Soccer

AFTER starting the season as ­everyone’s favourite joke, it may be time to take Chelsea seriously.With their warring owners having splurged £1.2billion on under-performing ‘talent’, the Blues were ripe for a kicking.Chelsea have lost just one of their last 10 games in all competitionsCredit: GettyEnzo Maresca is beginning to create a more positive culture at Stamford BridgeCredit: GettyBut there now appears to be at least some sort of plan and they are just one point behind Arsenal after nine games.Cole Palmer has developed into one of the best players in the Premier League.And Nicolas Jackson has been transformed from a misfiring, yellow-card collecting figure of fun into a clinical striker.Moises Caicedo, all £115million of him, appears to be a capable footballer after all — having looked out of his depth following his huge switch from Brighton last year.READ MORE ON CHELSEABoss Enzo Maresca has turned Chelsea from a clown car into — if not quite a Ferrari — something far more sensible.When he was plotting his next move in the summer, many would have forgiven him for snubbing the Blues.There was interest from his native Italy, across Europe and also other Prem clubs.Chelsea was far from the easy option — especially as he had never previously managed in the top flight.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSTodd Boehly has spent more than £1billion in his two years as ownerCredit: GettyBut against a lot of noise and fury he has taken a firm hold on the club.Maresca — who won the Championship for Leicester in his first full season as a manager last term — has taken to the job with an authority few with such little experience can command.The History Of Chelsea’s Logo He arrived weighed down by comparisons to former mentor Pep Guardiola. He was labelled Pep 2.0 or Diet Pep.But through a combination of charm, resilience and — most importantly — results, Maresca has made his own way.As early as the club’s pre-season tour of America — already a challenge with a ludicrous five games in five different ­cities — the new manager was up against the Chelsea circus.Star midfielder Enzo Fernandez publicly divided the squad after being accused of singing a racist song, while fans’ favourite Conor Gallagher was forced out.Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling’s exit was frantic and mishandled.But Maresca emerged unscathed.While from the outside the tour looked a nightmare, travelling with the squad a sense of calm came from the manager.Rarely did he say anything to inflame situations that were largely out of his control and ordered from on-high.Those around Maresca have tried to ensure he can set a firm tone when speaking to supporters via the media and get his ideas across with clarity and authority.Having seen his former West Brom team-mate Graham Potter suffer under the Stamford Bridge spotlight, he had to be ready.Maresca’s agency Wasserman — who also represent Potter — enlisted the help of Adrian Phillips, a former Chelsea senior communications manager, to prepare the coach for his step into the unknown.That support has helped guide Maresca not only through the controversial sales of players but also to shut out the noise as co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly fell out.Everyone knew the job was never going to be straightforward but Maresca was still privately ­surprised early on by just how much chaos surrounded him.Whether it was the boardroom rows or transfer acrobatics.A near 40-man squad was cut down and added to — sometimes in places where it did not need it.Maresca wanted another centre-back but ended up being given Joao Felix.However, the young, bloated group has been brought together through tough love and some lighter touches.Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk were criticised for a lack of focus and consistency while only last week the boss scolded Reece James’ leadership ability.Risky steps but ones which appear to be paying dividends.Madueke has four goals in eight Premier League games while Mudryk — though left out of some squads — is showing signs of promise in Europe.While he has been hard on some, the players seem to generally be on-side.The squad enjoyed his training sessions from the off, seeing far more of the ball than under previous coaches — while Maresca himself has also joined in sessions.The former Manchester City and West Ham coach has introduced moments to celebrate individual achievements — such as first goals or international call-ups — when players receive a guard of honour from team-mates as they emerge for training.A level of competition has also been added ahead of those sessions, activation in the gym designed to pit players against one another and keep levels high.It is all bringing the best out of players who looked to have the weight of the world on their shoulders last season.Jackson has gone from an erratic forward to a clinical finisher while Caicedo is now back to his best in midfield.Six strikes in nine games have taken Jackson to 20 goals in a Chelsea shirt, while Caicedo has made more tackles and interceptions than any other top-flight player.All of that is underpinned by Palmer’s genius. Concerns that he would not have the freedom to impact games under Maresca are a thing of the past.READ MORE SUN STORIESPredecessor Mauricio Pochettino began the upturn last season — but a summer of turbulence threatened to undo all of that.Now, Maresca seems to be turning Chelsea back into a serious football club.Chelsea player ratings vs NewcastleCOLE PALMER was once again the star of the show.His perfect pass for Neto set up Nicolas Jackson’s opening goal and then he scored the second in a 2-1 win over Newcastle.He was class – but not all the Chelsea players were.Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the players at Stamford Bridge…Robert Sanchez – 3/10Pretty poor in all honesty.A liability in terms of distribution, and while a decent shot-stopper, he consistently seems to be a big question mark in this Chelsea eleven.Malo Gusto – 3It looks as though Chelsea may have to choose between Gusto and Reece James to start on the right with themFailed to impact the game much attacking-wise, and was bettered by Lewis Hall who crossed for Alexander Isak’s equaliser.Wesley Fofana – 6Picked up a knock early on and played the rest of the game with a strapped-up knee.Nonetheless, gave as good as he got against the powerful Alexander Isak for large parts of the game, and made some crucial blocks and tackles throughout.Levi Colwill – 6Was fortunate to get away with a clumsy tackle on Bruno Guimaraes early in the first half, but was still fairly solid.For a man with such an impressive passing range, it felt like he couldn’t quite put it to use today.Seemingly prevented Alexander Isak from levelling with his aura alone…Reece James – 2Playing as a left-centre back it’s hard to see how Chelsea will get the best out of what could be one of the finest attacking wing backs in the world.He didn’t look comfortable in that position, and let Alexander Isak run away from him for Newcastle’s equaliser.He came up with two crucial blocks in the second half to deny Isak from making it two or three, before giving him a golden chance to do so which was not taken.Romeo Lavia – 7Followed up a brilliant performance in the loss to Liverpool with another good showing in the middle of the park here.Starting to look like a bargain with performances like these if he can stay fit, as he claimed the assist for Cole Palmer’s fine finish.Moises Caicedo – 7Effective in breaking up play for the Blues, and it was a solid showing from a midfield player who has been so good this season.Steps into challenges nicely at just the right time, and is becoming a dependable figure in the same mould in which N’golo Kante and Claude Makelele were in their time here.Noni Madueke – 5Quiet in the first half, but better in the second as he looked to trouble Lewis Hall more.Was outshone by Pedro Neto on the opposite flank this time out, before being swapped out for Mykhailo Mudryk.Pedro Neto – 8So much pace down the left-hand side which was utilised perfectly to leave Livramento in the dust to set up Nicolas Jackson’s opening goal.Could have had a goal early in the second half as he rattled the post with a header after leaping like a salmon.Cole Palmer – 9Started the game well with a cracking finish which VAR ruled out, only to cook the Newcastle defence a matter of moments later with an incisive pass for Neto to set up the opener.Newcastle simply could not handle the midfield man, who lit up Stamford Bridge early in the second half to claim his sixth goal of the season.Nonchalance personified, cool Cole showed why he will attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony tomorrow night, and why he can win it in coming years.Nicolas Jackson – 8A superb first-time finish opened the scoring for the Blues, and the Senegalese forward did well with the little service he had in the first half – often needing to drop deep to pick up the ball and link up the play.14 goals in his last 14 Premier League games – leave the Didier Drogba comparisons at home, this is a superstar in his own right.SUBS:MYKHAILO MUDRYK (NONI MADUEKE, 67) – 5Had a big chance to add a third to Chelsea’s tally after replacing Madueke, but his left-footed strike was saved by Nick Pope, who didn’t have to move.ENZO FERNANDEZ (ROMEO LAVIA, 72) – 5Didn’t add anything which Lavia wasn’t already giving, but ultimately wasn’t given much time to really impact the game.MARC CUCURELLA (MALO GUSTO , 78) – 5Individually, didn’t have a lot of time to show what he’s made of, but Chelsea look like a better team with him in the side.He plays the inverted left-back role well, allowing Chelsea to get the most out of their right-side.CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU ( NICOLAS JACKSON, 78) – 6Had a half-chance late on, which wasn’t taken as he dilly-dallied on the ball on the edge of the box.Thought he had won a penalty on the stroke of the 90th minute after going down under pressure from Dan Burn, but it was ruled out by VAR.Click here to read more on Chelsea. 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IT will take years to unpick this mess, years. Try maybe five at best.If anyone thinks Ruben Amorim or any other new manager at Old Trafford is going to turn water into wine, or rather champagne, then forget it.The ‘betrayal’ of Erik ten Hag has seen him sacked after a poor start to the seasonCredit: AlamyThere will be no quick fix for his successor, tipped to be Ruben AmorimCredit: GettyIt is a mess of Manchester United’s own making. Or that of part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.Mind you, he has washed his hands of such problems, claiming it is in fact the new ‘management team’ or whatever they are called, who take these decisions.The Glazers have washed their hands of it, too, despite still counting the dollars.Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth all claim to have arrived too late to be involved in the decisions at the end of last season. See how the buck is getting passed.