da wazamba： O Corinthians vai em busca da primeira vitória na Copa Sul-Americana, nesta quinta-feira (6), às 21h30, no Estádio Nacional do Peru, em Lima, contra o Sport Huancayo, pela terceira rodada do grupo E da competição continental.
O Timão, que perdeu para o Peñarol, em Itaquera, na última semana, estreou empatando sem gols contra o River Plate (PAR), lanterna do campeonato paraguaio, em Assunção.
No entanto, os rojos vem de dois reveses na fase de grupo, ainda que tenha vencido duas vezes, o UTC, também do Peru, na fase prévia da Libertadores.
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da leao： >> Confira a tabela da Sul-Americana e simule os próximos jogos
SPORT HUANCAYO X CORINTHIANS
Local: Estádio Nacional do Peru, Lima (PER) Data e horário: 6 de maio de 2021, às 21h30 (horário de Braília Árbitro: Jhon Ospina (Colômbia) Assistentes: Wilmar Navarro e David Fuentes (Colômbia) Onde acompanhar: Conmebol TV, tempo real do L! e em áudio na parceria LANCE!/Voz do Esporte
SPORT HUANCAYO
Pinto; Carmona, Balta, Valoyes e Benites; Barreto, Valverde, Luluya, Rojas e Velásquez; Liliu. Técnico: Wilmar Valencia
Desfalques: –
Pendurados: –
CORINTHIANS
Cássio; João Victor, Gil e Raul Gustavo; Fagner, Gabriel, Ramiro, Luan, Gustavo Mosquito (Otero) e Lucas Pitón (Fábio Santos); Cauê. Técnico: Vagner Mancini.
Desfalques:Cantillo (lesão no posterior da coxa esquerda); Xavier (entorse no tornozelo esquerdo); Danilo Avelar e Gustavo Mantuan (cirurgia no joelho); Guilherme Biro e Ruan Oliveira (em transição física).
Antonee Robinson logged 90 minutes as Fulham earned three points in a feisty clash with Leicester City.
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Fulham defeat Leicester 2-1
Antonee Robinson has game-winning assist
American off to hot start in 2024
WHAT HAPPENED?
Antonee Robinson's 70th-minute assist to Alex Iwobi secured three points for Fulham Saturday, as earned their first victory of the Premier League season against Leicester City.
A first half opener from Fulham's Emile Smith-Rowe was cancelled out before the halftime break by a Wout Faes header, but the U.S. international's assist to his Nigerian counterpart secured the win on Matchday 2.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
It was Robinson's first assist of the season asthe American put forth a sensational display to help his side secure the result. Over the course of the match, Robinson completed 87 percent of his passes while accumulating 69 touches and slinging six passes into the final-third. Add his assist into the mix, and it was a brilliant attacking display.
Defensively, he was composed as ever. He completed 100 percent of his tackles, going 4/4, and won 50 percent of ground duels at the same time.
DID YOU KNOW?
Robinson had a career year for Fulham in 2023-24, notching six assists across all competitions as their starting left back. As a result, he was named their
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WHAT NEXT FOR FULHAM?
are back in action on Tuesday in the EFL Cup against Birmingham City. They'll look to advance in the competition with a victory against the English League One side.
da 888casino： It's been a decent week for Arsenal in the Premier League. Their draw away to Manchester City and wins at home to Luton Town have kept them within touching distance of league leaders Liverpool.
da lvbet： Mikel Arteta's side will need to win most, if not all, of their remaining games to lift the title this season, but with their goalscoring form since the turn of the year, that's entirely possible.
However, at the start of next term, Gabriel Jesus could find his game time more limited; at least, that looks like it could be the case based on recent reports linking the club to a new number nine who has been compared to Harry Kane in the past.
Latest Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from the Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, Arsenal are among several top fight clubs across Europe interested in signing Bologna's talented striker, Joshua Zirkzee, this summer.
Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee
The report revealed that while AC Milan would likely be the forward's preferred destination, he would not be opposed to moving to the Premier League, with both the Gunners and Manchester United being the most interested English clubs.
Bayern Munich has a buyback clause worth around €40m – £34m – but it appears clear that neither party is interested in making that happen, so the Rossoblu will be able to name their price once the window opens.
