Time to sign off. We’ve learned a lot today – mainly that 5 February is objectively the best day for footballers to be born. I’ll leave you with 10 things to look out from the Premier League weekend, which kicks off in less than two hours. Byeee!
One more preview before we all go our separate ways. It’s Manchester City v Bournemouth! Anyone fancy an away win?
A Spurs stadium update – on the day that the club trumpeted a “fan familiarisation” day in December, news has emerged that several electricians have not been paid for work carried out to get the ground finished.
Time for the final reckoning, and I’m breaking it down into two categories. First, Alejandro Perna gets the overall nod for his coherent 11-a-side team of players born on 6 May – Carrizo; Alves, Stendardo, Da Costa, Arano; Souness, Kovacic, Magilton, De la Peña; Mertens, Oliveira.
Among the strictly five-a-side efforts, Rupert Koopman (5 Feb) takes the prize with Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Carlos Tevez, Gheorghe Hagi and Vedran Corluka as sweeper-keeper.
A late shout to JGW1985, who has this doozy for 24 June: Diego Alves, Juan Roman Riquelme, Shunsuke Nakamura, Lionel Messi, Kevin Nolan. Pros: a keeper. Cons: no Hagi. Unlucky, JGW.
Two late entries for our birthday five-a-sides:
Duncan Edwards (15 Nov): I hate leaving the creativity of Georgia O’Keefe and JG Ballard on the bench – but Macho Man Randy Savage can throw himself around in goal, Billy Wingrove (freestyle footy player) can do some tricks, and there are goals coming from Gus Poyet, Paulo Dybala, and if we need to go long or “downtown”, Petula Clark.
Pierre Mueller (26 May): Starting in goal is Zenit’s Yury Lodygin, his teammate Luis Neto (chemistry bonus!) and Razvan Rat of West Ham fame provide defensive solidity for our really nice attacking line of Matt Busby and Luca Toni.
Save for Cardiff v Wolves tonight, here’s the game where the managers are most likely to scuffle in unedifying fashion this weekend:
ICYMI, Jürgen Klopp is primed for a “proper, proper fight” when Liverpool take on Everton this Sunday. To be fair, Klopp seemed up for an exchange of views with anyone in his vicinity – he’s got a funk on after the loss to PSG.
Another preview – it’s Newcastle v West Ham. The disgruntled fans derby!
Gabe from Boston weighs in with a team that offers bags of goals, but by his own admission, “no defence”.
Kepa in goal, Zlatan, Kelechi Iheanacho, Claudio Pizarro, Jackson Martinez.
Another preview for derby weekend! It’s Huddersfield v Brighton. The blue-and-white stripes derby? The quite nice stadium derby? Either way, if the hosts can take advantage of Brighton’s dreadful away form, they could climb five points clear of the drop zone.
...but Arsenal fans can take comfort in trouncing their neighbours on social media:
Two big London derbies on Sunday, and we’ve got some snazzy graphics to show how all six Smoke-based Premier League sides stack up. Here, we can see Spurs and Chelsea lead the way in player values:
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A couple more of your birthday five-a-sides, before I pick a winner. Felix Gott offers up a “gritty” quintet of Charles Itandje, Rafa Marquez, Diego Lugano, Vitolo and Stevan Jovetic – “with the bonus versatility of Jason Dodd on the bench.”
This team, meanwhile, undeniably have something about them:
I would pay to watch this lot:
@niallmcveigh hi niall, going for a youth-heavy birthday five a side (3/4):
— thetallships (@thetallships) November 30, 2018
gabriel jesus
maxi lopez
fabian ruiz
adrien rabiot
ben foster
It’s FA Cup weekend as well, of course – and one of the round’s plum ties pitches Wrexham against Newport County in an all-Wales affair.
This looks the sort of outfit who would rock up at Goals in mismatched tracksuits and promptly wallop you 10-1...
My November 16th Five-a-Side
Mark Bunn
Steve Bould
Nelson Semedo
Paul Scholes
Mustapha Hadji
And I can call on Hector Cuper in the dug-out
Here’s a match preview for two teams in strange positions: Leicester and Watford. Both are never going to be relegated, but Europe already looks a tough ask, with Everton motoring along and United above them even in second gear.
