HeadtoHeadFootball -

EDITOR PICKS

Soccer

Guardiola's gaffes assist Liverpool's comprehensive beating of City

Pep Guardiola’s tactical innovations have changed the landscape of English football in less than two years, and Manchester City in full flight presents a convincing case as the best side since the Premier League began in 1992.

But against Liverpool on Wednesday, the Spaniard got it drastically wrong.

With half an hour played, Nicolas Otamendi took it upon himself to surge up the park with the ball at his feet. There were colleagues available, and there should’ve been a nagging consideration that he isn’t Franz Beckenbauer, but the Argentinian let the ball bobble away and into James Milner’s reach. Around 15 seconds later, Sadio Mane headed past Ederson to make it 3-0.

The goal was emblematic of how City performed in the opening stanza; positional disarray, an inability to sensibly swipe space, and rushing in possession blighted the work of the visitor, and Guardiola’s tactics must take most of the blame for a considerable first-leg defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The biggest omission was that of Raheem Sterling. The 23-year-old has scored 21 times this season – the same number as his previous two terms combined – but was sacrificed for Ilkay Gundogan. A popular assumption was that the change was intended to bulk up the midfield – something that should raise questions given the last time City started with Fernandinho, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Gundogan in the middle was its awful beginning to the League Cup final against Arsenal in February. There could also be an argument that Sterling was left out because of how he flounders under the scrutiny of Reds fans following his controversial 2015 switch.

Whatever it was that encouraged Guardiola to shuffle his pack – a misguided tactical call or being overly concerned about protecting Sterling – it knocked everything off balance.

The midfield crumpled in on itself, with only Fernandinho assuming a distinct position and the other three ineffectually milling around in a shape that often resembled a distorted diamond. Gundogan was especially weak, making just 48 touches before he was substituted after 56 minutes.

With the 4-3-3 inexplicably set aside, Leroy Sane also cut a confused figure in a lopsided attack. He wasn’t a winger, a strike partner to Gabriel Jesus, or a No. 10, and his clear bewilderment facilitated Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best appearance for Liverpool in his young career. With only Sane struggling nearby and no support on his right, Jesus’ involvement was restricted to six passes in the first half – three of which were from kick-off – and he spearheaded a side that wasn’t able to record a shot on target throughout the tie.

If Bernardo Silva was Sterling’s replacement, the 4-3-3 schematic would have been maintained, and the latter would’ve been spared the abuse that he often cowers under. Instead, City’s unfamiliar formation was ruffled by Liverpool.

There were obviously issues in defence, and most of them centred around the decision to field Aymeric Laporte on the left of a back-four. Mohamed Salah is best dealt with by a right-footer at left-back; that way, he isn’t running onto the weaker side of a full-back when he cuts in. City had a ready-made player for that role in Danilo. With Danilo on the left-hand side, Laporte would’ve then been the go-to ball-playing centre-half, thereby culling Otamendi’s intermittent habit of spreading diagonal balls onto the laps of spectators in the first row. Few City representatives left Anfield with any credit, but Otamendi was handed too much trust and, as a result, challenged Gundogan and Sane as his team’s worst player.

There’s a slight hope that this tie is salvageable, but Guardiola’s plan will have to be exemplary in the reverse fixture next Tuesday. However, from the evidence of the opening tie between these two teams, Jurgen Klopp may have his counterpart’s number.

NFL

Patriots ship Cooks to Rams for 1st-round pick

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots have traded receiver Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams for the 23rd overall pick in this year’s draft.

As part of the deal, which was officially announced by the Rams on Tuesday night, New England also sent a fourth-round pick (No. 136 overall) to Los Angeles and received a sixth-round pick (No. 198 overall) from the Rams.

The deal helps both teams in different ways.

The Rams — who had explored a trade for Odell Beckham Jr. but liked the Cooks option better — were seeking a vertical threat for second-year coach Sean McVay’s dynamic offense after Sammy Watkins joined the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency.

The speedy Cooks, who totaled 65 receptions for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns for the Patriots last season, fills that void alongside Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. Cooks had 16 receptions on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield last season, tied with DeAndre Hopkins for most in the NFL.

Several current Rams played took to Twitter to cheer the move.

Cooks had made a strong impression on many in New England after the team acquired him last offseason from the New Orleans Saints for a package that included the Patriots’ first-round pick (No. 32 overall), but he was entering the final year of his contract (due to earn $8.459 million) at a time when salaries for top pass-catchers have skyrocketed.

In choosing to trade Cooks, the Patriots were likely weighing their chances of re-signing him in 2019 while also working to accumulate assets at a time when quarterback Tom Brady turns 41 in August and tight end Rob Gronkowski appears to be on a year-to-year plan in terms of how much longer he will play.

