Derby County would have bitterly disappointed with their 3-2 loss against Norwich City at the weekend, with the performance of the Rams up-and-down on the day, alongside a controversial refereeing display stealing the headlines post-match.

Before this narrow loss, the Rams were unbeaten in ten on home soil, but a fortuitous opening goal for the Canaries – which could have been ruled out on another day owing to the ball looking to be out of play in the build-up – would swing the tie in favour of the visitors from Norfolk.

Away from the man in the middle, Paul Warne will have been disappointed with a number of his key performers when the full-time whistle was sounded, as Derby succumbed to their first defeat at Pride Park this campaign.

Derby's main underperformers vs Norwich

Derby’s glowing home form had been down to the exploits of Kayden Jackson putting chances away, but it was also massively helped by Jacob Widell Zetterstrom being rock solid in-between the sticks for his side.

The new Rams goalkeeper wasn’t his confident best against the Canaries, with Borja Sainz picking up a hat-trick at the expense of the Swedish shot-stopper, who made just three saves all afternoon.

Whilst Sainz was a controversial goalscoring hero on the day, the aforementioned Jackson fluffed his lines multiple times, which included a glaring miss in the first minute after being found in lots of space by a rampaging Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Likewise, Jerry Yates was ineffective up top as the sole striker, with zero shots managed on Angus Gunn’s goal, as the ex-Blackpool striker continues to fire worrying blanks for his new employers.

However, Warne could be tempted to ruffle a few feathers by dropping Mendez-Laing for his side’s clash away at Sunderland tonight, after the Rams captain blew hot and cold against Norwich.

That was reflected in Derbyshire Live journalist Leigh Curtis’ post-match thoughts, with Curtis handing out a low 6/10 rating to the experienced winger after the dust had settled, stating that he only had a ‘couple’ of bright moments in the entertaining early kick-off.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

He was quiet in patches, with the ex-Cardiff City attacker managing zero shots on target, whilst Corey Blackett-Taylor starred when coming on with his Rams goalscoring duck broken late on.

Why Blackett-Taylor could now start for Derby

The former Charlton Athletic attacker could now start over his 32-year-old teammate tonight, who might well do with the rest, as more and more second tier games come thick and fast.

The 27-year-old hasn’t really been given enough gametime in a Derby shirt to date to really explode into life at Pride Park, with only 14 outings coming his way since a move earlier in the year.

Yet, his consolation strike against the Canaries could be the springboard for Blackett-Taylor to gain more minutes, as another option Warne can rely on down the left away from overworking Mendez-Laing.

Charlton

97

20

13

Tranmere Rovers

62

8

8

Walsall

10

0

0

Making a name for himself at the Addicks, after leaving the youth structure at Aston Villa behind, Derby could also sense that change down the wings might take Sunderland off-guard, with Blackett-Taylor’s trickery on the ball late on against Norwich proving to be effective.

Labelled as being a “difficult to defend against” attacker by his former Charlton boss in Johnnie Jackson, big calls by Warne such as dropping Mendez-Laing for the reserve attacker could work, especially if Derby end up shocking the Stadium of Light home masses tonight with the exciting winger fresh for the challenge ahead.

The 32-year-old could still make his presence known even if he is demoted to the substitutes bench, as Warne wrestles with what lineup to pick after a demoralising first home loss of the early campaign.

Left for £10.5m: Derby struck gold selling "demon" who's now unemployed

Derby County will have no regrets now over this sale.

1 ByKelan Sarson Sep 26, 2024

Azam Khan and Mohammad Hasnain have been dropped from the party, while Khushdil Shah is now in the reserves’ list

Danyal Rasool08-Oct-2021Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman and Haider Ali have all been included in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup following a rejig on Friday. Azam Khan and Mohammad Hasnain have, as a result, been omitted altogether, while Khushdil Shah has dropped to the reserves’ list, in place of Fakhar. The changes were announced by the PCB two days off from the deadline for the submission of the final squads for the tournament.While that completed the 15 afresh, there was a doubt on the availability of Sohaib Maqsood, the 34-year-old middle-order batter who sustained an injury during the ongoing National T20 Cup. The PCB said that a decision on his participation would be made after medical advice was available.Maqsood, the Southern Punjab player, underwent MRI scans for the lower back after the October 6 National T20 Cup match against Northern and missed Thursday’s Punjab derby against Central Punjab.ESPNcricinfo LtdSome changes had been expected to the squad, which had been announced on September 6, based on performances at the National T20 Cup. Haider’s call-up marked a swift turnaround for a player who, just two months ago, was sent home from the UAE after breaching Covid-19 restrictions. His form in the National T20 Cup, including three unbeaten half-centuries, have earned him a place in the final 15, while Azam’s indifferent form have led to Sarfaraz taking his place.Fakhar’s inclusion was perhaps less surprising, with the player already part of the travelling reserves in the initial squad. He took the place of middle-order batter Khushdil, who, while yet to get a sustained run at T20I level, has found it tough going at the National T20 Cup this year.X”The three in-form players [included] bring with them a wealth of experience and talent, and provide further stability, balance and strength to the side,” chief selector Mohammad Wasim said. “It must be tough for Azam, Khushdil and Hasnain for missing out, but they still have a lot to offer in their careers. They are in our future plans as a lot of cricket has to be played post the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and in the lead up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.”I am pleased with the intensity and high quality of cricket that we have witnessed in the National T20. It has not only provided the players excellent match practice in the lead up to the UAE competition, it has also given us the opportunity to closely monitor the player progress and then make decisions that are in the best interest of the side for what will be a cut-throat tournament.”The changes to the squad brought to an end mounting speculation about likely changes based on recent performances. Several names have been bandied about over the past fortnight, though not necessarily in official circles.Sahibzada Farhan, Aamer Yamin and even Shoaib Malik were thought of as chances for a call-up. While that’s off the table for now, injuries to the final squad members could well mean further changes later.Pakistan’s first game at the T20 World Cup takes place on October 24 against India, with fixtures against New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifiers to follow.