Manchester United transfer target Joshua Zirkzee in action in Serie A.
The Italian report claims that Bologna considers Zirkzee's situation similar to Rasmus Hojlund's last summer. So, a price tag of around €75m has been discussed for clubs outside of Italy, which comes to about £64m. While that would be a serious investment from Arsenal, he might just be worth it.
How Zirkzee compares to Jesus
So the first and arguably most important thing to consider with any new potential striker signing is how their output compares to the forward they could replace, and in this case, Zirkzee comes out just ahead.
Zirkzee vs Jesus
Player
Zirkzee
Jesus
Appearances
31
27
Goals
11
8
Assists
6
5
Goal Involvements per Match
0.54
0.48
All Stats via Transfermarkt
In his 31 games this season, the Dutchman has scored 11 goals and provided six assists, meaning he is averaging a goal involvement every 1.8 games. In contrast, Jesus' return of eight goals and five assists in 27 appearances means he averages a goal involvement every two games.
Okay, so what about their underlying numbers, then? Well, here it is a lot closer, and it's actually the Brazilian who just about edges it in the most relevant metrics for a starting number nine.
Zirkzee vs Jesus
Stats per 90
Zirkzee
Jesus
Expected Goals + Assists
0.51
0.63
Goals
0.40
0.30
Assists
0.12
0.22
Progressive Passes
2.69
2.67
Progressive Carries
1.70
2.22
Shots on Target
1.03
1.26
Goals per Shot on Target
0.31
0.24
All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 League Season
For example, the former Manchester City ace produces higher expected goals and assists figure, provides more actual assists, completes more progressive carries, and takes more shots on target per 90.
However, it isn't all that one-sided, as Bologna's "insane athlete", as data analyst Ben Mattinson described him, scores more goals, completes more progressive passes, and has a better conversion rate from his shots on target, all per 90.
Moreover, while it seems from the surface that Jesus is the better creator, Mattinson has argued that it is the ineffective attack of Bologna that is hampering the 6 foot 4 titan's creative numbers and that, in reality, his "his intelligence as a creator & facilitator is out of this world."
The respected analyst has drawn comparisons to former Tottenham Hotspur forward Kane, in that Zirkzee is burdened with the vast majority of the creative work in his current side and if he was placed in a team with goalscoring wingers and midfielders, his "productivity would sky-rocket."
Arsenal could sign the ideal Martinelli upgrade in "on fire" £26m ace
The incredible talent would be the perfect competition for the Brazilian.
ByJack Salveson Holmes Apr 5, 2024
Ultimately, Arsenal have a great forward in Jesus, and he's likely to play some sort of role at the club for a number of years to come, but if they have the opportunity to sign Zirkzee this summer and bring him into a team with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka out wide, they absolutely should.
Having seen the havoc that Kane – who boasts 213 Premier League goals – has wreaked across north London, snapping up a similar figure would be a welcome treat for the Emirates side.
West Ham United have a chequered history in the transfer market but at least, under David Moyes, recruitment has been streamlined, with the progress on the pitch over the past several seasons evidencing this.
Last season's Europa Conference League triumph was clinched when Moyes signing Jarrod Bowen latched onto Moyes signing Lucas Paqueta's delightful threaded pass to score a late winner in the final against Fiorentina, with Said Benrahma (signed by Moyes again) netting an earlier penalty.
West Ham manager David Moyes
The club haven't got it right on every occasion however, and while there is still plenty of time for a player like Flynn Downes to enjoy a prosperous career, it doesn't look like this will happen at the London Stadium.
Why West Ham signed Flynn Downes
West Ham signed Downes from Championship side Swansea City for a £12m fee back in July 2022, with the lifelong Hammers fan impressing in the second tier and earning praise for his “incredible” performances by then Swans manager Russell Martin.
Flynn Downes for West Ham
Martin seemingly never forgot such dynamic displays, with the manager, now leading Southampton, swooping for the player last summer and bringing him to the south coast on a one-year loan deal.
But how did it get to that point, one year on from a joyous arrival at his boyhood club? The London club had tracked Downes since 2020 and saw him as the perfect replacement for the retiring Mark Noble and a progressive move for a multi-faceted midfielder, a typifier of the modern game and the direction West Ham was headed.
