Michael Olise and Harry Kane starred as Bayern Munich ran riot against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
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A whole lot of local knowledge went into a performance that brought him his tenth Player-of-the-Match award in Tests
Alagappan Muthu22-Sep-20242:52
Manjrekar: Ashwin as good as he was five years back
R Ashwin has a job on his hands. He fails on the first try. It’s not even close. There’s even a chance he isn’t as focused as he should be. His daughter forgives him and gives him a second go at opening what looks like a bottle of (rosewater soda) she’s carried down to the ground. But again it doesn’t go well. Dad’s not on his game. He’s facing too many distractions. This is the problem with scoring a century and taking a six-for and winning a Test match for your country on home soil.Ashwin remembers the first step he ever took into Chepauk. He vlogged about it on his YouTube channel, about attending trials at the Under-14 and Under-16 levels and waiting to see if he’d made the cut. He cherishes being part of this ground’s history; he was here when Sachin Tendulkar scored that epic hundred against Pakistan and he wouldn’t let his father take him home until he bought him pads just like the ones Tendulkar wore.He remembers the bus he took to get to the ground when he was younger. “12G [you have to catch bus No. 12G],” he said in an episode for in 2023. “It will go straight to Anna (road). There, if some uncle is nice enough to give you a lift, you can get to the ground in like 10 minutes. If not, (you have to trudge all the way with the kit bag).”Related
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He has memories of being coached not just by those he went and trained with but people who just happened to see him play on the street. “Everybody loves giving advice, especially when it comes to cricket. Once when I tried to hit a ball and it took an inside edge and wandered away – no run. Leg side, no runs. One uncle who was going to the hospital – there’s a hospital near my place – he just came to me and said, ‘Pa, how many matches have you seen? You play with a straight bat and the ball will go beautifully down the ground. . Keep the bat-face straight.'”The century that he scored and the five-for that he took here against England in 2021 are still etched in his mind. “I’ve wondered if I would ever play on this ground and if people would turn out and clap for me,” Ashwin said two years ago. In truth, they went way beyond that, calling his name out to the tune of “Sachiiiiin-Sachin” even when all he did was take his cap off his head, because they knew this meant he was coming on to bowl.R Ashwin picked up 6 for 88 in Bangladesh’s second innings•BCCIIn that game, against England, his home crowd gave him a feeling he is very familiar with, having seen millions of masala movies, but for perhaps the first time, he was experiencing it from the other side. For those five days, he was Rajinikanth in or Shah Rukh Khan in or Tom Cruise in . And he doesn’t get that too often, if only because Test cricket in India doesn’t follow a set schedule like it does abroad. Melbourne knows it’ll get a Boxing Day Test. Lord’s knows it’ll be the biggest event of the summer. Ashwin and his beloved Chepauk don’t have that luxury. At 38, even he isn’t sure if he’s played his last Test here.”I don’t know,” he said in the press conference on Sunday. “What is a Chepauk swansong? Every time you walk out to the park, it’s a swansong. You are talking about a Test match, yeah. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? Like I said, every day, every Test match I am playing is a big thing. Not only for me, you can ask any cricketer, to go through a Test match or a Test series is a grind. And you never really know what is next when it comes to Test matches. Because you put in that effort, everything, and then you need to be lucky enough to get those performances, also work hard and simultaneously manage your ups and downs. These are all huge challenges for any Test cricketer. So I haven’t thought so far ahead but if that was my swansong, what a swansong!”Rescuing India from 144 for 6 and on the way levelling MS Dhoni’s count of Test centuries. Sealing a 280-run win and on the way levelling Shane Warne’s count of five-wicket hauls. Being a threat on a pitch that didn’t necessarily take that much spin until the third morning. Walking away with a tenth Player-of-the-Match award. All of this was a result of painstaking preparation – Ashwin worked heavily on his batting prior to the TNPL – and a rapid assessment of the conditions he was faced with when he came on to bowl.”The beauty about a red-soil [pitch] is, you put revs on it, there is value [even if there is no turn]. Because there is bounce. You will get hit but there is bounce. You play on some black clay surfaces around the country elsewhere, without naming them, you have to do a lot of hard work. You put a lot of revs and see nothing come out of it. And sometimes, it’s better to not put revs on in certain places. So, to even understand all these things, to begin to understand and talk about it, is a fair amount of learning for me. And it’s happened over the years. Like I said, this one’s got solid bounce. And I love to play on a surface like this and get hit than play on another surface.”Knowing what the pitch will do is only one part of the challenge. The batter presents the other one and Ashwin has to find a way to get through them. On the third evening, he had seen evidence of the bite that was available to him if he dropped his pace right down. Mominul Haque went for a sweep and both he and the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant were beaten comfortably by extravagant bounce. That ball only clocked 80.4 kph.5:08
Ashwin: If it was my Chepauk swansong, what a swansong!