With Iyer back, the Capitals should be able to unleash Nortje alongside Rabada once more

Sruthi Ravindranath21-Sep-2021 • Updated on 22-Sep-20211:15

Were Delhi Capitals right to stick with Pant as captain?

Big pictureThese two teams finished at opposite ends of the table during the first leg of IPL 2021. The Delhi Capitals had everything going their way in that period – Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw ruled the powerplay, their bowlers shone through – as they climbed to the top of the table with six wins in eight matches. There’s only more good news for them coming into the second half: Shreyas Iyer, one of their best batters last season, has returned from injury. And he’s feeling “on top of the world”. They also have a guy who wants to be the best finisher in the world. All this means they have pretty much everything in place to secure their third consecutive playoffs spot.Related

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Meanwhile, it was not all good for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the India leg of this season. Their captain David Warner was replaced – and dropped – halfway through the first leg as a result of his waning form. They fielded 21 players in the first half of IPL 2021, and none of their quicks played all seven matches.While they had a few commendable individual bowling performances, their batting let them down on most occasions, and as a result, they could win just one out of their seven games. This time around, they also don’t have Jonny Bairstow, who was their highest run-scorer in the first leg.They will be hoping to find inspiration from their 2020 campaign in the UAE when they made the playoffs, but it doesn’t look that easy for now. A lot rests on Warner and their captain Kane Williamson to turn their campaign around.In the newsWatch IPL on ESPN+ (US only)

IPL 2021 is available in the US on ESPN+. You can subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to Wednesday’s match here.

Sunrisers have been dealt a blow ahead of the match on Wednesday with pacer T Natarajan testing positive for Covid-19*. According to an IPL release, he has isolated himself from the rest of the squad and is currently asymptomatic. Allrounder Vijay Shankar, net bowler G Periyasamy and four other Sunrisers backroom staff, who have been identified as his close contacts, are also isolating, while the rest of the contingent has tested negative in the RT-PCR test conducted in the morning.Sunrisers have brought in Sherfane Rutherford as Bairstow’s replacement. The middle-order batter might not be a like-for-like replacement for Bairstow, but he comes into the IPL with enough T20 game-time and a decent form behind him. In 11 matches in the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League, he scored 262 runs at a strike rate of 127.18, with three half-centuries, playing for the champions St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. It remains to be seen how he will fit into the Sunrisers’ team combination but they could use someone like him to bolster their middle order.Last week, the Capitals announced that Rishabh Pant will continue as captain for the rest of the 2021 season despite regular captain Iyer having returned from a shoulder injury. The Capitals have also roped in the Australian bowler Ben Dwarshuis as Chris Woakes’ replacement for the rest of the season, while left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya has replaced M Siddharth.Likely XIsDelhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh KhanSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Jason Holder/ Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Shahbaz Nadeem, 11 Sandeep SharmaRishabh Pant’s IPL batting returns have fallen away over the last two seasons•BCCI

Strategy punt With Bairstow absent, the Sunrisers will need to find an opening partner for David Warner. While Wriddhiman Saha has often filled in and done an excellent job, another option could be to use Manish Pandey there. While Pandey’s overall strike rate in the IPL since 2019 is a modest 127.92, he has enjoyed batting in the powerplay, where he’s scored his runs at 149.30 – the highest strike rate of all batters in the IPL to have batted at least 20 times in the powerplay since 2019. And he’s scored at that rate while only being dismissed twice in 215 balls. With Iyer returning to their line-up, the Capitals might be tempted to play the extra fast bowler in Anrich Nortje, who teamed up so well with Kagiso Rabada during their run to the final last season in the UAE. This would mean leaving out one of their overseas batters, most likely Steven Smith, who bats in Iyer’s usual position at No. 3, and who didn’t enjoy the greatest of runs during the first half of the season: 104 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 111.82. This would mean the Capitals retain their lower-middle-order hitting pair of Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer, with the latter having enjoyed a tremendous run during the first half of the season, clattering 84 runs off just 41 balls while being dismissed only once in six innings.Stats that matter Until the end of the 2019 season, Rishabh Pant had a strike rate of 162.69 in the IPL. Since the start of the 2020 season, however, that figure has plummeted to 120.08, the second-lowest strike rate of all batters who have scored at least 300 runs in this period, behind Shubman Gill. Pant’s rate of hitting sixes – one every 35.6 balls – is the second-lowest among these batters, behind Virat Kohli. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s economy rate for an IPL season had never crossed 8, until this season. During the first leg in India, he went at 9.10 per over, while only picking up three wickets in five games. With the T20 World Cup around the corner, he’ll hope he can turn his form around quickly. R Ashwin needs one wicket to become the third Indian bowler to bag 250 in T20 cricket, after Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, who both have 262 each.

