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The real Ted Lasso: Inside an ex-NFL player's madcap stint in English soccer

Before Ted Lasso, there was Terry Smith. And English soccer’s first American owner appeared to have a Lasso-esque plan ready to roll on day one.

But, as Kevin Ratcliffe, then-manager of Chester City, explained to theScore, there was one problem: Smith didn’t have a clue about soccer.

Smith, a former backup for the NFL’s New England Patriots, plunged into the world of soccer when he bought debt-riddled Chester City in 1999. He spent more time at the fourth-tier team’s training sessions than in his office, filling his notepad while he inquired about the purpose of certain drills.

Ratcliffe was mulling over a season-opening defeat to Barnet in the guts of the club’s Deva Stadium when Smith’s father Gerald – reportedly a key source of financing for the takeover – asked him for the whereabouts of someone named Keith.

“I said, ‘Keith who?’ He says, ‘Keith, the manager,'” Ratcliffe told theScore.

Ratcliffe thought quickly and mischievously directed Gerald to the dressing room for “Keith.” The turn of events bought the actual manager a few more hours until he met the Smiths the following morning.

A former defender who captained Everton during their greatest era, Ratcliffe felt “brain-dead” after that fateful meeting with Terry Smith and Gerald Smith. Ratcliffe irritated the younger Smith when he tried to excuse himself after four hours to spend time with his family on his day off.

“He got this scruffiest bit of paper that I’ve ever seen,” Ratcliffe described, “flattened it out, and proceeded to write on it. He gave it to me and it was a written warning.”

Ratcliffe was already plotting his exit from the club, a process that included him safeguarding players’ immediate futures with new contracts. The face-to-face encounter simply hastened his departure. He resigned shortly after the start of the 1999-2000 season, ending his first managerial role after over four years.

“If he was on fire on the other side of the road, I’d go and throw a log on him,” Ratcliffe said of Terry Smith.

Over his head

Chester City were on life support under their previous owner. Ratcliffe covered a £5,000 bill in 1998 to turn the stadium’s water back on and allow a friendly match to go ahead. He paid himself back with the gate receipts.

Former manager Kevin Ratcliffe Michael Steele – EMPICS / PA Images / Getty

Darren Moss made his debut at 16 due to his obvious talent, but also, he suspects, because he was a cheap first-team option when his youth contract weighed in at just £42.50 a week.

The state of the club’s finances and the rather antiquated state of banking around the turn of millennia combined for a Mario Kart-style dash every payday.

“We’d get a cheque from the office after training and we’d all race down to the club’s bank branch in the middle of the town center so that we could make sure that you weren’t the last person,” ex-Chester midfielder Nick Richardson recalled. “Whoever was last one there might not have got paid.”

For Smith to deliver his ambitious promise of First Division football, he needed to ensure the club was on surer financial footing. Dan Brooks – a linebacker for one of the successful teams Smith coached in the UK’s American football circuit – was at a loose end in his native Canada when Smith invited him “to come and participate” in the Chester project.

“I marketed American football in a country where it really was not a priority. We had some success with that,” Brooks explained of his experience before he was named Chester’s commercial director. He also noted his position of marketing director for Frontierland, a theme park in the British seaside town of Morecambe that ceased operations in 2000.

Despite the off-field uncertainty, Smith was a regular fixture in training from the beginning. Ratcliffe claims Smith was going over his head to dictate when training started and finished even before his takeover of the club was ratified, and the owner was regularly inviting out-of-contract footballers to try out at Chester’s base.

“It was every week you’d get somebody come through the door,” Moss said. “You’d be like, ‘Fucking hell, who’s this now?’ And they’d be dreadful.”

Ratcliffe remembered an Icelandic trialist who Smith claimed could whip in dangerous crosses, was strong in the air, and was a good finisher.

“I’m thinking, ‘What’s he doing at Chester if he’s got all these qualities?'” Ratcliffe quipped.

Somewhat predictability, the trialist failed at Ratcliffe’s basic crossing, heading, and shooting drills while the rest of the squad went through its workouts nearby. Shaun Reid, the younger brother of then-Sunderland boss Peter Reid, watched in disbelief, and delivered a line which riffed on the trialist’s home nation sharing a name with a British discount frozen-food chain.

