Dani Carvajal has revealed that he is trying to convince Rodri to leave Manchester City for Real Madrid.
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Carvajal wants Rodri to join MadridMan City man not looking to moveDuo will take on England in Euro final(C)GettyImagesWHAT HAPPENED?
Following Toni Kroos' retirement at the end of last season, Real Madrid are down one midfielder and may be looking to sign a new one. Carvajal has now revealed that he has been trying to convince his Spain team-mate, Rodri to leave City for the 15-time Champions League, however, to no avail.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT CARVAJAL SAID
During an interview with , Carvajal said: "Yes, without a doubt, I tell him every day: 'Leave Manchester, there is no sun, come to Madrid because we need you, and you are from here in Madrid'.
"He says: 'Yes, well, I have a contract, there are no clauses here.' It gives me pause, it gives me delay, but it would be the signing, without a doubt. Being Spanish, in Madrid… I think it would fit perfectly."
Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Rodri has been one of the best defensive midfielders over the last few years and is being touted as one of the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or this year. The Spaniard has won the Premier League four times along with one Champions League and a FA Cup to his name.
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WHAT NEXT FOR CARVAJAL AND RODRI?
The Spanish duo will now take on England together in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday, July 14 and after a short break, Rodri and Carvajal will part ways as they look to restart their pre-season.
With the series on the line, India could well replace Khaleel Ahmed with Shardul Thakur
The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Nov-20195:40
Bangladesh seek death-overs batting surge
Big pictureShort-term results, or long-term planning? Teams have to constantly manage the tussle between those two objectives while they build up towards a major tournament. During their T20I series against South Africa in September, India made it clear they were looking ahead to the T20 World Cup first and foremost, when they chose to bat first and, as their captain Virat Kohli put it, “push ourselves out of our comfort zone”, in Bengaluru, one of the country’s great chasing venues.The experiment seemed like a throwback to the mid-2000s, when India, under Rahul Dravid, kept opting to bowl first in ODIs in order to improve as a chasing sideBut, after India lost in Bengaluru, and began the series against Bangladesh with another defeat while batting first – being sent in, more accurately – they went back to their comfort zone in Rajkot, where they won the toss, chased, and won convincingly.You can’t fault India for that decision, but it was a clear example of the tension between short- and long-term objectives.Now, in the series decider in Nagpur, which way will India go if they win the toss?India must choose between short-term gains and long-term objectives in series decider•BCCIThe decision may not cause too much soul-searching, given that the VCA Stadium is one of the rare bat-first venues in India. It has one of the largest outfields in the country, and the pitch usually brings spinners into play. Teams batting first have won eight of 11 previous games here, including the most recent one, in January 2017, when Jasprit Bumrah bowled an outstanding 20th over to help India defend 144 against England.Bangladesh began the series by beating India in a T20I for the very first time, and they know they have every chance of going one better and winning the series. If there’s a bit of grip in the surface, they have the spinners to exploit it, as well as a canny exponent of cutters in Mustafizur Rahman. Their batting is suited to a slower surface too, but they’ll need to learn a few lessons from Rajkot, where they failed to build on a bright start and ended up – in their captain Mahmudullah’s estimation – 25-30 runs short of a challenging total.Form guideIndia WLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first) Bangladesh LWWWLMahmudullah cuts one away during the second T20I•BCCIIn the spotlightIndia have kept faith in Shikhar Dhawan as Rohit Sharma’s partner at the top of the order despite KL Rahul making a strong case whenever he has had the chance to open. Dhawan has lately shown a greater willingness to take risks during the powerplay overs, and has tasted some success while doing so, both in the IPL and in recent T20I innings against West Indies and South Africa. Bangladesh, however, have managed to tie him down in this series by denying him width. How will he respond to that tactic in the decider?Mohammad Naim has made runs in both matches so far, but his range of shots has often looked limited, and India have been able to keep him quiet, as his strike rate of 105.08 suggests. Bangladesh might wonder if Soumya Sarkar, who is one of their most gifted ball-strikers, is better equipped to exploit the powerplay field restrictions. In a decider, they will need to give their best players their best chances of succeeding.Team newsHaving conceded 81 runs in eight overs across the first two T20Is, Khaleel Ahmed has been the one misfiring component of an India attack that Bangladesh have otherwise found hard to get away for boundaries. The left-arm quick is a talented bowler and gives India a bit of variety, but they may choose to leave him out and play Shardul Thakur instead.