Thanks James. Hello everyone – time to cruise towards the weekend. That work’s not getting done now. You’re only fooling yourselves. Why not start with today’s Fiver, written by some absolute chancer or other.
And now I shall bid you all farewell. Thanks, as ever, for your company, been a pleasure and enjoy your weekends, whatever you’re getting up to. Niall will take you through to teatime.
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This is the final few birthday 5s teams from me before I bid farewell and hand over to my colleague Niall McVeigh but it’s been a pleasure. He can then take the responsibility of picking a winner. In the meantime...
Sam Stevens via email (31 March): Nejc Vidmar, Tal Ben Haim, Milan Milanović, Amaury Bischoff, Nordin Amrabat. As Sam says, “Never mind”. In a parallel universe, Harry Redknapp has put this side together.
Sky Banacek (17 July) wants rush goalies, which, in the interests of entertainment, just like the back-pass rule, will eventually be permitted: Jan Wouters, Jaap Stam, Claudio Lopes, Ben Mendy, Carlos Torres.
doswillrule (8 September) has a nice little team here which I think could do some damage. Maybe missing a true star name, though: Diego Benaglio, Julian Weigl, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gary Speed and Carlos Bacca. “Moutinho, Bernard and the immortal Morten Gamst Pedersen to make an impact off the bench (do 5-a-sides normally have benches?)”
A nice understated effort from Richard Wilson here. All 1-2s between Modric and Oscar methinks...
@piercy360 Sept 9th: Guzan in goal, Song, Modric, Oscar and Elmohamady providing the silk and goals
— Richard G Wilson (@rgwilso) November 30, 2018
I’m a little late with this story but, my word, what. Is. It?! I know United are not going to play in it but now it’s available for actual people to properly buy and wear, which is probably worse.
For those unaware of its horror, it’s a specially-designed fourth kit made in conjunction with EA Sports for use in FIFA 19. The blurb also compels people to, “be a game-changer and be as progressive, innovative and bold as Manchester United’s squad.” Yeah, about that...
🎮 Presenting our new @easportsfifa x @adidasfootball Limited Edition EA Sports Jersey. Available now in FIFA 19 & selected stores! https://t.co/PgIXoQ1Jii #HeretoCrEAte pic.twitter.com/GuYYihnib7
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 29, 2018
Brendan Rodgers has been speaking ahead of the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden on Sunday against Aberdeen, as he contends for a seventh consecutive domestic trophy.
Celtic is obviously a winning club, so when you play for Celtic you have to win. But of course we want to win in the best way we possibly can, which is playing a really aggressive, attacking style of football.
So nothing has changed in terms of how we set out from the beginning. But what has been admirable has been the focus of the players and the intensity in which they have just kept going, kept going and keep winning titles.
And we don’t aim to stop. Our idea is to have that hunger to keep going and we want to do that again come Sunday.
Aberdeen boss, Derek McInnes, meanwhile has been channeling the words of Sir Alex Ferguson after the Dons lost 3-0 to Celtic in the final two years ago.
I always remember Sir Alex saying to me after we lost the 3-0 game against Celtic, that only by revisiting surroundings that players start to feel home and be more capable of delivering a performance.
He said he had umpteen international players, players who had played 400-500 top-flight games, who didn’t turn up in a final. He said sometimes it can happen but by revisiting them you get more familiar with your surroundings.
It has helped us being here so often in the last wee while. It doesn’t give you any guarantees or real advantage on the day because you have to do all the things we spoke about but I certainly think it doesn’t do any harm.
Back to real life, here are some quotes from Mauricio Pochettino, via the Press Association, as he plays down Tottenham’s status as Premier League contenders.
We are closer than last season to the top. I cannot say we’re a contender for the title. I think Manchester City is in a different level and of course clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, the same, Manchester United and Arsenal.
They make more investment than us and in a different level. I think they need to show or be the contenders - or they are the contenders, more than us. But we’re there.
He also believes the race for the top four is significantly my challenging than last season...
I think it’s tougher than last season because at the same point as this season, last season I think we were second or in a better position.
I think yes, to be in the top four this season will be tougher than the previous season. But we have the belief that we can do it and deliver a very good job and that’s the most important thing, because we have the quality.
