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    Man-child Kyle Walker needs to take a long, hard look at himself and grow the hell up like Harry Kane

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    JUDGING by his presence in both the England and Man City teams, footballer Kyle Walker’s sporting brain appears to be in full working order.But when it comes to emotional intelligence, he’s clearly cerebrally challenged.
    Kyle Walker is clearly cerebrally challenged in the emotional department, with five (apparently soon to be six) children by two different womenCredit: Getty
    How else has he ended up with five children by two different women, both of whom are furious with him?
    Stage left is his wife Annie, mother of three of his children and, according to The Sun yesterday, now pregnant with their fourth.
    Stage right is “lover” Lauryn Goodman, who recently revealed that not only was her three-year-old son fathered by Kyle, but her baby daughter, too.
    And centre stage is Kyle, who is known for his “pace, strength and vision” on the pitch but, off it, was seemingly as blind as a bat to the emotional perils that lay ahead because he couldn’t keep it in his trousers.
    READ MORE ON KYLE WALKER
    Reality star Lauryn, 32, says: “I kept saying to Kyle . . . ‘You need to tell her’ . . . If everyone knows where they stand they can make their own adult choices in life.
    “There were hearings coming up surrounding our daughter, there was paperwork flying around and legal meetings had taken place, and Annie needed to know the truth before something went public.”
    But Kyle did nothing and failed to anticipate what any adulterous schmuck knows — that Christmas is a potential flashpoint when you’re playing away.
    Particularly when your lover is facing the festive season as a single parent while her “baby daddy” is off playing happy families with his wife and other children.
    Most read in Football
    Lauryn explains that, following a legal meeting in December, “it came to a head” and she realised he was playing her and Annie off against each other.
    So, the day after Boxing Day, while Kyle was, er, playing away at Everton, she lobbed her emotional hand grenade into the cosy, post-Christmas idyll of Chez Walker and made a call to Annie.
    “She kept asking for proof, so I showed her the DNA test . . . she was trying to piece it all together . . . how he did it,” says Lauryn.
    To add insult to injury, she reveals that Kyle would regularly call her from the England dressing room and . . . “I wasn’t a secret to his England teammates — they would come on the phone when he FaceTimed me.”
    Very classy, chaps. Annie has now announced she is separating from Kyle after 12 years together (two of them married) and Kyle has publicly apologised to her for “the upset I’ve caused”, as though he’d simply caused a scene in a restaurant rather than fathered two secret children by another woman.
    Annie deserves better and I hope she eventually finds someone who treats her respectfully, but if she is pregnant again, her emotions will be raging and make it harder to see a future without the father of her children. So watch this space.
    In the meantime, Kyle needs to take a long, hard look at himself and grow the hell up.
    When it comes to women, life as a Premier League footballer is akin to being a kid in a sweetie shop.
    If you’re a single, teenage star, it’s perhaps understandable that you take your pick, but even an 18/19-year-old knows that, whatever contraception the woman says she’s using, the use of a condom is an extra layer of protection if you don’t want an unplanned baby and years of legal wrangling.
    Kyle is 33, for God’s sake. So perhaps it’s time for this man-child to take note of the example given by his 30-year-old teammate and England captain Harry Kane, whose longevity in the game is undoubtedly bolstered by his loyalty to his wife and children and the subsequent lack of drama in his personal life.
    Ditto his England manager Gareth Southgate, who has been happily married for 26 years.
    In June 2018, the manager warned his ­players about cheating in a meeting before a 2-1 victory over Nigeria at Wembley.
    “It’s not that we are looking to get away with anything, but if we thought we could then that option has gone.
    “We have to be vigilant in all areas of the pitch.”
    He was talking about football, of course. But, in Kyle’s case, it’s sound life advice, too.
    Kyle should look to the good example that Harry Kane has setCredit: Getty
    GIVE US POWER TO ACT
    WHEN we speak of an “institution” and its failings, it’s easy to forget that it’s inanimate.
    It’s only as good, or not, as the people working within it.
    The jury’s still out on whether Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw was useless or ruthless after he as accused of behaving like a ‘Mafia gangster’Credit: postofficehorizoninquiry
    Some of its staff can make it efficient and fair, others can make it sluggish and incompetent, while the worst people of all can make it corrupt.
    And the sheer size of certain institutions means there are plenty of hiding places for these human failings committed, often wilfully, by people who, as long as their lives are cushioned by job security, sick pay and a fat pension etc, don’t give a flying fig about the havoc they wreak on others.
    The jury’s out on whether Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw was useless or ruthless, but at the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, he and his colleagues were accused of behaving “like Mafia gangsters” towards the postmasters wrongly accused of taking money.
    The gimlet-eyed Mr Bradshaw denies it, but he allegedly “hounded” one woman in more than 60 calls and called her a “bitch” in “extremely distressing” conversations.
    Surely it’s time for MPs – the cogs of that other inanimate body known as “Parliament” – to give ordinary people the power and resources to robustly defend themselves against these “institutional failings”?

