May 2023 – Page 38

Reading boss Kelly Chambers has challenged her players to leave everything on the pitch when they host Women’s Super League title chasers Chelsea looking to pull off a shock result to stay up.

The Royals remain bottom on the back of a 4-1 defeat by Tottenham, but still with a mathematical chance to retain their top-flight status after Leicester were beaten at home by West Ham.

It would take an unexpected victory at the Select Car Leasing Stadium over the Blues, who are out to clinch a fourth successive title, coupled with Leicester losing at Brighton for Reading to extend their eight-year stay in the WSL.

Chambers, though, maintains her squad simply have to produce the required performance against Chelsea on Saturday – which was distinctly lacking last weekend.

“As tough as the challenge ahead is for us, it is a game of football,” said Chambers, who has been with the club for more than 20 years both as a player and in her coaching roles.

“We need to prepare well, to do everything we can and training has been really good this week in terms of energy and just making sure that we work tactically.

“As much as it is a hard position to be in right now, the players have really attacked the week in a positive mindset to try to do everything they can for the weekend.”

Chambers added: “I have probably been saying this for a couple of games, but however it has come about, we are still in the fight.

“It is an opportunity which we have to give 100 per cent, which we didn’t do against Tottenham. We have to leave everything out there.

“We are where we are and for different reasons, and I suppose honest conversations have happened.

“But we can’t come off disappointed that we haven’t given our best and I think that is how we felt against Tottenham, that we didn’t put ourselves in a good light in that game.

“If we do that and we get beaten by a better team on the day, then we can hold our hands up – but we can’t let it be down to ourselves again.”

Chambers confirmed Wales midfielder Rachel Rowe will miss Saturday’s final match of the season as she continues her recovery from injury.

“We are only looking at probably about eight weeks,” Chambers said.

“Obviously it being at the end of the season, we have got time to take with her and haven’t got to rush her back for big games.

“It is more of a plan that we can take the time with her and make sure that everything for her is 100 per cent right before she comes back into pre-season.”

Sofyan Amrabat’s incredible season has caught the attention of many of Europe’s top clubs — including the mighty Barcelona.

The Fiorentina midfielder, 26, is preparing to play in two cup finals, with the Coppa Italia showpiece against Inter Milan up first before a Europa Conference League showdown with West Ham.

This follows a World Cup campaign in which the tough tackler was one of the standout players in the tournament, inspiring Morocco to an unexpected semi-final appearance.

Ahead of La Viola’s clash against Inter tonight, we explore the qualities that have made Amrabat Barca’s top summer transfer target.

World Cup hero

Over his years in Italy, Amrabat had become known as one of the best defensive midfielders in Serie A — but his performances in Qatar saw his reputation move to another level.

In a run which saw the Atlas Lions eliminate the likes of Belgium, Spain and Portugal, before providing a major test to France in the semis, the Fiorentina man stood out a mile.

Amrabat proved to be the perfect link between defence and attack. Not only does he possess the ability to win the ball, but he is a calming influence in possession.

He is also blessed with real pace. This was evident in the semi-final against Les Bleus, when he turned on the afterburners to win a foot race with Kylian Mbappe before producing a memorable recovery tackle.

It was no surprise that Amrabat found himself as a wanted man after such exploits.

Several teams were keen to sign him in January. A deal did not materialise, but if the anchorman was disappointed at the time, he will not be now.

In the second half of the season, Amrabat has been a key element in La Viola’s quest for a famous cup double.

Summer promise

With the season now nearly over, the pursuit for Amrabat will recommence and Barca lead the chase.

The LaLiga champions are in need of a player to replace legendary deep-lying playmaker Sergio Busquets, who will leave the club this summer.

Amrabat’s agent Mohammed Sinouh recently confirmed that there was interest from both the Catalan giants and Manchester United in January.

Sinouh said: “We received many offers during the winter transfer window, including one from Manchester United, but we couldn’t finalise the deal.

“Barcelona? Fiorentina’s president refused to sell him at that moment as he represented an added value after what he had done at the World Cup.

