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Kieran McKenna has transformed Tractor Boys from a third-tier team into one that has upset clubs with far greater resources

In Ipswich the businesses are decking their premises in blue and white while passers-by wish the hours away. Banners, flags, good-luck messages and the nervous thrill of an underlying hubbub: there is only one topic of conversation in the shops and cafes of the modest, compact town centre. Football has always sat at the heart of this proud, often understated community: it comes alive beyond recognition when things are going well. There has been little to sustain it in the past two decades but now its pulse is beating faster than at any point in memory.

If Ipswich Town secure a point or more against Huddersfield on Saturday lunchtime, their return to the Premier League will be confirmed. It is a prize that many in these parts, during darker moments, had given up hope of grasping again. They can earn it in front of a packed house at Portman Road, which remains one of English football’s most distinctive venues and has hit fever pitch over the past year. The continuation of a stunning season’s form would mean it is hosting some of the best players in the world a few months from now.

Gunners came from 2-0 down to beat Bournemouth last March and head coach hopes for a less breathless display on Saturday

“In my heart and in my soul … this is what I am hoping for, yes,” Mikel Arteta says, as he prepares to go through the routine once again. It will be for the third time in the past fortnight or so and yet it is a movie the Arsenal manager has seen on countless occasions over the years – from a role on both sides, which only adds to the drama; the fear factor, too, which he must surely fight.

Arteta’s team play first on Saturday as the Premier League title race nears its climax – at home to Bournemouth at 12.30pm. And then the defending champions, Manchester City, will have to respond when they host Wolves at 5.30pm.

Player-led matches are one of the fresh concepts at academy that aims to give players tools for success beyond football

A few weeks ago AFC Wimbledon Under-18s won 4-3 at Cheltenham Town in the Youth Alliance Cup. The visitors went 3-0 down but did not panic, tweaking tactics and adjusting systems before storming back. It was a wild contest, a remarkable turnaround, but what was even more impressive was Wimbledon were in effect managerless for the day, with the game designated as one of their player-led matches, a pioneering concept at the heart of their academy programme. Apart from booking the team bus to Gloucestershire, the onus was on the youngsters to organise everything and cope with the challenges: absorb the pressure, problem-solve on the spot and play.

It is an idea that hands the initiative to players and one Wimbledon do a few times a season from the under-nines to under-18s. Safeguarding rules differ between age groups but a physiotherapist is always present, as legally required. “When you see 10-year-olds trying to dissect the game, looking at formations, telling people what position they are going to play in, it is empowering,” says their academy manager, Michael Hamilton, who has been asked to share the concept at Premier League and Football Association conferences. “Life is not easy. There are going to be ups and downs. You might get released when you think you shouldn’t, you might not get a run of games. It is about having a bag of tools you can go into and say: ‘What do I need today?’”

• Manager frustrated after 1-1 draw at home to Everton
• ‘We’re still in the mix. We’ve got to believe. We go again.’

Rob Edwards refused to wave the white flag after Luton missed the chance to move out of the bottom three of the Premier League with two games remaining.

Although Edwards did not hide his disappointment about his side ­drawing 1-1 with Everton at ­Kenilworth Road on Friday night, the Luton manager insisted that they will not let up in their quest to stay up. Luton have drawn level on points with ­Nottingham Forest, who remain in 17th place thanks to their superior goal difference, and all is not lost yet. The mood could shift if Forest fail to win at Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

• Chief of football operations rails at ‘high degree of untidiness’
• IT department and age-group dressing rooms ‘reflect poorly’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has ordered ­Manchester United’s staff to raise standards after describing the level of ­untidiness in offices as a “disgrace” and some dressing rooms as “not much better”.

Ratcliffe, the minority owner who now controls United’s football policy, made his comments after a two-day tour of Old Trafford and the ­Carrington training ground.

• Liverpool manager tears into broadcaster over fixture schedule
• Klopp on Fifa: ‘I probably wouldn’t survive in that sea of sharks’

Jürgen Klopp has rounded on TNT Sports and accused broadcasters in England of contributing to the failure of Premier League clubs in Europe this season.

The Liverpool manager was in the mood to settle a few scores before his penultimate game at Anfield, against Tottenham on Sunday, with broadcasters and Fifa among the targets. The Premier League has lost out to the Bundesliga for the extra Champions League place for next season owing to its clubs’ performances this season and, after Aston Villa’s home defeat in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, may have no representatives in a European final.

• ‘We’ve still got a long way to go,’ says head coach
• Spurs prepared to sell Højbjerg, Lo Celso and Gil

The Tottenham head coach, Ange Postecoglou, has told his squad more changes are on the horizon. Spurs had shown plenty of signs of improvement during Postecoglou’s debut season until a run of three straight losses checked their progress.