    Seems like the kids’ summer commitments mysteriously vaporise if you suggest going to enjoy cocktails with them on a tropical beachCredit: Getty
    “BOOMERANG tourism” is reportedly a big thing for 2024 – with millennial adult children planning to rejoin their parents for holidays.
    Hmmm. Ask your kids, “Are you free in the summer?” and chances are you’ll get: “Not sure yet. What are you planning?”
    If you say, “a week’s camping in the UK” then they’re busy.
    But if you mention a tropical beach and cocktails, their commitments mysteriously vaporise.
    Luck of the drawers, Geri
    GERI Horner says she nearly missed out on early auditions for the Spice Girls after getting bad sunburn on holiday and a face full of blisters.
    But she adds: “I’ve always been a queue-jumper.”
    Geri Horner has revealed that her little hotpants were her key to stardomCredit: Getty
    So she called up the producers, who agreed to see her and, despite not being a trained singer or dancer, she says she “made up for it in enthusiasm”.
    Good for her. But one imagines there were plenty of other enthusiastic souls warbling and hoofing their way to wannabe stardom, too, so why did she make the cut?
    She adds that she was “quite quirky, in my little hotpants”.
    Mystery solved.
    TIP’S A CHOC SHOCK
    HAVING just spent a few days in New York, I was shocked by the level of tipping expected.
    It’s a form of legalised mugging.
    Tipping culture in New York is a form of legalised muggingCredit: Getty
    Even if you buy an orange juice “to go”, you’re handed a contactless machine that gives the minimum option of a 20 per cent sweetener to the till operator on top of the extortionate mark-up you’re already paying.
    Gulp.
    But the moment that rendered me utterly speechless was when I used a self-service checkout to buy a chocolate bar at Newark Airport, and even the machine asked me if I would like to leave it a tip.
    I told it not to bet on Chelsea winning the Premier League.
    WAHEY TO GO, GUYS
    A FAN of Morecambe and Wise lost his job at a bus company after managers failed to see the funny side when he and a colleague replicated the comedy duo’s famous kitchen “striptease”.
    It was meant as a “jovial Christmas act”, but he was sacked for “gross misconduct” and has subsequently taken CE Jeatt & Sons of Windsor to tribunal and won more than £50,000 in compensation for wrongful dismissal.
    A Morecambe and Wise fan has received compensation for wrongful dismissal after a bus company wasn’t fond of him recreating their ‘striptease’Credit: Scope Features
    Quite right, too.
    READ MORE SUN STORIES
    Who are these killjoys who suck all the fun out of life?
    They clearly didn’t get the M&W memo: “In this world where we live, there should be more happiness.” More

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      Finally disgraceful Luis Rubiales has resigned but he’s not a ‘good guy’ & it’s not up to him to decide if he assaulted