“We have no proposals for the summer, at least for the moment, but Fiorentina will listen. It’s a promise they made after the president refused all offers in the winter transfer window.”

Barca rivals

Amrabat and Barca look like a perfect fit.

The Dutch-born sensation gets to join one of the very biggest clubs in the world, while Xavi’s team will pick up a top-quality replacement for a talismanic figure.

It would be same to assume though, that this deal is far from being a certainty.

Barca’s financial problems ensure that any transfers will need to be counterbalanced by sales and perhaps further cost-cutting measures.

That opens the door for other clubs to try and hijack the deal, with a number from the Premier League having previously been linked with Amrabat.

Aside from the Red Devils, Chelsea are also interested suitors while Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham have all been reported to admire the engine room operator.

Whatever happens in the two upcoming cup finals, Amrabat’s days in Florence appear to be numbered.

Chelsea must move beyond football’s tendency to be reactionary if the club hope to create a long-term vision for their future, according to Frank Lampard.

Co-owner Todd Boehly has sacked two managers this season in what has been the team’s poorest campaign of the Premier League era, with a record low number of points won and a first bottom-half finish since 1996 now certain.

They are one of 11 top-flight clubs to have changed manager at least once this season, with themselves, Leeds and relegated Southampton having dispensed with two, as the average tenure for a Premier League coach has shrunk to just over 18 months.

Chelsea’s previously indifferent form has plummeted since Graham Potter was removed on April 2, with one win in 10 games in all competitions. The team has failed to score in six of those matches following Potter’s sacking.

Lampard takes his team to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday looking for only his second win in his 10th game since taking charge, having lost seven of the previous nine.

With Mauricio Pochettino expected to be confirmed imminently as the manager for next season, the outgoing interim coach suggested a resistance to modern trends must prevail if Chelsea are to challenge once more.

“That stat (11 clubs having sacked their manager) says it, I presume it’s a record,” said Lampard. “There are understandable factors, the Premier League brand and what it means to teams to stay in there.

“The first person that receives the blame is the coach, if you understand that going into the job that’s probably a good thing.

“Or course there’s lots of other factors. You wonder how successful always it is to changes those things. It’s clear it’s become that kind of a job and a situation and there are many teams that are fighting with expectations that might not be exactly stable.

“We’re in a very reactionary world anyway. In years gone by the reaction to one, two, three defeats might have been different. Now we have this explosion very quickly and you just have to understand it when you’re doing this job.”

The job of finding Potter’s permanent replacement has been carried out by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who themselves arrived at the club only during the last year.

Previously Boehly held the role of temporary sporting director and was hands-on in player recruitment and in the doomed appointment of former Brighton boss Potter.

Lampard said he had enjoyed working with Winstanley and Stewart and that the pair have created a working environment around the club to help his successor succeed.

The new manager’s first job will be trimming a bloated first-team squad before setting about making up a gap to the top four that could hit 30 points this campaign.

“The dialogue has been really good from the moment this opportunity came up for me,” Lampard said. “I’ve been able to get on well with them on a personal and professional level and it’s nice to have that close communication.

“Working in this job you understand when you don’t have communication on the footballing side, you miss it. With both of them, Paul and Lawrence, I’ve had that in their own ways and that’s been a good thing and I appreciate that.

“Their big job is to bring Chelsea back to where we want to get it to. The responsibility isn’t all theirs but they play an important role in it. I’ve been impressed by how our interactions have been and I wish them well going forward.

“There’s a real alignment of thinking through (successful clubs). Where we are at the minute, that would be the work process of trying to see where are we aligned and where do we want to get to and what does it look like? There’s a lot of work in that and in Paul and Laurence we have good people to do that.

“It’s hard in the modern world because everything’s very reactionary. If you want to go in a certain direction and you don’t get any joy for a while, people react to that. For Chelsea it has to be a longer picture than that to get us a bit more of a process. People have to stick with that along the way.”

