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The tactical modernist is very different from his predecessor at Stamford Bridge but could be just what Chelsea need now

According to the Thomas Tuchel playbook, managing a football team is “something you need to learn and understand, not a thing you do because there’s nothing else left or because it seems like the logical next step after 400 professional matches”. Tuchel wasn’t talking about Frank Lampard when he said these words.

Although it would surely make his likely arrival at Stamford Bridge a little spicier if he could rehash this statement for his opening remarks at the unveiling-station – ideally while wagging his finger and brandishing his economics diploma, his youth coaching medals, and all the other evidence of a coaching hinterland, a life spent outside the inner circle, that separates him from his immediate predecessor.

A look back at Roman Abramovich’s ruthless, brutal treatment of a hard-working cartoonist. Oh, and Liverpool’s season melting away

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At some point last season, Jürgen Klopp’s side adopted a measured approach based around control and drilled patterns but they mislaid a part of themselves in the process

What came first, the football or the fun? Does excellence on the pitch beget its own virtuous circle of good times, good vibes and good decisions? Or is successful football simply an expression of deeper traits: curiosity, ingenuity, outlook, an urge to move and be moved? Either way, these are probably the sorts of questions worth pondering as we address Liverpool’s current predicament. Because Liverpool’s biggest problem right now isn’t their league position or their front three or their cover at centre-half. It’s the absence of fun.

Results will bounce back soon enough. The underlying performance against Manchester United on Sunday was good, undone by some individual errors and a brilliant free-kick from Bruno Fernandes. They are neither as bad as they look now nor as good as they looked a month ago when many sensible observers were predicting they would win the league by 10 points. The centre-half issue, too, will work itself out. Injured players will return to fitness. Young players like Rhys Williams will find their feet.

• David Moyes interested in Manchester United midfielder
• Bringing forward Benrahma deal would clear loan space

West Ham plan to bring forward the permanent transfer of Saïd Benrahma if they press ahead with a loan move for Jesse Lingard.

Manchester United have decided to allow Lingard to go on loan this month, sparking interest from David Moyes as he seeks to add depth to his squad. However Premier League clubs are allowed only two domestic loan players in their squad and West Ham, who are also keen to sign a striker, have borrowed Craig Dawson from Watford and Benrahma from Brentford.

• Researchers find fewer fans means fewer arguments on pitch
• But incidents of self-criticism appear to increase

More insight into the weird world of football behind closed doors has arrived from Austria, where research into Red Bull Salzburg matches found a lack of fans off the pitch coincided with a lack of arguments on it.

Researchers from the University of Salzburg studied 20 Salzburg matches, 10 before lockdown and 10 after, to observe the “emotional behaviour and interactions” between players and with officials.

Today’s fluff is spinning plates, and dropping most of them

It’s been a busy old month at Arsenal, and latest murmurs suggest a swoop for Paris Saint-Germain’s old Mill favourite Julian Draxler with Matteo Guendouzi heading the other way. Draxler has fallen out of favour at PSG and has less than six months left on his contract, pricking the interest of Arsenal, who could be prepared to haul Guendouzi back from his loan at Hertha to make a deal happen. Heading out of the Emirates door could be Shkodran Mustafi, with the club in negotiations to end the defender’s contract and Lazio a possible next destination, while various sources talk up Mikel Arteta’s interest in bringing another left-back to Arsenal without furnishing us with names.

For their part, PSG are keen on making a Dele Alli-Mauricio Pochettino reunion happen. Oh, and did we mention they’re also very keen on letting the world know of their ongoing interest in Lionel Messi? Meanwhile they could face a battle to keep hold of Kylian Mbappé. According to the Mail, Real Madrid have made it their “mission” to snare the France striker, who could be tempted. “We’re currently negotiating with the club,” he apparently teased, “and I am spending considerable time reflecting on many things.” Aren’t we all?

José Mourinho had warned Gareth Bale he would have to fight for his place in this Tottenham team. But even if he is still showing signs of rustiness four months into his second spell at the club as he spurned several chances, it was the Welshman’s equaliser that ensured Spurs avoided the embarrassment of being eliminated from the FA Cup by the team currently propping up the Championship.

