Metz goalkeeper Fischer ready for Ligue 1, three years after being a substitute teacher
Now the 23-year-old Dane is preparing for his first season in the French league with newly promoted Metz, which signed him from Norwegian club Fredrikstad on a four-year contract.
He could face Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain later this season, which a while back would have seemed unfathomable.
'Two years ago I was a part-time footballer and three years ago I was a substitute teacher in Denmark," Fischer said at his official unveiling. "So I try not to think too far ahead.'
Fischer, who is 1.98 meters (6 feet 6 inches) tall, impressed enough last season with Fredrikstad to persuade Metz to pay a reported fee of 3 million euros ($3.5 million) for him.
Despite his imposing size — slightly bigger than PSG goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma and slightly smaller than Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois — he describes himself as 'quick on the line' and 'capable of playing out from the back."
Fischer's first impressions of France since arriving?
'A lot of baguettes. It's good, I like it,' he said. 'It's really good food down here (compared) to what I'm used to.' ___
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Associated Press
36 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Champions League winner PSG may find it harder to defend the French title this season
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain dominated Ligue 1 last season, losing only two games as it benefited from a lack of domestic rivalry to also embark on a victorious Champions League campaign. But things might prove more difficult for coach Luis Enrique and his PSG team this season, because Marseille and Monaco are determined to mount credible title challenges after strong summer signings. PSG also has a long-awaited local derby against newly-promoted Paris FC to contend with. Get ready for PSG vs. PFC. But first, the season begins with Marseille at Rennes on Friday. Monaco is at home to Le Havre on Saturday and PSG is at Nantes on Sunday. Here's a look at the upcoming season: —- Intercity rivalry For the first time in 35 years two Paris-based soccer clubs are in Ligue 1. Paris FC's takeover by France's richest family, the Arnaults of luxury empire LVMH, also saw energy drink giant Red Bull become a minority stakeholder. It gives PSG fans a genuine city rivalry against a very close neighbor. Because Paris FC, also known as PFC, changed stadium following its promotion and will now play at the 20-000-seat Stade Jean-Bouin — which is right across the street from PSG's Parc des Princes. PFC owner Antoine Arnault, the son of billionaire Bernard Arnault, used to be a PSG season-ticket holder. 'I've loved PSG since I was 12,' Antoine Arnault said. 'You will never hear me say anything negative about PSG.' The teams meet at Parc des Princes on Jan. 4. Paris FC will host PSG on May 16, the season's final round. Marseille offense Coach Roberto De Zerbi has been proactive with his signings but his best move was keeping hold of influential midfielder Adrien Rabiot. Marseille bolstered its attack by signing highly-rated Brazilian winger Igor Paixão in a deal that could rise to 35 million euros ($40.6 million). Veteran striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored 30 goals for Marseille two seasons ago, has returned. Attacking midfielder Angel Gomes joined from Lille and U.S. winger Tim Weah arrived from Juventus. They supplement an attack already featuring Mason Greenwood, who scored 21 league goals last season, and skilful finisher Amine Gouiri. But the team's heartbeat is Rabiot. He was Marseille's best player last season following a surprise move from Juventus, and the 53-cap France international said he turned down offers to move during the offseason. 'I couldn't see myself leaving when I think the best is ahead of us,' Rabiot told Le Provence newspaper. 'We've put something into place with the coach and I want to be part of what's ahead.' Monaco's challenge Monaco started last season strongly but faded badly due to poor defending and erratic goalkeeping. Coach Adi Hütter is determined to correct that and the Principality club has recruited veteran goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecky from Bayer Leverkusen. Paul Pogba has also joined, along with Ansu Fati. Pogba was once among the world's best midfielders, and now he's trying to re-ignite a career derailed by injuries and a doping ban. Fati was once considered among the world's best young players in the way Lamine Yamal is now. The tricky winger has joined on a season-long loan from Barcelona, offering the former teen prodigy another chance to resurrect his career. With the prolific Mika Biereth in attack alongside forward Folarin Balogun, and with Eliesse Ben Seghir and Maghnes Akliouche supporting them from midfield, the goals should flow for Monaco. Veterans return As well as Pogba, there will be plenty of interest in how Olivier Giroud and Florian Thauvin do. All three won the 2018 World Cup