Which quarterback boosts Saints' fantasy appeal?
On this week's Full Time Review, host Jillian Sakovits is joined by The Athletic's Asli Pelit to break down how likely it is that the Seattle Reign and Portland Thorns can build on their recent marquee results and become contenders. Then, Meg Linehan stops by to talk about London City Lionesses' dramatic promotion to the English Women's Super League, and owner Michele Kang's ambition.
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New York Times
27 minutes ago
- New York Times
Transfer news live updates: Latest on Isak, Guehi and Liverpool plus Bailey, Donnarumma futures
Good morning! And welcome back to The Athletic where we are still very much in transfer mode. The return of domestic top-flight football is now just a couple of days away, but there is no rest for the wicked in the wonderful world of incomings and outgoings. There are plenty more deals to be done and I'm sure we will have lots of interesting developments throughout the course of the day, so stick with us as we take you through it all!
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
How Manchester City play: High possession, increased off-ball running and an Achilles' heel
This is part of a series from The Athletic breaking down the tactical approach of Premier League teams for the 2025-26 season. Read about other clubs below: It's been a year and five days since Manchester City last got their hands on a trophy, lifting the Community Shield after a penalty shootout win over local rivals Manchester United at Wembley. In recent times, that constitutes a drought. On the surface, a third-place finish in the Premier League last season — having won the title in each of the previous four campaigns — may not seem such an alarming dip. Advertisement But there were a number of glaring structural issues that Pep Guardiola struggled to address throughout a turbulent season, as he posted the lowest points-per-game average of his managerial career. Were it not for a mini revival after a much-needed January refresh, as City went 10 games unbeaten in the Premier League to end the season, those figures might have been much worse. Despite their quarter-final exit to Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup this summer, the mood feels better in the City camp, with exciting new recruits all looking to have hit the ground running. Tijjani Reijnders scored twice in their final pre-season game against Palermo on Saturday, while Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki have slotted seamlessly into a swirling build-up shape, clearly possessing the technical ability to elevate City's patient approach. Question marks remain, however, over what happens when they lose the ball. The Athletic casts an eye over pre-season performances and underlying trends to assess how it could all unfold. Problem No 1 for Guardiola throughout the 2024-25 season was an inability to deal with opposition counter-attacks. His City team always aims to dominate the ball and squeeze up the pitch — they have led the rankings for possession in all nine of his Premier League seasons in charge — but they were unusually loose and disorganised in moments of uncertainty last year, leaving themselves open to swift, decisive breaks. The graphic below compares the cumulative expected goals (xG) of chances conceded via fast breaks, showing a huge spike from previous seasons. Only relegated Leicester City allowed more in domestic league football, while their 15 shots conceded from such situations in the Champions League were the highest of any team in the competition. A serious injury to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri went a long way to explaining City's troubles in transition, a midfielder who possesses an innate sense of positioning to snuff out attacks early, but who is also strong in defensive duels, and excellent in retaining possession to help his team avoid conceding such breakaways in the first place. Advertisement But the Spaniard's absence was just one part of a perfect storm, with a lack of athleticism in his replacements — and an overambitious pressing structure — only amplifying City's lack of control after losing the ball. Below against Fulham, for example, we can see how both Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan are left behind after a quick turnover and incisive pass forward. In frame two, both midfielders are within distance of their midfield runners, but are far from able to support an exposed defensive line just six seconds later, with both Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore having broken free with ease. On other occasions, it was a lack of physicality from the likes of Rico Lewis and Bernardo Silva — both often caught in the midfield pivot positions — that allowed the opposition to bulldoze through. Here, the former loses out in three 50-50 duels to allow Crystal Palace to attack down the flank, one of many counter-attacking sequences conceded in an error-strewn team performance at Selhurst Park. Despite those deficiencies, City stuck with an ambitious 4-2-4 pressing scheme, one that often left their midfield two exposed if the opposition could progress past the front line. In