Defeat at Chelsea on Thursday night highlighted some of the deficiencies in the current Tottenham squad, which has largely been put together by pragmatic managers in José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Antonio Conte, but are now being asked to play a more progressive style of football.

• Agreement could come next week if talks continue smoothly
• West Ham preparing to let David Moyes go at end of season

West Ham are close to agreeing a deal for Julen Lopetegui to take over as their new manager. The club are poised to part company with David Moyes at the end of the season and talks with Lopetegui are gathering pace.

Negotiations have not been concluded and a final decision on Moyes, whose contract runs out this summer, will not be made until the Scot holds talks with the board once the campaign is over.

• Melbourne City 0-1 Sydney FC
• Late strike by Shea Connors clinches fifth championship for Sky Blues

Shea Connors was celebrating before the ball had even hit the back of the net, wheeling away as she scored what would prove the winning goal in the 69th minute of Sydney’s 1-0 triumph over Melbourne City in Saturday evening’s A-League Women grand final.

Connors had been on the park for all of 120 seconds, to that point, brought on to replace Princess Ibini. Now she was being mobbed by teammates converging from the pitch and the bench, having put her side on the way to a historic fifth title.

• Former referee said he had become ‘more hindrance than help’
• Clattenburg warned by FA following his criticism of officiating

Mark Clattenburg has stood down from his role as a referee analyst at Nottingham Forest, admitting he had become “more of a hindrance than a help” to the club.

Clattenburg has been at the centre of two major controversies involving the club since he took on the advisory role in February, first speaking out over a drop-ball incident in a match against Liverpool and then ­criticising the officiating in Forest’s game at Everton on 21 April. On Friday he was also formally warned by the Football Association in relation to comments made about the latter match.

There have been some glaring mistakes by VAR but it also appears to have increased officiating standards on the pitch

Seven months ago Englandthe country came the closest yet to entering thermonuclear war over a refereeing decision. When the referee Simon Hooper mistakenly ruled out a Luis Díaz goal at Tottenham for offside and the video assistant referee Darren England failed to correct him, the initial response was heated and only bubbled up from there.

“They said it was significant, that’s very significant,” said Gary Neville on Sky at full time when a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) statement dropped acknowledging “significant human error” in ruling out the goal. “It makes you wonder how many others they’ve got wrong as well,” chipped in Jamie Redknapp.

• Four points from final two games would clinch title for City
• Manager Gareth Taylor warns against complacency

Gareth Taylor has played down the impact of Chelsea’s shock 4-3 loss to Liverpool on Wednesday, which gave his Manchester City side a firm advantage in the Women’s Super League title race. “It’s changed nothing,” he insisted on Friday. “There’s been a lot of talk around it but the objective is the same: win the next game.”

City, who have won one WSL title, in 2016, host Arsenal at the Joie Stadium on Sunday before playing Aston Villa away in their final game. Chelsea, who on Friday announced that Maren Mjelde would leave at the end of the season, welcome relegated Bristol City to Kingsmeadow and play Tottenham away before travelling to Old Trafford to face the team they lost 2-1 to in the FA Cup semi-final last month: Manchester United.

Arsenal host Bournemouth in Saturday’s early kick-off while Tottenham visit Anfield to take on Liverpool on Sunday

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Emirates Stadium

When the final story of the 2023-24 Premier League season comes to be told, it is likely that Luton Town will feel nothing but regret about the night when they ran out of inspiration and time against opponents as negative and rudimentary as Sean Dyche’s Everton.

Of course, nobody inside Kenilworth Road could question Luton’s determination to fight until the end. There was a lovely equalising goal from Elijah Adebayo, whose strike cancelled out Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s early penalty, and there was no shortage of endeavour. Tahith Chong, who never stopped running, was outstanding and Luton would come agonisingly close to snatching the win that would have moved them out of the bottom three before Nottingham Forest visit Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon, only for Luke Berry and Andros Townsend to spurn three inviting chances during six added minutes.

• Argentinian does not know if he will be in charge in August
• ‘Ask the club if they want me to keep going or not’

Mauricio Pochettino is fed up with “stupid rumours” about his job and has said it is up to Chelsea’s bosses to provide clarity on his future.

Chelsea are three points below sixth-placed Manchester United with four games to play and have a growing chance of rescuing their season by qualifying for Europe after a recent upturn in form. Pochettino, who felt his side produced their best performance of his tenure when they beat Tottenham 2-0 on Thursday, is building his case to continue as head coach.

• Forward wins Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year award
• Guardiola adds 23-year-old can help England win Euro 24

Pep Guardiola has backed Phil Foden to become a Manchester City great and said the forward can help drive England to become European champions this summer, provided Gareth Southgate’s team believe they can win the tournament.

