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England vs Slovakia: Why Kobbie Mainoo must start Euro 2024 last-16 clash

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England vs Slovakia: Why Kobbie Mainoo must start Euro 2024 last-16 clash The sheer incompetence of England’s Euro 2024 performances so far has ground fans down to a point of no return. Speak to just about anyone about the team and they’ll brand them an irredeemable disaster who have sucked the joy out of watching football. Yes, it truly is this dramatic for s...

Netherlands vs France: How Gakpo and Dumfries can punish Euro 2024 powerhouse

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Netherlands vs France: How Gakpo and Dumfries can punish Euro 2024 powerhouse Perhaps Kylian Mbappe will be there (in a mask), perhaps he won’t. The level of analysis over a broken nose has ventured into the insane, especially when you consider the fact there’s so much more to talk about when it comes to France and the Netherlands, who meet on Friday evening.Les B...

Sacking Pochettino halts Chelsea's latest attempt at progress

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Sacking Pochettino halts Chelsea's latest attempt at progress One step forward, two steps back. One step forward, two steps back.That rhythm has become painfully familiar to Chelsea fans since Todd Boehly and Co.’s £2.5bn takeover was ratified in 2022. Despite a vow to establish a consistent culture at the club following years of hire-and-fire-fun ...

How Man City defeat showcased Ange's Tottenham tactical flexibility

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How Man City defeat showcased Ange's Tottenham tactical flexibility Finally, some tactical flexibility! But, perhaps, not the sort that fans had actually been asking for.A segment of Tottenham fans have been calling for Ange Postecoglou to tweak his approach, as pursuing with the same entertaining, but flawed, system has seen them leak goals in 2024. For the record,...

Why Man Utd's heavy Palace defeat proved Casemiro's race is run

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Why Man Utd's heavy Palace defeat proved Casemiro's race is run It felt as though the entire world watched Manchester United lose 4-0 to Crystal Palace on Monday night, such was the strength and volume of reaction to the game. They stumbled and faltered their way through 90 agonising minutes at Selhurst Park, appearing witless and malformed as their excellent ho...

How Rogers stepped up in Aston Villa’s top-four charge

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How Rogers stepped up in Aston Villa’s top-four charge Fairly or not, eyebrows were raised when Aston Villa bought Morgan Rogers in January for £8 million (rising to £16 million) off Middlesbrough—just six months after Boro had paid a measly £1 million to grab him off Manchester City.Such an immediate hike in value can be justifi...

How Unai Emery revolutionised Aston Villa

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How Unai Emery revolutionised Aston Villa Unai Emery knows a golden situation better than most. After all, past experiences will have given him a keen sense for what’s good—and what’s not.He’ll have learned more from his trying spells at Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain than he perhaps did during fruitful, trophy-lade...

Why Villa hitman Watkins deserves to win player of the season

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Why Villa hitman Watkins deserves to win player of the season There’s no such thing as a drab interview with Emi Martinez, but even for his standards, the sermon he delivered after Aston Villa’s epic 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Sunday was pretty spicy.I think Ollie [Watkins] should win Player of the Season, said Martinez, despite not actually being...

How Kai Havertz became pivotal to Arsenal's title charge

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How Kai Havertz became pivotal to Arsenal's title charge Jorginho setting up Kai Havertz for a goal, for Arsenal—now there’s a combination you might not have expected to see.Travel back in time to September and tell the fans this pairing just iced a win at Brighton that leaves them top of the Premier League with seven games to play and you wou...

How Alexander Isak became Newcastle's most important player

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How Alexander Isak became Newcastle's most important player There was just something about Alexander Isak’s goal for Newcastle against Everton on Tuesday.From the dart into channel between the centre-backs, the speed to stay ahead of Jarrad Branthwaite, the chop back inside, the soft feet to jink between Branthwaite and the recovering James Tarkowski, ...