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New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
Omari Hutchinson's signing epitomises the new Nottingham Forest recruitment blueprint
Sitting in a City Ground boardroom made hazy by cigar smoke, shortly after Premier League safety had been secured via a 1-0 win against Arsenal in May 2023, Nottingham Forest's owner Evangelos Marinakis outlined what he hoped would be their blueprint for success. Now, a little over two years later, that plan has become more finely honed. Advertisement This summer, Forest's decision-makers sat down and considered the success they had enjoyed via signings such as Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Elliot Anderson and Anthony Elanga. Elanga, who arrived from Manchester United for £15million in July 2023, was sold for a profit of at least £37m when he joined Newcastle United last month. Like him, every one of those players named above has grown and evolved in Forest colours. Gibbs-White is now a full England international who the club refused to even consider selling this summer, despite a £60m ($80.7m) bid from Tottenham. Anderson qualifies as one of the bargains of the decade, after effectively signing from Newcastle for £15m, within a £35m deal that also saw goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos move in the opposite direction for £20m. It is hard to estimate what Anderson's price tag would be now — but it will only get bigger if the 22-year-old midfielder can establish himself in Thomas Tuchel's England side as effectively as he has in Nuno Espirito Santo's at club level. Murillo would probably have to become the game's most expensive defender ever for Forest to even think about parting with him. Hudson-Odoi, signed for just £3m from Chelsea two years ago, will soon sign a new contract that reflects his impact at Forest. Two years ago, Marinakis had ambitions to replicate fellow Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion's model in terms of finding and developing players. In the intervening period, Forest have established an approach of their own. And when the recruitment team sat down to discuss targets for this window, that priority remained: make signings who will only grow in stature and value. There are exceptions — Douglas Luiz, the Brazil international midfielder set to join on loan from Juventus with an obligation/option to make the move permanent for €30m (£26m; $35m) — is 27 years old. But James McAtee, Igor Jesus, Jair Cunha, Dan Ndoye and Arnaud Kalimuendo are all 24 or under, and have already showcased their abilities at a high level — but arrive at the City Ground with the potential to get better still. Forest have now made their most significant investment in their history to sign Omari Hutchinson, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder from Ipswich Town in a £37.5m deal — a new club record. He epitomises the Forest blueprint. A few Forest fans have joked Nuno should find room on the coaching staff for Lee Carsley, given how they seem to be collecting players from his England Under-21s squad. Hutchinson and McAtee will join up with Anderson, having all been in the squad that secured England's second straight European Championship title in that age group last month. Advertisement 'I know a lot of the players here and they told me how good it is and also how well I will progress as a player. It is the perfect place for me to be for my development,' said Hutchinson, in an interview with club media. 'I was getting messages from him (Anderson) telling me to come. He convinced me.' In Hutchinson, Forest have signed a player who frequently operated on the right side of a forward three, behind a single striker, at Ipswich in the same brand of 4-2-3-1 formation Nuno has often favoured with Forest. But he is also capable of playing in the No 10 role, where the manager now has an alternative to/cover for Gibbs-White. The latter's status as the most important creative figure in this Forest side, their talisman, is not under threat. But at a time when Nuno and company are going to have to cope with the additional demands of at least eight midweek fixtures in the Europa League from September to late January, strength in depth is vital. And in the longer-term, Hutchinson — who the club view as another versatile performer who could make a positive impact in several roles on the pitch — definitely appears equipped to follow in the footsteps of many others by taking another step forward in his career at Forest. Hutchinson won the young player of the year award in his 2023-24 debut season at Ipswich, while on loan from Chelsea, with a return of 11 goals and four assists from 50 appearances in all competitions as they won promotion from the Championship. It was enough to persuade Ipswich to pay £20m to sign him permanently a year ago. His return in the top flight was not as impressive in a struggling side, but he still managed three goals and two assists in 32 games in what turned out to be a doomed battle against relegation. This is a player who likes to have the ball; to dribble and take players on — to get the crowd on their feet. Forest see him as somebody who can make an impact on either flank and has ability in tight spaces, but who can also carry the ball forward at speed, similar to Hudson-Odoi, a former Chelsea academy team-mate. They also believe he has the work rate to contribute defensively, when required. Advertisement Nuno has preached patience in terms of what to expect from Hutchinson and 22-year-old McAtee, signed in a £30m deal from Manchester City, warning that any new additions will need time to achieve the level of understanding that was evident among his players in the season-opening 3-1 win against Brentford on Saturday. 