The bowler in him understood that he needed to be slow through the air to get purchase. The batter in him then augmented that piece of information. “Tamim [Iqbal] is standing next to you,” Ashwin told the host broadcaster. “He’ll tell you that if you keep going slower on these surfaces, you can go on the back foot a lot more.”Ashwin combined this knowledge to set his traps. At first, he would feed Bangladesh the quicker, flatter deliveries to keep them pinned on the crease. Then he’d toss one up and if everything went to plan, the batter, having been set up to expect a certain pace and a certain length, would be undone.”I was earning my right to bowl slower every now and then. Because on certain pitches where you get help out of surface, you can afford to toss the ball a little more, but this is a surface where need to change up your pace, change up your length, and then pull the one that’s slower. So very often the one that was reacting off the surface was really slow.”Three of his six wickets came off deliveries in the early 80s.Two others spoke of how good he is at picking apart a batter’s defence. He bowled around the wicket for virtually the entire Test match because there were a lot of left-hand batters and he was playing on their inside edge. He would bring them forward with his length and leave them stranded with his overspin, because the ball was primed to dip on them and then kick up off the pitch.Shakib was caught at short leg as this sequence played out.The best of the lot was Mominul, bowled on the outside edge. Ashwin was somehow able to get enough turn to beat the bat but not so much that he would miss the stumps. Going a little wider of the crease helped create the angle into the batter and make him play down the wrong line and then he did something with the seam to limit the help he would get off the track.Normally an offbreak bowler would have the seam pointing to first slip. This one was pointing a lot squarer. It also turned scrambled as the ball began its descent into the pitch. An upright seam is usually the driving force behind the turn and bounce that a fingerspinner gets. Here Ashwin put limits on both specifically so that what happened had a chance to happen – beating the batter but not the stumps. It doesn’t always work this way. Sometimes the turn might not be enough, and the angle takes the ball straight into the middle of the bat. But this was Chepauk and Ashwin knows it has always got his back. “Some energy just pulls me into this ground.”
One of the standouts for Manchester City this season has been Phil Foden. Last term wasn’t the easiest for the versatile midfielder, but he has shone under Pep Guardiola in the 2025/26 campaign so far and has seen a real resurgence when it comes to his form.
His newfound role in midfield, operating slightly deeper as a number eight, has really helped him rediscover his best form. That was followed by his deserved recall into the England squad by Thomas Tuchel for the Three Lions’ final two World Cup qualifiers, a testament to his resurgence.
In a season where Foden looks back to his best, it is perhaps no coincidence that Erling Haaland is also firing.
The connection between Foden and Haaland has been excellent over the last few seasons. According to Transfermarkt, the Stockport-born star has only linked up for a goal more times with Kevin De Bruyne than Haaland, 18 with the Belgian compared to 14 with the City number nine.
One of those came this season, against Napoli in the Champions League. It was a superb assist from Foden, taking the ball on the half turn and lofting it from close range into the path of his teammate.
Haaland did the rest, heading home inside the box.
The City academy graduate has spoken this season about his relationship with the Premier League’s top goalscorer. Foden said the pair are “definitely building that relationship,” explaining that he is “finding him more in behind and where he needs the ball to score.”
Well, that is certainly an exciting prospect for City fans. They might well be able to look forward to even more assists from their number 47, teeing up Haaland, especially given Foden’s performances are improving week by week.
Incredibly, the Citizens are linked with another attacking midfielder who could replicate Foden’s impact.
The January transfer window is almost upon us, and City are seemingly chasing a particular expensive attacking target. Real Madrid star Arda Guler is said to be a name they are looking at, in a deal which could cost the club upwards of £88m.
Should Guardiola’s side get a deal for the Turkish international over the line, it would represent another wonderful attacking acquisition. The 20-year-old has impressed for Los Blancos this term after being given a key role by new manager Xabi Alonso.
In 16 games across all competitions, the former Fenerbahce star has scored three goals and assisted six. Interestingly, all of those assists have been for Kylian Mbappe, as per Transfermarkt.
He has the creativity to provide goals for the world’s best attackers, which Haaland certainly is.
The 20-year-old has already made a great impression despite being a short way into his career. In fact, analyst Ben Mattinson said he can be a “Ballon d’Or level” player back in 2023, and with the form he is putting up now, it is hard to argue that could one day be the case.