with France, although Thauvin was a fringe player. The 38-year-old Giroud — France's all-time record scorer with 57 goals — has joined Lille after leaving Los Angeles FC. After winning Ligue 1 with Montpellier in 2012, Giroud joined Arsenal, then won the Champions League with Chelsea and the Italian league with AC Milan. Thauvin joined from Serie A club Udinese and returns to Ligue 1 after playing the best soccer of his career for Marseille, scoring 53 league goals across three seasons from 2016-19. PSG's goalkeeper uncertainty Gianluigi Donnarumma was arguably PSG's best player during its stellar Champions League campaign. But he reportedly wants to leave after the club signed Lucas Chevalier from Lille. Donnarumma's future at PSG is in doubt after he was dropped from the squad for Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup win against Tottenham. Promoted clubs Metz and Lorient went up with PFC. Lorient won Ligue 2 thanks to striker Eli Junior Kroupi's 22 goals. Metz has Jonathan Fischer, a former substitute teacher, in goal. ___ AP soccer:
New York Times
36 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why Frank's ‘special operation' offered promise even if Tottenham succumbed at the last
In the immediate aftermath of Tottenham Hotspur's 4-0 loss against Bayern Munich last week, new head coach Thomas Frank turned his thoughts to how they could beat the Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup. He came up with a tactical blueprint based around a compact 3-5-2 formation, clever set-piece routines and an aggressive press. Advertisement It worked perfectly in Udine on Wednesday night until the 85th minute. Spurs threw away a two-goal lead in those last few minutes and then lost on penalties to PSG. 'I knew we had to do something a little bit different,' Frank said as a digested a near miss. 'It was a special operation. In medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died.' Many will focus on how Spurs let the opportunity to win another trophy slip through their fingers, but this was an encouraging and impressive performance in Frank's first competitive game in charge. Here, The Athletic breaks down Spurs' approach and what it could mean for the rest of the season. Exactly four years ago, Frank led Brentford to a famous 2-0 victory over Arsenal on the opening day of the 2021-22 season. He used a 3-5-2 system with Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney up front. Goalkeeper David Raya would pump the ball long and Toney and Mbeumo would chase any flick-ons. Frank returned to this playbook on Wednesday evening in Italy — just switch out those names for Guglielmo Vicario, Richarlison and Mohammed Kudus. Spurs shifted into a back five out of possession which meant the pockets of space were limited into which Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Khivcha Kvaratskhelia could dart. There were multiple occasions in the first half when Vitinha and Desire Doue passed the ball around the edge of the box and were then dispossessed by Joao Palhinha, Rodrigo Bentancur or Pape Sarr. Spurs would then spring a counter and, in the 23rd minute, it led to Lucas Chevalier tipping Richarlison's shot over the bar. Do not expect to see this tactic every week, but when Spurs come up against teams who are expected to dominate possession, especially in the Champions League, they can revert to it. Then as Frank grows with this squad, they will hopefully become more confident on the ball and control games against top quality-opposition. There is something funny about the first two goals of the Frank era coming from set-pieces. Ange Postecoglou, Frank's predecessor, did not care about set-pieces and compared them to a scrum in rugby, but PSG could not cope with what Tottenham mustered in Udine. There was a lot of variety to the routines. In the second half, Kudus took a free kick quickly and then chipped a cross towards Kevin Danso. Micky van de Ven's goal came from a sneaky tactic which saw new captain Cristian Romero peel towards the edge of the box and head the ball back into a dangerous area from Vicario's free kick. Danso launched long throw-ins into the box. Porro whipped in-swinging deliveries towards Bentancur and Romero. Danso and Van de Ven blocked other players from marking their team-mates. PSG's defence could not keep up with the schemes devised by set-piece coach Andreas Georgson. Frank needs to find other ways for this team to create chances but the chaos they can cause from set-pieces is fantastic and an asset. Who needs a shiny new playmaker when you have a rough and rugged midfield which rolls over the opposition? Sarr, Bentancur and Palhinha might not be the most technical combination but they give Spurs a lot of energy and aggression. Palhinha put a dreadful performance against his parent club Bayern behind him and demonstrated why he is the No 6 Spurs have craved over the last few years. In the ninth minute, Barcola skipped past Danso but the Portuguese midfielder tracked back and pinched the ball. Danso even accidentally clattered into him in the process, but