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 KL Rahul, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk) 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Khaleel Ahmed/Shardul Thakur, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalBangladesh, like India, stuck with the same XI in the first two games. They don’t have any pressing reasons to make changes, though an extra spinner in Taijul Islam could come in handy if the Nagpur pitch plays true to nature. There are fitness concerns over Mustafizur (ankle) and Mosaddek Hossain (groin), but it is as yet unclear how serious they are.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Liton Das, 2 Mohammad Naim, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Aminul Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam/Taijul Islam, 10 Al-Amin Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanKhaleel Ahmed has gone for runs in both games so far•BCCIPitch and conditionsRussell Domingo, Bangladesh’s coach, was in charge of South Africa when he last came to Nagpur, for a Test match in 2015 on a square turner. “The last time I was in Nagpur, the game finished in two days,” he said on the eve of this match. “It looks better this time. I think Nagpur historically has lower scores than Rajkot. There the average score was 185, while here it is 155. I think the spinners will have a bigger role than it had in Rajkot.”Atmospheric and weather conditions dominated the talk leading up to the first two T20Is. That won’t be the case in Nagpur, with clear skies expected right through the day.Stats and trivia Yuzvendra Chahal needs four wickets to go past R Ashwin and become India’s most prolific T20I bowler. Chahal currently has 49 in 33 games at an average of 20.89. Among all the Bangladesh batsmen with 400 or more T20I runs, Liton Das is the only one with a 130-plus strike rate. Rohit and Dhawan are the most prolific T20I partnership ever, scoring 1740 runs in 51 innings. The Scottish pair of Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey are a distant second on 1348 runs.Quotes”Thirty-eight dot balls in a T20 match is not bad. Anything under 40 is not a big issue for us. The big problem was that no one got 70 or 80, more like Mushy (Mushfiqur Rahim) did in the first game. So the one who reaches thirty should look to make it a big one.”
Derby County just about got over the line against Reading on Tuesday night in League One, surviving an almighty scare from the resilient Royals to win late on courtesy of a Conor Hourihane penalty.
The slim 2-1 victory sees Paul Warne's Rams continue to keep automatic promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers at arm's length by a solitary point, the Derby boss thankful for Dwight Gayle opening the scoring to set the tone before his ex-Aston Villa midfielder ended up securing the three points from the spot.
Sonny Bradley would have been even more appreciative of Gayle and Co after his poor performance at the back against Ruben Selles' men, the former Luton Town man at risk of dropping out of the starting lineup for Saturday's huge crunch clash with Bolton consequently.
Sonny Bradley's performance vs Reading in numbers
The usually rock-solid Derby number five had a torrid time of things by his standards against Reading, his off-day exposed further when you consider Curtis Nelson and Eiran Cashin went about their business as usual alongside their out-of-sorts teammate on the night.
Whilst Nelson and Cashin won 17 duels in total, Bradley would only win four of the eight duels that came his way at Pride Park which allowed the visitors from Berkshire to grow in confidence as the underdogs attempted to spoil the Derby mood.
They did just that when opposition striker Sam Smith scored three minutes after Gayle's opening strike to level the game, Smith somehow beating the towering frame of the 6 foot 5 Bradley to head past Joe Wildsmith to restore parity – a moment in the contest Bradley won't want to look back on, weakly allowing the Reading attacker to score.
Minutes played
71
Touches
28
Accurate passes
15/27 (56%)
Possession lost
12x
Duels won
4/8 (50%)
Accurate long balls
1/4
Looking at the table above, Bradley further underwhelmed when playing out from the back for the promotion-chasing Rams – the ex-Luton man amassing four fewer touches than shot-stopper Wildsmith on the night with 28, whilst also only completing 15 accurate passes.
In stark contrast, homegrown star Cashin next to Bradley in a centre-back trio would complete double that with 32.
Derbyshire Live journalist Leigh Curtis would still generously give Bradley a 6.5/10 rating in his post-match thoughts, but did state the usually dominant defender could have 'done better' for Reading's equaliser.
Warne was forgiving of his defending, however, stating post-match: "It was our intention was to take Sonny Bradley off early. He didn't feel well before the game and then he was sick. When he came off, you could see the state of him so I forgive him for not winning his header."