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      FINALLY, Luis Rubiales has jumped. He says he did it because he was becoming a distraction, when in actual fact he became a disgrace.
      Ulrika Jonsson shares her thoughts on Luis Rubiales resigning after he shockingly planted a kiss on Jenni HermosoCredit: Getty
      Most of us had worked that out nearly three weeks ago.
      It’s not that I’m all for sacking people with immediate effect as soon as there is a hint of wrongful behaviour.
      We all make mistakes.
      But Rubiales’ suggestion that he is innocent and “a good guy” just doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid.
      READ MORE ON THE CONTROVERSY
      Of course, he would say that now, wouldn’t he?
      The kiss he planted on Jenni Hermoso’s lips made me audibly wince at the time and sent a shiver down my spine.
      It’s one thing getting caught up in the euphoria of the moment but quite another to actually forcibly land a smacker right on someone’s mouth.
      It was such an invasion of personal space – the grabbing hold of her – just moments after he’d ­grabbed his crotch while sitting alongside the Queen of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter.
      Most read in Football
      What Rubiales has failed to comprehend throughout this drawn-out tale is that it is not for him to decide whether there was any aggression – sexual or otherwise – associated with his actions.
      That is the job of the person on the receiving end.
      Perpetrators do not have the right to say what is and isn’t acceptable.
      Of course, we know football has a problem with women and needs a culture change to get rid of the sexism and misogyny.
      It needs a root-and-branch overhaul.
      Rubiales going is merely a snip at a bough.
      Wrong, but keep it in perspective
      By Laura Dodsworth
      I SYMPATHISE with Jenni Hermoso.
      When I was 21 my first male boss pinned me to a wall at a work do and tried to stick his tongue in my mouth.
      In the words of Hermoso, I did not enjoy it.
      Rubiales’ behaviour was inappropriate, even if it was a genuine expression of Latin exuberance.
      With the cameras rolling and in the face of his high spirits, Hermoso might have felt she had to go along with a kiss she would not have ordinarily consented to.
      But to get some perspective, it was just a second or two, happening after a hug and before a slap on the back.
      Kissing is more typical in some countries (such as Spain) and it is also a jubilant response to success.
      Do you remember Maradona and team-mate Claudio Caniggia sharing a kiss after a goal?
      Gary Neville even gave Paul Scholes a smacker.
      None of these celebratory kisses caused a scandal.
      While they didn’t share the same power imbalance, they could have caused a backlash of a different sort. But they didn’t.
      Rubiales should have reflected more humbly on the impact of this kiss and given an unequivocal apology.
      Yet he steadfastly refused to resign.
      And instead of being seen as a football heroine, Hermoso has been cast as a victim.
      Read More on The Sun
      One problem with the #MeToo scandals in the US was grouping together too wide a spectrum of sexual misbehaviour.
      This kiss has launched Spain’s #MeToo moment, but it shouldn’t ignite a Spanish Inquisition. More

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      We achieved a dream with West Ham’s Europa Conference League win – here’s where the club goes next

