Erling Haaland has hit the ground running this season. After a four week holiday he is training harder than ever and his confidence and fitness are 100%. A very happy Pep Guardiola says, “I like it when he runs a lot. I like when he presses like an animal. I l like it.”
Haaland is now on 97 goals for City in 102 games…incredible stats. And who knows, at home to Brentford on the 14th after the international break he could reach 100 and achieve more than one goal a game. He could also record 70 goals in 69 appearances in the Premier League.
At the start of the season Guardiola challenged Erling to get involved more in City’s midfield and defensive play rather than waiting upfront for scoring opportunities. Pep said, “It’s going to happen naturally and he has the strength, potential and power to be more than a goal machine. Please don’t change that. He cannot lose that. But of course he is more involved within the tactics of the team because we talk about how you can do better.”
Haaland has impressed Guardiola lately by staying late after training to work on his crossing and finishing. He has been helped by enjoying an injury free period which was a problem last season.
No contract offers for Mo
Mo Salah revealed that he has not been in any discussions about an extension to his contract. This is extraordinary considering his goalscoring record and importance to Liverpool in general. His current contract runs until the end of this season. 32-year-old Salah is one of three vitally important players whose deals expire in June. Club captain Virgil van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold are also out of contract next summer. Van Dijk and Salah confirmed they have not received any other offers. Salah added, “I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know, it’s my last year at the club. I just want to enjoy it and I don’t want to think about it. I feel like I’m free to play football and then we’ll see what happens next year. I was thinking going into Old Trafford at the weekend that it could be my last time playing there. Nobody at Liverpool has spoken to me yet about a new contract so I just play this last season.”
Maresca loses 14 players to international duty
Despite spending the equivalent of a lottery win fortune Chelsea have made a mediocre start to the season. The Blues lost to Manchester City, walloped Wolves and then drew with Crystal Palace at home. The international break should have given coach Enzo Maresca the chance to work closely with his players in order to get things right but regrettably for him a total of 14 are away on international duty. Fernandez, Caicedo, Colwill, Madueke, Neto, Felix, Jackson, Sanchez, Cucurella, Mudryk and Jorgensen are all missing from intense training at the Cobham complex. Wesley Fofana was selected to play for France but he decided to stay and work on his fitness. He has only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Those working with Maresca include Bettinelli, James, Badiashile, Isasi, Adarabioyo, Chilwell, Casadei, Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall, Lavia, Nkunku, Sancho and Fofana. Despite being in the England squad Cole Palmer has also returned to Chelsea to work on his fitness.
Jadon Sancho signed on transfer deadline day and is spending the two weeks working closely with Maresca and two assistants and the 24-year-old winger hopes to be in contention for the away fixture at Bournemouth on the 14th. Captain Reece James is still recovering from a minor injury but he too hopes to make the Bournemouth game.
The squad were given Monday off training and returned for Tuesday to Thursday before being given a further three days off to relax.
Sterling excited with Arteta link up
Raheem Sterling trained with Arsenal for the first time on Tuesday and said he believes he is a “perfect fit” for the Gunners. The 29-year-old will wear the No30 shirt and hopes to make
his debut in the away match at rivals Tottenham on the 15th September. He said after training, “This is a challenge I’m relishing. It is a perfect fit to be at a club where you can see the hunger, that desire to push. That is exactly how I am as a person and each year you want to do better. Really exciting. I’m buzzing. Mikel Arteta is a top guy and I’ve spent time with him at City and to see him come here and stamp his mark on this amazing club says a lot about him.”
Casimiro a shadow of his former self
When Manchester United midfielder Casimero was playing regularly for Real Madrid I would look out for him every week. Tough, totally committed, intelligent and skilful plus a candidate for a regular yellow card because he put everything into his game. Real were lucky to have him.
The coaching staff at Real are experienced at moving players on when they turn thirty and their impact decreases. Modric is an obvious exception but if you look back at legends such as Raul and Ronaldo, there is pattern of moving on ageing players. Manchester United were expecting the old Casemiro to hold their midfield at Old Trafford and to be fair he did well for a while. This season is a different story and he is almost a passenger who makes regular mistakes and doesn’t keep up with play like he used to – the intelligence is still there and he can read the game better than most but the match against Liverpool amplified his decline. The first two goals were without doubt his mistakes. Being replaced at half time by a 20-year-old rookie is a sad moment for someone who will be remembered as one of the finest midfielders of his generation.
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