On Friday Foden was announced as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, recognition of a career-best season in which he has scored 24 goals for City and made 10 assists. The 23-year-old has claimed five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, one Champions League, one Uefa Super Cup and one Fifa Club World Cup. Guardiola was asked whether Foden could become City’s greatest-ever player.

• Club were unaware of sale before 20th anniversary of title win
• Former Gunners goalkeeper says all profits will go to charity

The former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has bought the branding rights to ‘the Invincibles’.

Lehmann completed the £30,000 purchase of the trademark used for Arsenal’s Premier League title winning season of 2003-04 ahead of its 20th anniversary. The German is now setting up a company which he says has the support of players involved in the only unbeaten season in the competition’s history, as well as its mastermind Arsène Wenger.

• Foden has scored 24 goals for City and contributed 10 assists
• Shaw, WSL’s leading scorer, ‘proud and privileged’

Phil Foden has been voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and Bunny Shaw, his Manchester City colleague, the FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year.

Foden received 42% of the vote after a career-best season in which he has scored 24 goals for City and contributed 10 assists. Shaw received 53% of the votes, the striker having scored 22 goals in all competitions.

• Angry Spurs manager says his side lacked ‘positive mindset’
• Pochettino defiant after statement win over his former club

Ange Postecoglou admitted Tottenham had the wrong mindset after their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were hit by a limp 2-0 loss to Chelsea.

Spurs, who lie seven points below fourth-placed Aston Villa with four games to go, were woefully short of fight on a damaging night. Their frailties at set pieces were exposed again and although they have a game in hand on Villa, Postecoglou had no complaints about Chelsea extending his side’s losing run to three matches.

Nicolas Jover has been behind Arsenal’s excellence from corners with Aston Villa and Chelsea also investing in specialists

It is a spectacle increasingly common in Premier League technical areas. Whenever a free-kick or corner is awarded, managers are joined by another figure who wildly gesticulates and shouts instructions at his team’s players for a few seconds before taking his seat again in the dugout.

Thanks largely to the exploits of Arsenal’s Nicolas Jover, the set-piece coach’s stock has never been higher. Two goals from corners in last weekend’s north London derby mean Mikel Arteta’s side have equalled the Premier League record of 16 set by West Brom in 2016-17, managed by a certain Tony Pulis, and have 22 in total from set pieces – four more than their nearest rivals, Everton. Arsenal have also conceded only six, second to Manchester City (two), where Jover was replaced by Carlos Vicens in 2021.

New owners have big plans but after the disastrous Rooney reign Blues head into the final day in the relegation zone

‘If we had three dice to start with, two are down the drain and we’ve got one left – I’ve got to hope we roll a six,” Gary Rowett said this week as his Birmingham side prepare to welcome Norwich on Saturday lunchtime in a game with huge implications for Blues. Anything other than a win plus favourable results elsewhere would likely consign the club to the third tier for the first time since 1995.

After August’s American takeover with Tom Brady in tow and October’s appointment of Wayne Rooney as manager, Birmingham start the final day in the relegation zone, one place from safety. Plans were announced last month to build a new “world-class” stadium but the immediate task is less glamorous. Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn share their relegation anxiety. One of the four will go down.

Elijah Adebayo’s return boosts Luton, Wolves seek another City shock and Alexander Isak eyes golden boot

Friday night’s clash between deeply imperilled Luton and newly safe Everton ought to mean contrasting moods among the two sets of supporters at Kenilworth Road. Still, off-field alarms at Everton are likely to dampen the mood in the away end despite the impressive three straight wins that have delivered safety for Sean Dyche’s side. Luton’s much-admired campaign against the drop, by contrast, looks as if it is running out of road yet this well-run club have less to fear from relegation than many around them. There are hopeful portents for Rob Edwards’s team too: the Hatters’ first Premier League win of the season was secured at Goodison in September. The return of Elijah Adebayo, who came on for the final 12 minutes of last Saturday’s loss at Wolves after two months out, can also give their attack extra verve against an Everton side whose thoughts might just be beach-bound after recent exertions. Victory would lift Luton out of the bottom three and give Nottingham Forest more than conspiracy theories to worry about. Tom Davies

Luton v Everton, Friday 8pm (all times BST)

Arsenal v Bournemouth, Saturday 12.30pm

Brentford v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

Burnley v Newcastle, Saturday 3pm

Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm

Manager has had to deal with injuries, a points deduction and VAR controversies but Forest’s future is still in their hands

‘What Steve did here was huge … we are trying to improve this legacy, which is amazing,” Nuno Espírito Santo said when he was appointed as Steve Cooper’s successor. At that stage Forest were 17th; 18 matches and 16 points later, they are in the same position but with added peril.