“Shaun shouted over to me, ‘So, gaffer. We got the lad in from Iceland, when’s the lad from Kwik Save coming in?'” Ratcliffe laughed. “(The joke) was right over Terry’s head.”

Shaun Reid Neal Simpson – EMPICS / PA Images / Getty

The Icelander’s unfortunate audition is one of Ratcliffe’s many tales of Smith’s transfer dealings. Ratcliffe says Smith signed an amateur player but paid him so little that he struggled to cover the one-hour round trip to training, while one American trialist had to stay the night at a local policeman’s house when Smith reneged on a contract offer and abruptly ended the player’s hotel reservation.

Smith also apparently decided to sanction the £10,000 sale of Andy Crosby to Brighton & Hove Albion. Ratcliffe said he’d recently rejected an offer worth twice that amount from Brighton.

“His face just turned blue,” Ratcliffe recalled of showing Smith the £20,000 bid he received via fax. “It just shows you, if you’re not conversing with your manager, you’re on a slippery slope.”

Ratcliffe thinks Brighton went behind his back because “they knew the state of the club.”

‘He’s going berserk’

Smith sensationally succeeded Ratcliffe at the team’s helm, trusting what he’d learned from around two months at the club’s training ground.

“All coaching is 90% the same, regardless of the sport,” Smith is widely quoted as saying after he assumed his self-assigned role.

“He loved to be in control of everything; hands-on with every single thing. I’d describe him as a bit of a control freak,” ex-player Moss shared.

Smith didn’t seem to use much of what he observed at Ratcliffe’s sessions.

“When Terry came in, the actual focus then shifted from 80% football and 20% set-pieces to 80% set-pieces and 20% football,” former midfielder Richardson estimated. Players would wear numerous layers to contend with the increased hours of standing around in the wet English weather.

It wasn’t only the strong set-play focus that harkened back to Smith’s American football roots. Moss said they played 11-v-11 gridiron in one session, where they threw the ball into the net instead of completing touchdowns. In an effort to boost leadership, Smith elected three captains: one each for defense, midfield, and attack. He also introduced prematch renditions of the Lord’s Prayer – a ritual that would be unique in any British sport.

Brooks, Smith’s marketing man, credits his friend as the most prepared coach he encountered during his American football career, and Chester’s unlikely manager was similarly meticulous in soccer. Moss remembered Smith would leave dossiers under each player’s hanger ahead of a match, with details such as set-piece positioning and information on opponents included. Moss said he and his teammates understood Smith worked long hours to prepare the personalized playbooks.

Steve Morton – EMPICS / PA Images / Getty

Smith’s competitiveness was undeniable and spilled over into him testing his strengths against those of his players. Richardson said there were a few gym sessions when Smith challenged the squad to lift a “fantastical weight,” but it would invariably turn into the players watching as Smith outdid everyone on the bench press.

“The bar would be bending,” Moss added. “He was a strong fella, to be fair.”

But aspects of Smith’s management clashed with his will to win.

He was disorganized for someone who tried to fill many roles. Martin Nash, the younger brother of two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, was briefly on the club’s books and remembers there being “shit everywhere” in Smith’s car. Numerous people mentioned Smith’s office was seldom used and full of unopened letters.

And though the players were given little excuse to lapse on their set-piece routines, the nutritional preparation for games was counterproductive. There are accounts of McDonald’s, pizza, and cookies eaten as prematch meals, while Richardson remembered beans on toast at a greasy cafe under the highway before a 5-0 cup loss at top-tier Aston Villa.

The passionate yet rudderless nature of Smith’s regime didn’t foster respect among the squad. He became a bit of a laughing stock.

Moss describes an incident when someone locked Smith in the gym for an extended period.

“The groundsman heard him banging and came back over to get the keys,” Moss said. “He said, ‘You’re gonna have to get him out. He’s going berserk!’ I just remember Smith coming out and being red-faced – he was fuming. But he didn’t know who (locked him in), so he couldn’t put it on anyone.

