وجه نادي الإسماعيلي برئاسة المهندس نصر أو الحسن، رسمياً، اليوم السبت، الشكر إلى المدير الفني شوقي غريب، متمنياً له النجاح فيما هو قادم.
وكان شوقي غريب قد تولى مهمة تدريب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي الإسماعيلي، خلفًا للراحل إيهاب جلال.
وأعلن الإسماعيلي في بيان رسمي: “يوجه مجلس إدارة النادي الإسماعيلي، برئاسة المهندس نصر أبو الحسن الشكر إلى الكابتن القدير شوقي غريب، متمنيًا له التوفيق خلال المرحلة المقبلة، نظرا لعدم توصل الطرفين لاتفاق بشأن إتمام تعاقده لقيادة فريق الكرة الأول بالنادي”.
طالع أيضاً.. الإسماعيلي يعلن عن مديره الفني الجديد خلفًا للراحل إيهاب جلال
ويؤكد المجلس احترامه وتقديره للكابتن شوقي غريب، نظرًا لسيرته وسمعته الطيبة، بالإضافة إلى امتلاكه للكثير من الخبرات الفنية التي اكتسبها على مدار السنوات الماضية.
ويشدد المجلس على اعتزازه بالعلاقة الطبية التي تجمعه بالمدير الفني السابق للمنتخب المصري والنادي الإسماعيلي، متمنيًا له النجاح في قادم السنوات.
وأعلن الكابتن شوقي دعمه الكامل للإسماعيلي خلال المرحلة المقبلة، متمنيًا التوفيق للفريق خلال منافسات الموسم المقبل، معربًا عن ثقته في استعادة النادي لمكانته الطبيعية بين كبار الكرة المصرية مرة أخرى.
Left-arm seamer to re-join franchise after helping them to maiden Big Bash title last year
ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2019
Harry Gurney sports a smile•Getty Images
Harry Gurney, the English left-arm seamer, will return to the Big Bash this winter after signing up for another season at the Melbourne Renegades, where he won the title in his first year in the competition.Gurney, who played 12 white-ball internationals for England back in 2014, enjoyed a successful first season on the global T20 circuit last winter, playing for the Renegades, Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League, and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.As a replacement for Usman Shinwari, he played nine games for the Renegades last season, taking ten wickets with a miserly economy rate of 7.17 despite bowling half his overs at the death.In the tournament’s dramatic final, in which the Stars collapsed from 93 for 0 to 132 for 7 in pursuit of 146, he took 1 for 20 from his four overs.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo’s Talking T20 podcast, Gurney described winning the 2018-19 edition of the tournament as a “huge career highlight”.”The Big Bash was a really special one for me,” he said. “It’s a competition I’ve admired from a distance for many years.”To get a chance just to play in it I was over the moon with, so to go over there, play a key role, win a Man-of-the-Match award, and perform consistently and go on and win that trophy was a huge career highlight for me.”I [usually] bowled one over in the Powerplay, one in the middle, and two at the death, and bowled really well at the death, going at sevens. That’s sort of where I’ve built my reputation.”Gurney, 32, said that he is at the stage of his career where team success comes before individual targets.”At my age, it’s just about winning trophies – those are the best days of your life, so you want to recreate that as much as you can while you’re still playing. Your focus becomes more team-based once you become more assured of your spot in the side.”Early on in your career, you’re focused on yourself and making your way in the game, you want to go on and play for England. Once you become a bit old and decrepit like me, you just want to win trophies really.”The regular season in this year’s Big Bash has been condensed from 54 days to 42, in part to attract more high-profile overseas players who stay for the duration of the competition.Last season, several teams used three or four overseas players over the course of the competition, with two players splitting one spot depending on their availability. Competition organisers will hope that Gurney’s deal – which lasts the whole tournament – is a sign of things to come.
Liverpool players appeared to be falling like flies, with Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota both leaving the Gtech Community Stadium pitch in the first half with injuries.