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Matt Richman, meanwhile, has devised a cunning route around the lack-of-goalkeeper situation for 6 July.
Matt emails in: “I had some slim pickings, but give me one person who would turn down a 5-a-side team with Rory Delap?
“Delap, Zé Roberto, Roman Shirokov, Kaiser Kalambo (I’ll admit I had to look him up), and because of his excellent goalkeeping work in Escape to Victory: Sylvester Stallone.”
Sly is going on some *serious* solo runs.
I’m not sure this email from Alejandro Perna is going to be beaten. Not only does he has 11 players born on 6 May, but they are in formation ... and it’s a decent team.
Alejandro writes: “I know it was a 5-a-side thing, but I’m afraid I have a full squad eager to play:
Juan Pablo Carrizo; Dani Alves, Guglielmo Stendardo, Manuel da Costa, Carlos Arano; Graeme Souness, Mateo Kovačić, Jim Magilton, Iván de la Peña; Dries Mertens, Ricardo Oliveira.”
Caps are being doffed, Alejandro. Stunning work.
A fatal error by Fawaka earlier who omitted Gheorghe ruddy Hagi from his 5s team. As a rule, this is the last one I’m accepting that doesn’t contain a keeper. If you don’t have one on your birthday I need reasons why so and so will deputise. Would guess from the team below, it’s Vedran in bins.
@piercy360 5 February is not too shabby.
— Rupert Koopman (@RK_ct) November 30, 2018
cRonaldo, Neymar, Carlos Tevez, Gheorghe Hagi, Vedran Corluka
Lots of noise from over the Atlantic that the United States are FINALLY ready to appoint a new head coach, all of 412 days after Bruce Arena resigned following their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Interim boss Dave Sarachan has done an admirable job in introducing a ton of young players into the squad, giving them their debuts, but, according to CBS Sports, Columbus Crew and former Crystal Palace defender Gregg Berhalter is poised to take over...
If you’re in need of something more entertaining than this blog to help while away the hours before home time, then why not dive into our Sports Quiz of the Week, which has plenty of footy-related gems in there...
There could be trouble brewing at Madrid (how very strange) with reports that new coach Santiago Solari has fallen out with Isco. The 26-year-old is yet to start since Julen Lopetegui was dismissed, and was left out of the squad for the Champions League tie against Roma.
That decision, according to Marca, stems from Isco refusing to shake Solari’s hand following their 3-0 defeat to Eibar last weekend. He even, and this is bad, left him hanging.
The playmaker has been linked with virtually every elite side in Europe and, quite frankly, why wouldn’t he? Solari, however, has responded to the claims with a Geoff Boycott-esque straight bat ahead of their league match against Valencia tomorrow.
I consider that the subject is closed, and that I can’t be aware of your speculations. The squad is made up of 24 professionals and they all work. I do what I think is best for everyone, we are all important because we are all Real Madrid.
Liam Searle gets in touch via Twitter and there is some serious goal-hanging finishing here. Great shout on the ‘keeper.
@piercy360 For July 1st, I can do Ruud van Nistlerooy, Patrick Kluivert up front, Sean O'Driscoll, Enrico Annoni, and six-time La Liga winner Antoni Ramallets in goal
— Liam (@TheLiamSearle) November 30, 2018
It’s the women’s Africa Cup of Nations final in Ghana tomorrow with Nigeria, who have won a remarkable 11 of a possible 13 titles, meeting South Africa. Here’s a preview for you by Aanu Adeoye...
Time for another birthday five-a-side roundup. And some good ‘uns in here...
Kshitij Sikarwar (22 April): Jasper Cillesen, David Luiz, Mark Van Bommel, Kaka, Dion Dublin. A lovely mix of styles here and the idea of Kaka working off Dion’s lay-offs is magical.
Gunnerdb (7 October): Dida, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gilberto Silva, Diego Costa, Jermain Defoe. One of those rare occasions where the team picks itself. It’s all round pegs in round holes. You just know Defoe is class at 5s.
Matt Loten (22 March): Jelle Vossen, Jimmy Durmaz, Ludovic Sane, Piotr Trochowksi, John Toshack. Sorry, Matt.