Nuno has three games to save Nottingham Forest, starting with a trip to Bramall Lane on Saturday. Victory is a must against Sheffield United, the worst team in the Premier League, to avoid wasting Cooper’s platform and further damaging his own reputation.

Last year I logged into iFollow to watch Cambridge maintain their League One status. This year I did exactly the same

As middle age creeps along, I am continually finding new, and less interesting, ways to measure the passing of time. For much of my 20s and all of my 30s I lived on a street with a food market and after a couple of years of burritos and Turkish flatbreads, I realised the greatest advantage was the refuse collection. Every day was bin day.

I took this freedom and wild abandon for waste completely for granted. I didn’t have to plan or think or tear cardboard boxes to shreds. Just toss a plastic bag on the street before 5pm and it was whisked away. I was truly alive. Now it’s a Sunday evening ritual: peer down the street – is it recycling or garden waste? That time again, eh, Frank? Feels like it was only last week we were dragging the yellow bin on to the curb. Do you have space in your green bin, Janet? I’ve been doing some pruning. There we all are, wheel them out and wait for the 6am trash-truck Monday morning chorus. Another week closer to death.

Although he was superb for Dortmund against PSG, this is not the time to start clamouring for a Euros place or United return for player who has had a tough two years

Perhaps the most telling Jadon Sancho clip to emerge from a wonderfully creative attacking performance during Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final first leg was the one that appeared after the match.

This was Sancho’s interview on CBS sports with a visibly buzzed-up Jamie Carragher, who had spent the evening pushing the broadcasting envelope by drinking eight pints of beer in the Yellow Wall end and was able afterwards to provide a real-time demonstration of just how hard it is to do the job of professional broadcaster while drunk. Belated respect for the scotch-sodden Ron Burgundy‑style anchor gods of yesteryear. It’s clearly not as easy as it looks.

Jürgen Klopp launched an extraordinary rant at footballing authorities and broadcasters in a press conference ahead of Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur. The outgoing Liverpool manager specifically called out TNT Sports - referencing his side's quick turnaround between games and frequent 12.30 kick-offs - saying that players in England are overworked and play too many matches. 'I watch a lot of football all over the world, Premier League is the best league in the world. It's not overrated, the players are overworked,' he said. 'Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12.30 is a crime. I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them.'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has denied reports that Manchester United are set for a summer clearout of their players in the transfer window, calling them a 'joke' and 'totally crap'. 'It's a joke,' he said. 'As long as I've worked here, every summer, every window, I think 200 players are getting interest from Manchester United. I think be calm and also take some responsibility when you make such a headline. Think, find a good source if there is some truth in it and this is totally crap.' The Dutchman also commented on Jadon Sancho's impressive Champions League performance for Borussia Dortmund and underlined his 'high value'

Leicester will return to the Premier League as champions after they sealed the Championship title with victory over Preston. The team celebrated wildly on the pitch surrounded by overjoyed fans before continuing the party into the dressing room and beyond.

Arne Slot caught the eye of Liverpool’s recruitment team with his track record of improving young talent, success on a relatively modest budget, European experience and a style of play that is not a dramatic departure from Jürgen Klopp’s. The Feyenoord coach has earned a reputation for high intensity on the pitch and has led his team to success multiple times.

Since joining the Rotterdam club from AZ Alkmaar in 2021, Slot has won the Eredivisie in 2022-23 and the KNVB Cup this season. He also led Feyenoord to the Europa Conference League final in 2022, where they lost to José Mourinho's Roma.

• Arne Slot: the overachiever and ‘good guy’ who can spark a revolution

Thiago Silva, Chelsea’s veteran defender, has announced that this season will be his last at Stamford Bridge. The 39-year-old Brazilian, a mainstay of the Blues team that lifted the Champions League in 2021, revealed the news on social media. An emotional Silva spoke of leaving the door open for a return, 'albeit in another role' saying 'goodbyes are for those that leave and don't come back. I intend on coming back one day'. Silva has made 151 appearances for the club and also won the Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

• ‘An indescribable love’: Thiago Silva announces departure from Chelsea

Thousands of jubilant Internazionale fans took to the streets around San Siro Stadium to celebrate the club's historic 20th Serie A title with the players. The newly-crowned champions paraded through hoards of fans after a straightforward 2-0 win over 10-man Torino

Despite the team’s rise on the global stage, players are often underpaid so look for opportunities in the armed forces

• Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter

Despite the increasing interest in Zambian players from clubs abroad after their impressive recent performances, which have helped the women’s national team qualify for all major international tournaments in the past two years, including the Paris Olympics, there exists a desire among them to be recruited into the Zambian military.

