Tuchel still backing Lukaku despite exit rumours

There must be money to be made betting that Romelu Lukaku will be sipping an espresso coffee in an Italian cafe in the summer.

The chances of him staying at Chelsea after his £97.5m signing only a few months ago are getting slimmer every week despite Thomas Tuchel backing his striker to do better.

Romelu’s much talked about 7 touches of the ball in the game against Crystal Palace is something he will want to forget very quickly.

He might also want to forget that while he sat on the bench, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic excelled in Chelsea’s midweek win against Lille in the Champions League while playing a 3-4-2-1 system which suited them both.

Walking along the corridors at Stamford Bridge, where pictures of past players, I was reminded of the big-name strikers who arrived at Chelsea and failed to make their mark…think of £50m Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata, and Andriy Shevchenko. They all failed to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.

However, Tuchel said this week that he will stand by Lukaku and claimed it is his responsibility to get the best out of his star signing.

One problem is that at Inter Milan, he played in the centre of the attack but at Chelsea, he’s often pushed out onto the wing during play, where of course it is more difficult to score goals.

When in the centre, he has been starved of good service through balls. Tuchel added, “Chelsea is a strong team, a physical team. We demand a lot from our strikers and it is on me to find solutions and Romelu will always be part of the solution.”

The perfect captain for Arsenal

The Arsenal captaincy has been a hot topic recently. Mikel Arteta has plenty of options including current captain Alexandre Lacazette, Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Gabriel, and Kieran Tierney.

However, there is one player who has been missed by most people but not Arteta. Norwegian national team captain Martin Odegaard is the standout choice.

Whenever there is a break in play, it is Odegaard who Mikel Arteta calls over for a tactical chat.

He is a leader in the dressing room and when he walks through the club, he is greeted warmly by everyone. On the training ground, he is one of the most positive players and always gives 100 percent.

Arteta confirmed my thinking when he said this week, “Martin walks through the corridors and everybody loves him. He is such a nice, humble guy and he leads by being himself.  It is very natural for him and the captaincy will come, he has all the qualities.”

Lacazette will definitely be retained as captain until the end of the season but Odegaard is very much in Arteta’s plans.

Odegaard has it all. He is intelligent, motivating, hard-working, and able to give press conferences when Arsenal have a bad day. The proof is again shown with the Gunner’s 2-0 win against Brentford. Emile Smith Rowe and Saka scored the goals but it was Odegaard who was pulling the strings.

Update on Cavani missing from Untied’s team

I spoke with sources regarding Edinson Cavani’s omission from the team which faced Atletico Madrid this week.

The 34-year-old misses his fourth straight game and I was told, “Edi will not be able to make the trip.

He has not been training for the last couple of weeks so he will not be part of the group.

He has problems with his groin and he doesn’t feel able to sprint properly. It would be foolish to send him back into full training before he is ready.

Hopefully, this coming week will see some improvement and the club medical team are helping him recover.”

Smiling Conte is a comedian

After Harry Kane’s superb performance against Manchester City, last weekend manager Antonio Conte joked, “I’d play Harry if he only had one leg!”

How to beat Manchester City

A month ago, it looked like the title race was all over and Manchester City were away and gone. Suddenly it has all changed and the run-in to the end of the season is going to be filled with excitement, unexpected results, and emotion.

What is the secret to beating City? Crystal Palace employed a dashing approach when winning 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium back in October. Antonio Conte’s team did exactly the same thing. You use a block of players in the middle of the pitch, you let the Blue shirts of City pass the ball about which they like to do and you wait patiently.

Suddenly an opportunity presents itself and the wing-backs race forward and play a ball in behind the weaker back-line of the City defence and with players of the quality of Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min ready to snap up an opportunity, there is always a chance of a goal. Even Pep Guardiola accepted that he had been beaten by such a strategy and he also admitted that the title race is again open to several teams.

Bielsa the guru under pressure

You can’t help but admire Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa. He would have made a poor politician because when all around him is collapsing he blames only himself and refuses to hold players and assistant staff responsible.