There are certainly similarities between Guler and Foden. One of those, of course, is their playstyles, which mirror each other in many ways. They are both left-footed creative midfielders who excel between the lines and offer a big creative outlet for their sides’ attackers.
The pair are also noted as statistically similar players among their midfield European peers, as per FBref.
That has been seen this season, with Turkey star Guler averaging 3.68 key passes per 90 minutes, compared to the City number 47’s tally of 2.66 key passes each game.
|
Guler & Foden key stats compared |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per 90) |
Guler |
Foden |
|
Key passes |
3.68 |
2.66 |
|
Progressive passes |
7.7 |
4.56 |
|
Goal-creating actions |
0.8 |
0.51 |
|
Progressive carries |
2.07 |
1.65 |
|
Ball recoveries |
4.25 |
4.68 |
|
Stats from FBref |
||
It is easy to see how Foden and Guler are quite similar players. With the creative force they possess in the final third, plus the fact that they excel in central zones, Guardiola could have two exciting creative midfielders to choose from.
If Guler can recreate with Haaland the partnership he has with Mbappe, the Citizens could become even more of a threat in attacking areas than they already are.
As important as Doku: £50m star just had his best ever game for Man City
Manchester City smashed Liverpool 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, Jérémy Doku the star of the show, but another player shone for Pep Guardiola.
1
By
Ben Gray
Nov 10, 2025
Time was when a trip to Anfield was like stepping into your own personal horror movie. Liverpool have spent much time planting the seeds of fear on their home turf, and Jurgen Klopp made that garden grow.
Then Arne Slot put on the gloves and helped Liverpool evolve into an even smoother and more stylish outfit than when Klopp departed, taking the Reds through the campaign and out the other end with a Premier League title in tow.
But that’s no longer the case. This season, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven have all beaten Liverpool on Merseyside. This sanctum of stability has been reduced to just another ground, and Slot has to fix that quickly if he is to continue his project over the coming years.
Liverpool might have avoided defeat at home to Sunderland on Wednesday evening, but the point gained merely papers over the glaring problems that have left many fans shaking their heads at the false dawn at West Ham United last weekend.
It was a performance which left plenty to be desired.
How Liverpool performed vs Sunderland
After the draw, Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris spoke of his surprise that his side were afforded so much time and space to play through Liverpool and carve out opportunities in the danger area.
There lies the crux of Liverpool’s problems. They are too weak and brittle, not just suffering from a soft underbelly but a doughy outer shell too.
Alexander Isak toiled in the final third, a few wayward strikes illustrating the record signing’s lack of sharpness. However, it is inconceivable that FSG should have spent around £200m on the Swede and Hugo Ekitike only for Slot to implement a system that cuts off pathways to the central strikers.
Some will take encouragement from the home side’s gear-raising final flurry, seeking out a winner after the fleet feet of Florian Wirtz led to a Nordi Mukiele own goal to restore parity.
But Liverpool are not just shorn of confidence but tactical fluency too. Slot’s strategising across the 2024/25 campaign earned him a reputation for being a “genius” and a “football scientist”, as remarked by Dutch legend Marco van Basten.
Gone is that air about the former Feyenoord boss. Against the Black Cats, Liverpool secured a hard-earned point to narrow the gap on Chelsea after their defeat at Leeds United. Elland Road is where Liverpool head next.
But imbalances and erraticness have become indivisible for the champions this season, whose title defence is in tatters and whose players have fallen by the wayside.
Ibrahima Konate was culpable of some shaky moments, as has so often been the case this term, but there was another Redman who struggled against Sunderland, leading observers to suggest he has morphed into that late version of Fabinho.
Liverpool star looks "like Fabinho in his final season"
Alexis Mac Allister has been abject this season, so far removed from the “superstar” of a midfielder, as said by pundit Joe Cole, who influenced Klopp and then Slot’s trophy-winning campaigns of recent years at Liverpool.
Having spoken about this testing start to the season earlier this week, Mac Allister suggested that he is now back to full fitness after missing out on pre-season and suffering early injury issues. But this was a performance that left much to be desired, underlining the drop-off that is suggestive of a player whose athleticism has gone walkabouts.
Against Sunderland, the 26-year-old failed to impress. Again. He was so slow and stodgy on the ball, and while he won both of his tackles and three of five contested ground duels, as per Sofascore, no chances were created by a player who need to do more and remind the Premier League of his all-encompassing skillset.
