the times | Monday May 6 2024 1GG 7 thegame which they conceded two injury-time goals to lose 4-3, and the capitulation from 3-0 up against Coventry City, which almost cost United their place in the FA Cup final, demonstrated a lack of composure and poor game management. Ten Hag thinks it is important, therefore, to have players who can cope with the pressure that comes with playing for such a big club. “Every manager wants players with winning attitudes, a great mentality, and big personalities who perform under stress,” he said. “In this club it is extremely important to perform Harry Maguire has been ruled out for the rest of the Premier League season after suffering an injury in training yesterday. United hope that the central defender will recover in time for the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25; if the 31-year-old fails to do so, it could also disrupt England’s preparations for Euro 2024, which begins on June 14. Maguire has reportedly suffered a muscular injury and United expect him to be out for three weeks, which leaves Erik ten Hag with one fit centre half, Jonny Evans, who has only just returned from his own injury. Casemiro, the 32-year-old midfielder, is therefore likely to continue playing at centre back when United play at Crystal Palace tonight. Gareth Southgate names his preEuros training squad on May 21 and must have submitted his final 26- strong group to Uefa by June 8. Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi, who has been England’s third-choice centre half after Maguire and John Stones, is due to make his own return from injury at Selhurst Park. United have been dogged by injuries this season and Ten Hag will address a lack of depth in his squad as well as emphasising to his new superiors that he needs a bigger and fitter squad next season that has players who can handle the stress of playing for United. Despite United’s poor campaign, Ten Hag is still confident that he will be in charge next season and has held talks with the Ineos hierarchy, including Jason Wilcox, the new technical director, about summer transfer targets. United’s senior squad contains 25 players, but many have been struck down by injury this season, which has hindered Ten Hag’s ability to field his strongest side. “Yes, that [the depth] is one of the issues in constructing the squad where we have to improve,” the manager said. “We have to improve and get better at constructing a squad where we have more depth.” Lisandro Martínez, Mason Mount and Luke Shaw are among those who have been unavailable for long periods. “For over ten years I am managing, I never had this experience,” Ten Hag said when asked about the spate of injuries that have dogged his second campaign at the club. “The most important thing is to get players back. In many positions we created depth and now in some positions we don’t have choices, for instance the left back position. “Shaw, only 15 starts this season so far, and [Tyrell] Malacia zero starts. Not even available.” United’s mental fragility has been there for all to see. Although they have won some points at the death, the late collapse against Chelsea, in Bill Edgar on bias and contrasting fortunes for Ipswich and Forest Green GAME IN NUMBERS No “homer” referees? For every home-team player sent off in the top flight in the 18 years from 1983 to 2001 there were 1.8 awayteam players dismissed. Then in 2001 referees became professional and over the next 18 years, up to 2019, that ratio of away to home red cards dropped from 1.8 to 1.47. In 2019 came the introduction of VAR, since when the rate has fallen to just 1.04 away players sent off per home-team dismissal (111 to 107). Referees who can spend the whole week focusing on improving themselves at their job might be expected to withstand better the pressures exerted by home crowds, while VAR, in theory, should be able to correct any big mistakes caused by home-team bias. Whatever the cause, it is a huge change. Bunch of fives In the Premier League’s two early games yesterday, Brighton & Hove Albion beat Aston Villa having lost to them by a five-goal margin earlier this season, while Chelsea beat West Ham United by a five-goal margin having lost to them earlier this season. Cole Palmer’s Chelsea beat Emerson’s West Ham 5-0: there was an Emerson, leak (West Ham’s defence) and Palmer on show. West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen became the first player to hit the crossbar three times in a Premier League game since Jay-Jay Okocha did so for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in November 2003. The past 15 goals scored at Stamford Bridge have all gone to Chelsea, yet during part of that run they conceded nine consecutive goals in games played elsewhere. Haaland home heroics For the second season in a row Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored the first three goals of their home match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. It was Haaland’s sixth hat-trick within either the first half (four) or second half (two) of matches in the past two seasons in all competitions — no other topflight player has hit a hat-trick within a half more than once in that time. Haaland, on target with his left foot three times and his head once, supplied the Premier League’s third left-footed hat-trick in the past five weeks (also Cole Palmer and Phil Foden). Blades cut open Sheffield United’s 3-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest maintained their rate of conceding three goals per home league game this season (54 in 18), worse than any team over a full season since Rochdale let in 63 goals in 20 home matches in Division Three North in 1931-32. A team whose assistant manager is Knill (Alan Knill) have only once kept their opponents’ goal tally to nil in the league this season. Mind the gap The difference of 0.67 goals per game this season between the Premier League (3.26) and League One (2.59), should it remain this way, will be the biggest between any two divisions in one season since 1933-34, when the Division Three North’s figure was 3.9 while the second tier’s was 3.12. Diverging paths Last season Forest Green Rovers were above Ipswich Town when the teams met (in League One in August 2022) but next season Ipswich will be in the Premier League while Forest Green will be a non-League club. Maguire blow sparks fears for Euros PAUL HIRST under stress.” Scott McTominay has returned and Bruno Fernandes, one of the few players to shine this season, is expected to retain his place in the team even though he recently broke his hand. “Bruno always delivers, he is always available, he never misses a game and always plays at a good level and always gives energy to a team and such assets are necessary to be successful,” Ten Hag said. Ten Hag refused to be drawn on whether the rest of his squad lacked the captain’s willingness to play through the pain barrier. “That is a very subjective criteria,” he said. “One thing is for sure, Bruno is a real fighter. Last year for instance when we played Brighton in the [FA Cup] semi-final, he played with an ankle that was so thick [swollen]. It was unbelievable, he couldn’t run but he was still on the pitch.” United are looking to add a centre back, central midfielder and a striker to their squad, and will look to improve in the full back area if funds allow. They will be restricted in what they can spend because of Financial Fair Play rules, so are looking to boost their coffers by selling players who have been loaned out, such as Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood and Donny van de Beek, and those who have one year left on their contracts, such as Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Christian Eriksen. Ten Hag played down the idea that Fernandes could leave. When asked if his captain would remain until the end of his contract, which expires in 2026, Ten Hag said: “Definitely.” PETER CZIBORRA/REUTERS Shaw, right, is among a number of United players that Ten Hag, inset, would like to have seen more often SQUAD GAME Most players used in PL 2023-24 Nottingham Forest 33 Sheffield Utd 33 Chelsea 32 Newcastle Utd 32 Burnley 31 Manchester Utd 31 Aston Villa 30 Bournemouth 30 Brighton and Hove 30 Liverpool 29 Ten Hag wants a squad with greater depth for next season − only four teams have used more players in the Premier League this season CRYSTAL PALACE V MANCHESTER UTD 8PM KICK-OFF, SELHURST PARK TV SKY SPORTS, 6.30PM RADIO TALKSPORT
