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Jamie Jackson
Carrick produces a masterclass in dialling down emotion before a tricky trip to Leeds
Michael Carrick returned his most impressive performance precisely when required as he took questions in the midst of the first crisis engulfing him as Manchester United’s manager.
His team are bombing in the league after the club’s poorest start since 1986 and out of the Carabao Cup, and after Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid Lisandro Martínez showed up ruptures at United by calling out the director of football, Jason Wilcox.
All of this two months into a first full campaign piloting United after last term ended so rosily for the former United midfielder.
On the final day of last season, United won 3-0 at Brighton and Carrick secured an impressive third-place finish, 48 hours after agreeing a two-year deal to continue as head coach.
By last Saturday, United had six points from the first six games after drawing 1-1 with Tottenham at Old Trafford, placing Carrick’s job in jeopardy as the walls closed in on him a fortnight before the clocks go back.
Read Jamie Jackson’s full analysis of the latest drama at United here:
There is only one fixture in the WSL today, that’s 12.45pm BST kick-off at the Emirates between Arsenal and Birminham. It’s been a slow start to the season for the Gunners, who are currently 10th in the table, and only a few spots above the Blues. There was a further blow for Arsenal this week with the news that key midfielder Mariona Caldentey would miss about two months of action because of a hamstring injury. Why are Renée Slegers struggling? If you have any thoughts on that or anything else WSL-related drop me an email via the link at the top of the page.
Leeds’ Farke jumps to defence of under-fire Carrick
Daniel Farke has jumped to the defence of Michael Carrick, claiming the under-fire Manchester United boss has done “an amazing job”.
Carrick delivered Champions League football via a third-placed finish last season after replacing Ruben Amorim on an interim basis in January and was rewarded in May with a permanent two-year contract. However, the former Middlesbrough manager has come under mounting pressure following United’s poor start to the season and Farke said it is undeserved.
The German, whose side face the Reds at Elland Road on Sunday, said: “We don’t have too many young British managers in the Premier League, and right now we have someone, a really promising young manager, who has done for me an excellent job at Middlesbrough, and he came in (at United) last season.
“[He] has helped a lot to stabilise the club, more or less like to steady the ship, and has done amazing job and right now, after six gamedays … the criticism starts already. I don’t like it. If we have young, promising managers, come on, let’s look after them a bit, especially if they have a British passport.”
Farke, who jokingly described himself as “half-British”, added: “When you keep in mind what he has done for the club for many years as a player, what he has done last season, where many people would have been hesitant … he has done a tremendous job.
“I like it when young British managers come through and for that, I don’t see why there’s so much negativity. I think we should be happy that we have someone with so much potential and don’t question them too early.” Press Association
James McClean speaks to Donald McRae
The perception of me is that, basically, I am a madman. I’m outspoken. I’m a loudmouth. I’m very opinionated and I hate all things British. That’s from people who don’t know me. The reality is quite the opposite. I’m pretty boring. I go training, go home and switch off. A lot of my days are quite bland, quite basic.
The former Republic of Ireland international has been speaking to Donald McRae about on growing up in a community still reeling from the Troubles and the controversy that scarred his career:
Burnley 1-2 Wolves: Wolves extend Burnley’s home woes to a full year as Vardy strikes in vain
There was some Friday night domestic action, in what would have been a Premier League fixture last season, as Wolves came from 1-0 down to beat Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor. Jamie Vardy got his first goal of the season to open the scoring for the Clarets, but Fernando Lopez and Tawanda Chirewa saw Wolves secure the three points that took them up into the playoff places.
Full report here:
Speaking ahead of the 12.30pm kick-off on Merseyside, Xabi Alonso has been speaking about the need for his porous defence to tighten up. Chelsea have shipped 13 goals already this season, more than double what their opponents Everton have let in.
Alonso is also dealing with the absence of Reece James for three months after the defender underwent knee surgery after picking up an injury in training. In the absence of his captain, Alonso is determined to build on Chelsea’s strong display in 5-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend at the Hill Dickinson against Everton.
“You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,” he said. “But you [also] need to score a lot of goals. So it’s about being strong in defence, being good in attack and we are in that process. We are still early days; to do a very deep analysis, it’s too early. We can maybe talk in February. Those tweaks … they need to come naturally and we are not in that moment yet.
“The obsession is to win and to compete in the best possible way. The clean sheets will come, I’m pretty sure of that, because we want to play with good balance and good control.”
Meanwhile David Moyes believes Jordan Pickford will relish the challenge to his England place from James Trafford and remains the nation’s undisputed No 1 goalkeeper.
Pickford and Trafford shared goalkeeping duties during the recent four-game international break as part of an arranged plan by manager Thomas Tuchel. The 24-year-old Leeds player is considered the biggest threat to emerge to Pickford’s long-held position with the national team but Moyes insists the Everton keeper has been sharper than ever this season.
“When Jordan came back from the World Cup, it might be the best I have ever seen him,” the Everton manager said. “He was lean, he was sharp, his footwork was brilliant, he was fast across the goal and if you look at some of the saves he has made between now and then he has made a couple of brilliant, brilliant saves.
“I spoke to him when he came back and said: ‘You know you have a bit of competition now with Trafford, how are you going to deal with it?’ I don’t see Jordan falling away at the moment. I think if it really mattered to England then Jordan would still be the one who was there because he makes saves. He did that in the Argentina game. He has that experience and he is not ageing.”
Check out the talk, for more from the Premier League managers ahead of the weekend fixtures:
Looking to the Championship a few games stand out, we have early leaders Swansea welcoming West Ham to south Wales and third plays fourth as Birmingham City take on QPR at St Andrew’s.
Good morning, another Premier League weekend is upon us, kicking off with an intriguing fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium between Everton and Chelsea.
Here’s a quick glance at today’s top-flight fixtures:
Everton v Chelsea (12.30pm BST)
Brentford v Liverpool (3pm BST)
Fulham v Hull City (3pm BST)
Manchester City v Ipswich (3pm BST)
Newcastle v Aston Villa (5.30pm BST)
Preamble
Tom will be here shortly on what promises to be another lively day in the Premier League and beyond. In the meantime, here is Barney Ronay’s column on … the former Crystal Palace chair’s rage in the age of the algorithm constantly churning.
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