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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Hearts ride a wave of optimism hoping to avoid a belt in the mouth
The 2025/26 Scottish Premiership begins at Tynecastle on Monday Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, 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... Derek McInnes prowled the visitors' technical area at Tynecastle Park dozens of times over the years. Standing inside a cauldron of noise, his priority was to quieten the natives by stifling Hearts' energy on the pitch. Those days as manager of St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock are gone, with McInnes now occupying the dugout across the tunnel. Now he wants those same home supporters to blast the volume and create a raucously-intimidating atmosphere. Monday is the new Hearts head coach's Premiership bow. There is a touch of irony in Aberdeen being the visitors, but McInnes is focused on his own environment and how to harness it. Positivity is aplenty in Gorgie just weeks into his reign after Hearts scored 16 goals in four Premier Sports Cup ties, then beat English Premier League side Sunderland 3-0 in Craig Gordon's testimonial. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A serious competitive test is yet to come given Premier Cup games were all against lower-division sides. McInnes' experience tells him football's fickle nature can bring a 'belt in the mouth' - as he puts it - at any moment. For now, he wants to surf the crest of this wave, prolong it and take the entire Hearts support base with him. Easier said than done but plenty fans are revelling in the new-look, attacking team he is busy structuring. Monday will indicate, to some extent, how serious the recent momentum is. The 54-year-old can feel excitement building around his new place of work. 'I just want us to keep riding this wave as long as we can,' he says, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. 'There's a lot of optimism about and a bit of a feel-good factor. However, knowing football, the belt in the mouth is just round the corner so we need to stay on our toes. The squad is getting stronger and things are becoming a bit clearer as we go along. Saturday [against Sunderland] was a step in the right direction because you can only play what is in front of you. 'Everybody said that we should be winning those games in the League Cup, that it's not a test and Sunderland will be the test. Then we play Sunderland and we dealt with that game and that level of player. The players acquitted themselves brilliantly and fed off the crowd. That's the kind of thing I'm looking for. I want us to feed off the crowd on Monday. 'We are against an Aberdeen team that is more than capable of causing us problems, but we want to keep the positivity going as long as we can. We know there will be setbacks and disappointments as we go along. We are just trying to keep all of that to a minimum and try to expect to be a winning team more often than not.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad McInnes makes no apology for incessant demands on players. He signed seven new ones, with at least two more to follow, and is motivated to coach good footballers into better ones. 'I have asked a lot of the players and I'll continue to put those demands on them. We have to keep moving forward and keep improving as we go through the season. What I can say about the players is that they have given us plenty encouragement and they aren't scared of hard work. Everybody is desperate to be part of it. 'As a manager, when you go into a new club, that's first and foremost what you are looking for - the appetite and the response from the boys. We are getting that because everybody is choking to play their part. We are all looking forward to Monday's game now and to give us the best chance we will hopefully have as many players available as possible. Then I'll try to set us up right, then try to deal with the game. 'I don't think there's anything wrong with having plenty of optimism about. I'd certainly rather have it that way. Professional players, as good as they are, need to feel that confidence. A confident player will always give you a better chance of winning. The lads are in a good place at the minute.' Hearts fans can influence Scottish Premiership progress Fans have a huge role to play in this mini Hearts revolution. Anger at last season's seventh-place is still lingering within some, but the new management team have brought a fresh approach. McInnes and his assistants, Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald, are all experienced Scottish football campaigners. They know what a good Hearts team should look like and what Tynecastle should sound like. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'All I would ask is that, if Monday isn't straightforward, I just want the fans to stay with the team and have that trust,' states McInnes. 'I know we need to build that trust over a period of time, but just trust the team that we are trying to play a certain way that will allow us to win games so just stick with us as long as they can. 'As an opposition manager going to Tynecastle, you would try to make sure that wasn't the case. If the fans stick with the team and the players have that connection with supporters, I want that to be a force for us. Good or bad, we are all after the same outcome. The supporters can have a huge bearing on what happens on Monday. They really can. 