8 1GG Monday May 6 2024 | the times thegame Sheffield United Brereton Díaz (pen) 17 1 Nott’m Forest Hudson-Odoi 27, 65, Yates 51 3 CHARLOTTE DUNCKER After their win against Sheffield United, the likelihood is that Nottingham Forest will be in the Premier League for a third consecutive season, but only just. For the first half at Bramall Lane they were outclassed by a side who have already had their fate confirmed as a Sky Bet Championship side next season. If Chris Wilder’s team had been more clinical in the final third, Two stars in one, but Rice can be even better ARSENAL ENGINE ROOM This map of touches shows how Arsenal's midfield operate, with Partey generally the deepest, and Rice (more on the left) and Odegaard (more on the right) ahead of him. Odegaard had more touches (89 to Rice's 65), knitting together Arsenal's attack, while Rice often drove forwards with the ball at his feet Declan Rice Martin Odegaard Thomas Partey Direction of play team-mates, opponents, performances and results is quite as consistent or profound? There are some in north London, of course, who might argue that Odegaard exerts at least as much sway over Arsenal’s fortunes with his craft and guile and ability to see and execute passes that no one else would even consider. Others, in the blue half of Manchester, would no doubt highlight the performances of their midfield fulcrum, Rodri, or the player who pipped Rice to the Football Writers’ Association player of the year award last week, Phil Foden. But when you see Rice drive Arsenal forward more with every passing week, does it feel outlandish to hear Joe Cole drawing comparisons with some of the Premier League’s greatest midfielders? “He’s done absolutely everything on the football pitch today,” the former West Ham and Chelsea midfielder said on TNT Sports. “I’d liken that performance to a prime [Steven] Gerrard, Roy Keane, [Patrick] Vieira, that type of player.” Whatever happens between now and the end of the season on May 19, Rice has been a game changer for Arsenal. “To come to a new club is never easy,” Odegaard said, “but he has come in the most natural way and the way he is playing, adding goals and assists, he has taken his game to another level.” Arteta has been more and more persuaded to let Rice loose higher up the pitch. Saturday was his fourth league start in a row as Arsenal’s leftsided No 8, and 12th in total, and while Rice has made it clear that he sees himself as a No 6, Arteta says it will be relationships within the midfield unit, individual form and opposition that will determine where he plays. It was Jorginho’s inclusion in the team that initially allowed Rice to operate further forward, but Thomas Partey’s return to action after thigh surgery, just when it appeared as though his time in north London was drawing to an injury-blighted end, has given extra credence to the theory that Rice has a future in this more advanced role. With the margins between Premier League champions and runners-up gossamer thin, it would be only natural for Arteta to wonder what, if any, difference this midfield dynamic might have made earlier in the season. That same thought process may well influence Arsenal’s transfer business this summer too, with a more durable defensive midfield option than Partey perhaps key to unlocking Rice’s full potential. Arteta, though, certainly believes there is more to come from Rice as the 25- With safety now in sight, is Nuno right man to iand had it not been for the defensive heroics of the Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels and the central defender Murillo, the game could have been beyond the visiting side by half-time. It certainly was not a performance that matched the plans Forest had for this campaign. The aim was that, after winning the penultimate game of last season to ensure survival, this was a campaign in which to progress and push up the table — yet here they are in the same situation 12 months on. More money spent and a change of manager, but are they any better than they were last season and are they any closer to achieving that top-half objective? It doesn’t look like it at the moment. Their saving grace this season has been that there have been three nailed-on relegation candidates in United, Burnley and Luton Town. It looks, as we head into the final two weeks, that what everyone expected to happen before a ball was kicked will come to fruition and the three promoted sides will head back down. That Burnley’s fate could be all but confirmed this week without having played another game is another example of why the disciplinary process over the breaching of Profitability and Sustainability Rules needs changing. Forest were expecting to hear the outcome of their appeal last week but are still waiting, and if their four-point deduction is reduced by two, Burnley would be down. “I think they [the Premier League] had time to avoid what might happen [for Burnley],” Nuno Espírito Santo, the Forest head coach, said. “We are waiting to see if we have 33, 32, 31 or 30 points. This is what we have to know, and for our opponents also. It [the hearing verdict] should have been done before. People have spoken about the integrity of the league and it’s not good for anyone. They have to get it right.” The clarity that Nuno wants should come this week but then what does next season look like? Is he the right man for this project? Yes, he has likely kept Forest up but his record of three Nuno celebrates victory with Willy Boly and Gibbs-White on Saturday Arsenal Saka 45, pen, Trossard 70, Rice 90+7 3 Bournemouth 0 GREGOR ROBERTSON “Declan Rice, we got him half price,” the Arsenal fans chant with glee these days but, increasingly, it feels more like Mikel Arteta signed two players for the price of one last summer. How the Arsenal manager must wish he could field both versions of the £105 million midfielder at the same time given Rice’s remarkable evolution this season, from the dogged and dynamic No 6 who arrived from West Ham United to the box-crashing No 8, scoring and creating goals at a rate on a par with many of the Premier League’s most gifted attackers. Another goal and assist in Arsenal’s dominant yet hard-fought 3-0 win against Bournemouth on Saturday took Rice to 15 goal involvements in the league this season (seven goals and eight assists), a tally bettered by only three team-mates (Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka) and more than twice as many as he had previously managed in a single campaign. Rice’s lung-busting run to score Arsenal’s third in the 97th minute, having sensed an opportunity to gallop from one penalty box to the other when most players would have been content to rest weary legs in those dying moments, rather summed up the mindset of the 25-year-old who, despite the lofty price tag, has been the signing of the season. Is there a more influential footballer in the Premier League right now? A player whose impact upon