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLTo recap, that was when Ratcliffe thought Dutch boss Ten Hag should go but a shock 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final suddenly turned the tide of popular opinion.Still, he and his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford — how do you get these knighthoods? — tried to sound out other candidates.Nobody wanted it. Who can blame them. What player or manager has come to Old Trafford in the last 11 years and enhanced their reputation?So, they went back to the man they had in the first place, knocking on his holiday home door in Ibiza to ask if he still wanted to be the boss after all.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSYou can’t make it up. Except with United you can and it comes true. Yes, Erik, even “fairytales”.The problem was this past summer immediately set in motion the problems that have now resulted in 54-year-old Ten Hag being sacked.Erik Ten Hag SACKED by Man United – here are the SIX candidates to replace himPlayers, fans and everyone around the club knew he was a dead man walking. A new contract was in fact an extension of the old one.There was almost a feeling of sympathy for him as the club embarked on their pre-season tour in the US.ETH kept telling us that the “leadership team” — is that another title they have? — were behind him, everyone was on the same page and the future was bright.And yet and yet… In a briefing with Ashworth and Berrada at the start of the season, they made it clear they were behind the manager.But it was far from convincing. Indeed, Ten Hag had reservations about the Ineos group from the start.He was unhappy they had not given him public backing when Sir Jim first took his stake in the club back in February and ended up running the football side of it.Ten Hag was wary of media who he felt backed Ineos and not him.He always felt he was fighting a battle with the very people who held his future in their hands.Behind the scenes he was desperately trying to get a team plan, spirit and style of play to work.He had been criticised for his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire, with the England defender being stripped of the captaincy.Let us not forget Sir Alex Ferguson ditched David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam when they were all at their best.That trio under Ten Hag’s management were far from that. The problem now is he has spent £545.9MILLION on a bunch of bang average players.He has been backed with a new coaching team. Everyone seems to be either Dutch or been involved in Dutch football.It is a bit of a myth that everything on the pitch that comes from the Netherlands is going to be beautiful and successful.The last Dutch team to win the European Cup? Ajax in 1995. Before that, PSV Eindhoven in 1988.A new manager, Sporting’s Amorim for instance, would arrive at Old Trafford, see this bunch of players and wonder how on earth he is going to turn them into title challengers.The current most expensive player in the ranks is £85.5m Antony, who was last seen running down the right, cutting in on his left and firing wide of the far post. That is all he does.Who thought Joshua Zirkzee or Rasmus Hojlund were going to become United goalscoring legends?If Bayern Munich are happy to let two players go as they did with Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, then you have to wonder why?Still it went on. Ten Hag said he needed time to stitch all this together.Indeed, it was only just over a week ago that he was calling for patience at a Manchester Football Writers’ Dinner.He was in great form, happy and buoyant after a victory over Brentford and very positive about the future.All the time the plots were going on behind his back to replace him.He kept backing up his worth with those two trophies — the Carabao Cup in 2023 and last season’s FA Cup.And yes, that was good. Still, as United pointed out yesterday “neither the results or performances have been good enough across last season and this one”.There have been some shockers too, not least in Europe where they have won ONE of their last 11 games.Domestically, just this season there have been 3-0 defeats at home to Liverpool and Tottenham.Last season they lost consecutive home games by the same scoreline to City and Newcastle and were humbled 4-0 at Crystal Palace in May.In 2022-23, Ten Hag’s first year, there was a 6-3 defeat at City and 7-0 at Liverpool. Shocking.The hierarchy wanted to give him the chance to improve things under a new structure and it did not work.They were not seeing the “momentum and progress” to believe they were on the right path.They said there were “no excuses” for the current level of performance, even though ETH constantly pointed to injury problems and the time needed to integrate new players.The boss did not see this coming, which is why he held a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup last-16 tie against Leicester following Sunday’s defeat at West Ham.READ MORE SUN STORIESHe will feel betrayed having believed everyone was on the same page and it was a long-term strategy. Berrada even told us a dip in results would not lead to his exit.Ten Hag is a good man. Just another chewed up and spat out by a club walking on sand as they try to rediscover that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.Why NOBODY is the right man to replace Erik ten Hag at Man UtdSunSport’s DAVE KIDD explains what’s wrong with all the potential candidates to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option – but England got in there first.Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part. More