“He is the perfect athlete now for football: he’s tall, strong, wiry, quick and exceptionally fit. He fits the profile of what you probably see in top midfielders in the Premier League," said former Ipswich Under-18s coach Alan Lee, speaking to The Athletic.
Last season, however, Downes only started seven times in the Premier League, and while he played a prominent role in the triumphant European conquest, his failure to cement a starting spot pushed him away last summer, in need of game time and with no assurances that he would receive that under Moyes at West Ham.
Flynn Downes' market value in 2024
Now 25 years old, Downes is thriving at Southampton – Martin has hailed him once again as an "aggressive" and "brilliant athlete" – but he wasn't robust or proactive enough in the Premier League, crisp in his distribution with an 89% success rate but averaging only 0.1 key passes, 0.8 tackles, 0.3 interceptions and 1.8 successful duels per game, as per Sofascore.
Sure, he was far more impressive in the Conference League, averaging two tackles per game and succeeding with 60% of his contested duels, but a lack of consistency in the English top-flight precludes hopes of success under a manager like Moyes, who is a proven winner.
Because of this, the £25k-per-week ace is now worth just £3m, according to Football Transfers' valuation model, which takes him below even West Ham utility man Ben Johnson, who is valued at just £3.7m.
Angelo Ogbonna
35
£340,000
Aaron Cresswell
34
£940,000
Lukasz Fabianski
38
£2.7m
Ben Johnson
24
£3.7m
Divin Mubama
19
£3.8m
After an exciting spurt of progress in 2021/22, starting 16 Premier League matches, Johnson has fallen by the wayside somewhat and plays second fiddle to Vladimir Coufal, making just four Premier League starts this season.
Moreover, he has failed to make a single key pass in the league yet and has won 45% of his duels, with his dismal displays leading West Ham to push for his permanent exit, intent on cashing in rather than loaning the 23-year-old out, as has been the case with Downes.
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How Downes is playing at Southampton
In fairness, if Downes' loan move was granted in order to rekindle this form and fluency, it's worked a treat, having started 24 Championship matches so far this season for Southampton's promotion push, completing 94% of his passes, averaging 0.9 key passes, 1.9 tackles, 4.9 successful duels and 5.1 ball recoveries per game – this is a massive difference from his Premier League statistics.
He also ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across divisions similar to the Championship for pass completion, the top 3% for passes attempted and the top 13% for interceptions per 90, as per FBref, highlighting his crispness at the heart of the midfield, with elite technicality allowing him to dictate the flow, control the passages.
But this wasn't realised in the Premier League and it's not the first time a talented player has made the leap from the second tier to find game time and form hard to come by.
That said, the aforementioned Johnson has entered the final few months of his contract but Downes has indeed suffered a depreciation purely because he failed to cement a top spot in the Hammers first-team, also played across different positions (including right wing) in what was bound to disrupt the harmony of his performance.
Southampton midfielder Flynn Downes.
Downes will hope to have a future at West Ham but there is a sense that he could have played his last for the east London outfit already, with The Athletic's Roshane Thomas of the opinion that Saints could fight to keep a hold of the centre-midfielder beyond the 2023/24 campaign.
One thing West Ham will be desperate to avoid is making a big loss on the player, and since he is currently marked at a transfer value 75% lower than the fee paid to secure his services less than two years ago, it might take some fierce negotiating skills to convince Southampton to place an offer totalling in the ballpark of £12m.
Both Downes and Johnson have plenty of years left on the clock and much mileage in the tank, but neither look like achieving their best years in a West Ham shirt.
Leeds United took another step on the road to securing automatic promotion back to the Premier League with a big 3-1 win over Hull City on Monday.
The Whites needed a late penalty from Crysencio Summerville, who took the ball off Joel Piroe to take the spot-kick, and a stoppage time long-ranger from Dan James to secure all three points at Elland Road, after Fabio Carvalho cancelled out Sam Byram's opener.
Ipswich Town are currently one point ahead of the club, in first place, whilst Leicester City are one point behind Daniel Farke's side, with one game in hand on the top two.
