distances with everything, it was a good start.
“Roméo is in a good moment. He played very well with Belgium [during the recent international window]. He’s super available. It’s been difficult for him [with injuries] but this season he’s been available and has done really well. We need to keep him with the other midfielders because that area is fundamental for our game. And also Valentín. The minutes he has played with us, he has been very competitive. He doesn’t care who is the opponent. He goes. That warrior, fighting spirit he brings is very positive.” David Hytner
3. Moyes backs Pickford to keep England shirt
David Moyes believes Jordan Pickford will relish the challenge to his England place from James Trafford and remains the nation’s undisputed No 1 goalkeeper.
Pickford and Trafford shared goalkeeping duties during the recent four-game international break as part of an arranged plan by manager Thomas Tuchel. The 24-year-old Leeds player is considered the biggest threat to emerge to Pickford’s long-held position with the national team but Moyes insists the Everton keeper has been sharper than ever this season.
“When Jordan came back from the World Cup, it might be the best I have ever seen him,” the Everton manager said. “He was lean, he was sharp, his footwork was brilliant, he was fast across the goal and if you look at some of the saves he has made between now and then he has made a couple of brilliant, brilliant saves.
“I spoke to him when he came back and said: ‘You know you have a bit of competition now with Trafford, how are you going to deal with it?’ I don’t see Jordan falling away at the moment. I think if it really mattered to England then Jordan would still be the one who was there because he makes saves. He did that in the Argentina game. He has that experience and he is not ageing.”
Trafford has won plaudits for his footwork with Leeds and England. But Moyes reflected: “Jordan is a terrific kicker of the ball, he is a better kicker than Trafford, but passing is a different equation. When you talk about that, is goalkeeping now just about the passing? Or are you saying you still have to put your gloves on and make good saves and make good decisions. I think it would be hard to move Jordan off that role. I don’t think Jordan is moving aside at the moment.” Andy Hunter
4. Iraola shares delight at coaching Ngumoha
Andoni Iraola has said it is “a privilege” to work with Rio Ngumoha and believes the Liverpool winger is on the path to becoming an elite talent. Ngumoha has shown his versatility this season, with the arrival of the £123m Bradley Barcola prompting Iraola to shift the 18-year-old to the right wing on occasion. Ngumoha helped create Barcola’s first goal for Liverpool when impressing from that position in the midweek Champions League rout of Lask.
“For us it is a privilege to have Rio in the team because he has just become 18,” said the head coach. “He has already played some minutes with the national team and that is not normal. Normally you start playing with the national team when you are 20-something and you already have matured a little bit. We have to help him because luckily for us he is not the finished product. He can still improve because he is still 18 and I hope we can help him with these processes.”
Ngumoha won his third cap for England during the recent international break, featuring in both wins over Czechia in the Nations League, and has started four times for Liverpool under Iraola. “I think he knows he is elite at certain things,” Iraola said. “If you want to put someone one versus one then Rio is one of the best players you would choose because he is so difficult to contain.
“There are areas he has to improve, especially without the ball. He has to get used to the demands of the Premier League in terms of duels and this happens when you come from the youth system. There you are used to being superior to the others and now you face very strong opposition and it is not easy to sustain those duels, but he is improving a lot. Body-wise he is becoming stronger and I think he is in a good place.” Andy Hunter
5. Gibbs-White a doubt for Arsenal encounter
Nottingham Forest are sweating on the fitness of Morgan Gibbs-White before Sunday’s clash with Arsenal. The England international picked up a “minor” calf injury in last weekend’s defeat at Crystal Palace and will be assessed before the visit of the champions.
“Morgan Gibbs-White is a doubt, he couldn’t train the entire week with us,” the manager, Oliver Glasner, said. “But it looks like he can join tomorrow’s session. He had an individual session today with our rehab coaches. Then we have to see how he reacts today and how he deals with tomorrow’s session, and then how we take the final decision.”
Forest will also assess Nikola Milenkovic, who has returned to training after a bone bruise. “Milenkovic trained for the first time today,” Glasner said. “Let’s see now how he reacts. He could be in the matchday squad, but let’s see, because he’s now out for several weeks.” Press Association