But Jurgen Klopp's side prevailed, producing a delightful attacking performance that maintains pole position in the Premier League after 25 matches, dispatching Brentford 4-1.
The injury-hit Reds are indeed scrapping for fitness right now but it did not matter against Thomas Frank's team, who were brushed aside by some clinical finishing, not exactly helping themselves with some questionable defensive awareness at times.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring with a delicious chipped finish after latching onto Jota's placed header in the centre, with the returning Mohamed Salah lapping up a goal and assist apiece after the break to remind English football of his world-class ability.
There were some lovely attacking sequences and even nicer goals to take Liverpool one step closer to the Premier League title, but for all the offensive efforts it was the unseen work of Virgil van Dijk in central defence that secured victory, standing firm and stamping his dominance into the defensive third.
Virgil van Dijk's performance vs Brentford
On his 250th appearance for Liverpool, Van Dijk produced a colossal display in the rearguard, captaining his side to a convincing victory over a Brentford side desperate for some respite, pulled ever closer to the dreaded dotted line after a dismal run of form.
In the later stage, Ivan Toney might have bagged his fourth goal in five Premier League matches since returning from long-term suspension, but it was too little too late as Liverpool's incisive attacks overpowered the Bees.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
Vital was the command of Van Dijk in defence, allowing the Salah's and Nunez's of Liverpool's team to bypass Mark Flekken's net.
As per Sofascore, the Netherlands star won 100% of his aerial duels and lost possession just seven times on a successful afternoon in the capital, completing 90% of his passes from 80 touches and creating one big chance for his forward-surging peers.
The towering titan also rattled the crossbar with a last-gasp header following Andy Robertson's corner in what would have cherry-topped a commanding effort, but it wasn't to be on this occasion.
Nonetheless, Van Dijk illustrated once again why he stakes a very good claim for the accolade of the Premier League's finest centre-half, with The Athletic's James Pearce heralding him as Liverpool's "most transformative signing" in modern history post-match.
Writing in his post-match player ratings, the Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle handed the 32-year-old an 8/10 match rating for his display, writing: 'Solid enough and helped Liverpool repel Brentford threat at set-pieces first half and initiated opener. No-nonsense when required after break and dominated in the air, hitting crossbar in injury time.'
It is concerning that Liverpool have been hit with a deluge of injury concerns in the prelude to next weekend's Carabao Cup final against Chelsea, but with Van Dijk producing such iron-clad showings in defence, there is every chance that the Reds will succeed in their silver-laced ambitions this term.
O dia foi de uma conquista pessoal para Durcesio Mello. O presidente do Botafogo, de 65 anos, tomou, na tarde desta quinta-feira, a primeira dose da vacina do novo coronavírus no drive thru do Estádio Nilton Santos.
– Muito feliz de estar tomando minha primeira dose no Estádio Nilton Santos. Estou impressionado positivamente com a equipe do SUS, atendimento maravilhoso, tranquila a vacinação. Brevemente todos estarão vacinados e de volta ao estádio vendo jogos de futebol – comemorou Durcesio.
CONFIRA A CLASSIFICAÇÃO E A TABELA DO CAMPEONATO CARIOCA
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O estádio está funcionando como ponto de vacinação, mas apenas para as pessoas que chegam dentro de carro. Não é preciso sair do veículo para tomar a dose, que é respeitada pelo calendário divulgado pela Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro.
O ponto de vacinação fica localizado no estacionamento do Setor Sul, no lado contrário o qual os jogadores e a delegação entra no estádio para as partidas e treinamentos durante os dias da semana.
استأنف الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي الزمالك تدريباته اليوم السبت، على ملعب النادي بعد انتهاء الراحة السلبية التي قررها جوزيه جوميز، المدير الفني.