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      WEST Ham United are European winners. And just saying those words feels incredible.Wednesday night’s victory in the Europa Conference League final over ACF Fiorentina will live long in the memory of Hammers fans at home and abroad.
      West Ham ran out 2-1 winners in the Europa Conference League Final against Italian club ACF Fiorentina on Wednesday nightCredit: Story Picture Agency
      As West Ham vice chair, Karren Brady was in the stands to watch the historic scenesCredit: supplied
      The celebrations that followed will for ever be etched in the history of this great club.
      Wednesday began with nervous excitement and anticipation when the directors and I arrived at Stansted airport at lunchtime.
      It was fantastic to be able to share the moment with friends and colleagues, some of whom I have worked with for many years.
      In some cases, decades.
      READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
      I have worked alongside David Sullivan for more than 30 years and he arrived looking extremely dapper in his claret and blue shirt and jacket, which he had been saving for a special occasion.
      None could have been more momentous than this.
      He was joined by his partner Ampika, armed with his favourite sweets to settle the nerves.
      My husband Paul and our son Paolo were helping to calm my nerves, until Paolo joked that my jacket was in Fiorentina colours.
      Most read in Football
      It was lilac, not purple, but I took it off just in case!
      For so many years we have travelled more in hope than expectation, but something told us this was our time.
      Work has been under way, step by step, day by day, for years to get us to a day like Wednesday, so when it came, we all wanted to savour it.
      Noise was deafening, I had goosebumps
      The Claret and Blue Army are the best in the world and we wanted to come home with the trophy for them, for manager David Moyes, for our hardworking, passionate and dedicated players and staff.
      They all deserved it so much.
      Players, staff and their friends and family were up until dawn partying in the streets of PragueCredit: AFP
      West Ham is a family, and that family has not been without its hard times.
      But those hard times mean the good times are even more special when they come.
      When we landed, I was inundated with messages of support from across the world of football.
      There was not a colleague of mine in the Premier League who did not message me to wish us luck.
      It was so heartwarming to receive this support and reminded me what a truly unifying game football is.
      As I saw the fans in Moore 6 and Rice 41 shirts, it suddenly felt very real.
      And as we approached Eden Arena, we stopped the car and jumped out for a photo, bursting with pride to see our crest up there under the words “European final”.
      This was it, West Ham United were about to play in a European final.
      The noise when our players emerged for their pre-match warm-up was deafening.
      The atmosphere was building and I had goosebumps, you could just feel the energy.
      When our supporters raised their flags and made the stands claret and blue, I was once again filled with pride.
      The first half was cagey, as you would expect from a final.
      The 15-minute break did nothing to ease anyone’s nerves, and the 45 minutes that followed were a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone.
      Every single final has its hero and it would be Jarrod Bowen who would write his name into Hammers history for ever more by sliding home the winning goal.
      Said Benrahma’s ice-cool penalty had given us a 1-0 lead just after the hour mark, with the crescendo of noise in the stadium reverberating back to East London.
      Fiorentina, the in-form team in Italy over the past couple of months, responded five minutes later with a well-taken goal by Giacomo Bonaventura, and as the clock ticked towards the 90-minute mark we started to gear up for extra time.
      When the ball broke to Lucas Paqueta in the middle of the park, you just knew our Brazilian magnifico would find the right pass.
      He played a sublime ball to Jarrod, and when he broke through I just knew this was our chance and we had to take it.
      He did just that, sliding the ball home to put us 2-1 up.
      It was a completely surreal moment.
      There was absolute elation on the pitch and in the stands.
      We couldn’t quite take it in.
      I turned to my colleague, who held my hand, with tears in her eyes and she said: “This is it, I really think we’re going to do it now.”
      But with a long VAR check and five minutes on the clock, I didn’t dare believe it until that final whistle.
      I squeezed her hand and said: “Let’s wait, we’re not there yet.”
      Five minutes of added time somehow became eight minutes, but as the clock ticked down it was becoming more and more real and the tears were already beginning to fall.
      After what seemed like a lifetime, the referee blew for full time.
      We had done it. West Ham United . . .  European winners.
      We were just jumping up and down and hugging, united in jubilation and what it meant to us all.
      One of my colleagues turned to me and said: “Remember when you got the stadium and we stood in it empty and dreamed of filling it, keeping our best academy players, attracting international stars, hosting European nights and of a night like this?”
      We both knew this was a special milestone moment in beginning to realise those dreams.
      I loved every moment, we all did, but in all the elation there was also a moment of reflection for us all.
      We lost our close friend and much-loved joint chairman David Gold at the start of the year, and then his beloved daughter Jacqueline, a remarkable woman, two months later.
      Each and every one of us were thinking of them both at that moment.
      I genuinely believe they were looking down on us on Wednesday night.
      On the pitch, the immediate post-match celebrations were incredible to witness.
      All the emotion of the season came pouring out of players and staff alike, as well as the fans in the stands.
      Declan Rice sliding on his knees towards the corner flag; Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal draped in the Czech flag; Lucas Paqueta dancing the night away with his family; Mark Noble, Mr West Ham, in floods of tears; David Moyes jumping with delight, showing the world a side of him that we have all known and loved for some time.
      The scenes will stay with me for ever.
      It was one big party, and it was only just getting started.
      Watching the team lift the trophy is one of those moments you take an image of in your mind to store for ever.
      The celebrations continued long into the night.
      Players, staff and their friends and family were partying until dawn, with DJ Tony Perry on the decks, and more renditions of Cotton Eye Joe, Sweet Caroline and West Ham Are Massive than you would think possible.
      Moment to cherish for all our fans
      We, on the other hand, had to make straight for the plane to oversee plans for the long-awaited and so-very-deserved victory parade.
      We had to make sure that the fans who had not made it to Prague would get to see the trophy with their own eyes.
      I had said to Shirley, our flight attendant, to have the Champagne on ice, just in case, and that first sip tasted so wonderfully sweet.
      It was the first drink I’d had all day.
      Even David Sullivan, who hasn’t touched a drop in all the 35 years I’ve known him, as he hates the taste, had a sip, heavily egged on by the rest of us.
      He was beaming from ear to ear, we all were — because we’d achieved a dream.
      We turned down the lights and sang I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles until we landed back in Stansted at 3am.
      A generation of Hammers had never seen their club win something.
      Now, they have, and this group of players will be their heroes, carved into the history of this football club, West Ham United.
      The team received a proper East End welcome.
      The claret and blue flags, bunting and banners were already adorning the streets of East London, Essex and beyond from the start of the week.
      Wednesday night’s party rolled into Thursday night’s parade, when our heroes returned to London, boarding an open-top bus for a two-hour trip they will never, ever forget.
      Winning the Europa Conference League means so, so much to everyone connected with West Ham United.
      This is a moment to cherish for all of our fans.
      It is also a moment to build on. It’s the start of our next adventure in Europe and lays the foundation for another season of growth.
      Read more on The Sun
      We are already back to work but may just allow ourselves to bask in the glory for a little while longer.
      But then, we go again. More

