Month: October 2019

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is fully aware that his position will come further under the microscope unless he can stop his side’s rot.

Pochettino, heralded for the work he has done in his first five years at Spurs, is facing the first real test of his spell after a dismal start to the season.

They have won only three games from 12 in all competitions this season, leaving him open to questions over his future.

His position could get even weaker if Spurs cannot get past Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Tuesday, where defeat would leave them staring at an early exit.

The Argentinian insists he is not affected by rumours or speculation, but accepts it is part of the job.

“The rumours happen in any club when you don’t win,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they are true and you need to care or pay attention about what has happened.

“But I understand it’s the business. I am 47 – look, why do you think that I don’t have white hair?

“Because I don’t pay attention to any of this. I only pay attention to what we need to do to improve our performance.

“And if we don’t improve our performance, what is going to be the result?

“Always the same in football. Yes, you are thinking the same as me.”

Spurs have been in rotten form for much of 2019 – despite their run to last season’s Champions League final – and striker Harry Kane admits that this is the toughest period of his time in the Spurs team.

“I’d say so. When you look at the results it’s not been easy,” he said. “Of course we all want to be winning games.

“It’s not going to be a straight path to success. There’s going to be bumps along the way. At the moment we’re at one and we’ve got to overcome that.”

Spurs’ hopes of reaching the knockout stages will be all but over if they lose to the Serbian champions.

They are currently on one point after two games and would fall five behind Red Star if they were to be beaten.

The visitors will not have any fans in attendance as they were banned from selling tickets after being found guilty of racism by UEFA.

Their coach Vladan Milojevic is disappointed by their absence.

“This is the 21st century, it is distasteful to talk about this issue,” he said.

“I absolutely condemn any racist behaviour.

“On the other hand I would love to see our supporters here, they really do help us, we feel better when they are around.

“I am a man of sport and I simply don’t really talk about this, but if you are asking me if I condemn this sort of behaviour, I absolutely do.

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This tournament’s Clasico Joven gives us the league’s top team agains the second-place side in what could be a Liguilla preview

The Clasico Joven between Club America and Cruz Azul will decide which team finishes the weekend as the top team in Liga MX. With just three weeks remaining, it will give the winner the inside track to the Superlider spot and home-field advantage throughout the Liguilla. 

The Estadio Azteca, now both teams’ home stadium after Cruz Azul’s move there this summer, will be the site for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 clash that will have major repercussions for the rest of the tournament.

Game	Cruz Azul vs Club America
Date	Saturday, October 27
Time	10 p.m. ET

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In the United States, the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).

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New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

US TV channel	Online stream
Univision Deportes Network	fubo TV (7-day free trial)

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Position	Cruz Azul players
Goalkeepers	Corona, Allison, Pelaez
Defenders	Aguilar, Dominguez, Lichnovsky, Flores, Aldrete, Sanchez, Maduena, Silva
Midfielders	Salas, Montoya, Hernandez, Mendez, Dominguez, Mena, Baca, Marcone, Alvarado
Forwards	Cauteruccio, Caraglio, Renteria, Zuniga

Cruz Azul has a shorter turnaround than America in this contest, coming off a win over Leon on penalty kicks in the Copa MX semifinal earlier this week. While the final comes on Oct. 31, Pedro Caixinha isn’t going to put out a weakened lineup in a rivalry game against the league leader.

Cruz Azul right back Gerry Flores is out with an injury. Forward Milton Caraglio was kept out of last week’s league match as a precaution for the Copa MX contest but wasn’t fit for that match either. Misael Domínguez will join up with the Mexico U-20s after the contest. 

Potential Cruz Azul XI: Corona; Maduena, Dominguez, Aguilar, Aldrete; Baca, Marcone, Alvarado; Menez, Cauteruccio, Hernandez

Position	Club America players
Goalkeepers	Marchesin, Jimenez, Estrada
Defenders	Vargas, Sanchez, Alvarez, Reyes, Valdez, Aguilera, Aguilar, Torres, Leon, Zamora
Midfielders	Rodriguez, Menez, Uribe, Dominguez, Ibarguen, Corona, Arce, Insaurralde, Lainez, Lopez, Moreno, Garcia, Ibarra, Rodriguez, Aguilar
Forwards	Martinez, Martin, Peralta, Gonzalez

Diego Lainez and Carlos Vargas are traveling with the Mexico U-20 team to take part in the Concacaf Championships, which serve as a qualifier for next year’s U-20 World Cup, but will leave just after Saturday’s contest.

