Category: Sport

Juventus are reportedly interested in signing Man Utd striker Joshua Zirkzee on loan but the 23-year-old ‘does not intend to leave’ the Red Devils.

Zirkzee joined Man Utd from Bologna in the summer transfer window but has struggled to get up to speed under Erik ten Hag.

He scored on his debut but has not found the back of the net since, with lots of pundits criticising his poor form.

For example, Paolo Di Canio says the Dutchman is “too slow” for the Premier League and would benefit from a loan to Juventus.

“I would loan Zirkzee from Manchester United,” he said.

“They’ve been making crazy choices for several years and none of them are working, not even Zirkzee who’s a bit too slow for the Premier League.

“He’d be the perfect profile for Juventus, also because it would allow Motta to have a striker with different characteristics to [Dusan] Vlahovic.”

Interestingly, Zirkzee is now being linked with a move to the Serie A giants.

Joshua Zirkzee to leave Man Utd in January?

According to reports in Spain, Juventus are ‘contemplating the possibility’ of signing Zirkzee on loan in January.

The Old Lady view the Dutch international as a ‘temporary solution’ due to their ‘financial constraints’ and the uncertain future of Dusan Vlahovic, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal this week.

Zirkzee’s ‘complicated’ time at Old Trafford has ‘captured Juventus’ interest’ and ‘points to a return to Italy’, where we know he can play at a high level.

Thiago Motta’s side are believed to be ‘keeping their options open and hope to take advantage of his availability in January’.

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A loan approach would be the Old Lady’s priority but it is unclear if Man Utd would be open to letting him leave in the winter transfer window.

Erik ten Hag relied heavily on Rasmus Hojlund last season and signed Zirkzee to provide some much-needed depth up front, so is very unlikely to loan him out mid-season.

Furthermore, German transfer expert Florian Plettenberg has reported that the former Bologna striker has no intention of leaving Man Utd in January.

It is claimed the Red Devils have faith in Zirkzee to turn things around and the player ‘wants to establish himself’ at Old Trafford.

Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘Been told that Joshua Zirkzee does not intend to leave Manchester United in winter.

‘The 23y/o believes in his qualities, wants to establish himself, and sees himself as the number one striker.

‘Rumours about his intention to leave the club are fake news, according to sources.’

Georgia Stanway scored twice but England could not complete the comeback after slipping to an early three-goal deficit in their 4-3 loss to Germany at Wembley.

The last time these sides met was at the same venue for England’s triumphant 2-1 comeback in the Euro 2022 final. That match remained goalless until the second half but Friday night’s friendly was an utterly different story.

The visitors stunned the hosts with a penalty in an early brace for captain Giulia Gwinn and a third from Klara Buhl in the opening 30 minutes, before Stanway clawed two back including a spot-kick of her own.

England conceded another penalty after the break, converted by Sara Dabritz, with Lucy Bronze able to draw the sides within one late in the thoroughly entertaining contest in front of a 47,967 crowd.

All but two of Sarina Wiegman’s starting XI – goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and defender Jess Carter – featured in that historic final, though both were in the squad 817 days ago.

New Germany head coach Christian Wuck, who was installed after their bronze-medal winning turn at the Paris Olympics, led a visiting side who took an early lead after Millie Bright brought down Linda Dallmann in the penalty area.

Referee Marta Huerta de Aza’s decision stood after a VAR check, and Gwinn made no mistake when she stepped up and beat Hampton.

Alessia Russo thought she had levelled in the 10th minute from Ella Toone’s backheel but the Lionesses’ celebrations were quickly ended by the offside flag.

Germany broke back and doubled their lead, Gwinn again the goalscorer with an effort that pinged off Hampton’s left post before going in.

The woodwork proved less generous to the hosts, who watched Russo’s next effort clip the far post before going out as the end-to-end action continued.

The tempo did eventually slow, England enjoying the possession advantage but without a shot on target to show for it.

Germany were three goals to the good in the 29th minute after Buhl’s low effort flashed through the legs of Bronze and past the diving Hampton’s outstretched hand at the near post.

