Tiger issues warning to young guns
Watching Chelsea lose to Manchester City on Sunday I was reminded of how the Chelsea players reacted when Jose Mourhino was manager and he lost the confidence of his players. They stopped playing for him as they dropped down the Premier League table after winning the title the previous season. I witnessed that again on Sunday. The Chelsea players slowly jogged around the pitch, did not recover quickly after an attack which left their defence wide open and United exploited the divisions in their back line. The body language of many players was completely wrong. Why has this happened? I spoke with staff at Stamford Bridge, fans and fellow football writers and all seem to agree on what has gone wrong. The rows that Antonio Conte had with Diego Costa and now David Luiz are counter productive...they upset the players and the rhythm of a club. And when things start to go wrong all the problems are magnified. In my opinion Luiz is one of the world’s best defenders but he is sidelined because of disagreements with Conte. It is true that he has suffered continuous ankle and ligament injuries over the past few months but dropping him, to the detriment of the team, is Conte’s way of winning his personal argument with Luiz. He has shown that he regards his personal feelings as more important than team success. If you have the best players you play them. He did the same with Costa. But he is wrong and many important people at Chelsea feel the same way. Luiz was a solid part of Chelsea’s defence and he is needed and Conte should put the club before himself. Chelsea player attitude reminded me of the way in which Arsenal players were ineffective against Manchester City and then were beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion. The reason was because they no longer listen to manager Arsene Wenger...they turn up for training but his voice is not listened to. It is the kiss of death for any manager and both Conte and Wenger are not bigger than the players and once you have lost their confidence you have lost the battle.
The argument about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger staying or leaving is still being talked about everywhere in football however there are strong signs that Arsene’s time in charge is definitely nearing the end. There is a New Director of football at The Emirates Stadium, which Arsene said would never happen while he is in charge, a New Head of Recruitment and the owner’s son has come over from America to watch over the team performances and report back to his father Stan Kroenke. When you consider those facts and players not performing to the best of their ability as they tire of Arsene’s repetitive coaching methods, which are not producing results, his departure is looking more and more likely. Candidates for the manager’s job are being openly discussed every day. Arsene still believes he can turn around the dismal run of negative results and he wants to remain until the end of the 2018/19 season when his contract expires. That decision might be taken out of his hands. Chelsea star N’Golo Kante gave his teammates a scare when he passed out during a training session before the Manchester City game which the Blues lost. Team doctors immediately ruled N’Golo out of the match because they were worried about a heart scare but a full-check up came back as clear. He was cleared to return to full training on Monday despite feeling unwell on Sunday morning. When I called Chelsea on Tuesday I was told that he will be available this weekend for the match against Crystal Palace and next week’s Champion’s League game against Barcelona. Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren and centreback signing Virgil van Dijk have quickly bonded and are forming a solid partnership. This is sorting out the Red’s defensive weaknesses, which were all too evident earlier in the season. The two were excellent in the 5-0 beating of FC Porto in the Champion’s League and both hope that manager Jurgen Klopp will retain them for upcoming Premier League matches. Lovren has helped Vigil adjust to new strategies employed by Liverpool because they are different to the way his previous club Southampton plays. Dejan said of his defensive partner, “To be honest I didn’t expect that we would be so quick to settle together. But it helps if you are a top centreback and Virgil is certainly one of them. He already understands what the manager wants, although sometimes I have to remind him. I help him as much as I can. Everyone is behind him and giving him support and he did a brilliant job against Porto.” For manager Jurgen Klopp there is a weekly decision to be made, Lovren or Joel Matip but at the moment my inside sources tell me that Dejan is ahead of his rival.
Everton brought in Sam Allardyce as a firefighter when the Toffees were suffering humiliating defeats at the start of the season under manager Ronald Koeman. They saw Sam as an instant solution to stop them from sinking into a relegation emergency. The plan was to appoint Sam short term and then bring in a glamorous “name” from Europe like Borussia Dortmund’s Thomas Tuchel. However, now that Sam has got Everton on to a more secure footing, they are currently 11th in the Premier League, he has decided that he would like to stay and build the club back to greater glory. Sam said that he still has big ambitions and Everton are perfect to realise those goals. His main aim at the moment is to secure a place in the Europa League competition for next season. He has an excellent relationship with club owners Bill Kenwright and Farhad Moshiri and he believes that they will all talk frankly at the end of the season. It is by no means certain that the owners will stick with Sam but as Everton look forward to moving to a new stadium Sam sees this as the new beginning for one of the league’s most famous clubs.
Tiger Woods has warned the new wave of young golfers like Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas that he and Phil Mickelson could be forces to reckon with at next month’s US Masters.
Woods drew the biggest galleries during practice for this week’s Valspar Championship and at Wednesday’s Pro-Am and is keen to build on his 12th place at the Honda Classic in his most recent event following his return to action after back problems.
Woods applauded Mickelson’s playoff win at last week’s World Golf Championship in Mexico over PGA Championship winner Thomas.
“I thought it was great. He’s been playing well. I mean he played well at the end of last year and got off to a great start this year. He’s been in contention a few times,” Woods said of his the 47-year-old Mickelson, his long-time rival.
“What Phil is doing is showing us we can still do it later on in our careers. For me, I’m ecstatic to have
World No 1 Simona Halep said it has taken some time, but she is finally starting to learn to accept the good with the bad.
“I am looking for perfection but I also know it doesn’t exist,” the 26-year-old Romanian said as she prepares to play her first match at the WTA Indian Wells tournament.
“I have had to learn and to understand that sometimes I can’t be always be at my best.”
Case in point is an injuryplagued start to the 2018 season.
“Everytime I lose a final I am disappointed,” said Halep, who won the Indian Wells title in 2015. “My expectations are high. I expect more from myself.”
Halep was defeated a memorable and gruelling three-set final by Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open in January.
Halep said on Wednesday she can always find positives, even in a defeat like Melbourne where she was left in tears at losing the chance of her first Grand Slam title. She also lost in the 2017 French Open final. in a chance to play again and to have a chance to win golf tournaments and compete.”
Woods returned to the gym to build up his strength after the Honda two weeks ago.
“I’ve come around very quickly. I’ve only played 10 rounds,” said Woods, who missed the cut at Riviera and tied for 23rd at Torrey Pines in his first two events of the year.
“I know people are saying that I’ve been erratic, a little inconsistent. But 10 rounds, it’s not that many.”
The 42-year-old American said he was fine-tuning his game and planning a visit to Augusta to prepare for the April 5-8 Masters, which would mark his first appearance in a major since 2015.
“I just want to keep progressing. Making small changes, small tweaks. I was able to do it the last tournament I played in and hopefully I can make up a few small tweaks this week,” Woods said.
Woods said it might not be wise to dismiss veteran players who have had success at Augusta.
Halep hungry to do great things
More recently a lingering foot injury forced her out of the Tour since that Aussie Open final.
Halep is feeling refreshed and confident after reclaiming the world No 1 ranking last month from Wozniacki.
“I am close to my best level. I feel good and am happy on the court,” she said.
She said becoming No 1 in the world allowed her to achieve one of her lifelong goals.
“I learned that I am able to do great things and once I did it it was a relief,” she said. “It gave me the power to go on and do more great things.”