Key events
That’s all from the blog today, thanks for your comments. Liverpool v Arsenal coverage to follow later, but for now, WSL action.
News from Reuters, relevant with the Fifa election happening in Rabat in March 2027. Nigerian Samson Adamu has been named as the Confederation of African Football’s new General Secretary
Adamu had been acting general secretary since March after Veron Mosengo-Omba resigned and later became president of the football federation in the Democratic Republic of Congo CAF President Patrice Motsepe said Adamu’s appointment followed a comprehensive recruitment process, during which the position was widely advertised and several candidates were interviewed.
Our coverage of those WSL matches has begun.
Liverpool v Arsenal brings back memories of 1989, as Ed Aarons wrote.
[George] Graham and [Mikel] Arteta were 44 when they won their first league titles and the similarities do not end there. The former Scotland midfielder, who scored almost 80 goals for Arsenal and helped them win the Double in 1971, was known for his emphasis on defending as a manager and “1-0 to the Arsenal” became synonymous with Graham, especially towards the end of his reign. Arteta has revived that tradition since he took over in December 2019, recording 1-0 victories 32 times in the Premier League, more than any club apart from Everton.
Cole Palmer, following Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Manchester United, has been talking about Estevao, who made his first start of the Premier League season and impressed.
“He needed to be patient for his moment and he got his moment today He was unlucky with the offside. I think it was literally a centimetre. But we know the talent he’s got and we all love him. So hopefully he can continue like that.”
“That’s what he does, you know. He gets the ball between the lines and when he drives he makes things happen. He went all the way himself and it was a great finish.”
“It was very important to get back to winning ways, obviously, after the last defeat. I just think we were more intense. The chances they had were from us losing the ball, so we tried to play a bit smarter, a bit sharper and not losing the ball as easily, and I think it helped.”
It was derby weekend in Europe, with Der Klassiker and Milan v Inter.
In a week when the clubs shared more details of San Siro’s replacement, Milan’s fast start earned the win that lifts them into fourth place, four points behind leaders Lazio and Inter who have 25. The result means Lazio can move three points clear of Inter when they host Cagliari on Sunday. Roma are third on 24 points.
Sheffield Wednesday appoint Dave Challinor as new manager
Comunicado oficial
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club can confirm that an agreement was reached last night for Dave Challinor to become the club’s new First-Team Manager.
The 51-year-old will be in attendance at today’s fixture against Blackpool at Hillsborough.
The club looks forward to formally introducing Dave to supporters on Monday, when further details of the appointment will be announced.
Jonathan Wilson examines the conspiracy theories floated by Mikel Arteta.
It’s not only that football is groaning under the weight of the paranoia of various fan groups, each adamant that Pro Ref is acting with the rosicrucians, the Masons, the mob, Opus Dei and the Cubans to deny their club a spot in the Europa League, a distraction that deflects from the game’s true crisis: its descent from an endeavour in which sporting merit and integrity are paramount into a grimly capitalistic vehicle to make very rich and powerful people even richer and more powerful.
Keep the comments coming.
“There remains a view within the hierarchy that Carrick can still transform fortunes, with United’s travelling support still backing him at the end of the defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.”
Well, they’ve reached cloud cuckoo land levels of insanity. I’m guessing they’re just waiting for the international break to sack him. But who next? I guess Howe will steady the ship, yet he’ll confront the same problems as all the other managers – the squad is full of cliques, the recruitment team is crap, the media/social media won’t give him time…
It’s quite remarkable, tbh. I don’t think they’ll get relegated, but the fact that it’s a genuine possibility now is shocking.
Newcastle play Everton on Monday, and the focus is on someone who will not be playing.
There were reservations at Everton about taking Grealish back this summer but Iliman Ndiaye’s sale to City made it a pragmatic move to fill the void. Grealish had carried out pre-season under Enzo Maresca, who gave him chances in the Community Shield and on the opening day against Bournemouth. The Italian had time for him but the unlikely redemption arc at City was soon quashed. Maresca showed affection for Grealish on Friday, saying: “I still think that he’s a good boy, big heart.”
Alf-Inge Haaland spoke to Viaplay’s Jan Age Fjortoft after Manchester City’s defeat to Brighton, and said this on the guilty 114/115 verdict.
“Nothing beyond what’s already in the media, which is quite a lot. I’d say the coverage has been very one-sided, as it’s difficult for City to defend themselves while the appeal is ongoing. I hope they receive a fair hearing, and we’ll see whether they can prove their innocence.”
There’s six matches in the WSL today, with the biggest name of all taking on the champions.
Arsenal v Aston Villa (12pm)
London City Lionesses v Man City (12pm)
Birmingham City v Tottenham Hotspur (2pm)
Brighton v Crystal Palace (2pm)
West Ham United v Liverpool (2pm)
Charlton Athletic v Chelsea (2:30pm)
London City are three points off Chelsea and Manchester City, and Semmens says the aim is to “build a squad that is consistently in the top three”. He is looking forward to Sunday. “This is probably the No 1 game in the women’s game in the world this weekend,” he says. “That’s what we want to be: on the map.”
WSL action, something of a drab draw between Everton and Manchester United on Saturday.
Talking of crisis clubs, there’s always West Ham.
Will Unwin took a trip to what Ewan MacColl called the Dirty Old Town.
