Premier League

CHELSEA have recalled a promising young prospect to first-team training ahead of tonight’s Premier League trip to Crystal Palace.The Blues’ manager Mauricio Pochettino included 14-year-old sensation Charlie Holland during his team’s latest practice session.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino called up a highly-rated youngster to trainingCredit: Reuters
Pochettino is unlikely to play Chelsea Under-14s captain Charlie Holland against Crystal PalaceCredit: PA
Holland was pictured mixing it up with decorated stars, such as Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku.
This is not the first time the talented teenager has linked up with the senior squad.
The West Londoners’ former caretaker boss Frank Lampard also called the academy star up late last season.
That was after Holland captained Chelsea’s Under-14s to the Albert Phelan Cup South following a 5-0 triumph over Fulham in the final.
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Of course it’s unlikely that the youngster will get involved against Palace.
Academy players are usually invited to train with the first team, but that honour is normally reserved for the Under-21s and Under-18s.
Pochettino is well-known for investing in youth and has handed opportunities to various young talents at Stamford Bridge.
Alfie Gilchrist, 20, Mason Burstow, 20, Alex Matos, 19, and Cesare Casadei, 21, have all been given time on the pitch.
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This comes as no surprise as the Argentinean tactician is working with a very young and inexperienced squad that will need time and patience to get into full gear.
Pochettino previously said: “I’m not picking the team because they are young.
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“I don’t want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England.
“We are a young team. We have a good balance. We have Thiago Silva who is 39, we have Raheem Sterling, [29], we have Nkunku, [26], and [Axel] Disasi, [25].
“The problem is not that they are young. The problem is that the team is young.
“We had [many] players that arrived new at the beginning of the season. You need to build a team.
“Always I talk about the team, it’s not about if you have 20 or 19-year-olds. We need to be consistent like a team.
“At the moment we have maybe not so good [balance], because we would be in another position.” More

MANCHESTER UNITED ace Kobbie Mainoo is reportedly set for an England promotion with Gareth Southgate keeping close tabs on the 18-year-old.He made his senior club debut in the Carabao Cup win over Charlton in January last year and then came off the bench in last season’s Premier League victory over Leicester City.
Man Utd’s Kobbie Mainoo is set for an ‘England promotion’Credit: Getty
Gareth Southgate was at Villa Park to watch the star in the fleshCredit: Reuters
Mainoo was then part of United’s squad for the pre-season tour, where he shone under Ten Hag, only for an injury to rule him out of action for the first part of this campaign.
But he instantly hit the headlines with a stunning performance on his first Premier League start in the win at Everton on November 26.
That left England fans claiming that Mainoo could be Southgate’s missing piece of the jigsaw for this summer’s European Championship.
And the midfielder has continued to impress since for United, including his first goal for the club to seal a thrilling 4-3 victory over Wolves.
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Now, after being one of the standout performers in United’s 2-1 win at Aston Villa yesterday, the Daily Star claims that Mainoo is set for an “England promotion” next month.
Three Lions boss Southgate “has been keeping close tabs on the midfield sensation” and he was in the stands at Villa Park on Sunday to watch him live.
He is now allegedly “set to recommend Mainoo be called into the next England U21 squad” during the next international break.
And this report also states that “Southgate could even name him in the senior squad for next month’s friendlies against Brazil and Belgium” if he continues to impress for United.
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Mainoo has already represented England from Under-17 level to U19 but we reported a fortnight ago how they face competition to secure his international allegiance.
The Ghana FA have been trying to persuade him to ditch England and switch to them.
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Mainoo is eligible to represent Ghana due to it being the homeland of his parents.
He regularly visits during his time off and the Ghana FA now want to persuade him to commit to the Black Stars instead of the Three Lions. More

GOALKEEPERS will NOT be exempt from receiving blue cards under the proposed new rules, it has been revealed.Last week it was reported that football lawmakers want to introduce blue cards to the game in a major disciplinary change.
Managers could be forced to play an outfield player in goal or make a permanent sub if a goalkeeper receives a blue cardCredit: AFP
Harry Kane was forced to go in goal for Tottenham in 2014 after Hugo Lloris got sent offCredit: AFP
Players will receive the new card if they commit a cynical foul or are found guilty of dissent towards an official.
Those on the receiving end will then be sent to the sidelines for 10 minutes in a sin-bin style punishment.
The new development has caused a stir among the football community, with many questioning the potential implications.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he was baffled and questioned how it would affect goalkeepers during a match.
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In a pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace, he said: “It’s going to be so difficult. What happens with the goalkeeper?
“Can you play without a goalkeeper for ten minutes? Do we put someone else in goal? Too many questions we don’t know. We will see.”
However, the Telegraph claim that goalkeepers CAN be sin-binned.
That means managers will be forced to choose between putting an outfield player in goal or making a permanent substitution.
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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has criticised the proposal to bring blue cards into the game, claiming that it will “destroy” football.
He said: “One team being down to ten men for ten minutes, you know what it’s going to do to our game? It’s going to destroy it.
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“You’re going to have one team just sitting there trying to waste time for ten minutes — waiting for a guy to come back on.
“I don’t know why a different colour card is going to make any difference.
“The remedy is there. Show a yellow card or send someone off — it’s there in the rules.
“Most other sports are trying to introduce rules to speed up and de-clutter their game. We’re just going the other way and I really don’t know why.
“This game is more popular than any other sport in the world because you can get a ball, put two bags down as goals and away you go.” More