The Patriots, who hope to sustain success as some of their star players enter the final stages of their careers, now have two first-round picks (No. 23, 31) and two second-rounders (No. 43, 63), along with a third-rounder (95), two sixth-rounders and a seventh-rounder this year.

As for their wide receiver depth chart, it is still well stocked with Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Malcolm Mitchell, Kenny Britt, Cordarrelle Patterson, Riley McCarron and Cody Hollister, although the club will miss Cooks’ blazing speed and durability, as he played 92.7 percent of the offensive snaps in the regular season and coach Bill Belichick said he never missed a practice.

Cooks had 10 catches for 155 yards in the postseason before being knocked out of the team’s Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles with a concussion in the second quarter.

The 24-year-old Cooks, who entered the NFL as a first-round draft choice of the Saints in 2014, is the latest star acquisition for the Rams this offseason. They previously traded for cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, then signed defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, whom they will introduce to the media Wednesday.

The Rams will be without a first-round pick for the second consecutive year. They were hoping to use this year’s pick to help address drastic needs at linebacker.

The 23rd overall pick will be the Patriots’ highest in the draft since 2012, when they selected Chandler Jones 21st overall. In addition, they now have two first-round picks in the same draft for the third time under Belichick. In 2012, they selected Jones and Dont’a Hightower. In 2004, they took Vince Wilfork and Benjamin Watson.

ESPN.com Rams reporter Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Soccer

Juventus made adjustments after last year's debacle, and it still didn't matter

There were still more than two hours of football left to be played in Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the final word. A brilliant bicycle kick stunned the Allianz Stadium to silence for a moment, before 40,000 fans rose to applaud.

What else can you do in the face of such outrageous talent? Madrid’s supporters had done the same for Juve’s own Alessandro Del Piero a decade earlier after his brace sank their team at the Bernabeu. It is no small feat to make such an impression in the home stadiums of teams as well-acquainted with success as these two.

Massimiliano Allegri is fond of reminding us that players, not managers, win football games. The Juventus manager had things so right in the previous round of this competition, his second-half substitutions helping to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win away to Tottenham at Wembley. And yet, rather than accept any praise, he deflected.

“I just do a bit of damage,” he quipped. “And then every now and then I try to fix it.”

No amount of repair work could extend his team’s run in Europe this season. Ronaldo had already opened the scoring in Turin before he extended Madrid’s advantage with the outrageous overhead strike. Eight minutes later, Marcelo made it 3-0 to the visitors. Paulo Dybala was sent off for Juventus in between.

The easy conclusion to draw would be that the Italian champions remain the same team that lost to Madrid by the same three-goal margin (albeit 4-1, instead of 3-0) at last year’s final in Cardiff. Easy, but perhaps not very just.

Juventus wasn’t presumptuous here as it had been 10 months earlier, believing they had nothing to envy of these opponents. “We felt like we were on a par with them,” Gianluigi Buffon said earlier this week. “That was the first and biggest mistake that we made.”

There was a greater urgency to Juventus’ play this time around, pressing higher and longer, seeking direct paths to goal when possession was won. Juventus took only one fewer shot in the first 45 minutes of this game than it had in the entire 90 the last time around.

More tangibly, Allegri corrected a mistake he had made in the final when he trusted in the experience of Andrea Barzagli on the right of his defence. The 36-year-old had been run ragged by Marcelo. This time, Juventus lined up with Mattia De Sciglio at full-back, and Douglas Costa ahead of him. For a time, their greater pace and willingness to get forward restricted Marcelo’s attack.

And yet, none of it mattered as Juventus still had no answers for the one player it most needed to subdue. Ronaldo’s opening strike arrived in just the third minute, finding space on the edge of the six-yard box to convert Isco’s cross.

Should the marking have been tighter on a player of such obvious talent? How badly did Juventus miss Mehdi Benatia on an occasion such as this? The Moroccan has been their most consistent defender this season, yet was absent through suspension.

In the end, though, it feels futile to even consider the question. Ronaldo scored because Ronaldo scores. This is the 10th consecutive Champions League game in which he has found the net – yet another personal record to add to the collection. His 14 goals in this season’s tournament are six more than the next-most prolific player.

Almost single-handedly, he has ensured that Buffon will retire without a Champions League winner’s medal. The goalkeeper has kept his cards close to his chest in recent weeks, but previously said he would quit at the end of this season unless Juventus won the big-eared trophy and gave him a chance to compete in the European Super Cup and Club World Cup for the first time.

No other person has done more to deny him that opportunity. Eight of Ronaldo’s last nine shots on target against the Juventus ‘keeper have ended up in the back of the net. And when the finishes are as good as the ones we saw in Turin on Tuesday, you can hardly hold Buffon at fault.