ويستعد الزمالك للمشاركة في بطولة كأس السوبر المصري المقرر إقامتها في الإمارات خلال الفترة من 20 وحتى 24 أكتوبر الجاري بمشاركة أندية الأهلي وبيراميدز وسيراميكا كليوباترا.
شهد المران انتظام الغيني جيفرسون كوستا مدافع فريق الأبيض المنضم حديثًا خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية والسنغالي سيدي ندياي.
طالع.. إيقاف حكم مباراة الزمالك والمصري لأجل غير مسمى
وحرص الجهاز الفني على رفع الحمل البدني للاعبين بعد العودة من فترة الراحة السلبية التي حصل عليها الفريق، وغاب الفلسطيني عمر فرج عن التدريبات بسبب انضمامه لمنتخب فلسطين استعداداً لخوض مباراتي العراق والكويت في التصفيات المؤهلة لبطولة كأس العالم.
وخاض محمد صبحي حارس الفريق، تدريبات خاصة تحت قيادة لويس فيسنتي مدرب حراس المرمى، وأدى محمد عواد تدريبات بدنية مع باقي اللاعبين.
وقاد الكاميروني أندري بيكي المدرب العام وأحمد مجدي المدرب المساعد المران في ظل حصول البرتغالي جوزيه جوميز على راحة على أن يعود لقيادة التدريبات غدًا الأحد.
وحرص عبد الواحد السيد مدير الكرة على عقد جلسة مع أحمد فتوح الظهير الأيسر للفريق، على هامش المران اطمأن فيها على جاهزيته للفترة المقبلة، وطالبه بالتركيز في التدريبات تمهيداً للعودة للمباريات.
ويلتقي الزمالك مع بيراميدز، في نصف نهائي كأس السوبر المصري يوم 20 أكتوبر المقبل في الإمارات.
Tottenham Hotspur have improved since Ange Postecoglou's appointment last summer. However, there is still work to be done to bring the club to the desired standard, competing at the forefront against Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Moreover, last term's troubles severed hopes of playing in Europe this term, and club record scorer Harry Kane opted to leave the Premier League for Bayern Munich, illuminating the need for sweeping change.
Harry Kane for Tottenham.
While the season has been characterised by an ebb and flow in performance, Tottenham are building and have welcomed a score of fresh faces.
There is still flotsam to be shifted through, with centre-midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg the highest-profile squad member who could leave sooner rather than later.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's Spurs future
Hojbjerg arrived from Southampton and Tottenham knew they'd secured a bargain. Joining for just £15m after handing in a transfer request, the Dane's industriousness and command in the engine room was perfect for then-manager Jose Mourinho's ideology.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: Key Characteristics
Strengths
Weaknesses
Passing
Tackling
Blocking
Interceptions
Concentration
Source: WhoScored
But the wind has changed down N17 and Spurs, led by enterprising Postecoglou, no longer hold Hojbjerg at the centre of their plans, the player having started just six Premier League matches this season, usually due to a lack of usual options.
He is certainly not a bad player, ranking among the top 20% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues and European competitions over the past year for pass completion and the top 11% for progressive passes per 90, as per FBref, but he is not mobile or creative enough in possession to suit the play Spurs now play.
Pierre Hojbjerg.
As such, rumours of his sale have been rife over the past eight months or so, with Manchester United curious last summer and, more recently, heavily linked with a move away in January, though no move materialised, with the 28-year-old actually rejecting concrete bids from Lyon.
Combative and composed, Hojbjerg appears destined for departure but he's certainly not the worst midfielder in Tottenham's recent history to have played for a number of years, with Moussa Sissoko not likely to be remembered all that fondly despite making 202 appearances for the Lilywhites.
Spurs' signing of Moussa Sissoko
Tottenham signed the 6 foot 1 Sissoko from Newcastle United on a five-year deal for £30m back in 2016, with the versatile Frenchman having impressed at St. James' Park despite the club's relegation, prompting him to push for a transfer.