In TS Eliot’s poem, J Alfred Prufrock measured out his life in coffee spoons. At Edgbaston, Dom Sibley and Rob Yates preferred to measure theirs out in dot balls. Prufrock reflected wistfully upon the mundanity of his existence. Sibley and Yates took pride in theirs and reckoned that the boredom they felt obliged to impose on the world might bring Warwickshire a Championship. You have to be a serious-minded sort to enjoy either.Professional sport provides entertainment as a by-product and as a consequence some of the worthiest days can be unbearably tedious. This was one of them: entirely justifiable, eminently responsible, but mind-numbingly boring for all but the most committed county diehards. There were a couple of hundred of them around Edgbaston, which glinted harshly, unforgivingly, on a stultifying September day, and when their watching was done, and they shook themselves down, Warwickshire had plodded to 139 for 2 in 67 overs on a dead surface, roughly two runs an over and almost halfway towards the 296 they need for victory. Since 20 wickets fell on the first day, the tone had certainly shifted.Hampshire are likely to contest the final day without Mohammad Abbas, who turned in figures of 10-6-8-0 then 10 minutes before tea went lame halfway down his run-up, hobbled over the crease and fell to the ground clutching an injured ankle. He is not expected to reappear. Considering that blow, their own perseverance with the ball also stood out.Their most potent threat could come from the left-arm spinner, Liam Dawson, who has found slow turn and could benefit from the footholes of the left-armer Keith Barker. He has taken both Warwickshire wickets to fall – Sibley and Chris Benjamin – and he might have added Yates shortly before the close, on 60, if James Vince had held a decent opportunity at slip.Sibley, dropped by England after the first two Tests against India, does not appear to have responded by exploring his more frivolous side. His suspicious forward pushes and sculpted leave-alones should have been watched to the soundtrack of Gorecki’s Sorrowful Song symphony, once nominated as the dullest piece of music of all time – although probably by someone who loves the Hundred.Related

• Rob Keogh provides the ballast as Northants seal impressive 322-run chase

• Hampshire edge into lead as 20 wickets fall on first day at Edgbaston

• Keith Barker digs in to swing compelling contest Hampshire's way

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• Amar Virdi, Gus Atkinson join forces to help set Northamptonshire daunting target

If short-form cricket is often dismissed by its detractors as superficial then it has to be said that Championship cricket, at its worst, can for many be unwatchable. The connoisseurs will call it riveting, as they always do, and the match might well reach a dramatic conclusion, but once Hampshire’s last two wickets had been prised out just before lunch the third day was a dirty job and Sibley and Yates got down to it. They represented the nature of this Warwickshire side – professional, judicious and not always exciting.Sibley’s demise – after chiselling 47 runs from 160 balls – was entirely unexpected. His monkish innings of self-denial ended when he took it upon himself to slog-sweep Dawson and contrived to strike the ball straight up in the air. Self-mortification surely followed.Sibley had struck three boundaries, one of them a fortunate edge against Felix Organ, towelled himself down in the heat on about the same number of occasions, and had run brightly with Yates between the wickets. His most anxious moments had been an lbw appeal that the bowler, Brad Wheal, wasn’t really interested in, and the time he edged Dawson in front of slip when he had 26 from 97 balls.Yates was equally secure, just as functional if not quite as celebrated when it comes to the monotonous arts. His fours – nine of them – represented a veritable feast and helped him to 70 from 199 balls by the close. The first boundary, a suspicious dig out of Abbas’ yorker, trickled to the boundary. The best was a pull against his former team-mate, Keith Barker, when he quite forgot himself. Hampshire will mention the thick edges, too, several of them scuttling to the boundary as if to torment them further.Wheal was convinced he had Yates lbw in mid-afternoon – and stills of the moment the ball hit the pad, and the appeal was denied, found their way into the mailboxes of several Hampshire trusties.The other wicket to fall was that of Benjamin, a batter fresh to county cricket and full of optimism, who was comparably restive at No. 3 and was caught failing to clear mid-on. On such an attritional day, he must have felt like a young man at the wrong party. But it’s a party that Warwickshire, barring Dawson heroics, look like they are going to have enjoyed attending.

GOAL sat down with the MLS Young Player of the Year to talk tattoos, pain with a purpose, and how he keeps the game fun

ORLANDO – Diego Luna has a tattoo on his leg and, of the seemingly infinite pieces of art on his body, it might just be the one he looks at most. It's of the Joker, and it features the iconic quote from the Dark Knight: "Why so serious?" That quote has transcended that movie. For Luna, it's a little bit more personal. In a world where things are often so filled with pressure, sometimes he finds it nice to remind himself that life – and, perhaps more importantly, soccer – are supposed to be fun.

On the field, that's probably the most accurate way to describe Luna's game: fun. He attempts things modern players don't seem to try anymore. In a world in which players are coached to do things the right way, Luna often does things his way, the fun way. It's a wonder that it was never coached out of him, and he himself has thought about why it wasn't.

Luna is allowed to be Luna, good and bad, for one reason and one reason only: it tends to deliver magic in the end.

"No coach that has said anything to me or taken that away from me, and I think it's because it works," Luna tells GOAL during a break in the USMNT's January camp. "If I can get 10 chances and eight of them mess up, that means those other two led to a goal or to an assist, right? Your coach definitely isn't going to say anything about them!

"It's me as a player, having the mentality to, in a sense, to just not care. I don't care if it doesn't always work. I'll always do the defensive work and I'll always do what you need me to do tactically, but when it comes to me and the attacking third, you're not going to tell me what to do. I'm going to be myself. I'm going to express myself. I've got to where I'm at by doing what I know what to do, and I'm going to continue to do that and continue to grow that aspect of my game, because that's what makes me me."

Luna has gotten pretty damn far being himself. He won MLS Young Player of the Year in 2024 at Real Salt Lake, although he admits that he thought he wasn't even that good. His "breakout" continued this January. Even with his nose bloodied and broken, Luna was able to provide that moment of magic.

Moments after taking an elbow to the face, cracking his nose and forcing him to switch out of a bloody shirt on the sidelines, Luna was teeing up Brian White for the U.S. men's national team's opening goal against Costa Rica in an eventual 3-0 victory Wednesday night. His nose was plugged up, but Luna was still smiling through it all. This is supposed to be fun, remember?