Goals
0.17
0.00
Assists
0.17
0.20
Touches
64.41
64.04
Pass completion (%)
83.5
85.4
Shot-creating actions
4.16
2.73
Progressive passes
6.13
4.34
Progressive carries
1.25
1.72
Successful take-ons
0.55
0.40
Recoveries
5.13
4.14
Tackles won
2.01
0.61
Interceptions
0.76
0.61
Aerials won
0.66
0.51
After the draw, one content creator even said Mac Allister “looks like Fabinho in his final season”, having “physically fallen off a cliff”.
Fabinho was a stalwart for the club over an illustrious period of Klopp-led success, but he did indeed succumb to a loss of aggression and physicality at the end, at the epicentre of Liverpool’s abject 2022/23 campaign.
This feels similar. The only difference is that Mac Allister is supposed to be stepping into the prime of his career, and is instead languishing so far below expectations it beggars belief.
Can Slot spark a turnaround? Should the Dutchman do so, it feels like Mac Allister will be needed in fine and sustainable fettle, and that has been anything but the case over the past several months.
Mac Allister has been terrible, but his struggles are symptomatic of the wider tactical and mental plague that has spread across Slot’s system this season.
It’s not good enough. It needs to change. Mac Allister is 26, but already he is starting to look like the leggy version of Fabinho, who was sold to Saudi Arabia has Klopp began a midfield rebuild that started with Mac Allister’s signature.
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Liverpool are in the market for a left-sided winger this winter.
2 ByAngus Sinclair Dec 3, 2025
After an ordinary start, the New Zealand bowlers too got into the swing of things
Sidharth Monga19-Jun-2021
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane survived some quality bowling to go to stumps unbeaten•ICC/Getty Images
We have only had a little over two sessions’ worth of cricket on the first two days of the World Test Championship final, but what we’ve had has been high-quality cricket worthy of the occasion. When bad light curtailed the second day to just 64.4 overs after the first day was washed out, India, asked to bat in challenging conditions against a deep attack, were 146 for 3 and, you’d suspect, the happier side.New Zealand will be disappointed but not despondent: it could have been worse after a 62-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as Tim Southee and Trent Boult got off to an uncharacteristically indifferent start. Towards the end of the day, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane looked sublime in fading light, playing the ball delightfully late and biding their time as New Zealand didn’t offer easy scoring opportunities. No batting duo now has more fifty-run stands for the fourth wicket or lower.It was one of those “good toss to lose” days, but it turned out both sides would have liked to have had a bowl after the pitch had been under covers for two days and with the sun unlikely to make an appearance. The coin fell Kane Williamson’s way, but his opening bowlers didn’t get his side off to a desired start.Part of it was possibly down to proactive Indian openers. By repeatedly walking down the pitch to meet the ball before it had swung, they made a statement to Southee and Boult. When they tried to bang it in short – which was not often – Gill pulled with disdain.New Zealand are the most economical attack in this WTC cycle. They keep the runs down and then let the subtle skills of their bowlers take. Here, though, both Southee and Boult went searching too often with the new ball. Did the batsmen upset their rhythm? Did they feel the pressure of expectation when your captain hands you the ball in such conditions? It is anybody’s guess, but Rohit and Gill punished them every time they pitched too short or too full, which was often. By the time Williamson brought on his first-change bowler, Kyle Jamieson, India had 37 on the board in 10 overs.The first maiden of the innings was the 12th, bowled by Boult; then Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme added one each on top of it. Not long after, Jamieson drew the first fatal error from India. Rohit pushed away from the body for the first time in his innings, edging the outswinger, but not before giving India their first 60-plus opening stand in England in over a decade.There might have been the mildest of question marks against Neil Wagner’s inclusion in the final XI because in early summer conditions in England you hardly need his trademark method of hustling batters with short-pitched bowling. However, within three balls of his introduction into the attack, Wagner vindicated his selection. He swung the first ball back into Gill and then, from the exact same length, the third ball held its line. Gill had to play at it because of the earlier swing, and BJ Watling – playing the final match of a stellar career – pouched a catch behind the wicket. India had now lost two wickets for one run.A fascinating spell of play followed either side of lunch. Cheteshwar Pujara went about his usual business, taking 36 balls to get off the mark and then showing intent to upper-cut Wagner. At the other end, Kohli, who has mastered the quickest and the scariest of bowlers, had to swallow his ego and play maiden after maiden from de Grandhomme’s dibbly-dobblies.de Grandhomme bowled with just the right (lack of) pace and amount of movement to nag Kohli, who had previously faced 10 balls from him in Test cricket for one run and one lbw dismissal. Here, too, de Grandhomme seemingly tried to set up the same, bowling outswingers from middle and off. Once he nearly took the edge, but that ball that shapes up to swing one way and then seams the other didn’t arrive. Kohli faced 21 balls from de Grandhomme for just four runs, but didn’t once try to hit out.Pujara saw out Jamieson, then made Wagner switch to bouncers, one of which got him in the head as he looked to hook, which he rarely does, but just ask Australia what usually happens when Pujara battles through a tough