Sid Ford (15 December) has a team that, theoretically, should be the fittest and most energetic given they’re all still playing. But then Pavlyuchenko...: Keylor Navas, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Steven Nzonzi, Jesse Lingard, Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Benezetto (10 June): Ronny Johnsen, Bruno N’Gotty, David Platt, Henrik Pedersen. Only four players and no keeper but with Carlo Ancelotti in the dugout, you’ll be sure to smash the cup competitions.
Shadow of Colossus (25 January): Eusebio, Xavi, David Ginola, Robinho and Chris O’Grady. All sorts of attacking power and I reckon Xavi can just sit and not give the ball away meaning a keeper is totally unnecessary. O’Grady an outside bet for Golden Boot.
Merson (7 September): Peter Storey, Marcel Desailly, Andreas Thom, Tomáš Skuhravý, Darko Pančev. THE 90s NOSTALGIA! Two unbelievable poachers. As for the lack of No 1, which is worryingly becoming a theme, he explains: “Not sure they’d need a keeper – if they get past Desailly, they definitely won’t get past Peter Storey.”
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Jürgen Klopp believes he will face the strongest Everton side he has encountered in a Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Klopp is unbeaten in six derbies as Liverpool manager and Everton have not won at Anfield since 1999 but he believes the impact of Marco Silva and new signings at Goodison Park provide a greater threat to the unbeaten records.
Silva is the fourth Everton manager Klopp has faced in only three years in England and his opponent’s attacking philosophy, combined with having the right players to implement it, promises a different approach in the 100th league derby at Anfield.
“Before they were different games. Everton were very passive, they sat deep, but that will not be the case now,” the Liverpool manager said. “He has the best squad. They brought in players he wanted. Richarlison, what a player he is. Last year Walcott came in, this year Bernard came in, Gomes, Mina.
“One or two years ago Rooney came back, Sigurdsson came, they said they could not play because of lack of speed. But everything is there. They have good organisation with Coleman back and fit, Keane settled and fit, Mina is a brilliant player, very important in the build up, and Digne is like a young Baines. And of course England’s number one in the goal, so that’s a really proper squad.
“It would be in all leagues in Europe a European team, I am sure. The development and improvement is obvious.”
It’s fair to say Crystal Palace are struggling with the simple art of scoring at the moment. Eight goals in 13 matches is pretty honking but before everyone rips into Roy, worth considering for average shots on target (37) they rank 15th, total attempts (11.3) 16th and expected goals (14.15) 14th. Only Southampton have a worse differential (+7.37) between their actual goals scored (10) and their xG (17.37) than Palace (+6.15). In short, it’s the players, not Roy.
We aren’t scoring enough goals. We haven’t been as good in front of goal as we would like. We do need points like a lot of other teams around us at the bottom. It’s very tight at the bottom and the relegation zone is threatening a lot of us.
More unfortunate news regarding the PFA as Paul Elliott, a trustee of the PFA charity, has resigned.
Cardiff v Wolves kicks off later at 8pm and gives Neil Warnock and Nuno Espírito Santo the chance to make friends after this last season. It may take a lot. Warnock said of Nuno, “I think he was a total disgrace, I used strong words and I meant every one of them,” after the Portuguese had the temerity to celebrate Wolves’ 1-0 win in April instead of first shaking hands. It’s ALL about the thumbs-up.
Nuno’s take...
We competed toe-to-toe last season all season long, so us and them, we know each other well. What happened before? It’s a new game, a new reality.
But I will shake Neil’s hand before and after the game. I learned my lesson — of course I did. I learned I must shake hands with managers before I celebrate. It’s not something that’s usual in other countries and I really never meant to be disrespect.
Meanwhile, Warnock, who turns 70 tomorrow, said...
They’ve done fantastically and they’ve got different ambitions than us, at the moment. [Nuno Espírito Santo] has done a great job – he knows it will be a tough game, but we’re aware of how good they’ve been. It will be good to pit our wits against them on Friday.
A slightly moody Pep Guardiola is speaking to the media and discussing Kevin de Bruyne, who isn’t ready for their game against Bournemouth but will be “soon”. On Gabriel Jesus, who has a muscular problem, he said: “(the) doctor says he’s much, much better. We will see in training.” Jesus is the important one here because of concerns over if Sergio Agüero can play every game of the Christmas period. Spoiler: he can’t.