Attracting new fans is the aim but Salford face competition from much bigger clubs in the region. Even with Manchester City in a crisis and United’s form spiralling, convincing locals to head down to the AIG Stadium is difficult. Cklamovski’s attractive style is a deliberate ploy but The Ammies have the fourth-worst average attendance in League Two. It is optimistic to think they can create a Championship fanbase, even with subsidised away travel.
Manchester United stick with Carrick for Roma game
There remains a view within the hierarchy that Carrick can still transform fortunes, with United’s travelling support still backing him at the end of the defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
After the game the head coach indicated that he expects to still be in position for the Roma game. He said: “We’ve got to move forward and win matches, it’s as simple as that.”
So where does that leave the Premier League table? Four crisis clubs?
James Trafford’s mistake was key to Bournemouth’s sixth successive win.
Trafford fell victim to a determination to chase everything down as Leeds followed three former European champions in Milan, Manchester United and Aston Villa in submission to the swarm. Eli Junior Kroupi supplying Amine Adli for the stoppage-time goal that confirmed victory was the latest example of a club finding players others cannot reach.
It is not going well for Oliver Glasner at Nottingham Forest, to say the least.
“For me, I go home and have breakfast with my family, so it’s not the worst situation,” Glasner said. “Nobody needs to have pity with Oliver Glasner. If I want, I could start in two weeks somewhere else. I won’t do it. But the players, the staff, they remain in the same situation. And it’s the same shit situation that the club had last year. So you need to change and rebuild from the bottom to the top. And this is clear for me. And this is what I will do. And without any compromises, zero, zero.”
Sunderland are in trouble. Coventry are fighting for their lives.
Régis Le Bris, Sunderland’s head coach, said: “I don’t think they are not aware of the situation. We are exposed this season with this busy schedule, it’s really demanding.
“Is it unexpected? I don’t think so. Many clubs last year experienced exactly the same situation. First year in Europe, you know you will have on average 10 less points. It’s our reality.
“Does it mean we are happy? Absolutely not. We have to get better. We have to play better than we did in the first half. It’s hard to be not able to play our football with confidence, with the ability to be ourselves.”
Two promoted teams fought out a draw. Julio Enciso is in good form for Hull.
“We were excellent, the better side for almost all of it,” said the Ipswich manager, Gary O’Neil. “There’s disappointment that it doesn’t get us three [points], but a point on the road in the Premier League is still something.
“There was a lot of promise that we were much better than them in their own stadium. That takes some doing, they’re a good side and they’ve been doing well. You have to give them credit, they’ve done this against everybody.
“They don’t dominate the game, they don’t batter your goal, but if you make a mistake they will capitalise on it and that was the case today.”
The Spurs revival continues, and for that they owe some thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta. Worries for Crystal Palace and Pierre Sage.
“I told the players I want to be the first on pitch on Monday. I will do the best session I can. Now I have the rage to train more, because the game I saw this evening is not in line with my conviction,” said a defiant Sage. “It’s not me to decide this thing, but if I have one hour, I will give my best during one hour, and if I have 10 years, I will give my best during 10 years. I am responsible for the situation, and I am the guy who will find the solution for the situation.”
Aston Villa have been in the news. Their draw with Fulham will not, though, do much for their ascension in English and European football
Notwithstanding this disappointing draw, it is beyond question that Emery has done an admirable job at Villa. Even after losing another tranche of top talent, with Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Emi Martínez heading up the exits last summer after winning the Europa League, the former Arsenal and PSG manager has resurrected the club’s fortunes yet again. They start seasons slowly – winning only two of their last 12 league games in August and September – but once he has cast his spell and integrated the new signings, Villa tend to get going; they had won eight of their previous 10 league games in October and November.
Huge win for Brighton at Manchester City.
Hürzeler was asked what is possible for Brighton this season. “The only thing we’re focused on is that we are in a big process, a process of analysing the game. Then try to prepare for Getafe [on Thursday], a big challenge.”
Brighton can be proud of victory here – and of being third. They are worth the lofty position and who would bet against Champions League qualification? They protected their lead admirably because City kept coming at them: City’s problem was the final touch or finish and not creating enough for the lethal Erling Haaland.
Barney Ronay’s Manchester United verdict is scathing.
Michael Carrick is miles away from being the actual story here. For the record, the United manager is now a little more pre-doomed, pre-sacked, pretty much already lounging around in one of those holiday adverts with Tony Pulis joshing about what’s for lunch. This defeat means United haven’t won a game since early September. At full time only the fact that Coventry and Sunderland would be playing each other later in the afternoon ruled out the prospect of an end-of-day bottom place.
Here’s Jacob Steinberg’s report from Stamford Bridge.
Here was a moment to symbolise United’s decline under the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Martínez has had a lot to say about those above him recently, but this is a player who should have been sold along. United have too many in that category and it is hard to see a change of manager alone fixing the problem.
A dead man talking?
“There’s no words I’m going to explain to you now that makes it any different,” he said. “It’s not going to change it. We’ve got to move forward and win matches, it’s as simple as that.”
Preamble
Good morning, and welcome. Another Sunday, another day of speculation about Michael Carrick? Well, probably. There’s also Liverpool v Arsenal, as the Gunners try to shake off their midweek visit to the north west, and Andoni Iraola attempts to keep his team rolling along.
All that and the latest news and reaction from Saturday’s games.
