Browsing: Buildup

The road to the 2027 World Cup is long and winding for all teams hoping to qualify – apart from the hosts, Brazil. Having won their ninth Copa América Femenina in the summer, their next major tournament will be the World Cup in 20 months.

That may seem like a long time but the head coach, Arthur Elias, is aware that every minute of preparation counts, starting with their friendlies against England in Manchester on Saturday and then Italy in Parma on Tuesday.

By facing European opposition, Elias hopes his players will be able to test themselves in different conditions and against different playing styles to those most of them experience back home. It is also an opportunity to test themselves against one of the best teams in the world. “These games are really important for us to see how we behave collectively when facing different teams with different styles,†he said at the squad announcement. “We are at a stage where we are consolidating our team identity.

“Weâ€re playing against two great European teams. England have won the past two Euros and Italy reached the semis last time around and played really well. We have taken that into account when we selected this squad. We want to give opportunities to younger payers. Our average age is now 24 years old, which we think is ideal when looking ahead to 2027.â€

Elias does not have all his key players available. He was expecting to be without Real Madridâ€s Antônia and Manchester Cityâ€s Kerolin because of injuries but since the squad announcement he has also lost Atlético Madridâ€s Gio Garbelini and her replacement, Debinha of KC Current. São Pauloâ€s 22-year-old forward Isabelle Caroline has been called up.

Arthur Elias led his side to a 2-1 victory over the United States in April after a stoppage time winner. It was Brazilâ€s first win over the Americans in 11 years. Photograph: Erin Chang/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

Elias received international recognition in 2024 when he took Brazil to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and was one of three finalists for The Best Fifa Womenâ€s coach, finishing only behind Englandâ€s Sarina Wiegman and Barcelonaâ€s Jonatan Giráldez.

Since their achievement at the Olympics, Brazilian players have had more visibility abroad with record transfers to the NWSL as well as European leagues. The 24-year-old Isabela Chagas may make her senior national team debut against England after completing a €300,000 (£260,000) move from Cruzeiro to Paris Saint-Germain, a record sale for the Brazilian team.

The trajectory is clearly upwards but the game against the Lionesses at the Etihad Stadium will be a challenge. “England are a team we studied quite well, and will test us at the highest level,†Elias says. “They will test our attack, since they have a good, compact defence, and we will need to worry about the quality of their attacking players. Having said that, they will have to deal with our quality too.â€

The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2023 for the inaugural Womenâ€s Finalissima – between the Copa América and Euro champions – with England winning on penalties after a pulsating 1-1 draw. Back then, Brazil were coached by Pia Sundhage who liked to play with a back five.

Kerolin, seen here evading a challenge from Ella Toone during the 2023 Womenâ€s Finalissima match, will miss Brazilâ€s return to England after picking up an injury last month. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Expect a more proactive attacking approach under Elias. His teams may vary in style but they consistently look to get on the front foot. It can leave them exposed, though, as happened in the Copa América final against Colombia, where they scored four but conceded as many and needed penalties to secure the win. “England and Italy have very different styles,†he says “and facing them in such a short period of time is a challenge. We will need, in one training session, to put a different system in place, with different players†characteristics, so we can win both games.â€

At the moment, with 20 months still to go before a home World Cup, Eliasâ€s plan is to test his team as much as possible. He wants to consolidate a squad, but also create options for the future of the Brazilian national team. “We have made 10 changes to the team that just won the Copa América. I believe that is a good place to be for our preparation for 2027.â€

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Frank Lampardâ€s Coventry, to give them their legal name, are flying. The thought of them back in the top division is rather stirring to those of a certain age.

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Fair points made here from the comments section below.

“Postecoglou could be the least effective Premier League manager everâ€
Well looking at the stats that may be true, but the damage was done before AP turned-up at Forest. The problem at Forest is
the players shattered morale, last season those same players proved they could beat anyone. For me the problem at Forest is a overbearing interfering owner who rewarded those players who gave everything last season and who missed CL football by a single point in their first PL season by sacking their inspirational manager Nuno Espírito Santo in the most humiliating way possible. People talk about managers, tactics, playerâ€s effort and abilities but once a teams morale is broken, any manager will tell you, itâ€s extremely difficult repairing it especially when the person who broke it is still there every week crushing it even further.

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Getafe v Real Madrid is Sundayâ€s late game in La Liga, a local derby. Sid Lowe spoke to Abu Kamara, once of Hull.

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A couple of important pieces on talent development.

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Letâ€s look ahead to Liverpool v Manchester United, where Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah are due a performance. Jonathan Wilson previews the game.

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Saturdayâ€s match reports are here.

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Letâ€s hope Jack Wilshere lasts a bit longer at Luton, though he had a tough start on Saturday.

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Our reaction to that Postecoglou news.

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Preamble

Good morning, football. Saturday was a red letter day in Premier League history, Ange Postecoglou biting the dust in record time. Things move pretty fast at Nottingham Forest so we await news of Evangelos Maranakis†next move.

Weâ€ll also build up to Tottenham v Aston Villa, the 2pm kick-off, and Liverpool v Manchester United at 4.30pm.