You can count USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino among his admirers. "Big balls," Pochettino said with a laugh after Luna's gutsy USMNT performance. It was the type of game that demonstrated that Luna isn't just flash, but substance and toughness, too. That flash, though, is what sets him apart, even as he runs through defenses beaten and broken as he did on Wednesday night. It's what, in his words, makes him him.

"All you need is one," Luna says. "All you need is a one pass to happen, one shot to go in. And, even if you take 10 of them, all you need is one. That's all you need."

Luna has a big chance in front of him now, and it's different than those he creates on the field. You don't get 10 cracks at being a star, you get one – and Luna is ready for his opportunity

• Getty Images
  

  The foundation

  Each of Luna's tattoos tell a story, and they're all deeply personal. There's one on his forearm of a little boy kicking a ball wearing the No. 15, his family's favorite number. There's one on the opposite side of a soccer ball with a crown, which he got to commemorate his status as a professional player. On his neck, there's a large depiction of Jesus. Luna wanted to express his faith, so why not put it front and center where everyone can see it?

  There's that Joker one, too. Countless pieces of artwork and, for Luna, countless hours under the needle.

  "When they say tattoos don't hurt, they're lying," Luna says. "It hurts, no matter where, no matter how small, no matter what place on your body, they all hurt."

  Painful, yes, with a purpose. He decided when he was younger that he had two goals: to get a lot of tattoos and to be a professional soccer player. The first goal would lean into the second. The second would help inspire the first. In some ways, they worked in tandem. By committing to the tattoos, Luna knew he was putting himself under a microscope, fairly or unfairly. You won't find many executives at Fortune 500 companies with neck tattoos, but, then again, Luna never dreamed of working for a Fortune 500 company.

  "I knew early on that I was not good at school," he says. "I was never good at being in the books and all that stuff. I knew that I needed to go play soccer. I needed to do that because there was nothing else that I ever wanted to do. Playing soccer, they don't care about your appearance. You can look and be whoever you are as long as you play well."

  A big gamble but, in some ways, a calculated one. Luna grew up around the game. His father coached, as did his older brothers and, from an early age, Luna found himself running in their circles. He'd just practice all day, and in doing so, Luna realized he could do things that those around him couldn't. As a youth player, onlookers would ask about the pass he made or the dribble he just pulled off. They'd ask him to explain how he did it. He couldn't. It was something natural, something that only he understood.

  "I realized this when I was younger, playing in the academy and stuff, I'd have no idea what I did," he says. "My body was just doing it. My mind was telling my body what to do, and it was just working. I guess it's just a mixture of being around the soccer ball for so many years, but also maybe something that I'm born with, or something that was in my blood or something. I think for me, it was always just that I'm out there and I don't know what I'm doing, but I do know I'm having fun."

  Somehow, that ability to have fun has continued on. At a certain point, it's often coached out of players. They're taught to make the right play, not the fun one. Somehow, though, Luna often finds ways to do both.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  A breakout season?

  Luna's breakout has been coming, and the road has been as wild as Luna's game. He came up through the San Jose Earthquake system, moved to Barcelona's Arizona academy, signed with El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship and, finally, was bought by RSL in 2022 for a USL-record fee of $250,000. He'd showed signs during his first two seasons in MLS. This past season, those signs became too prolific to ignore.

  He was named an MLS All-Star in the summer and as named MLS Young Player of the Year in November. By the end of the season, he'd amassed 20 goal contributions in MLS, making him the second player in league history to hit that total before turning 21. Luna wasn't just enjoying himself on the field; he was making things happen in a tangible way.

  Funnily enough, the only person with anything bad to say about Luna's 2024 is the man himself. He went from young player to All-Star throughout the season. Yet he's not satisfied.

  "A lot of people outside or in the media, they made this year seem like an amazing year for me, and that I was unreal," he says. "There's so much more than I can do. I believe that this was average for myself. This is the baseline. I think that I should be scoring 10 goals a season easily. That's the type of standard that I have for myself.

  "I need to be better this year, and there were a lot of moments where I could have been better, and that's what I'm striving for. That's the type of mentality that I have, because it's not good enough. I always want more. I always want more goals, more assists."

  That mentality, Luna says, is the most important part of his rise. Yes, the skill with his feet has been helpful, but more important is the confidence in his feet to do those things. That starts in real life, not on the field. Luna works hard on getting the real life part right, perhaps even harder than he does at finding those highlight-reel goals and assists.

  It's why, upon moving to RSL, he got a job at a Dutch Bros coffeeshop to work on his people skills. Luna wanted to get better at talking to people. It's made him more comfortable expressing himself in interviews. A little while back, Luna also started going to therapy, where he is so often reminded that he's a grown man playing a kids game. Yes, there's pressure, much of it internal pressure, but you feel it a bit less when you straddle that line between extreme humility and supreme confidence.

  "As a man, in a stereotypical way, to admit that you need help mentally, I think that's hard for some people to admit as a man, because for many years it's implemented in your brains that you just put your head down," he says. "There are famous people or people you look up to getting help and having mental coaches or therapists. What's the difference between them and you? If there's something I can do to make me feel better on the daily, I'm going to do it. For me, the big thing is being able to let go and just be yourself with what you know about yourself."

  It's all translated. Luna feels like he's getting closer to the best version of himself and finding joy with the ball at his feet.

• IMAGN
  

  Inside the mind of a modern No. 10

  The No. 10 position has changed immeasurably over the years. Luna knows there is precisely one man on this planet allowed to play it the way he grew up understanding it. Yes, he's in MLS and, no, it's not Diego Luna. His respect for Lionel Messi is tangible.

  "The game's changing," he says. "It's not not where you can just be a 10 and sit around… unless you're Messi. He can definitely do that, but, unless you're him, in this age of the game, you have to do both sides of the ball."