Related: Wycombe 1-4 Tottenham: FA Cup fourth round – as it happened

• Manager says his team need to match ‘incredible consistency’
• Guardiola: Sam Allardyce is ‘a genius’ for relegation escapes

Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City are aiming to match the consistency of their 2018-19 title triumph, when they won their last 14 games.

City travel to West Brom on Tuesday hoping to claim a seventh successive victory and leapfrog Manchester United to become league leaders. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side host Sheffield United on Wednesday.

The striker’s hat-trick took him joint-top in La Liga’s scoring charts. Sevilla’s challenge is to keep polishing a rough diamond

Youssef En Nesyri didn’t see the moment he became top scorer, not properly. And no one else saw it coming either. Setting off on yet another run, long stride carrying him up the left, the Sevilla striker had just turned towards the area when Pedro Alcalá stuck a thumb in his eye. As Cádiz’s players confronted the referee – “you’re ‘right’ because you decide you’re right”, “that’s what they pay me for”, “I’m not sure they should” – he sat at the side of the pitch holding gauze to his left eye, watched by four policemen on a bench better than the players get. Then, realising this next set play was his, he got up again and scored.

Related: Ten transfer targets for Premier League clubs from across Europe

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• Portuguese is now the club’s leading scorer with 16 goals
• Fernandes is confident United can win a trophy this season
  

Bruno Fernandes has revealed the mentality that has helped to make him so successful for Manchester United by saying that losing is “not normal for me”.

The Portuguese’s late free-kick against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday knocked the champions out of the FA Cup fourth round. This was Fernandes’s 16th goal of the season to make him United’s leading scorer, and his 28th in total since signing almost a year ago. He also won four Premier League Player of the Month awards in 2020, a record for a calendar year.

• Gray’s contract at the King Power expires this summer
• Palace hopeful of completing signing for around £2m

Crystal Palace face competition from Benfica and Monaco to sign Demarai Gray from Leicester for a cut-price fee.

Gray’s contract at the King Power Stadium expires in the summer, with the former England Under-21 forward having played just 18 minutes in the Premier League for Leicester this season.

• Real Sociedad and Ajax also interested in midfielder
  
• Norwegian poised for Gunners debut on Saturday

Arsenal have won the race to sign the Real Madrid midfielder Martin Ødegaard on loan, beating off competition from Real Sociedad and Ajax to secure the services of the 22-year-old attacking midfielder.

Related: 'Amazing journey': Mesut Özil thanks Arsenal as he seals Fenerbahce move

• 49ers boost stake in Premier League side from 15% to 37%
• Bielsa hits back at suggestions his Leeds players are fatigued

The San Francisco 49ers have increased their stake in Leeds United to 37%, the Premier League club have announced.

Paraag Marathe, the president of 49ers Enterprises who was already a member of the Yorkshire club’s board, becomes the Whites’ vice-chairman and will be “more involved in the decision-making process and day-to-day operations”, Leeds said in a statement.

Antonetti has not always been taken seriously, but no one can mock the results the Metz boss has produced this season

By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football News

Metz delivered another bravura performance at the weekend, beating Nantes on Sunday to go eighth in the table, just one point below the European places. A 2-0 win over Raymond Domenech’s team is not one to crow about in itself, but Metz have the third best defensive record in the league and have only lost one of their last eight games. It is time to give the club and their manager, Frédéric Antonetti, some credit.

Antonetti has been something of a figure of fun around Ligue 1, a French equivalent of David Moyes or Sam Allardyce. He began his managerial career at Bastia, having finished an undistinguished playing career with the Corsican side. In his seven years at the helm, he took them to a Coupe de la Ligue final and led them into Europe on a handful of occasions. That success earned him a move to Saint-Étienne, where he guided the sleeping giants to promotion. However, his subsequent spells at Nice, Rennes and Lille were uninspiring, characterised by somewhat turgid football.

• Plane crashed soon after take-off in northern state of Tocantins
• Players were flying to game separately after positive Covid tests

Four players and the president from the Brazilian football club Palmas died in a plane crash on Sunday. The group were travelling separately from the rest of the team after testing positive for coronavirus, the club have said.

The private plane carrying the group plunged to the ground at the end of the runway shortly after take-off at an airport in the northern state of Tocantins. The unnamed pilot also died in the accident, with the cause of the crash not immediately clear.

