Quarterback Andrew Luck is looking forward to having a Super Bowl champion call his plays.
Luck, who missed the 2017 season after shoulder surgery, said he’s ready to work with Frank Reich, who takes over as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach after serving as offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Andrew Luck, who missed the 2017 season with a shoulder injury, says he’s looking forward to working with new coach Frank Reich. AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Reich has promised to bring a “multiple, attack, up-tempo offense” to Indianapolis.
“That sounds great,” Luck told Colts.com. “I know all the best offenses that I’ve been a part of in my career, we’ve not been static and we’ve attacked. And I’m sure he’ll have a great flavor and we’ll involve as many people as we can, and attacking defenses is what it’s all about.”
Reich, a former NFL quarterback, has previously worked with top QBs — including Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz — and Luck says that intrigues him.
“Going back to [Reich’s] playing days, he’s incredibly successful, and he’s been around some awesome quarterbacks,” Luck said. “And I hope I can learn from him and ask him how Peyton or Carson or Philip did it, and find the best way for me.
“You can learn something from everybody, and certainly our history shapes so much of how we think and [our] thought process, and I’m really excited to hear his thought process and how he did it as a player and how he’s seen other players do it, and how he’s done it as a coach. I think that could have a very positive impact on our team.”
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte confirmed his star striker Alvaro Morata will be healthy and ready to play in a crucial Champions League first-leg tilt against Barcelona, adding that he’ll also turn to the Spain international for a Friday tilt with Hull City in order to give him more minutes ahead of the Blaugrana test.
Morata only just returned to action after a month of recovery on the sidelines, featuring for half an hour in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over West Brom on Monday. He had been dealing with a back injury, which Morata admitted he had mistakenly aggravated by playing through it in the weeks beforehand.
But Conte, who had previously speculated that Morata might be out for the remainder of the season, confirmed his £58-million man is fighting fit.
“Alvaro has been training with us regularly, every day,” Conte said, according to Liam Twomey of ESPN FC. “His physical condition is improving. Tomorrow, he will play a part of the game (against Hull). He will be ready for the game against Barcelona in the Champions League.”
Chelsea hosts Hull City on Friday in an FA Cup fifth-round match before turning its attention to Catalan giant Barcelona, which visits Stamford Bridge on Tuesday in the first of two legs in this round of 16 matchup.
Conte will be especially pleased to have “solved” Morata’s injury woes with Chelsea soon headed to Manchester for a pair of Premier League fixtures against Manchester United and Manchester City. Morata has recorded 12 goals and five assists in 31 appearances across all competitions for the Blues.
But Morata will first hope to add to his scoring tally against Barcelona, having notched just one goal against the team during a 3-1 Champions League final loss in 2015.
PITTSBURGH — General Manager Kevin Colbert was low on roster details but high in expectations in his media session Thursday.
Colbert wasn’t leaning on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 13-win season, which should reverberate through the offseason.
The Steelers weren’t necessarily better in 2017 than in 2016 because they won more regular-season games.
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert on free agency: “We won’t close the door on anybody.” AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Check out this tone-setting sampling:
On the 2017 season: “Unless we are winning a championship, no one will sit here and say we were good enough.”
On the defense: “We know we have a challenge defensively. We have to get better against the run.”
On players under contract potentially not returning: “That’s always a possibility when you’re trying to get your team better and under the cap.”
On free agency: “We won’t close the door on anybody.” However, he points out the Steelers typically prefer first-contract guys they drafted.
On the playoffs: “Jacksonville outplayed us. As plain as can be.”
On the defensive roster: “Some guys are on the upswing, some guys are in their prime and some guys are still playing and they might be on the downside. Doesn’t mean they still can’t help you. They might not be the player they were before. That group has the potential to get better just through more play and learning from their mistakes, as I know they are willing to do and they are working toward it.” This sounds like a signal to veterans with sizable cap numbers such as safety Mike Mitchell or cornerback William Gay. Perhaps the Steelers will be looking for a pay cut or two.
Overall, that’s quite the variety of heat. Add in a line about the defense being too aggressive against the pass and too passive against the run and Colbert was in midseason form, if he had one (he doesn’t talk to the media during the season). In early February, team president Art Rooney II called for improvements, but cited the team’s victory total as a positive. Colbert didn’t use that line.