Raheem Sterling was the headline absentee as Gareth Southgate handed Eberechi Eze his first England call-up and ended Lewis Dunk’s time in the international wilderness.

Having kicked off Euro 2024 qualification with wins over Italy and Ukraine, attention turns to June’s straightforward-looking doubleheader against Malta and North Macedonia.

Sterling is the most eye-catching absentee for those games as a difficult first season since swapping Manchester City for Chelsea comes to a frustrating conclusion.

The 28-year-old has not played for England since the World Cup quarter-final exit to France – when a burglary at home disrupted his preparations – as injury ruled him out of the March camp.

“I spoke with him a week or so ago – a general catch-up,” England boss Southgate said.

“He’s not happy physically with his condition, having been carrying a hamstring problem. He really wasn’t in consideration.

“So, we didn’t get to the point of whether he should be in or out. He doesn’t think he is operating at the level he needs.”

A representative for Sterling called it a “mutual decision” that allows the player to focus on “recuperating his body in preparation for the upcoming season”.

The 28-year-old is determined to play a key role for England next term and Southgate says he can get back into the fold ahead of next year’s finals, as can omitted Tottenham defender Eric Dier.

“As we’ve shown with Tyrone (Mings) coming back (this time) and other players like Trent (Alexander-Arnold) coming back in, the door is always open when players are playing well,” Southgate told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Eric and Raheem both have physical issues really at the moment that they’re dealing with, so there’s part of that is behind that decision as well.

“But there’s another year to go before the Euros and it’s possible for everybody to get in that squad.”

Mings, Alexander-Arnold, Callum Wilson and Sam Johnstone returned to the England squad as Southgate has largely stuck with the tried and tested for the Group C games, with Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eze the only uncapped player named in the group.

The 24-year-old finally get his shot with England after an Achilles injury cost him a place in the provisional Euro 2020 squad.

“We have liked him for a long time,” Southgate said.

“He was very unfortunate just before the Euros. We were going to call him into a prep camp to have a look at him and he got a bad injury.

“I remember talking to Roy Hodgson about him then and Roy telling me he’d picked up an injury in training that day.

“I think he has finished the season really strongly, he can play in a couple of positions across that attacking line.

“He’s a goal threat, he’s got nice ability and bursts of speed to go past people and to take people out of the game with dribbling skills.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him a bit closer and everybody I speak to talks brilliantly about him as a person as well.”

Dunk has played for England but the Brighton captain has not been selected since winning his first cap against the United States in November 2018.

“Brighton’s football this year has been exceptional and Lewis Dunk and Levi Cowell have been a big part of that,” Southgate said.

“He’s shown great composure with the ball, he’s asked to defend very often one against one situations and he thoroughly deserves his call.”

The squad also includes Marcus Rashford, who missed March’s fixtures and last featured for England in a qualifier in the run to the last Euros.

“He’s a super player who’s had a really good season, so he’s an important player for us,” Southgate told talkSPORT.

“We’ve not been blessed with having him to be able to put in the team too often but we’re hoping that’s different. And we’re looking forward to seeing him again.”

There is no place for Ben White, who has not featured for England since leaving Qatar after the World Cup group stage due to personal reasons.

“I spoke with Ben before the camp in March,” Southgate added.

“But at the moment, we’ve got (Kieran) Trippier and (Kyle) Walker in that area of the pitch.

“He’s had a very good season, as have the whole Arsenal team, but he’s not ahead of those guys at the moment.”

A number of big-money Premier League recruits have failed to prove their worth this season.

Manchester United splashed the cash last summer to land Antony from Ajax while Chelsea opened their chequebook to bring in Ukrainian speedster Mykhailo Mudryk in January.

As the campaign draws to a close, we take a look at the five of the biggest flops.

Richarlison (Tottenham)

Tottenham looked ready to kick on under Antonio Conte having secured Champions League football on the final day last term and yet the recruitment in North London has proven to be a failure.

Richarlison joined from Everton for £60million but has scored just one league goal this season, having started only 12 times.