Stanway finally gave the home support something to celebrate five minutes later after Gwinn, sliding to block Lauren Hemp’s cross, was penalised for handball.

The Bayern Munich midfielder placed the resulting 33rd-minute penalty in the bottom left corner of former Chelsea keeper Ann-Katrin Berger’s net, then clawed the Lionesses back within one with a lofted effort three minutes later.

Toone probably should have levelled proceedings after finding herself one-on-one with Berger, but directed her effort inches wide.

The Lionesses remained just a goal down at the halfway point, though Dallmann came close in added time, forcing Hampton into a nervy fingertip save onto the bar.

It was Germany’s turn to have the offside flag deny them a goal five minutes after the restart, and Hampton was called into action again to deny Jule Brand while Buhl skied an attempt just before the hour.

The visitors continued to keep Hampton busy, and substitute Dabritz extended Germany’s advantage after Russo was adjudged to have fouled Pia-Sophie Wolter with an outstretched boot while challenging for the ball.

England had the ball in the back of the net again, Hemp the next player denied by the flag, but it was Bronze who kept the hosts’ chances alive when she pounced on Berger’s error to draw the Lionesses back within one in the 81st minute.

Substitute Alex Greenwood cleared a loose ball from off the line to keep the hosts in it, but six minutes of stoppage time was not enough for England to find an equaliser.

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Chris Wood scored his sixth and seventh Premier League goals of the season as Nottingham Forest beat former boss Steve Cooper in a 3-1 win at Leicester City.

Wood bagged a second-half double to earn Forest the three points after Ryan Yates’ early opener had been cancelled out by Jamie Vardy.

Foxes boss Cooper, who was sacked by Forest last December, bizarrely refused to even acknowledge his time at the City Ground before the match in an attempt not to annoy Leicester fans.

But he could not avoid them for long as his former club put on a rampant display at the King Power Stadium to claim their second win in four days and climb to fifth in the table as Cooper’s replacement Nuno Espirito Santo’s excellent work continues.

It was at this ground two years ago that Forest fans sung Cooper’s name after a 4-0 defeat which saved him from the sack. The packed away end again serenaded him, but this time it will have hurt.

His new side, who came into the game with back-to-back wins, put in an inept defensive display which will have annoyed the home fans far more than any pre-match comments might have.

Forest opened the scoring in the 16th minute as the hosts’ generous defending began.

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Facundo Buonanotte was tackled on the edge of his own area and then James Justin failed to clear properly, allowing Yates to pick out the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Leicester responded well and levelled seven minutes later as Vardy was in position to poke home Harry Winks’ fizzed ball across goal.

The Foxes were celebrating again moments later, but this time it was at the other end as Mads Hermansen produced a brilliant save to deny Nicolas Dominguez, flinging himself across goal to block the Argentinian’s shot.

The Danish goalkeeper was forced into another save nine minutes before the break when he palmed away a trademark Callum Hudson-Odoi effort cutting in from the left.

Stephy Mavididi had a similar attempt for Leicester on the stroke of half-time as he curled one just wide of the post after stepping in from the left flank.

Forest needed less than two minutes of the second half to regain their lead. Leicester again failed to clear their lines and Elliot Anderson squared for Wood, whose shot on the turn curled into the bottom corner.

Cooper’s men were on the rack and Forest came within inches of adding another as Hudson-Odoi again slalomed inside and hit the post, with Anderson firing the rebound wide.

Five minutes later Forest did get a third and they were the recipients of another gift as Wout Faes failed to deal with a long ball and Wood was on hand to head over a stranded Hermansen.

Forest could have added more in the final half-hour as a ragged Leicester defence was continuously breached.

Yates somehow managed to miss from four yards as a loose ball fell to him from a set-piece, Jota Silva dragged one wide and then Taiwo Awoniyi fired into the side-netting from a quick break.

Delighted Forest fans ended the match singing Nuno’s name while Leicester were booed.

