Paris – Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel admitted Saturday he was left puzzled by the lack of cohesion between his trio of star strikers against Liverpool.
“It’s very hard to explain, perhaps you could ask the players. I cannot explain it,” Tuchel said.
Kylian Mbappe, despite a late goal, and Neymar seemed far below their best, while Edinson Cavani hardly touched the ball as PSG lost 3-2 at Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday.
“We saw that too, we missed their presence in this match, but they have been decisive in other matches we have won,” said the German coach at the press conference before the squad set off for Rennes for their Ligue 1 match on Sunday.
“It was not their best performance and we needed it, we said so in the changing room,” said the former Dortmund coach. “But it’s always an effort by the whole team, we have to improve on that and look at the intensity, the hunger to play our game, we have to improve it with all the players.”
RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll did not commit to Earl Thomas playing Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys after the All-Pro free safety didn’t practice for the second time this week despite apparently being healthy.
Rookie tight end Will Dissly, whose two TDs already match Jimmy Graham’s total in his first year with Seattle, leads a new group of pass-catchers.
Thomas’ absences both Wednesday and Friday were listed as not injury-related. While Thomas was with the team Friday, Carroll cited an unspecified “personal” issue for him not practicing while giving brief and vague answers to questions about Thomas’ situation.
“Yeah, he couldn’t work today,” Carroll said.
Asked if there’s a chance Thomas won’t be able to play Sunday, Carroll said, “We’ll see how he’s doing, make sure he’s OK.”
Asked if his absence was injury-related, Carroll said, “No, he’s got some other stuff we’re working on.”
Carroll then answered in the affirmative when asked if it’s a personal matter with Thomas, saying that’s why he wasn’t elaborating.
The curious situation with Thomas comes as the Seahawks (0-2) are preparing for their home opener against the Cowboys, the team that has been most connected to Seattle in a possible Thomas trade. It was after a Christmas Eve game at Dallas last season that Thomas, a Cowboys fan growing up, chased down coach Jason Garrett and told him to “come get me” if he were to become available.
Thomas declined to speak to reporters when approached Thursday in Seattle’s locker room.
Thomas, who is making $8.5 million in the final year of his contract, publicly urged the Seahawks during his holdout to trade him if they weren’t going to extend him. He cited the money he would stand to forfeit if he continued to hold out into the regular season — $500,000 each week in game checks — as the reason he returned.
But upon that return, Thomas showed all was not forgiven, at least not on his end. He wrote in an Instagram post that the “disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten.” When asked after the opener how burned the bridge is between he and the team might be with regards to Thomas potentially remaining in Seattle beyond 2018, he said, “I have no clue. I have no clue. All I can do is just put the best product out there as possible and protect myself until I do get paid.”
Asked if he’ll be able to put his contract dispute behind him and just play, Thomas said at the time, “I’m going to try to do the best I can, try to work my way through it. I’ve got a great team behind me.”
In addition to Thomas, the Seahawks could be without four other starters against Dallas.
Wide receiver Doug Baldwin (knee), left guard Ethan Pocic (ankle) and linebacker K.J. Wright (knee) have all been ruled out. Center Justin Britt (shoulder) is listed as questionable, along with linebacker Mychal Kendricks, although Carroll said the team thinks Kendricks will play despite a sore foot.
Carroll said the team didn’t want to overwork Kendricks in practice this week after he came down awkwardly on his foot. He was limited in practice over the past two days.
Kendricks, who is playing while appealing a suspension over his connection to insider trading, is replacing Wright at weakside linebacker. Wright missed the first two games following arthroscopic knee surgery, and Carroll indicated that he might be out a while longer when he said Friday that Wright’s recovery is “going slow.”
D.J. Fluker is expected to make his Seahawks debut after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury. His return will push J.R. Sweezy to left guard for Pocic. The Seahawks will get middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and right cornerback Tre Flowers back after they missed the Chicago game.
Baldwin will miss his second consecutive game due to the MCL injury he suffered in the opener. He didn’t practice this week, but Carroll was encouraged by how Baldwin has been running.
“Doug ran really well the last couple days,” Carroll said. “He’s going to take tomorrow off. I believe now he’s went four straight days. That’s a really good sign and he’s feeling really good about it. So I don’t know what to tell you about projecting that, but he was weaving and running and changing directions some and all that today, so he’s coming close.”
Lausanne – Lyon must play their next Champions League match behind closed doors after losing an appeal, UEFA announced on Friday.
The punishment was originally handed down in August following scenes of gang violence ahead of a Europa League home game against CSKA Moscow in March.
Lyon, who opened their Champions League campaign with a surprise victory at Manchester City on Wednesday, will face Shakhtar Donetsk in an empty Parc OL stadium on October 2.
The ban also includes a second match behind closed doors if there is further trouble and a 100,000 euro ($117,000) fine.
It stems from a Europa League return leg in March, where Lyon lost 3-2 on the night and went out on away goals. Before the game, a group of 100 hooded black-clad fans pelted police. One man was later sentenced to 18 months in jail and others receive suspended sentences.
CLEVELAND — Thursday night football turned into a Baker’s Special for the Cleveland Browns.
Rookie Baker Mayfield entered for his debut late in the second quarter and brought the Browns back from a 14-0 deficit to prevail 21-17, snapping a 19-game winless streak dating back to Dec. 24, 2016 — a span of 635 days.
The top pick in this year’s draft, Mayfield went 17 for 23 for 201 yards passing and remarkably caught the two-point conversion that tied the game at 14 with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.
Mayfield entered the game late in the first half after Tyrod Taylor left the game with a concussion and the Jets ahead by two touchdowns.
He guided the Browns to a field goal on his first drive, another field goal after fellow first-round pick Denzel Ward forced and recovered a fumble, then led the Browns on a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive to make the score 14-12.
A successful two-point conversion came after offsetting penalties gave the Browns a second try. Mayfield lined up in the slot left. Running back Duke Johnson took a direct snap, ran right and pitched to Jarvis Landry, who threw to an open Mayfield in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 14.
The play was similar to Philly Special, a pass to quarterback Nick Foles that the Eagles used to win the Super Bowl.
The touchdown was set up by a 29-yard pass from Mayfield to Landry that was both an excellent throw and catch. Carlos Hyde followed with a 1-yard touchdown.
After the Jets retook the lead with a field goal in the fourth quarter, another 1-yard run from Hyde gave the Browns the lead for good.
Baker Mayfield completed his first three passes, including a 14-yarder to Jarvis Landry upon entering Thursday night’s game vs. the Jets late in the first half. Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Taylor had a rough first half, as the Jets frequently had free rushers coming at him. He went 4-for-14 passing for 19 yards and was sacked three times.
He threw incomplete on his last pass, which set up a 45-yard field goal by Greg Joseph, who was signed Monday to replace Zane Gonzalez. The field goal cut the Jets’ lead to 14-3.
Mayfield became the first of the last six No. 1 quarterback picks to come off the bench and lead his team to a score, according to ESPN Stats & Information. JaMarcus Russell, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, Mike Vick and Tim Couch all failed to score.
Cleveland selected Mayfield with the No. 1 pick in April’s draft after he won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma. In his senior season, Mayfield threw for 4,627 yards with 43 touchdowns and six interceptions in 14 games as the Sooners went 12-2 and won the Big 12.