On Bournemouth, it’s fair to say he’s a big fan of the Cherries...
We have seen the last few games with Eddie Howe’s team and how good they are. When players are together with the same manager [clicks fingers]. They are so fast up front with (Callum) Wilson, (Josh) King and (Ryan) Fraser. (David) Brooks helps a lot. They are really well organised and can play five at the back, four at the back with different systems so they will be tough.
There was also a lot on Brahim Díaz who, according to multiple reports in Spain, is on his way to Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season. Following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho as another teenage gem, City have been unable to keep hold off...
We have been working together for many, many years. We want him. We want to extend his contract by 4,5 years and we do everything to keep him here. But if he doesn’t want to stay, he has to leave. He has to decide.
It’s incredible how the academy works around these guys, to teach and protect them, but at the end of the day they are human beings and they decide. We cannot say we didn’t do everything to keep them. The market is the market. All you can do, is work well, speak with the families.
We tell them the truth – not many 18, 19 year old players are playing in big, big clubs across Europe. What can we do? More than we have done? No way, no way. The club has the desire but maybe he has visualised he is going to play (somewhere else). Maybe it’ll happen.
Afternoon all. In mentioning the birthdays earlier in relation to Arsenal-Tottenham, I fell into that typical trap of being a London-centric journalist. I am sorry for that. Because it’s also a day of celebration for Andy Gray (63) and Phil Babb (48).
🎉 | Andy Gray is 63 today...
— Everton (@Everton) November 30, 2018
🏆 League title
🏆 European Cup Winners' Cup
🏆 FA Cup
🏆 Charity Shield
Not a bad haul in two seasons with #EFC! pic.twitter.com/UxAEfKrTYe
Time to hand back to James, but first, my favourite five-a-side so far – it’s Ben Whitney (18 January):
Robert Green, Pep Guardiola, Nacho, Peter Beardsley, Ivan Zamorano.
There’s another derby on Sunday, although Chelsea v Fulham is generally less intense than the Merseyside and North London affairs. The two managers both hail from Italy, and it turns out Maurizio Sarri and Claudio Ranieri have a bit of history.
Sarri reveals he visited Ranieri at Fiorentina 20 years ago for coaching advice, when he was a lower-league manager. “I don’t think he remembers,” Sarri chuckled in his gravelly tones. Ranieri also dropped in on Chelsea’s training while unemployed last month, but Sarri is confident he hasn’t given the game away.
Jürgen Klopp has been chatting ahead of the Merseyside derby, which he expects to be “a real battle”. Klopp also praises Everton danger man Richarlison – “what a player he is” – and makes it clear he expects a reaction after the costly defeat to PSG in midweek.
Jurgen Klopp on #LFC reacting to PSG defeat in derby: "When you sign a contract for Liverpool you know 100% your responsibility for these games. Nobody needs to tell you, you know it. Players want to be part of it before they join."
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) November 30, 2018
Klopp was a little spiky, batting back suggestions that his midfield was overrun in Paris. “We conceded five [league] goals and you say our midfield is overrun? I don’t see that.”
With Liverpool and Tottenham in derby action on Sunday, leaders Manchester City will look to turn the screw against Bournemouth. Eddie Howe’s side have lost all six of their Premier League games against City, scoring twice and conceding 21. Their three visits to the Etihad Stadium have all ended in four-goal defeats. But Howe isn’t throwing in the towel:
“You have to believe you can win because if you don’t, in my mind, there is no point in turning up. [City] are scoring goals in huge numbers, and defensively they have looked more solid than ever. But in terms of performances and results, we are in our best shape, so let’s hope we can fully justify that with our performance.”
More of your birthday five-a-sides. Some striking blends of silk and steel here:
Joe Russell (11 May): Thibaut Courtois, Abou Diaby, Giovanni Dos Santos, Andrés Iniesta, Marc Bircham.
Lekeg (17 August): Ederson, William Gallas, Jan Kronkamp, Phil Jagielka, Thierry Henry.
