Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has delivered a fiery warning to Barcelona ahead of their Champions League opener, insisting the Spanish heavyweights won’t find life easy at St James’ Park. The Magpies icon, speaking ahead of Thursday night’s clash, believes his old club are more than capable of denting Barca’s campaign and snatching vital points on home soil.
St James' Park ready to erupt
The Magpies return to Europe’s top table after finishing fifth in last season’s Premier League, their qualification only confirmed in a nail-biting finale. Despite a final-day defeat to Everton, Aston Villa’s loss at Manchester United saved Newcastle’s European dream. Now, the black-and-white faithful are preparing to unleash a thunderous atmosphere as last season’s La Liga winners roll into Tyneside.
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Barca arrive as favourites – but are not untouchable
Hansi Flick’s men are among the bookies’ frontrunners to lift the trophy after storming La Liga last season and reaching the Champions League semi-finals. Yet Shearer believes reputation counts for little under the lights at St James’ Park.
"It's a tough one to predict. I guess Barcelona, because of their history and everything else, may be slight favourites but it'll be a really interesting and tough game," he told "It's a tough one to predict but I think Newcastle, at home, will make it as tough as possible, and I think they'll get something out of the game. I think it may be a draw."
New format could boost Newcastle's chances
Shearer believes the revamped Champions League format could play straight into Newcastle’s hands. The group stage has been scrapped, replaced with a league system that rewards consistency and resilience.
"This new format will suit Newcastle better because they'll be really tough to beat at St James' Park," he opined. "I think I'm like the vast majority in that the format worked last season. It was much better, more exciting and there was more to play for. If I'm right in saying, 11 points was enough to get in the top 24 so I'd be hopeful that Newcastle could do that. I guess getting 12 would most-likely guarantee you getting through but 11 gives you a good chance."
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Europe braced for a black-and-white shock?
Barcelona are arriving as favourites, but as Shearer notes, they face an almighty task to kick off their European campaign. With Lamine Yamal out injured, their task is that much harder.
By the time the transfer window shuts on 1 September, how many new signings will Rangers have made?
To date, Russell Martin has made seven additions to his squad since being unveiled as the 20th permanent manager in Rangers’ history, with many more forecast to follow.
Now, could the club be about to break their modern-day transfer record to sign a “special talent”?
Rangers' search for a new winger
Earlier this week, on Tuesday night, the Martin era began with a crucial 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier at Ibrox.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
It was the Greek side who dominated the first half, Jack Butland pulling off a string of impressive saves, before teenager Findlay Curtis lashed home the opener shortly after the interval, with substitute Djeidi Gassama then doing similar 12 minutes from time.
Thus, the Light Blues will take a decent, if not unassailable, advantage to Athens next Wednesday, looking to rubber stamp their spot in the third qualifying round, where Servette are likely to await, after their 1-0 victory over Viktoria Plzeň on the road.
Before that crucial second leg at the Spyros Louis Olympic Stadium, could supporters also have a new signing to get excited about?
Well, as reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic, Rangers have ‘made an offer’ to Crystal Palace as they seek to sign winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. That proposal was rejected by the Eagles, although negotiations remain ‘ongoing’.
Ornstein outlines that the offer was an initial loan, but containing an obligation to buy, which could be worth as much as £10m, should certain performance criteria be met.
This would make the 22-year-old the second-most expensive signing in the club’s history, behind only Tore André Flo, who joined in 2000, surpassing Ryan Kent’s post-liquidation record.
Despite that initial rejection, Rangers’ pursuit continues, albeit while needing to act fast given that there is ‘interest from elsewhere’, so will Rak-Sakyi soon swap Selhurst for Ibrox?
How Jesurun Rak-Sakyi would improve Rangers
Having been released by Chelsea as a 17-year-old, Rak-Sakyi then joined Crystal Palace, actually making his senior debut against his former club at Stamford Bridge in August 2021.
In total, he’s appeared just ten times for the Eagles, seven of which have been as a substitute, but has impressed during two loan spells.
First, he spent the 2022/23 campaign nine miles across South London at Charlton Athletic, scoring 15 goals in 43 EFL League One appearances, with then-manager Dean Holden labelling him a “fantastic young player”, describing him as “humble, calm and composed”, believing “he has a real chance of going to the top level”.
rak-sakyi-crystal-palace
Then, he was loaned out again last season, this time to Sheffield United, really bursting onto the scene at Bramall Lane, scoring seven times in the EFL Championship as the Blades reached the play-off final, heartbreakingly beaten by Sunderland at Wembley.
