Nick Miller – Page 9 – Football Scout

FA Cup key for Man United, Chelsea futures; can Newport, Wimbledon cause upset?

ESPN FC’s Mark Ogden explains why he doesn’t see a future for Maurizio Sarri and his style of play at Chelsea.

Relive the best of the FA Cup fourth round as the drama continued with more last-gasp wins and big-time upsets.
There have been some high profile exits already, but Nick Miller previews the top FA Cup storylines to watch for ahead of the fifth round fixtures…
Chelsea vs. Manchester United means a lot for both bosses
Editors’ Picks

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Welcome to the 2018 FC 100
ESPN FC’s experts ranked the best men’s players and managers in world football. Check out the list.

How Mourinho unravelled at Man United
Fear, paranoia, difficult behaviour and constant battling with club officials and players led to the inevitable, writes Rob Dawson.

The greatest game never played
When Boca Juniors and River Plate were set to meet in Argentina’s most important match, Buenos Aires lost its mind, writes Wright Thompson.

– Follow Transfer Talk LIVE
– Fantasy: Set lineups, check scores!

What the FA Cup actually means to Chelsea and Manchester United (live on ESPN+ on Monday, Feb.18 at 2.30 p.m. ET) is a question that has been asked and discussed and worried about for a quarter of a century. At least one of them has made the final over the last three years, but that probably…

Pochettino shows why he’s ready for the big time in Spurs’ dismantling of Dortmund

Craig Burley and the ESPN FC crew credit Tottenham for taking the game to Dortmund in the second half of their 3-0 win at Wembley.

ESPN FC’s Bundesliga correspondent Raf Honigstein explains where it all went wrong for Dortmund in the second half against Tottenham. LONDON — By now, we should probably know better than to doubt Mauricio Pochettino.

When the Tottenham team to face Borussia Dortmund was announced before Wednesday’s game, there was a degree of head-scratching, and questions were posed. Four centre-backs? Had Pochettino gone full Tony Pulis? Serge Aurier marking Christian Pulisic? Given six of the previous seven goals conceded by Dortmund were from crosses into the box, why wasn’t Fernando Llorente starting? Was this the day when Pochettino got…

Manchester City fire shot over Liverpool’s bow while furthering Chelsea’s woe

Nick Miller runs the rule over the Premier League’s biggest storylines.
Realisation of the weekend
Liverpool won’t be getting ahead of themselves having beaten a Bournemouth side who have lost their last nine away games, but the 3-0 victory was at least a nerve-steadier, a reminder that two draws wasn’t a colossal crisis. Also, it will have been a relief that they held on to, then extended an early lead, rather than relinquishing it as they did against Leicester and West Ham.
But while they will…

Solskjaer’s magic continues to work for Man United as they shrug past Fulham and crack the top four

Manchester United eased past a woeful Fulham side to move up to 4th in the Premier League.

ESPN FC’s Paul Mariner recaps Man United’s dominant display against Fulham, in particularly that of the Frenchmen Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.

LONDON — For about 15 minutes, it looked like it would be a difficult afternoon for Manchester United. With a strong wind whipping around Craven Cottage and the grass left long, you wondered whether United would be knocked off their game.

Could this have been the day when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first defeat came? In those opening exchanges, it seemed possible: Claudio Ranieri’s side attacked with purpose, United defended shakily and you could almost sense the wits of social media preparing…

Premier League W2W4: Can Liverpool stop the blip? Will City take advantage?

W2W4 previews the week’s Premier League action by highlighting its most compelling storylines …
How will Manchester City cope with the assorted pressures of this weekend?
Pep Guardiola is, it’s fair to say, a pretty intense man. Sometimes too intense, and you wonder whether it becomes counterproductive at times, whether he has his players wound too tight. That impression was strengthened by Bernardo Silva, speaking after the victory over Everton on Wednesday night.