Another unidentified player slashed Smith’s tires, and Richardson said defender Ally Pickering’s slapstick impersonation of the manager was a popular dressing-room act.

The poor relations between Smith and his players were unsustainable as the team sunk further into trouble.

‘He ran out of the dressing room’

Smith eventually relinquished the reins in January 2000 amid heavy pressure from supporters, after one win, one draw, and eight losses over their previous 10 outings. He expressed disappointment at how certain players and backroom staff let him take the blame for Chester being rooted the bottom of England’s professional pyramid, two points adrift of safety.

Ian Atkins – a manager with a strong lower-league resume – was given the unenviable task of trying to keep Chester City afloat under the guise of director of football.

Ian Atkins Steve Morton – EMPICS / PA Images / Getty

“You were a manager because you ran the team, but Terry wanted that title as a manager,” Atkins told theScore.

The job title didn’t matter to Atkins. Smith assured him he would be in control of the senior side, and Atkins subsequently oversaw a swift squad overhaul with the support of assistant manager Gary Shelton and well-connected physio Joe Hinnigan. Some players were discarded and seasoned professionals were brought in. The tactical approach became more pragmatic.

Smith still wanted to be involved, though. He preferred to sit in the dugout alongside his coaching staff for matches, and he liked to warm up the goalkeeper before kickoff – even though Smith was often wearing a suit.

“Browny would take the piss,” Moss said of his former club colleague Wayne Brown. “Browny would be in goal lashing balls so Terry would have to run after them. Rather than playing them back to (Smith’s) feet, he’d zip them in, so he’d miscontrol it. He’d be collecting balls out the stands from the fans.”

But Atkins’ approach worked. An embarrassing 7-1 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion in late February sparked a run of five wins and four draws in 12 matches, a spell in which Chester conceded only eight goals. Their fine springtime results remarkably put the Blues on course to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, but Smith was apparently unimpressed with the team’s style of play.

“We were having less possession than the opposition but winning,” Atkins said. “He couldn’t believe that his team were playing so open and having a lot more touches and attacking, but getting walloped every week.”

“He loathed the fact that people were giving me credit, Joe and Shelts credit, and the players credit,” Atkins added.

In the end, the upturn in results wasn’t enough. Chester City were relegated, plummeting out of England’s professional leagues for the first time in 69 years.

A lot conspired against them. One of Chester’s players decided to join the Trinidad & Tobago squad instead of playing in his club’s decisive final-day fixture. On the eve of that same match, another player was imprisoned for his alleged involvement in a fight outside a nightclub.

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe, the former manager now in charge of Shrewsbury, was seeking £200,000 in compensation from Chester.

And it was Ratcliffe’s Shrewsbury who won on the final day, securing their Division Three status while Chester lost theirs.

“It was a great feeling for me in one way, but a sad feeling in another,” Ratcliffe reflected. “Chester meant a lot to me.”

Ratcliffe celebrates a Shrewsbury goal Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The crestfallen Chester players took exception when Smith tried to offer his post-match thoughts.

“In the dressing room after the game, he started to pipe up and a couple of the lads went for him,” Atkins said. “He ran out of the dressing room door and I’ve never seen him again.”

Atkins was already a popular figure with supporters and could’ve committed for another year with Chester, but felt he couldn’t match his ambitions when Smith handled the club’s operations. Graham Barrow, who was a fan favorite from his earlier stints as a player and a manager at Chester, was brought in to succeed Atkins, but Smith’s regime was already disintegrating.

Brooks is unsure what levels of abuse Smith dealt with from some fans. But the former commercial director told theScore that even he was in the firing line, as hosting press conferences and meetings with supporters had effectively made him “a secondary face of the organization.”

“I would get calls and people would be threatening my life and telling me to go home,” said Brooks, adding that a window was smashed at his house following the club’s relegation.

“I was looking over my shoulder. The threats and intimidation weighed heavily on me. I take things personally. I don’t have as thick a skin as some people … I didn’t know if (the threats) were going to be followed through or not.”

Brooks had an agreement with Smith that gave him an option to leave at the end of his first season, and he snatched at the opportunity. Smith himself was looking to take off when Chester were consigned to non-league football, with Brooks helping arrange meetings with potential buyers.