The player admitted that his first year at Spurs was "the worst season of my career" and he managed just eight starts in the Premier League, failing to score and supplying just three assists.
Pundit Chris Sutton even slammed Sissoko for being a "bad buy" sooner after his acquisition, lamenting the "disappointment" and questioning whether funding could have been better placed towards a different profile of player.
His strength and athleticism were always a staple of his performance, however, and he did manage to rectify his time at the club and become an important player under Mauricio Pochettino and then Mourinho.
While he did not suffer the unrelenting misery of, say, Tanguy Ndombele, he cost a pretty penny indeed and earned a healthy salary of £80k-per-week across his five campaigns in north London, meaning that he totalled an outlay of £50.8m including the initial transfer.
Moussa Sissoko: Key Characteristics
Strengths
Weaknesses
(Player has no significant strengths)
Passing
Dribbling
Finishing
Source: WhoScored
This hardly represented the best value for money as chairman Daniel Levy sought to cement Tottenham at the forefront of European football, as he never emerged as one of the better players in the Premier League in his position throughout his time at the club.
Given that he was sold to Watford for just £2.5m in 2021 – taking the money spent on him to £48.3m net – after falling out of favour under Nuno Espirito Santo, Spurs slumping to sixth and seventh across his final two years at the club, he can hardly go down as one of the finest purchases under Levy's command.
Hojbjerg, by comparison, has maintained a decent level of performance throughout, whereas Sissoko failed to hit an average over 1.0 across any defensive metric during his final season in Tottenham colours.
Moreover, he was ineffectual in attack, posting just three goals and two assists across his final two terms at the outfit.
Of course, Hojbjerg is not defined by his goals and assists and neither, really, is Sissoko, but Hojbjerg's nearing exit falls more down to the fact that he is unsuited to the system, whereas Sissoko was unable to string together any real consistency, falling by the wayside after building himself from that poor start to life in London.
The Denmark international has completed 89% of his passes in the Premier League this season while averaging 3.5 ball recoveries and 1.0 tackles per match, but a game average of 0.2 key passes really doesn't speak of energy and invention that Postecoglou would be endeared by.
Former Tottenham player Moussa Sissoko.
Perhaps this all falls into the same ballpark: neither player has managed to sustain stellar showings with the regularity needed to secure success at Tottenham.
Sissoko's work rate would have made him, at his peak, an attractive option for Postecoglou, but ultimately he was part of a disappointing decline after the halcyon days of Pochettino's reign, and supporters will now hope for a sustained change of track that could finally bring some silverware to a club desperate for such success.
Some might put forth the argument that he enjoyed some success at Tottenham, salvaging a prominent position after the early issues, but it's not enough to justify the big price tag and wages that drained the outfit.
Given that Chelsea signed N'Golo Kante for £32m and Liverpool purchased Sadio Mane for £36m that same window, it's fair to say that investment could have been placed elsewhere for far greater results.
Now, Tottenham will hope to have learned from their chequered past in the market, but only time will tell if Postecoglou's blossoming project will wither or finally achieve silver-laden results.