'These connections started last season. I always believe that routine increases complicity. That is what we need from the players who joined, to reach this level. Because there are no miracles — it only comes through time,' Nuno said after that game. 'We have to integrate them. Then we will see what they can give and what we can demand from them.' In Hutchinson, Forest have a player who does not arrive without self-belief. During his early days on loan at Ipswich, he wrote up a list of the ambitions he wanted to achieve in football on his phone. He would look at it before games as part of his preparations. 'I started making the list of what I want to achieve when I was 17 and still at Arsenal,' he said in a previous interview with The Athletic. 'Since then, whichever team I am in, it's about setting a target for goals and assists, how many man of the match awards and so on. The ultimate aim is the Champions League. I have a picture of the trophy set as the screensaver on my phone, so I see that silverware every day. I know I am aiming high. But I am using it as a motivational tool.' Hutchinson will get the opportunity to play in the Europa League this season with Forest, which might tick one item off his list. But his route to this point has been a winding one. When Hutchinson was eight years old, having been released by Chelsea, he was spotted playing football in a car park while waiting for his brother, Oshaye, who was on the books at Charlton Athletic. One of the coaches liked what he saw when he happened to notice the kid kicking a ball around. After leaving Charlton at the same time as his sibling — who had been offered a scholarship at Sheffield United — it was not until Arsenal called roughly a year later that Hutchinson returned to football. Advertisement Though they grew up thousands of miles apart, Hutchinson has something in common with Brazilian Murillo in that he crafted his close footwork skills while playing futsal, honing those abilities further in his front room and garden at home. With Arsenal Under-12s, Hutchinson played left-back, even if his skills on the ball were already becoming evident. It was around this time that he got an early taste of fame as Arsenal took part in the Pele Tournament, hosted by the iconic Brazil forward, in London. At the end of the event, one player from each competing team was asked to showcase their skills with the F2 Freestylers — a duo who have built a significant following on YouTube with their skills videos. Afterwards, they asked Hutchinson to record one with them — and it went viral. It has now had more than four million views. At 18, Hutchinson was named in the first-team squad for the first time in what will soon feel like familiar surroundings, as Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Forest in the FA Cup at the City Ground in January 2022. Though he did not get off the bench that day, he was highly regarded by Kevin Betsy, Arsenal's Under-23s coach at that time. 'We did a lot of work on the training ground on his movements and where he can pick up dangerous positions,' Betsy said in an interview with The Athletic. 'Sometimes he'll find himself in the 10 position. He also gravitates towards the flanks. He's very intelligent.' When Hutchinson's Arsenal contract expired that summer, he opted to rejoin Chelsea. 'I spoke to the people at Chelsea, saw the pathway they had for me and knew some of the players. I knew Reece James, and he told me to come,' said Hutchinson. But as at Arsenal, his first-team opportunities remained limited. He made his debut as a substitute in a 1-0 league defeat to Manchester City in January 2023, then came off the bench again a few days later in a 4-0 FA Cup loss against the same opposition. They would prove the only first-team appearances he'd make for Chelsea. Advertisement Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna put together a convincing sales pitch to convince him to join them in the Championship two years ago, including a video detailing how he could improve under him. 'The coach watched me and saw that I could be good at pressing,' Hutchinson told The Athletic at the time. 'He said: 'I'm going to need that from you if you are going to play for me'. I've been watching clips of (then Liverpool forward duo) Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. How they press off the ball. I have implemented that into my game and become really good at it. If it is good enough for Salah and Mane, it has to be good enough for me, too.' The carrot offered this summer was a similar one: Come to the City Ground, and we will make you a better player. If they can achieve that as emphatically as they have with other signings of recent years, Hutchinson and Forest could have a bright future together. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The Alternative Premier League Table: No 2 – Strongest and weakest teams at corners