Edward Walker of the Matchday Man called him a “truly special talent”, while Matt Woosnam of The Athletic praised his dribbling ability and ‘eagerness to learn’, with Nizaar Kinsella of Goal impressed by his ‘technical ability’, forecasting he could go to the very top.
Elsewhere, Adam Oxley of BBC Sport notes that he enjoyed an ‘excellent season’ at Sheffield United, predominantly deployed on the right flank, allowing him to cut inside on his left foot, highlighting his ‘pace and trickery’ as well as his penalty box threat.
Well, right-wing is certainly a position of need at Rangers, underlined by the fact Kieran Dowell, who was shipped out on loan to Birmingham City last season, started in that spot against Panathinaikos.
Last season, Václav Černý was one of the club’s star players, occupying that position, with the table below emphasising the Czech international’s importance.
Václav Černý statistics at Rangers
Statistics
Černý
Rangers rank
Minutes
3,933
5th
Goals
18
2nd
Assists
9
3rd
European goals
6
1st
Big chances created
9
4th
Shots
136
1st
Shot-creating actions
42
1st
Progressive carries
40
1st
Average SofaScore rating
7.40
2nd
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, Sofascore and FBref.com
As the table outlines, Černý was, arguably, Rangers’ most important attacking player last season, scoring six times as part of their run to the Europa League quarter-finals; only Bruno Fernandes, Kasper Waarst Høgh and Ayoub El Kaabi bagged more in the competition.
Nevertheless, Černý will not be returning to Govan following his loan spell from Wolfsburg, so could Rak-Sakyi be the replacement they are searching for?
Well, let’s assess his statistics in the EFL Championship last season to answer that question.
As the table outlines, despite featuring in less than 42% of Sheffield United’s regular season minutes, Rak-Sakyi ranks generally very highly for all attacking metrics, most notably when it comes to dribbling, namely take-ons and progressive carries.
Thus, it is clear that the 22-year-old is a serious talent, and one that could be exactly what Rangers are searching for.
Outshone by Curtis: Martin must axe "non-existent" Rangers dud after UCL
This Rangers flop just showed exactly why the club must replace him in the summer transfer window.
It’s already been a very busy transfer window at Arsenal.
So far, the Gunners have brought in six new recruits, signing Viktor Gyökeres, Martín Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, and Kepa Arrizabalaga for around £187m.
According to Sam Dean of The Telegraph, this is the first time since transfer windows were introduced that the Gunners have signed six players before their first pre-season fixture, last making six or more signings in July all the way back in 1997.
However, as Mikel Arteta targets the Premier League title, they are not done yet, so could the most exciting addition be yet to arrive, a move that would be bad news for one of the club’s longest-serving players?
Arsenal need to add creativity
Following victories over AC Milan and Newcastle in Singapore, Arsenal’s Asia tour ended on a sour note.
On Thursday, the Gunners were beaten 1-0 by North London rivals Tottenham at the brand-new Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.
The only goal of the evening came on the cusp of half-time; David Raya played a hospital pass to Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had his pocket picked by Pape Matar Sarr, who then lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper from inside the centre circle.
However, it was at the other end where supporters’ concerns lay, creating just one big chance, while only one of 16 shots found the target, according to SofaScore, with the Gunners unable to break down a low block in the second half, reverting to the familiar horse shoe of doom, passing from side-to-side without any penetration.
Thus, as they seek to address this lack of creativity, journalist Sébastien Vidal reported that Arsenal are “preparing to submit” a £52m bid to Crystal Palace in an attempt to sign Eberechi Eze, who he claims is “keen” to join this summer.
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Elsewhere, Dom Smith of the Evening Standard documents that Eze’s £68m release clause actually expires on 15 August, just ahead of Palace’s Premier League opener, but they still intend to make an offer irrespective of this deadline.
So, could the 27-year-old be the fabled final piece in the jigsaw, as Gooners everywhere dream of a first Premier League title since 2004?
Where Eberechi Eze would fit in at Arsenal
It is not entirely clear where Eze would fit into Arteta’s team, but this is exactly why he would be such an exciting addition, given the need for something a bit different.
Crystal Palace's EberechiEzecelebrates with the trophy after winning the FA Cup
Zubimendi’s arrival suggests that Declan Rice will be deployed as the left eight, given license to get forward alongside Martin Ødegaard, while Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz are also options for that left-sided midfield role.