As a result, Warne could be tempted to shake things up significantly when Ian Evatt's Trotters come into town for an automatic promotion showdown this coming Saturday, particularly if Bradley is still unwell.
The player who could replace Sonny Bradley
It would be an unorthodox roll of the dice by the Derby boss, but he could well like what he saw by stand-in centre-back Kane Wilson enough late on against the Royals to start him against Bolton on the weekend.
Wilson is traditionally a full-back or midfielder, yet was given a run-out alongside Nelson and Cashin in the centre-back spots late on versus Reading and performed competently to ensure the Rams were victorious at full-time.
The former Bristol City man – who did play in a one-off contest in this spot for Forest Green before relocating to Ashton Gate – would better Bradley's duels won count with five tallied up from an impressive 19-minute cameo.
Derby County manager Paul Warne.
Other than that, Derby are stuck when it comes to personnel who can come in and do a job away from Bradley – Warne regimented in picking his usual suspects.
Bradley could still get the nod after this off-day therefore if he recovers his fitness, but with the matches coming thick and fast that are absolutely vital to Derby's automatic promotion dreams, the Rams boss could start to spring some selection surprises.
Tottenham Hotspur now think a "special" member of Ange Postecoglou's squad will miss the rest of this season following an injury.
Spurs suffer injuries throughout Postecoglou's debut campaign
There is a very serious case to be made that Spurs would be higher up the table, if it wasn't for the plague of absences they've had to cope with throughout 2023/2024.
"Grafts and grafts" – Young Tottenham star getting rave reviews in training
He’s been putting in extra hours.
ByEmilio Galantini Mar 26, 2024
Son Heung-min, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma travelled for the Asia Cup and AFCON respectively in mid-season, while Postecoglou has been forced to cope without a plethora of other players due to injury at various points.
Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic, Cristian Romero, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson, Giovani Lo Celso, Ashley Phillips, Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Bentancur have all spent at least a month on the sidelines during Postecoglou's first season in charge, which is pretty ridiculous.
In light of van de Ven's latest injury, which arguably played a part in Tottenham's 3-0 slump away to Fulham, Spurs' head coach has admitted that they will look to sign another centre-back this summer.
Luton Town (home)
March 30th
West Ham (away)
April 2nd
Nottingham Forest (home)
April 8th
Newcastle United (away)
April 13th
Arsenal (home)
April 28th
“If you’re saying, ‘Is it an area we can strengthen?’, yes it’s an area we will probably look at”, Postecoglou said.
“With all these things, it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club. So it’s not just numbers. It’s more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit in to what we’re trying to build here.
“I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen, but I think we’ll look to strengthen all areas of the park come the end of the season. That is planning that’s already underway, and other people are in charge of it at the moment.”
Left-back Sessegnon is already missing the rest of Tottenham's season after another hamstring injury, and now Spurs think the same can be said of 2023 summer signing Solomon.
Tottenham expect Solomon to miss rest of the season after knee surgery
The Isreali international injured his meniscus all the way back in October, which required surgery, but a fresh setback in his recovery prompted minor knee surgery last week.
While he could return to training before the end of 23/24, journalist Wayne Veysey writes for Football Insider that Tottenham do not expect Solomon to play again this season, which comes as a hammer blow for the winger who has had few chances to showcase his quality.
alejo-veliz-manor-solomon-tottenham-opinion
Indeed, Solomon could've been a real asset if it wasn't for his bad luck with fitness issues.
“Manor is a special player; he was excellent at Fulham,” said Avram Grant to Ynet. “I spoke with him, and he’s thrilled to be at Tottenham; he has improved his killer instinct. What sets him apart is his amazing one-on-one ability; he’s among the best."
MLS side San Diego FC have announced the signing of former Manchester United defender Paddy McNair.
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McNair leaves Middlesbrough for MLSWill join Hirving Lozano at San DiegoClub to join league next seasonWHAT HAPPENED?
San Diego FC announced the signing of the Northern Ireland international on a three-year deal following his departure from Championship side Middlesbrough this summer. McNair will be loaned to West Brom until the end of 2024 ahead of the club's anticipated entrance into the MLS.