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      Man City stand 90 mins from unforgettable Treble – here’s why their achievement will always be tainted for rival fans

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      MANCHESTER City stand 90 minutes from greatness, a football Treble that will never be forgotten.Yet for rival fans, no matter what Pep Guardiola’s side do against Inter Milan in Istanbul’s Champions League Final tonight, their achievement will ALWAYS be tainted.
      Manchester City are only one win away from winning a historic trebleCredit: Getty
      Rival fans will always see City’s domination as tainted after years of bankrolling by Sheikh Mansour and the limitless riches of Abu Dhabi’s oil wellsCredit: Getty
      City are brilliant.
      No question.
      A team you love to watch.
      Glorious in possession.
      READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
      Furious in regaining the ball.
      Deadly as a ­stiletto.
      The ultimate modern side.
      But they are also a club whose willingness to push financial regulations to the absolute limit — and allegedly far beyond them — means many will always want an asterisk next to the list of trophies by their name.
      Most read in Football
      Bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour and the limitless riches of Abu Dhabi’s oil wells, able to attract the greatest manager and best players, City’s ambition is clear.
      Not just in this country either, with the club the pinnacle of a 12-team structure that spans the globe from China and Japan, through India, to the US, Uruguay, Brazil and ­Australia.
      It is City, though, a club that was once a byword for catastrophe and one that lived for two decades in the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievements on the other side of the city, that takes the attention.
      Both on the field, where they are the Prem’s dominant force and red-hot favourites to finally land the “Cup with the Big Ears” tonight.
      And, controversially, off it as well.
      In February, following a four-year probe, the Premier League announced City were accused of 115 breaches of league rules.
      A staggering number of allegations, slipped out in a simple press release on the League’s website — but which still saw City bemoaning it had been “leaked”.
      Relentless art form
      Charges included claims that the ­Etihad outfit hid the true source of the club’s funding.
      Also that City had only partially declared the salaries of players and former manager Roberto Mancini, broke Uefa AND Prem financial rules and deliberately and repeatedly obstructed the League’s investigation.
      Just as when Uefa charged and initially banned them for similar alleged offences, City did what they always do on the pitch, attack.
      First of all was the claim the allegations had been “leaked”.
      Exactly the same complaint they made about Uefa’s process.
      The charges, insisted City, would be met with a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” that would “put this matter to rest once and for all”.
      That approach worked when the sport’s Court of Arbitration threw out the Uefa sanctions in 2020, ruling by a 2-1 majority that many of the ­charges were time-barred and others “not proven” — although it judged that City had failed to co-operate with the initial inquiry.
      Manager Guardiola last month demanded the Prem commission sit to hear the case imminently.
      The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss, whose obsession with winning the Champions League in a team WITHOUT Lionel Messi is unquestioned, said: “We would like this done as soon as possible.
      “We would love it tomorrow, this afternoon. Let’s go. Don’t wait two years. Why don’t we do it quicker?
      “In 24 hours, sit down with the lawyers present. Then, if the club has done something wrong, everybody will know.
      “But if, as we believed as a club for many years, we have done things in the right way, then the people will stop talking about it.”
      Yet for all that bluster, Pep Guardiola must have known about the club’s demand that the Arsenal-supporting barrister likely to lead the panel should stand down.
      And of their complaints about the validity of the charges, arguing about recent changes in the Prem rulebook that mandate clubs and officials to answer questions and provide all information when requested to by League officers.
      City’s hierarchy have not only hired the best manager and team.
      They are willing to pay for the best lawyers, too.
      Lord Pannick KC, recently spotted next to Boris Johnson during his uncomfortable grilling by MPs who could suspend him from the ­Commons, charges a minimum £5,000 per day.
      He will be willing to do whatever it takes, within the law, to ensure a ­victory for his client.
      The charges saw City’s Prem rivals unite in furious indignation, demanding consequences well before the case ever comes to determination, which could still be another three or four years away.