Philip J Sparrow (2 October): Allison, Jack Collison, Michy Batshuayi, Roberto Firmino, Trevor Brooking.
VeryLittleBird (12 August) has gone more conceptual, with Roman emperor Britannicus in nets, a defensive three of Jimmy Conrad, Hong Myung-bo and Nicolás Otamendi, with Charles Darwin working hard up top. “Survival of the fittest and all that”.
Corrections and clarifications dept: Poch is not at a presser, he’s chatting at the Spurs training ground. He says the derby “is always special ... it’s a different game. We know very well what it means for our fans.”
He says he’ll miss facing Arsène Wenger in the dugout but is looking forward to facing his “friend”, Unai Emery. “We have a good relationship from Spain,” he adds, failing to double down on the derby fever.
Newcastle host West Ham tomorrow, with fans planning a ‘walk-in’ protest, staying away from the match until the 11th minute. John Brewin has more in this week’s 10 things:
Three league wins in a row is testament to the continuing ability of Rafa Benítez to wring results from an underpowered squad. The blame for that falls squarely on the broad shoulders of owner Mike Ashley, and fans will be issuing their latest reminder of dissatisfaction with a novel protest. Rather than boycott the West Ham game, the activist Magpie Group has organised an “11th minute walk-in” to St James’ Park on Saturday, signifying the years Ashley has been holding the purse strings.
Tottenham, of course, have a big old game on Sunday. Here’s Jonathan Wilson on Unai Emery’s Özil dilemma ahead of Arsenal v Tottenham:
Back to the day’s latest news – Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino will be in the house shortly for his press conference, but the club have just announced a ‘fan familiarisation’ event in December, giving 6,000 fans the chance to visit a stadium that should’ve open three months ago. There’s more info on their website.
Below the line I’ve just spotted belowpar21’s team for 9 August – Mikaël Silvestre, Filipe Luis, Joe Mercer, Willian, Filippo Inzaghi. “I’d have to put Silvestre in nets,” they add. Would be a decent battle in the 9-10 August derby, I reckon.
Thanks James. Ben Sahar has indeed made the cut for 10 August. My line-up: John Alvbage (the only available keeper), David Sommeil, Roy Keane, Bernardo Silva, Sahar up top. It’s a mixed bag.
I’m just off to grab a bite to eat but you can carry on the fun with my colleague Niall McVeigh who is putting his birthday five-a-side together, mulling over whether or not Ben Sahar merits inclusion...
Have received a few more birthday five-a-sides via email, so many thanks to Arun Pradeep, Rory James and Karsten Schmidt.
Starting with Arun (January 11) a nice mix of pace and power here: Emile Heskey, Bryan Robson, Leroy Sane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Carvajal. His lack of a keeper is explained thus: “Considering Heskey’s not gonna score anyway, and I don’t have a goalie, can he play in goal?” I cannot disagree with that strategy.
Rory (December 31) has a bit of a mishmash but the man on the sidelines might just give his team a chance: Craig Gordon, Steve Bruce, Bradley Dack, Seydou Doumbia, Bryan Hamilton ... manager: Sir Alex Ferguson. Rory writes: “I wonder if my birthday 5-a-side would be more fun at a party or on the football pitch?”
Karsten (May 8), meanwhile, has produced *quite* the lineup ... and quite possibly the strongest yet, which may or may not be down to my inner Baresi bias: Taffarel, Franco Baresi, Lucio, Luis Enrique, Maicon (the Shakhtar one).
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Remember when Zinedine Zidane was ready to take over from José Mourinho? That all seems to have gone quiet. But his son Enzo, who’s on loan at Segunda Division side CF Rayo Majadahonda from Lausanne, has told AS his old man “will return to coaching soon”.
My father loves football and he loves to coach, this is clear. It seems likely that he will return to coaching soon but right now he is resting, and this is something that he needed to do.
Managing Madrid was beautiful for him but it was also hugely demanding and involved a mass amount of work, so he is now recovering.
Manuel Pellegrini has had his pre-match presser yesterday before travelling to Newcastle but it seems the Hammers have a few issues at right-back. Ryan Fredericks and Sam Byram are both out until 2019, with Pablo Zabaleta likely to start at St James’ Park but, at 33, it’s tough to see him playing all seven matches in December. Get Tim Breacker back.
