Friendly fire from Chelsea’s furious Thomas Tuchel, but elsewhere Grealish and Haaland are cooking – The Warm-Up
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Updated 25/07/2022 at 07:14 GMT
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel is not enjoying pre-season so far, and was furious after their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in the USA. Elsewhere, Spurs are not happy with Bayern Munich’s public courting of Harry Kane, while Erling Haaland is enjoying the vibes with Jack Grealish at Manchester City. There's also a Mario Balotelli moment worth remembering... and it's Euro 2022 semis and final week!
'Something to be worried about' - David James on possible England v Germany final
MONDAY’S BIG STORIES
Friendly fire
In the debate that rumbles on over how much pre-season actually matters, it seems fair to say it can be quite significant when your head coach blows up two weeks before the Premier League season gets going.
"I am far from relaxed," said Thomas Tuchel, evidently not enjoying his time in USA after his Chelsea side lost 4-0 to Arsenal in Florida on Saturday.
"We were simply not good enough. We were simply not competitive. The worrying part is that the level of commitment physically and mentally for this match was far higher for Arsenal than for us.
"They played I think what is their strongest line-up and structure that you see now for several weeks. This was the line-up they will try to start for Premier League games.
"It was surely not our strongest line-up. This is a part of an explanation but only a little part and the other part is worrying. I cannot guarantee we will be ready in two weeks."
That last admission will worry Chelsea fans, who may fear their side are undercooked heading into the actual campaign despite signing Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly. More needs to be done in the transfer market at Chelsea, and having lost Romelu Lukaku, and having also watched Gabriel Jesus score against them to continue his impressive pre-season at Arsenal, there is a cause for concern.
That opening Saturday evening match at Everton on August 6 is suddenly looking pretty tasty.
Oh, and sticking with “friendly fire”, there’s no such thing as a friendly Clasico, is there…
Next season in La Liga, this race could be good.
Courting Kane
There are also frustrations over at Tottenham, although in this instance it is the head coach (quite rightly) getting a little irate with the public courting of their star striker from a European powerhouse.
Let’s roll it back.
In a nutshell, Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann said of Harry Kane: "He's very expensive that's the problem - but a brilliant player. He could score a lot in the Bundesliga, I don't know the price, but it's really tough for Bayern Munich. We'll see what happens in the future."
And naturally, Antonio Conte didn’t like that.
“For sure I'm a coach who doesn't talk about players from other teams,” said Conte. “If I want to do something I go to speak to the club, not through the media.
"I think maybe it's a bit disrespectful for the other club. This is my way. This is my way to face the situation with other players."
Yeaaah…. Don’t anger Conte, we’d say.
Haaland’s vibe check
Over at Manchester City, it took Erling Haaland just 12 minutes to score in his non-competitive debut for the club, and the Norwegian is coming up with some fun one-liners already.
"Guardiola is a bit crazy and I like that, so it's going to be fun,” he said of the man who is more than likely going to give him an on-pitch Pep talk at some point this season.
After the 1-0 friendly win over Bayern Munich, Haaland also briefly talked up his new link-up with Jack Grealish.
"He's good. He has to get better, I have to get better, but [it's a] good link. I like the vibe around him, so it's going to be fun."
Indeed, the Grealish assist, Haaland goal combo that worked on the weekend could become a regular occurrence this season, and we could get a glimpse of just how influential this pairing might be on Saturday when they contest the earliest Community Shield match EVER (surely?!) when taking on FA Cup winners Liverpool.
IN OTHER NEWS
Kirby's dream
There will be a champion by the end of this week, but first – the semi-finals.
Germany host France in a fascinating last-four showdown on Wednesday, while tomorrow delivers Sweden against hosts England, who are two games away from a first major title.
Four years ago it was a semi-final exit for the Lionesses, while back in 2009 it was a final defeat to Germany, so could this be the year?
It may have led to a questionable headline elsewhere, but Fran Kirby sure hopes England can delight the nation this week.
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'Semi-final curse in back of our minds' - England's Kirby ahead of facing Sweden
“If we get the chance to win in the semi-final and get through to the final, I think it will be incredible for people in this country to have something to celebrate and enjoy,” Kirby said.
“As much as we want to win, we want to put a smile on people’s faces. They may be going through a hard time in terms of the rising fuel costs and the cost of living right now. Hopefully we can give people an escape for 90-plus minutes when they turn their TVs on, they will have something to cheer about and will see how passionately we play for this country. Hopefully it gives them a sense of pride and they can switch off from everything that is going on.”
IN THE CHANNELS
Give this photographer a raise! And this supporter a new drink and… pasty? Is that? Either way, superb moment caught on camera at Elgin City.
RETRO CORNER
Amid all this madness around pre-season, we are harking back for a simpler time where results mattered less, and Mario Balotelli inexplicably decided to do a spinning backheel when through on goal 11 years ago.
Okay, sure, he got substituted straight after by a furious Roberto Mancini, but the man (Balotelli, of course) was a walking vibe.
HAT TIP
Nick Ames rarely misses, and his Guardian piece delves into the Ukrainian football season – which is scheduled to start next month against all the odds:
The top flight’s order of play is still to be rubber-stamped and, given the uncertainty on the ground, may not become clear until kick-off is close. But the intention is for the usual 16-team format, with 10 sides intending to play home games in the Kyiv area and the rest further west. Games will be played behind closed doors amid a sizeable military presence. The viability of continuing play after interruption by air-raid sirens, a state of affairs that appears inevitable, is among the issues to be resolved. It is expected that the second tier will resume too.
COMING UP
Quiet on the football fronts day before the Euro 2022 semis on Tuesday and Wednesday. Why not catch Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes on Eurosport and discovery+ this afternoon. Go onnn.
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