Who is defensive target Leoni?
Leoni's pass completion sits at the 61st percentile which suggests he is comfortable retaining possession, but can be inaccurate when distributing from the back. In Arne Slot's system, where centre-backs are often tasked with initiating attacks under pressure, refining that consistency could be a key part of his development. His figures for challenges lost are also notable. This points to a player still developing his strength and reading of one-on-one situations. It may also reflect the fact that, as a young defender, he is still learning when to commit and when to hold his position.For now, the statistics tell the story of a player on the rise, and if the move is completed, Anfield could be the stage on which he fulfils his potential.
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BBC News
a minute ago
- BBC News
Why Arsenal are ready to win the league as stakes rise for Arteta
This season is set to be the most important in Mikel Arteta's five and a half years in charge of have revamped their squad with £190m worth of signings as they look to win the Premier League for the first time in 21 Gunners have finished second for the past three seasons in a row but have now made a big push over the summer to end that have added two important cogs to the spine of their team with the signing of midfielder Martin Zubimendi and striker Viktor BBC Sport looks at why Arsenal - who begin their campaign away to Manchester United on Sunday (kick-off 16:30 BST) - believe they are now ready to win the league this season. How have Arsenal strengthened over the summer? Speaking before the first summer match in Singapore, Arteta said he "sees the right balance" and that "all the ingredients are there" for Arsenal to win this addition of six new players and the potential of another has given fans a lift, but also raised added depth in the squad has given Arteta a real boost and the possibility of lots of variations in his team as he looks to break down stubborn Rice looks to have been permanently released into the more advanced midfield role he excelled in so much last season, thanks to the arrival of Zubimendi from Real has also got rid of the 'tier system' so there is no drop off in the team. Tier One players were expected starters but the new signings have been brought in to make sure that there is not a huge dip in performance if any of the starting XI are has been a big emphasis on increasing the goal threat from every position this summer - using runs in behind and getting shots off - and on how to get the best out of Gykores' key attributes after the striker scored 97 goals in 102 appearances for Portuguese side said if you leave Gyokeres "with the space one against one, he's going to destroy you" earlier this added: "He's going to create a lot of space as well for us and there is the moment that, in any situation, there is a player there that can score a goal." What happens if they don't win? It will not be a shock to Arteta that fans are expecting trophies at Emirates Stadium this crunch matches during the last campaign you could feel the desperation from the crowd to see Arsenal boss has had his fair share of critics, who have questioned his ability to win trophies given he has only won the FA Cup and that was in his first season as were even messages of 'Arteta out' sprayed on walls near the stadium after the signing of Noni Madueke, which shows that some supporters may not have as much patience as most in the happens, Arteta has given himself a squad with more quality and with players at the right age who are ready to make the next step - but pressure could come from within if Arsenal don't get over the line after their summer spending. What have we seen in pre-season? Arsenal know they are expected to compete in multiple competitions this season and the players and staff are not scared of saying they need to win a versions of the phrase 'getting to a new level' were used by Arteta and others throughout pre-season, with signs mentioning similar at the team's kit launch on a rooftop in does not like the word friendlies and sees the games they have played before the start of the Premier League season as "tests".The intensity and sharpness was noted by opponents and the evolution of the Arsenal side could be seen from the first game against AC started with Ethan Nwaneri in a central role which seems to be the strongest area of Arsenal's squad this season with Rice, Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino also has been signed from Chelsea to play on the wings, a position where Nwaneri broke into the side, but he is a natural midfielder and his pathway into the team seems to be of the key takeaways from Arsenal from their five summer matches is a more direct Gunners scored 17 fewer goals than Liverpool last season and finished 10 points behind the champions in second place. Arsenal have looked to address that with their recruitment and attempts to increase the goal threat from all David Raya is frequently kicking the ball long and goals from Kai Havertz and chances created for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have come when Arsenal have played the ball into space behind the opposition arrival of new set-piece coach Nicolas Jover is expected to ensure the Gunners are again a huge threat in this area.A new faster-paced attacking style has been evident through summer, especially when Odegaard, Zubimendi and Rice started Myles Lewis-Skelly impressed