Welcome back to The Alternative Premier League Table, a new series you can enjoy on The Athletic every Thursday during the season. We all know how compelling it is to stare at standings. Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the table can convince you that a hundred different futures are possible. Advertisement Everyone knows the standard layout of league rankings, and ours will contain several of those elements. What it will also have each week is one or two guest metrics that tap into the conversations taking place across the competition. Our aim is to enhance your holistic knowledge of the most popular football league on the planet, unearth and explain some of the season's underlying trends. Each week, Anantaajith Raghuraman will analyse the whole division. Last week, he explored season predictions and projections, and this time we're looking at which of the clubs are best and worst at creating and defending chances at corners. This article is long but detailed, so enjoy it all — or search for the team you want to read about. The opening weekend brought 24 goals across the 10 matches, with wins for two of the three promoted sides in Leeds United and Sunderland and also for expected title contenders Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. Arsenal's win over Manchester United, courtesy of Riccardo Calafiori's close-range goal following a Declan Rice corner, was the latest example of how clever dead-ball routines have elevated Mikel Arteta's team. Arsenal lacked fluidity and control but came away with all three points courtesy of that one moment. Teams have increasingly recruited specialist coaches to try and make the most of these situations, and the second edition of The Alternative Premier League Table orders the 20 clubs based on their expected goals created and conceded figures per 100 corners. As we are only one game into the 2025-26 campaign, the data is from last season but in our analysis following the table below we explore the trends that have carried over, as well as those changes we spotted over the opening weekend. The metric measures the consistency of threat from corners while accounting for Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley playing more league games last season in the 24-team Championship, and the clubs have been split into four tiers. You can toggle the table by clicking the arrows next to the two highlighted columns. A common theme across most teams that excelled from offensive corners was to use a player to restrict the goalkeeper's movement within the six-yard box. Arsenal are often considered the league's strongest team from attacking set pieces, which makes their ranking on xG per 100 corners – third behind Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest — a surprise. Arteta has accumulated a squad of physically imposing players who excel at executing set-piece coach Nicolas Jover's routines. Advertisement Sunday's match at Old Trafford saw them unveil their latest strategy. Having often used a group of players rushing from beyond one post into the six-yard box to crowd out the goalkeeper last season… … they had five players line up on the edge of the penalty box instead, with two steaming into the six-yard box and attracting attention, allowing Viktor Gyokeres to move unchallenged to the far post. The result was the same — chaos in the six-yard box that restricted Altay Bayindir, who palmed the ball straight onto Calafiori's forehead. Defensively, though, Arsenal's 4.15xG conceded per 100 corners ranks fifth-worst. Bournemouth and Liverpool caused them problems by doing what they often do to other teams: pinning the goalkeeper, blocking defenders to create space for runners to either post, and using flick-ons at the near post to find an open man. Palace and Tottenham scored with lobbed corners to the edge of the box after packing the six-yard box, too. Palace themselves faced similar issues, ranking first in xG created per 100 corners but fourth-worst at the other end. Their offensive corners involved striker Jean-Philippe Mateta operating close to the goalkeeper, with one designated player each for the near post, far post and centre of the six-yard box. These were often joined by three runners from near or beyond the penalty spot. The quality of inswinging deliveries from Adam Wharton's left foot, akin to Rice's right for Arsenal, was effective too. Palace scored from corners in both league games against Manchester City last season. In December's meeting at Selhurst Park, their trademark runners freed up Daniel Munoz to leap over Kyle Walker to score, while Chris Richards was the beneficiary at the Etihad in April. Both goals came from the centre of the six-yard box, which Palace relentlessly attacked from their right-sided corners, as the graph below shows. Defensively, Palace allowed the most shots from corners, at 1.4 per 90. Teams regularly targeted runners making their way to the farther half of the six-yard box from either side. Worryingly, Chelsea caused them problems with near-post deliveries on Sunday. Everton also fall into this category but surprisingly scored just one goal from corners that directly led to a shot, compared to Arsenal's five and Palace's four. That goal came against Fulham, where they positioned two players at the far post, one at the near and one close to the goalkeeper. Two more runners ran towards the far post as the inswinger from their right was in the air, one of whom was eventual scorer Michael Keane. Advertisement The men from Goodison Park posed more threat in second and third phases following corners. A notable example came against Wolves, when they used a similar strategy but got one of their runners to move centrally instead of to the far post, which caused chaos and