So, could the 27-year-old become the starter wide on the left-wing, given that many Gunners fans believe a Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli upgrade is required?
As noted by Simon Collings of the Evening Standard, very few members of the Arsenal squad produce a better ‘work ethic’ than Martinelli, praising his ‘brilliant defensive work’, but there has been a clear decline in the Brazilian’s attacking output, as the table below documents.
Appearances
46
44
51
Minutes
3,440
2,640
3,564
Goals
15
8
10
Assists
7
5
6
Shots
55
39
40
Shooting accuracy %
58.18%
56.41%
62.5%
Big chances missed
6
5
8
Chances created
58
44
38
Big chances created
11
7
7
Take-on Success %
52.94%
39.6%
35.48%
% of touches in the box
15%
15%
18%
Average Sofascore Rating
7.17
7.11
6.96
As the table notes, when comparing the last three seasons, the vast majority of Martinelli’s attacking statistics peaked during Arsenal’s first title challenge in 2022/23, and have subsequently plateaued, namely goals, assists, shots, chances created, and dribbling.
So, would the English “magician,” as dubbed by pundit Micah Richards, represent a major upgrade?
Well, ahead of their clash at Selhurst in November, Fulham manager Marco Silva labelled Eze a “top player”, adding “I really enjoy watching him play”.
Meantime, Daryl Gouilard of Total Football Analysis is impressed by his ‘technical ability’, thriving as a ‘primary playmaker’ who tends to drift towards the left, while Sam Tabuteau of Breaking the Lines notes that he is capable of producing ‘match-winning moments’.
So, let’s compare Eze to Martinelli.
Appearances
33
34
Minutes
2,299
2,603
Goals
8
8
Assists
4
8
Shots
40
61
Chances created
38
57
Big chances created
7
11
Big chances missed
8
8
Take-on success %
34%
52%
Touches per 90
42.4
54.9
Average SofaScore rating
6.96
7.28
As the table documents, Eze’s attacking statistics were universally more impressive than those of Martinelli in the Premier League last season, registering more assists, creating more chances, and completing a higher percentage of his take-ons.
Thus, it is undeniable that the England international would be an amazing signing for Arsenal, and they might just need him if they’re going to overtake big-spending reigning champions Liverpool, and it would be bad news for Martinelli.
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Arsenal have earmarked a fallback, should they fail to sign Crystal Palace’s Eze this summer.
Chelsea have impressed massively throughout the 2024/25 campaign, with Enzo Maresca having a huge impact during his first season as the club’s manager.
The Italian took the reins last summer after Mauricio Pochettino departed, leading the side to a top five finish in the Premier League – subsequently securing Champions League football for 2025/26.
His side also claimed the Europa Conference League trophy after a thumping 4-1 win over Real Betis in the final, topping off what has been a season to remember in West London.
With the transfer window now open, it presents the 45-year-old to make key additions in various areas of the squad to push themselves one step closer to returning to a title battle.
He’s already landed the signing of striker Liam Delap, but numerous other players are already on their shortlist, with potential moves popping up after the window opened on Sunday.
The latest on Chelsea’s hunt for new attackers
Despite the deal for Delap, Maresca has made adding strength to his Chelsea forward line a priority this summer, with further firepower needed for future success in the near future.
The likes of Samu Omorodion, Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko have all been touted with a switch to the Blues this summer, but as of yet, no deals have been agreed for any of the aforementioned talents.
However, another name has been mentioned over the last couple of days, with West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus emerging as a key option, according to one Spanish report.
They claim that the Blues are preparing a £59m offer for the 24-year-old Ghanaian winger, who managed to register nine combined goals and assists in all competitions throughout 2024/25.
It also states that the hierarchy are determined to win the race for his signature this summer, with city rivals Arsenal also firmly in the race for the attacker’s services during the off-season.
Why Chelsea’s £59m target has shades of Hazard
Belgian winger Eden Hazard arrived at Chelsea back in the summer of 2012 as an unknown quantity to many, but it’s safe to say he managed to quickly announce himself to the fanbase.
The attacker cost the club around £32m from French outfit Lille, a fee that proved to be a bargain given his time as a player in West London – all before banking them a huge profit, after eventually leaving in a £150m deal to join Real Madrid back in 2019.
The now-retired 34-year-old featured over 350 times, scoring 110 times, with Hazard today still in the conversation as one of the best wingers in Premier League history with his mazy runs and unbelievable dribbling ability.