'If they can stick with the team and show that support, the players will feed off it, there's no doubt about it. Hopefully we can make it a good night's work because I want Tynecastle to be exactly that type of place. Not just the atmosphere at the start of the game, I want it to feel intimidating for the opposition, I want it to feel that we are all in it together. Until that final whistle blows, everybody needs to be giving maximum effort. Any support we can get from the stands to help the players would be really appreciated.' Style of play for new SPFL season 2025/26 Locals always respond warmly to a Hearts team pumping at full pace with aggression and a high tempo. It's exactly what McInnes wants in an ideal world. However, just as he tried to in previous jobs, Aberdeen and other opponents will attempt to negate that approach. The hosts' aim is to dictate the game and overwhelm their guests. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We would like to, yes,' says McInnes. 'Sometimes that isn't the case because some games can be a bit stop-start. Sunderland allowed us to come on to them. Aberdeen may well do that, they might not encourage us with their press and could go a bit longer. We train to play a certain way, move the ball quickly, get the ball into wide areas quickly, we try to play into our strikers quicker maybe than before. Not saying there is anything wrong with what has gone on before. 'We will try to annoy the opposition. We will let certain players have the ball and all that will become clearer as we go along. Saturday was a step towards where I'd like us to be against good opposition. We will do whatever we need to do. Whether we have more of the ball or less of it, the outcome is to try and win the game.' Strikers are scoring goals to offer plenty encouragement that Hearts will be a force entering the new league campaign. Lawrence Shankland, Claudio Braga, James Wilson and Elton Kabangu all found the net in the Premier Sports Cup. Shankland and at least one of the other three will make Monday's starting line-up. 'You can't go through a full season with two strikers,' McInnes points out. 'You need to have competition and everybody has something to offer. I get to see them every day in training, how they are playing and how their form is. It also depends on the opponent. Sometimes some players are more suited to playing against a certain opponent, so there are lots of factors when picking a team. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We've got that strength at the top end of the pitch. There is strength in numbers, quality defensively, good options in wide areas. Once we get everybody up to speed, we have good competition.' READ MORE: Kabore preparing for Hearts debut against Aberdeen
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Nikkei Asia
Liverpool's Endo prioritizes champions over game time ahead of World Cup
Liverpool player Wataru Endo speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on July 29. (Photo by Yuki Kohara) CHRIS RUSSELL TOKYO -- Liverpool's Wataru Endo says he is continuing to embrace the competitive environment of the newly crowned English Premier League champions even though his game time was limited last season, and that this will set him up to deliver with the Japanese national team at the World Cup in North America next year. "If I maintain a high level of awareness [of what I should do], then I think my game smarts won't diminish," the defensive midfielder, who also serves as the captain of the national team, told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview ahead of Wednesday's friendly match played between Liverpool and the Yokohama F. Marinos.
The Mainichi
7 hours ago
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Football: English champions Liverpool beat Marinos on Japan return
YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Liverpool came from behind to beat Yokohama F Marinos 3-1 in an international club friendly on Wednesday, claiming victory in the English Premier League champions' first game in Japan in 20 years. Their red-clad fans outnumbered those in the hosts' blue at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, the hometown of Japan captain and Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, with a packed crowd of 67,032 on hand for the Reds' first visit to the country since the 2005 Club World Championship. Prior to the game, fans gathered at a corner outside the venue to write farewell messages to Liverpool player Diogo Jota, who died along with his younger brother in a car crash on July 3 in northwestern Spain. "I was so shocked when I heard the news," said 21-year-old Genki Urata, a supporter of both Liverpool and his local club Marinos, who wore a Jota No. 20 shirt he bought two years ago. "I definitely want them to come back again next year, although I'm thinking about going to Anfield too. Today, of course I'm supporting Liverpool." Liverpool all-time top scorer Ian Rush delivered a tribute to Jota before the kick-off, followed by fans joining in a chant for the former Portugal forward. Marinos attacker Jun Amano grabbed early attention with a volley that went off target, before nutmegging Ryan Graveberch in the middle of the park, while Cody Gakpo curled a low shot onto the right post in the ninth minute for Liverpool. Fans once again paid respect to Jota by applauding in the 20th minute, in acknowledgement of his shirt number. Liverpool debutant Hugo Ekitike had a backheel saved before the best chance of the half fell to J1 strugglers Marinos, whose status as one of the only two clubs never to be relegated since the launch