he quickly shrugged it off. Something similar happened just before half-time and, on that occasion, Palhinha blocked Barcola's cross. The Portugal international offers the defence a layer of protection they sorely lacked last year and allows Bentancur to push up slightly higher. Sarr has probably been the best performer since Frank arrived. He repeatedly pinched the ball off Vitinha and constantly threw himself into duels. Sarr and Bentancur had mixed seasons last year but they already look like they could reach a new level under Frank. Brennan Johnson, the hero of Tottenham's Europa League final victory over Manchester United, did not feature at all against PSG. He was their top goalscorer in all competitions last season but now faces a battle with Kudus to start every week. This system suits Kudus slightly better than Johnson. The Ghana international is wiry and full of tricks. He was excellent at holding the ball up under pressure from multiple defenders and either winning a free kick or driving forward. When Kudus was substituted for Mathys Tel with 10 minutes left, Tottenham lost an outlet. PSG were able to push them back further and keep piling on the pressure. Richarlison produced a good performance, too. The 28-year-old could be invaluable to Frank if he stays fit. Richarlison kept harassing his international team-mate Marquinhos and disrupting any attempt to play out from the back. He burst through on the counter a couple of times and was unfortunate not to receive more support. If there was one criticism about Frank's game plan, it would be that Spurs sank far too deep towards the end. Lee Kang-in came off the bench and started drifting towards the right. Djed Spence had to cope with Lee, Dembele and Achraf Hakimi flooding his side of the pitch. When Tottenham cleared the ball, PSG quickly recovered it. The Premier League side missed the presence of James Maddison who is so calm under pressure and effectively retains possession or wins a free kick, giving everybody time to reset. Advertisement This has happened to Frank before and it is something he needs to address quickly. In October 2023, Brentford were beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford when Scott McTominay scored twice in stoppage time at the end. A year later, history repeated itself in a 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. Frank's special operation was remarkable and deserves a lot of praise, but it still ultimately failed. That said, only minor tweaks will be needed to ensure the patient survives the procedure in future. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
How Chelsea play: Building from the goalkeeper, a box-shaped midfield and lots of short corners
Many outside the club might only admit it grudgingly, but Chelsea's extraordinarily well-funded project under Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly has finally achieved football legitimacy. That much was clear in May, when Chelsea secured a return to the Champions League with a fourth-place finish in the Premier League before lifting the UEFA Conference League. Advertisement 'For me, the biggest achievement this season is that exactly one year ago, no one was talking about Chelsea for football (reasons), but talking about the big squad, big money,' head coach Enzo Maresca said in a press conference before the FIFA Club World Cup final. 'Now, no one is talking about this, but they are talking about the way we play, and the way we win games. This is personally the biggest achievement of this season.' The fact that Maresca's young team then comprehensively beat newly-crowned Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium to win the tournament only served to underline his point. Chelsea are a serious side again, but how exactly do they play? Let's talk about it. Maresca's appointment in the summer of 2024 was a clear signal of the football direction the club wanted to take: a shift towards the Pep Guardiola school of possession-focused, positional play, implemented by a man who, like Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, served as Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. Equally as clear was Maresca's specific interpretation of the Guardiola style: a 4-2-3-1 system that shifts to become more of a 3-4-3 in possession, with the 'four' arranged in a box shape consisting of two defensive midfielders — one of which is typically an inverted full-back — and two attacking midfielders operating in the half-spaces, or 'pockets'. Maresca's box midfield can be seen below, during last season's home meeting with Arsenal… This structure, which grants a measure of balance by enabling the team to attack with five players while the other five remain behind the ball to protect against counter-attacks, tends to be Chelsea's default alignment. But throughout last season, Maresca demonstrated that he is flexible when it comes to how he gets to it. Sometimes it was left-back Marc Cucurella inverting into the base of midfield, sometimes it was right-back Malo Gusto moving in from the right. Sometimes one or