Chelsea’s latest ex-manager is yet another victim of a hierarchy that will not hesitate to make a change if they feel Champions League qualification is at risk

Frank Lampard may allow himself a rueful smile, albeit only when the pain begins to ease. At another club, Chelsea’s latest former manager might have been granted more time; the means to pull out of the nosedive.

Look at Manchester United and Arsenal, where Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Mikel Arteta have seemed close to crashing and burning at various points. Solskjær appeared doomed after United’s 6-1 home defeat against Tottenham on 4 October while he continued to dice with disaster through November and into the early part of December. Arteta’s horror period was more sustained, the moments of respite rather more sporadic. When his Arsenal team lost at Everton on 19 December, they had taken only five points from 10 Premier League games.

Defeats for Dortmund, Leverkusen and Leipzig opened up yet another clear path to the Bundesliga title

They did what they always do, and it was rarely in doubt. Schalke resisted as best they could, had their moments and were several steps forward from the meek strugglers who have filled the royal blue shirts for a large part of this season. Bayern Munich, however, were always going to get it done, and not just because this was their 10th successive win against the Gelsenkirchen club. Even if the late goals by Thomas Müller and David Alaba added a slightly unfair sheen to the scoreline for the champions, their total superiority couldn’t have been clearer.

Related: Ilicic puts Atalanta in title race and leaves 'winter champions' Milan cold | Nicky Bandini

The Slovenian orchestrated the 3-0 thrashing of Serie A leaders Milan and proved his side can compete without Papu Gómez

There are no medals for Serie A’s ‘Winter Champions’. Every year, that title is foisted on the team thattopsthe table at the season’s midway stage, and every year the players and manager point out that it does not mean a great deal. It has become less a celebration than a custom: a moment to reflect on the preceding months and consider where the actual title race stands.

Some years, though, the ritual feels especially absurd. On Saturday, Milan became Winter Champions on the same day that they got thrashed 3-0 by Atalanta – clinging on to top spot only because Inter also drew with Udinese. “That does not give me anything,” grumbled Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the subject was raised during a post-game interview.

Iwabuchi makes sudden impact for Aston Villa, while transfer activity remains busy and England embark on life after Neville

We all saw the potential impact a January signing can make at Aston Villa on Saturday, when Mana Iwabuchi got a goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw with Reading. She is 5ft 1in and about seven stone, but perfectly fits the mould of the kind of elite player Japan has produced – dynamic, organised, well drilled, technically excellent and personally unassuming. Her run to score the opener from a set piece was so typical of the Japanese national side, whose set-pieces are always perfectly executed. She has agility, poise and composure and is technically excellent – this is just not the calibre of player Villa have previously had, so the move is a real coup for them. Reading dominated the first half and it was only thanks to some poor finishing and their goalkeeper Lisa Weiss that Villa went in at the break trailing by only one goal, but they came out for the second half with renewed intent and got their reward. Drawing 2-2 when your opponents have only two shots on target will hurt Reading but, in Iwabuchi, Villa had the outstanding individual.

Luke Shaw is proving José Mourinho wrong, while West Ham could have European football on their minds next season

“He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him. He has to change his football brain,” José Mourinho said of Luke Shaw after a game in 2017. “We need his fantastic physical and technical qualities, but he cannot continue to play with my brain.” Few could have imagined four years later that the former Southampton defender could be first choice left-back at Old Trafford and eyeing up a return to the England squad. There is no arguing that Shaw looks far fitter now than four years ago but he has heeded Mourinho’s advice to “change his football brain”. Against Liverpool, Shaw was superb in defence and attack; going forward he made key overlapping runs, aiding Marcus Rashford to ensure United dominated that flank in a battle that was crucial to the victory. The arrival of Alex Telles seems to have spurred Shaw on to build on last season’s form. Gareth Southgate will have taken notice. Will Unwin

New rules regarding transfers from the European Union could give home-grown talent more opportunity to flourish and filter money to the lower divisions

As Jürgen Klopp has asked, what really improves after Brexit? While several industries have been forced to come to terms with the new regulations introduced on 1 January, the debate over their lasting impact on British football continues to rage.

