13 h. ago Time is not on Tuchel’s side to raise England’s tempo before the World Cup | Jacob Steinberg

New head coach must find a way to focus Jude Bellingham and bring Premier League style to international stageThomas Tuchel does not have time on his side after opting not to oversee England’s Nations League games in November. He has looked to hit the ground running, just as he did when he won the Champions League four months after joining Chelsea, but building rhythm in international football is not easy. The players are not around for long and some games drift into irrelevance. Tuchel has started with two straightforward wins but neither set the pulse racing. The awkward reality is that qualification lacks jeopardy these days. Continue reading...

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16 h. ago Harry Maguire’s England absence due to form rather than injury, admits Tuchel

Guéhi and Konsa are ‘in a better rhythm’, claims coachManchester United playing a back three also a factorHarry Maguire was omitted from the England squad primarily on the grounds of form, Thomas Tuchel has said. It had been assumed the Manchester United defender was not involved for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia because of injury.Maguire has not played since 2 March because of a calf problem and Tuchel said the fitness of the player had been a factor. But the head coach made plain that he considered Maguire to be behind Ezri Konsa and Marc Guéhi in the pecking order for right-footed centre-halves. Continue reading...

Events

20 h. ago RSV jab slashes hospital admissions by 30% for older people, data suggests

NHS England started rolling out the vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus a little over six months ago.

Events

20 h. ago Simon Easterby and Richard Wigglesworth set for Lions coaching roles

Head coach Andy Farrell will name his assistants for the tour of Australia on Wednesday.

Politics

23 h. ago David Squires on Thomas Tuchel adapting to life in the impossible job

Our cartoonist on the German’s winning start and the scrutiny that comes with being England’s new head coach Buy a copy of a Squires cartoon in our Print ShopDavid’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now Continue reading...

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33 h. ago Harry Kane hails Thomas Tuchel's instant impact as England head coach's reign begins with two wins

Harry Kane has promised there is more to come from England under Thomas Tuchel after the German made it two wins from two at Wembley to kick off his reign as boss. 

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35 h. ago Tuchel still searches for England’s conductor as Bellingham boils over | Jacob Steinberg

Substitution of Real Madrid star against Latvia shows head coach does not prioritise individuals over the teamEveryone wants to have the ball when Latvia come to town. Everyone fancies the chance to take an extra touch. Everyone wants to be the star. Nobody seems to realise that slowing the play down is exactly what Latvia want as they settle into their rearguard action and focus on little more than keeping England out.It is a familiar problem for England. Thomas Tuchel has spoken about playing with intensity, about tapping into the aggression of the Premier League, about his team imposing their will on opponents. The challenge did not lie in defeating Latvia, but rather in how victory was achieved. Standards had to go up after a solid but unremarkable opening World Cup qualifying win against Albania. Tuchel is demanding. Tuchel will ask for more. Tuchel will not shy away from trying to rein in Jude Bellingham when the midfielder allows the unfocused, petulant version of himself to ...

Politics

36 h. ago 'I'm not daft': Scotland veteran opens up on Steve Clarke support and addresses international future

The Scotland centre-back has thrown his full backing behind head coach Steve Clarke after Sunday’s loss to Greece.

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41 h. ago With a charged win over US, Canada proved they’re a complete squad

Despite losing their best player to injury and their head coach to a red card, Canada hardly lost a step as they beat their northern neighbors on their own turfAmerican positives from a particularly sobering Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium were in desperately short supply. To be fair, Americans in general had been in short supply there last week, with the abject turnout for both of the host nation’s two games.One bright spot for the Americans, however, was that Jesse Marsch had been silenced. A second-half red card meant the Canada coach was barred from talking post-match. The dismissal came after an almighty touchline meltdown that spilled on to the playing area as he roared at referee Katia Itzel García after back-to-back penalty appeals. Cameras trailed him through stadium gangways and tunnels as he raged on. ‘Marsch madness’ headlines were a layup. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago Coronation Street Mick Michaelis star quits soap just weeks after making history

Coronation Street actor Joe Layton is reportedly leaving his role as Mick Michaelis, having joined the ITV soap just a few weeks ago as the new possible villain

Politics

46 h. ago Man Utd plan for TEN senior stars to leave as Ruben Amorim plots massive overhaul

Manchester United have endured an awful season under Ruben Amorim and the Portuguese head coach is targeting a huge change within the Red Devils dressing room ahead of the new season

Politics

60 h. ago ‘Be ruthless with each other’: Tuchel’s method to get best out of England

Tactics-obsessed head coach wants his players to feel free to criticise anyone not doing their job properlyThomas Tuchel loves to talk tactics with an obsessive attention to detail, taking in the tiny tweaks, the dizzying range of possibilities. The England head coach started with a 4-2-3-1 system in his first game against Albania on Friday, playing Curtis Jones alongside Declan Rice in midfield, partly because he was conscious of the threat of the opposing No 8s. He did not want Rice to be outnumbered against the ball.Tuchel, who is looking ahead to the meeting with Latvia on Monday night, thinks it would be possible for his England to play a 4-1-4-1 with “five very offensive players and more or less Dec as a holding midfielder”, although he wonders whether this would provide enough control in midfield. Would it be too open? He mentioned using a “3-2, with three No 10s and two No 6s” – in other words, a different version of 4‑2‑3‑1, allowing him t...