AdvertisementWHAT SAN DIEGO SAID
San Diego's chief soccer officer Tyler Heaps said: "Paddy is another addition to our Club that will be invaluable as we prepare for our inaugural season in MLS. He is a center-back that is extremely comfortable in possession and has the versatility to play a number of roles within our team.
"His wealth of experience and leadership as the captain of Northern Ireland will be a tremendous asset to our roster and locker room. We are excited to welcome him to San Diego and have him join our Club in January."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
McNair's arrival is another statement of intent from San Diego, who have already added the likes of Hirving Lozano, Marcus Ingvartsen and Jeppe Tverskov to their ranks. The 29-year-old came through the Manchester United academy but most recently played for Middlesbrough, making 219 appearances.
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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR MCNAIR AND SAN DIEGO?
It is business as usual for McNair as he continues pre-season preparations in England. West Brom will be looking to mount a promotion charge and the Northern Irishman may have a big role to play in the first half of the season. For San Diego, they will continue monitoring the market as they build a squad capable of competing in the MLS.
Time to move past “all this crap that’s been happening behind the scenes” says captain
Firdose Moonda08-Dec-2019Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s captain, has called on South Africa’s administrators to shift their focus away from the current crises and onto the national team as they prepare for a home series against England.Speaking after his team, Paarl Rocks, secured a home final at the Mzansi Super League (MSL), two days after CSA CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended and less than 24 hours after it was all but confirmed that former captain Graeme Smith will take over as director of cricket, du Plessis asked for plans to be put in place speedily to ensure the team is ready for their next on-field challenge.ALSO READ: Crisis in South African cricket – full coverage”Obviously a lot has happened but now it’s a new start,” du Plessis said. “There’s not much time before the English series so now it’s about putting our focus back on to the team, making sure that the Test team gets all the things that are required for us to be successful.”It’s been a little bit on pause the last two or three weeks which is already too late, so we need to make sure in the next week things will start unfolding to make sure the Test team gets the most attention. The last two weeks there hasn’t been much attention on that so that is what we will try and drive over the next week.”The most immediate concerns are appointment of a selection panel to pick the squad that will face England, who named their touring party on Saturday, and the naming of support staff to assist interim team director Enoch Nkwe, who looks set to stay in his role. South Africa will also name two invitation teams to play against England in warm-up games, which may inform their final selection, as well as keep an eye on a round of first-class matches that begins on December 19 and assess injuries. Opening batsmen Aiden Markram, who broke his wrist in India, is the biggest doubt but has begun training with the Rocks in a bid to be ready for the Boxing Day Test.Very little attention has been paid to his, or anyone else’s readiness, as CSA attempted to put out fires on multiple fronts over the last two weeks, ranging from disputes with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), the suspension of seven members of staff, the resignations of three independent board members and the loss of a major sponsor. After a special meeting of the board on Saturday, CSA resolved to repair its relationship with SACA and hold independent disciplinary proceedings for those staff who have been sanctioned.However, CSA did not disband the board or remove president Chris Nenzani, something which remains a concern for several stakeholders including SACA, whose outgoing CEO Tony Irish was “appalled” at developments. Irish tweeted that the board and president had taken “no responsibility for cricket’s biggest crisis” and are “now clinging to power”.Rather than get drawn into the matter, du Plessis said he just wants to see cricket take centre stage again. “Now it’s about moving forward. I am a firm believer that it’s time for us to look ahead from all this crap that’s been happening behind the scenes. It’s about making sure that the players are focused on the cricket side of things,” he said.Du Plessis also offered to be a buffer between the players and administrators as long as it allowed plans for England to proceed swiftly. “The players have got absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening behind the scenes. It’s important to separate that from a player point of view and if it needs me to be dealing with some of these things, then that’s OK. It’s about getting focus on what’s really important now which is a Test series against England. As I said before, it’s already a little bit 99 [last-minute] and things haven’t happened as they should have but now we can start getting things on the right track.”As part of that effort, CSA also announced Dr Jacques Faul as interim CEO on Saturday. Du Plessis, who has worked under Faul during his first stint as acting CEO in 2012 and at the Titans franchise, believes he is the right man for the job. “Jacques is obviously a very experienced CEO, a doctor, so I am sure he is pretty clever,” du Plessis said. “It’s about experience; getting people in that can take this great game of ours on the right track again.”And so, despite the many issues South African cricket faces, du Plessis is hopeful South African cricket can get back on track. “There’s too much negative stuff that’s happened over the last four or five weeks and our cricket is too strong to have so many issues all the time. We are too proud a cricketing nation to be talking about this stuff all the time. The attention needs to be on the cricket and making sure we will build ourselves as a team and ourselves as an organisation to be great again.”