David Rawcliffe – EMPICS / PA Images / Getty

Smith eventually sold the club in October 2001 to Stephen Vaughan, a boxing promoter with links to infamous Liverpool gangsters. Vaughan was jailed for assaulting a police officer in 2013.

Chester City went bust in 2010, three years prior to Vaughan’s conviction, but a supporters’ group launched phoenix outfit Chester Football Club later that year. They now play in the sixth tier of England’s soccer ladder and protect themselves from shady investors by only inviting those who believe in the “ethos and the history of our club” to join the supporter-led ownership group.

Smith’s missteps, and those made by the owners that preceded and succeeded the American, can’t be made again.

“He didn’t realize what football meant to Chester City and the supporters. It was about him. Really, it was about him,” Atkins concluded. “He didn’t know football. He didn’t know anything about the club. He didn’t know anything whatsoever about players, how to win games of football.

“He didn’t know anything.”

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Premier League

Euro 2024 playoffs: Miraculous Ukraine comeback, big result for Wales

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Wales, Greece, and Poland registered statement wins Thursday, joining three other teams in next Tuesday’s playoff finals for the three remaining places at Euro 2024.

Ukraine staged an incredible late comeback against Bosnia and Herzegovina in its semifinal to keep its Euro dream alive.

The highest-placed team in FIFA’s rankings that’s no longer in contention to reach the tournament in Germany is 60th-placed Finland.

Here’s how the playoff semifinals across Path A, B, and C played out.

Path A

Mateusz Slodkowski / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Poland 5-1 Estonia

Estonia barely stood a chance. Down to 10 men as early as the 27th minute, the northern Europeans could only muster a consolation goal in a 5-1 loss to Poland. The Polish achieved the rout without Robert Lewandowski getting on the scoresheet and remain unbeaten in 21 Euro qualifiers at home, a magnificent run dating back to September 2006. Poland is trying to make up for a poor qualifying campaign in which it finished third in Group E, four points behind the Czech Republic and Albania. The country hasn’t missed the Euros since 2004.

Wales 4-1 Finland

The Red Wall might descend on Germany this summer. Wales’ raucous supporters have legitimate hopes of traveling to another major tournament after the Dragons scorched Finland without the retired Gareth Bale and with Aaron Ramsey, 33, on the bench after more injury problems. Teemu Pukki gave the visiting team some hope just before halftime following well-taken finishes from David Brooks and Neco Williams. But Wales needed just 73 seconds of the second period to restore its two-goal cushion via Brennan Johnson’s tap-in. Daniel James took advantage of a defensive error before rounding the goalkeeper in the 86th minute to give the host a resounding victory.

Playoff final: Wales vs. Poland, Tuesday 3:45 p.m. ET

Path B

David Balogh – UEFA / UEFA / Getty

Israel 1-4 Iceland

Iceland’s Albert Gudmundsson stole the show with an emphatic hat-trick against Israel on Thursday. His stunning free-kick into the top right corner canceled out Eran Zahavi’s opening goal for Israel, and he created a nice cushion for his country with a pair of markers in the final 10 minutes. Just before that, Zahavi blew an incredible opportunity to equalize the match at 2-2, missing a penalty awarded for handball against Iceland’s Gudmundur Thorarinsson. A red card to Israel’s Haim Revivo didn’t help the trailing side. Iceland is now a game away from making only its second-ever appearance at the Euros following its quarterfinal run in 2016.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2 Ukraine

Ukraine scored twice with just minutes remaining in regulation to snatch what seemed to be a sure victory from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. Bosnia controlled play for most of the match and took the lead in the 56th minute when Mykola Matviyenko turned in Amar Dedic’s shot into his own net. But a colossal defensive lapse cost the Bosnians a chance to make it a record four countries from the former Yugoslavia at Euro 2024. Roman Yaremchuk came off the bench to equalize in the 85th minute and teed up Artem Dovbyk’s sensational winning header three minutes later to turn the playoff semifinal on its head. Ukraine now faces Iceland with a third consecutive Euro appearance at stake.