Many players such as Jadon Sancho, Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto have all tried to fill the void left by the attacker in recent years, but have failed miserably – leading to the club’s interest in new forwards this summer.
Maresca could be able to find his own version of the Belgian this summer, with Kudus having a similar skill set, offering the side the added threat they need going forward.
He registered 13 take-ons against the Blues back in 2023/24, the most of any player in the division that campaign, highlighting his ability with the ball at his feet. That tally of 13 was also what the great Hazard achieved on two occasions during his Stamford Bridge stay.
Kudus, who’s also been labelled “generational” by journalist Gary Smith, has registered 3.4 progressive carries and 3.2 successful take-ons per 90 this campaign – further highlighting his skillset of getting at the opposition.
Mohammed Kudus’ stats for West Ham in the PL (2024/25)
Statistics (per 90)
Tally
Games played
32
Goals & assists
8
Pass accuracy
84%
Progressive carries
3.4
Successful take-ons
3.2
Shots taken
2.6
Carries into penalty area
1.5
Stats via FBref
The Ghanaian has also registered 2.6 shots per 90, cutting inside on his favoured left-foot off the right hand, similar to how Hazard did on the opposite side during his spell in West London.
£59m may appear to be another huge investment from the hierarchy this summer, but given the stats produced by the Hammers star, it’s a no-brainier with the winger having the tools to take his game to the next level as a result.
Should he manage to get anywhere near close to the levels produced by Hazard at the Bridge, it would be an absolute bargain, potentially catapulting the Blues towards title glory once again in the near future.
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While they haven’t necessarily seen much success in the modern era, Tottenham Hotspur fans have been blessed with incredible players.
For example, for years, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were arguably the most dangerous duo in the entire Premier League.
Before that, it was Gareth Bale, Luka Modrić and Rafael van der Vaart who wowed fans on a weekly basis, yet for all the incredibly talented players just mentioned, none of them was able to deliver a moment quite as magical as a certain Lucas Moura.
The Brazilian winger might not have been the best player to grace N17, but he was undeniably talented, lively, and capable of producing here and there, and now it looks like the club might have found their new version of him.
Moura's Spurs' career
Moura joined Spurs from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2018 for a fee of around £23m, which, looking back today, doesn’t seem unreasonable.
His first six months in North London were relatively unremarkable, as he was limited to just 457 minutes of first-team football across 11 appearances, although he was still able to score one goal and provide four assists.
However, it was the following season, the 18/19 campaign, that brought with it his finest moment in a Tottenham shirt and the moment that cemented his place in the club’s proud history.
In the Premier League, he did well enough, scoring ten goals and providing one assist in 32 games, but it was in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, away to Ajax, where he did something awe-inspiring.
The Lilywhites were already a goal down from the first leg, so when the hosts went in at halftime two-nil up, it felt as if the club’s European adventure had come to an unfortunate end.
However, Mauricio Pochettino must have given the team talk of his life, as Moura came out like a man possessed in the second half and scored a hat-trick, with the third goal coming in the 96th minute.
The former PSG gem would spend the following few seasons in and out of the team, eventually returning to Sao Paulo in August 2023 with a tally of 66 goal involvements in 221 games, but with the appreciation of the fanbase for that magical night in Amsterdam – and now it looks like the club have found their new Moura.
Spurs' new Moura
So, while Brennan Johnson has an eye for goal in him and Wilson Odobert has shown glimpses of something special, neither player could be considered Spurs’ new Moura.
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That title belongs to Mathys Tel, and there are a few reasons for this.
The first is the simple fact that, like the Brazilian, he arrived at Tottenham in January from a massive European club where he was struggling for game-time, this time Bayern Munich.
On top of that, the youngster arrived with quite a bit of hype around him, with journalist Graeme Bailey revealing that Spurs themselves were describing him as “a generational talent.”
That might sound hyperbolic, but in their defence, the “mind-blowing” attacker, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored ten goals and provided six assists in just 1406 minutes of first-team football last season, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.
Appearances
41
Starts
10
Minutes
1406′
Goals
10
Assists
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.39
Minutes per Goal Involvement
87.87′
Finally, like the former Lilywhites star, the Sarcelles-born dynamo is incredibly direct, rapid and capable of making things happen on his own, and had the team been on song against Nottingham Forest on Monday night, he could have easily picked up a couple of assists, as he played five key passes and created one big chance.
Ultimately, while it’s still early on in his career, and there is even a chance they don’t sign him permanently in the summer, Tel looks to be an exciting prospect and someone who could become Spurs’ new Moura.