With all transfers from European Union nations set to be subject to work permits that will be allocated using a points-based system and every Premier League and EFL club now banned from signing foreign players until they are 18, the days of Arsenal recruiting a talented 16-year-old from Barcelona’s academy, as they did with Cesc Fàbregas in 2003, are over. Likewise, Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham – both now full England internationals – would not have been able to complete their moves to Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City and Birmingham under the new rules.

Frank Lampard's tenure as Chelsea manager is over, with Thomas Tuchel being lined up to replace him. The Englishman has had a successive run of poor games. The 42-year-old was brought back to the club that he served for well over a decade. During his first season in charge he did well; developing some of Chelsea's young players, reacting an FA Cup final and secured Champions League football. The former midfielder was also restricted due to the club's transfer ban. However, in season two the expectations changed. The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg takes a look at what seemingly went wrong for Lampard at Chelsea

• Chelsea sack Lampard with Tuchel to replace him

A superb Bruno Fernandes free-kick was the difference in Manchester United's scintillating 3-2 FA Cup victory over Liverpool. The hosts came from behind after an opener from Mo Salah, before goals from Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford put them ahead. 'We feel for us it's a good feeling to play on our terms,' said manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, 'that's the confidence boost that we can match the best with our style of football'.

• Solskjær hails Manchester United's 'statement win' over Liverpool

Jürgen Klopp took the blame for Liverpool's first league defeat at Anfield since April 2017 which left the team six points behind leaders Manchester United. Ashley Barnes' penalty secured Burnley a first win at Anfield in 47 years as Liverpool have now failed to win in five league games.

• 'A punch in the face': Klopp takes blame as Burnley rip up Anfield record

Mesut Özil has landed in Istanbul before his move to Turkish side Fenerbahce. A breakthrough in talks between the midfielder and Arsenal over the weekend brought an agreement in principle to terminate his contract at the club. Speaking on Fenerbahce TV Özil said: 'I am very excited because I was always a fan of Fenerbahce. My dream comes true. I am very excited to wear the Fenerbahce jersey. I hope we will be very successful with my teammates.'

• Mesut Özil says Arsenal goodbyes and flies out to complete Fenerbahce move

Mesut Özil's time at Arsenal is set to come to a close after an eight-year period filled with highs and lows. There was jubilation among fans in September 2013 as the German midfielder signed for Arsenal. Things began well for Özil at the Gunners, winning the FA Cup in his first season and playing among Europe's best sides in the Champions League. 

However, things gradually went from bad to worse as criticism was heaped on the attitude and performances of the World Cup winner. The departure of Arsené Wenger would prove even more significant for the playmaker as under Unai Emery and subsequently Mikel Arteta Özil's chances have been few and far between. Mesut Özil's departure from north London will leave a bitter taste for some fans who will be left wondering what could have been

Premier League managers have expressed scepticism at the idea of socially distanced goal celebrations, after Julian Knight, the chair of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said footballers were 'brainless' for continuing to hug.

'It's instinct,' said Jürgen Klopp, while Pep Guardiola said it was hard for players to contain their emotions after a goal. Mikel Arteta pointed out that it made little sense ban players from celebrating together when they were coming into contact during play. 'We are trying to do all the right things,' he said. '[These] are things that are pretty complicated to control.'

• Footballers criticised as 'brainless' for hugging in goal celebrations amid Covid

Scorelines rarely tell the full story and goals are never just goals – except, perhaps, when Western United played Perth Glory

Scorelines rarely tell the full story. They flatter, and flatter to deceive, lack context and even credibility, and almost always fail to comprehend the narratives within the 90 minutes. Goals are never just goals – except, perhaps, when Western United played Perth Glory.

1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4 says all it needs to. Eight segments of this nine-part tale played out in 28 minutes during the second half. Each of the eight were more maniacal than the last, a scarcely believable proposition given Saturday night started as a stock-standard A-League tie.

Fox Sports’ coverage over the weekend sent out an alarming message about how football is now valued by the broadcaster

It is the 10th minute of Brisbane Roar’s round five match against Melbourne Victory. On the far side of the field, two of the league’s most exciting players – young Australian full-back Angie Beard and Brazilian winger Mariel Hecher – tussle for possession, matching each other stride for stride.