His comments should be welcome to Steelers fans who watched the run defense allow 150 yards or more in three of the last six games. Colbert was even reluctant to blame that issue on the absence of Ryan Shazier, pointing to an ugly Week 3 game in Chicago in which Shazier played.
Though pressed against the cap as a financial collision with Le’Veon Bell looms, the Steelers aren’t about to make wholesale changes. But Colbert sounds like a man who’s about to make this offseason interesting.
“If we don’t change the roster we had in 2017, what reason would we think there wouldn’t be any difference in the results?” Colbert said. “We have to be ready to be better than we were last year.”
Jurgen Klopp couldn’t ask for more from his Liverpool players on Wednesday night. They won virtually every important battle in midfield against Porto, scoring five goals while also keeping a third clean sheet in four matches.
It was also another reminder of how lethal Liverpool can be. Combining a rigorous work ethic with a philosophy of gegenpressing, the team’s made a habit of tearing opponents apart. Including the 5-0 undressing at the Estadio Dragao, Liverpool has won seven matches by four goals or more in all competitions.
It helped that Liverpool netted twice before the 30-minute mark, putting the onus on Porto to throw another man forward. The away side could then afford to sit back, pick the right moments, and exploit the spaces left behind.
‘They can sit in and counter’
Wary of Liverpool’s counter-attacking prowess, most teams would prefer to soak up the pressure and nick something for themselves on the break. But because Liverpool profits from such good starts, opponents often have to abandon their defensive shell in order to chase the game. And that’s risky.
After conceding a bunch of leads this season – including a 3-0 half-time advantage against Sevilla – Klopp’s players have now shown they can kick on.
“The one thing they learned after Sevilla is game management,” former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “They know they don’t have to press once they are a few goals up. They can sit in and counter, and that’s another side to Klopp’s team we’re seeing.”
It’s no coincidence that Liverpool tends to win when it scores early – which is something that happens a lot. The Reds lead the Premier League with 19 goals in the first 30 minutes of matches, and also set the pace in the Champions League with 12 tallies in that bracket.
Scoring early, in other words, is the way Liverpool coaxes a reaction.
Better without possession
The equation changes when Liverpool is asked to break opponents down. It’s much more difficult for the Merseyside outfit to navigate through two banks of four, as seen against the likes of Burnley and West Brom. In fact, Liverpool has won just three out of the eight Premier League matches in which it controlled 60 percent or more possession.
Date
Opponent
Possession
Result
Aug. 19
Crystal Palace
62%
1-0 win
Sept. 16
Burnley
63%
1-1
Oct. 1
Newcastle
60%
1-1
Oct. 28
Huddersfield
64%
3-0 win
Dec. 10
Everton
66%
1-1
Dec. 13
West Brom
62%
0-0
Jan. 22
Swansea City
64%
1-0 loss
Jan. 30
Huddersfield
63%
3-0 win
Liverpool is unlike Manchester City in this sense, weaker at probing and finding openings with world-class passes. Its game is instead based on linear play, with Georginio Wijnaldum usually feeding speed merchants Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mane. The goal-happy trio only needs a few touches to do substantial damage. Liverpool just isn’t as comfortable with more of the ball, and that’s why Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte deferred possession when Manchester United and Chelsea visited Anfield earlier in the season. Both earned draws as a result.
Pressing works
But Liverpool can and will get its way. With the industrious Firmino pressing from the front and the likes of Wijnaldum winning second balls, the Reds’ pressing makes opponents uncomfortable.
The win at Porto required a similar display of concentration, as well as incredible industry. The much-maligned Dejan Lovren led the way, stepping in to collect goalkeeper Jose Sa’s errant throw and spark Liverpool’s opening drive. James Milner, who’s always ready to put in a shift, won a pair of duels ahead of Liverpool’s second and third goals. And then Mane, in the midst of a commanding hat-trick performance, intercepted a short pass in the middle of the pitch to set up his team’s fourth.
Asked if it was the perfect performance, Klopp said: “Yes. You could say that of course.”