      With unprecedented fines and even the prospect of a points deduction, stripped titles and relegation hanging over them, the City players might have been excused for losing their focus.
      Instead, they have turned winning into a relentless art form.
      Since the charges were laid, City have played 27 games in three ­competitions.
      They have won 21 and lost just one — a Prem match at Brentford after the title had already been sealed, scoring 72 and conceding just 15 in the process.
      But City under Guardiola are more than just an uncompromising victory machine.
      Far more.
      Man City lifted the FA Cup, the second trophy of three, last weekCredit: Getty
      The powers in Abu Dhabi have pumped vast sums of money into the club, from training grounds to on-pitch talentCredit: Alamy
      They are truly football’s version of shock and awe, a mesmerising, bewildering, mind-spinning fusion of power and glory.
      Guardiola has taken John Stones, England’s best central defender, and turned him into a ball-playing ­midfield superstar.
      Yorkshire grit but Catalan majesty.
      Look, too, at the development of Jack Grealish, who has gone from being a foppish outsider, struggling for game time and to justify his £100million transfer fee from Aston Villa, into an integral part of City’s starting side.
      The smile of delight when he sees the ball is shared by every Sky Blue fan.
      Belgian Kevin de Bruyne, ­Germany’s Ilkay Gundogan and ­Portuguese schemer Bernardo Silva offer menace and magic.
      Gundogan broke an all-time FA Cup Final record when he scored after just 12 seconds in last weekend’s Wembley win over Manchester United, the second leg of that longed-for Treble.
      And for sheer explosive, frightening attacking intensity, allied to a goal sense that few in the history of the game possess, striker Erling ­Haaland has proved he is a true force of nature.
      Although, plenty are less sure about those silk pyjamas he wore for City’s title celebrations.
      Much of that is down to the man who embodies managerial majesty.
      Guardiola’s Barcelona side were the hallmark of the beautiful game a decade ago, the Nou Camp necromancers weaving spell after spell.
      They won the Champions League — beating Manchester United both times — in 2009 and 2011.
      And they were defeated only by a combination of Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan and the Icelandic volcano that meant they had to take the coach to Italy rather than fly, in 2010.
      England’s greatest
      Yet, perhaps, irrespective of the huge sums laid out since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, this team is his greatest — the ultimate example of a tactician ­putting the pieces together to create something truly extraordinary.
      Pep is more than demanding, even if his focus is occasionally so complete that he does not even see people when he walks past them in the City corridors.
      He insists that it is about ­“making people happy” rather than his “legacy”.
      But if the two things mutually co-exist, then that is an acceptable compromise.
      The club’s success has cemented Manchester’s status as one of the most famous footballing cities in the world — and has helped transform the post-industrial wasteland of East Manchester.
      The owners have built around 6,000 affordable homes in the area in a £1billion redevelopment deal.
      And the Manchester Evening News reported in 2021 how almost 30 new hotels were expected to be built by the end of this year to accommodate the growth in tourism.
      Earlier this year, the club also submitted a £300million planning application that includes expanding the Etihad stadium capacity above 60,000, and adding a hotel, sky bar and stadium roof walk experience.
      There will also be space for some businesses to work at the stadium, which is still owned by the council, with City paying rent of at least £4million a year.
      If all that matters is the football, then there is no doubt who you should be backing in Istanbul.
      England’s greatest, City are now the gold standard.
      Technically outstanding.
      Innovative.
      Compelling viewing.
      The creme of the Prem creme.
      And four of England manager Gareth Southgate’s preferred players are critical elements in Guardiola’s masterplan, even if Phil Foden has played a lesser role this season.
      Others, though, will never be won over by what happens on the pitch.
      Read more on The Sun
      Tonight, they will be “black and blue”, the colours of Inter.
      If they feel similarly bruised by a Guardiola triumph, nobody at City will care.
      City ran out comfortable winners of the Premier League last season, after a dazzling run of fixtures forced Arsenal off their comfy leadCredit: Getty
      Man City displaced local rivals Man United 2-1 at Wembley to lift this year’s FA Cup
      Tonight Man City will fight it out v Inter Milan for the elusive Champions League Trophy’It will be long night but we’ll be champs’