the times | Monday May 6 2024 1GG 9 thegame STUART MACFARLANE/ARSENAL FC/GETTY IMAGES; TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND Rice scores the third goal after Saka had opened the scoring, below improve Forest next season? league wins in 16 this year does not make for good reading and is little better than that of his predecessor, Steve Cooper. It has been a turbulent first five months for Nuno at the City Ground with the uncertainty of points deductions, controversial refereeing decisions and injuries to key players. For the Nuno era to really get off the ground all of those things need to be forgotten about and he needs a successful pre-season to properly bed his ideas into the team. Maybe that could include a change in formation? After the home defeat by Manchester City last week, when he reverted to the back-five system that brought him so much success during his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers, there was a thought that maybe he had found the secret to getting the best out of this side. The extra defender would shore things up at the back, and the speed and ability of his attackers makes them an ideal team to play on the counterattack. But at Bramall Lane they reverted to a back four and in a hectic first half they were dominated by a United side who only had pride to play for, showing there needs to be improvements all over the pitch. It is going to be an interesting summer. With financial restraints so tight, Forest will not be able to spend the big sums they have previously without cashing in on their best players. But the players who would command the highest fees, such as Morgan Gibbs-White and Murillo, are central to Forest being successful so it is going to be a balancing act to improve the squad. There is a belief within the group that they already have the players to be better. “We know we’ve got the quality because we’ve shown that week on week,” Ryan Yates, the captain, said. “I think our performances have been really good.” Performances have improved under Nuno — but results haven’t. If Forest are going to push on to achieve their objectives, he is going to have to work on a plan to get the best out of this group. year-old “explores the talent he has” and develops “chemistry” with those around him. One overlooked benefit of Rice playing at No 8, perhaps, is his capacity to win the ball back in counter-pressing situations higher up the pitch. Bournemouth were suffocated in the first half, Rice combining with Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard and Havertz to create the kind of relentless overloads Arsenal manufacture so brilliantly on either wing, as well as hounding Bournemouth into errors. And it was Rice, after another brilliantly-timed surge, who picked up a loose ball in the box with 20 minutes remaining — and Bournemouth in the ascendancy — before flicking a deft pass to Trossard to double Arsenal’s advantage. Bournemouth were aggrieved by the decision to award a penalty for a Mark Travers foul on Havertz, which allowed Saka to give Arsenal the lead, and the decision not to let Antoine Semenyo’s goal at 2-0 stand because David Raya was adjudged to have been fouled by Dominic Solanke in the build-up. “I know once the ref’s made the decision it’s difficult to reverse it, but it just felt like he’s left a trailing leg in to catch my foot,” Travers said of the penalty decision. But Arsenal — with Rice the driving force — look determined to leave City no room for error in this title race. Pep transforming brute Gvardiol into Silva’s balletic heir Gvardiol’s transformation, Guardiola clicked his fingers. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Gvardiol’s improvement is the fact that he has been asked to perform two different roles. As was the case last season, when John Stones plays, he steps into central midfield when City are in possession, and the other three members of the defence form a back three. When Stones has been unavailable this season, Guardiola has sometimes altered the set-up of his team. Instead, when City have the ball, the two centre backs stay deep and they are joined by Rodri to form a defensive bank of three. The full backs, meanwhile, bomb up and down the flanks and are encouraged to play cutting through-balls or enter the penalty area themselves. That is what Gvardiol did on Saturday evening, when he burst into the area from the left flank and collided with Rayan Aït-Nouri. Craig Pawson, the referee, pointed to the spot and Erling Haaland scored the first of two penalties to help City record a win that keeps the pressure on Arsenal in the title race. Gvardiol was not done there. The Croat completed three dribbles against Wolves, the most of any player on the pitch, including one in the first half that ended with him whipping a dangerous ball across the area. Gvardiol has looked susceptible to pace on other occasions, including in the recent win against Crystal Palace, but the increase in confidence when he has the ball at his feet is there for all to see. He has chipped in with three goals this term, which is one fewer than he scored in his two seasons with Leipzig, and the through-balls he played to Haaland were eye-catching. When it was put to Guardiola that Gvardiol’s attacking game had improved greatly in recent weeks, the City manager said: “I would say more than weeks. I would say months. “He can play central defender, he can play left, he is just 22 years old and he is loved like you cannot imagine for his humility, and we are really pleased with him.” Gvardiol is, of course, not the first player who has learnt a new position under Guardiola. João Cancelo, a right back by trade, became an inverted attacking left back under the Catalan. Fabian Delph moved from central midfield to left back during his time at City; Fernandinho dropped into defence from midfield; Aleksandar Kolarov moved into central defence from left back; Jesús Navas, formerly a winger, started operating at right back under Guardiola. Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne have played in several positions. Ferran Torres and Raheem Sterling came off the flanks and started playing as the false nine. That is the beauty of an education under Guardiola. He remoulds players to make them multifaceted, as Gvardiol is now discovering. Manchester City Haaland 12 (pen), 35, 45+3 (pen), 54, Álvarez 85 5 Wolverhampton Hwang 53 1 PAUL HIRST The sight of David Silva, that famous little magician from Gran Canaria, returning to the Etihad Stadium as guest of honour on Saturday no doubt conjured some fond memories among the home supporters. It does not seem a minute since Silva was terrorising opposition teams in the sky blue of City, either by jinking past them with the ball seemingly stuck to his left boot or carving open defences with the most incisive and deft passes. Against Wolverhampton Wanderers, there was another man causing chaos in that inside-left pocket where Silva used to cause much of his damage. With his hulking 6ft 1in frame, you would not expect Josko Gvardiol, inset, to be able to shuffle the ball between his feet and skip past a full back, or elegantly glide between two players and slide a cutting pass through the defence. With his gruff beard and manly features, he looks more like a brutish centre back, and that was his reputation when he arrived at City from RB Leipzig in a £77 million transfer last summer. Gradually, over the past nine months, however, Pep Guardiola has transformed Gvardiol into a marauding full back who is just as important to City in attack as in defence. Heaven knows whether Guardiola planned this all along, but his initial decision to deploy the Croatia player at left back came about because of Nathan Aké’s struggles at the start of the season. Aké had been an accomplished performer at left back the previous year, when City won the Treble. Initially Gvardiol struggled. Prior to joining City he had played as an orthodox centre back for Dinamo Zagreb and then Leipzig. Sources in the east German city said that Gvardiol would often respond negatively when he was told he had to fill in at left back because of injury or suspension. Faced with a raft of new instructions from Guardiola, and the intensity of the Premier League, Gvardiol struggled in the first half of the campaign. A low point came in December, when Leon Bailey ran rings around him in Aston Villa’s home win against City. Three days later Gvardiol put in another subpar display up against Tottenham Hotspur’s pacey winger Brennan Johnson in the 3-3 draw at the Etihad. “It was a period that was so uncertain,” Guardiola said. “He [Gvardiol] was not really, really good. But that’s normal. It was his first season here, he’s playing in the Premier League, which gives you challenges. You need skills and strength, but we talked and we saw many of his performances, and he got it.” To emphasise the pace of
Newcastle, however, need to sell someone in the summer and Wilson could be the one to go. Regardless of injuries, Howe gets at least ten Premier League goals a season from Wilson, but the club’s board will look at the saleability of a 32-year-old who is about to enter the last year of his Burnley O’Shea 86 1 Newcastle United Wilson 19, S Longstaff 35, Guimarães 40, Isak 55 4 Wilson out to swipe Toney’s Euros place ten from 26 games in total this season. “I’d be lying if I was to say I didn’t have one eye on trying to make an impression over the last four games,” Wilson said. “But that’s all you can do. There are strikers that have had fantastic seasons. There is no getting away from that, so it gives the manager an extra dilemma and an extra person to choose from, so who knows what the next few games bring? “Of course [the Euros have been in his sights]. I was aiming for six games [after returning from surgery for a pectoral muscle injury]. You have to build back in the first game. It was good to get on the scoresheet off the bench against Sheffield United and then build on it here. “That’s all you can do. You’ve just got to focus on what you can control. First and foremost I’ve got to be playing at Newcastle and then it takes care of itself. “I got an assist at the last World Cup. Representing your country is what dreams are made of. It’s the pinnacle and this realistically is my last major tournament. I’ll be 34 by the next one.” Asked if he knew that Southgate was in the crowd to watch him bully the life out of Burnley’s defenders in an emphatic victory that pushes Newcastle further towards European football, he replied: “I didn’t know, I was trying to focus on the game. I heard afterwards that he was here so all you can do is perform when given an opportunity.” Having had his season disrupted by injury, Wilson said he feels fresh, certainly compared with the other players competing for places in the England squad. “Most players have played 50 or 60 games this season whereas unfortunately I haven’t, but I guess it’s only going to benefit me going into the summer,” he added. “If I get in the squad, fantastic. If I don’t then I’ll just continue my fitness anyway because I wouldn’t want to waste what I’ve been working hard towards.” 10 1GG Monday May 6 2024 | the times thegame Brentford 0 Fulham 0 contract. When asked about his future, Wilson was careful not to get drawn in. “My first thought is to finish the season strong and then try and get myself in the Euros squad,” he said. “I’m contracted to Newcastle still so I’ll be back for preseason.” ‘Fans should be praising Ivan – he is a warrior’ SOUTHGATE’S SELECTION DILEMMA Assuming Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins are already in England's Euro 2024 squad, there is potentially one place left for a third striker, with Wilson and Toney vying for it Wilson Toney 32 Age 28 9 England caps 2 2 England goals 1 19 PL games this season 15 108 PL minutes per goal this season 317 181 PL minutes per goal: career 198 IVAN SPECK There is a danger that the growing dissatisfaction with Ivan Toney as his time at Brentford winds down will begin to draw a wedge between the club’s fans and the head coach, Thomas Frank. Toney’s goalless run was extended to ten games in the insipid 0-0 west London derby draw against Fulham. The striker’s perceived lack of effort drew the ire of some Brentford supporters, who then turned on Frank over his decision to take off Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane LewisPotter instead of Toney midway through the second half. Boos are not the norm at the Gtech Community Stadium, especially where the love-in with Frank is concerned, but there was a smattering of them over his substitutions. The sterility of the goalless draw meant there was little else on which to focus, but turning on Frank in Brentford’s remaining two fixtures would surely be counterproductive. A hip injury meant Toney missed Brentford’s 5-1 win at Luton Town a fortnight ago — a performance of verve and passion that was worlds apart from the lethargy on show a week later against Everton and apparent once more on Saturday. With his mind set on a move away, Toney’s effort since his return from his eight-month ban for breaking betting rules has come in for deeper scrutiny, but the captain, Christian Norgaard, believes it is wrong to question the striker’s commitment. “I didn’t notice any boos, so I don’t know if they were maybe directed at the whole team,” Norgaard said. “We as a team couldn’t score and we needed to create more. He [Toney] deserves a lot of praise for what he’s done for the club. He got us promoted, scored a bunch of goals both in the Championship and in the Premier League. “It has been spoken about a lot, but he deserves his move. And maybe people put you in a different category when we talk about strikers. “The club is managing his injury well. He’s a warrior and he wants to play every game. Even if he has only one leg, it’s hard to keep him back and keep him out the game, and he wants to be available for the Euros. “He has done well this season, even with his injuries, and he is always putting a shift in for the team. There’s a reason he’s the vice-captain.” MARTIN HARDY Callum Wilson or Ivan Toney? Perhaps that was the thought puzzling Gareth Southgate as the England manager looked for answers from the Bob Lord Stand at Turf