resulted in Craig Dawson putting the ball into his own net. Despite their struggles otherwise, West Ham were also reasonably strong from corners, with the third-least xG conceded per 100 corners and fifth-best record at the other end. Among the teams in this category, they used the highest percentage of outswinging corners (46 per cent), with James Ward-Prowse's deliveries from the right creating chaos. West Ham used the same strategy to score against Bournemouth and Newcastle: four players made runs from the penalty spot as the corner was delivered, with three running into a central zone, taking defenders away from a relatively stationary player. Niclas Fullkrug played the latter role against Bournemouth, and it was Tomas Soucek in the Newcastle game. Defensively, West Ham had the physicality and height to deal with most teams but were susceptible to losses in concentration, resulting in them being punished by delayed runs into the penalty area. Virgil van Dijk's goal for Liverpool is a great example of the same, with West Ham failing to sufficiently mark the opposition's biggest aerial threat in the dying moments of a game that was level at the time. In their first game of this season, West Ham showed far more weaknesses when defending corners against a physical Sunderland side who had six players in the six-yard box, with four running towards the near post, one blocking a defender and Dan Ballard peeling away to the back post. Ballard got his head to four out of Sunderland's five corners before scoring from the second phase of the only one he didn't meet, heading home their second goal of a 3-0 win from Simon Adingra's delivery after Lucas Paqueta failed to pick him up. Under previous head coach Thomas Frank, Brentford progressively improved their set-piece prowess. Last season, they had the lowest xG conceded per 100 corners, while creating the sixth-best. Frank threw a variety of schemes at teams, most of which involved his players stationed near the penalty spot constantly moving around to confuse opponents. Advertisement Two goals stood out. Against Manchester United, notorious for their defensive struggles in the six-yard box, Brentford positioned three players there, attacking both posts and the central zone, while three more players stood out near the spot. As the corner was floated in, Nathan Collins ran around Diogo Dalot and into the six-yard box, with his marker doing the same. That drew Dalot's attention, and the split-second difference allowed Ethan Pinnock, who Dalot was originally marking, to get a clear path to meet Mikkel Damsgaard's delivery and score. The other was against Bournemouth, involving multiple runs towards the near post and three players blocking opposition defenders, giving Yoane Wissa the chance to run from the back post into the six-yard box to leap and score. The goal was followed by Wissa running over to the dugouts to celebrate with set-piece coach Keith Andrews. This season, Wissa is trying to leave for Newcastle, while Andrews has graduated to replace Frank, now in charge at Tottenham, as head coach. From defensive corners, in Andrews' time as set-piece coach, Brentford had one player each protecting the penalty spot, near post and goalkeeper Mark Flekken, with the rest man-marking rather than covering zones. But from their first corner of the new season against Forest on Saturday, Brentford used four zonal markers (highlighted below). Rico Henry and Keane Lewis-Potter, both standing at 5ft 6in (170cm), were rather optimistically tasked with tracking the 6ft 3in (191cm) Chris Wood. The mismatch created chaos, and Wood poked the ball home at the second time of asking. It will be interesting to see what happens to Brentford's set-piece record this season. Credit must go to Forest, who significantly improved on set pieces last season following the arrivals of goalkeeper Matz Sels and centre-back Nikola Milenkovic. Nuno Espirito Santo's side were balanced at both ends of the pitch, finishing second in xG created per 100 corners and conceding the seventh-least. Advertisement Their most common setup was the one in the example above. Two players occupy defenders at the near post while four prepare runs from the penalty spot. Two of those four moved to the far post, one went to the middle of the six-yard box and the other helped block defenders at the near post. Morgan Gibbs-White benefited from that blocking to score against Brighton, rushing to the near post and scoring with a header. Forest also hunted for mismatches. The 6ft 4in Milenkovic's goal against Manchester United was the best example as he switched positions on the fly to challenge Lisandro Martinez, famously short for a central defender at 5ft 9in, and score from an inswinging corner. At the other end, Forest used their tallest defenders to cover the six-yard box and far post. Shorter players such as Neco Williams and Nicolas Dominguez were stationed at the near post, with help from pacy forwards like Anthony Elanga, who prepared for the counter-attack if Forest won the first ball. United were on the receiving end of that strategy too, conceding the goal below in April. Anthony Elanga's goal against Manchester United has been voted Sweetest Strike for April! 