For his age it is impossible for Pablo to play seven games in December. First we have to win at Newcastle with Pablo, and then we need to work out what we are going to do, maybe using different players.
José Mourinho also discussed David De Gea earlier, with the keeper (and the fundamental reason why United have retained a sense of relevance in the Premier League under the Portuguese) out of contract next summer but the indication is United have activated a one-year extension on his contract to avoid him speaking to teams in January.
He is the level of player that we need — we need the best players in the world. We have the best goalkeeper in the world, obviously the manager wants him to stay, the board wants him to stay and David wants to stay.
United have also put this out into the Twitter ether. Keen to hear opinions from followers of the Spanish national team...
A list of goalkeepers better than @D_DeGea:
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 30, 2018
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A few more birthday five-a-sides for you...
Lee Anthony (October 6): Mark Schwarzer, Bruce Grobbelaar, Alan Stubbs, Kim Bo-kyung, Niall Quinn. Grobbelaar is blatantly playing outfield here, which could be a lot of fun.
ThisNameisMine (March 15, complete with positions): Curtis Davies CB, Adrien Silva CM, Paul Pogba AM, Daryl Murphy FWD, Umut Bulut FWD. Maybe you can loan a keeper from Lee?
Fawaka (February 5): Stefan de Vrij, Vedran Corluka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Carlos Tevez. That will certainly be hard to stop but, again, needs a keeper.
It’s been approximately three days since Niko Kovac’s position at Bayern Munich was last cast into doubt so refreshing to see chairman Karl-Heinz Rumminegge bring up the subject in an interview with Munich-based Abendzeitung. PSV coach Mark van Bommel is increasingly being discussed as a potential replacement, as is Arsène Wenger, but Rumminegge has said...
At the end of the day, of course, the results must be satisfying. We can’t be in fifth place at the end of the season. It’s the wish of all of us at FC Bayern that we work together with Niko Kovac for a long time. I hope that he’s not only our coach on Christmas Eve 2018, but also on Christmas Eve 2019 and 2020
Bayern, who have gone three Bundesliga games without a win, play seventh-placed Werder Bremen tomorrow.
Some more birthday five-a-sides from below the line (always appreciate the content, people).
Gonufc (September 18): Peter Shilton, Sol Campbell, Aitor Karanka, Christian Pulisic, Ronaldo (Brazilian). I like that team *a lot*. Solid with Pulisic dribbling all over the place or, alternatively, just give it to Ronaldo.
Allgoaliesaremad (May 1): Beto, Leonardo Bonucci, Darijo Srna, Aleksandr Hleb, Oliver Bierhoff. Decent, going to be very hard to beat but lack of finesse in the final third could hinder chances.
Salcombe (May 17): Paddy Kenny, Martin Olsson, Leon Osman, Henrik Larsen, Teofilo Gutierrez. I’m sorry for your loss.
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Cesc Fàbregas has been speaking about his future at Chelsea. The Spaniard started last night as the Blues beat PAOK 4-0 and played pretty well by all accounts but Maurizio Sarri doesn’t seem to fancy him, which is more than likely just a question of mobility as Cesc was never the best at tracking back, now he just doesn’t bother at all. Anyway, Milan has always seemed the logical destination given he’s been linked with them every transfer window since about 2006 but Fàbregas expects to run his contract down by seeing out the season. Or this is a simple, hurry up and make me an offer.
No, I haven’t spoken to anyone. Obviously in January I can sign (a pre-contract agreement) with whoever I want and probably this will attract many clubs. But so far, from what I can say right now, yes I will stay here until the end of the season.
Shout out to Cesc_12 in the comments who’s pointed out, ahead of Sunday, it’s a happy birthday today for George Graham (73) and Gary Lineker (58). To continue the north London links Peter Shreeves (77) and Ben Thatcher (43) are also blowing out some candles today. Happy birthday, lads!
Ghost Wiper also has a pretty strong five-a-side team for his birthday (February 20): Artur Boruc, Jari Litmanan, Tony Hibbert, Ciro Immobile and Jimmy Greaves. There’s goals in there!