  Luna credits RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni for getting that point across. Mastroeni is no-nonsense. If you aren't working for the team, whether you're 18 or 45, Mastroeni has the perfect place for you: seated right next to him on the bench. That applies to Luna, despite all he can do creatively.

  "The reason why Diego has been able to, at a young age, deliver the way he has has been because he's been able to lead himself," Mastroeni says of the midfielder. "It's very difficult for young players to understand that, while we create the environment and we have great coaches, the onus is on the individual to take the extra steps every day.

  "Diego is one guy dialed in every video session and stays after and does his work every session. From a leadership stand point, that's the next bit. Having gone to January camp last year, he was a bit shocked. This year, it seems he felt deserving of it after winning MLS Young Player of the Year. My expectation is that he brings that leadership of the last couple years and that national team camp and becomes a leader in his own right. He's a fantastic leader himself, so how does he bring other players to that same type of level??

  The midfielder doesn't mind that pressure or that role, to be fair. He knows that it sets a tone. If he's running and working and sliding all over the place, why the hell wouldn't everyone else do that too?

  "If they're going to trust me with the ball, they're gonna work for me and run for me," he says. "It makes the team stronger mentally because it just allows everybody to trust each other, and it gives trust in me and gets me the ball, more people are enjoying playing with me more. It's a bunch of things."

  Luna isn't known for work rate or pressing, though; he's known for the creativity. He's known for the moments where he plays a pass nobody else sees or the moments in which he beats a defender with a move that he makes looks so simple. Ironically, it's not those one-on-one moments Luna loves most. His idol growing up was Ronaldinho or some wizard of dribbling. Instead, it was Marco Reus, who established himself as one of game's premier modern attacking midfielders at Borussia Dortmund. Luna is excited to ask for his jersey this season when RSL play the LA Galaxy.

  "I love his kind of vibe," Luna says. "I feel like I like to go with that. I like to create passes. I like to do dribble. My dribbling, sometimes it can be crazy, but sometimes it's simple. It's just dribbling, right? It's all about whatever works."

  Luna doesn't have that stereotypical efficiency; he tries things. He'll hit a pass that, on the outside, doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it goes flying out of play, sometimes it's intercepted, but sometimes it falls right where he hopes it would. In 2024, that happened more often than ever before.

  "As players, we want everything to work out, right? You want to be the guy that's balling non stop," he says. "You don't want to cause the team to work defensively because of your mistakes or stuff like that, but this is soccer. This is 90 minutes of non-stop, just go, go, go. One second you have the ball, the next second you don't, and this isn't going to be a game where you win 10-0. You just need that one…. everybody's gonna be like, 'He did it!', they're happy. I think that's just a mindset that a lot of creative players have: we have fun with the game have, and we're just gonna keep trying until it works."

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  'Pochettino doesn't want me to hide'

  The lasting image of this January camp might just be a selfie Luna took from his hospital bed Wednesday night. Nose broken, Luna sitting there with a little smirk anyway. No reason to be too serious, as his tattoo likely reminded him. He immediately made it his Instagram profile picture. That's the image of himself he wants the world to see first.

  It's a poignant one. Luna, for all of his flash, isn't afraid of the nasty stuff. Pochettino surely learned a whole lot about Luna over these two weeks.

  "I was very surprised he broke his nose, but I didn't want to say anything because he was bleeding," Pochettino told TNT after the match. "Not have too much drama, you know? I don't want to scare them. I said 'How do you feel?' and he said 'Please coach, let me keep playing, at least until halftime, and then I'll go out. Doctor gave me the OK.' Then an assist and we scored."

  Added Pochettino with a laugh, "I said 'big balls.’ He showed great character."

  There are few better ways to impress a coach. Every leader is looking for those that bring both quality and mentality. Luna showed both in his 45 minute runout on Wednesday night. Even as blood poured down his face, Luna raced around the field, pressing Costa Rica's backline. The assist, in some ways, was the cherry on top of a night that will definitely live in Pochettino's memory.

  "He's a player that, for sure, that we are going to have a consideration for the future," he said.

  In private conversations, Pochettino has already made it clear: he knows who Luna is, and he doesn't want to change him for anything. Luna's point was proven against Costa Rica – all it takes is one. There are few young players in the USMNT pool better at providing that one than Luna. Pochettino now believes that and, more importantly, Luna does, too.

  "He just kind of told me that he knows who I am and knows how I play," Luna says of Pochettino. "He wants me to express myself. He doesn't want me to hide. He wants me to put me in the best position for me to showcase myself, to be that guy, to create chances for the team, to have fun and be a playmaker. He wants me to make stuff happen, and he's allowing me to have the freedom to be able to do that."