A new CAC comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy is expected to announce the next coach by mid-August
Nagraj Gollapudi29-Jul-20190:41
Everyone in the team shares mutual respect with Ravi ‘bhai’ – Kohli
A day before the window for the applications for India’s coaching staff closes, captain Virat Kohli has endorsed Ravi Shastri for continuing as the head coach. Shastri and the rest of the coaching staff’s tenure was originally until the World Cup, but the BCCI extended that till the end of India’s tour of the West Indies, which is scheduled to finish on September 3.”With Ravi , all of us have a great camaraderie, everyone in the team shares mutual respect [with him]. And we have done really well together as a group,” Kohli said at the pre-departure press conference for the tour of USA and West Indies. “Yeah, we will definitely be very happy if he is continuing as a coach, but as I said it is upon the CAC to seek my advice or opinion if they want. Right now, I haven’t been contacted at all. And I don’t know what is going to happen with the process.”Earlier this month, the BCCI put out an advertisement inviting applications for the entire coaching staff with July 30 as the deadline. It is understood that the next coach is likely to be announced by mid-August.While posting the advertisement the BCCI said Shastri and the rest of the existing coaching staff comprising Sanjay Bangar (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach) would get automatic entries during the recruitment process but will be interviewed if shortlisted.The interviews would be carried out by a three-person Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising former India captain Kapil Dev, former India batsman and coach Anshuman Gaekwad and former India women’s captain Shanta Rangaswamy. This CAC replaced the previous panel comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, which had picked the previous two India coaches: Anil Kumble in 2016 and Shastri a year later after the former decided to resign.According to Kohli, the new CAC had not yet contacted him, but he was open to give his opinion if sought. “The CAC hasn’t contacted me yet,” Kohli said. “If they tell me we want your opinion, yes, I’ll definitely go and speak to them.”Incidentally, before Kumble stepped down controversially, Kohli had been contacted by the previous CAC, which had tried to sort the differences between the pair. It is understood Kohli did not want to budge, which eventually resulted in Kumble opting to walk away.Shastri replaced him albeit after the CAC took some time to finalise its choice. Having conducted the interviews with Shastri and four other candidates, the CAC had then spoken to Kohli before the BCCI announced Shastri as the new coach.This time the CAC will have about two weeks to shortlist the candidates and conduct interviews. Although the CAC has not been given a deadline, it is understood the panel is likely to make its choice around August 14.Gaekwad, who was India’s head coach between 1997 and 1999, said that the CAC would look for a couple of specific criteria in the shortlisted candidates. “You need to have good man-management skills,” Gaekwad told ESPNcricinfo. “There is not much technically you can do [at this level], but surely you need to keep an eye on the players who can develop some kind of snag over a period of time which ought to be corrected immediately. So man-management and planning are the key elements.”
Autor do primeiro gol do Verdão na vitória de 2 a 1 sobre o Defensa y Justicia nesta quarta-feira, pela Recopa Sul-Americana, Rony cumpriu uma ‘promessa’ feita mais cedo ao cantor Marlon Góes, compositor de vários hits da torcida palmeirense, como “Cala Boca, Secador”, “Capacitou, Deus é bom”, e o mais conhecido de todos: “É gol do Rony”.
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>>ATUAÇÕES: Rony e Scarpa decidem em vitória do Palmeiras na Argentina
Comprovando que a vida imita a arte, antes da partida, uma notificação “pintou” no telefone de Marlon: uma mensagem de um contato conhecido, “Rony Palmeiras”. O atacante adiantou ao músico que hoje iria “pintar notificação”, referência aos avisos de gol feitos por aplicativos e à letra da música: “pintou notificação no seu telefone? É gol do Rony!”
– Se liga aí, hoje vai pintar, hein – avisou Rony pelo WhatsApp.
Na partida, o atleta voltou a atuar como centroavante, posição onde recuperou sua confiança logo após a chegada do treinador Abel Ferreira. A mudança surtiu efeito e, em contra-ataque, Rony superou a defesa argentina na velocidade, sua principal característica, e conseguiu tirar do goleiro, marcando belo gol.
Com Luiz Adriano infectado mais uma vez com coronavírus, Rony tem chances de ser o titular da posição nos próximos dois jogos do Verdão, também partidas decisivas: a final em jogo único contra o Flamengo, pela Supercopa, neste domingo (11), e, na semana que vem (14), o jogo de volta contra o Defensa y Justicia, ambos no Mané Garrincha, em Brasília.