Borussia Dortmind are expected to sign Yan Couto from Manchester City and Pascal Gross from Brighton.
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Dortmund to sign two Premier League playersGross deal with Brighton progressingTalks continue over Man City's CoutoWHAT HAPPENED?
reports that Dortmund are close to an agreement with Brighton over Gross in the range between €7 million (£6m/$8m) and €10m (£8m/$11m). Meanwhile, City right-back Couto is the subject of a loan with an option to buy enquiry.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
While Gross appears to be moving towards completion, the Couto deal could be slightly more complicated to iron out. City would prefer an immediate permanent sale for the 22-year-old Brazilian, who has spent three of the last four seasons on loan at partner club Girona. If Dortmund push for a loan, they could end up paying more with an option to buy than if they buy him outright now. That being said, still expects a breakthrough this week that would allow Couto to join Dortmund's pre-season camp.
DID YOU KNOW?
Gross joined Brighton in 2017 when the Seagulls were newly promoted to the Premier League. Now 33 years of age, he has played 261 games and has had a huge role in the best period in the club's entire history.
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(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR DORTMUND?
Dortmund are searching for a first Bundesliga title since 2012 and last season's journey to the Champions League final was a source of encouragement to the club, having also only narrowly missed out on a domestic crown in 2022-23. Having returned from a trip to Japan, pre-season continues with training in Switzerland under new coach Nuri Sahin.
South Africa’s assistant coach backs Temba Bavuma to return stronger after being dropped
Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth14-Jan-2020Temba Bavuma is not among the 12 South Africa players who have assembled in Port Elizabeth to prepare for the third Test against England, but he remains close to the conversation. So close, that assistant coach Enoch Nkwe has indicated that if Bavuma finds form, he could be candidate for the national captaincy in future.That may seem like a long way away for a player with 39 Tests to his name and only one century, scored more than four years ago, who averaged 19.84 in 2019 and has scored 9 and 17 in his last two domestic first-class innings but Bavuma is no ordinary player. He is South Africa’s only only black African Test batsman and has accepted the pressures of being a flagbearer and leader for millions.Bavuma has chosen not to engage in the debate at the moment, posting on social media that his silence is “full of answers”. Instead it was Nkwe, himself a black African batsman, who spoke extensively on the expectations and challenges Bavuma faces and the reasons why the South African administration believes he will be back in a big way.Are you comfortable with where South Africa is in terms of transformation targets and how things are progressing? “There’s been a different approach, but that will come over time. We’re keeping very close with Temba Bavuma, for example. I strongly believe he’s a good player, and he’s in the process of making sure that — from a mental, emotional and skills point of view — when he gets an opportunity to come back, whether it’s in the next Test match or in a different format, he takes ownership of his position and does 10 times more than what he has done. We’re confident and believe in him. [Mark] Boucher is the same, and the rest of the team. All I’m going to ask is that we are more patient. We’re trying to put a few things in place so that we can shape things in the right direction.”Do you think the weight expectation on Temba, being the first black African Test batsman in South Africa, has been detrimental to him?”Knowing Temba, no. There is always going to be pressure in this environment but if you look at it, he has been unlucky. Let’s be honest. There’s been times where he got 95 not out and he was probably one big hit to get over the line and he was unfortunate. There’s been times where he got 70, 80. But also sometimes people tend to forget that the situations he has come in for South Africa have been challenging and he has been able to take the team from that position and put them in a much healthier position. Sometimes he gets out for 60, sometimes he gets out for 50 and if you look at the batting positions over the last couple of years – Nos. 4, 5 and 6 – he has been able to make those massive contributions. They might look small in terms of numbers but his contribution has been very powerful for the team and put them in a winning position. He has had good partnerships with Quinny [Quinton de Kock] and obviously Quinny has been more explosive. If maybe a bit of luck had gone his way, he would have got two or three more hundreds but those things we’ve put behind us.”I know that having spoken to him recently, he is someone that actually looks forward to getting an opportunity. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure that when the next opportunity comes he is ready for it. He wants to be in this environment and hopefully in the future he performs well enough and he can lead the team because I know having worked with him, he is a strong leader, very smart and he is able to lead a massive group to greater heights.”Do you see him as a future captain? “In my mind, yes. I can see that happening. But he does understand that he needs to put in some performances. The future could be in a year’s time, it could be in two years’ time, we don’t know. Having worked with him in the last year-and-a-half, he has got the qualities, there’s no question around that. I wouldn’t be surprised if, after Faf, he takes over. That will be great for South African cricket.”Was it the right decision to send Temba back to franchise cricket? “From a coach’s hat and a high-performance point of view, it’s not healthy just to sit around and not play. If you are not playing, you really need to go and find some game time and fortunately, we have some franchise cricket taking place at the moment and we saw that opportunity for him to go there and stay in the game. Some of the challenges we have when we go on tours, is we have a 15-man squad and only 11 can play and the challenge of those individuals to try and get some game time is massive. It’s not only him; it’s a couple of other guys we have released as well.”