When Trinidad & Tobago enjoyed a barnstorming run to the inaugural Champions League T20 final in 2009, Ravi Rampaul proved an able foil to Dwayne Bravo, who finished as the highest wicket-taker that season. Twelve years later, Bravo is a T20 phenom and Rampaul is still relevant in the shortest format as the pair get back together to lead West Indies’ seam attack at the forthcoming World Cup in the UAE.”My experience [with Derbyshire] will help [lead the bowling line-up] and there’s Dwayne Bravo as well,” Rampaul said, speaking from West Indies’ base in Dubai. “We have a lot of guys who have been playing a lot of T20 franchise cricket around the world and we could feed off each other with our experience and when different situations in the game come up, we can come together and have a plan to go ahead.”Rampaul, who has been playing county cricket for a number of years as a Kolpak player, had marked his CPL return in 2021, with a chart-topping 19 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 16.21 and an economy rate of 7.96 for Trinbago Knight Riders. Fourteen of those 19 wickets came in the powerplay and the death in largely sluggish conditions. He was particularly potent during the field restrictions, giving up only 99 runs off 78 balls. Rampaul backs himself to bowl the tough overs for West Indies, too, despite being absent from the national team for almost six years.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Yeah, definitely [see myself doing a top-tail role] for the West Indies,” Rampaul said. “I’ve done a lot of practice bowling in the three areas of T20 cricket and whatever situation I’ve to play for the West Indies, I’ll try to do my best. I strive on the tough areas of the game to come out on top. So, whatever situation I’m put under, I’ll try to come out on top.”Multiple injuries have troubled Rampaul in the past, but the 37-year-old seamer felt that he is now in a better space to understand his body and work accordingly.”With the experience gained, I know exactly what my body needs to perform. At a younger age, I didn’t know and I just wanted to continue playing cricket every day,” Rampaul said. “But, with the experience gained, playing over the years, I know exactly how I need to train – the sort of gym and running work I need to do, so with that experience right now, I feel I’m a bit better at preparing for more games that way.”Related

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• Pollard: West Indies to take a knee at T20 World Cup

• Ten ways T20 has changed since the last World Cup

Rampaul also pointed out that West Indies’ vast experience would help them deal with pressure better during a fairly short, sharp tournament. West Indies will begin their T20 World Cup defence by playing three matches in six days across two venues against England, South Africa and a qualifier from the first round.”I think going into big World Cup games, you would need experience,” Rampaul said. “The team that was selected has a lot of experienced guys and a lot of young guys as well – guys that have played around the world in different conditions. We know that the games come quick and fast. The experienced guys, more so, will know how to manage themselves to play back-to-back games or play games every other day with recovery and getting stuff done. Yeah, the experience will help us throughout the tournament.”In the 2012 World T20 final, Rampaul had his moment when he sent Tillakaratne Dilshan’s off stump cartwheeling for a duck, at the Khettarama, finishing as West Indies’ joint-highest wicket-taker in that tournament. After disappearing from their radar, a fitter, stronger and wiser Rampaul has returned for another tilt at World Cup glory.

The homegrown striker looked set to succeed Wayne Rooney as the club's all-time top scorer but instead parts with his career and reputation in tatters

February always has been a defining month for Marcus Rashford. It was in the second month of 2016 that he came out of nowhere and scored his first senior goals to fire Manchester United to victory against Midtjylland in the Europa League, before then bagging his first Premier League goals to down Arsenal three days later.

In February 2023, Rashford was in the form of his life, scoring six goals in a memorable month which included netting twice against rivals Leeds, running rings around Barcelona at Camp Nou and lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley. A lot had changed 12 months later, though, when he was in the spotlight for his debauched night out in Belfast and subsequent missed training session. And yet on February 1, he started for United against Wolves and scored within the opening minutes. At the end of the month, he penned a defensive piece in in which he tried to explain his love and commitment to the club, but only succeeded in further winding up supporters.

So it is fitting then that February should be the month that Rashford finally leaves United, nine years after bursting on to the scene from the club's academy while he was still at school. He departs a shadow of the world-beating striker he was just 24 months previously and with his reputation among many fans severely damaged.

Rashford's departure for Aston Villa on loan represents a fresh start for him and a chance for United to rid themselves of a problem that has been festering for a while. Yet the overwhelming feeling is one of great sadness, the confirmation that a glorious romance between a homegrown player and the club he loved has come to a painful and bitter end…

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  Change in mentality

  Days before the Carabao Cup final in February 2023, when Rashford was scoring for fun and leading United's exciting, if brief, renaissance under Erik ten Hag, he explained what was behind his resurgence in form. The striker had made a huge transformation compared to the previous year, when he had struggled under Ralf Rangnick and was dealing with a number of issues, including a long recovery from back surgery and the emotional pain of missing his penalty in England's Euro 2020 final shootout defeat by Italy.

  "Football is probably 95 percent your mentality. That gives you the baseline to perform," he said. "There are a lot of players that have ability – that’s why they play at the top level. But what sets them apart is the mentality. I’ve been on both sides of it. I understand the strength of it and the value. I’m concentrating a lot more on keeping myself in that headspace and it’s needed in order to win games and trophies."

  Rashford's mentality back then was one of his greatest strengths, and he marked the majority of the 30 goals he scored in that stunning 2022-23 campaign by pointing to his head. He had done a lot of the hard work that previous summer, when he headed to Nike's headquarters in Oregon for a crash course in condition and strength training to work on his explosivity. Other examples of him using his brain were seen in him taking on the British government over school meals, advocating for child literacy and writing children's books with titles such as 'You are a champion' and 'You can do it'.

  But in the last two years, he has been back – as he would put it – on the other side of the mentality divide. His mental state was seen as being so bad that Ruben Amorim left him out of his matchday squad for the best part of six weeks, repeatedly citing his attitude to training. In the eyes of the coach, Rashford's mentality was so poor that he would rather pick his 63-year-old, overweight goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital than the 27-year-old.

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  'Must be ashamed'

  The shift in perception around Rashford has been a shock to everyone in football, and in last week's episode of Gary Neville's podcast, Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane, Jill Scott and Ian Wright all expressed their dismay at the situation. "Not training, not putting in the right attitude doesn't cross your mind," said Wright, while ex-England women's international Scott said she could not imagine the embarrassment of team-mates thinking she were lazy.

  Rooney revealed that he has urged Rashford to leave United on a couple of occasions. He said: "I've spoken to Marcus a couple of times and I've given him my thoughts and my opinion. I said you need to leave the football club because whatever is going on in his life and whatever is going on at Manchester United, he's not the same. It's not him. So I said for him, to have a fresh start, he needs to leave the club. The fact that your manager is coming out and saying that you are not training right is crazy."