this sequence against Tottenham, we can see just how much space it leaves to the side of Nico O'Reilly. It often requires a City full-back to step forward to help out, but the timing has to be right. As Tottenham progress down the opposite side later in the same move, Nathan Ake can't block Archie Gray's pass down the line, exposing the midfield pivot once more. Gundogan can't keep up with Kulusevski's forward run, and with a flick down the line, the Swede is bearing down on goal, able to square across for Timo Werner to finish. City's defeat at the Club World Cup showed that there are still gaps to plug defensively, with Guardiola's side often struggling to apply pressure on the ball quickly enough after a turnover. Al-Hilal's second goal was particularly alarming, with City hit straight from an attacking corner. Ruben Dias should probably foul former team-mate Joao Cancelo to stop the transition, while the last line is caught inexplicably high up the pitch, allowing too much space for the speedy Malcom to attack. The addition of Pep Ljinders to the coaching staff suggests that City are looking to tighten up without the ball. The Dutchman was assistant to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, and has championed the importance of counter-pressing — winning the ball back immediately after losing it — throughout his career. Expect to see more focus on the out-of-possession shape at City next season, a team that will aim to collapse on the ball with speed and intensity after giving it away. Though with Rodri's injury woes continuing, teething issues are likely to continue throughout the opening weeks. If anything, City's summer recruitment drive suggests that Guardiola is planning to fight fire with fire, adding more firepower to the front line to help them break down low blocks and put opponents away before their defensive troubles can come back to bite them at the opposite end. At their lowest ebb last season, City's reluctance to make threatening forward runs was visible to the eye, favouring more measured build-up and perhaps reluctant to open up too much with opposition counter-attacks in mind. Against Everton in late December, Guardiola pleaded with his fans after they voiced their frustrations at a pass down the line that was turned down. Away at Aston Villa, too, City struggled to break down their hosts with a lack of overlapping runs from full-backs, often leaving Jack Grealish facing a two-on-one out wide. The visit of Chelsea a month later, however, notable for the debuts of both Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush, seemed to represent a turning point. The Egyptian forward brought real zip and dynamism on his first start, linking up well with Josko Gvardiol, now given freedom to push on from his high-and-wide left-back role. As the season continued, O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes stepped in at full-back, giving City width and powerful forward running that they lacked to pull apart deeper defences earlier in the campaign. Advertisement Using SkillCorner, we can see the drastic drop-off and subsequent recovery in the number of runs in behind that City made throughout the season. Taking a 10-game rolling average, it shows that City were particularly tentative to attack the space behind opposition lines throughout a difficult November period, coinciding with their lowest dip in expected goals across the year. Excitingly for City fans — and neutrals — the uptick in direct running continued into the Club World Cup. They completed 52 runs in behind against Al-Ain, while defeat to Al-Hilal at least showed that new signing Cherki can help them to make the most of such attacking movement, even against lower defensive lines. In the space of minutes, Cherki digs out two crosses, with each foot, over the top that drop perfectly into the path of City runs in behind, first assisting Phil Foden, and second creating a big chance for Marmoush. His supreme technical quality, finding clinical finishers close to goal, will provide more creative attacking solutions that, over the course of a season, Guardiola will hope outweigh their frailties on the break. Aside from Cherki, the flexible profile of Ait-Nouri at left-back already looks to have added lots of potential for positional rotations down his flank, a player equally happy running the flanks at wing-back and drifting into midfield. City's most fluent display of pre-season came against Juventus, as they again looked to stretch the pitch with width from their full-backs. With Rodri briefly restored to the starting XI, Bernardo Silva often found himself dropping into the defensive line during build-up, allowing team-mates to push on and form a 3-2-5 shape that looked to open up gaps in the press. For City's opening goal, Ait-Nouri is incredibly sharp in a more central position, playing a reverse pass to slide the ball through to Jeremy Doku, who cuts inside and scores… … while the Algerian is integral to the build-up of their third, exchanging three passes in the centre of midfield, before helping to release Reijnders down the opposite side. He slips the ball through to a storming Nunes, who cuts back for Erling Haaland to score, illustrating