🍬 — Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) May 2, 2025 Liverpool lacked proficiency from corners last season but their defence of them ranked second behind only Brentford. New head coach Arne Slot placed plenty of emphasis on winning duels and being adaptable, with his players executing well on both fronts. The common theme was Liverpool's centre-backs protecting the most dangerous zone in and around the centre of the six-yard box, while using other tall guys, like Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch, to protect either post. Liverpool's other players were deployed as blockers or man-markers. It worked in the league, but Newcastle used a simple routine that exposed the plan's frailties in the Carabao Cup final. The 6ft 5in Dan Burn peeled away to the far post to escape Van Dijk and fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate, then leapt above 5ft 9in Alexis Mac Allister to score. Happy birthday, Dan Burn! 🥳#EFL | #CarabaoCup — Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) May 9, 2025 Newcastle varied their routines during the league season, too. Their standout goal from a corner was scored by Bruno Guimaraes against Bournemouth. Two players rush from the far post to a central zone, while one pins the goalkeeper. Guimaraes stays near the penalty spot, with a team-mate on either side of him running to one post each, leaving him free to head the ball home as highlighted below. A quarter of their total corners were played short (fourth-most), with one of those leading to a memorable goal against Leicester City. Five Newcastle players rushed towards the central zone and back-post area of the six-yard box, while Lewis Hall's run away from goal freed up Anthony Gordon. He cut the ball back from the byline for Jacob Murphy to curl a shot in at the vacant near post. Advertisement Defensively, Newcastle struggled against outswingers to the far post due to their preference to protect the six-yard box. The arrival of set-piece coach Martin Mark, who was previously at FC Midtjylland of Denmark and is Newcastle's first specialist in that role, this summer should see improvements. They tried a variety of routines against Aston Villa on Saturday without success. Bournemouth were also creative with their offensive corners, most notably troubling Arsenal in both fixtures. The first, at the Vitality Stadium in October, was one of the season's best corner routines. Justin Kluivert raced to the near-post from behind Kai Havertz to backheel Lewis Cook's corner, with Antoine Semenyo and Dango Ouattara blocks preventing Arsenal's defenders from following the ball. That allowed Ryan Christie to meet it just behind the penalty spot and score. Substitute Ryan Christie with a SENSATIONAL finish for Bournemouth! 🔥 — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 19, 2024 SET PIECE PERFECTION. 🍒 BOURNEMOUTH LEAD ARSENAL ON THE SOUTH COAST. Ryan Christie with the goal! 📺 NBC & Peacock | #BOUARS — NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 19, 2024 In May's reverse fixture, the visitors used runners from the edge of the box to target Arsenal's familiar near-post weaknesses and get a flick-on that Evanilson converted at the back post. Defensively, Bournemouth struggled to deal with teams that used a similar strategy, with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failing to command his area well. They also had a limited number of tall players other than their centre-backs, which meant they relied far more on zonal defending, making it easier for teams to pressure their markers into mistakes. Losing most of their first-choice back five from last season over the summer should result in more change, for good or worse, this season. Villa were similarly solid on both ends, with the eighth-best xG created and fourth-lowest xG conceded per 100 corners. Their preferred method of attack was to target your near post with inswingers. Youri Tielemans, while threatening with his right-footed deliveries from the left, also scored from a John McGinn corner to the near post at home against Fulham in May. Three Villa players were tasked with blocking defenders and the goalkeeper in the six-yard box — a standard part of their routine — which in turn allowed for players to run in from the penalty spot and attack the ball at the near post. Tielemans had also assisted Ollie Watkins in October's reverse fixture with Fulham using pretty much the same routine, as seen below. At the other end, Villa use zonal defenders around the near post, one player to protect the goalkeeper and two to monitor runs from behind the penalty spot. The others were tasked with man-marking. While the system works against most inswinging corners, it can leave them slightly vulnerable against outswingers into central areas. Advertisement Leeds faced issues at defending corners played into their near-post area due to their preference to defend the six-yard box, but goalkeeper Illan Meslier's lack of conviction was a big cause for concern, too. The signing of new keeper Lucas Perri has already proved valuable against Everton on Monday, even though their setup remained similar, leading to a chance for Jake O'Brien in the second half that he headed over. Offensively, Leeds were among the best in the Championship, recording 1.3 shots from corners per 90, preferring to target the near post with inswingers from both sides. The most memorable of those came against Sheffield United, with two blockers at the near post (marked in white) and two runners from deep (black) allowing Pascal Struijk (yellow) to score from Joe Rothwell's clever corner. From the second and third phases of corners, Leeds frequently targeted unmarked players at the back post, creating plenty of