phase. With a five-man attack, though, New Zealand kept coming back at him. The next test was Boult, who had got Pujara out four times for 48 runs outside India. Today, the first he bowled to Pujara was right on the money: swinging in for the lbw, Pujara seemed to have covered the swing, but it seamed some more after pitching, beating his inside edge and trapping him in front.Rahane can be a flashy starter, but he got a gift down the leg side first ball, which he clipped away. A general indicator of where Rahane’s form is how late he plays the ball early in his innings. He was in no hurry here. Except for a near run-out early in the piece, there was nothing flashy from him.The player of the day, though, was at the other end. On that calendar it might have been over 18 months since Kohli has scored an international hundred, but he has batted as well as anyone in this period. It was on display here again. Except for a mini phase in the stop-start final session when he began to push at Southee outswingers, Kohli looked in control against everyone.New Zealand’s response was to block his scoring areas. The cover drive and the flick through midwicket were well guarded. So Kohli had to wait for the errors in length. He did. But even when they erred, they fed possibly the only shot that Kohli doesn’t relish: the cut. However, Kohli kept scoring through point with pushes and punches. The conditions demanded for nothing short of Kohli’s best: even the 60-over-old ball swung under the clouds.Close to eight hours have already been lost in the Test, but they can be made up with an extra half hour added to the remaining days and a whole reserve day in the bank. Any further interruptions will start eating into the Test, which, going by the quality of the contest in the limited time we have had, will be a massive shame.
Good performances in West Indies and Bangladesh could yet make the selectors change their plans
Andrew McGlashan16-Jun-2021There is no guarantee from Australia’s selectors that all the players who made themselves unavailable for tours of West Indies and Bangladesh will immediately return to the fold for the T20 World Cup if others take the chance to impress in their place.David Warner, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis withdrew from contention for the upcoming tours for a variety of personal reasons while Daniel Sams, who contracted Covid-19 in India before the IPL, had previously opted out to manage his mental health.Trevor Hohns, the national selector, reiterated that individual player circumstances were understood and respected at a time where international cricket requires bubbles and quarantine but admitted it was “frustrating” not to be able to have a full squad together with the World Cup four months away.”We are obviously disappointed that they made themselves unavailable, but we totally understand and respect their decision,” Hohns said. “In saying that we also see it as a good opportunity for others who have been included to push their case for inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad. I also see it as a good test of our depth.”If a player wishes to make himself unavailable that’s his prerogative to do so, we can’t force them to go on a tour but what we can say is that they are giving someone else an opportunity.”Related
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Australia’s final lead-in to the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to start in mid-October and may yet be moved to the UAE, remains uncertain but there had been plans for a tri-series which would likely clash with the resumption of the IPL. Detailed conversations have yet to take place, but Hohns laid out his expectation of the players’ priorities.”It will certainly depend on their commitments and what we think they should be committing to regarding Australia at that time,” he said.The mass absence has meant recalls for Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner and Dan Christian plus a maiden call-up for Wes Agar. There is also another opportunity for others who were part of the T20 squad in New Zealand such as Josh Philippe and Riley Meredith.Dan Christian is one of the players with a chance to make a late push for the World Cup•Getty Images
Australia’s T20 selection has been disrupted since the start of the last home season due to a combination of biosecure bubble requirements, injuries, resting players, the initial plan for twin tours of South Africa and New Zealand and now the latest withdrawals.However, Hohns said the selectors had most of a likely World Cup squad inked in a few months ago but, while some of those missing will walk straight back in, strong performances in the coming weeks may sway other positions. There is also a likelihood that squads will need to be larger than the traditional 15.”That’ll be an interesting discussion for us going forward, there’s no doubt about that, depending on performances in West Indies particularly by the extra inclusions for this tour,” he said. “So if someone was to really shoot the lights out with bat or ball we’d have to stand up and take notice.”One player not considered for the tour despite the number of missing names was Marnus Labuschagne with the decision taken to allow him to continue his Glamorgan contract. A key part of that was the chance to play a significant amount of T20 cricket rather than being sat on the sidelines on the tour where he may only have featured in the ODIs. He has enjoyed an eye-catching start to the T20 Blast with three consecutive half-centuries, one of which was an unbeaten 93, and handy wickets.”Marnus went over some time ago to play county cricket and he also has the opportunity to play a lot of T20 cricket which is something he expressed to us that he would really like to do,” Hohns said. “He was totally involved in this decision, he thought it was in his best interest to continue to play cricket in England. We are certainly watching his performances in the T20 competition so that’s not gone unnoticed.”
