Tag: English Premier League

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EVERTON RECEIVE TRIPLE FITNESS BOOST AHEAD MERSEYSIDE DERBY.

Everton have received a huge fitness boost ahead of the Merseyside derby with news that Seamus Coleman, Allan and Andre Gomes are ready to face Liverpool.

But the Toffees face a nervous wait on centre-back Yerry Mina who missed Colombia’s draw with Chile due to a thigh injury.

Mina will be assessed on his return to the club’s Finch Farm training base before boss Carlo Ancelotti makes a decision on his team for the weekend.

Coleman was forced off in Everton’s win over Brighton before the international break with a hamstring injury while Allan and Andre Gomes missed the 4-2 victory.

Ancelotti said: “Andre Gomes is available for Saturday, no problem.

“Allan started to train with the team this week. If nothing happens in the next few days he will be available to play against Liverpool.

I think Seamus is going to be good, too, because he started to train with us on Monday.”

Everton may face a worry at centre-back if Mina is not fit with Mason Holgate and Jarrad Branthwaite still not ready to return.

Ancelotti said: “Holgate and Branthwaite are working individually. Branthwaite is closer to returning.

“They have no problems [in their recovery programmes] but we have to wait a little bit.”

The Toffees did bring in Ben Godfrey from Norwich just before the transfer window shut but he has yet to train with his new team-mates as he has been on international duty with England Under-21s.

But he could make his debut against Liverpool on Saturday.

Ancelotti added: “Godfrey is a a really talented player.

“He is really fast, very quick. He has different characteristics from the centre-backs we have in this moment.

He is a complete defender, fast, good with his head and good with the ball. He has all the quality to be a really good centre-back.

“He has experience in the Premier League. He was really happy to come here.

“I think he will be a good signing, not only for the present because I think he is ready to play in the Premier League, but also for the future of the club.

“If he is fit, he is going to be in competition with the others [for the game against Liverpool].”

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WE ARE STILL FAR BEHIND; LA LIGA PRESIDENT SAYS PREMIER LEAGUE STILL THE COMPETITION TO BEAT.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has conceded that the Premier League is still the No. 1 competition despite the growth of the Spanish league under his seven-year stewardship.

Tebas highlighted some of La Liga’s successes but also cited areas where English football has more economic power.

“We have expanded even to Mongolia and Greenland, it is a symbolic fact not so much an economic one as the revenues from there are minimal, but in short, since June, La Liga can be seen everywhere in the world,” Tebas said in an interview.

“Our next aim is that we want to beat the Premier [League]. We have La Liga offices all over the world, hundreds of people working with us. It is important to be present in the most populated and rich countries to promote, to try to expand, to find local sponsors that will help us grow economically.”

The economic gap between La Liga and the Premier League has narrowed since Tebas took the helm of the Spanish football league in 2013.

“In seven years we have multiplied La Liga’s worth,” Tebas said. “[Our] revenues from domestic TV rights have grown from €236 million, when I arrived in 2013, to almost €800m. The international ones have increased from €550m to almost €1.2 billion.

“We have a 40 [officially 46] million population, we don’t have the public that Great Britain has which is almost 70m. This counts when it comes to domestic TV rights. And then, for example, we still have to work on foreign markets, such as Asia, where we are growing but there is still a lot to do compared to the Premier [League].”

Tebas has faced resistance from Spain’s Football Federation and FIFA in his attempts to stage La Liga games in the United States.

La Liga signed a 15-year marketing agreement with Relevent Sports in order to promote the sport in North America and expand its brand.

Meanwhile, Tebas is hopeful that Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will continue playing in Spain beyond June 2021, when his contract expires.

Messi, 33, had wanted to leave Barca in August after growing increasingly unhappy at how the club was being managed but was forced to make a U-turn when the Catalan giants demanded his €700m release clause.

“Messi? I hope he will always stay in La Liga,” Tebas added. “I don’t know if from a personal standpoint he is better off leaving, certainly on the professional side he could earn even more, but considering how well he feels in Barcelona.”

La Liga lost Cristiano Ronaldo two years ago when the Portugal forward left Real Madrid to sign for Juventus in a €100m transfer while in the summer of 2017, Neymar left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain in a world record €222m transfer.

“Cristiano Ronaldo left two years ago but we didn’t notice from an economic point of view,” Tebas said. “And we have always been preparing for the release of our best talents, for the generational change.

“It has already happened with Neymar and with Cristiano. We have signed contracts already for the next four years and no one has complained if Ney or Ronaldo left, they didn’t ask for their money back.

“On the contrary, we have grown in the sale of rights. Because there are other factors that matter, besides the names of the players. We have such stability that we continue calmly on our path”.