However, fans might be hoping he can produce magical moments on a more consistent basis than the Brazilian did.
One of his poorest-ever displays: 5/10 Spurs dud was worse than Richarlison
Spurs suffered yet another Premier League defeat, this time at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Enzo Maresca had to stress that he still has the backing of the board after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Legia Warsaw in the Conference League.
The Blues had won 3-0 away from home the week before, but there’s no denying that results haven’t been good enough for some time, with fans frustrated about Maresca’s supposed pragmatic tactics on the ball.
Five wins from 16 in all competitions make a telling comment on the issues, further compounded by Cole Palmer’s ongoing dry spell in front of goal.
Nicolas Jackson has also struggled for form since returning from injury this month, and it’s clear a new centre-forward needs to be signed this summer.
In fact, the club have already done due diligence on one of Europe’s hottest number nines and are prepared to make a bid.
Chelsea set to bid for new striker
According to Spanish reports, Chelsea are set to make a bid for Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, 29, this summer as Maresca looks to strengthen his ailing frontline.
Juventus and Napoli are also believed to be monitoring Guirassy’s situation, but Chelsea hold financial sway over the Serie A sides and may yet secure a pathway through to next year’s Champions League.
Though The Yellow Wall would seek to recoup €70m (£59m) for last year’s investment, this would be an affordable figure for one of the game’s most efficient goalscorers of recent years.
Why Chelsea should sign Serhou Guirassy
Guirassy, hitherto a relative unknown, rose to prominence with his prolific performances for Stuttgart last season. However, his success since transferring to Dortmund last summer has shown he’s more than a flash-in-the-pan.
24/25 – Bor. Dortmund
40
28
8
23/24 – Stuttgart
30
30
3
22/23 – Stuttgart
29
14
2
21/22 – Rennes
48
12
3
20/21 – Rennes
33
14
1
As the Guinean striker’s career will tell you, development isn’t linear. Raheem Sterling, for example, has been on the decline in recent years and is just one year Guirassy’s senior.
But Guirassy has come on leaps and bounds, with German legend Lothar Matthaus actually praising him as “one of the best strikers in Europe.”
Though English football is a whole ‘nother wheelhouse, Dortmund’s number nine is also the Champions League top scorer this season, leapfrogging Raphinha after bagging a hat-trick against La Blaugrana before bowing out on aggregate.
Guirassy’s 28-goal haul this term is beyond even Palmer’s return last season, 27 goals across 48 matches in all competitions. It suggests that at the least he would be an upgrade on Jackson, who started strong this term but has since foundered, criticised for being “erratic and wasteful” by Blues podcaster Rob Lawman.
Jackson, 23, has gone 11 matches without scoring in the Premier League and continues to miss promising chances in the final third, squandering a staggering 42 big chances since arriving on English shores, notching only 23 goals.
As per FBref, Guirassy ranks among the top 10% of centre-forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals scored, the top 10% for pass completion and the top 14% for aerial duels won per 90.
His Stuttgart success wasn’t an isolated thing, after all.
Stuttgart strikerSerhou Guirassy.
Looking at the 6 foot 1 striker’s clinical shooting, just 38 big chances missed across the past two Bundesliga terms, having scored 43 times, it’s clear to see why Maresca would want to add him to the mix, especially when considering his crisp passing and composed head too.
Jackson has ebbed and flowed since leaving Villarreal for Chelsea in 2023, signing for a £52m fee, and you can see the difference in composure and incisiveness in the final third between the strikers in question.
Ultimately, Chelsea need to raise the bar in front of goal next season if they are to go one further and challenge for the title, challenge for multiple titles.
Guirassy, proven as one of Europe’s most deadly forwards, would fit the bill, and perhaps ease Jackson’s burden as he continues to add the blocks to his skill set.