Moor. A great traveller and a positive squad member in Wilson or a wild card who served an eight-month ban for gambling in Toney? A 32-year-old at the end of his international career or a 28-year-old at the beginning? Which one, Southgate might have pondered from his seat, will best handle the likelihood of not playing a single minute in the European Championship finals? Squad member No 24, 25 or 26. Southgate will probably take three strikers with him to Germany in his extended squad, with Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins the certainties and Wilson and Toney in a battle for the remaining spot. It is not an easy choice but Wilson, a proper old-fashioned fighting centre forward, is scoring goals at the right time, just as he did to nab a ticket for the flight to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. The assist Wilson then recorded in Doha was one more than was ever expected of a striker who used to play at non-League Tamworth. Wilson, though, is nothing if not determined, as he showed in recovering from rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in each knee in the space of 16 months at Bournemouth. “Write Callum Wilson off at your peril,” Eddie Howe, the Newcastle United head coach who also brought the forward to Dean Court in 2014, said after his latest goal and involvement in Saturday’s victory over Burnley. “He’s a monster when he has a focus and a goal.” There is an ebullience to Wilson that is particularly endearing. He is the smiling assassin, fearless in the face of the adversity that seems to pockmark his career. His grin cut through the Lancashire rain on Saturday evening. He wants that place at Euro 2024. There is no question about that. Toney, his biggest rival, has gone ten games without a goal for Brentford. Wilson has two from one start and one substitute appearance over the past two weekends — and Victory for Nottingham Forest and defeat for Burnley on Saturday means that Vincent Kompany is looking for a footballing miracle to avoid relegation. In their first season back in the Premier League, Kompany’s Burnley Playing first on Saturday is Kompany’s last hope MARTIN HARDY side are 19th, trailing Forest by five points with only two games left. Luton Town are two points above them in 18th place. The maths is awful, as is their form at Turf Moor, where they have won only twice in a season that has one home game left. A crumb of comfort for the 38- year-old former Belgium and Manchester City defender may come in playing first on Saturday. Burnley travel to out-of-sorts Tottenham Hotspur for a 3pm kick-off knowing a) they simply have to win or they will be relegated and b) Forest do not kick off until 5.30pm at home to Chelsea. A victory, however unlikely, would move the gap between the two clubs to just two points and serve to increase the psychological pressure on Forest to get a result. They are long shots, or short straws, and they are all that Kompany, for all his brave playing style and honesty during the season, has left to cling too. “We need to have a good week again, regroup and collect that belief again,” Dara O’Shea, who scored a late consolation goal in the 4-1 defeat by Newcastle United, said. “Spurs is a big game. We need to go into that with our heads high, full of confidence. We have to get a win there. “There are still two massive games to go. We want to give ourselves the best chance going into the last day, we want to bring it back here and hopefully have something to play for.”
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12 1GG Monday May 6 2024 | the times thegame EFL PLAY-OFFS Sky Bet Championship Semi-final first legs Sunday Norwich vs Leeds (12pm); West Brom vs Southampton (2.15pm) Semi-final second legs May 16 Leeds vs Norwich (8pm) May 17 Southampton vs West Brom (8pm) Final May 26 Wembley League One Semi-final second legs Tuesday Bolton (3) vs Barnsley (1) (8pm) Wednesday Peterborough (0) vs Oxford United (1) (8pm) Final May 18 Wembley, 4.15pm League Two Semi-final first legs Today Crawley vs MK Dons (3pm); Crewe vs Doncaster (5.30pm) Semi-final second legs Thursday MK Dons vs Crawley (8pm) Friday Doncaster vs Crewe (8pm) Final May 19 Wembley, 1pm All matches live on Sky Sports To fully appreciate the scale of Kieran McKenna’s impact upon Ipswich Town, it is first important to understand the depth of the malaise. Twenty-four hours before McKenna was handed his first post in senior management, in December 2021, Ipswich fell to a 2-0 defeat by Barrow of League Two in an FA Cup second-round replay. The nine-month tenure of McKenna’s predecessor, Paul Cook, had come to an end after a run of two wins in nine games. Ipswich had been relegated to the third tier in 2019, for the first time since 1957. The club of Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson were languishing in 12th place in League One. Ipswich, moreover, had endured one of the most discombobulating eras in their history: the austerity and rancorous end of Mick McCarthy’s six-year tenure as manager; the longed-for brave new era under Paul Hurst, which lasted only 15 games; the brief shafts of light that appeared after Paul Lambert’s appointment in October 2018, before Portman Road was plunged into darkness once again. When Marcus Evans, the club’s owner since 2007, sold up to the US group Gamechanger 20 Ltd in April 2021, he wrote off more than £100 million worth of debt in the process. Finally, after years of apathy and decline, there were hopes of brighter days ahead. There was investment in the squad. Cook’s CV included stellar work at Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic. But still Ipswich could not be shaken from their slumber. And so when the final whistle blew at Portman Road on Saturday, and the 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town confirmed back-to-back promotions and a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002, the crowning moment of Ipswich’s remarkable renaissance was greeted with a strange mixture of catharsis and disbelief. Winning promotion from League One in McKenna’s first full season, registering 98 points and 101 goals along the way, was one thing, but Ipswich have attacked the Sky Bet Championship with the same gusto, accruing 96 points and 92 goals to become only the fifth club in the Premier League era — and the first since Southampton in 2012 — to win back-to-back promotions to reach the top flight. Since the former Manchester United assistant coach took charge of his first game, no club in the top four tiers of English football have won more league points (237) and only Manchester City have scored more than their (222) goals. Before this weekend’s matches only City, Arsenal and Liverpool had recorded a higher points-per-game ratio than Ipswich under McKenna (2.04); only those same three clubs, plus Tottenham Hotspur, had a higher goals-per-game ratio than the newly promoted side (1.93). It is an extraordinary record, but just as remarkable is the way Ipswich have done it, with a core of the squad from League One; a brave, expansive and dynamic style of play; 19 different scorers; and a showreel of goals that have left sell-out crowds of 30,000 inside Portman Road purring with approval. Wes Burns’s “trivela” goal against Coventry City in November, which was named EFL goal of the season, perhaps best sums up the sense of adventure of McKenna’s side. A move that began with the ball