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UK GOVERNMENT SLAM LIVERPOOL AND UNITED’S “PROJECT BIG PICTURE”

The United Kingdom government has strongly criticised plans reportedly driven by Manchester United and Liverpool to overhaul the Premier League and English club football.

A report on Sunday by The Telegraph detailed a set of proposals called “Project Big Picture”, which would cut the number of teams in the Premier League from 20 to 18 and abolish the competition’s one-club, one-vote principle – handing greater power to the nine longest-serving teams in the division.

That number includes all of the so-called “big six”, who would have effective veto power on a range of issues, including potential new owners taking control of a rival club.

The plans also focus upon supporting the wider league system amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with a £250million rescue package to be allocated to the English Football League (EFL) and a £100m gift to the Football Association.

EFL chairman Rick Parry – the former Liverpool chief executive and a key figure in the Premier League’s breakaway from the Football League in 1992 – has publicly backed the plans, which would see 25 per cent of the Premier League’s annual revenue diverted to the EFL and lead to the EFL Cup and Community Shield being scrapped.

However, the Department for Media, Culture and Sport joined the Premier League itself in condemning the mooted changes, decrying Liverpool and United’s alleged involvement in “backroom deals”.

“We are surprised and disappointed that, at a time of crisis when we have urged the top tiers of professional football to come together and finalise a deal to help lower league clubs, there appear to be backroom deals being cooked up that would create a closed shop at the very top of the game,” a statement read.

“Sustainability, integrity and fair competition are absolutely paramount and anything that may undermine them is deeply troubling.

“Fans must be [at the] front of all our minds and this shows why our fan-led review of football governance will be so critical.”

The Premier League, which has come in for criticism over recent days after the announcement of a pay-per-view television model to run while fans are not allowed into stadiums, urged its members to contribute to ongoing restructuring talks “through the proper channels”.

“English football is the world’s most watched, and has a vibrant, dynamic and competitive league structure that drives interest around the globe,” its statement read.

“To maintain this position, it is important that we all work together.

“In the Premier League’s view, a number of the individual proposals in the plan published today could have a damaging impact on the whole game and we are disappointed to see that Rick Parry, Chair of the EFL, has given his on-the-record support.

“The Premier League has been working in good faith with its clubs and the EFL to seek a resolution to the requirement for COVID-19 rescue funding.”

In a statement published on the EFL’s official website, Parry confirmed talks around Project Big Picture had been ongoing for some time but insisted the financial pressures of the COVID-19 crisis had sharpened the need for transformative action.

“Now is the time to address both the long-term health of the game and the most challenging short-term crisis it has ever faced,” Parry said.

“Project Big Picture provides a new beginning which will revitalise the football pyramid at all levels. This new beginning will reinvigorate clubs in the lower leagues and the communities in which they are based.

“The whole of English football has been negatively impacted by this pandemic and the English football pyramid as a whole is only as healthy as those at its base.

“Through this proposed restructuring we aim to strengthen those who need it most at a time when they need it most. This is about building on what is good and making the most of what works well in order to benefit the game as a whole, while simultaneously tackling those issues which trouble all of us.

“This is a blueprint for the future of English football and for everyone who cherishes it.

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MAN UNITED, LIVERPOOL BACK PREMIER LEAGUE OVERHAUL PROJECT.

Manchester United and Liverpool are backing a radical plan to overhaul English football, led by the English Football League, which would see control over the Premier League switch to the top teams, sources have confirmed.

The plan has been called “Project Big Picture” and would see an overhaul of the finances of the Premier League and the EFL.

Proposed by the EFL and its chairman, Rick Parry, the plans include reducing the Premier League to 18 teams, giving controlling power to the nine clubs who have been in the league the longest, and abolishing the League Cup and the Community Shield.

The Premier League has been governed by the one-club, one-vote rule but if this change is accepted power would shift to the big six of United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea as well as Everton, Southampton and West Ham. Changes would need the votes of just six of these clubs to be brought in.

“It is definitely going to be challenging and it is an enormous change, so that won’t be without some pain,” Parry told news men.

“Do I genuinely think it’s for the greater good of the game as a whole? Absolutely. And if the [big] six are deriving some benefit then why shouldn’t they. Why wouldn’t they put their names to this otherwise?”

In return for accepting the proposals, the Premier League would give 25% of its annual revenue to EFL clubs as well as gifting £250 million to the league to sure up clubs during the pandemic and a further £100m to the Football Association.

With the reduction of places in the Premier League, there would be two automatic promotion places for Championship clubs and then the third, fourth and fifth-placed clubs would compete in a play-off tournament with the 16th-placed Premier League club.

A Premier League statement, however, rebuked the plan and said it was important for all sides to work together.