Politics

60 h. ago Thomas Tuchel warns he will not rotate England team to benefit clubs

Head coach wants to ‘raise standards’ against LatviaTuchel says he ‘won’t take any unprofessional risks’Thomas Tuchel will risk the wrath of club managers by starting their players twice in the space of four days during the international break.England’s new head coach is focused on raising standards before the World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Monday night and he believes it would send out the wrong signal if he rotates for the sake of it, even with the domestic season reaching a defining stage. Continue reading...

Events

64 h. ago England overpower Italy in winning start to Women’s Six Nations campaign

England 38-5 ItalyFive first-half tries give Red Roses well-deserved victoryNo one expected it to be easy for Italy. No one expected it to be anything other than straightforward for England. The Red Roses achieved an overwhelming six-try victory in kicking off their attempt at a seventh successive title but, after four scores and one penalty try before the break, they then stuttered significantly and were forced to wait until two minutes from time for a second-half score.England’s hot streak now stretches to 21 consecutive matches, dating back to the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in 2022, but there was ultimately a lack of fluency here that may concern the head coach, John Mitchell. Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago Juventus sack Thiago Motta as head coach and replace him with Igor Tudor

Juventus are currently fifth in Serie A, 12 points off league leaders Inter Milan

Politics

65 h. ago Juventus sack head coach Thiago Motta as Igor Tudor appointed

Juve are out of the Champions League and Serie A title race

Politics

3 d. ago Jordan Henderson: ‘I looked at how far it was to Berlin and I hired a van’

Recalled England midfielder discusses his last-minute dash, as a fan, to the Euro 2024 final – and his World Cup dreamJordan Henderson wanted to be part of it. He felt he deserved to be part of it. And so, despite the obstacles, he put in the hard yards to make it happen. It has been a theme of the Ajax midfielder’s career and it resonates once again with him back in the England squad, winning his 81st cap as a substitute in Thomas Tuchel’s first game as head coach – the 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Albania on Friday night. The more sideways take on it came last summer.Henderson was devastated to have been overlooked by Gareth Southgate for Euro 2024 in Germany, having been involved throughout qualification. The determining factor was the muscle injury he picked up last March, which sidelined him for the best part of two months and did not give him the time to get fully fit at the end of the domestic season. That was how Southgate sold it, anyway. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Bellingham ‘must be more disciplined to save energy’, says Thomas Tuchel

England head coach wants midfielder to have more impactTuchel unsure why wingers didn’t ‘dare to take the risk’Thomas Tuchel believes Jude Bellingham tried to do too much at Euro 2024 and must save his energy for key moments by being more disciplined. England’s new head coach has been honest about where his side can improve and he clearly is not afraid to follow the same path with Bellingham.The Real Madrid midfielder produced some scintillating moments at the Euros – not least when he saved England from defeat against Slovakia in the last 16 by equalising in stoppage time with an overhead kick – but some of his performances did not meet expectations. Operating mainly as a No 10, Bellingham struggled to connect with Harry Kane and sometimes looked to go it alone. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago England star Ellie Kildunne relishing 'target on back' at Guinness Women's Six Nations

Ellie Kildunne is the reigning Guinness Women’s Six Nations Player of the Championship, as well as World Rugby’s Women’s 15s Player of the Year after enjoying a stellar year for the Red Roses

Events

3 d. ago Knight’s sacking exposes England’s failure to plan captaincy succession | Raf Nicholson

Now just eight weeks until their next series they must appoint a coach, a captain and try to show they are serious about cultural changeThey say in cricket that one brings two: something that has proved true in the case of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s post-Ashes review. On Friday, Jon Lewis was sacked as head coach and, 24 hours later, Heather Knight followed him out of the door.A 16-0 error-strewn Ashes whitewash required big change and the ECB has certainly delivered on that score. Lewis was always unlikely to survive after his infamous “Bondi-to-Coogee” interview, during which he blamed the defeat on Australia’s sunnier climes, made him a laughing stock. But firing Knight is a far more radical step – an admission that, despite the insistence to the contrary of Clare Connor, the managing director of women’s cricket, the ECB’s review has indeed uncovered evidence of a poor team culture. Why else would they end Knight’s reign at a point when she is a mere 15 months away fro...

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