For the Premier League’s biggest clubs, this competition is usually an opportunity to blood youngsters and give fringe players valuable minutes. However, only 35-year-old Danny Welbeck, who scored twice, emerged from the starters with a compelling case for more regular involvement. Even Valentin Barco, despite scoring Chelsea’s fifth goal, was partly at fault for Leeds’ … Read more
Control v chaos. On the one hand, the forces of order, regimented, playing in precise patterns and, on the other, something darker, more visceral, a method that acknowledges the imperfection of the human soul, the unknowability of football in all its randomness; better, that second way says, to attempt to ride the fury than to … Read more
It is not just Alonso and Arbeloa who are among Benitez’s former Liverpool players to have moved into management. He reels off more than 20 names who have become coaches or managers, a list including Wales boss Craig Bellamy. He also points out that Djimi Traore is now an assistant coach at Seattle Sounders. “I … Read more
Xabi Alonso has refused to offer any guarantee that Chelsea will hold firm if Manchester City try to sign Enzo Fernández. Fernández’s future remains up in the air and the prospect of him leaving Stamford Bridge has not gone away, even though Chelsea’s unofficial deadline for clubs to make written bids of £120m for the … Read more
Enzo Fernandez has shown a “really good attitude” since his return to Chelsea, says head coach Xabi Alonso, as speculation over the midfielder’s future continues. Chelsea agreed with Fernandez’s agent Javier Pastore in late May that the Argentina midfielder could leave for £120m, but set a deadline of 14 August for any bids. With last … Read more
Arsenal and Chelsea doing business with one another used to be on just one condition: “only if we have to”. The London rivals didn’t actually negotiate a deal until 2006, and the highly contentious cross-capital switch of Ashley Cole from north to west – with William Gallas thrown into the deal for good measure. Even … Read more
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso wants Martin Zubimendi of Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. That’s according to reports from Spain, which claim the new Blues boss still wants to add faces to his midfield options, and has targeted his fellow Spaniard as a potential new signing alongside Moises Caicedo. Zubimendi has enjoyed a phenomenal 12 months, winning … Read more
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso says he is “very happy” to be welcoming Mykhailo Mudryk back into his squad, but it is “too early” to understand what he can do. The Ukraine winger, 25, will join Chelsea’s pre-season tour after resolving his doping case with the Football Association (FA). Mudryk has not played a match since … Read more
Amazon Prime “The Boys” is full of larger-than-life characters. From the fascistic narcissist Homelander (Antony Starr) to deep-sea pervert The Deep (Chace Crawford), bringing these colorful characters to life — and giving some of them gruesome deaths — has been the Prime Video hit’s secret weapon. Despite all the bloodshed and mutilations, the main … Read more