And while he has endured some misfortune in the final third, his contributions in a struggling Spurs side have not been a good return on his price tag.

The potential departure of Harry Kane in the summer could open the door for the Brazilian to play in a more central role in 2023-24, though he will have to hit the ground running to make up for lost time.

Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea)

Mykhailo Mudryk may be regarded as one for the future but any signing that commands nearly £90m should be expected to have an immediate impact.

The 22-year-old stood out for Shakhtar Donetsk in the first half of the season but has faded since joining Chelsea.

His eight-and-a-half-year deal gives him plenty of time to make a name for himself in England, though not a single goal in 14 Premier League appearances is a discouraging start for the Ukrainian.

Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)

England midfielder Kalvin Phillips has only managed to warm the bench for champions Manchester City since leaving boyhood club Leeds last summer.

A £45m deal was completed back in July but the 27-year-old did not manage to earn his first start until January in a 2-0 Carabao Cup loss to Southampton.

His only Premier League start came last weekend when City beat Chelsea and lifted the trophy for the third consecutive season.

Injuries have hindered the midfielder this term but his quality is not on the same level as Ilkay Gundogan or Rodri who have been regular starters under Pep Guardiola.

Antony (Manchester United)

Despite glimpses of quality, four league goals from 24 appearances does not represent the level of output Manchester United would have expected from Antony.

The Brazilian winger is full of tricks and speed but Erik ten Hag will want to see more from his ex-Ajax ace next term.

Only 24 shots on target from 71 attempts suggests the 23-year-old needs to develop his finishing, even though he has netted a couple of eye-catching curlers at Old Trafford.

Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa made Philippe Coutinho’s move from Barcelona permanent last summer but he has yet to recapture the form that earned him a move to the Catalan giants back in 2018.

The 30-year-old playmaker has scored just once for the Villans this season from 20 outings and remains way off his best.

With Unai Emery looking to take Villa into Europe on the final day of the Premier League campaign, Coutinho’s future could well be under threat if he does not transform his fortunes in the Midlands.

Gareth Southgate believes the fight against racism in football may have reached a defining moment as the fall-out from the abuse levelled against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in Valencia last weekend continues.

The England boss has led calls for stricter punishment since his side came close to walking off the field after some players were subjected to racial abuse during a match in Bulgaria in 2019.

Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Sunday’s LaLiga match at the Mestalla after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the incident constituted a “hate crime”, filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office.

In response, Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for five matches plus a fine of 45,000 euros (£39,000) – a punishment the club called “totally disproportionate”, while Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja vowed to lead the fight back against what he described as “smears”.

Southgate said: “It is a disgusting situation. I think it is so bad that it looks like it is going to force change. I am hoping there will be something positive to come from it.

“If anyone suggests to me we don’t have a problem in society with racism then there is another example of what we are dealing with, and more examples of people burying their heads in the sand, quite frankly.

“Hopefully it is a story that doesn’t just disappear in 24-48 hours without there being some significant change.”

The action by the Spanish football federation (RFEF), who order that Valencia shut the Mario Kempes south stand, where the alleged abuse happened, for five matches, was strongly criticised by the club, who vowed to appeal.

That criticism was echoed by Baraja in a prepared statement prior to a press conference on Wednesday, in which he stressed he was “absolutely against racism”, but added: “I am not going to allow the Valencia CF fans and Mestalla to be smeared with labels that do not represent us.

“Just as a player rightly fights back against insults and I support that with all my might, we as a club and a fanbase rebel against those who, during the days since the game, have accused us of being what we are not.”

Earlier, Valencia had issued a robust statement against the ruling, saying: “Valencia CF wishes to show its total disagreement and indignation at the unfair and disproportionate penalty imposed by the competition committee on the club with the closure of the stand for five games.

“Valencia CF wants to publicly denounce that in this resolution of the RFEF competition committee they show evidence that contradicts what the national police and LaLiga say.

“In addition, this sanction is based on evidence that the club has not been able to see and without giving us a hearing.