There has now been a new update on Crystal Palace’s pursuit of a “true warrior”, with it being revealed a “good value” January deal is possible.
Palace on course to push for Europe
Palace remain in a strong position to push for European qualification, having taken 20 points from their opening 13 Premier League games this season, although they will be frustrated about Manchester United coming from behind to win at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The Eagles fell to a 2-1 defeat against Ruben Amorim’s side, but they will have the opportunity to put things right tonight, when they travel to Turf Moor to take on an out-of-form Burnley side, who have lost their last four Premier League matches.
However, with the likes of Sunderland, Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion all in European contention after impressive starts to the campaign, it is getting congested at the top of the table, and Oliver Glasner’s side are now looking at new additions for the January window.
Last week, it was revealed that a concrete offer had been made for Bayern Munich’s Sacha Boey, who Glasner is a big fan of, according to a new update on their pursuit of the defender from TEAMtalk.
In an interview, journalist Dean Jones said: “Palace have been made aware that there could be a possibility for this one on a permanent deal and it actually could be a good value one. I’m told that is the preference at the moment.
“They [Bayern] don’t have much interest in letting him out on a loan. In the case of a loan offer they may well just hold on to him until the summer instead.
The journalist also went on to clarify that negotiations aren’t currently at an advanced stage, saying: “At this stage I think Palace are just feeling out the terms and understanding the player’s situation.”
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ByHenry Jackson Nov 25, 2025 "True warrior" Boey could be exciting addition for Palace
The right-back certainly caught the eye during his time with Galatasaray, having been hailed as a “true warrior” by members of the Turkish media, and he is very assured in possession of the ball, as displayed by his performance across some key metrics over the past year.
Sacha Boey’s key statistics
Average per 90 (past year)
Passes attempted
73.18 (97th percentile)
Pass completion %
90% (99th percentile)
Progressive passes
6.31 (95th percentile)
That said, the 25-year-old, who rakes in £80k-a-week should probably seek a move this winter, given that he has fallen down the pecking order considerably, being benched for the last three Bundesliga games.
With Palace competing in Europe this season, it would be a smart move to bring in additional strength in depth at right-back this January, and a long-term replacement for Daniel Munoz may be needed regardless, amid interest from Chelsea and Barcelona.
As such, Glasner’s side should make a move for Boey, and it is promising news that a deal could be possible for a reasonable price.
Usually one for few words and fewer expressions, Varun looked to be in a state of contentment on Sunday, even affording a smile
Hemant Brar07-Oct-20243:12
Takeaways: Mayank and Varun too hot to handle for Bangladesh
Varun Chakravarthy comes across as a man of few words and fewer emotions. At pre- or post-match chats in the IPL, the broadcasters have to work hard to extract words from him. In a world where many bowlers have signature celebrations – think Imran Tahir’s run to the boundary, Kevin Sinclair’s somersault, or Tabraiz Shamsi’s shoe-call – Varun’s is hard to recall.But after his 3 for 31 against Bangladesh in the first T20I in Gwalior, Varun confessed to being emotional. Representing India after three years, he said: “It feels like a rebirth.”Those who have worked with Varun closely say he is “intense and takes things very seriously”. The world saw a glimpse of it in June. After being left out of India’s T20I squad for the five-match series in Zimbabwe, he took to Instagram to share his frustration: “I wish I had a paid PR agency!!!!!!”Related
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New-look India blow away Bangladesh to take 1-0 lead
Varun Chakravarthy: 'It feels like a rebirth'
Varun had last played for India in 2021, so it might seem he was nowhere in the picture. But this was India’s second-string squad, picked right after the T20 World Cup. A cycle had completed and the selectors were keen to try fresh faces. Many, including Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Tushar Deshpande, were rewarded for their stellar performances in IPL 2024.Varun had an equally compelling case. He was the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL with 21 scalps in 15 games, playing a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title run. In a tournament where the overall economy was 9.56, he was frugal at 8.04. A season before that, he had taken 20 wickets in 14 games at an economy of 8.14. His frustration, therefore, was understandable.Varun had made his T20I debut for India in 2021. After only three games, he was named in India’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup. It was probably a horses-for-courses selection: the World Cup was in the UAE, and Varun had done well there during IPL 2020 and 2021.Ravi Shastri, then India’s coach, said on air during Sunday’s match that he felt Varun