by drifting into midfield from left-back during his breakthrough season, there has been more emphasis on him fulfilling traditional full-back duties in this hopes the changes will benefit Gyokeres and his imposing physical style along with his ability to burst through centre-backs. What do Arsenal need to do differently to win? Over last season's 38 league games, Liverpool had in excess of 100 more shots and scored 17 more goals than of those were penalties but that still leaves a gap of 95 non-penalty shots, 2.5 more shots every game. If the Gunners had taken the same number of non-penalty shots as the champions and continued scoring at the rate that they did (12.3%) then they would've scored an additional 12 goals, showing that Arsenal's main problem last season was that you can't score the chances you don't make. Arsenal were decimated by injuries to key players last season, leaving them without key components of their that led to performances where Arsenal were kept at bay by sides who defended tended to build up slowly with the ball with lots of passes, allowing the defensive team time to regroup, and then resorted to crosses and hoping to win a header. The 'peak' squad make up Zubimendi and Gyokeres - aged 26 and 27 respectively - are at or about to hit their peak, and have been brought into the team to win things the majority of the Arsenal team - and the squad in general - are either at or approaching what we'd consider the peak age of a player's of the '1st XI' last season are aged between 23 and 27, with only Raya who is still at the club older than connections of Zubimendi and Merino, former team-mates at Real Sociedad, alongside the experience of Odegaard, is another example of what Arsenal are trying to coaches have been impressed with the character of their signings as they looked to bring in leaders who are ready to deal with the pressure that will come this do have younger players for the future like Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri (both just 18) while Saka and Califiori are still only 23, but this is a team Arteta believes is ready to win other summer signings Norgaard, 31 and Kepa Arrizabalada, 30, they have increased the wider squad experience too.
Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
CALUM McCLURKIN: York has an International to truly savour but an uninspiring Oaks. It sums up Britain's curious position at the highest level
Compare and contrast the fields for the Juddmonte International and Yorkshire Oaks at York's Ebor Festival this week and you will see what a curious position British racing is at the highest level. Let's deal with the positives first. The Juddmonte International promises to be, once again, the race of the season. And not just in Britain. The Eclipse winner, the Prince of Wales' winner, a top Japanese horse and a leading French three-year-old. A talented Group Two winning filly is also firmly in the reckoning. It has everything you want in a top-class Group One contest. This was the race that, in my opinion, saw the last truly breathtaking Flat performance. When the brilliant Baaeed thumped Mishriff by six-and-a-half lengths in 2022 it was a jaw-dropping performance. City Of Troy downing Calandagan by a length in 2024 was another excellent renewal. We have one more on Wednesday. Aidan O'Brien won this last year with his Derby and Eclipse winner. Delacroix may have misfired in the former but he delivered at Sandown. He's a worthy favourite as the turn of foot he showed when hampered in the closing stages was impressive. He ran down OMBUDSMAN (2-1, bet365) that day but if things went wrong for the winner in the closing stages then the first half of the race was a nightmare for the Prince Of Wales' Stakes victor at Royal Ascot. He was trapped three wide and too keen off a slow pace. Jockey William Buick was forced into playing his hand early and, although he got a clearer run than most, his over exertions in the early stages told in the end. Owners Godolphin have supplemented a pacemaker in a bid to ensure that scenario doesn't unfold again, with a solid gallop on the front end hopefully delivering the type of race that saw Ombudsman come from the back with a withering run at Royal Ascot. York's long straight should suit John and Thady Gosden's colt who was also undoubtedly fully primed for Royal Ascot. They've targeted the meeting on the Knavesmire equally as effectively in recent season. Mostahdaf (2023), Mishriff (2021) and Roaring Lion (2018) were all magnificent International winners for the Clarehaven team. Ombudsman may well follow suit and he only has to give Delacroix 7lbs instead of 10lbs this time around after a neck defeat in the Eclipse. He can turn that form around. Trust the Gosdens to strike again. Japan's Danon Dacile has been well supported from 16-1 into 9-2 and has been kept fresh for this since winning the Sheema Classic in Dubai in April. The Japanese Derby winner beat the classy Calandagan that day and it's a piece of form that puts him in the mix. That race turned into a bit of a sprint for the line but it was over a mile and a half, showing that Danon Dacile, rated 125, could have the speed to take a hand. However, his price has gone and it's hard to weigh up his form with the top two in the market. Daryz is an unexposed three-year-old from France and unbeaten in four starts. Rated just 113, he has more than a stone to find with the principals but is open to any amount of improvement. He's another that's