In April, three Copper Queens first-team players – Margaret Belemu, Ochumba Oseke and Mary Wilombe – graduated from Zambia air force training as noncommissioned officers. As a result they missed the Olympic Games qualifiers in February, having also missed the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualification round last November.

City Football Group’s New York branch is up and running, Orlando City are floundering and Wilfried Nancy has built a continental juggernaut

Welcome back to the Guardian’s MLS Power Rankings, where I have a beef with your specific team and your specific team alone. If you have complaints, toss ‘em in the comments down below, but be warned: I’m better at blocking out negativity than Pedro Gallese has been at stopping shots this season.

Now, as a reminder, these aren’t your standard, run-of-the-mill power rankings. We’re still ranking teams from worst to first. But along with the rankings, we’re diving deep into a handful of teams from around the league who are doing particularly interesting things.

League commissioner Jessica Berman talks ballooning franchise values, the merits of expansion and reducing injuries

No soccer league in the world is experiencing a boom comparative to the NWSL in 2024. Last month, the world’s first purpose-built stadium for a women’s sports franchise opened in Kansas City, marking the new home of the Current. San Diego Wave broke its NWSL home opener attendance record with over 32,000 fans, while the NWSL was listed at No 5 on the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2024.

“At the NWSL we are working to drive innovation, growth and increased investment in women’s soccer,” Jessica Berman, the NWSL’s commissioner, tells the Guardian. “I’m excited about the 2024 season and to see what else we can accomplish in the women’s soccer space.”

• Rangnick had been expected to take Bayern job after Euro 2024
• ‘I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart’

Ralf Rangnick will not take over at Bayern Munich next season but will remain in his role as Austria’s head coach after Euro 2024. Rangnick confirmed last week that Bayern had been in touch in their search for a successor to Thomas Tuchel and German media had reported a deal was imminent.

“I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart,” Rangnick said. “This task brings me a lot of joy and I am determined to continue down the road we have started. I want to clearly stress that this is not a rejection of Bayern Munich but rather a decision for my team and our common goals. We are fully focused on the Euro. We will do everything we can to go far.”

A third-tier goalkeeper stole headlines in Spain, where Rodrigo de Paul’s assessment of his team was a talking point

“Football is so capricious that when Sunday comes maybe he’ll make us happy,” Javi Rey said. For the first time ever, Club Deportivo Arenteiro, the team from O Carballiño that were playing in the Galician regional league six years ago that he now manages, were heading to Riazor, twice the size of their town, to face Deportivo de La Coruña.

Without a goalkeeper. Diego Garcia and Manu Figueroa were injured; Pablo Brea is on loan from their opponents, who had applied one of those clauses; and the emergency signing, Pablo Picon, fell through, leaving them no choice but to stick the goalie coach in nets, an unexpected hero waiting to happen.

• Club handed two-game partial closure and £17,000 fine
• Athletic Club player hit out at ‘stupid people’ after incident

Atlético Madrid have been ordered to partially close their south stand for two matches by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after Athletic Club player Nico Williams suffered racist abuse in Saturday’s La Liga game.

The referee, Juan Marténez Munuera, stopped the match in the 36th minute as part of La Liga’s protocol against racism after he heard racist abuse directed at the 21-year-old Spain international, who was born in Pamplona to Ghanaian parents.

Club are in the Coppa Italia final, the Europa League semis and battling for Champions League football in a remarkable season

What was the precise moment that Gian Piero Gasperini allowed himself to start believing? Was it at Anfield, watching Mario Pasalic casually side-foot home the goal that put Atalanta 3-0 ahead against Liverpool? Or during the second leg in Bergamo, seeing his team glide through the final 45 minutes of the tie without any truly nervy moments despite Mo Salah’s first-half penalty?

Perhaps it was only after the referee’s whistle had confirmed Atalanta’s place in the semi-final. Not until Sunday did we hear him acknowledge it publicly. “At this moment, the Europa League is the objective we are holding too most tightly,” said Gasperini at the end of a 2-0 Serie A win over Empoli. “We need to stay focused though. Marseille are a strong team.”

Sporting director had to play the role of Malcolm Tucker as Uli Hoeness criticised Thomas Tuchel before the big semi-final

Max Eberl was hot property for a reason. In just shy of 15 years at Borussia Mönchengladbach he became one of Europe’s most admired sporting directors, returning one of Germany’s most famous names to prominence through multiple qualifications for the Champions League and Europa League. He built through smart signings and the promotion and development of quality academy products. The only surprise was that it took ill health – which he has thankfully recovered from – to shift him from his post rather than the overtures of one of the continent’s giants.