Hecher comes away from the tussle with the ball at her feet. She charges towards the box and takes a shot that clatters off a Victory defender and is thumped away upfield. Broadcast co-commentator Amy Chapman, a former Roar and Matildas player, narrates through the pause as both teams reset and prepare to go again.

• Lozano scores third-fastest Serie A goal but Napoli lose
• Thomas Müller scores twice in Bayern’s 4-0 victory

Juventus got their Serie A title defence back on track with a 2-0 home win over Bologna on Sunday that moved Andrea Pirlo’s side into the top four. Arthur Melo scored his first goal for the Turin club in the first half with a deflected strike and the American midfielder Weston McKennie headed home the second on 71 minutes.

Related: European roundup: Milan crowned winter champions despite Atalanta defeat

A shock for the ages provided the happiest night in the life of what, right now, might be the saddest city in Spain

“Javi Antón is crying,” said Vicente Parras, and he wasn’t the only one. The manager of Club Deportivo Alcoyano looked across the pitch at El Callao with its whitewashed walls, “Morale” splashed alongside the little blue door in the corner and saw his players still on the grass long after the final whistle. Some of them held white shirts, most of them held phones. “They’re all out there calling home,” he said: endless messages and dozens of conversations starting the way his had a few minutes before. Parras’s son couldn’t come to the game; no one could. “I just wanted to make sure he had seen it,” he admitted.

Not all of them had. José Juan Figueiras’s wife and his daughter were in tears when he called overwhelmed by it all, but his five-year-old son was in bed, asleep. It was late and he had school tomorrow; he’d have to find out what had happened in the morning, just what his dad had done, why everyone was suddenly talking about him. What had happened was this: tiny Alcoyano, the club that had not been in the first division for 70 years and were now in the semi-professional third tier with its 102 teams and 10 groups, had just beaten the biggest of them all, knocking Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey. With 10 men, no fans and in extra-time.

The former Samoa international and only woman on Fifa’s reform committee is driving change from within

From her time as a player on the Samoan women’s national team to becoming deputy secretary general of the tiny Oceania Football Confederation, few people are better suited to addressing the challenges faced by the global women’s game – itself a monument to life on the margins – than Sarai Bareman.

Now, as Fifa’s inaugural chief women’s football officer, the New Zealand-born Bareman is in charge of developing and delivering the sport across the world’s 211 associations.

The playmaker left home at the age of 12 to pursue her soccer career. Now she has signed with the most successful club in the women’s game

It has been a week to remember for Catarina Macario, the Brazilian-born, San Diego-raised midfielder who for years has been touted as the future of the US women’s national team but at the moment appears increasingly bound to its present.

Three months after receiving her American citizenship, the 21-year-old playmaker wept tears of joy with her family last Wednesday after receiving confirmation from Fifa of her approval to represent the four-times world champions in international play. The paperwork was finalised a day after Macario signed a contract to start her professional career with European champions Lyon, forgoing her senior season at Stanford University. Then on Monday night, she cut the figure of a polished veteran while making her USA debut in a 4-0 friendly win over Colombia at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium.

The pressure on Andrea Pirlo’s team to deliver in the Supercoppa had been intense. Juve’s talisman carried out the delivery

Andrea Pirlo used to love winding up Gennaro Gattuso. In his autobiography, the now Juventus manager described his former teammate as “my favourite target … despite the fact that he tried on numerous occasions to kill me with a fork”. Pirlo recalled bursting out of Gattuso’s wardrobe to scare him in the middle of the night and stealing his phone to message a Milan director with an offer to swap his sister for an improved contract.

It is one thing to tease, though, and another to defeat. If Pirlo derived any additional pleasure from claiming the first trophy of his managerial career at Gattuso’s expense on Wednesday night, then he did a good job of hiding it. “I feel sorry for him,” Pirlo confessed after steering Juventus to a 2-0 victory over Napoli in Italy’s Supercoppa. “But we are doing a different job now to the one that we had before. It was important for me to bring home the win.”