the other would instead push up into one of the attacking midfield roles, with two natural defensive midfielders behind them. Advertisement Cucurella is also integral to Maresca's preferred tactical plan B: a more attacking alignment in which the inverted full-back pushes all the way up into the final third to enable Chelsea to attack with six players rather than five, keeping just one defensive midfielder to screen the back three. This tactical shift led to Cucurella scoring several crucial goals for Chelsea last season, including a late winner against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in May… Gusto is a more awkward fit inverting into midfield, and Maresca has not returned to it since the Frenchman was targeted by Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League final. He is, however, a real overlapping threat, and was utilised in that manner to great effect against PSG in the Club World Cup final, creating the opening goal with one surge upfield. Chelsea's campaign in the United States was the stage for Maresca to get significantly more creative tactically. His experimental 4-2-2-2 shape against Flamengo in the group stage failed, but moving to a 4-3-3 enabled his team to press Fluminense much more effectively in the semi-final and in the final against PSG he started talisman Cole Palmer on the right and Reece James in midfield, enabling his club captain to drop into right-back when Gusto ran forward. Maresca's team were also highly aggressive out of possession against the European champions, pressing man-to-man. Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah both pushed well into the PSG half to track Ousmane Dembele whenever he drifted deep, with Moises Caicedo filling the gap in the defensive line behind them. On other occasions, Chelsea are happy to drop off a little into a mid-block and use their attackers to screen opposition passing angles through their lines, trusting their defenders and goalkeeper to sweep up any high balls over the top. When forced to defend deep, they often try to play offside on the edge of their own penalty area — a strategy practised by Maresca's other coaching mentor, Manuel Pellegrini. This was exploited by several opponents last season, but it also routinely catches attackers offside. Advertisement On the ball, Maresca's preference is for his side to build with short passes from his goalkeeper, often with the aim of baiting opponents into a press that creates space higher up the pitch. Chelsea are very capable of moving the ball forward quickly in such situations, with plenty of speed in their attacking line and an elite transition passer in Palmer to release them. But against PSG, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was instructed to kick longer, bypassing PSG's attempted press and often isolating Gusto against Nuno Mendes. It proved to be inspired. Chelsea's other tactical evolution at the Club World Cup was a shift towards short corners. Last season, Chelsea's 4.1 goals per 100 set pieces ranked 10th in the Premier League, while their 4.6 goals conceded per 100 set pieces was the sixth-worst in the division. Maresca and set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva do not have the biggest or most aerially talented squad to work with, so passing short at attacking corners makes sense. The structure is illustrated below, with one player positioned on the byline and another level with the penalty area to form a triangle that entices opponents out to defend. Chelsea manoeuvred this situation into an own goal from Palmeiras defender Agustin Giay in the Club World Cup quarter-final, and it has the added benefit of limiting the risk of giving up defensive transition. All in all, Chelsea took 26 of their 43 attacking corners at the tournament short. This summer's recruitment should make Chelsea even more versatile. Up front, Liam Delap and Joao Pedro both made an immediate positive impact at the Club World Cup and each offers a different aspect of what Nicolas Jackson provided to this team last season, while also providing a more clinical touch in the final third… On the left flank, Maresca can pick from Jamie Gittens or Pedro Neto, depending on which angles of attack he wants to take. On the right, Brazilian prodigy Estevao can provide an X factor and lessen the creative burden that weighed heavily on Palmer at times last season. Chelsea have far better and more varied tools to pick apart opposition low blocks. Advertisement Behind the front line, the rounded skill set of returning loanee Andrey Santos should make Chelsea's midfield more fluid and flexible. Caicedo and Cucurella, two of Maresca's most-picked players in 2024-25, finally have specialist understudies in the forms of Dario Essugo and Jorrel Hato, the latter of whom can also cover for the injured Colwill at centre-back. Maresca fielded 27 players at the Club World Cup, more than any other manager in the competition. He has more options than ever, and Chelsea's identity is more sophisticated as a result. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