‘Tough call’ to omit Starc, admits Justin Langer, but right-arm seamer’s miserly spells give him the edge
Daniel Brettig at Lord's14-Aug-2019Those who witnessed Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in tandem at Worcester got confirmation – if no actual match play evidence – that the former fast man is better suited to Australia’s Ashes plan than the latter as the right armer was included in the team for the Lord’s Test in place of the rested James Pattinson.Starc’s expensive first spell in the tour game, bowling four overs at a cost of 27 albeit with one wicket, provided a reminder of the regular boundary release balls he is always in danger of bowling in England, while Hazlewood’s far more economical effort (4-2-2-2) in the same passage of play late on day one offered all the evidence the tour selectors required to choose him once it became clear that Pattinson still had some residual stiffness from his Edgbaston efforts.”He’s got an outstanding record. He’s built up over the past few months,” Langer said of Hazlewood. “He missed out on the World Cup because we felt he hadn’t played much cricket. We know he’s an outstanding bowler, we know that the style of play against England that his best he should execute those plans really well. He has bowled well the last couple of weeks and we hope he does a good job this Test match.”Just the style of play we want to play here against England, he hits a great length, he’s usually pretty miserly with his economy rate, that’s what gave him the edge in this game. Don’t get me wrong, it was a hard decision. If it comes off we know what we are doing, if it doesn’t we don’t, that’s just the business we are in. It was a tough call.”Less demanding was the discussion with Pattinson that led to his resting, after prior history indicating that asking the 29-year-old to play two Tests in a row can often have highly damaging consequences.Tellingly, Langer indicated that Pattinson needed some assuaging of his own doubts about how he had been managed in the past.”We collaborated on that one,” Langer said. “And I think it’s been important for him in his return to cricket, I think in the past he’s felt a bit that he had to play and had to play and had to push and had to push and in those instances he usually broke at some point. It was really good collaboration between the two of us, that was our deal in Hampshire when we talked about what his progress would be at Notts and we have had really good communication with Notts as well so yeah he’s fine.”We talked about it. He was a little bit stiff after bowling on Monday morning. We knew he would only bowl one of the two back to back games, and whilst he’s had eight or nine days, we knew he couldn’t play back to back Test matches. We just felt that having pulled up a little stiff after bowling and we thought it would be common sense to keep getting himself hungry and prepared for the third Test.”ALSO READ: Langer lauds fast-bowling depth but warns against complacencyThe Pattinson example may be part of a wider evolution of fast bowler management in Australia, coinciding as it does with the appointment of two new Cricket Australia team performance chiefs in Ben Oliver (national teams) and Drew Ginn (high performance). Their predecessor Pat Howard helped advance the conversation on how to manage fast bowlers in the face of plenty of criticism, and a deep Ashes squad of six pacemen capable of being rotated according to fitness and match conditions is part of his legacy.”It’s the first time in however long I’ve been coaching that we’ve actually had the luxury of having six high class fast bowlers fit up and running,” Langer said. “We’re lucky to have the situation to be able to do that but it doesn’t happen very often. That’s the truth, and maybe that’s why a number of bowlers break down over time, because you’ve got to keep pushing and pushing and pushing, particularly in series, particularly with the schedules as they are now.”We’ve got five Test matches in six weeks, plus a couple of county games in between, so if you have got guys fit you’re not constantly pushing them, which ultimately leads to breaking them and with the unnatural action of a bowler, if you keep doing the same thing over and over, history will tell you that’s what happens. So if we’re lucky enough to have guys we can keep bringing in and out and firing, that’s a real luxury to have.”Tim Paine prepares for the toss-that-wasn’t•Getty Images
As for the first day one of an Ashes Test to be abandoned without a ball bowled since the 1998 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and the first at Lord’s since 1997, Langer said the awkwardness of a possible toss of the coin at 3pm had raised some intriguing conversation.”We had a joke there for a moment, if the captain tosses the coin and he wins the toss can he ask the opposition to make the choice,” Langer said. “I think we decided you can’t do that. A couple of the umpires weren’t sure, but they checked for us, but you have to make a decisions. It is going to be a tough call. Today would have been tough, we knew there was a bit of rain around, some overhead conditions, the grass is wet and knowing the Dukes ball gets a bit soft when it gets a bit wet. Lucky Tim didn’t have to make the decision. We’ll see how it pulls up but it looks like a pretty good cricket wicket. Quite dry through underneath.”At this stage we’ll only lose two hours in the Test match so it won’t affect too much. Depending on weather, which we can’t control, we’ll still, there’s plenty of time. Two hours in the Test match isn’t much in the overall, in the bigger picture of it. There’ll be longer sessions we’re going to have to deal with but our guys have said all along we have to keep adapting and be ready with whatever the conditions or the situation of the game throws up at us.”