The former Manchester United player will take the reins at a club establishing itself on the field, and grappling with challenges off it

On Monday morning, Inter Miami announced that Phil Neville would step down from his role as manager of the England women’s team to take the helm at the Major League Soccer club. Co-owned by Neville’s former teammate David Beckham, the club played their first season in MLS amid the tumultuous backdrop of 2020, and will hope Neville can turn the team into a force to be reckoned with in the seemingly ever-expanding league.

In his first statement as Miami manager, Neville described Inter as a “very young club with a lot of promise and upside”. But if he expects his new job to be all beach days and sunshine, he is in for a shock.

Marseille were fighting PSG and Lyon for top spot in Ligue 1 a month ago. Now they are only fighting among themselves

By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football News

It wasn’t so long ago that we found ourselves tipping Marseille as outsiders for the Ligue 1 title. After six straight wins in the league, they sat just two points off the leaders in mid-December. They also had two matches in hand: a fairly tricky game against Lens and an eminently winnable fixture against a rudderless Nice side. Marseille had been shockingly poor in Europe but, now that their relentless, squad-stretching Champions League campaign was behind him, could they make a fist of things domestically?

Related: Antonio Conte outsmarts Andrea Pirlo in great leap forward for Inter | Nicky Bandini

The ‘Tanzanian Mbappé’, Juan Pablo Ángel’s son and the next Kai Havertz are among our players born in 2003. Check the progress of our 2019 selection | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

We pick the best young players at each club born between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of class of 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

As we prepare to publish our Next Generation 2020 selection, we say goodbye to the class of 2015. So how did they get on?

• Premier League updates from 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
• Worldwide updates from 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019

This is what the Guardian’s Andy Hunter wrote about his 2015 Liverpool player for our series the Next Generation, where we pick one player from each Premier League club in the first-year scholar age group and follow their developments for five years.

The 16-year-old has received rave reviews not only from Liverpool and England coaches during a rapid rise up the ranks but also from Steven Gerrard, his boyhood hero, in the former Anfield captain’s new autobiography. Gerrard reveals he asked Pepijn Lijnders, the first-team development coach, to always include Alexander-Arnold in his group when taking his ’B’ Licence course, and handed him the captain’s armband during a comeback game in Liverpool’s Under-18s side last season. “It was my way of telling Trent that I believed he could make it for Liverpool one day,” Gerrard writes.

Eidur Gudjohnsen’s son, the new Paul Pogba and Barça’s Ansu Fati are among our 60 most talented players in the world born in 2002. Check the progress of our 2018 picks | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014

^{Photographs by DZfoot, BackpagePix, Club Atlético Belgrano, EFE, EPA, Getty Images, Uwe Gruen/Hoffenheim, AMA/Getty Images, Rex/Shutterstock, Zuma Press/PA, FIFA, Tigres, Damir Krajac/CROPIX, Alamy, Daniel Reyes/Ecuafutbol, Reuters, Atromitos, Imago/PA, fotoBERNAMA, New Straits Times, José Alonso Paredes Sánchez, Agencja Gazeta, David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty, AP, Asian Football Confederation, Danubio FC and Championat Asia}

It’s easy to make the case he has been overpromoted at Chelsea – but a more interesting question is whether he has failed

Why do people want Frank Lampard to fail so much? This seems like a reasonable question at the end of a week tickled and teased by rumours that Lampard is about to be sacked at Chelsea, that “elements” within the dressing room are already jimmying away at his fixings – all wrapped up in a gleeful surge of postmortems, pile-ons, and a tangible hunger for the great Roman to whirl his terrible scythe.

And yet he still stands! No doubt to the anguish of many watching from the sidelines. Because people really do want Lampard to fall short, and in a way that feels personal. Not to mention – on the balance of the facts – a little premature.

Neville exits after one World Cup semi-final, several outbursts and an arrogance not befitting a coach with such limited experience

After the longest of goodbyes the Phil Neville experiment is finally over. He leaves the England job not on the crest of a wave following major tournament success, or tail between legs having fallen short on the biggest of stages, but with a muted press release that sums up a muted and, dare we say it, tepid tenure.

As he leaves to become Inter Miami manager, five days short of his three-year anniversary, what to make of it all? There has been praise for aspects of the 43-year-old’s spell. His holistic approach and the big-game experience he had from his career as a player were perhaps his greatest strengths. His man-management was described as “world class” by his assistant Bev Priestman (who took charge of the Canada national team on 1 November last year) on the eve of England’s 2019 World Cup opener. She was backed by the right‑back Lucy Bronze, who said his relationship-building with players, fans and staff had helped England to “become a better team”.

