News is not available yet.
The BBC Radio Merseyside sport team takes you behind the scenes of Liverpool's draw at Newcastle in a new feature for this season. Paul Salt, Chris Coughlin and Mike Hughes talk through their views of the game and the Kevin Keegan tributes, and discuss what it's like to come face to face with Reds boss Andoni Iraola. This week they discuss Cody Gakpo's future and whether Liverpool should keep or sell the versatile forward.
LEWIS STEELE: Last August, they were singing and dancing as they left the stadium. They were doing the same here but with a nagging worry in the backs of their minds.
Sunday’s draw with Newcastle shows Andoni Iraola’s new ideas as manager will need to overcome the squad’s lack of balanceSign up for our free newsletter hereThe good news for Liverpool is that, Arsenal aside, every other team with vague title aspirations who played over the weekend looked undercooked, and that Andoni Iraola’s men did, in the end, come away from Newcastle with a point. But the vulnerability to the counter that undermined them so often last season has not gone away, and nor have they suddenly found a new creativity under Iraola.The main theme of the first three days of the new season was the value of stability. Manchester City under a new manager were poor and fortunate to overcome Bournemouth. Aston Villa, after big changes of players and backroom staff, were hammered at Brighton. Tottenham, midway through yet another overhaul, were dismal in losing at Brentford. Manchester United at least provided a degree of stability by looking very much like the United of the past decade in their defeat to Hull.This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here. Continue reading...
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!While the opening round of Premier League fixtures hasn’t yet concluded, Football Daily can’t be alone in having jerked both knees to the point of dislocation based on the evidence of what little we’ve seen thus far. Newly-promoted Hull City look the most likely contenders to challenge Arsenal for the title. Ipswich Town’s Julio Enciso already looks a shoo-in for the Ballon d’Or. Eddie Howe will be head coach of Manchester United by the end of the next international break – if Aston Villa don’t nab him first. And judging by James Trafford’s endearingly heartfelt post-match soliloquy on Match of the Day, Leeds United’s gain is very much the Royal Shakespeare Company’s loss.Oh, Spurs. Last year’s relegation of West Ham and Wolves had them starting at the foot of the no-points, alphabetical order league table. Then some early promise – without even kicking a ball, by 5pm on Saturday they had risen up a whole quarter of the table, to 15th. The real problems set in when they started actually kicking a ball (or trying to)” – Phil Taverner.It probably won’t happen (he says, trying to tempt fate), but Spurs finishing 17th and winning their first trophy since 2008 and their first European trophy since 1984 and firing their manager, mate, then proceeding to finish 17th but without a trophy and then spending £400m, just to finish 18th and get relegated, would be the most peak Spursy moment in football history. If they do ‘achieve’ it, I’d give them the Ballon D’or Men’s Team of the Year award” – Noble Francis.After Hull’s dead-ball demolition of an increasingly expensive Manchester United, I notice they’re sponsored by McVities. Can I be the first to suggest the headline ‘Half Man Half Biscuit’?” – Kev McCready (and no others).This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...
Tap a headline to view metadata and excerpt fields in Sportra, then use the article website button to continue on the original publisher page.