His experience and his clarity of thought is clear, with his work having spoken for itself over a number of years. The 50-year-old has also ridden out bumps in his career path, such as the venomous reaction of some Gladbach supporters to his choice to join RB Leipzig, and then Leipzig’s decision to abruptly part ways with him in September last year when they felt he was flirting with the possibility of work elsewhere.

The fact that Montpellier could still qualify for Europe or be relegated shows how tight and tense the run-in will be this year

By Luke Entwistle for Get French Football News

PSG have already been crowned Ligue 1 champions but there is no chance of the season petering out. As May approaches, the word “permutations” makes its annual appearance in the footballing lexicon, bringing with it a sense of powerlessness and paranoia. The relationship between a club’s onfield performances and success is complicated – everything becomes contingent upon what is happening elsewhere and words heard uttered through hand-held radios or notifications popping-up on smartphone screens can engender hopelessness or euphoria in equal measure.

This is usually reserved for the final day of the season but it has already been reached in Ligue 1 with three rounds of games to play. Deciphering the various scenarios in the league feels like solving a Rubik’s cube – each time you think you have resolved the puzzle, it reverts into its muddled form.

Erling Haaland has been voted the best player in the world for 2023 by our 218-strong panel, with Jude Bellingham finishing second

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• Meet the judges | Best female footballers to launch in January

Aitana Bonmatí, Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo top the list of female footballers in the world in 2023 according to our judges

• Putellas tops 2022 list | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | Meet the judges
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The Norwegian is only 23 but his devastating goal record has seen him voted as the No 1 player in the world by the Guardian’s expert panel

When Pep Guardiola tearfully claimed Manchester City could not replace the departing Sergio Agüero in May 2021, he didn’t just create a meme. Guardiola was soft-launching a global audition for his team’s new attacking talisman. An unsuccessful pursuit of Harry Kane in the summer of 2021 came between two title-winning seasons where Ilkay Gündogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) were the club’s top league goalscorers. Guardiola’s slick creative machine needed a new front man, and they found him in Erling Haaland.

Like Agüero before him – and in contrast to many of City’s most successful Pep-era signings – Haaland arrived as a bona fide superstar, a plug-and-play addition to an already stellar lineup. Whether he was a bargain is another question. The release clause paid was €60m (£51.2m), but some reports suggest Haaland’s five-year deal could cost the club in the region of £300m. And while there was an ominous logic to the move for City’s rivals, questions remained.

Aitana Bonmatí the clear winner of the Guardian’s best 100 female footballers in the world with 15 Spaniards on the list

• The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023

After Alexia Putellas reigned in 2021 and 2022, her Barcelona and Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí has been crowned the top female footballer of 2023 by the Guardian’s panel of 112 experts. The World Cup winner triumphed by a clear margin, finishing more than 500 points ahead of second-placed Sam Kerr.

Injuries and a World Cup meant there was a definite changing of the guard feel to this year’s list, sadly emphasised by the fact last year’s top two – Putellas and Beth Mead – missed a large chunk of our 12-month voting period with ACL injuries.

An end-of-season wobble has ended any hopes of a dream send off. But it’s characteristic of Klopp’s managerial career

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And so there will be no glorious farewell for Jürgen Klopp. Saturday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham, coupled with victories for Manchester City and Arsenal, means any realistic hope of a second Premier League title is effectively over. Klopp is exhausted, his team is exhausted and the manic emotional energy that gripped the side during the League Cup final and immediately after has dissipated.

There will be questions about the wisdom of revealing when he did that he would be leaving. This has been a truism if English soccer since Alex Ferguson announced in 2001 that he planned to quit Manchester United. Do that, even if you’re as fearsome a figure as Ferguson, and the danger is that authority wanes. Something similar seems to have happened with Emma Hayes, who will leave Chelsea Women in the summer after a hugely successful 12-year stint to take charge of the USWNT. Would Saturday’s touchline spat with Mohamed Salah have happened had the Egyptian thought that Klopp would still be his manager next season? (It now seems likely that Salah, who has only a year left on his contract, will also leave in the summer).

Owner Farhad Moshiri once said the club were ‘robust’ enough to fund stadium but now they need working capital injections

At Everton’s annual general meeting in January 2019, the owner, Farhad Moshiri, made a dramatic promise.

Speaking about the club’s ambition to build a 52,888-seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, the club’s majority shareholder pledged: “I’ll throw as much money as needed. Private markets will provide £350m, naming rights will give us some more and we will maybe have an equity gap of £100m.”