Tottenham Hotspur are now in complete control of their own destiny, with a victory over Nottingham Forest moving them into fourth place with a game in hand against fifth-placed Aston Villa.
Spurs flew out the blocks with intensity and purpose, and they were rewarded fairly quickly after a Murillo own goal handed Spurs the lead.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou
Chris Wood equalised just before the half-hour mark, and at half-time, Ange Postecoglou switched out his midfield pairing.
Spurs’ dominance eventually paid off, with two wonderful goals securing the three points, but it was the performance of one individual that made the difference, even more so than Spanish defender Pedro Porro.
Pedro Porro’s performance in numbers vs Forest
There’s no two ways about it: Porro has been fantastic at right back this season, taking to Postecoglou’s philosophy and approach with ease.
Last night, the Spaniard scored his first Premier League goal of the season, unleashing a wonderful strike into the roof of the net, which gave the team some much-needed breathing room.
However, his overall performance was sublime, keeping Callum Hudson-Odoi relatively quiet, making two tackles, and only being dribbled past once, as per Sofascore.
The number 23 was also composed on the ball, playing out of tight spaces with deft passes and touches, which led to his pass accuracy being 91% – among the highest of anyone on the pitch – while taking 78 touches.
Despite this, Porro still wasn’t the best defender, with one of his teammates stealing the spotlight.
Van de Ven’s statistics against Forest
When Micky van de Ven is playing alongside Cristian Romero at the heart of the Spurs backline, the side looks so much more complete, calm and dominant.
The Dutch defender has had a difficult season so far, with two hamstring injuries causing him to lose his momentum, but this performance highlighted just how incredible he truly is.
The 22-year-old made his 20th Premier League start of the season on Sunday, and every single attribute of his complete profile was on display.
Football.London’s Alasdair Gold handed Van de Ven an outstanding 9/10 match rating for his showing, describing him as simply “superb,” and the statistics also support that.
Goals
1
Pass accuracy
94%
Touches
84
Possession lost
5
Tackles
5
Dribbled past
0
Ground duels won
5/5
Van de Ven was extremely confident in possession, evading the Forest pressure with excellent passing and ball carrying, as shown by his 94% pass accuracy – the highest of any player in the game – and 84 touches.
The left-footed centre-half also showed just how well he can strike a ball, as he scored Spurs’ second goal of the game with a rocket into the top-left corner that was completely unstoppable.
On top of the Dutchman's goal and his influence on the ball, the number 37 also completely dominated Anthony Elanga, Divock Origi, and Wood, with his athleticism allowing him to make five tackles and win all five of his ground duels without being dribbled past once.
Such a performance drew plenty of praise, notably from Jamie Redknapp. Speaking on Sky Sports, he compared the defender to an £86m-rated Arsenal man: "Arsenal fans look at Saliba who’s a great young defender, but I think this guy is equally as good. He’s got everything going for him.
"You can see the difference when Spurs lost him to his hamstring injuries, I think if he stays injury-free then there is no reason he can’t end up like what Virgil van Dijk has done. When Virgil van Dijk was a similar age, he wasn’t producing a performance like that."