chances, along with goals for Ao Tanaka (twice) and Wilfried Gnonto. The addition of the physically imposing Jaka Bijol and Anton Stach this summer should help on both ends, too. Brighton complete this tier after accumulating the second-lowest xG per 100 corners but boasting the eighth-best number on the other end. They often relied on crowding out the six-yard box and capitalising on the chaos that ensued. As the graphic below shows, they regularly mixed up their approach, but had limited success. Against Fulham on Saturday, Brighton resorted to attacking the far post with inswinging corners from Yasin Ayari on the left and Matt O'Riley on the right. Lewis Dunk even went close to scoring in the 87th minute but only found the side netting. Defensively, they crowded the six-yard box but rarely used a defender to protect goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen or cover the back post. Their fixture against Brentford in April in particular proved difficult, with three corners resulting in shots, all at the far post from runners who escaped their marker. Fulham's equaliser in the final seconds at the weekend was also at the back post after Rodrigo Muniz shrugged off James Milner to meet a Brighton player's flick-on. While the xG numbers by themselves do not suggest it, Wolves were the Premier League's big strugglers from corners in 2024-25, with difficulties in dealing with deliveries to either post due to a focus on protecting their six-yard box. Brentford, Chelsea (twice), and Palace all scored at the back post from flick-ons, West Ham from an outswinger to the back post and Tottenham and Manchester City with near-post headers. Advertisement At the other end, Matheus Cunha scored an 'olimpico' against Manchester United, who he has since joined, while Jorgen Strand Larsen's 6ft 4in height helped him score and also set up Emmanuel Agbadou against Palace. But Wolves did not create as much as they would have liked, while City posed some questions for them defensively in Saturday's first game of the new season. The two Manchester teams did not cover themselves in glory from these situations last season, either. United struggled without a good left-footed option from their right-sided corners, often needing Bruno Fernandes to deliver outswingers that brought limited success. One of those did lead to a well-worked goal as Harry Maguire met a Fernandes cross against Ipswich after running into a central zone from the edge of the box, thanks to two of his team-mates blocking players near the penalty spot. There were signs of promise from second and third phases, with Matthijs de Ligt scoring in that same game and also against Southampton, but United needed more consistent creativity. New signing Bryan Mbeumo should provide that with his inswinging corners, having taken over from the right this season. The limited positives were also overshadowed by the concerns around United's defending. Arsenal scored from two set pieces at Old Trafford last season through Jurrien Timber and William Saliba, both of whom capitalised on a lack of sufficient communication between those guarding the six-yard box. Pinnock's goal for Brentford, Milenkovic's for Forest and Cunha's 'olimpico' were all products of blocking the goalkeeper and causing chaos at the near post and goal line. Calafiori's winner on opening weekend, during which Mason Mount was eased out of the way, suggests not much has changed. City, meanwhile, were the Premier League's second-worst team in xG conceded per 100 corners behind only out-of-their-depth Southampton (4.77). They allowed 12 shots on target from corners, also only trailing Southampton. Pep Guardiola's men consistently struggled to track runners from the penalty spot into the six-yard box or towards the posts. On many occasions, City players were physically overpowered or suffered lapses in concentration, resulting in shots on their goal. Advertisement While Wolves did not trouble them too much on Saturday, their pre-season game against Palermo and Club World Cup defeat to Al Hilal – in which centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly scored from a corner in extra time – exposed similar frailties. Tottenham are in this bucket, too. Apart from the myriad open-play issues their system posed under Ange Postecoglou last season, they also struggled to defend set pieces. Opponents repeatedly targeted the far post from corners due to Spurs prioritising ball-focused defending in the centre with limited resources to cover runners to that back stick. The most glaring example of this was the goal they conceded against Bournemouth in December, with Dean Huijsen ghosting in at the far post to score. At the other end, Tottenham showed promise, often using blockers in central zones and on the goalkeeper, and runners to the near post. Rodrigo Bentancur scored with these movements against Ipswich and Wolves, nodding home outswinging corners from the right. Pape Matar Sarr also got a flick-on at the near post from an inswinging corner from the left to set up Dominic Solanke against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The arrival of Thomas Frank as head coach this summer should allow Tottenham to build on those foundations while improving their defensive organisation. Chelsea were also among the league's poorer defenders of corners, recording the seventh-worst figure (3.89xG per 100 corners). Robert Sanchez's inability to command his box was a contributing factor but Enzo Maresca's