Despite the appalling injury list, refereeing decisions that have cost Leeds dearly, and terrible fixture chaos, he still raises his head and says, “blame me.”

There is no doubt that too many people inside football Bielsa is more highly respected than any other Premier League manager and yes, that includes Guardiola, Klopp, and Conte. Bielsa is the guru of football. Why then is his team in 15th position in the league?

Leeds have conceded more goals in 90 minutes than any other team this season. Oh yes, and Leeds have no recognised striker.

At the moment he has spent longer at Leeds than any other club during his managerial career but refuses to commit to a fifth season at Elland Road.

The club did no relevant business in the transfer window because Bielsa did not push for it. Their wage bill is a lowly 19th in the league and Bielsa is coaching mainly Championship league players.

Bielsa teams attack relentlessly, furious fast pace football, and quick decisions are made by the players. It is what he has taught them to do. Leeds top the table in tackles and interceptions which demonstrates their intense workmate.

I have heard rumours around Elland Road that RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch is being considered as a replacement if Bielsa leaves at the end of the season but I know that the next two months will determine what happens to him and this proud team.

Lampard up against the ropes 

Ex-Chelsea legend and sacked manager Frank Lampard knows that he has to make a success at Everton or his reputation as a newcomer to the hot seat will take a severe knock from which he might not recover.

He did not expect to return to management and be involved in a relegation battle but that is the way things look for Everton. Lampard described his team’s 0-2 loss to Southampton as “wishy-washy” which for those who do not know the phrase means pretty poor and thin.

Lampard confronted his men on Monday morning and told them, “The table doesn’t lie and we’ve not been getting the results away from home for a while. When we go behind in games there is no reaction! We stopped trying to play. We reverted to long balls, lacking belief in each other. A lot of things have to improve.”

Burnley’s new man is superb

Burnley’s manager Sean Dyche believes that new signing Wout Weghorst could be the difference between staying in the Premier League or going down a division.

The £12million man from the Netherlands claimed his first goal for the club when they beat Brighton 3-0 away from home and he also played a part in Josh Brownhill’s deflected second goal.

Burnley might be stuck in the relegation zone but they have plenty of games in hand over their rivals.

Dyche said after the game, “Wout was outstanding considering he is new to our style of play and there is more to come from him. I admire the way he plays, his outstanding quality, he brings others into the game and believes in team spirit.”

Rogers in danger at Leicester

Many are questioning Brendan Rogers’ coaching techniques at Leicester as I reported last week. Fans are calling for his head and now UK bookmakers have made him favourite to be the next manager to get sacked.

It was a huge mistake to turn on his players and criticize them for under-performing. After the game against Wolves this week, Rodgers said: “I cannot afford to look at what might or might not happen to the Premier League table—I might not be here! Yes, I’m joking about it—but being serious as well. You really do have to just focus on the next game. It’s true.”

He then turned on Leicester and said the club was not robust enough to deal with the loss of so many injured players with both his center-backs Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans missing all season.

One bright light on the horizon is that Leicester have only five of their final fixtures against the top half of the league table.

Money for new players will, however, be difficult as the club announced a £33million loss for the last 12 months.

Rangnick brings out the best in Sancho

It has taken a while but Jason Sancho is now showing what he can do.

His quality, skill and aggressive runs often left Leeds defenders sitting on their backsides as he put passes into the middle.

If Ralf Rangnick moves off the manager’s seat at the end of the season, his one big achievement will be that he has brought the best out of 21-year-old Sancho.

Rangnick feels he can become a solid foundation block of a regenerated United team and he has spent a lot of time with the youngster in training.

The Premier League is a step ahead of the German Bundesliga, where Sancho came to the attention of many scouts and at first, he found the Premier League difficult.

Rangnick, knowing football so well in Germany, has helped him adjust and conquer his fears and apprehensions.

Against Leeds, he had more dribbles with the ball and made more passes in the attacking third of the pitch than any of the other 21 players.