was “a tad nervous”. In the three games at the World Cup, he could not take a single wicket. And after a poor IPL next year, he found himself in the wilderness.There were questions about his fitness, one-dimension-ness, and his mystery being unravelled. But Varun worked on himself. He tinkered with his run-up, tweaked his action, and improved his legbreak. In the last two IPL seasons, no one has taken more wickets than him.All that finally bore fruit when he was selected for the Bangladesh T20Is. Gautam Gambhir, KKR’s mentor last IPL and now India’s head coach, might have had a role in his selection. Either way, Varun did not let him down.Introduced in the fifth over, Varun started with a googly. He could have picked up the wicket of Towhid Hridoy with his second ball but debutant Reddy, running in from deep square leg, lost sight of the ball. Not only did he drop the catch but also let the ball go for four. Varun’s emotions were once again on display as he tried to cover his face with his hands.The next ball was too short and Hridoy pulled it behind square for another boundary. Adding more insult to the injury, Najmul Hossain Shanto reverse-swept the last ball of the over for a flat six. It could have been a fairy-tale comeback for Varun. Instead, his figures at that time read 1-0-15-0.Varun Chakravarthy celebrates the wicket of Towhid Hridoy•BCCI”The catch could have gone my way, but that’s how T20 cricket is played,” he said. “I felt even the reverse sweep was off a good ball, but it went for a six. So that’s how it is. It’s all mixed emotions.”Varun did not have to wait long, however. In his next over, Hridoy attempted another pull. This too was a short ball, but the 98.9kph speed meant it hurried the batter, resulting in an easy catch to long-on.By now, it was clear that the Bangladesh batters were not able to pick his variations. With another googly, he breached Jaker Ali’s defence. In his final over, he had Rishad Hossain top-edging a fast legbreak to deep midwicket to register his best figures in T20Is.”It has been a long three years,” Varun said of his comeback. “Whenever there was a series, I would keep thinking why my name was not there. That kind of motivated me, and I felt I should not leave it like this; I should go all out and try to make a comeback. So I started playing a lot of domestic games and started giving importance to those. All the matches I played was with full intensity. I never thought if it was a lower level or higher level.”During this time, Varun’s family was his biggest support. “They have been through this [with me]; they have been facing all my adverse emotions,” he said. “Other than that, everyone at the Tamil Nadu cricket board, my TNPL team Dindigul Dragons and the IPL team KKR backed me so that I could keep improving my skills.”I used to be a side-spin bowler, but now I have completely shifted to be an over-spin bowler. It is a minute technical aspect of spin bowling and took me more than two years to make the shift. Slowly, slowly I was testing it in the TNPL and then the IPL.”This performance, though, does not mean Varun has cemented his place in the side. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are India’s first-choice spinners. Apart from that, there is Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar. But Varun sees this as a healthy competition.”There is good competition and there is good camaraderie also. One person who was cheering me today was Ravi Bishnoi. He was coming in and passing me messages, so I can’t ask for more. And it’s actually good to have such competition so that we keep pushing each other. Someone will be better than others at one point in time and he will definitely get the Cup for India. So this competition is very much needed.”While talking about Bishnoi, Varun briefly had a smile on his face. In his case, that was enough to show he was finally in a state of contentment.
Harry Kane shared his delight on social media after the Football Association (FA) confirmed Thomas Tuchel as the new England manager.
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Tuchel set to take charge of the Three LionsWill officially start working on January 1, 2025Kane excited to reunite with the German managerFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The German manager, who previously worked with Kane during the 2023-24 season at Bayern Munich, has signed an initial 18-month contract and will be tasked with guiding the Three Lions to victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT HARRY KANE SAID
Kane, who was able to bring out his best under Tuchel's leadership in Munich netting 44 goals in 45 matches, took to social media to express his happiness about the reunion, saying, “Looking forward to playing under the boss again!”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Despite Kane’s positive reaction, not everyone is thrilled about the FA’s decision with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher having voiced concerns about hiring another foreign coach for the national team after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. However, Kane, having firsthand experience working with Tuchel, holds a different view. Before the news of the appointment became official, Kane was asked by the media about the rumours and the striker showered praise on the manager.