side were often blindsided by runs into the box from behind their defensive line. Mikel Merino used one of those runs to score for Arsenal with a stooping near-post header in March and in the example below, Keane Lewis-Potter of Brentford gets a header away from the penalty spot under no pressure as Chelsea are committed to defending the six-yard box. In attack, no team got a lower rate of shots away directly from corners than Chelsea's 10 per cent. Part of this was down to them playing 29 per cent of their corners short, only behind Manchester City (32 per cent). Centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo was among the few players who offered a significant threat from deliveries directly into the box. Advertisement Tosin's previous club Fulham make for a curious case. No team generated more shots directly from corners per 90 last season than their 1.34, but they ranked fourth from bottom in xG per 100 corners at 2.86. Part of the reason for that is the absence of reliable left-footed takers other than Harry Wilson, who only started 12 of the 38 league games. That meant a league-high 57 per cent of Fulham's corners last season were outswingers. As The Athletic explained a few years ago, quality outswingers result in more shots but inswinging corners, as the league has shown over the past few seasons, create more goals. Defensively, Fulham struggled against teams that restricted Bernd Leno by crowding his six-yard box and made late runs to the area around the back post. That leaves just the other two promoted sides. Sunderland created just 2.26xG per 100 corners last season, often targeting the near post from left-sided corners and the far from the right. One of those left-sided corners went a long way to returning them to the Premier League, as Dan Ballard headed home in extra time against Coventry City in the Championship play-off semi-final. Sunderland could mix it up too, though, with Dennis Cirkin scoring from a clever routine involving a Wilson Isidor back-heel against Watford in February, similar to Ryan Christie's goal for Bournemouth against Arsenal we looked at earlier. Defensively, Sunderland looked more than solid against West Ham on Saturday, while their summer transfer activity should make for more evident changes on that end. Goalkeeper Robin Roefs, Granit Xhaka, Habib Diarra and Reinildo all bring valuable aerial ability. Burnley, meanwhile, were effective in defending from open play last season but conceded 10 shots on target directly from corners, doubling Leeds' tally. Many of these shots were straight at James Trafford, who has since moved to Manchester City, but defending too deep against teams who used runners to the near post or the six-yard box was an issue. Martin Dubravka, the long-time Newcastle keeper who is Trafford's replacement, looked less than convincing against Tottenham on Saturday. At the other end of the pitch, Burnley repeatedly targeted Spurs' six-yard box and caused them some problems too, but it remains an area for head coach Scott Parker to improve. (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Tony Yeboah's volley against Liverpool was 30 years ago. Our writers pick their favourites
Back in the first few weeks of the 1995-96 Premier League season, Tony Yeboah had a goal of the season competition all by himself. The Ghana international, who spent two years with Leeds between 1995 and 1997, would cap a run of sensational strikes off with a long-range drive against Wimbledon that could arguably be one of the greatest Premier League goals of all time. That is, of course, if he had not hit his volley against Liverpool a few weeks earlier. In that game at Elland Road, a long ball was played up to Rodney Wallace. Wallace, on the edge of the box, headed the ball back towards the waiting Yeboah. Yeboah took one look at the ball and swung his right foot towards it, sending it flying towards the goal, crashing off the crossbar, and into the back of the Liverpool net. Thursday is the 30th anniversary of that sensational strike, and in celebration of that moment, The Athletic asked its writers to pick out the best volley they have ever seen live in a stadium. It's got to be Pajtim Kasami's absurd volley at Selhurst Park. The Swiss midfielder started on the halfway line and set off sprinting after Sascha Riether's hopeful aerial pass pumped down the right channel. What followed was two touches from another universe. The first with his chest and the second a swooping Marco van Basten-esque volley — on his weaker right foot, by the way — which fizzed and dipped into the top corner. Advertisement In absolute disbelief, he rattled through about seven celebrations in as many seconds. The unique trajectory, audaciousness and sheer ambition to even take it on are what make it special. I was right behind it and remember so clearly Julian Speroni flopping backwards with limbs flying everywhere like he'd been thrown from a plane. I'd never seen home fans stand up and applaud an away goal before. I feel lucky to have witnessed such an exemplary demonstration of skill. It was nominated for the 2014 Puskas Award but was beaten by James Rodriguez's goal for Colombia at the World Cup. Max Mathews Twenty-five years have passed since Paul Scholes met David Beckham's corner so sweetly on the edge of the Bradford City penalty area that Matt Clarke stood no chance in the home goal. It's not the best goal I've seen live. Nor is it the hardest I've seen a football struck. Both of those accolades belong to Tony Yeboah's half-volley at Wimbledon for Leeds United. But the technique displayed by not just Scholes but also Beckham means Manchester United's third goal in an emphatic 4-0 win still stands out, all these years on. The best thing about one of the Premier League's iconic volleys is how it was totally off-the-cuff. Having mentioned to his team-mate how Bradford had left him on his own at previous corners, Scholes was actually heading back towards the halfway line when United won another corner. Only after Beckham caught his eye was a plan hatched between the pair. 