Premier League leaders Liverpool are a ‘serious option’ for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush, according to reports.

Marmoush has been in outstanding form this season, scoring 10 goals and providing seven assists in 11 matches.

Thirteen of his goal contributions in 2024/25 have come in seven Bundesliga matches, earning him the league’s player of the month award for September.

The 25-year-old joined Frankfurt from Wolfsburg on a free transfer in July 2023 after an underwhelming six goals in 48 matches.

Elsewhere, he scored three in 21 for Stuttgart, seven in 21 for FC St. Pauli and three in 18 for Egyptian side Wadi Degla, the club he came through the youth ranks.

His record of 12 goals in the German top flight last season was comfortably Marmoush’s best but he is already close to eclipsing that in 24/25.

Unsurprisingly, this has caught the attention of several top clubs including Liverpool.

Marmoush has 33 caps for Egypt and knows Reds superstar Mohamed Salah well from representing his country.

Journalist Tarek Metwally was recently high in praise of the Frankfurt forward, who is apparently in a better place now than Salah was at 25.

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“Everyone here is predicting a very great future for him. In my opinion, Marmoush is in a better position than Salah was at his age,” Metwally said.

“If he continues like this, he will be better at some point. Salah was initially characterised by his speed, then developed further.

“Marmoush, on the other hand, is also very fast, but already has other skills. Some people in Egypt would like to see him in the Premier League, especially at one of the top clubs.

“I am not exaggerating when I say that Frankfurt’s last game against Bayern was watched by Egyptian fans in a similar way to Salah’s games with Liverpool, for example against Manchester United, Manchester City or Real Madrid.

“The Egyptian cafes were almost shaken by Marmoush’s two goals against Neuer, who is considered by a large part of Egyptians to be one of the best goalkeepers in the history of football. Most Egyptians would like to see Marmoush and Salah as teammates on the same team.”

For what it’s worth, Salah signed for Liverpool 16 days after his 25th birthday. So, that is a load of rubbish.

Liverpool transfer boost as striker ‘would immediately join’

Anyway, it has been reported by German transfer expert Florian Plettenberg that Liverpool are interested in signing Marmoush.

Plettenberg says Frankfurt wants €50-60million (£41.6-49.9m) for their star player and a move to Anfield is a ‘serious option’.

The Reds have apparently made ‘contact’ with the player’s representatives and Frankfurt are ‘aware’ of the talks given Marmoush’s ‘dream to move to the Premier League’.

Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘Eintracht Frankfurt are currently demanding a transfer fee of between €50-60m for Omar Marmoush.

‘Liverpool is indeed a serious option. The interest is real, and there has already been contact between the player’s camp and LFC.

‘SGE are aware of it. Marmoush dreams of a move to the Premier League and would immediately agree to join Liverpool.’

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The die-hard members of Jose Mourinho’s dwindling fan club will have lapped his antics before, during and after Fenerbahce’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United as the former Special One took full advantage of his time back in the limelight.

In England, Mourinho has not been on the tip of football fans’ tongues for quite a while as his spells at AS Roma and Fenerbahce have kept him away from our back pages.

But this week’s reunion with Man Utd provided an intriguing narrative, especially with his rival manager reportedly ‘one match’ away from being sacked.

A draw was not the best result for Ten Hag, so the Dutchman will be thankful to Mourinho for hogging the headlines in the aftermath as sack talk can be put off until a potential slip-up for Man Utd at the London Stadium on Sunday.

As for the main man, Mourinho is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. But I love the bloke and I’m already stocked up on popcorn in preparation for his inevitable Premier League return.

So with a move back to England firmly in Mourinho’s sights, who in the Premier League will take him? Here are five potential options for his grand return…

Wolves

“The best thing I can do is to go to a team who does not play in UEFA competition. So a club at the bottom in England who needs a coach in two years, I am ready to go. I don’t want to speak any more about it.”

Mourinho’s recent jobs suggest his days of managing elite clubs are long gone, but I’m all for the prospect of witnessing him combust amid referee and VAR controversy while in the thick of a relegation battle. It would be pure cinema.