Oribe Peralta, Andres Ibarguen, Emmanuel Aguilera and Cecilio Dominguz all had been on the injured list recently but participated in full training this week. Jeremy Menez is still sidelined for the rest of the tournament. 

Potential America XI: Marchesin; Aguilar, Valdez, Aguilera, Sanchez; Uribe, Rodriguez; Ibarra, Lainez, Ibarguen; Martinez

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Too often in recent years the Clasico Joven has been a top team against an outmatched one (usually America on top with Cruz Azul being outmatched). Former America sporting director Ricardo Pelaez’s summer rebuild of Cruz Azul has worked out, though, and now with just four weeks left in the regular season Cruz Azul sits one point behind league leader Club America.

They’ve done it with one of the league’s best defenses, allowing just 11 goals through 13 contests. Even though the attack has cooled off since Elias Hernandez and Roberto Alvarado were ripping up fullbacks at the start of the season, manager Pedro Caixinha is getting decent showings out of his squad, though last week’s 2-0 loss to Queretaro in which the Gallos Blancos notched two goals in the final five minutes of the match created frustration.

La Maquina bounced back by moving into the Copa MX finals during the week with a semifinal win over Leon and would be feeling just fine if they could get the better of their rival and move back to the league’s summit.

America will have something to say about that. Las Aguilas have made a mockery of the pundits’ predictions before the season that they’d have trouble finding the back of the next. They’re average more than two goals a match and have scored a dozen goals in the last five matches.

The scoring has been spread around, with plenty of defenders in the mix as well as players like winger Andres Ibarguen, but teenage midfielder Diego Lainez also has to get some credit for the role he has played in setting up goals, not to mention the stunner he hit to cap a 3-0 thrashing of Tijuana last week.

The contest profiles to be a thrilling match to watch, with two of the top teams in the Apertura jockeying for playoff position ahead of a potential rematch in the latter rounds.

Perhaps the biggest shame of all is that the Azteca pitch continues to be in horrendous condition, and the surface is unlikely to be the type that a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle in the country’s most historic stadium deserves.

With his side sitting two points outside the Premier League’s top four, the coach hailed the depth of the squad at his disposal

Watford have the best squad depth in the Premier League, according to head coach Javi Gracia, who believes Will Hughes should get a call up for England.

A 3-0 demolition of Huddersfield Town at Vicarage Road on Saturday moved Gracia’s men within two points of the Premier League’s top four.

Roberto Pereyra, Gerard Deulofeu and Isaac Success were all on target as Watford collected another three points following a 2-0 triumph at Wolves last weekend.

And although Gracia will not get carried away with his team’s fine form, the Spaniard feels the depth at his disposal is comparable to any other Premier League club.

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“For me, it’s the best in the Premier League,” he told a news conference when asked to assess his squad’s depth.

“The end of the season is very far and I prefer to enjoy every game. I’m very demanding – I think the best way to achieve a good future is to be focused on the present and to do our best in the present. It’s our mentality to try and be demanding in all of the games.

“I don’t spend much time looking at the table at this moment or if we achieve a new record, I prefer to be demanding today. We have many things to improve and tomorrow we’ll speak about that and try to improve these things to improve the level of the team.

“I don’t think we’ll be champions at the end. But we’re going to try to and enjoy every game and try to make our supporters enjoy it with us so they feel proud of us in the games we’re going to play. 

“We’ll see what we’re going to do but in all the games we’re going to make a big effort to get the best results.”

Hughes shone again, with Watford fans chanting for the 23-year-old midfielder to be included in Gareth Southgate’s next England squad, and Gracia agrees international recognition should be imminent.

“If you ask me my opinion, me too. But I respect the national team’s decision and all I can say is that we’re here and ready and supporting them,” Gracia said. “When they want Will Hughes, we’ll be ready.

“He’s playing well at a high level but it’s not my decision to select the players they prefer. It’s not my job and I try to do my job but if you ask me my opinion then all of my players deserve to play with their national teams.”

Huddersfield are bottom of the Premier League after a fifth defeat in six matches and David Wagner had no arguments about his team’s latest loss.

“We started well and created three good opportunities, but we have to be honest – defensively, our performance was not good enough today,” the Huddersfield head coach told reporters. “Because of that, it was a deserved defeat.