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Matt Roller05-Feb-2025Player of the tournament in a World Cup win. More than 100 England caps across all formats. Back-to-back Hundred trophies, one as MVP. Million-dollar IPL contracts. A walk-on role in a County Championship three-peat. At 26, Sam Curran has already achieved more than most cricketers manage across their lifetime.Yet as he heads towards the peak years of most sporting careers, Curran is experiencing a lull: for the first time since he burst into international cricket nearly seven years ago, he finds himself outside of England’s squads in all three formats. There is little doubt that he will be back at some stage, but life on the fringes brings an uneasy novelty.Curran has kept his head down since he was left out of England’s white-ball squads for their tour to India and the subsequent Champions Trophy, with his focus on the ILT20 in the UAE. But he has decided the time is now right to address it, telling ESPNcricinfo from Dubai that he will be “banging the door” down until he is back in the international set-up.Related
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“There were loads of different reasons I didn’t get picked,” Curran says. “More so the T20s, but I naturally felt I should have been in both teams. But they’ve obviously got their plans and you can look at the way they’re lining up now… The 50-over side is going to be similar to the T20 line-up, and they wanted the same structure of the top six.”At the time of his omission, Curran spoke to Brendon McCullum – whom he is yet to play under – and valued the clarity he received. “He just said: ‘You’re not in right now, but go away, score runs and take wickets.’ I respected it a lot: sometimes you just get the easy: ‘It’s not the end.’ But it was pretty clear what they wanted me to do.”Yet there is a sense that McCullum might consider his style of bowling – left-arm swing rather than seam, and speeds closer to 80mph than 90mph – an awkward fit in his England teams. His first white-ball squads contained a battery of right-arm quicks, and he overlooked Curran last summer when Ben Stokes’ hamstring tear had seemed to open up a return to the Test side.It prompted Curran to reveal his fear that he no longer “fit the mould” that England were looking for – less through his personality than his physical attributes. With McCullum in charge across formats and making abundantly clear that his preference is for a level of convergence in selection, the route back is unlikely to be entirely straightforward.But England’s 4-1 defeat to India served to highlight the value of variety in any T20 side, however expensive Curran has proved in the past two years. It means that twelve months out from another T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, the unlikely star of England’s 2022 triumph is confident that he can force his way into the side.Curran says England’s 2022 T20 World Cup win “feels quite a while ago”•AFP/Getty Images”Everyone knows things can change quickly,” Curran says. “I’m the type of guy that will go away and do well and improve. It was just a case of them going with the top six they want, and backing the five bowlers they’ve chosen. [McCullum] told me to keep banging the door down and I feel like I’ve come here and done pretty well. I’m in a good headspace.”Curran has taken the setback as well as could be hoped but the two years since England’s T20 World Cup win have not been without their challenges. He was dropped early in their disastrous defence of the 50-over World Cup and his form has oscillated between extremes – as is the case for most players whose calendars are dominated by T20.”It feels quite a while ago,” he reflects on England’s win in Australia. “There were some tough times for the team [after that]. It’s just been inconsistency, being in and out a lot of the time. That was the big message from above: go away and show consistency. I feel like hopefully I’ve done that, and will keep doing that.”
“I’m driven by winning trophies… If I can finish the tournament with loads of runs, a lot of wickets and winning a trophy, I feel that’s all I can really do”Sam Curran on playing in the ILT20
Curran is playing for Desert Vipers, Avram Glazer’s franchise, in the ILT20 and his performances helped them finish top of the group stages. He has taken six wickets with the ball but his main role has been with the bat: used in his preferred role at No. 4, he is their second-highest run-scorer and has walked off unbeaten in three successful run chases.Curran’s batting record in T20 internationals makes for ugly reading – an average of 14.24 and a strike rate of 124.47 – and it is increasingly clear that England have used him out of position. He has had no impact when used as a finisher but can control an innings from the middle order: his only T20 half-century for England came in his only innings at No. 4.If McCullum continues to favour high pace, consistent run-scoring may yet be the best way to get noticed. With England’s middle order struggling badly against spin, Curran’s status as a left-hander should play in his favour: he could feasibly be used as the one lower-tempo batter in a line-up of power-hitters, as Ben Stokes was during their 2022 success.Consolation came through the identity of the winning bidders: Chennai Super Kings, his old team. “I was buzzing,” Curran says, laughing off the significance of the price tag. “Chennai was where I kickstarted my IPL career. As soon as I was picked up, I had 10-15 messages from people who were there four years ago.”He will finally get to experience their home crowd this year, with his previous stints coinciding with Covid-enforced neutral venues. “I’ve played there as the away team, and you see the love for the players. It also helps when you have the habit of winning and great consistency with [Stephen] Fleming and those guys who have been there since the start.”A short break in the meantime will allow Curran a rare opportunity to take stock, and to keep his career in perspective. “Cricket – especially T20, let’s be honest – is very fickle,” he says. “You can get a good ball, or two bad ones, and it goes the other way: that’s what happens in T20. But for now, I’ve just got to keep banging the door down.”