Playoff final: Ukraine vs. Iceland, Tuesday 3:45 p.m. ET

Path C

GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE / AFP / Getty

Georgia 2-0 Luxembourg

Two clever finishes from Budu Zivzivadze in Tbilisi assured Georgia of a place in Path C’s final – and all without the help of suspended talisman Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. But it wasn’t that simple for the host. Luxembourg thought it equalized during the second half, only for the goal to be eventually snatched away due to Maxime Chanot’s apparent foul 45 seconds earlier. Luxembourg’s Chanot was controversially sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and Zivzivadze effectively ended the match six minutes later with his second strike. Kvaratskhelia is available for the final.

Greece 5-0 Kazakhstan

Anastasios Bakasetas lashed home a penalty, Dimitrios Pelkas headed into the net’s roof, Fotis Ioannidis tapped in from close range, and Dimitrios Kourbelis added another header. And that was all before halftime. Kazakhstan’s impressive 2022-23 Nations League campaign and notable Euro 2024 qualifying wins over Denmark, Northern Ireland (twice), and Finland suddenly seemed ages ago, as Greece recorded its biggest halftime lead since October 1978 (5-0 against Finland). Aleksandr Marochkin’s embarrassing own goal in the 85th minute made Kazakhstan’s day even worse.

Playoff final: Georgia vs. Greece, Tuesday 1:00 p.m. ET

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Look: Nike unveils beautiful kit selection for Euro 2024, Copa America

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Nike released a stunning batch of threads ahead of Euro 2024 and Copa America on Monday.

Days after Adidas launched its lineup for the summer’s top two tournaments, Nike followed suit with an array of colorful designs.

The U.S. manufacturer also announced redesigns for Canada and Poland, even though they’ve yet to qualify for their respective tournaments. The Canucks face Trinidad and Tobago in a one-off Copa America qualifier on Saturday, while Poland must navigate a four-team playoff to reach Euro 2024.

(All images courtesy of Nike)

Euro 2024

Croatia

Home

The square-shaped design that gives Croatia its unique look gets a slight upgrade. The home shirt features larger squares than ever before.

Away

Croatia’s away shirt plays on the national flag, with the traditional checkered pattern now on a slant.

England

Home

Influenced by England’s 1966 training gear, the home shirt has a classic feel with a rich blue collar and gorgeous trim along the cuffs.

Away

England embraces a deep purple hue for its away selection. The crest stands out with a contrasting off-white tint that makes the three lions pop.

France

Home

France’s home shirt may have the biggest crest of all of Nike’s offerings. The oversized rooster defines this shirt as much as the royal blue that’s made France’s kits a crowd-pleaser.

Away

The pinstripes mirror the colors of France’s national flag and span the width of the shirt in a simple, yet elegant design.

Netherlands

Home

Nike could’ve offered anything orange here, and it would’ve been perfect. But the Netherlands has something bolder and better to wear. The zig-zag pattern adds edge.

Away

The orange collar and cuffs pop alongside the three shades of blue Nike has chosen to create the abstract design on this work of art.

Poland

Home

Poland dedicates premium real estate on the country’s home shirt to its imposing crest.

Away

Poland’s away shirt is a daring choice. The graphic treatment adds texture, giving it a rugged feel while separating from the red tones of years past.

Portugal

Home

With possibly the best home shirt in Nike’s collection, Portugal leans heavily into its traditional red-and-green motif with a polo collar and thick cuffs. The logo sits prominently as well. A smash hit.

Away

Here’s another winner. Portugal’s away strip has a stunning textile imprint that gives off a cool summer vibe.

Turkey

Home

This is a menacing look. Turkey will look like a whirring red army with these imposing shirts.

Away

The classic red band returns to Turkey’s away uniform. Like the others, it features an oversized crest in the middle of the shirt.

Copa America

Brazil

Home

Nike goes big with Brazil’s crest and adds an intricate design to the same yellow hue the Selecao have used for decades.

Away

Brazil’s secondary strip feels like the beach. A horizontal wavy pattern covering the entire shirt mimics the country’s picturesque coastline.

Canada

Home

The only blemish in Nike’s lineup. Why is there a circle around the swoosh? And why are the shoulders so much darker than the body? None of it makes sense.

