Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to Arsenal’s visit on Sunday following his successful draw at Chelsea. Leaving Mo Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson on the bench was risky but Klopp was happy with the way his team performed. He says it has given Liverpool “a basis for the rest of the season”. He continued, “A point gained. It was an away game. It was not the most spectacular game I’ve ever seen….I decided to make six changes and against a good team that can be a problem, three in the last line which is always a challenge for the players. It is a step in the right direction and gives me a lot to think about for the game against Arsenal. They are flying and in incredible shape and playing super football. But we are there and it’s a home game and our home record is not as bad as our away record. If we are difficult to beat we can win this game but if not Arsenal will run over us.” Mikel Arteta says William Saliba is doubtful for the match despite his hope that the centre back would recover from a back injury. He has not returned to training in case it affected his recovery. Saliba was injured in the game lost against Sporting three weeks ago in the Europa League. Arteta says it is likely Rob Holding will continue alongside Gabriel to control the centre of defence and he is aware that Anfield is always a difficult place for the Gunners to win.
United’s plans for summer clearout
Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag has urged the Manchester United board to be more ruthless in their summer clearout of unwanted players as he plans to rebuild his squad. United made only two sales last summer and brought in five new arrivals. Harry Maguire, Brandon Williams, Alex Telles and Anthony Martial will be sold. Eric Bailly will join Marseille, where he is currently on loan provided he plays the required number of games to trigger a contract obligation by the French club. Jadon Sancho is also not safe as Ten Hag is becoming increasingly more frustrated with him and he has started only five times in five months. United do not plan to sell Scott McTominay despite interest from Newcastle because he is the youngest of four senior midfielders. Anthony Elanga and Facundo Pellistri will probably be loaned out and I have heard that Ten Hag will bring 20 year-old Amad Diallo back from Sunderland where he is on loan. Equally unsure of his future is Mason Greenwood and the club have not decided whether to keep him after his legal problems over the past year. Going forward the club plans to spend huge sums of money in an attempt to bring Tottenham’s Harry Kane to Old Trafford and either Frenkie de Jong of Barcelona or Jude Bellingham. A new centre back is being discussed but that depends on what happens with Maguire and Victor Lindlehof. Negotiations are continuing to keep David De Gea at Old Trafford but on a reduced salary which was adjusted down by 25% this season because United failed to get into the Champions League.
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Grealish reaching new heights of excellence
Who is the most important player at Manchester City at the moment? Many would argue that Jack Grealish is playing so well that he is the best. Jack has taken time to settle into Pep Guardiola’s team and has accepted his time on the substitute’s bench. He has shown patience and eagerness to learn exactly what the coach wants from him. It was the same for the brilliant Bernado Silva who struggled in his first season at City and Riyad Mahrez also took time to settle. Both players have spent time advising Grealish on how to conduct himself in training, learning from the maestro Guardiola and it has paid off. Last weekend the £100million signing ran Liverpool ragged. What has pleased Guardiola the most, despite Jack’s superb forward play, is his willingness to get back to help out the defence. Silva said, “We talk a lot about these things and people think you are going to come into a club, start every game and perform miracles. It doesn’t work that way. The manager demands a lot from us and his style of play is different to other teams”. He believes that City are now playing their best football of the season and said, “Although Arsenal can win the title we are going to fight until the very end.”
Once again chaos reigns at Chelsea
In truth Graham Potter was never going to succeed as the coach of Chelsea. He did not have elite management experience and dealing with world renown players such as Thiago Silva, Pierre-Emerik Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling etc was difficult for him. Team sessions on Sunday or Monday mornings were quiet, analysis of player and team performances were not examined properly and Potter was more like a student rather than the teacher. Senior players found it hard to support him and he was never accepted by the fans who felt the club should have signed an elite coach in the same class as Thomas Tuchel. A win against Villa last weekend was not only expected but demanded by the hierarchy and when Graham Potter failed to deliver yet again he was doomed as the Blue’s coach. There was a meeting on Saturday evening at Stamford Bridge with senior management attending but no decision was made to sack Potter. Another hurriedly arranged meeting on Sunday morning, which lasted until lunchtime, decided his fate and a statement was released that he was no longer the coach. The media was caught by surprise because Chelsea said Potter would be taking Sunday’s press interviews however that quickly changed and interim coach Bruno Salter took over. At 3pm the club confirmed they had parted company with Potter which was announced by sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart who both advised the sacking. Chelsea players were shocked because they had not been told and many supported him despite the fact that he was making some strange decisions recently. He was appreciated for his emotional intelligence and close contact with players because he always explained to them his decisions and especially if they were not selected for a particular game. He definitely had not lost the dressing room. However, those strange decisions, poor results, lower half of the table position and a general feeling that Potter had not progressed the club during his time at Stamford Bridge, all contributed in the decision to part ways with the ex-Brighton man.
Leicester face losing key players
Following the sacking of Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers, chairman Aiywatt Srivaddhanaprabha is desperate to find a replacement who can save the Foxes from the dreaded drop into the Championship League. If the club are relegated they face losing a host of star players. The fact is that the club could not afford to keep them. The 2016 champions find themselves just two points off the bottom of the table with ten games remaining. The list includes captain Jonny Evans, Youri Tielemans, Daniel Amartey, Caglar Soyuncu, Nampalys Mendy, Ryan Bertrand, Ayoze Perez and loanee Tete. Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will definitely be heading for the Premier League. Those players will not want to play in a lower division and the club would also not be able to meet their wages. The visit of Bournemouth this weekend is a huge match but Leicester have to face Manchester City, Newcastle and Liverpool in their run up to the end of the season and survival is going to be very tough.
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