Of the teams currently in a relegation battle, Southampton’s Russell Martin and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil areamong the favourites to be the first manager sacked.

Southampton and Mourinho don’t feel like a good fit, but Wolves – mainly because of their previous links with super agent Jorge Mendes – do work.

READ: ‘Boring’ Mourinho sells newspapers again as 6-1 Spurs win caught in crossfire of delirium

Everton
Many onlookers rightly scoffed at the idea of Mourinho reportedly being a ‘strong option’ to replace under-fire Sean Dyche earlier this season.

Much is said about Mourinho’s affiliation with the Premier League, but he had just taken the Fenerbahce job and David Moyes returning to see out Everton’s final season at Goodison Park was significantly more likely.

However, Dyche has recently done Dyche things as he’s steadied the rocky Everton ship to boost the optimism among the fanbase regarding their Premier League survival chances.

In hindsight, we were foolish to ever doubt Dyche as this is what he does each year. But he remains on a tightrope, especially post-takeover as Everton’s prospective new owners potentially look to put their stamp on the team by appointing a new manager with a fresh perspective.

Like Dyche, Mourinho’s typical style of football is hardly inspiring. But he is still a huge name and this could attract him to the owners as they eye immediate success.

Nottingham Forest
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been a pleasant surprise this season as they have impressively only lost one of their opening nine Premier League games.

Bucking the trend set by other recently promoted sides, Forest – admittedly with the help of huge investment – are managing to stabilise in the Premier League.

But plenty of football fans/clubs are guilty of being greedy and Forest could easily succumb to this trait in pursuit of grander goals should their enigmatic owner Evangelos Marinakis get bored.

Given the club’s history, you could easily see Mourinho being attracted to managing Forest in the future. Also, the owner-manager relationship between himself and Marinakis would be a car crash that every streaming service should be breaking the bank to cover in a documentary.

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Newcastle United
As much as certain Newcastle supporters will hate this, Mourinho being appointed at St James’ Park still feels inevitable.

Eddie Howe deserves credit for the great job he’s done in the aftermath of PIF’s takeover, which could won’t lead to the club being ‘expelled’ from the Premier League.

But the constant rumblings of discontent with sporting director Paul Mitchell and Newcastle’s underwhelming start to the 2024/25 season make it feel that Howe is gradually reaching the end of his tether.

Howe’s Newcastle role was likely to be transitional from the moment of his arrival and recent developments have not altered this thinking.

Profit and Sustainability rules are delaying Newcastle’s progress, but their gatecrash of the elite is still inevitable and PIF will likely seek out a proven winner to get them there. There is another debate to be had over whether Mourinho would be up for a job of this magnitude, but we are likely to find out regardless.

READ: Mourinho struts his stuff as careless, careworn Man United reach a year without a European win

Manchester United
Mourinho’s stance on a ‘sensational return’ to Man Utd has already been made clear and he certainly did not burn any bridges with his comments about his former club this week. If anything, he was too complimentary…

Man Utd’s managerial situation has been a mess for months and matters recently were made worse as INEOS ‘missed the boat’ with the outstanding Ten Hag replacement candidate.

Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a way to go if he’s to restore the great Man Utd feeling as it’s currently hard to blame managers for turning their noses up at the prospect of replacing Ten Hag.

Had willing quality replacement options been available, Ten Hag would have been replaced in the summer. However, Ratcliffe’s hand will be forced if there is not a sudden improvement in results/performances and Mourinho would be one of very few ‘elite’ managers willing to take on the burden of managing Man Utd.

Enzo Maresca says he expected more leadership from Chelsea captain Reece James, admitting the Blues squad lacks a natural leader.

James made his first appearance of the season in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last weekend following a lengthy injury lay-off and did not travel with the side that beat Panathinaikos in Athens on Thursday.

The last two campaigns have been blighted by knee and hamstring problems for the 24-year-old but he was nevertheless appointed club skipper by previous boss Mauricio Pochettino last August.