Great players win football matches, just as Allegri says. And one, in particular, does it more often in the Champions League than anyone else.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

NFL

After two QB mistakes, Jets GM has chance to right his legacy

Mike Maccagnan is a cool customer. For a guy who drinks 10 cups of coffee a day (no exaggeration), he never seems jittery or rattled. It takes a lot to get a rise out of him, which is why it’s noteworthy he displayed a hint of defiance last week when questioned about his sketchy history of drafting quarterbacks — a hot-button issue in the current landscape.

The New York Jets general manager defended himself by reminding reporters that Bryce Petty was a fourth-round pick (2015) and Christian Hackenberg was a “late” second-rounder (2016). It was his way of saying, “Hey, guys, gimme a break, it’s not like I blew a first-round pick.” No, he didn’t, but Hackenberg was such a colossal miss — he still hasn’t played in a game — that some folks are wondering if Maccagnan will get it right on April 26.

Jets GM Mike Maccagnan says he isn’t fazed by criticism of his past quarterback picks and is confident he’ll hit in 2018. Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports

“It doesn’t faze me,” Maccagnan said of the criticism. “It’s the college draft. [There are] guys you’ll hit on and guys who don’t pan out. That’s part of the process. We feel pretty confident with this year’s group and where we’re situated.”

The Jets are picking third and, barring the draft upset of the decade, they will select a quarterback from the group of Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen. It’ll be a franchise-altering decision for the Jets and a legacy-defining choice for Maccagnan, a college economics major-turned-scout who found the big chair in 2015. He will attempt to solve The Quarterback Riddle, which has flummoxed this star-crossed franchise for decades.

They’ve tried everything.

They’ve rummaged through the recycle bin (Josh McCown and Ryan Fitzpatrick), they’ve tried their luck in the second round (Hackenberg and Geno Smith) and they’ve rented a hired gun (Brett Favre). Their last first-round pick was Mark Sanchez in 2009, and that was working for a couple of years — until it wasn’t.

After failing to secure the only quick fix in the 2018 market — Kirk Cousins said no — Maccagnan went back to his days as an economics student. He took some of his best assets (three second-round picks, including one in 2019) and sold them off for a chance to score with a potential high-yield investment — easily the boldest move of his tenure.

The blockbuster trade with the Indianapolis Colts, which allowed the Jets to climb three spots in the draft order, carries considerable risk. It’s an all-in move that will leave Maccagnan out of a job in a couple of years if it backfires.

When: April 26-28
Where: Arlington, Texas
NFL draft coverage » | Full order: 1-256 »

•InsiderMel Kiper’s Mock Draft 3.0 »
•InsiderTodd McShay’s Mock Draft 3.0 »
• Kiper’s Big Board » | McShay’s Top 32 »
• Teams with most, least draft capital »
•InsiderProjecting QB booms, busts »
•InsiderKiper: Re-grading 2017 NFL draft »

“I don’t like necessarily giving up the picks, per se, to move up,” said Maccagnan, adding he did it because it’s a chance to “potentially help yourself in the bigger scheme of things.”

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. called it “a hefty price to pay,” saying the Jets essentially gave up three potential starters — the draft picks that went to the Colts — to select perhaps the third-best quarterback. In that context, yeah, it doesn’t look like a sound move, but no one will remember the compensation if the quarterback develops into a long-term solution.

It’s a calculated gamble, but you know what? You can’t sit back, passively, and wait for the next Tom Brady in the sixth round. You can’t win a Lombardi Trophy by playing it by the book. To quote Tom Cruise in “Risky Business,” sometimes you just have to say … well, you know.

“We do think there are some very good quarterback prospects in this class,” Maccagnan said. “They all have different strengths and maybe some different areas of concern or weakness. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been to all these pro days, because there are some real viable guys there that you think may be good additions if they fall to us in the right spot.”

The question is, can Maccagnan learn from his past quarterback mistakes?

With Hackenberg, Maccagnan relied too much on projection. The GM saw the big arm and projected what Hackenberg could be, not what he was — an inaccurate passer with questionable instincts.

Will that effect the way he evaluates Allen, who has a tremendous amount of raw, physical talent but is considered boom or bust?

With Petty, Maccagnan bet on a player from a spread system, figuring he’d need a year or two to make the transition to a pro-style offense. It hasn’t happened for Petty, who is 1-6 as a starter.

Will Maccagnan downgrade Mayfield because he played in a spread at Oklahoma?

Hey, no one said this will be an easy decision. History says two of the top four quarterbacks will be NFL disappointments. Maccagnan put himself in the batter’s box and gets another swing. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Page 590 of 834« First...102030589590591592600610620...Last »

Soccer