Daniel Farke before a game with Leeds United.
Leeds will be looking to avoid the lottery of the play-offs in the post-season and that means that they have to keep churning out results over the next six matches to ensure that they finish in one of the top two places to land automatic promotion to the Premier League, having been relegated from the top-flight last summer.
The Whites reportedly already have allowed some of their focus to shift to the summer transfer window and how they could improve their squad, whether they are in the Championship or the top division.
Leeds interest in Championship star
According to a recent report from the Belfast Telegraph, Leeds are one of a number of clubs interested in a deal to sign Sunderland star Trai Hume at the end of the season.
The outlet claimed that the Whites are considering a swoop to snap up the Northern Ireland international to bolster their options at full-back ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
It named Aston Villa, Bournemouth, and Leicester as the other English teams keeping tabs on his progress at the Stadium of Light, which means that there could be Premier League competition for his signature.
Trai Hume
Reigning Serie A champions Napoli, who were in the Champions League this season, are also said to be weighing up a move for the talented right-back, who has seemingly caught the eye with his performances on the pitch in the Championship this season.
The report did not, however, reveal how much Sunderland would demand for the defender, who they paid £200k for in January 2022, from the interested clubs.
It, therefore, remains to be seen how viable a deal is for Leeds irrespective of the division they are due to be in next season. If the Whites are promoted to the Premier League, though, they could use that to tempt the full-back into making the move to Elland Road.
Farke could now land a big upgrade on current right-back Byram, who is out of contract at the end of this season, by securing a deal for Hume.
Sam Byram's Leeds season in numbers
The German boss brought the Leeds academy graduate back to Yorkshire for a second spell at the club, having also worked with him during their time together at Norwich, on a free transfer from the Canaries last summer.
Byram penned a one-year deal at Elland Road and has been a reliable performer when called upon throughout the season, at both left-back and right-back.
In four years at Norwich, the defender only played 54 matches in all competitions for the Norfolk-based outfit, with various injury issues, but has already racked up 32 appearances for Leeds this term.
Appearances
29
Starts
21
Sofascore rating
7.17
Duel success rate
55%
Tackles per game
1.8
Interceptions per game
1.2
As you can see in the table above, 29 of those games have come in the Championship as the versatile ace has provided Farke with defensive quality on the left and the right flank.
Byram, who scored the opening goal against Hull on Monday by bundling the ball in at the back post, has chipped in with two goals and one assist in those matches, with only one 'big chance' created for his teammates.
Sam Byram
Despite his solid performances in the Championship, his aforementioned injury issues with Norwich and the fact he turns 31 in September mean that it could make sense to shake hands and part ways in the summer.
His contract expires at the end of this season and Hume could be brought in as a natural successor to Byram, whilst being an upgrade on the 30-year-old gem who also has room to improve at the age of 22.
Why Trai Hume would be a Sam Byram upgrade
The Northern Irish whiz has been in fantastic form in the Championship for the Black Cats so far this season, and has outperformed the current Leeds man.
His progressive play on the ball could, firstly, make him a smart addition for Leeds from a stylistic perspective, given Farke's possession-based system.
Hume ranks within the top 16% of full-backs in the division for progressive passes (4.91) per 90, and the top 18% for pass success rate (81.6%), which shows that the 5 foot 11 dynamo looks to play forward to progress play for his side and is efficient at doing so in comparison to his positional peers.
The 22-year-old star, who was once hailed as "outstanding" by journalist Josh Bunting, also has fantastic defensive qualities that could make him a big upgrade on Byram.
Appearances
29
40
Tackles per game
1.8
3.4
Interceptions per game
1.2
1.5
Ball recoveries per game
3.7
5.5
Ground duel success rate
55%
58%
Aerial duel success rate
54%
60%
Red cards
0
1
As you can see in the table below, the Black Cats titan has outperformed the English defender in almost every key defensive metric in the Championship this season.
Hume wins possession back for his team more frequently, through tackles and interceptions, and wins a higher percentage of his duels with opposition attackers, on the ground and in the air, which shows that he is a more effective and efficient defender.
Like Byram, the young enforcer also has the versatility to be deployed at left-back or right-back. This means that the Leeds target could be the perfect signing to replace the former Norwich ace, given that he can operate and provide cover on either side.