at the feet of the goalkeeper, Vaclav Hladky, was swept across the length and breadth McKenna’s blueprint for success Unheralded players, united squad and positive football have led Ipswich back to Premier League, Gregor Robertson writes of the pitch with confidence and control, and ended with the Wales winger curling a sumptuous shot into the top corner with the outside of his right boot. Burns, after spells at Bristol City, Forest Green Rovers, Oxford United, Cheltenham Town and Aberdeen, joined from Fleetwood Town in 2021 and now, aged 29, the bustling right winger is suddenly a Premier League player-in-waiting. “From the first day he [McKenna] came in, there’s been so much information to take on board,” Burns recently told Sky Sports. “But you can see from the outside the improvements that we’ve made as a squad and as individuals. He’s taken us all to the next level, which is a sign of an incredible coach.” Eight of the starting XI from the gutsy 2-1 win away to Coventry City in midweek that put Ipswich within touching distance of the top flight were part of the squad that won promotion from League One 12 months ago. Most had never played a full season of Championship football. Yet for players such as Leif Davis, 24, who left Leeds United in 2022 to seek regular football and has registered a league-high 18 assists from left back this season, or Nathan Broadhead, 26, who was signed from Everton in January 2023 and has 13 goals and three assists this season, there is a sense that the ceiling of their potential is still some way off. The £6 million or so that McKenna has spent in two seasons has been on players of a similar profile, with a point to prove and development in mind. Shrewd loan additions such as Chelsea’s Omari Hutchinson have added some stardust too, while the nous of players such as Sam Morsy, 32, Massimo Luongo, 31, and Kieffer Moore, 31, who has scored seven times since he arrived on loan from Bournemouth in January, has given the team that precious balance of youth and experience. One of McKenna’s great strengths, though, has been maintaining a harmonious squad, with total buy-in, even from those whose minutes have been limited. Only West Bromwich Albion’s Carlos Corberán has turned to his bench more often than McKenna, and it is instructive that Ipswich top the league for goals scored by substitutes (23) and points won in the 75th minute or later (20). History has often weighed heavy at Portman Road, of course, where sepia-toned images of the club’s halcyon days still adorn every wall: Ramsey’s First Division title-winners in 1962; Robson’s FA and Uefa Cup champions two decades later; the brief return to the top flight — and Europe — under George Burley at the turn of the century. Yet it was that history, and potential, which persuaded McKenna to leave United and begin his career in Suffolk. “I came to the football club because of the history and tradition of the club, but also the ambition going forward to get it back to better places,” he said. “That’s why I took the drop down to the level, the belief that I could do that. “Of course, we didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, to get promotion in the first full season in the way that we did and to be on this journey this year. I think it’s accelerated, but [with] hard work every day, doing the right things and a brilliant group of people at a big football club with a big support behind it, you can get momentum behind you. Keep doing the right things and you can really carry that forward.” It has been a dizzying ascent but the Northern Irishman spent 15 years building to this crescendo. McKenna, 37, left his home in County Fermanagh to join Tottenham Hotspur’s academy aged 16, was capped by Northern Ireland Under-21, and was knocking on the door of Tottenham’s first team when his career was ended at the age of 22 by a chronic hip problem. Clive Allen, the legendary Spurs striker, spotted in McKenna a fierce work ethic and a sharp intellect, and he was soon coaching in the club’s academy and studying for a sport science degree at Loughborough University. Two years after being poached by Manchester United — the club he grew up supporting — initially as under-18s coach, McKenna was invited on to José Mourinho’s firstteam coaching staff. He was a valued member of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s backroom team too, before the urge to lead drew him to accept the challenge at Portman Road. McKenna, with his eye for detail on the training ground and air of quiet determination and confidence, will no doubt be in demand this summer, but Ipswich are now a club striving to keep pace with developments on the pitch. Bright Path Sports Partners, a US-based private equity firm, bought a 40 per cent share of the club for £105 million in March — a figure that means the club’s value has soared from £40 million to about £260 million in three years. Some of that investment is ringfenced for a new multi-million-pound complex at the club’s Playford Road training base, plans for which were revealed in March. The club are also working with Ipswich Borough Council on huge regeneration plans around Portman Road, which would include redevelopment of the Cobbold Stand. First, though, there are celebrations to enjoy for a group of fans who, until McKenna’s arrival, had almost lost hope of a return to the top table of the English game. In truth, the financial muscle of Leicester City, Leeds and Southampton — all endowed by Premier League parachute payments — meant no one really expected Ipswich to last the course. But football, despite its rampant growth and inequality, still has the capacity to spring a surprise — and Ipswich are back in the big time. McKenna is thrown up in the air by his players after the 2-0 home win over Huddersfield that clinched Ipswich’s promotion JOE TOTH/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK Vardy enjoying Leicester party Jamie Vardy kisses Marc Albrighton during Leicester’s promotion parade
the times | Monday May 6 2024 1GG S1 13 thegame NICK POTTS/PA Manager Woodman and captain Webster lead the celebrations after Bromley clinched a place in the Football League for the first time On a Wembley pitch that has twice brought Gareth Southgate penalty shoot-out heartache, the England manager’s best friend in football, Andy Woodman, led Bromley into the Football League for the first time via the same method yesterday. An enthralling National League play-off final against Solihull Moors, which finished 2-2 after extra time, was settled by a spot kick from the Bromley captain Byron Webster, himself now a threetime Wembley play-off winner after triumphs with Millwall and Yeovil Town. Bromley won the shoot-out 4-3. A delighted Woodman said: “Relief is the first word that springs to mind because it is relentless to get out of this National League. “Hopefully we can bring to the EFL a freshness of a club that has not been there in its 132-year history. I’m sure the euphoria will carry us through the summer.” It was a match that pitted together boroughs from London and Birmingham. While Bromley is London’s largest in terms of area, covering 59 square miles of leafy stockbroker belt, Solihull has both an affluent south side and a north side which is home to the Jaguar Land Rover factory, the borough’s largest employer. The football club, formed in 2007 by the merger of Solihull Borough and Moor Green, had an