“I spoke with him and I expect from him more in terms of leadership inside the changing room,” said Chelsea head coach Maresca.

“He’s on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing but I expect more.

“Most of the time, a player thinks that because I am captain I expect that you give me more. No, for me because you are the captain you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest. Sometimes, I am the captain I can give less? No, no, no.

“I expect it from Reece and his team-mates expect it from him to give always more in terms of leadership.”

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Since being handed the armband, the England international has played only 12 times for the club meaning his role as captain has largely been confined to his off-field influence.

Conor Gallagher, who has since been sold to Atletico Madrid, led the team for most of last season with vice-captain Ben Chilwell also missing for much of the campaign, though he too has been largely overlooked by Maresca.

It leaves the Italian seeking change from within the dressing room in terms of developing leaders, though he said discussions with James – who is known to be a quieter member of the squad – about what he expects from him have been positive.

“He’s understanding that we’re expecting more from him,” he said.

“He’s our guy from the academy. It’s one of the reasons why he has to show more in terms of personality.

“He’s a reserved guy. But when you don’t have a proper leader, you need to build that. I think we don’t have a proper leader. We need to build them. Reece is one who is on the way but he’s not there. He needs to make an effort.

“The one that is doing fantastic is Levi (Colwill). At the beginning he was not a leader but now you can see he’s one of the guys that’s always speaking. Marc Cucurella is one of the guys, but we need more and more.”

Colwill and Cucurella have been key parts of the strong start made by the team since Maresca’s appointment, particularly since both players were criticised during recent seasons for underwhelming performances as Chelsea struggled.

The Blues are sixth in the Premier League having taken one point from the last two games, and play Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

“It’s something that comes with age,” said Maresca. “In two, three years some of them will be better at that. We have to help them understand the leadership side.”

Ange Postecoglou is confident Tottenham teenager Mikey Moore will keep his feet on the ground and not buy a Ferrari after comparisons to Neymar.

Moore made only his second Spurs start in Thursday’s 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar and, after he again caught the eye, team-mate James Maddison made a tongue-in-cheek reference that it was like Brazil international Neymar played on the wing.

With Son Heung-min still not 100 per cent after he reported muscle soreness at the start of this week, Moore is in contention to make his full Premier League debut against Crystal Palace, but Postecoglou does not expect the hype to go to the 17-year-old’s head.

“Just to be clear, I didn’t call Mikey, Neymar,” Spurs boss Postecoglou said with a smile.

“I think you’ll find that my demeanour around Mikey will be the same today as it was yesterday and that’s what he’d expect.

“The best indicator is the person himself and I’ve got a feeling that won’t affect Mikey. I don’t think we’ll see him arriving with a different colour hair or a Ferrari. Well, he can’t drive can he! I think he’ll be fine.

“I think Mikey just wants to be Mikey and like I said after the game, what I see with him is that he’s very mature for a 17-year-old, he handles things really well.

“Sometimes young players are exciting but you can see pitfalls down the road, but I don’t see that with him. At 17, you think what is he going to be like at 21 and hopefully I am the manager then!”

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Postecoglou was coy over whether Moore would start a second successive match in reference to the Selhurst Park trip on Sunday, but has limited options.

Richarlison and Wilson Odobert have only just returned from injury, while Timo Werner, who deputised when Son was absent for three weeks with a hamstring issue, has failed to score in his last 16 appearances for Tottenham.

On Moore, Postecoglou added: “I think he’s ready to start a Premier League game, for sure.

“For us what we want to do is to continue to develop Mikey in the right way and give him a platform to keep improving. So far whatever we’ve asked of him, he’s made a real impact and the plan is to continue to do that.

“He’s one of the options (against Palace). Again, two games in a week, the biggest concern I have for him is physically more than anything else.

“He’s still a growing kid, his body is still adjusting to this level, so to ask to play two games in a short space of time, I’d be cautious about that, but we’ll have a look at how the team shapes up.”