Away

The 13 pinstripes are supposed to represent the 10 provinces and three territories that make up Canada. Unfortunately, the rest of the shirt looks incomplete.

United States

Home

The United States men’s national team gets a classic home shirt with patriotic detailing along the color and sleeves.

Away

The gradient works perfectly with the red shorts the U.S. will wear at the Copa America.

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Premier League

Thoughts and analysis from rip-roaring weekend of Premier League action

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theScore examines the most important developments and biggest talking points from another entertaining weekend of Premier League football.

Man City flustered at Anfield

Just when it seemed Manchester City would end their barren run at Anfield, Liverpool reminded them why they haven’t won a Premier League game there since 2003.

Liverpool swarmed City within seconds of the restart, injecting urgency into a game they were trailing 1-0 at halftime. The ensuing action was breathtaking to watch. Anfield’s raucous crowd supercharged the atmosphere and helped Liverpool sucker City into the kind of box-to-box showdown few teams can force Pep Guardiola’s usually suave side into playing.

The hosts outshot the defending champions 12-3 during that manic second stanza, pressed their opponents into turnovers, and flustered the majority of City’s starters. That included the impervious Rodri, who had to hack down one player just to stem the tide.

It’s not often City entertain track meets like this one. They crave control, and after setting the tone early on with a clever set-piece routine that caught Liverpool’s defenders napping, the visitors struggled to keep the ball for more than a few seconds at a time.

There was a clear method to the chaos Liverpool rained down on City: run down the field, stretch them, and force them to play with their head on a swivel. City had approached previous matches at Anfield with an abundance of caution just to avoid descending into this kind of trench warfare, using possession as a form of defense. However, Liverpool, by sheer force of will, made it impossible for them to play conservatively.

Alex Livesey – Danehouse / Getty Images Sport / Getty

“If you can play football like this against City, that’s a statement,” Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports afterward. “And I love that.”

Guardiola had to withdraw Kevin De Bruyne – one of the most dangerous players on the pitch – just to find a way to keep the ball. De Bruyne can swing matches in an instant, and Guardiola is always willing to play him, whether the game calls for the Belgian’s open, creative passing or a more pragmatic approach. This time, Guardiola must’ve known a point was all City could get.

Mateo Kovacic offered more security, if not as much inspiration, and so he came on. Liverpool forced that change. They got City out of their comfort zone, which is only fitting because Klopp’s Liverpool have been the only team in England capable of breaking City’s dynasty under Guardiola.

Backup ‘keepers come to the rescue

Caoimhin Kelleher and Stefan Ortega would usually be spectators on a day like Sunday. But circumstance and injury pushed them into the fray. Not that they didn’t look the part. Each of them made exceptional saves with the game tied at 1-1 and ensured it ended that way.

At least Kelleher had the week to prepare. The 25-year-old has also had plenty of playing time in the absence of Alisson, who’s out long term with a thigh injury, and he seemed to gain confidence during Liverpool’s triumphant League Cup run. Ortega has played a similar role at City, appearing mostly in cup competitions, but he had mere minutes to warm up as Ederson’s mid-game replacement.

Imagine stepping into the cauldron that is Anfield with the title race on the line and a mistake the only likely difference between a positive and negative result. A few early errant passes confirmed Ortega was feeling the nerves and pace of the game. But he didn’t let it define his performance. He was proactive, coming off his line to block shots, and he kept it relatively simple with no-nonsense clearances. He looked more sure of himself than Ederson did, up to and including the moment the Brazilian conceded Liverpool’s game-tying penalty with a reckless swing at Darwin Nunez.

And therein lies the secret to sustaining success in the modern game. Both Liverpool and City have exceptional starting lineups, but their depth is second to none. They source talent from either their academy or teams a few rungs below them to ensure they can compete with or without their best players.

Michael Regan / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The role of the backup ‘keeper is perhaps the most underrated. It’s difficult to find shot-stoppers who are happy to play second fiddle and still be capable of tending goal themselves once every few months, sometimes fewer. Many clubs don’t want to spend big on second-choice ‘keepers, either. But where would Liverpool be without Kelleher? Two League Cups may not have been theirs. It’s even harder to retain such talent, but Kelleher’s ties to Liverpool, having been brought up as a diehard supporter, help.