      SINGER and City fan Noel Gallagher is rooting for Man City to take the Treble.
      The 56-year-old says: “We’ve taken it step by step, but this is it now, it’s just about this one game. In Italy, where getting beaten is sacrilege, Inter lost 12 times in the league, so they’re used to losing, which bodes well for City.
      “The Italian mindset is ‘don’t lose’ and they will be very proud of forgetting their usual style and playing for penalties from the first minute if that’s the way they think they can win.
      “If they do that, it is up to City to come up with the answers.
      “If we play like we did against Real Madrid then there is not a team in the world that can get near us. I think it will be a long night, but City will win in end.” More

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      England’s best player’s so obvious it isn’t even close – Southgate didn’t play him against USA & the result was dismal

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      ENGLAND’S best footballer is Phil Foden.
      It’s not even close.
      Phil Foden is obviously England’s best playerCredit: Getty
      Gareth Southgate’s baffling choice is clearly responsible for Friday’s forgettable matchCredit: Getty
      Piers is saying what we’re all thinkingCredit: Facebook
      He’s the most wondrously gifted player we’ve had since Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne.
      And he’s been proving it with dazzling performances, week in week out, for Manchester City in both the Premier League and Champions League.
      Which all begs the question: why the hell didn’t manager Gareth Southgate bring him on in England’s World Cup match against the United States on Friday night?
      As an equally bemused Wayne Rooney said: “If you have a talent like Foden, you simply have to play him.”
      READ MORE WORLD CUP 2022
      Yet for some unfathomable reason, Southgate stubbornly refused to throw Foden into action despite England, so thrilling in the 6-2 rout of Iran, playing like the zombified patients in the Robert De Niro/Robin Williams movie Awakenings after the medication wears off.
      Southgate’s explanation afterwards was almost as incomprehensible as his decision.
      “We love Phil, he is a super player,” he said.
      So why leave him on the bench?
      Most read in The Sun
      “We didn’t quite have that same zip,” Southgate admitted.
      So why not bring on the guy with the most zip?
      Then came his inexplicable excuse.
      “We didn’t feel it was right for Phil [to play] in the middle because he doesn’t play there for his club.”
      Sorry, what?
      a) Foden has played down the middle for City on numerous occasions, and b) City boss Pep Guardiola said: “For Phil, responsibility is not a problem.
      “Since day one going to bigger stages, bigger scenarios and important games, it’s not a problem. He loves to play. He can play in all five positions up front: winger on both sides, striker through the middle and in the pockets like an attacking midfielder.”
      Did Southgate not hear this assessment from the world’s top manager?
      Or did he choose to ignore it?
      Either way, he dropped the ball, and the result was a dismal performance and dire 0-0 draw.
      Southgate’s been a very good England manager, but his instinctive timidity in the final cost us the Euros.
      He would do well to heed Albert Einstein’s warning: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.”
      Read More on The Sun
      You don’t win World Cups by keeping your best, most exciting player off the pitch.
      Get a grip Gareth, take the safety pads off, and start Foden in every game for the rest of this tournament. More