Therefore, Farke must push to secure a deal for the talented defender to improve his squad during the summer transfer window, as Hume could offer more quality at the back with his fantastic defensive skills whilst also having room to develop at his young age.
Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi says he did not feel any "pressure" to accept a transfer to Liverpool this summer.
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Zubimendi was a top target for Liverpool
Rejected move to Anfield
Fully committed to Sociedad
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Spanish midfielder says his life is at Real Sociedad after rejecting the chance to move to one of Europe's giants this summer. Liverpool's keen interest in the 25-year-old was knocked back following Zubimendi's impressive performances for Spain at Euro 2024 this summer. After deciding to stay in his homeland, the Sociedad maestro has broken his silence on the Reds' failed attempts to lure him away.
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WHAT ZUBIMENDI SAID
Speaking to Marca, he said: "My friends are clear that whatever I decide will be the best. There is no pressure whatsoever. Real Sociedad for me is my life, I think I have spent half my life there. A lot of what I am is part of La Real, it is my life."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Zubimendi may have decided to stay put for now, but if he performs at the same level as he did last season in La Liga, top teams will come knocking again next summer. The Copa del Rey winner is contracted to Sociedad until 2027, but failure to qualify for Europe will likely prompt the midfielder into another think about his future.
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WHAT NEXT FOR ZUBIMENDI?
Sociedad have not had the best start to the 2024-25 campaign, picking up four points from as many matches. Zubimendi and Co have the tough task of hosting Real Madrid after the international break, but the Spaniard will have his sights set on matches against Serbia and Switzerland in the Nations League first.
Manchester City chiefs are set to pursue a new deal for one of their brightest young stars "as soon as possible" after an update on his future emerged this week.
Man City transfer news
Pep Guardiola's side have really found their groove of late, as they threaten to once again go on an unstoppable run in the Premier League and seal yet another title this season. That has been down to the manager and also so many key players hitting top form, with the return of Kevin De Bruyne huge, and the likes of Phil Foden and Erling Haaland also shining.
City continue to be linked with potential new signings in the summer, as Guardiola further looks to strengthen his squad, with West Ham ace Lucas Paqueta seen as a strong contender to come in, having nearly made the move there last year.
Lucas Paqueta for West Ham.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich is also seen as a potential target for the reigning Premier League champions, should he leave his current club at the end of the season.
Retaining the services of current key men has to be seen as important as new faces arriving, however, and a big update has now emerged regarding the future of one such player.
Man City want new deal for Erling Haaland
According to AS [via Sport Witness], Manchester City want Erling Haaland to sign a new contract at the club, hoping to seal an extension "as soon as possible".
Manchester City forward Erling Haaland.
They will "push to renew" the Norwegian superstar's stay at the Etihad in order to stave off the threat of him joining Real Madrid in the near future, with the La Liga giants' preference for the signing of Kylian Mbappe leading City chiefs to beleive they have "free rein" to secure Haaland long term.
Losing Haaland so soon doesn't bear thinking about for City supporters, considering he is arguably the greatest centre forward in world football at the moment. He has been nothing short of astonishing during his time at the club to date, scoring 73 goals in just 79 appearances.
Guardiola will no doubt be desperate to keep him for as long as possible, with the legendary Spaniard heaping praise on his player earlier this month, saying:
"It is unbelievable how many goals he has scored – so many important goals to help us win games. He is a unique person, as a player but also the person is special. He deserved the guard of honour. It is an incredible milestone. One day maybe he will break his record or someone else will, but they will have to score a lot of goals."
Erling Haaland key career stats
Appearances
Goals
Man City
79
73
Borussia Dortmund
89
86
RB Salzburg
27
29
Norway
29
27
The fact that Mbappe looks Madrid-bound suggests they surely wouldn't be able to afford Haaland as well this summer, acting as a boost to City, but there will always be the worry that the 23-year-old's head could eventually be turned by a move there, as they continue to acquire some of the best players in the world.