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma feels Varma has “got a long way to go”, while Tom Moody called him an “absolute jet”
Karthik Krishnaswamy19-Apr-20232:35
Moody: Tilak Varma has big career ahead of him – for India too
Tilak Varma was playing for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, but he was also a bright young talent from Hyderabad batting in his hometown. It was inevitable, therefore, that something of the city’s cricketing traditions would find expression at some point.That point arrived in the 16th over of Mumbai’s innings, when Mayank Markande dangled up a wrong’un pitching half a foot outside the left-hander’s leg stump.Varma glided smoothly to the leg side of the ball, exposing all his stumps, his back foot going so far as to brush the return crease. His front foot remained close to the line of the ball, though, aligning him perfectly to hit with the turn. The rest was down to that most Hyderabadi ingredient: wrists. As the ball arced over extra-cover and into the vacant spaces beyond, Varma could have been a mirror image of Mohammad Azharuddin or VVS Laxman.Related
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This bit of artistry would have been perfectly at home in a Test match, but it was just as much a product of its time and place as the other, more obviously T20-ish bits of innovation that peppered Varma’s batting on the day. He had reverse-heaved Markande over short third almost as soon as he had walked in; not long after that, he had collapsed his back knee to shorten the effective length of a blockhole-seeking delivery from Marco Jansen, and shovelled it just beyond the reach of a leaping long-on fielder.When Varma came to the crease, Mumbai were going at just under eight an over in the 12th of their innings, and had just lost Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over. By the time Varma departed in the 17th for 37 off 17 balls, Mumbai were humming along at just above nine an over, well on course to post a challenging total on a pitch where the slower ball was gripping and not always coming on to the bat.Cameron Green took the baton from Varma and dominated the finishing stages, ransacking 25 off the last ten balls of his innings to finish unbeaten on 64 off 40. Varma’s innings, however, had allowed Green to get to 39 off 30 without raising too many eyebrows. It wasn’t that he had lacked intent in the early stages of his innings, but simply that he had taken time coming to terms with the two-paced nature of the pitch.Varma had no such issues. While the rest of Mumbai’s batters scored 59 off 45 balls through the middle overs (seventh to 16th), Varma scored 31 off 15.Now, anyone can outshine his colleagues in a one-off occasion, but Varma has been Mumbai’s middle-overs mainstay throughout his time with them. Since the start of the 2022 season, his first in the IPL, Varma has scored more middle-overs runs than any other batter in the tournament.If 479 runs at a strike rate of 137.64 sounds impressive but not earth-shatteringly so, consider this: through IPL 2022 and the early part of IPL 2023, Mumbai have had the worst middle-overs strike rate of any team (122.71). KL Rahul has a similar middle-overs strike rate (137.35) to Varma’s, but he has been part of a Lucknow Super Giants side that has rattled along at 137.61 through that phase.Varma, in short, has carried a struggling Mumbai line-up through what is often the trickiest phase of a T20 innings. He only turned 20 last November.As you might expect, his exploits have turned some of the sagest heads in world cricket. Tom Moody, who coached Sunrisers for nine seasons and won the IPL with them in 2016, is one of them.”He’s an absolute jet, isn’t he? I love watching him bat,” Moody said on the ESPNcricinfo show T20 Time:Out. “He seems to have a head on his shoulders well above his age, he’s got a sense of maturity about how he navigates his innings, he never seems to be flustered, he’s got the shots.”If he needs to pull the trigger and play a couple of big shots, he’s got that, and does it very comfortably. It’s a bit of an understatement, but he’s got a big career ahead of him, hasn’t he? Not only for Mumbai Indians but for India.”
“For someone of his age, coming out and playing the way he is, he’s got a long way to go, and we will see him play for some different teams”Rohit Sharma on Tilak Varma
That’s some endorsement, and Moody wasn’t done just yet.”I think he’s got a solid technique,” he said. “To me, it looks like he’s got a very good game against pace bowling. So, defensively, he looks very, very much at ease. He’s got a good game both back and front foot against genuine pace, which is what you need to climb the international ladder.”He’s clearly a very, very good player of spin, which is going to be a reasonably important tool for him, playing the majority of his cricket in this country […] To me, he’s got the complete game.”Look, I don’t know him at all, I’ve never had a chance to sit down and have a chat with him, but I just sense that he’s a player that seems to have a very good head on his shoulders and understands his own limitations in his own game, and he’s been put into many pressure situations, given Mumbai’s adversity over recent times where he’s been involved, but he seems to have breezed through that with flying colours.Tilak Varma played some stunning shots during his cameo against SRH•AFP/Getty Images”That’s not the easiest thing to do for a young player, because quite often young players go missing when the leaders of the pack aren’t showing the way, but he’s the one that’s been the leader of the pack during adversity.”Moody wasn’t alone in predicting a bright future for Varma.”We watched Tilak last season, and he showed what he can do with the bat, and he’s not looked away from it this year as well,” Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation. “What I like about his game is his approach. He’s not playing the bowler, he’s playing the ball, which is quite important.”For someone of his age, coming out and playing the way he is, he’s got a long way to go, and we will see him play for some different teams.”You can be fairly certain Rohit wasn’t talking about Varma playing for another IPL team, or for Hyderabad in domestic cricket.