Manchester United’s season so far has been filled with very few positives, with the side currently sitting eight points off the top four.
Erik ten Hag has had to shuffle his squad around in almost every game, which is one of the key reasons for inconsistency on the field.
But one constant breath of fresh air is Kobbie Mainoo, who is most definitely the best thing to come out of the 2023/24 season so far.
Manchester United midfielder Mainoo.
At just 18 years old, he’s started the last 12 matches for the Red Devils, becoming a player that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will want to build his midfield around.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at another young midfield prospect who could follow Mainoo’s path to first-team success while becoming the heir to Casemiro.
Casemiro’s 2023/24 season so far
Casemiro’s performances this campaign have split opinions, with a handful of the United faithful relating the club's recent upturn in form to the Brazilian’s return and others unable to look past his evident weaknesses.
The 32-year-old has featured in 13 Premier League games this season, starting all of them, with an injury keeping him out for 17 matches.
Manchester United midfielder Casemiro.
The former Real Madrid star’s lack of athleticism and ability to cover ground has been on show since his return, with Casemiro being dribbled past four times against Wolverhampton Wanderers, three times against West Ham United, and on five occasions versus Aston Villa.
Although it’s not entirely down to just Casemiro, the gap between the defence and the midfield is far too large, which has led to Ten Hag’s team facing a remarkable 100 shots in the last five matches.
With the number 18’s performance declining, United could look to love him on in the summer, with Saudi Arabia being a potential destination according to reports. This could open the door to a promising midfielder who could become Casemiro’s heir.
Man Utd's next breakthrough star
Toby Collyer is a name that not many United fans will have heard of prior to this weekend, but one they will certainly become used to over the near future.
On Saturday against Fulham, the 20-year-old was named on United’s bench for the first time after impressing in the academy following his move from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022.
The defensive midfielder is extremely highly rated, taking on the role of captaincy in the England youth setup. Collyer’s former youth coach at the Seagulls, Mark Beard, had high praise for him, calling him a “top-class” player and stating:
“He is a pleasure to coach. He is so low maintenance, what I mean by that is you don't know he is there. He gets on with his job. He regularly put in displays of 8/10 at the least. He had the best running stats, runs 13 kilometres a game, breaks things up. He is so unassuming, he gets on with his job.”
Collyer’s performance against Salford City in the EFL Trophy earlier this season supports Beard’s comments and proves why he would be an excellent heir to Casemiro.
Collyer vs Salford City
Stats
Collyer
Minutes
68
Pass accuracy
91%
Possession lost
6
Key passes
1
Duels won
10
Tackles
7
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see, the number 65 is superb at winning the ball back, and he loves to engage with the physical side of the game, just like Casemiro, with the Brazilian averaging 3.3 tackles per game this season.
However, unlike the veteran midfielder, the England prospect is extremely composed on the ball, with his pass selection and decision-making always being on point. This is supported by his high pass accuracy and the fact that he only lost the ball six times.
Overall, it won’t be long until Ten Hag provides Collyer with a chance in the first team, but his first real opportunity could arrive next pre-season. United are blessed with plenty of upcoming talent, with the budding teen potentially up next after Mainoo's emergence.