  As ever, Keane took the toughest line. "Whatever’s going on with players leaving, months left on contracts, a player who doesn’t train properly… I don’t understand it," he said. "You might as well leave me out of this conversation. Especially if you think he wants to move, which is more of a reason to train properly so when you go to a new club you’re up to speed and when you leave the club at least you showed a decent attitude. All these things getting thrown at him. He must be ashamed."

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  Beginning of the end

  Questions about Rashford's attitude to training beggar belief given his status as one of United's top earners after signing a contract less than two years ago that is worth £325,000 ($401k) per week until 2028. At the time, coming off the back of his best-ever season, there were no complaints among United supporters. Rashford's previous deal was due to expire in 2024 and there was a serious danger of him leaving for free and strengthening a major rival, in Europe or in England, while at the peak of his powers.

  Rashford declared his love for United after signing the contract, aged 25, and looked forward to a long and prosperous future with the club. "I joined Manchester United as a seven-year-old boy with a dream. That same passion, pride and determination to succeed still drives me every time I have the honour of wearing the shirt. I've already had some amazing experiences at this incredible club, but there is still a lot more to achieve and I remain relentlessly determined to win more trophies in the years ahead," he said.

  "As a United fan all my life, I know the responsibility that comes with representing this badge and feel the highs and lows as much as anyone. I can assure you that I will give everything to help the team reach the level we are capable of, and I can feel the same determination around the dressing room. I couldn't be more excited for the future under this manager."

  United fans were equally excited after winning a first trophy in six years and returning to the Champions League, and Rashford looked set to be the flagbearer of this exciting new era, his future locked down. However, that contract appears to have been his undoing, and rather than the deal bringing him more responsibility, he began to behave less seriously and with more recklessness upon signing it.

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  'Party' lifestyle

  For his summer holidays in 2023, Rashford returned to the United States, but not to work on conditioning, and rather to go partying. There's nothing wrong with footballers letting their hair down in their rare and short periods off, but when the new season began, Rashford did not look as motivated as before or as mentally switched on.

  He went to a nightclub hours after United's painful 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the derby, a very bad look from the point of view of supporters and indeed for his then-manager Ten Hag, who called his actions "unacceptable". The Dutchman insisted at the time that Rashford had apologised and vowed not to make the same mistake again.

  "He's very motivated to put things right. He's totally with us," he said in November 2023. "So he makes a mistake, but that doesn't say he's not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he's doing. I know. Also off the pitch, how he lives."

  Ten Hag's words implied Rashford's behaviour was a one-off, but the player's decision to go out two nights in a row in Belfast two months later while missing training suggested otherwise. So did a report in which detailed his fondness for going to casinos in Manchester's Chinatown district and playing poker while "knocking back beers". One source said: "Marcus loves the nightlife, but the concern is that he’s been doing just too much of it. His house has been a party house."

Swiftly turning their attention towards 2025 after an underwhelming summer transfer window, Newcastle United and Paul Mitchell are now reportedly keeping tabs on one target who has already found the back of the net at St James’ Park.

Newcastle transfer news

There’s no doubt that the Magpies could do with a successful January transfer window following such a disastrous summer – what Eddie Howe needs is a transfer window to match the quality that his side has shown so far this season. The former Bournemouth boss has guided his side to within two points of the top four after just seven games in a run that has seen them suffer just the one defeat despite not playing their best stuff.

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Of course, that run won’t stand in the way of Newcastle’s frustration after their 0-0 draw against Everton last time out, in which Anthony Gordon saw his penalty saved by former teammate Jordan Pickford, much to the delight of the Toffees support.

With the international break handing those at St James’ Park a couple of weeks to ponder such frustration, sporting director Mitchell has seemingly turned his attention towards the transfer window.

According to GiveMeSport, Mitchell is now monitoring Antoine Semenyo ahead of a potential move for Newcastle in the winter window or next summer. The Bournemouth winger has enjoyed an excellent start to the season for the Cherries, picking up where he left off last time out to become the star of the show once again.

Newcastle are well aware of his quality too, given that he scored in a 2-2 draw against the Magpies last season, as Bournemouth escaped St James’ Park with a well-earned point thanks to their winger. With Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur also reportedly interested in Semenyo, however, Newcastle and Mitchell will have to act fast in pursuit of his signature.

"Strong" Semenyo is a player on the rise

Much like Dominic Solanke did before leaving for Spurs in the summer, Semenyo is quickly making a name for himself on the South Coast and may well earn a big move as a result. So far this season, he’s arguably stolen more headlines than ever, having scored three goals and assisted another in just seven Premier League games as a player who only looks likely to get more and more clinical.

Wheeling away in celebration at St James’ Park last season, if Newcastle fans aren’t aware of Semenyo’s quality just yet, then a winter move should certainly give them a better look.

Full of praise for his £50,000-a-week winger, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola told reporters, via the Bournemouth Echo, earlier this season: “Past season, I remember that normally he started from the bench or he played 60, 65 minutes and you could see that he was starting to decline, it’s normal a little bit.

“Now he’s staying there, he’s finishing strong, the games. I think he’s one of the ones also who has played a lot of minutes with the national team and I hope he can keep this level.”

Glasgow Rangers fell further away from the top two teams in the Scottish Premiership last time out as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.

Marley Watkins scored a late winner for the home side to seal a second defeat of the season already for the Light Blues, who are already six points behind their rivals.

Aberdeen and Celtic have won seven and drawn one of their opening eight games each and the title race already appears to be slipping away from the Gers.

The Ibrox giants, who only finished three points adrift of the Hoops in the title race last term, need a major uplift in form and have to hope that their two biggest rivals in the league, at the moment, start to drop more points to close the gap.