average attendance this season of 1,447, 20th of the 24 National League clubs. By contrast, Bromley were tenth with 2,637 after a shrewd and sustained development of their Hayes Lane ground in recent years. Work will begin this morning on replacing their artificial pitch with grass, as demanded by EFL rules. Bromley finished the season third in the table, with Solihull fifth. Roared on by three-quarters of the 23,374 attendance, Bromley’s physicality paid off against Solihull’s possessionbased game in the 41st minute. The Bromley striker Michael Cheek chased down a through ball and tangled with the Solihull defender Alex Whitmore, then ran on to slide home his shot. If that goal infuriated Solihull, they responded three minutes into the second half. Joe Sbarra followed in Tahvon Campbell’s shot and tapped in after it had been pushed out by the Bromley goalkeeper Grant Smith. Solihull went behind again when an awful backpass from Kyle Morrison led to their goalkeeper, Nick Hayes, chopping down Cheek, who converted the penalty. Back came the Midlands club with the midfielder Jamey Osborne striding forward to find the bottom corner in the 65th minute. In the first period of extra time, Bromley’s Alex Kirk, on loan from Arsenal, saw a header hit the bar. The substitute then drilled a shot that squirmed off the post and across the Solihull goalmouth in the second half of extra time. Smith saved Solihull’s first two penalties from Tyrese Shade and Joss Labadie in the shoot-out, leading to Webster’s crowning moment. Solihull do have an immediate return to Wembley for Saturday’s FA Trophy final against Gateshead, but that was scant consolation to their manager Andy Whing. “I’m incredibly proud of my players,” he said. “But in the end we didn’t achieve what we set out to achieve.” Southgate’s best friend enjoys shoot-out success as Bromley reach EFL IVAN SPECK Emma Hayes’s address to the crowd after her final home game as Chelsea manager was following a typical script. An emotional video, heartfelt thanks to the fans and applause all around Kingsmeadow. And then she dropped the f-bomb. “Let me be clear,” Hayes said two minutes into her goodbye. “It’s not f***ing over. “There is no time for sentimentality. All work drinks are cancelled. There is a title to be won.” Her oratory captured the mood of the evening. Sunday at Kingsmeadow was expected to be an occasion of poignant gratitude but, by about 4.15pm, the ground was galvanised by resurrected hope. “Arsenal won! Arsenal won!” The message spread rapidly, as fans who had come to bid Hayes a slightly sombre farewell realised there could be an incredible epilogue to her Chelsea story. The Hayes swears Chelsea will snatch the title Manager ends last home game with eight-goal win and X-rated vow to claim one final WSL trophy, Kit Shepard writes Reiten 6 pen, 56, 70, 877, Nüsken 23, Beever Jones 52, 88, Charles 74 Chelsea Bristol City 0 subsequent 8-0 win over Bristol City, featuring four goals for Guro Reiten, stoked that belief. Hayes had conceded the Women’s Super League title after losing away to Liverpool on Wednesday — ergo admitting that her final season before taking over the USA women’s team would end trophyless. Yet Arsenal’s dramatic 2-1 win over Manchester City turned the title race back into a goal difference battle, and meant the Chelsea manager’s final home game could be truly joyous. Ironically she had Jonas Eidevall to thank, five weeks on from shoving the Arsenal head coach and accusing him of “male aggression” after Chelsea’s defeat in the Continental Cup final. Hayes, accompanied by her fiveyear-old son, strode out just before kick-off to a raucous reception. As well as thanking Hayes for her achievements over 12 years at Chelsea, the fans were rousing themselves for a run-in which may conclude with lifting the WSL trophy. Already-relegated Bristol City were ideal opponents. The disparity between the teams allowed Chelsea to wipe out their goal difference deficit. They kicked off seven in arrears of City but were one ahead by full-time. Should Chelsea win their game in hand away to Tottenham Hotspur on May 15 – three days after Spurs play in their maiden Women’s FA Cup final – they will be top of the standings going into the game against Manchester United on the final day. Reiten set the tone, not only with her penalty that gave her side the lead but by retrieving the ball as soon as the spot-kick had beaten Fran Bentley. Chelsea smelled blood. Although Bristol City did not roll over, they were simply no match for their better-resourced hosts, and Sjoeke Nüsken soon bundled in the second. Heading off for half-time 2-0 up, Hayes gave fans by the tunnel a reserved wave. She wore a determined look, a great contrast to her resigned demeanour after the Liverpool defeat. She still had room for sentiment, as Fran Kirby was sent on for the second half. Kirby, Chelsea’s record scorer in the modern era, announced on Saturday that she will leave the club at the end of the season after nine decorated years. Maren Mjelde, who is also leaving after seven years, was also introduced. However, Chelsea’s third was scored by a symbol of their next generation. The 20-year-old Aggie Beever-Jones, who spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Bristol City, finished calmly after a slick one-two with Erin Cuthbert. Reiten rifled in a fourth before the hour mark, and then got her hat-trick from close range. “We want six,” the fans cried. Niamh Charles obliged from a Catarina Macario free kick. Reiten got Chelsea’s seventh and her fourth by ignoring Kirby’s run and firing into the bottom corner. Beever-Jones headed in her 11th league goal of the season to complete the rout. The party was only getting started. Remarkably, Hayes’s final game may Hayes, with her five-year-old son, thanks the fans before her final home match spark even wilder celebrations. WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGES
Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Cadiz at the Bernabéu on Saturday was enough for them to clinch their 36th La Liga title after Barcelona’s loss to Girona later that evening. Goals from Brahim Díaz, Jude Bellingham and Joselu ensured that Madrid cannot be caught at the top of La Liga with four games still remaining. Celebrations kicked off in the Madrid dressing room once news of Barcelona’s defeat circulated. Bellingham took to Instagram to post a picture alongside his mum, Denise, in an empty Bernabéu captioned: “Champions of Spain, Hala Madrid.” Head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who rested several players ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with the tie poised at 2-2, said: “From what I see, the locker room is calm. We have a great opportunity to play in another final, and there is no greater motivation than this. An opportunity to finish well a season that has already been spectacular. “It’s contained joy, we have the most important game of the season coming up. Everyone has Wednesday’s game in mind. Players who play less have responded one hundred per cent. We have to be patient. We have to recover well and bring out our best version on Wednesday.” Díaz opened the scoring in the 51st minute against Cadiz, bending his effort into the top corner from the edge of the box. Bellingham came off the bench to add a second in the 68th minute, winning the ball in midfield before driving into the box to tap in Díaz’s low