of the J-League in 1993, alongside Kashima Antlers, is in jeopardy this year. A two-man counter in the 40th minute saw Yan Matheus' chipped cross finding Dean David, whose stooping header drew a diving save from keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Asahi Uenaka and Darwin Nunez missed chances at either end early in the second half, before the Marinos attacker opened the scoring in the 55th minute, low off the post, after latching on to a fine through ball from Riku Yamane. Endo entered on the hour-mark to replace Virgil van Dijk, taking the captain's armband, and Liverpool leveled two minutes later when Curtis Jones launched a counter and provided a tiny touch off Mohamed Salah's pass to allow big summer signing Florian Wirtz to score. "I'm really happy that I could score my first goal. I hope there are more to come," said Wirtz, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen. "I'm happy we won the game, and it was an incredible atmosphere here in the stadium, so thank you." Trey Nyoni put Liverpool ahead in the 68th minute as he stretched his leg out to meet Jeremie Frimpong's cross to the far post, while a header by Endo in the 77th minute was followed by his Liverpool chant sung by Japanese fans. Sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha put the icing on the cake in the 87th minute when he ran the entire opposition half before slotting home low, a timely showing of his talent on the left wing following the departure of Luis Diaz. "Coming back to the city where I grew up as a Liverpool player was a special, wonderful moment," Endo said. "I knew there are lots of Liverpool fans and I'm grateful as a Japanese about their action toward the team (about Jota)." "I want to win the Premier League again and I'm sure all our players will head into the new season hoping to win the Champions League, cups, all the titles available. The manager knows me well after a year together and I think it will be a different season." "I hope to have a good season with Liverpool and head into the World Cup in the best shape possible." (By Morichika Nakamoto)
Sydney Morning Herald
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Rocket launcher: When women are faster than men
Chloe Kelly cannot only kick a soccer ball faster than a cheetah can run, she can kick it harder than any male player in the English Premier League. When Kelly scored the winning penalty for England in the UEFA Women's Euro final on Monday, she launched the ball at 110 km/h. Her kick was faster than Newcastle United's Alexander Isak whose strike against Liverpool reached 109.9 km/h and was the quickest recorded in the EPL. It wasn't the first time Kelly had upstaged the men. Two years earlier, in the round of 16 of the 2023 Women's World Cup, Kelly was called upon to take the fifth penalty against Nigeria in Brisbane. Just like the Euro final, if Kelly scored, her team would win the match. In what's become a routine so uniquely choreographed that fans have started mimicking her at home, before taking off, Kelly raises her left knee, waits, and then jumps onto it, propelling her toward the ball. In that game against Nigeria, Kelly's goal reached 110.79 km/h which fans again were quick to point out was faster than any strike made during the previous Premier League season, beating West Ham's Said Benrahma's 107.2km/h shot. For another comparison, cheetahs, the fastest land-based animal, run at 110 km/h. Though Kelly hasn't given much of an explanation for her technique, saying it became her routine when playing for Everton in 2018, her teammate Lucy Bronze described how Kelly's able to generate so much power in a TikTok video: When Kelly lifts her leg, Bronze says she's resting it: 'That's what helps her generate the power, resting the leg.' Kelly isn't the only female athlete to outdo her male counterparts.
The Age
7 hours ago
- Sport
- The Age
Rocket launcher: When women are faster than men
Chloe Kelly cannot only kick a soccer ball faster than a cheetah can run, she can kick it harder than any male player in the English Premier League. When Kelly scored the winning penalty for England in the UEFA Women's Euro final on Monday, she launched the ball at 110 km/h. Her kick was faster than Newcastle United's Alexander Isak whose strike against Liverpool reached 109.9 km/h and was the quickest recorded in the EPL. It wasn't the first time Kelly had upstaged the men. Two years earlier, in the round of 16 of the 2023 Women's World Cup, Kelly was called upon to take the fifth penalty against Nigeria in Brisbane. Just like the Euro final, if Kelly scored, her team would win the match. In what's become a routine so uniquely choreographed that fans have started mimicking her at home, before taking off, Kelly raises her left knee, waits, and then jumps onto it, propelling her toward the ball. In that game against Nigeria, Kelly's goal reached 110.79 km/h which fans again were quick to point out was faster than any strike made during the previous Premier League season, beating West Ham's Said Benrahma's 107.2km/h shot. For another comparison, cheetahs, the fastest land-based animal, run at 110 km/h. Though Kelly hasn't given much of an explanation for her technique, saying it became her routine when playing for Everton in 2018, her teammate Lucy Bronze described how Kelly's able to generate so much power in a TikTok video: When Kelly lifts her leg, Bronze says she's resting it: 'That's what helps her generate the power, resting the leg.' Kelly isn't the only female athlete to outdo her male counterparts.