PETR CECH has revealed he won the Premier League while playing with broken shoulders.The Chelsea legend won four titles during his 11-year stay at Stamford Bridge.
Petr Cech broke Premier League records with broken shouldersCredit: Getty
Cech revealed he would be in tears due to the pain when he dived for the ballCredit: YouTube @ High Performance
His first triumph came in the 2004/05 season as Cech formed a formidable defensive unit with centre-backs John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
The Blues conceded just 15 goals in 38 league games – the lowest amount a team has ever conceded across a season.
Cech also went a remarkable 1025 minutes without seeing a shot go into his net, keeping a record 24 clean sheets across the campaign.
But the Czech international continued despite being in severe pain throughout the season.
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He explained on the High Performance Podcast: “I played a year-and-a-half with broken shoulders. Both actually.
“Before I had the surgery I had it for 14 months, a broken labrum, I couldn’t lift my arms.
“Nobody knew. I was training, playing, I was doing everything.
“Every single time I dived and made a save I had tears coming down because I was in terrible pain.
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“But I knew I could perform so you just go, okay.
“It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but at the same time I could perform.
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“I had terrible pain every single day but I could perform.
“But then I reached the point where I couldn’t lift my arms any more and I said ‘listen’, I will play a World Cup (2006) and then I had the surgery.”
Soon after recovering, Cech sustained a skull fracture that led to him wearing his iconic headguard.
On his recovery and comeback, he added: “I think I played about 107 days after the surgery roughly. 
“The first 12 weeks is where you need the skull to consolidate, so the bone to heal.
“The doctors said ‘whatever you do, you can’t do anything for 12 weeks’, because it’s literally impossible.
“You will not be fit or strong enough to even think about doing anything 100 per cent.
“So the first month I was learning little things and going over all these issues with my brain.
” Second month I started physical training on my own.
“The third month I would play tennis, so I had a helmet on all the time.
“I was playing tennis, training, working in the gym. Running, doing things on my own, throwing balls against the wall – things like that.
“Gradually I felt so strong. So then after 12 weeks the doctor said that I might think about going into training where people shoot the ball at you because you’ve got the helmet and should be fine.
“I said okay, let’s go. So I went to training and I was so physically fit. I had two training sessions with the team and then we went to Liverpool.
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“Jose Mourinho asked me if I wanted to play and I said ‘let’s go’ and then I played.
“I felt I was ready and it was the best thing to do.” More

IT was Jose Mourinho who first fully appreciated Scott McTominay and he handed him a bent candlestick holder to prove it.The club’s awards dinner towards the end of the 2017-18 season was passing by with Demi Mitchell receiving the reserve team player of the year and David De Gea the first-team accolade.
Scott McTominay has become Manchester United’s ‘Terminator’ this seasonCredit: Getty
McTominay was awarded a candlestick by Jose Mourinho in 2018Credit: Getty
Mourinho could not let the evening pass, however, without McTominay, then 21, receiving the recognition he felt he deserved.
The Special One said: “He started the season in the academy and ended it playing big games in the Premier League. I thought ‘this kid cannot go home without an award’.”
So club staff were dispatched to find something, anything, in the function suite at Old Trafford that looked like an award as Mourinho took to the stage.
For the first and only time in the club’s history he announced there would be a new award, the manager’s player of the year and promptly called McTominay to the stage to receive his candlestick holder which had been recovered from some back room.
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Whether he still has it or not is another thing, McTominay is aiming for bigger things and right now has them on the path to getting back into the Champions League.
He has become United’s ‘Terminator’, seeing off opponents late in matches.
The midfielder is the club’s top scorer in the Premier League with seven and without his goals United would be 12 points worse off in 12th place.
No other player’s top flight goals have been worth more points.
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McTominay’s latest intervention came on Sunday.
On he came as a sub at Villa Park in the 73rd minute, and by the 86th he had powered home a headed winner.
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Aston la vista, baby.
Against Wolves ten days earlier, he was on in the 73rd minute again and this time on the scoresheet in the 75th.
In the following game at home to West Ham, the 27-year-old was called from the bench this time on 64 minutes and provided an assist for Alejandro Garnacho’s second and then again for United’s third.
And what United fan can forget Brentford at home on October 7?
Staring at a third defeat on the trot at 1-0 down, Erik ten Hag threw McTominay on in the 87th minute and he scored twice in injury time to win the game.
As a starter he got the opener in the 2-1 win at Sheffield United and both in the 2-1 home victory over Chelsea.
Unfortunately for him, however, it is his effectiveness coming off the bench that Ten Hag seems to rely on most.
McTominay is most probably physically the fittest and strongest in the United squad – the Tominaytor.
McTominay’s winner against Villa was his latest crucial United goalCredit: Getty

So when legs are tiring and he gets put into the action defences are in trouble.
To think United were listening to offers last summer for the Scotland international whose goals also helped his country to this summers Euros.
He could have gone to West Ham had they offered more than £30million.
The arrivals of Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat plus the emergence of Kobbie Mainoo have threatened to sideline him.
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But as that giant frame powered on to Diogo Dalot’s cross and then thundered towards the away section in celebration, the academy graduate showed again that he is not ready to be moved on yet.
As Mourinho said back in 2018: “For me there are not young players or old players, it is just about the quality of the personality and this kid has everything that I want.” More