It is the basic paradox of Rooney that a player of such emotional heft will ultimately be judged largely on numbers and records

In a way, it was the perfect understated ending: with a short, sober statement on the Derby County website. New manager appointed at struggling Championship club. Signs a two-and-a-half-year deal after a cautiously successful stint in caretaker charge. Liam Rosenior to be his assistant.

Meanwhile – buried in the seventh paragraph, as if an entirely incidental detail – England and Manchester United’s all-time leading goalscorer has decided to retire as a footballer.

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Stamford Bridge is swathed in snow, but that’s not why Po’ Frank Lampard’s a-cold. Po’ Frank’s a-cold because Frank Lampard’s Chelsea have just issued him with Frank Lampard’s P45, Mr Roman’s notorious and oft-operated boot sending him bouncing eastbound along London’s fashionable King’s Rahd in style, his old school tie trailing in the breeze. Seems scraping past 10-man Fulham, eking out a turgid win against second-tier Luton, and having his coaching trousers washed, pressed and handed back to him on a silver platter by Brendan Rodgers wasn’t enough to save his dream job after all. Hey, it’s lucky Brenny gave him back those breeks, huh kids, because Mr Roman has hoofed him down the Rahd with some force and feeling. Imagine the neon chafing that would otherwise have occurred by the time he reached Sloane Square.

Today’s fluff is feeling a bit more optimistic about things

Arsenal had the FA Cup wrested from their paws at the weekend, so are cheering themselves up with some retail therapy. It looks like they might have landed Martin Ødegaard, the New Messi of 2015, on loan from Real Madrid until the end of the season. Real Sociedad are however still hoping to entice him back to San Sebastian, where he enjoyed himself during the 2019-20 season. Arsenal are therefore hedging their bets by keeping close tabs on Norwich City’s Emiliano Buendía.

Related: 'Amazing journey': Mesut Özil thanks Arsenal as he seals Fenerbahce move

Plus: the tallest strike partnership ever, father and son (refs) and a knockout follow-up

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Udinese have a player named Kevin Lasagna,” notes Yuval Hyman. “Do you know of any other players with a tasty dish as a surname?”

Finding specific delicious meals in a footballer’s surname is no easy feat (or treat) but Tim Postins jumped at the opportunity to combine a few ingredients and serve up some choice dishes on the back of this question. “Adam Curry (currently on loan to Alfreton Town from Hull) would operate well with Declan Rice (West Ham 2016-present). And then there’s Mark Fish (ex-Bolton and Charlton) but only if Worthing’s striker James Lemon is putting the squeeze on. Plus the former Margate defender Paul Lamb who’d go well with a dash of Scott Mint(o). Or maybe you’d prefer a Patrick Berger with a portion of Jonas Fries?”

Stuck inside with the kids? Here are some alternative home-schooling lessons. There’s a version to print out and colour in too

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• And take a look through David’s archive treasure trove

Ole Gunnar Solskjær takes a leaf out of Fergie’s book, Mason Mount channels vintage Lampard and Wolves’ woes go on

There has been recent evidence that Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s adherence to the lessons learned at Sir Alex Ferguson’s feet was wavering. His Manchester United have lately shown something of their own identity, but here Solskjær used a classic Fergie blueprint. Even when United were far superior to Liverpool, Anfield was where the old master’s team would sit deep and try to score on the counter, or from set pieces. It is not difficult to imagine unsung players like Scott McTominay and Fred being handed a Ferguson detail of sweeping up the bits and pieces in midfield in the mould of a Phil Neville or Quinton Fortune. There was to be no unlikely goalscoring hero in the mould of a John O’Shea, Diego Forlan or Gary Pallister. Instead, Sunday will be recalled in future for Anfield’s emptiness, a match endured rather than enjoyed. And Ferguson, even during his imperial period, would probably have been happy with a point. John Brewin

• Match report: Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United

Players must learn lesson after damaging Dubai trip while Chelsea top WSL after beating Manchester United

It has been a difficult few weeks for the WSL amid the fallout from some players going on a trip to Dubai during the winter break. The trip resulted in positive Covid tests for a number of returning players, leading to games being postponed, and it brought into sharp focus the fact that the spotlight is so much bigger on these players these days. This is good news in many respects and this is what we have wanted for a long time.