“For their first goal, we were so naive. We didn’t make it difficult enough for the player to get in the box. We didn’t shuffle over and help our defender for the second goal. You can get beaten one-on-one – it happens – and we have to help him.

“I’ve said for the whole time that we need to keep performing at the highest level and defensively we did not do this today.

“We have a long time until our next game now, so every player has the chance to impress in training. They have to show that today’s defensive performance was a one-off.”

The Ivory Coast international won the penalty which earned the Eagles a 2-2 draw against the Gunners at the weekend

Wilfried Zaha has revealed that he has received racist abuse and death threats after winning the penalty that earned Crystal Palace a 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the weekend.

With the score at 2-1, Zaha ran at Granit Xhaka and bamboozled the Switzerland international with a series of stepovers, with the makeshift left-back diving into a late tackle.

The Ivory Coast international was felled, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot, from which Luka Milivojevic scored his second spot-kick of the game.

The goal drew to a close the Gunners’ run of 11 straight victories, and Zaha has now claimed on Instagram that he has been sent vile abuse as a result.

He wrote: “”For all the people taking it one step further and being racist and wishing death on my family, I wish your families the best too.

“P.S My life is still very good despite your hate.”

Xhaka admitted after the game that he had fouled Zaha, accepting that he gave the referee a decision to make.

“It’s difficult. I think it’s a clear penalty,” he said. “I touched him in the knee.

“The referee gave a penalty. That’s football.”

Zaha has enjoyed a productive season thus far under Roy Hodgson, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

The Eagles are currently 14th in the Premier League, three points above the relegation zone.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are fourth, four points behind leaders Manchester City.

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The Spain international is yet to score in La Liga this season but the Atletico Madrid boss feels the striker will be in the goals soon

Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa will soon break his La Liga goal drought.

Costa has failed to find the net in his last 17 top-flight appearances, but he scored against Monaco in the Champions League in September and hit a double in Atletico’s UEFA Super Cup defeat of rivals Real Madrid.

The Brazil-born Spain international, who missed out on selection in Luis Enrique’s latest Spain squad due to injury, drew another blank in a 2-0 home La Liga win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Defenders Diego Godin and Filipe Luis instead struck to send Atletico top, and Simeone feels goals are on the way for Costa, who had a powerful shot saved by his former team-mate Miguel Angel Moya with his side already two up.

“Of course, he is working so that the goals return,” Simeone said at a post-match news conference after his side bounced back from a crushing 4-0 Champions League loss away to Borussia Dortmund, the heaviest defeat of his seven-year reign. 

“He is extraordinary and very important for us, for all the things he does in the dressing room. If you play like he did [against Sociedad], you are very close to scoring. It is the way.”

France international Lucas Hernandez was withdrawn at half-time as a precaution due to muscle fatigue, with Filipe Luis replacing the World Cup winner.

“At first [Lucas] started to feel a little pain, we knew that if he started feeling more, we would stop before there was anything worse,” Simeone said. 

“He has an extraordinary present and future and has Godin and Filipe that will not let him rest.

“They do not stop fighting. It is the strength of the team in recent years.”

Simeone is now looking forward to watching Sunday’s Clasico, although Atletico will be overtaken in the table by Barcelona if they avoid defeat against Madrid at Camp Nou.

“I care about today,” he added. “[El Clasico] is a great game with two extraordinary teams, hopefully an encounter that we can all enjoy.”

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The Gunners boss has told the 27-year-old to continue showing the same attitude he has demonstrated recently, despite talks over a new deal collapsing

Arsenal boss Unai Emery has told midfielder Aaron Ramsey to focus on his football and not his contract situation, which remains up in the air.

The Wales international star will be a free agent next summer if no new deal is agreed, with the Gunners seemingly having withdrawn their offer to the 27-year-old, much to the frustration of the player.

Indeed, Ramsey has gone as far as suggesting that he will leave the club at the end of the season following the breakdown in negotiations.

He retains the confidence of Emery, though, with the former Paris Saint-Germain boss offering him the captaincy as the north London side defeated Sporting CP in the Europa League on Thursday.

“I want my focus and his focus to be on the team,” Emery told Sky Sports. “It’s true that each player has an individual situation to speak about with the club, but these need to be apart from their performance with the team.

“For myself and Aaron, our conversations have been very clear. He’s played with commitment, with the focus on helping the team. I was very happy without how he played against Sporting, both individually and collectively.