The emergence of Moore has delighted Tottenham fans, who have given him the chant ‘he’s one of our own’, which had belonged to Harry Kane before his 2023 departure to Bayern Munich.

Postecoglou revealed there may be more to come from Spurs’ academy, with Luca Williams-Barnett an exciting prospect in the Under-18s.

“When we brought Mikey up last year and he played a couple of times in the Under-21s, he stood out,” Postecoglou explained.

“(Academy director) Simon Davies and the guys in the academy were really strong about his potential, how he trains, his behaviour. As soon as he came into the training environment, he showed no fear.

“In pre-season, he was always a standout for us. There are some others in there. Some young boys who are starting to make some inroads, some a bit younger around the 15-to-16 age group.

“If you go through a successful period, it’s more sustainable if you’ve got players at the club coming through.”

Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to his Manchester City players’ mentality, specifically their refusal to relax after winning a fourth Premier League title in a row.

The 53-year-old’s contract expires at the end of this season and neither he nor the club have given any indication as to whether he will renew it.

Man City manager Guardiola, who has extended the three-year deal he signed when first arriving in 2016 on three occasions, said in the summer he would wait until this season had started to see “how connected” he was with his players.

When this was put to him before Saturday’s home Premier League game against Southampton, Guardiola said: “I’m happy, a lot.

“I’m impressed. I never thought when I arrived here (in 2016), a ninth season and still we have this amount of consistency in our game.

“We’re still creating more than the opponent and concede less than the opponent, so this balance is so good.

“I could not be more thankful to these players for what we are trying to do and the way we are doing it.

“I never had doubt about that. I said a month ago, I see them in training sessions every day and still they are alive, they feel it.

“They enjoy to come here, train and play the games. Everyone wants to be involved.

“A few teams as well, not just here in England, but in Europe, are having a lot of injuries, everywhere.

“We are just 15 players or 14 players, plus Rico (Lewis) from the academy and OK, we are in difficulty, we have a lack of players to rotate, to give rest, so we have to take care more – and still they do it.”

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Guardiola’s future will also be decided by other factors. He has said he will consider his wife and family, while the departure of City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain at the end of this season could also sway his decision.

But Guardiola allayed any fears that his relationship with his players was in danger of growing tired.

“They have an incredible mentality,” he added. “Most of them are so strong, so competitive.

“There’s a tendency to relax, I always have this concern when we win again. What is going to happen? A drop after you win. But I don’t see it.

“I don’t see it winning or losing, performing well or bad. I don’t see this factor of dropping.

“Everyone pushes each other. They push me and push my staff with ideas, with new things. If I don’t like it, they accept it well because it’s for the team.

“They accept well the compliments and the compliments from the media and the criticism from the media.

“They forget immediately, win or lose. They’re on to the next, what’s next? They’re true competitors.

“We have a group of players with a great mentality, I’m not talking about the skills, mentality. They are really, really good.”

City, chasing a record-extending fifth straight Premier League title under Guardiola, are the only unbeaten side after eight matches and sit a point behind Liverpool in second place.

Guardiola’s side will go top with victory against winless Southampton at the Etihad Stadium and will remain there if Liverpool drop points at Arsenal on Sunday.

Why are we all talking about injuries? Well, because it’s Arsenal. Also: the Champions League jeopardy myth is debunked and Arsene Wenger is ‘bitter’.

Send your views to theeditor@football365.com

Injuries only relevant now it’s Arsenal
When is an injury list a crisis and when should the club just “man up” and handle it, not use it as excuses?

Apparently the line is “when it’s Liverpool or Arsenal”, then it’s a crisis and mitigation. I see a lovely article on this esteemed site, getting the excuses in early on behalf of Arteta on a short number of injuries. One of which isn’t even an injury but the result of a self-inflicted absence.

How many times has this site insisted that the United, Spurs and Newcastle injury list last year wasn’t an excuse for failure? Actually, even within that there were clear differences, because Eddie Howe was “delivering in spite of” that injury list, while Ten Hag was given no such credit.