“Both the Premier League and the FA support a wide-ranging discussion on the future of the game, including its competition structures, calendar and overall financing particularly in light of the effects of COVID-19,” the statement said. Football has many stakeholders, therefore this work should be carried out through the proper channels enabling all clubs and stakeholders the opportunity to contribute.

“In the Premier League’s view, a number of the individual proposals in the plan published today could have a damaging impact on the whole game and we are disappointed to see that Rick Parry, Chair of the EFL, has given his on-the-record support. The Premier League has been working in good faith with its clubs and the EFL to seek a resolution to the requirement for COVID-19 rescue funding. This work will continue.”

A conversation around these proposals began as early as 2017 but has been accelerated in recent months as the coronavirus pandemic has continued to affect clubs up and down the English football system.

“What do we do? Leave it exactly as it is and allow the smaller clubs to wither? Or do we do something about it? And you can’t do something about it without something changing. And the view of our clubs is if the [big] six get some benefits but the 72 also do, we are up for it,” Parry said.

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PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES TO BE SHOWN ON A PAY PER VIEW BASIS.

Premier League matches in October which have not already been selected for live coverage will be available to watch on a pay-per-view basis, the league announced on Friday, reports Luke Brown.

The interim measure was confirmed after a meeting between Premier League clubs. Individual games will be available for £14.95 via the BT Sport Box Office or Sky Sports Box Office platforms.

Since the restart of the 2019-20 season in June, every match in the Premier League has been made available via Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime or free-to-air coverage on the BBC.

That continued into the new campaign. However, that model was never likely to last in perpetuity, with the Premier League essentially giving away a significant part of its product for free.

In a statement published on Friday, the Premier League announced its “interim broadcast” plan, which confirmed all fixtures until the end of October “will continue to be made available to fans”.

However, these matches will come at an additional cost.

Instead, “the five matches per round not already selected will be made available to supporters on a pay-per-view basis, accessed via BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office platforms”.

The Premier League statement does not say how much the matches will be made available for.

However, The Athletic understands that matches will be made available on PPV for £14.95 per game.

Premier League clubs will receive the PPV profits, after production costs

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ANCELOTTI, CALVERT LEWIN BAG SEPTEMBER PREMIER LEAGUE AWARDS.

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti was named Premier League Manager of the Month for September and said their strong start to the season can be the ideal launch pad to push for a European spot.

Ancelotti’s side have set the early pace in the top flight with wins over Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace last month, before they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday to maintain their perfect start.

“The key was the first match at Tottenham. That victory increased our confidence. We worked well in the transfer market. We signed players we need… they’ve adapted really fast,” the Italian coach said in a Premier League statement here.

“Our target is to reach Europe next season and to stay at the top for as long as possible… We’ve started really well and we hope to continue it and to win this award again.”

It is the fifth time the 61-year-old has claimed the prize, with his four previous awards coming during his time at Chelsea.

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 23, won the Player of the Month prize for September, marking the first time the Merseyside club have claimed both awards since Phil Jagielka and manager David Moyes did so in February 2009.

Calvert-Lewin, who scored on his England debut in Thursday’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wemmbley, netted five league goals last month and was also on the scoresheet versus Brighton.

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SPURS DEFEAT MY WORST DAY AT UNITED – OGS

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur was his worst-ever day at the club before condemning Spurs forward Erik Lamela for his contribution to Anthony Martial’s first-half sending off.

United have now lost both home games in the Premier League this season, conceding nine goals in the process, after being humiliated by Jose Mourinho’s Spurs.

And United manager Solskjaer who played at Old Trafford from 1996 to 2007 and has been manager since 2018, said he has not endured a worse day during his time with the club.

It’s a horrible feeling, the worst day I’ve had as a Manchester United manager and player,” Solskjaer said. “You don’t win games of football by making individual mistakes, errors, making a performance like that.

“It’s alarming, nowhere near good enough. I hold my hand up. It’s my decision to pick the team and as a squad it’s not good enough for Manchester United.

“When you have a defeat like this, which has happened at the club before, you’ve just got to look yourself in the mirror.”

United were already 2-1 behind when Martial was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor on 29 minutes for slapping Lamela while defending a corner.

Lamela’s reaction prompted ridicule from Solskjaer.

“This is like a very two-edged sword for me,” Solskjaer said. “Anthony, well done for not going down when the lad struck you in the throat, but then you shouldn’t react to it like that with a slap in his throat.

“If you do that there’s always a chance they are going to send you off, but come on, if that was my son I’d put him in the attic for two weeks without food. You don’t go down like that, at all. It’s an absolute joke.

“If that was one of my players I would absolutely hang him up to dry because you don’t go down like that.”

United defender Luke Shaw suggested he and his teammates gave up following Martial’s red card.

“It was a lack of concentration and then a mistake, another mistake, another mistake,” he said. “We switched off. It really hurts.