“A few days ago, we thought…

Arsenal’s passivity must change; Spurs’ Son makes case for player of the year

The FC panel assess what went wrong for Arsenal and what went right for Manchester City at the Etihad.

Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno examine the re-emergence of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Manchester United at large since Jose Mourinho left.
Problems of the weekend
It was the passivity that was most concerning. Arsenal were pretty good in the first half against Manchester City, relatively speaking. But in the second half they appeared to lack all sense of purpose, almost accepting of their fate.
Arsenal are not the first and won’t be the last team to be mercilessly picked apart by Manchester City, but it was the ease that will trouble Unai Emery. All three of City’s goals were essentially training ground exercises, attacking the right…

Premier League W2W4: Man City need to respond to preserve title hopes; are Chelsea ripe for an upset?

Alexis Nunes and Paul Mariner tackle this weekends Premiere League fixtures, including a big match up between Manchester City and Arsenal.

ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol and the FC crew discuss the ‘antsy’ atmosphere at Anfield and the pressure associated with a tight Premier League title race.

Man City’s midweek loss to Newcastle looked as if it could doom the champions’ title defence but a draw by Liverpool to Leicester leaves the door slightly open. Can City edge closer this weekend? Nick Miller previews the top Premier League storylines to watch for ahead of this weekend’s fixtures…

How will Man City respond to defeat this time? 
When Manchester City lost to Crystal Palace earlier in the season, a response in their next game was required. In that event, they were defeated…

Transfer Deadline Day: What deals can we expect on Jan. 31?

The Exploding Heads try to put a smile back on the out-of-favour players in the Premier League by setting up a charity fund during this transfer window.

Ale Moreno breaks down Miguel Almiron’s strengths and weaknesses and explains what Newcastle fans can expect from their newest transfer.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri insists Callum Hudson-Odoi will not be joining Bayern Munich this transfer window.

Alexis Nunes and Craig Burley run the rule over the latest big transfer rumours.
It’s been another relatively quiet January window, but there still might be some action on Thursday’s transfer deadline day (11 p.m. GMT/6 p.m. ET)
Here are a few moves that should, could and probably won’t happen…
What should happen on deadline day…
So, farewell then, Marouane Fellaini. If it hasn’t already happened by the time you read this, it seems Fellaini will be the latest Belgian midfielder to seal a move to China, following Mousa Dembele, with Shandong Luneng offering him a three-year…

Man City fail to respond to adversity; is Sarri now on thin ice at Chelsea?

With the FA Cup in action over the weekend, Premier League proceedings were pushed to midweek, and that schedule shuffle yielded several eyebrow-raising results across England. Nick Miller runs the rule over the Premier League’s biggest storylines.

Concern of the week

If losing games to Leicester, Crystal Palace and Newcastle this season wasn’t concerning enough for Pep Guardiola, what might be more troubling is that Manchester City have taken the lead on all three occasions. In each game, complacency…

Premier League W2W4: Will Higuain help Chelsea? Positivity powering Man United

W2W4 previews the weekend’s Premier League action by highlighting its most compelling storylines …
Is Higuain the cure for Chelsea’s woes?
Editors’ Picks

Welcome to the 2018 FC 100
ESPN FC’s experts ranked the best men’s players and managers in world football. Check out the list.

How Mourinho unravelled at Man United
Fear, paranoia, difficult behaviour and constant battling with club officials and players led to the inevitable, writes Rob Dawson.

The greatest game never played
When Boca Juniors and River Plate were set to meet in Argentina’s most important match, Buenos Aires lost its mind, writes Wright Thompson.

– Follow Transfer Talk LIVE in January
– Fantasy: Set lineups, check scores!

The Alvaro Morata experiment is over, and so begins another. Under most circumstances the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain would be regarded as a gamble, a striker whose last few months have been awful and around whom there seem to be near constant questions about his weight and/or fitness. But it’s a gamble Chelsea needed to take, because without a reliable centre-forward,…

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