cross. Joselu added the third in stoppage time, tapping in Nacho Fernández’s square pass to wrap up the victory for Real. Madrid’s Champions League chances will be helped by the return of Thibaut Courtois and Éder Militão, who both completed the full match on Saturday after missing the majority of the season with knee injuries. “Courtois needs minutes, like Militão, and in these league games I am going to put him in [the line-up]. Militão has been much better today. They are much fresher,” Ancelotti said. Bellingham celebrates Real title with mum DOMINIC AKIBOYE IAN HAWKEY European Football 16 1GG V2 Monday May 6 2024 | the times Bellingham gets a hug from his mother Denise after Real’s title is confirmed It takes something to upstage Jude Bellingham in his gilded debut season in Spain. But on the day Bellingham’s 22nd Real Madrid goal, two minutes after coming on against Cádiz, all but sealed the title, someone else trumped him. Take a bow, Cristian Portugués Manzanera, or “Portu” to his friends and now lifelong loyalists in Girona. They will never tire of replaying the fabulous Marco van Bastenesque Portu volley that put Girona 4-2 up against Barcelona. The result confirmed that neither Barça, deposed as champions, nor anyone else can catch Real. But that was mere collateral to Girona’s great day and epic denouement. Portu took even less time between coming off the bench in Catalonia and scoring than Bellingham had at the Bernabéu, his first touch a 65th-minute equaliser for 2-2. He supplied the pass for Girona to take the lead. He added what may come to be judged La Liga’s goal of the season and, with it, steered Girona to a place in next season’s Champions League. It’s a fairytale. Portu was playing his 100th topdivision game in a Girona jersey. That’s more than two thirds of the matches Girona have ever played in Spain’s upper tier in 94 years of an existence spent entirely as Catalan football’s bumpkin cousins, scarcely relevant to big-city Barcelona. Under warm sunshine, the 14,000 packing out the Estadi Montilivi suddenly felt like part of a regional superpower. Girona leapfrogged Barça in the table and have now put eight goals past them in successive wins. Thanks to Portu, the partisans plan excitedly for Europe. Girona’s head coach, the genial Míchel, gave them some ideas. “I want to play Liverpool, at Anfield,” he said, beaming. “I’d like to go to Dortmund, play in front of that amazing wall of fans. We’ll be going into a Champions League with a new format, so we’ll have at least four games at home. I’d love a ‘historic’ team at the Montilivi —a Bayern Munich, Inter or AC Milan.” No mention there of Manchester City. Perhaps they’re not “historic”. Maybe Míchel puts a realistic ceiling on Girona’s underdog reach. Or perhaps it’s the awkward baggage that City might carry up the Costa Brava, at least in the eyes of sceptical observers. Girona are a fairytale — “if you made a film of it, it must start with Portu’s [volleyed] goal,” said Míchel, giving voice to his inner Spielberg — for their rise from the second division’s relegation zone 2½ years ago to a place in the Champions League. But it’s a fairytale with a scarcely hidden corporate face, one that provokes envious muttering from Spanish clubs who cannot quite manage the jump into La Liga’s top four, who grumble about the benefits Girona derive from their close links to City and, at the very least, their exposure to institutional expertise. Since 2017, Girona have been part of the City Football Group (CFG), under whose umbrella there are 13 clubs globally, with an array of CFG stakeholdings. Up until now there has been no significant competitive meeting between CFG member clubs, so no difficult questions about a potential compromise to sporting integrity. With Girona and City both in Europe, there will be Uefa scrutiny. The governing body’s rules have been steadily rewritten as the multi-club model grows and, although neither City nor Girona anticipate being prevented from taking part simultaneously in the Champions League, Uefa needs to be satisfied that no lone individual or legal entity has “control or influence” over both. CFG can show a stake in Girona that is less than 50 per cent, and while there are key players in Girona’s squad who have moved there from CFG clubs — notably the winger Savinho, on loan from Troyes, and Yan Couto, on loan from City — Uefa restricts only direct transfers from fellow multi-ownership clubs competing against one another if those transfers took place in windows before, or during, the season they are in the same competition. There are several precedents. Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig are permitted to play in the same Uefa competition, having established sufficient distance from one another in their governing structures. This season Brighton & Hove Albion, Aston Villa, and Milan were required to show Uefa that their relationships with their respective multi-ownership partners — Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise, Portugal’s Vitória, France’s Toulouse — incorporated a level of autonomy that allowed both clubs to share space in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League. There will be more of this, and not only for Uefa to consider. Apply some blue-sky thinking to City’s prospective 2025 calendar and it can look heavily shaded in CFG sky-blue. Imagine Girona riding their rollercoaster through the complicated thicket of the new-look Champions League pool stage, perhaps via a proud result in front of Dortmund’s “Yellow Wall”, or Portu stunning Milan with one of his Van Basten specials and meeting City in, say, a spring quarter-final. That would be quite an event for CFG and indeed for the Guardiola brothers, Pep on the touchline for City, Pere in the VIP seats in his capacity as a senior Girona executive. Now imagine, in early summer, City come through the group phase of the inaugural edition of Fifa’s 32-team Club World Club. They then face a knockout tie against the champions of Asia. Whatever the outcome of this month’s Asian Champions League final, that match-up also looks rather fraternal. The contenders to take Asia’s last four spots at the 2025 Club World Cup are Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos, in which CFG holds a 20 per cent share, and Al-Ain, who have nothing to do with CFG but are from Abu Dhabi, whose sovereign wealth launched the increasingly imperial City project. If on-the-pitch achievement is a measure of success for CFG, 2024 is already shaping up — mostly — rather well. The flagship club chase down another Double in England. The Japanese branch, the Marinos, are 180 minutes from becoming continental champions. Girona are utterly disrupting hierarchies in Spain. Just a pity the French sector feels so neglected. Troyes, who came under CFG’s patronage in 2020, are hurtling to a second successive relegation. On Friday, their Ligue 2 basement duel with Valenciennes was abandoned at 1-1 after Troyes fans threw flares on to the pitch to the soundtrack of derisive chants. “Merci, City,” they bellowed angrily at CFG’s daddy club, whom a diminished Troyes will not be playing in any competition any time soon. Girona: the fairytale of bumpkins’ rise . . . with a City corporate stamp Portu’s stunning volley helped Girona to beat Barcelona 4-2 but, inset, Troyes fans are less happy with CFG’s influence on their club ALBERT GEA/REUTERS; VAFC