come in from support from 14-1 into 7s in recent weeks. Again, that's a sharp cut that makes him offputting as an each-way angle in the race. He was workmanlike enough in a Grade Two in Saint-Cloud. It would be no surprise to see him burst onto the Group One scene soon but it'll be a shock if it happens at York on Wednesday. This could be too much too soon for him and the fast ground and tempo may take him out of his comfort zone very early. The danger to have a saver on is without doubt SEE THE FIRE (9-1, William Hill) who seems inexplicably unconsidered after her third in the Nassau Stakes. But that race was a farce in a monsoon when she missed the break off an absurd flag start. Oisin Murphy sensibly realised there was no point in leaving her season behind by asking her to make up ground on the unrelenting Whirl, so forget that run and pretty much every line of form at 'Glorious Goodwood' for that matter. The Andrew Balding-trained filly is much better judged on her good third to Ombudsman in the Prince Of Wales' Stakes where she went off half the price of the winner that day. Her Royal Ascot starting price was probably off the back of her startling effort at York when she blitzed the field in the Group Two Middleton Stakes. She won by 12 lengths from Beautiful Love and Royal Dress. Admittedly, the two horses she beat are now rated in the high 100s but it was still a spectacular performance and she as a neck second in the Nassau Stakes last year behind Opera Singer when that was a semblance of a conventional horse race. Course and distance winners at York can never be underestimated and she can easily bounce back here to be the chief danger to Ombudsman. For all the brilliance and intrigue in the International, there is none of that in a bland Yorkshire Oaks. Six confirmations and four are trained by O'Brien. Only two of those are intended runners; short-priced favourtie Minnie Hauk and Garden Of Eden. Minnie Hauk has won the Oaks and Irish Oaks and looks for a treble. Estrange is second favourite but won't run if firm is in the going description. Fast ground is likely in this heatwave with no rain around. Ed Walker's Qilin Queen is the other entry. This Group One prize could easily be a three-runner heat, with Ribblesdale winner Garden Of Eden probably giving a lead to stablemate Minnie Hauk. The latter grinded down Whirl in a sustained duel in the Oaks but was more workmanlike in the Irish equivalent. This is another race that won't take much winner. General odds of 2-5 sum that up. It's as uninspiring as it gets for Thursday's feature. Thank goodness, the International will be completely different. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: MORE THUNDER was an impressive winner of the Hungerford Stakes at Newmarket. He had a little to find with others but his huge potential saw William Haggas' four-year-old sent off 6-4 favourite and he came with a typical late burst to win fairly easily in the end. Group One assignments should be next in the offing. The Prix Foret on Arc day looks the suitable seven-furlong assignment but a strongly-run six is another option and the Champion Sprint on Champions Day at Ascot is another end-of-season possibility. The Park Stakes at Doncaster's St Leger meeting looks to be the next race on his radar, according to connections. That should be a Group Two of a similar standard. SELECTION OF THE DAY: JAPAN took out the Group Two Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville yesterday and they can claim today's Group One prize on offer in France with ASCOLI PICENO (3-1, William Hill) in the Prix Jacques Le Marois (Deauville, 2.50). The ground is drying out all the time and this four-year-old was impressive in taking out the Victoria Mile in May. Stall two looks a good draw and his form puts him in the picture in a sketchy mile division in Europe.
Scotsman
31 minutes ago
- Scotsman
'Not normal for a young guy' - Inside Lennon Miller's rise to Serie A amid comparisons to €28m man
The Scotland international has left boyhood club Motherwell for Italian top flight stalwarts Udinese Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Some might say the only surprise over Lennon Miller's transfer to Serie A outfit Udinese is that it took so long for him to get there. Speak to anybody who's been around, played with or coached the latest Scottish export to Italy, and the timing is just like his style on the pitch. Calculated, precise and mapped out within an inch of its life. That is how the teenager dictated play in the Motherwell midfield, a club that has just sold him for a record-breaking fee, a place he's called home since the age of seven and that has helped him deal with plenty that few his age have. He lost his mum, Donna, who passed in 2012 after having cancer. At five years old, Miller sought an escape in football and built a mentality that matured him beyond his formative years. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "That's probably one of the biggest aspects of his development, his mental side of it," said Fir Park academy director David Clarkson, who came across Miller at under-13 level. 