“Manchester United shouldn’t lose in this manner. It really hurts, it’s embarrassing and we’ve let a lot of people down. We’ve let ourselves down and the staff down. We need to look in the mirror, we are nowhere near it at the moment. Maybe it’s lucky that we’ve got a break now.

“When we went down to 10 men maybe we gave up, there wasn’t that character on the pitch. We were too quiet and naive. There was many mistakes, we need to do more. “It’s embarrassing. I was embarrassed on the pitch. We need a long hard look at ourselves.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho showed no sympathy to his former club over the red card, adding: “I didn’t watch it. Maybe later I will. If someone can cry about the VAR decisions it is Tottenham and if someone cannot cry about VAR it is Manchester United for sure.

“I don’t know, the only thing I know is we played extremely well. I told my players that a good result here would be to win and we did that.”

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WE LOST THE PLOT AT VILLA PARK – KLOPP

Stunned Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side did “all the things you should not do in a football match” as they “lost the plot” to play into Aston Villa’s hands in their 7-2 humbling at Villa Park in the Premier League on Sunday.

Following on from Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool added to a remarkable day as they became the first reigning English top-flight champions to ship seven goals in a league match since Arsenal in 1953.

Ollie Watkins’ first-half hat trick set Villa en route to an astonishing victory, as Liverpool slipped to a first defeat of the season thanks to a woeful showing at the back in the Midlands.

“We played into their hands, with all the goals,” Klopp said. “Then the game has a specific direction.

“We had still good moments, but our good moments lead to nothing, other than Mo’s [Mohamed Salah] two goals.

“All their good moments lead to a big chance or goals, and that makes all the difference. All the things you should not do in a football match we did tonight, but all credit to Aston Vila, as they forced us to do those things.

“The first goal had an impact but it shouldn’t. We conceded goals like that in the past, but the reaction wasn’t good, and we lost the plot.”

A combination of missed chances and poor defending were largely to blame for the loss, according to Klopp, who said he wished the team had a training session on Monday to address the issues.

“It was unexpected but it happened tonight,” Klopp said. “For me it wasn’t a specific moment, we put all our rubbish things and mistakes in one game and hopefully we can start again.

“Tonight wasn’t sloppy, it was just bad. I have to admit that but I can’t change it. I would love to have a training session tomorrow and Tuesday and to talk about it, but the boys go back off to international duty. Hopefully they come back healthy and we use the two days to prepare for Everton.”

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith hailed the effort from his side, as they made it three wins from three in extraordinary fashion, to move up to second in the table, ahead of Liverpool in fifth.

“It was just sheer hard work and effort,” Smith said. “The work ethic, when Jurgen Klopp says ‘wow’ to you you know you’ve done something right. The lads were superb, they executed the game plan perfectly. We were at our best today.

“It’s a good start, an exceptional result and a really good start. We won’t get complacent but we’ll enjoy tonight because results like that don’t come around too often. We’ve got a lot of pride and confidence going into the international break.”

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KANE, SON STARS AS SPURS PUT SIX PAST TEN-MAN UNITED.

Son Heung-min and Harry Kane both scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a remarkable 6-1 victory against 10-man Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Spurs had to come from behind as Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes rolled in a second-minute penalty after Anthony Martial was fouled by Davinson Sanchez.

Tanguy Ndombele equalised from close range two minutes later, before quick thinking by Kane allowed Son, who started after recovering from a hamstring injury last weekend, to apply a sublime finish on seven minutes.

On 28 minutes, Martial was sent off for an altercation with Erik Lamela, before Kane fired in from Son’s pass on the half-hour.

Son turned in his second, and Spurs’ fourth, eight minutes before the break.

Six minutes after half-time, Serge Aurier drilled in a fifth.

Kane converted Spurs’ sixth goal from the penalty spot on 79 minutes after Paul Pogba fouled Ben Davies.

Spurs move up to fifth place on seven points, while Man Utd are 16th on three points.

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PEPE, SAKA HELP MOVE ARSENAL TO FOURTH POSITION WITH WIN OVER THE BLADES

Quickfire second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe earned Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United at Emirates Stadium.

The best moment of a quiet first half came on 37 minutes, when Aaron Ramsdale spectacularly saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s long-range shot.

The introduction of Pepe as a 58th-minute substitute provided the spark that Arsenal needed.

He released Hector Bellerin down the right and the defender crossed for Saka, who celebrated his England call-up this week with a headed goal on 61 minutes.

Less than three minutes later Pepe scored himself with a superb solo run and finish to cap off a 19-pass move.

Sheff Utd were given hope when David McGoldrick curled in their first goal of the season with six minutes left, but Arsenal held on for a win that lifts them up to fourth on nine points.

The Blades remain without a point and are second from bottom.