Players from England and Australia might join the IPL late after completing their white-ball series in September
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jul-2020The Covid-19 situation means that there is still a bit of uncertainty around non-Indian players travelling to the UAE for the IPL, but if all goes well, David Warner will be back to leading Sunrisers Hyderabad and it won’t be a “redemption tale” for the Australian batsman. But there’s a chance that players from England and Australia, who have a white-ball series scheduled in England in September, will reach the IPL late, accounting for travel and possible quarantine.”From what’s been circulating there are two start dates – around the 18th or 19th September [September 19 is the likely start date], pending quarantine in the UAE. And if we do have to quarantine, I think that allows time for the Australian and English players to get there and start around the 25th or 26th of September,” Warner said in a press interaction on Tuesday. “Unsure and unclear what dates a lot of the IPL franchises are going to gather in the UAE. There’s obviously a few government regulations we have to adhere to as well.”I’m not even sure the borders between Dubai and Abu Dhabi are open as well. The BCCI is working on that background. The other thing as well is to get the Australian and English players from the UK to Dubai. But when you look at it – in the big scheme of things – there’s close to 12 or 14 different countries who have to merge into the UAE. So it’s going to be a difficult process. But I’m sure they are trying to get everything aligned at the moment to make that happen.”As such, when speaking of his own future in the Covid-affected world, Warner mentioned that for some players, it could be “a big family decision” whether to tour or not, and had hinted that some players might even choose to chuck up their international careers rather than deal with long stints away from home.
It’s great to be back and leading, but I’ve always said in that team that everyone is a leader in their own rightWarner on the Sunrisers leadership
The IPL is very much on the cards for Warner, though. He missed the 2018 edition because of his ball-tampering ban, and then played under Kane Williamson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in 2019.”I don’t see it as a redemption tale, I just see it as an honour to captain the Sunrisers,” he said. “I’ve got a great relationship with the players and the staff and most importantly with the owners, and I’ve expressed my gratitude to that and I thank them for that. “I’ll put my thinking cap on and try my best to move us forward to another IPL title [he was captain when Sunrisers won the title in 2016].”When he was back at Sunrisers in 2019, Warner topped the batting chart for the team again, scoring 692 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 143.86, and forged a formidable opening act with Jonny Bairstow, who hit 445 runs at a strike rate of 157.24. And though he wasn’t captain, as far as Warner was concerned, he was very much a leader in the group.”Obviously Kane and Bhvui did a fantastic job without me there. And we’ve got a very, very good foundation there, we’ve got a great family – the environment the owners have created amongst the players and staff,” Warner said. “It’s great to be back and leading, but I’ve always said in that team that everyone is a leader in their own right.”Having Kane there adds so much value and knowledge of the way the game is played as well. Similarly, we rebound off each other with our ideas quite well. And obviously playing against him [Williamson] – it helps when you are leading a team.”But from where I sit, (there’s) nothing different. I still considered myself a leader when I was there last year. It doesn’t matter if you have a ‘C’ next to your name or not, you’re a leader in your own right.”
Coach urges players to guard against complacency as Windies target rare overseas series win
Andrew Miller14-Jul-2020
Jason Holder and John Campbell celebrate victory•AFP via Getty Images
Phil Simmons, West Indies’ coach, has challenged his players to consign the events of the first Test at the Ageas Bowl to “history”, as they look to guard against complacency and close out their first overseas series win against a leading Test nation in more than a quarter of a century.Speaking after his team’s return to Emirates Old Trafford ahead of Thursday’s Test, Simmons praised the resolve of his players in Sunday’s four-wicket win in Southampton – in particular Jermaine Blackwood for his decisive 95 on the final day of the contest, and Shannon Gabriel, whose haul of nine wickets across the two innings demonstrated his return to full fitness following ankle surgery.The result means that West Indies have now won four of last six Tests against England – dating back to their famous run-chase at Headingley in 2017, and encompassing their 2-1 series win in the Caribbean in early 2019. However, they have not won a series in England since 1988, and Simmons acknowledged that it would be their duty to start from scratch in the coming days.”For me it was a great win because I think that it signified a lot of hard work being done by the players over the last four or five weeks,” he said. “But you don’t come to England and just win a Test match. It was a top-class Test match, with good cricket played by both teams, and even coming down to the last hour, it could have gone either way.”To come out on top. It’s been great for us, and it