It was, without doubt, the perfect centre-half performance, a masterclass even, and the rapid 6 foot 4 monster will play a huge role not just in the rest of this season but in the future of Tottenham football club.
8/10 Ange signing has now made himself as undroppable as Son at Spurs
One of Tottenham’s newest recruits was in top form as they beat Nottingham Forest.
A run chase that appeared to be very tight turned into a canter amid some huge sixes
Alex Malcolm10-Jan-2020A Glenn Maxwell masterclass helped the Melbourne Stars cruise past the Melbourne Renegades and remain entrenched at the top of the BBL table.The Stars were 3 for 54 in the seventh over chasing a tricky target of 169, but Maxwell worked his way through the gears to make a flawless 83 not out from 45 balls to mow down the target with eight balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.Glenn Maxwell produced another spectacular innings•Getty ImagesHe struck seven sixes and ran 10 twos. He got outstanding support from Nick Larkin as they shared an unbeaten 114-run stand, of which Larkin contributed just 31.Earlier, the Stars’ bowlers pegged back the Renegades with an outstanding last four overs. Haris Rauf and Nathan Coulter-Nile starred as the Renegades lost 4 for 22 having looked set to make 180-plus. Shaun Marsh hit 63 and shared an 86-run opening stand with Marcus Harris but it went to waste as the innings fell away badly.Change brings returnsAaron Finch’s departure for Australian duty meant the Renegades had to make one change at the top. They made two. Marsh returned to his natural habitat while Harris was promoted. The former was a fait accompli, the latter a genuine surprise. Sam Harper had given the Renegades dynamic starts all year and top-scored with 73 in their last game but was slid all the way to No.6. The change worked. Marsh and Harris put on 86 in 10.3 overs to give the Renegades their best start for the year. They punished anything short, with Stars debutant Lance Morris getting clubbed over the fence twice by Harris. The two left-handers found the boundary in every single over bar the first without taking any undue risks. That was until Harris took on Hilton Cartwright for a reckless single and was run out by a classy direct hit.Old habits die hardStand-in skipper Dan Christian had spoken in the build-up about the need for his top-order players to push onto 70-80 and take the innings deep. Marsh was unable to fulfill his captain’s wish whee chipped a return catch to Sandeep Lamichhane with 39 balls left in the innings. Beau Webster and Christian were promoted to Nos. 3 and 4 and it seemed a masterstroke as they smashed 33 off the next 16 balls including three towering sixes. But Maxwell turned to his big guns in Sandeep Lamichhane, Haris Rauf and Nathan Coulter-Nile with the trio taking 4 for 22 in four overs. Rauf conceded just eight runs off the bat in 12 balls and Coulter-Nile deceived both Tom Cooper and Harper with brilliant slower balls. Marcus Stoinis produced an excellent run out from the deep on the last ball to save another run as the Renegades turned an almost guaranteed total of 180-plus into just 168.Stoinis misfiresStoinis wore the gold cap proudly in the field as the BBL’s leading scoring, but he miscued in the first over of the chase and failed to add to his total. Samit Patel was used first up in a specific match-up and it worked a treat as Stoinis faced two dots before holing out to mid-off. Patel let himself down shortly after dropping a sitter off Ben Dunk before Webster made amends to remove Dunk with a stunning diving catch at mid-off. Cartwright struck the ball powerfully in a new role opening as he clubbed 35 from 21 balls with four fours and a six before playing around a leg break that slid on from Cameron Boyce. The Stars slipped to 3 for 54.Maxwell’s masterclassMaxwell entered this game with scores of 40 not out and 59 not out in the Stars last two matches to make light work of two simple chases. The Renegades set him a task here needing 115 from 79 balls with Stoinis already out and Pete Handscomb absent. He rose to the occasion and put on a clinic. He started in first gear with one boundary in his first 11 balls before he struck his first six, but thereafter he was calculated. He and Larkin ran 10 twos, eight off the bat of Maxwell as he placed and weighted his shots with supreme skill. He didn’t attack the spinners, instead playing risk-free cricket. Then with 60 needed from 30 balls, with Patel bowled out, he flicked the switch. He struck six sixes in 16 balls, five off pace bowlers. Each was bigger than the next. He sealed it with a monster over square leg to win with a scarcely believable eight balls to spare.