“I want him to do the same for Sunday and for these forthcoming matches. He should focus on the team and being together in this situation and then we’ll see what happens.

“Aaron and the club and talk and he can think about his contract with the club. Maybe he’ll think about the possibility that he won’t continue here, but form me and for the team, it’s about being together and getting better in each training session.”

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday as they seek to extend an 11-match winning streak under the former PSG coach, who arrived in the summer.

The Gunners’ title chances have been talked up after such a run, but Emery was keen to play those prospects down.

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“We’re just focusing on each match,” he said. “When we started with two defeats in the first two matches, people were thinking it could be difficult for us this season. Now that we’re winning, the same people are thinking we’re heading for a top-four finish.

“We aren’t the best team now but when we lost we weren’t the worst team.

“We’re a good team who need to improve a lot of things and take more confidence, responsibility and ambition to improve.”

The team will look to build on an undefeated streak that has now reached 26 matches

U.S. women’s national team head coach Jill Ellis has named several new faces to the team’s roster for its upcoming friendlies at Portugal and Scotland.

Of the 24 players Ellis called in, 18 were part of the team that qualified for the World Cup and won the Concacaf Women’s Championship earlier this month. 

That means there is room for six new faces: Adrianna Franch, Merritt Mathias, Danielle Colaprico, Allie Long, Andi Sullivan, and Emily Fox. 

Midfielder Colaprico is receiving her first call-up since 2016, while University of North Carolina defender Fox is the only player on the roster to get her first senior call-up.

Defender Kelley O’Hara is out of the roster after undergoing ankle surgery that will sideline her 8-12 weeks. 

The U.S. will face Portugal in Lisbon on Nov. 8 and Scotland in Glasgow on Nov. 13 as it continues preparations for next summer’s World Cup. 

The games will be the final two of a successful 2018, a year in which the U.S. has gone undefeated by winning 16 and drawing two of their 18 matches so far. 

Roster by position (caps/goals):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 18/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 37/0)

DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 28/0), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 73/24), Emily Fox (UNC; 0/0), Merritt Mathias (NC Courage; 1/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 147/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 24/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 0/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 71/18), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 61/7), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 18/6), Allie Long (Seattle Reign FC; 39/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 40/8), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 10/0)

FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 142/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 263/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 1/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 151/97), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 106/46), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 41/12), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 144/41)

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The struggling visitors did not have a shot on target at Southampton, but the manager was satisfied with their performance

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez took a point at Southampton as a positive after a drab goalless draw at St Mary’s on Saturday.

The Magpies failed to produce a single shot on target as their wait for a first win of the season stretched into November, though the stalemate was enough to move them off the bottom on goal difference.

Newcastle have failed to win in any of their opening 10 league games for the first time since the 1898-99 season, but Benitez expressed satisfaction with his side’s performance given the situation in which they entered the game.

“I think we have to consider the circumstances, going away from home at the bottom of the table, getting a clean sheet and a point, you have to consider this more positive than negative,” Benitez said.

“They pushed hard in the second half so we did well to keep our clean sheet.

“A little bit better possession sometimes could make a difference for us to create more chances. The positive thing for me is that the team was working really hard, you could see the team spirit, you could see the team fighting until the end in a difficult situation until the end.

“At this point it is more important to take the positive rather than the negative.”

Southampton boss Mark Hughes felt anxiety in front of goal cost the Saints what would have been a deserved win, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Mario Lemina and Shane Long having the best chances to settle matters in their favour.

“We were the side that was trying to win the game over the 90 minutes,” said Hughes. “I thought that we had the better chances. I don’t think Alex McCarthy has had a shot to save over the whole 90 minutes.

“We wanted three points and I felt the performance deserved that but it’s back-to-back clean sheets, and that’s something we’ve been working on just to tighten up our defensive platform which will allow us to be a little bit more confident at the top end.

“Clearly we’ve got a little bit of anxiety in our finishing at times, I think sometimes we snatch at things, we maybe take a shot when an extra pass [is needed], that’s understandable because we’ve had a number of games at home where we haven’t got maximum points and at times we just displayed a little bit of that anxiety in our play.”

The Red Devils’ rivals have been accused of financial wrongdoing and the manager didn’t give much away regarding his own opinion on the subject

Jose Mourinho said he would keep his thoughts to himself regarding allegations levelled at Manchester City over alleged Financial Fair Play breaches.