Likewise, City would’ve lost Sunday’s game with a 40-year-old retiree shoring up Guardiola’s bench. But they did well to pluck Ortega from Arminia Bielefeld in July 2022, giving a solid ‘keeper a chance he otherwise wouldn’t have on one of the greatest teams of the Premier League era.

Mature Arsenal changing narrative

A mistake like the one Aaron Ramsdale committed against Brentford would’ve been disastrous for Arsenal last season. Heads would’ve been down and shoulders would’ve been slumped, with players unable or unwilling to move on from such a calamitous moment. But it’s a different story this season for Arsenal and a squad featuring several players who know a thing or two about overcoming adversity.

With the game tied 1-1 and its chances of winning fading fast, the north London club persevered late with the help of two other players who’ve dealt with their own difficult periods at Arsenal: Kai Havertz and Ben White. They further endeared themselves to fans Saturday, combining to score the winning goal in the 86th minute to spare Ramsdale’s blushes.

Before Havertz’s header, Ramsdale was feeling the heat at the Emirates Stadium after gifting Brentford an equalizer right before halftime. As Arsenal tried to close out a dominant first half, Ramsdale’s struggles with the ball at his feet proved costly again after his sloppy clearance attempt ricocheted off Yoane Wissa and into his net. It was the type of lapse in judgment that cost Ramsdale his job after David Raya was signed to be Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Conceding right before halftime was obviously crushing, but it offered Ramsdale a chance to escape to the locker room and compose himself away from jeering fans. He returned after the break with two huge saves to prevent Brentford from inflicting more damage before Havertz’s winning goal.

Resilience has been a hallmark of Arsenal’s impressive season, which has helped them remain in the title race with 10 games to go. It’s a quality that’ll be important in next week’s Champions League clash with FC Porto – when they’ll try to overturn a 1-0 deficit – and when Mikel Arteta’s men face their biggest challenge of the season against Manchester City after the international break.

Quick free-kicks

Klopp-Guardiola era ends with a bang

Few thought the rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger would ever be topped, let alone matched in terms of intensity and quality. But then Klopp and Guardiola came along. Liverpool and Manchester City games have been appointment viewing since the two exuberant tacticians brought their coaching talents to England almost a decade ago. Sunday’s encounter was no different, as the two – at the center of another title race – duked it out at Anfield in the last league meeting before Klopp leaves Liverpool this summer. Like so many games in the years since Klopp’s Liverpool and Guardiola’s City first met on New Year’s Eve in 2016, it was a contest of the highest quality that featured plenty of scoring chances and drama. That Sunday’s bout finished in a draw is perhaps a fitting way to close the chapter on a rivalry that’ll be remembered by Premier League fans for generations to come. Hopefully, these two brilliant footballing minds lock horns again somewhere down the line.

Spurs rise to the challenge

Tottenham’s failure to deliver in key moments is one of the Premier League’s longstanding memes. Sunday’s 4-0 hammering of fellow top-four contenders Aston Villa didn’t have quite the same stakes as some of their matches from recent seasons, but, keeping in line with the club’s upward trajectory under Ange Postecoglou, it was refreshing to see Spurs deliver in a big spot. A loss Sunday wouldn’t have been fatal in their chase to secure Champions League football, but it would’ve given Villa a healthy eight-point advantage going into the stretch run. With a game in hand on Villa, fifth-placed Tottenham, now only two points adrift of fourth, appear to be in the more favorable position after winning a game with “plenty of significance.” Both clubs still have to play all three of Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City between now and the end of the season, so there will be (at least) three more high-leverage games for Villa and Spurs in what’s an intriguing battle for fourth. Can Tottenham rise to the challenge a few more times to secure a coveted top-four spot, or will their “Spursy” tendencies of past seasons make an appearance?

Stat of the weekend

Liverpool accomplished an exceedingly rare feat this weekend.

Tweet of the weekend

Yes, this is technically cheating, but we’re dipping into the Championship for this one …

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