Of the list, only Saka and Odegaard are serious contenders. That’s two players. Two, and a couple of back-ups (who may even actually play?!). Influential, for sure, but not more so than, say, your entire first choice back line for pretty much the entire season, and six back ups, plus our striker, his back up and a new midfielder.

Why is it, I wonder, that mini-Pep gets such different treatment on this site.
Badwolf (Btw, Chelsea were second last year in the injury table, but didn’t get a mention)

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Ten Hag is one lucky sod
So after a decent win, showing a bit of character, does the manager stick with the plan and use the couple of days before a Europa League trip to double down on what is needed from his team, or does he tear up the script and spend those precious days trying to instil a new plan with players in unnatural positions?

Over to you EtH … you’re the man for the moment for sure.

And here we are, the guy STILL keeps his job.

Man, he must be the luckiest guy … I wish I could get him to pick my Lotto numbers.
ET King (MUFC)

Champions League jeopardy?
I’m struggling to understand the “no jeopardy in the Champions League new format” stance.

Take Liverpool, they have won all 3 games so far, in the old format they would now have enough points considered to be enough to progress and would have 2 home games, against teams already beaten, to possibly secure top spot. They have played teams who finished 4th in the Bundesliga and 2nd and 5th in Serie A.

They now face the current holders and Champions of Spain, the Champions of Germany, a team that went unbeaten in the Bundesliga and the Champions of Holland all with defeat a possibility, whilst on paper the two other games seem “easier”, one is against the team who have already beaten the defending champions and won away against Atleti!

Compare this to 2022/23, they were drawn against the team that finished 3rd in Serie A, the champions of Holland and the second best team in Scotland. Two of these equate to two teams this year but one is vastly inferior to all the others (apologies but a 7-1 win would support this) and they got to play these teams twice. Progression to the last sixteen would appear to have less jeopardy than this season. Despite winning 5 of 6 group games they were placed 2nd on head-to-head results and thus played a group winners with the second leg away from home.

Unsure of the exact format but I’m guessing that finishing in the top 8 gives you exactly the same benefits as winning the group, i.e. a second leg home game in the last 16, however finishing in the top 8 would seem to be more difficult. Finishing 9-24 adds yet another 2 games, meaning an additional 4 games have to be navigated to reach the same stage as being group runners up.

Under the old format, 4 straight wins in the group stage would give the possible option of being able to rotate/rest players, you probably need 6 in the new format.
Maybe I’m missing something but if they only pick up 1 or 2 points from the next 3 games, then progression becomes much more difficult, even 3 puts things in the balance depending on other results.
Howard ( ’bout time we beat Madrid) Jones

True Champions League/Old Sayings
In this mornings Mailbox Oliver, London suggests changing to a “true Champions League – 24 teams, 23 games each”. Surely a true league format requires equal home & away games to be fair so this would require a reduction in the number of teams, which would never happen. If you went with an ‘every team plays the others once, who would decide which are home or away, and which teams would get the extra home game?

On a totally unrelated subject Paul mentions an old saying “if only my mother had knickers” which t have never heard before. Is this the same as ‘if my auntie had bollocks she’d be my uncle’? BTW, I wouldn’t recommend searching for this at work or if you share a device with a partner!
A, LFC, Montreal

UEFA and the unintended consequences
People don’t like the new CL format, last season they didn’t like the old format. People don’t like the Nations League, preciously they didn’t like meaningless friendlies. Sorry, got that wrong, football supporters of big teams and big countries don’t like them (what do they like?), for the majority who are from the smaller nations they are a welcome way of getting a slice of the pie, and in Georgia’s case at this years Euros brightening the whole place up.

Last night I went up to Belfast to see the first all Ireland league game in Europe between Larne and Shamrock Rovers. The winner got €400k (Rovers outclassed Larne who to be fair are much further back on their development curve), to put into context how much that is, Rovers got €125k for winning the LOI last season. This is a massive boost for smaller clubs and leagues, see TNS. There can be conversations about potential imbalances this causes in the local league but would prefer that than the going bust conversation that league clubs have. So spread the cash, nobody cares about the CL until the knockouts regardless of the format, and never mind the big boy whingers.

Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone Town
(Rovers fans gave great support except for the numpties signing IRA chants. If you are ever in Dublin and someone tells you their Da was in the Dublin brigade, it means c*****e is nearby)

Wenger sounding bitter
So Wenger is saying Chelsea came in and bought whoever they wanted which is true il give him that. But his comment “they bought my players” is a bloody stretch, outside of Ashley Cole I cannot think of another example of Chelsea buying anyone of note off Wenger, with the exception of Giroud and Arsenal wanted rid of him to accomodate Aubameyang.

It would be more fair to say that he bought players off us, such as Gallas, Lasana Diarra, Cech, and Benayoun. And Arsenal continued to buy our players after they binned Wenger, they came for David Luiz, Willian, Jorginho, Havertz, and Sterling.

Wenger wasn’t complaining when he was the one able to sign whoever he wanted before Roman and his millions turned up.
Aaron CFC Ireland.

I’ve been reading the Mailbox for a lot of years now but have to say this morning’s one is now my all-time favourite – checking in to see my own mail defending Villa, with my fellow Villa fans out in force too – and then the Joe Gomez album drop from nowhere. A meisterwerk indeed.

Have a great weekend everyone,
David Horgan, Dublin

…Truly sorry to hear about Hesh LFC’s mum.

For what it is worth, not one of my published mails down the years has been anything other than an attempt satire. Perhaps I should leave family matters out of it.

Sorry for any offence.
Finlay 🙁

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha thinks Pep Guardiola will leave the club next summer and will have a role in picking his replacement.

Guardiola’s contract expires at the end of this season and neither he nor the club have given any indication as to whether he will renew it.

“I don’t expect him to stay, I’d love for him to stay though,” Onouha said.

“He’s been remarkable but he can’t do the job forever. He’ll want to leave the club in a good place for the long term where he’ll be helping pick the successor.

“He’ll know who he thinks is best to work in the environment that is needed at City to be successful going forward. He knows it better than anybody else. So I wouldn’t necessarily think that he’s going to go out in a way where it’s just about him getting what he wants.

“He’s selfless enough given the fact that his identities all over the football club, to know what it needs to continue to be successful, because for as much as he’s a man from Catalonia you know he’s a Barca boy through and through, he’s also half blue Mancunian now.

“So I think he’ll try and find the best way to exit while also allowing the club to continue to strive.

“When he first came in people said you can’t play tiki-taka football here, it’s not going to work, and in the years that he’s been there he hasn’t played that type of football. He’s evolved himself and the Premier League’s evolved, and you can even make a case that English football has evolved due to his presence.

“If he does decide to leave to go and do something else, myself and probably hundreds of thousands of others would carry him on our shoulders because he’s been amazing, he’s given us some of the best times of our lives you could say supporting Manchester City.”

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Onouha also discussed John Stones, tipping the England defender to cement himself as a club legend.

He said: “He’s been incredible, but interestingly he went through a spell where he wasn’t doing as well around 2020 where maybe he was going to be leaving, but then in came Ruben Dias, and out came the very best of John Stones.

“There have been times when he’s had fitness issues but then he ends up being a revelation in the most significant season in the club’s history when they win the treble, stepping into midfield, and not just being a defender in midfield, but being an excellent midfielder out of nowhere.

“The composure that he has and that desire to win, he’s been there for so long and this is a game in October against Wolves but after he scores look at what it means to him.

“He’s been an incredible buy and he’s one of many that City have had. Some of those buys are incredible because they’ve stayed for so long, they’ve been a part of it for so long.

“When you find clubs whereby the player turnover isn’t massive every single year and when you think what do they need, you don’t need four, five, six, seven players, you’re very rarely doing a rebuild, it’s just little bits here and there that help the team and help the squad out.

“I think he’s been amazing, I am delighted that he’s still at City, and he feels like someone that represents what City is, and I think that will probably continue to be the case for a long time.”