was important because you don’t want to have to chase England in England. So the chasing is from their point of view now. But you guard against complacency by just trying to do the same things you did before the first Test. Right now that Test match is history. We’ve got to be thinking about what we do from Thursday to Monday.”West Indies successfully backed up their first-Test victory in Barbados last year with an equally impressive win in Antigua, but the challenge of replicating that form in an overseas campaign is rather harder.Leaving aside their tours of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they have only taken the lead in the first Test of an away series on three occasions since 1995. In that year’s tour of England, they were pegged back to a 2-2 draw after a crushing win at Headingley, and were then overturned 3-1 on their next visit to England in 2000, and 2-1 in South Africa in 2007-08.ALSO READ: ‘When he crosses the line he gives his all’ – Holder on BlackwoodHowever, the circumstances of the current England tour are different in a number of key respects – firstly, the absence of a home crowd, which England arguably noticed during a flat day in the field in West Indies’ first innings, but perhaps more significantly, the extended preparation period, which may have been forced on the tourists by the Covid-19 outbreak, but which Simmons said harked back to his own playing days in the 1980s and 1990s.”I think that has been the biggest influence on the performance,” he said. “I think the fact that we’ve been here for that period of time, we’ve had quality bowling in the nets because we’ve had nearly 11 seamers here, you can’t put a price on that.”I think that’s something that we have to look at. I don’t like to go back into my [playing] days, but we would come to England and play something like three or four proper warm-up games before the first Test, and we would also have three-day or four-day games in between the Test matches. So I think that period of training goes a long way to how we performed in that first Test.”One of the key beneficiaries of the lead-up time was Gabriel, who had not originally been named in West Indies’ first-choice 14, but was added to the squad after proving his fitness in both the nets and the intra-squad contests at Old Trafford. His hostility in both England innings echoed his crucial contributions to the win in the Caribbean last year, and Simmons took particular pleasure in his two-wicket burst on the pivotal fourth evening of the match.”The hardest time for bowlers, after bowling from the morning, is that last session,” Simmons said. “To see him and Alzarri [Joseph] come up trumps in that session is so pleasing to us. With him coming back from that ankle surgery and working as hard he has worked since we’ve been here, it was a joy to see him successful in that period.”Blackwood also proved his mettle, and not for the first time against England, against whom he now averages 55.00 in seven Tests. He withstood intense pressure on the final day – both from the scoreboard, which read 27 for 3 with John Campbell retired hurt, and from England’s fielders, with Ben Stokes in his ear from the outset as they attempted to goad him into a rush of blood.”I think he must be commended because he has worked very hard on trying to get that temperament right for each part of his innings,” Simmons said. “As we saw in the first innings, it was still there a bit, but in the second he controlled it a lot better. And that helped him to bring home the game for us.”Blackwood himself conceded that England’s words were “nothing bad, just cricket” and Simmons accepted that it was all part and parcel of the Test match battle.”It’s what I would have done too,” he said. “Try to get him irrational, but I think he held his own. He looked at the situation and played it as well as he could have. So that shows that his mindset is improving, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Wrexham stars James McClean and George Evans are among those to have embraced an entirely different ball game during the club’s tour of North America.
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Red Dragons back in the United StatesPreparing for friendly clash with ChelseaSquad relaxing & unwinding off the pitchGetty/GOALWHAT HAPPENED?
The Red Dragons have crossed the Atlantic for the second time in as many years. Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continue to spread the word of Wrexham a long way outside of North Wales – with an award-winning documentary series aiding that cause.
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Phil Parkinson’s side have already faced Premier League side Bournemouth in California and have another outing against Chelsea to come while on the west coast before heading north to Reynolds’ home town for a clash with MLS side the Vancouver Whitecaps.
DID YOU KNOW?
Before bidding farewell to Los Angeles, McClean and Co have taken in a trip to watch the Dodgers in MLB action. They saw the LA-based outfit run out 9-6 winners against the Boston Red Sox franchise that is run by Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group.
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WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?
With every opportunity being taken to let their hair down – which is being encouraged by Parkinson and the Wrexham board – further efforts are being made to get more transfer business done before the 2024-25 League One campaign gets underway.