Maybe all things Luton are behind Forest’s difficulties but against Pep Guardiola’s men, they failed to get the basics right

There is no better way to rally the base than to insist there is an external conspiracy. Everything would be fine if it weren’t for them. We’re being derailed by – delete as appropriate – the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati, the Masons, giant lizards or, most fearsome of all the shadowy string-pullers, the celebrity Luton fans.

Nottingham Forest are threatened with relegation not because they cannot defend set plays, because they do not take their chances or because they bought 34 players over two transfer windows, a splurge that put them in breach of profitability and sustainability regulations and led to them being docked four points. No, they sit a point above the drop zone because of the nefarious forces ranged against them. Who was the referee when Forest beat Luton in the 1959 Cup final? Jack Clough of Bolton. Can it be coincidence that he shares his surname with Forest’s greatest manager? No wonder Luton are out for revenge.

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While anyone who actually watched last Saturday’s lunchtime draw in the Premier League could be forgiven for thinking Liverpool’s inability to beat West Ham was down to Liverpool’s inability to defend crosses into their penalty area and repeated insistence on firing shots wide of, over and against the woodwork, Jürgen Klopp used his press conference this morning to set them straight. Clambering aboard his soapbox ahead of his side’s 15-goal thriller against Tottenham on Sunday, the outgoing Liverpool manager laid the blame for the damaging draw in east London squarely at the door of TNT Sports, who had broadcast the game for armchair and bar-stool viewers in the UK.

With regard to the suit clearout at Manchester United, CFO Cliff Baty may have been asked to Do One at the end of the season but surely interim CEO Patrick Stewart has been encouraged to Boldly Go” – Declan Houton.

I’m one of those readers lucky enough to have friends to go to the football with regularly. My buddy will happily regale me with tales of being bought drinks by German fans after that night in Munich, or bunking off school to see his beloved (and sadly no longer with us) Nuneaton Borough play away in the FA Cup at Firewall FC’s Old Show Ground. Therefore when you posted your gallery of images from the new FSC book At The Match, I thought it would be something that he would enjoy, especially since he has a big birthday coming up. After scrolling through them, lo and behold there he was with his family staring back at me from the picture of Yorkshire v Parishes of Jersey. Thanks for saving me the hassle of thinking of something appropriate to buy him, and hopefully you won’t see through this blatant attempt to save the £40 by winning the prized Letter o’ the Day so I can spend more money buying him beer at the NCEL Premier Playoff Final on Saturday! Up the Miners!” – Chris Richardson.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Archie Rhind-Tutt as Dortmund beat PSG 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, while Chelsea slip up in a WSL thriller

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On the podcast today: Dortmund beat PSG in front of the Yellow Wall. So many brilliant performances for the Bundesliga side but, in particular, Jadon Sancho. The panel try to figure out what happens to him this summer.

Plus: Championship stalwarts who never played in Premier League, top-scoring for the longest streak and more

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“In the 1975 FA Cup, I was surprised that in the quarter-final that season Ipswich and Leeds had taken four games to resolve their tie, with a total attendance of 143,000. My question is: which is the tie with the highest total attendance?” asks Nicholas Idoine.

“As the FA recently bowed to the Premier League and replays are to become a thing of the past, I was intrigued by this question and consulted 11v 11.com and Marching on Together websites to come up with an answer,” begins Michael Haughey. “The match quoted between Ipswich and Leeds (142,849) was seen by fewer people in four games than the 154,201 who saw the three games it took to settle Leeds v Sunderland in 1967. This included Elland Road’s record crowd at the replay.

As one of two WSL sides without Premier League backing this term, Lauren Smith’s team were up against it from the start

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As the clock hit full time at Ashton Gate on Sunday evening, Bristol City finally succumbed to the inevitable. Relegation was confirmed after a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, a final nail in the coffin in their Women’s Super League campaign. Only 371 days after achieving promotion, the Robins were condemned to the Championship to start rebuilding once again.

The table does not lie. With only one win all season – a thrilling 3-2 triumph at West Ham in November – Bristol City’s struggles have been evident. Their defensive problems, in particular, have been impossible to ignore. Context is key, however, particularly in a sport where the parameters are quickly shifting.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Emma Sanders and Chris Slegg to discuss the second legs in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, the weekend’s WSL action and focus on Crystal Palace’s ascent

On today’s episode, the panel discuss the Champions League semi-finals as a record attendance at Stamford Bridge in a women’s game witnessed Chelsea bowing out Barcelona. A departing Emma Hayes let her feelings be known following the game, but were the refereeing decisions fair?

The panel also look at all of the weekend’s WSL action as Manchester City extended their lead at the top, confirming Bristol City’s relegation in the process. They take your questions and weigh up the challenge ahead for Crystal Palace next season after they sealed promotion from the Championship.