'His approach to his journey, his approach to progressing, how mature he's been from a young age. Even back then and that young, he had a level head on him. He's dealt with a lot through his life, and he was just so down to earth and so willing to learn and helpful. Probably mature beyond his years.' How Lennon Miller made himself a top talent It was clear before his Motherwell debut at the age of 16 against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in August 2022 that this was to be arguably the Steelmen's hottest academy product. No mean feat from a system that's produced fellow Scotland internationalists James McFadden, David Turnbull, Max Johnston and many others. So when did the wider football audience get a whiff of what those in ML1 had sensed for years? It wasn't a debut where he became the youngest-ever player in Motherwell's 139-year history, not his senior Scotland bow, neither turning Celtic captain Callum McGregor inside-out with a roulette spin at the age of 17 or skippering Motherwell at Hampden against Rangers, but on a summer's day away at Elgin City. It had come about thanks to a Jamie Murphy summer. Never heard of that phenomenon? Allow this scribe to explain. The ex-Brighton, Rangers and Hibs attacker plus current Ayr United veteran was an emerging Motherwell talent and netted his first goal during a 2-0 win away at Hibs in 2008. There was some doubt over his ability to handle the physical side of the game until he beefed up over that summer and went on to make 213 Motherwell appearances, becoming the club's record European goalscorer before moving to Sheffield United. So as Miller came back from his debut season with a demeanour that looked 26 and not 16, it set the scene for a breakout campaign two years ago, starting with a well-taken strike in victory at Borough Briggs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "I think his face had even changed," former teammate Dan Casey recalled. 'He just looked a bit older. I'm sure he put in a lot of work that off-season, because it definitely showed.' "That kind of moment for me just stood out," Clarkson said of his goal on League Cup duty. 'I think that moment for me was 'that's the boy.' Everything was there, and we'd seen it for years and just hoped he got the opportunity and hoped he did progress.' Every press conference, every time a pundit discussed Motherwell, every time the club was brought up in passing conversation, Miller was the centre of it all. For Michael Wimmer arriving as Motherwell manager with zero Scottish football experience last February, he got very accustomed to the teenager before his hasty exit in May amid personal circumstances. Enzo Millot comparison Having managed at Austria Wien and coached in the Bundesliga with Augsburg then Stuttgart, he's used to working alongside elite talent. Miller ranks in his five-man VIP club of players that includes Enzo Millot, Tottenham defender Kevin Danso, Juventus' Argentine international Nico Gonzalez and Wolves forward Sasa Kalajdzic. If you're not acquainted with French midfielder Millot, Stuttgart sold him days before Miller's Udinese move at a cool price of €28 million to Saudi side Al-Ahli. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Lennon is in the top five talents I've worked with,' said Wimmer, who now manages German third-tier side Jahn Regensburg. 'In the six position to compare it with Lennon, it's perhaps Enzo who is similar to him. Lennon played without mistakes. If he had 100 passes, he completed 99 passes to the teammate. This is not normal for a young guy.' Wycombe Wanderers defender Casey had a front-row seat to striker Evan Ferguson's rise at Irish side Bohemians before switching to Brighton, now with Roma. He'll be a keen observer of Udinese's battles versus I Giallorossi this season in Italy's top flight, but Miller's emergence brought flashbacks while the Irishman was in Lanarkshire. The only thing Miller seemingly didn't do at Motherwell was pull his weight in car schooling alongside Stephen O'Donnell and Calum Butcher. Given he was 16 when Casey shared one with him, it wasn't too shocking. 'I think he actually got away with murder,' Casey joked. 'Time went on, and I ended up not being in his car school, so he probably didn't have to drive much for me. I'll get some petrol money off him in the future! I've been around players that have been in high demand. With Lennon, it was sort of every transfer window that there were new names coming into the pot. I was with Evan Ferguson and he was breaking into the first team at 14 or 15. He was generational. He was so big at that age that he could actually break in at such a young age, which is crazy to think. 'He started coming up and training with us towards the end of my time there. I was only there for the last couple of months when he'd made his debut and stuff. I've obviously been with Lennon the last few years and I was even younger when I was with Evan. I was thinking to myself, these lads are breaking in at this age, they're going to go on to have serious careers. Both of them, I've no doubt, will do." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad How will Lennon Miller fare in Serie A? So what's next for Scotland's latest import to Italy after the likes of Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson and an ever-expanding list of Scots making their name abroad? Away from the bright lights of Milan, Rome and Turin with Udinese, who have been in the top flight since the 1995/1996 season, there will be an opportunity to grow into the superstar many hope he can be. Wimmer's knowledge of new manager Kosta Runjaic from his time in Germany gives him confidence that Miller's short time working under his high-tempo tactics can prove beneficial to adapting abroad. Scottish football will hope he is correct.