With the January transfer window still over two months away from opening for business, the board may be considering their short-term options to change things on the pitch.

It has been just over a year since the club opted to appoint Philippe Clement as the successor to Michael Beale, who had failed to win a single trophy during his time in Glasgow as the head coach, and they are now weighing up another change.

The latest on Philippe Clement's future

According to Football Insider, Rangers are preparing to sack Clement if results do not improve over the coming weeks, as the start to the season has been less than ideal.

The report claims that results have fallen below the expectations of the Gers board and that the Belgian head coach’s position is no longer secure, despite recently putting pen to paper on a contract extension at Ibrox.

It states that a decision on his future is not imminent, as in before the clash with FCSB on Thursday, but that they are preparing to pull the trigger on him if the poor results continue.

Rangers have already, as aforementioned, lost two games in the Premiership and drifted six points off their rivals, whilst they also failed to reach the League Phase of the Champions League, losing to Dynamo Kyiv over two legs in their play-off clash.

Football Insider reports that the pressure is growing on Clement to turn things around, or risk losing his job, and this means that the ex-Monaco boss needs to try new things to get his team firing again.

The Rangers head coach may wish that he had a player like Alfredo Morelos to fire his team up the table, as the last Gers boss to win a title – Steven Gerrard – had.

Alfredo Morelos' Rangers goal record

The Colombian marksman, who left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, enjoyed an incredibly prolific spell with Rangers under several managers.

Morelos racked up 124 goals and 57 assists in 269 appearances in all competitions for Rangers, playing under the likes of Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and Beale.

The impressive centre-forward hit double figures for goals in the Premiership in all six of his seasons at Ibrox, which shows that he was a consistent and lethal striker for the club for many years.

In the 2020/21 title-winning campaign, Morelos produced an eye-catching 17 goals and 13 assists in 44 appearances in all competitions for the Gers – including 12 goals and five assists in the Premiership.

These statistics show that the Colombian sensation was a quality scorer and creator of goals from a centre-forward position for Gerrard that term.

His return of 12 goals, with only ten ‘big chances’ missed, in the Premiership also shows that he was an efficient finisher to help them to win the title.

Appearances

35

8

Goals

16

3

Big chances created

27

6

Conversion rate

16%

19%

Assists

4

1

As you can see in the table above, Clement has not had a reliable finisher or a creative player in the number nine position since he arrived just over a year ago.

Cyriel Dessers has missed a staggering 33 ‘big chances’ and only scored 19 goals in the Premiership since the start of last season, assisting just five goals in that time.

Clement could now save his job and get Rangers firing again by brutally dropping the Nigerian dud and unleashing a Morelos-like talent in Hamza Igamane.

Why Hamza Igamane could save Clement's job

The summer signing is in his first season away from his home country, Morocco, and has needed time to adapt and adjust to life in Scotland, which may be why he has not featured much so far.

Igamane has only started one of his six appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants and this maens that he has not had a chance to find his feet and gain confidence with a run of matches under his belt.

Former Dundee United goalkeeper Trevor Carson recently claimed on the Open Goal Podcast that there is “a wee bit of Morelos about him” in the way that he controls the ball with his chest and uses his powerful frame to push into the final third.

Ex-Rangers striker Kenny Miller also wrote for the Daily Record that the signing of Igamane reminded him of the move to sign Morelos from an obscure league, in Finland.

At the age of 21, the Moroccan youngster still has plenty of development left to go through and playing games will only help him to gain experience and improve as a player.

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In the 2023/24 campaign, he started 16 matches in the Botola Pro for FAR Rabat and contributed with seven goals and six assists, which shows that he can provide quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

The young whiz, who scored six goals in 18 matches in the Botola Pro as a teenager in the previous season, has created one ‘big chance’ in one Premiership start so far this term, but is yet to score his first goal for Rangers.

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It is now down to Clement to make the bold decision to drop the wasteful Dessers from the starting line-up to unleash Igamane on a regular basis, as the Morelos-like star appears to have the potential to develop into a lethal forward who can score and assist goals – improving the team’s attack and, ultimately, helping to save the manager’s job.

MatériaMais Notícias

A Federação Paulista de Futebol definiu a data e horário do confronto entre Corinthians e Ituano, pelas quartas de final do Paulistão. As equipes se enfrentarão no domingo (12), às 16h, na Neo Química Arena.

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+ Yuri Alberto é ovacionado em vitória do Corinthians sobre o Santo André; veja as notas!

Com os detalhes confirmados, o Timão deve iniciar a venda de ingressos para a partida nesta terça-feira.A venda, como já é de costume, acontecerá de forma escalonada, de acordo com prioridades estabelecidas no programa Fiel Torcedor.

+ Veja as movimentações do mercado da bola no LANCE!

A equipe comandada por Fernando Lázaro terminou a fase de grupos do Campeonato Paulista com 22 pontos, na liderança do Grupo C. Já o Galo de Itu garantiu a classificação na última rodada, após vencer o Santos por 3 a 0, terminando com 12 pontos.

No ano passado, Corinthians e Ituano se enfrentaram na primeira fase do estadual, e o duelo terminou com vitória corintiana por 3 a 2. Fábio Santos, Giuliano e Paulinho marcaram os gols da partida.

+ Veja como ficou a tabela e simule o mata-mata do Campeonato Paulista

Para o Timão jogar a semifinal do Paulistão em Itaquera, a equipe precisará vencer o Ituano e torcer para São Paulo e Água Santa empatarem no outro duelo das quartas de final. Assim, o clube alvinegro chegaria aos 25 pontos e ficaria com a segunda melhor campanha geral, enquanto os outros dois adversários se igualariam, com 24 pontos.

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