Our cartoonist has a guide just for you to help choose which official to blame when your striker misses a sitter from six yards out

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Plus: players injured warming up on touchline, points-per-game differentials of long-serving players and more

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“Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title win has broken Kingsley Coman’s remarkable run of winning the league in each of the last 11 seasons (with PSG, Juventus and Bayern). Can any player in world football ever boast of a longer run of consecutive league titles?” asks Richard Forsythe.

“It’s worth bearing in mind that Coman technically won 12 league titles in 11 seasons,” writes Sean DeLoughry, who gets the ball rolling as we spin off from this 2022 question and answer. “He played once for Juventus in Serie A at the start of the 2015-16 season before joining Bayern.

Our cartoonist on the scrapping of replays, fixture congestion, drama at Wembley and that Nottingham Forest statement

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The England manager’s honesty and systems expertise are just what is needed at the haunted house Old Trafford has become

And so we entered the age of the noble, blameless bald men. This is a pretty good moment to be Ineos at Manchester United. Nothing really matters yet. Every problem is someone else’s problem. Every solution is your own.

For now you’re just hope, blue sky. You’re a silent reproach on a gantry. You’re a tieless Tony Blair jamming with Shed Seven in the Downing Street garden. And even the bad things are kind of good, because you’re not the bad things.

Ugly row with Jürgen Klopp on the London Stadium touchline shows the Egyptian’s focus has waned

When it comes to picking one image to symbolise the end of an era at Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp’s quarrel with Mohamed Salah on the London Stadium touchline will take some beating. This is what happens when power slips away. This, sadly, is the way that it ends.

We will have to speculate about the specific reason behind the row that grabbed the attention after Liverpool’s deflating 2-2 draw with West Ham on Saturday. West Ham’s equaliser had arrived before Klopp, who had been waiting to make a triple substitution, was able to introduce Salah, Darwin Núñez and Joe Gomez. The manager seemed miffed and appeared to admonish Salah, whose angry response made it very clear that he had zero interest in listening to any criticism.

Star striker talks achieving another promotion, potentially making scoring history and finding acceptance in his son’s autism

‘The desire to win will be the same as every other game,” Paul Mullin says as he anticipates a Hollywood-style finale for Wrexham on Saturday afternoon while their fans at home and around the world celebrate a second straight promotion. Wrexham’s last game in League Two is against the new champions, Stockport County, and Mullin is determined to end another tumultuous and successful season with a personal milestone.

If Mullin scores against Stockport he will become the first player since Alan Shearer to have racked up at least 25 goals in four consecutive seasons across the top five flights of English football. Mullin has spent the past hour thoughtfully discussing his role in the delirium surrounding Wrexham’s rise under the celebrity ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and a range of subjects from finding acceptance and even joy in his son’s autism to how this season began with a fleeting acknowledgment of his seemingly imminent death.

Despite relegation to England’s fourth tier, Cod Army have cast net to be like ‘City Football Group but on a much smaller scale’

Fleetwood United’s celebrations on becoming second division champions in the United Arab Emirates could not be dampened even by a freak thunderstorm in Dubai. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” the captain, Ben Pringle, told the Guardian. “It was the most rain they have had for 75 years. Cars were underwater on the motorway.”

This is not supposed to happen in the glittering city of skyscrapers and excitement but then Fleetwood Town, a club that have just dropped into England’s fourth tier, are not really supposed to be at the head of a stable of international clubs that also includes Waterford FC in Ireland and Western Cape Fleetwood in South Africa.

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2006 and 31 August 2007, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 … and look at the editions from further back

• Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best talents around the world

Five years ago we picked 80 of the most talented players in the world to follow their progress in a cut-throat business

It is the time of year when we check in on the Next Generation players we picked in 2018 to follow for five years, to assess their progress amid success, setbacks, injuries, trophies won and transfers made.

Next Generation started in 2014 with the aim of showing the difficulties that even the best prospects in the Premier League (we pick one from each club at first-year scholar age) and the rest of the world (we choose 60 born in a specific calendar year) face on their way towards the top.

A defensively minded midfielder who is incredibly strong (he used to be a wrestler) but with an excellent touch to go with his physicality. Made his debut in the Swedish top flight as a 16-year-old last year and captained Sweden as they reached the quarter-finals of the Euro Under-17 tournament in England this summer. Has taken an unusual path to the top. He left the top-flight side IFK Göteborg for sixth division Angered MBIK as a 14-year-old as he felt that he was not getting the right support for his football education. Another Gothenburg club, Häcken, snapped him up in 2017 and he made his senior debut that season. Has signed a new contract with the club from Hisingen until 2021 despite interest from Real Madrid and Benfica and trials at both Manchester clubs.