“Valencia CF has condemned, condemns and will condemn in the most energetic way any act of racism or violence. These behaviours have no place in football or in society and we will continue to act in the most forceful way to eradicate this scourge.

“For this reason, Valencia CF is collaborating from the first minute with the police and all relevant authorities to clarify the events that occurred last Sunday.

“In addition, it has applied the maximum possible sanction with the expulsion for life from our stadium to the fans that the police have identified for their racist behaviour.

“For this reason we consider that penalising and depriving all the fans who were not involved in these unfortunate incidents from seeing their team is a totally disproportionate, unfair and unprecedented measure against which we will fight.

“The fight against racism requires the real commitment of all the parties involved without using it as a pretext to incur serious injustices.

“Valencia CF will appeal to the last instance the closure of the stand, a sanction that it considers totally unfair and one more offence in the latest disciplinary decisions that have been taken against the club. Valencia CF asks for the utmost respect and rigour for our institution and fans.”

In announcing the punishment against Valencia, the RFEF said in a statement: “The competition committee has sanctioned Valencia CF with the partial closure of the Mestalla stadium for five matches, more specifically the Mario Kempes south stand, following the events that occurred during the league match between the local team and Real Madrid CF.

“It is considered proven that, as reflected by the referee in his minutes, there were racist shouts at Vinicius, a Real Madrid CF player, during the aforementioned match, altering the normal course of the match and considering the infractions very serious.”

Gareth Southgate criticised the wide-reaching nature of Ivan Toney’s eight-month betting ban and told the suspended England striker he can still make next summer’s Euros.

The 27-year-old made his international debut as a substitute against Ukraine in March’s Euro 2024 qualifier but the Brentford star will not be able play for club or country again this year.

Toney was charged with 262 betting offences at the end of 2022 and was last week hit with an eight-month Football Association ban after admitting 232 breaches.

The striker starts the suspension by watching the end of the campaign and England’s June qualifiers from afar, with Southgate raising concerns about the sweeping impact of the ban.

“I have spoken with him,” the England boss said. “I don’t know if that’s allowed, by the way, but f it isn’t then they can ban me and not add to his.

“Look, the ban is the ban. It is what it is. I think he recognised and accepted the punishment.

“What bothers me is we’ve got to look after people. He’s injured at the moment, what does he do about getting fit? What does he do?

“How do we give him some structure over the next few months that he can develop himself or be a better person at the end of it? Or have experiences that he might not experience?

“I don’t like the idea that we just leave somebody, so that they are not allowed to be a part of the football community.

“I don’t think that’s how we should work, I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes would work.

“But he knows that we picked him because we felt until there was a charge, he should be allowed to play.

“When he comes back, if he plays well then we’ll pick him.

“It won’t have any bearing but I think he’ll have additional motivation through what he is experiencing. I think he is a resilient guy with great character and we are here to support him.”

Toney is prohibited from training until September 17 and cannot play football again until January 17, 2024.

There is only four-and-a-half months between the striker’s return and the Euros kicking off in Germany, but Southgate says the door remains open for him.

Asked if Toney can still make the tournament in Germany, the England boss said: “Yeah, without a doubt.

“It is not ideal because he is going to miss a large chunk of the season and you don’t know after that sort of period out how physically he’s going to adapt and how he’s going to play.

“But it’s possible for him. There would still be time.

“He’s really impressed us with the way he’s played.

“I like personality, I like his belief and the way he goes about his job, so everything is still possible for him I think.”

Jordi Alba’s glittering Barcelona career will come to a close at the end of the season after the LaLiga giants announced they had reached an agreement to terminate his contract.

The 34-year-old, who current deal was due to expire at the end of 2023/24, has made 458 appearances for the club and won 19 major trophies since he made his official debut against Real Sociedad in 2012.

Barcelona said in a statement: “FC Barcelona would like to publicly express its gratitude to Alba for his professionalism, commitment and dedication, and his ever-positive and friendly relationship with all members of the Barca family, and wishes him every fortune in the future.