The latest in a Guardian Print Shop series featuring classic sports images. This week’s picture is of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish who spurred the Reds to eight league titles during his time as a player and manager

The 1985-86 season was Kenny Dalglish’s first term as player-manager of Liverpool and although he only netted three times that campaign, this strike was particularly precious. It came in the final match of the season, away at Chelsea, as the Reds secured a 1-0 victory to win the league title at Everton’s expense. Dalglish controlled a looping through-ball on his chest and laced a sweet right-foot volley into the far corner – “an unerring finish” in the words of commentator John Motson – before wheeling away in celebration. Dalglish inspired ongoing success, primarily from the dugout, and by his final appearance in 1990 he had netted 169 times in 502 appearances for Liverpool. No wonder they call him ‘King Kenny’.

A violent game remembered for a spectacular rampage by Norman Whiteside had a poignant footnote

Not every golden goal has to glister. One of the most euphoric moments of Terry Gibson’s career was a tap-in from eight yards in a match his team would probably have won anyway. After a year of incessant frustration, it was his first goal for Manchester United – and, as it turned out, his last.

Gibson was marginalised almost as soon as he was signed by Ron Atkinson, who was subsequently replaced by Sir Alex Ferguson in November 1986. Two months later, Gibson made one and scored in injury-time to secure a violent 2-0 win over the league leaders Arsenal. Not for the last time, they left Old Trafford bristling with injustice as an unbeaten run – 22 games this time – went up in smoke.

Virtual assistance for referees has drawn complaints from managers, players and fans. What has it done to the beautiful game?

When Manchester City scored a brilliant winning goal in the last seconds of a Uefa Champions League quarter-final against Spurs in the spring of 2019, at least two spectators who were present at the game abandoned watching.

Out in the stands, an overcoated City fan hurried for the exits, delighted with his last-gasp win and keen to beat the rush home. At the same time, down on the substitutes’ bench, Moussa Sissoko, a Spurs player who’d been withdrawn through injury, was so distraught that he turned his back on the game and hobbled to his dressing room alone.

The Germany international was supposed to elevate the club when he joined from Real Madrid but he left with no fanfare

There was a first-day-of-school feeling around Arsenal’s training ground when their squad returned from the September 2013 international break. They had a star in their midst and the sense was one of genuine elation. Mesut Özil’s arrival was a show of intent quite out of keeping with the half-decade that preceded it: this seemed the turning of a page and, with that in mind, the players snapped and crackled their way through the morning’s drills.

“It was a complete buzz,” says a senior staff member from that time, who worked with Özil on a daily basis and saw him quickly forge instinctive understandings with fellow schemers such as Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky. “All of a sudden you get a big one coming in, and you felt something was happening again. You could see things forming. There was a real electricity among everyone; you felt something was coming.”

The only South Asian Indian woman in the English professional game talks about her career and how it has helped her traumatised twin brother to speak again

“There were many times where I would go to games and of course it would be perceived that I was the physio or any role where I couldn’t possibly be the lead coach,” Manisha Tailor says as she remembers arriving at opposition grounds with her Queens Park Rangers boys’ academy teams. Tailor is now the lead foundation phase coach at QPR and she says that “being a South Asian Indian woman, and the only person of South Asian heritage, male or female, in this kind of full-time coaching role at any of the 92 clubs in English professional football is a testament to QPR”.

Yet, when she first began working as the head coach of the under-nine boys, the opposition automatically assumed she was the QPR physio. “Myself and my colleague had conversations about it,” Tailor says with a smile and a shrug. “We’d say: ‘How many times has this happened? Is it three in a row? We laugh about it but you have to be in a position to influence change. You need to be in a position where you have the qualifications – but you also need an opportunity to coach on a level playing field. I was given that at QPR but I know that there are other South Asian people, male and female, who have the qualifications to do my role. So why are so few people of colour, who have pro licences, getting opportunities to become head coaches?”