Likewhatever (March 17) can boast: Steven Pienaar, Mia Hamm, Raul Meireles, Shinji Kagawa, and Edin Džeko. Where’s the keeper?
In fairness mine (October 1) is a rather attacking: Julio Baptista, Duncan Edwards, Paul Walsh, George Weah and Mirko Vucinic
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Here’s Mourinho speaking earlier this morning, looking delighted with life as usual. But, more importantly, wearing a gilet. Not a fan myself but Tim Sherwood used to get unimaginable grief for sporting one but sure I’ve seen Mauricio Pochettino and Jürgen Klopp wearing one this season, and now Mourinho. Yet, Sherwood is still unfair chastised for it. The man was clearly a trend-setter and I forecast the salute celebration being next...
Just returning to Sánchez, it’s indicative of how awful he’s been since signing that his absence doesn’t hurt United on the field one iota, but it could have wider consequences in the transfer market. José Mourinho seems to want to sign someone - a centre-back - in January and Sánchez was the golden goose to help raise funds, given Ed Woodward has supposedly had enough of his manager’s frivolity with transfer fees. But, putting aside the Chilean wages proving a red flag for many clubs, if his injury continues into January (and the Press Association are claiming six weeks), that makes any sale even trickier. Which, of course, means others may have to be moved on...
Some unfortunate injury news from Spain with Diario Sport claiming Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti is considering surgery on his knee. The World Cup winner only returned to the first-team last weekend against Atlético Madrid after two months out but missed the Champions League tie at PSV Eindhoven due to “discomfort”. For all their brilliance this season, Barca have been a little dodgy at the back - 19 conceded in 13 La Liga games - and have three centre-backs left in Gerard Piqué, new man Clément Lenglet and a soon-to-be-out-of-contract Thomas Vermaelen. If Umtiti does undergo surgery and is ruled out for months, I guess they may have a look at things in January.
Alexis Sánchez out 'for a long time'
Things aren’t sounding too good for Alexis Sánchez whose hamstring injury is a bad one. Speaking this morning, José Mourinho claimed it’s worse than Victor Lindelof’s muscle injury which had ruled the Swedish defender out for three weeks.
No scans yet but the player is experienced, knows what the injury is. And from the top of my experience, his painful scream, I know he’s going to be for a long time. It’s not a little muscular injury that in one week or 10 days the player is training.
It is not a little muscular injury that he will be ready in a week or 10 days. For me and Alexis Sanchez, the grade is different to the one that Lindelof has and that was not easy.
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If you fancy some transfer tittle tattle over a morning coffee, here’s the Rumour Mill...
Looking ahead to the weekend action, here’s Ben Fisher, Paul Doyle and John Brewin with your “10 things”
If you’re curious as to what the image above is, well Everton lit up the famous Royal Liver Building in blue last night for Christmas. A host of star names were present including every Evertonians new favourite man, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, Tony Bellew, Bill Kenwright ... and X-Factor finalist Anthony Russell who got everyone pumped for the derby by belting out ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and that well-known Scouse anthem, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. The Liverpool Echo can tell you more.
Good morning everybody!
After the hullabaloo of the Champions League then, and all that European glamour, it’s time for good ol’ British football with the entirely random fixture computer throwing up not one, not two but three Premier League derbies this weekend, plus we have the FA Cup second round to look forward to. Smell that Bovril.
We’ll have press conference updates throughout the day as, no doubt, Jürgen Klopp and Marco Silva shall be comparing the strengths of each other’s counter-press; Claudio Ranieri and Maurizio Sarri will be full of respect for each other ahead of the Fulham manager heading back to Stamford Bridge; while Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino will continue to show the love for each other, with the Arsenal manager once personally recommending the Argentine to succeed him at Valencia.
Elsewhere, they’ll be the usual José Mourinho misery/madness, buildup for Cardiff v Wolves tonight, the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday, Real Madrid v Valencia, Roma v Inter and the return to Luciano Spalletti to the Stadio Olimpico plus various delicious pieces of writing from our fine journalists throughout the day.
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My August 21st Invincibles:
Kelis in nets (well she was Caught Out There ...)
Nigel Pearson
Didier Six
Usain Bolt
Robert Lewandowski