'I just crept up, crept up, crept up and he did it,' recalled Scholes on the 25th anniversary of the goal. 'And I smashed it in, luckily enough.' Richard Sutcliffe It was one of those jaw-dropping moments where the reaction of the opposition said it all. Behind the goal where Gareth Bale had just scored his second for Spurs on a balmy afternoon at the Britannia Stadium (this really wasn't 'Can you do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke?'), rows and rows of home supporters rocked back in their seats in a sense of disbelief. A number of them applauded. Advertisement On the pitch, Rory Delap had one hand on his hip while the other stroked his chin. The Stoke City right-back was trying to process what he had just witnessed. Bale was Delap's man. Except nobody in a Stoke shirt was questioning the marking. Instead, they were wondering how on earth Bale had managed to connect so sweetly with a ball that arrived from Aaron Lennon at shoulder height. The end result was an acrobatic volley that arrowed into the top corner. Technically, it was a work of art — beautiful balance and execution, and incredible athleticism. 'He's got everything,' Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, said afterwards. 'You couldn't even put a value on him'. Three years later, Spurs did — £85.3million, which Real Madrid paid to make Bale the world's most expensive player at the time. Stuart James Eric Lichaj, the generally very reliable but also largely entirely unspectacular right back, memorably found his inner Marco van Basten as Forest pulled off a shock 4-2 win in the FA Cup at the City Ground. The USMNT defender had already scored once in the game before a Rob Holding clearance fell to him on the edge of the box on the stroke of half-time. Lichaj still had work to do as he controlled the high looping ball on his chest, but if his first touch was good, his second was truly remarkable, as he sent an inch-perfect volley looping — almost in the style of Daniel LaRusso's famous crane kick in The Karate Kid — high over the head of helpless Arsenal keeper David Ospina. As a stunned Lichaj initially stumbled to the ground in the penalty area, in his haste to celebrate, Forest's then-caretaker manager Gary Brazil was captured by the television cameras simply giggling to himself in disbelief. Lichaj had been promised by his family that he could get a dog if he ever scored a hat-trick. Following a social media petition #getericadog, he was given the green light to get a mutt, which he aptly named Gunner. Paul Taylor You want to know the truth? I was there: sitting in my usual press-box seat, the one I had for many years as The Guardian's Manchester United correspondent. The same seat where, a few years later, I marvelled at Robin van Persie slashing in a title-winning volley against Aston Villa that would be more than worthy of a place on this list. Advertisement For Wazza's goal, however, here's the thing: I was in my seat but somehow missed it. I'd dropped my pen. I was fumbling around under my desk when the roar went up and — insert a number of words that would all need asterisks — I popped up again to see Old Trafford celebrating and everyone around me wearing a look of sheer amazement. And there he was: the assassin-faced baby, 19 years old, still raging at a perceived injustice because he thought the referee was being too lenient on Alan Shearer. Rooney took all his pent-up anger and frustration out on the ball. His shot was so pure (OK, I saw the TV replays). 'Even when it went in, he kept running to hit the rebound in,' Shay Given, the Newcastle goalkeeper, told me 15 years on. 'You could see he was still angry.' Daniel Taylor I was sitting next to a French journalist during the World Cup final in 2022 who had virtually given up on any chance of them recovering from being 2-0 down to Argentina at half-time. Kylian Mbappe's penalty in the 80th minute gave France hope before something incredible happened 90 seconds later. Adrien Rabiot pinged the ball to Mbappe on the left wing, and he played a sharp one-two with Randal Kolo Muani. Mbappe was slightly off balance and falling, but he fizzed a first-time right-footed volley past Emiliano Martinez. The entire stadium exploded. A final that Argentina had utterly dominated was alive again. On the biggest stage, Mbappe had single-handedly turned the game around. The way he headed the ball and spun past his marker before shooting made the moment even more spectacular. The wider narrative was crucial too — Mbappe was overshadowing his then Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Lionel Messi in possibly the latter's last game at the World Cup. For anyone wondering, the French reporter jumped and hugged me while Argentinian media either sat in stunned silence or slammed their desks in frustration. Jay Harris Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
