Mauricio Pochettino is saddened by some of changes he has witnessed in English football, believing a move towards a more technical way of playing costing the Premier League some of its identity.
The manager is in his sixth full season working in England since being appointed at Southampton midway through the 2012-13 season.
He stabilised relegation-threatened Saints and pulled them clear of the drop zone before helping establishing them in the top flight the following year.
Another day closer to !
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
At his next job, Tottenham, he transformed the club from perennial underachievers into regular Champions League qualifiers and took them to the final in 2019, losing 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.
He is working his firs…
Bayern Munich beat relegation-threatened Stuttgart 2-1 on Saturday to reclaim Bundesliga top spot from Borussia Dortmund on goal difference.
In-form Dortmund defeated RB Leipzig 2-1 on Friday to reach the summit, but Bayern responded well at Mercedes-Benz Arena as they made it four wins in five league outings.
Matthijs de Ligt s 25-yard drive shortly after clearing an effort off the line gave Bayern the lead six minutes before half-time, with the game having been evenly matched until that point.
The visitors added a second through Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 62nd minute and saw out the victory, despite Juan Jose Perea pulling back a late goal for Stuttgart, boosting confidence ahead of facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Goal line clea…
Oscar Pareja has admitted Orlando City s lack of goals in recent weeks is a cause for concern as they aim to change that against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday.
The Lions have won two of their last five matches but alternated between hitting the back of the net and failing to score during that run, getting shut out by Columbus Crew on Saturday.
Orlando are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, two points off the playoffs, and Pareja hopes his side can add a more clinical edge against Chicago to close that gap.
[Not scoring] is a concern, especially when you don t have the accuracy to cross or to find somebody in the box. Or if somebody is in the box but isn t precise to finish it off, Pareja said.
The concern in the week is how can we polish them. Bu…
Sime Vrsaljko has signed an extension to his Atletico Madrid contract, agreeing a new four-year deal with the Liga side.
The Croatia international, who joined the club from Sassuolo in 2016, has committed his future to Atletico to 2022.
Vrsaljko has started nine LaLiga matches this season, with Diego Simeone s men second in the table, nine points behind leaders Barcelona.
I am very happy to continue growing here, Vrsaljko told Atleti s website.
I feel very comfortable and I only think about working every day to be important for the team.
We’re delighted to announce that Sime has renewed his contract with Atleti until 2022
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)
Atleti have also confirmed Stefan Savic suffered a Grade 1 mus…
Manchester United will travel to Turkey to face former manager Jose Mourinho s Fenerbahce following the Europa League s revamped draw on Friday.
The new league phase format sees each of the 36 teams play eight games, four at home and four away.
During his two-and-a-half-year spell at United, Mourinho led them to Europa League glory in 2017, beating Ajax 2-0 in the final.
The Red Devils remaining seven games include an all-British home clash against Rangers, welcoming them to Old Trafford for the first time in 14 years, and a trip to another of Mourinho s old clubs, Porto.
Rangers, who have failed to win any of their last 13 games in major European competition against English opposition, will also face Tottenham and Conference League winners Olympiakos.
Erik ten Hag has insisted Marcus Rashford s half-time withdrawal during Manchester United s draw with Porto was down to a need for rotation, not a statement on his performance.
United are still searching for their first Europa League win of the campaign, after Harry Maguire s late header salvaged a 3-3 draw in Porto on Thursday.
After the Red Devils went 2-0 up through early goals from Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, a strike from Pepe and a brace from Samu Omorodion had put them on the brink of another humiliating defeat.
To cap United s frustrations, captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a red card for a second successive game after also being dismissed in Sunday s 3-0 loss to Tottenham, having never previously been sent off in any of his first 241 games for…
Portugal and France confirmed their places in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, but both the pre-tournament favourites were far from convincing in doing so.
Roberto Martinez had Diogo Costa to thank for his penalty heroics against Slovenia as the Porto goalkeeper spared Cristiano Ronaldo s blushes in Frankfurt.
Ronaldo saw his spot-kick saved by Jan Oblak in extra time, reducing the five-time Ballon d Or winner to tears at the interval before stepping up to score in the shootout.
Earlier that day, France were aided by the knee of Jan Vertonghen as they squeezed past Belgium in Dusseldorf, with their struggles in front of goal continuing.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since Euro 2020, in which three of the four goals were scored fr…
Harry Kane should not be blamed for England s embarrassing Euro 2016 showing, with Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino pointing the finger at former boss Roy Hodgson.
England endured a tournament to forget in France, sensationally eliminated by minnows Iceland in the round of 16.
Kane was heavily criticised following England s exit after he failed to score in four matches.
But Pochettino leapt to the defence of his star Tottenham striker ahead of the new Premier League season.
When you analyse England against Iceland there is no reason to lose but football is football and sometimes it s difficult to find the reason. For me, it s difficult to speak about England, Pochettino said.
I was very surprised about the criticism [of Kane] because th…
Phil Foden cemented his place as a Manchester City great after his two goals helped the club to a record-breaking fourth successive Premier League title, according to former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.
Pep Guardiola s side made history as they maintained their grip on the Premier League trophy following a 3-1 victory over West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on the final day of the season.
Foden recently named the division s Player of the Year played another starring role for the Citizens with a brace, including a 25-yard thunderbolt after just 78 seconds, while Rodri s second-half strike completed the victory.
Ferdinand, who won three consecutive Premier League titles with United between 2007 and 2009, believes the attacking midfielder has joined a panth…
Maxi Gomez insists there is a strong spirit within the Valencia squad despite a turbulent few weeks at Mestalla.
The positivity of last season, when Valencia secured a Champions League spot before beating Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, has mostly evaporated in the early weeks of 2019-20.
Head coach Marcelino was sacked last month and replaced by Albert Celades, who lost his first match in charge 5-2 away to Barca in LaLiga.
Marcelino suggested he lost his job partly because he won the Copa, a competition he claimed the club s hierarchy considered a distraction from fighting for a Champions League place.
Valencia started their European campaign with a 1-0 win at Chelsea but were dispatched 3-0 at home to Ajax this week on matchday two, meaning they h…