the value of City's varying profiles at full-back. Such interchangeability within City's in-possession structure helps to lure defenders out of shape, while incisive forward running from Nunes, O'Reilly and Gvardiol down the flanks helps to exploit those spaces. Their left-hand side could be particularly difficult to contain, with the possibility of using Gvardiol as a left-sided centre-back in build-up, who can switch out with Ait-Nouri and link up with a tricky winger like Doku further up the pitch. City's trip to take on Palermo last weekend also helped to underline the potential for Cherki to help in the build-up. In addition to his ability to find those perfectly pitched passes into the box, the most creative player in Europe's top five leagues last season per the expected assists (xA) metric, he is capable of an incredible range of flicks and tricks to evade pressure and keep his team moving up the pitch. It's a simple move, but here is the Frenchman dropping out from between the lines to play a one-two with Lewis, taking two midfielders out of the game. When he can feel the rhythm of the game, few players are quite as fluent as Cherki, so inventive and unpredictable in the way he handles possession. There are ball rolls, drag-backs and sharp-angled passes, all designed to manipulate opposition defenders and thread the ball through the spaces his movement creates. See below in another example, drawing defenders in with the initial short pass, before ducking onto his opposite foot and sliding the ball through for Nico Gonzalez to attack. The Palermo game also underlined a key facet of Reijnders' game, an athletic box-to-box midfielder who is excellent at timing his runs into the box. No team created more chances from cut-backs in the Premier League last season, and Reijnders could be the prime beneficiary with his late arrivals into goalscoring positions. Advertisement Without Rodri, it may be down to him, alongside Gonzalez, to retain more structure in the transition, while centre-back Khusanov brings pace and strength to help with more end-to-end encounters. With extra firepower comes increased potential to get hit the other way, but it looks like a risk City are willing to take this time around, with a fluid, flexible front line capable of overwhelming any defence before they can muster a counter-charge. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lakers Rookie Adou Thiero's Expected Timeline For Return From Knee Injury
Lakers Rookie Adou Thiero's Expected Timeline For Return From Knee Injury originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The Lakers fans are yet to witness Adou Thiero's debut in the purple and gold colors as the rookie had been sidelined for the entire Summer League due to a knee injury. According to Lakers insider Dan Woike, the rookie from the Arkansas Razorbacks is expected to join the roster fully healthy in training camp, which begins at the end of September. In his latest article with The Athletic, Dan Woike wrote about the newest update from behind the scenes at the Lakers. 'There were definitely some eyebrows raised around the NBA when Thiero missed summer league with a knee issue, but I can finally offer a little optimism (we're 1,000 or so words in, so I probably should),' Woike wrote. 'I've been told Thiero has been working out in the Lakers' facility and is expected to be participating once training camp opens at the end of September. As far as his role? It's gonna be crowded." "But it's sort of a universal truth in the NBA. If young players want to get on the court, they do it by making an impact on the defensive end. And Thiero has the tools to make an impact on the defensive end.' In his final NCAA season, the star rookie averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. He was initially recruited in college by the legendary coach John Calipari at Kentucky, who had a lot of good things to say about him during the NBA Draft process. He then followed Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas, where they joined the Razorbacks. After Thiero was drafted, he spoke to the media about how excited he was to play alongside LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves. 'LeBron?!" Thiero said. "… It's going to [be] fun learning from everybody, but you got LeBron, Luka, AR … I'm just ready to get with the guys and work.' The 36th overall pick in the NBA Draft, Thiero will finally get a chance to play alongside his new teammates. The fans are surely most excited about his potential chemistry with Luka Doncic. With Austin Reaves' undecided future and LeBron James likely leaving the Lakers after the coming season, Thiero would be best suited to work on his chemistry with Doncic, who will, in all likelihood, be his teammate for the next three years at least. In terms of player comparisons, his style of play is very similar to what P.J. Washington does for the Mavericks and fits the blueprint the Lakers are trying to follow. Therefore, if Thiero works hard and performs well in the rotation minutes he earns, he could have a long-term future with the Lakers. I am excited to see his Lakers debut once the season story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