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      in Motorsport

      Ben Hunt: Max Verstappen’s total dominance in record-breaking F1 season shows Red Bull star is no ‘cost-cap champion’

      by

      MAX VERSTAPPEN’S 14th win of the season set a new Formula One record for most victories in a year.It also takes his tally to 34, putting him sixth in the list of GP winners — just seven shy of Ayrton Senna fifth-place mark.
      Max Verstappen broke the record for most wins in a season in a year of total dominanceCredit: Rex
      Verstappen celebrated the achievement on the podium alongside Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez in MexicoCredit: Splash
      He has also broken the record for most points in a single season, set by Lewis Hamilton in 2019.
      And he has single-handedly helped Red Bull stop Mercedes’ most dominant run in F1 history when it comes to the constructors’ championship.
      That’s all rather good for Red Bull, but incredibly disappointing for F1’s motorsport director Ross Brawn, who introduced new rules this season to level the playing field.
      Red Bull have won 16 of this year’s 20 races, and we still have two more to go in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi.
      READ MORE IN F1
      Verstappen says he doesn’t care about statistics and I remember Hamilton saying the same in the past.
      He said: “It is just an incredible season for the team. I never thought I’d be able to win 14 races in a year.
      “I was never really interested in stats. I just live in the moment. I just try to do the best I can every weekend.
      “That for me is the most important — that I go home and can say I maximised everything.”
      Most read in Motorsport
      JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
      Quite surprisingly, given his achievements, the magnitude has been lost in a row over the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP and the cost-cap row.
      He has been hammered on social media and dubbed ‘cost-cap champion’ plus the bitter fallout with Sky F1 and subsequent boycott over pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz’s comments.
      Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels that Verstappen’s performances this year have gone unnoticed.
      He said: “What we’re seeing this year with Max, we are witnessing something very special.
      “I sometimes think his achievements don’t receive the plaudits they should.
      “He has won the most Grand Prix in a year, within 20 races, and two sprint races — and he’s not won all of them from pole.
      “He has had to fight and race for a lot of those victories.
      “It is an absolutely outstanding year, from a driver who is absolutely at the top of his game.
      “The level of consistency is incredible.”
      It is difficult to disagree but surely it is only a matter of time before he finally gets that recognition, especially if he keeps on breaking records.
      LANDO FAN RAP
      LANDO NORRIS wants a crackdown on punters in the exclusive area during Grand Prix weekends.
      In Mexico, Max Verstappen was soaked in beer and Pierre Gasly had his bag rummaged through.
      Norris said: “If people are aggressive and grab you all of the time, biff them out.
      “I love having the fans in here, especially when it’s kids. Kids are kids, that’s cool.
      “It’s more the older people. There’s just not as much respect for personal space as there should be.”
      ALL TYRED OUT
      IT has come to something when Ferrari are offering Mercedes race strategy advice.
      The Italian team are now famous for their bungled calls on tyre choices and pitstops.
      Yet Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto reckoned Mercedes got it wrong for a second race in a row.
      He said: “They maybe have lost the last race by not choosing the right tyres.
      “So I think it’s not only down to us somehow to make different choices or making mistakes.”
      GHASTLY FOR GASLY
      PIERRE GASLY will walk a seven-month disciplinary tightrope if he is to avoid a one-race ban.
      The Frenchman, who joins Alpine next season, had a penalty point added to his licence for an incident with Lance Stroll, meaning he has collected five in a month.
      Two more points before May next year would see the AlphaTauri driver cop a ban.
      HEDWORTH A HERO
      MY hero of the weekend was Alice Hedworth, Red Bull communications manager who looked after Sergio Perez’s media commitments in his home GP.
      Mexican Perez, the country’s most popular sports star, was mobbed at every turn with poor Alice dragged along in the melee — quite literally — with his 15 security guards!
      Formula One 2022Everything you need to know about F1 this season

      HONDA OFF MARC
      MARC MARQUEZ says Honda are already running late with their Moto GP title challenger for 2023.
      The Spaniard, 29, said: “We are delayed and Honda know we’re in delay, so we will have one chance.
      “I hope to test something interesting in Valencia because what you try in Malaysia in February is the bike you will race.”

      FORMULA E will beat F1 by being the first to race in South Africa next year.
      The all-electric series will visit Cape Town in its 17-race schedule in 2023.
      It also kept Africa as part of the tour after dropping the Marrakesh ePrix.
      Read More on The Sun
      THE Mexican Grand Prix was the 20th race this season and there are two left.
      There will be 24 races in 2023 so it was good to hear Toto Wolff say F1 plans on enforcing a two-week winter break to help ease extra pressure on staff. More