"I obviously know Thomas very well from the last year. He's a fantastic coach and a fantastic person," he had said.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tuchel's time at Bayern Munich came to an end in May 2024, following a strained relationship with the club's board after a rare trophyless season at Allianz Arena. However, it is alleged that Kane had an incredible relationship with the manager with some sources even claiming that the England captain was among a group of senior players who lobbied for the manager to remain at the club.
da pinnacle： Pep Guardiola remains coy, but the plain truth is that Manchester City have closed ground on Premier League table-toppers Arsenal ahead of the Christmas period, and Sky Blue supporters know they would be wise to buckle in.
da leao： But then, another truth would be that this is simply not Pep’s strongest City squad. That said, there is enough quality within the Etihad Stadium to challenge for and potentially win the league title, especially with Erling Haaland in such impudent goalscoring form.
However, Haaland can’t do it alone all year long, with the list of the club’s top scorers underscoring the need for more firepower.
Man City – Top Scorers 25/26 (all comps)
Player
Apps
Goals
Erling Haaland
20
20
Phil Foden
19
9
Jeremy Doku
21
3
Rayan Cherki
14
3
Josko Gvardiol
16
2
Ruben Dias
20
2
Tijjani Reijnders
21
2
Phil Foden is going from strength to strength, and that could be a defining factor in City’s revival, but it’s understandable that Guardiola and the board are hoping to sign a new wide forward.
City's winter transfer plans
Haaland continues to defy expectations. Even his soaring expectations. But there’s no question that Guardiola’s side could pack a few more angles into their punches, and that’s something that may need to be fixed in January if the Premier League title is to return to the blue side of Manchester.
Given that the Norwegian goal machine is fixed into his starting berth at number nine, perhaps a goalscoring wideman could be what Pep needs.
According to TEAMtalk, Man City still have a strong interest in signing Antoine Semenyo despite Liverpool’s ostensible lead in the race. All the pointers suggest the 26-year-old is inching toward an exit from Bournemouth in 2026.
Semenyo has been one of the standout players in the Premier League this season, and with his £65m release clause switching on in January, City will need to pounce quickly to beat off the thick competition for his signature.
Why Pep wants to sign Semenyo
Most of the noise surrounding Semenyo and his future centres around struggling Premier League champions Liverpool, but City know they have it in their power to convince him to join their project.
A big-game player and with six goals and three assists to his name in the English top flight this term, Semenyo is riding the crest of a wave, with a skillset that looks perfect for a team fighting at the top.
His potency and pace could lead him to rival Jeremy Doku as City’s new version of Leroy Sane, who is fondly remembered to this day for his exploits in Manchester.
But, more accurately, Semenyo could actually emerge as Pep’s own version of Sadio Mane, the former Liverpool attacker.
Liverpool analyst Josh Williams has actually suggested that the Ghana international is “the closest you’ll find to peak Mane right now” , and given the terrorising of Premier League defences – including City’s – that the Senegalese winger used to inflict, Pep could do a lot worse than add a new version to his ranks.
Looking at the former Liverpool man during the 2021/22 campaign, leading to a second-place finish at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, in comparison to Semenyo this season, you can perhaps see why such a claim was made, with the Cherries star boasting a completeness that few can claim they have within their locker.
Premier League – Sadio Mane vs Antoine Semenyo
Stats (* per game)
Mane (21/22)
Semenyo (25/26)
Matches (starts)
34 (32)
14 (14)
Goals
16
6
Assists
2
3
Shots (on target)*
2.9 (1.1)
2.4 (1.4)
Big chances missed
13
5
Accurate passes
23.6 (77%)
19.8 (78%)
Chances created*
1.3
1.3
Succ. dribbles*
1.4
1.6
Tackles*
1.0
1.7
Duels won*
4.7
6.5
Data via Sofascore
Both players are combative and dynamic and deadly in the final third, and while Semenyo has the pace and athleticism to rekindle memories of a star like Sane, it is the one-time Liverpool icon, who he bears a more striking tactical likeness.
Two-footed and able to play across both wings, Semenyo is the real deal, and though Bournemouth are struggling for form at this moment in time, he remains a beaming beacon for Andoni Iraola in the final third, having been named the “best winger in the country” by Chris Waddle for his efforts this season.
How City could do with a fleet-footed winger in their mix like Sane right now, someone to contrast with the electric Jeremy Doku.
Semenyo, with all his hustle and bustle, could be the perfect man for the title-chasing task at hand.
Worse than Nunes: Pep must drop Man City star who "doesn't have the legs"
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola should drop this star who was worse than Matheus Nunes against Fulham.
ByDan Emery Dec 3, 2025