“Barca will always be a home for you, Jordi.”

Alba was born in Barcelona and moved through the club’s youth ranks before being allowed to leave in 2005.

He moved to Valencia for whom he became a first-team regular before Barcelona brought him back to the Nou Camp in 2012.

A woman bombarded Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount with messages in a four-month stalking campaign after he broke off their relationship, a court has heard.

TikToker Orla Melissa Sloan, 21, pleaded guilty to stalking the 24-year-old and his former team-mate Billy Gilmour, 21, as well as harassing fellow Blues star Ben Chilwell, 26, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The court heard she slept with Mount, who had surgery on a pelvic injury last month, after they met at a party at his England team-mate Chilwell’s home in November 2020.

Prosecutor Jason Seetal said they stayed in contact for around six months before Mount “decided that the relationship was not going to progress”.

“Upon informing Miss Sloan of this, he has been subjected to a bombardment of messages,” he said.

“He began asking her to stop messaging him before blocking the number.

“He then began to receive messages from new numbers and each time he would block those numbers there would be messages from a different number.”

Mr Seetal said a total of 21 different numbers were used to contact Mount with some messages including collages of photos of the player with other women.

The court heard that in one message from an Instagram account using the name ‘Devil Baby’, she said: “I can morph at any time so let me apologise and set things right.”

Another showed an Apple account buying a new number for £12.99 with the words: “I’m not buying food anymore so I can get more numbers. I will be faster than you.”

Mr Seetal said Mount was “concerned she had an obsession or fixation with him and he didn’t know what she was capable of”.

In a statement, Mount said: “Miss Sloan knows roughly where I live and where I train.

“I’m worried as if she is unable to contact me she might turn up at my training centre.”

The court heard other messages were aimed at professional footballers, friends and family members, including left-back Chilwell.

He told how he found Sloan’s behaviour “erratic”, while Scotland midfielder Gilmour said her messages had a “huge impact” on his life, after he joined Brighton from Chelsea last September.

“I have not been able to sleep and have had to take sleeping tablets,” he said.

“It’s had a negative effect on my performance and professional life.”

“Being in a new town where I don’t have my friends or family, it’s really upsetting.”

The court heard Gilmour had initially exchanged messages with Sloan before telling her he did not want their contact to continue and did not have a relationship with her.

But she claimed to have fallen pregnant in allegations described in court as “completely fictitious”.

“I don’t know who I can trust anymore,” Gilmour said.

“Some of the information would only have been known by people close to me.”

Sloan, from Exeter, pleaded guilty to causing “serious alarm or distress” by stalking Gilmour between September 10 and October 28 last year.

She also admitted stalking Mount between June 19 and October 28 last year, as well as causing harassment to Chilwell between October 20 and October 29, 2022.

District Judge Neeta Minhas adjourned sentencing to June 20 for reports to be prepared, telling her the most serious offence, against Gilmour, crossed the custody threshold.

She was granted unconditional bail.

Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja has said his club will fight back against “smears” after they were handed a five-game partial stadium closure and hefty fine following the racist abuse aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

Speaking at a press conference, Baraja stressed he was “absolutely against racism”, but echoed Valencia’s earlier claim that the sanction was “unfair and disproportionate”, and added: “I am not going to allow the Valencia CF fans and Mestalla to be smeared with labels that do not represent us.

“Just as a player rightly fights back against insults and I support that with all my might, we as a club and a fanbase rebel against those who, during the days since the game, have accused us of being what we are not.”

Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Sunday’s LaLiga match at the Mestalla after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the incident constituted a “hate crime”, filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office.

In response, Valencia have been ordered to shut the Mario Kempes south stand, where the alleged abuse happened, for five matches and have also been fined 45,000 euros (£39,000) by the Spanish football federation (RFEF).

Reacting to that sanction, Valencia said in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday evening: “Valencia CF wishes to show its total disagreement and indignation at the unfair and disproportionate penalty imposed by the competition committee on the club with the closure of the stand for five games.