Willian enjoying Chelsea’s ‘samba style’ under Sarri

Van Dijk praises goalkeeper Alisson’s impact on Liverpool defence

LONDON, Aug 14, (RTRS): Chelsea winger Willian believes manager Maurizio Sarri’s attack-focused tactics emulates Brazil’s ‘samba style’ and helps the Premier League club’s players flourish.

The 30-year-old Brazil international assisted N’Golo Kante’s opening goal as Chelsea recorded a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town in Sarri’s first league match in charge last Saturday.

“Is it fun to play this way? I think so. We have a lot of players with quality up front, like Eden Hazard and Pedro. Players like that want to play football,” Willian told ESPN.

“That’s why he (Sarri) talked about ‘fun’ football. This is what we will try to do this season. Is this like Brazil’s Samba style? Yes. This is what we do in Brazil and are trying to do here, playing with skill and movement.” The winger is confident that Sarri’s tactics will help rectify Chelsea’s recent poor record against Arsenal, where they had just one win in eight matches under previous manager Antonio Conte, when they meet in Saturday’s league match.

“The manager tells us to play, to enjoy ourselves on the pitch, with responsibility. Now we have a different style, that’s why we can create problems for Arsenal,” Willian added.

“Of course, it will be a special game against Arsenal because it is a derby. It is always difficult against them.” New Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson’s commanding presence and skill on the ball is boosting the defensive players’ confidence, Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk has said.

Brazil international Alisson made his competitive debut in Liverpool’s 4-0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday and the 25-year-old impressed as he began his spell in English football with a clean sheet.

“We speak a lot. He’s very vocal and that helps. It helps me and everyone in the backline. I think his presence is very good as well,” Van Dijk told British media.

“He has a lot of qualities on the ball that help us playing. We’ve worked on it the whole pre-season and we’ll keep building and practising. There’s still a lot to do.

“West Ham was just one game. We can do a lot better in certain moments and it’s just the start. We’re trying to build something.” Liverpool’s defensive solidity since Van Dijk’s arrival in January has seen them keep clean sheets in their last six home league matches and the club have not conceded a league goal at Anfield since

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The Merseyside team will be hoping to take that form on the road when they travel to Crystal Palace in their next league fixture on Monday. Ings hoping to make the most of ‘special’ return to Saints Aug 14 (Reuters) Southampton striker Danny Ings is happy with the last-minute move to his boyhood club and is eager to prove himself following testing times at Premier League rivals Liverpool.

The 26-year-old, who trained at Saints’ former centre of excellence at Wellington Sports Ground as a schoolboy, returned to Southampton on a season-long loan on deadline day, having failed to make an impact in three years at Liverpool.

“It does (feel special) and now I’ve just got to prove my worth,” Ings told the Daily Echo. “It’s not just about being a local boy here, I’m here to improve and do as well as I can for the fans and for the team.

“Considering all the stuff I went through I’ve never lost belief, it was just about getting fit. Last season I was fit all year. The opportunities were hard to come by with the strikers at Liverpool but that’s football.

“I’m just glad I can come here and prove myself now.” Ings made his Southampton debut as a second half substitute in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Burnley in the league.

Southampton travel to Everton on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tottenham have apologised to their supporters after the “unavoidable” delay to the opening of their new White Hart Lane stadium.

The Premier League club have been forced to postpone the scheduled opening of the rebuilt area next month due to safety issues.

Tottenham spent last season playing their home matches at Wembley while White Hart Lane was completely knocked down, with the new arena rising in its place.

But the north London club were unable to complete the building work in time for the start of this season, meaning their home opener against Fulham on Saturday will also be staged at Wembley.

On Monday, Tottenham revealed problems with “critical safety systems” meant the new stadium would not be able to host Liverpool on September 15, Cardiff on October 6 or the NFL clash between the Seattle Seahawks and the Oakland Raiders eight days later.

They have now released details of refunds and ticketing for fans in a further statement on Tuesday, which included an apology.

“Delays are common, certainly for builds of this size and complexity, however we are hugely frustrated that this has occurred with these systems at such a late stage,” Spurs said in a statement.

“Whilst we would have been able to mitigate other areas, we simply cannot compromise safety. This decision was unavoidable.

“We should like to apologise to supporters for this delay. We are acutely aware of the disappointment this may cause supporters and shall now look to ensure that we minimise any inconvenience.”

A safety licence must be granted before matches can be staged at the ground and that will not happen before test events – originally slated for August 27 and September 1 and now postponed – take place.

No timeline is in place, leaving an element of uncertainty over when the problems will be rectified and questions over when the club will begin life at the new 62,000-seater venue.

Spurs on Tuesday insisted, contrary to reports, the option to have Wembley as a contingency plan had been arranged in late 2017.

“The option was in fact exercised at the end of last year - and not in response to this issue - as a sensible back-up given the nature of construction and the possibility of exactly such an issue arising,” the club added.

In Monday’s statement, which followed a board meeting becoming public, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy asked for supporters to remain patient.

“We know this will be disappointing for all our season tickets holders, premium members and our fans worldwide,” he said. Huddersfield Town’s German defender Chris Lowe (left) vies with Chelsea’s Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta during the English Premier League football match between Huddersfield Town and Chelsea at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield, northern England on Aug 11. (AFP)