Though he made key contributions with bat and ball, his drop of Kieron Pollard in the 19th over turned out to be expensive
S Rajesh17-Apr-2021Vijay Shankar had a more-than-reasonable game with both bat and ball tonight: he took the key wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, finishing with excellent figures of 2 for 19 in three overs, and in difficult batting conditions, scored a 25-ball 28 that kept the Sunrisers in the game even as wickets were falling at the other end. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, based only on the batting and bowling stats, he was third in terms of impact points for the game, next only to Rahul Chahar and Jonny Bairstow. And yet, his one error in the field undid much of that good work and might have been a factor in the Sunrisers’ defeat.ESPNcricinfo LtdOff the third ball of the 19th over, with Kieron Pollard on 18 off 16 balls, Shankar dropped a straightforward chance at deep midwicket. Pollard faced only five more balls after that drop – he also got a single off that delivery – but creamed 16 runs, including consecutive sixes off the last two balls.According to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, that chance cost Sunrisers nine runs. That is calculated through a complex algorithm, which takes into account the quality of the batters to follow and puts a number to the runs that the other batters would have scored off the extra deliveries that Pollard faced.In this case, the algorithm calculates that had Pollard been dismissed, the remaining batters would have scored just eight runs off the five balls that Pollard faced after the chance. That would have given the Sunrisers a target of 142 to win, and not 151.You could argue that the Sunrisers fell short of that target too, but then the approach of the batters would have been different – especially in the last few overs – had the Sunrisers required nine fewer runs. Shankar might have had the luxury of playing out Jasprit Bumrah instead of having to take him on, for instance.That is in the realms of conjecture, but what is almost certain is that the let-off made the Sunrisers’ target steeper. On a difficult pitch against a high-quality line-up, that target proved to be too big an ask.
With the second half of the 2025 MLB season set to get underway, teams are assessing their approach for the upcoming trade deadline, weighing out whether it's worth it to get aggressive in hopes of competing for a World Series.
One team that ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan reports is expected to be aggressive, rather unusually so, is the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners have enjoyed a strong start to the season, thanks largely to their grade-A pitching staff and the utter dominance of AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, who leads MLB with 38 home runs at the break.
During an appearance on Seattle Sports radio's "Brock & Salk," Passan alluded to one key reason he thinks Seattle will, or at the very least should, take an aggressive approach to trade the deadline.
"I think the Mariners are going to be aggressive. And I think they should be," Passan said. "You don't take years like this from superstars and waste them. Period. And I think the Mariners front office knows that. Like, we can't ever expect a season like this from Cal Raleigh again. It's unreasonable, right? It's not just the numbers. It's the fact that we are talking about Cal Raleigh being up there with Barry Bonds, with Ken Griffey Jr., with Mickey Mantle. These are luminaries in the sport, and he belongs.
"And so when you get a season like that, don't waste it. Do everything you can, because once October comes around and once that guy steps in the batter's box, he can do magical things."
As Passan pointed out, a single, well-timed swing of the bat from Raleigh could be the difference between winning games in October and losing them. When you have a player who makes that much of an impact, both as a slugger and as a world-class catcher, it would be a disservice to the fan base not to put forth everything towards winning a title.
The Mariners don't often spend big. They were tame during free agency this offseason, which drew the ire of former Seattle infielder Justin Turner. While they've made some big mid-season splashes in recent years, including acquiring Luis Castillo in 2022 and Randy Arozarena in '24, that type of deal should only set the tone for what the Mariners accomplish at this year's deadline.
This year may well be the Mariners' best shot at a championship, something the franchise has still never achieved in its 48-year existence, and failing to make upgrades at the trade deadline to help achieve that goal would be a significant letdown.