Join us. And do let us know your thoughts and plans. Perhaps fears in the case of Forest fans.

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Updated at 03.06 EDT

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Liverpool v Manchester United WSL team news

Liverpool: Borggrafe, Fisk, Bonner, Evans, Woodham, Nagano, Holland, Kerr, MacLean, Kapocs, Haug.

Subs: Kirby, Parry, Shimizu, Szymczak, Olsson, Enderby, Lundgaard, Clark, Silcock.

Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Toone, Malard, Terland, Park.

Subs: Middleton-Patel, George, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Williams.

Dominique Janssen, Ella Toone and Gabby George of Manchester United survey the pitch before kickoff. Photograph: Matt McNulty/Getty ImagesShare

Hi everyone, Dominic here.

Right with a number of WSL games kicking off at midday, letâ€s run you through the team news …

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The Scottish Premiership is six games in and the leaders hail from outside Glasgow. Derek McInnes†Hearts are two points clear at the top after Saturdayâ€s 3-0 win over Falkirk, coupled with Celticâ€s home stalemate against Hibernian.

Although Hearts minority investor Tony Bloom has backed the club to challenge Scotlandâ€s duopoly, McInnes is taking a more measured view. “I want us to try and stay up at the top end of the table for as long as we can,†the Hearts manager said. Nobody else, I donâ€t think, genuinely believes we can mount a challenge.â€

Rangers, meanwhile, are winless and 11th in the table with Russell Martin clinging to his job. He takes his side to Livingston today (3pm BST), where only a win will do.

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And with that, my watch is over.Dominic Booth will be here shortly to coax you through our early tranche of WSL matches – Liverpool v Man United is the standout, but thereâ€s loads to get us going – but Iâ€m off to get into the right frame of mind for Villa v Fulham. So until then, peace out.

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Not a from a dead ball, but this might be my favourite-ever cross. Beckham barely touches the ball, and yet…

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Relatedly, I love the way Declan Rice has improved his crossing in recent years. Of course it requires natural ability to do what he does, but also, itâ€s a skill that is very easily practised, and Iâ€m not sure why so many excellent players are so poor at it.

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Iâ€m sure, though, that weâ€ll see some variations on it this afternoon, when Newcastle visit Arsenal. Both sides have plenty of big men and players able to find them with dead-ball delivery; reffing that wonâ€t be easy, at all. Iâ€d not be surprised if we see a penalty given for holding or similar.

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I would, though, also like to see the near-post corner return.When hit flat and flicked on, itâ€s almost impossible to defend, but sadly Iâ€m currently struggling to find a Limpar-Bould combination to illustrate the point.

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Amorimâ€s United have become an extremely direct outfit – and itâ€s not just them. Weâ€re seeing a return to big men up front, long balls, good corners and long throws which, to me at least, makes perfect sense – actually, Iâ€m not sure why these things ever left, because they never stopped working.

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Ah, I neglected to post Barney Ronayâ€s United piece from yesterday. If Iâ€m guessing, Iâ€m guessing it wonâ€t be long.

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The last time Hearts and Celtic contested the title:

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The last time the Scottish league was won by a non-Old Firm side was in 1984-85 when Alex Ferguson was managing Aberdeen; the last time Hearts won it was 1959-60. They currently lead Celtic by two points, and maybe, just maybe, they can bring it home again.

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In Villaâ€s defence,theyâ€ve been without Andre Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and Ross Barkley, all of whom should be back soon; if things are still poor in a few weeks, thereâ€ll be pressure, but for now, we can assume they wonâ€t be.

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Our first match today is Aston Villa v Fulham.How do we feel about that one? Have the home side turned the corner, or are we ignoring a dicey home win against the 11th-best side in Italy. Theyâ€ve still got plenty of good players, of course, but with Ollie Watkins out of form, theyâ€re struggling to threaten never mind score.

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What I would say on McT is that how well heâ€s doing in Italy doesnâ€t mean United were wrong to sell him.InSerie A, his physicality is a bigger advantage than in the Prem, and at Napoli heâ€s not competing for a starting slot with Bruno Fernandes, who plays in the same position, The move suited both parties.

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But the undoubted game of the day comes in Italy, where Scott McTominay faces Milan.

Obviously thatâ€s a hilarious joke, but what a move it was for him to join Napoli. Thereâ€s the football, of course – and in Antonio Conte, he has the perfect manager to platform his strengths and hide his weaknesses – but also culturally. By all accounts heâ€s absolutely loving his new life, and there might not be a better place on the planet to be revered. I couldnâ€t be happier for a very nice boy.

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In the meantime, though, Barcelona can make hay.Theyâ€re the best attacking side in the world by a mile – I donâ€t think anyone can argue with that, though this is football weâ€re talking about so you can never be sure – and thatâ€s enough to win almost every week. If they see off Soceidad later today, they go above Madrid at the top of the table.

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Julian Alvarez, man, what a player – and what a perfect fit for Atletico.On the other hand, I wonder how long itâ€ll take Xabi Alonso to get Real where they want to be. I wouldnâ€t necessarily call him a systems manager, but he is a proper coach, who needs buy-in and time to inculcate his ideas and principles – not easy when youâ€ve a squad full of superstars and a famously impatient boardroom.