German publication Der Spiegel has made a series of claims against Man Utd’s cross-town rivals, insinuating that the club’s owner had been using his own fortune to top up multi-million-pound sponsorship deals with Abi Dhabi companies.

Pep Guardiola claimed earlier on Tuesday that he knows nothing about it due to his focus being on his players and tactics as a manager, though eternal rival Mourinho admitted that he felt something might have been going on behind the scenes as City continue to spend big in the transfer market.

“I have some thoughts from a few years ago,” the Portuguese told a press conference ahead of United’s Champions League clash with Juventus. “But I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.”

Clearly eager to move on, the Red Devils boss turned his attention to European matters, confirming that Romelu Lukaku will miss the Juve clash through injury before going on to discuss his team’s slow starts in matches since the beginning of the season.

“Lukaku is injured for tomorrow and we do not know for Sunday,” Mourinho said.

“We work every day but the reality is that we don’t start matches well, but if we don’t start well and we end well, that’s fine.

“It’s good fun for the fans, but football is 90 minutes and especially when your opponent is strong, if you give them a 45 minute advantage, or even 20 or even 10, you have a mountain to climb.

“The good thing is that lately, apart from the Juventus match, we were strong enough to climb the mountain and change the match in the last few minutes. 

“When you play against a super team, like tomorrow, if you give an advantage away, it’s difficult to climb the mountain.

“We work a lot on our defensive organization. I’m sure you’re not going to say I do not work on that because you say the opposite!

“The reality is that we concede too many goals, and the way that we concede them shows our weaknesses. Weaknesses that sometimes you can hide, sometimes you can’t.

“It’s a big match to play tomorrow, they’re favourites to win the competition.”

When quizzed on another hot topic, the European Super League, Mourinho was concise in his response:

“I’m not interested in that.”

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The Red Devils defender says the team have momentum going into their game in Turin

Chris Smalling says Manchester United’s last-gasp win over Bournemouth has given the side confidence ahead of their Champions League trip to Juventus.

Marcus Rashford scored deep into stoppage-time to secure victory for Jose Mourinho’s side after Anthony Martial had cancelled out Callum Wilson’s early opener.

The result means United have won both Premier League matches since their defeat home Juventus last month with the two sides reconvening in Turin on Wednesday.

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With a game against rivals Manchester City coming up in the Premier league next weekend, a crucial few days lie ahead for Mourinho’s side.

When asked what two positive results could do for United’s season, Smalling said: “I think that it would galvanise us. We know we’re going into a very tough week now but we can come out with some good results and it can be seen as a good month.

“It is an especially tough month now and potentially after the international break when we have a lot of home games it’s all about making sure we get results and move up that table despite the tough games.

“We can take the second half to Turin and I think we will be more on the front foot and you will see a better performance in the first half. We need to take the second-half performance that we had against them at home and we need to do that from the off and we’ll give them a good game and get chances.”

Mourinho’s success throughout his career has been built on a solid defence so it is unusual so see a side managed by the Portuguese concede so many goals. The Red Devils have already conceded 18 times in the Premier League this season, the worst record in the top half.

Smalling admits it’s something the side need to work on if they are to be successful this season.

“In the last few years I think we have been known for shutting up shop and not conceding many goals so this season has been very unusual to what I have experienced,” Smalling added.

“We need to work on that because normally we don’t concede many and we win the game. It starts at the back, and as a team collectively, and we will be working on it every day.

“Yes, we’re showing that attitude, never giving in. No matter how bad the first half was, the second half we all believed we could go and win. It’s a great feeling and it’s bringing us closer together. As games are getting tougher and tougher – I think they’re closer than ever – it is often coming down to fine margins. Who can give that added burst in the last five minutes? We’re going to win a lot of points that way, and a lot of other teams are going to gain or lose points that way.”

Despite United’s recent improvement Smalling acknowledges that poor results earlier in the campaign means the club face a real battle to try and finish in the top four. Mourinho’s side are currently seventh in the table, four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham and nine points behind leaders Manchester City.

“We as players have to stand tall and the spotlight will be on us because we are supposed to be in the top four. We are doing everything we can to get there,” he said.

“To be at a club like this, and last as long as I have, you need to have that courage and belief in your ability, because you’re not going to have good days every week and the bad days are often highlighted when you’re at a big club, but I believe in myself. As players you need to have thick skin and we need to have belief that you will have bad days but it’s about making sure you have more good days than bad.”