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Updated at 04.50 EDT

I mentioned earlier that weâ€ve some European fun this afternoon, but before we properly look forward to that,letâ€s look back at last night.

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On which point, what a start Sunderland have made to the season – I think they call that a segue. They spent a load of wedge, granted, but turning that into points isnâ€t easy, though they were handed a friendly start, and if they could win their next two games – Man United away, Wolves at home – theyâ€ll be a long way towards staying up.

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On which point:

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A brace of own goals, goodness me.

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On which point, who on earth is going down?I fear for Burnley, but you can make a decent case for every other team will stay up – including the current bottom three, Wolves, Villa and West Ham.

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We should, though, note that Brentford played really well. A Sunderland-supporting mate of mine told me that Keith Andrews†side are the best his lot have met this season, and they looked very well organised and prepared yesterday. I thought theyâ€d struggle this season and maybe they still will, but so far, theyâ€re in decent shape.

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On Sunday Supplement, theyâ€re talking about Man Unitedâ€s midfield. It really is mind-boggling they didnâ€t buy anyone for that position in the summer – and that was obvious at the time.

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We will, of course, be bringing you updates on all the WSL action and all the goals as they go in, in this very blog.

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Also today, weâ€ve Barcelona v Sociedad and Milan v Napoli; that second match, third v first, should be an absolute belter.

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Weâ€ve got some right tasty fixtures in the WSL this afternoon.Manchester City take on London City; Spurs travel to Leicester; Brighton meet Everton; and Liverpool face Manchester United. Those are our midday kick-offs, after which weâ€ve West Ham v Chelsea. Not bad.

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How far can Glasnerâ€s Palace go?

I was at Selhurst a couple of seasons ago when they walloped Man United 4-0, and I was seriously impressed with Daniel Muñoz. I know heâ€s not the biggest name theyâ€ve had, but heâ€s a very, very good player.

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I actually think Newcastle were pretty fortunate to get a player as good as Isak so early in their PIF era – likewise Bruno Guimarães. Obviously I understand why their fans were disappointed he wanted to leave, but he was crucial in winning them a trophy and his desire to leave shouldâ€ve come as no surprise.

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Updated at 03.57 EDT

Hereâ€s Jonathan Wilsonâ€s Sunday column:

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Our matches today:

Aston Villa v Fulham

Arsenal v Newcastle

Iâ€m looking forward to these. Villa badly need points and will have taken confidence from their win over Bologna in midweek, but theyâ€ll face a different challenge in Marco Silvaâ€s side.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will have taken heart from Liverpoolâ€s defeat, but Newcastle are perhaps the most physical team in the league with one of its best midfields.

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Amorim was, though, right not to blame the ref for his sideâ€s abjectivity, but Iâ€ve not a clue how Nathan Collins escaped a red card for fouling Bryan Mbeumo. The rationale is that Mbeumo wasnâ€t in control of the ball, but he was looking for a one-touch finish, so had no need to be, and had he not been deliberately impeded by a defender making no effort to make a legitimate challenge, he might have scored.

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Another manager under pressure is Ruben Amorim. Iâ€m not sure Unitedâ€s performance yesterday was entirely his fault – the issue wasnâ€t the system nor its principles, rather a lack of composure and intensity – but ultimately that too is his responsibility.

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Incidentally, I absolutely loved Daniel Welbeckâ€s finish for Brightonâ€s third goal.His peak years were sadly hampered by injury, but his dotage has been brilliant. Heâ€s still got it physically, while his touch, imagination and intelligence are even better than before.

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Across London, meantime, aggravation: Chelsea lost again, their performance in beating PSG to win the Club World Cup a distant memory. On the one hand, a dip after that was inevitable; on the other, it was one game, and thereâ€ve been precious few others of similar standard.

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I was out last evening – get me –so Iâ€m only just catching up with Spurs v Wolves and, in particular, Jose Palhinhaâ€s late equaliser.

I also enjoyed this comment from @Xhong_Zina30under the above link:

As a Spurs fan Iâ€ve really enjoyed Frankâ€s tactical flexibility, seeing the team drop points in different ways beats dropping points the same way like last season.

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And what a celebration from Oliver Glasner. That man knows something.

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Imagine Crystal Palace had the resources to hang on to their best players –theyâ€re second in the table having lost Michael Oliseh and Eberechi Eze. Keep them, and youâ€re talking about a title challenge.

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Iâ€m glad Goals on Sunday is back on Sky.Real talk: Iâ€ve not a clue why it was binned to begin with. Someone with expertise chattingabout their unique experience, while reviewing action, whatâ€s not to like?

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Preamble

Morning all and welcome to your Sunday football blog. As ever, thereâ€s a good lot of action to enjoy and weâ€ll be looking forward to it here, from now. Feel free to send in your plans; weâ€ll be bringing you Villa v Fulham and Arsenal v Newcastle, as well as reflecting on yesterdayâ€s typically ridiculous Premier league action.

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Updated at 03.05 EDT

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